Fan Sided Blogs

Website: Fan Sided Blogs

Interview With: Adam Best

Is their more then one founder? If so, who are they?

Yes. My brother Zach is the other founder.

What is your background and qualifications?

I went to film school and studied English and theatre in college. I just kind of fell into sports journalism as a hobby, but I’ve been moonlighting as a sportswriter ever since. I also played college football at Emporia State, so I know the game well. Zach is a football coach and web designer who teaches business and computers. We compliment each other well, I think.

What does your website do?

All of our websites provide original op-ed content and views on news for die-hard NFL fans. Our home site, fansided.com, is where you can find content from all of our sites along with original content, including my own The Best View.

How have your recruited different blogs? Do you own some of the blogs in the network or all they all run by other writers?

We own all the blogs and have recruited all of the writers. Actually, a few writers have contacted us about joining the network, so that’s not entirely true.

Has it been hard to recruit bloggers?

Sure. It’s especially hard getting them to stay around through the early stages, when traffic is typically slow. As you know, getting a blog going isn’t easy.

How do you generate revenue? If through ads, what ad network do you use?

We use YardBarker’s ad network, but we also work with other advertising partners. Our biggest other partner is Coast-to-Coast Tickets right now. We do a lot of different things ad-wise.

How have your marketed your site?

We’ve advertised a tiny bit through AdWords, and done a few link and ad exchanges. But mostly we’ve just grown due to positive word of mouth.

Funding: Self funded, Angel Investment, or Venture Capital?

We’re a self-funded company.

Are You currently looking for funding?

We wouldn’t be opposed to it if the opportunity was right.

What type(s) of technology do you use?

Wordpress.

What is your favorite feature on your website?

My favorite feature is how our bloggers seem to have captured the collective voice of the fan. I also like our design, though. I think it’s very user friendly and sharp.

Any Bold Predictions for Sports and Technology in the future?

Let’s see…I think the sports blogosphere will continue to grow. You’re already seeing the MSM launch blogs and hire bloggers. I think the blogosphere might become more corporate over the next few years, with the big dogs devoting blogs to basically everything. Things are already moving in that direction.

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Website:  Team Pages

Interview With: Mike Tan

Is their more then one founder? If so, who are they?

The founders of TeamPages.com are Mike Tan, Jonathan Kerr, and Adam Palmblad.

What is your background and qualifications?

We’ve all been playing sports since we were small kids and are extremely passionate about trying to make the lives of coaches, parents, and athletes easier when it comes to managing their teams and athletics lives. Before starting TeamPages, we have all been involved with various successful start-ups and other venture backed companies. Together, we have a combination of over 21 years of business and web development experience.

What does your website do?

TeamPages provides amateur sport teams with simple and easy to use websites to post team information and send updates all in one place.  All websites can easily be created in less than 4 minutes with just a few clicks. We believe coaches and managers are stretched for time, spending too much time emailing, updating, and returning messages.  TeamPages solves this problem by providing tools tailored to improve communication between coaches, parents and players by updating the team in real time and ensuring the information only be communicated once.

How do you generate revenue? If through ads, what ad network do you use?

Currently, TeamPages earns revenue from advertising. To date, we have only been using Google Adsense. This fall we will be opening up the doors to local and national advertisers and we will also be launching our new premium service.

How have your marketed your site?

We are constantly out at conference, local sporting events, and on the phone talking to as many coaches as possible.  However, I would say most of our growth has come from coaches who are using TeamPages talking to other coaches about our service.

Funding: Self funded, Angel Investment, or Venture Capital?

At TeamPages, we’ve been through all three stages. We started off in 2006 by winning a student business plan competition which provided us with $10,000 to start up. From there we bootstrapped out of my one bedroom apartment, lived off of kraft dinner and canned soup, and raised a friends and family round over Christmas (instead of presents we received investments from our parents and friends). In September 2007, we placed 2nd in the New Ventures BC Competition and won $25,000 in cash. And in October of 2007, we raised our first round from Burda Digital Ventures and local Angels, and were finally able to move out of my one bedroom apartment (by which point we had 7 people working out of).

Are You currently looking for funding?

We are currently exploring various partnership opportunities and private equity, however it is not an immediate need for our business to grow.

What type(s) of technology do you use?

Ruby on Rails, AJAX, javascript, Mongrel, Amazon S3

What is your favorite feature on your website?

Our favorite features of TeamPages are the ability to post all of your teams information onto one simple and easy to use team website and that any time you make a change to the schedule or website everyone on your team will receive an email update.

Any Bold Predictions for Sports and Technology in the future?

We feel that within 2 years from now everyone involved with amateur sports (coaches, parents, players, and fans, like grandma and grandpa), will be able to get all their updates about their team such as schedule changes, scores, and stats in real time.

RotoHog

Website:  RotoHog

Interview With:  Chris Austin, Director of Marketing

Is their more than one founder? If so, who are they?

Yes, David Wu and Kent Smetters are co-founders of our site and the unique stock exchange platform that most of our games are based on. David and Kent met as student and teacher at Wharton. There’s actually an interesting story about it at http://www.rotohog.com/web/guest/content?id=NEWS_16 from Entrepreneur Magazine.

What is your background and qualifications?

I spent 12 years in the agency world as a Creative Director, Writer and Business Development person before moving into the fantasy sports industry. It helps to be a big sports fan and love what you do. Between advertising agencies and now fantasy sports, I’ve never really worked a day in my life. I get paid to get people to play games. Not a bad way to make a living.

What does your website do?

We offer fantasy sports in baseball and football as well power fantasy games for NBA.com and several other major brands and sports leagues around the globe. We’ve also significantly expanded the content and community side recently at RotoHog.com. More sports will come online in the coming months too as we ramp up NASCAR, soccer and more.

How do you generate revenue? If through ads, what ad network do you use?

Through advertising and development fees. We are currently partnered with the Fantasy Players Network.

Does your experience with ad agencies allow you to close more advertising deals or do you pretty much deal with Fantasy Players Network Exclusively?

We take display advertising for our site exclusively from Fantasy Players Network. We have developed numerous relationships with brands via agency connections for unique sponsorships. Those should start to be prevalent on our site in ’09.

How have your marketed your site?

A lot of different ways. We’ve done everything from the offbeat (tigersapple.com) to the traditional (Fantasy Draft mags). Gone are the days when a few channels brought the masses in. We have to open up hundreds of channels to build the user base we want. Lots of trickles versus one big stream.

Funding: Self funded, Angel Investment, or Venture Capital?

VC- Allen & Company, DFJ Dragon, Mission Ventures and Sports Capital Partners.

Are You currently looking for funding?

We raised a Series A of $10M

What type(s) of technology do you use?

I just leave that to the tech guys. I do know we have a universal platform that operates our brand and scales for major media partners and leagues.

What is your favorite feature on your website?

The Stock Exchange Fantasy Football game. It’s really unique, it’s free and you can win a lot of cool stuff, but I just think it’s a lot of fun.

Any Bold Predictions for Sports and Technology in the future?

I think we will see the continued convergence of sports and content to all screens – mobile, TV, web, etc. – and see fantasy sports games better integrate across all of those, and even unite them. I think you’re seeing that now with the Fantasy Football related features in the new Madden game, and that’s just baby steps of what is to come. I know all the fantasy sports groups are working to put new games in new places. Should be a very interesting go at things over the next few years.

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Score OS: Open Source Fantasy Football Management System
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Fantasy Sports Update
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eFans

The new eFans, a revolutionary social network for sports fans, is positioned to become the website of choice for virtually anyone who has an interest in athletics.  It will combine all the features of sports and education sites for any notable sport, starting with the Olympic sports.

Stephen Maric who we previously interviewed states, “The new version of eFans will include many new exciting features that will change the way sports fans connect on the Internet. The new release will have new modules that unite the fans that have the same favorite athlete or team. We will launch new functionality in phases so users can grow the site to be what they want it to be.”

A Global Sports Social Network is a great idea in mind but it really needs mass adoption to work effectively.  Good luck to Stephen and his time over at eFans.

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ShowcaseU

Website: ShowcaseU

Interview With: Chad Durbin, Major League Pitcher for Philadelphia Phillies

Is their there more then one founder? If so, who are they?

Jake Chapman 
 
What is your background and qualifications?

13 years of professional baseball and an entreprenurial spirit.  

What does your website do? 

In a nutshell, ShowcaseU.com provides student athletes and their families a powerful, do-it-yourself solution for college recruiting.  In the age of the internet, there is no longer a need, if there ever was, to pay thousands of dollars for recruiting services when you can confidently do-it-yourself at ShowcaseU.com.  We encourage families to build their own relationships. We proudly equip them with the tools and the information to accomplish this.
 
Do you think being a Professional Athlete gives you an edge on launching this site?

I’d like to think it does.  It may open more doors for Showcase U, but the reality is that it’s all about drawing from our team’s personal recruiting experiences and delivering solutions that are valuable to people.  We want families and coaches to look to Showcase U as a trusted, reliable source, so whether it’s because I’m a professional athlete, or because we have earned their trust by doing things the right way…I am happy either way.   It is easy to be informed and passionate about something if you already have been through the experience.   We’ve been there, we know. 
 
How do you generate revenue? If through ads, what ad network do you use?

• Minimal fee for subscriptions – we want to make this great resource affordable for everyone. We may add additional tiered subscription levels in the future.
• Recruiting video combines – (if you want to run, throw and hit…we’ll validate your skills and capture it on video)
• Since we are at the end of our Beta stage, we will be adopting an advertising/sponsorship model that we ultimately expect to be our main source of revenue over time.  The ad networks available all have unique features and there is a merging of some as well going on right now in the marketplace. We’re assessing the market and will make some selections as we go forward. It’s possible that a blended approach may suit our needs.
   

How have your marketed your site?

We are developing strategic partnerships with facilities, private instructors, travel teams and businesses in the private sector that currently service this 14-18 yr-old demographic.  While still in our BETA phase, we have opted to be diligent with our grass roots campaign and invest time in quality conversations and relationship building with people who get asked every day where to go for recruiting solutions.  But it’s more than just conversation – it’s the crucial value exchange.  ShowcaseU.com is an amateur sports relationship hub. Sharing access to a common group with a common purpose is a win-win for everyone. Showcase U is proud to say these conversations have gone very well and we continue to gather some wonderful allies all over the country. We also have built the website with optimal SEO (search engine optimization) in mind so that people will be more likely to find ShowcaseU.com as they are searching for information and resources to help in their recruiting efforts. The site has bloggers that are experts in areas like nutrition, academics, strength training, recruiting, and I write a blog as well. ShowcaseU.com also has forums for people to get answers, share their own experiences, learn about events in their area, share tips on training, etc. All of this content makes the website more search engine friendly.
 
Funding: Self funded, Angel Investment, or Venture Capital?

Self funded
 
Are you currently looking for funding?

Perhaps as we launch our Phase 2 objectives, we’ll seriously consider it.  Right now, no.
 
What type(s) of technology do you use?

The website is built on a .net platform, with a foundation that allows for modules to be added as we grow and identify functionality that will be of value to the student athletes and their families. Our customers will tell us what they want and need, so we have a site that is prepared to adapt and be built upon to give the greatest value. We take advantage of the power of the internet in our internal company communications, using Skype to communicate by voice and Instant Messaging, and Google Apps to share and collaborate on written documents in real time. Since I’m on the road so much during the baseball season these are terrific tools for us. And of course, using my Blackberry smartphone to access email and send quick text messages while away from a computer is extremely valuable.

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Prep Champs

Website: MoonDog Sports

Interview With: Fred Vannucci

When did you start your blog?

I began blogging in late October posting at Fox Sports Blogs. I got my current site off the ground on January 13 of this year.

What made you start it?

I read several blogs regarding college football and felt some of the opinions being expressed were off-base. Having played football I believed I could offer an insight into the game. Beyond that, I viewed blogging as I would any hobby.

What is your background?

After six years in the military, I went back to school and completed my degree. I’ve been in the transportation industry for nearly 16 years and I currently have my own business which I run from home.

Do you blog for fun or are you trying to make it a career? What is your goal with this blog?

I do blog for the sheer enjoyment of it but transportation will always be primary focus. However, the site has done well and I see the potential for it becoming one of the most viewed sports blogs on the Internet. Ultimately, that’s what I want this site to be – THE destination for readers that want a mix of sports, politics, social views, opinion, analysis and of course, half-naked chicks. You’ve got to have half-naked chicks.

What was your tipping point? What put you on the map? (if you bring in more the 5,000 uniques a month)

Several of the large blog sites (Losers with Socks, Epic Carnival, Awful Announcing) have linked to many of my posts. Sites like SI and Real Clear Sports have linked to a few of my articles as well. Ball Hype has been a great source for bringing attention to my content. I visited a ton of sites and began to post comments, especially those that were similar to my site. Eventually you begin to build relationships and share information.

But the most important aspect of growing my site is writing – not just any writing but writing well-researched, thought-provoking content. I stay true to myself and make every effort to provide the reader with an honest and insightful opinion.

What type of blogging software do you use?

WordPress.

What ad network(s) do you use?

Adify, Google AdSense. I’ve negotiated independent ad sales recently too. At some point I’d like to eliminate Adify and Google and run ads that are exclusively negotiated between me and an advertiser.

How much money do you make off your site monthly?

Without getting into specifics, I generate more in one month than it costs me to run the site annually.

If you could get something for free to help you out with your blog, what would it be? (Ex: design, marketing, ad optimization, etc)

SEO. I’m not embarrassed to admit that meta tags, keywords, robots, etc. aren’t my forte. I scour through my Google Webmaster Tools and do the best I can with it, but I know it could be much better.

What are some of your favorite blogs?

Losers with Socks, Gate 21, Fulmer’s Belly, Epic Carnival, Awful Announcing, Your Mother Slept with Wilt Chamberlain, Crash Burn Alley, Picture Me Rollin’, The Nasty Boys, Mean Dovine, Football News From a Chick, NESW Sports. Look, if you’re in my blog roll, you’re one of my favorites. Check out my site’s blog roll for links to all of my friends.

Any bold predictions for the future of sports on the internet?

You can see the future of the sports-related blogosphere today. You’ve got sites dedicated to a particular team or sport. There are sites that post a lot of content everyday on a variety of subjects. You’ve got the bigger sites that have multiple writers and small sites like mine that are a one-man show. Each niche has a place in the sports blogosphere, with each site independently identifying what segment they choose to position themselves.

Over the next 10 years or so, you’ll see a continued decline of newspaper and magazine subscriptions. I base that on current data but also the generation proceeding me will begin to pass into history. That generation was raised with limited options. The younger generations that have used the Internet almost exclusively for its intended purpose will expand and thus, the need for immediate access to information will bolster those of us that have established a foothold in the blogosphere.

BallHype and ShowHype have been acquired by Future US. Future US is a leading publisher of special-interest magazines and websites and one of the fastest-growing media companies in the US.  With market-leading publications in the Games, Music, Technology, Action Sports and men’s and women’s special-interest markets.  Well, it looks like they are getting into the sports business now.  With their advertising contacts we wouldn’t be suprised if they make back their money on this investment in a few years.

You can read the info about their sale at a post on Ballhype.  The actual amount of money for the purchase was not realeased but TechCrunch’s great sources provided the 3 million dollar price tag.  Congratulations to Erin and Jason.  They deserve it.  Though we think if they waited another year, that price tag may have been 10 million.  We know they have a child to support so I am sure that selling now had something to do with it.  Erin and Jason will both continue to run BallHype and will be apart of Future US.

The hits just keep coming for Bleacher Report.  They sure have some great deal makers over there.  Right now they are finalizing a deal with CBSSports.  Dave Nemetz and his team are doing a great job.  I guess their 1 million unique visitors in June gives them the leverage they need to do deals. 

There isn’t any word yet on how the deal will work but you can see a logo on the bottom right of their web page.  One can only imagine that it will work much like the Fox Sports Deal where Fox Sports editors are allowed to pull content from the Bleacher Report site and post it in full and link back to Bleacher Report.

From the people who brough you baseball-reference.com, they now bring you the most comprehensive Olympics reference site on-line.  The site provides information for every athlete, country, sport, and event in Olympic history, all packaged in Sports Reference’s easy-to-use format.

Olympics at Sports-Reference.com was created out of a partnership with Bill Mallon, Jeroen Heijmans, and Arild Gjerde, all members of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH), who have a combined 120 years of Olympic research experience. They lead a group of Olympic researchers who call themselves the OlyMADMen, reflecting their devotion to the task. Mallon, Past-President and Co-Founder of ISOH, noted, “We are very excited to partner with Sports Reference. Anyone who has seen their other websites on baseball, football, basketball, and hockey, realizes that they have the premier sports statistical sites. When we first started talking, we quickly realized we were kindred spirits, and know that together we can bring the same level of statistical expertise to the Olympics.”

Website: KCChiefsFootball

Interview With: Josh Knox

When did you start your blog?

I started www.kcchiefsfootball.com on June 12, 2008

What made you start it?

I have been a fan of the Chiefs my entire life and a friend got me more into blogging, so it just seemed like a natural fit.

What is your background?

I am 24 years old and one year out of college with a degree in Computer Information Science. I have a wife and two dogs. I have been a Kansas City Chiefs fan since I was little and used to watch the games with my Dad.

Do you blog for fun or are you trying to make it a career?

Right now is for fun but if kcchiefsfootball.com takes off then I wouldn’t have a problem doing something I love as a career.

What is your goal with this blog?

My goal with this blog is to have a place for fans of the Kansas City Chiefs to come and learn and share about their team. I would like it to be a somewhat open forum for discussion and a place where there is no hidden agenda. I will express my opinions but I will not push them as fact., that way readers can form their own opinions without being told what to think, as many other news sources do.
A separate goal would also be to eventually make a little money on the side to help support me and my family.

What type of blogging software do you use?

I am currently using the Wordpress blogging platform (version 2.5.1 I believe) and I have found Wordpress to be awesome so far, you can tell they put a lot of work into the product and with so many plug-ins you can do almost anything you desire.

What ad network(s) do you use?

The only thing I am currently using is Google Adsense. I am still trying to build and focus more on the content at this point.. I will worry about more ads and as networks when the time comes.

How much money do you make off your site monthly?

So far I have not made much at all but that should pick up when I try to monetize the site more.

If you could get something for free to help you out with your blog, what would it be? (Ex: design, marketing, ad optimization, etc)

I would probably say marketing/promotion and it would be really cool to get an interview of my own with a big name Chief.

What are some of your favorite blogs?

ArrowheadPride.com and ArrowheadAddict.com are two blogs that I really look up to. And Chris from ArrowheadPride has been a great help to me so far. Thanks Chris.

Any bold predictions for the future of sports on the internet?

Sports on the internet are HUGE and I don’t see that slowing down anytime soon. Sports tend to stay on the leading edge of technology and I for one love it. So I guess my only real prediction is that sports on the internet will continue to grow at an unbelievable rate.