According to The Sports Dollar Yardbarker has partnered with Fox Sports.  The Partnership will allow Fox Sports to pull sports content from Yardbarker.

This a great move by Fox Sports as they will be able to get a ton of new content at bargain prices.  Bloggers will just be happy to get linked up by a major network.  It will be interesting to see if some other major networks follow suit.  Fox Sports also has a deal with Bleacher Report as well.

Website: Stet Sports

Interview With: Jarrett Carter

When did you start your blog?

Formally known as Scott Van Pelt Style, my blog was started back in July of 2007.

What made you start it?

As a journalist and avid sports fan, I noticed two things about sports blogging that were becoming more apparent everyday. 1) It is the new primary medium of information gathering for sports fans 2) There is a distinct disparity of well know minority sports bloggers.

What is your background?

I am a published freelance journalist, a public relations practitioner, and aspiring author. I am a graduate of Morgan State University, Maryland’s largest historically black college, and have written for the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, and Upscale Magazine.

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

My professional interest is to become a full-time blogger. Right now, my day job makes it extremely hard to post more than 1-3 times daily, with the the proper funding, and a 6-8 month window, I can make the four blogs I operate among the most popular and economically viable on the Internet.

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

I am usually linked twice a month by sites like The Big Lead, Deadspin, and the D.C. Sports Bog. I have also been spotlighted twice on Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard, ESPN.com’s Hashmarks, and the NCAA’s official blog, the Double-A Zone.

Avoiding profanity, customary photos of naked chicks and celebrities with bongs might be a detractor for me, but I believe my humor and writing ability make me entertaining and informative destination for all types of sports fans.

What type of blogging software do you use?

I recently switched over from Blogspot to Typepad, and I find the Typepad platform a lot easier to manage and a tremendous help for Search Engine Optimization.

What ad network(s) do you use?

Google Adsense, and Yardbarker’s Affiliate program with Adify.

How much money do you make off your site monthly?

On a good month, approximately 20-30 dollars. Normally, between $10-15.

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

It would have to be venture capital. I believe that one year with my mortgage paid and my wife happy would make me a blogging millionaire.

What are some of your favorite blogs? 

As a native of the Washington-Metropolitan area, I regularly check the D.C. Sports Bog, Mister Irrelevant, TruthAboutIt.Net, and Deuce of Davenport. I also enjoy Larry Brown Sports, Deadspin, and Cousins of Ron Mexico.

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

The bold prediction anyone could have imagined is already happening. Blogs have revealed themselves to be the Holy Grail of sports and entertainment news and gossip. The rest is history.

Here are a few of Jarrett’s other websites as well:

www.hbcusportsblog.com
www.jarrett-carter.com
www.60daystoheaven.com
www.cartermediaenterprises.com

Over at Juiced Sport Blog Mitchell Blatt has created a list of the 100 most Valuable Sports Blogs using the website dnscoop.  Its a pretty solid list of the top blogs but there seems to be a few major blogs left off like MLB Trade Rumors.  We are glad we found it because there are some blogs we are missing out with when we come out with our monthly Top 25 Sports Blogs.  

We don’t really believe any of the values though as most of those blogs could never sell for their listed price.  We are sure Nick Denton at Gawker media would sell Deadspin for 16 million in a second if someone offered him that.  Many bloggers have added comments in the post saying they are willing to listen to any offers.

Its too bad that we don’t get to find out the prices for a site like True Hoop so we can actually gage what sports blogs are worth.  I would bet that Henry Abbott is looking at the list thinking those numbers are way off because he probably didn’t get that kind of money though he probably gets a solid salary.

Website: NE Patriots Draft

Interview With: James Christensen

When did you start your blog?

March 2008

What made you start it?

We were interested in the NFL Draft, and no site was focusing enough the Patriots Draft and Salary Cap situation.

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

We write and promote as a challenge to see how good we can be.

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

We get about 8-10k uniques per month, and most of that is due to being featured in SI, on The Big Lead, and the HailRedskins Mock Draft Database.  Winning 4th in the Huddle Report Mock Draft challenge was also nice.

What type of blogging software do you use?  

What ad network(s) do you use?

Adify is where we get most of our ads served by, through the Yardbarker network.

How much money do you make off your site monthly?

We make around $300 month revenue each month.

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

Photoshop please.

What are some of your favorite blogs?

The Sports Dollar, Sports Blog Earnings, World of Isaac, and Sports By Brooks are all favorites of NE Patriots Draft.

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

We see the continued rise of niche content sites over behemoths like ESPN.

Website: Docksquad Sports

Interview with: Vikas Chokshi

When did you start your blog?

July 07

What made you start it?

I started my blog just because I loved sports so much, and I wanted to have a place to keep my thoughts, and have others chime in on the Sports topics that made me tick.

What is your background?

An IT major in college, currently working in Downtown Chicago.

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

A little of both. I would love to blog full time if possible, or to get picked up by a bigger website.

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

I think when my Derrick Rose post got posted by True Hoop, Deadspin, SI Extra Mustard, and The Big Lead. I got around 10,000 hits in a week.

What type of blogging software do you use?

I use blogger, and now a google domain.

How much money do you make off your site monthly?

Not much, about 50 bucks a month.

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 love to get some optimization tips if possible.

What are some of your favorite blogs?

I love True Hoop, SI’s Extra Mustard, Deadspin, the Ball Don’t Lie, and The Big Lead, as some of my favorites.

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

Sports Bloggers will be just as important as Sports Writers in the future.

Website:  MVN

Name:  Evan Brunell

When did you launch MVN?

MVN was originally launched December 31, 2003. It was not put together as a company until March 2004, however.

What made you launch it?

MVN in it’s original form was simply a blog about the Red Sox and Pirates linked to each other. We had the idea to get someone covering every baseball team and link to each other under the same house with a similar design. It was a concept that we quite literally stumbled on to and have been concentrating on making it a business since.

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

The founder of the idea was myself and Frank Palmieri, a friend from Pittsburgh. The founders of the company were myself and Dave Cohen, a former partner who works for IBM. Cohen sold his share in the company last year to my father.

What is your background and qualifications?

I am currently finishing up a degree in journalism and a minor in business administration at Northeastern University. I have worked at the Red Sox Foundation, Northeastern Marketing and Communications, ESPN Radio Boston and currently am at The Patriot Ledger. I am curious about the advent of new media and am dedicated to making MVN the best independent sports media company it can be. MVN was a site that was originally designed as a hobby and has grown into much more.

What does your website do?

From MVN’s About Us page:

“MVN is an independent sports media company relying on the volunteered time of people to “blog,” or write on the internet, about their favorite sports team or any derivation thereof. MVN also has a podcast network, which can be thought of as blogging, except in voice form. MVN continues to aggressively explore what a sports blog network can do on the internet, and prides itself on being the first and largest sports blog network on the internet. With such a distinction comes awesome responsibility, and while other networks have sprung up, MVN continues to pave the way and will continue to pave the way during this exciting time in history, where “convergence journalism” is becoming the preferred media.”

Basically, we give a voice to bloggers to blog about their favorite team.

This summer, MVN.com will be re-launched in an effort to better serve the needs of sports fans. Focusing on producing a higher quantity and stronger quality of content in addition to implementing a more sophisticated publishing platform, the Most Valuable Network intends to set itself apart from other online destinations. Continuing to develop a strong sense of community between readers and writers is a top priority.

How do you generate revenue? If through ads, what ad network do you use?  Have you contacted advertisers directly instead of going with ad networks?

We primarily generate revenue through our ad network, Fantasy Sports Ventures which takes on a bit of a bigger role than a typical ad network. We are very pleased to be part of the FSV network. We also work with the smaller-market advertisers directly, such as ticket brokers, to place links on the pages.

How have your marketed your site?

Right now, since we are self-funded and in a family business, we do not have much capital and rely on word of mouth for marketing. We plan on changing that this coming year and getting MVN the traffic it truly deserves. Everyone who visits MVN always talks about how much they like MVN and what it offers; we just need to get more people to see it for themselves.

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

MVN is currently self-funded. My father invests for any overhead, but for the most part, MVN’s ad revenue currently covers all costs. Last year, we were able to turn a profit which will help as the new platform for MVN will be costly. We are exploring people investing into the company.

Are You currently looking for funding?

Yes, we are starting to look for additional ways to create revenue so we can pour it into the company to realize additional profit coming back. We are open to angel investments or venture capitalism.
What type(s) of technology do you use?

Our platform is currently Wordpress MU, and we also have RSS, podcast, video and other technology available.

What is your favorite feature on your website?

The fact that we bring local team coverage to a national scale. It’s what we’ve always built around and what we always will.

Any Bold Predictions for Sports and Technology in the future?

Sports has exploded in popularity thanks to the Internet and technology. Now, not only is it easier to follow your favorite team, you can follow all teams and know anything you want. In addition, the technological advances (such as the yellow first down line) has made watching sports so much more fun as well. And the scary thing is that we’re still figuring out this technology gizmodo. Imagine what happens when we finally do.

Website: Gate 21

Interview With: Matt

When did you start your blog?

November 2007

What made you start it?

Just wanted a creative way to participate in the sports discussion and found blogging to be the easiest method to do this which allowed me the flexibility to say what I want, when I want without having to worry about being filtered or having to fit my thoughts into a model developed by others. Also really enjoy the graphic arts side of the web, and added that as a sub-part of my blog.

What is your background?

Tennessee Alum and season ticket holder, a practicing attorney by trade.

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

As much as I would love to make some money from blogging, I haven’t. Be that as it may, my primary goal is to do it for fun — it is a creative outlet which is as fun as it is challenging.

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

Not yet to the 5,000 uniques a month status. I focus on my message (a/k/a original written and graphic content) and though it has slowed my growth a bit, I have tried to avoid simply using gratuitous pictures of scantily clad women to draw hits — there are a few on my site occasionally, but it isn’t a regular thing. My most popular attraction is my Tennessee Home for the Visually Offensive, which is a collection of photoshopped/farked photos related to sports.

What type of blogging software do you use?

Wordpress 2.3.3 (self-hosted); PhotoPlus 11, Inkscape, and Post2Blog.

What ad network(s) do you use?

Currently use Adify (YardBarker Network), Commission Junction, and a few direct affiliations. May be switching to Adify exclusively due to better payment structure.

How much money do you make off your site monthly?

A few dollars, never more than $ 5.00

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

Advertising Optimization, I suppose. Graphically I am happy with it — I do all my own graphics, mainly would just like to get more traffic.

What are some of your favorite blogs?

Loser With Socks, Rocky Top Talk, Everyday Should Be Saturday, Brahsome, Busted Coverage, Your Mother Slept With Wilt Chamberlain, 3rd Saturday in Blogtober, Deadspin, Hugging Harold Reynolds, Fulmer’s Belly, Get the Picture, etc.

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

The internet is just going to continue to grow as a medium for sports coverage and expression. I imagine that the primary mode of delivery of live content will eventually be Internet-based. The real question is whose content will win — the marketplace of ideas is becoming more and more crowded, with less and less real difference in some areas. In the end, however, as is the case with all blogging, content sells.

Website: Dan’s Take 

Interview With: Dan McGowan

When did you start your blog?

November 2005.   My first post was about the 7th Floor Crew at Miami.  Their song is still my ring tone.

What made you start it?

I wanted to be Bill Simmons and I had this crazy idea that I would be the first to copy him.  I had no idea what a blog was and I still feel like it’s not something I tell women I meet in bars about.

What is your background?

I’m a college student (comm major) that really enjoys journalism and public relations.  I work for a nonprofit organization dedicated to making a difference in the lives of children through in-school and after-school programming, so I’m quite passionate about that.  For a while I thought becoming a professional poker player could be fun, but I like my chances in craps and casino war better.

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

I’d like to eventually be a writer somewhere, but I certainly don’t want to make Dan’s Take a career.  My goal is to produce quality content and make a little money to pay rent and keep the ladies smiling.

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

I probably haven’t really had one yet, although Deadspin, The Big Lead and Can’t Stop the Bleeding have linked to my site, which resulted in a lot of hits.

What type of blogging software do you use?

Blogger

What ad network(s) do you use?

AdSense, but I mainly find my own advertisers.

How much money do you make off your site monthly?

It varies depending on the month, but anywhere between $500-1500.  The two greatest things I’ve learned when it comes to marketing: 1) Everyone has an advertising budget, so why not ask everyone for money?  2) The Olympic/Nascar Model – Find a sponsor for everything.  Do you know that hosting the Olympics was so expensive that it almost bankrupted the entire city of Montreal?  Then the Olympics found major sponsors for everything and they are profitable today.

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

Design probably.

What are some of your favorite blogs?

The Big Lead and Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Blog? are the most interesting.  I get my baseball news from Baseball Musings, football from Pro Football Talk and basketball from True Hoop.  I read a lot at BlogCritics, Sox & Dawgs and the Futon Report.

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

I think the theory that bloggers are taking over the world is a little silly.  The average sports fan is still reading newspapers and getting all their info from ESPN, and truthfully so are the bloggers.  With the exception of the rare few that break stories, most are just linking to stories you can find on the front page of ESPN’s website.  Almost all newspapers are already online, but I think they’ll still continue to be in print for a long time – I mean people need to read something if they take the train to work, right?

Website: Cuzoogle

Interview With: Michael Cusden

When did you start your blog?

Cuzoogle originally started in 2006 and have had many face lifts and hosts. It was on msn, then moved to the free wordpress host and as of this year it is on it’s own host.

What made you start it?

Needed a creative outlet and a good way for my friends and family to keep up with me when I moved to the East coast of Canada. It has evolved into and site where I mostly discuss my favourite team, the Raptors.

What is your background?

Canadian, parents are Brits.

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

Mostly for fun but it is slowly turning into a career.

What is your goal with this blog?

To keep up to date with marketing trends, improve my writing and grow the blog into something that brings in some money on the side.

What was your tipping point?

Last year some random post I did made it on the front page of Fark and my site exploded, 10k unique hits in one day.

What put you on the map?

The blog has made SI.com’s extra mustard twice and got on the front page of Fark once.

What type of blogging software do you use?

Wordpress

What ad network(s) do you use?

google, kontera, bidvertise, entrecard

How much money do you make off your site monthly?

200$ average

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

A personalized template

What are some of your favorite blogs?

The Arsenalist, Brahsome, Busted Coverage, Joe Tech, The Dinosity.

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

It can only get better.

Take us through your time line of early Mister Irrelevant, AOL, the relaunch of Mister Irrelevant, The Blog Show, and finally Yahoo:

At the time I started Mr. Irrelevant (March ‘04), I was a Community Manager for AOL Sports and a bunch of other AOL verticals, as they were called: Games, News, Personal Finances, Autos, etc. Mr. Irrelevant beget Pigskins Bloggers which beget Sports Bloggers Live which beget FanHouse. I think it was FanHouse that ultimately caught the attention of Yahoo! Sports, and I was hired there in October. Somewhere along the line, we started doing Blog Show on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic as well, probably due to my experience hosting Sports Bloggers Live and love affair with Dan Steinberg.

What is your favorite part about being a blogger and a blog editor?

I love sports, and I love media. Always have, always will. But the part about working in a medium that’s new and emerging and uncertain makes it all the better. And I really love the instant gratification. I’m kind of addled by it, actually.

Did you know you always wanted to write about sports?

Yeah, I think so, though I’ve never been particularly good at it. I just like being involved with sports. Playing them. Watching them. Going to games. Collecting stuff. Talking about them. Writing about them. And so on. Sports, generally speaking, have been my life pursuit.

What was it like to work for AOL? Were you pretty much on your own on? Was it easy to recruit bloggers for the Fanhouse? How were they paid?

Yeah, I had a lot of autonomy and was granted the approval to go my own way. I’ll always be thankful for that. As far as recruiting bloggers … it was kind of a mixed bag. Some bloggers were amenable to what generally equated to being paid side-gig money for their work. And others just didn’t have the time or inclination for that. Overall, I was grateful for and proud of the quality of the writers under that roof.

How long did it take Yahoo to recruit you?

Given what Yahoo! Sports has accomplished and the opportunity that was on the table … not very long.

Yahoo CEO, Jerry Yang, seems to be very bullish on the future of Yahoo Sports and we assume you will be a big part of that. Have you gotten a chance to meet him yet or at least talk to him on the phone or email?

I have not, but, uh, I’d imagine he’s been a bit busy lately what with all this Microsoft business.

Not much has come about with you moving over to Yahoo yet. You must be working on a big project. Can you elaborate on it at all?

We’ve actually been doing things, I swear. In simple terms, Yahoo! Sports is monkeying the Gawker Media approach and applying it to sports, with each sport having its own blog and each blog having its own editor and various contributors. The goal being that we establish the Deadspin of the NFL, the Deadspin of the NHL, the Deadspin of MMA, etc., and offer them up not just to the web at-large, but to the 20 million people already using Yahoo! Sports every month. That said, the content won’t necessarily be Deadspin or Gawker-esque, it’s just that the setup will be, and, eventually, all sites merge into one to form the YSB (extremely creative working title; stands for Yahoo! Sports Blog).

There’s more to The Plan than that, and there’s a lot happening behind the scenes and on the periphery to bring it all back home, but here’s what Yahoo already has front-and-center for mass consumption:

Ball Don’t Lie (NBA blog edited by J.E. Skeets): http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/nba_experts

Shutdown Corner (NFL blog edited by MJD): http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/nfl_experts

Big League Stew (MLB blog edited by Kevin Kaduk): http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/mlb_experts

What are some of your favorite blogs right now? What is one new blog that has caught your eye as up and coming?

My bloglines are always open: http://www.bloglines.com/public/jamiemottram

As a D.C. sports fan, my No. 1 must-read is probably the D.C. Sports Bog. No. 2 would be anything my brother writes on Mr. Irrelevant. Another couple that are a bit under-the-radar: Capitol Punishment and Chris’ Sports Blog, both of which have been around but seem a bit under-read. Those guys can really write.

Any advice for a young blogger looking to move up the ladder and work for an sports media organization someday?

Get yourself connected, and treat every post like a tryout.

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

Sure, it’s moving online. All of it.

STN’s Take:

Jamie is living proof that working hard and networking can get you to the top of the blog world pretty quickly. He has recruited some quality bloggers and they have started 3 new blogs. We liked what we were reading over there but at this point we find it hard to believe that Yahoo can justify paying Jamie, blog editors for each site, and contributors in the long run with sport general blogs. The Gawker Media approach works because each website creates its own community and their blogs can really post whatever they want. Yahoo will be much more strict in what they allow on their blogs. Could you imagine seeing a Chris Berman Video posted on Yahoo, we couldn’t. Jamie says they have more in the works so hopefully he has some tricks up his sleeve in the future. Maybe he can figure out a way to do something different that no one has seen so far in blogging world on a major website.