Crisis Management, Horse Racing, Media Post, NBA teams, New York Times, Tennis

Classics Changin With the Times…Tennis Mag and The Sporting News

Two hallmark publications recently announced changes in either staff or format that will look to invigorate a pair of the  keystone brands in sports publishing through a big digital play.  First last week, digital authority Dave Morgan, founder of TACODA and Real Media, announced that he was taking over as  chairman and partner in the Tennis Company, owner of Tennis.com, Tennis Magazine and SMASH.  Morgan talked extensively about the move and his vision in his online spin blog, detailing what he sees as the digital place for a sport which (outside of the IBM work with the Grand Slam events) has lagged behind most sports in effectively using online promotion to grow to both the casual pro fan and the grassroots player.  Then today came the lengthy New York Times piece by Douglas Quenqua on the Sporting News summer re-launch, with a big digital play pointed at the hard core and casual fan.  In both instances, longstanding, somewhat staid but very visible publications in sports are embracing the digital space to activate with both current fans and to find new ones, and will try to use the power of the traditional names to lure new dollars with a digital play.  It is a very smart move for both brands to make the push into the space and try to grab some of the digital audience.  Whether it will hold market share on the print side and drive traffic to their sites…as publications like the New York Times, Sports Illustrated and ESPN Magazine have done well recently…remains to be seen.  But new and fresh, in the same breath as “well written” (especially longform pieces) are concepts which may be able to bring the best of both worlds to a pair of name brands that deserve to both stay and grow with sports fans.

Some other reads…also in the digital space, a must read should be the Variety piece from yesterday about online content pioneers NeuLion and JumpTV combining forces.  NeuLion did a phenominal job in creating platforms for groups like the NHL to effectively take advantage of the digital space in a cost-efficient manner, and combining with Jump will create an economy of scale for the marketplace to now grow effectively….with the NBA Finals continuing on, check out the solid partnership the NBA has formed with evite to get the great “double faced” ads that have gotten such traction a nice connection for fan use… and the fallout from Saturday’s Big Brown disappointment continued today, with trainer and jockey going back and forth over blame for the horse’s finish in the race…the spectacle of Big Brown’s run was marred by the lack of cohesion amongst the humans working with him, all looking to grab the spotlight…owner, trainer and jockey…and is another example of how speaking with one voice and a clear message is as important, if not more, during times of crisis.