Broken News - Fox Sports Must Improve Web Presence To Compete

The launch of Fox's 24/7 sports network, Fox Sports 1, is now less than a month out from its August 17th date.  Many experts believe that the new network will be the biggest competition that ESPN empire has ever faced.  Fox Sports 1 certainly has the financial backing and the upfront live sports rights to make a splash.  They have also been acquiring big name talent, especially some recognizable names to their direct competition to ESPN's Sportscenter in Fox Sports Live.

As much as Fox Sports 1 may be a viable competitor to ESPN, there is one glaring hole that Fox Sports will need to rework to become an even bigger threat.  Their website.


Powered MSN, foxsports.com's clear strength is their coverage of Major League Baseball.  With respected veterans Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi on the beat, Fox Sports is to keep their name in the news-breaking mix.  A close second is their NFL coverage with highly respected NFL insider, Jay Glazer, breaking the news (aka "Sources" if you only follow ESPN coverage).

But that's just about it... The rest of  Fox Sports' beat are covered by good journalists, but not names that you will be citing to your friends as the original news-breaker when you share your daily sports musings.  Being good is never a bad thing, but if the goal is to keep up with ESPN, coverage will need to improve.

Perhaps the most glaring area that will need improvement is with their national columnists and commentary.  ESPN has both Bill Simmons (with Grantland) and Rick Reilly heading this department.  As ESPNW continues to grow, more writers will have a chance to showcase their talent.  Grantland has an impressive list of contributors with names like Zach Lowe, Brian Philips, Andy Greenwald, and my personal favorite Charles Pierce.

Fox Sports has, er, Jason Whitlock.

We all know my thoughts on Whitlock, who if anything, may be the most polarizing writer in sports.  That's worth something right?

And let's not forget the leaps and bounds that ESPN has on all of the competition including Fox Sports in terms of original content, journalism, and just straight stranglehold on the complex sports media industry.  When a new opponent enters the ring, it can be easy to overplay their hype.  Fox Sports is promising.  But is has a damn high mountain to climb if it wants to be at ESPN's level.

For now, it seems that Fox Sports' focus is on the television side with Fox Sports 1 and the preliminary talks of a Fox Sports 2.  And that's fine.  Just remember that when to comes to taking down an empire, Fox Sports has a long way to go.

Follow Kevin Rossi on Twitter @kevin_rossi.

MLB All-Star Game Viewership

Tonight's MLB All-Star Game will determine which league has home field advantage for the World Series. Will this be enough of an intrigue for fans to watch? Major League Baseball sure hopes so. Mixed reactions are still felt today after the MLB decided that home field advantage would be determined via the All-Star Game starting in 2003 to make the game more competitive.

Many fans liked the idea because it was an incentive for players to "play harder." The plan was also devised to help the problem of declining television viewership. The plan initially worked in 2003. Although viewership did not rise from the previous year, it did stay the same. Major League Baseball was satisfied with this result but expected increases in the years to come.

The prevailing trend since the change when it comes to television viewership revolves around the quality of the game. If the game is interesting in score, more viewers have tuned in. Unfortunately for Major League Baseball, the 2012 All-Star Game was anything but a close game. The National League beat up on the American League 8-0. This lead to the lowest-rated and least-watched All-Star game since they started keeping track of television data.

Final Thought
Hopefully for Major League Baseball the game tonight is competitive. It is difficult to determine prior to the game how close it will be because the game features the best players in all of the sport. For the All-Star Game to be viewed more heavily, MLB had to be hoping for Yasiel Puig to be voted in by the fans. If he were to have been voted in, he would have been a major attraction to the game. It will be interesting to look at the television viewership for tonights game!

   @dmrosen7 

Dollars & Sense - A-Rod's Impact on Minor League Attendance

For a paper in one of my classes back in my freshman year of college, I sat down with the General Manager of the Trenton Thunder (NY Yankees Double-A affiliate), Will Smith, to talk about what it is like to be a GM at the minor league level.  Of course, one of the major points that I wanted to touch on was how to consistently put butts in the seats, which is the goal of any GM in sports but especially minor league baseball.  He went through the laundry list of business promotions, the focus on selling to groups, the whole nine yards.  But minor league baseball has a unique attendance draw that nobody else has.

Rehab assignments.

Now, he was clear that they do not ever root for a player to get hurt just so that there will be the inevitable rehab assignment.  But these assignments are such a huge draw.  Where else can you see major league stars play while sitting in a $10 seat in the first row?

Alex Rodriguez, the New York Yankees third baseman recovering from hip surgery, recently began a 20-day rehab assignment through the Yankees’ minor league system.  A-Rod’s presence was certainly felt, drawing huge crowds (Single-A speaking) out to the ballpark.

usatoday.com

The assignment began in Charleston, N.C. with the Riverdogs, the Yankees’ low-A affiliate.  According to Bleeding Yankee Blue, last year the Riverdogs averaged just under 3,800 fans per game.  Their stadium seating capacity is about 6,000.  On July 2^nd, the first game that A-Rod played in Charleston, an impressive 8,255 fans came out to Joseph P. Riley Park.  It was the second largest crowd on head at the park, just behind its opening day in 2007.  

After another night with the Single-A Riverdogs and another night above capacity, A-Rod made his way down I-95 (Hey, that’s us!) to play for the high-A Tampa Yankees. The night prior to A-Rod’s arrival, Tample had a crowd of about 1,500 fans.  The very next night with A-Rod in the lineup, the Tampa Yanks more than doubled the attendance with 3,148 fans in attendance.

As A-Rod moves his way up through the system, more of the Yankees’ farm system will feel the power of having a superstar major-leaguer on their field.  With likely stops in Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, A-Rod’s name will be a huge draw.  Eduardo Nunez recently finished a rehab game with Trenton on the Fourth of July and Derek Jeter has been in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for a few days.  

Although Thunder GM Will Smith said that they certainly do not root for players to get hurt, he certainly does not mind the extra faces in the stands. The Thunder are one of the more successful minor league franchises and even after a couple of days of fireworks and a retirement party for their long-time bat-dog, Chase, A-Rod’s presence will surely bring the best crowds of the season.  

 Follow Kevin Rossi on Twitter @kevin_rossi.

The Aftermath of the Bounty Scandal

Many people faced consequences after the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal was unravelled. Many agreed with the punishments because players may have been injured more than was necessary during games. Those who thought the punishments were too harsh typically noted that many teams around the league had similar programs intended to target certain players on other teams.

At the heart of the issue was then Saints defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams. Williams was accused setting up programs that rewarded players for targeting and hurting other players in the league. After Williams suspension was over, he was hired by the Tennessee Titans.

Williams now is facing potentially more issues stemming from the scandal. Former NFL player, Barrett Green is now suing Williams and the Redskins for ending his career prematurely. While Williams was serving as the defensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins in 2004, Barrett Green suffered a career-ending knee injury while playing for the Giants against the Redskins.

The curious part of the story is that Barrett Green was playing linebacker and was hurt by Redskins tight end Robert Royal. The lawsuit claimed that Royal had played some defense for Gregg Williams while with the Redskins. The lawsuit says that Royal "intentionally lowered his helmet and drove into Green's knee at full speed." Later in the complaint, the Redskins were accused of a bounty program when the complaint said, "Redskins coaches directed their players to disregard criminal and civil laws, as well as NFL rules, to intentionally injure opponents."

Final Thought
It will be very difficult for Barrett Green to have success with his lawsuit because of the lack of evidence. Although Gregg Williams was "convicted" by commissioner Roger Goodell, legal action outside of the league was not taken. For Green to be successful with his lawsuit, he would need to prove many aspects of the injury that are most likely unprovable. Although this lawsuit will most likely prove to be a failure, it is interesting to see how many more lawsuits come from the bounty scandal. If an injured player can prove they got hurt by Williams defense in New Orleans, it is a possibility that Gregg Williams could face some serious legal actions.

@dmrosen7