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Bleacher Report Sold to Turner Sports

August 6, 2012 by

The rich get richer as Turner Broadcasting Systems has purchased Bleacher Report, a six year old sports news web site in a deal that has been estimated at being valued between $170 million and $200 million according to Forbes. Bleacher Report was founded in 2006 by four friends, Bryan Goldberg, Dave Finocchio, Zander Freund and Dave Nemetz. Three are still at the company but Freund left in 2009.

Turner said that it will use Bleacher Report as an additional outlet for its sports programming including highlight videos and breaking news. Turner has a vast spread of sports content and this will enabled to expand the scope of fans that it can reach.

Looking at different analytic tools shows that the site gets approximately 10 million unique viewers a month, although the total number of visitors including repeat, is significantly higher. Combine that with the other Turner properties that include the web sites for the NBA, NCAA and the PGA as well as a relationship with NASCAR as well means more potential upside for Bleacher Report.

Forbes points out that the new viewers that the deal brings in will nicely replace an almost identical number that it lost when Sports Illustrated bolted for a new corporate parent to host its web pages. Bleacher Report is also attractive because of its reach to mobile device users; according to the company thanks to innovations like its Team Stream app (which aggregates sports content from all over, not just from B/R writers) it was getting more than 40 percent of its audience through a mobile connection, a number that has likely since grown.

The merging of print and broadcast media with on-line and digital is getting more common it seems. The recent announcement of the creation of Sports on Earth site by Major League Baseball Advanced Media and USA Today being a very recent example of this trend.

Filed Under: bleacherreport, Major League Baseball, Sports Illustrated, Turner Sports, USA Today Tagged With: ,

Friday Grab Bag: Samsung, Lenovo Tablets-Seattle bickers about stadium

August 3, 2012 by

We mentioned last week that there is now an ongoing attempt to build a new basketball arena in Seattle and then land a new team. From this article in the Seattle PI it looks like the Seattle City Council could be a roadblock.

While the county commissioners are expected to give approval to an $80 million contribution to the building, the city looks like it might want a better deal for the $120 million that it is being asked to throw in as well. The city wants better protection from financial fallout among other issues.

Microsoft wants broad patent licensing deal with Motorola
After winning cases at home and abroad regarding its patent portfolio Microsoft has said that it wants to sign a deal with Motorola that will end the legal disputes between the two companies. Microsoft already licenses its ActiveSync technology to others including Samsung and HTC, according to IT World.

However in the case of Motorola, Microsoft is looking for a more all-encompassing deal, one that will include not just a select few patents but rather a great deal of their respective portfolios in order to achieve what Microsoft calls “A solid foundation for patent peace.”

Larger tablets can be heavy

Samsung thinking big with next-gen tablet?
Kudos to the Verge for digging into all of the documents from the ongoing Apple vs. Samsung trial in San Jose, Calif. Among the nuggets it has mined is the revelation that Samsung has a 11.8-inch tablet on the drawing board.

Code named P10 it would have the equivalent of Apple’s retina display with a 2560 x 1600 resolution and among its other features is LTE connectivity.

Google investing in YouTube effort
It looks like Google is going to invest $200 million in marketing its YouTube channels as it continues its transition of that platform from one in which the majority of content is user generated into one where there are a wide range of professionally created content.

It has over 100 channels now and currently is teamed with NBC to show the Summer Olympics. According to a piece in the Wall Street Journal, Google currently has already earned $150 million in ad commitments for this year.

Google to delay its Nexus Q digital streaming device
Google announced its Nexus Q music and video streaming platform to great fanfare a few weeks back at the company’s annual Google I/O conference in San Francisco. Expected to be quickly delivered to the market it looks like it has hit a bump in the road and its delivery is now delayed.

The people that preordered have been told that there is an indefinite delay but has offered them a free product. Multiple sources report that the device was beset by poor reviews and that the company will be seeking to enhance the device.

A Bikini Hockey League?
Sounds like the follow up ads after the Swedish Bikini Team that Old Milwaukee Beer ran years ago but no, someone is actually trying to launch a Bikini Hockey League. Actually it is a reality TV show that is based on a developer’s purported plan to create such a league.

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet leaked
It appears that the ever vigilant Verge has scored again, this time with details on the upcoming Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 that will be using Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system. The devices will feature an attachable keyboard and pen input as well as the usually features that users have come to expect.

Among the listed features for the tablet are that it will be powered by an Intel Clover Trail microprocessor, have 2GB of RAM and a 64GBs of storage with a 10.1 inch WXGA display. It will have a fingerprint reader and they keyboard will have trackpoint navigation.

MLB’s Powers that be endorse Expanded use of Instant Replay
Bud Selig, the Commissioner of Major League Baseball said last Friday that the sport plans to implement the extended use of instant replay. It will now also be used for trapped balls in the outfield, and to determine if balls down the first and third base line are fair or foul.

The league is now assessing the camera angle issues in each park to see what, if any difficulties it will have in placing cameras that have the needed angles. It is not likely that the extended replay will make an appearance prior to the start of next season

Cleveland Browns sell for $1 billion
At least that is what ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeting yesterday. It seems that James Haslam will be buying the Browns from Randy Lerner for that figure, with a $700 million initial payment and then a second one sometime down the road for $300 million more.

The team just underwent a major shakeup in top management a few years ago, notably luring Mike Holmgren into the front office by giving him the position of team president. Usually new management likes its own people in place so he could be back looking over some other execs shoulder in the near future.

Cleveland Browns

I do like the comment on the tweet that questioned why anyone would pay that much for such a poor franchise noting that a Hawaiian island just sold for $600 million, implying that might have been the better deal.

Filed Under: Baseball, Cleveland Browns, ESPN, HTC, Lawsuit, Lenovo, Major League Baseball, Microsoft, NBA, NFL, NHL, Tablets, Twitter, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , , , ,

USA Today and MLB to Launch SportsOnEarth Web Site with Top Writing Talent

August 1, 2012 by

If imitation is the greatest form of flattery then ESPN and Grantland must be very happy with the latest effort from USA Today Sports Media Group and MLB Advanced Media which is launching Sports on Earth, a web site that will also focus on long form sports writing.

The site already has lined up a solid team of writers including Joe Posnanski, Tommy Tomlinson, Gwen Knapp, Shaun Powell and Mike Tanier. Some I have followed for a while others are new to me but it looks to be more than just a baseball site.

The site is sort of open, primarily with Posnanski writing from the Olympics but the site is expected top officially go live later this month. Of course, Posnanski also has a book soon to come off the presses, but it is already getting some heat. It will be interesting to see how the last chapter works out on his pending Joe Paterno biography.

The site is the first tangible result of the teaming of USA Today and MLBAM, a partnership announced at the start of the year. The plan when it was announced was to develop and deliver new content and products for sports fans and to be able to deliver the content to mobile and digital users as well as more traditional outlets.

I have high hopes. I have always found Posnanski a top writer and Tanier has the right combination of knowledge and snark in his writings on the NFL to always amuse me and he also thoughtful thoughtful. I also like longer-form stories that have substance rather than the three paragraph ‘get it out there now’ mantra that seems to prevalent in many online and print publications.

Filed Under: ESPN, Joe Paterno, Major League Baseball, Sports Social Media, USA Today Tagged With: ,

Football (The US Version) Applying for Olympic Recognition?

July 30, 2012 by

I caught an interesting piece in ProFootballTalk that said that the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) was applying for Olympic recognition and looking to promote the game on the international stage at some point.

According to a piece at NFL.Com the application will be looked at next year and the article compared how the US once dominated basketball and now others have caught up. Really it often seems that the loss 2004 had other issues that cause the defeat and ultimate disappointing bronze.

I had never really considered football as a sport that fit well in the Olympics format, or one that would do well if selected, and that is not because of the possibility that it is not accepted by other nations. Rather the problem is that it seems to me that with all of the qualifying rounds and matches (assuming they do it like soccer), the sport would continue on from the end of the NFL season until the start of the Olympics.

Then once the Olympics started they would have to play a number of games within a two week period, unless they had already weeded out all of the teams but the final four. That just seems like it would not do for the players with the much higher risk that would entail.

Yet there is a much larger body of people playing football around the world that I had imagined as well. In perusing the IFAF web site I was astounded to see how many national federations there was in the organization. With 62 on six continents it is spread from Kuwait to Uruguay to New Zealand with Europe having by far the most nations represented.

They have an 19 and under league, a women’s league and a seniors league, and have played for at least four championships, one played every four years and the next one scheduled for play in Sweden in 2015.

Apparently football was played once as a spectator sport in the Olympics, back in 1932 at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles seniors from three schools, California, Stanford and USC played a set against seniors from three schools from the East Coast, Harvard, Yale and Princeton. The West won 7-6.

While I have seen many people complain that one reason that the Olympics would never accept football is because of US domination and point to the dropping of baseball as an example, I think that reasoning is at least in part misguided.

Major League Baseball is never going to stop playing for several weeks in the middle of the season to allow its players to go to the games. The lost revenue, the impact on playoff games and a host of other issues would make that move a terrible idea.

If you look at the last 5 Olympics that allowed baseball, the US won the gold once, in 2000, along with two bronze medals while Cuba has won three gold medals and South Korea one. Without the top athletes, which it does not look like they will get, the US probably would not be considered the favorite if other nations managed to get their top people in.

Much the same logic can be applied to the NFL’s reaction. Lose players for a number of weeks at the start of training camp? Well they actually did that last year, and I am pretty sure that no one is happy with that or wants to repeat it.

The only way I could see the US participate is if they took one of the other leagues, the reborn USFL or the UFL and used the championship team from that league. While an all star team might make more sense to some it seems to me that a team that has already played a season together has a better chance of shining in an event such as this.

Filed Under: Baseball, IFAF, Major League Baseball, NFL, NFL Network, Olympics, UFL, USFL Tagged With: , , ,

Next Spring’s World Baseball Classic Sets Playoff Sites

July 26, 2012 by

The next version of the World Baseball Classic is coming again to a stadium near you (if you are lucky) again next spring, to no doubt be preceded by a great deal of wondering what countries many of the players are truly from.

That aside it looks like the stadiums for the event have been settled on and while many of the tournament sites are around the globe it looks like the United States has landed the big fish, with the semifinals and championship games slated to play as the San Francisco Giants home field, AT&T Park.

The Second round games will be hosted in Miami by the Marlins while the first round looks to be hosted by the Arizona Diamondbacks at both their home park Chase Field as well as at its Cactus League home of Salt River Field at Talking Stick, which is located nearby in Scottsdale, Az.

The international venues have still to be announced but that news is expected in the next few weeks as well as game dates, who has qualified to fill the 28 slots and ticket availability. You can stay up to date on what is going on among the various nations as they seek to qualify by accessing the events Facebook page here or its web site here.

There have been a few issues that have arisen prior to the upcoming event. Japan, the two time defending champion, is upset that it has not been able to get a larger share of the revenue that the event generates, and has threatened to boycott. The nation will be hosting some first round games. The Koreans have also threatened, although theirs has more to do with issue unrelated to the event.

There should be qualifier games coming pretty soon, and at least one set, called the Jupiter qualifier has been moved from November to September, which could affect any of the nations that were seeking to have any MLB players on their roster. The teams involved are Israel, South Africa, France and Spain.

One thing I am very interested to find out if I sign up early for Major League At Bat early next year will I be able to watch the games on that service, and will any games be subject to blackout?

Filed Under: Baseball, Major League Baseball, San Francisco Giants, World Baseball Classic Tagged With: ,

MLB’s Trade Season in Full Swing

July 25, 2012 by

With the conclusion of MLB’s All Star game the next notable day on the calendar is the non-waiver deadline, which is July 31. This is one of my favorite times of the year not just for the trades as for some of the major trade rumors that always seem to be making their way around the league.

The trade rumors often come from a variety of sources and can show player unhappiness with his team, teams being unhappy with their players and agents already working on next year’s deals by showing how popular their players under contract are.

Of course people in fantasy leagues closely follow the comings and goings but often I find people seem to miss some of the trades and are surprised that a player is now on a new team. That is too bad because it is so much fun to follow the activity and a number of sites do a good job tracking them. I read five rumors this morning that I had not heard last night.

We have already seen some interesting trades this year, and no doubt some, as always, will break hometown fans’ hearts. The first in that category is probably the Ichiro Suzuki from the Seattle Mariners to the New York Yankees deal. This is in the sad tradition of Willie Mays going from the Giants to the New York Mets and others along these lines.

One of the more interesting trades, in a sort of head scratching way, was the big ten player swap between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Houston Astros. Now I was a bit confused by the purpose of the deal but others think it might be a great deal for at least one of the teams.

Teams like the Chicago Cubs have been looking for a wholesale house cleaning all season and now might be the time. Teams are looking for pitching and they have Ryan Dempster, who as a 10/5 man can veto any trade he does not like.

Teams in the playoffs or at least in the hunt will obviously be looking to shore up areas that appear to be a weak spot while teams looking to rebuild will want prospects and cash. The Marlins look to be a rebuilding team and have already sent Hanley Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Some teams will be looking to unload players perceived as problem players as well. It will be an interesting next few days. Next up will be the wavier deadline, always a much tougher call as players must clear waivers to go to a new team, a much harder prospect since rivals can often easily block moves.

Filed Under: All Star Game, Baseball, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Fox Sports, Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League Baseball, New York Yankees Tagged With:
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