|
16
January 2001
XFL Gets the Cold Shoulder From Mainstream Sports Sites
David Sweet - Wall Street Journal
Link
to Original Article: http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB977353174774013891.htm
----------------------------------------
It wasn't the kind of coverage the XFL expected.
In
the Jan. 10 San Jose Mercury News, a report bellowed that a
"runaway two-ton blimp" promoting the new football
league crashed into an Oakland restaurant.
The
XFL hopes to persuade sports news sites it's worthy of crash
coverage -- as in helmets colliding when the league kicks off
Feb. 3.
Burdened
by staffing woes in a troubled dot-com environment and curious
to see if fans and sponsors embrace football World-Wrestling-Federation-style,
sites are yawning at the blustery upstart.
"I
don't see us spending a lot of staff hours on this," says
George Knue, senior editor of ChicagoSports.com, whose coverage
area includes the XFL's Chicago Enforcers. "I've yet to
receive my first e-mail complaining about [preseason] lack of
coverage."
Mr. Knue, who admits employee cutbacks will affect coverage,
will repurpose Enforcers' news from the site's print partner,
the Chicago Tribune. The fledgling team will share a section
online with the woebegone Bears of the National Football League.
Though
brimming with staff writers, CBS SportsLine.com won't immediately
assign one to the XFL. The site's message to the league: Prove
yourself.
"It
will be treated much like the Arena Football League and the
Canadian Football League, but with a keen eye out for developments,"
notes Joe Ferreira, vice president of programming for SportsLine.com.
ESPN.com
editor John Marvel believes the XFL warrants fewer stories than
women's college basketball.
"They've
done an interesting job in generating some early buzz, but ultimately
it will come down to the product on the field," says Mr.
Marvel, who plans to post results, schedules, standings and
wire-written game stories. "If the product stinks, it has
no chance of succeeding."
Coverage
factors would seem to favor the XFL. Traditionally the grimmest
sports month, February is a wasteland sandwiched between NFL
playoffs and March Madness. Whereas newspapers face space crunches,
real estate is limitless on the Web.
The
XFL, co-owned by the WWF and General Electric Co.'s NBC Sports,
is the first new professional football league created since
the Internet exploded. Claiming the NFL is dull, the XFL --
composed of eight teams -- will eliminate the fair-catch rule
on the field and encourage cheerleaders to date players off
it.
Says John Rawlings, editorial director of the Sporting News
Online: "In some instances people in our business are dismissing
it [the XFL] because of the WWF-type hoopla. That would be a
mistake."
Embracing
the XFL is MSNBCSports.com, the Web arm of NBC Sports. (The
network will televise XFL games on Saturday nights.)
Already
on the site, players extol the league's differences with the
NFL via audio. A full array of statistics, expert analysis and
interactive elements will be introduced in February, according
to editor in chief Merrill Brown.
"We
will treat it as a major sport," says Mr. Brown, who acknowledges
coverage will be influenced by the NBC relationship. "There
will be lots of interest in the new league, I'm sure."
Other editors, though, doubt fans will rush to mainstream sites
for XFL fodder. Mr. Knue compares Chicago's Enforcers to minor-league
teams, such as the International Hockey League's Timberwolves.
"When
we had Wolves' stuff on our site, no one looked at it,"
says Mr. Knue, who notes the team draws decent crowds. "We
couldn't justify doing it. It drives the newspaper guy in me
crazy to say things like that."
Lack
of significant coverage on mainstream sports venues -- which
attract tens of millions of unique visitors monthly -- may simply
boost XFL.com's growing presence. In December, XFL.com drew
342,000 unique visitors, only 2,000 fewer than Major League
Baseball's long-established site, according to Media Metrix.
Sports
news sites reserve the right to take a second look. If fans
and sponsors hop on board, so will dot-com venues.
"We
will immediately step up our coverage [in that case],"
says SportsLine.com's Mr. Ferreira.
Until
then, XFL news may pop up on sites as comic relief.
Last
week, ESPN.com's Page 2 posed the question: "Who Crashed
the XFL Blimp?" Everyone from New York Yankee Jose Canseco
to aging Utah center Olden Polynice stood accused of steering
the dirigible to disaster.
Mr.
Polynice's suggested alibi surprised no one. "Could have
taken out blimp easier by shooting free throws from the ground,"
noted ESPN.com.
|
