ESPN plans to launch "up to a dozen college-specific websites by the end of the year that will focus on high-school recruiting," according to Ourand & Fisher of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The first two websites will be devoted to the Univ. of Texas and USC. ESPN "hopes to add four more sites by early fall," and plans are to have "as many as 12" by the end of the year. The move "appears to be a direct competitive challenge to Yahoo!-owned Rivals and 24/7 Sports, both market leaders in the area." A majority of ESPN's "recruiting offerings will be behind a pay wall available to its premium Insider subscribers." However, the net plans to "make some bigger stories available for free on its various sites, from its local pages to ESPN.com." ESPN execs "played down competition with sites like Rivals and 24/7 Sports, saying its plans represent an extension of its local online strategy." ESPN in most cases "plans to hire local writers and editors to staff the new sites," though it is partnering with "local site WeAreSC.com, which already has a staff in place," for the USC site. ESPN.com VP & Editor-in-Chief Patrick Stiegman said that the net will look into "alumni population, interest level and available talent" regarding possible future college sites. The sites "will be independent of the schools" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/15 issue). .
ESPN to start college specific websites.
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