Yardbarker Promises to Connect The World of Sportsfans

I've sometimes wondered about the need for special interest communities -- as in, do we need them when we all have a profile on FaceBook and MySpace and Bebo and and and.

But there are passions that perhaps cannot be satisfied in general purpose social worlds. And a love of pro sports is most assuredly one of them. Is there anything...anything at all...that so captivates so many people. Well, OK, in American, religion probably outranks it, not so in the EU or Asia. But you get the point.

As you know, I am a believer in sports passion as a surrogate indicator of life passion, despite the fact that I myself am not overly interested in pro sports myself. But I see its relevance, and I see how caring about one thing probably translates into caring bigtime for other things. Which is why I like the Sportgenic network so much.

But this is a post about Yardbarker, a site the promises to connect fans and athletes alike in a freeform community that collects the best web content about sports and parses in ways that let you see the most relevant info and really participate in the conversation.

Here's their bark from their site:

About Yardbarker

Yardbarker breaks down traditional barriers, allowing fans and athletes to debate sports, read and write articles, and watch videos. In the Yard, even the famous athletes are treated like fans.

We feature thousands of sports websites and blogs, so you'll get news, rumors, photos and videos that you won't find elsewhere. We make it easier to follow your favorite teams, talk sports, and submit links to interesting articles found elsewhere on the web.

You don't need your own sports blog to join the discussion on Yardbarker. All you need is an opinion. But if you do have your own blog, join the Yardbarker Network. We will promote your site, increase your traffic, and put money in your pocket.

This is an ad network play targeting MEN ONLY that promises to offer sports fans with media presences, as well as niche sites, the opportunity to monetize their content and earn more money. Additionally, they offer ways for publishers to get publicity and traffic in addition to revenue.

The tough bit for them is that on the pro sports side there are already some very entrenched players like ESPN and SI, and Sportgenic, with its 20MM reach. Others have definitely struggled. They are trying to break down the walls between web properties, which makes sense in a world which is increasingly about bringing content to the user instead of making them come to you.

Sports is a tough slog for all the media players. But the site is growing, and is worth watching to see if they continue to grow eyeballs and keep them around for the long haul. Their secret sauce is the involvement of pro players. Which may be compelling, if they really participate.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

Brash.com: Glam For the Lads

Massive vertical ad network Glam has launched Brash.com, it's new entry targeting -- get this -- men! Brash, which Valleywag called an imitation of GQ and Esquire -- actually they called it a pale imitation -- is the latest initiative from this polarizing web property.

Here's an excerpt form the ValleyWag piece:

Glam's whim-seeking CEO, Samir Arora, in his efforts to create the illusion of a game-changing new media company, is expanding willy-nilly into new fields, without the sustained effort or attention required, hoping that someone will buy his company before they notice all the failed initiatives that trail in Arora's wake. Our prediction: Brash will go the way of Glam's "wellness" channel, an initiative of Arora's wife, Rebecca Arora. Six months after its launch, Glam laid off all the salespeople involved in selling it, several sources confirm.

You won't be surprised to hear that my assessment is more generous. The idea of a men's network is a fine concept. Thing is, there are already several, including ESPN, which is a tough site to beat.

And the other thing is, while male advertising tends to get a lot of press, women do buy 80-some percent of stuff, so ad dollars may be a bit less easy to come by.

Now, Glam has taken on big guns before, most notably iVillage, but ESPN is rather...hegemonic. Is that even a word? But you get my drift.

My only concern for Glam is that all these initiatives distract management from the base business, and wringing out growth on the Glam network is going to get tougher over time. So, in sum, I see a new entry without a lot of differentiation taking on a powerful existing player in a business area that is new to the company, while the base business will be craving focus over the next few "lean" months.

Oh, and there's that other thing. If a company targets women and men, doesn't that make it a horizontal network? I ]'spect they'll find it particularly difficult to wrest dollars from Advertising.com and ValueClick.

Not sure this is such a hot idea...but then I poo-pooed Youtube when it launched, so I ain't infallible. By a long stretch.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.