Vox Media

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SportsBlogs Inc.
File:SB-Nation-logo.png
Type of site
News and blogging
Available inEnglish
Founded2003
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.
Area servedInternational
Founder(s)Jerome Armstrong
Tyler Bleszinski
Markos Moulitsas
Key peopleJim Bankoff
Employees400 +
URLsbnation.com
RegistrationOptional
Users17 million +

SportsBlogs Inc., known publicly as SB Nation, was founded in 2003 by political activist Jerome Armstrong, freelance writer Tyler Bleszinski and Markos Moulitsas (creator of Daily Kos). The network features over 300 sites with over 400 paid writers[1][2].

Based in Washington, D.C., SB Nation operates sports network http://sbnation.com and technology website http://theverge.com. The company focuses on developing high-quality grassroots content on the web, offering over 300[3] distinct community-focused websites, each with its own name, URL, brand, writers, and guidelines. The sports network, SBNation.com, covers most or all teams of the MLB, NBA, NFL, MLS, and NHL, as well as NASCAR, MMA, college sports, pro cycling, and other sports.

Former AOL programming chief Jim Bankoff is chairman and CEO of SportsBlogs Inc.[4]

Growth

As of March, 2011, SB Nation has grown to more than 300 separate web sites maintained primarily by part-time contract writers. They put together posts, facilitate dialogue and interact with commenters. At a kickoff event in February 2009, there were about 185 blogs. ComScore, the Reston-based tracker of consumer Internet habits, tallied 5.8 million unique visitors to SB Nation Web sites during the month of November 2010. That 208 percent increase over the 1.9 million unique visitors in November 2009 makes SB Nation the fastest growing sports Web site the company tracks.[5]

As of December, 2010, SB Nation has 12 million unique visitors and over 100 million page views monthly, according to CEO Jim Bankoff. Expansion includes mobile and going global, into the "European Premier (soccer) League." [sic] [6]

Funding

In November, 2010, SportsBlogs Inc. secured $10.5 million in a Series C round led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Accel Partners and Comcast Interactive Capital. The funding will be used to facilitate the site’s growth, fueling acquisitions and driving sales. The Washington, D.C.-based company has raised about $23.5 million in total from Accel Partners, Comcast Interactive Capital, Khosla Ventures, as well as Allen & Company, Providence Equity Partners, and various angel investors, including Ted Leonsis, Dan Rosensweig, Jeff Weiner, and Brent Jones.[7][8][9]

Expansion

Rob Neyer & Baseball Nation

In February, 2011, SB Nation hired Rob Neyer away from ESPN, where he had worked for 15 years in what CEO Jim Bankoff called a "high profile hire"[10].

Jason Rosenberg, lead writer of the ESPN-affiliated SweetSpot Network site, It’s About The Money, wrote that he expects the network to continue without Neyer: "It’s my understanding that the SweetSpot Network will continue to operate. Someone will be hired to replace Rob and that person will surely be motivated to take the contributions from around the SSN to even greater heights."[11] On March 23rd, David Schoenfield took over the job. [12]

On March 30, 2011 SB Nation launched Baseball Nation.[13] Baseball Nation features writers Jason Brannon, Carson Cistulli, editors Rob Neyer, Jeff Sullivan and Grant Brisbree.

The Verge

Joshua Topolsky was the editor of Engadget until March 2011. Topolsky and eight of the more prominent editorial and technology staff members (including Nilay Patel, Ross Miller, Joanna Stern, Chris Ziegler, Paul Miller, Justin Glow, and Dan Chilton) at Engadget left AOL to join SB Nation to build a new tech and gadget site. [14] While Topolsky and his team were developing the new site, a 'placeholder' site called This Is My Next was created to allow them to continue writing articles and producing podcasts.[15]. In a reference to the new website Topolsky is quoted as saying, “We’re not trying to be Twitter or Facebook, as in this new thing people are using, we want to be something that is just the evolved version of what we have been doing.” [16] The new technology network—The Verge—will launch on November 1.[17][18]

See also

References

  1. ^ Plambeck, Joeseph (June 6, 2010). "Sports-Centric Web Sites Expand, and Bias Is Welcome". New York Times.
  2. ^ Kerr, Ronny (Nov 8, 2010). "Sports blog and news network continues its rise". Vator.tv The Trusted Source for Emerging Tech.
  3. ^ "SB Nation Network". sbnation.com. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
  4. ^ "SB Nation: Startup Sports Blog Network Backed By Tech, Media Luminaries". HuffingtonPost.com. 28 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
  5. ^ Overly, Steven (20 December 2010). "SB Nation's sports blogger collective sees bias as a plus". WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  6. ^ "The New Game in Sports Journalism: SB Nation Claims 100 Million Monthly Views -- Going Global with Soccer Coverage". Beet.tv. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
  7. ^ "Blog network SportsBlog Nation scores funding". CNET.com. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
  8. ^ Kerr, Ronny (Nov 8, 2010). "Sports blog and news network continues its rise". Vator.tv The Trusted Source for Emerging Tech.
  9. ^ Ali, Rafat (16 July 2009). "Sports Blog Site SBNation Gets $8 Million More, From Comcast And Others". Paid Content. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  10. ^ Rovell, Darren (February 1, 2011). "One of the Originals, Rob Neyer, Leaves ESPN.com for SB Nation". CNBC.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2011.
  11. ^ Rosenberg, Jason (January 31, 2011). "Rob Neyer to leave ESPN". itsaboutthemoney.net.
  12. ^ Schoenfield, David (March 23, 2011). http://twitter.com/dschoenfield/status/50584735642169344. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ^ "Introducing ... Baseball Nation". SB Nation. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  14. ^ Carr, David (April 3, 2011). "Team From Engadget Makes Jump to SB Nation". The New York Times.
  15. ^ http://thisismynext.com/
  16. ^ http://www.niemanlab.org/2011/05/topolsky-and-bankoff-on-engadget-sb-nation-and-the-new-tech-site-thats-bringing-them-together/
  17. ^ With The Verge, SB Nation looks beyond just gadgets - Fortune Tech
  18. ^ Twitter

External links

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