Sports broadcaster Score Media has expanded its online roster with a new venture called TheScore.com Sports Federation. Available through The Score’s home page, the Sports Federation is a collective of 12 independent blogs devoted to Canada’s professional hockey teams, as well as fantasy sports and Canadian university sports.
Bacardi Canada, one of The Score’s longtime advertising partners, has signed on as its presenting sponsor.
“It’s getting harder and harder to reach [young adult males] in a relevant and engaging manner with traditional media,” said Lauralea Mast, media advisor at Toronto’s Denneboom Media, Bacardi’s media agency. “They’re into sports, they’re energetic, enthusiastic—and they’re sharing. That’s a media trend for this demographic that’s just taking off. It’s a perfect environment for us.”
Bacardi’s involvement is currently limited to a presence on the Sports Federation section of The Score’s home page, but Mast says the program could be expanded.
Jonathan Savage, vice-president of digital media for The Score, said the new program fits with the broadcaster’s strategy of making its product available via multiple platforms and providing viewers with greater input into programming.
“We’ve always been involved in letting users have an influence and choosing their programming,” said Savage. “For us to engage with blogs was a natural fit. The Internet has been the great equalizer in terms of knowledge in many verticals. In sports especially, you’re dealing with information being commoditized and freely available, so a lot of what becomes really important is personality and voices.”
Among the blogs comprising the Sports Federation are the Toronto Maple Leafs blog Down Goes Brown, the Calgary Flames blog Five Hole Fanatics, the Edmonton Oilers blog Black Dog Hates Skunks and the Montreal Canadiens blog Lions in Winter. Other participating blogs include the Toronto Blue Jays blogs Drunk Jays Fans and Ghostrunner on First, the Toronto Raptors blogs RaptorBlog (whose founder Scott Carefoot is Score Media’s business development manager, digital media and manager of the Sports Federation) and Dino Nation Blog, and the fantasy hockey blog Fantasy Hockey Scouts.
Notably absent are blogs dedicated to Canadian Football League teams, although Savage said it wasn’t for lack of trying. “We turned over a lot of content to try and find CFL [blogs],” he said. “There may be some where you get a guy who posts after dinner once every two weeks, but that’s not a blog in our opinion.”
The participating blogs offer what Savage called “semi-pro” user content. “We’re not interested in those people where it’s sort of an afternoon hobby,” said Savage. “These guys have a great voice and extreme knowledge.”
Score Media also announced year-end financial results yesterday, with revenue for the year ended Aug. 31 increasing $2.9 million to $36.4 million and EBITDA remaining “consistent” with 2007 at $5.9 million.
“Score Media underwent many exciting changes in 2008, while experiencing continued growth in its various platforms,” said Score Media’s chair and CEO John Levy in a release announcing the results. “From constructing a state-of-the-art streetfront HD studio to achieving record audiences to launching innovative mobile applications ahead of the competition, Score Media is well positioned as we move into 2009.”
