• Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts, upgrade to remove ads and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your BigSkyFans.com experience today!

Question for the masses

B

billbradleysac

Active member
Hi everyone,

This is Bill Bradley, the former Sports Editor of the Sacramento Bee.

With the Bee laying off John Schumacher last month (he was and still is a great reporter/writer), it has basically thrown in the towel on college sports coverage.

I want to ask this board for feedback: How much interest would there be in a new sports site that covers Sac State sports, especially football and basketball?

If I start this venture, I might make it a combo site, covering Sac State and UC Davis sports, considering the Bee also does not cover that college down the road.

Any feedback is helpful. I want to be realistic, though, to guage if there is enough interest in such a venture.

Thanks,
Bill
 
Bill, would love it. Sure wish you covered my Sac State stuff while editor of the Bee. Maybe it was politics.

Whatever you do don't lump us with UCFE. This is Sacramento, not davis. Let the Enterprise cover them since they refuse to cover anything Sac State related. UCFE grads will follow whatever you do because of curiosity to Sac State.

The Bee will be out of business soon. So hopefully you and John retool yourself.

Great read: 'Who moved my cheese!"
 
Wow, what a joke the BEE is!!!

I guess we can look forward to a season of student paper written articles for SAC and UCD in the BEE... Lovely...

I think there is a strong need for a Sac State sports site (especially since SacRat retired) and I for one would do whatever I could to promote it (linking on other BSC sites can be quite effective).

As far as combining it with UCD, I'm not so sure how that would rub fans on both sides... Maybe you have a single template with separate links. The fans that are interested enough to peep the site, would probably be turned off if slammed with news from their rival team...

:twocents:
 
I second what GCM said. While I was a student at Sac State, we saw little (if any) coverage in the Bee so the so called end of coverage from the Bee will be nothing new. I will say that Shumacher had really stepped up his game the last few years and actually paid attention to Hornet sports. His articles were sound and very informative and he will be missed. Hopefully he lands on his feet.

Hornetsports.com is the first place I go for Hornet news but I would welcome an additional place for articles. Whether or not I continue to go back to the site for articles will depend on the content.
 
Anything that can be done to support Hornet sports (especially football for me) would be helpful. The media support for the school has been horrid at best most of the last 10 years. We have a quality, entertaining team in a quality entertaining league. Let's promote as much as we can, however we can. Not sure how the school's media department works to promote the school, but I've not seen much. Look at the media coverage from other schools in the league and you will see, for the most part, in-depth coverage for more than game day and the score the following day.
 
Bill,

Thank you for asking the dedicated for honest and sincere feedback.

While I think a Sac State site would be great, I wonder whether you would generate enough ad revenue for this venture to be profitable/successful/sustainable for more than 1 year.

May I suggest something? The large papers cover the larger conferences fairly well, but the conferences like the Sky, GW, get very little D 1 coverage space. TSN tries, but frankly they are an East Coast Bias organization, and frankly it shows.

Why not showcase FCS west of the Mississippi- you can probably get local folks to byline for you the first year for little or nothing- like TX, OVC writers, while the goal is to build readership and ad revenue.

Basketball, same issue.

Nutshell answer: Start 4 sites 1for Sac State, 1 for Davis, 1 Western Football Network and 1 Western Basketball Network.- Market the heck out of it, Facebook it, post on school sites like this, but make it worthwhile reading.

Good luck!
 
The letting of Schumacher go by the Bee is a huge loss for local sports. He provided some great coverage. Good luck to John wherever he ends up.

Bill, I’ve enjoyed some of the work on your 27x7.com blog this year and I hope it’s doing well. If you are considering a similar site, I think it would find a following. There is untapped media potential and interest that is eager for insightful, dedicated Hornet coverage. It could find a home with current Hornet fans, as well as generate more interest with area recruits whose families would enjoy the local coverage as well

UCD definitely has a gap in their coverage too; however, it would be a tricky marriage to have both the Hornets and Ags as focal points of the same site. Maintaining separate sites, but leveraging similar templates could be a balanced approach.

Good luck on the Hornet site if you do it. I’d love to see it become a reality!
 
I have a high interest in Sac State Football and other sports. I get most of my information from this website and Sac State.

I would like to see an independent website. However, if the website content were tainted by UCD material, I would not be inclined to go there.

Your website should focus on Sac State Football, which is Sacramento's only true football team.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top