With a deep lineup, ESPN.com ramps up its MLB coverage for new season
Baseball is back, and ESPN.com is covering the league in new and innovative ways this season.
The MLB section on ESPN.com built anticipation during the offseason with creative content packages that tied in social media platforms and spurred debate and conversation. Not to be forgotten is the site’s commitment to commentary and opinion.
The MLB section will be one of the first on ESPN.com to contextually place daily columns and opinion pieces throughout the site, making it easier for fans to find the stories they care most about.
Front Row spoke to David Kull, senior deputy editor, MLB, about what to expect this season.
We’re just a few weeks into the season, but the MLB section on ESPN.com has been covering the league year-round and producing great content like 2012 MLB Preview, The ’11th Hour and ESPN500 leading up to Opening Day. What else can fans expect throughout the season?
We are committed to telling the best stories and listening to our fans. Social media has become an integral part of our content strategy, and we are continually looking for creative ways to engage the fans about the game. As just one example, we’ve introduced a new weekday feature called “Triple Play” that includes user questions from Twitter. Our content is constantly evolving to match the needs of our fans and how they consume information.
At the same time, it’s important that we play to our strengths. That means not only reacting to breaking news with the same quickness and excellence as always, but also giving our fans direct access to ESPN’s deep roster of MLB experts. Meanwhile, our “live” experience is better than ever, especially now that WatchESPN has been added to MLB Gamecast for ESPN’s Sunday, Monday and Wednesday night games. And much like the ESPN500 series, we also have some fun projects in the works, ones that should spur plenty of conversation. We’re off to a great start already and believe 2012 will be ESPN.com’s best MLB season yet.
How will commentary like daily columns and opinion pieces be integrated into the MLB section?
Columns have long been the bread and butter of our MLB coverage, and we have some of the most authoritative and respected writers in the business — from Jayson Stark to Jerry Crasnick to Keith Law to Howard Bryant. The presence of David Schoenfield, the lead voice and curator of the SweetSpot Blog Network, has allowed us to be more nimble in reacting to news.
Plus, we also offer perspectives that cover just about every realm of the game, whether they come from injury expert Stephania Bell or former general manager Jim Bowden or former MLB outfielder Doug Glanville or fantasy guru Eric Karabell. We pride ourselves on the diversity of our voices, and our fans respond to them as well.
