News Corp. is "about to flex its muscles on the Web,
using its widespread newsgathering operation and hiring
high-profile writers and editors in an effort to move to the
front of the Internet sports pack," according to Noah
Liberman of the SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. FoxSports.com
Senior VP Danny Greenberg: "We're reinventing FoxSports.com.
... Heads will start turning." Liberman reports that
FoxSports.com is "moving its main news desk" from N.Y. to
L.A., where Fox Sports TV is based and where Fox Sports
Radio Network is being launched. FoxSports.com will
maintain a bureau in N.Y. and "has near-term plans to hire
high-profile sportswriters to cover the four major sports
leagues and college sports. Longer-term plans would put a
dedicated Web writer on each of the 18 markets represented
by FoxSports.com's regional Web sites. These staffers would
create original content to supplement the current
offerings." Greenberg "would not detail the financial
commitment Fox is making to the Web site." He said an ad
campaign will "roll out soon to raise awareness"
(SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/10 issue).
STARK ON BOARD: ESPN.com announced that Jayson Stark
has been named MLB Senior Writer. Stark's "Week in Review"
column will appear each Friday on ESPN.com (THE DAILY).
SPORTSLINE ACQUIRES DATA BROADCASTING: Data
Broadcasting has sold its real-time sports operations to
SportsLine.com for $10M in stock (WALL ST JOURNAL, 4/10).
