In the coming months, MSNBC.com will increase its
sports presence, according to USA TODAY's Chris Jenkins.
MSNBC.com Editor-in-Chief Merrill Brown said that the site
will soon undertake a "full-scale sports operation."
Jenkins writes that currently, the "problem isn't with
MSNBC.com's NBA or tennis coverage. It is with their
coverage of sports that NBC does not televise, such as the
NHL, college basketball and, of course, the NFL." Brown:
"We are not, because of our current resource situation, very
deep. That has to change by year's end" (USA TODAY, 4/25).
VIKINGS MOVE FORWARD: In Minneapolis, Judd Zulgad
reported that the Vikings "plan" to offer Webcasts of their
games next season, but fans "won't hear" the call of the
team's flagship, WCCO-AM, and that "could cause friction"
between the team and its radio partner. CBS President Mel
Karmazin "hasn't given network affils the go-ahead to
provide audio streaming on the Internet unless it is in
contracts." Not willing to wait, the team has decided to
provide Internet-only broadcasts, and team VP/Sales &
Marketing Terri Huml said no decision has been made about
whether the team will produce the broadcasts or work with a
local radio station (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 4/21).
YANKEES' TRADE: In N.Y., Lena Williams wrote on the
Yankees' deal with 14-year-old Daniel Pomerantz to acquire
rights to the domain theyankees.com. The team gave
Pomerantz a "fantasy day for four at Yankee Stadium." Also,
UltraStar Internet Services, the company that runs the
official Yankees site, has hired Daniel as a freelance
columnist for the team site. He will also work as an intern
in UltraStar's offices. Neither party would disclose the
cash compensation involved (N.Y. TIMES, 4/22).
