ESPN Says Deal With Kraft Sports Group Will Not Impact Coverage

Kraft Sports Group Serving As Local Sales Agent For Newly-Launched ESPNBoston.com

ESPN execs have "immediately disputed speculation" that ESPNBoston.com's coverage will be affected by the nets' partnership with Kraft Sports Group (KSG), according to Kaplan & Ourand of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Critics Thursday "openly questioned" the relationship, under which KSG will sell advertising for ESPN's new local site. ESPN Senior VP/Business Divisions Jim Pastor, who is overseeing the rollout of the local sites, said, "You're talking to someone connected to the business side of this. That's where we draw the line for church and state." He added, "We were looking for the best-selling ad sales representative we could get. The Kraft Sports Group has strong local sales relationships and knowledge. We figured they would offer us the best opportunity for success." ESPN pointed to the hiring of former Boston Globe Patriots beat writer Mike Reiss, who has a "good reputation, as evidence that it will be tough on the team when it needs to be." ESPN.com Editor-in-Chief Rob King: "From a distance, I can understand how folks might interpret the deal as a conflict of interest. But I know how we operate. The Kraft Sports Group has nothing to do with me or my team or how we operate" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/28 issue). ESPN Communications & Media Relations Dir Bill Hofheimer Thursday in an e-mail said, "ESPN will maintain full, independent editorial control. We have a history of separating business relationships from our news and information division, and this will continue to be the case." But PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio wrote that "doesn't change the fact that, at a minimum, there's a reason to question the objectivity of ESPN regarding anything written or said about the Patriots" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 9/24). 

CONFLICT OF INTEREST? Boston Univ. sports marketing professor Chris Cakebread said the deal "has to raise a conflict of interest." Cakebread: "We're supposed to be about transparency. How can you be transparent when you cut such a tight relationship between a media group and a team?" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/25). In Boston, Chad Finn writes with a "significant amount of ESPNBoston.com's coverage ... dedicated to the Patriots, and a smaller amount to the Revolution, the partnership is beginning on dubious journalistic ground." ESPN's general strategy with its new local Web sites is to "launch in cities where it already owns and operates an ESPN Radio station, then have the station’s staff coordinate ad sales for the website." But ESPN is currently without a radio outlet in Boston with WAMG-AM affiliate going off the air September 15. ESPN is "expected to take over" the WEEI-AM frequency as the station moves to FM later this year, but "without a current station to pick up the advertising duties, ESPN struck the deal with Kraft Sports Group." Finn writes while ESPN has "not been reluctant to criticize" the Patriots, the situation "bears monitoring to see whether ESPNBoston.com’s curious new bedfellow has an effect on its reporting of potentially unflattering Patriots news" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/25). 

LAUNCH PREPARATIONS: ESPN Thursday formally announced that ESPNDallas.com will launch on Monday in conjunction with the Panthers-Cowboys “MNF” game. The site will feature offerings from ESPN.com’s Matt Mosley and Marc Stein and reporter Ed Werder. Managing Editor Barry Vigoda, formerly of the Dallas Morning News, will oversee the day-to-day editorial operations of the site. ESPN has already lined up several advertisers, including Bud Light, Crown Royal, StubHub and VIPMotorcars.net (ESPN).