Mark Cuban Calls ESPNDallas.com's Mavs Coverage "Minor League"

Mark Cuban Blasts ESPNDallas.com For Its Lack Of Mavericks Coverage

Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban on his blog wrote ESPNDallas.com is "without question minor league" in its Mavericks coverage compared to the Dallas Morning News. Cuban: "I only care about the coverage of the Dallas Mavericks. From ESPN Dallas, it's non existent. It's hard to offer any coverage when you don't actually have anyone at the games. Last two Mavs games. No local reporter. Maybe the ESPN Dallas standard of coverage is to have their reporters watch the game on TV." Cuban noted Dallas Morning News beat reporter Eddie Sefko has attended those games, and the paper "apparently is adding more coverage to the Mavs." Cuban: "The impact of this approach isn't just about the coverage Mavs fans get. It also impacts the business decisions the Mavs make. We have already beefed up significantly the behind the scenes, interviews and game highlights video and reporting we offer on Mavs.com." He added coverage of the team also can impact which news outlet may get a scoop on a story. Cuban said, "If we have just done something, trade, signing, whatever. Guess who gets the heads up email first? The website with no one at our games, or the Newspaper/website with more than one reporter at our games?" (BLOGMAVERICK.com, 10/11). 

UNDERSTAND WHERE HE'S COMING FROM: HOOPS WORLD's Jason Fleming wrote Cuban "absolutely makes a good argument about why the Dallas Morning News has a current edge over ESPN Dallas when it comes to the Mavericks." Fleming: "It should be pointed out ESPN's Marc Stein -- one of the most respected names in the hoops media game -- is based out of Dallas. Stein isn't tasked with just covering the Mavericks on an everyday basis, while ESPN Dallas claims to cover all things Dallas" (HOOPSWORLD.com, 10/12).

TAKING A LOOK AT BIG D: ESPNDallas.com, which launched on September 28, has maintained a focus on the Cowboys since debuting around the team’s "MNF" game against the Panthers. The site's local “SportsCenter” episodes routinely cover the Cowboys in greater magnitude than any other Texas-based team, followed by Univ. of Texas football. The site -- much like ESPN’s main page -- features both highlights and analysis, as well as previews to upcoming games. With the NFL and college football seasons in full swing, ESPNDallas.com devotes a majority of its coverage to these two teams, but the start of the NHL season also has brought increased coverage of the Stars. Former Dallas Morning News reporter Tim MacMahon has been on the Mavericks’ beat to date, alongside his responsibilities covering the Cowboys. While MacMahon and Calvin Watkins update ESPN Dallas’ Cowboys blog multiple times a day, MacMahon has filed just six posts on the Mavericks blog in the past seven days (Brian Helfrich, THE DAILY).