ESPN and Fox Sports are "moving full speed ahead" with their native advertising campaigns on their websites, according to Michael McCarthy of AD AGE. ESPN's website “features multiple native ad efforts, from content that's created specifically for or with marketers to the old-fashioned content embedding brands that sports franchises on TV have pioneered.” The net has “teamed with Dick's Sporting Good's to create an ‘ESPN Fan Shop’ at ESPN.com.” There also is “MLB Power Rankings Powered by Subway.” These integrations “follow MillerCoors' successful ‘Coors Light Cold Hard Facts’ play with ESPN.” ESPN President of Global Customer Marketing & Sales Ed Erhardt said, "Our belief is sports is the most natural place for native ads because you mix a brand with the content all together." ESPN Senior VP/SportsCenter & News Rob King said, "There's really good stuff coming out of our advertising partners.” Meanwhile, Fox Sports Exec VP/Digital Pete Vlastelica “brought his native ad experience with him” when Fox acquired Yardbarker in ’10, the sports site Vlastelica co-founded in ‘06. Vlastelica now has “completely redesigned FoxSports.com with an eye toward native and mobile,” and he is “linking it directly" with FS1. Vlastelica said, “That's what we needed to do in order to compete with the big buys in the category.” Vlastelica said that the "'knock' on native ads from investors or people watching the space ... is that it doesn't scale all that well." McCarthy noted Fox recently “partnered with McDonald's for a ‘McDonald’s Winning Ingredients’ campaign and Samsung for ‘In the Cage with Gabe Kapler.’” Vlastelica: "I would like to think we're being seen as more flexible, more creative, more innovative and maybe more idea-driven” (ADAGE.com, 5/21).
