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ESPN launches local Web site for LA media market
A screen grab of the new ESPN sports Web site that debuted Dec. 21 for the Los Angeles market.
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ESPN launches local Web site for LA media market
ESPN launches local Web site for LA media market
A well-known sports news machine just unwrapped its new Web site for Southland-centric sports news. ESPNLos Angeles.com launched on Monday with lots of love for the Lakers, but plenty of attention paid to the Clippers, Dodgers, Bruins, Trojans, Kings and Ducks.
ESPN’s race to become a beloved Southland home team began with a Webcast hosted by Jonathan Coachman.
"The Lakers playing sweet music in Motown… Kobe playing lights-out with a dicey finger… and drama on the high school gridiron. Your Los Angeles SportsCenter happens now," said Coachman at the top, delivering headlines in the ESPN cadence familiar to television viewers.
Los Angeles follows Chicago, Boston, and Dallas as the 4th media market for an ESPN local site. The Chicago version became the top sports site in the land of “Da Bears” in fewer than 3 months. Jim Pastor, senior vice president of ESPN Local says the local sites win when they let the fans call the plays.
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"We’re gonna let the sports fans locally tell us what they need this site to be," said Pastor in a telephone interview.
The Lakers are first in the site's pecking order right now, but if the fans want more coverage of high school and Southland sports such as skateboarding and surfing, Pastor predicts that ESPN will figure that out. He adds that ESPN’s local moves have little to do with on-going cutbacks at newspaper sports sections.
"Newspapers certainly aren’t going away," says Pastor. "They’re transitioning into the digital space like others are, as well."
But ESPN Los Angeles has grabbed some popular sports writers from regional papers, including Tony Jackson and Ramona Shelburne from the L.A. Daily News and J.A. Adande from the Los Angeles Times.
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