Check it out The Sports Bank featured in another online media outlet. Brand Affinity Technologies, creators of Net Bat profiled us and interviewed me for their latest newsletter.
March Publisher Profile: TheSportsBank.net
This month, Fantapper visits with Paul M. Banks, the CEO of TheSportsBank.net.
BAT: When did you start TheSportsBank.net?
Paul: Beginning of 2007, right after I returned from Berlin upon completion of my media fellowship with the Fulbright Foundation. I studied with a small, select group of American journalists on an exchange program with German media, and the experience was extremely stimulating and eye-opening. Upon returning to the states, I realized it was time to put into practice my own ideas about media, the media industry and the changing ways in which people were getting their news. It was time to stop following, and start leading.
The first year of the site was a feeling out period. By early ’08 I had upgraded the technical and presentation side, and that’s when I feel TSB really became legit.
BAT: What was your goal and vision for your site?
Paul: The Sports Bank was born right around the exact time that social media was exploding, so I wanted a news site with a user-generated feel yet retaining a professional standard. Or to put it another way, the candor of a blog with the focus and intensity of a newspaper sports section. “Way back” in ’06, people threw around the terms “new media” and “old media” left and right, and I thought it was time to foster fusion, and end that useless dichotomy. I wanted a presence for the Great Lakes, Upper Midwest, which I feel are greatly overlooked by “the mothership,” or “Eastern Seaboard Programming Network.” Not everyone agrees with me, but I’m pretty passionate about the central division teams, the big ten, the NFC North etc. are kind of overlooked by national media.
BAT: How do you as a Publisher evaluate a unique tool like Fantapper?
Paul: It covers prime real estate that other ad networks overlook. As a publisher, there’s only so much room you can have for CPM-based graphical ads in the sidebars, header, and footer. Optimizing space in the text and image space is critical, especially in a fast-paced environment/market like this. I’ve found that strictly CPC or CPA ads are overwhelmingly beneficial for the marketer, but leave much to be desired for the publisher. CPM ads and programs that hybrid the two payout structures are extremely beneficial to both parties.
To read the whole interview/article go here
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