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Swarbrick On Broadcast Blueprint

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick discusses television deal and his desire to grow UND.com as a major media platform.

Wes Morgan

    • "Exclusive content at UND.com is not exciting to reporters who cover the University. In fact, there’s a concern that outside media access to players and coaches will be extremely limited in years to come as Notre Dame increases the volume of its in-house content, which obviously won’t include an unbiased point of view. Swarbrick didn’t address such concerns."

      I'm glad to see this stated explicitly rather than beating around the proverbial bush. The growth of UND.com should definitely be a concern for media such as BGI, and anyone who publishes premium content covering Notre Dame football. I presume they'll be producing tons of relevant, free content, while limiting outside media to the standard three minutes per video.

      Sure, UND.com lacks a social element, but if "content is king," then it won't be long before UND.com owns the mountain-top, if it doesn't already (their traffic numbers were surprisingly gaudy a few years ago when they weren't producing nearly as much content as they have in recent seasons).

      This is a good staff here at BlueandGold.com that covers the program with integrity. I'm curious to see how they remain visible among the smothering efforts of a powerhouse such as Notre Dame's athletics department.

      John Haynsworth

    • John,

      Obviously, recruiting coverage is one area where und.com will not
      have an imprint due to NCAA rules. A second area, for the forseeable
      future, is probably the message boards which provide a platform for
      folks like me to blabber on. A third area, as you suggest, is the quality
      of the people at BlueandGold--people like yourself, Wes, Lou, Jason
      etc.

      I also think that exploration could be made as to some type of co-existence
      between BlueandGold and und.com. For example, undoubtedly und.com
      (especially with Jack Nolan) will be heavily biased towards ND. In my mind
      that's a good thing and I don't think BlueandGold, in the name of "integrity"
      should become unduly "critical" of ND---to me that's not the way to go. But,
      it seems that all the sites, even now, have the same players interviewed on
      the same day with the same questions asked and answered so even now,
      the stories are not much different on any of the chief sites. Why don't you
      consider interviewing different players, asking different questions than for
      example Nolan does and in that way, maintain your "freshness."

      One other thing---I don't think most of us on this site will all of a sudden
      cancel because und.com has good but free content. I certainly go to
      und.com now but I am very happy to be a BlueandGold member also.
      I think most of us can't get enough of ND so, it may not be a real
      problem.

      Just some thoughts.

      This post has been edited 2 times, most recently by hemy on 7/26/2012 at 12:48 PM

      hemy

    • John Haynsworth said...

      Sure, UND.com lacks a social element

      BINGO! That is what will keep sites like BGI alive. We are/have been living in a social network culture for some time now with myspace/FB/twitter and that is only going to grow. Unless und.com begins a forum, 247 will have it's niche.

      Personally, I can get current player/game news and content anywhere. It's the relationships and historical perspective that keeps me paying my membership here. Plus, remember, und.com cannot comment on recruiting until NSD. So, on that front, sites like BGI that have people like Sapp and Wiltfong will continue to prosper.

      There's only so much they can put on und.com If ND doesn't push to have more olympic sports games and the ND football archive of games broadcast on the NBC family of networks, they are making an error.

      simm

    • Not to worry, did the creation of the YES network limit news devoted to the Yankees? If anything an abundance of content will help BGI, much more to talk about, more angles, more features.

      BGI would be fine as would TOSs even though their web pages look like something out of the 90's... The 1890's

      NDNJ96

    • John,

      What Mr. Swarbrick is saying, while progressive, is hardly ahead of the curve, other programs (i.e. Texas) are significantly ahead of ND in this arena. Is there a co-existence at UTex, or have outlets similar to B&G disappeared?

      Great post. And I agree with your concerns, also like Simms response.

      kking ●

    • hemy said...

      One other thing---I don't think most of us on this site will all of a sudden cancel because und.com has good but free content. I certainly go to und.com now but I am very happy to be a BlueandGold member also. I think most of us can't get enough of ND so, it may not be a real problem.

      I'm not saying that all premium members will jump ship as a result of UND.com. But as you mentioned, all media gets the same access to the same players at the same time. Once you've watched an interview at UND.com on a Tuesday, you're not going to find much difference in the content delivered in interview videos across the premium sites.

      Additionally, UND.com doesn't fight the same time restrictions as the premium sites, and they also get exclusive content as well.

      While none of the above is likely to get you all to cancel your memberships, the potential that it will take page views and time spent per page away from the premium sites exists, significantly. Premium memberships are a big piece of the revenue pie, but not all of it nor should it be (if a site wants to be successful and maximize revenues), and advertisers are still interested in how much exposure their advertisements get.

      I guess my point is that while UND.com may not do much to dwindle premium sites' business, it is likely that it will make growth that much more difficult. I find it concerning, though I believe 247 (particularly with this staff) is positioned as well as anyone to not get gobbled up in the scramble. Scout.com, for example, I'm not so sure ...

      John Haynsworth

    • This post is for members of BlueandGold or All Access VIP members only. Start Free Trial

      4Horsemen

    • kking said...

      John,

      What Mr. Swarbrick is saying, while progressive, is hardly ahead of the curve, other programs (i.e. Texas) are significantly ahead of ND in this arena. Is there a co-existence at UTex, or have outlets similar to B&G disappeared?

      Well, the owner of BGI (and other publications) looked at a Texas publication recently, and came to the poignant conclusion that he wouldn't have taken it off of the previous owners hands for much more than free/nothing. I'm not even sure Horns Illustrated can give its product away, currently, though that says more about the popularity of online resources such as Hookem.com and Orangebloods.com than anything the university's athletics department is doing.

      And Horns Illustrated publishes a very sharp, full color publication.

      I'm just saying, there isn't a ton of growth in the premium marketplace. A motivated UND.com doesn't help the situation much in that regard. It only hurts it, in my opinion.

      John Haynsworth

    • Off topic for a minute but John are you no longer BGI staff? Did I miss something? I have always read your posts as staff posts.

      WE ARE ND76

    • I don't care what UND.com does. As long as the current staff is here I'll gladly pay my money every month. Best site covering Notre Dame IMO

      19BlueAndGold85

    • I stopped contributing after last season. I moved from journalism to public relations last October. I tried to hang on as a freelance contributor, but a new role with a new company has consumed most of my focus.

      It's nice to be able to check in when I can to talk Notre Dame football with some of the familiar names that still frequent the site. All is definitely well that ends well.

      John Haynsworth

    • This post is for members of BlueandGold or All Access VIP members only. Start Free Trial

      NDFoots34

    • There will always be a place for third party coverage like BGI because people know when they are watching corporate spin content, and don't like it. Sure, they will get the better interviews and viewing angles, but not the stickiness from a content and social site.

      Irish Cedar

    • First thought, I hope J-Sapp, Lou, and Dan get nice pay raises from UND since their top-notch work should make them must-get staff.

      Second, alot of people are going to get bored after UND's not unbiased moderating staff deletes every single "Turnover Tommy" message board topic.

      Third, society is going to suffer greatly when Merlin has so much free time with his dime-piece sig-GF that we start seeing lil'Merlins running around. I see ya Merlin--time to update the sig pics buddy lol shake wave

      bailey_mcirish

    • bailey_mcirish said...

      First thought, I hope J-Sapp, Lou, and Dan get nice pay raises from UND since their top-notch work should make them must-get staff.

      Second, alot of people are going to get bored after UND's not unbiased moderating staff deletes every single "Turnover Tommy" message board topic.

      Third, society is going to suffer greatly when Merlin has so much free time with his dime-piece sig-GF that we start seeing lil'Merlins running around. I see ya Merlin--time to update the sig pics buddy lol shakewave

      Cold shot

      19BlueAndGold85

    • John, you make some very valid points which should concern many of us. Proof of concern, in my opinion, is Tony Roberts and Tom Pagna being removed from the radio booth. If ND is in control, to reach nd haters as much as the true fan, the content wont have bias and will be vanilla, generic, and boring a just like the current radio team. That said, the good content contributors on the independent sites will always have a place for the hardcore fans like me! Do you agree?

      sportsfansb

    • Guess I should have read ALL the posts before I post my previous post. Looks like you guys already answered and covered most of my topics....sorry for restating what was already covered!

      sportsfansb

    • John, I owe you an apology.......i didnt realize you arent on staff. I have critisized you in the past for being so negative and grumpy.....I was coming from the position that I have plenty of people in my life who will give me that for free and I didnt want to pay for the site and get it from the staff. Now, I won't get all worked up and take your comments just like I do all of us knucklheaded off the wall fans! Sorry again for my past behaviors and attacks!

      sportsfansb

    • I just believe that Notre Dame, via UND.com, has the power to control it's image, and I believe they've taken deliberate steps to do so over the years. I think that's ultimately dangerous for premium sites such as these.

      I'm glad to see that Wes, in his own, more eloquent words, pointed that out explicitly in his article.

      I don't really blame Notre Dame for working to get viewers caught up in the churn of their own news cycle. It's a smart, well-played move - it almost certainly pleases their corporate partners, and gives them a platform to maintain their image. Their placement on Google gives them the advantage to have first crack at anyone searching "Notre Dame" or "Notre Dame football". Their content is free. They'll attract business for a number of reasons.

      Sites such as this will always have the benefit of recruiting and insider coverage. And the staff here is as quick to deliver that critically time sensitive news as anyone in their marketplace, which is very crowded to say the least.

      I'm glad to see some of you taking such a loyal stance. It's good to know that some of you recognize the efforts of this staff to rebuild a website that suffered a major membership blow following the split from Rivals.com many years ago. I hope you all do stick with this site's premium content in spite of the push from UND.com. More importantly, I hope many of you link this site's content on your social media pages. Keep BGI visible to your friends. It's important for BGI's business to grow in the face of increased competition.

      You all shouldn't be so quick to dismiss the impact of a strengthening UND.com on the premium marketplace. If you enjoy and appreciate media such as BGI, then you should be very aware of that impact.

      John Haynsworth

    • sportsfansb said...

      John, I owe you an apology......

      Water long under the bridge. No worries.

      John Haynsworth

    • John Haynsworth said...

      "Exclusive content at UND.com is not exciting to reporters who cover the University. In fact, there’s a concern that outside media access to players and coaches will be extremely limited in years to come as Notre Dame increases the volume of its in-house content, which obviously won’t include an unbiased point of view. Swarbrick didn’t address such concerns."

      I'm glad to see this stated explicitly rather than beating around the proverbial bush. The growth of UND.com should definitely be a concern for media such as BGI, and anyone who publishes premium content covering Notre Dame football. I presume they'll be producing tons of relevant, free content, while limiting outside media to the standard three minutes per video.

      Sure, UND.com lacks a social element, but if "content is king," then it won't be long before UND.com owns the mountain-top, if it doesn't already (their traffic numbers were surprisingly gaudy a few years ago when they weren't producing nearly as much content as they have in recent seasons).

      This is a good staff here at BlueandGold.com that covers the program with integrity. I'm curious to see how they remain visible among the smothering efforts of a powerhouse such as Notre Dame's athletics department.

      right on point john. well thought out......

      Coach_Clancy

    • bailey_mcirish said...

      First thought, I hope J-Sapp, Lou, and Dan get nice pay raises from UND since their top-notch work should make them must-get staff.

      Second, alot of people are going to get bored after UND's not unbiased moderating staff deletes every single "Turnover Tommy" message board topic.

      Third, society is going to suffer greatly when Merlin has so much free time with his dime-piece sig-GF that we start seeing lil'Merlins running around. I see ya Merlin--time to update the sig pics buddy lol shakewave

      How about the guy who wrote the story? Can he get a nice pay raise?

      Wes Morgan

    • Wes Morgan said...

      How about the guy who wrote the story? Can he get a nice pay raise?

      No. The beatings will continue until morale improves. Back to work slackerbiggrin

      19BlueAndGold85

    • Wes Morgan said...

      How about the guy who wrote the story? Can he get a nice pay raise?

      You're not gonna be the guy signing those checks Wes? Then I guess you can get a raise too lol

      bailey_mcirish

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