ESPN.com = Insider or Bust, Apparently

[Ksyrup]

:mad:

Now Jayson Stark's Rumblings and Grumblings - the only thing he writes that's worth reading most of the time - is going to become part of ESPN's Insider package. I haven't paid to join, even though I really miss Rob Neyer, and now, they've pissed me off so much by continuing to add otherwise regular writers to the Insider, that I don't want to join even though it's probably worth it at this point.

Peter Gammons is next, right? Who else is left - Jim Caple? :redface:

I wonder when Clayton and Mortensen will be added?

[st.cronin]

I think the growing importance of insider is a horrible mistake by espn.com. There's too much free competition.

[Blackadar]

I just come up with a hacked username/password every so often to get access.

[Ksyrup]

I think the growing importance of insider is a horrible mistake by espn.com. There's too much free competition.
Does SI.com do this? Or are they so desperate for viewers that they wouldn't dare put Peter King or someone like him in a pay-only situation? What about Rick Reilly? I'm fairly certain all of the baseball writers (Verducci is the only one that comes to mind right now) are free.

[gstelmack]

Some of Peter King's stuff is on the CNNSI version of insider. Just not MMQB.

I'm with the coach from New Mexico: too much free stuff available for me to pay for my news. Or I'll just watch ESPN/ESPNNews. I'm not paying for web news.

[albionmoonlight]

A lot of times, I just go to cnnsi because it is not worth wading through insider on ESPN.

However, I don't think that they would continue to expand it if it were not working.

[Subby]

Insider is worth every penny...*shurg*

[Ksyrup]

Some of Peter King's stuff is on the CNNSI version of insider. Just not MMQB.

I'm with the coach from New Mexico: too much free stuff available for me to pay for my news. Or I'll just watch ESPN/ESPNNews. I'm not paying for web news.
I'm not so much thinking about the news, but the columns. Rob Neyer has a definite perspective that I enjoy(ed) reading. Stark does have some inside info that would be difficult to specifically track down (especially without knowing what it is). Those things are interesting to me and are not just plain "news."

Just like Mel Kiper's draft stuff is on Insider, it would not shock me at all to see ESPN put all of the baseball trade deadline stuff on Insider during the month of July, for instance. Which would piss me off greatly.

[Maple Leafs]

It's their content, and they have every right to charge for it if they think that's the best move. I'm not sure it is since I don't know their business model, but in general people vastly over-estimate how much money you can make giving content away for free. Relying on ad revenue is a ticket to bankruptcy in all but a very few cases, and apparently ESPN feels like the web site doesn't drive enough revenue to their other main business lines to make it worth absorbing a big loss on it.

[Draft Dodger]

I don't mind all the content being moved to Insider. But I wish they would tone down their ads for free content.

I visit ESPN less and less every day

[DeToxRox]

That's awful. I know that if this happened to a female friend of mine, I'd be hard pressed not to go out on my own looking for the jackass. Any time any man does anything of that nature to a female, my blood boils and I wish I could've been there to do something about it.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Insider is worth every penny...*shurg*
Agreed. I've been an "insider" since 1998 or 1999. Never regretted it for a moment.

As for the Coach of New Mexico (whoever he is), I find "web news" to be much better (in most respects) than other forms of "news". It's more immediate. It's easier to find exactly what you want, when you want it. It's basically on demand. If I want to see the score of last night's Tigers' game, I click on the link. No need to wait until ESPN/ESPNEWS decide to show me the highlights or the ticker gets there.

[Honolulu_Blue]

That's awful. I know that if this happened to a female friend of mine, I'd be hard pressed not to go out on my own looking for the jackass. Any time any man does anything of that nature to a female, my blood boils and I wish I could've been there to do something about it.
Uh, dude. I think you're, like, in the wrong thread or something...

[Neuqua]

Uh, dude. I think you're, like, in the wrong thread or something...

lol

[Samdari]

Insider is worth every penny...*shurg*

I agree.

Also consider that the biggest competitor to ESPN.com, CBS sportsline, also has a similar service, and have moved much of their best content to the pay service. As for cnnsi being a viable alternative, I find that ESPN.com has more and better free content.

[Ksyrup]

I'm seriously considering doing it. Is it still $25?

[Logan]

Insider is worth every penny that some other poor schmuck spends, but I use anyway...*shurg*

Fixed.

[BigJohn&TheLions]

Speaking of how espn sucks more and more, the Sporting News is almost unbelievablely bad. I got the "free" subscrition (THANKS!) and cannot believe that anybody would pay for what a load of crap the publication has become. I really enjoyed it back when it was B&W and on newsprint. I only paid 50 cents per week for it and absolutely loved it. Now it has become what I most feared when they began changing. There is hardly any news anymore. Instead of sections on teams they seem to have a line or two. Nascar is covered in depth. Nascar? Sporting News? Is it just me, or aren't there publications that actually are for nascar that would do a much better job?

I used to take my time with TSN. It now takes me about 5 minutes before it goes in the recycle bin.

Oh, and wasn't that a great mock draft? The dart board method would have been more accurate.

[Subby]

Fixed.
Sorry, I don't get it.

[Logan]

Sorry, I don't get it.

My apologies...

I just come up with a hacked username/password every so often to get access.

Same here. :)

[korme]

That's awful. I know that if this happened to a female friend of mine, I'd be hard pressed not to go out on my own looking for the jackass. Any time any man does anything of that nature to a female, my blood boils and I wish I could've been there to do something about it.
haha.. i .. i get it

[Ksyrup]

OK...apparently Peter Gammons is now an Insider. I don't know if this is just for the trade deadline or what, but his latest column is not free.

This sucks. I think Buster Olney and Tim Kurkjian are about the only baseball guys who are free now. And they don't really write all that much.

[Ragone]

Pretty soon you'll have to pay ppv costs to watch stuart scott butcher highlights.. only then will espn realize the error of their ways

[henry296]

Not all of Jayson Starks Rumblings and Grumblings are on Insider. I just found this one from last month:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2091746

[cartman]

Well, you also do get ESPN the Magazine when you subscribe to Insider. Not sure if that would sway anyone, but that is something else you get in addition to the access to the Insider section of the website.

[Peregrine]

Well, you also do get ESPN the Magazine when you subscribe to Insider

Ugh, could I pay them extra to NOT get that piece of garbage?

[henry296]

My biggest issue with all of the Insider is that the chats go to Insider almost immediately after they finish.

[Ksyrup]

Not all of Jayson Starks Rumblings and Grumblings are on Insider. I just found this one from last month:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2091746
That's not a real rumblings and grumblings, though. That's an article about the Royals with that name slapped on it. A real R &G has trade talk and other stuff like that. They've pretty much stripped ESPN.com of any decent information. Which is unfortunate, not because I'm a cheapskate and refuse to pay for it, but because it's out there for free, but I enjoy reading some of their guys' takes on situations. So all I'd be paying for is the wrapper, not the prize. SI's Rumors page - which is free - does a nice job of collecting newspaper comments about potential trades, etc. I guess it comes down to giving in to read what the personalities have to say.

[TroyF]

Ksyrup,

Yeah, I think the service is in that 25 dollar range.

It's worth it to me for the fantasy football information alone. (and that is how I originally signed up for it, through an ESPN fantasy league) I've been a member of the program for a few years now and have always been satisfied.

I can see the frustration for those who aren't though. Since I've been a member for so long I don't even notice what is and isn't insider anymore. It would suck to see things you read for free go away by the day.

[JAG]

Speaking of how espn sucks more and more, the Sporting News is almost unbelievablely bad. I got the "free" subscrition (THANKS!) and cannot believe that anybody would pay for what a load of crap the publication has become. I really enjoyed it back when it was B&W and on newsprint. I only paid 50 cents per week for it and absolutely loved it. Now it has become what I most feared when they began changing. There is hardly any news anymore. Instead of sections on teams they seem to have a line or two. Nascar is covered in depth. Nascar? Sporting News? Is it just me, or aren't there publications that actually are for nascar that would do a much better job?

I used to take my time with TSN. It now takes me about 5 minutes before it goes in the recycle bin.

Oh, and wasn't that a great mock draft? The dart board method would have been more accurate.

That was so similar to my own thoughts on the subject I could've written that. I can't believe anyone would actually pay for that...I almost don't want to get it for free anymore.

As for premium content on sites, since it's pretty much everywhere, I think you just have to pick and choose what you want (if anything), unless you have an unlimited budget. I used to have Insider and I would consider getting it for the NFL season (Scouts Inc. does some decent analysis IMO), but currently the only thing I'm paying for "premium-content" wise is a Cowboys site that sprung off of Dallas Morning News, my main Cowboys info site for the past 11 or so years. And I'm paying for that mainly for a few very good columists they have, so Ksyrup pretty much hit the nail on the head.

[ice4277]

I think the Sporting News is still a good magazine, I rate it much more highly than ESPN or Sports Illustrated.

[Celeval]

Isn't SI's insider the magazine subscription? I get the magazine delivered (have for some time), and I just sign in with my name and address and get access to the exclusive content - most (all?) of which are online articles from the magazine anyhow.

[Hammer755]

I think the Sporting News is still a good magazine, I rate it much more highly than ESPN or Sports Illustrated.

Same here, but that's not saying much. I still like TSN, but I also got it from the freebie link. I wouldn't pay for it, but I still spend more time reading it than any other paper magazine. And I felt exactly the same about the NASCAR coverage when I first started receiving the mag - it seems to get the most coverage and top billing over everything else.

SI is OK, I guess. As for ESPN the Mag, I was praying every week that my free subscription would run out, but it just .. kept .. coming.

[ShaqFu]

I'm surprised they aren't going in the direction of CNN. You used to have to pay for CNN Video. Now it's free and they proudly say so.

[Klinglerware]

That's awful. I know that if this happened to a female friend of mine, I'd be hard pressed not to go out on my own looking for the jackass. Any time any man does anything of that nature to a female, my blood boils and I wish I could've been there to do something about it.

I get it too. Wrong, but kinda funny...