FanSection Blog

Amidst this significant reduction in clickable actions you can take from the front page, it’s interesting to see what they added, namely tighter integration with the rest of the ESPN network. Instead of making it simpler for users to access the deeper parts of their site, they’ve added top level links labeled “TV,” “Radio,” “Magazine,” “Mobile” and “ESPN360,” its live sports streaming property.

To me, this is both an obvious and significant step forward for The Worldwide Leader as they better leverage their content across different media. While this seems an obvious move, many others in the media industry have been much less proactive.

ESPN has always been a leader in this regard — in college, I conducted a study of the types of stories reported on Sportscenter vs. ESPN.com, and found that ESPN.com carried significantly more news stories, while a majority of airtime on SportsCenter was actually devoted to features and analysis, such as interviews with athletes, highlight reels set to music, interviews with pundits, and so on.

To me, their emphasis and execution on cross media integration, tying their channels so strongly to their brand, bodes well for their future.

Emphasis on video

Another notable change is the addition of a “Top Videos” tab that toggles the lead story to a video player, which for me began autoplaying an interview between an anchor and ESPN pundit Buster Olney opinining on the CC Sabathia deal, with some highlights playing as he talked. Based on the feed, it’s clear that the piece originally ran on TV.

There are other clips accessible at the bottom of the module, and it’s an effective re-use of the huge amounts of high production value video content they produce every day.

Implication for ads

I think that the redesign will have to revenue impacts on the site. First, I would imagine the cleaner design will actually make ads pop more and improve ad performance, something that could impact their CPCs and CPMs.

Bringing video front and center also allows them to get more views on video ads on their website, which typically deliver many times the CPM — in fact, as I type, an ad for Braun shavers came on after a clip ended. It also allows them to pitch more integrated campaigns to their advertisers — imagine the Budweiser Hot Seat being aired on SportsCenter and then picking up a few million more impressions online.

Conclusion

The redesign brings a cleaner user experience, something I love, and also more naturally brings ESPN’s video content to users, another plus. ESPN is still a destination site in an increasingly fragmented internet, and their resdesign shows that they are committed to defending that position.

However, I do wonder when they will begin to incorporate more social aspects, something which is conspicuously missing in the glossy new look. For example, a Facebook Connect integration could be highly compelling. As we know from running FanSection, being a sports fan is both a highly social and highly public experience, whether it’s going to a game together, posting on someone’s wall or wearing a jersey to work.

Just off the top of my head, allowing users to quickly post stories and videos to their their news feed, send reminders to or even watch live ESPN360 content or play in Fantasy Leagues in Facebook is an obvious value proposition. More advanced features could be the integration of ESPN contests such as Beat the Streak could deliver a more compelling user experience and more value for advertisers to boot.