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Comcast on Tuesday will launch its latest local sports site, taking the wraps off CSNbaltimore.com.
An offshoot of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, the digital outpost will provide exclusive content dedicated to Baltimore-area sports, including extensive coverage of the NFL Ravens, the MLB Orioles and the University of Maryland Terrapins.
Staffed by local reporters and editors, CSNbaltimore.com will work in tandem with the RSN to provide news, analysis and debate around Charm City’s pro and college sports teams.
Former Baltimore Sun columnist John Eisenberg will serve as the site’s “Ravens Insider,” while also contributing to its coverage of the Orioles and other local franchises. As part of a content-development deal with Baltimore-based sports weekly PressBox, CSNbaltimore.com will also feature contributions from the likes of publisher Stan Charles as well as beat writers Joe Platania and Pete Kerzel.
Known locally as “Stan the Fan,” Charles has a weekday (noon-3 p.m.) slot on Fox Sports Radio’s 1370 AM.
At launch, the top stories on the new site include Eisenberg’s take on the new-look Ravens as led by QB Joe Flacco, and a Kerzel piece on the return of O’s second baseman Brian Roberts––no relation to the Comcast Corp president and CEO who goes by the same name––who went on the DL on April 12. A short item notes that First Lady Michelle Obama will throw out the first pitch at Camden Yards tomorrow (July 20) before the Orioles 7:05 p.m. game against the Rays.
As is the case with all the CSN regional sites, the Baltimore startup is ad-supported. An early look at CSNbaltimore.com revealed horizontal and rectangular banner ads for the likes of Geico, Papa John’s, UPS and Zipcar.
Video for the site will be culled from Comcast SportsNet’s TV news operation and will include reports filed by CSN Mid-Atlantic correspondent Brent Harris. CSNbaltimore.com will split the Mid-Atlantic market with CSNwashington.com, the all-things-D.C. site that bowed in July 2009.
Like its counterpart in the District, the Bethesda, Md.-based CSNbaltimore.com will offer interactive features like fan photo-sharing, reader comments, social media portals and a fantasy sports page.
Comcast has been rolling out local sites since last year, when it took the tarp off CSNwashington.com and CSNNE.com, an online complement to its linear CSN New England channel. Other Comcast-owned affiliate sites include the hometown CSNPhilly.com, as well as CSNChicago.com, CSNBayArea.com and CSNCalifornia.com.
“We are investing to build the leading local sports source in each market we serve, regardless of platform,” said Comcast Sports Group executive vp and chief digital officer Eric Grilly. “Adding [Eisenberg] and other journalists of his caliber to our team is an important part of our formula for success.”
The ongoing strategy to augment its linear brands with digital newsgathering operations comes as ESPN has elevated its efforts to inject itself into local sports markets. Thus far, ESPN has introduced targeted sports sites in Chicago, Boston, New York, Dallas and Los Angeles.
