Congratulations to Henry Abbott of True Hoop. His news? Henrys blog is Becoming Part of ESPN. Here are some choice quotes from his announcement
I just signed a contract with ESPN. They now own the name TrueHoop, and I am a full-time ESPN employee … To be honest, I wasn’t looking to sell TrueHoop, and I liked owning it. But TrueHoop needed a new model (besides the zero income one) if it was going to pay my mortgage … while the people at ESPN have shown precious little interest in monkeying with the content, they have demonstrated a willingness to dream up all kinds of ways they might be able to put their resources to good use to make it better. For instance, that big ESPN audience ought to let me steer a lot of traffic to all those good basketball blogs out there. …
I’ll also be able to pick up and travel when necessary, for instance to the All-Star game later this week, where I will be meeting face to face with a lot of the NBA contacts … I’ll have a regular paycheck, benefits someone else pays for, and paid vacation. And TrueHoop will, I would assume, reach a bigger audience than ever. It will soon be moving to ESPN.com
While he doesn’t go into the financial arrangements of the sale (ie. lump sum from the purchase) he does say he will be getting a salary and other benefits. Possibly as much of an attraction is he will get to meet NBA stars and rub shoulders with sports celebrities, journos and pundits.
What would you do in his position? It’s quite clear this wasn’t his goal from the start but is embracing the outcome all the same. This could be a future option for many blogs. The traditional media needs new blood, new ideas, new properties. Looks like Henry swapped his business for a Journalist salary. Blog as a way into journalism by getting noticed by a big media outlet?
Many bloggers build their sites to flip (sell on after buying or building value). Perhaps these big media companies are potential buyers.
Now I know why Aaron started SuicideFan, ha.
Via: Threadwatch