The Value of Sports Blogs

A friend of mine passed along an interesting news story the other day.  SB Nation (short for SportsBlogs Nation, a group of over 150 team-based sports blogs) has recently obtained a “mid-seven-figure sum” of venture capital (TechCrunch, 10/29/08).  In light of the current economy, this is a substantial success for the “blogosphere.”  So what else does this funding tell us?

• Blogs are gaining more and more credibility in the public eye, taking traffic away from “traditional” websites. 
• This shift in web traffic will in turn have an impact on advertising rates that major sports websites can demand.
• Fans may trust blogs more than traditional sites because they are primarily run by other fans (although, if blogs become more corporate-owned, this could easily shift…something to keep an eye on).
• Teams/Leagues/Companies absolutely must monitor popular blogs that cover their team/league/company in order to stay in touch with what their fans are discussing.

Now I just need to find a way for TheBusinessOfSports.com to get some funding.  I’d settle for a ”mid-any-figure sum!”  Calling SB Nation – how about a new section on Sports Business??