No, I don’t want to be an Insider. I want to read sports news and features. If you want to be a subscription site, charge people to view your content. But cut the shit where you offer some free content and some pay-for content. Yes, I know they indicate which links lead to pay-for content but it’s still fucking annoying.
Yeah yeah, I know, there are other sports news sites, and I am using Fox Sports’ site more and more, but it just pisses me off the way they keep moving more and more content to the subscriber section. They don’t make enough money from their advertising? Most other sports new sites get by with ads.
Amen. It used to be my sports resource of first resort, but I’ve switched over to CNNSI since ESPN went crazy with the Insider Crap. Half the time their icons aren’t on the articles. And it’s not like they don’t have those lame pop-ups, too.
That Insider crap is the reason I stopped visiting ESPN.com as well. The non-insider stuff is basically associated press sports and the Insider stuff is the sort of “expert” analysis that every other sports site has for free.
Another former ESPN.com user checking in. It was about 1 1/2 years ago I pretty much stopped going there. It’s too bad too, because they really had a lot of content I liked. All of that is now insider stuff.
Now I go to CBSSportsline. Not as good as ESPN was, but I can read all the content without having to pay.
I’m a subscriber to ESPN: The Magazine. They advertised a couple times “Free Insider Access.” What that really meant was that they’d give you a month for free as a subscriber (something like that anyway) and then they’d start charging you. The way I see it, the “Insider” stuff (which, I agree isn’t worth paying for) should be free with a magazine subscription.
It’s almost there now. While the magazine subscription is a bit cheaper than Insider, you do get the magazine for free as part of the Insider package, so you’re only paying the difference between the two (something like $14 a year, and much less if you sign up for two years) for the extra content.
I do hate the fact that I still get popups as an Insider, and Webroot SpySweeper also has issues with it (can be overcome fairly easily, but an annoyance), but I like the magazine, and figured that small difference was worth it to get Insider as well.
ESPN should be hated by everyone. They’re the primary reason why your cable bill keeps going up. They charge cable providers more than any other cable network. For someone like me who cares fuckall about sports and never watches it, it’s a real pisser to know that I’m paying extra for such crap.
I’d love to switch to another sports site, but no one’s come close to ESPN’s MLB scoreboard page and box scores (plus Gamecast when I’m at work - too slow at home). Their NFL scoreboard page isn’t bad either, but I haven’t compared anyone elses to theirs.
I’ve also given up on ESPN.com due to everything being part of their Insider package, including a lot of stuff that used to be free. I’ve mainly switched over to cnn/si or CBS. For MLB scoreboard updates, boxscores and gamecasts, Turtle, I go to MLB.com.
Everyone should probably take the following with a grain of salt, as I hate ESPN with about the same passion that some SW fans hate the OT and I consider the current state of things to be a direct affront to all that was good about my childhood, but anyway…
Please, fortheloveofGod, if you hate the pop-ups and the obnoxiousness and the loads of subscriber-only content, USE ANOTHER SITE! ESPN is not the be-all, end-all of sports information and it will have no incentive to heal itself if people just continue to watch its crappy shows and browse its crappy website. I used to turn ESPN (or one of its other networks) on when I got up in the morning and would leave it on as long as I was in the house. Some Saturdays, my TV would be tuned in up to 15 hours a day as I did work while watching college football. Now I only watch games and make a conscious effort to always turn off the TV when an ESPN show comes on. I have not used ESPN.com in years. I follow the same routine with ABC sports programming.
Granted, this places more demands upon my internet time and requires good video capability on my PC, as I don’t get to see a lot of highlights on TV, but at least I have taken my stand (useless as it is…LOL). There are a plethora of excellent specialty sports websites and blogs out there that the charming and internet savvy SDMB membership should have no problem finding. Yahoo’s sports section does just fine in terms of delivering all the general news and no, their boxscores are not as good as ESPNs (this is one area where I will give ESPN.com credit), but they will do. For those interested in football, NFL.com does a good job updating scores and play-by-play for all their games. For those who want excellent rundowns of camp news, sign up for FootballGuys.com’s daily email service (they are a fantasy site and start to charge once the season starts, but their emails are pretty good). Because of the wild popularity of fantasy football, there are tons of specialized NFL sites to choose from (most of the rankings are pay-only, but their news and analysis are generally free). College football fans and baseball fans have about 12 million absolutely amazing blogs to choose from; the situation is not as good for college basketball fans, who generally have to rely more on team-specific sites (like DBR and IC), but we get by. As with all things hockey, there’s less out there, but the people running it are very dedicated. I’m not a big NBA person, so I can’t comment on that scene.
So, in conclusion, down with ESPN!
/told you I was bitter and not exactly rational about this
The Insider crap gets in my craw as well, but I suppose the one thing that annoys me most about ESPN is the video that loads and PLAYS when you visit the website. I have a huge problem with websites that will play sound unprovoked these days. I load up the site, begin perusing the headlines deciding what I want to click on, and bam, DUH-DA-DUH, DUH-DA-DUH, “Welcome to SportsCenter!” Annoying as hell.
The MLB scoreboard is prety good, but it’s not something I NEED.
I’ll agree with all of this. I’m so sick of the insider and pop-ups that I can’t even use the site anymore. It’s unfortunate that I have to go there for Bill Simmons and Gregg Easterbrook.
Joe Morgan, to me, sounds like an old J.A. Adande. I don’t mean in journalistic terms, just that I imagine that Adande will have the same voice as Morgan in 30 years.
As with all things hockey, there’s less out there, but the people running it are very dedicated. I’m not a big NBA person, so I can’t comment on that scene.