College Sports Information Directors of America

Jon Cole writes on how digital media is the best way that an audience can be reached and demonstrates that by de-emphasizing printed media guides/recruiting guides, a media relations/SID office can focus manpower and energy into developing a solid historical database and increase program exposure through use of digital media.

Cole is associate director of media relations at The Citadel and serves as the main contact for men's basketball and women's volleyball and is the athletic website coordinator (www.citadelsports.com). He also is a member of the CoSIDA New Media/Technology Committee. Cole can be reached at jon.cole@citadel.edu.

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 As a young professional, having worked in NCAA Division I, Division III, arenafootball2, East Coast Hockey and minor league baseball during my career in Communications, I have seen the introductions of many new technologies in that time frame.

One of the “cutting edge” concepts that I first encountered in writing media guides came in the spring of 2004 with the Greensboro Prowlers (af2) league. All Media Relations Directors were required to supply CD-rom versions, instead of printed, of media guides to members of the media. That concept caught a great discourse among writers and media members because at that time not all laptops were compatible with CD-rom readers. It also was tough for preparation purposes because of the large amount and timely uploads.

As I look at the state of Division I media guides, some of the biggest issues that surround these publications are

(1) the amount of time that each Sports Information Department spends working on their compilation;

(2) the cost effectiveness of these publications (not specifically on revenue generating sports, but rather Olympic, non-revenue generating sports (ex: volleyball, track & field, softball, etc.);

(3) the material is time dated by time it reaches its intended destination;

(4) the material in these media guides is getting further away from its intended “market."

1. Amount of time that each Sports Information Department spends working on media guide compilation

This is key in an overworked Sports Information field as it is already. The writing of bios, additions to statistics from the previous season, and most of all, time spent on highlighting a season in which records are broken/while offering a form of new information for the media’s use, is very time consuming.

The ever-changing front, back, inside front and inside back covers all create tons of checking and rechecking to assure quality and improvement from the season before. In The Citadel office, we find new ideas from other school media guides and replicate these same ideas within our own to provide better and more relevant information for our sport specific guides. The problem comes when you receive last minute changes in which a player left the program, causing you to shift your layout, number of pages, etc. and therefore creating additional problems in getting the media guide out before the season begins.

2. The cost effectiveness of printed media guide publications - especially those of Olympic, non-revenue generating sports 
 
This second point (the cost effectiveness of these publications in Olympic, non-revenue generating sports (ex: volleyball, track & field, softball, etc.) is in my opinion the biggest factor in the future development of media guides.

With the economic decline throughout the world market, money saving efforts in areas such as this can prove beneficial the printing costs and forcing these to being completely online resources. Michigan and Ohio State’s reduction of printed football media guides, which saved a reported $100,000 this year from their budget, is a prime indication that these are “economic hogs”.

I realize that often media guides in football, men’s basketball and baseball are sold by the media relations department, but that money is minimal contributions to the program. By alleviating the printing of media guides I am certain that Athletic Directors can turn the savings into additional salary increases or creation of positions that increase exposure or work production in the entire department.

3. The material is time-dated by time it reaches its intended destination

This third point is clearly due to the constant updates on university websites. This information is instantaneous and provides up-to-date details of the program, time changes, team trends, etc.

Here's an example of what happened during the production of The Citadel men’s basketball media guide. A player’s facial and hair was not cut to the liking of alumni in a strict military college. This forced the men’s basketball team to retake the team photos and player to retake his profile picture. By the time that all changes were made, the delay forced printing to be pushed back to early December (already five games deep in the season). These changes occur infrequently, I am sure, but a great deal of the material is useful for the first four to five games of the season until new statistical trends have been established. By that point the SID has a solid grip on the way that things are progressing and can provide writers, play-by-play broadcasters, etc. with story ideas and information pertaining to current issues of the team and not continue to “harp” on the previous season.

4. The material in these media guides is getting further away from its intended “market"

This point comes from my working knowledge of the profession. The media guides are being used as recruiting tools rather than to assist the writers with historical, player, coaching and season-by-season data that is significant throughout the year for coverage.

I'll again use The Citadel men’s basketball media guide as a reference point, where 31 of 164 pages in the guide have no focus on player, statistical data, coaching bios or athletic department staff bios. Instead these pages turn the attention on the institute, graduation rates, traditions, and are “highlights” of the previous season coverage in the media. It also provides information that I assume very few college students take into account (average rainfall, temperature, etc).

All of these “fluff” pages are completely unnecessary when providing information to the media and need to be provided by the university media relations office if at all.


More supporting evidence to eliminate printed media guides

These four points are supported by a comment from the August 3, 2009 Sports Illustrated article entitled: You’ve Got (too much) Mail.

The article sifted through 2,161 letters from 56 programs received by standout recruit Roberto Nelson, who eventually chose Oregon State. Working in Sports Information, the one fact that was most important to me in the article was that “Nelson received 44 guides and says he looked at ‘one or two.’”

Instead of making his decision based off all of the mail, letters, calls, etc. he based it off the fact that his eventual coach, Steve Robinson because he paid him a visit. Robinson never sent a single letter, and after four phone calls made this decision to visit. It shows to me that after all of the letters, media guides being mailed it all boils down to the personality of the program.

Another fact that Sports Illustrated brought up is how much waste is generated with printed material, especially in a nation now focusing on going green and departments focusing on budget reductions. SI's examples of waste:

• the consumption of 220 tons of wood, the equivalent of about 1,526 trees
• and 167,034 pounds of solid waste, which would fill six garbage trucks, and 1,423,939 gallons of wastewater, the equivalent of two swimming pools’ full.


Focus budgets on digital media advancements for your department

The elimination or limitations placed on media guides opens the door for budgets to be focused on advancements in digital media.

This new “digital” media allows for increased exposure athletic department development which includes:

• opening the door for sponsorship and revenue generating coach’s shows
• increased website visitations that change the price of advertisements
• constant contact with potential student-athletes through blast emails of these online coach’s shows.

In reviewing the digital media that is in place at The Citadel, I compared/contrasted other three other institutions with three distinct parameters in mind. I had three distinct parameters in mind: all are state supported institutions, all from mid-major conferences and all have aggressive techniques to reach their fan base and recruits.

My findings are as follows:



Two key facts are apparent in the above graphic: there are significant amounts of revenue increases for the school in the Southern ($15,725) and Colonial Athletic ($40,000). It also shows that the workload is falling on individuals with salaries that are not draining to the budget (only three full-time employees among the four schools mentioned).

The biggest start-up cost in this process, however, seems to point to the purchase of cameras and editing tools. The hours dedicated to online streaming during the season is less than one full work day, allowing the employee to complete other tasks at hand.

Summary