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21

The Future of Sports is Boobies

August 5, 2008

Just got pitched for OpenSports, created by Mike Levy, who founded CBS SportsLine.com. I took a look at the page, scrolled down to the right, and found this young lady:

sports spokesperson

So, I’ll admit that I didn’t press play on the video. She might be a brilliant sports analyst.

But seriously, is this the future of sports? Or is this 1955?

To be reasonably fair, the site has all kinds of features. I’m still stuck on the sexist part. The rest? Probably good.

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boobies, entertainment, marketing, sports

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Comments
Comment by Meg on August 5, 2008 @ 6:18 pm

Knowing your audience 101, or lowballing to meet your perception of your audience? As a devoted female sportsfan, I’m used to ignoring this kind of targeting, but boobs do sell.

Hell, variations on that term (boobs) in Google result in at least 75 visits to my blog daily.

Comment by Todd Carpenter on August 5, 2008 @ 8:18 pm

I clicked on it! It’s actually a fantasy football report done by a “Fantasy Girl”. Fantasy football is like Dungeons and Dragons for adults that never grew out of it. So it probably works.

Listening to sports radio for years, many die hard fans tend to resent the super attractive women doing sports. Just watch Sports Center on ESPN. There are women on the show, and it’s not like their unattractive, but they’re not wearing half shirts. It’s super professional.

Comment by kat brogan on August 5, 2008 @ 11:41 pm

i just wish they’d not put the number on the front of the shirt
i can’t always tell what it is
esp if she’s wicked hot
then half of the number gets lost completely
annoying!

Comment by Alex M. Thompson on August 6, 2008 @ 2:26 am

Sexist? Have you ever seen a football game…and the cheerleaders?

This post made me cringe. Grow up and quit being a sniveling little lameass, you pathetic puritan prude.

Comment by jeff on August 6, 2008 @ 3:27 am

Hey Alex,

Don’t get so upset. He didn’t say he didn’t like the boobs. Just asked a question.

Congrats Chris! You’ve finally got haters that come just to hate. LoL

Comment by Darren Daz Cox on August 6, 2008 @ 8:45 am

Well, when you boil it down to the basic psychological level, sport IS about boobies.

Sports are challenges to show who is the ‘fittest’ of the species in various ways, the point of being fittest is to provide strong genes to ensure the survival of the species on the most basic, if not unconscious, level.

People who watch sports are vicariously sharing victories and defeats but also sharing the comfort that their breed is strong and vital.

You can dress up sports as ’serious’ news but it IS about sex so having a sexy woman talk about sports is more appropriate than having an old man rattle off statistics I’d say.

Comment by brandy radey on August 6, 2008 @ 10:33 am

Um, that is the funniest headline I’ve ever read. Nice work.

Comment by bill c. on August 6, 2008 @ 12:08 pm

lolol Don’t tell me you’re not hip to “The Formula”! :D

http://billcammack.com/2008/03/10/eye-candy/

Comment by Kelly on August 6, 2008 @ 12:27 pm

Chris,

I have to agree. At a time when most major sports claim to be attempting to expand their audiences beyond the traditional, it seems like a pretty pathetic and divisive ploy.

Alex: Not the *only* pathetic ploy, just one, pathetic, ploy. Suggesting that cheerleaders’ outfits justify this is like the old “If your friend jumped off a bridge, would you go too?” Please.

Regards,

Kelly

Comment by Nancy on August 6, 2008 @ 12:59 pm

I imagine that becoming a father of girls, *and* boys, actually, would transform a guy’s perception of these sorts of cultural phenomena. Traveling between India and the States has provided a dramatic perspective on images of women in the media. Nothing like compare and contrast to learn a thing or two.

As for the sniveling lame ass comment: perhaps some sociologist somewhere will research possible correlations between the embrace of sexist imagery and the ability to form a coherent argument.

Snap!

Comment by Kevin Goldberg on August 6, 2008 @ 1:02 pm

Hey - has anyone checked out the site? You may not like the video but the content is pretty solid. I don’t think they are selling sex. I think they know their audience and this is just one piece of content.

Comment by chrisbrogan on August 6, 2008 @ 2:45 pm

Well sure, the sports stuff is great. But I dunno. Do you just overlook the part that bugs you? Maybe. We do for MySpace, I guess.

Comment by kat brogan on August 6, 2008 @ 2:50 pm

boing boing = misanthropes showing up at the door

Comment by PodChicks on August 6, 2008 @ 3:45 pm

Hey now, don’t forget about the ladies in the audience. There are a lot of women sports fans out there. And apparently OpenSports didn’t get the memo — women are a HUGE untapped audience with MILLIONS of dollars to spend. So, on that note, I’d like to see some beefcake reporting the stats. And now, back to Chris.

Comment by jgraziani on August 6, 2008 @ 4:06 pm

Can’t help but think that they are alienating a *lot* of female sports fans. Me for one. Probably won’t be visiting that site at all, regardless of what they have to offer.

Comment by Saintclowd on August 6, 2008 @ 4:15 pm

http://www.opensports.com/community/user/blog_entry/99/fe9717d9-bbb5-4451-96da-a7f81f662617

The following link apparently has alluded to Brogan.

“There’s no such thing as bad press. Thank you Chris Brogan! And since, the Future of Sports is what Brogan says they are. He’s right. This is the only sports video we watch. In fact, it is a 24/7 loop on the televisions here at OPEN Sports HQ.” — OPEN Sports.com … I would imbed the video but don’t know how.

Comment by Alex M. Thompson on August 6, 2008 @ 6:09 pm

This is just sort of an immature, unnecessary post. Too many of these on the internet. Did I come to hate? Heck, no. Resort to the ad hominem? Okay, I will.

Comment by Dave Kawalec on August 6, 2008 @ 7:37 pm

The video is posted under the “Community” section, so it’s not clear if this is the site that posted the video, or someone in the community using the site. Also, the picture on the home page seems to just show the latest posted video. Seems like you just happened to catch it at a time where this video was featured.

Comment by Paul Dettman on August 7, 2008 @ 4:07 am

Just wading into this one in the interests of balanced journalism. The video you mention has nothing to do with OpenSports, it was produced by http://www.fantasysportsgirl.com which covers all manner of sports including my new favourite NASCAR. Disregarding the sexism claim, the site is pretty nice and has lots of ‘real’ sports info.

How is this fantasy site different to magazines like GQ, Maxim and Loaded? It is just pitching the same audience with an online alternative. I’m no chauvinist, but Fantasy Sports Girl Andrea has a firm grasp of her tyre rubber compounds… and yes, I did enjoy researching this comment.

Comment by Saintclowd on August 7, 2008 @ 3:17 pm

Agreed Dettman. The site has some pretty good stuff … and has the feel of more of a sports site centered around entertainment.

Comment by Dan Reinhold on August 14, 2008 @ 7:12 am

Yes! Thank you!

After seeing some of the top bloggers “pimping” cheesecake, this is a breath of fresh air.

Now can somebody tell me what’s up with Bob Parsons of GoDaddy.com? Great registrar, total horn dog.

Here’s my take in a nutshell:
http://promoteanythingonline.net/ThePAOblog/2008/07/22/cut-the-cheesecake-and-pass-it-around/

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Liked by
  • Warner Crocker,
  • Mark Dykeman
  • December 31, 1969 at 4:33 pm PodChicks
    Hey now, don’t forget about the ladies in the audience. There are a lot of women sports fans out there. And apparently OpenSports didn’t get the memo — women are a HUGE untapped audience with MILLIONS of dollars to spend. So, on that note, I’d like to see some beefcake reporting the stats. And now, back to Chris.
  • December 31, 1969 at 4:33 pm Roland Hesz
    I hate sexism. Always portraying men as if they are interested only in boobs. That's awful!
  • December 31, 1969 at 4:33 pm Warner Crocker
    Between that and ads for erectile dysfunction products it makes you wonder doesn't it.
  • December 31, 1969 at 4:33 pm Svetlana Gladkova
    That's an amazing way to turn a pitch into a post with a hilarious title. I got the pitch myself and was trying to fogire out if it was worth coverage - and then I saw the title and realized I'd better no because this will always continue to be the "boobies startup".

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