The University of Massachusetts-Amherst Isenberg School of Management recently completed its third study of 134 major league professional sites and found that baseball had moved up significantly in fan involvement and interest into the top league position. The survey was led by sports communications professor Andy McGowan, the former director of public relations for the National Hockey League, with the help of 40 researchers and conducted with the assistance of the SportsBusiness Journal.
Using 40 questions, the survey analyzed content, fan interaction, web design, and merchandise for sale with the approximately 50 percent of the overall score attributed to the content analysis questions.
While Major League Baseball uses the same framework and "look and feel"
for all the the MLB teams, each specific team has control over the
content of their site. The World Series Champion Boston Red Sox took top honors with their website
coming in first in this years survey. While my beloved Chicago Cubs came in 29th overall and 25th of the baseball sites.
Here are a few of the other top finishers and their overall score out of a maximum 123 total:
MLB: Boston Red Sox (106.4324 to the Seattle Mariners' 106.4054).
MLS: Los Angeles Galaxy (98.2973).
NFL: Philadelphia Eagles (104.8108).
NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers (105.0541).
NHL: Atlanta Thrashers (102.6757).
Andy McGowan could not be reached for comment before the time this post was made.
For additional reading on the sports site survey check out the article on Poytner as well as the article on Internet Week. Also for a look a one of the past surveys results check out the link on the UMass website. Additionally, PaidContent.org did a post found here.
