How is Comp/Spartanmag doing these days?

by Herbie Green 2015-04-29, 15:41

I remember back in the day when Comp would have a running commentary of the Spring game. Now everyone can watch it on BTN.
It seems that market is pretty saturated. You have Mike Wilson out there reporting for free that a "2017 Tight End has added an MSU offer to his growing list". I am not sure what information could be left that anyone would pay for. I feel bad if he is struggling because he is a pioneer in the industry.

by **Robert J Sakimano** 2015-04-29, 15:56

I wanna see some film on the zygote from Findlay, Ohio who has the genetic potential to be as big as a truck while managing to run a 4.4. I hear he has good footwork (once he develops feet, of course) and has quickness similar to that of an electrical current transmitting through your run-of-the-mill kitchen toaster.

he's got a lot of upside.. of course, most zygotes do.

by **Turtleneck** 2015-04-29, 16:03

Robert J Sakimano wrote:I wanna see some film on the zygote

That is an awfully fancy way of saying you want to watch porn.

by **Watch Out Pylon!** 2015-04-29, 16:12

Turtleneck wrote:
Robert J Sakimano wrote:I wanna see some film on the zygote

That is an awfully fancy way of saying you want to watch porn.

How is Comp/Spartanmag doing these days? 502811600

by **MiamiSpartan** 2015-04-29, 17:49

Herbie Green wrote:I remember back in the day when Comp would have a running commentary of the Spring game. Now everyone can watch it on BTN.
It seems that market is pretty saturated. You have Mike Wilson out there reporting for free that a "2017 Tight End has added an MSU offer to his growing list". I am not sure what information could be left that anyone would pay for. I feel bad if he is struggling because he is a pioneer in the industry.

I doubt his running commentaries of past Spring games was a big subscription driver.

I don't know how he's doing, or how much the SpartanMag.com site pays the bills versus the Magazine or SpartanPlus. I would think the Rivals overlords take the majority of those subscription fees from that site, so he probably has a better profit margin on the others.

I don't follow recruiting much, so I can't speak to his coverage of that, but in terms of his analysis of the team, there's no one better. Of course, for a lot of people he's too long winded and too detailed, but I personally love the nitty gritty details. I think his niche has always been more than just recruiting, and he has a serious and loyal following, whether or not that's enough to stay profitable.

by **Giant Moose** 2015-04-29, 18:14

He's probably kicking himself right now wondering why he didn't come up with crystal balls or bolts.

by Duke Silver 2015-04-29, 22:30

Recruiting info is now shown traditional papers pretty regularly. Even just a few years ago the papers would mainly publish info on the only the most sought after of recruits and the bulk of the info on a recruiting class was published after National Signing Day. This has been making me wonder if recruiting sites like rivals and scout have much of a future.

by Guest 2015-04-29, 23:54

Duke Silver wrote:Recruiting info is now shown traditional papers pretty regularly. Even just a few years ago the papers would mainly publish info on the only the most sought after of recruits and the bulk of the info on a recruiting class was published after National Signing Day. This has been making me wonder if recruiting sites like rivals and scout have much of a future.

I think they may have a future as analysis sites, but recruiting as a growth industry is over.

They've all undermined their current business model by writing free recruiting content for the local papers in addition to what the beat writers provide. Beyond that twitter has to have been a killer, in the race to be first any info is out there for free either within seconds of their subscribers getting it or oft times before they get it. That doesn't promote paying for the content.

I 1st subbed to Spartan Mag a loooong time ago because it offered much unique information today that's just not true. The only sports site I pay for is Insider at ESPN and I do that mostly because it's silly cheap ($4.95 a year when on sale) and includes recruiting info and a LOT of other content on the NFL/MLB that I enjoy, not to mention a magazine 10-12 times a year that isn't bad at times.

by Duke Silver 2015-04-30, 00:50

LooseGoose wrote:
Duke Silver wrote:Recruiting info is now shown traditional papers pretty regularly. Even just a few years ago the papers would mainly publish info on the only the most sought after of recruits and the bulk of the info on a recruiting class was published after National Signing Day. This has been making me wonder if recruiting sites like rivals and scout have much of a future.

I think they may have a future as analysis sites, but recruiting as a growth industry is over.

That's kinda what I have been thinking. If the content on spartan tailgate was clearly better than all the free stuff available I would have no issues with paying 10 bucks a month, but at this point I could only justify that if I was into recruiting.

by **Tim Wakefield** 2015-04-30, 01:58

You said he goes into great detail..does that mean analyzing games/film? I'm a pretty big Xs/Os fan myself. There really isn't an MSU reporter that goes into a ton of detail. Is the spartanmag subscription worth it from that viewpoint?

by **Blanch32** 2015-04-30, 07:47

Tim Wakefield wrote:You said he goes into great detail..does that mean analyzing games/film? I'm a pretty big Xs/Os fan myself. There really isn't an MSU reporter that goes into a ton of detail. Is the spartanmag subscription worth it from that viewpoint?

Only if you like hearty helpings of sunshine!

by Rodeo Burger 2015-04-30, 08:07

Tim Wakefield wrote:You said he goes into great detail..does that mean analyzing games/film? I'm a pretty big Xs/Os fan myself. There really isn't an MSU reporter that goes into a ton of detail. Is the spartanmag subscription worth it from that viewpoint?

Yes, one of his other products is a breakdown of upcoming games/teams/etc. The problem is it's like 10 pages long, and he usually doesn't finish it until Friday evening, so it feels like homework before watching a Saturday game.

by **Robert J Sakimano** 2015-04-30, 08:13

Turtleneck wrote:
Robert J Sakimano wrote:I wanna see some film on the zygote

That is an awfully fancy way of saying you want to watch porn.

zygote porn makes For bin look like much less of a social/sexual deviant.

by Herbie Green 2015-04-30, 09:14

Rodeo Burger wrote:
Tim Wakefield wrote:You said he goes into great detail..does that mean analyzing games/film? I'm a pretty big Xs/Os fan myself. There really isn't an MSU reporter that goes into a ton of detail. Is the spartanmag subscription worth it from that viewpoint?

Yes, one of his other products is a breakdown of upcoming games/teams/etc. The problem is it's like 10 pages long, and he usually doesn't finish it until Friday evening, so it feels like homework before watching a Saturday game.

Lol, Spartan Plus was the first thing to go. I used to print those things because they were so damn long.
I kept getting the magazine in print for quite a while. The problem was I couldn't finish it in 2 months of shits before the next issue came. He could take an article like "Joe Lineman looking to step up" and turn it into a 50 paragraph story.
The other problem is that he was almost always wrong so I realized it was all a complete waste of time. Although I quit sometime in JLS days, so he is likely a lot more accurate these days.

by **NigelUno** 2015-04-30, 09:18

Herbie Green wrote:
Rodeo Burger wrote:

Yes, one of his other products is a breakdown of upcoming games/teams/etc. The problem is it's like 10 pages long, and he usually doesn't finish it until Friday evening, so it feels like homework before watching a Saturday game.

Lol, Spartan Plus was the first thing to go. I used to print those things because they were so damn long.
I kept getting the magazine in print for quite a while. The problem was I couldn't finish it in 2 months of shits before the next issue came. He could take an article like "Joe Lineman looking to step up" and turn it into a 50 paragraph story.
The other problem is that he was almost always wrong so I realized it was all a complete waste of time. Although I quit sometime in JLS days, so he is likely a lot more accurate these days.

I don't think you really feel bad.

by **Robert J Sakimano** 2015-04-30, 09:19

Herbie Green wrote:
Rodeo Burger wrote:

Yes, one of his other products is a breakdown of upcoming games/teams/etc. The problem is it's like 10 pages long, and he usually doesn't finish it until Friday evening, so it feels like homework before watching a Saturday game.

The problem was I couldn't finish it in 2 months of shits before the next issue came. He could take an article like "Joe Lineman looking to step up" and turn it into a 50 paragraph story. The other problem is that he was almost always wrong

by Herbie Green 2015-04-30, 09:32

NigelUno wrote:
Herbie Green wrote:

Lol, Spartan Plus was the first thing to go. I used to print those things because they were so damn long.
I kept getting the magazine in print for quite a while. The problem was I couldn't finish it in 2 months of shits before the next issue came. He could take an article like "Joe Lineman looking to step up" and turn it into a 50 paragraph story.
The other problem is that he was almost always wrong so I realized it was all a complete waste of time. Although I quit sometime in JLS days, so he is likely a lot more accurate these days.

I don't think you really feel bad.

I do. The guy poors his heart into covering MSU athletics and I feel bad that I gave up. I still get an occasional 'We Want You Back" envelope that always gives me a pause before thtowing out.

I did hear him at one of the hoops tourney press conferences "Can you talk about how you changed the flip flex screen and rescreem with a double hedge rotation bump and release cut through?"

by **Robert J Sakimano** 2015-04-30, 09:35

Herbie Green wrote:
NigelUno wrote:

I don't think you really feel bad.

I did hear him at one of the hoops tourney press conferences "Can you talk about how you changed the flip flex screen and rescreem with a double hedge rotation bump and release cut through?"

I was really happy that someone finally asked that question..

by **Vlad** 2015-04-30, 10:09

I subscribed for a couple of years back when he started. Way, way too much info to digest on a weekly basis. And in the end, it's just one man's opinion. Why would I give Comp that much time (and money)? If/when his analysis turned out to be wrong, I felt like I should get my time and money back.

by Tyler Durden 2015-04-30, 10:13

Comp's board was the first board I was ever banned from!

by **Giant Moose** 2015-04-30, 10:16

Vlad wrote:I subscribed for a couple of years back when he started. Way, way too much info to digest on a weekly basis. And in the end, it's just one man's opinion. Why would I give Comp that much time (and money)? If/when his analysis turned out to be wrong, I felt like I should get my time and money back.

I prefer the 247 approach. Write about a 17-year-old's tweet 25 minutes after somebody on the board has already posted it.

by **Robert J Sakimano** 2015-04-30, 10:21

Giant Moose wrote:
Vlad wrote:I subscribed for a couple of years back when he started. Way, way too much info to digest on a weekly basis. And in the end, it's just one man's opinion. Why would I give Comp that much time (and money)? If/when his analysis turned out to be wrong, I felt like I should get my time and money back.

I prefer the 247 approach. Write about a 17-year-old's tweet 25 minutes after somebody on the board has already posted it.

that'll be $29.99

by **Watch Out Pylon!** 2015-04-30, 10:25

Robert J Sakimano wrote:
Giant Moose wrote:
I prefer the 247 approach. Write about a 17-year-old's tweet 25 minutes after somebody on the board has already posted it.
that'll be $29.99

Or $27.95 if you sign up for the unlimited double secret renewal system. Oh wait we do that regardless... never mind.

by **Giant Moose** 2015-04-30, 10:33

Watch Out Pylon! wrote:
Robert J Sakimano wrote:that'll be $29.99

Or $27.95 if you sign up for the unlimited double secret renewal system. Oh wait we do that regardless... never mind.

I know it always made me feel secure to have a credit card on file with them with all of the great technological advances they have made.

by **MiamiSpartan** 2015-04-30, 13:47

Tim Wakefield wrote:You said he goes into great detail..does that mean analyzing games/film? I'm a pretty big Xs/Os fan myself. There really isn't an MSU reporter that goes into a ton of detail. Is the spartanmag subscription worth it from that viewpoint?

The game previews (mostly just football, though he also breaks down NCAA tournament games), where he goes in to the most detail, is on his SpartanPlus product. That, and the print magazine (which is also available in digital form) are separate from the SpartanMag.com rivals site. The magazine and SpartanPlus are his own independent products separate from rivals. That stuff is at spartanmagazine.net (not trying to spam, just want to clarify the two products since you asked about the detail).

He usually watches 3-4 games from opponents (less early in the year when all or most film of opponents are from the previous season), usually a couple of times through, and gets into a lot of detail breaking down the opposition players, tendencies, etc. It is long. I just pulled up the Rutgers preview, and copied and pasted it into a Word document, which calculated it at 17 pages, 9300 words. The last couple of years, he's added in some video of the game film to show what he's describing, which is a nice addition.

I know Rivals has a 7 day trial, where you could try that out (his DotComp blog is usually good, especially after football games, though not too much detail as it's usually before he's re-watched the game). I don't know if he has a trial for SpartanPlus, but sometimes he'll tell subscribers to share a certain preview now and then to help promote it. Of course, I'd wait until football season has started to do any trial.

by **Tim Wakefield** 2015-04-30, 13:49

Thanks Miami. I'll look into it. Gonna need an MSU fix while I'm out of the country this summer, I might just subscribe to both during that time period.

by **Robert J Sakimano** 2015-04-30, 13:50

Giant Moose wrote:
Watch Out Pylon! wrote:

Or $27.95 if you sign up for the unlimited double secret renewal system. Oh wait we do that regardless... never mind.
I know it always made me feel secure to have a credit card on file with them with all of the great technological advances they have made.

I know I've said this before, but for some reason, Trevor once gave me a one year VIP membership - How is Comp/Spartanmag doing these days? 502811600

- I guess he wanted me to experience the wealth of benefits they offered in hopes that I would be tempted to join at the end of the year.

by **MiamiSpartan** 2015-04-30, 13:51

Herbie Green wrote:
Lol, Spartan Plus was the first thing to go. I used to print those things because they were so damn long.
I kept getting the magazine in print for quite a while. The problem was I couldn't finish it in 2 months of shits before the next issue came. He could take an article like "Joe Lineman looking to step up" and turn it into a 50 paragraph story.
The other problem is that he was almost always wrong so I realized it was all a complete waste of time. Although I quit sometime in JLS days, so he is likely a lot more accurate these days.

As someone who's home with his wife and daughter on Friday nights, I welcome the length of the Spartan Plus previews, as I can get wrapped up in that and ignore the Disney Channel.

But I agree about the Magazine. I don't subscribe to that any longer because I just don't have time to read it. It's great content, and now and then I'll buy a single issue (having it available digitally makes it so it isn't as outdated as waiting for the print version to be mailed), but I just don't have the time to dedicate to it where I'd get my money's worth.

by Herbie Green 2015-04-30, 14:37

Tyler Durden wrote:Comp's board was the first board I was ever banned from!

Do you get a refund if you get banned from a "Premium Message Board"?

by **Blanch32** 2015-04-30, 15:35

I bailed on comp with the bobby fiasco. It was all one million percent sunshine then he's fired and nothing but I told you so's.

Look, if you had this insight earlier, why were you not sharing it with the rest of us?? A simple "I was completely wrong about bobby" would have made more sense

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