Economic Woes Strike Trackshark

[gh]

an e-mail

<<Trackshark Fans and Members,

This is very difficult for me to type right now, but you deserve to know everything.

I was informed by the Wasserman Media Group on Friday, March 6 that our services are no longer needed at Trackshark. Many of us within the company have lost our jobs, including myself.

I sold Trackshark.com to the Wasserman Media Group in May 2008. It was a tough decision, but they can no longer support me nor the rest of the staff here at Trackshark.

There are several options available, including finding a new buyer, but in today's economy it appears very unlikely. There are sites out there that have been born with cash and some without. Trackshark was born in 2002 out of hard work, dedication and all of you who have supported it from day one.

I am working every hour of the day to keep that alive, which is why you haven't seen the front page updated since Friday, March 6.

Whether we're born into a new site or this continues to move forward as is, I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you. I can't even type all of the names since the list would be too long.

Either way, you should know that I am going to do my best to keep coverage of college track & field alive with our philosophy of coverage. If this site is shut down -- due to powers that I can not control -- next week, then you'll know the reason why.

Please email me at [email protected] for any questions, inquiries or if you just wish to keep in touch. I appreciate all of your efforts and communication through the years. Thank you for taking the time to read this and best of luck.

Tom Borish
Senior Editor, Trackshark.com>>

[guru]

I thought something was amiss when his Twitter account disappeared this week.

It's hard to imagine that site going forward minus TB, like Dyestat without John Dye, and if Wasserman kills it altogether that would be a monumental loss to the sport.

[Marlow]

if Wasserman kills it altogether that would be a monumental loss to the sport.

My thoughts exactly. Tom B has done a phenomenal job there, and I will be very upset if it goes under. Given its collegiate clientele, there's little hope for success thru subscriptions, but that's how the Florida affiliate of Milesplit survives. My must-see list of web-sites would diminish by a significant one if trackshark goes away.

[TrackCEO]

Wasserman was the same outfit that sent a two-geek camera crew to Maine in 2007 to film (and post) the USATF National Masters Outdoor Championships. They had done the same for the Junior Olympics at Mt. SAC -- both events done on spec for USATF to judge their work and stuff.

Wasserman's deals with USATF need to be scrutinized as well.

Here's what USATF said about Wasserman in April 2007:
http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?DUI ... 9_08_10_36

BTW, in late 2007 I reported that Wasserman Media Group was in deep-doodoo financially -- and USATF media czar Jill Geer denied this:
http://masterstrack.com/blog/004675.html

K E N

[bad hammy]

I thought something was amiss when his Twitter account disappeared this week.

Not to make light of the problems that an outstanding site such as trackshark is having, but this comment just about makes me want to puke when it comes to using it in the analysis of business viability.

[bhall]

Coincidentally, a week or two ago I read Twitter would be generating revenue via the sale of analytics. Sounds like bubble talk to me. I like the service but wouldn't actually pay for it.

[gh]

Twitter's current revenues? Zero.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfg ... y_id=35822

[TrackCEO]

Twitter's current revenues? Zero.

Maybe so, but I'll take $50 million in the bank over T&FN annual revenues any day:

What changed Twitter's mind about taking money at a time when venture capitalists are in power in terms of valuing a company? No doubt the need to build a war chest in a deteriorating economy. Chaffee said that Twitter now had around $50 million in reserves.

And what would T&FN do if it had Twitter's 29 employees?

K E N

[guru]

Eventually they'll be raking in the cash hand over fist. With the explosive growth of the site over the last year the advertising revenue potential(whenever and however they decide to start allowing advertising) is right up there with myspace and youtube.

[polevaultpower]

I thought something was amiss when his Twitter account disappeared this week.

Not to make light of the problems that an outstanding site such as trackshark is having, but this comment just about makes me want to puke when it comes to using it in the analysis of business viability.

I was actually worried that something had happened to TB like a car crash or something when there weren't any Twitter updates or updates to the site.

[gh]

Twitter's current revenues? Zero.

Maybe so, but I'll take $50 million in the bank over T&FN annual revenues any day:

What changed Twitter's mind about taking money at a time when venture capitalists are in power in terms of valuing a company? No doubt the need to build a war chest in a deteriorating economy. Chaffee said that Twitter now had around $50 million in reserves.

And what would T&FN do if it had Twitter's 29 employees?

K E N

Not sure why you got the idea I was somehow denigrating Twitter. My minimalist response was meant solely to indicate what giant prospects it has given such colossal backing without ever making a penny.

[nbonaddio]

Eventually they'll be raking in the cash hand over fist. With the explosive growth of the site over the last year the advertising revenue potential(whenever and however they decide to start allowing advertising) is right up there with myspace and youtube.

I respectfully disagree. If traffic were all it took to be a successful and profitable company, Yahoo! would have the largest market cap of any of the Internet stocks. It's not about people, it's about how well you analyze their habits, history, and preference to be able to serve an effectively targeted ad. Twitter has no *real* strategy for making any money, and it's shocking how little used it is outside of San Francisco. This isn't 2001; no company should be willing to buy advertising on a per-view basis, which is the only metric that will ever make traffic really mean anything. It's all about per-action, per-click, and unless Twitter figures out a way to mine their own data ala Google, they will never be a serious company.

Ever since I moved out of the Valley and into NYC, I'm amazed how illegitimate the business of prospects of Twitter, Yelp, various Facebook application companies, etc. really are.

[gh]

letsrun.com's front-page reaction to the Trackshark news:

<<Sad News
Trackshark.com May Be Shut Down Due Lack Of Support From Wasserman Media All we can say is we're fortunate we didn't sell to them when they tried to buy us last year.>>

[gh]

Should the worst befall Trackshark, I'd at least hope that some of their followers would feel happy over here (at least this weekend with the NCAA Forum open). Unlike other sites' followers, they've never been trashed here.