We called Yardbarker a particularly good, sports-focused Digg clone back when it launched in August 2006. Since then the site has expanded significantly, recruiting athletes as featured writers, kicking off an ad network for sports blogs, and raising a seed round of financing.
Now the company has announced that it has raised $6M in it’s second round. Draper Fisher Jurvetson led the round and was joined by returning investors Russ Siegelman, Ronnie Lott, Jarl Mohn, Labrador Ventures, and Baseline Ventures. The size of the first round was not disclosed.
Users can contribute to the main Yardbarker site by submitting and voting on articles, photos, and videos related to sports found across the web. The site has also rounded up 290 sports blogs into its so-called Yardbarker Network (YBN). In exchange for links from the centralized Yardbarker site, these blogs run ad units and other widgets that direct readers back to Yardbarker.
Check out Bleacher Report for another site attempting to build a grassroots community around sports.
Mark,
You’ve linked Yardbarker to http://www.yardbarker/
[mark in spirit] Thanks, fixed.
i see lots of startup after the success of digg. Digg like clones are getting popular because they are serving avery niche market and digg is already crowded. good one…….
check for cricket….
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i see lots of startup after the success of digg. Digg like clones are getting popular because they are serving avery niche market and digg is already crowded. good one…….
I agree above you
someone isn’t doing their job at draper. this site only appeals to the most hardcore sports fans. how is that going to generate significant revenue? as a sports fan, i was turned off as most of the articles were about what the athletes do in their free time.
Nice sportsblog, I can see this site becoming a top-ten sports destination…heres the big question…how will they market the site? Great site but how will the masses find out it even exist?
Yes we have seen some Silicon valley success coming out recently..who knows somewhere in world another Google must be waiting to unfold its wings…lets wait and watch,,,
http://digg.com/sports
yardbarker = deadpool
Where is the digg-like functionality involved in this site? Seems more of a competitor to Bleacher Report than Digg. Maybe I am missing something.
Ah I see it now, you have to go to one of the subpages to find it.
The comparison to Digg is a bit of a red herring here. Yardbarker has a really strong vertical community built around sports with exclusive content and a growing ad network. Thing of it more as Glam Media for sports fans – and if someone really thinks that sports is a niche market, they need to spend a little less time reading TC and check out the 4+ ESPN channels on their TV. Congrats on the funding guys.
Work for Yardbarker: http://snaptalent.com/ads/90
I’ve been following these guys for the past year and they have done a pretty good job growing their site.
I’m guessing their exit is a buyout from someone like ESPN or Sports Illustrated?
I’ve kept an eye on the “Web 2.0 sports scene”, and I have to say that Bleacher Report is a far better site. They do very different things, but may be fighting for the same demographic. There are a few other interesting ones out there, but I agree that these two are leading the Sports Web 2.0 charge, and I imagine that BR will get to the promised land first.
Used to post on Bleacher Report, but they don’t share ad revenue. Yardbarker does. That’s why we started our own site…
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