Yardbarker takes $1.5M to connect fans with athlete blogs
Yardbarker, a site that connects sports fans with their favorite athletes via their blogs and other news, has raised $1.5 million in a third round of funding, according to paidContent. Based in Emeryville, Calif., the company allows users to define their preferences — which athletes they want to follow, which sports interest them most — and delivers the requisite aggregated content.
In the last 24 hours, Los Angeles Dodger Matt Kemp posted a video featuring Snoop Dogg, boxer Buster Douglasposted on the Ohio State vs. USC football game and NFL free agent Daniel Wilcox even posted on the merits of working out with is wife. This is actually pretty compelling — giving users an inside glimpse of the people behind their performances on the field or in the ring. In addition to centralizing these blogs, Yardbarker also streams up-to-date news and columns from popular sports writers, and provides forums for its users to connect and discuss events and issues. The top forum right now is taking theories about why NBA star Allen Iverson chose to go to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Yardbarker, which targets men between 21 and 45, raised $6 million in a second round of funding in April 2008 from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Baseline Ventures, Labrador Ventures, Kleiner Perkins partner Russell Siegelman, former star cornerback Ronnie Lott and former Entertainment Television CEO Jarl Mohn. In June, it brought in $634,000 of a targeted $660,000 round of securities. Its traffic peaked at 1.4 million in January, but has dropped off below 1 million since. This rut could be temporary, with Compete data showing a 17.5 percent increase in unique visitors since the figure bottomed out in June. The new funding should also help.
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About the Author, Camille Ricketts
Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
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