The regional publisher’s sports sites in Hull, Grimsby, Scunthorpe and Lincoln have all relaunched with improved look, feel, features and functionality. The sites are www.sporthull.co.uk, www.sportgrimsby.co.uk, www.sportscunny.co.uk and www.sportsecho.co.uk
Previously the sites were hosted on a platform created by Hull-based web development company Finesse. The sites have now migrated to Northcliffe’s group-standard web publishing platform, which means the back-of-house systems are the same as for the companion websites of the Hull Daily Mail, Grimsby Telegraph, Scunthorpe Telegraph and Lincolnshire Echo.
All four sites were launched in April/May 2007 as the first comprehensive local sports sites by a UK regional media company, says Northcliffe. According to the publisher, “They rapidly became the first place local sports enthusiasts turned to on the internet for news and information on their favourite sports or teams. In June, Sporthull site recorded 84,000 unique visitors and more than 1m page views.”
Among the new features on the Hull site – launched in time for Hull City’s second season in the Premier League – are:
* Video sections for the Tigers, and the city’s Super League rugby teams, Hull FC and Hull KR;
* A new Big Match Live service for all Hull City games, providing running commentary and interaction with users;
* A Virgin media player, which will include highlights of the Premier League throughout the season and the latest rugby league action from the NRL in Australia;
* And an aggregation service providing Hull City news from around the web.
John Meehan, Regional Editorial Director, Northcliffe Media North East, and Editor of the Hull Daily Mail, said: “All of these new features enhance the service we give to web users and further differentiate our digital offering from our in-depth and analytical sports coverage in the paper. We will also use the sports sites to promote our print-only sports content.”
Lincolnshire Echo Sports Editor John Pakey said: “Since we launched a specialist sports site in 2007 we have had encouraging feedback and growth in users and page views. The transfer over to the new site has been met with positive feedback from users.”
The sites were built by Associated Northcliffe Digital’s in-house developers, working closely with the local sports teams.
