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RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

Dave Hunter — Mon, 07 May 2007 09:17:14 GMT

[quote][b]USFLnation (5/6/2007)[/b][hr]MATTHEW BERRY is a ....

TALENTED AT WHAT ... I DON'T KNOW[/quote]

USFLnation...WE DO NOT ALLOW NAME CALLING or GENERAL BELITTLING ON THESE BOARDS. If you continue to do so, you will be locked from posting. Thank you.

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

ian — Sun, 06 May 2007 17:13:02 GMT

got to love a well thought out argument, expressed with class and grace. what's next grafitti?

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

USFLnation — Sun, 06 May 2007 16:48:29 GMT

MATTHEW BERRY

TALENTED AT WHAT ... I DON'T KNOW

EDITED: by Dave Hunter (Message Board Manager)

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

jeromeboehme — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:52:10 GMT

Any news about The Fantasy Show coming back?

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

cpomar — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 18:23:26 GMT

yeah, CDub set me straight. I'll be picking up rotopass this year so I can use Draft Analyzer as well as have all the roto-goodness of those sites this year.

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

becker — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 12:51:29 GMT

[quote][b]cpomar (2/17/2007)[/b][hr]Congrats to you, Matt and to the rest of the TMR writers. Well played and well deserved. Like blowboarder, I'm bummed that the rest of my league will have an easy time w/access to the TMR knowledge and that I now need to find another deep cover site for an edge. But that doesn't overshadow my happiness for y'all. Looking forward to the draft kit. Hope pigware will survive the merger; love that software.[/quote]

Sorry, C-Po, the Pigware guys took their software and went home before last Football season. We're negotiating with Draft Analyzer again this year, but it's not inclusive to your TMR membership.

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

cpomar — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 20:51:57 GMT

Congrats to you, Matt and to the rest of the TMR writers. Well played and well deserved. Like blowboarder, I'm bummed that the rest of my league will have an easy time w/access to the TMR knowledge and that I now need to find another deep cover site for an edge. But that doesn't overshadow my happiness for y'all. Looking forward to the draft kit. Hope pigware will survive the merger; love that software.

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

iyhsvien — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 07:02:39 GMT

I've watched the enterprise grow steadily since the Yahoo! group site. Many, many congrats.

IYH

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

rjblakel — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 22:14:26 GMT

TMR, well deserved. Nicely done.

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

kcscotty — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 06:13:25 GMT

TMR,

I think i feel the way most here do, so this will sound somewhat repetitive.

Much congratulations to you and Pete and all. You guys definitely deserve this. On a selfish level, I won't feel I have as much edge in my leagues going from a TMR insider to an ESPN insider and will miss the feel of the way things are here on the site that will be impossible to recreate on a large site like ESPN.

Again, congratulations!!!!

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

The Red Wolf — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 10:38:46 GMT

Thank goodness TMR and Rotopass members aren't complainers and wait patiently for full disclosure.

In the meantime, I have a snowblower for sale.

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

BigSmoke — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 10:21:37 GMT

Congratulations TMR, I don't blame you one bit for living out a dream. You'd be a fool to turn down that sort of opportunity. This site has been so good to ALOT of people and it's hard to accept that the "little secret" is all grown up now. I for one hope things don't change radically, I've had the privilege the last few months to be a designated poster courtesy of Mr. Dave Hunter and have enjoyed every minute of it. I await tomorrow's TRUM with baited breath but again, I wish you and the rest of the TMR crew nothing but the best. I've said it before and I'll say it again, THIS IS THE BEST FANTASY SITE ON THE WEB BAR NONE!!!

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

shadystylze — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 08:56:30 GMT

Congrats TMR et al.

I look forward to seeing what the new setup looks like.

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

boris23@bigpond.com — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 05:20:11 GMT

You sellout bastard.

Just kidding mate, all the best, now that you will be making the big bucks I hope you get to rub shoulders (or something) with the likes of Sharapova.

Oh, and if you come across that Tommy Smyth 'witha woy" from ESPN football, can you punch him for me?? Cheers!

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

kenomikes — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 15:04:00 GMT

Congrats TMR, that is great news.

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

WildHog — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:36:10 GMT

https://r.espn.go.com/espn/insider/renewtoinsider?cds_reply_code=06&cds_mag_code=ESN

It looks like you can get ESPN Insider as a subscriber to the magazine. You need information off your label to do so. I have not tried it yet, but seems pretty straight forward.

Take care.

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

mxpiazza — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:26:41 GMT

[quote][b]jhawk90 (2/13/2007)[/b][hr]If you subscribe to ESPN the Magazine you get the Insider for free. Find some local kid doing a school fundraiser and you can lock in for a lot less than the $36 a year stated earlier, plus get the mag. So on a selfish note, the free Insider as a premium member does nothing for me. Funny, I actually did this because the free laptop/see britney behaving badly/sex up your screen characters was getting a bit much.

And I should add my congrats as well - like any of us wouldn't accept that deal. But like Postman said somewhere, can't help but feel there's a catch.

Is it the draft kit? Haven't seen an answer for that - if so, again, my apologies.[/quote]

its actually the other way around - sign up for Insider, get the Mag for free. that's what happened when i signed up... a promotion was up on the site not too long ago and $20 (maybe $30, but i'm pretty sure it was $20) got me a year of Insider and the Mag... not too shabby.

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

Blowboarder — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:23:08 GMT

My wife bought me Espen da Mag from our daughters fundraiser. I did not get Insider for free. I thought I might but never any email from ESPN, my magazines just started showing up....like 3 months later.

FYI.

Congrats Matt, all the best in the future. And thanks for all the hard work in the past. Now I'm going to need a new source for deep cover fantasy info, all my league mates are ESPN insiders.

And methinks the Sportsguy just became the second most entertaining writer in their stable of pens.

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

dharvey34@comcast.net — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:21:56 GMT

Wow! Yeah this changes things a bit - in a very good way! Like everyone else, I have questions concerning TMR.com subscriptions and Rotopass (helluva a time to win that huh?), but as always I trust Matt and the Beckers to address those in a rational and fair manner.

But to have the TMR crew working for ESPN - that is a dream come true for any fantasy sports enthusiast! If they truly give Matthew the power they appear to have given him, it could bring about a new, far more fan-friendly treatment of fantasy sports than what has passed for "fan friendly" from MLB, CBS, or even Yahoo.

The might of ESPN behind the best fantasy-sports writers in the business is almost too good to be true! Congratulations - this sounds like a natural convergence of Matthew's talents in writing, media and fantasy sports. Good things come for those who love what they do! Kudos!

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

oshere — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:20:54 GMT

congrats tmr, it's well deserved.

i use espn.com for my fantasy football league, and i think it's the best site out there. once you're settled down and ready for some suggestions, i'll throw some your way.

i've never used it for baseball before, so this year might be the first. i'm sure it's better than yahoo.

congrats again, and don't forget to complain about the cold!

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

tmr — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:07:47 GMT

TMR and RotoPass premium members still get free access to our draft kit, which launches Friday. The ESPN draft kit contains stuff that was worked on by a lot of us and also includes contributions from ESPN's team, like Eric Karabell, Tristan Cockroft, Will Carroll, etc. There are some similarities but some differances and because of the way the deal worked / is working / timing... we are basically doing two draft kits because TMR subs won't have ESPN Insider access by then.

Anyways, I know, lots of questions still to be answered and I don't have all of them myself, but bottom line is everyone is going to get everything they paid for and a lot more... so no worries. You'll know we'll take care of you, baby.

Thanks for everyone's interest and patience.

TMR

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

jhawk90 — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 09:22:07 GMT

If you subscribe to ESPN the Magazine you get the Insider for free. Find some local kid doing a school fundraiser and you can lock in for a lot less than the $36 a year stated earlier, plus get the mag. So on a selfish note, the free Insider as a premium member does nothing for me. Funny, I actually did this because the free laptop/see britney behaving badly/sex up your screen characters was getting a bit much.

And I should add my congrats as well - like any of us wouldn't accept that deal. But like Postman said somewhere, can't help but feel there's a catch.

Is it the draft kit? Haven't seen an answer for that - if so, again, my apologies.

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

snyd27 — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 08:40:46 GMT

I've been an espn insider subscriber for years, and it's not very expensive at all. If you choose to pay annually it's only $36 ($3/month, math majors). I know it would suck to pay additional fees, but I think we can all agree that $3 per month is a small price to pay for all the stuff you'd get....I mean, that's one beer!

Actually, hold on. I can't cut out one beer per month. Uhhh...it's like a Wendy's value meal. Yeah, that works.

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

rotonut — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 08:31:02 GMT

Big news! But somehow, me thinks you will have even less time on your hands than ever before. Plenty of questions relating to the big announcement. For us RotoPass subscribers, will RotoPass continue to exist? The press release mentions that TMR subcribers receive free access to ESPN Insider. Are RotoPass subcribers included? Will TMR continue as a stand alone site or will it be absorbed by ESPN? When will the migration take place? So many questions, I know, but inquiring minds want to know!

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

WildHog — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 07:41:44 GMT

Interesting...the announcement states the MLB Online Draft Kit will be available for $9.95!

Hopefully those premium users of TMR will continue to get this for free.

Thoughts?

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

WildHog — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 07:33:01 GMT

Awesome! Nicely done and well deserved.

Hopefully the close knit group, we all know and love, will stay in place and not be disrupted by a much large Coporate entity.

ps. Where is my MLB Draft Kit - just kidding!!

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

lloydy — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 07:04:55 GMT

That's huge Matt - absolutely huge. Congratulations - and congrats to Pete and Janet as well. Looking forward to seeing how things unfold....

RE: ESPN and TMR announcement

mohair.sam — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 04:43:30 GMT

Obviously, huge congratulations are in order! I hope this helps simplify your life, Matthew, and ultimately give you some time to sleep, breathe, eat, etc. You've worked insanely hard, and you deserve to be rewarded for your outstanding efforts.

Like everyone else, I have tons of questions; I assume all will be answered in time. But the biggest is this: Will TMR.com continue to exist, or is this all being rolled into ESPN's fantasy presence?

ESPN and TMR announcement

tmr — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 02:34:37 GMT

For Immediate Release
February 12, 2007

FREE FANTASY BASEBALL BEGINS AT ESPN.COM
ESPN TO ACQUIRE AWARD-WINNING SITE TALENTED MR. ROTO, CREATOR MATTHEW BERRY JOINS AS SR. DIRECTOR OF FANTASY GAMES
USA Softball Star Jennie Finch Joins ESPN as Fantasy Sports Personality

As Fantasy Baseball fans prepare to report to their own spring training, ESPN.com is swinging into the season with a brand new ESPN Fantasy Baseball – which is now completely free for the first time. ESPN also announced today a deal to acquire the fantasy sports site Talented Mr. Roto and the hiring of its creator, Matthew Berry, as senior director of fantasy games. In addition, former Olympic Gold Medalist and avid fantasy sports player Jennie Finch has joined ESPN.com as a fantasy sports columnist and analyst.

"We expect the launch of free ESPN Fantasy Baseball to build on the enormous fantasy sports success we’ve seen over the past three years," said John Kosner, senior vice president and general manager, ESPN New Media. "The addition of Matthew, Jennie and the Talented Mr. Roto team to an already industry-leading editorial team of Eric Karabell, Scott Engel and Tristan Cockcroft allows us to solidify our role as the leading fantasy content destination and enhance our service to some of the most dedicated and knowledgeable sports fans around – fantasy players."

According to the Fall 2006 SRI Knowledge Networks ESPN All Day, Every Day study, fantasy sports participants consume 19 hours and 47 minutes of ESPN media each week, and Fantasy sports users spend 352 percent more time on ESPN.com than the typical adult.

FREE ESPN FANTASY BASEBALL

In 2007, ESPN Fantasy Baseball presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods will be entirely free to play for the first time in ESPN’s 12 seasons offering fantasy baseball. The new game launches on the heels of a second-consecutive banner year for ESPN Fantasy Football – which doubled the number of teams and leagues playing in 2006 (compared to 2005).

The new ESPN Fantasy Baseball will deliver fans a host of new features, and will continue to deliver industry-leading fantasy football content. Among the new features of ESPN Fantasy Baseball, are (all features are free in ESPN Fantasy Baseball):

Live Scoring – players will get ESPN Fantasy Baseball live scoring for free;
Customizable Rules and Scoring – league managers have complete control over the rules and scoring for their leagues, including rotisserie, head-to-head, and points-based;
Multiple Draft Options – teams and leagues can draft in multiple ways, including:
- Private live online draft – at a designated time;
- Live Draft Lobby online draft – the popular draft lobby returns for teams and leagues that want to "drop-in" and draft on the fly, or join an open public league;
- Automated online draft – via ESPN’s improved list-ranker draft tool;
- Offline draft – get together with friends, draft and upload the results to ESPN.com;
Mock Draft Lobby – the new mock draft lobby lets players drop in at any time to run through a mock draft -- for fun, to practice for their real draft and see who and how other ESPN players are drafting.
Embedded Player Information Cards – players will be able to get all the information on each of their players – from ESPN, Scouts Inc., Talented Mr. Roto and more – right from their roster;

Additionally, ESPN.com will offer a comprehensive Online Draft Kit that includes complete rankings, cheat sheets and draft strategies, sleepers, busts, breakthrough players, salary deals, top rookies and more. The draft kit is available for an additional $9.95 at ESPN.com.

ESPN ACQUIRES TALENTED MR. ROTO, SIGNS FINCH

ESPN has acquired the award-winning fantasy sports site Talented Mr. Roto and has hired the site’s creator, Berry, as senior director of fantasy games, fantasy sports writer and on-air analyst.

Launched by Berry in March 2004 as an online fan group, Talented Mr. Roto quickly and organically became known as an online community with quality, timely fantasy news and analysis from top writers and analysts covering all sports. Developing as a place for "Personality Driven Fantasy Analysis," the site has earned 51 Fantasy Sports Writers Award (FSWA) nominations (winning 12), and four Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) award nominations (including Best Site). With the acquisition, Talented Mr. Roto subscribers will automatically receive a subscription to ESPN.com’s award-winning premium content service, ESPN Insider.

Berry, a four time FSWA award-winner and the 2006 FSWA Fantasy Basketball Writer of the Year, will lead product and editorial development for ESPN.com, serve as a lead writer and on-air personality and will seek to expand upon integration of fantasy sports across all of ESPN’s media assets. He takes the position looking to build upon ESPN.com’s reputation for industry-leading fantasy sports editorial, featuring the last two FSWA Fantasy Football Writers of the Year – Scott Engel (2006-2007) and Eric Karabell (2005-2006) – as well as FSWA award-winner Tristan Cockcroft, award-wining contributor Will Carroll, and the team of experts at ESPN Scouts Inc. In a recent survey more than 40 percent of fantasy players said ESPN has the most useful fantasy content, double our nearest competitor.*

With the acquisition, Talented Mr. Roto’s network of more than 50 fantasy sports columnists, reporters, scouts and stringers will contribute to ESPN.com – including FSWA-nominated editor Pete Becker and two-time FSWA award-winner Christopher Harris – joining Berry, Karabell, Engel, Cockcroft and Carroll to offer the deepest pool of expert content online.

Also joining ESPN.com’s fantasy sports team this baseball season is Finch, who will write a weekly column, host a weekly chat, provide analysis for online video and podcasts and appear on select ESPN television and radio programs. She holds the NCAA softball record for consecutive wins (60), helped The University of Arizona (where her number, 27, was retired this year) to a NCAA Women’s College World Series title, and was a member of the gold medal-winning 2004 USA Olympic team. Finch first worked for ESPN as a television analyst for the 2004 NCAA Women’s College World Series.

* November 2006 TNS/ESPN Sports Poll