Feb
2008
I, like many others one other myself, am excited about the AAFL. I even signed up for their newsletter which is kind of cool because Marcus Katz seems to be pretty excited when he sends me emails (which are oddly personal, since I’m probably the only subscriber). In the latest installment of the newsletter, there was excitement about their increasing web traffic over the past several months. In fact, the increase in web traffic was accompanied by a super-helpful graphic as to just how popular they’ve become.
There are several things that are interesting about the graphic. Firstly, that it appeared as if the July visits were worse than June’s, and secondly, that you know, there’s no scale. I may not be an expert on these things, but as far as I can tell, each line seems to represent… say, 5 hits. In that case, the traffic went from about 2.5 hits a month to a whopping 26 hits a month. Sure that’s a near tenfold increase, but at the same time, I visit this site that many times in a day.
I am actually somewhat excited about the AAFL except for the fact that as of right now, I don’t believe they have a TV contract. And due to my current residence in horrible Southern California (today’s high: 72 degrees… it’s awful), I probably won’t be able to watch any of the games which is a bummer. Here’s hoping that along with their 10x increase in web traffic, they can sign on with the likes of say, Raycom Sports, or some other sports broadcasting juggernaut to broadcast their games online.
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It is what my late April/early May Saturdays have been missing: sitting back with a tall, cold beverage of choice, Dave Baker on the TV: “…and Touchdown Tennessee!” (screen shows Michigan 7, Tennessee 0).
Really, I’d rather watch UT’s spring practices, which is a bonus of going to UT baseball games: stand at the top of the stadium and you can watch a pitch, then turn around and watch football practice.
Raycom Sports motto= Two cameras and three guys named Dave
January was also the month where they held their draft. In that surge of web traffic was the effects of all the players and their families who were keeping up with the news as it came in, and eagerly hoping to read their names on the team sites. I think the growth curve seen in the prior months is more realistic; the February visits will probably go back down somewhat to match.
I’m not saying the AAFL doesn’t have a chance in this, but the lack of scale (as you noted) and the lack of perspective on that spike are a bit misleading.