Turner Sports may not make a lot of noise in the online sports arena, but in recent years GM Matt Hong has been building an impressive portfolio of popular sites. Turner Sports currently operates and sells advertising for NCAA.com, NASCAR.com, PGATOUR.com, PGA.com, TBS Hot Corner on MLB.com, SI.com and TNT NBA Overtime on NBA.com. In addition, Turner and the NBA jointly manage NBA Digital, which includes NBA TV and several online properties. Turner also has an alliance with Yahoo! Sports, providing content and handling online ad sales for three Yahoo! portals.
Turner doesn’t put its logo on many of these sites, operating of a white-label service provider for the NBA, PGA and other leagues. Turner’s reach has made Hong’s division a go-to player for leagues looking for a partner that can take their digital game to the next level, and for advertisers looking to buy bundles of large online and TV audiences. In January, Turner was the No. 3 brand in online sports with 32 million unique visitors to its sites.
So keep an eye on Turner during NCAA basketball’s March Madness, when the company is hoping for a big bounce in traffic to NCAA.com, which Turner recently re-launched as part of a 14-year digital partnership with the collegiate association. At this rate, a new online sports champ could be crowned.
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