Sports On Earth Officially Launches Today

MCLEAN, Va. and NEW YORK, Aug. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sports On Earth, the online destination dedicated to great sportswriting in all its forms, officially debuted today as the first digital content product to launch from the recently-formed joint venture between the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (MLBAM), the interactive media and internet company of Major League Baseball.

DIRECTV, one of the world's leading providers of digital television entertainment services, will be an exclusive launch partner for Sports On Earth, which features many of the most respected voices in sports journalism, led by Joe Posnanski, named the 2012 Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association as well as a two-time selection as the best sports columnist in America by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE).

Posnanski is joined by Tommy Tomlinson, a longtime columnist for the Charlotte Observer and a 2005 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Gwen Knapp, an award-winning longtime columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and, previously, the San Francisco Examiner; Shaun Powell, a longtime columnist for leading media outlets that include Newsday, The Sporting News and ESPN New York; and Mike Tanier, formerly the senior writer for the influential NFL site Football Outsiders as well as a contributor to the New York Times' Fifth Down blog.

Also joining the staff is Chuck Culpepper, who over a long and award-winning career has covered nearly every sport in the world for outlets which include the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and other media companies throughout the three "Uniteds" (United States, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates), and Emma Span, formerly the associate sports editor at The Daily as well as a longtime baseball writer and author.

Will Leitch, a contributing editor to New York magazine and the author of four sports books, will serve as a regular contributor to the site. He will be joined by Leigh Montville, a longtime columnist and feature writer for both the Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated and the author of several best-selling books, and Dave Kindred, a member of the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Red Smith Award for lifetime achievement from the APSE.

Other writers and contributors are expected to be added to the Sports On Earth lineup on an ongoing basis by the site's General Manager, Steve Madden, and Editor-In-Chief Larry Burke.

"We want to give sports fans a place to come for consistently great writing and compelling viewpoints on the most important news of the day," said Madden. "The idea is to let great columnists do what they do best — provide insights and opinions that engage fans and give them perspectives they might not have previously considered."

Sports On Earth is the first product of the New York City-based joint venture between the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and MLBAM, which was formed in February 2012 and was created to develop and produce new content and products for sports fans across all digital and mobile platforms.

About the USA TODAY Sports Media Group
The USA TODAY Sports Media Group encompasses all sports initiatives across USA TODAY, as well as Gannett Co. Inc.'s 81 community newspaper properties and 23 broadcast television stations. It also includes the sports photography service U.S. Presswire, USA TODAY High School Sports and USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties.  USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).

About MLBAM
Established in June 2000 following a unanimous vote by the 30 Major League Baseball club owners to centralize all of Baseball's Internet operations, MLB Advanced Media LP (MLBAM) is the interactive media and internet company of Major League Baseball. MLBAM manages the official league site, www.MLB.com, and each of the 30 individual Club sites to create the most comprehensive Major League Baseball resource on the Internet. MLBAM powers more live events on the Internet than any other website in the world.

SOURCE Sports On Earth