USA TODAY Sports Re-launches HoopsHype

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Oct 10, 2013, 12:25 ET

McLEAN, Va., Oct. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties today re-launched HoopsHype (www.hoopshype.com), its popular destination for NBA breaking news and rumors, with a more premium user experience that optimizes viewing of content and video across mobile, tablet and desktop.

Acquired by the USA TODAY Sports Media Group in February 2012, HoopsHype (@HoopsHype on Twitter) has increased page views and unique cross-platform users by more than 30% over the past year, with nearly half of the traffic coming from mobile devices. The site's audience demographic is predominately young, male, affluent, and social – more than 30% of users come directly from social media sites.

"HoopsHype has established itself as our flagship NBA property and a must read for NBA insiders and fans; even Mark Cuban himself has said it's 'the place where every player and every free agent in the NBA goes to keep up with the rumors," said Chris Pirrone, General Manager of USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties. "We're excited to give our passionate NBA audience the type of experience it deserves, especially on tablets and smartphones, where so much of our growth is."

The HoopsHype re-launch is the most recent property within USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties to be built on its new lightweight digital publishing platform, following the launch of For The Win in April and the re-launch of leading sports-meets-pop-culture site The Big Lead in August. The new platform enables rapid deployment of faster, leaner and device-responsive sites to support sports fans' consumption habits across desktop, tablet and mobile, and will be used to integrate and re-platform the portfolio of 10 independent websites that USA TODAY Sports Media Group has acquired since its inception in 2011, as well as to launch new mobile-friendly sites focused on trending sports topics that today's on-the-go sports fans crave.

"Re-launching HoopsHype is another key milestone for us in our digital-first transformation," said Tom Beusse, President of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group. "Along with properties like For The Win, The Big Lead and The Q, HoopsHype helps us to deliver on our mission to foster the conversation among sports fans by providing great, uncompromised editorial content specifically for digital consumption and engagement, as well as a best-in-class user experience that evolves the way our audience evolves."

About USA TODAY Sports Media Group:
The USA TODAY Sports Media Group encompasses all sports initiatives across USA TODAY Sports and Gannett's more than 100 well-known local media brands. It also includes the sports photography wire service USA TODAY Sports Images, leading high school sports destination USA TODAY High School Sports; For The Win, the first mainstream sports media property focused exclusively on "social news," and designed specifically to resonate on social networks and non-traditional media channels and platforms; Sports On Earth, a joint venture with MLB Advanced Media dedicated to great sports writing in all its forms; and the hundreds of sites within USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties, such as HoopsHype.com and mixed martial arts site MMAjunkie.com, among others. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (GCI).