The Classical and the new world of sports journalism

A lot is made of the web generation and its short attention span, and often for good reason. Is this a major factor contributing to the demise of print media? Are less and less people willing to take the time to sit and read, or is it just the inconvenience of the print form when compared to digital content?

The Classical, an online venture looking to get its feet off the ground, seems to be betting on the latter. With a crew of high quality, established writers, The Classical hopes to provide an interactive web publication geared around raising the bar for sports conversation, filled with "several regular columns, a host of quick random goodness,  and a fun, smart community talking about the sports world." This will include long form journalistic features and plenty of guest contributions.

One week into its quest, The Classical is gaining some ground. They've picked up 1,400 Twitter followers, 237 "likes" on Facebook, and most importantly at this point, have raised $17,896 on Kickstarter, from 379 backers. That's impressive.

With still 40 days to go to reach its $50,000 fundraising goal, it appears that the sports world may soon get the gift of more great sports writing.

If and when they do, however, The Classical won't be alone. 2011 has seen others in sports media attempt to challenge the conceptions of the web generation's attention span by focusing on journalistic quality and a raised-bar. Not only that, but they have done so with major corporate backing. Earlier in the year, Yahoo! launched The Post Game, while Bill Simmons and ESPN made some nice waves with the summer launch of Grantland.

It is believed that both websites have seen fairly strong early success. However, it's impossible to ignore the fact that they have done so with incredible corporate backing, allowing for some big name sponsors and, very importantly for a new ventures, access to ongoing capital.

It seems, at least, like The Classical will attempt to enter this space without that type of backing, though the success of similar competitors and their verification of this market could open up doors for The Classical to make a large corporate partnership of their own, or find some venture capital money.

What remains to be seen is if that's the direction The Classical chooses to take. There's certainly an argument to be made that association with a big brand could hinder journalistic freedom. For VC's to have significant interest, it's also likely that the website will need a major advertising focus, which may not be exactly the vision its founders have for a website of intelligent discourse.

There are, though, examples of middle ground. SB Nation, rich with blogs on each and every major sports team in North America, has managed to find terrific advertising partnerships, with major brands like Gilette, that while certainly visible, have hardly detracted from the content and interaction. Rather, with brand-related themes to posts on the individual blogs, it may have even assisted in creating unique topics and more discussion.

None of this is to say that The Classical will head in this direction, and the possibility remains that The Classical and its founders simply envision a self-sustained source of quality journalism, solid discussion and some extra income for its writers. As a fan of great sports writing, that would be great.

But at the same time, its clear that this surprising reemergence of sports journalism - be it through SB Nation, The Post Game, Grantland, and now The Classical - is still in its earliest stages. With the passion shared by the monstrous market of "sports fans" and the innovative approaches available in digital media, it certainly seems like possibilities - and growth - are somewhat endless.

Best of all, it's a space where competitive rivalry is minimal. There are likely more than enough advertisers willing to spend to be apart of an intelligent community with many frequent visitors. Plus, the emergence of any of these websites seems unlikely to hinder the potential of another, as the more members of the web generation that can be exposed to high-quality sports writing and discussion, the more likely they are to grow appreciation for the field and seek out more great work.

There are a lot of talented and intelligent writers and business minds entering this space, and if their belief that the web generation's patience-level hasn't quite run dry yet is true, it could open up a very exciting time for sports fans.

The Classical has some work to do to catch up, but in the meantime, plenty of its future competition are carving out a new, fascinating niche market ripe with opportunities and possibilities.