Here’s an application for APSE membership from PolkSports.com. This notice will appear on the APSE website for 10 days for comment from the general membership before it is voted on by the executive committee.
1) Based in Polk County, N.C., PolkSports.com has a strong coverage emphasis on local scholastic sports, but also covers recreational sports as well as following local athletes at the collegiate and professional levels. The site contributes coverage to four local daily newspapers as well as a weekly, bringing coverage of local athletes who otherwise would receive very little.
2) Polk County is a small rural county of 20,000 people, yet PolkSports.com still typically averages more than 6,000 unique visitors and 30,000 page views per month. The site is intentionally focused on building a local audience, which limits its overall growth but leads to a base of readers loyal to coverage that typically includes 50-70 unique pieces of content per month.
3) As a former daily newspaper sports writer and editor, as someone who believes strongly in the importance of sports journalism, as a fan of sections and products from Stanley Woodward’s New York Herald Tribune staff to The National to The Athletic, I wholeheartedly support APSE’s mission to continue to grow and support the industry. Despite the site’s size, we adhere to the same principles that I practiced in my career at dailies, and I welcome the chance to represent the industry and contribute to its future as an APSE member.
Andy Rhinehart, Founder/Publisher
