Dawgs Bite Joins Network

Dawgs Bite, a publication covering Mississippi State athletics, to be produced by TheInsiders and Citadel Publishing; bundling deal part of package.

SEATTLE, July 6 – The most significant sports radio network in Mississippi, the most trusted journalist covering Mississippi State sports and the top website covering Bulldogs athletics have agreed to a print-online partnership that will contribute another 5,000 paid subscribers to TheInsiders.com network.

Under the agreement, Dawgs Bite Magazine, which is published by The Mississippi Network and features editor-in-chief David Murray, will partner with GenesPage.com, published by Gene Swindall, securing the No. 1 source for inside information on Mississippi State athletics. Dawgs Bite will be produced by Citadel Publishing, which is a leading publisher of team-specific, college, NFL and MLB magazines.

Partnering college-team websites with the publishers of team publication has been a key strategy of TheInsiders in gaining access, providing the highest quality content and securing the top brand in each market. The network dominates the southeast region of the country. Dawgs Bite Magazine joins last week’s announced new partner with theInsiders, Ole’ Miss Spirit, with the rest of the top southeast publications in exclusive relationships with TheInsiders.com. This lineup includes 'Bama Magazine (Alabama), Hawgs Illustrated (Arkansas), Inside the Auburn Tigers (Auburn), CU Tigers Magazine (Clemson), Fightin' Gators (Florida), Dawgpost (Georgia), Inside Kentucky (Kentucky), Tiger Rag (Louisiana State), CanesTime (Miami), Inside Carolina (North Carolina), and Rocky Top (Tennessee).

Dawgs Bite owner, Steve Davenport pointed out that everyone else had done the homework on this deal for him. “Two years ago, TheInsiders pitched me on the idea of combining a gloss feature publication with the daily content of the internet but we took a wait-and-see attitude,” Davenport explained. “Since then, every significant independent media property in the SEC has signed with TheInsiders and their product has proven to be the best product in the business.

“TheInsiders’ integrated product has proven to be the most popular media source among fans but just as important to me, it seems to be the only product the universities respect. Anyone can do a website, but it takes a real company to produce a world-class print product as well.”

TheInsiders have combined these team-specific media powers with the biggest names in southeast football recruiting, including Jamie Newberg, national editor and host of Fox Sports South’s Countdown to Signing Date, and Scott Kennedy, the top Southeast recruiting expert with TheInsiders.

J.C. Heckman, TheInsiders’ CEO, said this latest agreement was another step in his company’s strategy to provide the best sports subscription product on the market.

“For whatever reason, most didn’t understand the vision and importance of combining the print and online products,” Heckman said. “At the outset, it was certainly a complicated strategy to execute, but for the past two years, we’ve mastered the infrastructure needs to pull off both products for the customer. The biggest challenge has been integrating the subscription database but from a fan standpoint, it’s incredibly simple – one-stop shop for the best features and highest quality publication, combined with the best in event news only the Internet can provide. We took the risk two years ago, in the middle of an incredible Internet bust and it looks like it’s paid off for the fans, the partnering publishers and our network. It’s exciting now that we’ve reached critical mass on the strategy.

“Locking down the SEC was critical because it’s inarguably the most important football market in the country. All the relevant recruiting experts have been with our team since 199, but I think the long-term future of this business, when it comes to university relationships and access to team information, is reliant upon having a legitimate publication is critical. Combining the print audience with our No. 1 reach as an independent college sports network and we believe we’ve built a footprint that will sustain a solid future for what has otherwise been an up and down business model.

“We’re looking forward to working with Steve Davenport and David Murray because, like the rest of our print publishers in the SEC, they are the class of the industry and have been respected for many years in their field and local market.”