Turner Sports Rolls Out New NCAA.com

When CBS Sports and Turner Sports signed a 14-year multimedia agreement with the NCAA earlier this year, Turner Sports was charged with the multimedia elements of the deal that best fit its strengths. This week, Turner rolled out the first of those elements, under the NCAA Digital banner – the relaunch of NCAA.com. Now managed by Turner, the site offers a new design and layout that offer better access to NCAA news, statistics, and editorial coverage of all men’s and women’s sports, from the regular season through the championships. The site will also provide school-specific content for more than 1,000 NCAA institutions.

“We look forward to leveraging our experiences in managing some of the most popular sports sites on the Internet toward growing NCAA.com into the top digital college sports destination,” says Matthew Hong, SVP & GM, sports operations at Turner Sports. “With a deeper commitment to college sports throughout the year, enhanced editorial and multi-media content, and a cutting-edge user experience, we are excited to provide a truly exceptional online experience for fans on NCAA.com.”

The new site will also provide exclusive live video streaming for more than 60 NCAA championships, in addition to video highlights from all 88 championships. The first major championship to be streamed on the new site is the NCAA Division I-FCS football championship game on January 7, 2011. Online coverage will include video highlights, editorial features, behind-the-scenes interviews, reports, and statistics from the championship in Fisco, Texas.

The new site emphasizes feature content, not just scores and stats. Weekly original content pieces will focus on student athletes’ lives off the field, and video features on the site will include coach and administrator interviews, school spirit profiles, and analysis of must-see matchups for all three sports seasons across all three divisions. The new site utilizes Turner’s technology to offer an upgraded video player, interactive features, and touch points for social media. The site will host a collection of the best tweets of the week from student athletes, coaches, and fans.

“Our partnership with Turner Sports and the relaunch of NCAA.com enables the NCAA to feature the tremendous stories of the student-athletes competing in collegiate athletics on a robust, digital platform that reaches a mass audience,” says Greg Shaheen, interim executive vice president of championship and alliances at the NCAA. “NCAA.com will be synonymous with college sports and will be the destination where millions of college sports fans will go for the most comprehensive and in-depth coverage of 88 NCAA championships.”