For example, stat geeks should perk up at the notion of having detailed statistical information on current events in one location. If ESPN's tech team has done their homework and pulled all the different Web sites ESPN owns under the same standard, people with interest in statistical analysis will find the ability to share techniques and code bases. This could lead to new frontiers in analysis for sports just learning how to take advantage of numbers in new ways. (Basketball comes to mind, but what about cricket? Rugby?) If ESPN isn't stingy with the XML files, this will be a highly hackable resource that will make our understanding of our favorite sports stronger.
For the 98% of you that didn't get excited at "hackable" or "standardized data formats", you should check out ScoreCenter on opening day to see if it offers two key pieces of functionality. They'll tell you the real story of ScoreCenter.
First, do you see simple yet elegant presentations of scores incredibly close to real time? This would beat every other Web site on the Internet and sell the product by itself. Imagine watching an Andruw Jones home run in Dodger Stadium and glancing down at your cell phone browser to see the home run recorded before he touches home plate.
Second, do you see betting lines? If you don't see them, don't be deterred. ScoreCenter, in all its platform permutations, is a gambling Web site. If its scores are faster and more reliable than anyone else's, it'll become the gambling enthusiast's best friend. No need to bounce from site to site to find the latest score update; it'll all be in one heavily commercialized space.
Congratulations, ESPN, on finally finding a way to monetize the gambling aspect of sports in a new and better way under the guise of globalization. You shameless hussy, you.
Article comments
1 - Scott
Cricket Scores will not find jeers from the millions of people who actively follow the sport. Just because it isn't American doesn't make it less valid. After all, more people follow international cricket than they do Major League Baseball. Cricket is a religion in India and there are a billion people there alone who are following it and betting on it.
2 - Tuffy
Absolutely right, Scott. How do you think cricket fans will feel about getting their scores from an ESPN property? Do they even care about ESPN yet?
3 - Tan The Man
It's about time.