Sports Debut (Jeff Hankins Publisher's Note)

In an age where the Internet is regularly accused of weakening or killing print publications, we continue to see both mediums as delivery methods for quality niche content that serves readers and advertisers. 

And here's a first for Arkansas Business Publishing Group: an Internet trend that we observed contributed greatly to our decision to launch not only a new Web site, but also a monthly magazine called . You'll find the publication inside this week's Arkansas Business, and our business subscribers will automatically receive the sports magazine every month.

The Web site, developed by our own FLEX360 interactive development subsidiary, provides an Arkansas-focused interactive experience for sports fans like no other. Editor Jim Harris, a longtime sports journalist and fan, is leading the effort with daily sports news delivered to your e-mail, a blog, feature stories, photos, polls, video and all sorts of resources. While we know football and basketball receive the lion's share of interest, we're committed to including information in other areas such as golf, hunting, running, fitness and horse racing.

This project is a reunion for Harris and me. He was a sportswriter for the Pine Bluff Commercial when I filed my first sports story as a 14-year-old covering the Little League State Championship in Bentonville in 1980. We worked together for a few years at the Commercial, later worked together on the Arkansas Business editorial staff, and now we've come full circle on this sports project. I'm jealous that he's the one who will actually get to write and talk sports every day.

So why is a business publication so interested in sports? Our readers are the people who are providing the private financial support to athletic programs. Also, 98 percent of Arkansas Business' readers follow sports, and nearly half of them attended a college or professional sports event during the past year, according to market research by The Media Audit. Our existing base of business readers in print and online gives us a solid base for the sports launch.

But we know there are plenty of sports fans who aren't interested in business. So we will distribute the ArkansasSports360.com monthly print edition for free pickup in metro locations throughout the state in the coming weeks.

The timing couldn't be better for expanded sports coverage in Arkansas when you consider we're entering one of the most exciting times in the state's sports history. It's time for a Web site and magazine that uniquely capture the moments and engage fans in ways that other media simply can't. We're offering readers a new way to absorb all things sports in Arkansas while giving advertisers an affordable opportunity to reach them through a powerful combination of print and Internet delivery points.

During the coming months, Arkansas sports fans will follow with us ...

-- Darren McFadden, the University of Arkansas' Heisman Trophy frontrunner.

-- The retirement of Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles and the selection of his successor.

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