Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, Twitter – social networking is clearly ubiquitous on the web. What is interesting is the increasing fractionalization of this phenomenon as various industries attempt to carve out their specific niche. Many of the now formidable social networking sites started out organically, but WePlay.com is attempting to break that proven mold. A joint venture between talent agency C.A.A. and the hedge fund Pequot Capital, it uses sports stars—always a key marketing commodity—as entrée into this crowded online universe.
The New York Times article, “Social Site’s New Friends Are Athletes,” published today, details the new online website. WePlay is described as a “Facebook for young athletes.” On it, users will be able to create profiles, post pictures, communicate with friends and share videos of games. But this is not just for children. According to the article, “Parents will be able to get practice schedules, coordinate car pools and find out which equipment to purchase. Coaches will be able to communicate with their players and parents, as well as learn about strategy and other skills.”
Sport stars, including Derek Jeter, Tony Parker and LeBron James, will also be involved with the venture and provide special video and photo content for the site. Per Rachel King's post from earlier this week regarding the web’s gender divide, especially among teenage girls and boys, it will be interesting to see if this site skews one way or the other. It should be noted that no female athletes were mentioned in the article.
Though the article indicates that the last major Internet venture to have gained considerable support amongst star athletes—MVP.com—failed in 1999, I suspect that this site will have wide appeal (after all, 1999 is a long time ago in Internet years). And if it does take hold, the possibilities for sponsorship crossover are endless. Perhaps WePlay.com will be able to successful monetize its site from the get-go because the sports industry is such an important advertising outlet (clearly Pequot’s investors hope so). If sneaker and soft drink companies have an additional method of getting the attention of sports-playing youth, one can only assume that they will jump at the opportunity. But as a late entrée to the social-networking game, it will be interesting to follow whether WePlay.com has any difficulty persuading young athletes to take the time to invest in yet another site, especially one that their parents and coaches are on.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/technology/26caa.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=technology
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