What's happening to dailysoccer.com ?

My guess is that DS.com is with Luca Brasi.

 

As dailysoccer.com's American and Australian correspondent, I felt like I had to give my two cents worth on this...

Mind you, however, I can't say too much because I don't have all the facts, but I will attempt to ring my editors in Holland tonight and get the lowdown on everything.

I've been posting my stuff on there on a regular basis, even lately, so the servers are still working. But we'll see about that when I post my MLS stuff on there later.

Naturally, this concerns me greatly-- there have been problems lately (none of which I am at legal liberty to disclose at the moment), but my editors have assured my wife and I that everything was going to be worked out. My wife Jennifer, however, has been keeping me on a realistic even keel in case the worst fears are happening.

If those worst fears are true, then it means that for the first time in the last dozen years or so, I'll be waking up some morning in the near future not knowing who I'm doing my soccer coverage for, on American or Australian news and features.

Thanks for everyone's concerns; I've received a few PM's at BigSoccer on the matter as well. Like I said, I'll ring and write to my editors tonight (local time here in Australia) and get to the bottom of what's going on.

Buff, if you have any other related industry info, please feel free to e-mail me at OlsonWilliam531@netscape.net.

Hope all turns out well on my end... wish me luck, all.

Cheers,
William Olson

 

I thought I'd update this thread when I had some good news to report-- and I actually do... if all goes well, the website will be back up and on the air sometime next week, resuming the same quality and scope of coverage on worldwide soccer as the readers have become accustomed to...

Last week, dailysoccer.com's parent company, Daily Sports N.V., declared bankruptcy. But in making a long story short, all is not lost.

As my editors still own the rights to the domain name dailysoccer.com, they plan on getting the financing necessary (which they can do under Dutch law) to launch a new company that will host the site in the form that all of you know and love it as.

I am also pleased to say that contrary to my fears of a few days ago, I have retained a role in the newly restructured company, maintaining my role as its American and Australian Correspondent.

So as you can see, it might be a time for dropped chins, but we're all sitting amid a sea of optimism...

We should know for sure on Monday as to the exact details of the newly-restructured company and site, and I hope to have another update on that at that time...

Cheers,
William

 

Update: uh, no, not yet. It just says, "Coming soon, the new and improved version."

What up?

 

It's a Sicilian message. It means 'Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.'

 

As someone who was actually providing coverage on American and Australian soccer for the site and drawing a paycheck from it, as I've stated above, I can say that there was a good deal of original content on the site, not just wire copy. In fact, there were at least 50 of us from around the world as national correspondents doing just that. I was with them from March of 2000 until the parent company went bankrupt in August...

However, I've been working for other sites in the meantime since the demise of the old company, and enjoying it. Gotta put food on the table for my family, people.

Cheers,
William

 

I wouldn't say "90%+", as you put it... more like 85% and dropping. In the last year before the old site ceased to exist, the editors had made a move to emphasize original content more and more, and were going in that direction before the demise of the site. Would have been hard for some to notice, as only myself and a handful of others revealed our bylines.

I'm sure part of the business plan for the site under the new company will continue in that regard, towards a greater ratio of original content over wire copy. Sites need to do that in order to carve a niche.

The "fast" nature of how the site loads, too, will remain, I'd asume... which was definitely one of the hallmarks of the site that everyone-- administrators, writers and editors alike-- took a great deal of pride in.[/b][/quote]

Thanks for the kind words.

I'm having the time of my life on my current beat right now for that other site... if any of you have been reading it, you know which one it is. Otherwise, I am not able to plug it here, as that would be a violation of BigSoccer's TOS. If anyone wants to know, PM or e-mail me.

I'm sure dailysoccer.com will be back and better than ever, but not sure if I'll be a part of it, only because I have had to find other endeavors in the interim. Seeing that my wife and I have already been married for slightly over eight months, I have to provide for ourselves.

But stay tuned...

Cheers,
William

 

It lives...