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Field Yates Straddles Information and Entertainment at ESPN

While it might be useful for your Twitter bio to have a more succinct title like “Insider” or “Fantasy Expert”, or something else that falls under the ESPN umbrella, what I find is pretty valuable is to be able to do a little bit of everything.

Brady Farkas

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Field Yates

Wherever ESPN is talking about the NFL, there’s a good chance you’ll see Field Yates.

The 35-year-old has been at the Mothership since 2012 and contributes to NFL coverage in a variety of ways from appearing on SportsCenter and NFL Live, to hosting Fantasy Football Now and the Fantasy Focus podcast. He also works on the NFL Draft and has hosted NFL coverage on ESPN Radio.

But before Yates became an integral part of football coverage, he was a Division III football and lacrosse player at Wesleyan University and spent two years coaching and scouting for the Kansas City Chiefs and four summers interning for the New England Patriots.

So how did a former college athlete turned NFL coach/scout become one of the top analysts around? He sat down with Barrett Sports Media this week to discuss.

(Some answers edited for length and clarity).

BSM: Field, we reported recently at BSM that you just signed an extension with ESPN, congratulations.

FY: Thank you so much. I feel like a little bit of a seasoned veteran now at ESPN. I’ve been at the company for almost 10 years now. It’s a great opportunity and it feels like home for me and my family, and for somebody who grew up watching ESPN, like so many others out there in sports, the opportunity to continue to work there is something that I don’t ever take for granted, not a single day.

BSM: I have always referenced you as an NFL Insider. Some reference you as a Fantasy Football Insider. Is there ever a tug-of-war in how you want to be thought of?

FY: I give a lot of credit to some of the people that I have worked with or for at ESPN for a long time who identified this at an early stage of my career. There is an old saying that I often hear attributed to Bill Parcells. And it goes like this, ‘the more you can do, the more you can do.’ So while it might be useful for your Twitter bio to have a more succinct title like “Insider” or “Fantasy Expert”, or something else that falls under the ESPN umbrella, what I find is pretty valuable is to be able to do a little bit of everything.

That’s something that I take a lot of pride in. Maybe during the months of August to December, I’m more of a fantasy analyst than I am an insider, but maybe between the month of January and the end of the draft, late April, I might be more of the NFL Insider. But I have a strong belief that if it’s football, or something involving football, I have an interest in it. And I’d like to do my best to be as informed about it as I can.

BSM: It’s well documented. You did some on field stuff with the Chiefs and the Patriots back in the day, why did you ultimately decide that journalism or broadcasting was the ultimate avenue for you?

FY: I didn’t know that that was going to be where my next steps took me after I left the world of scouting. I actually got my real estate license, which is something that a couple of numbers that my family still do to this day. But it didn’t prove to be as much interest for me. What I realized was that I was missing football. But I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with the next opportunities in my life, whatever they might have been.

So I sort of casually wrote about football. This was at the time when blogging was sort of the leading way of sports media, right? So I started to pound the keyboard on a blog and started to use my Twitter account to leverage it a little bit.

I had met a handful of people in the world of broadcasting and journalism from my time in the NFL, and they were super helpful in generating a bit of an audience for me by re-sharing my content on social media. And I think that that was kind of the beginning of it, even though I had no clue when I left the Chiefs back in 2011, that I would have any sort of future in not just sports broadcasting, but football period. I thought maybe my days of following sports would be strictly as a fan going forward.

BSM: Do you see yourself as more of a journalist or as an entertainer?

FY: That’s a good question. So let me talk about the fantasy side. Because I think that in fantasy, the reality of fantasy, which is sort of a loaded sentence in and of itself, is that while there are so many people doing fantasy content all over the internet everywhere, a lot of people are sharing comparable opinions.

A lot of what we are required to do is to share information that you can get anywhere, but do so in a way that is entertaining and that draws you back for more. And I give a lot of credit to Matthew Berry, my longtime colleague who’s now working at NBC, because in an industry where there were a lot of people trying to emulate him, his signature style and ability to entertain was always what I thought stood out amongst many, many, many traits that he had.

That’s something that I try to do as well on the fantasy side. I don’t know that every day, you’re going to get something from me that you haven’t heard elsewhere, I’d like to, but I can’t promise that every single day, but what I hopefully can promise you is that whatever information you get from me, has my twist on it, as opposed to something that you heard elsewhere.

BSM: You have had a diverse career at ESPN. Studio shows. Radio. Talk to me a little bit about the growth in your career and things you are proud of.

FY: One thing that I admire about ESPN is that it’s a company that starts with understanding. What are a couple of elements that fit in your portfolio? And when they realize that there are two or three things that you do well, they’re not afraid to challenge you to do four or five things well, and then four or five could turn into 10, or 15, or 20. And next thing you know, you’ve got a full plate.

And now I’m focused on doing things I’m involved in at a higher level year over year. So whether it’s through Fantasy Football Now or the Fantasy Focus podcast, or being a part of NFL Live or being a part of the First Draft podcast or in the offseason, or any of the things that I consider tentpoles of my career, I want to continue to do those things and I want to continue to do those things better than the year before. I’ve been very fortunate to have some people that believed in me and given me an opportunity.

BSM: Did any of your on-field work carry over into the broadcasting world? Did anything you did there – help you here?

FY: I think I spent enough time in it to feel like there are things that I see in a certain way. Part of this is shaped by the fact that I did spend some time on the other side – but I think the most challenging part of our job is that whatever we see, we are not guaranteed to see the entire picture.

And the reason why I say that is because there’s always something going on inside an organization or a locker room or coaching staff that we’re not entirely aware of that could contribute to the on field product, which is oftentimes the only thing that we have to evaluate situations.

So I try to offer up an ounce or more of deference to these teams, and these players in these situations, knowing that whatever I see might not be the complete picture. I am not saying that you can’t be critical of decisions or plays or opportunities. I also try to take a step back that and ask myself if there’s a decision that looks ill-fated the minute it takes place.

My thought process is ‘alright if everybody is panning this free agent signing for being far too rich, let me go the other direction and see, is there something that is reason to believe that this signing actually makes a whole lot more sense than we realize?’

And I think there are numerous examples where things that almost unanimously are either chided or applauded, don’t work out as expected. And so I’ve tried to take that with me in almost everything that I do.

BSM: What is the Field Yates Football Sunday watching experience like?

FY: Well, it’s a great one, I’m very fortunate to be a part of what we call the ‘War Room’ at ESPN. It is next to the ESPN cafeteria, so it’s got proximity to the most important place on campus. We have somewhere between 25-30 people in there in a given week, and we’ve got every game up. There’s a screen allocated for every single game — 16 screens. And then there’s an additional 17th screen that is the size of the other 16 combined.

So we have someone that controls that big TV, which also has the volume playing. So if it’s a critical moment in Bills vs. Ravens, that might be the game that’s on the TV. It’s almost like a mini RedZone within our ESPN walls.

It’s great. The people in there are awesome. There are many, many great people. But I can tell you with complete sincerity that sitting near Chris Berman, on football Sundays, watching the games alongside him, is something you will never ever, ever, ever take for granted.

He is as hilarious as you’d expect. But also a football historian. He has so much appreciation for the game. You’re often reminded that we got into this profession, because we love sports and Bommer (Berman) always says “You love football? That’s a good thing.’” And we love football, and to be able to watch it on Sundays like that is a very good thing.

BSM: Who are some of the teammates you’ve learned from at ESPN?

FY: Wow, a lot of them and there are a lot of things. You have to sort of break it up into a couple of different categories here. A lot of my initial work at ESPN was with Mike Reiss (Patriots reporter) and Mike is the definition of professionalism and passion for details.

Adam Schefter on the news side has taught me so much that I think is useful not just in sports, but also in life in that he has taught me how to build relationships, how to maintain relationships, and how to push stories forward. But I think more importantly, he’s taught me how to know that the story is never more important than the trust.

On the entertainment side, the entire NFL Live crew, what they’ve taught me is joy. Dan Orlovsky and Laura Rutledge and Marcus Spears and Ryan Clark — what you do every single day should be fun. I mean, Mina Kimes, and Marcus Spears probably could not have had more dissimilar path to ESPN.

But each one of them has this legitimate joy that, I think, is a common bond and makes that show so great. Something I’m always reminded of is that while it’s not always just football, on the days in which we are able to talk about just football, it’s a lot of fun, and to never lose sight of that. The NFL Live crew as a whole does a great job of that.

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How to Help Your Clients with Low Website Conversions

Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

Jeff Caves

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Graphic for how to increase website conversions
Credit: WPDesigner.Biz

Are your clients dealing with low website conversions? Whenever a marketing campaign is run, and the goal is to convert website visitors into leads, the temptation is to blame low traffic, amongst other issues, for low form fills or appointments being generated.  Just spend more money, you may think! Sometimes, you must look at at least four other potential issues to tackle poor conversion rates. Here are some actionable steps using the IT services industry to increase website conversions.

IT Solutions specializes in providing products, services, or solutions related to technology, particularly in areas such as software development, hardware sales, IT consulting, cybersecurity, cloud computing, networking, and digital transformations. They faced challenges with their website conversions. Despite driving substantial traffic through Google Ads and other SEO tactics, they struggled to convert website visitors into form fills for appointment requests. A 2% to 5% conversion rate could be considered reasonable. Of course, conversion rates can vary based on various factors, such as the competitiveness of the local market, the quality of the website (and radio stations help most to fix that) and its user experience, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and the reputation and offerings of the IT solutions business. Focusing on improving the quality of leads and providing exceptional customer service can be just as crucial as achieving high conversion rates. Don’t blame EVERYTHING on the marketing tactics! 

The Diagnosis

Upon thorough analysis, several critical issues were identified with IT Solutions’ website:

1. High Bounce Rate: Nobody was checking out the business. If 70% or more of website visitors only visit the landing page, that is an issue.  It could be slow loading times, irrelevant content, poor user experience, or unclear calls-to-action that prevent them from wanting to know more about IT Solutions. You can check the bounce rate on the Google Analytics page for the website in the left-hand sidebar, click on “Behavior” to expand the menu, then click on “Site Content,” and finally, click on “Landing Pages.” You’ll see a list of landing pages and their respective bounce rates.

2. Complex Navigation: It was hard to move around the website to find relevant information about IT services, and it was unclear who they were initiating contact with and for what purpose.

3. Unclear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): The website lacked clear and compelling CTAs guiding visitors toward requesting an appointment. Simply stating “click here for an appointment” is like asking for a meeting whenever or without establishing value. Here are 28 CTAs for free.

4. Lengthy Forms: The appointment forms were long, without qualifying information, and requested excessive information upfront, deterring potential leads from completing them.

Action Plan

1. Optimize Landing Pages:

   – Redo high-traffic landing pages with clear messaging and compelling CTAs.

   – Showcase IT Solutions’ services as benefits, making it easier for users to request appointments, thereby increasing user engagement and conversions.

2. Simplify Navigation:

   – Reorganize the menu and add more action-oriented links.

   – Provide additional options for users to access relevant information, such as “Get a free IT Solutions 15-point checkup NOW” and “Take this 5-question survey to diagnose your IT issues,” motivating them to book appointments.

3. Enhance CTAs:

   – Utilize concise and persuasive messaging throughout the website.

   – Encourage visitors to take action, whether requesting a free download about “5 things you can do to solve your IT issues on your own” or “get a free pizza for booking an appointment.”

4. Improve the Form Fill:

   – Add a further line about the number of employees who qualify for incoming leads.

   – Highlight the value of leads based on company size, prioritizing forms with higher potential impact.

Review landing pages, navigation, CTAs, and form experience to address website conversion issues. Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

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‘NHL on TNT’ Gives Hockey Fans the ‘NBA on TNT’ Treatment

Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

John Molori

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NHL on TNT studio

Let’s play a little word association, sports media style. If I say TNT, what is your response? Chances are it will be a three-letter abbreviation of your own, namely, NBA. Over the years, TNT has built a reputation as arguably the premiere network to telecast the National Basketball Association.

The NBA on TNT pregame and halftime shows have become the gold standard with stars like Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal. Still, it’s not just this quartet of roundball royalty that has fortified TNT’s hoops coverage.

The rep was also built on tremendous play-by-play announcers like Bob Neal and Kevin Harlan, color analysts like Doug Collins and Reggie Miller, and courtside reporters like the late Craig Sager and current sideline star Allie LaForce.

Indeed, TNT and the NBA have become synonymous, but I have some news for you. This network is not just about professional basketball. This past week I went off the grid with TNT looking at their in-game and studio coverage of the NHL.

On March 24, the NHL on TNT provided coverage of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche matchup. Kenny Albert did play-by-play with Eddie Olczyk on color. Albert is not as noted as his legendary broadcasting father Marv Albert, but he has certainly staked his claim as one of the best in the business – able to cross over to multiple sports with equal aplomb.

Hockey is a strong suit for Albert. His rat-tat-tat, drama-building style draws viewers in and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Similarly, Olczyk is one of the top four or five NHL game analysts in the business. His style is understated, providing calm and clear analysis of key plays. They work really well together.

Albert eschews any kind of hackneyed and trite catch phrases for his goal calls. An emphatic, “He shoots and scores!” is plenty enough.

Hockey is a different beast when it comes to play-by-play. Unlike basketball, baseball, football, or even soccer and tennis, there is a minimum of breaks in the action. With hockey, a play-by-play announcer has to know the names of the players like he or she knows her kids’ names.

To me, it is the hardest sport for play-by-play and equally difficult for a color analyst. In basketball, after a team scores, the play-by-play announcer will keep silent and give the color analyst time to talk until the play crosses center court. In baseball and football, there is ample room for commentary.

Hockey does not offer such space, but Olczyk gets the most out of the minimal amount of time. Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

Coming back from a break in the game, Albert and Olczyk provided on air commentary and then tossed to ice level reporter Brian Boucher who has grown into a tremendous asset to the TNT broadcasts. Boucher provided real talk about Colorado’s objectives of staying on top of their division and vying for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Penguins, squarely in a rebuilding year having dumped talent at the NHL trade deadline, surprisingly jumped out to a 2–0 lead in this game, and the TNT between periods studio crew was all over it. The excellent Liam McHugh hosted alongside Colby Armstrong, Anson Carter, and Keith Yandle.

Armstrong was especially entertaining. With Pittsburgh outshooting the Avs 16-4, Armstrong noted that it’s the best he’s seen Pittsburgh play in a long time. His reasoning was that teams get geared up for playing Colorado even if it’s out of fear. Great stuff.

Both teams tallied two goals in the second period giving Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame. When Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon set up Jonathan Drouin for a goal to make it 4-3, Albert and Olczyk showed their strengths.

Albert called the pass from MacKinnon and one-timer goal from Drouin, and immediately noted that MacKinnon now had a point in all 34 of Colorado’s home games this season. On the goal replay, Olczyk showed how the play developed pointing out how McKinnon allowed Pittsburgh’s Evgenii Malkin to come in close before making the past to Drouin.

The TNT production team then showed a graphic displaying that McKinnon is now second all-time in longest home points streaks trailing only Wayne Gretzky. This was a sublime sequence of symmetry between talent and technicians like a songwriter, musician, and singer creating beautiful music.

What was supposed to be a blowout win for Colorado had now become a hockey barn burner, and the TNT crew was up to the task. Every goal and key play was followed up with replays from multiple angles showing the genesis of the action.

TNT has certainly taken to the velocity of the hockey broadcast with movement that challenges directors, graphics professionals, and videographers.

When there were breaks in this non-stop action, Olczyk was at his best. No hockey analyst draws on his experience as a player and explains that experience better to viewers. The TNT broadcast also lets Boucher freewheel and join in the flow of discussion without having to be introduced.

TNT does not merely rely on the traditional wide shot of the entire rink. We see close-up shots of each goaltender after a great save and the sweat of players on the bench or in the penalty box.

When McKinnon tied the game at 4-4 with 4:38 left in the third period, we got a series of tremendous crowd shots showing the Colorado fans going absolutely berserk. The sage Albert and Olczyk wisely remained quiet for several seconds, letting the cheers do the talking.

When Drouin scored the game winner at 4:06 of overtime, Albert exercised controlled enthusiasm, raising his voice on the call of the goal, but not becoming the show and overshadowing the play itself. He is definitely in the mold of Dan Kelly, Gary Thorne, and Sean McDonough, announcers who enhance but do not supersede the game.

Putting a cherry on top of this hockey Sunday, TNT showed a graphic that the Avalanche now led the NHL in comeback wins this season with 25 and that they were riding a 9-game winning streak. In analyzing the goal, Olczyk opined that the altitude of playing in Colorado was prevalent as the Penguins seemed to tire as the game progressed – really interesting insight.

In the postgame show, Anson Carter made a great point that the chemistry between Drouin and MacKinnon stems from the fact that they have been playing together going back to junior hockey. McKinnon joined in from the arena for a postgame interview. The analysts asked solid questions and even did a funny MVP chant together as the interview ended.

The NHL on TNT takes no back seat to its elder NBA sister. The broadcast provides viewers with flash, dash, and serious hockey talk from every angle – in studio, from the broadcast booth, and on the ice.

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Kim Mulkey Now Has Everyone Anticipating Washington Post Story

I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it.

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photo of LSU women's college basketball coach Kim Mulkey
Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

The Washington Post, you might’ve heard, has a story coming out about controversial LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. The reason you might’ve heard is because Kim Mulkey told you. The Tigers coach read a fiery prepared statement just before her team started the Women’s NCAA Tournament. In the statement, Mulkey threatened to sue The Post for defamation before the first word was even published.

Now, I’ve never run a public relations firm but that did not seem like a good idea. The Washington Post story on Mulkey is one of the bigger stories in sports right now and nobody even knows what’s in it. The reason the story, apparently unflattering to Mulkey, is even on anyone’s radar screen is Mulkey herself.

It all started with an innocuous social media post by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde right in the middle of the most anticipated two days in sports, the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. On his X account, Forde posted: “Hearing some buzz about a big Washington Post story in the works on LSU women’s hoops coach Kim Mulkey, potentially next week. Wagons being circled, etc.”

You know what generally will go unnoticed at 4:00 on the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament? A post on X about a women’s basketball coach. But don’t tell Mulkey, she saw Forde’s post and decided to fight fire with nuclear weaponry. The result: the average person like me now is really interested in what has Mulkey so incensed. By “average person like me” I mean that I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it. Maybe:

“LSU Women’s Coach Discovers Ark of the Covenant”

Or:

“Mulkey Reveals True JFK Assassin(s)”

Perhaps:

“Famed Women’s Basketball Coach Reveals the Mystery Behind Slow Drivers in the Left Lane”

Literally any of those catch my attention more than whatever will likely be the Washington Post headline about Mulkey. But now Mulkey is “Mad as Hell and is not going to take this anymore” so I now have an interest I would never before have had in this story. It has been fascinating to watch the online speculation about the subject of the article and all we really know, as of now, is that it will be written by Kent Babb. This is a dream come true for Babb; he writes an article that is, presumably, not flattering about Kim Mulkey and, before it is even published, she gives the article the greatest commercial anyone could give it. Babb couldn’t have entered into a business agreement with Mulkey and had this turn out better for him.

For those who don’t follow Babb, he is a former NFL reporter who now is an award-winning writer for the Washington Post. In his 14 years with The Post, he has written sports features and authored a couple of books. One of those sports features stories was a deep dive into what he viewed as a large inequity in the level of pay for LSU head football coach Brian Kelly and his LSU players. It is this piece Mulkey described as a “hit piece” and, based on that piece, referred to Babb as a “sleazy reporter.” Babb, and many others, resented the fact his story was labeled as a hit piece. In fact, Babb essentially confirmed he was the author Mulkey was referencing when he shared the original article on X with the comment: “Hit piece?”

Whether a printed piece or a recorded interview, I can’t imagine a better promotion for it than the subject of the interview threatening a libel/slander lawsuit, especially before it is even released. That simply screams “This piece is salacious!!” Also, libel and slander suits get settled all the time, right? Of course they don’t, they seem to never even get filed. That little thing called discovery is a scary thing for most public figures.

The NCAA Tournament has been very entertaining, and I think the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be terrific. For only the fifth time ever, the top two seeds have advanced to the third round which sets up for a remarkable weekend. For me, I guess it will now include a Washington Post article, not a sentence I’d normally say.

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