As it pertains to sport, timeliness is vital when gathering news. For this reason, the majority of my sources possess a large social media presence. Thus, I speak extensively about social media in this blog.
1. PremierLeague.com
I begin with the English Premier League (EPL) because it is widely recognized as the "best league in the world". While some debate always surrounds this assertion, many would agree that top-to-bottom, the EPL is the deepest and most competitive league.
In regards to news, if one wants to stay abreast of all the biggest stories in world football, they must follow the EPL. Luckily for us, the Premier League does a great job providing quick and thorough updates both on its website and through social media. The EPL utilizes Twitter and Instagram to report score updates, injury news, new signings, upcoming fixtures, and much more. Furthermore, the EPL makes it a point to interact with the teams and players on social media, which makes things more fun.
Squawka is a site that many people outside of the footballing world have probably not heard of. With that said, this is one of my favorite places to get up-to-date football news. Squawka pays special focus to transfer and team news.
In the world of football, the transfer window offers massive excitement and anxiety. Squawka always stays very up-to-date on these transfers, tweeting updates as soon as the transfers become official.
Also, Squawka has a fun side to them, as they produce many surveys, quiz games, and articles that discuss "what could have been" or revisits pasts teams or events. Squawka is enjoyable because they balance the seriousness of reporting news with a laid back delivery.
3. Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a more traditional news platform. While they still report on facts and results, they do so in a more formal manner. This is not necessarily a bad thing. When looking for an unbiased and factual way to gather information on a match, event or story, Sky Sports is a perfect resource. They don't use the same approach as Squawka, for example, who use humor often.
4. Opta Sports
Opta Sports offers a very unique approach to analyzing and reporting on sport. Of the news sources listed here, you are least likely to have heard of this medium. I myself only came across Opta about a year ago, after seeing a tweet by one of their pundits. Opta describes their approach, via a statement on their website, as "detailed data to bring your sports content and coverage to life". They take a statistical approach to reporting, as virtually all their content revolves around numbers and trends. As different consumers enjoy different aspects of sports more than others, this numerical approach really appeals to some people.
5. SPORF
SPORF is very much a consumer-based service. On their website, they described themselves as "the voice of the fans." Thus, they really don't have much of a website; they focus more on their social media presence. (This is why I linked to their Twitter). In this day and age, this is not a bad approach. With that said, SPORF posts a variety of content; some results and facts, some numbers-based stats, some more funny and abstract stories with a sports angle. This outlet really prides itself on offering "complete" coverage, exploring different angles and types of delivery.
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