Sports Teams Vs. The Press: Battle Over Who Owns The Coverage

Sports Teams Vs. The Press: Battle Over Who Owns The Coverage

Recently in Dallas, more than an hour before game time, Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, was in the locker room grinding on the Stairmaster, surrounded by several reporters -- their microphones deployed, heads tilted away to avoid flying droplets of sweat.

A reporter for The Dallas Morning News, who writes a blog, asked Mr. Cuban about a bruised Dirk Nowitzki, referring to the star power forward as a "warrior" for his willingness to play while injured.

"We're not trading him to the Warriors," said Mr. Cuban. "Bloggers might make that point."

The comment was a bit of word play, but it illustrates how Mr. Cuban, a prolific blogger himself, feels about some of the bloggers who cover his team.

Last month Mr. Cuban sought to ban bloggers from the Mavericks' locker room, but the National Basketball Association intervened, ruling that bloggers from credentialed news organizations must be admitted.

Mr. Cuban then decided to let in any blogger -- "someone on Blogspot who has been posting for a couple weeks, kids blogging for their middle school Web site or those that work for big companies."

Tension over sports blogging is one of the strains between sports franchises, leagues and reporters to have emerged during the digital age.

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