ESPN Goes Local: 'By Thinking Smaller, It's Thinking Bigger Than Ever'

I'm in Dallas because I'm curious to see how ESPN--the self-proclaimed and undeniable "worldwide leader in sports," with its six cable channels, sprawling Web site, biweekly magazine, forty-six international television networks, 750-odd radio affiliates, and seven restaurants (try the creamy spinach & artichoke dip!), the juggernaut that launched the careers of Keith Olbermann and Chris Berman and Bill Simmons and utterly revolutionized the tone and format of sports journalism in America and across the globe--is refashioning itself as a scrappy hometown outfit willing to hack through the weeds of local beat reporting. Last year it debuted sites in Chicago, Boston, Dallas, and Los Angeles, and the New York site goes live April 2. The idea is to cover local teams aggressively and to use the sites to break news.

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