Through an arrangement with Wasserman Media Group, USATF was able to webcast the Orono nationals last summer. There I chatted with the young camera crew high above the track at the University of Maine. I got the impression they were doing it on spec — basically showing USATF how they could generate an audience. They didn’t charge, I gather. Now word arrives that WMG may be in its last throes as an independent company, with an expected eight-figure loss for 2007. ESPN is among several broadcasters being solicited to gobble up WMG, according to Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal. A lump of coal in our stocking?

USA Swimming is among several USOC bodies worried about developments with WMG, according to this story in Swimming World magazine.
Here is the Street & Smith report that raises the issue of WMG’s future with USATF:

WMG gauges interest in Sportnet venture

By TRIPP MICKLE
Staff writer
Published December 17, 2007
Wasserman Media Group executives have met with ESPN, Fox, Comcast and other media companies over the last quarter to gauge their interest in investing in the agency’s Sportnet venture, a digital media company WMG launched earlier this year.
Led by WMG Chief Executive Casey Wasserman and COO Josh Swartz, the meetings explored the possibility of partnerships or equity positions designed to support Sportnet’s marketing, operation and distribution efforts. Wasserman also expressed interest in possibly selling the entity, sources familiar with the discussions said.
A WMG spokesperson said the agency is not looking to sell Sportnet and declined to comment further on the meetings.
Montgomery & Co., a West Coast investment bank, has valued Sportnet and its assets at $50 million on behalf of WMG, though a media executive who saw Sportnet’s financials suggested that was high considering it is expected to post an eight-figure loss this year.
Sportnet was created to aggregate online advertisers and users across Olympic and action sports sites that WMG operates, including motocross.com, ryansheckler.com and three national governing bodies, USA Track & Field, USA Swimming and USA Gymnastics. Those sites generated more than 510,000 unique visitors in October, according to comScore.
The company follows a similar model to rivals.com, which built traffic in a large grouping of Web sites focused on high school recruiting. It generated $20 million in revenue and sold this year for $98 million.
From launch to its sale, Rivals pushed its traffic from 100,000-plus visitors to 4.5 million. Sportnet hopes to achieve similar success by becoming the digital destination for action sports and the three Olympic sports. Web sites for all of those sports will focus on offering live events, original programs and social networking.
WMG signed a marketing and programming agreement with the three NGBs in April. The agency committed to financing and developing a Web site for each NGB. Those sites are under development.
If WMG were to strike a partnership for Sportnet, its relationship with the NGBs would not change.
Staff writers John Ourand and Eric Fisher contributed to this story.

Thankfully, the Orono webcast is still online. I’m hoping the latest development doesn’t meant WMG is planning to play Scrooge with USATF.