Houston, TX – On Wednesday, December 31, HornSports.com announced it will no longer require a paid subscription to access content. The transition will result in HornSports.com being the only website covering University of Texas athletics that provides premium Longhorns sports content at no charge.
HornSports.com will switch from a subscription-based business model to generating 100% of revenue through the sale of online advertisements. While maintaining the content current members have come to expect, the site plans to add features that will make it an aggregator of Longhorn content.
Aaron Carrara, the owner of HornSports, talked about how the site will be positioned, “HornSports had an amazing year in 2014, providing quality content that was on par with websites that offer Longhorn coverage for twice the amount HornSports charged. By transitioning to a completely free business model, the site will be the only entity in the premium content industry that provides unlimited access to all features without any cost to readers.â€
Carrara said the change will take place immediately, adding that all of the internal site permissions have already been rewritten to accommodate the change.
Earlier this year, HornSports partnered with USA Today to become part of the company’s Digital Properties network. In addition to providing USA Today syndicated coverage of Longhorn athletics, HornSports is hosting a select number of advertisements from the newspaper’s online entity.
Carrara commented on the partnership’s role in the decision to stop charging a subscription fee, “The site’s relationship with USA Today has increased our presence in the market. I expect the site’s change to an ad-based revenue model will strengthen the partnership.â€
*****
HornSports.com is a credentialed media member for University of Texas athletics. The site provides premium reporting for Longhorn football, basketball, baseball, and a select group of additional sports. As an official media member covering UT, HornSports.com provided live coverage at all 12 Texas football games in 2014. The site also extensively reports on Texas recruiting (multiple sports).
For additional information, contact:
Aaron Carrara
Phone: 832-303-9447
Email: aaron@hornsports.com
