AOL’s FanHouse Adds Major League Talent to Its Editorial Roster

Writers Signify Major AOL MediaGlow Strategy of Expanded Original News Content

New York, NY.– FanHouse.com, http://www.fanhouse.com, the recently launched sports site from AOL’s MediaGlow publishing unit, http://www.mediaglow.com, announced six major additions to its growing roster of professional journalists. Joining FanHouse’s writing staff are Greg Couch, sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times; Matt Steinmetz, Golden State Warriors analyst for Comcast Sports Net and former Contra Costa Times NBA writer; Dan Graziano, former national baseball writer for the Newark Star-Ledger; Ed Price, former baseball and Yankees writer for the Newark Star-Ledger; and Jeff Fletcher, former baseball writer for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Also joining the FanHouse editorial team is Sunny Wu, former senior editor at MSNBC.com and Page 1 editor for ESPN.com. FanHouse has more than 10 million unique visitors per month, according to February 2009 comScore Media Metrix data.

These additions are part of the overall strategy for the AOL MediaGlow publishing unit to provide consumers with the highest standard of original editorial content. Similar hires are taking place at StyleList.com, http://www.stylelist.com, AOL News, http://news.aol.com, and AOL Money & Finance, http://money.aol.com.

FanHouse.com launched in January as AOL and MediaGlow’s main sports destination and added nationally acclaimed columnists Jay Mariotti, Lisa Olson and Kevin Blackistone to provide daily commentary and analysis across the spectrum of sports. With today’s additions, FanHouse’s writing staff now includes five Baseball Hall of Fame voters.

“We are excited to add more top-notch talent to provide fans with in-depth sports coverage, commentary, and analysis. Our new writers are widely known and respected in sports journalism, and their decision to join FanHouse represents the evolution of high-quality journalism into ’new-mainstream media’ formats,” said Marty Moe, Senior Vice President, FanHouse, AOL News, AOL Money & Finance, Weblogs and KOL. “This further demonstrates MediaGlow’s aggressive investment in high-quality publishing and expands on FanHouse’s goal of becoming a leading brand for sports journalism that uniquely combines the style of the Web and original editorial content to deliver fans the highest quality and immediacy in sports coverage.”

An evolution of AOL Sports, FanHouse.com features a new design, an expanding line-up of leading national writers across all major sports, increased on-site coverage of major sporting events, an expanding scores and stats offering, and new community features that give fans more ways to interact with others and show support for their favorite teams.

The new FanHouse hires bring a wealth of industry and editorial experience to their new assignments:

* Greg Couch: Couch is covering college sports, golf and tennis for FanHouse. Previously, he was at the Chicago Sun-Times as a sports columnist, takeout writer and beat reporter for Northwestern athletics and golf. He also was a sports columnist at the Akron Beacon-Journal and a sports writer at the Wichita Eagle. He received the 2007 Lisagor Award as Best Sports Columnist in Chicago and surrounding areas, was featured twice in the Best American Sports Writing and is an APSE award winner.
* Jeff Fletcher: Fletcher is covering MLB, NHL and college basketball for FanHouse. He covered the A’s and the Giants at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat for 11 years and was a sports reporter at the Los Angeles Times. He is a Baseball Hall of Fame voter, Baseball Writers Association of America member, Baseball America contributor and APSE award winner.
* Dan Graziano: Graziano is covering NFL, MLB and college basketball for FanHouse. Prior to his role at FanHouse, he was a national baseball writer and Yankees beat writer at the Newark Star-Ledger. He also served as the Marlins beat writer at the Palm Beach Post. He is a Baseball Hall of Fame voter, member of Baseball Writers Association of America and author of “The Ultimatum” and “I Think She’s Trying to Tell Me Something.”
* Ed Price: Price is covering MLB for FanHouse. Previously, he served as a Yankees beat reporter at the Newark Star-Ledger, the Diamondbacks beat reporter at the East Valley Tribune and a Florida State football beat reporter at the Palm Beach Post. Price is also a Baseball Hall of Fame voter, member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, a Baseball America contributor and an APSE award winner. He also covered the Appalachian League, Carolina League and Florida State League.
* Matt Steinmetz: This seasoned journalist is covering the NBA for FanHouse. Previously, he was an NBA analyst on Golden State Warriors broadcasts on Comcast Sports Net Bay Area and also the traveling beat writer for the Warriors at the Contra Costa Times. Prior to that, he was a sport writer at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and the Reading Eagle.
* Sunny Wu: Wu is the FanHouse Page 1 editor. Before joining FanHouse, he covered the Beijing Games for msnbc.com and authored a Beijing travel guide for ESPN Sports Travel. He was also a senior editor at MSNBC.com, an ESPN.com Page 1 editor and an editor for FOXSports.com.