In late April, NCAA Division I leaders voted to prohibit schools from providing printed media guides to prospective student-athletes, a move intended to help members reduce recruiting costs. In anticipation of such a change, some schools have already begun to reformat their publication strategies, focusing on how today's recruits (and fans) consume information.

The University of South Florida is one school that did not print any traditional media guides in 2009-10. Instead, it created a record book for each sport with all the information media members would need, which is available online as a PDF and printed upon request. Then it focused on building online interactive guides specifically geared toward prospective student-athletes and their parents, with fans of the program a secondary target.

The USF Web guides cover much of the same ground as traditional guides, but present the information in a new way. Individual pages typically contain a limited amount of text, one or two large color pictures, a video, and links to more information. Video clips run the gamut from a head coach's welcome message on the first page, to player highlight reels, to a tour of Tampa's beaches.

While the new content is easy on the eyes, it's also easy on the athletic department's bottom line. "We were able to eliminate almost our entire printing budget, which averaged about $90,000 in each of the previous two years," says Chris Freet, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications at USF. "We reinvested about $25,000 of that into new equipment, but the rest was put to other uses in the department."

At St. John's University, Mark Fratto, Associate Athletics Director for Communications, is focusing on adding video content to the Red Storm's online publications. For the baseball, softball, men's lacrosse, and men's and women's basketball teams, he printed a traditional media guide, but also produced special team Web sites loaded with video to appeal to recruits and fans.

Users are greeted with a clip of St. John's highlights and can choose to watch video tours of St. John's facilities or video messages from various program personnel. Typically, the head coach will explain his or her coaching philosophy with game highlights interspersed in the background. Athletes provide their thoughts amid footage of the school's facilities, from playing and practice venues to on-campus housing.

"When it comes to capturing the imagination of prospective student-athletes and generating interest among our alumni, fans, and boosters, we think that video is the right avenue," says Fratto, who this winter led a Web-based seminar about online media guides for the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). "About 70 percent of all new Internet content is now video. And it's the most highly consumed media among younger demographics, which includes student-athletes and recent alumni.

"It's more engaging when you can see and hear a person speaking in front of you instead of just reading what they have to say," he continues. "When a prospective student-athlete can hear one of their peers tell them what it's like to play in the Big East in their own voice, it's very powerful."

Like USF, Jacksonville University has eliminated printed media guides, but by using software purchased by the school, it stayed with a magazine format in making the online switch--users flip through virtual pages just as they would with a printed book. The online pages look very different than a printed media guide, however.

Player profile pages feature a large color action shot along with a head shot and secondary smaller action photos. Users will also find a link to a video clip, in which the coach talks about the particular player. Another link leads to the player's bio page on the department Web site.

Most other staples of the printed media guide, such as season previews, coaches' bios, and program history, are also presented in video format, with short clips providing the coach's commentary. Some coaches offer their own personal greeting to the guide through a special overlay that appears atop the opening page. When video is not available, color picture collages accompany links to detailed information on the department Web site.

Although Joel Lamp, Associate Athletics Director for Media Relations at Jacksonville, was pleased with the inaugural version of the interactive guides, he is already thinking about their evolution. "The big buzz in my head is the idea of using microsites for each sport," he says. "If we're publishing these materials online now, why are we pigeon holed into a book model? Why not find a different way to build these guides so we can really feature all of the great things our programs have to offer?"

To view the online guides mentioned in this article visit the following addresses:
› Jacksonville University: www.judolphins.com
› St. John's University: www.redstormsports.com and STJBasketball.com
› University of South Florida: www.gousfbulls.com