CBUSsports.com was launched online two years ago. Since then, we’ve covered almost the entirety of Central Ohio sports with an emphasis on local high schools. We’ve produced long form stories, summaries and lists, editorials, photo galleries, videos, podcasts, and social media posts.

We discovered that advertisers are a tad reluctant to dedicate dollars to hyper-local digital platforms. And that reluctance is not limited to small sports publications as seen by the challenging evolution of major outlets like Sports Illustrated.

So we went on a bit of a hiatus to determine our next move. We remain convinced that Columbus-area sports provide a wealth of compelling stories at all levels. What we’ll have to adjust to are the priorities of our audience. By all analysis, our people want shorter stories and tons of video and social media content.

So how does that translate to our relaunch? Off the bat, we have to acknowledge that there are better sources for deep dives into the nuances of Ohio State revenue sports and Columbus’s professional teams. Any stories we write in those arenas (pun intended) will be tailored to the general fan who wants updates and features that are unavailable in the current coverage.

Most important, where we hope to shine is in our coverage of high school sports, as well as college sports that are not a focus of major media in our area. We know that there are enough compelling stories for all of us on press row to provide meaningful content.

It will take a few weeks for CBUSsports to transition to our new model. We hope that fans will look to see what we do as winter tournaments give way to spring seasons. We’re excited to continue our story-telling in an ever-growing theater of local athletic competition. Please stay tuned!