‘First Flash-driven site’ for pro sports
Cory Bergman February 28th, 2008
The Seattle Sonics have just debuted a new site, Supersonics.com, that they say is the “first Flash-driven site in major professional team sports.” The site took 2,000 hours and $100k to build, and it’s certainly a unique experience. “It is a much more immersive and high fidelity experience,” said Cypress Consulting founder Nate Thompson, the Seattle-based company that helped a Sonics developer build the site. The Sonics, meanwhile, say it’s “a whole new paradigm in how sports teams present their brands.”
What do you think of these Flashy designs for “brand experience” environments? Cool? Or lacking speed and utility?
20 Comments Add your own
1. Rocker | February 28th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Don’t know about the Flashy designs but definitely diggin’ the cheerleaders.
2. Safran | February 28th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Didn’t we already go through this?
3. Don Day | February 28th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
It’s always good to spend $100k for a website for a team that is probably not going to exist in a little more than a year.
KC Sonics… here we come.
4. Jonathan Atkins | February 28th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
$100,000 for 2,000 hours = $50/hour. Where was this site built for $50/hour? I expect it wasn’t built locally.
5. ~bc | February 28th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Very pretty. I think they should have just saved the money and made it just a series of JPG images.
Flash is an optional component of a web pages, not an authoring environment for web pages. You can do amazing, beautiful things with CSS, and still not waste my bandwidth, plus be available to your visually disabled customers and maybe even work on a mobile device! What a concept.
6. Anonymous | February 28th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
blazers.com has a fair ammount of flash.
7. BJ | February 28th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Awful.
I’ve said before that Flash is best when used elementally, not when it drives the entire experience.
8. ME | February 28th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
It kinda sucks. Not bad as a novelty, but there’s nothing behind the pretty pictures. And there’s almost no videon on the site at all.
Once viewed, no reason to return.
9. laurie | February 28th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
i was going to say something about how it’s great they spent all that money, only to have the team leave the state next season. mr. day beat me to it! haha
KC? i thought it was OKC!
10. 1352riley | February 28th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Ask yourself the question, is the user experience better because of this presentation. I say a resounding no. This is a perfect example of deploying technology for technology’s sake.
If I’m a sonic fan and want a score, a schedule, news or even check out the cheerleaders this is painful. Way to completely ignore the user — i bet these self-serving developers were high-fiving saying, “yeah, nailed it.”
11. Don Day | February 28th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Oops - you’re right, Oklahoma City — not Kansas City.
Either way, it’s a shame.
12. Rob | February 28th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
They’ll invest in a Flash(y) website but not in a new stadium. Gotta love them Oklahoma City Sonics!
… and this is the second time in a week we’ve seen ladies on Lost Remote. Trend?
13. Amanda E. | February 28th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
I love how the only thing shown as “Seattle Sonics” is the title tag - everything else is just plain ole “Sonics”.
Making it easier to change over to Oklahoma City Sonics?
Personally, the site sucks. Flash for the sake of flash just doesn’t work on the web. Dammit, the web may not be teevee, but it sure the heck also isn’t something that is akin to a full color print brochure.
Where’s the latest scores? Where’s the schedules? Heck, where is the interactivity? Fans will have to go to local Seattle media sites for that I guess.
14. Andrei Potorac | February 29th, 2008 at 5:21 am
The site looks really nice and I’m glad they used Flash for it (as a Flash Developer that is).
But if they want the user to return, or to keep the user on the site, they should have some kind of content updating, and easily accessible. With a full Flash website this might be difficult to obtain.
50$/h seems like a good price they got. 2000 hours is too much though.
15. Jeff Bailey | February 29th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Maybe it will be BOTH KC and OKC. Anyone remember the Kansas City-Omaha Kings from the early 70’s?
I got massive, gigantic ‘GET FLASH’ prompt when I visited the site — a side effect of that F12 feature of my Opera browser that keeps any and all plugins disabled.
16. Not the first | March 1st, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Fox Sports had a “Flash-driven” site about, oh, 5 or 6 years ago. But they shortly abandoned it for a more traditional site when their page views, such as they were at the time, cratered.
17. kelly | March 1st, 2008 at 11:17 pm
The site looks ok. The chearleaders look even better. Why would they invest so much on site like this when there not even sure the team will be in Seattle for the long term.
18. laurie | March 2nd, 2008 at 7:47 am
i just realized when the sonics move to OKC and become the OKC Sonics…they have an instant sponsorship with the drive thru/carhop restaurant that was founded in OKC!
you think those annoying guys in the commercials will become website superstars? click my name if you’re from the midwest or westcoast and you have no idea what i’m talking about.
19. Anonymous | March 2nd, 2008 at 4:41 pm
For the strangely curious, it is Seattle SUPERSONICS…as in a town once famous for BOEING JETS.
The Drive-In tie is coincidental and so too the Hedgehog.
20. Anonymous | March 2nd, 2008 at 4:42 pm
OKC doesn’t even know how to keep a reject team.
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