Football Websites Hit Hard By NFL Lockout

The NFL lockout has been bad for business, and I'm not talking about for the players who stand to make millions or the billionaire owners. I'm talking about the people who write for football blogs and websites. A recent article in the Investor's Business Daily found fantasy football websites are getting hit hard by the lockout.

The article's author, Pete Barlas, contacted me to inquire how my website was affected by the lockout. I told him that sites like mine are losing eyes because there isn't enough new content to draw in readers. While my site doesn't generate a ton of money, and blogging isn't my full-time job, the economic impact of the lockout hasn't been too bad for me. However, there are guys who earn a living writing about fantasy football.

In the same article, Joe Dyken, founder of FantasyFootballNerd.com (@ffnerd on Twitter), says his site's traffic is down 30% from a year ago and his ad revenue is down 30%.

"I have two Fortune 100 companies who are interested in sponsoring/advertising on the site," Dyken said. "But neither is willing to make any financial commitments until the NFL lockout is over."

And it's not just fantasy football websites that are losing money to the lockout, team blogs and websites are affected as well.

Monty McMahon, owner of Totalpackers.com (@totalpackers on Twitter), says his ad revenue fell 20% in March from February, and another 5% in April. And despite having some of the most loyal fans in football, the Green Bay Packer-focused website went from 5,000 to 15,000 visitors a day in January and February to 1,000 to 3,000 a day in June, According to McMahon.

The good news - hopefully - is that when the lockout finally ends, people flock to fantasy football websites for information. Now we just need the NFL and NFLPA to get a deal done, and soon.