As many of you already know MoMileSplit is part of the national MileSplit network. The model allows the local states to focus on providing coverage and content at the state level while new site features and technology is managed and provided for us at the national level. This morning, the MileSplit network is announcing a change in our subscription model. I'm including the national announcement as well as my comments as to what this means for Missouri at the very bottom.
National Announcement
MileSplit has now served the high school running community for over 12 years. The network’s precursor was founded as the casual hobby of a high school junior back in 1997 and MileSplit itself was launched from a college dorm room in 2001. It has since grown to become the primary information source for high school cross country and track & field for the majority of the country.
Half a dozen years ago, we were one of the first sites on the internet to go with a “freemium” model. The hybrid approach offers a substantial amount of freely available content, but also a pay wall for certain features. Since launching our first subscription site in 2006, an increasing number of our state affiliates have opted in to this program, all of which who have seen their site’s coverage and traffic substantially improve as a result.
Bearing that in mind, we will be altering our subscription cost structure for MileSplit sites nationwide starting on August 22, 2013. Beginning on that date, we will offer monthly subscriptions for the first time at a rate of $4.99 per month. This plan will automatically renew each month, though you will be able to easily cancel it at any time. For those wanting access for the full year, we will offer annual subscriptions at $48 per year, a savings of $1 per month versus the month-to-month plan.
The auto-renewal will eliminate gaps in access to the site, and our new system will allow for instant processing of all subscriptions. Our previous system required manual processing of each order, which resulted in a delay until the subscription took effect--much to the dismay or confusion of many users.
Between today (August 7) and August 22, we will allow users to purchase or extend their subscription under the current annual rate of $36 for up to three years. We extend this grace period out of loyalty to those users who have been so amazing to support us all of these years. After that date, all new subscriptions and renewals will fall under the new rate plans.
The new plans will be an increase for our annual subscribers; however, hopefully you still see great value in what amounts to one drink at Starbucks per month. For those who are only with us for part of the year or who have a hard time paying the double-digit annual rate, we hope the monthly plan will be a nice and affordable alternative. Today only slightly more than 1% of our visitors decide to subscribe, a challenging figure to overcome. We hope a combination of better communication of the subscription benefits on our part, along with the more approachable monthly rate will help us increase that percentage substantially.
We will use these additional funds to re-invest right back into our coverage to bring more timely, informative, and comprehensive coverage of the sport in every corner of the country we can!
We also have plans to add new features and capabilities on the site to the benefit of our subscribers. Just two weeks ago we released some new cross country team scoring features. Look for a consistent roll out of more ways to mash up the statistics, rankings, graphs, and tools for you stat junkies over the coming weeks and months. These features will be available only for subscribers!
In addition, starting this fall subscribers will notice our photo albums will feature photos that are higher quality and 55% larger resolution than before. The advertisem*nt on the right column will be removed to make room for the larger photos. Non-subscribers will continue to see the lower resolution photos.
Later this school year, we will also likely be increasing the resolution and quality of our videos. Look for improved ways to consume those videos on your portable devices and even your WiFi-connected televisions.
Most importantly, we thank you all for your continued support. I hope you will be part of our community for many years to come. The support of your subscriptions will propel us forward to serve you better and hopefully encourage the growth of the sport for a new generation in the process!
MoMileSplit comments: While no one likes a price increase I do think the ability to subscribe monthly is a great addition. This is especially helpful for athletes that just compete in cross country or track that may only want subscription access for a few months instead of the entire year. I will be sending email notices to everyone with subscriptions expiring before 10/31 to give you an opportunity to renew at the old rate before 8/22. Some of you may wonder why we need to charge a subscription at all. Isn't the internet supposed to be free and there are advertisem*nts on the site? As more and more users access the site with a smart phone or tablet device, advertisers actually pay less because there is not as much space to display ads on mobile devices. The majority of our funding comes from our subscribers which are such a small percentage of those who actually use the site. We do have the ability to sell local ads and sponsorships but it's something we haven't done in the past as our team has been focused on covering the sport and providing content. If anyone knows someone who has experience at selling internet advertising please have them contact me at peverett@milesplit.com
It's hard to believe we are beginning our 5th year as webmaster for Missouri. Our goal is the same as the athletes we serve, to continue to improve. I think we have done that over the last 4 years and I thank so many of you who have and will continue to support us.
