Fans of college basketball can really get into StatSheet. The site is entirely dedicated to covering Division I college basketball teams. This is done by pulling together a collection of 345 fan centered sports based websites. Users can read through interesting facts and information as well as relevant articles. Many national and local sports media sites provide information on team stats and analysis. The site also plans to expand into other sports and currently has listings for NASCAR and college football although college basketball seems to be the primary focus currently.
StatSheet was founded in June of 2007 by Robbie Allen. David Tisch helped the project along with financial investments. Based in Durham, North Carolina, StatSheet intends to change the way sports are enjoyed online. The site continues to evolve and grow over time with plans for expansion in the future. StatSheet began as a way to provide information from multiple resources about college basketball. Today, it still serves the same purpose with a few extras added in.
Many websites that are sports focused prefer to deal with the professional side of things. StatSheet gives college sports fans something to chew on with a vast collection of information pulled from many websites all over the internet. The promise of expansion in the future could give StatSheet an edge with more lesser known team information that could create a large niche. There are many college sports fans out there that would love to have a site like StatSheet to review and read up on their favorite teams.
The StatSheet website uses a black, white and blue color scheme, accented by a smiling robot logo. Even though the design seems basic on first glance, it works really well. Navigational tabs across the top allow users to access all the main sub pages as well as analysis and chart building websites and the StatSheet forum. The site provides a lot of information, accented by the playful robot dressed in team based themes, but it does so with plenty of open space so the user never feels overwhelmed.
A new visitor can become a StatSheet member by clicking on the blue “Sign Up” link at the top right hand corner of the homepage. The registration form is very short and to the point. Users are asked for a username, email address, password, terms of use agreement and verification that they are over the age of 13. As soon as the information is submitted the user can log in to StatSheets and begin accessing information and features.
StatSheet is growing and continues to add sports and features to entice new users. Perhaps one of the most enticing aspects of the site currently is the free membership. Anyone can create an account and use all current StatSheet features for free. There are no subscription fees. The site does not offer a premium paid account at this time. This works out for the best because StatSheet is pulling information from many other sources online, but these are sources that the user could search for themselves. StatSheet makes it easy by consolidating the information, but it is still not quite at a level that would justify a subscription fee. This may change in the future with new features and sports being added, but for now the price is right where it should be.
StatSheet caters to the college sports fan. For now, it more specifically caters to the college basketball fan however this will expand in the future. The site provides all manner of information and team details. Users can also participate in that StatSheet forum which gives the site a little more depth with user interactions.