Spring Break
The Daily OrangeSU students channel passion for NY Rangers into podcast
By Kevin Baumer
Posted: 9/23/08, 12:43 AM EST Section: Feature
Through continued spamming of message boards and an increasing number on links on other sites, NYRangerscast.com quickly grew to 3,000 hits a week. Gelbs and Rothman were very surprised by their success, but weren't satisfied yet. Gelbs contacted John Dellapina, the Rangers beat writer for the New York Daily News and convinced him to make an appearance on the podcast.
"I think it was partially because there was really no other place to hear him," Gelbs said. "When he came on the show, it really gave us some credibility."
The site has grown to about 15,000 hits a week, with over 300,000 total hits during the 2007-08 season. The duo now boasts listeners from some less traditional Rangers fan pockets such as China, Italy, England, California, Virginia, Georgia and Maine.
As a result of the sudden success of the NYRangerscast, the parent company has now set a goal of attaining 100,000 hits a month by next year. It remains to be seen if there are enough passionate Rangers fans to account for continued growth of the site.
Dellapina, for one, disputes the notion that hockey is just a niche sport and that less coverage is necessary.
"I think the passion of hockey fans is underestimated," he said. "Newspapers and TV don't cover it adequately. If you look at the TV ratings, the Rangers this year are at least even with the Knicks and blow the Nets out of the water, but you don't see that. The Rangers sold out their season in an hour. If 18,000 people showed up anywhere in New York it's probably front page news, but hockey doesn't get that kind of coverage."
But it is this lack of coverage that enabled Gelbs and Rothman to corner the market. Fans of the show say there are few other places to get timely Rangers related content.
"They found a hole in the marketplace, and they're doing a professional job," Dellapina said.
"I want to do something with the Rangers," Gelbs said. "I think I can talk about it with the best of them. There's the Daily News, the Post, and the NYRangerscast. I mean why not?"
kebaumer@syr.edu
"I think it was partially because there was really no other place to hear him," Gelbs said. "When he came on the show, it really gave us some credibility."
The site has grown to about 15,000 hits a week, with over 300,000 total hits during the 2007-08 season. The duo now boasts listeners from some less traditional Rangers fan pockets such as China, Italy, England, California, Virginia, Georgia and Maine.
As a result of the sudden success of the NYRangerscast, the parent company has now set a goal of attaining 100,000 hits a month by next year. It remains to be seen if there are enough passionate Rangers fans to account for continued growth of the site.
Dellapina, for one, disputes the notion that hockey is just a niche sport and that less coverage is necessary.
"I think the passion of hockey fans is underestimated," he said. "Newspapers and TV don't cover it adequately. If you look at the TV ratings, the Rangers this year are at least even with the Knicks and blow the Nets out of the water, but you don't see that. The Rangers sold out their season in an hour. If 18,000 people showed up anywhere in New York it's probably front page news, but hockey doesn't get that kind of coverage."
But it is this lack of coverage that enabled Gelbs and Rothman to corner the market. Fans of the show say there are few other places to get timely Rangers related content.
"They found a hole in the marketplace, and they're doing a professional job," Dellapina said.
"I want to do something with the Rangers," Gelbs said. "I think I can talk about it with the best of them. There's the Daily News, the Post, and the NYRangerscast. I mean why not?"
kebaumer@syr.edu
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 18
Vicki
posted 9/24/08 @ 11:36 AM EST
have any girls seen steve around campus? i think he is a total cutie
Vicki
posted 9/24/08 @ 11:37 AM EST
have any girls seen steve around campus? i think he is a total hottie
Jen
posted 9/24/08 @ 6:15 PM EST
yeah he's in newhouse, maybe one of the most underrated good looking guys on campus
Rachel
posted 9/24/08 @ 6:20 PM EST
ya
Mike T.
posted 9/24/08 @ 6:21 PM EST
yeah gelbs!!! lets go rangers
Emily
posted 9/24/08 @ 7:30 PM EST
Whats all this talk about steve, we all know eric is the hottie of the two. GO ERIC!!
Meredith
posted 9/24/08 @ 8:39 PM EST
wow this is hysterical. Steve, you know I love ya, but I gotta side with Eric on this one.
Richard
posted 9/24/08 @ 10:52 PM EST
Wow, who knew you guys were such ladies men? Haha, now can we get a new podcast up already? Jeez. And from that one picture on the site, I guess I gotta go with Eric
Kim
posted 9/25/08 @ 3:21 PM EST
Eric all the way baby. I think he's turning 21 this weekend!!!
Lauren
posted 9/25/08 @ 5:00 PM EST
I think they're both really cute. I'll give Steve the slight edge though.
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