this is tempting.

I have no problems with banner ads or even popups, but SBN having user content generated for their advertising partners is just another way to discourage users from coming to this site. I have been following your work john for a long time and tis type of advertising on a regular basis will cause me to visit less and less. I read the user generated content for your thoughts and opinions on sports and life not for advertisements.

Does this mean that minorleagueball and sbnation will follow Comcast’s customs of shady business practices, no customer support and a limit on what we can read on the site?

Thought I’d join the thread. A lot of important points have been made here and I mainly wanted to let you know that we are listening and encourage the dialog. SB Nation is in the business of celebrating and supporting great sports content and communities. We realize we don’t have a business if we don’t please our audiences and would never do anything so short-sighted as to squander your loyalty. We definitely want to label sponsored posts clearly. If some feel we didn’t go far enough, point taken. We also are very sensitive about not doing it too frequently. Not only would that be bad for the communities, but bad for our marketers too. Finally, of course, we would never, ever do anything to compromise the integrity of the editorial or the communities. Laxtono makes a good point about finding that line. Sports media survives via sponsoring content, whether it is talk radio, TV segments or whatever. The key is disclosure and transparency and we commit to that. Not only because you deserve it but because it is good business.

With regard to Comcast, they want to support Minor League Ball because they love it as much as you do. In fact, one of the key individuals there is an active member of this community and worships at the altar of John. He would never want to see this site change. I’m not only grateful because I run the company, but as a consumer of grassroots media, I’m really impressed that a big company would understand the nature of real sports fans so well.

Marketers that advertise with us are savvy. They know that some people might be critical of their products, but they want to hear the feedback as well as educate sports fans on what they have to offer. They want to it in an above the board way. They have many options on how they can spend their money. I for one applaud brands that are smart and strong enough to advertising in conversational environments like ours. An easier way out would be just do the same old thing on broadcast or with less engaged audiences.

If you enjoy communities like John’s, you probably would agree that brands that support us are probably brands that “get it.” Not only would I never let any advertisers threaten the fabric of the community, but no savvy advertiser would want to do so.