ESPN Purchases Rugby Site

ESPN is continuing its Web site buying spree by picking up scrum.com, a 10-year-old site that covers professional and international rugby, sources said. An ESPN spokeswoman said the network has an existing relationship with scrum.com for shared content, but declined further comment. The scrum.com buy certainly fits with the company’s recent spate of acquiring small, niche Web sites that serve passionate audiences. The idea is that the aggregate number of fans taken together from these small sites will generate a significant amount of traffic for ESPN to sell across. o far this year, ESPN has bought four Web sites: TalentedMrRoto.com (fantasy), TrueHoop.com (basketball), Jayski.com (NASCAR) and Cricinfo.com (cricket). Last year, it bought recruiting site Scouts.com. lso this year, ESPN set up content-sharing agreements with Web sites InsideLacrosse.com, Bucknuts.com (Ohio State), Sherdog.com (mixed martial arts), WeAreSC.com (University of Southern California), GatorCountry.com (University of Florida) and OUInsider.com (Oklahoma University).