The Auburn Athletics Department has an all new online presence after the University launched a full redesign of the official Auburn Tigers website, with streamlining social media capabilities and opening up possibilities for new, original content.
The new AuburnTigers.com launched June 21 as the culmination of an initiative to offer an improved experience to alumni and fans.
In addition to a fresh presentation of content, fans can also expect to see an entirely different brand of writing after the athletics department hired veteran beat writers Charles Goldberg and Phillip Marshall to write stories from the inside.
"We understand why people come to the official site," said Jason Matheson, assistant athletic director for digital media. "They come for our core information. They know we're the source for rosters, bios, stats and all that. But what people are going to see is that we've added two feature writers now, Phillip and Charles.
"So instead of just a preview and a recap of an event, we're going to give you some opinion and analysis and a lot of different angles that we never did before."
Matheson, a 1996 Auburn graduate, returned to the Plains in March after spending 11 years in a similar position at the University of Oklahoma.
According to Cassie Arner, assistant athletic director for public relations, the project started when Matheson first arrived at the athletic complex and snowballed into the changes seen on the site today.
"We've been counting down," Arner said. "We've had the old site for three years. A lot has changed in the industry in three years, so it was in desperate need of some renovating and refreshing. This site, compared to the old one, really takes advantage of new technologies, social media, and hopefully the navigation is a lot better for fans."
The biggest change readers will notice on the website is the addition of Goldberg and Marshall, who bring a different voice and style to features and opinion pieces where more simple previews and reviews were.
"We've been talking about this for a while, and we decided if we were going to do it, we were going to do it right, and we were going to hire the best," said Jack Smith, senior associate athletic director for communication. "So we hired two guys who are really legendary beat writers. I think they're the best at their craft, and their experience is extremely valuable to us.
"They don't need much direction. You just turn them loose and let them do their job, which is great."
Aside from the website's day-to-day output of content, Matheson said the new website is also designed to transform on game days, turning into a second-screen experience for fans watching the Tigers from home. The switch will bring stats, live blogs, coverage information and more to the front homepage of the website.
"When we hit August 31 when Washington State rolls into town, the whole site is going to transform into what we call Game Day Mode," Matheson said. "We understand that most fans are going to be either in the stands or watching us on TV, so it's really going to be a second-screen. It's going to be an accompaniment to how they're trying to follow us."
The athletic department also plans to launch two mobile apps in August and expand Tiger Roar magazine, once part of Tigers Unlimited, into a bi-monthly digital magazine geared to the entire Auburn fan base.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
