does this have too do with the adds? or more then that the bloody pop ups? Cause i would pay a little to lost the damn pop ups

rich the fact of the matter is that some people here will agree to pay at first but eventually other sites that don't charge will begin to appear or some of us will go back to other less reputable sites and sites that are less objective (e.g. LGK). this is one of the problems that some of us had with Matt's reporting. His knowledge of hockey in general and the King's specifically was limited (although growing) as compared to yours, and this reflected in his writing. Honestly, I appreciate your insights, thoughts and criticisms but they are based on your knowledge of the game and this team, not simply to pander to us fans in order to get us to respond. Most of us are not stupid and understand the game and the history of this team. If it is a time factor, how about finding some other "contributors" to provide content.

I pay $2.50 a week for a piece of crap local paper out here in New Mexico and I read this blog more than I read that paper so I voted to pay, but I would expect the beat writer to go on the road and give coverage if I paid.

Scooter...thanks for the comment. I think what we've found with this blog is that the key is informed access. It's the practice reports, quickly after things end, that you can't find elsewhere. It's the long chats with Lombardi and players that you can't get elsewhere. Things such as that. It's less about opinion and commentary, on my end, than bringing information in a quick, timely and relevant way. To that end, I'm exploring several different options to make sure that practices and games are covered and that the standard will be maintained.

If the content stayed at the same level or better. Continued coverage over the summer. If there were a report after every away game, I would pay 5 bucks a month....

If its the same or less, zip.

This poll needs qualifiers as what you would get for each money sum in each category. In other words no money get you the same or less. 5 bucks or more gets you video of team interviews.

Rich, I pay to subscribe to the Hockey News to read your comments, please don't make me pay for this too.

Wow, people can't go one posting without bagging on Matt K. I guess some folks are never satisfied, or maybe they were perfect at everything they ever did on the first try.

Yea right, then you can give us false rumors, talk about how great you are and promise us things we never get.

Eklund Junior would be the name of the blog.

I really like the detailed information I get here. It is a lot more in depth than any afternote article of a game. I like the long interviews with players, coaches, and the GM's and also the ability to suggest and help guide the questions that are asked of say the GM or a special interview.

I would be willing to pay up to $5 a month for the services, perhaps more depending on what else is thought up to be offered. But like NMKingsFan mentioned, I would expect the beat writer to go on the road trips with the team.
Also Scooter does offer a good point as well in that it matter who you are ultimately getting your info from too. Rich is the best I have encountered on Kings coverage. If someone else were to step in that didn't know much about the team and sport and did not give me as much depth in coverage... that would greatly affect the way I feel about the subscription.

But in the end, I am a contributing member of LGK and am a die hard Kings fan who is willing to pay for his information on the team so long as it is plentiful and offers insights that no other publication can offer.

I'd pay if it ment getting a web-cast of the live games too.

I pay LGK $5 a month for the same content as everyone else, sans advertisements (and generally to support the endeavor), and I'd gladly do the same here. Both sites provide a (distinct) service I value.

I think that's really the best model. You may think of exclusive content as a separate value for subscribers, but it will never be seen that way. Just check out how the NYT did with their Select Service. It bombed.

What you need are many visitors and a tiered model for compensation. Or you can beg like NPR... I'd send you $50 for a forest green tote bag with your face on it.

NM kings fan eh? Im from LA but i live in ABQ now, good to see there are other fans out here

I come here mainly for the insights of Crawford and Lombardi, whether about game specifics or the draft and trade deadlines. I also appreciate that callups and reassignments appear in a timely manner.

I don't care much for interviews with players (whether here or elsewhere in the news media), as the questions and answers are always the same, i.e. not very interesting to me. (God, I wish broadcast teams would stop with the useless 15-second on-the-bench interviews. Replays of on-the-bench chatter among players would be far more insightful. But I digress . . . . )

Matt, I appreciate your reporting skills. Your contributions to this blog have been solid. I haven't been a newspaper reader for the last 25 years, but the content here has appealed to my specific interest in hockey and the L.A. Kings, and I am pleased enough to be willing to pay for that content. As long as I see coverage similar to what I've seen this season, a price somewhere between 24 and 36 US dollars per year seems reasonable. It is unfortunate that, given the results of your poll, few seem to agree with me.

Hey Rich I would gladly pay 5 bucks for inside info and updates straight from practice. Especially if it is from you.Where else are you going to get that kind of information on the net?

i'm pay a few bucks to join but the key i think would be making sure commenting on posts always stays free. i think the key is that the core people who read this site religiously expands. i've loved the kings for 19 years (since we got Prime Ticket at home) and i only discovered this site this year which i know places me behind the other regulars. once the kings start winning a bit more next year there's a chance of getting more people involved which i think is a good thing. otherwise this blog will be like sports-talk radio where the same 10 people comment all day

I'm really disappointed in the 150+ voters as of this post who said they wouldn't pay anything for access to this blog.

Where else are you going to get coverage of the Kings like this?? And don't tell me letsgokings.com. I've been there. Done that.

Oh, and I live on social security, and it's not much. But I'd gladly pay $5 a month for this blog if asked to.

So come on cheapskates. :)

This blog has changed how much time I spend on different sites. I know in year's past (especially when I had a previous job and spent most of my time on Kings sites) I spent a lot of time at places like LGK. In the last year, I could probably count on one hand how many times I've been there (though I do still check out hfboards). This is the place to go for the information we want.

Whatever might come the premium doesn't necessarily matter to me (though I'm very interested in whatever ideas Rich has), I'd support the site. I voted $5.

Rich,

I appreciate that Matt tried to keep Inside the Kings alive.

That said, I did miss your super in-depth coverage. If you were to personally cover the Kings in the same in-depth way that you did before, I would have no problem supporting this site with my dollars. To me your 4-part interviews with Dean Lombardi alone are worth the price of admission!

Thanks again for keeping this site alive.

I would consider paying a monthly fee if there was constant stream of info even in the off season. God knows we all get bored talking about nonsense on LGK in the off season. Perhaps you should try and get some tie in with LGK.

Rich,
I love this blog and read it religiously. Having said that, there's no way I'm paying to continue to read and post on this site. No offense, but we're paying close to $4 gallon for gas and our salaries are not increasing and some of us are losing our jobs. To ask us to pay for this is not realistic. We watch all the games, and while having the insight that you provide is priceless, in the end it's watching the games that count.
Pay sites don't work...most people won't sign up and those that do will find so few people available to post with, that they will drop out anyway.

Rich,
I would pay for access. Here are some thoughts... Interviews with coaches, players, management must be steady. Road trips may not be realistic for travel but in game analysis of play and wrap up should be available for road games.

Rich, access and rapport are reasons that I would help this site. As you've moved into your new position, I see neither of those things aside from a nice Mark Morris interview, which I will give credit where it is due.

Matt has been here through 3/4's of a season and his snarky comments of a non-hockey fan still are quite frequent so far into the season. This is a job for him and in a sport that is driven by passion, he doesn't get it and it shows.
Even if the Daily New didn't reimburse, there's no excuse for him not getting Center Ice. It's a tax write off as an uncovered business expense.

I wouldn't expect him to have the insight or rapport with Lombardi to provide perspective that you have delivered on multiple occasions.

This year's trade deadline, I wasn't on your site because I don't have an illusion of access aside from any other beat writer just putting in his time.

Not trying to be harsh on the kid and I don't expect perfection but you either love this game or not.

I voted zero a month as as result. If you were back in the mix or you brought in a writer who either loves the Kings or just loves hockey, I'd re-consider. Until then, the puck is on your stick.

absolutely not! :)

there are plenty of other kings sites to go to... this just happens to be my favorite... if it goes pay, then ill just be saying adios

my 2 cents :)

I voted for $2/month - but I'll be frank - I wouldn't like being billed on a per month basis - I'd rather just see a $25/year subscription & leave it at that.

Just saw that Matt was laid off and wanted to add the 2 cents that I wasn't aware of that when I commented on his work on this site. Not trying to kick someone while they are down.

I still think that passion for hockey should be key to this site and monetizing it.

Good luck keeping it going.

Rich, I pay $100/yr. for access to a rivals.com college football site and I have for years. The coverage my school-specific site offers is extreme - its two guys full-time jobs and three others contribute on a steady basis. They have great connections and provide serious insider info year-round.

I wouldn't mind paying for similar coverage of the Kings, but I just don't see how you could provide it while also continuing your full-time gig after your promotion.

Why not apporach the Kings to see if they will foot the bill, or pay for a employee to do the blog.
They might be able to have links to there web page and other thing important to them or the team?

TOM!! Brilliant idea! Then again this is AEG and Lier-wiecke who are running things here. If the King's would agree to flipping "part" of the bill or providing more in-depth interviews, extras, chances to win tickets, memorabilia, etc, WITHOUT taking control of the site, THEN I might pay a few bucks a month.

and Jeff nice post about matt ... the kid will get back on his feet. I mean he's come a long way from ECR and we know grads from that H.S. normally end up in fast food, the porn industry or local government.

I would pay more than $5 month if you were doing the reporting, Rich. When you were here full time, this site was fantastic and worth every penny of $5 a month. If you pawn it off on someone else again, I won't visit and won't pay for the content.

I'd pay if the coverage was from my boy Rich Gannon or Rich Hammond or both. The info that you, Rich, provided last summer with the draft that was just sick. I couldn't get enough. I have to be honest Matt was no Rich Hammond. I am definitely a fan of yours.

I'd pay $5 or maybe more for good coverage from somebody like yourself for "full practice reports, with audio and/or video; live game updates, including full locker-room reports from home games and notes and quotes from road games; breaking news as it happens, particularly with the draft and free agency; extensive Q&A interviews with important team figures; podcasts, etc."

i'd easily pay $5 a month if you could promise me anthonys IP would be blocked.

on a serious note, i pay $5 a month to LGK to just support what i believe in and id gladly do it here.

I'll pay. I'll use my LGK money over here.

i'd pay no problem.

As much as I enjoy reading this site, I honestly don't think I'd pay a monthly fee. Maybe a small annual fee in the $20 ($19.95?) range that I can pay once and forget, but not a monthly fee. And I wouldn't pay anything unless it got rid of the pop-ups.

I'm not sure if anyone noticed but the Kings have their won blogger doing locker room quotes and reports now.

http://kings.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NHLPage&id=20972

That being said, I'd pay $5 a month since I can never get too much information on the Kings. It would be nice to drop the pop-ups and ads too. ;)

Rich:

I like your passion for the game and the Kings in general. When you originally passed the blog over to Matt you told us that he was new to the game and that it would take time for him to establish himself. His lack of knowledge showed through quite a bit. I'm sure that eventually he would have come around and his writing style would have improved. I still came to the site for his information and personal insight but would have preferred you.

All this to say that I would definitely pay an annual subscription rate to get insider information on the Kings as long as the information was being passed along by someone who was just as informative and passionate as you are for the Kings. I pay for The Hockey News and they seldom cover the Kings in any depth.

You could also have a split site where you post certain reports and information on a non-subscription basis and then have more detailed reports and information by subscription service only.

There is no better source for Kings information than Inside the Kings Blog other than LGK (mostly jumping to conclusions or uniformed opinions) or the Kings own web page, but they tend to not give information in a timely manner.

I would be willing to pay a yearly subscription as long as the premium features provide meaningful additional news and information. Also, just about anything to get rid of ALL pop-ups.

I wouldn't mind paying if the information was accurate and the money was going to a good cause. I don't know why some of you would pay anything to LGK especially when we all know where that money is going. There are plenty of other sites out there where there are no pop-ups/ads and it's free already.

Rich what about tying the blog together with a newspaper subscription. I subscribe to the press telegram and would gladly pay a couple of dollars more a month to keep this blog going. If no newspaper subscription maybe a little more than with. Just an idea. Also as you can see it is hard to get people to pay for something that they have for free right now. Most only appreciate what they have when its gone. Thanks for your hard work.