The new initiative called RapidReports will have a reporter dedicated to every team to provide a stream of short, original news updates. CBS says it is the only media outlet to offer this type of coverage of the NFL.

Jason Kint

"With RapidReports, CBSSports.com will provide the rabid NFL fan base with the one thing they crave most – the absolute latest breaking news and updates from around the league – and deliver it in a way that will distinguish our service from the competition," said Jason Kint, Senior Vice President and General Manager of CBSSports.com.

"We’re thrilled that CBSSports.com was able to find reporters for this initiative with a deep resume of sports experience and combine them with burgeoning new talent for a perspective and approach that fans won’t find anywhere else."

CBSSports.com said it worked with the sports site the Bleacher Report to help recruit the 32 local correspondents and also advertised the openings on its own website.

The correspondents are a mix of veteran sports journalists along with new writers from the Bleacher Report website.

Bleacher Report co-founder Dave Nemetz is a Bay Area sports fan. At this point in time, one can append the words “long-suffering” as the glory days of teams like the 49ers and the Raiders have become something only seen on ESPN Classic.

Despite the suffering of fans on the West Coast, they still follow their teams. Many of them know their beloved lineups far better than the major sports media, which misses plenty of stories with its East Coast bias.

Since teams like these don’t get the coverage, and many of their fans have the time and ability to analyze their teams well, it made sense to Nemetz and his fellow founders to establish an open community for them.

Bleacher Report has a built in audience now, a significant point of difference over starting up a blog and trying to grow the readership beyond a few people. As the site continues to grow, fans arriving with a desire to write and fill in the gaps in analysis for their teams will find elements like video and podcasting in Bleacher Report’s future.

The growth will help legitimize fans opinions as valid analysis, as much as any part time beat writer provides for a team that isn’t scorching the standings with its play. Not everyone roots for the Red Sox (thankfully), so why should the sports news world be dominated by endless reporting of one or two teams?

People can trust a devout sports fan to provide a passionate opinion. Nemetz thinks they can be trusted to speak insightfully for their teams. If they come through for Bleacher Report and keep drawing more readers, the site’s backers could find themselves part of a big deal in social media.