National sports tabloid picks San Diego as fourth market.

National sports tabloid picks San Diego as fourth market

The National Sports Daily, launched six months ago for sports fans in the three largest U.S. markets, is set to begin a San Diego edition later this month.

The local edition of the independent, national tabloid will be printed in Orange County and distributed on newsstands and through vending boxes. The National's editors in chief, Frank Deford, said the paper probably will print about 50,000 copies for the greater San Diego area.

"San Diego is very attractive to us because you have so many people there who come from other areas of the country," Deford said in a telephone interview.

"That's one of the real charms of our paper - we can serve as the link to their hometown team. I think San Diego should be a great town for us in that regard."

The local edition, to debut June 25, will feature a local sports columnist, Steve Lawry, who will move from the L.A. office; a writer to cover the Padres and Chargers; and a photographer. The three will not work out of a fixed office, but will operate as a floating team, following the format planned for the future editions around the country.

Regional advertising will be sold through the paper's Los Angeles office. When The National begins a San Francisco edition later this summer, Deford said, advertisers will be able to target sports readers in the state's three largest cities.

The paper comes out daily, except Saturday.

The National, started in New York by a private partnership headed by former New York Post Publisher Peter Price, has been distributed in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. The paper relies primarily on a stable of U.S. sports writers hired away from large newspapers and sports magazines who churn out literate columns. Other features include detailed daily box scores, late results, sports gossip, analysis and reams of statistics culled from around the country.

"We don't cover sailboats, we don't cover bowling. We cover spectator sports" at the national level, Deford said. On the other hand, he added, "when the America's Cup comes to San Diego (in 1992), you bet we'll cover boats."

Deford, former senior writer for Sports Illustrated, said the decision to make San Diego The National's next market was not necessarily based on the level of sports interest here.

"We aren't picking markets based on whether it's a great sports town," he said. "It's essentially a matter of trying to spot ourselves around the country."

Bob Wright, who oversees a staff of 40 as executive sports editor for the San Diego Union, doesn't anticipate that a local edition of The National will have much practical effect on the Union's coverage, although he said it may offer everyone some fresh insight.

"We steal a lot in this business. I might find some ideas in The National that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise," he said. "It does intensify the competition, it does make everyone more conscious of getting beat on a story, and I welcome it."

Wright added: "I would have to say we're not planning anything special to react to the fact that they're coming in here . . . . A paper like The National appeals to people who want an awful lot of sports. I'm not sure how many of our readers really have the time to read that much sports."

Dave Distel, sports editor for the San Diego County Edition of the Los Angeles Times, was not available to comment on The National's imminent local arrival.

Deford said that after the San Francisco edition starts up in August, The National will embark on starting a string of local editions in a dozen new markets with professional sports franchises by the end of the year, giving the paper circulation of between 300,000 and 400,000. Plans call for the paper to enter a dozen more markets by the end of 1991.

Current circulation hovers around 200,000. The paper has a cover price of 50 cents, but dealers have been marking it up to 75 cents and $1 for areas outside the three primary markets.