Blue Brigham: The Story Behind the Newest BYU Sports Site

Since starting Blue Brigham just under a month ago, a lot of questions have been asked about how and why Blue Brigham started.

In the past few weeks I have been asked at least 35 times different questions about Blue Brigham and its origins. Instead of answering each individual question every time, I figured it may be best to just put it all out in one article so that you can get to know the company better.

Question One: Who is Adam Gibby?

This is probably the most commonly asked question. Normally, a sports writer works for some big time company and either has a degree in journalism or was a former athlete. While I do love playing sports and have a degree in news media, I am not a trained journalist and I am not a former athlete. I am just a normal guy who loves BYU sports and has a unique way of telling stories about them. I love to jump deep into the statistics, strategy and players of the game to the point of being able to expose ideas or concepts that are different from the typical storyteller.

For example, a few days ago while covering the Utah Special Teams, I realized that almost all of their key players are going to be new, so fans should scream loudest when they are on the field to try to cause a mistake. I put that on social media and within 24 hours I had 92 Likes and 9 Retweets. Not bad for a page with only 550 followers.

Question Two: Is Blue Brigham a legit website?

Yes. Unlike other pages that hire writers to write about BYU Sports, I started this website because I wanted to cover BYU Sports. Everything I write is because I love to write about BYU. You will not find any other website out there that covers BYU Sports as deep as I do. And the hard work shows. Without being listed on Google News (yet) or on Cougarfan.com (working on that as well), we have already had more than 6,000 views in our first 25 days with viewers from 19 countries and 44 states on ZERO paid advertising.

Also, we don't have any clickbait articles. 90% of our articles cover every single thing about the article in one single page. From time to time there will be links to other pages that have to deal with the same subject (offense, defense and special teams pages) but that isn't because I am clickbaiting you or hoping to get more pageviews, it is because logistically it makes more sense that way. Instead of having one ten minute article, I decide to break it up into three parts that way instead of having to scroll through it again later, you can go to the next page. No slideshows, no "NEXT" buttons, just good stories on a single page.

Question Three: What experience does Adam Gibby have as a writer?

You may not realize it, but if you're reading this article you've probably read many of my articles in the past. For the past three years I wrote as a contributor writer and then the site expert for the Fansided page Lawless Republic. My stories had well over 1,000,000 views. In total 195 articles were published covering BYU Football, Basketball, Women's Volleyball, Women's Soccer, Baseball, Track and Field, Cross Country as well as stories involving the BYU Honor Code, Cougars in the NFL, and recruiting.

Question Four: Why isn't Adam Gibby with Lawless Republic anymore?

This is probably the second most asked question I get. Essentially it came down to three things.

1. I wanted to follow my own dream

At Lawless, I had quite a bit of freedom to write what I wanted when I wanted to, but there were still some regulations. Also, the page wasn't MINE. I ran it, I edited it and ran social media pages for it, but I didn't own it. Owning a BYU Sports page has always been a dream of mine, and Lawless Republic wasn't giving it to me. I will forever be grateful for the platform that it gave me, but it was time for me to make my own way.

2. The stereotype of Lawless Republic

Fansided pages are known for clickbait cheap articles that aren't good or trustworthy. Anytime you see a "You won't believe what happened to her at Walmart" or "Top 50 players to watch out for" that is followed by 50 slides, it is a page that is under the same umbrella as Fansided. While I was able to change the reputation a bit and get form 50,000 readers a month to 150,000, there was still a ceiling of potential and no matter what I did, the website had a bad reputation because of some of the other pages in the network. Also, as a writer for them, I was almost forced to run click-bait articles, and I didn't feel that was right.

3. I wasn't getting paid for my work.

While I am not getting paid for my current work with Blue Brigham, I am hoping that through views and sponsorships with other companies, I will be able to make some money. With Lawless Republic, I made some, however the ceiling was set at a very low bar that couldn't ever reach a high amount no matter how well the website did. I realized that making $250 for myself would be better than making $1,000 for some executive to pay for their beach house while I got $25. If you want to sponsor with us reach out to us a Contact@bluebrigham.com

Question Five: Why Blue Brigham over the other pages out there?

While I may not be the writer for everyone, I am the most free which makes me unique. I have no supervisor looking over my shoulder telling me that something is too risky to publish or that I need to make sure that I am following the MLA/APA writing style. I don't have any deadlines or pre drafts. Quite honestly, I don't even go back and check my grammar because I know as a fan you care about the content more than you care about whether I used a semicolon or a period. That isn't to say I am not a good writer. I am an educated and experienced writer who is able to relate to the fans better than anyone else because I am writing because I love to, not because I have to.