StatSheet cranks out basketball websites

Durham sports media company StatSheet today launched a whopping 345 websites.

The sites are devoted to each and every one of the NCAA Division I men's basketball teams across the country.

How does a three-year-old company with just eight full-time employees do so much with so little? The stories featured on the sites are never touched by human hands -- they're automated.

"I think we offer a different kind of content, to be honest, more analytical, more stat-rich," said CEO Robbie Allen, who founded the company in 2007. StatSheet recently raised $1.3 million in venture capital funding.

TechCrunch, an online technology publication, called the stories "surprisingly readable, if a bit dry."

Here's the opening of the season preview for the Campbell University team at fightingcamel.com:

"Campbell basketball kicks off the 2010-2011 season in Blacksburg on November 12 against AP Preseason 21st ranked Virginia Tech. From game one, the Fighting Camels will attempt to prove that they're just as good, maybe a little better than last season's team. They hope the loss of 49.2% of last season's minutes will be offset by the emergence of 5 freshmen."

Allen says the sites will only get better.

"Our algorithms are in the infant stage," he said. "We can constantly improve on our algorithms and templates over time."

But don't expect any quotes -- from coaches, fans or anyone else.

The sites devoted to teams in smaller markets, said Allen, fill an important niche because they're starved for media coverage.

Some of the sites are pretty sparse right now. But StatSheet is in the process of compiling stories about last season to pump up the content.