We called Yardbarker a particularly good, sports-focused Digg clone back when it launched in August 2006. Since then the site has expanded significantly, recruiting athletes as featured writers, kicking off an ad network for sports blogs, and raising a seed round of financing.
Now the company has announced that it has raised $6M in it’s second round. Draper Fisher Jurvetson led the round and was joined by returning investors Russ Siegelman, Ronnie Lott, Jarl Mohn, Labrador Ventures, and Baseline Ventures. The size of the first round was not disclosed.
Users can contribute to the main Yardbarker site by submitting and voting on articles, photos, and videos related to sports found across the web. The site has also rounded up 290 sports blogs into its so-called Yardbarker Network (YBN). In exchange for links from the centralized Yardbarker site, these blogs run ad units and other widgets that direct readers back to Yardbarker.
Check out Bleacher Report for another site attempting to build a grassroots community around sports.