TMZ Sports? Why Not?

Is TMZ looking to branch into sports?

Seems likely, according to recent reports. And it makes plenty of sense.

For starters, it’s what the Time Warner (TWX) gossip powerhouse is already doing. See: Tiger Woods, of course. Or more recently, coverage of NFL player Chris Henry’s death.

It’s also something that Harvey Levin’s operation is uniquely suited to do. Blogs like Sports By Brooks and Gawker Media’s Deadspin are excellent repositories for R-rated commentary on sports and periodically break a story themselves. But in general, they either don’t or can’t spend the resources on the grim digging and scooping that TMZ specializes in.

And the conventional media outlets, which depend on the sports leagues for access and/or licensing rights, are loath to dip too deeply into this stuff. They are also likely worried about spooking advertisers, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue for TMZ’s existing product.

My only request: If there’s a companion TV show, can we please dump the “Harvey Levin and his producers sit around the news room and kibbitz” conceit? Don’t like that one bit.