Globe launches weekly sports tabloid today

A new sports weekly makes its debut today as a spinoff from the Boston Globe.

The 24-page, full-color, oversize tabloid - called OT, which stands for "Our Town/Our Teams" (check it out online here) - costs 50 cents and will be published every Thursday. The sports weekly will feature articles by boston.com sports columnist Tony Massarotti and Boston Globe Magazine writer Charlie Pierce, among others. The publication's goal is to provide coverage of professional sports teams that goes beyond daily news.

"The city of Boston can't have too much information about its sports teams," said Joseph Sullivan, the Globe's assistant managing editor for sports. "We are the city of champions. We want to capitalize on the success of the pro teams in this town right now."

The new publication arrives at a time when newspapers across the country are scaling back staffs and pages amid declining circulation and advertising. To counter those losses, some media outlets are searching for fresh sources of revenue by tailoring new products to niche audiences. OT is aimed at Boston's voracious sports fans.

"The articles you are reading in this publication are timely but don't expire after one day," said Jay Fogarty, vice president of strategic planning for Boston Globe Media, a unit of The New York Times Co. and publisher of several other niche publications, including recent start-ups for fashion, home design, and young women. "It reads more like a Sports Illustrated than a daily newspaper."

OT will include columns and analysis by boston.com sports bloggers Chad Finn and Eric Wilbur as well as previews of upcoming games involving the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins. The weekly will help readers predict the winners of games and report on fantasy sports. A feature called "Dirt" will chronicle the intersection of sports and gossip. The publication will also have an online component: a blog called "OT online" that will be highlighted on boston.com's sports section.

The initial press run of OT is 20,000 copies, which will be sold at 420 locations from Southern New Hampshire to Southern Rhode Island, including Stop & Shop stores and stand-alone news racks at places such as North Station and Lansdowne Street.

OT joins a growing roster of niche publications created by the Globe in the past two years. They include Lola, a monthly magazine targeted at young women; FB, a monthly with a name that stands for "Fashion Boston"; and Design New England, a bimonthly magazine about home and garden design.

Johnny Diaz can be reached at jodiaz@globe.com.