Greg Bedard and the BSJ is a pay site, he gets a lot of subscribers from doing a weekly 2 hour radio/tv appearance on the Sports Hub. This allows him to connect with potential readers by displaying his understanding of the game and interacting with fans as they can call in and talk to him and the hosts directly. People enjoy that.
He was making appearances long before he went off and did BSJ, I believe that's how he built a base.
If you have a guy like that it would go a long way for you guys. If you already have a guy going on the air and fielding calls I apologize, I'm not in Buffalo so was just throwing out a friendly suggestion.
Good luck.