The New York Times reports Monday that after a successful Chicago test, ESPN will debut locally focused sports websites in New York, L.A. and Dallas.

Reporter Brooks Barnes says ESPN Chicago is already that city's top sports site, with nearly 600,000 unique monthly visitors, topping the hometown Tribune by 150,000 or so.

How long before ESPN comes here? New York, L.A., Chicago and Dallas are the four biggest U.S. metro areas; the Twin Cities ranks 16th. But there's certainly opportunity.

The PiPress just axed one of its two Twins beat writers, and the other is lowest on the seniority list (though the paper wouldn't abandon the beat if she's laid off). As in Chicago, the biggest paper here is bankrupt, but the Strib decided to give back merit pay to many on its sports desk, partly to fend off ESPN-like competition. The paper lost coveted Vikings beat writer Kevin Seifert to the Worldwide Leader in Sports in May 2008.

As Barnes notes, ESPN's Chicago effort mostly repackages existing content available, and one L.A. editor argues that ESPN still can't throw as many bodies at local sports as even shrinking newspapers now do. At ESPN, Seifert covers all four NFC North teams, not just the Vikings. There's no dedicated Wolves, Twins or Wild beat writer either — not to mention the college scene.

Also, ESPN is not immune from the revenue problems plaguing newspapers; it's had a couple of rounds of layoffs this year, the first in its history, though they are relatively small compared to newspaper whacking.

ESPN's digital media chief says the network might be willing to partner with someone local — but if not, you can't help thinking the employment trends will cross eventually. Someone with a true multimedia presence seems better positioned for digital future, especially if they've shown a flair for integration as ESPN has.

In addition to its cable colossus, ESPN owns radio stations in its four starter markets. They don't own a signal here, but count KFAN and AM690 "The Score" as affiliates. If such things matter, ESPN could probably buy a local station if it wants to, though the Pohlad empire is also rumored to be busting its own move after the Twins' KSTP-AM contract ends following the 2010 season.