For sports fans, getting a chance to spout off in the spotlight can be as valuable as any cash prize. And rubbing elbows with actual players or sports pros can turn a local supporter into a brand evangelist faster than you can say, “The Cubs win the pennant.” (Go ahead, say it.)

Two sports-based promotions this fall are offering to give fans that megaphone moment in exchange for user-generated content (UGC) uploaded to a Web site.

The “Circuit City Presents YouTube FANalyst Channel”, launched Aug. 11, offers a roster of eight fantasy football experts–some of whom have already gathered online followings—who will deliver videotaped commentaries every week with suggestions and predictions fantasy sports leaguers can then use. The channel is located at www.youtube.com/fanalysts.

The consumer electronics chain is also soliciting user-generated content in a search for a “real FANalyst” to add to the lineup. Entrants in the “Circuit City Join the Squad” contests can upload a three-minute video of themselves giving “entertaining and informative advice” to fantasy football players and make their way into the final popular vote for a ninth FANalyst on the channel.

To submit content, contestants must log into an active YouTube account and then upload their videos can upload their videos at either the YouTube channel or at www.circuitcity.com/fanalyst. Contest administrators will select 100 semi-finalists from among the applicant pool by Sept. 15, and Circuit City judges will narrow that group to 10 finalists. Clips from those ten will be posted on the YouTube channel by Sept. 23 and the popular vote will stay open until Oct. 5.

The contestants garnering the most votes in hat final round will get a regular weekly slot in the YouTube FANalyst channel rotation.

“Despite fantasy sports’ massive following, the world has lacked a go-to online destination for dynamic, multiple-perspective Fantasy Football content,” YouTube Marketing head Chris Di Cesare said in a statement. With this channel, Circuit City offers fans unique Fantast Football video content from multiple points of view all produced by the fans for the fans.”

“The Circuit City FANalyst You Tube channel provides a new way for us to engage our core customer base and challenge them to become part of our online community,” said Brian S. Bradley, senior vide president for multichannel marketing at Circuit City.

Content requirements for the “Join the Squad” contest are rather strict in some areas. For example, copyright and trademark laws bar entrants from using pro football logos or photos of players in their uniforms in their content. Instead, Circuit City has provided a downloadable kit with permitted graphics, including a generic stadium backdrop and a Circuit City logo. Contestants are also barred from using individuals’ names without permission; how that will impact commentary remains to be seen.

The YouTube FANalyst Channel features extensive branding by Circuit City, including the distinctive red-and-white logo at the top. Users who click on one of the rotating clips in the video carousel will also see a Circuit City display ad that clicks through to the product page for HDTVs.

Meanwhile, over at our national pastime, Gillette has teamed with Major League Baseball and Comcast Spotlight to give one local fan a chance to report a World Series game this October for MLB’s Web site, www.MLB.com.

The “Gillette 2008 MLB Rookie Reporter Showdown” is being given a regional spin by nominating four rookie sportscasters from each of 12 MLB teams. Casting calls held in June outside venues from Fenway Park to Dodger Stadium produced hundreds of applicants from the 18-to-45 male demographic.

Within each of the dozen regions, Gillette and Comcast then selected four contenders for the reporting slot, supposedly representing its four men’s product groups: deodorant, body wash, shaving and hair care.

The 48 applicants are taped completing three typical challenges faced by broadcast reporters. They need to “take the toss” from a news anchor—in this case Erin Andrews, a female sideline reporter for both hockey and baseball on ESPN. Entrants are also taped reacting to trivia questions about the team they’re representing, and in a test called the “Distraction Reaction”, trying to keep their cool and file a report while being heckled, teased or tempted. Both the copy and the visuals contain light branding for Gillette products.

The TV spots encourage viewers to go to www.MLB.com/GilletteReporter to cast a vote for the applicant they think most deserves the job. Viewers can see all the anchor-toss spots at the site, not just those from their local team.

Viewers who visit the site before Sept. 21 will also have a chance to sign up for a sweepstakes offering a two-day, one-night trip for two to an MLB World Series game this fall.

The :30 second spots began playing on Aug. 25 during local MLB broadcasts in their appropriate regions using spot inventory from Comcast Spotlight and will be shown until Sept.14. Six spots will air per DMA per week, for a total of 24 spots per region or 288 original spots in all.

The applicant who wins the online popular vote as the best rookie reporter will get the chance to provide some on-site World Series game coverage for MLB.com, along with a three-day two-night stay for three around the game.

“It’s a way for Procter & Gamble to make the Gillette products more relevant for their consumers, particularly the male demographic 18 to 49,” says Nancy Newman, integrated marketing manager for Comcast Spotlight in Chicago. “It takes a national promotion but plays it out regionally.”