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ESPN suspends publication of Grantland

espnmediazone.com

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Re: ESPN suspends publication of Grantland

#31

Post by kjdal2001 »

This is disappointing news, as I felt like Grantland was a good one stop shop for things to read during lunch, but it was clear that it was already on its way out. Some of my favorite contributors had already left. Wesley Morris, Chris Ryan, and Juliet Litman to name a few. Ill be waiting to see where they end up (yes I know Morris is going to the New York Times).

Re: ESPN suspends publication of Grantland

#32

Post by ssharp »

mlucero wrote: post #4

Interesting because I'm familiar with the site but why is this here?

I think the story of passionate people pouring their hearts into their work for several years, believing they were creating something great, only to see in crumble in a few short months, would resonate with this crowd.

Re: ESPN suspends publication of Grantland

#33

Post by waterlesscloud »

kjdal2001 wrote: post #30
awwstn wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So...you're saying if we want great sports reporting from a web publication like Grantland then we should pay Comcast for cable?

Yeah, that doesn't make sense. I dont know how Grantland was doing financially, but its unrelated to cable. In fact, things like Grantland could be viewed as diversifying away from reliance on cable viewers.

Where do you imagine their financing came from?

Re: ESPN suspends publication of Grantland

#34

Post by dexterdog »

xirdstl wrote: post #17
waterlesscloud wrote: post #15

I blame cordcutters slashing ESPN's profits. Content ain't free.

Maybe cordcutters don't need/want ESPN?

ESPN is the reason a lot of people take to long to cut the cord. Fortunately you can watch it online if you have a friend who is still paying for cable.

Re: ESPN suspends publication of Grantland

#35

Post by slg »

kjdal2001 wrote: post #30
awwstn wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So...you're saying if we want great sports reporting from a web publication like Grantland then we should pay Comcast for cable?

Yeah, that doesn't make sense. I dont know how Grantland was doing financially, but its unrelated to cable. In fact, things like Grantland could be viewed as diversifying away from reliance on cable viewers.

ESPN just did a round a big layoffs last week and dropping TV revenue was a big reason for that. Grantland was never really expected to turn a big profit and was always the concept car of ESPN's journalism enterprise. It was about branding, prestige, and "doing good work" and was never about money. But when it comes time to lay people off and cut costs, it is hard to justify keeping a project that will continue losing money for the foreseeable future.

Re: ESPN suspends publication of Grantland

#36

Post by tvon »

On one hand this makes complete sense. ESPN wants to appeal to the largest possible audience, which means lowest common denominator coverage (basically shallow analysis and gossip, IMO).

On the other hand, ESPN is large enough that if they gave a crap about providing anything a bit "smarter" for snobs like me they could easily keep Grantland afloat.

Very disappointing and not the least bit surprising.

Re: ESPN suspends publication of Grantland

#37

Post by douche »

That's a shame. They did some really good work. So good that I've broken down and bought their dead-tree Grantland Quarterly in the past.

There was a story earlier this year about the guys in Boston that started the Yankees Suck t-shirts, and another article about bare-knuckle prize fighting in the 1800s that was some of the best writing I've seen.

Best website since Saving Private Ryan...

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