Athletic, Axios talking merger?

Not saying that anything that Hindenburg put out there was wrong. ... and that got a lot of attention when they put that out. But Hindenburg is not really in the business of doing research. They have a short position in DraftKings, and their MO is to put out those reports, which try to sensationalize and overstate a negative case, in order to try to depress the stock price.

A few things that came out when Hindenburg published that. ... I saw some reputable analysts saying that SBTech was more like 10 percent of DraftKings' total revenue, not the 25 percent that report was suggesting. Also, the rationale for the SBTech acquisition wasn't to bring on customers (shady or otherwise) from Asia. So even if SBTech had something shady in its past, it wouldn't be anything significant on an ongoing basis for DraftKings. They were buying the technology SBTech had, to integrate it into DraftKings' operations. The customers were relatively meaningless to them. As for the black market stuff, also. ... DraftKings has been looked at by all of the state regulatory gaming commissions that are allowing sports gambling, and nothing about what Hindenburg alleged has come out or prevented DraftKings from operating in the U.S.

That SPAC deal was ridiculous, the valuation (for a company that is bleeding cash) was ridiculous, and the acquisitions the company has been doing are exactly the kind of malinvestment you are seeing right now with how cheap and plentiful money has been made in the lending markets. It's really difficult to short a stock like that, though, because the Fed can blow the bubble bigger and longer than most people can stay solvent waiting for the it to pop. Hindenburg puts out "research" reports like that in an effort to help things along. They may be right on the big picture -- that the stock is ridiculously overvalued -- but you can't ever take the sensational stuff of wrong doing they publish entirely on faith without you or someone else investigating it independently.

 

This has been frustrating. They had Rick Carpiniello covering the Rangers to start the season. I personally didn't think he was as good as some of his competitors, but at least there was coverage. The guy was doing his job.

Then he retired as the season was starting to get going. And they have had Arthur Staple sort of trying to cover the Rangers while already covering the Islanders. I like his work, but it was working out as well as you'd imagine, with very little Rangers coverage. He's a Long Island guy. And it's been sad, because the Rangers got off to a good start and have been interesting.

Now, in comes Shayna Goldman. She used to write for a Rangers blog I look at sometimes. From what I know, I'm not very hopeful that she is up to the task. But I hope she surprises me.

At the same time, I find Lindsey Adler's Yankees coverage really weak, which you'd think would be a major beat.

If the Athletic grows to what they have built into their valuation, it goes without saying that they have to execute and deliver a really good product. As in content has to be king. I realize my experience with a few of the teams I want to read about is an N=1, but it feels to me at least too that the quality is dropping. I think NY may be tough in particular, because even though the tabloids and the Times are not what they used to be, the sports coverage elsewhere is still really good. And the Athletic hasn't gotten seasoned people who can match up.

 

Maybe it's a stylistic thing. Her work comes across to me like a blogger who is trying to cover a beat. Just not what I am looking for. I compare her to Dan Martin, Ken Davidoff, Brendan Kuty, Erik Boland, even Bryan Hoch and I just find her weak.

At least she is covering the team, unlike the hockey coverage I was complaining about. And it's a bit unfair on my part, because I typically get turned off by people critiquing others on here anonymously, so I now regret having gone there.

My criticism is also coming from someone who has never covered a major sports beat for a daily and who knows he wouldn't have been able to do it very well if he had ever tried. So take my opinion for what it's worth.

On the Rangers coverage, I do stand by what I said. That beat has really been neglected; it's not just a matter of "I don't think this writer is very good."

 

Lohud / the NJ paper have some hidden gems in sports. Vince Mercogliano is another one in addition to Kuty. They are probably around the same age. Maybe not the most talented writers, or even the most insightful, but they work those beats and they are prolific. @JimmyHoward33 called it the meat and potatoes work. Those guys really do it.