Crowdfunding your way to a sports writing gig

And I wonder when it will go from being a novel idea to being professionally shameful (not resume' worthy too).

 

I don't know that it would be professionally shameful if you can get enough people that way to pay for your to write about a team or sport.

 

Pre-GoFundMe, Mark Zuckerman did it for a season with the Nationals after he was laid off by the Washington Times. Many were skeptical about it ... and then he was hired by CSN.

 

Yeah. Fail on my end. I knew that. And I fixed it.

 

CSN New England dumped Sean McAdam as its Red Sox beat writer at the end of last year. He covered only half of road games last year and expected to do even fewer games this year. Are the cutbacks a Comcast thing?

 

Comcast seems to be going more toward talking heads-style programming at its RSNs, de-emphasizing news. New England's prime-time programming as of next month looks like it'll be First Take-lite.

 

I applaud Jeff's innovative idea for trying to remain in the business. However, there are a few issues I see, some he can control and others he cannot. First, let's talk expenses. He's now in Albuquerque, N.M. My average expense report for a race weekend from a major hub, Atlanta, ran somewhere around $1,250 for flight, car rental, hotel and food for races to which I couldn't drive. From here, I'm within a day's drive of everywhere from Daytona to Richmond, or pretty close to half of the schedule.

Gluck can get to Phoenix and perhaps Texas without flying. So you're talking about expenses of $50,000 minimum per season before you even start to think about putting anything in your own pocket, even with frequent flier miles and hotel points.

If I'm a potential reader/purchaser, how is he going to offer a unique "insider's report" that someone will pay for AND RENEW when he's 2,000 miles from where the stories are happening -- back in the team shops in the greater Charlotte area? You'd have to be pretty damn connected. Maybe Jeff is, but there are a lot of other folks still pounding the same beat, but they're right where the action's happening. Bob Pockrass, Lee Spencer, Brant James, etc. can bang on doors and ask questions and attend news conferences in person. There aren't the numbers there used to be in the media center, but the people still hanging on aren't going to want to lose customers to you.

And perhaps the biggest issue: the audience that gives a damn about your niche sport is rapidly shrinking. NASCAR's issues have been discussed in detail in other threads, but the sport's decline shows no signs of slowing, even as the front office continues to meddle with the product. Sponsorship is drying up for even the biggest teams. The latest NASCAR TV ratings show another double-digit decrease in viewership. There's no Gordon, no Stewart, nobody to move the needle. Nobody gives a damn about Kyle Larson or Daniel Suarez.

So your costs are going up while your potential revenue is drying up. I'm not saying you can't find that one person willing to foot the bill because they desperately want to read everything you write, but the chances of finding said cash cow is like trying to put an NFL team in Las Vegas. Or something like that.

You're going to be busting your butt with odds decidedly against you. But obviously some niches are working. I just don't think NASCAR commands that kind of audience any more.

 

All that seems to matter anymore is that your "brand" (ugh) remains relevant, and a good avenue to doing so is to still have your work out there -- even on a low-rent site like Bleacher Report.

What is Patreon's subscription model? Assuming it's a permanently recurring monthly payment, that makes it less likely people will cancel after a year.