Sporting News ... Sold

Other than preaching about what sports should be doing, Lapchick could make himself useful by actually putting into work what he harps about. My two cents worth.

 

Quality jerk routine like usual, two-bit.

 

"They seem proud of their lack of content," seems to be the best line.

Hell, I worked there for seven long years, and it was fun to be there for a great while, but the above quote pretty much is how I felt when I looked around that newsroom. I just always felt that we could be DOING SOMETHING BETTER.

Like Sports Illustrated does, ahem.

 

I wonder what would happen if CNHI was the buyer? Anyone out there from that side of the yard care to describe the pain?

 

Yeah, but will The Sporting News be around for 60 more issues?

 

Yeah, I'm sure the Shaws just bought it for the honor of saying they were the ones who shuttered TSN.
Makes perfect sense.

 

Got a call from a telemarketer about my TSN subscription last night. I hung up on him.

I let my sub run out in April and have no plans to re-up. The Sporting News was the first sports magazine I ever read. My dad brought a copy home for me after a business trip when I was about 8 and I was hooked. I was a reader and subscriber for more than 30 years but probably should have dropped it about six-seven years ago, which is about the time it started reading like a talk radio station. I kept subscribing hoping it would change but finally said the hell with it this year.

 

I would think they would buy it for the book business and the newsstand guides. I think the weekly publication is the least attractive asset.

 

The Shaws are already in the yearbook business, through Street & Smith's. Gotta try again, Gold.

 

Right, and they buy a competitor and can still sell both imprints. Twoback, why would you think The Sporting News weekly publication is attractive to buy.

 

Is the magazine likely to stay in St. Louis?

It's a Charlotte company, and the Orlando Business Journal is one of its publications. They'd be in the college basketball hotbed in Charlotte, and I'm sure the city would like its chances of landing an MLB team much better with The Sporting News in town.

In Orlando, they'd be in college football heaven, as well as in a state that hosts several MLB teams for spring training and which features three NFL teams, two NBA teams and two MLB teams.

I'm sure there are other cities that could be good fits as well. I'm just not convinced that they're drawing from the best pool in the Midwest.

I'm not sure any of that matters in the slightest. I'm just curious as to the possibilities.

 

American City Business Journals (www.bizjournals.com) are in 40-some markets including St. Louis, so I'm not sure that rationale makes much difference, i.e. if there was any benefit to sharing costs in Orlando, wouldn't they be the same in St. Louis?

Moving to Charlotte where the Street & Smith's group is probably makes a lot of financial sense.