ESPN exploring selling FiveThirtyEight

[Alma]

ESPN Exploring Sale of FiveThirtyEight

 

[User 149557]

This is like putting the Cavs up for sale a year after Lebron leaves, isn't it?

 

[User 4332]

Always seemed odd to me that it was under the ESPN umbrella. Moving it to ABC News would make a lot more sense. Then again, I only look at it during election season.

 

[Buck]

Didn't it start with sports analytics?

 

[Michael_ Gee]

How is moving it within the Disney umbrella a sale?

 

[CD Boogie]

How is moving it within the Disney umbrella a sale?

A divestment?

 

[Vombatus]

Didn't it start with sports analytics?

The name 538 comes from the total of Electoral Votes (270 to win).

Pretty sure they started up with Silver's election analysis and expanded from there.

 

[sgreenwell]

I've read it from time to time, and always thought it was an odd fit under the ESPN umbrella, or being hyped on their front page. While their sports analysis was sometimes good, it definitely wasn't as sharp as the other top analytical sites to me, or even like, say, Zach Lowe and Keith Law's stuff on ESPN.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I've read it from time to time, and always thought it was an odd fit under the ESPN umbrella, or being hyped on their front page. While their sports analysis was sometimes good, it definitely wasn't as sharp as the other top analytical sites to me, or even like, say, Zach Lowe and Keith Law's stuff on ESPN.

You are absolutely right. They are better off under the ABC News umbrella. A lot of their sports analysis was either numbers served on top of obvious or obvious clickbait.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Silver made his name at Baseball Prospectus by creating a projection system for the players, or at least eas heavily involved in creating it. Then he moved over to politics, predicting Obama's first win on the nose.

 

[Vombatus]

Silver made his name at Baseball Prospectus by creating a projection system for the players, or at least eas heavily involved in creating it. Then he moved over to politics, predicting Obama's first win on the nose.

Which wasn't tough.

 

[Pilot]

Which wasn't tough.

Your point being?

Nate Silver is the best in his particular business. I listen to their politics podcast on a semi-regular basis and find it interesting.

That said, I don't visit the actual site very often when there's not an election looming, and their sports, science and whatever other offshoot topics they try don't pull me in very often.

I wouldn't be surprised to see everything besides the politics get cut, then for the politics to remain an important voice around elections.

 

[Vombatus]

Your point being?

Nate Silver is the best in his particular business. I listen to their politics podcast on a semi-regular basis and find it interesting.

That said, I don't visit the actual site very often when there's not an election looming, and their sports, science and whatever other offshoot topics they try don't pull me in very often.

I wouldn't be surprised to see everything besides the politics get cut, then for the politics to remain an important voice around elections.

He's standing on the shoulders of several predecessors when it comes to EV predictions. The most notable is the Votemaster, of electoral-vote.com

That site by far was and still is more informative.

 

[sgreenwell]

Silver made his name at Baseball Prospectus by creating a projection system for the players, or at least eas heavily involved in creating it. Then he moved over to politics, predicting Obama's first win on the nose.

The problem I've had with the site though is that he's not writing everything. I still really like his pieces, but I don't think the rest of the stuff on the site is all that compelling. It's like an Opposite Grantland, where by the end I found the little bit of writing Simmons did less compelling than all of the other stuff.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

The problem I've had with the site though is that he's not writing everything. I still really like his pieces, but I don't think the rest of the stuff on the site is all that compelling. It's like an Opposite Grantland, where by the end I found the little bit of writing Simmons did less compelling than all of the other stuff.

To be both an engaging writer and a good data analyst is a difficult combination. They exist, but it's hard to collect a stable of them.