Hey guys, I know sometimes it's hard to call SB Nation journalism. But at the same time, I'm absolutely dying with curiosity to know how much they pay. I know it varies and all that, but would anyone with experience there mind sharing kind of an idea of it? So what I'm asking is: are we talking $50 an article or $5? Wasn't sure if it would be worth pursuing for me or not.
SB Nation Payscale
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Southwinds
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A lot of people are going to probably tell you a lot of different things, so you won't get the answer you want (or at least, an answer).
Consider this, though: Writing probably takes you an hour, and is writing for $5 an hour - or maybe less, if it takes you longer - even worth it? I'd argue no, it wouldn't. But, you're writing, and practice always helps.
I'd also say, as an editor, any listing of SB Nation/Bleacher Report/etc. on a resume means nothing to me. I know that's slowwwwwwly changing, but you might as well put bank teller or steelworker or lumberjack on your resume. It tells me incredibly little because so many of those places are junk.
Consider this, though: Writing probably takes you an hour, and is writing for $5 an hour - or maybe less, if it takes you longer - even worth it? I'd argue no, it wouldn't. But, you're writing, and practice always helps.
I'd also say, as an editor, any listing of SB Nation/Bleacher Report/etc. on a resume means nothing to me. I know that's slowwwwwwly changing, but you might as well put bank teller or steelworker or lumberjack on your resume. It tells me incredibly little because so many of those places are junk.
Doc Holliday
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Who in the world writes for these rags?
Not saying they're good, but there are worse places, just look at the jobs board and freelancer help wanted board.
CD Boogie
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The long form under Glenn stout actually paid well. Similar in rate to say ESPN the mag. But the blogs? No idea. a labor of love for many of these writers it seems. Some of them are quite good but there's so much content that I never go there and just browse around. I go to specific team pages. $300 a month? That's fine if they only expect you to write like once or two a week. Otherwise, that's slave labor
I know our industry is too good for these low-lifers, but apparently being a sports blogger for one of those rags does mean you can still transition into another pretty decent job.
Alaskan turns basketball blogging hobby into NBA front-office gig
Alaskan turns basketball blogging hobby into NBA front-office gig
I've never understood the fascination with these stories.
I've never wanted to coach at that level. Never wanted to be in a front office. Never aspired to be "on the other side" of it.
I always thought writing about it and reporting on it was a pretty great thing all its own. I looked up to other journalists. When I admired something, it was usually how some other person got a quote or turned a phrase, not some coaching decision made.
Maybe that all began to change when sports got infused with so much money that the power that came with the money - and the fame - seemed really intoxicating to journalists.
On some level, that might be a source of some issues with journalists, especially in sports. Too many of us want to be like them. I never did. I didn't even know that many colleagues who did. But it's changed, I think. Writers view themselves as leading rather ****ty lives, methinks.
Mr. Mediocre
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SB Nation is a pyramid scheme. It has a handful of people on the top who make livable wages, and who get sent "on assignment," and then swaths of site bloggers who make between 0 and low-three digits a month.
The army of low-level bloggers inundate Google, Facebook and Twitter with content that generates the traffic needed to trickle up. Promise of one day being paid real-life money and perhaps being sent on self-indulgent field trips motivates a share of the writers. Some just use the sites the way they would message boards, as a means for their voice to be read.
But yeah. It's a pyramid scheme. That's the SB Nation payscale.
The army of low-level bloggers inundate Google, Facebook and Twitter with content that generates the traffic needed to trickle up. Promise of one day being paid real-life money and perhaps being sent on self-indulgent field trips motivates a share of the writers. Some just use the sites the way they would message boards, as a means for their voice to be read.
But yeah. It's a pyramid scheme. That's the SB Nation payscale.
Like trips to Burma?
Southwinds
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For the person who writes for Bleacher Report, you need to realize that there's still an extraordinary amount of riff raff "working" alongside those "top-notch writers"
jr/shotglass
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Unrelated to the pay scale, their comment threads have become borderline useless because they can't keep the spammers under control.
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Didn’t SB Nation start by creating a network of preexisting fan blogs? That seems like a good deal for those original writers to get technical support, better access to advertising, and more promotion.
Mr. Mediocre
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Burma, back-packing through the American West, driving race cars at the Super Bowl. It pays to not pay!
dixiehack
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The guy in question who ended up with the Bucks was doing technical analysis, not narrative storytelling. For someone like him, why shouldn't he want to make the leap and watch his theories come to life?
CD Boogie
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Yeah, I think calling it a pyramid scheme is a bit harsh. Ya think the guys at Grantland all got paid the same from the get go? The guys like Klosterman and Chris Jones, who had the name recognition, were getting x, and the people like Katie Baker were getting y. She got to build her brand by being associated with them, in the same way I'm sure she makes more at The Ringer now than some of the people who were hired there from lesser known places. No one is forcing these guys to write these blogs. They're offered the opp to have their content shared on a platform alongside better known writers. If they don't like the model, go do something else.
