Sporting News on life support

[NYknight]

I thankfully got out a few months ago, but word is the magazine has been killed and the mismanaged, directionless digital operation will lose close to $10 million this year. More layoffs in December.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Still?

 

[Doc Holliday]

It amazes me that these guys along with Sports Illustrated and others that were the best in the business at one time never saw what was coming until it was too late. Is it just me or should Sporting News and SI have been the frontrunners in online sports journalism instead of ESPN and Yahoo. etc.?

 

[Baron Scicluna]

It amazes me that these guys along with Sports Illustrated and others that were the best in the business at one time never saw what was coming until it was too late. Is it just me or should Sporting News and SI have been the frontrunners in online sports journalism instead of ESPN and Yahoo. etc.?

You can say that about newspapers too.

I've said it before, but if Gannett would have worried a little more about generating revenue from the web and a little less on "Moments of Life" and stupid nicknames for the newsroom, they'd be in a better place and they would have been able to show the way for the other newspaper companies.

 

[lantaur]

Not a fan of their website redesign. Not surprised the move to partner with AOL wasn't a savior. Count me among those, though, who will be sad to see it go. Used to love getting the paper in the mail every week when I was a kid.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Not a fan of their website redesign. Not surprised the move to partner with AOL wasn't a savior. Count me among those, though, who will be sad to see it go. Used to love getting the paper in the mail every week when I was a kid.

So did I. My dad bought me my first copy in the mid-70s and I used to love scanning the box scores.

My favorite issue was always the one with the team information at the start of spring training.

 

[Moderator1]

While I'm not a fan of what happened with FanHouse for obvious reasons, I have a lot of friends there. Hate to hear about things like this.

 

[MileHigh]

Sad to hear as well. And part of the group that got the printed product as a kid, from my dad. I remember the first issue: Billy Martin on the cover, and the cross on his hat, above the NY logo.

 

[HanSenSE]

Think I dropped my subscription sometimes in the 90s, just when it was morphing from the "Bible of Baseball" into whatever the hell it has become since. Seems like it deserves a better fate, given what it was and how long its been around.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Think I dropped my subscription sometimes in the 90s, just when it was morphing from the "Bible of Baseball" into whatever the hell it has become since. Seems like it deserves a better fate, given what it was and how long its been around.

I gave up on it when it started to read like a sportstalk station and they began running more NASCAR than baseball.

 

[slappy4428]

Once upon a time, I worked at an auto racing website. When the owners ran out of venture capital money after the first year, they sold to Sporting News for next to nothing. TSN felt compeled to lay everyone off over the course of two months and move the operations.
Sorry for the layoffs in this case, but ****abuncha Sporting News.

 

[dooley_womack1]

When I was a kid, having all the box scores and team notes in one place was awesome, and I giggled at **** Young's high bat**** factor. Heck, ESPN the TV version made TSN irrelevant long before the Internet got its shot at it

 

[Doc Holliday]

When I was a kid, having all the box scores and team notes in one place was awesome, and I giggled at **** Young's high bat**** factor. Heck, ESPN the TV version made TSN irrelevant long before the Internet got its shot at it

I think you're on to something dooley. nobody does sports like ESPN, in any format.

 

[dooley_womack1]

My point was ESPN's daily, constant flow of news made the team notes and game highlights in TSN irrelevant.

 

[Doc Holliday]

My point was ESPN's daily, constant flow of news made the team notes and game highlights in TSN irrelevant.

I know. I was complimenting your observation. Relax. It will come to you.

 

[buckweaver]

Think I dropped my subscription sometimes in the 90s, just when it was morphing from the "Bible of Baseball" into whatever the hell it has become since. Seems like it deserves a better fate, given what it was and how long its been around.

Hell, it stopped being the "Bible of Baseball" in the 1960s. TSN's baseball coverage was still very good into the '90s, but the reputation it built under Taylor Spink was long gone by the time I started reading it.

 

[Drip]

Word of the failure SN on the digital side is disturbing. I have several friends there and I'm praying things will work out. I know that Garry Howard is the editor-in-chief. He's formerly the assistant managing editor for sports at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. I know the hounds will be released on this thread because he's not very well liked by a few SportsJournalists.comers.

 

[NYknight]

Well, sir, you've just introduced the proverbial elephant in the room. I didn't think all the things written about Mr. Howard on this board could possibly be true, but as a former SN staffer I can tell you that it's even worse than has been written here previously. He is unprofessional, unqualified and a big reason for the demise. The best comparison I've heard is "the black Michael Scott" from The Office.

 

[boundforboston]

I gave up on it when it started to read like a sportstalk station and they began running more NASCAR than baseball.

Couldn't agree more. It was like they weren't trying at times, running interviews with athletes instead of writing actual stories.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Well, sir, you've just introduced the proverbial elephant in the room. I didn't think all the things written about Mr. Howard on this board could possibly be true, but as a former SN staffer I can tell you that it's even worse than has been written here previously. He is unprofessional, unqualified and a big reason for the demise. The best comparison I've heard is "the black Michael Scott" from The Office.

That's actually a damn good comparison.