Grantland Gone

[luburch]

Not sure how many people here read Grantland, but it's been "suspended" by ESPN. http://espnmediazone.com/us/espn-statement-regarding-grantland/

This makes me extremely sad. Grantland has been my favorite site for some time now. The site was filled with talented writers who could cover nearly every topic. The articles were authentic and well articulated in a time where depth in writing is lacking.

I'll especially miss Zach Lowe. Zach is far and away the best NBA writer, and may be one of the best writers in general today. This article he wrote on his Mets fanhood was outstanding and showed some range as a writer: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/confessions-of-a-former-diehard/

I'll also miss Mark Titus and his ridiculous and fun NCAAM articles.

RIP Grantland.

[Troublemaker]

Not sure how many people here read Grantland, but it's been "suspended" by ESPN. http://espnmediazone.com/us/espn-statement-regarding-grantland/

This makes me extremely sad. Grantland has been my favorite site for some time now. The site was filled with talented writers who could cover nearly every topic. The articles were authentic and well articulated in a time where depth in writing is lacking.

I'll especially miss Zach Lowe. Zach is far and away the best NBA writer, and may be one of the best writers in general today. This article he wrote on his Mets fanhood was outstanding and showed some range as a writer: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/confessions-of-a-former-diehard/

I'll also miss Mark Titus and his ridiculous and fun NCAAM articles.

RIP Grantland.

I assume Lowe will still be writing about the NBA for ESPN.com, just no longer under the Grantland banner.

Most of these writers are still going write; you'll just have to find out where they land. Simmons is probably going to launch something similar to Grantland as part of his HBO deal and will probably hire a bunch of these writers.

[Ichabod Drain]

Not sure how many people here read Grantland, but it's been "suspended" by ESPN. http://espnmediazone.com/us/espn-statement-regarding-grantland/

This makes me extremely sad. Grantland has been my favorite site for some time now. The site was filled with talented writers who could cover nearly every topic. The articles were authentic and well articulated in a time where depth in writing is lacking.

I'll especially miss Zach Lowe. Zach is far and away the best NBA writer, and may be one of the best writers in general today. This article he wrote on his Mets fanhood was outstanding and showed some range as a writer: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/confessions-of-a-former-diehard/

I'll also miss Mark Titus and his ridiculous and fun NCAAM articles.

RIP Grantland.

I came here to post the same thing. Very sad news to me. It's been far and away my favorite sports news/media site the past few years. Lot's of great people there and lot's of talented work was displayed there.

I tried to send a complaint to ESPN but twice I filled out the form and twice it told me they thought I was a bot and would not be allowed to proceed.

I also share your sentiments on Mark, great guy who always produced unique and insightful work on college basketball... and pro-wrestling if you're into that.

[Troublemaker]

Grantland wasn't going to last after Simmons left.

Earlier this month, 4 Grantland editors left to follow Simmons to HBO (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hbos-bill-simmons-hires-four-831276).

It seems like writing talent was about to depart as well. Andy Greenwald's one of my favorite TV critics and he tweeted:

Andy Greenwald ‏@andygreenwald (https://twitter.com/andygreenwald) 2h2 hours ago (https://twitter.com/andygreenwald/status/660154928627863552)
For what it's worth, next Weds was to be my last day at Grantland. Now it's today. Will forever be proud of the amazing work & friendships.

[Troublemaker]

Article about Simmons' deal with HBO
(http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/bill-simmons-lands-mega-deal-808227)

As part of the multiyear, multiplatform pact, which begins in October, Simmons will also have a production deal to produce content for the network and its digital platforms, delivering video, podcasts and features as he did at ESPN.


Several close to Simmons, who's been courted by more than a few entities following his ESPN ouster, say they wouldn't be surprised to see the prolific columnist launch another Grantland-esque site for his written commentary moving forward.

[pfrduke]

I thought this was worthy of the main forum. I too will miss Grantland - it was a daily destination for me. Lowe was the standout, but I enjoyed the Barnwell/Mays football coverage, found Greenwald a thoughtful voice on TV with reliable recommendations for things I had not yet seen, and, silly as it often was, thought that Titus' college basketball work was a guilty pleasure. The long-form work was up and down and some of the pop culture stuff was a square peg in a round hole, but most of its sports analysis was thoughtful and more in depth than what many sites had to offer (certainly better than what ESPN offered through its main site).

[Mike Corey]

Here's hoping Grantland II comes to fruition.

Hate to see a home for so many talented young sportswriters, able to engage in more than the typical drivel (Hi, Stephen Smith and Colin Cowherd), hone their craft.

ESPN will surely try to disperse this talent across its site. I worry about the added layers of editorial control that will now come to bear, effectively limiting the talent and the creativity--and the joy of reading--of those writers.

Hopefully I'm wrong as usual.

[Billy Dat]

It IS a sad day, but, excuse the pun, the writing was on the wall. I am sure most of the talent was already looking for jobs, and I am sure Bill Simmons put the word out that they should.

Over 20 short years, the internet has created an "everything should be free" expectation - not only free of charge but also free of advertising. Grantland was a gem of a property that Simmons says they didn't try to properly nourish. But, it's a lot like the movies that used to be made for between $5MM - $100MM dollars, the ones that don't exist anymore because no one in Hollywood thinks anything that pulls in less than $250MM is worth attempting. ESPN would argue that Grantland appeared bigger than it was because its primary fans were writers, tastemakers and bloggers who would basically talk about it amongst themselves while the masses flocked to "First Take" and the like. Maybe they are right.

Grantland was launched before the "cut the cable" movement had started in earnest. ESPN is working hard to figure out how to survive long term. Once they jettisoned Simmons, Grantland was becoming something bringing them repeated bad press in the way they kept mishandling it. Today was the final blow, they can finally stop talking about how bad they screwed everything up. I am actually shocked that they are keeping 538 and moving forward with "The Undefeated" - which, afterall, is known as "Black Grantland".

The battle between free and pay-for wages on.

[brevity]

Whenever I was on ESPN's site and would click the link for Grantland, my browser would open a new tab for Grantland, but keep the other tab open for ESPN.

Whenever I was on Grantland's site and would click the link for ESPN, my browser would leave Grantland and take me directly to ESPN, all within the same tab.

It was always a one-sided relationship.

[kAzE]

I hope Zach Lowe keeps doing some form of his NBA podcast, it's one of the few (and the only NBA podcast) that I still keep up with on a semi-regular basis.

[Mike Corey]

FWIW, Simmons has chimed in:

"I loved everyone I worked with at G and loved what we built. Watching good/kind/talented people get treated so callously = simply appalling."

[Troublemaker]

FWIW, Simmons has chimed in:

"I loved everyone I worked with at G and loved what we built. Watching good/kind/talented people get treated so callously = simply appalling."

Deadspin, never a fan of Simmons, reports that he may be projecting with that tweet:


While Grantland writers are on contract, editors are at-will. The four editors’ exits were coordinated, and Simmons, according to this source, told the editors who jumped ship with him that a condition of their employment was that they couldn’t warn anyone at ESPN they were leaving, in order to hit the site as hard as possible.

“He put his beef with [ESPN president John] Skipper above the jobs of dozens of people,” one Grantland staffer said.

Deadspin article (http://deadspin.com/how-grantland-died-1739682579)

Whatever the story is, hopefully the writers find a soft landing spot soon and continue churning out content.

[gurufrisbee]

I really like Grantland. Sometimes their articles are stupid and sometimes they write just so they can read themselves and pat themselves on the back, but a lot of time they have very creative and interesting takes on things and are entertaining and informative. I will miss them - a lot. Simmons was always better in print than in person (A LOT better) but Grantland had a lot of good writers.

Not sure at all what ESPN is thinking. They keep and promote idiots who know nothing like Smith and Bayless and lose good people and good options like Grantland.

[Atlanta Duke]

Deadspin, never a fan of Simmons, reports that he may be projecting with that tweet:



Deadspin article (http://deadspin.com/how-grantland-died-1739682579)

Whatever the story is, hopefully the writers find a soft landing spot soon and continue churning out content.

I would be surprised if 4 editors leaving was the death blow - sounds like an effort at spinning another PR mess for The Worldwide Leader.

I read Grantland from its beginning since I had been reading Simmons since he showed up on ESPN Page Two in 2001. Over time I found I enjoyed the work of writers other than Simmons more than his increasingly undisciplined efforts and continued to visit the site after his messy divorce with John Skipper. Fortunately writers such as Wesley Morris and Rembert Browne have already landed at the NYT and New York Magazine - hopefully writers such as Bill Barnwell and Holly Anderson will stay with ESPN or land somewhere.

But the site was losing talent in recent months and what made sense as a means of keeping Simmons at ESPN 4 years ago was no longer working. ESPN has lost millions of cable subscribers over the past 4 years and is not able to afford a site that may have great writing but is not worth the hassle now that its founder has left.

ESPN's business model being in peril impacts more projects than Grantland that are not going to throw off profits immediately. Not certain if this has been posted elsewhere, but the ACC Network that is hoped to generate cash to help compete with the Big Ten and SEC may be on hold.

The launch of an ACC network run in partnership with ESPN, which has been expected for 2017, will likely take longer than expected.

The cable giant has asked for the delay, according to Georgia Tech president G.P. “Bud” Peterson, who made the statement at last week’s Georgia Tech Athletic Association quarterly board meeting. ...

“(ESPN) had come back and said that in some of the other instances where (conference) networks have started, they lost considerable amounts of money in the first couple of years,” Peterson said. “What they’d like to do is delay the start for a couple years and do the necessary preparation.”

http://www.myajc.com/news/sports/college/acc-channel-launch-facing-delay/npBsW/

If the ESPN business model is cracking up that impacts the rights fees upon which big time college and pro sports now rely. Nothing lasts forever.

[Orange&BlackSheep]

I loved Bill Simmons -- especially his podcasts. He reminded me of Howard Stern as someone who attracted interesting people to him and got the most out of them. I am sure he is a PITAss as an employee, but he did an amazing job building that site. I don't know the economics of the revenue Grantland was generating (or not), but they built page clicks without resorting to stupid clickbaiting lists filled with ads etc. I hope he can and will rebuild what he did for ESPN at HBO.

[Turk]

The good writers will find a home somewhere. I hope it's not on the mother ship main site. I find it harder and harder to find things worth reading over there.

I admired Simmons' attempt to create something new and unique on the web, and in some ways he was successful. In the end, I think the economic argument for shutting down Grantland is just a fig leaf for his lack of professionalism and inability to get along with the boss. On the other hand, if he had those traits, he probably wouldn't have been as good a writer.

[superdave]

The good writers will find a home somewhere. I hope it's not on the mother ship main site. I find it harder and harder to find things worth reading over there.

I admired Simmons' attempt to create something new and unique on the web, and in some ways he was successful. In the end, I think the economic argument for shutting down Grantland is just a fig leaf for his lack of professionalism and inability to get along with the boss. On the other hand, if he had those traits, he probably wouldn't have been as good a writer.

Unfortunately, I think you are right. Simmons has always been really prickly and seemed determined to settle a score with Espn. I enjoyed the site, and Zach Lowe, especially. I dont get HBO but would probably go out of my way to read a Simmons column. I just have a hard time understanding why someone is this difficult and lets it screw up the livelihoods for others.

[Troublemaker]

fyi, The Ringer (https://theringer.com/latest) (Simmons' new Grantland-esque site) went live today.

[Krzyzewskiville33]

Already impressed with what Simmons has done with the Ringer. The podcasts have been very good so far and cover a wide variety of topics and the few articles they have posted today have been awesome! I am very excited to have Grantland 2.0 back in the form of the Ringer.