Deadspin

[The Sultan]

I don't know if people have been following this, but when Deadspin and its sister sites were sold to a private equity firm and branded under "G/O Media," the new owners wanted less politics and more sports coverage.  Mirroring the "stick to sports" mantra that many of its detractors had traditionally used.  Furthermore, they started using auto-play video advertisements, which its editors and writers complained about.

On Tuesday, as a form of protest, they only ran stories with no sports content.  The owners then fired editor Barry Petchesky, and yesterday 8 or 9 of their top writers resigned in protest.

So there goes Deadspin.  I know it had its detractors, but it played a role in the sports media landscape.  Undoubtedly new editors and writers will be hired, but I doubt it will ever be the same.

[CreightonWarrior]

Used to love the site but it went off the rails. So much negativity about literally everything. They all sounded miserable.

[🏀]

Deadspin was a hourly read 4-5 years ago, but it's time passed. Magary is the only thing worth going back for.

I'm by no means a Stoolie, but the feud with Barstool was/is petty and they definitely were on the losing end consistently.

[The Sultan]

Deadspin was a hourly read 4-5 years ago, but it's time passed. Magary is the only thing worth going back for.

I agree with this analysis

[drewm88]

Deadspin was the best site on the internet (non-Scoop category, of course). That only ended this week. Nowhere else combined sports news and highlights with other news, opinion, longform, and investigative journalism the way they did. Calling out BS when it's deserved doesn't make you miserable.

[jficke13]

If nothing else, this makes a fascinating case study on how to destroy an asset and misinterpreting what the core value of an asset actually is. The mismanagement here is going to teach a lot of people a lot of lessons (or at least it should).

[Benny B]

Meh.  The best part of Deadspin wasn't the articles/content.  It was the reader comments.

[🏀]

Meh.  The best part of Deadspin wasn't the articles/content.  It was the reader comments.

Very true. I remembered when I got approved as a commenter, it was a big day 8-9 years ago.

[Pakuni]

Deadspin was a hourly read 4-5 years ago, but it's time passed. Magary is the only thing worth going back for.

I'm by no means a Stoolie, but the feud with Barstool was/is petty and they definitely were on the losing end consistently.

The real losers are people who take sides in the Barstool-Deadspin fued (not suggesting you're one of them).
Also, if you've ever referred to Dave Portnoy as "El Prez" in a non-ironic way.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Deadspin was a hourly read 4-5 years ago, but it's time passed. Magary is the only thing worth going back for.

I'm by no means a Stoolie, but the feud with Barstool was/is petty and they definitely were on the losing end consistently.

Nahhh, Portnoy is a piece of garbage.

[Benny B]

The real losers are people who take sides in the Barstool-Deadspin fued (not suggesting you're one of them).
Also, if you've ever referred to Dave Portnoy as "El Prez" in a non-ironic way.

This.

[🏀]

The real losers are people who take sides in the Barstool-Deadspin fued (not suggesting you're one of them).
Also, if you've ever referred to Dave Portnoy as "El Prez" in a non-ironic way.

I actually was one of those, Deadspin loyalist for a long time. Then I realized what an idiot I was.

[jficke13]

I really don't understand the allure of Barstool. Let's be jackwagon Bahstahn sports brahs!

I similarly don't really understand getting super defensive for Deadspin. It was a good site with funny articles and a different angle on sports and sports media that was fun to read.

It will be amusing when the entire crew of writers opens Deadrotation.com tomorrow and 100% of G/O's traffic disappears. But that's mostly me enjoying seeing dumb people who hate writers getting comeuppance.

[Uncle Rico]

Stick to sports is great in theory but sports are inherently political.  It's one thing for message boards to avoid them but sites like Deadspin without politics is missing a chunk of what sports is.

Deadspin obviously leaned left and the lack of a counter view was a detriment to them in the end.

[🏀]

I really don't understand the allure of Barstool. Let's be jackwagon Bahstahn sports brahs!

I similarly don't really understand getting super defensive for Deadspin. It was a good site with funny articles and a different angle on sports and sports media that was fun to read.

It will be amusing when the entire crew of writers opens Deadrotation.com tomorrow and 100% of G/O's traffic disappears. But that's mostly me enjoying seeing dumb people who hate writers getting comeuppance.

Barstool has some good stuff.

PMT is good, not as great as it was, but still good. The Monday NFL recap shows are really good. The fastest two minutes are gold.

Reags their college basketball guy is my favorite college guy right now.

Foreplay has moments, but get to be too Stoolish too often.

Spitting Chiclets is beloved in the hockey community.

[jficke13]

Stick to sports is great in theory but sports are inherently political.  It's one thing for message boards to avoid them but sites like Deadspin without politics is missing a chunk of what sports is.

Deadspin obviously leaned left and the lack of a counter view was a detriment to them in the end.

I'm pretty sure not having a token righty on staff to appease calls for both-side-ism wasn't what killed deadspin.

[Pakuni]

Barstool has some good stuff.

PMT is good, not as great as it was, but still good. The Monday NFL recap shows are really good. The fastest two minutes are gold.

Reags their college basketball guy is my favorite college guy right now.

Foreplay has moments, but get to be too Stoolish too often.

Spitting Chiclets is beloved in the hockey community.

Longtime AWL. Still listen to most episodes, at least in part. Their victim routine over losing the ESPN show is getting old, but it's still far, far better than the vast majority sports talk programs out there.
I'm a big hockey fan and I can't listen to Spitting Chiclets, despite many tries. The occasional good hockey talk is ruined by the incessant chatter about that time they hooked up with a "total rocket" in Vancouver.

[wadesworld]

I didn't even know there was a beef between Deadspin and Barstool.

Dave Portnoy is a d bag.  His dad is hilarious though, at least as a guest on PMT.

PMT is still solid but their guests have gone downhill big time of late.  Not a fan of the Monday no guest shows.  Very long and they aren't the brightest minds out there.  The best parts of their shows are the interviews with guys who have a dry sense of humor and/or are very open (Blake Griffin/Bortles, Koepka, Mr. Portnoy, Jim Harbough, the Spittin Chicklets guys, Joe Buck, Edelman, the Long brothers).

[Warrior2008]

Used to love the site but it went off the rails. So much negativity about literally everything. They all sounded miserable.

I agree with this.  It was a great site for a long time and offered a check on the four letter network's monopoly of sports.  At the time, they were the rebels and had cornered the alternative sports coverage market.  Now they are competing with sites like The Ringer and Barstool who frankly have done a much better job appealing to their readership and promoting their talent.  Whether they lost their way by not "sticking to sports" entirely is up for debate as they never were entirely about sports to begin with, but I do agree their constant complaining about everything and anything was a recipe to drive down readership when their competition was becoming stronger.

Either way, Drew Magary is still one of the best and his "Why Your Team Sucks" series will always be a must read for me. 

[Mr. Nielsen]

No loss to me as I'm not on Deadspin.

[Billy Hoyle]

Very true. I remembered when I got approved as a commenter, it was a big day 8-9 years ago.

yeah, I was excited when I "got out of the greys." Often times my assistant would ask what I was laughing at as he could hear me in his office; it was usually DS reader comments. "Why Your Team Sucks" is something I look forward to annually.

I won't make the move to Barstool; a bunch of misogynist d-bags. I'll go wherever Magnary goes.

[GB Warrior]

yeah, I was excited when I "got out of the greys." Often times my assistant would ask what I was laughing at as he could hear me in his office; it was usually DS reader comments. "Why Your Team Sucks" is something I look forward to annually.

I won't make the move to Barstool; a bunch of misogynist d-bags. I'll go wherever Magnary goes.

This. Before they started getting attacked by a bankrolled effort by Peter Thiel, they were a must read. And to be clear, the quality of most of their writers is why they continued to be bought. The writers' product is company's profit, and wherever guys like Magary, Roth, etc land will be successful. Kudos to them for recognizing the power they had collectively. Not sure what their owners were thinking tbh.

Its unfortunate since it'll likely affect the other good sites in that group - Lifehacker, Kotaku, etc.

I also saw they killed the comments section platform wide

[The Sultan]

No loss to me as I'm not on Deadspin.

Thanks for your input.  And its a website.  Not a drug.

[Mr. Nielsen]

[Uncle Rico]

I'm pretty sure not having a token righty on staff to appease calls for both-side-ism wasn't what killed deadspin.

It's not what killed them, that was worded wrong on my part.  It's a small part of a much bigger pie