LyleLanley
Banned
@BillSimmons said:My next website is called The Ringer - launches later in 2016. Check out our logo & sign up for our newsletter at theringer.com .
.
@BillSimmons said:My next website is called The Ringer - launches later in 2016. Check out our logo & sign up for our newsletter at theringer.com .
Awesome! So, Grantland 2.0.
I wonder if this is separate from the HBO show? I'd imagine it likely is.
For some reason this doesn't feel like the logo for a Grantland 2.0 to me.
For some reason this doesn't feel like the logo for a Grantland 2.0 to me.
I'm probably reading too much into this but I assume the waves mean that the focus is going to be on audio/video content.
1 clear truth re @BillSimmons & @ringer: in today's content world, it doesn't have to be about where you work; it's about who you work with.
2nd clear truth re @BillSimmons & @ringer: Cash = truth. Why give $ away to corp when you can create your own ecosystem & really kill it.
3rd clear truth re @BillSimmons & @ringer: Nothing better than being your own boss, especially if going rogue is your favorite indoor sport.
4th clear truth re: @BillSimmons & @ringer: No one individual monetizes a following for intellectual capital in sports better than Simmons.
"Riffs from our writers" indicates there's going to be written content though.
Bill Simmons' new Grantland will be called The Ringer, and it will be populated by many ex-Grantland staffers.
Simmons announced the website and a launch timeline on Wednesday morning.
The Ringer will be "the exclusive home to all of Simmons' written material," according to his spokesman, while HBO will be his home on TV.
It will start as an email newsletter in mid-March. The actual site "will debut sometime this late spring or early summer," the spokesman said.
Simmons has been assembling a team of editors, writers and podcast producers for several months. Many of the hires, like editor in chief Sean Fennessey, are alums of Grantland, the ESPN-backed site that Simmons headed until last spring.
After his falling out with ESPN, a number of key staffers also exited Grantland. ESPN shut the site down in October.
On Wednesday, at the same time Simmons announced his new site's name, he also revealed several more new hires, including another seven former Grantlanders: Craig Gaines, Bryan Curtis, Ryan O'Hanlon, Danny Chau, Riley McAtee, Joe Fuentes, and Tate Frazier.
Just like Grantland, The Ringer will have culture coverage; the site said Wednesday that Amanda Dobbins, formerly of Glamour, will be the deputy editor for culture.
Bill Simmons unveils new site's name: The Ringer - CNN
Maybe it will be Grantland 2.0 with even more pop culture.
Is Tate really considered a new hire? He's been the producer for all the podcasts since the start.
It doesn't seem like they are going to be writing a lot of about sports, and are putting more focus on culture with a former Glamour editor.
The culture writing at GL was always stronger than their sports writing tbh
Probably just confirming that he's going to be a full-time part of the Ringer vs. a PA they had for the podcasts.
It doesn't seem like they are going to be writing a lot of about sports, and are putting more focus on culture with a former Glamour editor.
Also, hope netw3rk jumps on this site too.
The culture writing at GL was always stronger than their sports writing tbh
I wonder when Zach Lowe's contract with ESPN ends.
Also, hope netw3rk jumps on this site too.
Let's keep it real, his writing was always kinda meh, but his Twitter feed is a national treasure.
His writing wasn't always great but I always found his stuff to be fun to read. His Twitter account is amazing though.
They had Keri, Barnwell, and Lowe. (and Rany occasionally).
I will cut you for that level of heresy.
And when you do find them, they look like garbage (at least on desktop), unless you Instapaper them. I hate reading anything at their site. Grantland was designed so much better.I hope he manages to find a good basketball writer or two.
I don't even know how to search for Zach Lowe's articles on ESPN's shitty site.
I hope he manages to find a good basketball writer or two.
I don't even know how to search for Zach Lowe's articles on ESPN's shitty site.
The culture writing at GL was always stronger than their sports writing tbh
What a joke.
Bill Simmons ‏@BillSimmons 4h
Don't do it with ESPN. RT @ParrishWalton: What are the lessons @BillSimmons learned from running Grantland from a business perspective?
What a joke.
Which isn't accurate at all, because he loved ESPN when they gave him everything he wanted. It's this current regime that Bill doesn't like.
I can find writers of comparable quality to those guys at other pubs. Not as good, but comparable.
Wesley Morris though? Cmon son
Really, never heard of the Football Outsider guys? Or the gawd Lee Jenkins at SI? How about Tom Ziller at SBNation and Howard Beck at BR? People writing at MMQB not named Peter King?
They're all very very good.
No Andy Greenwald? I know he creates content for 33.
No Andy Greenwald? I know he creates content for 33.
Even when they were letting him run free content-wise, he wasn't happy with how they were(n't) monetizing the site, podcasts, etc.
Morris is the outlier though, he was only ever working for Simmons, and he's back in NY doing his thing. Some of Rembert's stuff was good, though it feels like he dropped a level near the end.
They're good - no doubt; but
a) several of the FO folks ended up writing for Grantland / ESPN in many fashions (A lot of Schatz / Verhei stuff ended up on ESPN), and I'd take Chris Brown over any of the FO guys.
b) Barnwell > Schatz / Verhei / etc, Mays is now on MMQB (ex-Grantlander), and Lowe > Jenkins for consistent output. (the Jenkins article on LeBron was so good though).
True, he has been beating that drum lately, but I feel like that was never a big concern back when things were going well.
I love Bill's work, have followed him since the early Page 2 days, but he comes off like a petulant child at times. I'm not siding with ESPN on their split, I think ESPN screwed up a ton, but Bill is totally playing the martyr here.
Even when they were letting him run free content-wise, he wasn't happy with how they were(n't) monetizing the site, podcasts, etc.
Again, the level of thought and discourse occurring at these other places are very much comparable.
Don't see anybody write them Pappademas level Obits though. As morbid as it sounds.
There's only so much Deflate-Gate whining I can take.
So Bill pretty much confirms on the pod today that The Ringer is his own media company. Interesting!