(LibertySociety.com) – Most people who read sports publications are looking for information about their favorite teams, players, and stats. However, in recent years, sports outlets have become more political, which has proven to be a bad idea. One left-wing news publication called Deadspin met its fate after being sold to a new publisher. G/O Media, the publisher that owns the Deadspin site, sent a memo to all staff on March 11, announcing that it had sold the blogging site to a European firm called Lineup Publishing.
G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller said that he was approached about selling the website but had not been actively looking to sell. He claimed that “a variety of important factors” resulted in the decision, including Lineup Publishing’s editorial plans for Deadspin, the competitive nature of sports journalism, and the significant increase in value of the site since it was originally acquired. He continued, stating that the new owners planned to approach the site’s content differently but would keep the “unique voice” of Deadspin.
G/O Media notified staffers that they would be let go from the company. The move marked the third time in less than a year that the company has made cuts to staff. Several other sites have been offloaded over the last year as the company aims to be more efficient by streamlining its focus. Last year, the company attempted to restructure its brand Jezebel, which was geared toward women. Twenty-three members of its editorial staff were laid off, but G/O Media ultimately sold the brand to Paste Magazine.
Another site owned by the company called Lifehacker was sold to Ziff Davis in March after the company began layoffs of 13 staffers in June 2023. Spanfeller previously told Axios that he did not have any plans to sell the entire company this year, but said that he does have occasional conversations with people regarding possible acquisitions.
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