I’m in adtech and know enough publishers. I can’t share exact numbers but readership is way down. Constant political stories and culture outrage doesn’t make good sports reading. Contrast this with barstool sports which is doing well.

Yes, of course.

Here's Deadspin sticking to sports in 2017 https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/a-full-transcript-of-donal...

Here's Deadspin sticking to sports in 2016 https://adequateman.deadspin.com/the-2016-hater-s-guide-to-t...

Here's Deadspin sticking to sports in 2013 http://deadsp.in/cgmoid5

2012 https://deadspin.com/what-happens-when-a-35-year-old-man-ret...

I'm done diving into the archives but that's a pretty hot take you're throwing out there.

Of course they have extra content, but your links show that those articles have gotten more numerous and political over time.

>Constant political stories and culture outrage doesn’t make good sports reading.

>Contrast this with barstool sports which is doing well.

There is a high level of irony in these two comments considering Barstool doesn't "stick to sports" either. They just approach a lot of the same issues from the opposite direction as Deadspin.

When people talk about politics they mean other people's politics. When they talk about their own politics it's just common sense.

Barstool has noticeably more coverage of actual sports and much less divisive political and cultural content. Low-brow/college humor is very different than left vs right politicking. It is not surprising that you will suffer audience loss when picking one side of the battle.

They literally became famous for their daily “smokeshow” content. If that isn’t politically divisive I don’t know what is.

Along with their sports coverage, yes. And how is “smokeshow” politically divisive?

A magazine targeting men distributing pictures of scantily-clad ladies? The humanity! On a more serious note, I don't hear any issue with tabloids putting guys in speedoes on the front, let alone hear it called, "politically divisive." What distinguishes the two?

Readership isn’t down because anyone who goes to Deadspin was offended by politics. That you would compare them to Barstool as an equivalent suggests one of us is badly confused. The company has been bought by a series of wet brained “investment” professionals who never bothered to discover what they bought. I have no idea why you would buy what was Gawker and then think neutering it would make it better.

Because Gawker did so well? Every media company is suffering massive losses and downsizing. There never was some great success here.

Aren’t sports news tending toward data oriented reporting with online community?

Personal attacks will get you banned here. Please follow the rules: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

I have 0 interest in sports or either of these 2 sites.

I’m not surprised to see this given what has happened to Gizmodo. It used to be one of the few tech sites I’d check daily but it has basically just become a constant stream of global warming and left-wing propaganda that even I, as left leaning, got sick of having rammed down my throat.

Contrast that with another G/O Media site, Jalopnik, which continues to be one of my favorite sites on the Internet. The Verge also seems to have moved on mostly from trying to straddle “culture” and tech and is better for it.