US sports website Deadspin sold to European company, entire staff laid off

The sports website “Deadspin” has been sold to European startup firm Lineup Publishing, with its entire staff cut in the process. Deadspin was recently criticized in the news for publishing a story portraying a Kansas City Chiefs fan in blackface. The parents of the child at the center of the controversy sued.

The family’s lawyer group, Clare Locke, reacted to the news of Deadspin changing ownership and laying off its staff in the process.

“Journalism — and the country as a whole — is better today now that Carron Phillips no longer has a platform to target innocent kids with his agenda-driven writing,” the firm posted on X. “We are also grateful to G/O Media for infusing the company with cash that can be used to pay the judgment the Armenta family is going to win against it.”

Deadspin was launched in 2005 as part of Gawker, a gossip media site that filed for bankruptcy after being sued by Hulk Hogan for invasion of privacy.

Deadspin’s was acquired by Univision in 2016 and sold from there to G/O Media in 2019. G/O Media has now sold the sports hub to Lineup Publishing.

“The rationale behind the decision to sell included a variety of important factors that include the buyer’s editorial plans for the brand, tough competition in the sports journalism sector and a valuation that reflected a sizable premium from our original purchase price for the site,” G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller said.

“Deadspin’s new owners have made the decision to not carry over any of the site’s existing staff and instead build a new team more in line with their editorial vision for the brand,” Spanfeller said.

The startup faces an uphill battle as the sports journalism sector has been struggling to find its footing in an evolving media space.

Sports Illustrated similarly had its editorial staff laid off, and The New York Times disbanded its sports department. The Times owns “The Athletic” — a sports subscription service — but even that venture has had its own problems and has yet to turn a profit.