When Michael Wilbon, a former Washington Post writer, said D.C. was not a sports town, calling it a “minor league sports town,” many responded in outrage. In large because D.C. is a top-10 sports market that houses this generation’s best hockey player, one of the baseball’s best players, the best pitcher in baseball, a cornerstone NFL franchise that is a ratings magnet, one of the NBA’s best backcourt duos, and two strong collegiate sports program — Maryland and Georgetown, that have prestige in some way or form. That’s why it’s puzzling the Athletic, a paid-subscription sports website ($9.99 per month in the U.S.), took so long to launch in the nation’s capital.
Recently, the website announced it’s upcoming arrival in D.C. but it appears they are struggling to find writers/reporters for the site. According to Laura Wagner of Deadspin, the Athletic, who has made a living luring away top-tier writers such as MLB insider Ken Rosenthal and NBA insider Shams Charania, failed in their attempt to entice some prominent editors and writers from the Washington Post.
“Sources at theĀ Washington PostĀ say the Athletic has approached, and failed to hire, sports editor Dan Steinberg, Capitals reporter Isabelle Khurshudyan, Redskins reporter Kimberley Martin, columnist Barry Svrluga, Nationals reporter Jorge Castillo (who recently announced he was going to theĀ Los Angeles Times), soccer writer Steven Goff, and college sports, tennis, and WNBA reporter Ava Wallace. Itās unclear whether Nationals reporter Chelsea Janes and Wizards reporter Candace Buckner have talked to The Athletic and if they are consideringāor have acceptedājobs at The Athletic.”
Dan Steinberg is arguably at the top of the pecking order when it comes to D.C. sports writers. Many young D.C. sports writers have leaned on the creator of the D.C. Sports Bog for advice, including yours truly. Had the Athletic lured him away from the Post, the move would have certainly sent shock waves through the area’s sports scene. However, the Athletic was unsuccessful. One cannot fault the Athletic for trying as they went after the Who’s Who list of writers in the area. Steinberg hinted at the development through a post on Twitter recently.
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— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) August 20, 2018
What the Athletic appears to fail to understand that D.C. is a bit different than other sports markets. It’s a highly competitive market when it comes to writing and blogging, one KCM Sports understands. The Post is at the top of the chain, and as Wagner notes in her piece, the Post has a financial stability that is unmatched in this industry. That coupled with the Post being one of the most respected newspapers in the country that draw readers from all over, makes it extremely difficult to poach away some of the more established mainstays.
There is also The Sports Capitol that launched in February and is a paid-subscription website ($5.99 per month) geared on the happenings and news of D.C. sports and to eliminate the need of ads by generating a sustainable revenue stream without the ads.
Deadspin also notes that the Athletic failed to hire away a couple of prominent former Post writers, Associated Press hockey writer Steve Whyno and current Chicago Tribune reporter Rich Campbell.
One driving point for the Athletic is the fact they have some of the bigger named writers that have established followings. An idea that started based on Chicago pro sports teams has blossomed to multiple markets such as Cleveland and Toronto under the same paid-subscription model.Ā While it’s speculated to have lured NBC Sports Washington’s Capitals and Redskins writer Tarik El-Bashir, it appears the Athletic will launch in D.C. with a less than stellar group of writers, at least from D.C. following standpoint.
