If you like great sportswriting, intelligent longform journalism, and sharp pop culture pieces, then today is a sad day indeed: ESPN has pulled the plug on its ambitious project, Grantland. The decision comes five months after the network split with the website's founding editor, Bill Simmons, and on the heels of a flurry of resignations from a number of its prominent writers. Perhaps a sign of what was to come, ESPN additionally announced nine days ago that it would lay off 300 employees.
"After careful consideration, we have decided to direct our time and energy going forward to projects that we believe will have a broader and more significant impact across our enterprise," ESPN said in their announcement, while acknowledging the site's legacy of "quality [...] writing, smart ideas, original thinking, and fun."
Grantland hosted a number of notable contributors during its four-year run, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Wesley Morris. ESPN's Mike Soltys reports that remaining Grantland writers will have their contracts honored and will be used instead on other ESPN platforms.
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Goodbye, Grantland. It's been good.
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