Defector Media

Defector Media is a subscription-based sports blog and media company founded in September 2020 and based in Manhattan.

Defector Media
Type of site
Sports, social commentary
HeadquartersNew York City
IndustrySports journalism
URLdefector.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired
LaunchedSeptember 2020
Current statusActive

In October and November 2019, all writers at Deadspin quit en masse following an edict from the blog's owner, G/O Media, to "stick to sports".[1] On January 31, 2020, Tom Ley and several other former writers established Unnamed Temporary Sports Blog, an interim site sponsored by Dashlane, which operated over Super Bowl LIV weekend.[2] The site reopened for the week of April 20, sponsored by a cannabis oil company.[3]

In July 2020, they announced their new subscription-based sports website, Defector Media.[4] Ley is the editor-in-chief. The company has 19 employees, each of whom own approximately 5% of the company.[5] Drew Magary and David Roth debuted a podcast, The Distraction, on August 13. Defector's website launched in September.[6][7][8]

Business model

Defector relies on a subscription model for revenue. In an interview with Slate, co-founder Maitreyi Anantharaman said while discussing how the writers worked out the logistics of starting the site said "Everyone had the same priorities, which were editorial independence and worker stake, and we did come to a consensus that this model was the best way to do this thing." Anantharaman also mentioned that the site was "interested in sustainable growth" and did not "need a million subscribers or anything to be successful".[9]

Subscriptions are mostly two tiered, at $79 and $119 a year, with the higher cost subscription enabling commenting on articles, access to staff Q&As, and subscription to the blog's newsletter. A third tongue-in-cheek subscription tier at $1,000 per year offers the chance to guest host a Defector podcast, MS Paint artwork by a blog writer, and an "annual video from a writer wishing you a happy birthday, the day after your birthday."[10] Alex Shephard writing for The New Republic said "Defector has slipped between two subscription-based trends, neither the atomized Substack model nor the scale model being deployed by traditional newsrooms like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic." Shepard also praised the site for being "refreshingly, both very much like the old Deadspin and very much not like the rest of the internet."[11]

As a way of enticing readers to subscribe, the site offers multiple incentives from the ability to comment on articles to personalized birthday videos by staff. In July 2020, it was reported that Defector had reached over 10k subscriptions on launch day[12] and by September had almost reached 30k subscriptions.[11] By the end of 2020, that number had reached over 34,000.[13]

USA Today's "For The Win" blog reported that the business side of the site is run by longtime Deadspin reader Jasper Wang, who formerly worked for Bain & Company, and that both Wang and editor-in-chief Tom Ley can be removed from their positions with a two-thirds vote of Defector staff.[14]

References
  1. "Staffers Quit Deadspin After Order To 'Stick To Sports'". NPR. November 1, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  2. "Ex-Deadspin Writers Reunite for Super Bowl Blog Sponsored by a Tech Company". The Daily Beast. January 30, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  3. Tani, Maxwell (April 19, 2020). "Ex-Deadspin Writers Reunite Once Again, This Time for 4/20". The Daily Beast. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  4. Tracy, Marc (July 28, 2020). "After Quitting Deadspin in Protest, They're Starting a New Site". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  5. "Defector sports blog launches: All we know about the 'new Deadspin'". Ftw.usatoday.com. July 28, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  6. Shultz, Alex (July 24, 2020). "The Staff of Deadspin Is Taking Their Talents to Defector. Here's What Happens Next". GQ. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  7. "Former Deadspin staffers are launching their own website, Defector Media". The Boston Globe. July 28, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  8. https://www.columbusalive.com/entertainment/20200911/daily-distraction-spend-some-time-getting-to-know-defector
  9. Olmstead, Molly (July 28, 2020). "An Ex–Deadspin Writer on Starting a New Publication With Her Old Colleagues". Slate Magazine. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  10. https://defector.com/
  11. Shephard, Alex; Bacharach, Jacob; Bartlett, Bruce (September 23, 2020). "Is Defector the Future of Media?". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  12. "Former Deadspin Staffers Report Over 10,000 Subscriptions for Defector". TheWrap. July 29, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  13. @drewmagary (December 17, 2020). "And then, finally... we started Defector.com. Over 34,000 people have subscribed thus far. We all have health insurance and we're getting Christmas bonuses. We just instituted paid six-month maternity/paternity leave. We made good jobs for each other. Pure fucking joy" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. "Everything we know about Defector, a new sports blog from former staffers of Deadspin". For The Win. July 28, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
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