Too bad, the writing was mostly high quality.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/10/30/espn-shuts-down-grantland-effective-immediately/

queencitybuckeye;1759944 wrote:Too bad, the writing was mostly high quality.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/10/30/espn-shuts-down-grantland-effective-immediately/

Kinda figured this was coming. It really sucks Grantland was awesome for pretty much everything.

Quality journalism and analysis will not be tolerated at ESPN!

Yeah, the one good thing about ESPN was Grantland and now it gone.

Does this open it up for Bill Simmons to pretty much start grantland 2.0 at HBO?

This sucks. Grantland was my go-to for analysis besides for a few writers at other sites.


Hopefully at least Barnwell, Keri, and Lowe end up at the same site.

lhslep134;1759967 wrote:This sucks. Grantland was my go-to for analysis besides for a few writers at other sites.


Hopefully at least Barnwell, Keri, and Lowe end up at the same site.

Yeah, I didn't agree with everything they said and i hated when they would take the typical cheap shots at cleveland, but it was always well done. A talented group.

like_that;1759971 wrote:Yeah, I didn't agree with everything they said and i hated when they would take the typical cheap shots at cleveland, but it was always well done. A talented group.

And they got their starts at sport specific sites (Barnwell at Football Outsiders, Keri at Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus) so you knew you were getting quality writing.

Guess it shouldn't come as that much of a shock that First Take exists at ESPN and Grantland no longer does.


Even their non-sports stuff was great. I especially loved the Game of Thrones pre-cap, recap, and Ask the Maester.

Kinda had to see this coming once ESPN canned Bill Simmons. Wouldn't be surprised to see Simmons do a spinoff somewhere else.

Scarlet_Buckeye;1760441 wrote:Kinda had to see this coming once ESPN canned Bill Simmons. Wouldn't be surprised to see Simmons do a spinoff somewhere else.

He is already signed with HBO, so probably HBO.

like_that;1760787 wrote:He is already signed with HBO, so probably HBO.

And, in all honesty, I'd expect the production to be even better with HBO. He should have more freedom and a bigger budget - HBO probably couldn't believe their good fortune when ESPN canned him.

I remember when HBO and Showtime primarily showed so-so movies we'd seen many times, even on tv...along with the occasional sporting event. Now they produce some of the best original content on tv.

gut;1760817 wrote:And, in all honesty, I'd expect the production to be even better with HBO. He should have more freedom and a bigger budget - HBO probably couldn't believe their good fortune when ESPN canned him.

I remember when HBO and Showtime primarily showed so-so movies we'd seen many times, even on tv...along with the occasional sporting event. Now they produce some of the best original content on tv.

It will be interesting to how it all shakes out. Deadspin has always reported that Grantland did not have great traffic, and due to the high cost of talent was not making money. ESPN was willing to eat the loss because they have gobs of money, but I can't believe HBO would do that. It's also possible that a spinoff could make money if they are unchained from ESPN as well.

Simmons supposedly has a deal for a TV show with HBO. I wonder if he will be in front of the camera? His grantland basketball hour got horrible ratings as well.

Zoltan;1760945 wrote:It will be interesting to how it all shakes out. Deadspin has always reported that Grantland did not have great traffic, and due to the high cost of talent was not making money. ESPN was willing to eat the loss because they have gobs of money, but I can't believe HBO would do that. It's also possible that a spinoff could make money if they are unchained from ESPN as well.

Maybe, but HBO will reach a pretty different audience, and they promote it well. I'd never really even heard of Grantland, to be honest. But I've watched a number of the 30/30 stuff. HBO will mash it all together into something that works with their audience.

Although, good point about Simmons being in front of the camera. He supposedly got a pretty lucrative deal, so I'm going to guess that's much more than just producing.

like_that;1760787 wrote:He is already signed with HBO, so probably HBO.

Thanks. Wasn't sure if that was factual or speculative. I had heard rumblings about him inevitably doing this, but didn't know that it was officially a done deal yet. Good to know.