ProFootballTalk redesign Image Credit: ProFootballTalk
NBCOnline OutletsBy Sean Keeley on

Change is inevitable. And change has come for NBC Sports’ collection of sites, including Mike Florio’s ProFootballTalk.

The platform debuted a new site design on Monday, along with a few other changes in how users can interact with the news and commentary hubs.

The new look of the site is certainly cleaner with more white space and a strong focus on video (the pivot never truly ends). Two of the three main sections of each hub focus on video content while written content is available on the right side. Below the fold, it’s almost entirely video and podcast content.

Over at Rotoworld, written content and video content are more interspersed and present, though the lack of clarity for those who just want basic fantasy sports updates appears to be gone.

The look of each site also feels a bit…basic. We’re not ones to talk but the initial feeling internally here was that the design went backwards. The basic fonts and visual elements make it look like a sports site from 2009 instead of one from 2023.

Florio penned a re-introduction for longtime PFT readers to the new-look site, saying that the changes will be more noticeable for mobile readers.

There are plenty of changes with the new PFT. There are plenty of things that will still be the same — especially if you read the site on your phone.

The font is the same as it was, something I specifically requested. The Rumor Mill, the hub of the operation, is still what it was, a scrolling list of our most recent 10 stories. (And instead of clicking “next,” all you have to do now is hit “load more.”)

Other areas will be enhanced. The Team pages will have their own franchise-specific Rumor Mills, with only the latest full stories regarding each specific team. There will be player-specific pages, too. And plenty of other features we did not previously have.

It’s worth noting that things remain a work in progress.

Perhaps the most notable change for PFT is that the comments section is no more. Plenty of other sites have eliminated comments over the years but Florio provided some context for why they decided to nix the feature. As is the case in many places on the internet, the comment section featured a very vocal minority of the overall readership and included plenty of toxic and trolling commentary.

Relative to the entire readership of PFT, only a very small percentage posted comments on a regular basis. Far too many comments were, at times, far too hateful and toxic (especially many that were deleted by the moderators.) Given the prevalence of social media, there are many other ways for voices to be heard.

You can easily interact with any of our items on Twitter or Facebook; nearly every story is posted on each platform. You also can email me directly, at florio@profootballtalk.com.

The First Amendment remains alive and well, and we fully support it. But PFT wasn’t and isn’t a town square. It’s an outlet for NFL news and opinion. There was a time that the interaction added to the experience. That time, in our assessment, has ended.

Florio understandably assumes in his letter that many readers will hate the redesign at first, and that certainly seems to be the case.

Fans of Rotoworld seem to be taking the redesign pretty hard as it makes it much tougher to get basic player information.

https://twitter.com/ASRothstein/status/1673341018727411715

Of course, that hatred for the new design will probably fade, especially if readers continue to get what they come to the site for. But the way the new look impacts site traffic is certainly something to monitor, especially as it seems to de-emphasize written content overall.

[NBC Sports, PFT]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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