ALLCITY Network hits Philadelphia, Dallas, and Chicago with more layoffs

ALLCITY Network conducted another round of layoffs this week, eliminating newsletter positions across its network and reducing coverage of baseball and hockey in several markets. The cuts hit Philadelphia, Dallas, and Chicago particularly hard, coming just over a year after CEO Brandon Spano told Awful Announcing that shows needed to be profitable within 18 months.

Tyler Zulli and Rich Hofmann are out at PHLY in Philadelphia. Ali Jawad lost his position at DLLS in Dallas after seven months covering the Cowboys and Dallas Wings. Kevin Kaduk, who helped launch CHGO Sports and later served as ALLCITY’s regional content director, also lost his job. The DLLS Texas Rangers Podcast announced Friday it’s dropping from five episodes per week to three, with John Rhadigan no longer part of the show and Jeff Wilson continuing as host.

Hofmann joined PHLY from The Athletic and spent two and a half years building a newsletter. ALLCITY eliminated all newsletters across its network, wiping out his position.

“Guess the cat’s out of the bag: All City got out of newsletters, and I got let go,” Hofmann wrote on X. “2.5 years, not a bad run in this industry! I liked working there, so many great friends at PHLY. And I worked really hard on that newsletter. I leave legitimately proud of that thing.”

Hey y’all, guess the cat’s out of the bag: All City got out of newsletters, and I got let go. 2.5 years, not a bad run in this industry!

I liked working there, so many great friends at PHLY. And I worked really hard on that newsletter. I leave legitimately proud of that thing.

— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) January 30, 2026

Zulli was part of the original group that left 97.5 The Fanatic to help launch PHLY alongside Anthony Gargano, Jamie Lynch, and Devon Givens. He most recently hosted the PHLY Phillies podcast while also serving as a producer. PHLY just recently celebrated 40% year-over-year audience growth and surpassing 50,000 YouTube subscribers. A few weeks later, Zulli’s position was eliminated.

Well, one of these from me, unfortunately: pic.twitter.com/w4CPYzgBAn

— Tyler Zulli (@TylerZulli) January 29, 2026

Kaduk’s departure is particularly notable given his role in building CHGO Sports. He spent four years launching and growing the outlet from scratch in Chicago, one of the most competitive sports media markets in the country. As ALLCITY’s regional content director, he worked across five markets developing the network’s strategy.

“Working with an All-Star staff that I will always admire, we turned it into an essential Chicago media outlet,” Kaduk wrote on X.

Over the last four years, I helped launch and grow CHGO from scratch in one of the most competitive media markets in the country.

Working with an All-Star staff that I will always admire, we turned it into an essential Chicago media outlet.

— Kevin Kaduk (@KevinKaduk) February 2, 2026

Jawad covered the Cowboys and Dallas Wings for DLLS starting in July 2025. Seven months later, his position was eliminated as part of the company-wide cuts.

Sharing an update: my time with AllCITY Network & DLLS has come to an end as part of a company-wide layoff.

I’m incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to cover the #DallasCowboys as well as be apart of our Dallas Wings show over the past seven months and to work…

— Ali Jawad (@AliJawad024) January 30, 2026

As for The DLLS Texas Rangers Podcast, which will continue in a new format following Rhadigan’s departure, the move from five episodes a week to three is an obvious cost-cutting measure. Fewer shows mean lower production and staffing costs. But it also creates a retention risk for subscribers who signed up specifically for daily Rangers coverage and postgame analysis.

Budget-driven changes to the #DLLSRangers podcast miss a key point: many diehard subscriptions exist because of @DLLS_Rangers coverage. For plenty of fans, it’s the main—if not the only—reason to keep a @DLLS_Sports subscription.

The Rangers reporting and podcasts from…

— Ryan Dant (@MgrDantastic) January 31, 2026

“We have always said it’s a great job but a sh*tty business,” Rhadigan penned on social media.

That’s true now, and it was true when Spano explained the financial reality behind these cuts in a December 2024 interview with Awful Announcing after laying off roughly 7% of the company’s workforce.

“At the end of the day, I think we’re coming to a point where the shows have to be profitable,” Spano said then. “And it doesn’t mean that they have to be in the first year, but at some point, probably within 18 months or so, these things have to generate positive cash flow.”

He also outlined why certain sports command different levels of investment.

“Basketball and football shows do really good on YouTube, really good on podcasts,” Spano continued. “Hockey shows are consistent, not huge, but really consistent diehard fans that buy your merch and buy memberships and watch the shows, but not a big group. And then you have baseball, which has always just been very, very difficult for us to get traction on.”

ALLCITY raised $12 million in Series B funding in August 2024, led by TEGNA. The company launched a Dallas site centered on prominent NBA writer Marc Stein and hired former NBA player Tim Legler to host a national basketball show. The resources exist. The company is choosing to invest them in basketball and football while cutting back or eliminating coverage that doesn’t meet the 18-month profitability timeline Spano established.

Before December 2024, ALLCITY had never conducted layoffs. They’ve now conducted two rounds in less than 13 months. This past week’s round hasn’t been publicly quantified, but its newsletters no longer exist, and baseball coverage has been reduced across multiple markets.