We’re not sure what version of Deadspin this counts as but the sports site announced its official return to business since being sold to Lineup Publishing.
Shortly after 1:00 p.m. ET on Monday, the Deadspin X account posted a GIF of WWE’s The Undertaker rising from a coffin. A little over an hour later, they posted “Deadspin is back & so is our comment section.” Around 4:00 p.m. ET, they posted an image of the Deadspin logo over Michael Jordan with the quote “I’m Back” and a caption that simply read “Deadspin is back.” And then at 5:30 p.m. ET, they posted an image of the Deadspin logo over Marvel’s Thanos with the caption, “Deadspin is back. Deadspin is inevitable. Buckle up.”
Deadspin is back. pic.twitter.com/fTtW1MHEgg
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) May 13, 2024
The announced return of the site was met less with fanfare and more with derision. That’s likely because 2024 Deadspin seems far removed from the initial editorial vision and ethos.
In fact, this version of Deadspin is replacing a previous version of Deadspin that few of the site’s original readers enjoyed or appreciated.
There’s also what is known about the site’s latest owners, Lineup Publishing, whose lead investors, Timothy Booker and Max Noremo, come from a background of online casinos and gaming. The assumption is that the site is now there to drive traffic to online gaming apps, not be the internet’s preeminent sports blog.
As for the latest version of Deadspin, while it’s been reformatted, there doesn’t seem to be much different about the content so far. Content provider Field Level Media was already responsible for almost all of the new posts on the site since before G/O Media sold it and they appear to be the main content provider now as well. Most of the bylines on the new articles read “Field Level Media,” although others included Deadspin.com, Nick Pedone, and Adam Zielonka (who also works for Field Level Media).
The one big noticeable difference so far is that the site features a collection of online casino-related sponsorship links. A giant ad for a “social casino” or betting app greets you above the fold on the homepage and there are several gaming-related sponsorship links peppered throughout.
Perhaps more notable than the latest return of Deadspin is what is disappearing. Several former Deadspin editors and writers took to social media to note that several old articles had disappeared from the site’s archives. Some of those articles were among the most notable that the outlet had written in its heyday.
Whoever owns Deadspin appears to be quietly deleting old articles, so if you ever wrote for the site and want to keep your clips, this would probably be a good time to download them.
— Tim Marchman (@timmarchman) May 13, 2024
They really took the peak of the art form from us. https://t.co/qvsR8gMgV5 pic.twitter.com/o0Fy3i4doZ
— Matt Butler (@AllegedButler) May 13, 2024
My award-nominated piece is gone, glad I made sure they were Waybacked after the most recent sale
— Marc Normandin (@marcnormandin.bsky.social) May 13, 2024 at 1:29 PM
Other former writers also noted that even though their articles are still live, the byline has been changed.
Awful Announcing reached out to Lineup Publishing about the missing articles and the company says there was a “technical error” that is currently being fixed.
“It was a technical error in migrating all the articles over to a new database,” said COO Timothy Booker in an e-mail. “We are trying to find and restore anything that has not been carried over in moving to the new platform. We will not be deleting any articles. All articles will be restored. Some point in the next week we aim to restore comments to old articles as well.
“We believe the history of Deadspin should be kept in place, and that won’t change.”
This latest version of Deadspin has an incredibly tough road to climb if it intends to win back any fans from the original, if that’s even possible. To many of them, this is just a website wearing a Deadspin-shaped carcass. Losing those classic articles from the site’s heyday would have likely been the death knell of any reason for most of them to visit the site. Not to mention, we’re talking about some of the most iconic pieces of sports content from the blogosphere era.
