Not long ago FanRag Sports seemed like an ascendent, if somewhat mysterious, sports-media brand. The site popped into many fans’ consciousness in June 2016 when it hired baseball news-breaker Jon Heyman to front its MLB vertical, then seemed to add staff for a while until… it began going in the opposite direction.
Last August, FanRag laid off its content director, Tommy Stokke, along with several other writers. Two months later it axed a bunch more writers, promising a new emphasis on video. And this week, the site cut ties with a large number of writers, most of whom appear to have been part-timers or freelancers. Several of the laid-off staffers tweeted that the cuts take effect March 31.
I was one of the original 5 writers for FanRag Sports when the site was getting started in 2012. I wrote for 3 years before taking a short break and returning to cover the #Patriots this season. Unfortunately budget cuts will leave me as a free agent at the end of March.
— Mind Body Stephen (@mindbodysteph3n) March 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/KellyScaletta/status/976194145407651845?s=20
Personal news: I'll be looking for a new home soon (and indeed am a freelancer right now!) so if you're a sports outlet looking for MLB-focused analytical writing with labor-issue focus, my e-mail is in my bio.
— jonbernhardt.bsky.social (@jonbernhardt) March 19, 2018
Some unfortunate news: March 31 will be my last day @FanRagSports.
Really enjoyed my time there and appreciated the opportunity to work with quality people.
Looking forward to my next destination.
Free agency, here I come.
— Geoff Mosher (@GeoffPMosher) March 20, 2018
As y'all can probably guess, I won't be writing at FanRag after the end of this month. I'm still over at BP rarely, and though I should log off Twitter dot com I seem unable to, so y'all can look for me here, too.
— Kate Morrison (@unlikelyfanatic) March 19, 2018
An announcement of sorts: my NHL draft/prospect coverage with FanRag comes to an end at the end of March. It's been a great two years, and I'm thankful for my editors, past and present, who gave me the opportunity.
— Hannah Stuart (@HockeywthHannah) March 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/Kristian_Ibarra/status/975937688376242176?s=20
I was notified today that I'll be done @FanRagMLB at the end of the month. I appreciate everything they've helped me accomplish, but have to admit I feel sort of empty right now. This is a bad feeling.
— Ryan Davis (@RyanQDavis) March 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/SchlagsWrites/status/975910485487955968?s=20
https://twitter.com/StaceGots/status/975856222678208512
My time as NFL content manager at FanRag will be coming to an end March 31. Wanted to thank everyone I worked with there for making it such an enjoyable experience. Looking forward to any future opportunities that may come my way.
— John Owning (@JohnOwning) March 20, 2018
Unfortunately, I too was let go from FanRag during this re-structuring process of their. pic.twitter.com/KmxJ7ZKtSQ
— Morten Stig Jensen (@msjnba) March 20, 2018
Unfortunately, after 3ish years, I'm also part of the FanRag Sports exodus. Want to thank @Bulls_Jay first and foremost for bringing me on NBA, then @StokkeTommy and @JmeEisner for letting me build the tennis section from the ground up.
— Trenton Jocz (@TrentonJocz) March 20, 2018
REPORT: Like many others, I am a casualty of the restructuring at FanRag. It's been a great experience writing for @FRSHoopz for the last 2.5 years. Appreciate them giving me a shot, and special thanks to @Bulls_Jay & @KellyScaletta.
— Philly Fast Break (@PhillyFastBreak) March 20, 2018
Soooooo…
I've been seeing a lot — way too many, tbh — "farewell" tweets from writers that I enjoy and respect over the last 48 hours.
I'm not quite sure how to go about mine, but I have roughly 11 days to figure it out.
— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) March 20, 2018
Well, after a good couple of years, I'll be done at FanRag at the end of this month. Unfortunately too many great writers are gone too.
Thank you to everyone who read my stuff.
And as I now have nowhere to write, feel free to DM if you know an outlet that might be interested!
— Tom West (@TomWestNBA) March 20, 2018
Unfortunately, I am among the many layoffs today at FanRag. Big thanks to @StokkeTommy for recruiting me more than three years ago, as well as excellent leadership of the site from @KellyScaletta and especially @Bulls_Jay, who is super amazing and easy to work with.
— Jared Johnson (@jaredtjohnson21) March 20, 2018
My time as NFL content manager at FanRag will be coming to an end March 31. Wanted to thank everyone I worked with there for making it such an enjoyable experience. Looking forward to any future opportunities that may come my way.
— John Owning (@JohnOwning) March 20, 2018
That’s a whole lot of sharp and accomplished writers suddenly hitting the free-agent market.
After sports media (digital sports media in particular) saw a seemingly endless avalanche of layoffs in 2017, 2018 has so far been relatively quiet on that front (*knocks on wood extremely hard*), with this FanRag wave constituting one of the biggest rounds of cuts we have seen (again, in sports specifically, not counting the brutal layoffs at newspapers like the Denver Post). Not that that makes the cutbacks any less painful for the folks who lost their jobs this week.
It’s hard to know what the future holds for FanRag, which does not list a masthead on its website and which has revealed little about its business model or its funding. What we do know is that it remains a scary time to be a digital media company — or a digital-media writer. Hopefully FanRag figures out how to stem their apparent losses and get back to hiring, not firing, talented people. And hopefully every writer who was part of this week’s FanRag cuts finds new gigs that are just as good, or better.
