The Sporting News Explained

The Sporting News
Frequency:	Weekly (1886–2008) Fortnightly (2008–2011) Monthly (2011–2012)
Circulation Year:	2011
Category:	Sports
Company:	Sporting News Holdings
Firstdate:	1886
Lastdate:	2012 (print)
Country:	United States
Based:	Charlotte, North Carolina
Issn:	1041-2859

The Sporting News is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a print magazine. It became the dominant American publication covering baseball, acquiring the nickname "The Bible of Baseball".^[1]

From 2002 to February 2022, it was known simply as Sporting News. In December 2012, The Sporting News ended print publication and shifted to a digital-only publication. It currently has editions in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan.

History

Early history

• March 17, 1886: The Sporting News (TSN), founded in St. Louis^[2] by Alfred H. Spink, a director of the St. Louis Browns baseball team, publishes its first edition. The weekly newspaper sells for 5 cents. Baseball, horse racing and professional wrestling received the most coverage in the first issue. Meanwhile, the sporting weeklies Clipper and Sporting Life were based in New York and Philadelphia. By World War I, TSN would be the only national baseball newspaper.
• 1901: The American League, another rival to baseball's National League, begins playing. TSN was a vocal supporter of the new league and its founder, Ban Johnson. Both parties advocated cleaning up the sport, in particular ridding it of liquor sales, gambling and assaults on umpires.
• 1903: TSN editor Arthur Flanner helps draft the National Agreement, a document that brought a truce between the AL and NL and helped bring about the modern World Series.
• 1904: New York photographer Charles Conlon begins taking portraits of major league players as they pass through the city's three ballparks: the Polo Grounds, Yankee Stadium and Ebbets Field. His images, many of which were featured in TSN, have become treasured symbols of baseball's past.
• 1914: Alfred's son, J.G. Taylor Spink, takes over the paper.
• 1936: TSN names its first major league Sporting News Player of the Year Award, Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants. It is the oldest and most prestigious award given to the single player in MLB who had the most outstanding season. To this day, it remains voted on by MLB players.
• 1942: After decades of being intertwined with baseball, TSN adds in-season football coverage.
• 1946: TSN expands its football coverage with an eight-page tabloid publication titled The Quarterback. The tab is later renamed the All-Sports News as coverage of other sports is added, including professional and college basketball and hockey.
• 1962: J.G. Taylor Spink dies. His son C.C. Johnson Spink takes over the publication. In 1962, after Spink's death, the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) instituted the J. G. Taylor Spink Award as the highest award given to its members. Spink was also the first recipient.
• 1967: TSN publishes its first full-color photo, a cover image of Orioles star Frank Robinson.
• 1977: The Spink family sells TSN to Times Mirror in 1977.^[3]
• 1981: C.C. Johnson Spink sells TSN to Tribune Company.
• 1991: The Sporting News transitions to a glossy, full-color all-sports magazine.
• 1996: The Sporting News comes online, serving as a sports content provider for AOL. The following year, it launches sportingnews.com.
• 2000: Tribune Company sells TSN to Vulcan Inc., headed by tech billionaire Paul Allen. The following year, the company acquired the One on One Sports radio network, renaming it Sporting News Radio.
• 2002: The magazine drops the definite article from its name and becomes just Sporting News (SN). Subsequent covers reflect the change.
• 2006: Vulcan sells SN to Advance Media, which places the publication under the supervision of American City Business Journals (ACBJ).
• 2007: Sporting News begins its move from St. Louis, where it had been based since its founding, to ACBJ's headquarters in Charlotte, N.C. The publication leaves St. Louis for good in 2008, when it also became a bi-weekly publication.

Transition to digital publication

In 2011, Sporting News announced a deal to take over editorial control of AOL's sports website FanHouse.^[4] In December 2012, after 126 years, Sporting News published its final issue as a print publication, and shifted to becoming a digital-only publication.^[5]

The following March, ACBJ contributed Sporting News into a joint venture with the U.S. assets of sports data company Perform Group, known as Perform Sporting News Limited and doing business as Sporting News Media. Perform owned 65% of Sporting News Media. Sporting News would join Perform Group's other domestic properties, such as its video syndication unit ePlayer and its soccer website Goal.com. The deal excluded the magazine's Sporting News Yearbooks unit and NASCAR Illustrated.^[6] Almost immediately after the venture was established, Sporting News laid off 13 staff writers.^[7] Perform Group acquired the remainder of Sporting News Media in 2015.^[8]

Under Perform's ownership, Sporting News shifted to a more tabloid-like editorial direction. The site introduced a new logo and website design in 2016.^[9] Following Perform's acquisition of ACBJ's remaining stake, it began to align itself more closely with the company's other units, including replacing Associated Press articles with Perform's own Omnisport wire service for articles and video content (which began to constitute a sizable portion of the site's overall content). Sporting News also began to introduce new localized versions in other markets, with a focus on countries where it had launched its sports streaming service DAZN. These sites are, in turn, used to promote the DAZN service. Perform Media president Juan Delgado explained that the company was trying to preserve the heritage of the Sporting News brand by still publishing original content, while also publishing content oriented towards social media to appeal to younger users.

Later history

In September 2018, Perform Group spun out its consumer properties, including Sporting News and DAZN, into a new company known as DAZN Group. The remaining sports data business became Perform Content, and was sold in 2019 to Vista Equity Partners and merged with STATS LLC.^{[10] [11]}

In the summer of 2020, Lindenwood University of St. Charles, Missouri, acquired the archives collection of The Sporting News from ACBJ. The collection was described as consisting of "10,000+ books on baseball, football, hockey, basketball, NCAA, and other sports."^[12]

In December 2020, DAZN Group sold Sporting News to a private investment consortium, which became Sporting News Holdings.^[13]

Athlete of the Year

Sportsman of the Year

From 1968 to 2007, the magazine selected one or more individuals as Sportsman of the Year. On four occasions, the award was shared by two recipients. Twice, in 1993 and 2000, the award went to a pair of sportsmen within the same organization. In 1999, the honor was given to a whole team. No winner was chosen in 1987.

On December 18, 2007, the magazine announced New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as 2007 Sportsman of the Year, making Brady the first to repeat as a recipient of individual honors. Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals was also honored twice, but shared his second award with Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs.

In 2008, the award was replaced by two awards: "Pro Athlete of the Year" and "College Athlete of the Year". These in turn were replaced by a singular "Athlete of the Year" award starting in 2011.^[14]

• 1968 – Denny McLain, Detroit Tigers
• 1969 – Tom Seaver, New York Mets
• 1970 – John Wooden, UCLA basketball
• 1971 – Lee Trevino, golf
• 1972 – Charlie Finley, Oakland A's
• 1973 – O. J. Simpson, Buffalo Bills
• 1974 – Lou Brock, St. Louis Cardinals
• 1975 – Archie Griffin, Ohio State football
• 1976 – Larry O'Brien, National Basketball Association commissioner
• 1977 – Steve Cauthen, horse racing
• 1978 – Ron Guidry, New York Yankees
• 1979 – Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh Pirates
• 1980 – George Brett, Kansas City Royals
• 1981 – Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
• 1982 – Whitey Herzog, St. Louis Cardinals
• 1983 – Bowie Kuhn, Major League Baseball commissioner
• 1984 – Peter Ueberroth, Olympics organizer
• 1985 – Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds
• 1986 – Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
• 1987 – (none)
• 1988 – Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Olympics
• 1989 – Joe Montana, San Francisco 49ers
• 1990 – Nolan Ryan, Texas Rangers
• 1991 – Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls
• 1992 – Mike Krzyzewski, Duke basketball
• 1993 – Cito Gaston and Pat Gillick, Toronto Blue Jays
• 1994 – Emmitt Smith, Dallas Cowboys
• 1995 – Cal Ripken, Baltimore Orioles
• 1996 – Joe Torre, New York Yankees
• 1997 – Mark McGwire, St. Louis Cardinals
• 1998 – Mark McGwire, St. Louis Cardinals, and Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs (see also 1998 Major League Baseball home run record chase)
• 1999 – New York Yankees
• 2000 – Marshall Faulk and Kurt Warner, St. Louis Rams
• 2001 – Curt Schilling, Arizona Diamondbacks
• 2002 – Tyrone Willingham, Notre Dame football
• 2003 – Dick Vermeil, Kansas City Chiefs, and Jack McKeon, Florida Marlins
• 2004 – Tom Brady, New England Patriots
• 2005 – Matt Leinart, USC football
• 2006 – LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers
• 2007 – Tom Brady, New England Patriots

Pro Athlete of the Year

• 2008 – Eli Manning, New York Giants^[15]
• 2009 – Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees^[16]
• 2010 – Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies^[17]

College Athlete of the Year

• 2008 – Stephen Curry, Davidson men's basketball^[18]
• 2009 – Colt McCoy, Texas football^[19]
• 2010 – Kyle Singler, Duke men's basketball^[20]

Athlete of the Year

Beginning in 2011, the awards were merged back into a singular selection, Athlete of the Year.^[14]

• 2011 – Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
• 2012 – LeBron James, Miami Heat
• 2021 – Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels^[21]
• 2022 – Lionel Messi, Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain
• 2023 – Caitlin Clark, Iowa Hawkeyes and Angel Reese, LSU Tigers (both in basketball)^[22]

Sport-specific awards

Major League Baseball

TSN sponsors its own annual Team, Player, Pitcher, Rookie, Reliever, Comeback Player, Manager, and Executive of the Year awards. Many fans once held the newspaper's baseball awards at equal or higher esteem than those of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.^[23] Prior to 2005, the SN Comeback Player Award was generally recognized as the principal award of its type, as MLB did not give such an award until that year.

• The Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award (discontinued in 1946)
• Sporting News Player of the Year (all positions; in MLB)
• Sporting News Pitcher of the Year (in each league)
• Sporting News Rookie of the Year (from 1963 through 2003, there were two categories: Rookie Pitcher of the Year and Rookie Player of the Year)
• Sporting News Reliever of the Year (discontinued in 2011)
• Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year
• Sporting News Manager of the Year (in each league (1986–present); in MLB (1936–1985))
• Sporting News Executive of the Year (in MLB)

Minor League Baseball

• The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year Award (1936–2007)

Basketball

• Sporting News NBA Executive of the Year Award (1973–2008)
• Sporting News Men's College Basketball Player of the Year
• Sporting News Men’s College Basketball Coach of the Year Award

NFL

• Sporting News NFL Player of the Year Award (1954–1969 and since 1980)
  • Sporting News AFC and NFC player of the year awards (1970–1979)
• Sporting News NFL Rookie of the Year Award^[24]
• Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (since 1947)
• Sporting News All-Pro Team (since 1980)^[25]
• Sporting News All-Conference Team (from 1950s till 1979) (defunct)^[25]

College football awards

• Sporting News College Football Player of the Year (1942)
• Sporting News All-America Team (1934)
• Sporting News College Football Coach of the Year

Also, between 1975 and 2005, Sporting News conducted an annual poll and named a national champion for Division I-A (now Division I FBS). It is regarded as a "major selector" in NCAA official records books.^[26]

Notable staff

• Thomas G. Osenton, president and chief operating officer of Sporting News Publishing Company and publisher of The Sporting News weekly
• Bob Ferguson, journalist and author of Who's Who In Canadian Sport^[27]

Notes and References

1. Roy Blount Jr.. The Bible of Baseball hits 100 next week, and when the. Sports Illustrated. Time Inc.. March 17, 1986. January 30, 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130922145225/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1064606/index.htm. September 22, 2013.
2. News: Christopher Zara. In Memoriam: Magazines We Lost In 2012. November 8, 2014. International Business Times. December 22, 2012. February 24, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210224205229/https://www.ibtimes.com/memoriam-magazines-we-lost-2012-956388. live.
3. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/the-times-mirror-company-history/ "The Times Mirror Company History,"
4. News: Sporting News to Take Control of AOL FanHouse Content. Sandomir. Richard. 2011-01-13. The New York Times. 2019-10-14. en-US. 0362-4331. 2019-10-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20191014043300/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/sports/14fanhouse.html. live.
5. Web site: After 126 Years, 'The Sporting News' Stops The Presses. NPR.org. 11 December 2012. en. 2019-10-14. Mullis. Steve. 2021-02-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20210203181446/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2012/12/11/167001870/after-126-years-the-sporting-news-stops-the-presses. live.
6. Web site: Perform Group To Combine U.S. Sports Assets With Sporting News Brand. Sports Business Journal. en. 2019-10-14. 2021-02-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20210204114344/https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/en/Daily/Issues/2013/03/28/Media/Sporting%20News.aspx. live.
7. Web site: Sporting News Cuts Staff, Significantly: 12 Writers/Editors Fired in Surprising Bloodbath. The Big Lead. 28 March 2013. 2019-10-14. 2019-10-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20191014043322/https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/sporting-news-cuts-staff-significantly-12-writers-editors-fired-in-surprising-bloodbath-01dmjj4njn57. live.
8. Web site: How British owners turned America's oldest sports publication upside down. Yahoo! Finance. August 2017 . en-CA. 2019-10-14. 2021-02-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20210203213253/https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/british-owners-turned-americas-oldest-sports-publication-upside-150012470.html. live.
9. Web site: 2016-11-08. Sporting News unveils new logo, new-look website; readers react. 2020-12-14. Awful Announcing. en-US. 2020-11-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20201108090403/https://awfulannouncing.com/2016/sporting-news-unveils-new-logo-new-look-website-readers-react.html. live.
10. Web site: Report: DAZN owner planning split to increase focus on OTT platform. SportsPro. 17 October 2018. 2019-04-25. 2020-11-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20201112030822/https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/dazn-len-blavatnik-perform-content. live.
11. Web site: DAZN Group sells Perform. Broadcast. en. 2019-04-25. 2020-10-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20201022180839/https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/broadcasting/dazn-group-sells-perform/5138568.article. live.
12. Lindenwood Acquires The Sporting News Archives . Lindenwood University Staff Council Newsletter . Fall 2020 . lindenwood.edu . December 17, 2020 . February 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210204020100/https://www.lindenwood.edu/files/resources/2020-fall-staff-newsletter.pdf . live .
13. Web site: Novy-Williams. Eben. 2020-12-14. DAZN Sells Sporting News to British Family Office with Gaming Ties. 2020-12-14. Sportico.com. en-US. 2021-02-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20210218104254/https://www.sportico.com/business/media/2020/dazn-sells-sporting-news-1234618282/. live.
14. Web site: 20 December 2023 . History of The Sporting News' Athlete of the Year awards: Full list of past winners, 1968-2023 . Sporting News . 19 July 2024 . 14 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240114221145/https://www.sportingnews.com/us/archives/news/sporting-news-athlete-year-awards-full-list-past-winners/b5057b347246de26b7015930 . live.
15. Web site: Ken Bradley. Eli Manning named Sporting News' Pro Athlete of the Year. NJ.com. Dec 18, 2008. July 19, 2024.
16. Web site: Ken Bradley. 2009 Sporting News Pro Athlete of the Year: Mariano Rivera, Yankees closer. Sporting News. Dec 17, 2009. December 17, 2009. March 28, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100328222811/http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/article/2009-12-17/2009-sporting-news-pro-athlete-year-mariano-rivera-yankees-closer. dead.
17. Web site: Steve Greenberg. 2010 SN Pro Athlete of the Year: Roy Halladay. The Sporting News. Dec 15, 2010. December 17, 2009. November 8, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111108193924/http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2010-12-15/2010-sn-pro-athlete-of-the-year-roy-halladay. dead.
18. Web site: Marc Gignac. Stephen Curry Named Sporting News College Athlete of the Year. Davidson College. Dec 23, 2008. July 19, 2024.
19. Web site: Ken Bradley. 2009 Sporting News College Athlete of the Year: Colt McCoy, Texas QB. The Sporting News. Dec 17, 2009. December 17, 2009. January 24, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100124161100/http://www.sportingnews.com/college-football/article/2009-12-17/2009-sporting-news-college-athlete-year-colt-mccoy-texas-qb. dead.
20. Web site: Steve Greenberg. 2010 SN College Athlete of the Year: Kyle Singler. The Sporting News. Dec 15, 2010. December 17, 2009. January 22, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120122091836/http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2010-12-15/2010-sn-college-athlete-of-the-year. dead.
21. Web site: Shohei Ohtani is the 2021 Sporting News Athlete of the Year . Jason . Foster . The Sporting News . December 31, 2021 . December 31, 2021 . December 30, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211230235515/https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/shohei-ohtani-2021-sporting-news-athlete-of-the-year/11wa1ws7tpnk13ritc17beacu . live .
22. Web site: Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are The Sporting News Athletes of the Year . Mike . DeCourcy . The Sporting News . December 19, 2023 . December 22, 2023 . December 20, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231220012421/https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-basketball/news/caitlin-clark-and-angel-reese-are-sporting-news-athletes-year/34c759308b5d7c808627bcb5 . live .
23. Book: Gillette . Gary . Palmer . Pete . Gammons . Peter . The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia . Fifth . 1807 . 2008. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. 978-1-4027-6051-8. gillette.
24. Web site: Clifton Brown. Sporting News 2012 NFL awards: Robert Griffin III, Rookie of the Year – NFL. AOL. January 30, 2013. January 30, 2013. January 24, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130124001722/http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2013-01-21/robert-griffin-iii-rg3-rookie-of-the-year-sporting-news-2012-nfl-awards. dead.
25. From the 1950s through 1979, The Sporting News published All-Conference teams. In 1980 it began choosing an All-Pro team.
26. Web site: 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records. National Collegiate Athletics Association. September 3, 2019. November 7, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201107161218/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2018/FBS.pdf. live.
27. News: Longtime Citizen sports writer among Hall inductees. Desaulniers. Darren. February 20, 2009. Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario. 15. November 20, 2021. October 24, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024061444/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87640953/ferguson-2009/. live.