How Grantland Died
ESPN killed Grantland today. There were hints that this would happen, starting with the departure of Grantland founder Bill Simmons in May. This summer, news broke that ESPN would be making enormous budget cuts over the next two years. Last month, Grantland suffered a crippling blow when four top editors—Sean Fennessey, Juliet Litman, Mallory Rubin, and Chris Ryan—left on the same day to join Simmons at a still-unannounced project, and Dan Fierman, Grantland’s editorial director, went to MTV. When Deadspin reached out to ESPN last week to ask if Grantland was being shuttered, a spokesman declined comment. Today it became official. The 40-odd remaining writers and editors at the sports and culture website found out virtually when everyone else did.