G/O Media Sells Deadspin to Lineup Publishing, Lays Off Staff

G/O Media has sold its sports website Deadspin to Lineup Publishing, a media company based out of Malta. The financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. The existing Deadspin staff—around 11 employees—will be laid off as part of the deal, according to an internal memo sent by chief executive Jim Spanfeller. “While the new owners plan to be reverential to Deadpin’s unique voice, they plan to take a different content approach regarding the site’s overall sports coverage,” Spanfeller said in the email. “This unfortunately means that we will be parting ways with those impacted staff members, who were notified earlier today.” The sale comes after ADWEEK reported in January that G/O Media was actively fielding offers to sell parts of its portfolio, provided the offers meet certain commercial criteria. It sold the recommendations website Lifehacker to Ziff Davis in March 2023 and the feminist property Jezebel to Paste Magazine in November, and it has received offers for satirical brand The Onion. The sale of Deadspin represents its third divested property in 12 months. However, Spanfeller stressed in the memo that the company was not actively shopping Deadspin. “The rationale behind the decision to sell included a variety of important factors that include the buyer's editorial plans for the brand, tough competition in the sports journalism sector and a valuation that reflected a sizable premium from our original purchase price for the site,” Spanfeller said. G/O Media Hangs ‘For Sale’ Sign Across Its Portfolio Controversy at Deadspin An editorial controversy at Deadspin late last year may have helped hasten its sale, according to two people familiar with the matter. The sports website published a story in November accusing a 9-year-old boy attending a Kansas City Chiefs football game of wearing blackface, only to discover that the fan had painted his face red and black. The family eventually sued Deadspin for the story. The incident frustrated the private equity ownership of G/O Media, Great Hill Partners, according to two people familiar with the matter. G/O Media, which Great Hill acquired in 2019 for $40 million, is a relatively small acquisition by Great Hill standards, which often invests between $50 million and $75 million in companies with businesses that grow to around $200 million, according to a source. But the controversy that Deadspin and G/O Media have courted has made it a headache for ownership. Following the initial sale in 2019, the entire staff of Deadspin quit and started a rival publication, Defector. In 2023, five editors in chief, as well as editorial director Merrill Brown, left G/O Media. Additionally, former interim editor in chief of Deadspin Julie DiCaro is suing G/O Media, alleging that the media company paid her less than male colleagues serving in the same role, according to public documents. The lawsuit, which is based in Illinois, was filed in January. The decision to sell Deadspin reflects the challenging economic climate for digital media, which in recent months has prompted a wave of layoffs, sales and closures. “Although we are seeing some improvement so far this year on the advertising front—and I am cautiously optimistic this will continue—we are cognizant of the need to focus on the core sites we feel can best prosper in the current and future media business environment,” Spanfeller said. Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that the total number of affected Deadspin employees is 11, not 30.