Sporting News leaves St. Louis

[clevfan]

Media Views: Sad time for many as Sporting News leaves St. Louis

By Dan Caesar
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/05/2008

An era in local history ends this weekend as Sporting News, one of the area’s longest-standing continuous operations and at one time one of the city’s most nationally visible businesses, publishes for the last time as a St. Louis-based operation.

Sporting News, which has been based in St. Louis since 1886 — just 10 years after Budweiser was first brewed — moves to Charlotte, N.C., for its next issue. That’s the home of American City Business Journals, which has owned the publication for two years.

Sporting News once was America’s premier baseball publication, covering America’s pastime like no other as it was produced in numerous downtown locations over the years. But times changed, with baseball being passed by football in popularity and the publication eventually evolving from a statistics-laden newspaper format to a spiffier magazine-style format. And the publication that was founded by Alfred H. Spink and was owned for generations by the Spink family has changed hands twice already this decade.

The company has stopped printing many of the ancillary publications for which Sporting News was known — including baseball, football and hockey registers as well as a baseball rules book — and recently company officials announced the entire operation will be reformatted in an effort to be at the front of the way fans get their news. The company plans to inaugurate "Sporting News Today,’’ which it says will be the first free digital daily sports paper, on July 23. Then in September it will reduce production of its traditional magazine from weekly to every other week.

The publication’s online staff (sportingnews.com), which had been based in St. Louis and New York, moved to Charlotte last year and only 31 employees out of a staff that exceeded 100 in 2000 were left in St. Louis this week. Of that group, 17 plan to move, 11 will leave the company and three will remain while working out of their homes.

It was a subdued mood this week at the Sporting News office in Chesterfield, where it has been housed since moving from Creve Coeur two years ago. People were packing while working, and former employees came to say goodbye.

One of those leaving the company is editorial director John Rawlings, who has run the magazine for nearly two decades.

"It’s sad; there are people here I love, people I’ve worked with — some for 18 years,’’ he said. "It’s hard to see friends leave. But I’m excited for people who are going to be working on two new products. ... It’s a good time for a new leader.’’

The entire traditional media business is changing, with the emphasis shifting to online communications.

"I wish we could have changed faster,’’ Rawlings said. "I felt like we were really close a couple times. We never got over the hump.’’

But he says Sporting News can be successful in its traditional form as well as its new endeavor.

"Under the new plan they have, Sporting News has a chance to succeed,’’ he said, adding "I’m not as pessimistic about the print produce as a lot of people are in the business. You have to define what you are and stick to it.’’

Writer Dennis Dillon is one of the few staying with the company and remaining in St. Louis, as his duties don’t necessitate him being in the office on a daily basis.

"It’s bittersweet, because I’m leaving a lot of colleagues who are going through emotional, life-changing decisions,’’ said Dillon, who has been with Sporting News for 22 years. "It seems like all of my friends are leaving. While I feel lucky to remain in St. Louis, it’s hard to see your friends leave.’’

He said they have remained focused on their jobs through trying times.

"Their resolve has been unbelievable, their passion for the job has never wavered,’’ he said. "And I think we’re all looking forward to what the new Sporting News will be.’’

Assigning editor Ron Smith, who has been with Sporting News for all but about 18 months of the past 28 years, is the longest-tenured employee to be making the move and succinctly summed up things.

"It certainly is an emotional time of feelings when something like this happens,’’ he said. "We’ve been an institution here in St. Louis, people just don’t know us like Anheuser-Busch.’’

[Bostongambler]

I used to love to read it as a kid. Way before internet and all.

[Total Square]

remember scouring the week old box scores looking for an edge. these kids today will never know LOL

[Bostongambler]

TS, I remember reading the Boston herald sports section on Sundays to see all the batting averages of everybody in the league.

[TheGuesser]

TSN was as responsible as anything for me becoming a huge sports fan. SI and Sport magazine could not compare with the nuts and bolts TSN was. Lost tons of respect for them when Sporting News Radio stopped running Sportsbook ads, and paid a fine, and gave a stupid PSA saying Offshore Sportsbetting was illegal. Was the beginning of the end. If they had a backbone, maybe it would have been different.

[Total Square]

guesser,
at the time of the settlement, they were owned by paul allen who has as deep a pocket as anybody in the world. it was certainly not worth the headache of the missouri us attorney (same one at the point of the bos prosecution) going after them and much easier to pay the ransom and move on. they were an easy target for a settlement.

[skilled27]

Originally Posted by Bostongambler

TS, I remember reading the Boston herald sports section on Sundays to see all the batting averages of everybody in the league.

My newspaper still does this on Sunday.

On a side note, thier football publication this year has the Georgia Bulldogs as the winners of the national championship.