100% agree Jarrod. We have some quality writers in NZ who fill the role of detail-oriented writers, but they also have their time split amongst other sports and platforms to earn enough money to survive. The Niche Cache is a great example of this, covering pretty much everything but rugby, but despite this, they have recently had to push for more money as they don't have enough coverage. Allowing them to write without also having to take on their own marketing I imagine would be a dream for them.
Yeah talent not a problem in most of these small nations. The media structure is. And then CI/CB dropped the ball. Dylan Cleaver doing good work on his emailer. But still has to worry about promotion, getting new subs and covering other sports.
The Bounce is a great read, but definitely isn't able to do the beat work on the provincial teams as such because of it's need for generality. Having someone like Dylan full-time in cricket writing would be incredible but obviously it needs external investment in a global way as the market for that niche is too small to take a gamble on. I also enjoy the way he can bring more of the systemic things to light, whereas NC go more into analytics (as a generalisation). I'm really hoping this idea goes somewhere, it'd be a dream for fans
Great piece. It’s very difficult to make online sports content sustainable. The Athletic, for all the kudos it gets in the US has struggled to make significant revenue in the UK after launching and snapping up some of the top football writers. That said a comprehensive, well funded global cricket site providing a different experience to cricinfo feels long overdue.
Perhaps cricket doesn’t need its Athletic.. maybe it needs its Players Tribune?
Lets not get cricketers to get their sob stories ghostwritten for us. Players Tribune rarely hits with a good piece and Cricket already has too many ex cricketers with a (lack of)personality problem
Thanks Jarrod, a great topic to open up and you've obviously invested more than the rest of us just mulling in this.. I wonder why the NYT business would not again look at a cricket string to The Athletic - they budget and cost it for the Indian market initially and surely a gazilion Indian eyeballs into their platform as it least worth scoping out? And which IPL owner group wouldn't want to sponsor/advertise against/partner in a US platform as they all begin brand extensions into MLC? That's the gateway into funding the cricket coverage in the other territiories..
I think it starts with the ICC. Cricket is the most randomly organised sport in the world. There are some shoots of it getting better like the WTC, but imagine if they organised themselves similar to tennis and had T20 grand slams… then there would be better coverage and better more space for better writing.
Reminds me a little bit of cycling. The governing body doesn’t really do anything except tweak rules.
In India, it's extremely difficult to get ideas following in established companies. Everyone wants to make money with SEO and the focus has always been over quantity more than quality. When you suggest ideas, it takes ages for the bosses to get out of this comfort zone of free flowing money.
I have tried to write a couple of data stories and non-SEO based stories which 'answer' questions by taking inspiration from the The Athletic and it has worked brilliantly for traffic. But here's the problem: such stories take time and triple the effort, and you can get paid the same by doing 2 random news pieces in 30 minutes. The publications that promote brilliant features, like the Sportstar magazine, pay peanuts.
With so much competition, you need to stay afloat and make money. So if you are someone who really wants to do good journalism and writing between the chaos of content aggregation and have to make money too, the only way is to work extra over your 8 hour shifts or on weekends.
I think for any business like this it has to start at the beginning. Changing from an SEO aggregator to a normal site is quite hard (unless someone buys the site just for the existing SEO). As you say, they are making money, so that is fine.
But that is all they are doing. And that is the sad thing.
Absolutely agree with you, I wonder if starting a publication or a stack on Substack where we get access to several writers at one go will be a good point to test it out?
1. For example I was really keen to follow the Scotland fast bowler who in the WC qualifiers bowled 150kph and thought he maybe a good investment for RCB for long term.
2. IPL point is great, I absolutely find myself disconnected with the RCB team after the IPL. There are no real good articles. The IPL feels like a one night stand. There is really nothing before or after!
3. Test cricket is another one. For example the Indian team finds itself having batters, and now after Jadeja a bowler with little international experience. I mean how did they get here? What was RD and RS thinking? Everyone keeps coming and giving their opinion but quality cricket writing goes beyond that.
Another point is even though cricket is second most searched most of it will be from India. India’s per capita GDP is 2,200 USD. Englands is 45,544. That is insane. But the catch is Mumbai’s per capita GDP is USD 23,000! So how do you maintain the pricing for a such a disparate set of audience? One thing that could really work though is fantasy sports writing and detailed discussion. I am sure that will be a big draw even in India. You assume that subscription is USD 40 a month. But there will be 4/5 guys putting together and getting the subscription. Could that work?
Anyways looking forward to Athletic for Cricket! I will be glad to read that. I have almost stopped reading Cricinfo articles and only read the ones in Substack. But multiple good writers get expensive quickly. Will advertisers help with that?
So, I have already tried that before. The problem is you need to pay people, and if you don't, they disappear. So without money it never works.
I can't expert professional writers to give up their jobs and come to substack/ghost/where ever on the hope they make money back in six months.
That plan would not work.
The subscription model would probably be very different to the Athletic, as you have said, even in one country it would be a challenge. But I don't think this idea is as subscription based as The Athletic is. The great thing about the subcontintent is the numbers. Which is where the social media/videos/podcasts come in. So it would certainly be different from the athletic, but keep some core parts of it.
100% agree Jarrod. We have some quality writers in NZ who fill the role of detail-oriented writers, but they also have their time split amongst other sports and platforms to earn enough money to survive. The Niche Cache is a great example of this, covering pretty much everything but rugby, but despite this, they have recently had to push for more money as they don't have enough coverage. Allowing them to write without also having to take on their own marketing I imagine would be a dream for them.
Yeah talent not a problem in most of these small nations. The media structure is. And then CI/CB dropped the ball. Dylan Cleaver doing good work on his emailer. But still has to worry about promotion, getting new subs and covering other sports.
The Bounce is a great read, but definitely isn't able to do the beat work on the provincial teams as such because of it's need for generality. Having someone like Dylan full-time in cricket writing would be incredible but obviously it needs external investment in a global way as the market for that niche is too small to take a gamble on. I also enjoy the way he can bring more of the systemic things to light, whereas NC go more into analytics (as a generalisation). I'm really hoping this idea goes somewhere, it'd be a dream for fans
Wonderful write up!
Interesting piece. How come you never took any of your attempts further? What about a monthly or quarterly long form model, like the golfers journal?
Great piece. It’s very difficult to make online sports content sustainable. The Athletic, for all the kudos it gets in the US has struggled to make significant revenue in the UK after launching and snapping up some of the top football writers. That said a comprehensive, well funded global cricket site providing a different experience to cricinfo feels long overdue.
Perhaps cricket doesn’t need its Athletic.. maybe it needs its Players Tribune?
Lets not get cricketers to get their sob stories ghostwritten for us. Players Tribune rarely hits with a good piece and Cricket already has too many ex cricketers with a (lack of)personality problem
The only thing I’d want to do more than read this is write for it.
Thanks Jarrod, a great topic to open up and you've obviously invested more than the rest of us just mulling in this.. I wonder why the NYT business would not again look at a cricket string to The Athletic - they budget and cost it for the Indian market initially and surely a gazilion Indian eyeballs into their platform as it least worth scoping out? And which IPL owner group wouldn't want to sponsor/advertise against/partner in a US platform as they all begin brand extensions into MLC? That's the gateway into funding the cricket coverage in the other territiories..
I think it starts with the ICC. Cricket is the most randomly organised sport in the world. There are some shoots of it getting better like the WTC, but imagine if they organised themselves similar to tennis and had T20 grand slams… then there would be better coverage and better more space for better writing.
Reminds me a little bit of cycling. The governing body doesn’t really do anything except tweak rules.
I enjoyed the story and agree that as fans we're not getting what we need.
I was distracted though by the obviously AI generated illustrations. Poor form, Jarrod.
Your story is not only about how fans aren't getting what they want, need, and deserve but also about cricket writers not getting the best they could.
How would you feel if someone put out cricket news entirely hacked together by AI/LLMs?
That's what AI illustrations do to visual artists.
In India, it's extremely difficult to get ideas following in established companies. Everyone wants to make money with SEO and the focus has always been over quantity more than quality. When you suggest ideas, it takes ages for the bosses to get out of this comfort zone of free flowing money.
I have tried to write a couple of data stories and non-SEO based stories which 'answer' questions by taking inspiration from the The Athletic and it has worked brilliantly for traffic. But here's the problem: such stories take time and triple the effort, and you can get paid the same by doing 2 random news pieces in 30 minutes. The publications that promote brilliant features, like the Sportstar magazine, pay peanuts.
With so much competition, you need to stay afloat and make money. So if you are someone who really wants to do good journalism and writing between the chaos of content aggregation and have to make money too, the only way is to work extra over your 8 hour shifts or on weekends.
I think for any business like this it has to start at the beginning. Changing from an SEO aggregator to a normal site is quite hard (unless someone buys the site just for the existing SEO). As you say, they are making money, so that is fine.
But that is all they are doing. And that is the sad thing.
Absolutely agree with you, I wonder if starting a publication or a stack on Substack where we get access to several writers at one go will be a good point to test it out?
1. For example I was really keen to follow the Scotland fast bowler who in the WC qualifiers bowled 150kph and thought he maybe a good investment for RCB for long term.
2. IPL point is great, I absolutely find myself disconnected with the RCB team after the IPL. There are no real good articles. The IPL feels like a one night stand. There is really nothing before or after!
3. Test cricket is another one. For example the Indian team finds itself having batters, and now after Jadeja a bowler with little international experience. I mean how did they get here? What was RD and RS thinking? Everyone keeps coming and giving their opinion but quality cricket writing goes beyond that.
Another point is even though cricket is second most searched most of it will be from India. India’s per capita GDP is 2,200 USD. Englands is 45,544. That is insane. But the catch is Mumbai’s per capita GDP is USD 23,000! So how do you maintain the pricing for a such a disparate set of audience? One thing that could really work though is fantasy sports writing and detailed discussion. I am sure that will be a big draw even in India. You assume that subscription is USD 40 a month. But there will be 4/5 guys putting together and getting the subscription. Could that work?
Anyways looking forward to Athletic for Cricket! I will be glad to read that. I have almost stopped reading Cricinfo articles and only read the ones in Substack. But multiple good writers get expensive quickly. Will advertisers help with that?
So, I have already tried that before. The problem is you need to pay people, and if you don't, they disappear. So without money it never works.
I can't expert professional writers to give up their jobs and come to substack/ghost/where ever on the hope they make money back in six months.
That plan would not work.
The subscription model would probably be very different to the Athletic, as you have said, even in one country it would be a challenge. But I don't think this idea is as subscription based as The Athletic is. The great thing about the subcontintent is the numbers. Which is where the social media/videos/podcasts come in. So it would certainly be different from the athletic, but keep some core parts of it.