The New York Times recently ran this article about sportswriters as the new breed of free agent, moving from publication to publication for higher and higher salaries. Rick Reilly recently left Sports Illustrated for ESPN The Magazine, while Dan Patrick did the reverse (think of it as a trade of two superstars). These are just two of the more recognizable names to a national audience.
The competition for writers has even produced bidding wars, especially for big-name columnists … but also for less widely known reporters. People who were briefed on the deals said that Mr. Reilly’s contract, easily the biggest of the recent signings, was worth more than $3 million a year.
“It’s the exact same model as what happened to athletes,” said Leigh Steinberg, a top sports agent. “We’re seeing free agency for sports journalists.”
Newspaper scribes have been hopping around ever since Guttenberg invented movable type. It’s not surprising to find a Maury Allen or Filip Bondy type who’s written for several papers in the same market, although with the decline of multiple papers over the decades, this is no longer the case:
Rising demand for star sportswriters, driven by rising television and Internet revenue, coincides with the declining fortunes of newspapers, which has left fewer jobs and less money to go around for most journalists. The paradox is not lost on the lucky few who benefit.
I used to love buying the Street and Smith’s Baseball Annual each spring. For much of my youth, it was the only game in town. Now it competes with similar offerings from Athlon, Lindy’s, and others. It was fun to catch up on who was starting. Here’s a brief list of the sportswriters who will be playing for a new team, in addition to Reilly and Patrick:
- Selena Roberts, from the Times to ESPN
- Howard Bryant, Washington Post to ESPN
- Mark Fainaru-Wada, San Francisco Chronicle to ESPN (is there a pattern here?)
“When you lose an established star like Howard Bryant, it’s a terrible blow, because they’re not easily replaceable,” said Mr. Garcia-Ruiz of The Post. “We’re used to being a destination, not a stepping stone.”
Other articles recognize the influence/importance of the sportswriter, including Slate, which refers to the Times’ piece and maintains that “stars” of the industry (Ring Lardner, for one) have always been well-compensated; and this blog entry, which considers “Baseball as an analogy for the writing game…”
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