Deadspin, the sports news website, has been sold to a European digital media company, its owner, G/O Media, said Monday.
G/O Media, which is owned by private equity firm Great Hill Partners, manages a number of digital media brands, including Gizmodo, Kotaku and The Onion. Jim Spanfeller, the chief executive, told staff members in an email Monday afternoon that the company had recently been approached about a deal by “a digital media startup” called Lineup Publishing.
Mr. Spanfeller said the board accepted the offer because of “the buyer’s editorial plans for the brand, stiff competition in the sports journalism space and a valuation that reflects a substantial premium over the original purchase price for the site.”
He did not disclose the price of the deal.
Mr. Spanfeller said the new owner would not bring any of the site’s existing staff members over, and those employees also would not stay at G/O Media.
“While the new owners plan to be respectful of Deadspin’s unique voice, they plan to take a different content approach to the site’s overall sports coverage,” he said.
Lineup Publishing’s website has few details about the company, other than the description: “Interesting brands. Loads of character.” It indicates the company is based in Malta. A company spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Deadspin, which began as a blog in 2005 and was part of Gawker Media’s portfolio of websites, was sold to G/O Media in 2019 along with a number of other former Gawker brands.
Last year, G/O Media shut down Jezebel, a groundbreaking feminist website, and then sold it to Paste Magazine. He also sold Lifehacker, an online how-to guide.
