FanSided is a fandom-focused sports, lifestyle and entertainment network of more than 300 websites. It was co-founded and launched in 2009 by brothers Zach Best and Adam Best.
[Gounley, Thoma]
"Fan-focused websites started by Hillcrest grads acquired by publisher of Sports Illustrated"
''Springfield News-Leader'', June 9, 2015. FanSided is owned by
Minute Media
The minute is a unit of time usually equal to (the first sexagesimal fraction) of an hour, or 60 seconds. In the UTC time standard, a minute on rare occasions has 61 seconds, a consequence of leap seconds (there is a provision to insert a n ...
and is headquartered in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
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.
[Lazare, Lewi]
"How Time Inc.'s FanSided.com network is putting down roots in Chicago"
''Chicago Business Journal'', September 9, 2016.
About
The FanSided network consists of more than 300 websites, and also has a dedicated mobile app and daily newsletters.
[ As of June 2016, FanSided was the fastest-growing among the top 15 digital sports networks.][
]
History
The idea of FanSided was born in 2007 when brothers Adam and Zach Best co-founded a Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division.
The t ...
blog called ''Arrowhead Addict''. The FanSided network was officially launched in 2009.[Steigrad, Alexandr]
"Time Inc. Buys FanSided, Talks Future Deals"
''Women's Wear Daily'', May 26, 2015.
Over time, the site expanded to include other professional sports, as well as more topics, including general news, entertainment, lifestyle and fandoms like ''Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of '' A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the fir ...
'', ''The Walking Dead'', and ''Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...
''.[
Matt Blake joined the company as a partner and chief product officer in 2011. Both Matt Blake and Zach Best serve as co-CEOs of FanSided.
FanSided, including its mobile app and newsletter, was acquired by Time Inc. on May 26, 2015.]Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...
's local sports coverage and financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. Under Time Inc.’s ownership, founders Adam and Zach Best continued to oversee FanSided as a division of the Sports Illustrated Group.
On March 2, 2017, Adam Best announced his departure from the company.
On January 31, 2018, Time Inc. was acquired by Meredith Corporation, which assumed ownership of all of Time Inc.’s media brands, including FanSided.
In January 2020, FanSided was sold to Minute Media
The minute is a unit of time usually equal to (the first sexagesimal fraction) of an hour, or 60 seconds. In the UTC time standard, a minute on rare occasions has 61 seconds, a consequence of leap seconds (there is a provision to insert a n ...
by Meredith Corporation. The acquisition was intended to allow Minute Media to target fans of specific teams.
Burt Gertson/Mia Khalifa controversy
On September 29, 2016, FanSided columnist Burt Gertson and former adult film actress
A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts in video that is usually characterized as a pornographic movie. Such videos tend to be made in a number of dis ...
Mia Khalifa, who was writing for FanSided at the time, engaged in a Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
argument. After initially claiming via email that Gertson was a real person, FanSided later tweeted that the Gertson account was a fictional person aimed at providing satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming o ...
. On October 1, 2016, FanSided issued a statement on the termination of those involved, including editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
Jim Cavan.
Partnerships
In August 2012, FanSided partnered with ''Sports Illustrated''. The partnership offered ''Sports Illustrated'' an opportunity to expand its local sports coverage and reach new customers via FanSided's digital network. As part of the partnership, ''Sports Illustrateds website featured links to content on FanSided websites. Time Inc. also sold ads on the FanSided websites with revenue shared between the two entities.[
]
Projects
FanSided Fan of the Year
On November 6, 2015, in conjunction with ''Sports Illustrated'', FanSided announced the ''FanSided Fan of the Year'' contest. The annual contest is aimed at recognizing the most dedicated sports fans. The five finalists are interviewed and profiled on FanSided.com and receive a one-year subscription to ''Sports Illustrated''. The grand prize winner is featured in ''Sports Illustrated''.
FanSided Fandom of the Year
On November 1, 2016, FanSided announced ''Fandom 250'', a subjective ranking of the best 250 fandoms in the world. The yearly ranking is assembled by a panel of experts who evaluate more than 500 fandoms across multiple categories, including sports, technology, entertainment, lifestyle and more. The fandoms are evaluated based on their size, longevity, economic and media impact, as well as the passion of its fans. In 2021, FanSided renamed the project the FanSided Fandom of the Year.
FanSiders of the Year
On February 7, 2020, FanSided announced its first annual ''FanSider of the Year Awards'', recognizing the best of the best at FanSided. The inaugural FanSiders of the Year for 2019 included:
* NFL Expert (Editor) of the Year Brad Weiss
* NCAA Experts (Editors) of the Year Jacob Lane and Presley Meyer
* NFL Contributor (Writer) of the Year Chris Wilson
* NCAA Contributor (Writer) of the Year Zach Bigalke
Traffic
As of December 2019, comScore put FanSided traffic at 23.5 million unique visitors per month.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:FanSided
American companies established in 2007
Companies based in Chicago
American entertainment websites
Internet properties established in 2009