''The Ringer'' is a sports and pop culture website and podcast network, founded by sportswriter

Bill Simmons William John Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is an American podcaster, Sports journalism, sportswriter, and cultural critic who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website ''The Ringer (website), The Ringer''. Simmons fir ...

in 2016 and acquired by

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

in 2020.

History

''The Ringer'' was launched in March 2016 by Bill Simmons, who brought along several editors who had previously worked with him on ''

Grantland ''Grantland'' was a sports and pop-culture blog owned and operated by ESPN. The blog was started in 2011 by veteran writer and sports journalist Bill Simmons, who remained as editor-in-chief until May 2015. ''Grantland'' was named after famed ...

'', an

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

-owned blog he operated from 2011 to 2015. At launch, the Ringer had a staff of 43 and focused primarily on sports and pop culture as content areas, with a few writers also working on technology and politics.

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

, the network on which Simmons hosted his weekly television program '' Any Given Wednesday'' one season in 2016, was an initial investor in the website. The website was previously published on the

Medium Medium may refer to: Aircraft *Medium bomber, a class of warplane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Medium'' (1921 film), a German silent film * ''The Medium'' (1951 film), a film vers ...

platform. In May 2017, The Ringer entered into an advertising and technology partnership with

Vox Media Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company founded in Washington, D.C. with operational headquarters in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by CEO Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''S ...

(owner of ''

SB Nation ''SB Nation'' (an abbreviation for their full name ''SportsBlogs Nation'') is a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Tyler Blezinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong in 2003. The blog from which the netwo ...

''), under which Vox would handle advertising sales, and give the site access to its in-house publishing platform. Former Grantland writers who have since written for or worked for ''The Ringer'' include

Mark Titus Mark Titus (born June 25, 1987) is an American author, podcast host, and former walk-on basketball player at Ohio State. Basketball career Titus played high school basketball at Brownsburg High School (BHS) in Brownsburg, Indiana. For Brownsb ...

Shea Serrano Shea Serrano (born 1981) is an American author, journalist, humorist, and former teacher. He is best known for his work with the sports and pop culture websites, ''The Ringer (website), The Ringer'' and ''Grantland'', as well as his books, inclu ...

, Ben Lindbergh, Robert Mays,

Andy Greenwald Andy Greenwald (born May 19, 1977) is an American author, critic, podcaster, screenwriter, and television producer. Life and career Greenwald grew up in Philadelphia and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from Friends' ...

, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan,

Mallory Rubin Mallory Rubin is an American editor and podcaster. She is most well-known for her work at '' The Ringer'', and for the ''Binge Mode'' pop culture podcast which she co-hosted with Jason Concepcion. She is one of the founding editors of ''The Ringe ...

, Juliet Litman, Craig Gaines, Bryan Curtis, David Shoemaker, Ryan O'Hanlon, Danny Chau, Jason Concepcion, Riley McAtee, Joe Fuentes, and Tate Frazier. In May 2018, ''The Ringer'' published a story by Ben Detrick about

Bryan Colangelo Bryan Paul Colangelo (born June 1, 1965) is an American basketball executive who was the former general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also served as presiden ...

, then the GM of the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

, and his apparent use of various

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

accounts to criticize players and defend himself. This led to Colangelo's resignation on June 7, 2018. In August 2019, ''The Ringer''s editorial staff voted to unionize with the

Writers Guild of America, East The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is a trade union, labor union representing writers in film, television, radio, news, and online media. The WGAE and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW), though independent entities, jointly brand the ...

. The union was voluntarily recognized by the Ringer's management four days later. On February 5, 2020, subscription music streaming service

announced it was acquiring ''The Ringer'' for an estimated $195 million and an additional $50 million in performance-driven incentives. In April 2021, writers and producers ratified their first collective agreement with

Gimlet Media Gimlet Media LLC was a digital media company and podcast network, focused on producing narrative podcasts and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. The company was founded in 2014 by Alex Blumberg and Matthew Lieber, who served as the company's ...

and ''The Ringer''. It would last 3 years, with minimum base salary of $57,000 for The Ringer staff. Absent was any provision over worker ownership of content created.

Content

Like the content on the website, ''The Ringer''s podcast network covers both sports and pop culture. The flagship podcast, ''The Bill Simmons Podcast'', is an interview show hosted by Simmons, featuring other Ringer writers and podcast hosts as well as athletes, filmmakers, comedians, and pop culture figures. Former podcasts include ''

Keepin' it 1600 ''Keepin' it 1600'' was an American political podcast produced by The Ringer and hosted by former Barack Obama staffers Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor, Jon Lovett, and Dan Pfeiffer. Its name is a reference to the saying " keep it one hundred" and ...

'', a politics podcast featuring former Obama speechwriters

Jon Favreau Jonathan Kolia Favreau ( ; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Favreau has appeared in films such as ''Rudy (film), Rudy'' (1993), ''PCU (film), PCU'' (1994), ''Swingers (1996 film), Swingers'' (1996), ''Very ...

and

Dan Pfeiffer Howard Daniel Pfeiffer (born December 24, 1975) is an American political advisor, author, and podcast host. He was senior advisor to President Barack Obama for strategy and communications from 2013 to 2015. Pfeiffer was a long-time aide to Oba ...

. After leaving ''The Ringer'', the hosts of ''Keepin' it 1600'' created a new podcast called ''

Pod Save America ''Pod Save America'' is an American Progressivism in the United States, progressive political podcast developed and distributed by Crooked Media. The podcast debuted in January 2017 and airs twice per week, hosted by a rotating cast of former B ...

'' as part of their own new media company,

Crooked Media Crooked Media is an American progressive political media company. It was founded in 2017 by Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor, all former top Barack Obama staffers and co-hosts of the '' Keepin' It 1600'' podcast. Dan Pfeiffer, also a ...

. In 2017, ''The Ringer'' began the video podcast series ''Talk the Thrones'', an

aftershow An aftershow or after-show is a genre of television talk show whose topic is another television program. An aftershow is typically broadcast immediately after a new episode of its corresponding program, to help retain the audience, and to provide a ...

for ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

'' hosted by ''The Ringer'' staff writers and

live streamed Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non-live ...

on Twitter. ''Talk the Thrones'' is a continuation of ''

After the Thrones ''After the Thrones'' is an American live television aftershow that premiered on April 25, 2016, and ended on June 28, 2016. It was hosted by Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan who discussed episodes of the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones''. ...

'', which aired on HBO. ''The Ringer'' premiered ''

Binge Mode ''Binge Mode'' is a pop culture podcast produced by The Ringer. It is hosted by the website's editor-in-chief, Mallory Rubin, and former senior creative, Jason Concepcion. The first episode premiered on June 5, 2017. ''Binge Mode'' has been na ...

'' in 2017, a podcast that recapped ''Game of Thrones'' and the ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' series. 2020 marked the debut of the ''

Higher Learning Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

'' podcast with

Van Lathan Van Lathan Jr. (born April 16, 1980) is an American journalist, producer, podcaster, and political commentator. He worked as a senior producer and cohost on TMZ when he came into prominence for confronting Kanye West during a 2018 interview with ...

and Rachel Lindsay. In the podcast, the two cohosts delve into topics including Black culture, politics, sports, and current events. The podcast has been nominated for the Outstanding Society and Culture Podcast award at the

NAACP Image Awards The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

for their 54th, 55th, and 56th editions.

Personalities

Notable current employees include: *

Ryen Russillo Ryen Russillo (born August 5, 1975) is an American sports host who for many years hosted a popular radio show on ESPN. Russillo left ESPN in 2019 to join The Ringer. From 2009 to 2017, Russillo was a host or co-host of the afternoon show on ESP ...

, sports podcaster and former radio host and sports journalist *

Zach Lowe Zachary Curtis Lowe (born August 24, 1977
) is an American sportswriter, journa ...

, NBA analyst and podcaster * Juliet Litman, podcaster *

, host of

Todd McShay Todd Marshall McShay (born March 22, 1977) is an American football television analyst and commentator. Early life McShay attended North Shore Christian School in Lynn, Massachusetts and then Swampscott High School in Swampscott, Massachusetts, ...

, NFL draft analyst and podcaster *

, writer and pop-culture podcaster * David Jacoby, podcaster and sports journalist * Rachel Lindsay, media personality and podcaster *

, journalist, producer, podcaster, and political commentator *

Matthew Belloni Matthew Belloni (born 1976/1977) is an American entertainment journalist, podcaster, and former attorney. He is a founding partner of the digital media company Puck. Before that, he was the editorial director of ''The Hollywood Reporter''. Educ ...

, founding partner at Puck and entertainment industry podcaster Notable former employees include: * J.J. Redick, retired NBA player and current coach of the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, podcaster and former college basketball player *

, podcaster *

, podcaster and former director of speechwriting for President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

, podcaster and former adviser to President

Michael Rapaport Michael David Rapaport (born March 20, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, and podcast host. Beginning his career in the early 1990s, he has made over 100 appearances in film and television. His film roles include ''Zebrahead'' (1992), '' ...

, actor and comedian

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ringer 2020 mergers and acquisitions American blogs American entertainment news websites American review websites American sport websites Entertainment websites Internet properties established in 2016 Podcasting companies Sports blogs Spotify acquisitions Television websites