How Time Inc.'s FanSided.com network is putting down roots in Chicago
For the second time in a year's time, Time Inc. has had a hand in expanding Chicago's digital media universe.
After signing on as a principal investor in the launch last year of Chicago-based 120 Sports, a digital-only sports-themed broadcast network, Time Inc. is back in Chicago, where the media company's FanSided.com network has set up editorial offices in the unlikely environs of the city's gritty Uptown neighborhood at 1025 W. Sunnyside in a nondescript office and retail complex across the street from a massive Target store.
For those not in the know, Time Inc. acquired the FanSided.com website last year in an apparent attempt to insert a growing digital-focused property into the company's portfolio of old-school media properties such as Sports Illustrated and Time magazine.
And given its largely sports and pop culture focus, FanSided.com — a network of some 300 websites related to sports, entertainment and lifestyle topics covered from the fan's perspective — is indeed growing.
Through the first half of 2016, the FanSided network experienced 80 percent average monthly year-over-year growth in unique monthly visitors, the fastest growth rate in sports media among the top 15 digital sports networks. According to the June 2016 comScore report, the FanSided network's monthly unique visitors grew to more than 10 million, up 105 percent from the previous year.
Before dealing with what FanSided.com is up to Chicago, better to immediately answer why the network chose an Uptown address far from the city's central business district for its headquarters.
In an interview, FanSided.com Chief Operating Officer and co-founder Zachary Best and Vice President of Content Patrick Allen said the decision was based in part on a desire to spend less on less-important matters such as offices and free up more cash to invest in developing the website and adding talent instead. Yes, even Time Inc. is watching the bottom line these days.
But the top execs at FanSided concede that the new headquarters location also puts them a bit nearer to Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. Wrigley could be an important sports venue this fall if, as expected, the Cubs make it into the playoffs.
Aside from Chicago being home to the Cubs, FanSided.com came to Chicago for a couple of more prosaic reasons. It's a very centrally-located city, and it's also where Patrick Allen's wife landed a job with the Remy Bumppo Theatre Co., part of Chicago's large live theater business. So, Allen said he and FanSided, to some degree, followed his wife to Chicago.
Beyond the move to Chicago, FanSided's marriage with Time Inc. has brought other benefits, not the least of them added cash to grow the business. The full-time editorial staff here in Chicago has swelled to 12 from just three two years, Allen said.
The newest hire is new Editor-in-Chief Jim Cavan, who came aboard last month from a position as senior editor at the Cauldron. Cavan in his new role will oversee editorial operations at FanSided and work closely with Sports Illustrated and other Time Inc. brands on various cross-promotions.
There also is now money in the FanSided budget to keep adding new sites to the network, including the most recent Culturess, offering meditations on pop culture, and Local POV, a site that delves into local lifestyle topics in a number of cities. The FanSided network also includes several Chicago-focused sites, including BearGoggles.com, BlackhawkUp.com, CubbiesCrib.com, and PippenAintEasy.com
FanSided chief operating officer Zachary Best emphasized that all the sites that are part of FanSided aim to be highly opinionated — an editorial approach that the two FanSided execs have found to be critical in attracting visitors. And attracting visitors is critical not only to management, but to the freelancers who run all of the sites, as their fees are based in part on the traffic they generate month to month.
Allen said FanSided is still working out exactly what kind of relationship it ultimately will have with 120 Sports. For now, FanSided has been posting some of the video that 120 Sports generates. But it's possible the relationship could deepen.
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