Vox Media Week: SB Nation

SB Nation offers a unique and effective style of sports journalism. It represents a new era of reporting, in which the fans shape all aspects of the news. Learn more about the publication and its inspiring communities, and check out some (of the many!) great SB Nation feeds in our new Vox Media collection. 

SB Nation is the fastest growing independent sports media property. We bring together web native editorial talent with deep topical sports expertise, highly engaged communities of fans, and a powerful technology platform crafted specifically for a digital-first media organization. The result is smart and intelligent coverage and conversation that is fan-authentic, social and fun.

SB Nation was born through the passion of a frustrated sports fan who used to be a print reporter. SB Nation’s founder Tyler Bleszinski felt like no traditional media outlet was covering his team the way he wanted, which was with a passionate, authoritative voice that would also remain true to journalistic principles. So he decided to do it himself, combining professional quality and fan perspective. From that first site, SB Nation has grown into a collection of over 300 team- and sport-centric sites and communities that form the core of the fastest growing independent national sports media brand, SBNation.com. All of SB Nation’s sites are powered by Vox Media’s proprietary publishing platform, called Chorus, which empowers both writers and communities to best express themselves in the digital medium. This marriage of web-native editorial talent, highly engaged communities, and advanced publishing technology has become SB Nation’s “secret sauce,” if you will.

Why do you think sports draws such a passionate community?

We firmly believe that sports objectivity is a myth. We’ve always been forthcoming about the fact that we’re relentlessly passionate about the teams and sports we cover. Across the SB Nation network you’ll find that our writers live and breathe sports 24/7/365. Our communities capture that passion and foster conversation about the topics that fans care about. This network was created by fans for fans and that remains core to our editorial principles.

It’s not just the community-driven reporting but it’s the fact that our communities are having real impact on players, teams and organizations. Our SF Giants site McCovey Chronicles suggested (very strongly) that the Giants marketing department create a snow globe based on Marco Scutaro’s Shawshank-like pose last year, and lo and behold, the Giants listened and created the item. It will be a giveaway this year. Our Brooklyn Nets site Nets Daily recently held a Brook Lopez appreciation night working to get him to the All Star game this year. That became a news item around that team. The sites are empowering a team’s fanbase that would’ve likely been silent without these outlets. It’s happening through social media too. For example, our Boston Bruins site Stanley Cup of Chowder tweeted at Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference after the lockout ended suggesting his Twitter joke about planting trees come true. Ference replied back and is now donating 50 planted trees for every goal teammate Tyler Seguin scores. Our communities have a real impact on teams, players and the sports they cover in a way that simply has never happened before, and we believe that will only continue to increase as our communities continue to grow.