When it launched in 2012, ChicagoSideSports.com aimed to be a sort of "Grantland for Chicago." Spearheaded by former Wall Street Journal reporter Jonathan Eig and Sol Lieberman, ChicagoSide brought long-form sports journalism and an edgy voice to a sports media landscape that was dominated by the local dailies. With a chance to focus on rich storytelling rather than game recaps, ChicagoSide positioned itself to be a strong voice in a town that loves its sports.
But as Chicago media critic Robert Feder reported Sunday, ChicagoSideSports.com has been shut down completely. It was clear the site was in trouble back in March when Eig and Lieberman sold the company to New York-based ticket broker TiqIQ. Eig, who has written best-selling novels on Al Capone, Jackie Robinson and Lou Gehrig, had just published a book about the invention of the birth control pill and was signed on to write the first full-scale biography of Muhammad Ali. In March he told Feder: "It’s time to let someone else raise our kid.”
Clearly that transition did not go as planned, and now the site's hundreds of stories aren't accessible to its readers and writers. Eig told Feder on Sunday that he would pay the annual fees to keep the stories archived online.
“I’m sorry to see that the ChicagoSide site is down,” Eig told me Sunday. “Our writers produced hundreds of wonderful stories and I’d like to see them made available to readers. I know that it’s helpful to writers who are looking for jobs and future assignments to have their online work easily found."
ChicagoSide's revenue model may not have been successful, but their work was great. The team had a group of established writers, young talent, and a regular column from former NBA player Paul Shirley. The content was original, analytical and provocative, and the best pieces were published in the Chicago Sun-Times after the two media companies formed a editorial partnership.
So R.I.P. ChicagoSide. I still believe there's a place for long-form sports journalism, especially in a town like Chicago. But like any startup, longterm success for early stage media companies isn't measured by how many people like your product. It's about who's going to pay you for your product.
