Ari Wasserman's wanderings around Ohio lead him to us for Ohio State football coverage
COLUMBUS, Ohio — I gained two Twitter followers within a minute of each other about four months ago, one of which was Jason Lloyd and the other The Athletic Cleveland, so I knew the flirtation was coming. But flirtation — brief flirtation — was what I envisioned would be the extent of my relationship with this publication.
A few weeks later that connection began when Jason sent me a direct message on Twitter and asked me if I was free to chat. And as Jason before he started at The Athletic, I went in with plenty of hesitation, but I ultimately decided to be gracious and hear what he had to say before going back to worrying about other things — like Ohio State football and recruiting.
So one of the weird things I do when I’m anticipating an important conversation is get in my car and connect my phone to Bluetooth. I like to be in that cone of silence where I can drive, relax and be fully locked in with the other person. I thought I was going to drive around the block a few times, say ‘yeah’ just enough to be respectful and then return to my home in Columbus.
I ended up in Cincinnati.
Yes, that sounds insane because it is insane. But that’s what happened. During the span of that two-hour phone call, I went from a person who had no intention of ever leaving a very good job with even better people to someone who was on the brink of making the biggest risk of his life.
Jason was clearly convincing, but what kept me glued to the phone for two hours was his willingness to address my concerns — like vastly reducing my exposure to being behind a paywall — and to concede that he doesn’t have all the answers. In journalism, who really does? Does anyone really know how people are going to consume their sports coverage in three years? Five years? Ten years? Will publications make money off online advertising and clicks or subscriptions?
Maybe we still don’t know.
But I kind of think I do. Jason did that for me.
Yes, The Athletic is a risk, but that phone call was everything I needed to really buy into the subscription-based model. I believe all sports writers you want to read are going to be behind a paywall. I wanted to be ahead of the curve. I wanted to join something I wholeheartedly think is going to change sports journalism. I wanted to be a part of that evolution.
There are a lot of things to like about The Athletic. The app is clean. You don’t need to click through a bunch of advertisements to get to what you want. And you don’t have to look far to get your fix of in-depth coverage of your teams done from a unique perspective.
I believe I provided that kind of coverage at my previous job at Cleveland.com, and I know it’s not easy to pay to get something you were getting for free before. And there are really talented people at Cleveland.com who are responsible for making me into the journalist who was qualified for this opportunity. But if you take that leap with me, I promise you that I’m completely energized and excited to push the limits of creativity by covering Ohio State football and recruiting better than I ever have before.
Jason found me to cover Ohio State the right way. Adam Hansmann called me and worked directly with me during the recruiting process by making me feel like a priority — better yet, a necessity — for this vision. And Adam’s co-founder, Alex Mather, took time out of his busy schedule to sell me on a vision that I went into this thinking was bound to fail.
This isn’t going to fail. This is the future. And what’s ahead for The Athletic — both regionally and nationally — is going to blow you away. It already has blown me away, and I don’t formally start until Big Ten Media Days in Chicago on July 24.
I’m joining a very talented team of writers that you’ve already grown to know well and I’m humbled to be a part of such a forward-thinking team. I’m going to cover Ohio State by explaining why things happened, not simply telling you that they did. I’m going to cover recruiting from the team down — what every single bit of recruiting news means for Ohio State — and not the prospect up. I’m going to be all over this beat for you.
I’m excited to write for The Athletic family. I’m excited to work and personally interact with you all of you as we watch this family grow.
Lastly, I just wanted to thank everyone who signed up to keep reading my coverage. I cannot stress to you all how much that means to me. Frankly, writing things you want to read is the reason I wake up in the morning.
This going to be big. I know it.
So I jumped.
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