The Players' Tribune


The Players' Tribune is a new media platform that provides content written by professional athletes. Founded by former professional Major League Baseball player Derek Jeter, The Players' Tribune provides daily sports conversation and publishes first-person stories directly from athletes. Content ranges from videos to podcasts to player polls and written pieces.

History

The Players' Tribune was launched on October 1, 2014, by Derek Jeter. Its first contributors were senior editors Russell Wilson, Blake Griffin, Danica Patrick and Kevin Love. On February 13, 2015, The Players' Tribune announced it was entering a "next phase," which, according to Jeter, involved the addition of "podcasts, digital video, Sirius satellite radio, plus much more of the kinds of stories we’ve already been telling." As of January 2015, Jaymee Messler, former CMO of Excel Sports Management, is the president of The Players' Tribune. Gary Hoenig, former editorial director of ESPN Publishing and a founding editor of ESPN The Magazine, now serves as editorial director. Maureen Cavanagh, former photography director for Sports Illustrated, is the creative director and Alex Rose is the General Manager. In June 2017, Jeff Levick, former Spotify Chief Revenue Officer, was named the first CEO of the company. Legendary Entertainment supplied funding as well as creative support. On June 15, 2015, it was announced that New Enterprise Associates, a venture capital firm, had invested $9.5M in The Players' Tribune. Among the attractions for the firm was the athlete ownership of the site and athlete involvement. As of October 27, 2015, after the Series B first close of $9.5 million, another $5.5 million in equities was made available to additional investors. Kobe Bryant, who had been involved with TPT since December 2014, made a significant investment in the platform and led all athletes in the round. Athletes represented by GenTrust, an investment management company, were among the athletes who invested. As of January 25, 2016, the Players’ Tribune had raised $18M in funding.

Content and platform

The platform's content includes first-person written features, videos, podcasts, photo galleries, and polls. Topics include sports commentary and lifestyle and popular culture. The mission, according to Jeter, is to allow athletes to connect directly with fans.
Hoenig describes the platform's process as athlete-author driven: "The athletes will focus on issues and topics and will produce their own content. The Players' Tribune editors will edit their drafts but the athletes will have the final say regarding what we publish."
The platform has been used by athletes to break news, including retirement announcements from Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, and David Ortiz; free-agency decisions from Kevin Love and Kevin Durant; and Sabrina Ionescu's decision to remain at the University of Oregon for her senior season, passing on the 2019 WNBA draft. Gordon Hayward confirmed via the site he was leaving the Utah Jazz for the Boston Celtics, and Matt Harvey used the platform to announce that he would pitch in the playoffs. Other editorial content includes Larry Sanders sharing why he walked away from the NBA; Patrick O'Sullivan on growing up with an abusive father; Daniel Carcillo's tribute to his late friend and Chicago Blackhawks teammate Steve Montador; José Bautista's response to his critics on his bat flip; Mardy Fish's discussion of his anxiety issues; Blake Griffin on Donald Sterling and racism; Andrew McCutchen on baseball and poverty; New York Liberty players Swin Cash, Essence Carson, and Tanisha Wright on race and gender in women's sports; Adam Jones on racism's unfortunate place in baseball in 2017 ; and Breanna Stewart publicly revealing that she had been a victim of child sexual abuse.
In July 2015, The Players' Tribune launched TPT Assist, a cause-related platform designed to allow athletes to share their philanthropic endeavors.

Media

Athletes' contributions have won praise, though grudging at times, from the sports media. Critics have brought up questions regarding the role of traditional reporters and beat writers in sports today. Jeter has responded, "We're not trying to take away from sportswriters. Sportswriters are what makes sports successful." He added, "We're not covering day-to-day sports scores. We don't have sports highlights. This is completely different..... I think we can coexist." Some media outlets question the ability of The Players' Tribune to stand out in the news cycle, especially with other social media platforms, such as Twitter. Staff have countered with defenses of the platform's purpose: "This is longform social, to tell stories with content in a natural way," said Grande. "It's meant to complement what's out there and provide opinions, POVs and perspective," said Messler. Patrick said, "In this day and age of media, you have to be careful with what you say all the time, and it's cool to have a platform where you know you can speak freely and then be part of the editing afterward to make sure that the article comes out how you want it to and is saying what you want it to, because sometimes you're dealing with sensitive subjects and every word needs to be right."
The Players' Tribune has been criticized for using the practice of ghostwriting in some of its articles. "Like nearly every post on the site, the Ortiz essay was not written directly by its bylined athlete but instead crafted from a recorded interview with a Tribune staff producer," wrote Richard Sandomir, in an article for the New York Times.

Sponsors and partnerships

Several sponsors have signed a deal with The Players' Tribune. Porsche debuted as their first sponsor, as well as Powerade, Dove, Toyota, Red Bull, and Built with Chocolate Milk. TPT has also collaborated with the Prime Video television series Jack Ryan.
TPT gives brands the chance to extend their campaigns, and it also gives athletes who may not be the top stars in their sport a chance to earn dollars by being part of the campaign on a different platform, Messler said.

Criticism

Although the site gives the appearance of athletes writing their own blog posts, this is not the case. The vast majority of articles are written by staff at The Players' Tribune, who craft stories based on long interviews directly with the athletes. Editing is allegedly minimal, but players get the final approval before an article is published, so there is little contentious content. The staff who write the articles do not get credits, giving the false appearance that athletes are the sole writers of their posts.
Journalist Keith Olbermann criticized the site's inclusion of eSports players, saying that they "have jumped the shark by publishing pieces by snotty random kids playing children's games" in response to an article by Doublelift, a League of Legends player.

Content contributors

NameTitleSport or fieldNo. of contributions
Founding PublisherBaseball6
Editor at LargeBaseball5
ContributorBaseball1
ContributorHockey1
Senior ProducerBasketball2
ContributorHockey1
Contributing EditorGolf1
Senior EditorBasketball5
Contributing EditorFootball2
Guest ContributorBasketball2
Black MambaBasketball10
Guest ContributorBaseball2
Senior EditorBasketball2
ContributorBasketball2
Senior EditorNASCAR6
Guest ContributorBasketball3
ContributorBasketball3
Senior EditorFootball4
Advanced Stats ColumnistFootball2
Richard ShermanContributorFootball24+
Thomas DavisContributorFootball5
Cam NewtonContributorFootball14
Paul PierceContributing EditorBasketball6
Brendan ShanahanGuest ContributorHockey1
Carmelo AnthonyGuest ContributorBasketball1
Spencer DinwiddieTribune Facial Hair ConsultantBasketball1
Michael Carter-WilliamsGuest ContributorBasketball2
Megan RapinoeContributorSoccer6
Logan CoutureContributorHockey1
Brandon McCarthyContributorBaseball1
Tyler SeguinGuest ContributorHockey1
Sean AveryContributorHockey2
Tyler HornContributorFootball1
Andrew McCutchenSenior EditorBaseball1
Walter IoossPhotographer at LargePhotography1
Matt HarveyNew York City Bureau ChiefBaseball1
John FratesGuest Contributor1
Nancy FratesGuest Contributor1
Jimmie JohnsonContributorNASCAR1
Heath BellGuest ContributorBaseball1
Arron AfflaloContributorBasketball1
Tyson ChandlerContributor EditorBasketball1
Jed JacobsohnSenior Staff PhotographerPhotography1
Jason KiddContributorBasketball1
Tajh BoydContributorFootball1
Eric LeGrandContributorFootball2
Delanie WalkerGuest ContributorFootball1
Geoff SchwartzContributorFootball1
D. J. FlukerContributorFootball1
Vernon TurnerContributorFootball1
Roger CraigGuest ContributorFootball1
John UrschelAdvanced Stats ColumnistFootball, Mathematics13
Shawne MerrimanContributorFootball1
Brandon PrustContributorHockey1
Cobi JonesContributorSoccer1
MarceloContributorSoccer1
Dani AlvesContributorSoccer1
Brad GuzanContributorSoccer1
Billie Jean KingContributorTennis2
Seun AdebiyiGuest ContributorSwimming1
Larry SandersGuest ContributorBasketball1
Joe TheismannGuest ContributorFootball1
Adam OttavinoContributing PhotographerPhotography1
Derrick MasonGuest ContributorFootball1
John AxfordGuest ContributorBaseball1
Vernon DavisContributorFootball1
Igor LarionovGuest ContributorHockey1
Rob TringaliContributing PhotographerPhotography1
Brad ManginContributing PhotographerPhotography1
Ben LyonsChief Correspondent1
Nneka OgwumikeGuest ContributorBasketball1
Chiney OgwumikeChief CorrespondentBasketball1
Isaiah ThomasContributorBasketball1
Danny ManningGuest Contributor1
Hakim WarrickGuest ContributorBasketball1
Guest Contributor1
Andrew HawkinsContributorFootball2
David E. KluthoContributing PhotographerPhotography1
Pascal DupuisGuest ContributorHockey2
Scott GomezContributorHockey1
Ryan KeslerContributorHockey1
Simon BrutyContributing PhotographerPhotography1
Liam McGearyContributorMMA1
Emanuel NewtonContributorMMA1
Darren CarrollContributing PhotographerPhotography1
Nigel SylvesterContributorFreestyle BMX1
Patrick PattersonContributorBasketball2
James HahnGuest ContributorGolf1
Darius MorrisGuest ContributorBasketball1
Ali FarokhmaneshGuest ContributorBasketball1
Bryce DrewGuest ContributorBasketball1
Selina TimboGuest ContributorBasketball1
Mike Conley, Jr.Guest ContributorBasketball1
Bo KimbleGuest ContributorBasketball1
Tina CharlesGuest ContributorBasketball1
Steve KerrContributorBasketball1
Draymond GreenGuest ContributorBasketball1
Nikola JokićContributorBasketball1
Jalen RoseGuest ContributorBasketball1
Steve NovakContributing EditorBasketball1
Brittney GrinerGuest ContributorBasketball1
Solomon HillGuest ContributorBasketball1
Harrison BarnesGuest ContributorBasketball1
Nevil ShedGuest ContributorBasketball1
Jameer NelsonGuest ContributorBasketball1
Aaron CraftGuest ContributorBasketball1
Kenny LoftonGuest ContributorBaseball1
Marcus StromanContributorBaseball1
Baron DavisGuest ContributorBasketball1
Mateen CleavesGuest ContributorBasketball1
Khalid El-AminGuest ContributorBasketball1
Alonzo MourningGuest ContributorBasketball1
Josh SmithContributorBasketball1
John ScottContributorHockey2
Evgeny KuznetsovContributorHockey1
Justin AbdelkaderContributorHockey1
Shane DoanContributorHockey1
James NealContributorHockey1
Daniel CarcilloContributorHockey1
Martin St. LouisContributorHockey1
Johnny GaudreauContributorHockey1
Hassan WhitesideContributorBasketball1
Denny HamlinContributorNASCAR1
Myles JonesContributorLacrosse1
Matt KempContributorBaseball1
Kyle LowryContributorBasketball1
FakerContributorEsports1
olofmeisterContributorEsports1
Rick FoxContributorEsports1
DoubleliftContributorEsports1
Corey HirschContributorHockey1
Dion WaitersContributorBasketball1
Jake GuentzelContributorHockey1
Ryan LeafContributorFootball1
Fernando AlonsoContributorFormula One1
Arjen RobbenContributorSoccer1
Harry ArterContributorSoccer1
Harry KaneContributorSoccer1
Christen PressContributorSoccer2
ContributorFootball1
Senior EditorTennis4
ContributorBasketball1
ContributorSoccer1
ContributorSoccer1
ContributorBasketball2
ContributorBasketball3
ContributorBasketball2

Footnotes