Spotify, continuing to beef up its podcast offerings and expand its sports coverage, announced Wednesday that it will buy The Ringer, the popular website and podcast network created by Bill Simmons, a former ESPN commentator and sports personality.
The terms of the acquisition, which is expected to close in the first quarter of this year, were not disclosed.
Mr. Simmons started The Ringer in 2016 after a bitter dispute with ESPN, which he left in 2015 after working for the network for nearly 15 years. The sports and culture website was originally hosted on Medium and switched to Vox Media under a partnership announced in 2017.
The Ringer now has a lineup of more than 30 podcasts, including “The Bill Simmons Podcast” and “The Rewatchables.” It also houses a video network, film production division and book imprint.
“We spent the last few years building a world-class sports and pop culture multimedia digital company, and believe Spotify can take us to another level,” Mr. Simmons said in a statement. “We couldn’t be more excited to unlock Spotify’s power of scale and discovery, introduce The Ringer to a new global audience and build the world’s flagship sports audio network.”
Spotify reported on Wednesday a 29 percent rise in paid subscribers to its audiostreaming services in the fourth quarter of 2019, to 124 million as of Dec. 31, giving it a significant lead over its main rival, Apple. The company, which is trying to expand beyond music streaming to all online audio, acquired three podcast companies in 2019, including Gimlet Media, the maker of the popular podcasts “Crimetown” and “Reply All.”
Dawn Ostroff, chief content officer of Spotify, said The Ringer would drive the company’s “global sports strategy.”
“Bill Simmons is one of the brightest minds in the game, and he has successfully innovated as a writer and content creator across mediums and platforms,” Ms. Ostroff said in a statement. “The Ringer’s proven track record of creating distinctive cultural content as well as discovering and developing top tier talent will make them a formidable asset for Spotify.”
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February 05, 2020 at 08:58PM
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Spotify Is Buying Bill Simmons’ The Ringer Podcast Network - The New York Times
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