Sports Media Report
Come April 6, Chicagoans will be able to experience the next big thing in Chicago sports, courtesy of the Chicago Sun-Times.
A new edition, called “Sports Saturday,” will wrap the regular Saturday Sun-Times and include exclusive content by the hardest-working sports staff in America. Each Saturday, fans will be treated to an in-depth cover story that takes them into the locker room; inside the heads of Chicago’s top athletes, coaches and executives, or celebrates the moments that make our city the best sports town around. Bolder graphics and photography will aim to engage fans of all sports, from preps to pros, the WNBA to auto racing. “Sports Saturday” also will include some outside-the-basepaths coverage, including expanded outdoors coverage from Dale Bowman and even an occasional “screen test” by entertainment columnist and author Richard Roeper, who will measure how well critically acclaimed sports movies stand the test of time.
Bottom line: Fans will get even more sports journalism from the writers they’ve come to trust: Morrissey, Telander, Greenberg, Cowley, Jahns, Finley, Potash, Wittenmyer, Van Schouwen, O’Brien, Kenney and Lieser among them.
“For more than 70 years, we’ve been documenting the biggest sports stories in Chicago history, and telling the stories behind those stories,” said Chris De Luca, Sun-Times deputy managing editor for sports. “Sports Saturday gives us an opportunity to build on this legacy and continue to celebrate the teams, players, coaches, rivalries and games that define our city.”
The new product comes in the wake of many regional newspapers eliminating their Saturday editions. The Sun-Times has chosen another direction — doubling down on Saturdays to offer more in-depth sports reporting.
“The Sun-Times has always been Chicago’s progressive, independent voice,” Editor-in-Chief Chris Fusco said. “Sports Saturday is certainly a bold move, but one that we believe is right for our readers — and our city.”
“Not only have we stood alongside the Chicago sports community through decades of rivalries, victories and losses, but we’ve also faced a few Goliaths of our own,” Sun-Times Interim CEO Nykia Wright added. “Now we’re swinging for the fences to bring our readers even more of what they love.”
Sports Saturday will be available on newsstands beginning April 6. A promotional campaign that includes advertising on CTA buses and trains will pave the way to the first edition.
