Nate Silver Leaves New York Times for ESPN

http://sportsmediajournal.com

ESPN announced today that it has hired noted statistician and founder of Five Thirty Eight Nate Silver.  Silver, who ran his blog as part of the New York Times for the last three years, will migrate his site to ESPN and bring back sports statistical analysis along with his work in the political field.

From ESPN PR:

Silver will serve as the editor-in-chief of the site and will build a team of journalists, editors, analysts and contributors in the coming months. Much like Grantland, which ESPN launched in 2011, the site will retain an independent brand sensibility and editorial point-of-view, while interfacing with other websites in the ESPN and Disney families. The site will return to its original URL, www.FiveThirtyEight.com.

Silver’s reach will also extend to television and other ESPN platforms, where he will contribute to a wide variety of programs. He will showcase his work regularly on ABC News outlets as well, and during election years and key political events, Silver will provide political insights and analysis to ABC News.

Said ESPN President John Skipper, “Nate is one of the country’s brightest talents and his insight, journalistic integrity and creativity — all traits essential for creating compelling, quality content — have awed and entertained diverse audiences. Nate brings a unique fan base to ESPN, where he will curate a cross-platform, cross-discipline experience with a fresh take on the intersection of sports, culture, technology, economics and politics that will be provocative and completely different than anything else in the marketplace today.”

Silver added, “This is a dream job for me. I’m excited to expand FiveThirtyEight’s data-driven approach into new areas, while also reuniting with my love of sports. I’m thrilled that we’re going to be able to create jobs for a great team of journalists, writers and analysts. And I think that I’ve found the perfect place to do it. The variety and quality of the assets ESPN and ABC News presented to me was compelling and unparalleled. I can’t wait to get started.”

Ben Sherwood, President of ABC News, said, “With great enthusiasm, we welcome Nate Silver and we predict with 100 percent confidence that his unique voice and penetrating insights will contribute mightily to ABC News coverage of politics and many topics.”