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Bill Simmons’ New Website Has A Name And A Launch Month

by Dan Fogarty | 3:19 pm, April 28th, 2011

Bill Simmons’ new website will be called Grantland.com and will roll out in June, according to an ESPN announcement.

The name is an ode to the legendary Grantland Rice, an early 20th century sportswriter who is known for his elegant writing style. Could this branding mean a highbrow approach to the world of sports and pop culture that the Sports Guy inhabits? If this teaser on ESPN.com is any indication, then yes, it does.

In the ESPN announcement, Simmons says his goal is to capture the spirit of the 30 for 30 series of ESPN documentaries, and transfer it to a website. He also gave some insight into Grantland’s presentation and output:

In addition to its content, Grantland.com will be set apart from information-rich sports and news sites with a simple and elegant graphic style designed by renowned magazine designer Walter Bernard. Said Simmons, “We will not throw up 100 posts every day. We’ve figured out a way to highlight the best things we publish and make it easier for people who might not have a chance to visit the site more than three or four times a week to find everything they want.”

Last time we heard information on Simmons’ new project, he named a few of his writers (he also said he was looking to assemble a “murderer’s row” of talent). Now, it looks like we have the the full masthead.

Simmons will be editor-in-chief and will work closely with Dan Fierman, who previously worked at Entertainment Weekly and who recently wrote this piece that’s accompanied by a sexy picture of Tina Fey. Lane Brown (formerly of Vulture) and Jay Caspian Kang (former contributor to theawl.com and theatlantic.com) will be deputy editors.

Chuck Klosterman (who wrote this), Malcolm Gladwell (who wrote this), and Dave Eggers (who founded this) will be consulting editors. The contributing writers will be Michael Weinreb (who wrote this); Katie Baker (who wrote this); Molly Lambert (who edited this); Robert Mays III (who wrote this); Bill Barnwell (who edited this); and Patrice Evans (who writes this). Murderer’s row, indeed.