The Ringer could soon be under new ownership.
According to Anne Steele and Benjamin Mullin of the Wall Street Journal, Spotify is currently in talks to acquire Bill Simmons’ digital media network. Talks are said to be in the very early stages.
Spotify’s interest in The Ringer is based less on its website and more on its podcast network. According to the report, The Ringer’s podcasts generated over $15 million in 2018 and are downloaded more than 100 million times per month. This would allow Spotify to broaden its interests from streaming music to podcasts and other potentially exclusive content.
Simmons would certainly follow The Ringer to Spotify. The longtime sports media personality founded the site in 2016 after his previous effort, Grantland, was shut down by ESPN. He was reportedly making plenty of money from The Ringer’s initial investors, so this move may help him financially as well.
