FiveThirtyEight, the political and sports forecasting blog of Nate Silver will leave it’s home at ESPN and for ABC, it was announced on Tuesday.
“FiveThirtyEight is leaving ESPN,” Silver tweeted Tuesday. “Our new home is ABC News! We’re super excited to work with @ABC and combine our strengths with theirs as we tackle the 2018 and 2020 elections and other news stories.”
“We have several hires we need to make–mostly in politics as we gear up for 2018/20–so stay tuned for news on those,” he added in follow up tweets. “I really want to thank the 538 staff for their amazing work–and thank ESPN for helping us to build the site into what it is today. And thank you to our readers for your patience. Things may be slow-ish as we work through some transition stuff, but we’ll be back at full speed soon.”
Some personal news… FiveThirtyEight is leaving ESPN… but not going very far. Our new home is ABC News! We're super excited to work with @ABC and combine our strengths with theirs as we tackle the 2018 and 2020 elections and other news stories.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) April 17, 2018
FiveThirtyEight will also cover sports just as before; we’ll continue to work with ESPN to showcase our sports coverage. We have several hires we need to make–mostly in politics as we gear up for 2018/20–so stay tuned for news on those.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) April 17, 2018
I really want to thank the 538 staff for their amazing work–and thank ESPN for helping us to build the site into what it is today. And thank you to our readers for your patience. Things may be slow-ish as we work though some transition stuff, but we’ll be back at full speed soon.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) April 17, 2018
Silver and the FiveThirtyEight staff will become a part of the news division, and Silver and other FiveThirtyEight reporters will appear regularly across ABC News.
“In a time when politics has never been more fascinating, FiveThirtyEight brings clarity and insight to what’s really going on,” said James Goldston, president, ABC News in an announcement. “With political news front and center every day and the 2018 midterms on the horizon, Nate Silver and his brilliant team truly enhance what we can offer our audience.”
“FiveThirtyEight has been a tremendous asset to ESPN since Nate and the team joined us in 2013, and we are thrilled about their new home at ABC News,” Connor Schell, executive vice president of Content at ESPN added. “I am incredibly proud of the work we’ve done together and pleased FiveThirtyEight will remain a part of The Walt Disney Company. As storytelling around data and analytics remain an important way that ESPN serves sports fans every day, our team will continue to utilize Nate and the FiveThirtyEight experts to allow fans to benefit from their sports content.”