If you’ve been following my writing over the last month, you’ve probably noticed fewer posts here and a lot more on the Beyond the 90 Substack publication. Here’s an explanation as to what is going on with the League One Updater project.
Why Beyond the 90?
About a month ago, the team at Beyond the 90 approached me and asked if I’d be interested in joining. With little hesitation, I jumped at the opportunity. I was already a fan of what Kartik Krishnaiyer was building there, and was asked to help lead and build out their USL League One coverage. While it’s still a work in progress, I’m pleased so far with what we’ve been able to publish there.
For a while, I’ve been considering where I’d go if I ever decided to transition out of running a website. I have always enjoyed contributing to other publications and appearing as a guest on any podcast who will invite me on. I’m always available for any of that. Plus, it’s a lot less work. I provide the content, and let someone else worry about the platform.
Beyond the 90 was the first one to ask me to join the team at a time when I was looking to branch out. The timing was right. They’re also where I feel most comfortable with my content and style. It’s a healthy mix of standard match reporting and long-form content.
What we’re doing at Beyond the 90
Beyond the 90 covers USL Championship, USL League One, NISA, with increasing coverage of NWSL, NPSL, UPSL, as well as some lower division coverage of English and French football.
Specifically for League One Updater coverage at Beyond the 90, we’re trying to add other writers interested in covering the league, and build out a roster of local correspondents for each team. I’m hoping to see “League One Updater” truly become a “we” not a “me” thing. So far we have published stories from Ben Becs in Madison and Jackson Popkin in Statesboro. We’re hoping to have some more local correspondents active soon, but for now, I’m filling in the best I can coving the league at large, and focusing where I can on individual players and sides not already covered.
Most, if not all of my content will move over there for now: power rankings, weekend previews and reviews, interviews, features, expansion updates, etc. The transaction tracker will remain on the website for now, still updated.
Almost all content at Beyond the 90 is free right now while we build it out.
So far it’s going well. Views and reads are consistently higher than posts on this website. Twitter engagement is down, which I suspect has something to do with the difficulty of sharing links on that platform. But if I can get higher read rates without Twitter, I’ll take it.
If you enjoy my work, and want to continue to support it, please head over to our Substack and subscribe to Beyond the 90, or any of our individual writers. I’ll also continue to promote on Twitter and Instagram, but subscribing via email is the best way to keep up.
Why give up the website?
Running an independent website can be satisfying. This is my property, my content, my editorial discretion. I selected and customized a WordPress template, designed all the graphics, fix things when they break, and write and publish everything.
There’s also the vanity of having my own URL, as opposed to a name.substack.com URL. That’s pretty cool, and lends professionalism to the venture.
But…
It’s a money-losing venture
I’ve been open on the costs of running this place, and there are no signs of it breaking even any time soon. USL League One continues to grow in popularity, but it’s still a niche subject in the grand picture of global football.
I use a WordPress backed platform on Bluehost. My final straw was when JetPack cut off my access to basic site analytics, demanding payment to continue use. It was yet another cost on top of the domain and hosting fee. I’m not making a profit, nor on track to make a profit anytime soon. However, because I have ads to offset less than 10% of my expenses, JetPack insists on charging just to see basic details on site performance.
The harsh reality is if you want to break even running a site like this, you need tens of thousands of views (we get hundreds); you need paid subscribers or patrons (there are a lot of publications competing for people’s subscriptions); you need to sell merchandise (I don’t have the time); or you need to gain both views and subscriptions by vastly increasing the content and subject matter covered (again, I don’t the have time).
Did I mention it’s time consuming?
I’m the only one producing content and design on this site. I’m not saying that to be a martyr, because I know I need help. But back to “I don’t have the time.”
I work a day job as a software analyst, own a home and have a family. The job is flexible, and I can usually bang out content on breaks or after hours. But beyond that, I don’t have time to also become the editor of a publication full of content from multiple contributors. It is what it is.
Where I’m going with all of this
This is a work in progress, and if Beyond the 90 doesn’t work out, I reserve the right to come back here. The site will remain live at least for another year, since It just renewed.
But for now, I’m all in with Beyond the 90.
I will continue to run the League One Updater Twitter and Instagram accounts. Maybe I’ll personalize the League One Updater accounts more, but for now, no changes planned.
At the end of the day, I write about USL League One for the love of the game. I don’t do it for money or fame, because you don’t get either in this world. It’s just a badly needed service in a world where mainstream coverage skimps even on MLS. There’s no trickle-down. Fans deserve better coverage, and players deserve better exposure. Everyone at this level deserves to have their stories told.
As always, feel free to contact me. We’re open to more USL League One contributors at Beyond the 90. If you’re a player or involved with a USL League One club, contact me if I can help tell your story. If you’re a content creator, contact me to pitch a collaboration. I love collaborations!
I try to set my DMs on Twitter and Instagram to open, but many times they still filter out messages if I don’t already follow you. I do make an effort to check message requests regularly. Email is also good: leagueoneupdater@gmail.com.
Thanks for all of your continued support!