It is no exaggeration to say that Zach Lowe changed sports writing.
Lowe was at the vanguard as the internet shook up a medium once dominated by everyone from Frank DeFord to Michael Wilbon. Using data analytics and game film clips and uninhibited by the inches of a newspaper column or magazine feature, Lowe welcomed and grew a generation of NBA obsessives through his work at Grantland and ESPN.
By the time the Worldwide Leader unceremoniously laid Lowe off in 2024, the loss of his writing was felt perhaps even more strongly than his arrival in the space. Precious few outlets — and by extension, writers — seemed to prioritize writing anymore. It is very hard to make significant money off of an exclusively written journalism product these days, and podcasting is much easier. Even after joining The Ringer to launch a podcast last season, Lowe’s writing was sorely missed.
But after three seasons away from writing, Lowe is back with a new newsletter, The Lowe Post, in partnership with The Ringer and Substack.
On Monday, Lowe announced the weekly, paywalled newsletter in a post on the new Substack site.
“When I joined The Ringer/Spotify, we discussed building a newsletter to supplement my revived podcast. I tabled it for a year,” Lowe writes in the announcement. “I wanted to understand the rhythm of my new job, but I also wanted to see if I missed writing.”
Later in the essay:
“But writing ignites other parts of your thought process that might go dormant without it: word choice, language, sentence structure, the underpinnings of communication. Putting words on paper—the permanence of it—forces you to take an extra beat and make sure your material holds up: Does this trade really make sense? Would this rule change actually work, or does it have bad ripple effects?”
The Lowe Post will cost $10 per month or $70 annually.
Lowe is the latest Ringer journalist to launch a newsletter in recent months, following movie industry observer (and Ringer content chief) Sean Fennessey, NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay, NFL insider Tom Pelissero, and sports media reporter Bryan Curtis. So far, Curtis’ is the only free offering.
The Ringer’s foray into newsletters, especially with an off-platform partner like Substack, further suggests website readership is in decline. However, the strong push behind this new format and the writers’ sincere argument for its value show that star commentators still have the energy to write and be read.
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