For nearly a month, it has been public knowledge that NBA reporter Shams Charania was hitting “free agency” after parting ways with Yahoo. On Tuesday, murmurs that Charania would be joining The Athletic came to fruition, as he announced a dual role moving forward that also allows for on-air appearances and employment with multi-platform sports network Stadium.
It was not a surprise to see Charania joining The Athletic, particularly given the massive influx of hires from the company in recent months. In addition, the role with Stadium arrives in conjunction with two former ESPN reports in Brett McMurphy and Jeff Goodman, setting the table for what Stadium CEO Jason Coyle believes will “signify the next stage in the evolution of Stadium.”
As part of Stadium’s official release, the company indicated that “Charania, Goodman, and McMurphy each will contribute across Stadium’s full daily studio lineup and also work to develop additional programming initiatives built around their respective areas of expertise.” Though it remains to be seen as to what their individual roles might encompass, this is a clear and lofty play into the sports media space with headliners in three major sports.
Still, the investment from The Athletic is arguably more interesting, particularly due to Charania’s value as an NBA news-breaker combined with the website’s subscription model.
“I envision myself working closely with the established editors and continuing to combine reporting news year-round with determination while doing feature and longform stories,” Charania said in his introductory interview with The Athletic. “I hope to continue improving as a writer. There is a lot of storytelling that I want to do and I’m excited to work with the tremendous writers on board at The Athletic. They are a great group and I’m excited to work with them.”
In short, it can’t hurt that The Athletic will be regularly referenced in the broader media landscape, particularly as Charania unearths scoops surrounding some of the world’s most famous athletes. This is yet another major investment for that company but, in the end, the 24-year-old (yes, you’re reading that right) Charania is now employed by two major companies and his work should be interesting to follow moving forward.
