O'Connor: Why I'm joining PHLY, our new one-stop shop for Philadelphia sports coverage

On this day six years ago, I was only a week into my first full-time job in sports journalism.

After over a half-decade of blogging and podcasting at various platforms, of 20 hour days and mostly sleepless nights, I was finally able to leave my main gig as a digital marketer, and focus fully on writing about the Philadelphia Flyers. It was a dream come true, a chance to have full freedom to cover a pro sports team – my favorite team as a child – the way I wanted to do it.

Was it a risk? Sure. The Athletic at the time was far from the sports journalism behemoth it quickly became, and even further from turning into a subsidiary and the de facto newsdesk for The New York Times. The Athletic was still a plucky upstart in 2017 – and so was I. I wasn’t even tasked with writing one of those classic “Why I Joined The Athletic” articles that had become something of a meme on social media in those early days, because I didn’t have the local profile yet to justify one.

Things changed quite a bit over the following six years, for both The Athletic and myself. And now, here I am, joining yet another new venture – except this time, it’s not a marketing job I’m leaving.

So why? Why am taking a second leap of faith in my career and joining PHLY?

The short answer? I believe in their local sports coverage model, I believe in our PHLY team, I believe in the Philadelphia sports fan, and I believe in the community that we can all build together.

The Athletic remains an absolute juggernaut in sports media, and I’ll always be proud of the six years I spent in their newsroom, learning from and collaborating with some of the best journalists in the world. But in recent years, they’ve moved towards more of a national-focused coverage strategy. Slowly but steadily, they’ve cut back on individual team coverage, a far cry from when it was a point of company pride that they had at least one beat writer covering every team in the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB. Now, they don’t even have a full-time beat covering the Sixers. It was that decision, more than any other, that really had me thinking about the company’s direction, and whether it still aligned with my own priorities.

And that’s when it hit me. The time I loved my job the most was those first few years at The Athletic – specifically, when we were structured as a local section — The Athletic Philadelphia.

When it launched in September of 2017, we had an incredible group of writers, and it only got better over the following year. We had Sheil Kapadia and Bo Wulf (and later Zach Berman as well) delivering unparalleled Eagles coverage. No outlet covered the Sixers with more detail than Derek Bodner, Rich Hoffman and Mike O’Connor. Matt Gelb and Meghan Montemurro locked down the Phillies beat. And then me, chronicling the Flyers on a daily basis.

I’m obviously biased when I say this, but I fully believe it was the best and most comprehensive sports coverage in the city.

We may not have had a traditional “newsroom.” But we met regularly as a group, collaborated on Philly-centric articles, and most importantly, we all had each other’s backs. For someone still trying to convince himself that he truly belonged in the big leagues of sportswriting, it was an invaluable confidence boost to be supported by so many talented writers. We were all united by the fact that we wanted to make our Philly section the best it could be, earning respect (and subscribers) through the quality of our work.

It’s the chance to do that again that has me most excited about PHLY. I believe that I can be part of the best sports coverage in Philadelphia once again.

Just like at The Athletic back in 2017, we’re launching with an all-star group of contributors. Derek, Bo, Zach and Rich are obviously Athletic alums like me with justifiably large followings. Kyle Neubeck has long been one of my favorite beat writers in the city, someone who came up from blogging and used that experience to construct a truly unique way of covering the Sixers. Jamie Lynch is a rarity – a universally-liked local sports radio personality. We won’t be lacking for well-known names in this very competitive market.

But I also love the fact that PHLY will feature voices who, in my mind, have long deserved bigger platforms. I’m far from an expert on the Sixers, but whenever I would listen to Devon Givens at 97.5 The Fanatic, I’d always wonder why someone with the rare ability to communicate complex basketball concepts and nuanced opinions in a way that even I could understand was largely being parked on late-night shifts rather than being made one of the centerpieces of their schedule. He’s going to kill it for our Sixers section. I can’t wait to watch Renee Washington – formerly of 6ABC – shine as a leading voice on the Phillies. And, of course, I’m ecstatic that Bill Matz – who I’ve long viewed as one of the most talented up-and-coming radio hosts in Philly — will be joining me in a full-time basis to drive our Flyers podcast, just as he did as my co-host on BSH Radio for the past seven years.

Which brings me to the second biggest reason I’m joining PHLY – community.

When Bill, Steph Driver, Kelly Hinkle and myself relaunched BSH Radio back in 2016, the best part of the show for me was the community it helped to create. Sure, recording on a weekly basis with three of my best friends was a blast. But even better were the yearly draft gathering, holiday watch parties, and tailgate events that became the beating heart of our odd little online family. The idea that a goofy hour-long weekly show was helping to make people feel more welcome within Flyers fandom was an incredible feeling. If anything, we always wanted to have more events, throw more parties, open the door even wider.

But we were just four people – there was only so much that we could do.

Until now.

The move to PHLY will be all about taking that community that we’ve already built and looking to grow it. To that end, Steph and Kelly – while they’ll stay with Broad Street Hockey (which will remain its own separate entity) – will still be involved as regular contributors here at PHLY. BSH Radio might not exist in name anymore, but don’t worry — the show will go on. Except now, we’ll have the backing of the ALLCITY Network, which has shown in Denver, Phoenix and Chicago that they excel in fostering the kind of in-person community-based events that were the best part of BSH Radio.

Expect more gatherings and more interaction with the community, with the goal of making everyone feel like they belong. PHLY as a whole – but the Flyers section in particular, if I have anything to say about it – is going to be a fun world for fans to inhabit, hopefully as the Flyers themselves become a more fun team in the process.

And finally, there’s my Flyers coverage.

For my regular readers, my written coverage of the team isn’t going to change too much. I’ll still be around the team daily, doing deep dives on players, asking the tough questions of the front office regarding the club’s planned rebuild, breaking news, and leaving no stone unturned to find the most interesting stories surrounding the club. Expect game and play breakdowns, one-on-one interviews, analytical analyses — all of the normal elements of my work.

The difference? Now, everything won’t be placed behind a paywall.

That’s not to say that every piece of written content will be free. On average, about one article of mine per week – generally the most in-depth, detailed piece – will be accessible only to those who pay for a Diehard membership, a status which also will give you discounts on events, merchandise, and access to our community Discord (expect me to be very active in here – think of it as the new Athletic comment section). But all five of our weekly Flyers podcasts will be free of charge, as will be the bulk of my written coverage.

By opening the door to non-paying readers for the first time since 2017, my hope is that more people will find my work, and over time, become daily readers and then Diehard members. I’m going to have to earn that investment from my readers, and I plan to do just that.

But my hope is that membership will ultimately be a no-brainer, just as reading our Philly sports coverage and listening to our many, many shows will be. Our readers will want to participate in our in-person events, for the Flyers and all of the other local teams. (I personally can’t wait to attend Eagles and Phillies meet-ups in particular.) You’ll want to read each and every one of our columns, both free and premium. You’ll want to hang out in our Discord and challenge us on our opinions, ask questions about the teams, or even just chat music (always down for that!).

In other words, our readers will want not just to be readers, but to be active participants in our fledgling community. Because being a Philadelphia sports fan isn’t just about the outcomes of the games. It’s about watching – and often suffering through – them all together.

So why PHLY? High-end written work by the best in the business. Professionally-produced daily in-studio shows. And a belief that local sports coverage still matters – especially in this town.

Welcome to PHLY.