The growth of the internet has transformed the sports industry over the past few years, allowing fans to engage with their favourite athletes, teams and leagues like never before.
That point is particularly pertinent where sports news is concerned, with digital platforms now viewed by millions of people as the ‘go-to’ medium for content consumption.
However, it is fair to say that not all of these resources are trustworthy, with many failing to implement the journalistic standards generally associated with traditional news outlets.
To help you sort the wheat from the chaff, we have taken a closer look at the best sports news sites to follow during 2021.
Sportslens
The Sportslens site was built with a view to offering soccer fans an alternative view of the sport than the one peddled by the mainstream media.
That philosophy still holds true today, with their talented team of journalists gathered together from a diverse range of backgrounds.
The Premier League tends to be the main focus on Sportslens, although other major European leagues and competitions are also featured.
The writers are clearly passionate about soccer, and can often be found challenging each other on social media platforms about major talking points in the sport.
The Athletic
The Athletic is an impressive online platform that provides coverage of major sports across the United Kingdom and North America.
The site’s owners have worked hard to assemble a team of writers who are widely viewed as being experts in their chosen sport, and this shines through in the quality of the coverage.
The Athletic’s long-form journalism is particularly noteworthy, providing in-depth insights into thought-provoking topics from across the world of sport.
While many other outlets have struggled to make subscription models work, The Athletic appears to have hit the nail on the head with their strategy.
SB Nation
SB Nation has grown from being a predominantly blog style operation into a massive network that features more than 300 community sites.
All of the NFL, NBA, MHL and MLB teams have their own section, each of which contains news, features, video content and more.
The network also offers comprehensive coverage of numerous other sports including golf, mixed martial arts, NASCAR, tennis and boxing.
SB Nation’s YouTube channel – Secret Base – has also proved to be hugely popular, with their exclusive content regularly receiving millions of views.
ESPN
ESPN remains a hugely popular outlet for sports fans despite its tendency towards taking politicised stances with some of its content.
The site’s North American sports coverage is amongst the best in the business, with each of the major leagues featured in depth.
This includes news, scores, fixtures, league tables, statistics, analysis, features and more, making it a one-stop-shop for information about US sports.
ESPN also laid the template for The Athletic in terms of talent acquisition, assembling a team of feature writers who are seen as the ‘voice’ of their particular sport.
Sky Sports
Sky Sports (official website) have become the leading sports news outlet in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with much of the popularity generated by their coverage of the Premier League.
However, their site offers fans much more than soccer, with horse racing, golf, cricket, rugby, darts and motorsports also heavily featured.
News from all of the North American major leagues can also be found on Sky Sports, although it perhaps lacks the depth offered by the likes of ESPN in this area.
Despite this, the Sky Sports site is well worth following during 2021, particularly if you download the app, which is extremely user-friendly.