Deadspin's "brand identity" _was_ that they didn't stick to sports. That's why people liked them.
Your analogy is backwards. Deadspin had a profitable pizza business ("woke sports journalism"), and the new management insisted they pivot to tacos ("just sports"). Now the original customers don't like them ("We _liked_ pizza") and they've failed to attract anyone new (since the taco lovers still have ESPN and basically every single other sports news outlet).
> Deadspin's "brand identity" _was_ that they didn't stick to sports. That's why people liked them.
Maybe as of the last few years, but it's original "brand identity" was snarky and irreverent _sports coverage_. It's aspiration was the anti-ESPN. That mantle has largely now been assumed by Barstool and others.
Your analogy is backwards. Deadspin had a profitable pizza business ("woke sports journalism"), and the new management insisted they pivot to tacos ("just sports"). Now the original customers don't like them ("We _liked_ pizza") and they've failed to attract anyone new (since the taco lovers still have ESPN and basically every single other sports news outlet).