Nate Silver has joined ESPN in a multifaceted role that will see him appear across a variety of ESPN and ABC News platforms and bring his FiveThirtyEight website under the Worldwide Leader's umbrella.
Silver will serve as the editor-in-chief to the new incarnation, which will return its to its former FiveThirtyEight.com address. Since 2010, the site had been hosted on the New York Times' website in a licensing deal with Silver. As part of Silver's new deal, ESPN acquires the FiveThirtyEight name and web domain, meaning if Silver were to ever leave ESPN, the company would keep FiveThirtyEight.
Much like ESPN's pop culture website Grantland, FiveThirtyEight will focus on more than sports, including economics, culture, science and technology. During the 2014 and 2016 elections, FiveThirtyEight will provide date-driven coverage including forecasts, as the site has been doing for previous elections. It will retain an independent brand sensibility and editorial point-of-view, while interfacing with fellow ESPN/Disney websites.
Silver will also have a presence across ESPN's other platforms including television (one of those is expected to be the upcoming late night series Olbermann). He will also have a role with ABC News during elections and other major political events.
Said John Skipper, president, ESPN and cochair, Disney Media Networks: "Nate is one of the country's brightest talents and his insight, journalistic integrity and creativity - all traits essential for creating compelling, quality content - have awed and entertained diverse audiences. Nate brings a unique fan base to ESPN, where he will curate a cross-platform, cross-discipline experience with a fresh take on the intersection of sports, culture, technology, economics and politics that will be provocative and completely different than anything else in the marketplace today."
Silver first gained national attention during the 2008 presidential election, when he correctly predicted the results of the presidential election in 49 of 50 states, along with all 35 U.S. Senate races. In 2012, FiveThirtyEight predicted the election outcome in all 50 states. He wrote the New York Times bestseller The Signal and The Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't.
