On Sunday, Derek Jeter walked off the field at Fenway Park and into the Hall of Fame, but the journey will come with a detour to becoming a digital media mogul. Back on his home turf in New York today, Jeter announced the launch of The Players’ Tribune, a website that promises to connect fans to players directly via news, podcasts, videos, and pieces written by players.
Though none were yet named, all-star athletes have been enlisted by Jeter as contributors, and Jeter promises many more to come. “I realize I’ve been guarded. I learned early on in New York…that just because a reporter asks you a question that doesn’t mean you have to answer,” Jeter wrote in an introductory letter on the website today. “I do think fans deserve more than ‘no comments’ or ‘I don’t knows.’”
Backing the venture is Legendary Entertainment, the film and television company that produced 42, the Jackie Robinson biopic, as well as The Dark Knight, Clash of the Titans, and the Hangover series. The company’s CEO, Thomas Tull, is a board member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and an owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“[Jeter’s] idea of providing athletes with a platform to communicate directly with their fans and the world at large is a forum that we are excited about,” Tull said in a news release.
Perhaps his best idea, though, was holding back his best stuff from reporters the last 19 years.
