The Ruden Report, one of the most popular news sites for all things sports in the FCIAC division, recently changed their site to a paid subscription style news site. Creator Dave Ruden made a name for himself when he started his own site, publishing his own material weekly. If you ask almost any student-athlete in the FCIAC division, they will be familiar with the Ruden Report. With Ruden being present at many different sporting events throughout the county, it is not surprising how popular this site is.
Ruden focuses on highlights from all high school sports, updating his readers with any news and scores. In addition, he regularly writes his own opinion articles on different teams and news in the sports world.
Arguably the most popular feature of his website though is the polls that the public can vote on. Titled the “Ruden Report-Fairfield County Bank player and team of the week,” readers have the choice between an average of five different teams and individual players who Ruden believes are strong contenders for his title based on their athletic performance. For many student-athletes, this is an immense honor as it is extremely popular and rewards them for their hard efforts.
Up until this past fall, the whole site was freely accessible to anyone under 18. Those over the age of 18 had to pay a small yearly fee to access the full website. Now, everyone is required to pay $25 in order to read any of the articles. The only thing you can access without a subscription is the voting for player and team of the week.
Like any business, money is needed to keep the Ruden Report running. This monthly subscription fee allows Ruden “to sustain the breadth and quality of our content,” as stated on his website. Readers have the option of paying more than the $25 minimum too if they wish to donate more.
“Like every business, I have expenses that need to be covered,” said Ruden. “The Ruden Report was free for eight years because of advertising revenue that allowed me to give my work away at no charge. The pandemic meant many businesses stopped advertising. All my business advisers agreed like almost every other media company, I would need to go to a subscription business model.”
Some students were confused by this sudden expense added to a previously free site. Others questioned whether articles about high school sports were worth paying for. “I don’t think anybody is going to want to pay for that,” said Stamford High senior Hannah Schager. Similarly, junior Matthew Saint said, “It’s kinda dumb to pay for high school sports articles.”
Despite the mixed feelings on this cost, it does not seem like it will be going away anytime soon. The Ruden Report still remains a popular news site, and will most likely stay on this track. With these subscription costs, hopefully, Ruden can continue to cover all of the important and entertaining sports here in our FCIAC division.