The partnership adds two exclusive weekly columns and a new audience for Duck Sports Central while leaving both its free and premium coverage unchanged
There are times when growing something means changing it. This is not one of those times.
I am excited to announce that Duck Sports Central has entered into a new content partnership with Ducks Rising, one that will allow much of the work I already produce to reach a larger Oregon audience while also giving me the opportunity to join the Ducks Rising team as a special columnist with two exclusive columns each week.
For readers of Duck Sports Central, however, the most important part of this announcement is probably the simplest:
Nothing about the coverage you already receive is going away or changing.
Since I created Duck Sports Central, the goal has been to provide consistent, independent coverage of Oregon football through a mixture of reporting, analysis, player stories and some of the more reflective pieces that have become part of the site's identity. That will continue exactly as it does today.
The free side of Duck Sports Central will still include Commit Impact stories when Oregon adds new members to its recruiting classes, the Monday DSC Inside Read, Wednesday War Room, Friday Flock Talk, postgame recaps and the occasional Sunday Morning Sidewalk. Practice coverage, press conference coverage and the other stories that develop throughout the season will continue as well.
The premium side through Substack also remains unchanged.
Premium subscribers will continue receiving the expanded versions of Inside Read, Wednesday War Room and Flock Talk, along with premium player profiles, recruiting interviews, recruiting updates and other deeper analytical pieces. During the season, we will also introduce Fifth Quarter, a premium postgame feature designed to go beyond the initial recap and take a deeper look at what we learned from Oregon's performance.
The partnership with Ducks Rising does not replace any of that. It adds to it.
Under our agreement, selected Duck Sports Central content will also be published through Ducks Rising, providing another platform for the work and introducing it to an audience that may not currently read DSC. In addition, I will produce two original columns each week exclusively for Ducks Rising. Those columns will be separate from the regular Duck Sports Central schedule, meaning readers here are not losing content in order for me to create something somewhere else.
Ducks Rising will also help introduce its audience to the deeper premium work available through my Substack. That was an important part of finding a partnership that made sense for both sides. Ducks Rising is looking to continue strengthening its written coverage, while I have been looking for thoughtful ways to expand the reach of Duck Sports Central without changing what it is or sacrificing the independence that has always been important to me.
That made Ducks Rising a particularly good fit.
I chose this partnership carefully because I believe in what Travis and the Ducks Rising team are trying to build. Their model does more than simply cover Oregon athletics. Membership fees help support University of Oregon athletes and the program, creating a connection between the people consuming the coverage and the athletes they are following.
That matters to me.
Just as importantly, this partnership allows me to remain independent. Duck Sports Central remains Duck Sports Central. My premium work remains my own. I retain the freedom to cover Oregon football and recruiting in the way I believe best serves readers, without becoming tied to a larger recruiting network or having my coverage shaped by the needs and restrictions of one.
At the same time, I now have another platform on which to share my work, another audience to introduce to what we have built and an opportunity to contribute something unique to Ducks Rising twice each week.
That is why I view this as a genuine win for both sides rather than simply a content-sharing arrangement.
Ducks Rising receives additional written Oregon football coverage and two exclusive weekly columns. Duck Sports Central gains broader distribution and an opportunity to introduce more Oregon fans to its premium work. Readers of both platforms get access to more coverage without either publication giving up the identity that made the partnership attractive in the first place.
There are still some details we will introduce as we move forward, including the names and identities of the two exclusive Ducks Rising columns. But the foundation is in place, and I could not be more excited about the opportunity.
For those who have supported Duck Sports Central, whether you have been reading from the beginning or found the site more recently, I also want to make sure this announcement is understood for what it is.
We are not moving.
We are not replacing anything.
We are growing.
Duck Sports Central will continue to be the same independent home for my Oregon football coverage that it has always been. The difference is that some of that work will now have the opportunity to travel a little farther, and twice each week I will have the opportunity to create something entirely new for Ducks Rising.
I am excited to see where that takes us.