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Substack CEO Denies Partnership with The Ringer

Hamish McKenzie clarified the platform has no formal agreement with the Spotify-owned media outlet.

Updated on Oct. 22, 2026 in Media

Isometric editorial illustration showing stacked paper sheets and digital nodes, representing the complex relationship between media corporate entities and independent publishing.
Substack CEO Hamish McKenzie clarified that no formal partnership exists between Substack and The Ringer, despite individual staff using the platform. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Substack CEO Hamish McKenzie recently denied the existence of a formal partnership between his company and The Ringer. This clarification follows the launch of independent newsletters on Substack by four prominent Ringer personalities.

Why it matters

The denial highlights the complex nature of individual creator independence versus corporate media ownership. It underscores the ongoing industry questions regarding where independent platform distribution intersects with established media company employment.

Four Ringer personalities have launched independent newsletters on Substack, even as The Ringer continues its operations under Spotify ownership. These moves occur alongside Substack's 2026 expansion of its sports partnerships department.

The players

Hamish McKenzie

He is the CEO and co-founder of the newsletter platform Substack.

The Ringer

This digital media company was founded by Bill Simmons and focuses on sports and pop culture content.

Spotify

The Swedish audio streaming and media services provider owns The Ringer and holds a distribution partnership with Substack.

Sean Fennessey

He is one of the four Ringer personalities who recently launched an independent newsletter on Substack.

Bryan Curtis

He is a media professional and one of the four writers who transitioned to publishing via the Substack platform.

The details

While Substack maintains a broader distribution partnership with Spotify that began in 2024, McKenzie confirmed the platform paid no money to the four individuals. Subscriptions to these newsletters currently result in a financial charge from Spotify.

Timeline

  1. Bill Simmons founded The Ringer in 2015.

  2. Spotify acquired The Ringer in 2020.

  3. Substack and Spotify initiated a distribution partnership in 2024.

  4. Substack hired sports partnership heads for the US and UK in 2026.

  5. Hamish McKenzie issued his denial regarding the partnership on X in October 2026.

Market Landscape

This situation follows the 2024 Substack-Spotify distribution partnership, which established a formal channel between the two entities. The recent launch of newsletters by Ringer staff tests the boundaries of this agreement in the competitive digital media sector.

Readers who subscribe to these specific newsletters will notice that their payments are processed through Spotify rather than directly through a unique Ringer-branded account. This arrangement maintains the connection between the newsletter authors and their parent company's billing infrastructure.

The takeaway

The move demonstrates how media professionals are increasingly utilizing independent platforms to diversify their content reach. Readers should keep in mind that individual creator choices do not always imply institutional agreements between their employers and the platforms they use.

Further reading

For more context on how media outlets manage digital distribution, see the latest updates in Media.

Source note: This article includes information reported by Front Office Sports.

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