Yahoo Sports has elevated Kendall Baker to Head of Newsletters, formalizing an expanded role for one of the most recognizable voices in sports email publishing and signaling a significant investment in growing its direct-to-consumer audience strategy.
Baker, who launched Yahoo Sports AM newsletter in 2023 after building previous newsletter brands at Axios and independently, signed a multi-year contract and will now oversee the growth and evolution of the company’s entire newsletter portfolio while continuing to serve as the primary author of its flagship morning product.
The move represents both a promotion and a strategic shift. Yahoo Sports aims to capitalize on sustained demand for curated email products. That demand persists as algorithm-driven distribution fragments attention across social platforms and mobile apps.
In his announcement, Baker framed the transition as the natural next step in a nine-year journey that began with a simple concept: delivering a SportsCenter-style experience directly to readers’ inboxes each morning in a concise, conversational format that blends news, analysis and personality.
What started with roughly 100 subscribers has since grown to nearly one million. Now Yahoo Sports AM, underscoring the durability of a format that prioritizes consistency, voice and habit-building over viral reach.
Under Baker’s leadership, Yahoo Sports plans to introduce new flagship newsletters, weekend editions, and pop-up products tied to major sporting events. The company also plans to expand internal resources and hire additional staff. Those hires will support editorial, production, and partnership initiatives.
In addition to launching original franchises featuring existing Yahoo Sports talent, the company plans to form strategic partnerships with outside publishers, journalists, and creators. Executives say the goal is to build a first-of-its-kind, interconnected newsletter network. They want it to extend beyond a single brand voice.
Baker will continue writing Yahoo Sports AM, a finalist for Best Newsletter at the 2025 Digiday Media Awards. Longtime collaborator Jeff Tracy will remain part of the operation as the team scales its ambitions.
For Yahoo Sports, the promotion signals confidence in Baker’s record of audience growth. It also reflects belief in newsletters as a core pillar of its long-term content strategy. That strategy prioritizes sustainable engagement models built on loyalty rather than fleeting clicks.
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