John Clayton Launching Premium Football Site

John Clayton will launch a new pro football website soon, The Big Lead has learned from a person with knowledge of the news. Unauthorized to speak publicly on the matter, the person requested anonymity.

The site, which is expected to launch within the next few weeks, is going to have a subscription model. The exact pricing isn’t nailed down yet but it is expected to be less than $10 a month, with a discount for annual packages.

Clayton’s vision for the site, according to the source, is coverage of gambling, fantasy, injuries, scouting and contracts, as well as traditional news and commentary, produced by a combination of experienced football reporters (including ESPN alumni) and people who held jobs in and around the NFL (agents, doctors, coaches, front office employees, etc).

The model is similar to The Athletic because of the subscription business model, but may not be a totally applicable comparison for the content. Clayton’s site sounds like a hybrid between SI’s MMQB and National Football Post. The former was founded by Peter King as a place where he contributed the anchor content but also empowered a group of writers to pursue reported features throughout the NFL; the latter has featured writers who have worked in and around the league in various capacities over the years.

Clayton, who spent over 20 years at ESPN before he was included in the round of about 100 high-profile layoffs, also writes a weekly NFL column for the Washington Post.