The National (newspaper)

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The National Sports Daily, or The National, was a short-lived sports newspaper in the United States which debuted January 31, 1990 and folded after 18 months. The newspaper was published daily (Sundays through Fridays) and had a tabloid format.

The founder and main financial backer was a Mexican media businessman Emilio Azcárraga Milmo, and its editor-in-chief was sports journalist Frank Deford.

Azcárraga had seen the success of all-sports newspapers in Mexico and many European countries (example: La Gazzetta della Sport in Milan, Italy) and thought that such a paper would work in the U.S.

The National prided itself on being the "all-star team" of sports journalism, and among the columnists were Chris Mortensen, Ivan Maisel, Keith Olbermann, Dave Meltzer and Tracy Ringolsby. ^{[citation needed]}

The National used the Wall Street Journal's distribution network to send out separate editions in each time zone. The first issue's cover subjects were National Basketball Association superstars Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Patrick Ewing.

Unfortunately, the distribution method turned out to be too expensive to justify disappointing circulation numbers. In addition, most American sports fans preferred to receive their news from local newspapers, local sportscasts, and ESPN. This led to the quick end of the publication.