The National (newspaper)

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The National
Type	Daily sports newspaper
Format	Tabloid
Owner	Emilio Azcárraga Milmo
Publisher	Peter O. Price
Editor-in-Chief	Frank Deford
Founded	January 31, 1990
Ceased publication	June 13, 1991
Price	USD 0.75
Headquarters	New York, New York

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 dello Sport in Milan, Italy) and thought that such a paper would work in the U.S.

Among the columnists that appeared on its pages were Chris Mortensen, Ivan Maisel, Mike Lupica, Dave Meltzer, Steve Rosenbloom, Jay Mariotti.

The National used the Wall Street Journal's distribution network to send out separate editions in each time zone. The newspaper also was a pioneer in using color print similar to USA Today. The first issue's cover subjects were National Basketball Association superstars Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Patrick Ewing, representing the three markets that the paper was available in: Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, the distribution method turned out to be too expensive to justify disappointing circulation numbers. The publication never lived up to its name, failing to truly "go national"; it did not even capture much interest in the few metro areas where it actually was distributed (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, plus limited others). Fans simply chose to continue to receive their sports news from local newspapers, local sportscasts, and ESPN. On August 2, 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait, reducing interest in sports news. This, combined with one of the slowest economies in the post-Jimmy Carter era, led to the quick end of the publication.

[edit] External links

• [1] (The National Sports Daily 1991 advertising promo)