In the history of The Ringer, Miles Surrey was the author of the most articles. Nine and a half years. One thoughtful piece at a time, profiles, in-depth analyses, pop culture essays, and television criticism all contributed to the development of a devoted readership.
He posted a brief message on X on a Monday morning in late March 2026, stating that he had been laid off. He also included his email address for anyone interested in hiring him. A farewell tweet after eight and a half years. It’s a scene that has been repeated so frequently at media companies that it almost seems commonplace. Nearly.
| Full name | The Ringer (podcast network, sports & pop culture media brand) |
| Founded | 2016 by Bill Simmons (former ESPN exec and Grantland founder) |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Parent company | Spotify (acquired The Ringer in February 2020 for ~$250 million in cash) |
| Founder | Bill Simmons — sports writer, podcaster, former ESPN personality |
| Core content | Sports analysis, pop culture criticism, podcasts, written features, fantasy football, video content |
| Notable talent added (2024–2025) | Max Kellerman (former ESPN host), Zach Lowe (NBA analyst), Amy Poehler (comedian) |
| Netflix deal | Major licensing deal struck with Netflix in 2025 as part of video content expansion |
| Layoff history | 2023: ~200 staffers cut across Spotify podcast division; June 2025: 15 employees (~5% of podcast headcount); March 2026: 15 more positions cut (~3% of podcast group) |
| Notable March 2026 departures | Andrew Gruttadaro (special projects lead, 9 years), Miles Surrey (staff writer, 8.5 years — most articles written in site history), John Jastremski (podcast ended) |
| Spotify monthly active users | 751 million (most recent quarter, record net adds of 38 million) |
| Official website | theringer.com |
On March 23, 2026, The Ringer laid off 15 employees, or about 3% of the podcast group’s total workforce, from both The Ringer and Spotify Studios. Andrew Gruttadaro, the special projects lead at The Ringer for nine years, joined Surrey and spoke of the experience with a measured sadness that felt well-earned. As part of the reorganization, the podcast New York, New York with John Jastremski, which covered local sports, was discontinued. When asked for comment, Spotify responded as usual: “Spotify does not comment on staffing shifts,” which is one method of dealing with it.
The internal framing that Spotify provided makes this round of cuts especially worth looking at. Sources with knowledge of the situation claim that employees were informed that the layoffs were intended to improve “execution, speed, and alignment” rather than specifically reduce costs. According to the story, the company continues to invest in expansion.
Simply put, it’s investing in various things. Multiplatform content, video podcasts, and content that works better on a screen than in earbuds while commuting are examples of programming that creates social media clips. It seems that the written word no longer fits as well into that vision as it once did. Even though it’s a completely expected move for a platform with 751 million monthly active users, there’s something a little depressing about that.
Spotify had previously gone through The Wringer’s personnel. About 15 workers, or 5% of the podcast division at the time, were let go in June 2025. Before that, Spotify eliminated about 200 jobs throughout its larger podcast business in 2023 as part of what the company referred to as a “strategic realignment”—a term that was doing a lot of work to describe a pretty significant rethink of the entire podcast business model.
Additionally, Spotify laid off 1,500 more employees worldwide in late 2023 and early 2024, accounting for 17% of its total workforce. The pattern is the same: significant investment, recalibration, and then the writers and producers bear the consequences as the platform’s user base continues to grow.
In 2020, Spotify paid Bill Simmons about $250 million in cash to acquire The Ringer. It appeared to be a statement acquisition at the time, indicating that Spotify was serious about developing into a media company rather than merely a music streaming service. Early last year, Simmons extended his contract with the platform, and since then, The Ringer has signed major licensing agreements with Netflix and added actors like Amy Poehler, Zach Lowe, and Max Kellerman.
The brand appears to be growing. In reality, the journalists who actually filled the website with reading material—a more subdued and unglamorous task—are gradually being let go. There may be connections between those two things that Spotify hasn’t made public.
It’s difficult to overlook the larger context here. The ESPN-owned website Grantland, which Simmons founded and operated until ESPN shut it down in 2015, served as the model for The Ringer. Many people lamented Grantland’s closure because, at a time when most publications were shifting away from long-form sports and culture writing, it had established a legitimate space for such writing. In a way, Simmons’ response to that defeat was The Ringer.
A place where authors could develop their voices, take their time, and advance their careers. Surrey’s record article count and Gruttadaro’s nine years are proof that people did just that. Observing its decline in favor of video content and platform-friendly formats feels more like a familiar letdown than a natural progression.
What The Ringer looks like on the other side of all of this is still unknown. With record user additions, a Netflix deal, and the signing of top talent, Spotify is expanding. There is undoubtedly the infrastructure for something significant. However, a media organization is ultimately only as good as the individuals who perform the day-to-day tasks of writing, reporting, and editing, and those individuals are the ones who are consistently let go. The Monday morning email is rarely received by the executives and analysts who formulate strategy. Almost always, the authors do.
