Raw Charge Hockey: Version 2.0

Hi everyone it's your friendly neighborhood managing editor Justin G., I have been at the top of the masthead at Raw Charge since 2020, a hockey blog that has covered the Tampa Bay Lightning for over fourteen years (and a rebuild, two Stanley Cups, and the Golden Age of Lightning Hockey).

On Friday, January 20, we were informed that our site would no longer be "managed and monetized" by our parent company, Vox Media. This means that our contributors will no longer be paid going forward. Paid contributors will receive their last monthly stipend for February 2023, and beyond that we are on our own.

Late on Friday, February 10th, Vox Media gave us a choice, accept an offer from a new network or opt out and go independent. They were unable to provide any details about the contract with the new provider outside of some ancillary perks and a vague outline of ad revenue sharing. So, we decided to strike it out on our own. Vox Media did agree to extend our contracts through March, but as of April 1st Raw Charge will be an independent site.

We may not be the biggest sports internet site, but we have built a nice, mostly polite community that loves Lightning hockey. We intend to keep that community alive, and that is where you come in. We know that there will be some cost for us to build a new home for all of us -- for all of you. We still don't know if Vox will be giving us the brand we built for free. So we need a little help.

These funds will help facilitate the creation of Raw Charge 2.0, and will also go to ensuring we can financially take care of the writers who are impacted by this as we make the move to a new home. None of us are doing this as their primary source of income, but the monthly stipends did help pay the bills and no one should work for free. We will be moving forward with a smaller staff and are looking to maintain an $800 a month budget through the end of the regular season along with the costs of starting up a new site.

It will take time, but we are happy to have a passionate support system of readers and commenters who are active participants in our community and we want to make sure that we have a new place for them to come to.

Thank you so much for reading, spreading the word, and giving what you can if you can.