Fox is remaking OutKick without founder Clay Travis at the center, hiring former Seattle Times sports columnist Matt Calkins just weeks after he quit the newspaper over a spiked column on transgender athletes in women’s sports.
OutKick announced Wednesday that Calkins will write sports-and-culture columns immediately. He spent 11 years at The Seattle Times covering college and pro sports and national events including the Super Bowl and World Cup. He resigned in August after editors refused to publish a piece arguing that support for keeping women’s sports limited to biological females does not automatically make someone transphobic.
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| Matt Calkins |
Calkins said he left the Times reluctantly but is “beyond excited” about OutKick’s willingness “to never shy away from any topic.”
He told The New York Times he chose the site for editorial freedom he felt he no longer had in Seattle.
Both Firth and Travis contacted him after his resignation became public. The hire is part of a broader reset.
Travis founded OutKick in 2011 and sold it to Fox in 2021. In June he stepped away from day-to-day control as the brand was folded into Fox News Digital. He remains a Fox News contributor and still hosts OutKick the Show with Clay Travis on FS1.
Last month it also added New York radio host Craig Carton for a sports-and-culture show. Fox says traffic has risen since the integration. The company cited Comscore figures showing OutKick reached 13 million desktop and mobile unique visitors in August, up 19% from July, along with sharp year-over-year gains in views and time spent.
Firth has described the audience as sports fans who want “coverage from the other side” and “funny irreverence.”