The ''Sporting Life'' was an American weekly newspaper, published from 1883 to 1917 and from 1922 to 1924, that provided national coverage on sports with a particular focus on

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

trap shooting Trap shooting, or trapshooting in North America, is one of the three major disciplines of competitive clay pigeon shooting, which is shooting shotguns at clay targets. The other disciplines are skeet shooting and sporting clays. They are disting ...

. The masthead on the front page of newspaper displayed the motto (shown in image at right): "Devoted to Base Ball, Trap Shooting and General Sports." It was founded in Philadelphia in 1883 by

Francis Richter Francis Charles Richter (January 26, 1854 – February 12, 1926) was an American journalist who served as founder and editor of ''Sporting Life (US sports journal), Sporting Life'' from its inception to its demise, and editor of the ''Reach Guide ...

, Thomas Sotesbury Dando, and August Rudolph. Richter was the newspaper's publisher until 1917. He hired correspondents to report from locales across the United States and continued to publish and edit the ''Sporting Life'' until 1917. Throughout most of its existence, it was in competition with ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'', which was founded in 1886 and published by the Spink brothers in St. Louis. By 1890, it had "the largest circulation of any sporting or baseball newspaper" in the United States. By 1886, the publication had a circulation base of 40,000 subscribers. Henry Chadwick, sometimes called the "father of baseball", was a regular contributor to the ''Sporting Life''. The ''Sporting Life'' also published several early series of baseball cards that were offered to subscribers. The pre-World War I baseball cards published by the ''Sporting Life'' are among the most popular and scarce in the baseball collectible business. The popular series issued by ''Sporting Life'' include the M116 series issued in 1910 and 1911 and the W600 series issued from 1902 to 1911. Back issues of the ''Sporting Life'' are accessible in digital format through the

LA84 Foundation The LA84 Foundation (known until June 2007 as the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles) is a private, nonprofit institution created by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee to manage Southern California's endowment from the 1984 Olym ...

's digital sports library.

References

External links

LA84 Foundation digital archives; includes ''Sporting Life''
{{Authority control National newspapers published in the United States Sports mass media in the United States Sports newspapers Newspapers established in 1883 Publications disestablished in 1924 1883 establishments in Pennsylvania 1924 disestablishments in Pennsylvania