Sports site The Roar reduced to a whisper this week

Nathan Jolly

October 10, 2025 10:53

Sports site The Roar reduced to a whisper this week

The Roar has been reduced to a whisper

Sporting website The Roar suddenly stopped publishing content this week “until further notice” – but has since resumed publishing.

The Roar is owned by online betting platform PlayUp, who acquired the website in early 2021 after buying its parent company, sports platform Athletes Voice.

The Age reports that earlier this year rival website The Sporting News was in talks with PlayUp to buy The Roar but these appear to have stalled.

In a letter to readers, posted earlier this week, editor Tony Harper said the shut down is “due to issues beyond the control of our editorial team” and that it would no longer publish any submissions from editors and contributors.

“I understand how disappointing this will be for regular readers and the affected contributors,” Harper wrote.

“As The Roar editor, it’s a disappointment that I share. My sincere hope is that we can restore normal service soon.”

Harper has since confirmed to Mumbrella that the site is again operational, but declined to offer an explanation as to why production suddenly stopped.

The Roar was launched in 2007 by brothers Zac and Zolton Zavos, who also started tech blog Techly and arthouse culture site Lost at E Minor, wrapping the three together as Conversant Media.

In 2016, Conversant was acquired by ARN, then called APN News & Media, for $11.6 million, plus founder earn-outs.

In February 2019, ARN boss Ciaran Davis folded Conversant into ARN (at that stage known as HT&E) and shut down Techly and Lost at E Minor.

“As part of the integration, there will be a greater focus on The Roar, Australia’s leading sports opinion website, lifting our ability to engage with sports fans and leverage this content across our broader network of assets,” Davis said at the time.

However, by December that same year, ARN sold The Roar to Athletes Voice for an undisclosed sum.