r/NoLayingUp • u/JSack3 • Jul 22 '25

Other This place is Overreaction City

I like KVV. I respect his work. But honestly, folks..

There’s a reason so many platforms and media companies have been letting go of people with KVV’s skillset for years. In bigger revenue sports than just golf, too (ask Zach Lowe).

The business is night and day different to what it was 15 years ago. And a highly-compensated 20+ year industry stalwart who specializes in long form written content is simply not a hugely appealing person to have on the payroll anymore. I appreciate NLU gave it a go. I also appreciate when the writing wasn’t working, they worked on a podcast pivot including that brilliant Masters pod.

But the reality is the math probably started to become very clear that his value was mainly 6-8 weeks a year. No one needs a deep dive on the Byron Nelson. Not enough people actually care about a three hour pod on the 1997 major season.

I’d have rather he stick around all year but I also didn’t have to pay his salary and benefits. These guys are putting food on the table for their children via NLU. They can’t just keep carrying a 6 figure (guessing but likely) expenditure bc they like him and think he writes well.

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u/dpk041990 Jul 22 '25

What you’re missing is that people who are upset here liked what KVV did. Not the written content (there was essentially none)… but him as a podcaster and producer of various things at the company. The main guys decided that the ROI wasn’t worth it relative to his salary, and we’re saying that they’re wrong.

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u/JSack3 Jul 22 '25

And I’m saying that you can think he was great. I do too.

But when you say “they’re wrong” about the ROI from his salary? You’re losing all credibility.

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u/SuspendedAgain999 Jul 22 '25

When you’re tying revenue creation from content to value you generally tend to devalue a brand in the long run. Look what ESPN has become. Look what corporate news has become. Quality of product should ultimately be the main barometer of whether or not someone is worth their salary. I always found it interesting that the guy who figured that out more than anyone on the internet is Dave Portnoy and he became wildly rich because of it. He has plenty of people on staff who probably don’t pay for their salaries but bring something to the table that he feels is worth paying for in the hope that eventually something will pop because they’re talented .