Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN unit is in talks to sell data analytics blog FiveThirtyEight as it looks to distance itself from political commentary that has brought it criticism over the past two years.
Potential buyers of the site founded by Nate Silver include well-known media companies and lesser names, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private.
"FiveThirtyEight is a tremendous asset to ESPN, and together we've created exceptional content," ESPN said in a statement. "We are exploring, with Nate, a variety of options for the future, and any discussion of exactly what that might look like would be premature."
ESPN is looking to focus more on its core sports coverage after generating criticism from President Donald Trump and others that the network has a liberal bias.
Silver originally published FiveThirtyEight through the New York Times before ESPN acquired it in 2013. At the time, the Disney-owned network was looking to expand its online commentary, which included Grantland, a site founded by columnist Bill Simmons that was shuttered in 2015 when he left.
Silver won notoriety for using statistical models to correctly call every U.S. state in the 2012 presidential election, but he failed to predict Trump's election win in 2016.
News of a possible sale was reported earlier by sports blog the Big Lead.
