The entirety of sports website Deadspin’s staff was laid off Monday after an abrupt sale to a startup firm.

Jim Spanfeller, CEO of Deadspin’s parent company G/O Media, told employees that the firm decided to sell the site to European digital media firm Lineup Publishing.

“The rationale behind the decision to sell included a variety of important factors that include the buyer’s editorial plans for the brand, though competition in the sports journalism sector, and a valuation that reflected a sizeable premium from our original purchase price for the site,” Mr. Spanfeller wrote in a memo to the staff.

He went on to say Lineup Publishing won’t carry over any of the existing staff of Deadspin, choosing to start from scratch. While the contract details haven’t been made public, G/O Media confirmed that the layoffs affect 11 Deadspin employees.

Most known for its irreverent and crude commentary voices, Deadspin had a unique take on sports and pop culture over the past two decades. Over the past few years, the site has been hit with significant layoffs and resignations. In 2019, the entirety of Deadspin’s writing and editorial staff resigned over disagreements with G/O Media.

The Deadspin sale comes after G/O Media laid off the entire staff of its publication Jezebel last year before quickly finding a buyer for the site.

Other young publications have struggled to maintain their newsrooms this year. In the past two months, BuzzFeed and Vice significantly cut back content production and staff, and fledgling news startup The Messenger shut down, laying off its entire staff.