There are decisions you make because they’re strategically smart, and there are decisions you make because you can’t look yourself in the mirror if you don’t.

This one was the second kind.

After two and a half years on Substack … two and a half years of triple-digit Year-Over-Year subscriber growth, two and a half years of building something I’m genuinely proud of, two and a half years of finding an audience that cares about sourced, independent NFL journalism the way I do, I’ve made the difficult decision to move Between The Hashmarks to Beehiiv.

I want to tell you exactly why, because you deserve that honesty …

This was a difficult and daunting decision based on values and on value, moving forward.

If you’ve followed my work, you know that a founding principle and core value of Between The Hashmarks has always been leveraging this platform to make a tangible impact on folks most impacted by the dark, dangerous, and uncertain times we find ourselves living in.

That’s not a marketing line. It’s the reason we threw financial support behind the Eagles Autism Challenge this April. It’s why a portion of every annual subscription goes somewhere that matters beyond football, such as the ACLU, Moms Demand Action on Gun Sense in America, Women’s Way, and various Immigrant Legal Defense funds across the nation, to name a few of the charitable causes we’ve rallied behind since launching in February, 2024.

When millions of American families were plunged into food insecurity because their SNAP benefits were cut off, we raised thousands of dollars for food pantries in 12 different NFL cities while also donating to Food banks in my community … together.

What Substack has become in recent years has made it impossible to keep housing this publication there.

I watched Substack send push notifications promoting Nazi newsletters to its users.

I watched Substack partner with the predictive market, PolyMarket, in ways that crossed ethical lines I wasn’t willing to step over.

And when Substack promoted Andrew Tate, an avowed misogynist, and alleged rapist and human trafficker, as the No. 1 bestseller across the entire platform, a conflict too significant to overlook, a bridge too far that I’m unwilling to cross.

Over the past six months, several subscribers canceled their support of Between The Hashmarks, citing those exact concerns.

Several folks, both subscribers and social media followers alike, contended that they, in good conscience, couldn’t support Substack anymore, or ever.

I saw every one of those cancellations.

I read every one of those messages.

I hoped Substack would change course.

Instead, it became clearer with every passing month that keeping Between The Hashmarks in the same neighborhood as literal Nazi propaganda didn’t just violate my values; it violated the trust I’ve spent three years building with you.

I wasn’t willing to let that continue.

So we’re moving.

You’ll be able to find us on beehiiv, and at our brand new home on the web, as they said back in the ‘90s, at BetweenTheHashmarks.com.

I want to make sure you know exactly what that means for you.

The only things changing on your end are the email address our content arrives from and, for now, the chat feature … though that may be returning soon on the new platform, in a far improved fashion. Stay tuned.

If you subscribed to us via the Substack app and typically receive our content there, you’ll need to become a free subscriber on Beehiiv, and I will happily offer you a complementary subscription for the remainder of your subscriber period.

Later today, I’ll be following up with a brief post from Beehiiv, outlining what to expect moving forward.

If you could just be on the lookout for that … in case it gets eaten by your spam folder, there may be a fun prompt included, just to make sure your service and reception of our content doesn’t get interrupted in the transition.

Everything else; the Football Friday Mailbag, 4 Downs each Monday, the podcast, the sourced reporting you’ve come to expect, that’s all coming with us. It’s who we are.

Nothing about the content changes. Only where it lives.

There’s also a practical dimension to this move that I want to be fully transparent about.

Substack takes a 10 percent commission on every transaction. Beehiiv charges a flat monthly fee that doesn’t come close to that figure.

Because Between The Hashmarks is a meaningful part of how I put food on the table for my family, leaving those fees behind wasn’t just an ethical decision … it was a responsible one.

The money I save goes back into the publication, and will be earmarked towards traveling to tentpole NFL events such as the Senior Bowl, NFL Combine, and hopefully a return to covering my sixth Super Bowl in the near future.

It also means more sizable contributions to the causes we support together.

Speaking of which ... I’ve heard from dozens of you over the past few months that the subscription cost has become a genuine hardship.

I understand that completely.

Cost of living has skyrocketed.

Inflation that seemed to be easing back in late 2024 has reignited. We are all feeling it in ways that are real and immediate. It’s staggering how much it costs to put a tank of gas in the car, or to simply make sure they don’t shut your power off at the end of the month.

So, there may be one more change, that will only impact free subscribers … you may occasionally see an ad within free content, through Beehiiv’s ad network, as a way to keep the lights on without asking more of you financially.

Paid subscribers will never see an ad inside our content. That’s my promise, and my way of saying thank you for your commitment and continued support.

Recently, Beehiiv changed the game entirely, by launching “Community” which has allowed us to introduce the official Between The Hashmarks App, and revive the chat feature which was incredibly popular with our subscribers on our previous platform.

Paid subscribers can access both by clicking here.

I’m more energized about Between The Hashmarks than I’ve been at any point in three years.

The reporting is stronger.

The sourcing is deeper.

The audience has never been more engaged. I can’t adequately express what your support means, not just to the publication, but to me personally.

None of this exists without you. And none of it moves forward without you, either.

Let’s build something even better. Together.

— Matt