10 sports news website examples built with Ghost

Sports readers may want news about their team, the latest result, or in-depth analysis. The homepage should help them find that coverage. It need not give every story the same space.

These ten Ghost sports websites show different ways to handle that task. They come from the customer showcase. Nine use Tripoli. Each publisher adapts the theme through branding, navigation, and story choices. Legendary Upside uses Penang. Its introduction and signup form sit above the articles.

Customers add their own statistics pages and external tools. These need setup separate from the theme.

Teams and competitions

The right navigation depends on what readers follow. A national publication may group stories by league. A regional or college site may need schools, conferences, teams, or sports. Once readers choose a subject, reporting formats offer another way to browse.

Backheeled

Backheeled covers American soccer, including MLS, USL, and the U.S. men’s national team. Labels such as MLS and USL group the coverage by league. Readers can follow one league without browsing every team the site covers. The Backheeled walkthrough follows those routes in detail.

Theme: Tripoli.

Sounder at Heart

Sounder at Heart covers the Seattle Sounders and Seattle Reign. It shares news, opinion, and analysis. Its navigation connects reports with team resources. These include depth charts, standings, and schedules.

Theme: Tripoli.

HBCU Fan

HBCU Fan covers sports at historically Black colleges and universities. Readers can browse by school or conference, as well as sport. A fan can start with their school. Someone who follows basketball can start with the sport instead.

Theme: Tripoli.

R1S1

R1S1, also branded Wave the Wheat, covers University of Kansas athletics. Sport labels group its coverage, as league labels do on Backheeled. Readers get football, basketball and volleyball on one Kansas-focused site. They can still choose each sport on its own.

Theme: Tripoli.

SixOneFive Soccer

SixOneFive Soccer covers soccer in Nashville, including Nashville SC. Separate links lead to analysis, match recaps, and roster moves. Readers can choose the kind of report they need.

Theme: Tripoli.

Northland Soccer Journal

Northland Soccer Journal covers soccer across one region. It includes professional, women’s, college, high-school, and non-league soccer. Links for each level keep school reports alongside professional coverage. The site brings the region’s soccer coverage together. Its navigation gives each competition a separate route.

Theme: Tripoli.

Lead stories and recent news

A feature and a compact news list suit different reading speeds. The feature gives a longer story room. The list helps readers scan what has happened since their last visit.

BasketEurope

BasketEurope covers French and European basketball through news, interviews, and videos. A compact news feed sits beside the lead story. Readers can scan short updates. Longer reports still have a prominent place.

Theme: Tripoli.

Pitchside US

Pitchside US covers MLS, Concacaf, and U.S. soccer through reporting and analysis. A large lead image sits beside smaller stories. A compact list shows recent reports.

Theme: Tripoli.

MIR97 Media

MIR97 Media covers the Chicago Fire, MLS, and other soccer stories. Its homepage shows podcast episodes alongside written reports. Tag labels identify each format.

Theme: Tripoli.

Legendary Upside

Legendary Upside shares fantasy football analysis. It covers Best Ball, season-long leagues, and Dynasty. A short introduction sits beside the email signup. It explains the publication’s offer before visitors subscribe.

Theme: Penang.

Homepage priorities

Consider Tripoli for these features:

• Featured stories and Editors’ Picks.
• Homepage tag sections.
• Author and tag directories.

Consider Penang for a different starting point:

• A homepage introduction and signup form.
• Tag navigation.
• Member-access labels.

Decide what visitors need first: recent coverage or an explanation of the offer. The Tripoli examples lead with stories. Legendary Upside gives that first space to its introduction and signup.