Disney erased FiveThirtyEight

Disney shut down FiveThirtyEight in 2025, erasing approximately 200,000 person-hours of work produced during its 10-year tenure under Disney ownership, with the site's content redirecting to ABC News without public explanation. Founder Nate Silver, who left in 2023, notes that while some content survives via the Internet Archive, the deletion illustrates the broader problem of "link rot" on the internet, where significant portions of digital content become inaccessible over time. Silver and former colleagues are attempting to recreate popular FiveThirtyEight features, including election models and sports analytics, at his new venture Silver Bulletin.