Advertise
Reach readers who came to understand something. Formats, rates, and the rules that protect both of us.
Second City Standard is an independent, evidence-driven science and intelligence publication. Our readers arrive with a question and stay for the explanation — which makes them attentive, sceptical and unusually willing to evaluate a serious product.
We sell attention. We do not sell coverage, conclusions, or the benefit of the doubt. Every rate below is indicative; multi-flight and non-profit pricing is available on request.
Who you are reaching
Readers come for explanation, not outrage — sessions are long and intent is high.
Coaches, sports scientists, analysts, engineers, educators, students and journalists.
Written for a global reader; Chicago is one laboratory, never the ceiling.
Sports Science · Performance · Data & Intelligence · Applied Science · Discovery · Chicago.
Current traffic, subscriber counts and audience breakdowns are shared under NDA with any active enquiry, and summarised in our media kit.
Formats & rates
Newsletter primary placement
Top-of-newsletter unit inside the weekly edition. One advertiser per send. Labelled Sponsored.
Specs — Headline (≤60 chars), body (≤300 chars), CTA (≤25 chars), 1200×628 image, destination URL.
Newsletter footer sponsorship
Secondary unit below the editorial fold. Available on the same send as a primary placement.
Specs — Headline (≤60 chars), body (≤200 chars), CTA, optional 600×315 image.
Site display — leaderboard
Above-the-fold placement on article and pillar pages. No autoplay, no audio, no interstitials.
Specs — 728×90 and 970×250 desktop, 320×100 mobile. Static JPG/PNG/WebP or self-hosted HTML5 under 150KB.
Site display — in-article
Inserted between article sections at natural reading breaks — never mid-sentence or over content.
Specs — 300×250 and 300×600. Static creative only, under 150KB.
Investigation sponsorship
Underwrite a long-form investigation. Sponsors receive attribution; they receive no editorial input, no preview and no approval over conclusions.
Specs — Logo (SVG preferred), 120-character brand line, destination URL.
Podcast / video read
Host-read pre-roll or mid-roll across the podcast feed and companion video edit.
Specs — 60-second script or talking points, brand pronunciation guide, tracking URL or promo code.
Data & tools partnership
Co-developed calculators, datasets or research briefs. Always labelled and always methodologically independent.
Specs — Scoped in writing before any work begins.
Submission guidelines
Paid placements carry a visible Sponsored or Presented by label. Sponsored content is never styled to read as an investigation.
Advertisers do not see drafts, suggest angles, review conclusions, or request removals. Buying a placement buys attention, not coverage.
No autoplay audio or video, no pop-ups or interstitials, no countdown pressure tactics, no fake system dialogs, no imitation of our editorial typography or logo.
Performance, health, supplement or financial claims must be supported by evidence we can read. We will ask for the study, not the press release.
First-party and contextual targeting only. No third-party data brokers, no fingerprinting, and no trackers beyond what our Cookie Policy already discloses.
Gambling aimed at minors, predatory lending, unregulated supplements, political advocacy, adult content, MLM recruitment, and anything making medical claims we cannot verify.
Creative is submitted as final files (no live-editable links), with the destination URL, flight dates and any tracking parameters in the same email. We do not accept third-party ad tags that inject additional trackers. Affiliate arrangements are separate from advertising and are governed by our Affiliate Disclosure.
How a booking works
Enquire
Email advertising@2ndcitystandard.com with your goals, target flight dates, budget range and preferred formats.
Proposal
We return a written plan with placements, projected delivery, rates and total cost within two business days.
Book & submit
Sign the insertion order, then submit creative at least five business days before the flight starts.
Review
We check creative against the standards above. Rejections come with a specific reason and a chance to resubmit.
Launch & report
Placement goes live. You receive an end-of-flight report with impressions, clicks and CTR, plus opens for newsletter units.
Get in touch
Include goals, dates, budget range and formats. Replies within two business days.
Brand assets, logo usage and boilerplate live in the media kit. Our full commercial and editorial policies are indexed in the Transparency Center.
