ESPN to shut down sports website Grantland

(Reuters) - Sports network ESPN said on Friday it would shut down Grantland, a sports and pop-culture website, five months after sports commentator Bill Simmons quit as editor-in-chief.

"After careful consideration, we have decided to direct our time and energy going forward to projects that we believe will have a broader and more significant impact across our enterprise," ESPN, a Walt Disney Co company, said in a statement on Friday.

The move comes after Reuters reported last week that ESPN was reorganizing and eliminating over 300 positions.

Grantland's closure will affect 40 employees, though some of those with contracts will move to other parts of ESPN, Re/code reported, citing a source.

ESPN opted not to renew Simmons' contract in May after a 15-year run on the sports network.

(Reporting by Kshitiz Goliya in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)