Globe shutters its OT sports weekly

OT, The Boston Globe’s sports weekly that launched last fall, has folded.

The oversize tabloid -- called OT, which stood for ‘‘Our Town/Our Teams’’ -- printed its last issue Thursday.

Although the paper was favorably received among readers, a weakening economy and lack of advertising forced Globe executives to pull the plug.

‘‘It never attracted enough advertising support, and in this economy, it didn’t look like it would, at least in the near future,’’ said Robert Powers, spokesman for the Globe. ‘‘We all are proud of the product that was produced, and we learned a lot from it. We’ll use that knowledge for future products that we develop.’’

The weekly, which had a print run of 13,500 copies, launched Sept. 25 and provided coverage of Boston’s professional sports teams that went beyond the daily news. Stories included previews of upcoming games involving the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins. The tab, which cost 50 cents a copy, had been sold at more than 400 locations across the region.

‘‘Anyone who read OT either in print or online would say that it was an excellent product,’’ said Joseph Sullivan, the Globe’s assistant managing editor for sports.

The weekly was produced by four part-time editors and designers, who were let go today. Sports columnists Chad Finn and Tony Massarotti will continue their coverage for Boston.com and the Globe. (By Johnny Diaz, Globe Staff)