The Sporting News (TSN) – one of the most iconic brands in sports media and the oldest sports publisher in the United States – recently announced it has raised $15 million. This incremental funding round will facilitate the brand’s growth and pivot the TSN business to more transactionally led. The funding was led by LSE-traded Playtech, alongside several other market leaders in the sports and digital media industries.
Along with the funding round, TSN has strategically invested in SuperDraft – an online daily fantasy sports and player prop platform previously backed by Caesars Entertainment. And TSN will facilitate the day-to-day operations of SuperDraft and utilize it to create another revenue stream while offering its audience a new means to engage with TSN, bolstering its commitment to grow through DTC and transactional revenues.
The sports media industry is in the middle of a major transformation, with many transactional components emerging simultaneously. And from the growth of sports betting and new sports OTT channels to the expanding market for tickets, merchandise, and collectibles, it has become more important for publishers to leverage deep content experiences to drive transactional customers.
The funding round and strategic investment in SuperDraft follows several years of foundational growth for TSN. And after eight years of ownership by DAZN / Perform Group, TSN was acquired in 2021 by an international investment group with deep sports, media, and gaming experience. Since then, under the leadership of Global COO Shaun Koiner, TSN launched ten new market editions across Latin America, Europe, and Asia and has grown its audience to 50 million monthly unique users worldwide. Along with Shaun, TSN recently hired Rich Routman as CEO who most recently served as President of sports media and technology brand Minute Media.
TSN is the go-to destination for intent-driven sports news in the US and worldwide. And TSN is also the official NBA digital destination in multiple international markets, a global partner of the NFL, and delivers award-winning MLB content as the Bible of Baseball.
KEY QUOTES:
“We believe that the future of the digital publishing industry is the pivot from revenue per thousand page views (RPM) to ‘lifetime value’ (LTV). The digital publishers who are able to demonstrate that their audiences equate to more than viewable advertising impressions and can lead to transactional customers will be the next set of leaders in digital media. We are excited about TSN’s future and look forward to delivering more value to our audience.”
– Rich Routman, Global CEO of TSN
“TSN was built on our ability to evolve our business to where the industry is headed, while maintaining our proud heritage. From our initial shift from print to digital, from domestic to international and now from being advertising-led to being LTV focused, we believe TSN will continue to be a relevant, iconic and lasting brand for the long term.”
– Shaun Koiner, Global COO of TSN
