The Hidden Athlete-Media Empire

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This week we’re diving into the hidden athlete-media empire:?newsletters.

?? Big Idea

With professional athletes forming super teams to launch media platforms and companies providing the infrastructure for individual players to incubate their ideas, athlete-driven media has taken over the world of sports.

Here’s what the players are building:

• Production Studios: Joel Embiid recently?launched Miniature Géant, a new production studio, in partnership with The?SpringHill?Company,
• Media/ Content Platforms: Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim, Simone Manuel and Sue Bird teamed up to launch?TOGETHXR?— a media and commerce company.
• Podcast Deals: Paul George launched?Podcast P?in partnership with?Wave Sports + Entertainment, the platform that’s also behind?New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce.

Zooming out of today’s top athletes, there’s another media blueprint on the rise:?newsletters.

As newsletter startups race to deliver innovative tools, savvy creators are taking advantage to build big businesses. With more case studies of?exits?and?media success,?I believe we'll see more athletes tune in ?? and think about how they can adopt the newsletter model for varying reasons.

Let's explore what that looks like.

???Why It Matters

Newsletters have ?rebranded?.

If you scroll through your inbox right now, you'll probably see emails from the shops & websites you frequent that round up the top events, discounts and news of the month.

These occasional, promotional emails are?not?the type of newsletters we're talking about ???? ♀?.

The type of newsletters that we?are?talking about are?email first media companies.

In recent years, we've seen new media companies scale their email list into multi-million dollar exits…

• **Morning Brew**:?In 2020, Insider purchased a majority stake in Morning Brew (which at the time had 4 million subscribers), valuing its business at?$75 million (source).
• The Hustle: In 2021, Hubspot acquired The Hustle (which had some 1.5 million subscribers) in a deal worth?$27 million (source).
• Milk Road: In 2022 the crypto newsletter launched on?Beehiiv, grew to 250,000 subscribers and sold for a 7 figure acquisition all?within 10 months of launching?(source).

And content-creators scale their email list into industry leading publications…

• Trapital: Dan Runcie is the creator of Trapital, a newsletter and podcast that has elevated the business of hip-hop to new heights. Dan provides in depth analysis on the latest trends in music, media, culture and interviews the biggest players in his industry for 20,000+ subscribers.
• Not Boring: Pacy McCormick is the creator of Not Boring, the #1 Business Newsletter on substack. The newsletter is “most fun way to learn about what’s going on in business and the strategy behind the decisions companies make” and is 125,000 subscribers strong.
• Publish Press: YouTuber's Colin & Samir added The Publish Press to their existing media powerhouse. The newsletter is the go-to destination for the industry to learn the business of creators every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

What these companies and creators understand is the value of email in building a media empire and the scalability of the newsletter business model.

???Athletes in the Space

When it comes to athletes in the space, newsletters are common amongst former players that are now building their brand in the business world.

• Dickie Bush?(Princeton Football): is writing The Digital Writing Compass, a weekly email that provides a Deep Dive into the content strategies, writing frameworks, and money-making business models that power million-dollar digital businesses.
• Sahil Bloom?(Stanford Baseball): is writing Curiosity Chronicler, a 2x weekly newsletter, where he provides actionable ideas to help his audience build a high-performing, healthy, wealthy life. The newsletter has 400,000 subscribers and is one vertical of his “personal holding company that is comprised of ten cash flowing business assets”.
• Andrew Petcash?(Boston University Basketball): is writing Profluence, a newsletter breaking down the business of athletes, sports, and NIL. His newsletter is just the tip of the iceberg for the media platform he's building in sports tech across socials, podcasting, and more.

Newsletters are an effective medium for life after sports. At this point, your desired audience shifts from fans/ general population?TO?decision makers/ business professionals in your industry. Providing thought leadership or value through formats that business professionals frequent, like newsletters, podcasts or LinkedIn, are a sure path to success.

???Platforms

Why is all of this happening?

In flow with the creator economy boom, a wave of email marketing startups have arrived to help creators launch newsletter businesses.

Here are a few examples:

• beehiiv
• Substack
• ConvertKit
• Ghost

Even if you have no plans to start a newsletter, I recommend checking out the product pages on each of these platforms to understand their capabilities and how it can help a creator like you.

???Key Lessons

Creators and media companies are investing in newsletters. There are two big things we can learn:

• Ownership is key: Social media is great for brand awareness, however if you aspire to build a real business from your content?you have to own something. On social media we’re all building on “rented land”, meaning that the platforms own the data and direct access to our audiences. A change in algorithm or shift in societies social media preferences could decrease the value of the followers you’ve built overnight. An email-first content approach flips this model on the head, by positioning audience ownership at the center of the creators model.
• Newsletters are businesses: The savviest creators don’t just start a newsletter, they get in the game to build a newsletter business. With some studying of the business model and straightforward paths to growth & revenue, it can become a meaningful pillar of an athletes/ creators media empire (see the keep learning section for more).

??What's Next

With more education on the newsletter business opportunity, current players will join the newsletter wave.

There are two main use cases:

• Professional Athletes:?Will start newsletters to raise their business profiles as investors and entrepreneurs, and step into the foray of?B2B content-creation.
• Athlete-Creators: Will start newsletters to diversify their content mix, and add a revenue stream to their creator business, like?Kenny Beachum.

If you’re considering starting a newsletter after this read,?send me a note?and let me know what you’re thinking!

?? Keep?Learning

• Why Newsletters Are The Hottest Side Hustle of 2023
• Find the Right Email Newsletter Business Model for You
• Beehiiv, a newsletter platform gets $12.5M in its inbox
• Why Content Creators Need a Newsletter

??That’s a Wrap

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