Media
Leaked pitch deck shows how sports-media startup Overtime plans to reach $200 million in revenue by 2024
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- A recent Overtime pitch deck obtained by Insider explains how it reaches young sports fans.
- The deck also shows how the startup plans to generate $200 million in annual revenue by 2024.
- Overtime recently raised $80 million from Drake, Jeff Bezos, and others, the WSJ reported.
Sports-media startup Overtime has raised $80 million from investors including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, rapper Drake, and Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, The Wall Street Journal recently reported.
A company pitch deck dated January that was obtained by Insider show how Overtime says its reaches young sports fans and plans to get to $200 million in annual revenue by 2024.
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Overtime declined to comment on the deck.
The sports-media company, which was initially built off highlights of high-school sports, distributes sports and esports content on platforms including YouTube and Instagram.
It has more than 45 million followers across platforms, according to the deck.
The fundraise, which the Journal reported values Overtime at more than $250 million, comes as more investors are sizing up the sports-media landscape. The category has become a target for SPAC investors, as well as gambling companies looking to cozy up to sports fans.
Key slides from Overtime’s 33-slide deck lay out the state of its business and its growth plans.
Digital-media startup Overtime wants to build the biggest sports network in the world.
It’s vying to be the next ESPN.
Only, instead of airing live sports and analysis on cable TV, Overtime distributes content mainly on social platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
The company was founded in 2016 with a focus on high-school sports and athletes, and has expanded into areas including esports.
The startup says has more than 45 million followers on social media.
Overtime said it grew its audience to more than 45 million social-media followers, without relying on paid ad campaigns.
The deck said Overtime spent zero dollars on marketing in 1,000 days, or roughly three years.
It also said Overtime’s videos clock more than 1.6 billion views per month.
For comparison, social-video analytics firm Tubular Labs ranked Overtime in March as the 13th most-viewed sports creator across platforms including YouTube and Facebook.
Overtime relies on its creator network to film game highlights.
The rising cost of live events makes sports media a pricey arena for startups to play in.
Overtime said it isn’t pursuing live-sports rights to keep costs down.
The company touted its network of creators who film game highlights using its camera app, and its mix of global sports including basketball, soccer, football, and esports.
Overtime says it has a big Millennial and Gen Z following.
Everyone from sports leagues to advertisers wants to know how to reach young generations, and Overtime says 88% of its audience are between the ages of 13 and 34 and have a median age of 21.
Overtime said 15 million, or roughly one third of its followers, are international.
It attributes its growth to its in-house camera tech that turns sports fans into creators.
Since Overtime doesn’t pay for live sports, it relies on its creator network for highlights.
The company has a camera app that creators use to shoot game highlights, which Overtime then distributes.
Overtime said it has a network of 7,000 people around the world who it pays to film events.
Overtime also says it produces original programming that’s watched by more than 30 million people per month.
The company calls itself the “fastest growing” sports-media property on social media.
Overtime backed that claim up later on in the deck with various slides on its engagement rate, followers, and video views across platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.
It also compared those stats to other digital brands like Barstool Sports and Bleacher Report, legacy-media outlets, and traditional sports properties such as the NFL and NBA.
Overtime has hosted and filmed its own sporting events, too.
The company said its youth-basketball showcase, The Takeover, which it released as a movie, racked up more than 150 million video views.
The company is creating its own high-school basketball league.
Called Overtime Elite, the league will give Overtime its own sports property, which it hopes will generate new revenue streams.
The Journal reported that Overtime would launch the league in September and pay its high-school athletes a minimum annual salary of $100,000.
Overtime wants to increase its annual revenue to more than $200 million by 2024.
The company said it would hit that revenue target three ways:
- Owning an audience no one else does, mainly Gen Z sports fans
- Using its technology, brand, and community to rethink traditional formats for Gen Z, be it sports content or leagues
- Creating basketball and football brands and properties, like Overtime Elite, that can drive sponsorship and media-rights revenue
Overtime’s top execs include former Bleacher Report, Adidas, and MLB leaders.
Overtime was founded by Dan Porter, a former exec at talent group Endeavor, and Zack Weiner, who also worked at the agency.
The company has hired execs with experience at Bleacher Report, Adidas, and MLB for key roles.
Overtime projects its sports league will become a meaningful revenue stream in a few years.
Overtime projects that its core business, which makes money from ads, sponsorships, and merchandise, will drive the bulk of its revenue through 2025.
It also forecasts that Overtime Elite, its forthcoming sports property, will pad its revenues starting in 2022, and give it the revenue lift it needs to get to $200 million in 2024.
These targets require big year-over-year growth. The company brought in under $15 million in revenue in 2020, and $7.5 million the year before.
Overtime says its video views increased during the pandemic.
Overtime was one of many publishers, including sports-media giant ESPN, that cut staff in the pandemic. It laid off 30 employees in 2020, or about 20% of its staff, Insider reported.
The company said video views still showed strong growth and that revenue rose during the pandemic.
Overtime said its digital-media business makes money outside advertising.
Like many media companies that have diversified revenue streams, Overtime said it generates revenue by selling sponsorships for its content and events, through direct and programmatic ads, and through apparel.
Overtime says it works with top brands like McDonalds and Netflix.
Overtime also sells T-shirts, hoodies, and other apparel, which its talent wears in some of its shows.
The company said 14 million of its followers are female.
It also said nearly half of its staff don’t identify as white, and one quarter are female.
Overtime had raised more than $50 million when the deck was published, with investors including VC firms Andreessen Horowitz and Spark Capital, athletes like Kevin Durant, and companies like MSG Networks.