Overtime Raises $100 Million From Liberty Media, Morgan Stanley, and Jeff Bezos

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(Zack Weiner/Left & Dan Porter/Right)

Hey Friends,

Happy Friday! Sports media company Overtime announced $100 million in Series D funding earlier this week, and I recorded a conversation with Co-Founder and CEO Dan Porter that I’m pumped to share with you.

For those that don’t already know, Overtime was founded in 2016 by Dan Porter and Zack Weiner. The original idea was to help leagues and teams reach a younger generation of fans, specifically Gen-Z and Millenials, by leaning into digital media content centered around young athletes and social media personalities.

That worked, but the company has become much more than that since.

Overtime now has 65 million followers across social media, and they received 20 billion video views last year, making them not only one of the largest sports media companies globally but one of the largest media companies in general.

They currently produce 50+ digital shows, work with over 100 brands, and generate between $50 million and $100 million in annual revenue.

But rather than sitting back and continuing to monetize via social media sponsorships and e-commerce sales, Overtime decided to take a bold next step: advancing from a media company to a live rights media rights company.

They launched Overtime Elite last year, a professional basketball league that gives high school-aged players an alternative to college or overseas travel. That included the construction of a 100,000-square-foot facility in Atlanta, and each player is paid $100,000 or more, offered health benefits, given an equity stake in Overtime, receives classes on financial education, and more.

But more importantly, this gave Overtime the premium IP ownership they previously lacked, transitioning from a traditional sports media company dependent on content from leagues and teams into a true IP ownership model with a built-in distribution channel of 65 million-plus.

It’s a fascinating concept, and it seems to be working well enough through one year that Overtime was able to raise an additional $100 million in funding (during a challenging venture period!) from some great investors.

The funding round was led by Liberty Media (owners of F1 & Atlanta Braves) and included participation from Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley), and Bezos Expeditions (the family office of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos).

So check out my conversation with Dan. He’s an incredible entrepreneur and extremely well-versed in all things sports, media, and commerce.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. We’ll talk on Monday.

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