The Sporting News Raises $15 Million to Power the Next Evolution of Sports Publishing

The Sporting News (TSN) announces it has raised $15 million. This incremental investment will be used to facilitate the growth of the brand and pivot the TSN business to being more transactionally-led. The fundraise was led by LSE-traded Playtech, alongside several other market leaders in the sports and digital media industries.

In addition to the fundraise, TSN has made a strategic investment in SuperDraft, an online daily fantasy sports and player prop platform, previously backed by Caesars Entertainment. 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 midst of transformation, with many transactional components emerging simultaneously. From the growth of sports betting and new sports OTT channels to the expanding market for tickets, merchandise and collectibles, it’s become more important for publishers to leverage deep content experiences to drive transactional customers.

“We believe that the future of the digital publishing industry is the pivot from revenue per thousand page views (RPM) to ‘lifetime value’ (LTV),” says Rich Routman, Global CEO of TSN. “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.”

The fundraise and strategic investment in SuperDraft follows several years of foundational growth for TSN. 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, and under the leadership of Global COO Shaun Koiner, TSN has launched 10 new market editions across Latin America, Europe and Asia, and has grown its audience to 50 million monthly unique users around the world. Alongside Shaun, TSN recently hired Rich Routman as CEO who most recently served as President of sports media and technology brand, Minute Media.

“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,” says Shaun Koiner, Global COO of TSN.