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Sports brand Overtime penned a new distribution deal with the National Football League on Thursday, an expansion of a prior partnership between the two parties and a key cosign for the 8-year-old company.
The Overtime portfolio now includes four proprietary sports leagues, their media rights partnerships, an arena in Atlanta and an apparel and licensing operation, among other ventures.
Its four leagues—OT7, a seven-on-seven football league; OTE, a basketball league; OTX, a four-event boxing series; and Overtime Select, a women’s basketball league—feature high school and professional athletes ages 16 to 20.
Through its emphasis on rising stars and social media distribution, Overtime caters to a young audience of sports fans. According to the company, 83% of its viewership is under 35 years old, and it has over 100 million followers across its social channels and YouTube.
“The NFL partnership is huge because we now have a partnership with the biggest sports league in America,” said chief executive Dan Porter. “The idea that Overtime is not just a disruptor, but can play nice at the highest levels, is significant.”
The business is currently on pace to generate over $100 million in revenue this year, according to Porter. If it does, that figure would represent half of what a leaked internal deck predicted it would generate by 2024, but a 40% uptick year over year.
Overtime, which employs more than 300 full-time workers, has raised $250 million and was valued at $500 million in 2022. The company is not yet profitable, although its decision to build and vertically integrate its sports leagues required a significant outlay of capital.
Its content and business models sit at the intersection of a number of paradigmatic shifts in the sports and media industries, including the professionalization of teenage athletes and changing patterns in sports consumption, especially among young audiences.
“The biggest challenge in media right now is that live sports are one of the few things driving engagement, and there are only a finite number of sports rights,” said LightShed Ventures partner and analyst Rich Greenfield. “Overtime’s ability to create new sports content presents a huge opportunity if they can create meaningfully engaged audiences.”
Expanded distribution deals bring new revenue, viewership
The company brings in around 50% of its revenue from league sponsorships, a group of 15 brands that includes companies like Adidas and State Farm.
