September 12, 2025 • 19 mins
The leader of the production company behind "Simone Biles Rising," "Aaron Rodgers: Enigma" and many more sports-related series details the company's business strategy and how it has navigated the content marketplace as an independent. Sankaran also discusses the company's new partnership with tennis star Coco Gauff and her IROC media venture.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to Strictly Business, Variety's weekly podcast featuring conversations with
industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. I'm
Cynthia Lyttleton, co editor in chief of Variety. Today, my
guest is Amit Sankaran, CEO of Religion of Sports. That's
a production company founded in twenty seventeen by Tom Brady,
(00:27):
Michael Strahan and Galka Chopra. Sankaran has been CEO from
the start. Sports fans are no doubt familiar with the
terrific documentaries and docuseries that have come from Religion of Sports.
They include recent projects on such major figures as Simone Biles,
Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Connor McGregor, Draymond Green, and many more.
(00:50):
In our conversation, Sankaran and I discussed the company's latest partnership,
this time with tennis grade Coco Gough, and we talk
about what it is that makes sports and storytelling such
a potent combination, and as ever, we talk about the
state of the content marketplace in general and where Religion
of Sports is finding the most opportunity out there. A
(01:13):
Meet Sankaran, CEO of Religion of Sports, Thanks so much
for joining me.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Thanks, Cynthia. I'm excited to be.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
I'm excited to talk to you. I'm a big consumer
of sports content, a big consumer of ESPN, and I've
seen a number of your really well produced documentary series.
I wanted to start with you at that thirty thousand
foot view level because your content production company was founded
in twenty seventeen, and I do believe you were ahead
of the curve of seeing the real growth market for
(01:42):
documentary content related to sports. Shoulder programming as it's called,
it really complements and can extend people's fandom and drive
interest in what's going on and off the field or
the track, or wherever it happens to be. We're seeing
so many athletes are interested in media, taking their brands
and their followings, to creating media, to launching brands, doing
(02:02):
all kinds of brand partnerships. We're seeing this explosion of
athletes as entrepreneurial engines and with a lot of them
having a lot of interest in media. What is driving now.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
I think that sports in general are starting at that
highest level is obviously, if you look at all the metrics,
the number one most viewed fas across the media spectrum
whether you're looking at last year's top one hundred programs
all being ninety eight being NFL, or you look across
content consumed now on YouTube, YouTube TV and so forth,
(02:35):
you look at the rights deals. I mean, sports in
general are booming.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
And it's definitely keeping the lights on for linear television
as well. So basically it's the glop of the whole thing.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
The attention drives I think much of this, and then
you go down a level to your point, and now
with social media, individual athletes are becoming their own brands
and personalities, and so they are interacting directly one on
one with their fans. So now that connectivity allows for
we see Lebron James obviously on the court, then you
(03:06):
interact with him on social media, and so now you
want to learn more. So that's kind of set the stage,
and then I think that has created this explosion, especially
obviously the rise of internet, mobile and so forth in
the last decade, where people are interested in the stories,
People want to get a closer look, and between the
live and the day to day social there is this
(03:26):
sort of in depth avenue that kind of is what
we've carved a lane around, which is premium unscripted documentary,
whether it's archival, real time storytelling, and so that could
be following someone in real time, it could be telling
their backstory, it could be a combination, It could be
a lot of what we Where we started our business
was answering the question why sports matter. So it was
(03:48):
never about what's happening on the field, on the court,
but just what is the deeper hidden meaning behind sports?
Speaker 1 (03:54):
And you have some news about it partnership with Coco
Goff that I want to draw you out on. But
before we move, I want to ask you about the
name religion of sports. I can see how that animates
what you do.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
And religious sports is Gotham. I'm my business partner in.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
One of our co founders originally came up with this
idea because he grew up Gothamchropa in the household of
Deepak Chropra, and so he would say, well everything when
he grew up Deepak talked about in the world of spirituality,
he lived, felt and breathing sports. He said when he
grew up in Boston, said, I'm sitting here in Boston
with thousands of thousands of fans and we have nothing
in common. When we're rooting for the same thing, to
(04:29):
get the same outcome. That was the essence of our business,
and so throughout that we've stayed true to that, which
is again this why sports Matter theme, and so whether
you're talking about a five minute short piece. We did
the series of several seasons on Apple Plus called Greatness Code,
which was trying to visualize flow state in a very
very compelling visual way, all the way to ten hours
(04:51):
of content with Serena Williams on ESPN.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
You did that fantastic Simone Biles series that really just
not only explained her background, but the mentality that you
have to have to be that good at that age
and to keep striving. That's the stuff that is so compelling.
Not to get all Joseph Campbell about it, but there's
been times when I've been at sporting events or watching
on TV and being so invested and it really does
(05:15):
strike you that at a time of incredible polarization, alienation,
and so from the get go with the name of
your company, you got my attention. So you started in
twenty seventeen, Gotham Chopra, Tom Brady, Michael Strahan, you were
on board from the get go as CEO.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Yes, Gotham, Tom and Michael started a show called Religion
of Sports, which was licensed to AT and T Direct
TV's audience network at the time. And what we basically
did is said, how do we make this thing of business?
Because to your point, the brand resonates. Everyone knows right away,
no matter where they came from, whether it was Barcelona
and saying Barcelona, VERUS Real Madrid or Alabama Auburn, everybody
(05:52):
knows instinctively to what Religion of Sports stands for. What
it means, well, roll time there you go exactly or
a hook of So that's how the business started and
has evolved.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
If I'm not mistaken. Some oone Biles joined as a partner.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yeah, she joined the board this past year. Correct.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And then your latest esteemed athlete to sign on also
is Coco GoF fresh off of an incredible performance at
the US Open. Tell me about how that partnership came about.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
It came about in a very authentic way. Coco, who's
extremely young and very successful, has big ambitions. Her families
had big ambitions. They've had Coca Gough Enterprises for the
past five years and they've been thinking about different ways
to take expand commercially, but also very creatively. They started Iraq,
which is her media business, and over the last several
(06:40):
years have produced content on the social side, on the
brand new content side, and so forth. And we started
a conversation and got them and I met with them
as well at the Super Bowl this past year and
started a conversation. The conversation was really about what does
Coco find important, and she talked a lot about her
own resilience, her own determination, her own hard work, her
(07:00):
own aspiration, and at a very young age, how she's
been able to do such amazing things win a Grand Slam,
but also wants to be thinking about how does she
lift up others, how does she tell other stories? And
so that's where the conversation in an authentic way came from.
She obviously has seen some of the work. Her team
has seen some of the work that we've done. That's
(07:22):
what's really distinct about our businesses. We're not one athlete's
production company. We're not about focusing on one thing. We're
really focused on storytelling and we have a team of storytellers.
We have many directors, filmmakers, visual artists on staff, and
really what we're focused on is evangelizing the brand that
I described, and so what Coco saw is how we
(07:45):
helped elevate stories with others. I think that's what we're
really excited as a partnership to do is she's got
a clear point of view, her team as a clear
point of view. We'll be here to help Creative bring
that to life in so many different ways.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Are there any specific projects on the docket yet or
are you still kind of in the figuring it out phase.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
We've already done one and we're about to start a
second with one of her brand partners. But yes, we
have been already had multiple conversations with the team around
what can we do in the branded space that's a
little different, how do we think about social slash YouTube,
and then what do we think about our core on
the premium months christa side and how do we take
her passion and themes, whether it's determination, resilience, black and
(08:26):
around communities, kids, you know, all these different topics and
think about how do we bring things to life in
different ways.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
There's a lot of athletes interested in media doing a
lot of things. What have you found for religion of sports?
What makes a fit for a.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Partner well, there's one.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
One definition of a partner can be someone we're partnering
with on a piece of content. What our creative team Gotham,
Lauren Victor, all the people on our team say all
the time, is pushing really the subject? What does that
person have to say? Why are we doing this? It
cannot just be well, I've got the good social media profile,
so let's do something. It's what's the point of view?
(09:03):
What are we really talking about here? And this happens
with all of our content, and you know, it actually
gets uncomfortable at times because sometimes it's quite you start
asking questions of subjects that they're not ready to answer
or they don't know the answer to. It can be
I want to tell the story about this moment in
my life, but then still you have to answer the
question why what is important around that story? Or it
could be with a team we just we just launched
(09:26):
a series with Birmingham the soccer club that Tom Brady
is an investor and owner in an already owner on
Amazon that launched it a couple months ago, and that
one was following that team. But the real through line
there was this vision from Tom Wagner, who is the
majority owner was to take this city, Birmingham, the second
biggest city in the UK that had this team that
(09:49):
was relegated and has been around for over one hundred
and fifty years, and say, how do I elevate this
ten levels over the next decade. What is going to
be the long term vision and how do I change
the community and culture?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
And so that was the.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Story that we that we we got behind. So it
wasn't just following the soccer team. It's about the culture
and the community and then a decade long plan. So
and then going back to your question when it comes
to Simone and Coco, which is how do we see
a broader partnership beyond one piece of content? And so
Coco also follow that on the same thing. She's such
an incredible athlete, but at the same time has this
(10:23):
big ambition, has a team around her who's ready to
put resources together.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
And that's just not her core team, but even her
w ME team who wants to build this.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Where do you find your biggest opportunities, what's your flywheel
if you will, around content? How do you make it
work as an independent production entity?
Speaker 3 (10:41):
And what's really interesting exciting right now is the core
of our business. We've built, as I mentioned as a
creative hub, and so we've got well we would describe
as the best storytellers. And these are not just sports
media stories. It's best storytellers full stop, in the business,
in the especially in the unscripted vertical. And so that
includes just got them. But then we've got Bryant and
(11:02):
Lauren Liam other directors on staff. We've got amazing visual
effects team members Chelsea who's going to be leading the
charge with Jonathan, our team with Coco Victor. So we've
got a creative hub. And the thing that's exciting now
is we're able to deploy what people have seen now
over multiple years is the quality that comes out of
that hub is on parallel and so now we're able
(11:24):
to deploy that in different ways. And so to answer
your question, there is the typical independent production model, which is,
you know, Netflix or someone may come and say, hey,
we really want you all to produce this content with
Simon or Aaron Rodgers or Connor McGregor, which are all
projects we've.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Done with Netflix.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Here is a fee and here's a bunch of money
to make it happen. Go produce it, and then we
own it and retain the rights and you get a
fee for your work and you get the credit and
move on. So that still happens, and I would say
that's a big part of our business.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Still.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
There's another model, which is we've capital over the last
few years, and so we can put capital to work,
and we have done that, and so usually we do
that when either we believe in a story so much
that we think it may not happen the typical route,
but it will if we put some money against it,
because we think we can show the world what it is,
or we think that putting money against it will allow
(12:20):
us to create a scenario where we are able to
retain the rights and or create a bidding war and
an outco. We're doing that right now with a project
that we will announce next year. But we're working with
a major athlete to create a content that we'll have
a theatrical component first and then flip that into a
streaming deal as well, and will also allow us to
(12:41):
own the rights long term and do multiple seasons. And
so that's that playbook. And then the thing that's exciting
now that's happening, it's really accelerated a lot in the
last year is getting brands engaged in content as well.
So we've created multiple deals where working with Roku and
other platforms where we are are creating the content. It's
(13:02):
the same type of content we create anyway, but brands
are actually paying for it. That's been an accelerant this
year for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Are you finding more flexibility even at some of the
larger streamers in terms of willingness to maybe bargain a
little bit on territories or certain kind of rights.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
I think it all depends. It depends a little bit
on price point. Is a project that we did that
we licensed starting in the UK for a lower price point,
and then we were able to start doing territory by
territory deals and it became flexible for some of our
bigger projects where there may be also talent fees and
all kinds of things happening. The streamers AMO others will
(13:37):
just say, if I'm paying X amount of money, I
need to own all rights and perpetuity, and that's just
what it is. And the only way around that is
again going to the other path, which is no, no,
we financed it, we're making it. But I would say
it's on that first front what you described, it's consolidation
over the last three years. Just to be candid has
been made it more challenging versus less.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Let me ask you about your infrastructure. Do you have
the ability to produce yourself?
Speaker 3 (14:01):
We have produce everything in the house. We have filmmakers,
DPS and then also editors. We have post production here
in the office, color make sound design, all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
That must be a big help because you have a
lot more control.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Control on timing, control over quality. That was a rationale
and the logic for the original investment. One example is
we're doing this series called Nexus, which is about the
fastest six weeks in sports in the WNBA between the
launch of the end of the college basketball season for
women and then the start of the WNBA season including
the draft, which is six weeks. We got brand partners
(14:35):
from Chase to Door, Dashed and Crustables to be involved.
A lot of that was an impetus to we want
to be involved with the quality and the work we're doing,
but also be involved with women's sports.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Are there any kind of larger initiatives, anything on the
horizon that we should be watching out for legit of sports.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
We touched on to the partners with the Cocoa, which
we're really exciting about.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
I mentioned the Birmingham project on Amazon, which is which
has gone really well.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
It's been really fun.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
We have several more that we're announcing before the end
of the year as well, which we're excited about.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I have no doubt that your phone has run because
you have great productions and there's a lot of demand
for very strong content producers. Are you happy where you are?
Are you entertaining ideas of potentially larger partnerships for the
company itself.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
We've always been thinking about more concrete international expansion. Birmingham
was a four A. We partnered with this to a
company there called Whisper, which has been a great partnership.
Whisper does a lot of live production, but they also
have a smaller doc unit, and so it was a
co production partnership where they were on the ground in
the UK and took Gotham, myself, some of our team
(15:41):
out to the UK quite a bit and we've had
lots of conversations with companies there. So I think on
the horizon is something internationally, whether it's Europe at the
least and so forth. And then I think the other
part is I mentioned the creative hub where I think
we see that going over time is a very organic
for us growth in shorter form in particular YouTube and
(16:02):
other content. And so some of that can be hires,
which we've already made some, but some of it could
also be companies that we could partner.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
With as an independent. Is it hard to balance the
desire to invest in really cool R and D and
things that may or may not pan out versus more
tried and true. Is that a juggling act for you
in terms of resources?
Speaker 3 (16:22):
For sure, we did have the luxury raised fifty million
dollars in twenty two which allowed us to do a
lot of things and including we bought a small company
in the UK. We've invested our infrastructure, We've made certain
bets on content and taking some bets on some things that,
as I allude to on the theatrical side, for example,
that might be risky. But at the same time, to
your point, I mean, especially what's happened in the last
(16:43):
few years run conolidation, we were always thinking about the
right balance of resources and the right balance of is
this something that's going to turn into our return given
the dynamics of things that are changing in our landscape
as well. That's where we go back to what are
our core strengths, which is a mention storytelling a few times.
I think the second thing for US now has been
we clearly have access to talent and the ability to
(17:05):
engage with the COCA, GOVSA, somem and Miiles, Tom Brady,
Steph Curry's others of the world that we've worked with many,
many times. And then the third for US's relationships at
a very senior level with networks and leagues and teams
and so forth.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Well, there is certainly no shortage of subjects and interesting
stories rolling around, not only in not only in US sports,
but certainly streaming has opened up the world. My last
question for you, I mean, is you mentioned you had
a significant fundraise in twenty twenty two. What did the
process of doing that fundraise and teach you about where
(17:37):
investors see the heat in content?
Speaker 3 (17:40):
I think it's changed over the last three years. I
would say what I described as our core competitive vantages
is still or exactly why investors invest. I think the
value at the time that was attribute to talent was
potentially higher than it is now. If you look at
some of the valuations for other companies and everything from
(18:01):
Candle Media to spring Hill at the time and other things,
and it's probably come down in a healthy way over
the last few years. But I think in that context,
to your point, what is still core is still the
same as probably it was fifty years ago. When you
look at the Disney flywheel, which is how do you
get access to something that demands attention and then how
do you build a flywheel and an ecosystem around it?
(18:22):
And so for us that is Religions Sports as a brand,
and then it's kind of these partnerships.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Like the thing that's.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Exciting about Cocoa again, bringing it back to that conversation,
is not just one partnership of one talent, but a
set of content around a set of themes that she's
excited about, which could expand from short form to long
form to then who knows, maybe there's products over time
and so forth. That's what investors are excited about, is
how do you see something that can spawn much more
(18:49):
than one piece of content that could build really a
brand and an ecosystem.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
The possibilities are incredible. Well amit. Thank you so much
for taking the time to talk me through this. I'm
going to continue to look for your logo as a
trademark of quality. And since we have just started NFL season,
I'm going to sign off by saying, go.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Bills, you had a great game last week. Good to
talk to you.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Thanks for listening. Be sure to leave us a review
at Apple Podcasts or Amazon Music. We love to hear
from listeners. Please go to Variety dot com and sign
up for the free weekly Strictly Business newsletter, and don't
forget to tune in next week for another episode of
Strictly Business.
Welcome to Strictly Business, Variety's weekly podcast featuring conversations with
industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. I'm
Cynthia Lyttleton, co editor in chief of Variety. Today, my
guest is Amit Sankaran, CEO of Religion of Sports. That's
a production company founded in twenty seventeen by Tom Brady,
(00:27):
Michael Strahan and Galka Chopra. Sankaran has been CEO from
the start. Sports fans are no doubt familiar with the
terrific documentaries and docuseries that have come from Religion of Sports.
They include recent projects on such major figures as Simone Biles,
Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Connor McGregor, Draymond Green, and many more.
(00:50):
In our conversation, Sankaran and I discussed the company's latest partnership,
this time with tennis grade Coco Gough, and we talk
about what it is that makes sports and storytelling such
a potent combination, and as ever, we talk about the
state of the content marketplace in general and where Religion
of Sports is finding the most opportunity out there. A
(01:13):
Meet Sankaran, CEO of Religion of Sports, Thanks so much
for joining me.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Thanks, Cynthia. I'm excited to be.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
I'm excited to talk to you. I'm a big consumer
of sports content, a big consumer of ESPN, and I've
seen a number of your really well produced documentary series.
I wanted to start with you at that thirty thousand
foot view level because your content production company was founded
in twenty seventeen, and I do believe you were ahead
of the curve of seeing the real growth market for
(01:42):
documentary content related to sports. Shoulder programming as it's called,
it really complements and can extend people's fandom and drive
interest in what's going on and off the field or
the track, or wherever it happens to be. We're seeing
so many athletes are interested in media, taking their brands
and their followings, to creating media, to launching brands, doing
(02:02):
all kinds of brand partnerships. We're seeing this explosion of
athletes as entrepreneurial engines and with a lot of them
having a lot of interest in media. What is driving now.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
I think that sports in general are starting at that
highest level is obviously, if you look at all the metrics,
the number one most viewed fas across the media spectrum
whether you're looking at last year's top one hundred programs
all being ninety eight being NFL, or you look across
content consumed now on YouTube, YouTube TV and so forth,
(02:35):
you look at the rights deals. I mean, sports in
general are booming.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
And it's definitely keeping the lights on for linear television
as well. So basically it's the glop of the whole thing.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
The attention drives I think much of this, and then
you go down a level to your point, and now
with social media, individual athletes are becoming their own brands
and personalities, and so they are interacting directly one on
one with their fans. So now that connectivity allows for
we see Lebron James obviously on the court, then you
(03:06):
interact with him on social media, and so now you
want to learn more. So that's kind of set the stage,
and then I think that has created this explosion, especially
obviously the rise of internet, mobile and so forth in
the last decade, where people are interested in the stories,
People want to get a closer look, and between the
live and the day to day social there is this
(03:26):
sort of in depth avenue that kind of is what
we've carved a lane around, which is premium unscripted documentary,
whether it's archival, real time storytelling, and so that could
be following someone in real time, it could be telling
their backstory, it could be a combination, It could be
a lot of what we Where we started our business
was answering the question why sports matter. So it was
(03:48):
never about what's happening on the field, on the court,
but just what is the deeper hidden meaning behind sports?
Speaker 1 (03:54):
And you have some news about it partnership with Coco
Goff that I want to draw you out on. But
before we move, I want to ask you about the
name religion of sports. I can see how that animates
what you do.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
And religious sports is Gotham. I'm my business partner in.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
One of our co founders originally came up with this
idea because he grew up Gothamchropa in the household of
Deepak Chropra, and so he would say, well everything when
he grew up Deepak talked about in the world of spirituality,
he lived, felt and breathing sports. He said when he
grew up in Boston, said, I'm sitting here in Boston
with thousands of thousands of fans and we have nothing
in common. When we're rooting for the same thing, to
(04:29):
get the same outcome. That was the essence of our business,
and so throughout that we've stayed true to that, which
is again this why sports Matter theme, and so whether
you're talking about a five minute short piece. We did
the series of several seasons on Apple Plus called Greatness Code,
which was trying to visualize flow state in a very
very compelling visual way, all the way to ten hours
(04:51):
of content with Serena Williams on ESPN.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
You did that fantastic Simone Biles series that really just
not only explained her background, but the mentality that you
have to have to be that good at that age
and to keep striving. That's the stuff that is so compelling.
Not to get all Joseph Campbell about it, but there's
been times when I've been at sporting events or watching
on TV and being so invested and it really does
(05:15):
strike you that at a time of incredible polarization, alienation,
and so from the get go with the name of
your company, you got my attention. So you started in
twenty seventeen, Gotham Chopra, Tom Brady, Michael Strahan, you were
on board from the get go as CEO.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Yes, Gotham, Tom and Michael started a show called Religion
of Sports, which was licensed to AT and T Direct
TV's audience network at the time. And what we basically
did is said, how do we make this thing of business?
Because to your point, the brand resonates. Everyone knows right away,
no matter where they came from, whether it was Barcelona
and saying Barcelona, VERUS Real Madrid or Alabama Auburn, everybody
(05:52):
knows instinctively to what Religion of Sports stands for. What
it means, well, roll time there you go exactly or
a hook of So that's how the business started and
has evolved.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
If I'm not mistaken. Some oone Biles joined as a partner.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yeah, she joined the board this past year. Correct.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And then your latest esteemed athlete to sign on also
is Coco GoF fresh off of an incredible performance at
the US Open. Tell me about how that partnership came about.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
It came about in a very authentic way. Coco, who's
extremely young and very successful, has big ambitions. Her families
had big ambitions. They've had Coca Gough Enterprises for the
past five years and they've been thinking about different ways
to take expand commercially, but also very creatively. They started Iraq,
which is her media business, and over the last several
(06:40):
years have produced content on the social side, on the
brand new content side, and so forth. And we started
a conversation and got them and I met with them
as well at the Super Bowl this past year and
started a conversation. The conversation was really about what does
Coco find important, and she talked a lot about her
own resilience, her own determination, her own hard work, her
(07:00):
own aspiration, and at a very young age, how she's
been able to do such amazing things win a Grand Slam,
but also wants to be thinking about how does she
lift up others, how does she tell other stories? And
so that's where the conversation in an authentic way came from.
She obviously has seen some of the work. Her team
has seen some of the work that we've done. That's
(07:22):
what's really distinct about our businesses. We're not one athlete's
production company. We're not about focusing on one thing. We're
really focused on storytelling and we have a team of storytellers.
We have many directors, filmmakers, visual artists on staff, and
really what we're focused on is evangelizing the brand that
I described, and so what Coco saw is how we
(07:45):
helped elevate stories with others. I think that's what we're
really excited as a partnership to do is she's got
a clear point of view, her team as a clear
point of view. We'll be here to help Creative bring
that to life in so many different ways.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Are there any specific projects on the docket yet or
are you still kind of in the figuring it out phase.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
We've already done one and we're about to start a
second with one of her brand partners. But yes, we
have been already had multiple conversations with the team around
what can we do in the branded space that's a
little different, how do we think about social slash YouTube,
and then what do we think about our core on
the premium months christa side and how do we take
her passion and themes, whether it's determination, resilience, black and
(08:26):
around communities, kids, you know, all these different topics and
think about how do we bring things to life in
different ways.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
There's a lot of athletes interested in media doing a
lot of things. What have you found for religion of sports?
What makes a fit for a.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Partner well, there's one.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
One definition of a partner can be someone we're partnering
with on a piece of content. What our creative team Gotham,
Lauren Victor, all the people on our team say all
the time, is pushing really the subject? What does that
person have to say? Why are we doing this? It
cannot just be well, I've got the good social media profile,
so let's do something. It's what's the point of view?
(09:03):
What are we really talking about here? And this happens
with all of our content, and you know, it actually
gets uncomfortable at times because sometimes it's quite you start
asking questions of subjects that they're not ready to answer
or they don't know the answer to. It can be
I want to tell the story about this moment in
my life, but then still you have to answer the
question why what is important around that story? Or it
could be with a team we just we just launched
(09:26):
a series with Birmingham the soccer club that Tom Brady
is an investor and owner in an already owner on
Amazon that launched it a couple months ago, and that
one was following that team. But the real through line
there was this vision from Tom Wagner, who is the
majority owner was to take this city, Birmingham, the second
biggest city in the UK that had this team that
(09:49):
was relegated and has been around for over one hundred
and fifty years, and say, how do I elevate this
ten levels over the next decade. What is going to
be the long term vision and how do I change
the community and culture?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
And so that was the.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Story that we that we we got behind. So it
wasn't just following the soccer team. It's about the culture
and the community and then a decade long plan. So
and then going back to your question when it comes
to Simone and Coco, which is how do we see
a broader partnership beyond one piece of content? And so
Coco also follow that on the same thing. She's such
an incredible athlete, but at the same time has this
(10:23):
big ambition, has a team around her who's ready to
put resources together.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
And that's just not her core team, but even her
w ME team who wants to build this.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Where do you find your biggest opportunities, what's your flywheel
if you will, around content? How do you make it
work as an independent production entity?
Speaker 3 (10:41):
And what's really interesting exciting right now is the core
of our business. We've built, as I mentioned as a
creative hub, and so we've got well we would describe
as the best storytellers. And these are not just sports
media stories. It's best storytellers full stop, in the business,
in the especially in the unscripted vertical. And so that
includes just got them. But then we've got Bryant and
(11:02):
Lauren Liam other directors on staff. We've got amazing visual
effects team members Chelsea who's going to be leading the
charge with Jonathan, our team with Coco Victor. So we've
got a creative hub. And the thing that's exciting now
is we're able to deploy what people have seen now
over multiple years is the quality that comes out of
that hub is on parallel and so now we're able
(11:24):
to deploy that in different ways. And so to answer
your question, there is the typical independent production model, which is,
you know, Netflix or someone may come and say, hey,
we really want you all to produce this content with
Simon or Aaron Rodgers or Connor McGregor, which are all
projects we've.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Done with Netflix.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Here is a fee and here's a bunch of money
to make it happen. Go produce it, and then we
own it and retain the rights and you get a
fee for your work and you get the credit and
move on. So that still happens, and I would say
that's a big part of our business.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Still.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
There's another model, which is we've capital over the last
few years, and so we can put capital to work,
and we have done that, and so usually we do
that when either we believe in a story so much
that we think it may not happen the typical route,
but it will if we put some money against it,
because we think we can show the world what it is,
or we think that putting money against it will allow
(12:20):
us to create a scenario where we are able to
retain the rights and or create a bidding war and
an outco. We're doing that right now with a project
that we will announce next year. But we're working with
a major athlete to create a content that we'll have
a theatrical component first and then flip that into a
streaming deal as well, and will also allow us to
(12:41):
own the rights long term and do multiple seasons. And
so that's that playbook. And then the thing that's exciting
now that's happening, it's really accelerated a lot in the
last year is getting brands engaged in content as well.
So we've created multiple deals where working with Roku and
other platforms where we are are creating the content. It's
(13:02):
the same type of content we create anyway, but brands
are actually paying for it. That's been an accelerant this
year for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Are you finding more flexibility even at some of the
larger streamers in terms of willingness to maybe bargain a
little bit on territories or certain kind of rights.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
I think it all depends. It depends a little bit
on price point. Is a project that we did that
we licensed starting in the UK for a lower price point,
and then we were able to start doing territory by
territory deals and it became flexible for some of our
bigger projects where there may be also talent fees and
all kinds of things happening. The streamers AMO others will
(13:37):
just say, if I'm paying X amount of money, I
need to own all rights and perpetuity, and that's just
what it is. And the only way around that is
again going to the other path, which is no, no,
we financed it, we're making it. But I would say
it's on that first front what you described, it's consolidation
over the last three years. Just to be candid has
been made it more challenging versus less.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Let me ask you about your infrastructure. Do you have
the ability to produce yourself?
Speaker 3 (14:01):
We have produce everything in the house. We have filmmakers,
DPS and then also editors. We have post production here
in the office, color make sound design, all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
That must be a big help because you have a
lot more control.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Control on timing, control over quality. That was a rationale
and the logic for the original investment. One example is
we're doing this series called Nexus, which is about the
fastest six weeks in sports in the WNBA between the
launch of the end of the college basketball season for
women and then the start of the WNBA season including
the draft, which is six weeks. We got brand partners
(14:35):
from Chase to Door, Dashed and Crustables to be involved.
A lot of that was an impetus to we want
to be involved with the quality and the work we're doing,
but also be involved with women's sports.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Are there any kind of larger initiatives, anything on the
horizon that we should be watching out for legit of sports.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
We touched on to the partners with the Cocoa, which
we're really exciting about.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
I mentioned the Birmingham project on Amazon, which is which
has gone really well.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
It's been really fun.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
We have several more that we're announcing before the end
of the year as well, which we're excited about.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I have no doubt that your phone has run because
you have great productions and there's a lot of demand
for very strong content producers. Are you happy where you are?
Are you entertaining ideas of potentially larger partnerships for the
company itself.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
We've always been thinking about more concrete international expansion. Birmingham
was a four A. We partnered with this to a
company there called Whisper, which has been a great partnership.
Whisper does a lot of live production, but they also
have a smaller doc unit, and so it was a
co production partnership where they were on the ground in
the UK and took Gotham, myself, some of our team
(15:41):
out to the UK quite a bit and we've had
lots of conversations with companies there. So I think on
the horizon is something internationally, whether it's Europe at the
least and so forth. And then I think the other
part is I mentioned the creative hub where I think
we see that going over time is a very organic
for us growth in shorter form in particular YouTube and
(16:02):
other content. And so some of that can be hires,
which we've already made some, but some of it could
also be companies that we could partner.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
With as an independent. Is it hard to balance the
desire to invest in really cool R and D and
things that may or may not pan out versus more
tried and true. Is that a juggling act for you
in terms of resources?
Speaker 3 (16:22):
For sure, we did have the luxury raised fifty million
dollars in twenty two which allowed us to do a
lot of things and including we bought a small company
in the UK. We've invested our infrastructure, We've made certain
bets on content and taking some bets on some things that,
as I allude to on the theatrical side, for example,
that might be risky. But at the same time, to
your point, I mean, especially what's happened in the last
(16:43):
few years run conolidation, we were always thinking about the
right balance of resources and the right balance of is
this something that's going to turn into our return given
the dynamics of things that are changing in our landscape
as well. That's where we go back to what are
our core strengths, which is a mention storytelling a few times.
I think the second thing for US now has been
we clearly have access to talent and the ability to
(17:05):
engage with the COCA, GOVSA, somem and Miiles, Tom Brady,
Steph Curry's others of the world that we've worked with many,
many times. And then the third for US's relationships at
a very senior level with networks and leagues and teams
and so forth.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Well, there is certainly no shortage of subjects and interesting
stories rolling around, not only in not only in US sports,
but certainly streaming has opened up the world. My last
question for you, I mean, is you mentioned you had
a significant fundraise in twenty twenty two. What did the
process of doing that fundraise and teach you about where
(17:37):
investors see the heat in content?
Speaker 3 (17:40):
I think it's changed over the last three years. I
would say what I described as our core competitive vantages
is still or exactly why investors invest. I think the
value at the time that was attribute to talent was
potentially higher than it is now. If you look at
some of the valuations for other companies and everything from
(18:01):
Candle Media to spring Hill at the time and other things,
and it's probably come down in a healthy way over
the last few years. But I think in that context,
to your point, what is still core is still the
same as probably it was fifty years ago. When you
look at the Disney flywheel, which is how do you
get access to something that demands attention and then how
do you build a flywheel and an ecosystem around it?
(18:22):
And so for us that is Religions Sports as a brand,
and then it's kind of these partnerships.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Like the thing that's.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Exciting about Cocoa again, bringing it back to that conversation,
is not just one partnership of one talent, but a
set of content around a set of themes that she's
excited about, which could expand from short form to long
form to then who knows, maybe there's products over time
and so forth. That's what investors are excited about, is
how do you see something that can spawn much more
(18:49):
than one piece of content that could build really a
brand and an ecosystem.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
The possibilities are incredible. Well amit. Thank you so much
for taking the time to talk me through this. I'm
going to continue to look for your logo as a
trademark of quality. And since we have just started NFL season,
I'm going to sign off by saying, go.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Bills, you had a great game last week. Good to
talk to you.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Thanks for listening. Be sure to leave us a review
at Apple Podcasts or Amazon Music. We love to hear
from listeners. Please go to Variety dot com and sign
up for the free weekly Strictly Business newsletter, and don't
forget to tune in next week for another episode of
Strictly Business.
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