Exclusive: NFL strikes content deal with Front Office Sports

How it works: The yearlong deal will see FOS paying the league to access NFL intellectual property, events and logos to use across its portfolio.

• The content does not include live rights, but it does give FOS access to things like emblems from the league and its teams that FOS can use in its coverage.
• FOS will get behind-the-scenes access to NFL tentpole events that it can use in coverage across its website and social channels beginning this fall. Those events include NFL International Games, the Super Bowl and the NFL Draft.

Between the lines: White sees the deal as a critical lever to be able to strengthen FOS' relationship with advertisers, including official NFL partners.

• "We can now go to advertisers and say, 'Hey, we are an official content partner in the NFL,' and that's just going to make it much easier for our sales team in market."

What they're saying: "Front Office Sports has built a highly engaged community, and the NFL looks to FOS for unique storytelling opportunities and insights into the business of sports," Amanda Kersen, director of business development and strategic investment at the NFL, said in a statement.

• "The reason why we did this deal is all about making sure that we can provide our audience with more access to better content, and then we can provide our advertisers with the ability to leverage NFL marks and IP in ways that we haven't been able to in the past," White said.

Zoom out: The NFL has been exploring more digital content deals with new-age websites.

• The league last month struck a content deal with the women's sports-focused outlet The GIST, which will create more NFL-focused content that includes NFL branding.
• In January, the NFL struck a highlights deal with Bleacher Report. It also has digital rights deals with Overtime, a Gen-Z-focused sports media company, and Betches Media, a women-focused social media brand.

The big picture: The NFL deal represents the latest in a broader pivot by FOS to expand beyond newsletters and into more multiplatform franchises that are anchored by individual reporters.

• "We are solely focused on this idea of faces and franchises," White said, noting investments in the coverage of topics like sports finance through its Asset Class vertical and sports media through its Tuned In vertical.

• The company relaunched its daily show earlier this spring in an effort to invest more in video and multimedia coverage.

State of play: FOS' strategic shift has been fueled by an investment in the publication last year by RedBird IMI, a joint venture between private equity giant RedBird Capital Partners and Abu Dhabi-based International Media Investments.

• RedBird IMI is run by former CNN boss Jeff Zucker, who co-chairs FOS' board.
• White credits Zucker with helping to build the company's studios business, which in addition to producing editorial content, also produces content for brands.

By the numbers: Front Office Sports, which White launched while he was in college in 2014, has roughly 65 full-time employees, up from around 10 in 2020.

• White says he anticipates the company this year will be profitable and earn "between $17 million–$20 million" in top-line revenue, up from around $10 million last year, catalyzed by ad growth.
• While it's experimented with different business models, including subscriptions and selling courses, White said advertising is the company's fastest-growing revenue stream.

What's next: White says he hopes to replicate this type of deal with other major sports, as more leagues look to broaden their reach across new digital sites.

• The Athletic, a sports site owned by the New York Times, notably struck a highlights rights deal with the NBA and WNBA earlier this year.