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Doing Things grew its staff to 83 people, quietly made an acquisition and launched a slew of branded online stores this year as it invests more in content and commerce, CEO Reid Hailey tells Kerry.

Why it matters: The company's $21.5 million Series A round fueled the growth that came despite heavy economic pressure on media brands throughout the year.

Catch up quick: Founded in 2017, Doing Things has a portfolio of 35 brands such as Recess Therapy and Middle Class Fancy. It's known for memes on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok (ex. Corn Kid).

Its biggest revenue streams are commerce and branded content. The rest is licensing, ads on platforms, events and creative services.

Details: Doing Things hired 27 full-time employees this year. About half of its staff work in New York.

Key hires included Amy Swerling as East Coast vice president of brand partnerships, Fiona Brennan as director of e-commerce, Cody Kestigan as senior director of data analytics, Jon Goldmann as head of marketing and Vin Nucatola as head of video production.

Doing Things acquired Overheard last December. This year, it acquired surf brand Kookslams.

It now runs stores for Middle Class Fancy, Shithead Steve, Overheard, Kookslams, Fourtwenty and Breezy. It recently partnered with indoor golf simulator Five Iron Golf to launch a bar, Breezy Lounge, in New York.

The intrigue: Hailey says Doing Things' M&A strategy revolves around three questions: "Does that make us laugh? ... Does it have community? And is there opportunity for diverse revenue streams?"

"We've been crushing commerce," he adds. "But our core identity is where we started ... making content that's so funny and shareable."

Its Overheard acquisition also brought more women into its overall audience.

By the numbers: Doing Things' audience is 59% male, 41% female, and mostly between 21 and 34 years old, but it varies by brand, Hailey says.

What's next: It plans to expand Breezy apparel with clothes to wear before and after golfing.

1 big thing: Doing Things is doing a lot more things

photo illustration of Doing Things Media CEO Reid Hailey  surrounded by circles and like buttons

Doing Things CEO Reid Hailey. Illustration: Tiffany Herring/Axios; Photo: Glenny Brown Photography

The PGA Tour is lining up outside funding as it enters a pivotal week in its effort to hammer out a deal with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

Driving the news: Yesterday, the Tour announced that it's entered final negotiations with a Fenway Sports Group-led consortium to co-invest in the potential Saudi deal.

Why it's the BFD: Adding U.S. funding could placate regulators wary of foreign influence in golf while at the same time giving PGA a bit of leverage, Tim writes.

Details: The Fenway-led group, called the Strategic Sports Group, includes:

RedBird founder Gerry Cardinale, Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, Celtics majority stake owner Wyc Grousbeck, Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, and Cohen Private Ventures (Mets owner Steve Cohen's VC firm).

The big picture: Talks between the PGA Tour and PIF have dragged on for six months, and the two sides face a self-imposed end-of-year deadline.

Reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm's defection to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour was seen in some corners as a power play by PIF to force PGA across the finish line to a deal.

A final deal with PIF still has to be approved by the Tour's policy board, which includes Tiger Woods.

What's next: PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF's Yasir Al-Rumayyan are expected to meet this week.

PGA Tour lines up U.S. funding as Saudi talks near endgame

2. The BFD: PGA-LIV chess match

Illustration of two golf putters putting two golf balls into one centralized cup, with the LIV logo stripes trailing behind one ball, and the PGA logo colors trailing behind the other

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• Fifth Season, the CJ ENM-owned production company, secured a $225m investment from Toho International, a U.S.-based subsidiary of Japanese film and TV studio Toho Co. https://axios.link/3v0u3Q9

• Rokid, a Chinese maker of AR glasses, raised $112m in Series C funding at a $1b valuation led by NetDragon. https://axios.link/3Tp4N0t

• Gacha Monsters, a Japanese gaming startup whose first title is Poglin, raised $3m in seed funding from Animoca Brands, Infinity Ventures Crypto, FBG and Big Time Games. https://axios.link/486hh0M

• Decrypt, the news company that covers crypto and web3, signed a letter of intent to merge with Rug Radio, a decentralized media company for web3 creators, Sara Fischer reports. https://axios.link/3RgvXUu

• Banijay of France ended talks to buy All3Media, a British production company behind "Fleabag," per Reuters. All3Media is owned by Liberty Global (Nasdaq: LBTYA) and Warner Bros. Discovery (Nasdaq: WBD). https://axios.link/41anTsZ

• Shari Redstone, Paramount Global chair and National Amusements president, has held talks with Amazon, Apple and Netflix about a potential deal for Paramount Global (Nasdaq: PARA), per NYT. https://axios.link/46VMa78

• DAZN, an international sports streamer backed by Access Industries, is seeking to raise up to $1b in new funding, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3GAYvD5

• Amazon signed a three-year deal with IPG Mediabrands for its Prime Video ad business. https://axios.link/3NoaoQN

3. Deal flow

• ⚽ Zlatan Ibrahimović (aka Ibra), a retired soccer player, joined RedBird Capital Partners as an operating partner. He'll also be a senior adviser to AC Milan. https://axios.link/3tfDmLN

• Hozefa Lokhandwala will step down as co-CEO of Vice Media Group. https://axios.link/3TpQ5X3

• Nadja Bellan-White will step down as CMO of Vice Media Group to join marketing and public affairs firm SS+K as CEO. https://axios.link/3GzNxhk

• Moonbug Entertainment, the Candle Media-owned studio behind CoComelon, laid off under 30 people in late October as it restructures and cuts back on production, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3uTR4Ew

4. Movin' on up (or out)

🎬 Directors Guild approves tentative new commercial contract (Variety)

"Per the DGA, the new tentative contract with the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, Inc. (AICP) includes the first commercial industry protections against the 'misuse' of generative AI," Jennifer Maas writes.

💰 Tucker Carlson is launching his own streaming service (WSJ)

"Red Seat Ventures, a company that has helped media personalities including former Fox News hosts Megyn Kelly and Bill O'Reilly launch their own media businesses, is selling much of the advertising for TCN's podcast," Isabella Simonetti and Keach Hagey report.

"Networks that were once rich with original scripted programming are now vessels for endless marathons of reruns, along with occasional reality shows and live sports. While the network call letters and logos are the same as before, that is effectively where the overlap stops," John Koblin writes.

5. Channel surfing

an illustration of a television that says "channel surfing" on the screen being held up by hands on a dark smoky background

Good morning, Media Deals readers! Let's get to it!

🎾 Situational awareness: Netflix announced The Netflix Slam, a live tennis match between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. The streamer has dismissed interest in buying live sports rights but has instead created its own events.

@tim_bays: "Leave the World Behind" on Netflix. I don't know what's worse: the end of the world or having to spend it on Long Island. 

@kerrymflynn: "Waitress: The Musical" at AMC Theatres. Loved this Broadway show and excited to finally see the person behind the music, Sara Bareilles, in the lead role.

✏️ Thanks to Michael Flaherty for editing and Katie Lewis for copy editing this newsletter.

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December 11, 2023

1 big thing: Doing Things is doing a lot more things