Press Sports, the Atlanta-based social media platform for young athletes, has been acquired by The DONUT.
The acquisition is all about creating a new type of media company to engage Gen Z and Millennial audiences online. The DONUT, based out of Austin, is an unbiased newsletter platform that is described as a Morning Brew meets Reuters/AP News. News is delivered to users in a digestible format either via SMS messages or email.
The two organizations had been partnering together for some time, said Conrad Cornell co-founder and CEO of Press Sports.
Cornell told Hypepotamus that he was impressed with The DONUT from “day one” since the newsletter has been able to consistently sell ad space and bring in new customers. To date, The DONUT has bootstrapped its way to over 175,000 subscribers on SMS and and 1.3 million on email.
Cornell said they started exploring what joining forces might look like about a year ago. He said the decision to join forces came down to one important thing: The DONUT is the best at knowing how to monetize a media company and engage online audiences.
A Look Back At Press Sports
Cornell and his team initially saw a gap in the market for young high school athletes looking to get noticed by college recruiters. The platform grew as a social network for amateur athletes to share their highlight reels as a “LinkedIn for athletes” platform.
Press Sports reached the fourth spot in the sports category on the app store. Cornell and his team had grown the Press Sports community to 450,000 members. On the fundraising side, Press Sports was backed by General Catalyst, Atlanta-based Overline VC, Atlanta-based Sound Media Ventures, among others. The team was also early adopters in NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals in the collegiate sports world.
“We invested in Press Sports when they were just getting started—at that stage, it’s all about team,” said Sean O’Brien, Overline Managing Partner. “From our first meeting, we were struck by the team’s deep understanding of their target market and their unwavering determination to succeed. Despite facing significant market challenges, they relentlessly built a premier platform that now engages over 2 million athletes, coaches, and fans across their app and social media channels.”
Looking back at the journey to build Press Sports, Cornell said that the team’s ability to grow in the sports media landscape came down to their ability to reach a broad audience and authentically connect with GenZ athletes.
“Our core strength was the ability to grow our community so partnering with the DONUT made a ton of sense as we combine strengths with a unique approach to meeting the needs of today’s sports fans” Cornell added.
What’s Next
Now as a part of The DONUT, Cornell said the company will focus more on growing as a sports-focused media and newsletter company.
“What we want to do is focus more on covering sports media and launching a higher frequency sport-focused touch point through email. That’s The DONUT’s bread and butter.”
Co-founder Branndon Stewart will be staying on and working with The DONUT. Following the acquisition, Cornell is ready for his next adventure in the startup world. But wherever he ends up, he’s focused on staying in Atlanta.
“It’s an exciting time and I’m eager to see what unfolds over the next few years,” he added.
