FanSided
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports media, Lifestyle, Entertainment |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Founder | Zach Best, Adam Best |
| Headquarters | Chicago , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Zach Best (co-founder, former co-CEO), Matt Blake (partner and chief product officer) |
| Owner | Minute Media |
| Website | fansided |
FanSided comprises a collection of more than 301 American websites and newsletters centered on sports, lifestyle, and entertainment. Established in 2009 by siblings Zach and Adam Best, the network was acquired by Time Inc. in May 2015.
Since January 2020, ownership of FanSided has belonged to Minute Media, with its headquarters located in Chicago, Illinois.
Founding
The origins of FanSided trace back to 2007 when brothers Adam and Zach Best created Arrowhead Addict, a blog dedicated to the Kansas City Chiefs in the National Football League. Adam contributed his experience in sports journalism, while Zach brought skills in web design.
By 2009, they formalized FanSided as a network of sports blogs. The brand name was chosen to emphasize their approach of showcasing the passionate viewpoints of fans instead of impartial journalism.
The network experienced rapid growth, reaching 300 individual sites by 2015. Adam Best credited this expansion to focusing directly on fan perspectives:
- "Our content reflected fans’ viewpoints, which strongly connected with our audience. We broadened coverage to include every NFL team, followed by professional baseball, hockey, basketball, college athletics, NASCAR, boxing, and MMA. Eventually, we extended this model into entertainment sectors, continuously optimizing our strategy to fuel business development."
Expansion
FanSided broadened its scope to encompass additional professional sports and wider subject matter such as general news, entertainment, lifestyle topics, and fandoms including Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Star Wars.
In 2011, Matt Blake joined as partner and chief product officer. During this time, both Blake and Zach Best served jointly as co-CEOs.
A strategic partnership was formed in August 2012 with Sports Illustrated aimed at improving local sports coverage and accessing new audiences through FanSided’s digital platform. This alliance involved reciprocal content sharing and revenue sharing agreements with Time Inc.
Acquisition by Time Inc.
On May 26, 2015, FanSided—including its mobile application and newsletters—was purchased by Time Inc., the publisher behind Sports Illustrated. The acquisition was intended to broaden Sports Illustrated's local sports reporting while utilizing FanSided’s entertainment and lifestyle properties to complement brands such as Entertainment Weekly. Financial details were not publicly revealed. Founders Adam and Zach Best continued managing FanSided as a division under the Sports Illustrated Group.
Adam Best announced his exit from the company on March 2, 2017.
After Meredith Corporation acquired Time Inc. on January 31, 2018, FanSided became part of Meredith’s media brand portfolio.
Acquisition by Minute Media
In January 2020, Meredith Corporation sold FanSided to Minute Media for an estimated $15 million. This acquisition aimed to strengthen Minute Media’s focus on dedicated team fanbases and expand its footprint within the sports media industry.
Website Traffic
At the time of the 2015 acquisition by Time Inc., FanSided operated more than 300 websites attracting approximately 15 million unique visitors monthly and generating around 50 million page views each month. By December 2019, comScore data indicated that monthly unique visitors had increased to 23.5 million, demonstrating significant growth in audience reach and market presence.
External links
- Official Fansided website, fansided.com