Clay Travis’s new media company officially launched on Wednesday. As previously reported by Front Office Sports, the digital media platform is called Sport & State. Also as expected, Travis is leaning heavily into live programming and digital podcasts—starting with a video version of The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show.
But plenty of unknowns remain. Let’s go under the hood and try to answer some burning questions about the controversial OutKick founder’s latest challenger brand.
What is Sport & State about?
In a column laying out his business plan, Travis says his “vision for this site is 70% sports, 15% pop culture, and 15% where politics intersects with sports.” The conservative firebrand writes: “Most of the politics will come from me. These other shows aren’t designed to be political. But sometimes politics and sports collide, such as the WNBA’s inability to tell us what a woman is. When these stories happen, we will be sane voices in an insane world.”
Who’s investing in Sport & State?
Travis is expected to announce multiple investors that could give the company an estimated valuation of $100 million, say sources. Hard Rock Bet is one of the first confirmed investors. The sportsbook holds a 10% equity stake in Sport & State, say sources.
What shows are involved?
There’s a bunch of new shows in the works. But here is Sport & State’s opening programming lineup this week:
- 8-10 a.m. — Chad Withrow and Jonathan Hutton live from Nashville.
- 10 a.m.-Noon — Lance Taylor, Ryan Brown, and Jim Dunaway live from Birmingham with a new two-hour version of the Next Round Live.
- 12-3 p.m. — Clay Travis and Buck Sexton live from Nashville and Miami, respectively, with the video version of Clay & Buck
- 3-4 p.m. — The Clay Travis Show
- 4-5 p.m. — Kelly Stewart, Ariel Epstein, and Joe Raineri live with a daily sports gambling show.
Who’s advertising?
In a twist, Travis will rely on brands he either owns outright or holds a stake in to drive ad sales. They include XX-XY Athletics, Crockett Coffee, and Perfect 10 Mortgage. iHeartRadio, the audio giant behind Travis’s syndicated radio show with Sexton, is selling ads across radio and digital. It’s also bundling ad sales for Sport & State with Clay and Buck. The weekday radio show now reaches over 500 stations nationwide. Next year, it’s projected to reach $40 million in ad sales, sources say.
Who’s running editorial?
Media veteran Dom Bonvissuto has been named managing editor. Meanwhile, sports business veteran Mark Burns was one of the site’s first editorial hires. “I’ll be covering sports business, media, and entertainment,” wrote Burns on X/Twitter. On Thursday, Travis tweeted: “We are adding many more writers soon. Tag people you think would fit the site well. Aka not crazy left wing morons in sports media. We are scouting.”
When Seattle Times sportswriter Matt Calkins posted on X that he quit because his editors spiked a column from the “perspective of two female student athletes who were opposed to competing against biological males,” on Thursday, Travis called it “unacceptable” and urged him to reach out to Bonvissuto.
“We may have a job for you,” tweeted Travis.
Will Sport & State compete with OutKick?
Sort of. They both approach sports and entertainment from a conservative standpoint. But look for them to operate more like allies than enemies, according to Travis. “I don’t really see them as competition. This isn’t Coke and Pepsi, this is more like peanut butter and jelly,” he writes. “I think both will work well together and the market for sanity in sports, sadly, is still overwhelmed by the market for insanity.”
What about Travis’s deal with Fox?
After selling OutKick to Fox in 2021, Travis continued to lead the company for five years to earn his $100 million payout. He’s now independent. But he’ll continue to contribute to Fox News. He’ll also continue to appear on Fox broadcast channel’s Big Noon Kickoff college football pregame show while maintaining his own weekly show on the FS1 cable channel.
