Whistle Sports creates, curates and distributes sports-focused entertainment content across its own distribution platforms and OTT partners. Launched in 2014 by CEO John West, the company targets young, post-Millennial viewers and is described as the leader in the sports lifestyle segment globally. It maintains a library of over 560,000 videos and partners with creators and brands such as Dude Perfect, DevinSuperTramp and The F2. The company plans to use new funding to expand its catalog of free and premium original content with brand partners and creators. The collaboration with its new lead investor will also support partnerships with subsidiaries like ELEVEN SPORTS and accelerate international expansion. Whistle Sports creates, curates and delivers sports content for fans and brands across multiple social, digital and TV platforms. Led by CEO John West, the company partners with the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBC Sports, Sky Sports, Verizon go90 and Sinclair Broadcast Group. Since its formal launch in 2014, Whistle has built a global community encompassing over 170 million aggregate subscribers, fans and followers. The company is launching “Unseen Hours,” a behind-the-scenes look at the training regimes of up-and-coming professional basketball players. In January 2017 Whistle raised $27.5M in a Series C round from backers including Beringea, Tegna, NBC Sports Ventures, Sky and Emil Capital. It intends to use the funds to accelerate revenue growth while maintaining rapid expansion of its user base and operates offices in New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles and London. Whistle Sports produces and publishes a range of sports-focused videos on YouTube and other social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine) aimed at young people. It monetizes via branded content and advertising sold to sponsors, and its advertising and branded-content revenue doubled every quarter last year. The company focuses on U.S. sports while rapidly expanding efforts into globally popular sports, especially soccer. Whistle has studio space in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and London and a global headcount of around 50 employees, with staff projected to double over the next nine months. Management has opened a European office in London, is weighing a base in Latin America, and plans expansion to Asia later. CEO John West expects the company to become profitable in 2016 and is hiring an internal sales team to drive revenue. Whistle Sports is a US-based YouTube-certified broadcaster and multi-platform sports video network targeting young people and young millennials. It operates more than 195 channels and a library of over 28,700 videos that have generated more than 1.2 billion views. The network features content from athletes and creators such as Jeremy Lin, Brodie Smith, and Dude Perfect, and holds partnerships with the NFL, PGA Tour, MLB, MLS and other US sports leagues. Whistle maintains a cross-platform presence with 8 million YouTube subscribers, 9.3 million Facebook fans, 1.3 million Twitter followers, 2.5 million Instagram followers and 2.2 million Vine followers, and offers an Xbox 360 app with Xbox One and Roku support in the pipeline. Its product is social-first sports video distributed across multiple networks and apps to reach younger audiences.

Total raised

$91M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Series D

Latest activity

Jun 2018