As the world of media content creation and consumption pervades the digital sector, outlets are invariably evaluating the optimization of resources. Whether it is funding, personnel, or timing, a litany of factors within the greater ecosystem fall under constant scrutiny in an attempt to diminish aggregate opportunity cost. While many large media companies remain profitable, executives have the shrewd intellect and foresight to take heed of research divulging permutations in such trends. The metamorphosis of the business, expedited by the global pandemic and temporary cessation of sporting events, leans towards putting more control and oversight in the purview of the customer.
There is a greater demand for niche content and presentations, hence the creation of alternate viewing experiences concomitant with live game broadcasts. Moreover, various athletes and media professionals have created their own content factories, producing and promulgating original podcasts, series, and documentaries.
Central to all of this innovation, however, are social media outlets, labyrinthic confluences of ideas, experiences, and compositions. Recent studies estimate that 4.9 billion people are using these applications worldwide, with a daily average usage time at two hours and 25 minutes. In a culture predicated on productivity coupled with a widespread lack of free moments, people seem to find ways to interpolate these digital plazas into their quotidian routines.
Many social media users consider influencers and creators to be firmly embedded in today’s cultural zeitgeist. Most of these personalities got their start working independently and either continue to do so or are in partnership with larger brands amid growth. The occupation, some of whom consider it their full-time job, is very much a 24/7 endeavor with lucrative contracts and a marked transition to becoming a recognizable public figure.
“I was posting three to five videos a day on TikTok,” Lacey Jane Brown said, who has north of 700,000 followers across various social media platforms. “From there, I was also trying to go to sporting events. A lot of different out-of-pocket expenses, but kind of how I viewed it was, ‘Hey, this is going to pay in the long run. You have to make some expenses now.’”
Brown eventually signed with a management team who helped establish her brand and position her for continued growth. Over the course of the calendar year, she consistently travels to explore sporting venues and creates unique, short-form content based on news and rumors. With each new piece of content, Brown and many other personalities effectively have to give an “elevator pitch” and keep people interested. After all, the average human attention span is 8.25 seconds, and studies corroborate that people prefer visual content now more than ever.
As she traverses the United States and beyond, Brown makes it a point to highlight distinctive parts of the stadium experience conducive for fans to enjoy the game. This year, she discovered a lazy river at Riders Field, the home of the Frisco RoughRiders, Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Additionally, Brown attended the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and made a TikTok video highlighting how T-Mobile Park, the home of the Seattle Mariners, is the only ballpark with a Starbucks inside.
“I think what I’m trying my hardest to do is really just show the fun side of baseball, show the fun amenities in the ballpark [and] show how unique ballparks really are,” Brown said. “….I’ll even ask people at the ballpark when I’m working with their social media team; I’ll [say], ‘Hey, what’s the one thing this ballpark has that no other ballpark has?’”
During the 2022 National Football League season, Brown broke a Guinness World Record by attending 32 NFL games – one home game per team – in 73 days. She documented her journey throughout the entire trip, which was to support her 12-year-old nephew who has been battling cancer throughout his entire life.
“That was my main drive behind this that many people didn’t know,” Brown said. “I think a lot of people just thought that it was just a more selfish thing for me to do because I didn’t really share the reason why I did this because I wanted to protect my nephew – I didn’t want hate comments and all this stuff.”
John Whitaker is no stranger to animosity, receiving a fair amount of objection to the lists he posts on his “Big Game Boomer” brand of social media accounts. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma, he began working in finance and accounting but always had a love for college sports. One day in late 2020, Whitaker found himself on Twitter debating Oklahoma and Michigan football with ESPN College GameDay analyst Desmond Howard. After the college football season concluded, he began making lists ranking players and aspects of the sport, and they quickly took off.
Initially beginning with 50 followers, the account rapidly grew and routinely has millions of impressions on every post. Almost 90,000 people follow the X page today, along with an additional 82,000 people on Instagram, resulting in the creation of a content calendar and finding ways to engage with the fans. These lists are derived from the synthesis of qualitative and quantitative metrics in addition to other types of research.
“I’m a guru with Microsoft Excel, so I’ve got just all these spreadsheets of data and players and coaches and recruiting,” Whitaker explained. “I would say that finance skill set has made me very savvy with just accumulating data and tracking it and putting it in a nice form to present it to the audience on social media.”
When Whitaker travels to college football games around the country, he posts photos and videos throughout the day, highlighting the unparalleled tradition and customs particular to each school. In addition to the lists, he is trying to build his podcast and aims to create a new episode on a daily basis, eyeing a commentator job in the future on any outlet. The lists have always been primary to his content strategy – and Whitaker shows no signs of slowing down – but he has been able to expand the scope of what he does as the page has matured.
“It gives people a name [and] a figure instead of just some guy posting lists on Twitter,” Whitaker said regarding his podcast. “I think it really helps build the ‘Big Game Boomer’ brand from instead of just posting lists to having other content where people can agree or disagree.”
Navigating through negativity is an immediate drawback of various social media platforms, consistently being exposed to disheartening comments and direct messages. There is a deluge of criticism on these outlets; however, there are plenty of people who genuinely enjoy the content and missions. Nonetheless, Brown tries to serve as a role model for other women in the space by encouraging them to remain persistent and offering her support.
“Whoever is sending hate; whoever is sending criticism, it shows more about who they are, and it’s usually the people that have private accounts that aren’t really active on social media,” Brown said. “It’s just all about ignoring it [while] taking in the good criticism – because there is good criticism out there – but I think as a female, you get a majority of the bad criticism.”
Emily Austin was direct messaging professional basketball players from the time she was young, trying to craft her journalism and hosting skills through one-on-one interviews. She would then post the interviews on social media and started reaching out to agents and managers for help to continue making inroads in the space. At the same time, Austin was also modeling for various brands, making it on a Times Square billboard and magazine covers at the age of 18. Combining modeling with her media endeavors, however, led to various agents and managers dissuading her from forging ahead.
“They were so nasty,” Austin conveyed. “‘Stick to modeling sweetheart; you’re going to get eaten alive out here,’ and just discouraging me from doing what I want to do. My broadcasting coach told me, ‘Stick to modeling,’ and I’m like, ‘I’m paying you to help me with broadcasting.’”
With minimal assistance, Austin continued interviewing NBA players and built relationships around the industry. She remembers meeting ESPN basketball analyst Michael Wilbon at an event and having a conversation about her endeavors, and he became a mentor for her from whom to seek guidance. Over the last several years, Austin has hosted marquee events, traveled to the Super Bowl to work as a freelancer with SiriusXM, and served as a judge for the Miss Universe beauty pageant.
At the same time, she acquired her own skincare line, People’s Beauty, and revamped her NBA interview show as The Hoop Chat, upping its production and structure. Using her business acumen, Austin surmises that monetizing the show can take place either by collaborating with a network or by incorporating sponsorships or other advertising. Austin has over 1.2 million Instagram followers and another half-million on TikTok, and she is working to further broaden her engagement with her future goals in mind.
“I think it’s important to master multiple things, and I know it’s going to take a lot of time,” Austin said. “I don’t really have much of a social life at all which is something I’m okay with because career-wise, I do have options. Just being versatile means you have options and it’s really, really good to have options.”
Versatility and adaptability have proven to be essential characteristics of employees working in sports media, especially due to widespread industry layoffs throughout the year. The Walt Disney Company cut 7,000 jobs to slash $5.5 billion in operating costs following its strategic restructuring, highlighted by numerous ESPN staffers both on camera and behind the scenes losing their jobs. On top of that, The New York Times revealed plans to eliminate its sports section, instead relying on The Athletic vertical, which the newspaper purchased in early 2022, to produce effective local content. One month earlier, The Athletic cut 4% of its newsroom, concerning many professionals in sports journalism and beyond.
Additional cuts are taking place in all sectors of the industry, combined with the ongoing strikes in Hollywood amid concerns pertaining to residual pay, working conditions, and artificial intelligence. Average job security in media is arguably more ephemeral than ever before, encouraging young professionals to branch out on their own and take an entrepreneurial path. Aliyah Funschelle has collaborated with regional sports networks and teams to create and produce engaging content but operates with a sense of autonomy because of the creative freedom it allows.
“I think working independently, my values come across so much easier because I cover the things I want and I don’t have to worry about getting a ton of approval to talk about things,” Funschelle said. “I’m pretty outspoken when it comes to different issues or different oppressed groups of people.”
Funschelle, like Brown, grew up in Kansas and quickly made a name for herself in the smaller locale. She attended her dream school, Columbia University, and ended up moving to New York City, a place where she found mentors and opportunities to expand her skill set. Through college, she continued to amass a sizable social media following. In her youth, Funschelle would always watch linear sports networks and read newspapers and magazines, but consistent with shifts in technology, she is cognizant that additional entertaining content is elsewhere.
“I’ve kind of had to adjust my content because I personally love sitting down with someone for 30 minutes and recording a whole interview and posting that, but I realize that people consume it differently,” Funschelle said. “That’s when I would have to chop it up into more bite-size pieces. It’s evolved like crazy though.”
Funschelle can frequently be seen in the “Big Apple” attending and covering sporting events, including New York Knicks and Liberty basketball games, the Army-Navy football game, and other basketball tournaments. She has been reposted by LeBron James, played pickleball with Eli Manning, and reported on the sidelines for ESPN+, taking steps to become an even more versatile media personality. If there is a big event in New York, it is likely you will run into Funschelle at some point living out her dream – and through it all, she wants to inspire women to pursue careers in sports media.
“I think it’s super important that women go where they’re celebrated, not just where they’re tolerated, and [that they] can really be set up for success,” Funschelle said. “I think that’s a big thing because a lot of people think about women in sports [as] just dealing with internet trolls, but really it’s making room for them at the table and where it really matters, which is in jobs and different opportunities.”
From independent content creators to linear and digital content from sports media outlets, consumers have a plethora of content and potent sovereignty. In a comprehensive snapshot of the space, a wide array of appealing programming is geared toward different factions of sports fans. It accentuates the importance of localized content, more of which is being created and shared by creators. Additionally, there are so many people trying to discover a paradigmatic means to operate that has rendered originality and authenticity essential traits.
“I think Pat McAfee was a big inspiration for me,” said Brown, who eventually wants to build her own program. “…His show does so well because it is unfiltered; it is authentic; there is nothing about reading a script. Yeah, you may cover specific points, but you’re not reading word-for-word. It’s very [non-]traditional media, which I really like and enjoy.”
“I just feel like because it is so saturated nowadays that the most important thing people want is just you,” Gabi Fuller, a Miami-based influencer, added. “I always say that I feel like sometimes my videos are so boring if I’m just vlogging a day where I’m not doing anything, and then I always get reminded whether it’s in comments or from people I meet – and they’re like, ‘We just want to see you.’”
Fuller is a former competitive cheerleader who was a member of the Top Gun All Stars in Miami, Fla. through which she gained a social media following. Over the ensuing years, she has found ways to expand the scope of her content to include other areas of lifestyle. Through her burgeoning popularity and high levels of engagement, Fuller has been able to promote the sport and other topics she has a passion to share with others.
She has over 300,000 followers on Instagram and an additional 172,000 on TikTok, but these two platforms only encompass part of her content strategy. Fuller prioritizes filming and editing YouTube videos, all of which she does herself, to take people into her life and allow them to get to know her as a person.
“My videos are way longer than they used to be before, and I kind of want it to be more of just like a comfort show to put on in the background,” Fuller said. “It doesn’t need to be full-blown entertaining every second of the video.”
In serving as her own production team, Fuller knows she can quickly discern things and envision a distinct final product. She can also interweave sponsorships throughout her content and set her own schedule to ensure she can maintain her responsibilities as a cheerleading instructor. Throughout the course of the week, fulfilling her tasks and continuing to grow as a professional is at the top of Fuller’s mindset. Since she is doing what she loves, maintaining a healthy work-life balance can be a difficult task.
“Whenever I’m home and done for the day – as much as I can – I just try not to even be around my phone just so I’m not tempted or get distracted and even go into work mode,” Fuller said. “The line is definitely blurred with this job because you do sometimes feel like they’ll be days where I feel like I work from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep for sure.”
While she does not consume much sports media content on her own, Fuller appreciates programming that can give people different perspectives of athletes. She referenced the aforementioned Netflix docuseries, Quarterback, in discussing deeper storytelling and her future goals. Because she is split between the athletic and content creation spaces and blends both with one another, defining her occupation is somewhat of a challenge.
“[Cheerleading] literally probably takes up 50% of my life, where the other 50% is more the lifestyle; the influencing; more of the social media business work,” Fuller said. “I truly feel like both labels kind of explain exactly who I am because that’s just how my life is truly divided and split up.”
Fuller studied mechanical engineering while she attended Florida International University, an experience through which she balanced her studies with cheerleading and content creation. While she rose in the ranks at this time, Dylan Sadiq took a different journey after his biomedical engineering classes were put on hold due to a global pandemic. After growing frustrated with not being able to learn in a laboratory, he worked to find ways to further his education. Sadiq graduated in the top echelons of his class, and he used his analytical sagacity to find a new hobby that has since turned into a job.
“Images are just made up of pixels, and pixels are just colored squares,” Sadiq said. “In theory, if you have enough pixels – very detailed images have tens of thousands of pixels – you can make a crystal clear image; however, a Rubik’s Cube is literally nine colored squares on one side. In theory, if I had enough colored squares or pixels, or even in this case if I had enough Rubik’s cubes, I’d be able to make an image.”
With no background in content creation, Sadiq set up a camera as he took 10 hours to craft a mural of Dallas Mavericks superstar guard Luka Dončić and then posted his video to TikTok as “The College Cuber.” The post gained traction and was noticed by the Mavericks organization, who then asked his permission to share it across their social media platforms. Almost like a domino effect, other teams began reaching out to Sadiq to create images, and he was suddenly taking requests. The more he practiced, the faster he was completing the mosaics – and chances to perform his work live began to surface.
“If it wasn’t for social media, especially TikTok, I would just be some kid playing with cubes in his basement honestly,” Sadiq said. “Social [media] is not only a great way to share what you’re creating with your fans, but at the same time, it’s definitely your marketing as a business.”
Sadiq does not view himself as a bonafide content creator, instead utilizing his art as a vehicle to drive success – which he conveys is a duality between recognition and compensation. Much of his business remains independent, but he does have some employees who assist him with different aspects of the operation amid an effort to expand the scope of his work.
In the future, he does not want to solely rely on the multicolored cubes to craft these pieces, holding an innate desire to broaden his artistic horizons. No matter what he ends up doing though, the central focus of his social media usage comes down to publishing his work and presenting other aspects of his lifestyle.
“Whether it’s the everyday person or the diehard sports fan, I’m trying to educate people [on] what’s going on in sports,” Sadiq said. “I do research and I try to really just put that out there and use my art as a secondary visual for that, but at the end of the day, I feel like I’m really just trying to share my journey as a person and as an artist.”
The dynamic nature of sports media within the vacillating content ecosystem has been preferential towards individuals and personalities. Building rapport with consumers is essential to establishing oneself as a brand, rendering engagement with fans tantamount to distributing content.
“I look at them as real people and people I could be friends with,” Funschelle said of her followers, “and it does show because I actually meet so many people from the internet in real life and become friends with them.”
“A Virginia Tech fan may hate me one day because I said, ‘Blacksburg isn’t that great of a college town,’ but he may love me the next day when I say that Virginia Tech’s stadium entrance – when the players come in the stadium – is the best in the country,” Whitaker added. “It’s a love-hate relationship.”
The tenacity to create opportunities and a resolute commitment to innovating and refining the craft are shared characteristics between these six flourishing creators. All of them, along with many others, are leveraging the power of digital media and revamping the way sports media and lifestyle content is being created and subsequently disseminated. Traditional media outlets have their own digital media divisions, and while it may be easier to obtain access to events or collaborate with celebrities, independent creators continue to immerse themselves in the domain. They are here to stay and are making an impact that goes far beyond the final score.
“I forget sometimes when I’m uploading [videos] and I just post it that there’s real people sitting down watching this and taking something from it,” Fuller said. “All I kind of see is the numbers or a name on the screen, and getting to feel that more, whether it’s in person or just a long message from someone – it is the most rewarding thing ever [in] this job.”
Derek Futterman is a former associate editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. Find him on X @derekfutterman.
