A significant shift hit the sports data and media space Monday as Cris Collinsworth finalized a major business move involving Pro Football Focus. The company sold its enterprise division to Teamworks in a deal reportedly exceeding nine figures, triggering widespread layoffs.
According to several reports, employees were informed of a company-wide restructuring plan during a meeting earlier in the day. The plan called for roughly half of the workforce will transition to Teamworks, while others were let go as part of the change.
The move separates PFF’s two primary operations. Its data and analytics arm, which widely used across the NFL. That department will now fall under Teamworks. Meanwhile, Collinsworth reportedly will maintain control of PFF’s consumer-facing content business, which includes written analysis, fantasy football coverage and digital media.
The layoffs impacted several recognizable names across PFF’s editorial and social teams. Many of which shared the news of their departure on social media. While the total number of layoffs has not been publicly confirmed, the cuts appear substantial, particularly on the content side of the business.
According to Sports Business Journal, Teamworks plans to integrate PFF data into the platforms of prior acquisitions. These include Zelus Analytics, Telemetry Sports and Sportlogiq.
“Having that PFF data definitely unlocks new possibilities for us,” Karim Kassam, VP/Teamworks Intelligence, told SBJ, noting that the combination of Next Gen Stats in the NFL and Sportlogiq’s computer vision tech at the college level means player tracking data is available at the elite levels of the sport.
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