Good Karma Brands has a new name. The company is now Good Karma Sports, reflecting nearly 30 years of growth.
What We Know: Good Karma Sports built its business from a single radio station launched in December 1997. Today, the company partners with the NBA, WNBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, college football and basketball, ESPN and TNT Sports. It also holds local play-by-play rights with teams including the Knicks, Rangers, Lakers, Rams, Angels, Bears, White Sox, Heat, Browns, Bucks, Brewers and Bills. Additionally, the company employs more than 500 teammates across 11 offices nationwide.
What They Said: Craig Karmazin, Founder and CEO of Good Karma Sports: “For nearly 30 years, we’ve built our business around sports, expanding our capabilities and relationships while staying deeply connected to the local markets we serve. The business we’ve built gives brands a unique and customizable point of entry into the sports ecosystem. Bringing together audiences, content, partnerships, talent and experiences around the teams, sports and moments that matter to them. At the same time, our expertise allows us to create value for sports partners in increasingly broad ways. That’s what Good Karma Sports represents, and there is tremendous opportunity ahead for our league, team, publisher, and advertising partners.”
Steve Politziner, President of Good Karma Sports: “As the sports media and regional rights landscape continues to evolve, we see a growing opportunity to help sports properties reach more fans, create greater value from their content and build stronger connections with partners and brands. Our ability to combine local market expertise with scalable capabilities across distribution, content, sales and media operations gives our partners more ways to grow their audiences and their businesses.”
What Remains Unclear: How the re-brand could shift focus of Good Karma Sports into other verticals in sports media is unclear.
What It Means: Ultimately, the rebrand signals a broader ambition beyond radio’s roots. Good Karma Sports now positions itself as a full-service sports media and marketing operator, not just a local broadcaster. Consequently, the name change may foreshadow further expansion into content, distribution and partnership services. For now, though, the company’s day-to-day operations appear unchanged.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.