Sinclair Broadcast Group and Access Holdings recently purchased Outfront Media Sports from CBS after the property was put up on the media sales market over a year ago.
The company, previously under the name CBS Collegiate Sports Properties, was reportedly sold for less than the initial asking price.
According to a report by SBJ, College published on, the initial asking price for the company as reported by insiders was around $35M.
This however was likely renegotiated downwards due to a reduction in the value of the business.
This was because the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant reduction in ticket sales, thereby lowering the value of the establishment. The actual terms through which Outfront was acquired have been kept private.
New Beginnings at Sinclair Broadcast Group and Access Holdings
The acquisition of Outfront paved the way for the formulation of a full-fledged sports marketing agency.
The new agency will go by Playfly Sports. Playfly Sports will take charge of all the college and high school rights previously held by Outfront.
These include multimedia rights to Denver, LSU, St. Bonaventure, Old Dominion, Virginia, Oral Roberts, Maryland, Oakland, New Mexico, Troy, and Wichita State.
The rights in high schools come with eight athletic associations across eight states.
These new rights will be managed through Playfly Sports Properties; a rebrand of the acquired Outfront business.
In addition to the rights mentioned, two esports companies were also acquired and will be fully managed by Playfly. These companies adding to Playfly’s portfolio are World Gaming Network and the Collegiate Star League.
Management of Playfly Sports
The CEO of the new marketing agency will be Michael Schreiber. The veteran media executive was part of the group at Sinclair Broadcast Group that oversaw the acquisition of Outfront and all its assets.
Before being appointed to this role, Schreiber worked as a general partner at SeventySix Capital, based in Philadelphia. He has also held positions at Comcast, Altice USA, and NBCUniversal.
While working at Comcast in 2007, he together with his teammates worked to develop and launch Hulu.
Playfly will headquarter in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Despite the rebranding and change in top leadership, Schreiber reported that three senior leaders of Outfront were retained and identified as having great experience in the college space, an important asset for Playfly’s prosperity. The three senior leaders transitioning to Playfly are Bill Cartwright, Rich Klein, and David Johnston.
Schreiber aims to use his position at Playfly to increase the use of technology in college multimedia rights. He also seeks to increase the use of esports and influencing innovations that would change the industry landscape.
“There is a big opportunity in a lot of different categories,” Schreiber said. “We have talked about sports betting, name, image, and likeness, digital platforms, and content, and esports. They all represent the opportunity to be disruptive in the space.”
The Future of Playfly Sports
At the moment, Schreiber is reported to be for the idea of running a much more lean portfolio.
This includes the eleven schools they acquired and as well as a few other blue-chip companies.
He noted that Outfront did not prioritize or pay the college division the attention it needed to truly succeed and prosper. He says the shift in focus was because the college division was not a core part of Outfront’s outdoor advertising business.
This neglect resulted in the college division struggling to grow and build viewership.
Schreiber believes the lack of channeling the correct resources led to the downfall of Outfront.
He gathered this information about Outfront from a discussion with the Founder and Managing Partner at Access Holdings, partner of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Kevin McAllister.
Schrieber’s observations from this interaction led him to prompt a discussion with Kevin McAllister and Chris Ripley (President and CEO at Sinclair Broadcast Group).
They both jointly agreed to invest in Schreiber’s ideology of an agency, that has since been unveiled as Playfly Sports.
“I’m probably going to think about the business a little differently than where some people have come from in the past,” he said.
“We’re really going to lean forward when it comes to innovation and digital platforms, as well as esports, which is built into our nucleus.”
Since its formulation, Playfly has also welcomed on board Rob Johnson as the CEO overseeing the esports business. Rob is a former Flyers and Nerd Street Gamers executive.
