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In-Depth

Gen Z: Zack Weiner

Co-founder and president, Overtime

In 2016 Zack Weiner co-founded Overtime, a sports media company targeting younger demos. The company lists MSG Network, Macro Ventures and current and former NBAers Carmelo Anthony, Baron Davis, Kevin Durant and Victor Oladipo as investors.

— As told to John Ourand

 

This year, Gen Z will surpass millennials as the world’s largest generation, one that consumes and talks about sports in a fundamentally different way. We’re building Overtime around that reality. It’s important to reach Gen Z where they live and spend their time. We fit into their world instead of expecting them to fit into ours.

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This generation cares about stories, not stats. It’s important to cover players’ personalities and who they are as people. What they wear, what video games they play and what they listen to are just as important as what they accomplish on the court or field. We speak to Gen Z users in the voice and tone they use. We have a young and diverse staff who can speak authentically in that voice because they live it.

As a media company, this is not something you can just dip your toes into — you have to fully commit. That’s difficult for legacy media companies that risk alienating their older, core audiences.

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We place a premium on giving Gen Z audiences an early look at tomorrow’s stars. Zion Williamson may be a new name to our viewers’ parents. But kids in the know have been on the Zion train for years because of Overtime.

Brands often think Gen Z isn’t as important because they have less purchasing power. That’s a short-sighted mistake — the opinions they form now will affect trillions of dollars in global spending.

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