The ongoing public health crisis has been a disaster for many in the sports world, but it’s proved to be a great opportunity for some content creators. The Boardroom, the sports business platform developed by Kevin Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman’s Thirty Five Ventures, is taking full advantage. The property, best known for its ESPN+ show, aims to give viewers a behind-the-curtain view of the sports business world, and a lack of live sports has only increased demand. With viewer engagement surging, the company now has plans to further expand into non-video content.
In recent months, The Boardroom has kept up its steady stream of video interviews by host Jay Williams with the likes of Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman, NBA broadcaster Doris Burke and “Last Dance” director Jason Hehir.
Golden State Warriors GM Bob Myers joined Rich Kleiman on an episode.
“We were able to move very quickly with our remote interview strategy,” said Thirty Five Ventures general manager Sarah Flynn. “We saw a significant spike not just in terms of viewership overall, but also in the way that we were able to push content out a little bit more quickly and a little bit more streamlined than we ordinarily would.”
Month-over-month Instagram video viewership increased 250% in March, and the channel’s overall engagement was up more than 130%. Through the first few months of the sports shutdown, The Boardroom’s total video viewership increased 89% and its viewer engagement was up 39%.
Kleiman says that even more important than increased viewership is the reputation The Boardroom has developed. “The brand as a company is becoming more recognizable and people are aware of it,” Kleiman said. “And they see what it is that differentiates us from a lot of this very crowded sports media landscape.” Even so, Kleiman acknowledged that there’s still “a ton of work” to be done.
One priority is building up non-video verticals. The Boardroom has a weekly newsletter, “In The Boardroom,” and since launching in late 2019, it has amassed nearly 20,000 subscribers. It recently brought on two freelance writers to expand its written offerings.
Another focus, for both video and non-video content, is a shift toward long-form storytelling. “We’re most surprised at the engagement we’ve gotten on some of the longer-form video we’ve done,” Flynn said. “I’ve seen up to averages of 80% retention rates on 30-minute videos on Instagram TV, which is crazy.”
Kleiman says the return of sports might change the focus of what The Boardroom covers, but the course is now set for the company to continue establishing itself.
“It started as a show that we distributed content through on ESPN+, but the goal was always for it to be its own brand and sports business platform,” Kleiman said. “And now we’ve really arrived there with multiple verticals and a growing audience and plans to do more and more. It’s really now taking shape as its own sports platform.”
