Building the Most Creative Brand in Sports Media

Jack Settleman is the founder of Snapback Sports, the sports media company that started as a Snapchat account in 2017 and became one of Underdog's earliest creator partners. Jack breaks down the bets behind the business — taking equity in Underdog before its $1.3 billion sale, deleting a 600,000-subscriber YouTube channel, sending his brother to 33 World Cup games in 39 days, and choosing not to pay himself a salary — plus why he believes the gatekeepers in sports media are running out of time. Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/profiles __ On Tuesday, October 6, Creator Spotlight will be hosting our first official event in Manhattan, together with ElevenLabs. Space is very limited, so RSVP now to hear firsthand how creators are using generative AI audio tooling to expand their reach and connect with new audiences. Really hope to (literally, actually) see you there: https://luma.com/TheNewReach open.video lets you host your videos on your own domain, under your own brand — so you control the channel, the data, and the direct connection to your viewers. Try it out at https://open.video __ Snapback Sports - YouTube: @SnapbackSports1 - Website: https://www.snapbacksports.com - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/snapbacksports_ - X: https://x.com/snapbacksports - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@snapbacksports - Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/@snapbacksports Jack Settleman - Newsletter: https://jacksettleman.beehiiv.com - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-settleman-424a73b1/ - X: https://x.com/jacksettleman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacksettleman __ Timestamps 00:00 Introducing Jack Settleman of Snapback Sports 00:52 The $1.3B sale 05:59 The origin of Snapback Sports 09:36 Turning a Snapchat page into a real business 12:47 $2M revenue with mostly brand deals 15:30 Remaining unique as a sport media brand 24:32 Ethical boundaries in sports advertising 34:53 Making ambitious unique content 44:30 Pivoting from creator to business owner 48:19 Investing back into the product 56:15 Creating products beyond content 59:30 The many failed Snapback projects