Reddit is making significant strides into the profitable sports marketing industry.
On Monday, the platform revealed new partnerships with several major sports leagues, including the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), PGA Tour, and the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR).
As part of these partnerships, Reddit users can look forward to access to video highlights from games and tournaments, player AMAs (ask me anything sessions), behind-the-scenes videos, and exclusive content shared by the leagues throughout their seasons and key events.
Reddit reported that it hosts over 1,000 active communities pertaining to sports, and engagement in these forums has surged significantly. The platform noted a 26% rise in screen views on sports-related forums over the past year.
The sports marketing sector is projected to grow by more than 20%, reaching a value exceeding $55 billion by 2030. Fans are increasingly turning to platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) for sports content.
In an effort to boost its revenue ahead of a potential public offering, Reddit previously reached a $60 million-per-year AI licensing deal with Google in February. Following its successful IPO, the company reported first-quarter revenues that were nearly 50% higher than the previous year. On Monday, Reddit’s shares rose nearly 7% after the announcement of the new sports partnerships.
Key statistics include:
– 1,000: Number of sports-related Reddit forums
– 20.4 billion: Screen views of sports-related Reddit forums over the past year
– 249 million: Monthly engagements (posts, votes, comments) in sports subreddits globally
– $55 billion: Estimated value of the sports marketing sector by 2030
– $243 million: Reddit’s revenue for the first quarter