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OutKick sees viewership surge in March, outpacing competitors

The sports and pop culture brand saw more than 52 million minutes of content streamed in March, a year-over-year increase of 152 percent.

The sports and pop culture brand saw more than 52 million minutes of content streamed in March, a year-over-year increase of 152 percent.

Sports and pop culture platform OutKick saw a record number of online traffic and viewership in March, according to data shared exclusively with The Desk this week, making it one of the fastest-growing sports media brands on the Internet.

The data collected and analyzed by Comscore showed OutKick had more than 10 million unique visitors across its multiple platforms in March, a year-over-year increase of 376 percent and the second-highest traffic month since the brand launched a decade ago. Those 10 million unique visitors streamed a collective 55 million minutes across OutKick’s platforms, a 152 increase compared to last year.

OutKick had its best month of interactions on social platforms last month, with a 352 percent increase across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, according to analytics firm Shareablee. Video views on OutKick’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts were up 415 percent compared to March 2022, the data showed.

“March is one of the greatest months in OutKick history,” Clay Travis, the founder of OutKick, said in a statement. “The reason why is simple: Americans overwhelming agree with Outkick that sports competition, capitalism and meritocracy should be rewarded, and we’re the only sports site that rewards that every day.”

OutKick produces live and on-demand video, podcasts and written content across a wide variety of platforms, including the flagship OutKick website. The brand was launched by Travis in 2011 to showcase his unique brand of sports, pop culture and political journalism, analysis and commentary. OutKick was acquired by Fox Corporation in mid-2021.

The brand primarily competes with other sports and pop culture outlets, including Barstool Sports, Bleacher Report, Yahoo Sports and Deadspin. Since its acquisition by Fox, OutKick has built up a roster of high-profile sports media talent, including basketball sportscaster Dan Dakich, whose radio program “Don’t @ Me” is distributed exclusively by the firm (earlier this month, OutKick announced it had reached a multi-year agreement that keeps Dakich with the company).

On Monday, OutKick announced it hired former ESPN host Charly Arnolt to lead a new morning show that will debut later this summer. In an interview with the Indianapolis Star newspaper, Arnolt said the environment at ESPN was “stifling,” and that she struggled to cover stories on “ultra important issues” that impacted sports, society and culture.

“The idea of cancel culture, it doesn’t exist here. I speak freely,” Arnolt said of joining OutKick. “I have a lot of opinions that I haven’t been able to express, and I can’t wait to get started.”

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys covers the business of broadcast and streaming TV, radio broadcasting, social media, technology and telecommunications. A journalist for over 15 years, Matthew previously worked at Thomson Reuters, KGO-TV in San Francisco, KTXL in Sacramento and McNaughton Newspapers. He received 9 California Journalism Awards between 2018 and 2020, and is a member of IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors).
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