How Kyle Scott Went From a Broke Philadelphia Sports Blogger Into a $12 Million Payday
March 10. 2023 |
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Kyle Scott launched Crossing Broad, a Philadelphia sports blog, in 2009. His irreverent and edgy writing style gained a significant following among Philly sports fans, resulting in thousands of daily readers. However, it wasn’t until the 2018 Supreme Court ruling lifted the ban on sports betting in the US that the business flourished.
To capitalize on the ruling, Scott merged Crossing Broad with Warwick Gaming into CBWG, which owned and operated several popular sports and gambling websites. The company instantly became the largest independently owned US sports betting affiliate marketing network, generating $5 million in annual revenue.
In 2020, Ten months after joining forces, XLMedia acquired CBWG for $12 million in cash, $8 million worth of XLMedia shares, and the potential for another $9.5 million tied to a three-year earn-out. In this episode, you’ll learn how to:
- Use affiliates to grow your business.
- Monetize your audience without appearing desperate.
- Strike a balance between creating content for SEO and your audience.
- Determine if merging with a competitor is beneficial for your company.
- Negotiate achievable performance milestones for an earn-out.
Check out our article on A Broke Philadelphia Sports Blogger And His $12 Million Payday.
And The Recurring Revenue Bump too.
Show Notes & Links
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Definitions
Due-Diligence: Due diligence is an investigation, audit, or review performed to confirm facts or details of a matter under consideration. In the financial world, due diligence requires an examination of financial records before entering into a proposed transaction with another party.
Source: https://bit.ly/3yYDfo5
Earn-out: Earnout or earn-out refers to a pricing structure in mergers and acquisitions where the sellers must “earn” part of the purchase price based on the performance of the business following the acquisition.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earnout
Letter of Intent (LOI): A letter of intent (LOI) is a document declaring the preliminary commitment of one party to do business with another. The letter outlines the chief terms of a prospective deal. Commonly used in major business transactions, LOIs are similar in content to term sheets. One major difference between the two, though, is that LOIs are presented in letter formats, while term sheets are listicle in nature.
Source: https://bit.ly/3ppDnr3
Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM): A confidential information memorandum is a document prepared by a company in an effort to solicit indications of interest from potential buyers. The CIM is prepared early on in the sell-side process in conjunction with the seller’s investment banker to provide potential buyers with an overview of the company for pursuing an acquisition. The CIM is designed to put the selling company in the best possible light and provide buyers with a framework for performing preliminary due diligence.
Source: https://bit.ly/3Jukdt2
About Our Guest
Kyle Scott
With extensive experience in online marketing, digital, and sports media, Kyle Scott has worked in ad sales, e-commerce, affiliate marketing, and sports betting spaces, offering a unique perspective on monetizing digital media properties. In 2009, Kyle founded the popular Philly sports website Crossing Broad, which grew to become the go-to independent website in the city with millions of readers and a seven-figure online store and affiliate business. Crossing Broad became the lead site in a network of sports and betting sites sold to XLMedia in 2020. As SVP of North American sports at the company, Kyle oversaw content and strategy for one of the largest sports betting affiliates in North America, generating over $30 million in annual revenue. Kyle has experience in every aspect of digital media and advertising industries, from publisher, advertiser, content, network, acquisitions, affiliate, and more, generating tens of millions in online revenue.
Currently, Kyle hosts the Monetize Media podcast and is the co-founder of RaisingStake.com.
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