Playmaker Capital, which owns Yardbarker Media, World Soccer Talk, and various other sports-related brands, announced Monday that it had entered into an agreement to be acquired by Better Collective.
Better Collective will add these brands to its portfolio of national and international sports media brands, including Action Network, HLTV, Playmaker HQ, and VegasInsider.
According to a press release announcing the agreement, Better closed the deal for EUR176 million, or approximately $188 million.
“Over the past 12 months, I have been talking a lot about a transformational deal for Playmaker and its shareholders that will take this company to the next level,” said Jordan Gnat, Director & CEO of Playmaker. “Today’s announcement does exactly that, and I could not be more excited for the Playmaker family to join the Better Collective family. Their success is undeniable and their vision to become the leading digital sports media group aligns with us exactly. The cultures of our companies are very similar and I see the integration and synergies to be incredibly accretive to shareholders.”
In their announcement, Denmark-based Better noted that the purchase allows them to add sports media brands with “a combined monthly audience of more than 200 million visits from across the Americas.”
“Acquiring Playmaker is in many ways transformational for Better Collective and will be an important milestone in our journey towards becoming the leading digital sports media group,” said Jesper Søgaard, Co-founder & CEO of Better Collective.” Upon closing of the acquisition, we will be able to significantly grow our audience and reach a larger segment of generalist sports fans.
“For years, Playmaker has built incredibly strong sports media brands and excited sports fans across the Americas with high-quality sports content, cultivating a loyal and dedicated following. The skilled team behind Playmaker brings a unique set of media competencies that will boost our organization. Saying that I am excited to welcome the new team to the Better Collective group would be an understatement.”
Per their release, Yardbarker garners around 13 million monthly visits and their daily email newsletter reaches over 400,000 subscribers.
Better has been gobbling up sports media brands and networks since 2016 and has a stated goal of “becoming the leading digital sports media group.” With that in mind, we have to imagine there are plenty more acquisitions ahead for them, especially now that they’re gaining a foothold in the U.S.
[BusinessWire, Better Collective]
