It’s been quite a year for sports podcasting company Blue Wire, which has licensed ex-SB Nation NBA podcasts, struck an ad sales deal with Action Network and RotoGrinders, struck a partnership with Fubo, and hosted creators from within and without their network at their Vegas studio around NBA Summer League. And now, they’re looking for public investment. The company announced Tuesday that they’re launching an equity crowdfunding round in partnership with WeFunder, looking to raise $1 million at a $25 million valuation. Here’s more on that from a release:
Blue Wire, a leading independent sports podcast company, today announced the launch of a community fundraising round, in partnership with WeFunder, with the goal to raise $1 million at a $25 million valuation cap. The raise will allow investors — fans, journalists, athletes, and creators — to join the company’s ownership group and support Blue Wire’s plans to scale operations, expand its portfolio of profitable content, and develop proprietary software to further support its network of over 500 creators and 300 individual podcasts, which includes athlete-driven series from 2x Super Bowl Champion Chris Long, former NBA stars Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye, and more.
…“Blue Wire is offering individual investors the opportunity to join our movement. Independent podcasters are building thriving content businesses, and our infrastructure can support this explosive growth,” said Kevin Jones, Founder & CEO of Blue Wire. “In a market dominated by major conglomerates and publishers, Blue Wire is building a different type of business. We believe in ‘strength in numbers,’ and this crowdfunding campaign further highlights this core value.”
“I looked at Blue Wire and said this is a perfect opportunity to be in the podcast space,” said two-time NBA All-Star and Blue Wire investor Baron Davis. “The company has great vision, great intuition, and they care about what they’re building.”
Jones founded Blue Wire in 2018 and scaled it up significantly by early 2019. The company has secured $12 million in funding from various sources since 2020. Those include seed and Series A rounds led by Dot Capital, Wynn Resorts, Davis, and East Carolina University’s Pirate Fund. They struck a multi-year partnership with WynnBet in 2021, including that studio in the Wynn Las Vegas.
Blue Wire has since used that studio for a number of marquee events, including Summer League this year. And the success of clips there (from both their shows and other shows they hosted) has helped them get their name in front of many more people. They’re reaching a notable audience overall with their network, citing more than three million unique monthly listeners and more than 130 million annual downloads of their podcasts. But there are lots of questions out there around a potential podcast bubble, so it will be interesting to see if they can translate that reach into crowdfunding success.
