This is just off the cuff daydreaming with about zero background research. It’s inspired by the recent purchase of Bleacher Report for just a little south of $200 million and The Art of Manliness’ two part guide on …Starting a Side Hustle.
Assertion: there is no part of the modern worldwide sports industry that is not being heavily technology influence. Athletic performance? Check! Financials (including gambling)? Check! Media? Check! Analysis? Check!
Seems like a Web publication that was hyper-focused on the varied intersections of sports and tech might have a chance. Read as Gizmodo or Engadget but always coming with a sports angle. Broad situational awareness of tech impact on sports, augmented with deep dives, interviews, and even opinion pieces. You could throw in a little humor and still not fall into the T and A tarpit.
The neat trick is that you could probably get something rolling on the real cheap as a simple linkblog. For bonus points algorithmically trawl the intarwebs to decrease/scale human involvement. The side hustle is to grow it into something on the order of Daring Fireball or kottke.org. Individual voice, somewhat broad taste, but with a clear content focus. If there’s any traction, grab a buddy or two, or find some enthusiastic hobbyists to build out in the direction of a serious web publishing business. Of course the really hard part is marketing to a) build out the audience, and b) generate revenue probably through advertising, but maybe some other creative financing.
Definitely not an unheard of story, but it’s hard to believe that someone hasn’t already tried this and failed miserably, or already been swallowed up by one of the big boys.
Anyway, yet another Side Project ™ to take on in my Copious Spare Time ™.