Overtime, an entertainment video platform targeted at young sports fans and amateur athletes, has scored a $23 million Series B from a stacked lineup of investors. The money will help Overtime expand production capabilities and broaden its geographic appeal.
The company recently announced the funding round, which included such big industry names as MSG Networks, NBA star Carmelo Anthony and Sapphire Sport, the new oversubscribed $115 million sports, entertainment, and media-focused fund from Sapphire Ventures.
The news came as Overtime revealed new data underscoring its growth. The company’s videos are now viewed more than 550 million times each month, up from just 112 million views in January 2018. Last year, fans spent more than 19.1 million hours watching Overtime’s videos.
CEO and Co-Founder Dan Porter said the company is aiming to be the “biggest sports network in the world” by leveraging its camera capture technology and content management system to broadcast key highlights from non-professional athletes. It has also expanded its own production capabilities and added new original shows on social video sites like YouTube and Snapchat. Overtime has invested heavily in longer-form series, launching four shows on Snapchat and 13 on Youtube, many with 20-minute episodes, and some of those titles are now in their second or third seasons.
“The opportunity to build a new global sports network is massive,” Porter said. “That’s why over the past year, we have expanded our focus to cover far more than just highlights.”
With the new funding round, Porter plans to continue the company’s push into original content and focus on expanding to cover broader lifestyle and culture for the Overtime audience. It will also further its esports footprint after sponsoring a pro Fortnite team, Team Overtime, last year.
Overtime’s funding round was led by Spark Capital and Spark founder Bijan Sabet, and joined by Sapphire Sport, The a16z Cultural Leadership Fund, MACRO Ventures, MSG Networks, and NBA players Carmelo Anthony, Victor Oladipo and Baron Davis.
Andreessen Horowitz, which led Overtime’s Series A investment a year ago, also participated in the new round, as did a number of other existing investors, including Afore Capital and Correlation Ventures.
“The sports media industry is going through massive changes,” Sabet said. “The next generation wants something made by them and for them. That is the opportunity and why we made this investment.”
Porter said the cash influx will be used to build Overtime’s content team so they can continue to produce original content, and to expand internationally to Europe, Asia and Africa.
“I am excited to be building a platform for the next generation of young storytellers, who film, produce and edit for us, full-time, and whose youthful point of view informs our content,” he said. “We are building a platform for young athletes to tell their stories; but we’re also creating a place where the next generation of diverse young creatives and talent can reshape the narrative of sports.”