Forbes · Oct 3, 2026 · 46m · 24m saved
With Adam White, Founder and CEO of Front Office Sports
Front Office Sports was valued at around $40 million in 2023, and its chief executive, Adam White, said it is still worth more than that today.
Its first outside check was $750,000. Large news organizations such as The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times are now covering the business of sports, and White said that only proves his point. Front Office Sports charges readers nothing and earns its money from advertising and events.
"We don't have any sort of subscription product. So, yeah, it's going to be all brand supported for this year." — Adam White
Adam White, founder and CEO of Front Office Sports, on Forbes: he started the company in 2014 as a student at the University of Miami, and now runs a staff of about 70 in New York, backed by Jeff Zucker's RedBird IMI.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it. 46 minutes of audio, 22 minutes of reading.
Here are the 20 lessons that matter.
Key Takeaways
Front Office Sports is valued at more than $40 million, and essentially all its revenue comes from advertising and events
Its first funding round was $750,000
Sports is close to the last thing everyone watches at once, he said, and the business side of it now draws mainstream readers
For legacy outlets, sports business coverage is "a dessert," not a main course
A new late-night syndicated TV show is aimed at local stations that need more sports programming
The company dropped a paid data product because it could not staff it properly
An Anheuser-Busch sponsorship of about $100,000 was the moment he knew the business was real
New media companies should pick a narrow subject they can own, not try to be the next national newspaper
Women's sports teams are a safer bet than an NFL franchise at $9 billion
No AI-written stories: the newsroom uses AI for transcription, research and editing help only
What separates good founders from great ones is setting ego aside on valuation
1. Index Funds, Not Day Trades
The interviewer asked what kind of stock market investor White is. He said his personal money sits in broad funds that track the Nasdaq-100, and that he leaves it alone.
His savings are in index funds, because his upside is already tied to the company
"I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. I'm not trying to day trade." — Adam White
He said the risk in his finances sits in the company, because much of his potential upside depends on whether the business succeeds. The passive side gets so little attention, he joked, that he rarely looks at it.
"I sometimes forget my password because I don't even want to think about it." — Adam White
"So, an aggressive entrepreneur and a maybe a conservative investor." — Adam White
