How Success Happened for Team Whistle
Team Whistle continues to expand its business with a new podcast: 'Making Bread,' which is hosted by NFL quarterback and crypto enthusiast Matt Barkley.
By Robert Tuchman •
In 2009, Team Whistle was created to fill a void for young global sports enthusiasts with positive, relatable and uplifting content, focused on the best parts of athletics and humanity. As Whistle has evolved and expanded, it has stayed true to that ethos, growing its original content slate of 50-plus shows and building a large and diverse creator network. With an unrivaled understanding of Gen Z and millennial consumption habits, Whistle has continued to expand its focus topics through their extensive access to insights on what is relevant to a Gen Z and millennial audience, like the burgeoning alternative investment space. Its growth has been further bolstered since being acquired by Eleven Sports in 2021, which has opened a broader range of international opportunities and distribution, thanks to Eleven's scope of worldwide sports rights and content.
Most recently, Whistle launched a new series, Price Went Up, hosted by Cristian Crosby, founder of Live Life Nice, a cause-driven apparel line dedicated to inspiring, motivating and empowering. Each episode unpacks trending financial topics by tapping experts in the space to illustrate how it's done. In the premiere episode, Blake Martinez, NFL linebacker, shows viewers his insane collection of rare Pokémon cards. In the second episode, Jim Jones, hip-hop and rap legend, breaks down NFTs and crypto and shares the story of how he invests in local businesses in Harlem. In the third episode, Ros Gold-Onwude takes us through NFTs at a gallery. Other episodes will feature The Professor and 24kGoldn.
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Team Whistle also just dropped a new Making Bread podcast series in partnership with Amaze Media Labs. (Full disclosure: I am a co-founder of Amaze Media Labs.) The series, hosted by NFL quarterback and crypto enthusiast Matt Barkley, will educate listeners on the variety of ways in which they can invest in the world of cryptocurrency, NFTs, sports gambling and more.
The premiere episode features DeShone Kizer, a former NFL quarterback and founder of NFT company One of None, a community and platform that enables creators to build and launch hybrid assets. The second episode features Josh Luber, chief vision officer and co-founder of Fanatics Collectibles, a platform for buying and selling the hottest collectible items. In the third episode, former NFL player turned investor Dhani Jones talks about his latest deals.
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Whistle is generating more than four billion views per month and eight billion minutes of watchtime across social platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, as well as Eleven's OTT distribution of 65,000 hours across a portfolio of 150+ of live sports rights. It has content activation partnerships with companies including General Mills, KFC, Chipotle, Ebay, WNBA, Wendy's, Levi's and more.
Team Whistle has no intention of slowing down, as it recently launched an agency to help global brands, entertainment and sports properties create and distribute content to grow their audiences.
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