INDEX / MEDIA
Morning Brew for Sports (Sports Newsletter Revival)
Acquire the Sports Illustrated email list and build a daily sports newsletter business in the style of Morning Brew.
▶ WATCH THE SOURCE SEGMENT — The Co-Founder Of A $75M+ Company Gave Me His BEST Business Ideas01 THE IDEA
The idea is to either license the Sports Illustrated brand or simply purchase their email list cheaply (~$50K) and launch a high-quality daily sports newsletter targeting sports junkies. The play is to use the existing opted-in subscriber base as a distribution head start rather than building from zero, then monetize through sponsorships from sports betting companies, memorabilia brands, and other sports-adjacent advertisers.
The broader framework here is a 'hub and spoke' model: latch onto a distressed media asset with built-in distribution (emails, brand recognition) and inject newsletter expertise and great writing to unlock untapped revenue. The Sports Illustrated situation — where Authentic Brands Group owns the IP while the editorial staff has been laid off — creates a window to either license the brand cheaply or buy the list outright and build a competing product without the licensing overhead.
02 THE NUMBERS
$500K – $5M
$150K + 400h
$25K + 160h
4/10
7 · GROWING →
newsletter writing and editing, email marketing and deliverability, media sales and sponsorships, deal negotiation (IP/list acquisition), audience growth tactics
03 THE VERDICT
The distressed Sports Illustrated asset creates a rare, time-sensitive opportunity to acquire a massive opted-in email list at a fraction of its value. The morning newsletter format is proven, sports betting advertisers have elevated CPMs in this category, and there is genuinely no dominant Morning Brew-for-sports product. The main execution risk is list quality decay and the need for a genuinely great writer — both manageable with the right hire.
04 THE FIELD
- The Athleticest. 2016STEADY · ADDED 2026-06-07
PREMIUM SPORTS JOURNALISM LEADER, ACQUIRED BY NYT
Subscription-based long-form sports journalism owned by the New York Times; not a daily newsletter but competes for sports reader attention.
- Axios Sports (formerly Sports Internet)est. 2018STEADY · ADDED 2026-06-07
NICHE PLAYER WITHIN AXIOS ECOSYSTEM
Daily sports newsletter with a smart-brevity format, part of the Axios media umbrella.
- Yahoo Sports Newsletterest. 1995DECLINING · ADDED 2026-06-07
LEGACY PLAYER, DECLINING RELEVANCE
Yahoo Sports sends sports news digests but lacks a strong editorial voice or newsletter-first identity.