EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally was posted on SportTechie.com.
A new age media company has been changing the way athletic competitions are being viewed across the world and is shaking up traditional sporting events.
FloSports takes a different approach to covering sports by offering live-stream services, original content, and owned and operated events, including their annual Beer Mile World Championship.
Brothers and collegiate athletes Martin and Mark Floreani founded the company in 2006 to fill a void in how the sport they were most passionate about was covered. FloSports allow fans to live-stream events, see original documentaries, breaking news and other in-depth coverage of sports that have been long ignored by mainstream media.
FloSports provides different channels, or separate websites, tailored to a specific sport. Each channel includes events, results, rankings, articles, and videos. The channels available include FloTrack, FloWrestling, FloSoftball, FloGrappling, FloCheer and FloBoxing. These are sports not regularly covered on a large scale, and FloSports allows fans to be able to see in-depth coverage of the sport they love.
“Cable cord-cutting is accelerating at a rapid rate, and it’s difficult for fans of sports outside the major four to get the in-depth level of coverage they want and expect. This is where we thrive, and we do so with an unmatched level of authenticity thanks to our content teams that have all participated in the sports they cover at a high level,” said Martin Floreani, CEO and Co-Founder of FloSports.
FloSports plans to add several new sports to their network by the end of the year.
As well as allowing tailored sports fans to get information on their favorite sports, FloSports hosts their own owned and operated events, including their annual Beer Mile World Championships. Their second annual event was held in early December and was live streamed on FloTrack.
For the Beer Mile, the competitors have to drink a beer before each lap during the mile. If they lose their beer, they have to complete a penalty lap at the end. Whoever completes the mile the fastest is the Beer Mile World Champion.
The Beer Mile wasn’t only for the elite runners. Amateurs were encouraged to run as well, with multiple open heats along with corporate relay teams and a celebrity race.
“Similar to other sports we’ve entered, we saw an unmet demand among fans. For a long time, the beer mile has been an underground rite of passage for track and field athletes around the world. We decided to create the world championships and now the event has become a worldwide phenomenon,” said Mark Floreani, COO and Co-founder of FloSports.
The second annual Beer Mile World Championship was a success. According to Mark Floreani, earned media impressions were up 45% from 2014 to an estimated 1.2 billion worldwide. Attendance at the event was over 200%.
FloSports also just recently signed an agreement with the Big 12. They plan to live stream the 2016 Big 12 Championships for indoor track and field and wrestling on FloTrack and FloWrestling, respectively.
“We have a huge base of die-hard fans on each of those sites, so this is a great way for the Big 12 to reach these core audiences. We’re thrilled because it’s an amazing opportunity to showcase the top athletes in the country competing at the highest levels,” said Martin Floreani.
The future of FloSports is continuously expanding, as their mission is to grow the sports, the athletes and the fans in each of the sports they cover. They truly focus on fans that have been underserved by traditional media.
“We fill an unmet need, and we plan to continue this approach as we grow our existing sites and enter new sports in 2016 and beyond,” said Martin Floreani.