Sports Biz Journal parent close to deal for SportTechie

The parent company of the Sports Business Journal is close to an agreement to purchase SportTechie, reports Jacob Feldman and Scott Soshnick of Sportico.

Feldman and Soshnick report, “Launched in 2013, SportTechie has offered online news and events, with a listed team of 10 employees. Financial terms of the deal have not been announced.

“‘Our parent company, Advance, prohibits us (and all its portfolio companies) from commenting on rumors or speculation,’ Leaders Group CEO Warren Thune said. Leaders Group, which includes SBJ, Leaders, The Esports Observer (acquired in 2018) and Newzoo, operates as part of privately owned Advance and its subsidiary, American City Business Journals. Advance’s other holdings include Conde Nast.

“SportTechie previously drew funding from Vintage Capital and Oak View Group in 2016. That same year, the company signed a partnership deal with Sports Illustrated. According to legal filings, it was valued at over $2 million shortly thereafter.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.