FloSports is an over-the-top subscription sports broadcaster and streaming service. The company is based in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, United States, and was founded in 2006. FloSports streams live sporting events to audiences around the world.

History

Launch

FloSports was founded in 2006 by Martin Floreani, Mark Floreani (collegiate athletes) and Madhu Venkatesan based in

. Martin designed the website’s prototype with the aim of covering collegiate sports with the same detail that ESPN gives to the NFL and NBA. The brothers raised U.S. $10,000 in seed money from friends and family and started covering wrestling and track events. Co-founder Mark captured the service’s first original broadcast, Ryan Hall’s U.S half-marathon record, from the back of a pickup truck using a handheld camera. Lo-fi footage, engine noise digital interference and fog impacted the quality of the broadcast. However, having the only footage of Hall’s record-breaking run caused a surge in the website’s popularity. By 2017 the company had 256 employees and 25 Web video channels. They changed their business model to a subscription-based service in 2012 and doubled their revenue over the following two years.

Fundraising

The company raised $8 million in Series A and a further $21 million in Series B financing in 2016 led by DCM Ventures and Bertlesmann Digital Media Investments. By 2019, the company had grown to 250 employees and raised a further $47 million in series C.

Acquisitions

The company acquired DirtonDirt.com, a grassroots racing streaming and content platform, in September 2019. In June 2020, FloSports purchased Speed Shift TV and acquired 400 races, with a focus on grassroots racing. FloSports acquired TrackWrestling in early 2021, a deal that increased the number of wrestling events that will be streamed on its FloWrestling service and brought wrestling analytics to the platform. In October 2021, it was announced that FloSports had acquired HockeyTech, an ice hockey streaming platform and sports data provider.

Streaming partnerships

FloSports announced a partnership with

WWNLive The World Wrestling Network is an American professional wrestling organization known for and branded after its video streaming service, WWNLive. WWNLive hosts content both from WWN's "brands", including Full Impact Pro (FIP) and Shine Wrest ...

in 2016 to run a streaming service dedicated to wrestling. In December 2018, FloRacing signed a broadcast agreement with the

United States Auto Club The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapo ...

for its midget and sprint car series. In May 2019, the

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I whose full members are located in East Coast ...

selected FloSports as its lead media partner becoming the first college conference to pick a streaming OTT, direct-to-consumer company as their primary distribution platform. FloSports became the local broadcaster for two

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

teams for the 2019 season: D.C. United and

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team succeeded the lower-division team of the ...

, an expansion team. The company faced technical issues during early broadcasts due to inaccurate geofencing restrictions. The organization pledged a full refund, and offered the club's season ticket holders a discount on its annual subscription fees. FloSports promised additional soccer broadcasts and

shoulder programming Shoulder programming is a type of pre-event and post-event broadcast programming as a companion to live sporting events. This type of programming may be multi-platform and include both television and radio programs. Due to exclusive content or acc ...

to justify its subscription fee that largely never materialized. D.C. United and Flosports ended their four-year contract prematurely in October 2019. D.C. United opted to stream its final regular season match on its website for free. FC Cincinnati announced its matches would no longer be available through FloSports in June 2020. In January 2020, NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee and motorsports legend, Tony Stewart, awarded streaming rights to the Eldora Speedway and

All Star Circuit of Champions The All Star Circuit of Champions (abbreviated ASCoC), officially known as the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 for naming rights reasons, is an American motorsports sanctioning body of winged sprint car racing founded in ...

to FloSports. In the Spring 2020, FloSports launched FloBaseball. Later in 2020, the company signed a multi-year partnership with ECHL to broadcast professional hockey starting with the 2021 season. FloSports expanded its wrestling offering through a partnership with United World Wrestling, the global governing body for the sport, in late 2020. In 2021, USA Cycling signed a 3 year broadcast partnership with FloSports. FloSports will also be the NGB's (national governing body's) official sponsor. The Unbound Gravel race, a cycling race covering various distances, has never been broadcast before due to remote locations and rough terrain. FloSports became the first to broadcast the race in June 2021 and will stream the race again in 2022. FloSports signed a multi-year streaming deal with USA Gymnastics, the national governing body for gymnastics, in 2021. In late 2021,

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

announced a partnership to stream its grassroots racing series on FloRacing starting in 2022. Series that will be broadcast on FloRacing includes the ARCA Menards Series,

ARCA Menards Series West The ARCA Menards Series West, formerly the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, NASCAR AutoZone West Series, NASCAR Winston West Series and NASCAR Camping World West Series, is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Raci ...

, ARCA Menards Series East, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, and NASCAR Pinty's Series and NASCAR Weekly Series. Several tracks on the Modified and Weekly Series had been broadcasting on the service prior to the announcement (Eldora, Oswego, Stafford). Over 280 NASCAR grassroots events were anticipated to be broadcast in 2022 (out of a total of approximately 2000 total events broadcast on the service).

Technology

In 2019, the company introduced apps for Android and

smart TV A smart TV, also known as a connected TV (CTV), is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive Web 2.0 features, which allows users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart TVs are a techn ...

apps. In October 2019, FloSports rebranded, and expanded its distribution with the release of an Android app. In 2020, FloSports began working on a Watch Party feature for their apps that would allow fans to watch events together, virtually.

Programming

FloSports streams live and on-demand events for over 25 different sports categories.

Sports

Baseball

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

* Future Star Series Nationals 17s * Future Star Series Nationals 16s * Future Star Series Nationals 15s * NB Future Stars Series * College Baseball Classic

Basketball

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL seaso ...

* EuroLeague * EuroCup * FIBA 3x3 World Tour

Bowling

* PBA * PBA50 * PBA Senior * USBC * World Bowling Tour

Combat

Competitive Fitness

Cycling

* Cycling Canada * Giro d'Italia *

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consist ...

(Canada Only) * Union Europeenne De Cyclisme * Union Cyclste Internationale

Football

FCS Bowl The FCS Bowl or FCS National Bowl is an independently operated annual post-season college football all-star game, played each December in Florida since 2014. The game showcases NFL draft prospects of those collegiate players who have completed the ...

* National Bowl * All American Classic * Dream Bowl * Tropical Bowl * HBCU Spirit of America Bowl *

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National ...

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Formed in 1913, it consists mostly of historically black c ...

* South Atlantic Conference

Rodeo

* Canadian Finals Rodeo * PBR * RidePass

Rugby

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

* Top14 * Rugby Sevens * Premiership Rugby * Trans Tasman Rugby NZ AU *

USA Rugby USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugb ...

* England Rugby

Grappling

ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship The ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship, is an international submission grappling competition, organised by the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC). The inaugural tournament was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE in 1998. It has been held every two yea ...

* Fight To Win * IBJJF * Who’s Number One

Gymnastics

Hockey

* WCHA *

Atlantic Hockey The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) is an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other ...

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). Th ...

Lacrosse

* Snowbird Baseball * Frisco Classic * Future Star Series

Marching

* Drum Corps International * Bands of America * Winter Guard International

Motorsports

* ARCA Menards Series (Select Events with MAVTV) * ARCA Menards Series

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

and

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

* Chili Bowl Nationals * Eldora Speedway (Outside of World of Outlaws Events) * FIA World Rallycross Championship * Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour * IRA Outlaw Sprints * NARC King of the West 410 Sprints * NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series (Events held mostly at

Bowman Gray Stadium Bowman Gray Stadium is a NASCAR sanctioned asphalt flat oval short track and longstanding football stadium located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is one of stock car racing's most legendary venues, and is referred to as "NASCAR's longe ...

, New Smyrna Speedway, and Berlin Raceway) * NASCAR Pinty's Series * NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour * Pennsylvania Speed Week * Super DIRTcar Series * USAC including Sprint, Silver Crown, and Midget events such as Indiana Midget Week, Indiana Sprint Week, Pennsylvania Midget Week, Oval Nationals, and Turkey Night Grand Prix.

Softball

* PGF * Judi Carman Classic

Soccer

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; types ...

(select matches) * Supercoppa Italiana and

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity ...

(Canada only) *

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

* CNL League A * CNL League B * CNL League C

Swimming

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

* ISCA * LEN European Aquatics *

USA Water Polo USA Water Polo is the governing body of the sport of water polo in the United States and is a member of the United States Aquatic Sports. USA Water Polo is responsible for fielding national teams and hosts 20 annual tournaments. The Organization h ...

Track

* AAU * MileSplit * Under Armour Sunset Tour * Amsterdam Marathon *

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...

* Marathon De Paris * Stumptown Twilight *

Great Manchester Run The Great Manchester Run (styled as the ''Simplyhealth Great Manchester Run'' for sponsorship purposes from 2017) is an annual run through Greater Manchester (namely Manchester, Trafford and Salford). It has consisted of a 10k run since it was es ...

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and Sou ...

Volleyball

* FIV3 * Panamerican Cup * Nike Tournament of Championship *

Wrestling

* Fight To Win * Actec Warrior Championship

References

External links

* {{VOD services Internet television channels Sports television in the United States Sports television networks in the United States Subscription video streaming services Internet properties established in 2006 Internet technology companies of the United States