Digital sports media company Playmaker Capital announced today the acquisition of sports and entertainment media business Yard Barker to increase its presence in the US.
“We are pleased to welcome Yardbarker to the Playmaker family. This is a US platform acquisition for us, not only transforming, but also quickly increasing financially for our shareholders.”
Jordan Gnat, Founder and CEO, Playmaker Capital
Expanding into the US
The 100% acquisition of YB Media LLC, a California-based sports and entertainment business, will be worth up to $24 million in cash and stock combination. Playmaker will pay $10 million in cash and $8 million in common stock of the combined entity issued at closing, as well as an additional $2 million payable for 12 months after transaction completion upon the business reaching $1.5 million of EBITDA.
Following the transaction close, the selling company owners may receive further payments based on Yard Barker’s performance towards a $2.5 million EBITDA target for each of the next 2 years. The media business is projected to generate $5 million in revenue in 2021.
“We believe Playmaker is building the next great collection of digital sports assets and can’t be more excited to join this early stage.”
Ben Maggin, CEO, Yard Barker
With comprehensive coverage of North American sports and entertainment, Yard Barker is well suited to support Playmaker’s expansion strategy in the US. Recently, a subsidiary of the sports media firm, Futbol Sites, obtained access as a market gaming vendor in its 7th state, West Virginia.
“Working with the Playmaker team, we look forward to continuing to expand the reach of Yard Barkers and providing our fans with the best possible service.”
Ben Maggin, CEO, Yard Barker
Significant Presence in US Sports
Founded in 2006, Yard Barker now has more than 4 million unique monthly users and over 350,000 subscribers that will be integrated into Playmaker’s audience ecosystem. Yard Barker’s owners, Jeff Kloster, Mark Johns, and Ben Maggin, will join Playmaker’s senior leadership team, bringing vast experience and knowledge of the sports media business with them.
“Playmaker will be able to leverage Yardbarker’s content of all the key North American sports within our current Futbol Sites’ assets and vice versa. This is how we will build our ecosystem. We will cross pollinate our various properties to provide all our fans globally with the best content on all sports.”
Jordan Gnat, Founder and CEO, Playmaker Capital
With more than 9 million total sessions across professional sports from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and College Sports, Yard Barker is targeting timely and engaging content, relevant news, and analysis, delivered to its audience in a fun format.
Utilizing over 125 content partners and its in-house editorial team, Yard Barker creates over 25,000 full-text articles per month, mixed with sports and entertainment sideshows and quizzes tailored to different fan preferences.
Its daily email newsletter, The Morning Bark, reaches over 350,000 subscribers, offering them a rundown of the most important stories and a customizable news feed, and serves as a low-cost customer acquisition tool.