The beginning of a new era in sports media investment is here…
Major League Baseball (MLB) recently took a minority stake in Jomboy Media – a breakout digital publisher known for baseball commentary, viral breakdowns, and creator-led content.
*This is believed to be the first time a pro sports league has invested directly in a creator-led media company.
This deal follows a rising trend:
- Good Good Golf (influencer golfers) raised $45M
- Dude Perfect (trick shot channel) sold a majority stake for $100M+
Let’s break it all ????
- What the deal includes
- Why it matters for the future of sports and media
- The broader trend of creator media getting real capital
- Risks, opportunities, and where this space is headed next
The JomBoy Deal
- Announced: June 10, 2025
- Investor: Major League Baseball (via its $1B investment fund, Baseball Endowment LP)
- Previous Raises: May’22: $5M (Series A), Dec’19: $300k (Seed), Apr’18: $500k (Pre-Seed)
- Post-deal: Jomboy remains independent, retains editorial control, gains MLB IP access for content, merch, and event activations
History of Jomboy Media
Started as the “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast in 2017.
Jimmy’s viral “breakdown” videos with lip reading and humorous commentary quickly gained millions of views and brought national attention:
The company was expanded through fun, relatable banter and analysis:
- national spotlight during the 2019 Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, due to in-depth, accessible coverage that resonated with fans
- expanded to multiple podcasts, YouTube shows, warehouse-style games, and collabs with networks like YES and Amazon
Other key details about Jomboy Media:
- Founded: 2017 by Jimmy O’Brien & Jake Storiale
- CEO: Courtney Hirsch (appointed March 2025)
- Employees: 85+
- Revenue: $10M+ in 2024, up 44% YoY
- YouTube: 2.1M+ subs
- Social Engagement: 93M+ in 2024
- Monetization: Sponsorships, ads, merch, and TV rights
Ultimately, it’s a creator-led sports media platform built by fans, for fans.
MLB as an Investor
The MLB made this investment through its Baseball Endowment L.P. (BELP), a fund owned collectively by all 30 teams.
Each team holds a 3.3% ownership stake in BELP.
BELP has done a handful of deals:
- Jun’25: Acquired minority stake in Jomboy Media
- May’25: Acquired minority stake in Athlete Unlimited Softball League
- Apr’22: Follow investor in $1.5B G2 round for Fanatics LLC
- Aug’21: Follow investor in $325M F2 round for Fanatics LLC
- Jul’21: Follow investor in $15M B3 round for LeagueApps Inc
- Mar’21: Lead investor in $350M F1 round for Fanatics LLC
Why This Deal Matters
This is more than capital…it’s a signal of where the industry is headed.
1. A New Investment Precedent
Until now, no major pro league had taken an ownership stake in a creator-led media company.
We’ve seen:
- Leagues do brand collabs (like MLB + Whistle Sports) and even build internal media units.
- Athletes like Kevin Durant (Boardroom) and LeBron James (SpringHill) create media plays.
But this is the first time the institution itself — a league — is backing a creator company via equity.
A new model that could emerge…
Sports leagues and teams taking minority ownership in creator companies to gain better audience distribution and marketing, and find new creative ways to engage younger sports fans.
2. The Creator Economy Gets Institutionalized
This changes how leagues engage with creators. And how creators build businesses.
Expect teams and leagues to increasingly:
- Take stakes in breakout creator brands
- Package IP with creator formats
- Build hybrid models of media and rights
We’re seeing a shift from marketing spend to equity investment.
It’s not just MLB.
The NBA (via NBA Equity) has invested in platforms like Greenfly. But this is the first pure creator-led media brand to get league investment.
3. Smart Defense by MLB
MLB knows they need younger audiences…especially considering the average MLB TV viewer age dropped 4 years since 2018.
This deal gives MLB:
- Co-branded merch opportunities
- Creator-driven activations at All-Star and beyond
- Broader audience distribution (Jomboy’s 93M+ engagements)
It’s also a way to formalize a relationship that may have previously existed in a gray zone (e.g. unlicensed content usage).
They can now leverage Jomboy’s 93M+ annual engagements for broader reach and expanded audience.
Jomboy as a Media Blueprint
Jomboy Media is not just a baseball company.
It’s a blueprint for the next generation of fan-first sports media:
- Personality > Production: Fans want relatable, not polished.
- Community > Corporation: Loyalty built through shared experience.
- Narrative > Highlights: It’s not just the home run, it’s the drama behind it.
These aren’t just videos. They’re sticky formats with meme potential, shareability, and built-in trust.
Similar to how Good Good Golf has broadened its audience by creating content that appeals not just to golf enthusiasts, but to casual viewers and adjacent fans, Jomboy is doing the same for the sport of baseball.
A few key unlocks for Jomboy post-investment:
- Greater Reach: Distribution through MLB channels and activations
- Premium Sponsorships: MLB partnership enables new blue-chip brand deals.
- Official Merch: Can now use league/team marks in creator merch (e.g. Talkin’ Yanks x Yankees logo)
And maybe most importantly…
They can now operate more like a scaled media company (and less like a campaign-to-campaign creator shop).
The one question…
Will Jomboy retain editorial independence, or will they now have golden handcuffs?
Looking Ahead
The MLB x Jomboy deal isn’t just a financial event. It’s a model shift.
We’re going from…
Leagues relying on third-party media to reach fans…to leagues co-owning the creators who drive attention.
This is the 3rd capital infusion into a creator-focused sports media company within the last 15 months (it’s becoming an investable category).
The next phase of sports media might not be owned by Disney or Comcast.
It might be built by fans, backed by leagues.
This deal builds on the broader trend that investors are quickly realizing how vital creator-led media is to building any modern business enterprise that reaches young, digital-native consumers…whether CPG, live events, or a sports league.
