The Sporting News Acquires Sportiva Media Ventures to Accelerate High School and Youth-Focused Emerging Sports Coverage

New York, NY – [May 19, 2025] — The Sporting News, one of the most storied brands in sports journalism, has acquired Sportiva Media Ventures (SMV), a digital media startup specializing in high school sports, recruiting, NIL coverage, and grassroots athletics. The acquisition positions The Sporting News to become a leading authority in youth, high school, and emerging sports coverage in the United States and internationally.

Through the acquisition, The Sporting News will integrate SMV’s distributed network of freelance reporters and editors, unlocking a scalable content operation across underserved segments of the sports media landscape.

“The acquisition of Sportiva Media Ventures gives us a powerful on-the-ground lens into high school sports and the fast-evolving ecosystem around NIL, youth participation, and recruiting,” said Micah Adams, Managing Editor, Commercial Partnerships of The Sporting News. “We’re excited to pair our global reach with SMV’s grassroots reporting network to create a differentiated editorial offering.”

Sportiva Media Ventures, launched in 2024 by Marc Mallett, built a scalable and performance-based model for sports journalism that rewards freelance reporters for their impact. Its coverage spanned high school football and basketball, collegiate recruiting, women’s sports and emerging categories like flag football.

“We’ve always believed there was a smarter and more inclusive way to cover sports at the grassroots level,” said Marc Mallett, Co-Founder and GM of SMV. “Joining forces with The Sporting News allows us to scale that mission and open the door for more content creators to tell stories that matter to their communities.”

“This is an opportunity to build something foundational in sports media,” added Benson Taylor, Editor-in-Chief at The Sporting News. “As a leading global and U.S. sports publisher, being able to go even deeper at a local, youth-oriented sport level makes The Sporting News offering that much more compelling.”

For The Sporting News, the acquisition strengthens three key areas:

• High School & Youth Sports: Establishes The Sporting News as a serious player in grassroots and pre-professional coverage, including NIL and recruiting.
• Collegiate and Emerging Sports: Expands content into high-growth verticals such as flag football, women’s sports, and non-revenue collegiate sports.
• Global Perspective, U.S. Lens: Builds international coverage with a distinctly American storytelling style, rooted in SMV’s U.S.-based reporter network.

“This is a locally grounded, strategic expansion that aligns with our mission to build the most complete and credible sports content platform globally,” said Shaun Koiner, co-CEO of The Sporting News.

The Sporting News and Sportiva Media Ventures will immediately begin onboarding and expanding the freelance reporting network, with plans to ramp coverage during the 2025 – 2026 academic year.