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Dentsu Invests In U.S. Media Company Overtime Sports

A Dentsu investment unit called Dentsu Ventures Global Fund 1 has made an investment in Brooklyn, NY-based sports media company Overtime. 

The company produces and distributes video content about high school sports which is targeted to Gen Z fans. The company’s programing generates more than 1.7 billion views per month and the firm has almost 50 million followers across major social channels, Overtime claims.

Overtime runs advertising and ecommerce businesses and recently announced the launch of Overtime Elite (OTE), a basketball league for elite high school prospects. 

As part of its investment, Dentsu Ventures will assist OT with its ad business and collaborate with the firm on its new league. Dentsu has a major sports division of its own that pursues rights to major events like the Olympics and is often involved in selling ads and promoting those events. 

Dentsu is just one of several high-profile backers recently investing in the media company. The firm, led by CEO Dan Porter, said last week that it recently completed an $80 million fundraising round with participants including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Reddit’s Alexis Ohanian and entertainer Drake among others. 

So far OT has raised $140 million since Porter launched the effort in 2016.

 

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