Sportico

Sportico is a digital publication dedicated to the business of sport, launched in June 2020 by Penske Media Corporation (PMC), the US media group whose portfolio includes Variety, Rolling Stone and The Hollywood Reporter. The name is a portmanteau of "sport" and "company". Sportico was founded with Dick Glover, a long-time ESPN and Disney executive, as president and chief executive, and Scott Soshnick, a former Bloomberg News sports business reporter, as editor-in-chief. Its editorial focus is the financial, commercial and legal dimensions of the sports industry: team valuations, media rights deals, athlete contracts, venue finance and league governance. It is aimed at an industry-professional rather than a mass-consumer audience.

PMC launched Sportico at a moment when sports-business journalism was consolidating. The Street & Smith Sports Business Journal had been the sector reference for decades; Sportico entered with a focus on long-form analysis and data-driven valuations alongside breaking news. The publication quickly established a reputation for original valuation research, including franchise value estimates for major US leagues that are cited widely in deal reporting. It is a source of record for US sports media transactions, broadcasting rights negotiations and legal developments in sports law.

Sportico reported the DAZN agreement to acquire US streaming-technology provider ViewLift for roughly $100m in May 2026, one of the primary sources for that deal becoming public knowledge. As a PMC title, Sportico sits within a company that has its own media-rights and entertainment interests, though its business journalism operation is editorially distinct.