A New Model of Sports Journalism Gains Ground by Covering the Overlooked Audience While mainstream outlets concentrate coverage on major leagues, niche sports fans often find themselves sidelined. Formula 1, tennis, women's sports, and NASCAR have typically received intermittent attention, with limited year-round storytelling or strategic analysis. Yet, a platform founded by three engineers has flipped this script, steadily gaining scale by catering to this overlooked audience.

As traditional sports media struggles with layoffs and declining valuations, a quiet shift is underway—one that's being led by a new generation of digital publishers addressing the needs of passionate but underserved sports audiences.

While mainstream outlets concentrate coverage on major leagues, niche sports fans often find themselves sidelined. Formula 1, tennis, women's sports, and NASCAR have typically received intermittent attention, with limited year-round storytelling or strategic analysis. Yet, a platform founded by three engineers has flipped this script, steadily gaining scale by catering to this overlooked audience.

What began in 2014 in a college dorm room as an experiment among three engineering students—Jaskirat Arora, Suryansh Tibarewal, and Harit Pathak—has evolved into EssentiallySports, one of the top sports publishers in the United States. Frustrated by the lack of depth in existing coverage, they began writing articles based on what they wanted to read: technical breakdowns, contextual storytelling, and off-season narratives that most outlets ignored.

"We started writing the stories we wanted to read," said Arora. "If we were curious about something, chances were others were too."

What started with minimal investment—just $150—has since grown into a platform drawing 30 million monthly readers and 1 million newsletter subscribers. Their strategic focus has remained consistent: identify sports with highly engaged yet underserved fanbases and offer them consistent, in-depth content.

Early focus areas like tennis and Formula 1 proved prescient. At a time when few U.S. outlets provided regular content on these sports, the platform's year-round analysis found a strong following. By 2017, it was drawing more tennis traffic than the official ATP site, according to third-party analytics, and its social media communities grew steadily even before F1's global popularity surged with streaming shows.

The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated the platform's momentum. As legacy media organizations scaled back or froze coverage, the EssentiallySports team expanded—hiring over 40 professionals and maintaining a steady publishing schedule. With fans stuck at home, demand surged for not just highlights but also documentaries, deep dives, and contextual narratives.

Their coverage of popular series like "The Last Dance" avoided mere summaries, instead analyzing broader themes such as leadership in sports and its relevance in business.

This editorial approach became central to their broader strategy. Rather than following the traditional sports calendar, the team publishes throughout the off-season, exploring athlete training regimens, strategic decisions, and cultural dynamics behind rivalries. This strategy paid off. Nearly half of the platform's annual traffic now comes during months when other outlets remain largely inactive.

Beyond tennis and Formula 1, the model has been replicated successfully across several verticals. Their NASCAR newsletter now reaches over 200,000 subscribers, outpacing traditional publishers. In golf, consistent coverage helped them build a subscriber base that doubled industry averages. Recognizing rising interest in women's sports, they launched a dedicated vertical, with newsletters such as "She Got Game" now exceeding 100,000 subscribers.

"Sports interest doesn't go dormant," said Tibarewal. "But most outlets treat it like it does."

Editorially, the team is structured to emphasize subject-matter expertise. Each sport has dedicated editors and writers who collaborate closely to ensure meaningful coverage. All of EssentiallySports' audience growth has been organic—achieved without spending on advertising.

Their growing influence has drawn attention from industry veterans. Media leaders with experience at major international platforms have since joined the initiative in advisory roles.

Despite scaling rapidly, the core principle has remained constant: serve specific communities with relevant, consistent journalism, and growth will follow.

"Most outlets cover 10% of sports for 90% of fans," Tibarewal noted. "We focus on the other 90%—for the 10% of fans who truly care. That 10% still includes tens of millions of people."

With a steadily expanding footprint, the team is now venturing into live activations, having recently hosted on-ground events aligned with major tournaments and league fixtures. A creator program is also in development, designed to provide independent sports writers with tools and access to share their work with passionate readers.

In a media landscape where many are retreating, the rise of this sports platform demonstrates that a focused, audience-first approach can uncover new growth frontiers—and reshape what modern sports journalism looks like.