Yahoo Sports Launches Uncrowned, Its Combat Sports Franchise

The other programs—The Boys in the Back, The Craic with Petesy Carroll, and Ariel + Ade—comprise an extended universe of Helwani characters. 

The Boys in the Back, hosted by Eric Jackman and Conner Burks, airs on Thursdays, The Craic is published on Friday mornings, and Ariel + Ade will begin airing on Tuesdays in a few weeks. The personalities of each show make frequent appearances on other Uncrowned programs, creating a familiar cast of recurring figures in the style of The Howard Stern Show, according to Helwani.

The programs will live across video, podcast, and web platforms, including a dedicated hub that was carved out during a site relaunch that updated the website in August. 

Growing Yahoo’s advertising business

According to Ryan Spoon, Yahoo Sports’ president, the launch of Uncrowned will add another key set of surface areas for sponsorship and advertising, which will be the primary means of monetization.

The publisher has already signed deals with the Professional Fighters League, DAZN, and ESPN+, which involve integrations across the sites and newsletters. 

The franchise joins Yahoo Sports as the division leans more heavily into direct-sold advertising and brand activation. According to Spoon, the third quarter was the biggest quarter of direct-sold revenue in Yahoo Sports history.

Year to date, Yahoo Sports is up over 70% in booked sales, and the booked sales it has accumulated this year have already surpassed its 2023 direct revenue and doubled its 2022 revenue.

The breadth and multichannel presence of Uncrowned enables Yahoo Sports to offer brand integrations that fully encompass the sport. Helwani himself is so involved in the space—he did a live show from The Venetian in September and will work the November match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson airing on Netflix—that his presence alone confers a degree of authenticity to sponsors.

Combat sports have also seen an influx of investment from blue-chip sponsors, including deep-pocketed firms like Draft Kings and state sponsors like Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia who has sought to make Riyadh a locus for the industry.

“[Helwani] and his team are the most interesting and engaged folks in a space that reaches 1 billion people a year globally,” Spoon said. “We’re very excited about what we’re going to be able to build together.”