Foundation
The site was founded in 2011 by Clay Travis as OutKick the Coverage (OKTC). [1] In 2013, Travis entered into an agreement to license OKTC to Fox Sports, with its posts being syndicated as part of FoxSports.com content, and the site being cross-promoted as a Fox College Football blog . [2] [3] In 2015, after having joined Fox Sports 1 as a contributor to its college football coverage, Travis signed an overall deal with Fox Sports that included television, radio, and digital roles, and a renewal of its licensing agreement for OutKick the Coverage. [4] [5] On September 6, 2016, Fox Sports Radio premiered OutKick the Coverage with Clay Travis as its new morning drive show. [6] [7]
In March of 2020 Clay Travis entered into a joint venture with Savage Ventures to relaunch the business into an omni channel media company. In June 2020, Jason Whitlock, an ex-Fox Sports host, joined the company as a paid columnist with the ability to earn equity. As part of an accompanying rebranding, the site's title was also shortened to simply OutKick. [8] [9] Whitlock quickly entered a feud with the other two owners, Travis and Sam Savage, and stopped producing his weekly columns. Whitlock argued that Savage was not putting his "sweat" into the company, and issued an ultimatum: either Savage invests $500,000 into the company, or he will leave. This investment never came and Whitlock left OutKick in early 2021. [10]
Fox acquisition
On May 6, 2021, Fox Sports' parent company Fox Corporation announced that it would acquire OutKick Media for an undisclosed amount; Travis stated that the sale would help to "further [accelerate] the growth of our audience". [11] Variety assessed OutKick as having similarities in content and audience to Barstool Sports, which also saw a massive increase in internet popularity from 2020 to 2021. [12] [13] On May 27, 2021, Travis announced that he would leave the OutKick radio show to host The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show , a conservative talk radio show being billed as a successor to The Rush Limbaugh Show. [14] [15]
The website hired social media personality Tomi Lahren as a new personality to host its afternoon opinion talk-show in June 2022. [16]
After its acquisition by Fox, OutKick grew from 10 employees prior to the acquisition to over 50, and opened a new larger office in Nashville in March 2023. [17]
On July 31, 2023, Fox News streaming service Fox Nation began to carry OutKick video content, including episodes of its shows OutKick The Show, Tomi Lahren Is Fearless and Gaines For Girls following their premieres on OutKick and YouTube. [18]
On January 25, 2024, it was announced that wrestler Tyrus—a Fox News contributor and regular panelist on its talk show Gutfeld! —would helm a new show for the platform entitled Maintaining with Tyrus. [19] As of 2024, OutKick's annual revenue was estimated at somewhere between $345,000 and $620,000. [20]
