Katie Feeney Joins ESPN as Sports & Lifestyle Content Creator — Lindsey Gamble

ESPN inked a take care of creator Katie Feeney as a Sports & Lifestyle Content Creator.

With greater than 14 million followers, she’s going to contribute to ESPN’s social and digital efforts, together with a refreshed SportsMiddle on Snapchat present and short-form video content material for a forthcoming upgraded ESPN App. She may also make appearances throughout ESPN reveals like Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Countdown and College GameDay.

Why It Matters: With a formidable resume that features being the first-ever Social Media Correspondent for the Washington Commanders, the current Penn State graduate represents ESPN’s accelerated pivot towards creator-driven content material as conventional sports activities viewership declines amongst Gen Z. While ESPN dominates conventional sports activities media, youthful audiences devour sports activities content material in another way, usually preferring social media clips, creator commentary, and behind-the-scenes entry over conventional broadcast protection.

This follows ESPN’s profitable hiring of Omar Raja, founding father of House of Highlights, as a full-time digital commentator in 2020, alongside launching the ESPN Creator Network, which is now in its third iteration. The pattern extends nicely past ESPN: the NBA has expanded its Creator Program, the PGA Tour established a Creator Council to have creators function advisors, MLB invested in Jomboy Media, and Fox Sports not too long ago announced a collaboration with Barstool Sports.

It reveals how sports activities leagues and media firms view creator partnerships and creator-led content material as important to their long-term success. It additionally alerts new pathways that bypass conventional journalism routes for aspiring sports activities media professionals.