Create Music Group-owned digital content studio Flighthouse Media sees an opportunity in bringing sports media to Gen Z fans, and to make it happen, it’s launching a new brand: Fieldhouse.
Fieldhouse is “a sports-first, chaos-powered content brand built for the next generation of fans,” the company said in a statement on Monday (July 28).
What, exactly, does that mean? For one thing, it means content like “gamified debates” and hot takes designed to “spark rivalries, ignite group chats, and keep fans engaged beyond the game.”
In other words, it’s ESPN for the TikTok generation.
“We saw a clear gap: traditional sports media isn’t resonating with this generation,” Flighthouse CEO Ash Stahl said.
“Gen Z doesn’t just watch sports, they react to it, interact with it, and shape the culture in real time. Fieldhouse is our take on the next generation of sports content: funny, fast, deeply online, and made for fans who grew up as much on TikTok as they did on ESPN.”
So far, it seems to be working: Flighthouse says Fieldhouse has already attracted 145,000 followers and 150 million views. Featured guests so far have included NFL athletes from the Cowboys and Texans, college stars from USC and UCLA, and cultural icons like the Harlem Globetrotters and the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.
Fieldhouse has also picked up some early brand sponsors, including SeatGeek and PrizePicks.
“Gen Z doesn’t just watch sports, they react to it, interact with it, and shape the culture in real time.”
Ash Stahl, Flighthouse Media
While sports media may seem outside the wheelhouse of a music distribution, rights management and publishing company, it does fit with its identity as an “audience company,” as Co-Founder and CEO Jonathan Strauss puts it.
“I’ve tried to keep this philosophy of encouraging our team members to build their own companies within Create,” he said in a recent interview. Stahl “has done this at a scale we never expected.”
Overall, Flighthouse Media boasts 330 million followers and over 1 billion monthly views on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat across its brands, which include Flighthouse, Retirement House and Flighthouse Radio.
Create acquired Flighthouse in 2016, when it was a discovery channel on Musical.ly (now TikTok), and folded it into FH Media, which it formed in 2023. Create also folded viral marketing agency VRTCL, which it acquired in 2022, into FH Media. The company has created campaigns for brands like Starbucks, Netflix and Beats by Dre.
Per Forbes, major music names like Atlantic Records, Capitol Records, Universal Music Group’s Interscope, Island, and Republic labels, and Warner Music Group have been Flighthouse marketing partners.
And in sports, Flighthouse sees an opportunity to expand its audience – and with it, the potential for brand partnerships.
“After what we’ve built with Flighthouse, Gen Z’s home for pop culture and female-driven fandom, and Retirement House, which proves you can grow old without growing up, stepping into sports felt like a natural next move for Flighthouse Media,” Stahl said.Music Business Worldwide
