The best thing about starting a sports media company is getting the opportunity to go to the biggest sporting events across the country, which is what I/we have been doing over the last five months. Full disclosure: I'm a Red Sox fan. That's something that I'm not willing to hide, but that doesn't mean I can't go undercover... (more details on this later, a little foreshadowing for the kids at home). So the biggest struggle about covering nationwide sports is trying to do so without letting my Boston bias get in the way. Naturally, in games where Boston isn't involved, this isn't an issue. But as we all know (to the dismay of many of you), Boston tends to be involved in a lot of major sporting events; Stanley Cup, Super Bowl, World Series, just to name a few in the past year. With three of the four LFG partners being from Boston (lol @ Alex), one of the most common questions we get is: How are you going to shake the stigma that LFG Sports is a Boston company.
Anyone who knows us personally knows that Josh, Griffin, and I are some of the most die-hard Boston sports fans you'll meet. Griffin's instagram handle is literally @617TheRealMasshole. Pretending that we are neutral sports fans at Boston sporting events would not only be extremely disingenuous, it would go against the very principles on which this company is built. We started LFG Sports because we believe the beauty of sports resides largely in the passion of the fans, so hiding our passion for our own sports teams is not an option. If we were to market ourselves as sports fans without a bias, we'd be giving into the pressure of how a "traditional" sports media company should be run. We are not a traditional sports media company. So if your question is: Are you going to pretend not to be Boston fans at sporting events? Here's your answer: fuck no.
But as we continue to spread awareness about LFG Sports, and the fact that we are a national sports media company, this question will continue to come up. Here's how it will be addressed:
As LFG continues grow, so will the additions of new team members. Content creators from other cities will inevitably join the ride and LFG will be able to have die-hard team representatives from cities across the country, not just Boston. Each team member that we add will be encouraged to express their fandom wholeheartedly as it makes for a more genuine and enjoyable experience for everyone. So even though we are refusing to hide our love for Boston sports, the same will be the case for everyone else who is part of the LFG team. It's what we want, it's what our future team members will want, and it's what the fans want.
Long story short, it's natural for startup companies to be associated with their home-base city. We are moving our headquarters to Syracuse in the fall, so the same questions about LFG having a Syracuse bias will inevitably arise. Just keep in mind that the more we grow, the more people we'll be able to hire and discover, which will eventually lead to a team of the most passionate sports fans from every city across the country (we'll try not to put them all in the same room).
So yeah, I'm a Sox fan. I'm proud to say it and it's made me the sports fan I am today. I hate the Yankees, and I hate the Lakers, but at the same time I can't wait to work with Yankees fans, and work with Lakers fans. That's the kind of culture that LFG Sports is trying to build and it's something that I truly believe will resonate deeply with sports fans all over the country.
So that's the end of that, and anytime someone has this question from here on out, this is where they can find the answer. Now everyone go buy some merch so we can hire more people to represent your non-Boston losing cities (just kidding, but not really).