Overtime Elite has grown in six years from the brainchild of a former of WMA talent agents to a multimedia conglomerate that received $80 million in funding last year from institutional investors and NBA stars.
USA TODAY’s Erin Richards got an exclusive look at Overtime Elite’s classroom experience for high school athletes inside the new 103,000-square foot facility in Midtown Atlanta.
Overtime Elite’s facility, where it hosts the league’s training and operations center, also includes a staff of player development experts, video coordinators, an analytics department, sports performance, athletic training and life skills.
Most days, at Overtime Elite, school only lasts a few hours.
►Overtime Elite:This new school pays teen basketball players $100K to skip the NCAA and train for the NBA
Who owns Overtime Elite?
To: CEO Dan Porter, 55, and President Zack Weiner, 30, met as coworkers at talent agency WMA and co-founded Overtime in 2016.
What is the Overtime Elite league?
Overtime is a digital sports network producing viral videos and sports content for millennial and Gen Z fans. It boasts more than 55 million monthly views across seven social platforms, but how it came to launch a school and basketball league is one of the most intriguing education stories of the moment.
Overtime Elite recruits athletes to start in their junior or senior years, or immediately after high school. Because players must be one year out of high school and at least 19 to be eligible for the NBA draft, OTE enrolls both high school and “post-grad” players up to 20 years old. Post-grads are guided into part-time internships or college classes that work around their training schedule.
►Overtime Elite:These two new leagues aim to challenge college basketball for top high school players
How many Overtime Elite teams are there?
The school currently has 27 players broken into three assigned teams. They play each other and other prep-school teams.
But OTE expects to expand the league, said commissioner and president Aaron Ryan, who mentioned Europe and Asia as “rich opportunities.” The league could potentially accommodate up to 50 or more players.
►Overtime Elite:These two new leagues aim to challenge college basketball for top high school players
How does Overtime Elite make money?
Overtime uses video of its athletes to and target younger fans on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. When marketing and advertising revenue grew with the fan base, investors followed, including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Canadian rapper Drake, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and more than two dozen NBA players.
Eventually, the payoff for OTE investors and shareholders could come in the form of a media rights deal – selling the league to a major network. Until then, Overtime makes money off of marketing, branding and merchandise related to its players.
How much are Overtime Elite players’ salaries?
Players who sign with Overtime Elite give up their NCAA basketball eligibility. If they don’t secure a pro contract, OTE offers them an additional $100,000 to attend the university of their choice.
Players can make money through branding deals and on-court performance bonuses, as well. OTE’s deal with Topps trading cards, for example, offers a cut to both the company and the athletes, who earn a percentage of their card sales. And to incentivize competitiveness in games among players who live and practice together, OTE said each member of the top team at the end of the season will receive an additional $10,000.
►Overtime Elite:Former UConn men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie to coach league designed for top prep players
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism