⚡️ Founder Diaries Vol 1 Ch 8: Zack Weiner, Founder of Overtime - Redefining Sports for the Next Generation
We celebrate the unfiltered BTS stories of today’s founders - from their highest highs to the lowest lows and how they powered through it all… or didn’t.
👋 Introducing Zack Weiner, Founder of Overtime - Redefining Sports for the Next Generation
Overtime is the leading brand for the next generation of sports fans. In 2022, Zack and his team raised a $100M Series D with Drake, Jeff Bezos, and Kevin Durant on their cap table.
Let’s rewind to where it all began — my first venture, The Sports Quotient. I owe a lot to that time — to my cofounders, and to the 300+ college students who were passionate writers, editors and podcasters eager to share their perspectives on sports.
This early experience was fundamental, teaching me about community building and the harsh realities of supply and demand in content creation. We had an abundance of content. Dozens of daily articles and podcasts produced cost-efficiently, but the demand simply wasn’t strong enough for a sustainable business.
This taught me a crucial lesson: it's not just about creating; it's about creating what people truly want.
This insight shaped the foundation of Overtime.
When we started, we put the audience first, focusing squarely on Gen Z and millennial sports fans. Young people love sports, but they crave a new way of engagement. They don’t just want to watch sports; they want to be a part of it. At Overtime, we are building a community, a platform, and a movement where everyone can participate in the content. Community members are engaged, involved and invested. They are not just another person watching basketball on a big screen - they are all insiders for the first time.
Headquartered in New York City, we tapped into grassroots basketball movements, shining a light on up-and-coming superstars. These emerging sports stars were phenomenal on the court but were not yet touched by the massive media spotlight.
Early on, we discovered that our audience connected deeply with athletes who were relatable and raw—like then 17-year-old Zion Williamson and 18-year-old Trae Young.
These young athletes were approachable and unfiltered, traits that made them incredibly engaging to our audience. We didn’t have the rights to pro sports leagues, but focusing on these young stars allowed us to create compelling narratives without the need to buy rights.
Our strategy wasn't just about who we showcased but how. We developed technology that felt almost like magic—a way to capture game highlights on the fly. Once you lifted your phone, our Overtime app could hit rewind at any moment and clip that highlight in real-time, ensuring we never missed an amazing play. This tech became our backbone, allowing us to cover games across the country, often multiple games in one night, creating a tapestry of stories that brought our audience courtside from wherever they were. The best part? Fans all across the country were seeing Overtime filmers in their gym, creating a new movement through content and community.
As it always has been, building the Overtime brand is all about creating connections that go beyond viewership. This isn’t a one-way street; it is a dialogue. Our audience isn’t just watching sports; they are part of the conversation, part of the family.
To this day, we respond to as many comments as possible, feature our community members in content, and make sure they know Overtime is as much theirs as it is ours.
From an eight-person startup to now a company of over 300 employees and 105 million social media followers, navigating this growth wasn't without its challenges. Every startup faces its share of trials, and Overtime was no exception. From refining our content strategy to ensuring our brand resonated across different platforms, every day brought new lessons.
And then, COVID-19 hit, a hurdle that nobody was prepared for. Sports halted and the world went into isolation.
I remember ad partners pulling budgets. Live sports were gone. No one knew when sports were coming back.
That was our core driver of revenue. I remember thinking to myself “what the f*** are we going to do?!”
We went back to our roots. Sports weren’t on but we had a huge library of content, and could still be there for our community. And even better, they were making their own innovative videos in their backyards. Our longstanding community-driven approach really paid off. We kept engaging, kept entertaining, and most importantly, kept connecting. It was during these tough times that the strength and resilience of the Overtime community truly shone through.
The ad market rebounded and revenue soared.
As we kept growing, we continually evaluated how we could contribute more to the world of sports. With a strong community and meaningful relationships with next-generation athletes, we saw an opportunity not just to participate in the sports media space, but to redefine it by creating our own leagues.
This led to the launch of Overtime Elite, a transformative league designed to offer the world's most talented young basketball players an alternative pathway to becoming professional athletes.
Recognizing the immense value in owning sports intellectual property (IP), this initiative was more than just an expansion—it was a strategic move to position ourselves at the core of sports business economics. By owning and operating our leagues, we are able to own the entire vertical from media rights to sponsorships, while also offering our athletes all the opportunities they deserve.
Securing rights deals with platforms like Amazon Prime and garnering sponsorships from leading brands such as State Farm and Gatorade, highlighted the market's confidence in our vision. These partnerships not only bring financial stability but also validate our approach to reshaping how sports are delivered and consumed.
The introduction of additional leagues - Overtime Select, OTX, and OT7 - further exemplifies our evolution from a media company to a robust sports institution. These leagues bridge the gap between traditional sports media and a digital-first audience, creating environments that resonate deeply with modern fans.
Our fans, especially the next generation, are hungry for leagues that reflect their values and perspectives. By creating leagues that feel personal and tailored, we are transforming passive viewers into active participants.
It has been a crazy journey no doubt. I never could have imagined where we would be today back when we were on the late-night grind filming at Rucker Park, waking up early eager to analyze viewer data.
It’s been hard to stop and celebrate moments on this rollercoaster. But one of my most affirming moments came unexpectedly at a Phoenix Suns game. My wife and I were sitting a few rows behind the Suns bench. She asked me if I thought Devin Booker would come say hi to me.
I said: “Probably not — these guys really get in the zone when they’re on the court.”
As we were walking out to leave, Devin stepped over two rows and went completely out of his way to dap me up.
Not only was it an amazing moment for me, but it symbolized the impact and reach of Overtime. It showed how deeply integrated Overtime had become in the fabric of sports culture.
It’s easy to take what we have for granted today, but in the early days, it took us three years to feel like we even belonged in all those gyms we filmed in.
Today, Overtime is more than a brand; it’s a testament to what happens when you listen to your audience, lean into your strengths, and remain adaptable in the ever-changing landscape of sports and entertainment. It’s about more than just sports; it’s about building a community that grows together, celebrates together, and transforms the sports industry together. And as I look ahead, I’m excited for what the future holds, ready for the next challenge, the next game, the next story. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the game never really ends; it just evolves. And so do we.
-Zack Weiner
Learn more about Zack Weiner and Overtime below:
Overtime: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | X | TikTok
If you know someone with a unique founder story who would like to share their BTS journey of founder life - the highest highs and the lowest lows - please feel free to refer them at diariesfounder@gmail.com.
— Michelle Kwok & Christine Lu Hong (The Founder Diaries Team)