3 min read B2C

The Frank | Fueling Fandom with Swooping Sport Spotlights

The Frank | Fueling Fandom with Swooping Sport Spotlights
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Everyone is talking March Madness - the heartwrenching upsets and unbelievable bouncebacks - the throwdown of ultimate proportions in an effort to go dancing all the way to the national championship (and win, of course). While you're bound to catch up on coverage, wouldn't you rather receive targeted stories reppin' your favorite hometown teams?

A fast break to localized news is The Frank, a digital newsletter delivering the best national and local sports throughout the week while connecting you with fans who understand your love for the game. And whether you're a die-hard Hawks fan or prefer The Falcon's football fanfare, The Frank's got your season faves covered. We recently caught up with Founder Jason Sosnovsky to find out how they're delivering everything from slam dunks to slap shots straight to your inbox throughout the week.

The Pitch:

The Frank is an email newsletter that delivers the top national and local sports news every weekday morning. Currently, we write unique issues for six locations - Atlanta, the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, and New York. Our goal is to keep things fun, concise, and informative while focusing on just the news that matters. We also throw in a few delightful goodies - the evening's schedule of things to watch, the local weather, and a rollicking GIF. On Saturday mornings, we cap things off with The Weekly Franks, our very scientifically determined sports awards.
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What problem are you solving?
There's a lack of options that deliver targeted sports news in a quick but also editorialized method. It's obvious that there's no shortage of ways to get your morning sports news, but the current options are void of focus and personality. Fans are using numerous apps or sites and are frequently faced with long articles or simple link dumps. The Frank provides the most important news with a bit of context and the best places to get more information on each story.

Revenue Model:
Although The Frank is pre-revenue, the model is based on native advertisements in specific sections. For example, we have a daily schedule in each issue. Seems like a great place for a ticket reseller to have some visibility, no? The strategy for advertisements is to work with companies that add to The Frank's goal of serving sports fans.

How'd you get the idea for it?
The idea for The Frank came from a project that I worked on with a good friend last summer. The project was a game for picking the outcome of sporting events against a group of buddies, and each morning, we sent an email with the day's top news and a link to make more picks. At some point during our beta testing, my friend's wife suggested that I write theSkimm for sports. And, that was that. That's a pretty grand goal, but we're working on it.

Who are your competitors and how do you stand out?
The Lead, Sports Ketchup, and The Ringer are some of the closest competitors. Our biggest differentiator is localization. None of those newsletters focus on a fan's favorite hometown teams. Because The Frank is localized and we have local writers for each issue, we're able to better provide fans with news they care about. Our writers have a pulse on their city's teams and know what stories the local fans really care about.

How does ATL weave into your story?
Well, we're based in Atlanta, and our initial newsletter was for subscribers here. I also work at Switchyards Downtown Club, which is the city's best place to build a B2C startup.

Interested in reading up on Atlanta's best sports teams? Get The Frank and be sure to keep up with them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

[photo credit: Kiki Roeder]

Kiki Roeder + Kristyn Back