The Ringer

What The Ringer does

The Ringer is a digital media company founded in 2016 by Bill Simmons, producing editorial and audio content at the intersection of sports and pop culture. It serves general consumers interested in professional sports leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB, WNBA, World Cup/soccer), entertainment (movies, TV, music), video games, and adjacent cultural topics, as well as more specialized audiences such as fantasy sports players and dedicated league fans. The portfolio spans an owned editorial website (theringer.com), a flagship podcast network featuring The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Rewatchables, Big Picture, The Watch, Higher Learning, House of R, The Town, Plain English, and the Ringer Fantasy Football Show, short-form video content, an email newsletter, live events, and a dedicated NBA Free Agency interactive tool. The underlying technology is a standard content publishing stack (WordPress plus Next.js image delivery); no proprietary AI/ML, APIs, or SDKs are disclosed. Distribution flows through owned digital surfaces plus third-party platforms — Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Instagram, and X — with merchandise sold via a Merchtable storefront.

The Ringer operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Spotify (evidenced by Spotify's copyright in the site footer and links to Spotify's terms, privacy, and cookies policies), with Bill Simmons serving as Founder and Managing Director alongside a co-Managing Director and a 30-plus-person named editorial and podcast leadership team. The business model is primarily B2C advertising-supported, with sponsorship sold via a dedicated [email protected] channel, supplemented by merchandise sales and an emerging paid newsletter tier (content marked with a $ symbol on the homepage). No public pricing tiers, revenue figures, or audience scale metrics are disclosed. As a Spotify subsidiary, the unit functions as both a content brand and a podcast flagship for the parent, with strategic alignment to Spotify's podcast-first content strategy rather than as a high-margin standalone media business.

Name

The Ringer

Legal name

The Ringer

Website

https://theringer.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Ringer is a digital media company producing sports and pop culture editorial, podcasts, video, and newsletters, serving entertainment-seeking consumers as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Spotify.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Ringer is a digital media company that produces and publishes original editorial content covering sports (NBA, NFL, MLB, World Cup, WNBA) and pop culture (movies, TV, music, gaming). Its core offerings include a daily editorial website, an extensive podcast network spanning flagship and niche shows, video content, an email newsletter with a paid premium tier, and live events for fans.

Product overview

The Ringer is a digital media company offering a multi-platform content ecosystem centered on sports and pop culture coverage. The core offerings include an editorial website publishing articles, analysis, and features across sports (NBA, NFL, MLB, World Cup, WNBA) and pop culture (Movies, TV, Music); a flagship podcast network featuring The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Rewatchables, Big Picture, The Watch, Higher Learning, House of R, The Town, Plain English, The Ringer Fantasy Football Show, and numerous other branded podcasts; video content; a newsletter; and live events. The portfolio is distributed primarily through owned digital platforms with content also available on Spotify, YouTube, and other third-party platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Ringer Website (Articles & Editorial) The Ringer's primary digital media platform featuring sports and pop culture editorial content including articles, analysis, rankings, and features covering NBA, NFL, MLB, World Cup, Movies, TV, Music, and more. Built for general consumers interested in daily sports and entertainment coverage.
• Podcast Network The Ringer's flagship podcast network featuring multiple shows including The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Rewatchables, Big Picture, The Watch, Higher Learning, House of R, The Town, Plain English, The Ringer Fantasy Football Show, and numerous other branded podcasts covering sports, pop culture, movies, and entertainment. Distributed via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast directories.
• Videos The Ringer's video content platform featuring short-form video content, clips, and visual editorial content across sports and pop culture topics. Distributed via the Ringer website and YouTube.
• Newsletter (with paid premium tier) The Ringer's email newsletter offering delivering curated content updates and highlights to subscribers, including premium paid content marked with a ($) symbol indicating subscription-tier access.
• Events The Ringer's live events platform featuring in-person events and experiences for fans of the brand's sports and pop culture coverage.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Vox Media: Digital media holding company spanning sports (SB Nation), pop culture (Vulture, The Verge, Polygon), and podcasting. Directly comparable to The Ringer's horizontal sports + pop-culture coverage strategy and podcast-led growth.
• Barstool Sports: Personality-driven sports and pop-culture digital media brand. Closely comparable to The Ringer in audience (young, male-skewing sports/pop-culture fans), format mix (podcasts, video, written content), and reliance on a marquee founder figure (Dave Portnoy).
• Bleacher Report: Sports digital media brand owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Comparable as a digital-first sports publisher producing articles, video, and social-native content for the same NBA/NFL/MLB fan audience.
• The Athletic: Subscription-based digital sports media company (now owned by The New York Times Company). Comparable to The Ringer in covering major US sports leagues with deep editorial coverage, but differentiated by a paywall-first business model.
• SB Nation: Network of team- and league-focused sports blogs under Vox Media. Overlaps with The Ringer's NBA, NFL, MLB, and soccer editorial coverage and shares the same digital-first, fandom-driven audience.
• Deadspin: Independent sports and pop-culture commentary site. Comparable to The Ringer in voice-driven sports and culture writing for a digital-first audience, though at smaller scale and without a comparable podcast network.

Emerging players

• Front Office Sports: Digital media company focused on the business of sports. Overlaps with The Ringer on sports coverage and podcasting, but emphasizes the sports-business angle rather than fan/pop-culture commentary.
• Puck News: Subscription-driven digital media startup covering media, sports, entertainment, and culture. Comparable to The Ringer's pop-culture-meets-sports coverage and premium newsletter model, but focused on industry-insider reporting.

Broad incumbents

• ESPN: Dominant incumbent sports media brand spanning TV, digital, and podcasts. Competes with The Ringer for sports commentary audience and podcast listenership, but operates at vastly larger scale with rights and league data The Ringer does not have.
• Sports Illustrated: Legacy sports media outlet (now operating under The Arena Group). Overlaps with The Ringer on written sports commentary and digital coverage, but with a broader, more established brand and different distribution model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ringer
• Instagraminstagram.com/ringer

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Ringer