After 15 years, Storied Rivals going strong and still growing
ZANESVILLE – Storied Rivals Sports Media is part of the fabric of the sports environment. On the same subject : Trust science | Live scientist.
What started as an idea for owner Aaron Spragg, a former sports player and sports talent, turned into a concept that was a book in its time in 2008.
Now in its 15th year, the Zanesville-based business has grown beyond the film highlight and video recruiting team that made it a staple.
There are so many of them now, a true story of evolution. In addition to their core team work and event videos, the business is deep in the team clothing industry. It will soon add creative advertising to its portfolio under the name CrowdBounce Creative Media & Advertising.
The latter is the product of one of the largest social media presences in Ohio – they have nearly 26,000 followers on Twitter, over 22,000 on Instagram and 29,000 on Facebook.
That took many long nights on the road to and from high school events to talk to coaches, players and fans, as well as many hours spent setting up film production sites.
They currently cover 25 football teams and 40 schools in total across all platforms. It reaches from Dayton to Columbus to Akron, but the largest area is still in the Muskingum Valley. They also serve Buckeye Trail and Meadowbrook in Guernsey County and Ridgewood in Coshocton County, in addition to four schools in Licking County and 10 in greater Columbus. Garaway, which plays in the Inter-Valley Conference with Ridgewood, is also a member of the school.
That took years and the trust of coaches and managers who allowed an unusual way to build a backcourt. He said that the popularity of businesses is due to the good advertisements of the old days.
“When you publish as many videos as we do, and I like to think that because of the way they stand out, people want to know who did this?’ these guys around, and that’s how it happens. You do something for 15 years, your hope is that it will grow organically.”
A 1999 John Glenn grad who received a journalism degree from Muskingum University in 2003, Spragg’s background as an on-air talent and broadcaster has given him opportunities to build relationships with coaches and athletic directors from high schools in environment.
It grew over time, and the business tried to give back as much as possible.
In 2020, when COVID-19 reduced attendance by 20 percent in high school sports, he wrote checks totaling $50,000 to the schools that used his services at the time. Spragg wanted to help them make up for the thousands in lost ticket revenue. His clothing chain, created as an alternative source of income for the company, also serves as a fundraiser for the schools he covers.
He said that it was a difficult year, which would not have survived if it were not for the government’s PPP loans and the 25 schools that asked his company to film their lessons. the distribution of letters that were not open to the public.
“It’s been our best six weeks (financially),” Spragg said. “If it wasn’t for that, I don’t know what would have happened.”
John Glenn was his first customer and still is today. So is Zanesville, who followed his alma mater, after serving as the play-by-play voice for the basketball program for much of his time at WHIZ.
“Fortunately we’ve kept our customers because we know what we’re doing, it becomes part of their program,” Spragg said. “But when people come we try to cover them, and that’s why we end up covering the most distant groups.”
John Glenn athletic director Michael Dunlap said many of his teams use Spragg’s video and apparel company as a local source, adding that both of his products are of high quality.
Their social media presence only helps to expand the success of their groups to a larger audience.
“They’re willing to work in very tight time slots, like T-shirts for the race, the league tournament and other things where the turnaround can only be a few days,” Dunlap said. “They offer sales through a digital platform that makes things a lot easier from the school’s perspective.”
Meeting the demands of groups seeking protection and wearing clothing when flying are among the many challenges Spragg faces on a daily basis.
The logistical problems of managing media operations, with shooters going to all parts of the country and working in two offices, is always an unwanted pressure. The same goes for keeping up with technology and development tools, such as cameras and computers.
It’s also part of the gig, which Spragg has been familiar with for a long time.
“Without the staff we have, this wouldn’t exist,” Spragg said. “I told our employees that. The goal is that we want to create a company that can create and enjoy their work professionally, but still provide funds for them. The goal is not to make a profit from the media news, it’s a living. It’s very important to me that we do that.
“Right now all our employees are making sacrifices because there are times we have to do things in order to do things,” he added. “But I think they see what we’re building.”
That includes developing talent.
Spragg lamented the college’s current state of electronic media and multimedia journalism programs, which he says do not adequately prepare their students for working cameras and videography. .
This has led him to work closely with new staff who are gaining work experience to take time closely to the highlights that the schools expect.
The company’s alumni base includes Ryan Wise, who retired to become a football creative video director at the University of Michigan. One is employed by NFL Media, and the other by Campbellsville University.
“That validates what we’re doing,” Spragg said.
After spending most of his early years trying to be a one-man wrecking crew in shooting, editing and part-time handling of the business side of the company, he threw himself into the business as a career. of full time in 2013. .
He now delegates most of the work to trusted lieutenant Sean Fisher and others on the production team, including those who are also approaching ten years of service. Fisher has been with the company for 10 years.
The business has since expanded to an office in Grandview Heights, in addition to its main office in Newton Township, to better serve its schools in the Columbus and Western Ohio area.
Spragg still shoots regularly, but is now focusing on the business side of the process. That includes finding corporate sponsors and expanding the team’s apparel operations. Soon he will be committed to creative marketing.
It’s in an effort to not make the same mistake that others have made in the past – relying too much on advertising revenue to stay profitable.
His main goal is to build a company that is sustainable and profitable enough to pay its employees more than a living wage.
It has improved over time, but he admits it is still a work in progress.
He has made it a gospel that his employees only shoot events that generate money. He doesn’t want them to spend time and energy on activities that don’t help businesses financially.
It wasn’t always like that, especially in the early years.
“I enjoy the business side of it,” Spragg said. “Even though it’s stressful, I enjoy the idea of doing something successful and thinking about it. Even at 15 years it’s still a way to start with bootstraps.”
sblackbu@gannett.com; Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR
