From Dorm Room Dream to Industry Powerhouse: The Untold Story Behind Front Office Sports’ Meteoric Rise

Adam White was a freshman in college when he founded the first iteration of Front Office Sports as a class project. A decade later, that project has evolved into a media company capable of hosting what felt like the equivalent of the Geneva Convention of sports in Times Square.

At the second annual Tuned In Conference, FOS brought together top executives from Fox, NBC, CBS, ESPN and TNT, alongside league commissioners like the NBA’s Adam Silver and MLB’s Rob Manfred.

Even sports media heavyweights like ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Outkick’s Clay Travis went head-to-head in a spirited debate that touched on everything from the state of the modern NBA to the 2028 presidential election.

As the dust settles, one question looms: how did a digitally native sports business outlet become the Switzerland of live sports gatherings? CEO Adam White thinks he has the answer.

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“It was built to get a job, not become one”

Front Office Sports began as a class project while White was at the University of Miami.

“It was built to get a job, not become one,” he recalls.

But it didn’t take long for him to see he was onto something bigger. He poured hours into “informational interviews,” which doubled as market research. Industry professionals consistently told him they wanted news, video and multiplatform content backed by a strong social presence. With that feedback in hand, the final step was securing investment.

The investment came in the most modern way possible — on Twitter. A private equity firm, now known as SC Holdings, first connected with White after he DM’d them about some content they had produced, offering to distribute it on his channel. That initial exchange sparked a relationship.

In 2018, White sent out a fateful tweet: “It’s amazing what can happen in a year.” His contact at SC Holdings immediately reached out to ask how he could help.

A few calls and countless emails later, they set up a meeting — and the rest was history.

“It was a fortuitous meeting and an opportunistic conversation that turned into a relationship,” White says. “It helped us get the business off the ground in earnest—and it made them a lot of money over time.”

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“We don’t see them solely as events — we see them as experiences”

Once FOS secured financial backing, the company’s growth took off. It was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in 2021, AdWeek’s Hottest in Sports in 2022 and 2024, and landed on the Inc. 5000 list in 2023, recognizing America’s fastest-growing private companies. White credits much of that success to adaptability.

“We’re built to be digitally native,” White says. “We didn’t raise a ton of money, so we had to be agile and focus on things that were immediately accretive to the business. That constraint forced us to be sharper in how we operated.”

He and his co-founder were also deliberate about hiring early on, prioritizing critical needs like sales rather than over-investing in editorial staff too soon. The first full-time team consisted of just 10 people; today, it has grown to over 60.

That expansion has given FOS room to experiment with more creative programming — particularly live events. Following Tuned In, FOS has seven more events scheduled for 2025, with additional plans in place for 2026.

“We don’t see them solely as events,” White says. “We see them as experiences. It’s about delivering something of high quality for both our audience and our brand partners, where they feel they’re stepping into a premium, elevated environment. It should look great on social, translate well on streaming and ultimately be something they can trust us to deliver — with strong content, programming and an audience that’s genuinely valuable to network with.”

According to White, FOS takes a three-pronged approach to event planning. The first is news-making events like Tuned In, which are driven by journalists looking to break stories and generate headlines.

At Tuned In, for example, FOS editor-in-chief Dan Roberts pressed Adam Silver on the ongoing Kawhi Leonard money scandal.

The second prong is content-focused events, such as Huddle in the Hamptons, which are designed to optimize the in-person experience while placing less emphasis on hard news.

Finally, there are partner events — produced in collaboration with brands, leagues, or rights holders around major tentpole moments.

“This is a great way for us to build new relationships and open up what we’ve built to other publications that were likely going to cover it anyway,” White says.

More than 400 people attended Tuned In, and content from the event has already generated millions of cross-platform views and impressions. But the impact goes beyond enjoying panels and exchanging LinkedIn handles. For FOS, live events are about creating lasting memories and building meaningful relationships in an atmosphere that can’t be replicated online. Tuned In 2025 may be in the books, but the conversations it sparked will carry on.

Adam White was a freshman in college when he founded the first iteration of Front Office Sports as a class project. A decade later, that project has evolved into a media company capable of hosting what felt like the equivalent of the Geneva Convention of sports in Times Square.

At the second annual Tuned In Conference, FOS brought together top executives from Fox, NBC, CBS, ESPN and TNT, alongside league commissioners like the NBA’s Adam Silver and MLB’s Rob Manfred.

Even sports media heavyweights like ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Outkick’s Clay Travis went head-to-head in a spirited debate that touched on everything from the state of the modern NBA to the 2028 presidential election.