In 2025, Underdog expanded its content ecosystem by evolving its flagship franchise, The Arena, and launching The Arena: Gridiron, now one of the largest live sports shows on YouTube.
The original program, Gil’s Arena, remains focused on the NBA and the broader basketball conversation. The Arena: Gridiron brings that same format and intensity to the NFL. The show features media icon Skip Bayless alongside former players and coaches Aqib Talib, Jay Gruden, Gerald McCoy, Cody Kessler, and Richie Incognito, and is hosted by Kinsey Wolanski.
Both programs are live, debate-driven studio shows centered on the biggest stories in football and basketball. Episodes combine sharp analysis, unfiltered perspective, special guest interviews, and real-time fan interaction through an active live chat, creating a participatory viewing experience.
The mission is to amplify authentic voices, elevate athlete-led storytelling, and build community around the sports moments that matter most. In a media environment where fans consume games in real time by scrolling feeds, tracking stats, and reacting instantly, The Arena blends star power, deep subject knowledge, and modern distribution to capture and hold attention. The result is programming that feels authoritative, culturally relevant, and built for how today’s fans experience sports.
Gil’s Arena was built to address a clear gap in basketball media: fans wanted real conversation from people who actually lived the game. Too much NBA coverage had become surface-level, reactive, or personality-first without substance. The plan was simple but ambitious. Build a live, athlete-led studio show where former players could speak openly about performance, locker room dynamics, coaching decisions, player development, and the realities of the league without network filters.
We launched lean. What began as a grassroots production filmed in Gilbert Arenas’ basement focused on authenticity over polish. Early execution centered on consistent live scheduling, high-engagement fan chat, and debate-driven formats that encouraged honest disagreement. As audience momentum grew, we invested in production quality, recurring segments, premium guest booking, and expanded distribution while protecting the raw tone that made the show resonate.
Scaling presented challenges. Athlete-driven shows require trust, chemistry, and strong editorial direction. We built a structure that balanced free-flowing conversation with disciplined pacing, topic preparation, and real-time audience integration. Another challenge was standing out in an overcrowded basketball content market. We differentiated through firsthand perspective. Our hosts were not reacting to the NBA. They were explaining it from experience.
The franchise quickly evolved beyond digital studio programming. Gil’s Arena Live! expanded into ticketed theater events in Los Angeles and special programming during NBA All-Star Weekend. We introduced Gil’s 3-Point Shootout, a live-streamed competition featuring current players, media personalities, and creators, reaching hundreds of thousands of viewers online and proving the IP could extend into experiential formats.
Last fall, we expanded the model into football with The Arena: Gridiron. Featuring Skip Bayless alongside Aqib Talib, Gerald McCoy, Richie Incognito, Cody Kessler, and hosted by Kinsey Wolans.
The Arena Universe continues to meet and exceed our core objectives across scale, engagement, competitive positioning, and sustained audience growth.
Since launch on 9/1, The Arena Universe has generated more than 552 million total views and nearly 17.8 million engagements across more than 8,000 posts. Arena Gridiron has delivered 275M+ views and Gil’s Arena has delivered 277M+ views, proving that both franchises perform at meaningful scale on their own.
In the most recent week, Arena Gridiron produced 9.7M views and 222K engagements, while Gil’s Arena generated 8.4M views and 220K engagements. We ranked #2 on YouTube among all competitor sports shows last week, reinforcing that we are competing directly with established national brands.
Audience growth continues to compound. In Week 24 alone, Arena Gridiron added 6,418 total followers and Gil’s Arena added 8,450 total followers across platforms, demonstrating durable community expansion.
We consider this a success because we set out to build scalable, personality-driven sports franchises that could compete at the top of the category. We have achieved elite reach, consistent engagement, and strong audience growth while establishing a repeatable content engine that produces breakout moments and sustainable momentum.