CJ McCollum & Vernon Davis

It is estimated that over 120 current and former athletes have production companies.

With most broadcast entities only interested in the big names because of their followings, content from the lesser-publicized athletes often ends up being sold off, fragmented and a lot of great stories go unseen.

Those are just some of the problems that Deron Guidrey and Collin Castellaw saw that led to them founding Players Media Group two years ago. With the many platforms dedicated to athlete content, the duo wanted to build an ecosystem that housed the content and programming fans desired in one location. Making it further unique, the athletes would own the platform, making it easier to reach their fans and monetize their own content.

The idea behind PlayersTV was born.

It’s taken 18 months from concept to its scheduled March 25 debut on Samsung TV Plus. This is a brief story of how the platform came together and how it will change the way viewers consume content from their favorite athletes.

“All of these guys are interested in doing content now,” Guidrey says. “They have these huge followings, but none of them are managing their IP (Intellectual Property) like the major production companies are doing. No one is talking about the major problem, which is distribution. What’s content without distribution?”