The last time we saw Ryan Clark on the big stage, speaking football in front of millions, was right before he got cut from the ESPN lineup midway through a taping of “NFL Live” back on July 20.
In the aftermath, we saw the former Pittsburgh Steelers legend pour his heart out on subsequent social media posts and even shed a tear, admitting that he felt like he let people down by getting fired as part of a massive sweep of layoffs by the Worldwide Leader. Clark felt he was purposely humiliated by ESPN suits and voiced his opinion on several shows, including “The Breakfast Club.”
After getting the anger and feelings of being a victim out of his system, Clark went right to work in testing the authenticity of the groundswell of support he received from fans, media and supporters suggesting that he start his own football show.
This month Ryan Clark launched “Pivot Sports,” a weekly show airing every Monday at 2 p.m. ET on The Pivot Podcast YouTube channel alongside co-hosts Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor. Clark uses vast analytical knowledge as a 13-season veteran of the NFL with a Super Bowl and a Pro Bowl selection on his résumé to break down football for purists in a way that most debate shows don’t allow.
Clark previously secured a multi-year partnership with Netflix for video episodes while continuing content distribution on YouTube. He recently landed a major investment deal from Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz that is sure to be a game-changing relationship.
Clark appeared on a segment of “The Glass Half Full” to reveal how Starbucks billionaire Howard Schultz approached him and invested in launching his sports show “The Pivot 25” just five weeks after he was fired from ESPN. In a video clip of the interview on X, Clark explains how Schultz saw his vision.
“I didn’t know he knew me, but if a billionaire wants to talk to you, you speak to him. … So many people reached out and thought I was done wrong,” Clark said, before explaining how Schultz opened his eyes to the possibilities.
“I don’t want you to have to ask to be accepted because I accept you,” Schultz told Clark. “Since then,” Clark added, “there hasn’t been a day that we haven’t spoken or texted or been on a zoom or he has been working to help me bring this to fruition.
“He believes that I’m a brand,” Clark continued. “He believes in the things that I stand for, which I hadn’t heard from somebody of his stature that don’t look like me.”
“What it taught me is that if you’re being authentic in a way that you intentionally work to cause no harm then that’s OK. People will see through the bs and realize who you are and that’s the lesson I’ve learned,” he added.
The show is doing numbers. The debut episode on Monday, Sept. 14, pulled in massive digital traffic, racking up over 1.2 million views on YouTube within its first week. The initial launch phase quickly generated nearly half a million views within its first 24 hours online, accompanied by overwhelming positive fan engagement across social platforms. This latest episode haas also surpassed one million views.
That means Clark is doing better generating his own ratings than the TV ratings for his first major stints hosting “NFL Live” on ESPN back when he joined in 2015. Those early shows averaged roughly 486,000 linear viewers.
Schultz’s support could have a similar effect for Clark to the one that Ice Cube’s big-time investors have had on the Big3 league. Ice Cube’s Big3 co-founder is entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz and other high-profile billionaire investors like jeweler Carolyn Rafaelian have helped the league explode.
It’s not the $2 million per year he was getting at ESPN, but Clark is well on his way to surpassing that because he’s betting on himself. Doing so has landed him a billionaire investor who believes in his brand.
One fan on Threads put it boldly when he commented about what Clark’s recent investor means to his journey as an entrepreneur building his own brand: “It would be hard to deny that he’s beating the machine.”
