Sports media group beefs up portfolio with football highlights channel acquisition
Leeds-based independent sports media business, Planet Sport Group, has acquired football highlights channel Grassroot Goals.
Hailed as the home of amateur football, Grassroot Goals has a 700,000-strong following across TikTok, Instagram, X, and Facebook.
The channel connects with football fans through short-form video content celebrating the players, teams, highlights and in-match moments from Sunday league and football in the lower reaches of the football pyramid.
It specialises in content produced by sports fans, for sports fans, which aligns to Planet Sport Group’s mission of harnessing user generated content to produce the most entertaining and engaging media.
Planet Sport says its acquisition will enable it to tap into a highly engaged community of football fans at a grassroots level.
It also says the deal will extend reach and share of voice across leading social media platforms, broadening the group’s offering to brands and agencies seeking to engage with football fans around the globe.
Grassroot Goals will retain its identity as a standalone brand, with Planet Sport Group aiming to leverage the channel’s strong partnership portfolio which already includes brands such as Carling and Captain Morgan.
Tim Satchell, managing director of publishing at Planet Sport Group, said: “We have long admired Grassroot Goals for its curation of thousands of clips of top-quality Sunday league screamers.
“As fans of all ages increasingly use social media platforms for content, and platforms like TikTok continue to reshape the digital sports landscape by boosting engagement and athlete visibility, acquisitions like this are key to strengthening our leading position in sports media publishing.
“Grassroot Goals will complement our portfolio of football brands and apps that includes Football365, TEAMtalk, Planet Football, PlanetSport.com and Sport365.”
Having acquired the F1 Word YouTube channel last year, the deal comes as part of Planet Sport Group’s wider plan for increased video-led social media content in football, rugby union, rugby league, golf, tennis, horse racing and Formula One.
