Tolly Carr of HBCU Gameday

Better News: HBCU Gameday grows from passion project to multi-tiered success

Steven Gaither launched HBCU Gameday in 2012 on Facebook and Twitter to highlight sports and culture at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. A few years later, TV sportscaster Tolly Carr joined Gaither and helped to grow the brand across multiple platforms.

Recently, Carr wrote a report for Better News about how HBCU Gameday, which started out as passion project, has grown into a profitable business. Read the report.

In this episode of Better News, host Michael O’Connell talks to Carr about what got him interested in sports broadcasting in the first place, what attracted him to HBCU Gameday, and what advice he’d give to other media entrepreneurs who wish to take their passion project to the next level.

The Better News podcast is a partnership between It’s All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It’s All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

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