Anthem Sports & Entertainment

Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corporation is a broadcasting and production company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, owned by Sygnus Corporation and Fight Holdings Inc. It is a global media platform that owns and operates niche specialty TV channels and related digital media assets that cater to a male demographic. All content is available on linear, digital, and mobile platforms. Anthem also has offices and studios in New York City, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.

Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corporation
Private
IndustryMass media
FoundedDecember 2010 (2010-12)
FounderLeonard Asper
Headquarters171 East Liberty Street Ste. 230
Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
M6K 3P6
Area served
United States and Canada
Key people
ProductsBroadcasting
Television Production
Digital media
Live event promotion
Production output
Sports programming
OwnersSygnus Corp. (72.95%)
Fight Holdings Inc. (25.62%)
Subsidiaries
Websiteanthemse.com

Sygnus is completely owned by Leonard Asper, former President and CEO of Canwest, who serves as Anthem's president and CEO. Fight Holdings Inc. is controlled by Edwin Nordholm, who serves as Anthem's executive Vice President, and Loudon Owen.[1]

History

Anthem Media Group

Anthem Media Group Inc. was founded in December 2010 by Canadian broadcast stalwart Leonard Asper, through his acquisition of a majority stake in Fight Network.[2]

On January 10, 2013, Anthem purchased a significant equity stake in Pursuit Channel, the largest outdoor television network in the USA.[3]

In August 2013, the company acquired the American combat sports channel My Combat Channel.[4]

In August 2013, Anthem also announced the acquisition of RotoExperts and SportsGrid to bolster its online presence and provide content for the launch of FNTSY Sports Network.[5]

On March 1, 2014, Anthem launched FNTSY Sports Network, the first-ever television channel in the world devoted to the fantasy sports industry.[6]

In January 2015, Anthem announced the acquisition of LuDawgs.com and revamped the fantasy gaming website as DailyRoto.com.[7][8]

Anthem Sports & Entertainment

Anthem Media Group was renamed to Anthem Sports & Entertainment in May 2015.[1]

In October 2016, Anthem invested in the professional wrestling promotion TNA. Fight Network was its Canadian media partner, and Anthem was loaning TNA money during 2016.[9] On January 4, 2017, Anthem acquired a majority stake in TNA, forming the subsidiary Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions;[10] the TNA brand was replaced full-time by Impact Wrestling, in reference to the title of the promotion's flagship TV series. After Jeff Jarrett rejoined the promotion as chief creative director, Impact was re-branded as GFW to "merge" it with Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling and Anthem announced its intent to acquire its assets,[11] but by October 23, 2017, Anthem had cut its ties with Jarret and the Impact brand had been reinstated.[12][13]

Also in October 2017, Anthem launched a new subscription streaming service known as the Global Wrestling Network, which features archive content from TNA/Impact as well as other independent promotions.[14] On June 26 it was announced that Peter Einstein would become the new Chief Operating Officer of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp.[15] On August 14, 2018 Jeff Jarrett and his company Global Force Entertainment announced that it had filed a lawsuit against Anthem in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee for copyright infringement over the GFW rights, as Jarrett owned all Global Force Wrestling properties since its creation in 2014.[16][17]

On September 9, 2019, Anthem announced that it had acquired a majority stake in the U.S. cable networks AXS TV and HDNet Movies, with existing stakeholders Mark Cuban and Anschutz Entertainment Group maintaining equity stakes.[18][19]

Assets

Television networks

Digital media

Professional wrestling

References
  1. "Anthem Digital Specialty Services" (PDF). crtc.gc.ca. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. January 6, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  2. "Leonard Asper Joins The Fight Network as CEO - Fight Network". Archived from the original on 2014-09-27. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  3. "Pursuit Channel Welcomes Anthem Media Group - OutdoorHub".
  4. Anthem Media Group Acquires U.S.-Based My Combat Channel Archived 2014-03-28 at the Wayback Machine Fight Network 2013-08-22
  5. "Anthem Media Group Acquires RotoExperts And SportsGrid". 1 August 2013.
  6. "Press Release: Fantasy Sports Network to Launch on MTS Ultimate TV on March 4, 2014 - RotoExperts". 29 January 2014.
  7. "Anthem Media Acquires LuDawgs.com, A Sprawling Daily Fantasy Community". 14 January 2015. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  8. "Anthem Media Announces Launch Of DailyRoto.com". Archived from the original on 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  9. Rau, Nate (June 30, 2017). "TNA wrestling rebrands as GFW, eyes global expansion". The Tennessean. Nashville. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  10. "Anthem Acquires Majority Interest in TNA Impact Wrestling". Multichannel. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
  11. "Impact officially announces acquisition of Global Force". Cageside Seats. Retrieved 2018-05-21.
  12. Currier, Joseph (October 23, 2017). "Jeff Jarrett Officially Gone From Impact Wrestling". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  13. Satin, Ryan (January 5, 2017). "Jeff Jarrett Returning to TNA as Executive Consultant, 'It's Great For the Wrestling Business'". Pro Wrestling Sheet | Insider Wrestling News and Reports. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  14. "Anthem's Global Wrestling Network is here". Cageside Seats (SB Nation). Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  15. Johnson, Mike (June 26, 2018). "NEW CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER FOR ANTHEM SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT". Pwinsider. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  16. Johnson, Mike (August 14, 2018). "JEFF JARRETT & GFW SUE IMPACT WRESTLING PARENT COMPANY". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  17. "Jeff Jarrett And Global Force Sue Impact Wrestling And Anthem - Fightful Wrestling". www.fightful.com. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  18. Farrell, Mike. "Anthem Sports Buys Majority Stake in AXS TV". Multichannel. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  19. "Mark Cuban Sells Majority Stake in AXS TV, HDNet Movies to Steve Harvey, Anthem Sports". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2018-12-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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