Most people know you by what you do from 9 to 5.
“What do you do for a living?” is one of the most popular icebreakers — so popular that a content creator built an audience of over 2 million people by just making videos asking that question.
But human beings are complex. There is so much more to a person than their career.
Your “5-to-9” is the time and place where you connect with other parts of yourself. Every single thing that makes you YOU. Because once the “work day” is done, you zoom out and see the bigger picture.
We think the same could be said for sports.
A couple hours of action might be seen as the stereotypical “9-to-5.” The moment the competition starts, it’s time to clock in. However, it’s never just that.
So many things happen behind the scenes that shape what we see live. There are so many stakeholders (from athletes to coaches, owners, arena staff, fans, media, brands, everyone and everything in between) that add layers to the industry.
At 529 SPORTS, we’re not here to repeat the headlines or break the news. We’re here to show the “how,” the “why” and all the sides that not everyone sees.
We want our coverage to reflect sports the way your “5-to-9” reflects you: every angle that makes it unique, how it intertwines with culture and how it connects with each of us in different ways.
Because it’s only when the game ends, when the “9-to-5” turns into the “5-to-9,” that the real story begins.
529 SPORTS: What You Need To Know
529 SPORTS is a media outlet covering sports beyond the scores. We care about the context, the people and the forces that shape the game. We believe sports are a microcosm of society, so we treat them as culture, with room for fashion, business, food, art, music and the communities that make sports what they are.
When we feature athletes, we’ll introduce you to who they are outside their sport. We want you to know what they love, where they come from, what they’re building and who they are when they’re not competing. Every athlete has a “5-to-9,” and we want to tell that story.
We are also a home for stories that cross borders. Many of the sports, athletes and fan cultures we care about rarely appear in mainstream coverage, and we want to change that. We aim to bring the world to sports, opening up who gets seen and who gets to tell the story.
Built by people with real industry experience, 529 SPORTS is also designed to be a community for the next generation of sports and culture storytellers: aspiring media professionals who want real experience, a place to be published and a platform for stories they aren’t seeing anywhere else.
Now that we’ve introduced ourselves, here’s a rundown of our verticals and some stories that fit:
Arts & Culture: Movies, documentaries, music, books, visual arts
Beauty, Fashion & Lifestyle: Beauty and fashion sponsorships, lifestyle, wellness
Business & Technology: Innovations in sports, athlete-owned businesses, sports business deals, features on engineers/people on the backend, careers in the industry
Emerging Talent: Athletes rising in different sports, rookies, HS/College athletes
Food & Travel: Hospitality sectors, travel guides (can be a local perspective: how to do your 5-to-9 like a local), travel diaries
Society: Sports ethics, op-ed, athlete foundations
Our pitching guidelines dive deeper into this, but here’s a quick overview of what we won’t cover:
Breaking news: Other outlets can have the hot take in the first five minutes, but we’re here for the stories that are still worth reading even days, months or years later.
Gossip: We aren’t a fan page, an influencer page or a gossip site. If a famous name appears on our page, it’s because they have a real connection to the sport, like co-owning a team, and not because they sat courtside once. We’re not here solely for the clicks.
Stats-only stories: While numbers matter, and we’ll definitely use them to back up a story, they will always be paired with the people and stories behind them.
Everything at 529 SPORTS is intentional. Every story is chosen with purpose and told with care. Our goal? To get the facts straight and tell stories well.
This is the start of something we’ve wanted to build for a long time. Follow along for exclusive interviews and athlete features, in-depth analysis of the cultural and social issues shaping sports today, stories told through a cultural lens (including multilingual and international angles) and work from the next generation of media professionals who will define sports storytelling next.
See you from 5 to 9.
Anya, Bianca & Paulina
Co-founders, 529 SPORTS
whats your position on men playing in womens sports?