The Players Tribune Will Launch Its First Branded Series Next Week

The Players Tribune is furthering its push into digital video with the new series, From Somewhere. It'll be the 10-month old, Derek Jeter-founded sports site's first branded series and will be sponsored by Powerade. In fact, From Somewhere was inspired by Powerade's "Just a Kid" campaign, featuring Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose. The first episodes of From Somewhere will feature four athletes—Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, women's pro basketball player Diana Taurasi, Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas and Spanish soccer star David Villa—telling their stories. The series debuts Sept. 2 with WNBA star Taurasi in her hometown of Chino, Calif. A new episode arrives each of the following three Wednesdays. "Their stories are just unique," said Jaymee Messler, president of The Players Tribune. "We would love their stories to be told on TPT anyway." Each episode runs six to eight minutes; David Ortiz's segment will be available in both Spanish and English. From Somewhere is part of a larger video push for The Players Tribune, which already includes the series POV and Singular Focus. "Video is a huge focus," said Messler. "In the coming months, we're going to be rolling out even more video content." Jeter, the founder and publisher of TPT, talked about the importance of video in an Adweek cover story earlier this year. The POV episode, "Why I Walked Away From the NBA," currently has more than 800,000 views on YouTube. "That video showed how important it was for the athletes to be able to have a place where they can also be a part of producing these videos," said Messler. "It's just indicative of the type of formats that we'll have." TPT's already-announced partnership with AOL will result in new video content "really soon," said Messler. And today TPT launches the new editorial series, Tribune Mailbag, in which an athlete will answer questions from fans. The site, which also features podcasts and photo galleries, has amassed more than 600 pieces from nearly 300 athletes in its first 10 months. "We've grown a lot more than we may have even thought we would in less than a year," said Messler, who noted the average user spends around 5 1/2 minutes per page. "Our engagement is really great." Here's a trailer for From Somewhere:

Convergent TV

The Players Tribune Will Launch Its First Branded Series Next Week

Powerade to sponsor 'From Somewhere'

Tim Baysinger

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Tim Baysinger