Obsession Media To Roll Out Live Motorsports Channel Speed Sport 1

Television Network development group Obsession Media announced a partnership with legacy racing editorial brand, Speed Sport Magazine, to launch Speed Sport 1, a new live motorsports FAST channel expected to debut in the spring of 2023. The company says the launch of Speed Sport 1 “marks the return of a dedicated live channel for motorsports fans, and with plans to deliver more than 400 live events and thousands of hours of content, the channel is poised to become the largest provider of live content on any existing FAST platform.”

Obsession Media also announced the hiring of veteran television and motorsports executive Dan Teitscheid as president and general manager to run SpeedSport1. He joins from the MAVTV Motorsports Network where he was president and brings 30-plus years of experience in sports and TV from top distribution positions at Disney, ESPN Media and MTV Networks.

Speed Sport 1 joins Outdoor America as the second FAST channel from Obsession Media, which was founded by cable sports network start-up executive Nick Rhodes and long-time colleague and outdoor media veteran John West. The company includes Roger Werner as an investor and adviser, who was CEO of ESPN and Prime Networks, Founder-CEO of Speedvision and CEO of Outdoor Holdings.

Obsession Media says it is building a modern channel factory with Outdoor America launched in 2019 as its first FAST channel, and additional content brands currently in development.

“We’re excited to build on the success of Outdoor America and partner with the expert editorial voice of SpeedSport magazine” said Nick Rhodes, CEO of Obsession Media. “We want to be clear to distributors, advertisers and fans, this is not a content library acquisition, we are bringing back a live channel dedicated to motorsports.”

Regarding new FAST channels in developent, Rhodes said: “We invested in proprietary IP that allows us to get channels launched quickly and, offer unique ways to package and monetize them to best serve our platform partners. To execute on this vision for SpeedSport1, we’ve tapped Dan Teitscheid,  with his background in both launching channels and motorsports, makes him the perfect choice for the role of building the live FAST channel of the future.”

Teitscheid said: “This is a unique opportunity to work with an unbelievably experienced and dynamic team of motorsports, TV and entertainment executives, all of whom have been directly involved in launching some of television’s most iconic brands. Together, we’re making Speed Sport 1 a one-of-a-kind network dedicated to live motorsports.”

Teitscheid joins the seasoned executive team at Obsession Media, which includes CTO Chris Witmayer from NASCAR and NFL films and Mark Weeks, a career Army and Olympic shooting coach who serves as Obsession Media’s SVP of Business Development.