Mars Reel, USA Today Team On Content Distribution

USA Today Sports Media Group, a subsidiary of Gannett Co., Mars Reel, a provider of premium coverage of the most exciting athletes and teams in high school basketball, have formed a content distribution partnership that includes USA Today High School Sports’ online and social platforms, reaching a combined audience of 60 million annually.

USA Today High School Sports began distributing Mars Reel’s short-form content in late 2017. Currently, this includes 60 original videos per week. Under the terms of the partnership, this commitment will increase in volume and will also extend to additional content formats, featured across USA Today Sports platforms. In addition, the partnership will co-produce new series, including Top 5 Dunks of the Week and The Unknowns, a series that will focus on rising stars, both set to launch in spring/summer 2018.

“Our high school sports sector has grown exponentially over the past year and with partners like Mars Reel, we will leverage differentiated highlights and create unique branded video content for our voracious high school basketball fans,” said Chris Pirrone, GM of USA Today Sports Media Group. “Founders Brandon and Bradley Deyo’s passion for high school sports combined with their creative vision for reaching young millennials dovetails well with our strategy of creating differentiated content for our highly engaged and vertical audiences.”

Brandon and Bradley Deyo founded Mars Reel in 2010 to deliver content customized for the way young millennials consume video: in short highlights on social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat.  Across these platforms, Mars Reel says its video content is currently seen by 25 million unique viewers per month.

 Mars Reel recently launched its first documentary series, Mars Reel Chronicles, which features vlog-style episodes from up-and-coming basketball stars as they share their excitement for the game, practice and workout regimes, academic school and home life demands, and goals for the future. The series is available across all of Mars Reel’s social media platforms.