LGBTQ+ sports site Outsports grows revenue and audience by over 50% under new ownership
By Sara Guaglione • September 5, 2025 •
Ivy Liu
Many LGBTQ+ publishers saw a slowdown in ad spend earlier this year, but one publisher is emerging as an outlier, thanks to new ownership, more sales resources and its focus on sports coverage.
Vox Media sold Outsports, which covers LGBTQ+ athletes, to Q.Digital last March in an “acqui-hire” deal (a non-cash transaction where Q.Digital took over Outsports’ operations and revenue costs while keeping the team intact). It was part of Vox Media’s reorganization to focus on its core brands last year.
Under its new owners – which have other LGBTQ+ focused titles like Queerty and Gay Cities in its portfolio – Outsports has grown revenue by about 50% year over year, and unique visitors are up over 60% since it was acquired, according to Scott Gatz, CEO of Q.Digital, a privately-owned company based in San Francisco. He declined to share raw revenue figures.
That revenue growth is primarily due to the increase in digital readership, as well as selling more ads around Outsports’ coverage, such as sponsored video series like “Ballin Out,” (which follows LGBTQ athletes on the USA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team), new verticals and the Olympics last year. Most of Outsports’s display ads are being sold at $15 CPMs, Gatz said.
“It’s a unique market proposition to people who are already comfortable with sports and interested in reaching this community, [and] it’s new [in our portfolio],” Gatz said. “I think that’s a good recipe to break through the malaise that might otherwise be [around LGBTQ+ sponsorships].”
Outsports didn’t have any sponsors under Vox Media, but was monetized with run-of-network programmatic ads, he said. Outsports has since signed sponsorships with brands like Xfinity, Cadillac, Planet Fitness, Nissan, Chevy and Ally, among others.
“They brought a new kind of attention to detail… that Q.Digital can provide as a smaller LGBTQ-focused publication company,” said Outsports co-founder Cyd Zeigler. “[Q.Digital has] sales resources and sponsor and financial resources that are not a blip on the radar of a billion-dollar company… At Q.Digital, we’re flourishing.”
A media buyer at a large agency holding company – who asked to speak anonymously – said they were seeing more ad spend going to the sports category, which was increasingly expanding into more subcategories. The buyer was also seeing more investment and an increase in brands spending against LGBTQ+ coverage at the same time.
“Clients are seeing the value of these audiences,” the buyer said. “Corporate DEI is separate from marketing to diverse audiences, and these are a huge business opportunity for clients.”
The global purchasing power of the LGBTQ+ community is estimated to be about $4.7 trillion, according to LGBTQ Capital, a UK-based financial services and advisory firm.
Sports is an easier sell to advertisers, setting Outsports apart from other LGBTQ+ publishers, according to Zeigler. “We virtually never talk about Donald Trump [and] politics. We don’t get into divisive issues,” he said.
In the second quarter, Outsport’s average monthly pageviews were up 64% compared to pre-acquisition traffic levels, Gatz said. Outsports’ site had 216,800 desktop and mobile visitors in July 2025, up 60% year to date, according to Comscore data.
Zeigler said the broader distribution strategy at Q.Digital has also helped Outsports grow its readership. Content is shared across social media, and platforms like Smartnews, Apple News and Yahoo, he noted.
Outsports’ freelancer contributor network has also doubled, helping fuel new editorial initiatives, such as a women’s sports vertical and a hub for LGBTQ+ Olympic and Paralympic athlete stories. Outsports has a total staff of about 10 full-time employees. Outsports’ overall editorial budget at Q.Digital is higher than it was at Vox, Zeigler said, declining to share figures.
“When you’re focused on something, it leads to better performance. They moved away from a very general type [parent company like Vox Media,] where they really had no clear vision for this product,” the media buyer said. “Q.Digital can give [Outsports] a bigger priority. It is a unique fit within its portfolio, but aligns with the overall LGBTQ+ audience, and then exponentially it helps it be a growth driver for the overall category,” they added.
