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Ryan Clark is expanding his media business with backing from former Starbucks chairman and CEO Howard Schultz, who has joined Pivot25 Productions as a strategic partner and investor.
The move follows a landmark Netflix distribution deal for The Pivot and a new partnership with NFL Films. The billionaire backing gives Clark the strategic capital to turn his digital platform into a full-scale media network, capping a major comeback just two months after his dramatic exit.
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From Controversial Exit to Strategic Investments
The partnership comes two months after Clark’s controversial exit from ESPN. He was hosting NFL Live when a supervisor called during a commercial break with about 10 minutes left in the show. Clark was told not to return to the desk, creating what he later described as an intentional mid-show dismissal.
“It was purposeful… meant, in my opinion, to humiliate,” Clark said during an appearance on The Breakfast Club. Ryan Clark’s abrupt exit from ESPN has quickly become the launch point for a much larger media play.
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has made a strategic investment in Pivot25 Productions, the company Clark founded with producer Alicia Zubikowski. Financial terms were not disclosed. Schultz will also serve as an adviser as the company expands into live experiences, corporate partnerships, licensing, and original programming.
Clark’s partnership with Schultz fuels a high-powered push to build a full-scale live events and media empire. On the latest episode of Craig Melvin’s Glass Half Full podcast, Clark said Schultz reached out. This was shortly after his abrupt dismissal from ESPN in July, ending his 11-year run as an Emmy-winning NFL analyst on the network.
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Why Schultz is Investing in Clark’s Brand
In a statement, Schultz praised Clark as a visionary and described Pivot25 as an innovative media company positioned to reshape digital culture and independent storytelling. “I have always believed that the most enduring businesses are built at the intersection of great ideas, authentic leadership, and human connection,” Schultz said. “That is what I see in Ryan Clark, Alicia Zubikowski and the entire Pivot25 team.”
Clark’s recent deals with Netflix and Howard Schultz mark a significant victory for Black-owned media. It shows that authentic storytelling rooted in culture can attract major mainstream investment without losing its identity.
With global distribution through the world’s largest streaming platform and a major endorsement from Schultz, it appears many are recognizing what ESPN overlooked. Clark is a powerful voice in sports media. In a previous interview with The Root, Clark discussed his winning mindset and how early lessons taught him to approach every media venture with the same intensity he brought to football.
“I went to two Super Bowls, won one with an organization that’s won six,” he said. “I got the opportunity to understand winning, to understand that culture, and to now be able to utilize that in the way that I speak about the game as a whole.”
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Clark is doing more than growing his popular podcast. He is creating a model for Black creators to keep ownership, build broad media businesses on their own terms, and redefine what modern media ownership can look like.
Main Image: Ryan Clark. Image Credit: ANDY BONURA
