Adam White, University of Miami Sport Administration alumni and Founder and CEO of Front Office Sports, a multiplatform media company, recently visited campus to speak to aspiring sports industry professionals as part of a speaker series event hosted by USPORT, a professional development organization for anyone interested in pursuing a career in the sports industry.
During his time as a student, White worked at the Rathskeller during the day and ran a sports business website at night. He was inspired to start his website after an informational interview assignment in his Introduction to Sport Administration class. Taking this idea and running with it, White published over 100 informational interviews in his first year of operation. What started as a self-published blog style website is now backed by major partners Chevrolet and New Balance, but White never forgets his humble beginnings as a server and driving a truck without AC.
From hiring, or in his words convincing, his classmates as freelance writers to having a staff of writers based in several different cities, White has seen significant growth over the years. When asked about his most notable lessons while growing his company, Adam reflected on the growing pains of entrepreneurship. He discussed topics like growth in funding, staffing, and even a few mistakes when it came to choosing social media handles. Now that they’ve found a home, @frontofficesports on Instagram and are well-established on platforms like X, formerly known as Twitter, and LinkedIn, White discussed their recent emphasis on growing their audience on the platform that has seen exponential growth in the last year.
When asked about how he hopes to separate FOS from their competitors, White’s response was simple, “We don’t set the bar, we raise it.” He discussed ways that FOS hopes to set a new standard in sports media, highlighting their Front Office Sports Learning platform. FOS has partnered with companies like Ticketmaster, Coinbase, Meta, and more to offer a variety of courses on topics like Crypto in Sports Essentials and Athlete Marketing Essentials: NIL Certification. These courses make education accessible outside of a traditional university lecture setting and provide valuable information to sport industry professionals of all levels.
“What inspired me the most was that he's not intimidated by other media giants,” said Liam Willerup, vice president of USPORT. “FOS differs from the rest since they take different angles at popular sports stories.”
“Now in my senior year, Adam’s talk gave me the assurance that I will inevitably run into hardships, but it’s how I navigate and make the best of them that matters most,” Willerup added.
