The essential extends beyond sports with the launch of the new Lifestyle style newsletter

Last fall, Essential – A brand of sports media based on women who offers equal coverage for female and male sports – celebrated an important step: exceed Subscribers of a million newsletter. This achievement underlined the brand’s commitment to defend gender equity in sports media and its success in the construction of a faithful and committed audience. Now, the main thing is about to expand your horizons with the launch of its new lifestyle newsletter: the group cat.

“The main thing has always been a fan-pre-pre-pre-pre-order; we are constantly asking for information on what (our audience) likes, what they don’t like, and we are looking at their behavior in our ecosystem,” said Ellen Hyslop, co-founder of The Gist. “Then, at the same time, we always examine macro-tendencies, data and what we see more widely in terms of consumption.”

Listen to fans, follow the trends

What the essentials gathered by listening to consumer comments and following the trends is that the content crossing sports and culture – such as entertainment and fashion – has always obtained a high commitment and attracted new followers. The group cat will plunge entertainment, health and well -being, fashion, beauty and leisure – all areas that have naturally resonated with the public of the essential.

“The leagues, the teams and a lot of niche properties speak very well to a passionate fan and an existing fan, but the only way the industry will grow is if we are talking about this new generation fan and this type of fan different that many people have forgotten,” said Hyslop. “A large part of the ways they want to consume are in fact done through this lifestyle goal.”

Redefine what it means to be a sports fan

This expansion is aligned with the mission of the essentials to redefine the sports fandom. At the heart of the GIST brand has always been a push to make sports media more inclusive, especially for women and under-represented audiences. Hyslop co -founded the essentials with the friends of the University of Jaccie Dehoop and Roslyn McLerty in 2017 after having recognized that the landscape of the sports media was dominated by men in almost all facets. At the time, female sports and female female athletes received less than 4% of sports media coverage, and less than 14% of sports journalists were women. The co -founders have decided to create a sports media company that focused on women – a construction for sports fans who do not correspond to the fans passionate about “traditional” sport.

Now, by venturing into the content of the lifestyle, the essential hopes to continue to question the traditional concepts of sports media, offering various entry points for fans – especially for women. By examining the media consumption trends of generation Z and millennial women, Hyslop and his team were particularly surprised to learn that:

• 74% Women of generation Z follow the news of pop culture and entertainment.
• 89% Women of generation Z actively seek mental and physical health resources.
• 70% From generation Z and millennium women follow beauty influencers to get advice.
• 65% Millennium women are looking for online financial advice.

After learning these ideas, Hyslop and the team knew that there was an opportunity to meet women where they are regarding the types of content they are actively looking for.

“Women are so multidimensional, and we must make sure that the content we provide them is also multidimensional and approaching their other hobbies,” said Hyslop. “The next generation consumes content and wants sporting content in a way so different from what we have ever seen before.”

Lifestyle content focused on the culture of sport x

The inaugural number of the group cat should be launched this Sunday to coincide with the Boston marathon, focusing on the rise of racing clubs and their meaning in the independence of women. Future editions will cover subjects such as Met Gala athletes and the intersection of sports and fashion.

While the essential continues to grow, the lifestyle content and this redefinition of the Fandom will remain at the heart of the brand’s strategy.

“Sports culture and sports influence culture, whether we recognize it or not. Whether in a daily hobby such as pickleball or race, or whether in the clothes we wear, “said Hyslop. “When we celebrate this, I have the impression that it offers even more space so that people feel like a sports fan.”