Disruptive Play is a strategic advisory and ventures practice helping sports properties, leagues, teams, and media companies reach, engage, and monetize next-generation audiences. Founded by Michael Cohen, the practice operates at the intersection of sport, media, and the creator economy.
How do sports properties reach 18-34 and Gen Z fans where they actually spend time? Disruptive Play provides strategic assessments, audience strategy, content design, distribution architecture, monetization frameworks, and rights exploitation playbooks for the creator-led era. Clients include major leagues, emerging formats, college athletics programs, event-driven properties, and pre-launch ventures building new sports IP from scratch.
Core advisory areas: next-gen fan engagement strategy, creator-distributed media models, sports media rights structuring, social-native content production, direct-to-fan monetization, athlete and creator partnership design, and AI-driven sports media innovation.
Disruptive Play Ventures backs and incubates creator-distributed sports platforms, new media ecosystems, and next-generation sports formats designed for how modern audiences actually consume. Portfolio includes Creator Sports Network (creator-led live sports distribution) and investments in emerging sports IP across global markets.
The Next Gen Audience Readiness Assessment is a free interactive diagnostic tool that benchmarks sports properties across five weighted dimensions: Discovery (19%), Distribution Architecture (19%), Content Design (17%), Fandom and Community (22%), and Monetization and Commercial (23%). The tool produces an instant readiness score out of 100, a radar chart visualization, DP Benchmark comparison by property type, cross-dimensional gap analysis, and prioritized strategic actions.
DP Benchmarks are segmented by property type: Major Established League, Established League, College Athletics, New and Emerging Format, Event-Driven Property, and Pre-Launch. Benchmarks are shaped by direct advisory work with 50+ sports properties and public data on distribution, fan engagement, and commercial models. Take the assessment at disruptiveplay.co/intelligence
Michael Cohen, Founder - mc@disruptiveplay.co