Justin Leusner is creating a new model for sports media aimed at Generation Z viewers. As founder & CEO of TDAY Sports, he’s developed a digital media company reaching 50 million monthly viewers with one clear mission: engage young sports fans while promoting their mental well-being.

From Content Creator to Media Innovator

Justin’s path to media leadership started with childhood creativity. “I started a YouTube channel when I was ten, and that was the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey,” he recalls. “Whether I knew it or not, I had a goal of being a YouTube creator as my career.” His dedication showed early – by high school graduation, he had produced over 1,000 videos and built a following of 50,000 subscribers.

At Penn State University, Justin arrived with what he describes as “a YouTube channel that was pretty much dead, as well as a YouTube video editing business.” His direction shifted after discovering the university’s entrepreneurship center, the Happy Valley LaunchBox. “They helped merge the two into a sports media company with a production studio sector. So we have a B2C arm as well as a B2B arm.”

This merger created TDAY Sports, which now reaches millions across multiple channels. “Total across all platforms, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram; we have 1.3 million followers,” Justin shares. “Lifetime views are at 800 million. At this pace, we’ll reach that 1 billion mark in about four months.”

Creating Content That Matters

TDAY Sports emerged when Justin identified a key gap in sports media: “The disconnect between Gen Z and ESPN and other traditional sports media outlets heavily based on TV, radio, magazine, newspaper, etc.” he explains, noting the “increasing demand” for consuming sports content, news, and highlights on social media.

The disconnect went beyond platform preferences. “It’s so inauthentic,” Justin says about traditional media’s approach to younger viewers, which prompted TDAY’s distinctive content strategy.

“No one’s doing what we are regarding our long-form content,” Justin points out. “No one is making content influencer-style viral video ideas within basketball that add genuine, life-long value to the audience via redemptive storytelling. We sacrifice some of the views and retentions to tell a good story that will impact the people who make it through the middle or the end of the video and can remember it, apply it to their life, and not just watch it and go on to the next video. Unlike most other social media videos, our content teaches Gen-Z good values and how to live a life of flourishing, leaving the viewer energized to do something instead of craving more and more dopamine-hacking brain rot content.

The company manages content differently across platforms. “With short-form content, we’ve generally seen the same viewership across all three platforms: YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok,” Justin explains. “As one video does well in YT Shorts, it does well on TikTok and IG Reels. Instagram is a little bit more catered towards shareable content because you can directly send people to IG and share content all the time. So, videos with shares do well on Instagram while TikTok and YouTube Shorts are more retention-based.”

Their network includes several successful channels: BasketballTDAY (500,000 followers), BestHoops (600,000), BaseballTDAY (70,000), HockeyTDAY (30,000), and FootballTDAY (20,000).

Building Trust Through Meaningful Content

TDAY focuses on creating what Justin calls “redemptive sports content.” 

“We make fun, engaging content, and with each of our long-form videos, we try to show, not tell, a life lesson that our young audience can take home and become better people,” he explains. “We know a lot of our audience is very young (8-15), and they’re extremely impressionable, as was I for the past 10 years, consuming content on YouTube as my main source of entertainment.”

YouTube has become their primary platform because it is short- and long-form and has the “most consistent, sustainable revenue for their creators,” Justin says.

Gen Z Team for Gen Z Audiences

TDAY’s success stems from its team composition. “Everyone on our team, all 35 people, is Gen Z,” Justin shares. “That’s a challenge because half of our team are still college students, and they have classes, exams, clubs, and some are student-athletes. They’re very busy just graduating college.”

These challenges come with unique advantages. “It’s our value and competitive advantage,” Justin explains. “It allows us to make the most authentic content for our audience. And it’s a big value add for brands like Gatorade or SMACKIN’ Sunflower Seeds, who want to work with us because we deeply understand how to reach their target market. Because we are their target market.”

Responsible Revenue Generation

TDAY Sports takes a principled approach to monetization. “We want to keep a brand of only showing, showcasing our audiences, products that are genuinely good for them, or at least better for you versions of bad things they might already be consuming,” Justin states.

This means declining profitable opportunities. “We’ve said no to massive, 6-figure sports betting and alcohol brand deals,” Justin reveals. “It is tough to say no to these big sports betting deals when they’re offering money that would change the lives of our teammates and myself, but we know we shouldn’t do that. We would feel extremely guilty and don’t want to do that.”

Promoting Mental Health Through Media

TDAY’s content strategy addresses mental health concerns. “Gen Z also has some of the worst mental health we’ve ever seen, largely due to social media algorithms and exploitative content,” Justin notes. “And we are combating this through uplifting, redemptive, non-exploitative, slower-paced content.”

The team practices what they preach. “I don’t go on TikTok or watch TikTok videos. I try to limit my screen time and only watch content that’s good for me,” Justin shares. “I want to be influenced properly. I want to set a good example for myself and our team, which ultimately trickles down to our audience.”

Justin Leusner & Saquon Barkley (Philadelphia Eagles football player)

Future Growth and Impact

TDAY Sports has ambitious plans. “Our 10-year vision that we set out a few months ago is to be the #1 most viewed YouTube sports brand monthly,” Justin reveals. “Twenty-year vision – we’d love to sell out a stadium, preferably the Penn State football stadium, just for an event. Whether that’s doing basketball trick shots with our audience or some cool event similar to what Dude Perfect does.”

Current initiatives include their “25 Days of Hoopmas” campaign. “Every single day, we do a giveaway,” Justin explains. “We’ve been giving away things like SMACKIN’ Sunflower Seeds, Judah 1 basketball shoes, tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters tour in 2025… It’s a good way for us to engage with brands, give back during the holiday season, and encourage our audience to do the same!”

“We want to steward our fans well and help shape their minds positively,” Justin concludes. “Because we’re realizing that this generation is not looking good. Everything on social media they’re consuming is damaging and exploitative to them. We aim to be a redemptive media company and share positivity, starting with sports.”