Ryan Clark’s media vision grows with investment from former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz

The venture builds on the success of “The Pivot Sports with Ryan Clark,” which has grown a major audience across digital platforms.

Ryan Clark lost his ESPN job in July. Howard Schultz noticed, and then he sent a text.

TODAY reported that Clark described that message during an appearance on Craig Melvin’s “Glass Half Full,” recounting how the former Starbucks chairman reached out at length after watching the exit play out. Schultz, Clark said, had done a deep dive on him and wanted to be part of the comeback, telling the broadcaster he believed in what he stood for.

Clark was candid about why it landed the way it did. “I hadn’t heard from somebody of his stature who didn’t look like me,” he said. “I’m just being honest.”

That conversation has now produced a formal arrangement. As reported by TODAY, Pivot25 Productions, the company Clark co-founded in 2025 with Emmy-winning producer Alicia Zubikowski, announced Monday that Schultz has joined as a strategic partner and investor, with a stated focus on building the operation into a lasting media enterprise.

The scope grew considerably from what Clark originally proposed. He went in pitching a single show. Schultz pushed back, asking why they would stop there, and argued that Clark’s brand could support an entire network rather than a one-off project.

The existing business gives that ambition something to stand on. The outlet noted that “The Pivot Sports with Ryan Clark,” produced in partnership with NFL Films and co-hosted by Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder, has surpassed a million YouTube subscribers and recently signed a deal with Netflix to stream video of the podcast.

Schultz framed his involvement around what he sees as a structural shift. In a statement cited by TODAY, he said audiences are increasingly choosing people and platforms they trust over traditional institutions, with the lines between sports, business, culture and entertainment collapsing. He credited the Pivot25 team with earning its audience through honesty and curiosity rather than credentials alone.

Beyond capital, the announcement indicates Schultz will supply strategic counsel, commercial relationships and access to his network.

Clark spent eleven years at ESPN building an audience inside a network he didn’t own. The Schultz deal flips that arrangement entirely.