How a Zero-CAC Sports Newsletter Model Now Serves a Million Fans a Day

Overview

EssentiallySports is one of the largest independent sports media companies in the U.S., covering 14+ sports and reaching millions of readers every month.

For years, they built massive reach through search, social, and platform distribution. But like most modern publishers, they faced a growing risk: they didn’t own their audience.

To fix that, EssentiallySports launched a network of sport-specific newsletters on beehiiv. What started as a single NASCAR experiment became a scalable, zero-CAC newsletter operation with over 1,000,000 subscribers across multiple sports verticals.

Situation

Sports fans were changing how they consumed content.

Streaming fragmentation, rising subscription costs, and global schedules made it harder to follow teams consistently. At the same time, algorithms increasingly dictated what fans saw, often surfacing content they didn’t actually care about.

EssentiallySports had already built trust with readers across the web. Their site attracted millions of monthly visitors and ranked among the top sports publishers in the U.S.

But that reach came with a tradeoff.

Traffic was volatile. Distribution was platform-controlled. And repeat engagement depended on algorithms they couldn’t influence.

As co-founder Suryansh Tibarewal put it:

“We realized that to truly serve our fans and scale sustainably, we needed a model where we owned the relationship.”

Problem

Despite their scale, EssentiallySports faced four structural challenges:

1. Platform dependence
Search and social algorithms drove spikes and drops in traffic without warning.

2. No direct audience ownership
They had limited ability to reach readers consistently or build long-term loyalty.

3. Fragmented fan interests
A NASCAR fan didn’t want tennis news. A golf reader didn’t care about NFL rumors.

4. Growth without paid acquisition
They wanted to expand without relying on ads or increasing CAC.

The team needed a way to turn passive traffic into direct, repeatable relationships, without adding operational complexity.

Solution

Launching niche-first newsletters

Instead of one general sports newsletter, EssentiallySports went narrow.

They launched their first newsletter, Lucky Dog on Track, focused exclusively on NASCAR. The goal wasn’t volume. It was relevance.

Within weeks, the newsletter crossed 1,000 subscribers with zero ad spend.

Growth came from:

• Embedded signup forms on high-intent pages
• Onsite promotion to existing readers
• A distinct editorial voice tailored to NASCAR culture

Reader feedback validated the approach immediately. Fans responded because the content felt made for them.

Replicating the model across sports

Once the NASCAR playbook worked, the team expanded.

They launched additional newsletters, including:

• Break Point (Tennis)
• Essentially Golf
• The Huddle (NFL)

Each newsletter operated as its own mini media brand, with:

• A dedicated tone
• Sport-specific storytelling
• No generic or cross-sport content

This structure allowed them to scale without diluting relevance.

Using beehiiv as the operating system

To manage multiple newsletters efficiently, EssentiallySports needed a platform built for editorial scale.

They chose beehiiv for its flexibility and workflow advantages.

With beehiiv, the team was able to:

• Launch new newsletters quickly without engineering support
• Segment audiences by sport and engagement behavior
• Test subject lines, templates, and formats
• Use polls to capture real-time fan sentiment
• Manage multiple newsletters from a single dashboard

beehiiv removed operational friction and let the team focus on content and audience connection.

Building a zero-CAC growth loop

Growth stayed organic.

Subscribers came from:

• Onsite embeds
• Content recirculation modules
• Internal cross-promotion between newsletters
• Fan sharing and word-of-mouth

No paid ads. No list buying. Just relevance and consistency.

Monetizing without breaking trust

Because each newsletter served a specific fanbase, monetization stayed aligned.

Revenue came from:

• Affiliate partnerships
• Branded content
• Direct sales with sports-relevant partners

Ads felt native because the audience was tightly defined.

Results

1,000,000+ newsletter subscribers
Across NASCAR, tennis, golf, NFL, and more, grown with zero acquisition spend.

45%+ open rates across multiple newsletters
Consistent engagement driven by relevance, not volume.

200%+ ROI on monetized newsletters
Affiliate and branded content outperformed industry benchmarks.

4–5× weekly engagement from top readers
Polls and segmentation created a feedback loop between editors and fans.

Operational efficiency at scale
A lean team runs multiple high-quality newsletters without added overhead.

Varun Khanna, Head of Growth, summed it up: “beehiiv simplified our entire workflow. We were shocked by how much time we saved every week.”

Takeaway

EssentiallySports didn’t chase more traffic. They built ownership.

By shifting from platform-dependent distribution to niche-first newsletters, they created a media model that is:

• Direct
• Scalable
• Zero-CAC
• Built around fan loyalty

For media brands that want to grow without giving up control, this is what owning the audience looks like.

Start using beehiiv.