Maven has a new name, The Arena Group. Its CEO, Ross Levinsohn, decided on the name change after consolidating the group’s holdings. He refocused the brand on its sports and finance verticals because they have the most interest, readers and advertisers. The company also has considerable lifestyle holdings, especially in the categories of parenting and pets.

The Arena Group

The Arena Group is named after its sports focus and The Street, a publication that it owns. Sports Illustrated is the other tower of the sports vertical. The company decided to rebrand and refocus after an analysis of its sites’ traffic. The analysis found that sports sites received a 300% increase in traffic levels. Its other niches did not see as much of an increase as this topic area. Sports Illustrated alone received 25.6 million unique visitors in August 2021, which was when the company made the name change. Other sports holdings in The Arena Group include The Hockey News, Fadeaway World, Fan Nation and Morning Read. The brand owns sites for all sports.

The finance vertical will also be expanded by The Arena Group. The Street is its primary website. It recently added the Crypto Investor, which focuses on cryptocurrency trading and investments. The Street hasn’t done as well in recent months. In August 2021, it had about 5 million unique visitors, which was a 42% decrease compared to the previous year.

History of The Arena Group and Maven

James Heckman launched Maven in 2010 with his half of the proceeds from the business he and Mr. Levinsohn founded in 2006. The buyout from Yahoo provided each man with considerable funds. Mr. Heckman started buying sports and lifestyle sites, and his team developed new sites to add to their collection of publications.

About Ross Levinsohn

Ross Levinsohn has worked in communications since 1985. He has been both an entrepreneur and an employee. Over the years, he has worked at small firms, such as Boston Consulting Group as well as large, multinational corporations, such as Yahoo. When he is not working, Mr. Levinsohn spends time with his family and traveling the globe.