Titans on Tomorrow Ep. 4 - Fired With a Newborn to a $100 MILLION Sale to Fox - Clay Travis' Media Empire

October 1, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

From a Firing to Fox: Clay Travis on Building Media That People Trust

Clay Travis was in the basement of the Tennessee Titans stadium in January 2011, fresh off Auburn's national championship win, when he turned his phone back on to discover that FanHouse—the company where he was about to sign a six-figure contract—had shut down. He was fired. He had a three-year-old, a newborn, and a $45,000-a-year radio job. That moment of panic became the origin of OutKick, which he sold to Fox a decade later for $100 million. Now he's building again with Sport and State, a new media company that has just partnered with the Daily Wire.

The Decision to Bet on Yourself

Travis describes the period between getting fired in January 2011 and launching OutKick in July as a kind of purgatory. He was doing local sports radio and selling ads for a hair growth company—"we grow hair dot com"—that paid him $50,000 for live reads. That single advertiser was paying more than his entire annual salary. The realization was simple: he could either try to replicate someone else's business model or build his own.

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What you'll learn

1 (03:36) **From Fired to Founder: The OutKick Origin Story** - Clay Travis explains how losing his job at FanHouse in 2011 with a newborn at home forced him to start his own sports media company.
2 (10:55) **The "God-Kick in the Butt" Moment** - Shapiro and Travis agree that many successful businesses are born from being forced out of a comfortable situation, requiring a leap of faith.
3 (12:31) **The First Major League Moment: When OutKick Became Real** - Travis pinpoints the 2013 Fox Sports licensing deal as the moment he knew the business had succeeded.
4 (15:41) **The Art of Saying No** - A key strategic inflection point is discussed: learning to say "no" to bad deals once the business has enough traction.
5 (17:23) **The Power of Honest Validation** - Travis highlights the rare and crucial role of objective, honest supporters who can see your potential before you do.
6 (22:10) **Selling for $100 Million: The Morning After** - Travis reflects on the sale to Fox, revealing that the best feeling wasn't the money but waking up the next day wanting to keep working.
7 (25:58) **Why He Left Fox to Build Again** - Travis explains the psychological challenge of moving from founder to employee and why he chose to start another company.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Clay Travis Ben Shapiro

Show Notes

Titans on Tomorrow Ep. 4 with guest Clay Travis

In January 2011, Clay Travis turned his phone back on after a meeting and learned his employer no longer existed. He had a three-year-old, a baby, and a $45,000-a-year radio job. Six months later, he launched OutKick from a hotel room as a one-man band, writing every article and selling every ad. Ten years later, Fox bought it for a reported $100 million.

Now he's launching a new sports media empire, in the age of AI.

In Episode 4 of Titans on Tomorrow, Ben Shapiro sits down with Clay Travis, founder of OutKick, co-host of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show on more than 550 stations nationwide, and founder of the brand-new Sport & State, for a look at building a media business designed to win. Clay breaks down:

• Why he turned down a Fox TV deal to become the next Skip Bayless

• How one Super Bowl brought in $2 million in sports betting revenue

• Why he thinks authentic human voices become MORE valuable as AI slop floods the internet

• How he uses AI to sharpen his analysis instead of replacing it

• The AI doom debate with his debate-champion son

• Whether the sports leagues have finally learned to stay out of politics

• Why billion-dollar franchises are now trophy paintings for the ultra-rich, and

• The new Sport & State–Daily Wire partnership bringing Clay and Buck to DailyWire members

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Subscribe to The Clay Travis Show on Youtube: https://youtube.com/@theclaytravis

And also The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show: https://youtube.com/@clayandbuck

And both are now available at Daily Wire too: https://www.dailywire.com/hosts/sport-and-state

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