Editors

Amulya Shekhar

Amulya Shekhar

10 years of writing, reading about sports and amassing 3600+ bylines have taken me through the highs and lows of life and keep me hale and hearty! I pride myself in pulling for the Celtics, Arsenal and Real Madrid and in catching sports action from across the spectrum (NFL, NBA, NHL, baseball, college sports, football, cricket and more).
Anirudh Velamuri

Anirudh Velamuri

Based in India, Anirdh Velamuri began as a Tennis Editor at Firstsportz and soon moved up to handle multiple sections, including Football, Formula 1, NBA, Olympic Sports, and American sports. He joined Firstsportz after stints across Sportstar/The Hindu, Bengaluru FC, JSW Sports and Sportskeeda, plus anyone else who would have him. He has since left the company to purse other opportunities. You can get in touch with Anirudh on Twitter or BlueSky (@AnirudhVelamuri on both).
Armaan Agarwal

Armaan Agarwal

Armaan Agarwal is a Formula 1 Sub-editor and Content Manager at Firstsportz. He has written over 2000 articles with hundreds of edited pieces under his belt. Armaan started his journey in the field of Motorsports journalism in 2017 when he created his own blog. He has played a pivotal role in the Motorsports team with his experience and passion. Armaan is known for his in-depth editorials which give readers a new perspective about the sport. He completed his graduation in Mass Communication from St. Xavier's University, Kolkata and is now pursuing his post-graduation in Broadcast Journalism from the India Today Media Institute.
Fahad Hamid

Fahad Hamid

Fahad Hamid is a Tennis writer at FirstSportz with more than four years of experience in the sports industry and the IT industry. He has primarily worked in cricket, football, and tennis within the sports sector. In addition to his writing career, Fahad is also a professional tennis player and a partial owner of a tennis academy in Faisalabad, Pakistan. A tennis enthusiast since 2001, he has been actively playing the sport since 2009 and proudly represented his university in the 2018 Intra Tennis Championships held in Lahore. When he's not immersed in the world of sports, Fahad enjoys watching movies.
Gerard Crispin

Gerard Crispin

Gerard Crispin is an editor at FirstSportz. He has been a part of the site since 2020. Crispin, has published over 3500 articles in Combat Sports, across multiple websites. Never-ending love for brawn and lifting heavy weights drove Gerard Crispin towards developing an interest in combat sports. Besides this, he closely follows a number of sports, viz. Football, MMA, Cricket and Tennis. He is a Gooner for life.
Gouri Das

Gouri Das

Gouri Das is a cricket writer at FirstSportz. Despite always being a sporty kid, she disliked being inactive in one place for a long time to watch a match. But after the Ind vs Pak match of the 2016 Asia Cup, she rather got glued to the TV screen. That year she watched the major cricket tournaments, WWE matches, and the Olympics (especially Usain Bolt's races). After reading about the big names in tennis and becoming an ardent follower, she dreams of visiting Wimbledon one day.
Joseph Varghese

Joseph Varghese

Joseph is a Senior Writer and covers the NBA as well as NFL. Sports has gripped Joseph Varghese for almost 3 decades both as a fan as well as a competitor. Through writing, he brings that wealth of knowledge into words.
Sumedh Joshi

Sumedh Joshi

Sumedh Joshi is an NFL writer at FirstSportz. The spontaneity of the game and the physicality in football fascinate him, according to him, it is one of the most demanding sports globally and one of the most exciting as well. It is hard for him to pick a team to favor but if he had to, he would never bet against Tom Brady.
Justin P Joy

Justin P Joy

Justin P Joy is a Motorsports writer and editor at FirstSportz. He has been a motorsport journalist since 2020 and has published over 4500 articles. Justin has extensively covered two NASCAR, Formula One, and Moto GP seasons for FirstSportz. He has invested more than a decade of his life on Motorsports, first as a fan and later as a dedicated writer. Justin’s in-depth knowledge of Motorsports and his experience as a fan make his writing resonate with most racing fans worldwide. Justin's love for racing started when he discovered Moto GP at the age of 8. That love later guided him into the world of Formula 1. He fell in love with NASCAR after watching Tom Cruise’s “Days of Thunder” and has been an avid follower of the premier stock car racing series since. He has also been investing his time to exploring WEC, WRC, Formula E, Extreme E, and IndyCar in a bid to deeply understand the culture and history of Motorsports to present a unique perspective to the fans.
Kaushani Chatterjee

Kaushani Chatterjee

Kaushani Chatterjee is a senior editor at FirstSportz. Her 2.5 years of content journey took a stop at FS when she joined the company in 2022. Till now she has published over 1500+ articles. Being an ice sports lover, it took her only a short time to fall in love with the NHL. Currently, she's working extensively on NHL (National Hockey League), MLB (Major League Baseball), Golf, and Athletics. Apart from being a sports writer, she enjoys writing novels of her own. In free time one can find her indulging in animes, and manga, or planning trips all over India. She has also started building up her own content business following rigorous training in SEO, graphic designing, and digital marketing.
Nidhin Shibu

Nidhin Shibu

Nidhin is an editor and writer specializing in MMA and Boxing. With over 8 months of experience editing articles in these sports, he connects them to pop culture. He has a Masters Degree in English Literature. He is currently pursuing his doctoral degree, specializing in Film Studies. His deep passion for MMA started in 2017, triggered by the Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones fight. Nidhin's literature background drives his love for storytelling, which he intertwines with MMA narratives. He previously freelanced in sports content writing for a year and enjoys watching thriller series, films, and anime, aspiring to write thrilling stories one day.
Nikhil Sonmali

Nikhil Sonmali

Nikhil is an NFL editor at FirstSportz with over three years of experience in the sports industry, specializing in Marketing and Communications, Social Media, and Content Writing & Analysis. He has edited over 10,000 articles and possesses expertise in market research, digital marketing, data analysis, and project management, with a strong focus on content creation and social media. In addition to his professional background, Nikhil holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA in Sports Management from one of India’s top institutions. Currently captivated by American football, he is on a mission to understand why the sport connects so deeply with fans. A lifelong sports enthusiast, Nikhil is passionate about exploring the various facets of sports, from business and management to on-field play analysis. Outside of sports, he enjoys movies, anime, books, and trekking.
Prateek Athanur

Prateek Athanur

Prateek Athanur leads the combat sports team with great enthusiasm. Having worked for more than 2 years and writing over 2500 articles, he oversees major content operations in the website. A connoisseur of Football, MMA, Cricket, and Basketball and is always down to banter. The Conor - Khabib rivalry drew him into the sport and there has been no turning back ever since. Prateek loves a good underdog story and there isn't a sport in this world that produces upsets like mixed martial arts.
Rishita Roy Chowdhury

Rishita Roy Chowdhury

Rishita Roy Chowdhury is the Chief Editor at First Curiosity. She has always been fascinated with the power of words and the need to follow goings on of the world. She likes to spend most of her time contemplating her existence, and escaping reality by reading, writing, and watching movies and shows. So, she made a career out of it in 2017 when she joined ScoopWhoop and extensively wrote about pop culture. To gain more experience of hardcore news, she moved on to the print arena with The Sunday Guardian newspaper where she interviewed celebrities, musicians, sportsmen, authors, chefs, and more. Her love of all things art and culture also led her to review books, movies, series, and restaurants. She tested and expanded her skills by dabbling in the digital space with India Today’s entertainment team. There, she wrote thousands of articles on the world of glitz and glamour. Now at Firstsportz, she covers the life of WAGs
Suteekshan Joshi

Suteekshan Joshi

Suteekshan Joshi is the content manager and editor for the WWE division at FirstSportz, with over 1 year of experience in the media field. His passion and love for sports have driven him closer to the media industry. From being a WWE fan since the age of five to representing his state in national-level chess competitions, Suteekshan has a knack for living life to the fullest. Apart from being a WWE fan, Suteekshan is also an eSports enthusiast, having won the ESL 2018 CR Lan. When he's not working or playing, you can find him binge-watching comedy series/movies.
Vansh Shah

Vansh Shah

Vansh is a dedicated content writer and editor with a remarkable flair for crafting engaging and compelling content. With a love for WWE that dates back to 2009, a deep appreciation for sitcoms, a passion for cricket, and a penchant for diving into the world of novels. Vansh writes with enthusiasm about the world of professional wrestling and brings the same to the FirstSportz team.
Vibhor Pal

Vibhor Pal

Vibhor got introduced to professional wrestling in 2014. After being recommended to watch John Cena getting spanked by Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, he eventually fell in love with WWE. Having spearheaded the same division for FirstSportz, he's been a part of their team since April 2022. When not working or jostling with academic chores, he's more than likely to be found listening to music.
Vinay Dave

Vinay Dave

Vinay Dave is a Sub-Editor of US Sports at FirstSportz. He currently crafts topics on Major League Baseball (MLB), National Hockey League (NHL) and Golf. A journalism graduate from Mumbai, Vinay currently has over 3 years of experience writing and has over 1,500+ articles under his belt. In his free time he can spotted passionately supporting Manchester City, watching some action-packed anime or singing along to the melodies of Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi and Freddie Mercury.

Authors

Abhijay Roy

Abhijay Roy

Abhijay Roy is a boxing and MMA content writer at FirstSportz. He has a bachelor's degree in English (Hons) from Amity University. Apart from being an aspiring writer and having great proficiency in English, Abhijay has also been an avid combat sports fan since his childhood. In his earliest recollection of his childhood, he remembers receiving a punching bag filled with cotton and a pair of gloves. Abhijay's love for the sport continued, and he became an amateur boxer in Nepal in the lightweight division (60 kg) from 2016 to 2019. Abhijay has fought in several amateur boxing tournaments that were held in Kathmandu, Nepal, and has a record of 6-2-1 (W-L-D).
Aditya Pandya

Aditya Pandya

Aditya Pandya is a Formula 1 content writer at FirstSportz. Currently pursuing BTech from MIT ADT, Pune, his engineering degree makes him quite fascinated with the tech side of F1. A long time motor racing fan, Aditya was pulled towards the world of Formula 1 when he saw the iconic title battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in 2021. Presently, he aims to channel his passion for Formula 1 through his writing and also wishes to attend the Monaco GP once in his lifetime. Aditya is also a big time gamer and loves to play FPS games. He is a massive fan of Daniel Ricciardo
Ameetosh Dash

Ameetosh Dash

Ameetosh is a writer specializing in MMA and boxing. He’s a BBA graduate with great enthusiasm towards combat sports and sports in general. Ameetosh got into MMA after experiencing the iconic rivalry between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229. Currently he is trying his best to create stories to make the readers feel something similar.
Anugrah Tyagi

Anugrah Tyagi

Anugrah is a passionate content writer with a deep-rooted love for pop culture. Since 2014, he has been an avid fan of WWE, finding inspiration in its dynamic storytelling. Anugrah channels his creative energy into writing poems, songs, and sharing his life experiences through engaging narratives. His words not only capture the essence of moments but also reflect their vibrant imagination. With a unique blend of fandom and creative expression, Anugrah continues to carry the enthusiasm and energy to connect with readers on a profound level.
Armaan Gupta

Armaan Gupta

Armaan is your quintessential sports fan. He started his love for sports with Basketball and has been obsessed with the NBA ever since. Soon came football and the NFL, and it wasn't long before he was caught in the pipeline of religiously scouting out the best talent in the world of College Sports. As an athlete and a semi-professional hooper, you'll probably find him at the court when he isn't working.
Ayank Chourasia

Ayank Chourasia

Ayank has been consuming MMA content since the days of Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture, GSP and Anderson Silva. A perfect weekend for him would involve violence filled entertainment of UFC or binging action anime, podcasts or a thrilling TV series. With an eye for good stories, and passion for MMA and content creation. He is someone you go to if you want to talk about last weekend's big event.
Dibaas.M

Dibaas.M

Dibaas is an avid combat sports enthusiast and an MMA writer at FirstSportz. His knack of the sport started early, ranging as far back as UFC 81: Breaking Point; the first match watched. Barring a few years in the middle, he got back in the fold watching the rise of the likes of Conor McGregor, Kamaru Usman, and others... He also happens to be in the habit of writing, wherein his interests collide. He loves to report on anything and everything within the combat sports bubble. He has helped in freelance social redesign and rebranding for a few Instagram businesses, as well as digital/manual art restoration. He has a year of experience as Community service Associate, 4+ years of experience as a freelance content writer, and a year of experience in target-oriented writing. Currently, he delves into topics of MMA, Boxing, and Kickboxing to the best of his ability and share it with a dedicated audience.
Garrett Kerman

Garrett Kerman

Garrett Kerman is an American sports writer specializing in MMA, boxing, and betting news. He has established himself as a prominent voice in combat sports journalism, providing expert analysis and breaking news. Kerman has covered major events and conducted interviews with notable figures in the industry, showcasing his extensive knowledge and passion for the sport. His insights are widely sought after by fans and bettors alike.
Gaurang Kadam

Gaurang Kadam

Gaurang Kadam is a Formula 1 author at Firstsportz. He discovered his passion for the sport during the Covid-19 pandemic right before the historic battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton for the 2021 title. Gaurang has published hundreds of F1 articles as he channels his passion for the sport. He completed his Bachelor's in Commerce from Joshi Bedekar College. Apart from the world of racing, Gaurang has loved Football since he was 14 and looks up to Christiano Ronaldo as his idol
Geetansh Pasricha

Geetansh Pasricha

Geetansh Pasricha is a motorsports author at FirstSportz. As a Journalism student at VIPS-TC, Geetansh has a special interest in reporting on affairs related to Motorsports. Having discovered his love for the sport in 2019, Geetansh became a die-hard fan ever since and invested over half a decade of life for the sport as fan. While he is a 'neutral fan' for the most part, his heart ends up rooting for (and breaking over) Ferrari quite often. His favourite driver is Sebastian Vettel and he wants to meet the German someday.
Ishan Misra

Ishan Misra

Hi!!! I am Ishan Misra… I have covered the NFL & College Football for FirstSportz since 2023 (crossed 3000 articles). My first introduction to football was through Tom Brady's seventh Super Bowl triumph as the Buccaneers QB… whitewashing the Chiefs. The noise, confetti, passion, and sportsmanship of the players got me hooked, like a bee to a flower. When I am not fidgeting with my laptop keyboard and scrolling through Twitter for juicy gossip, I fondly spend my time reading Autobiographies of athletes… I am also a massive pop culture nut & enjoy listening to rock and old-school rap songs.
Jake Skudder

Jake Skudder

Jake is a Featured MMA Writer for FirstSportz. He has more than ten years of experience covering mixed martial arts, pro wrestling and gaming across a number of publications, starting at SEScoops in 2012. His work across MMA has also been featured on GiveMeSport Sportskeeda, Pro Sports Extra, Wrestling Headlines, NoobFeed, Wrestlingnewsco, Keen Gamer, SEScoops and HotNewHipHop. Previously, he worked as the Editor in Chief of 24Wrestling, building the site’s profile with a view to selling the domain, which was accomplished in 2019. Beyond that, Jake was also the Editor in Chief of FightFans between 2020 and 2024. Jake also previously worked for the biggest independent wrestling company in the UK, PROGRESS Wrestling, as PR Head and Head of Media across the company's social channels.
Kartik Mudaliar

Kartik Mudaliar

Kartik is a dedicated and forward-thinking professional with a strong foundation in the Sports Journalism field. He has over 1000 published articles in the industry. His passion for varied sports is immense. In-depth Research Writing and Article writing is his Forte. Kartik loves to read and write about sports such as the NBA, Football, F1 and Tennis.
Kelvin Loyola

Kelvin Loyola

Kelvin Loyola is a sports writer and journalist at FirstSportz with over 20 years of experience in sports journalism and marketing. He has covered a wide range of sports, including Soccer, NBA, MLB, NHL, and NFL. Kelvin worked in post-production for various film, TV, and digital projects. A Queens College Media Studies graduate, Kelvin is bilingual in English and Spanish. His interests include soccer, marketing, photography, surfing, and pop culture, especially comics.
Lakshita Kalra

Lakshita Kalra

Lakshita is a Sports Entertainment Intern, who has a penchant for satire and storytelling. Here she finds herself unexpectedly immersed in the world of sports. Majoring in Literature, she's trading bottomless coffee mugs for slam dunks while navigating the uncharted territory between Kafka and the court.
Manjit Kishore Verma

Manjit Kishore Verma

Manjit Kishore Verma is a seasoned golf writer for Firstsportz. With a Bachelor's in Journalism, he has 2 years of experience covering the sport's biggest events. Verma's insightful real-time and analytical writeups have earned him recognition in the industry. Driven by his passion for golf, he captivates readers with his unique storytelling style.
Mario Boccardi

Mario Boccardi

Mario Boccardi is an Italy-based tennis blogger and reporter working in journalism since 2021. He has graduated in History at the Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro and has worked as a writer for Sportface and Il Tennis Italiano between 2021 and 2023, getting registered at the Ordine Nazionale dei Giornalisti in Italy on 25 July 2023. He now works as a Podcast Host at Talking Tennis and as a writer for UbiTennis and for Firtstsportz. What guides him is his big love for this sport he follows week in week out since the age of nine years old and his biggest achievement so far has been getting accreditations to big tournaments around the world, especially the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.
Mohammed Bazim

Mohammed Bazim

Mohammed Bazim S is a sports enthusiast with a particular fondness for American football, Formula One, and Ice Hockey.. When he’s not immersed in the world of sports, he enjoys delving into books or catching up on the latest TV shows. His inquisitive nature keeps him constantly exploring new ideas and learning about diverse subjects.
Mokshit Batra

Mokshit Batra

Mokshit is a WWE Content Writer at Firstsportz. He has been a fan of professional wrestling for over 10 years. The perfect blend between fiction and reality that professional wrestling offers has always amazed him. In his free time, he is seen racking his mind at a chess board or playing with his pet dog, Softy.
Neial Nishant Bhuyan

Neial Nishant Bhuyan

Neial N Bhuyan is a boxing/MMA writer at FirstSportz. He has been a MMA journalist since 2023 and has published over 1300 articles. Neial has extensively covered multiple UFC title fights and crossover boxing matches for FirstSportz. He has invested over half a decade of his life in writing and the exciting prospect of mixed martial arts and boxing has enriched his life and helped him resonate with the millions of MMA fans worldwide through his writing. Neial himself has ventured into the world of boxing ever since he started writing about combat sports. The rich culture and cerebral nature of the game have helped him better understand the multiple nuances and intricate details of the sport. He has also invested time exploring the lives of the incredible athletes who have dedicated themselves to MMA and boxing. This in turn has helped Neial better present the rich culture and spirit of mixed martial arts and boxing to the world.
Niyati

Niyati

I’m a doctor based in Mumbai. I’ve been a fan of the Olympics since Sydney 2000 and have observed the rise of Indian Olympic sport over the last 2 decades. Currently follow sports such as shooting, badminton, archery, cricket, tennis, hockey among others. Also interested in topics such as mental health, medical research, philosophy, and spirituality.
Nilaav Gogoi

Nilaav Gogoi

Nilaav is a writer at FirstSportz with a deep-rooted passion for combat sports. From a young age, he has been captivated by the excitement of athletic competition, which now influences his writing and provide readers a front row seat to every action. Nilaav aims to communicate in a simple manner so that his target audience can easily comprehend and relate to the content. As he focuses on enhancing his writing skills, Nilaav is committed to offering a new perspective to the field of sports journalism.
Victor Okechukwu

Victor Okechukwu

Victor Okechukwu is a Tennis Writer at Firstsportz. With over a year of experience, he is aiming to understand how tennis tournaments connect with fans' lives. Also, he is a short story writer, good at weaving metaphorical phrases to reveal his characters, and also has more than two dozen publications to boast for it.
Pav Gill

Pav Gill

Pav Gill is a Tennis Writer at FirstSportz and has been a Tennis Blogger for many years. Pav is the Vice Chairman of Rolls Royce Tennis club as well as being an avid Tennis, Cricket and Padel player. Pav is an active sports contributor to local and National Radio and enjoys watching most sports. Outside of Tennis blogging, Pav has an interest in current affairs and politics and enjoys travelling with his family.
Peter Okereke

Peter Okereke

Sports has been a mainstay in the life of Peter Okereke since age 10. He played competitive football in high school and at university. Peter is a die-hard Chelsea fan, but also retains a strong interest in basketball where he actively follows the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James. Since 2019, he has fused his love for sports and writing to put together stories for the world to read.
Pratyusha Srivastava

Pratyusha Srivastava

Pratyusha is a budding writer in the field of sports. She covers NFL for Firstsportz. Although she has worked with variety of companies like Startup Talky and CodeCoinCap in the past, she recently started moving towards her passion aka football. Her first tryst with the sport was when she was a child and she has been hooked ever since. Apart from football she also has an inclination for Cricket and NBA.
Prikshit Malik

Prikshit Malik

Prikshit, a die-hard basketball fan, has been following the NBA for over a decade. Though part of Gen Z, he proudly considers himself an old-school hooper. After spending much of his youth on the court, he's now ready to share his insights into the game.
Pushya A Gautama

Pushya A Gautama

Pushya A Gautama is an avid fan of all things tennis. She has followed tennis closely at all levels for many years. She is an Ayurveda physician and scholar by profession, and is currently a PhD scholar at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore, India.
Saiel Lad

Saiel Lad

Saiel started playing basketball at the age of 10 and has been part of many competitive tournaments. Growing up as fan of Kobe Bryant, Saiel always looked up to Bryant and his work ethic. He is also a active follower of WWE and UFC. With a great passion for writing and the love for the sport, his articles are a blend of enthusiasm and accuracy.
Satvika Deshpande

Satvika Deshpande

Satvika Deshpande is a sports and basketball enthusiast. Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors opened the door for her into the NBA world. With watching games she also enjoys writing. After graduating with a bachelor of psychology degree, she is aiming to pursue a career in psychology with her passion for basketball on the side.
Sherwin Shaju

Sherwin Shaju

Sherwin Shaju is a Football writer and heads content for Football at FirstSportz. Lionel Messi's 2014 World Cup run introduced him to Football and he's stuck around ever since. Even though he's a Blaugrana at heart, Sherwin is a die-hard fan of Kerala Blasters in the ISL as well. He constantly strives to bring a unique perspective to his pieces and has over 1300 articles to his name. Sherwin is passionate about the game, both on and off the field. When he's not watching football he's busy looking out for football jerseys. Sherwin is an English Honours graduate from Delhi University and currently pursues Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi.
Siddhartha Roy

Siddhartha Roy

Siddhartha Roy is a Football Writer and has written over 100 articles at FirstSportz. Currently, in his final year at Presidency University in Kolkata, he passionately supports Arsenal while also holding admiration for Real Madrid and Dortmund. Hailing from North-East India, he deeply enjoys the sport and spent his school days playing it in his free time. Despite the Messi and Ronaldo era, Siddhartha resonates with Marco Reus, the iconic Dortmund midfielder, as his favorite player. He endeavors to innovate and elevate his writing passion by consistently bringing forth fresh ideas in his articles.
Ubong Archibong

Ubong Archibong

Ubong Richard is an NBA writer at FirstSportz. He has been an NBA writer since November 2023. His love for basketball and especially LeBron James makes his work inspiring and fun for readers worldwide. Ubong believes in adding value to any system, as this is his greatest skillset. He is currently a fourth year medical student studying to become a dental surgeon at the University of Calabar, Nigeria. If he’s not following NBA games, you can catch him watching football especially Chelsea games.
Yashraj Chowdhury

Yashraj Chowdhury

Yashraj Chowdhury is an intern at Firstsportz with a keen interest in Formula One and has become a tireless content writer for the website in a short period of time. He has been an ardent member of debate societies in his school and college and currently is pursuing his B.Tech in Civil Engineering from Amity University Kolkata. Yashraj has been a lifetime football enthusiast and supports the teams of Real Madrid and Manchester United.
Zaid Quraishi

Zaid Quraishi

Zaid is a dedicated content writer with a specialised focus on MMA and Boxing. He is a master's graduate in medical technology and combines his scientific knowledge with combat sports to create compelling stories that reveal the mechanics behind the punches. Zaid was instantly hooked on MMA after watching the fight between Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi back in 2014. He has been an avid writer with a deep love for the sport and its techniques, providing readers with a thorough understanding of the sport. Zaid hopes to captivate the sports world through his writing, operating as a bridge between the sphere of combat athletes and their passionate fan base.