Due to the recent exodus of three rightsholders, an inability to secure crucial financing and the need to reimagine its future, streaming platform Victory+ has removed founder Neil Gruninger as CEO and replaced him with board member Jon Spencer of TriWest Capital Partners, the company told SBJ Thursday.
Gruninger — who 15 years ago co-founded the Calgary-based media business A Parent Media Co. that owns Victory+ — will remain with the company to focus on technology and innovation after multiple sources told SBJ the Victory+ board wanted to rely on Spencer’s financial acumen to steady its recent freefall.
According to a Victory+ statement to SBJ, Gruninger “will more closely focus on strategic relationships, business development, and long-term vision, areas where he has consistently driven significant value.”
In the meantime, multiple sources said Victory+ is expected to downsize and stay afloat, pursuing teams and leagues that are willing to do exclusive deals. Currently, the platform streams games for the WNBA’s Lynx and Dream — although those WNBA deals are just advertising rev shares and do not contain rights fee payments — and is the sole broadcast home of the NHL’s Stars. It also has contracts to stream League One Volleyball (LOVB) and Texas prep football in conjunction with the University Interscholastic League and the Texas High School Coaches Association.
Sources said none of those remaining deals appear to be in jeopardy.
Over the past 15 days, the NHL’s Ducks, MLB’s Rangers and, as of Thursday, the NWSL have all terminated their contracts with Victory+ due to missed rights fee payments. According to sources familiar with Victory+, the company asked those teams to renegotiate their contracts, which all included significant rights fees Victory+ could not sustain. All declined.
But the platform’s marquee client, the Stars, are its most important and informative deal of all, an exclusive package that includes a rights fee and advertising rev share package that Victory+ believes will stay intact. The Stars also own a percentage of equity in Victory+.
“APMC has evolved from a single platform into an industry-defining company that puts audiences first,” said Gruninger in a statement Thursday. “I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built and our unwavering commitment to our mission through every industry shift. As we look ahead, I’m excited to sharpen my focus on driving our long-term vision and deepening key partner relationships.”
Victory+’s business model under Gruninger was to pay teams an undisclosed minimum guarantee, stream their games for free on the Victory+ platform and recoup money through a collaborative advertising rev share with teams. Gruninger was flexible enough to allow the Rangers to stream games behind a Victory+ paywall — the only team to do so — but remained convinced the best route forward was to remain a free digital platform.
As recently as six months ago, following the collapse of Main Street Sports Group, Gruninger pitched his free-stream concept to 20 NBA and NHL teams, an ambitious move that required more financial backing. According to sources, having all those properties available at one time — “a land grab,” as one source put it — forced Victory+ to go too fast, too soon. They offered significant rights fees to multiple teams, and sources said the Magic, T-Wolves and Hornets were conditionally set to join the Victory+ platform.
It was all contingent on those investments, which were becoming more complex by the day. The teams were told the funding would come in February, then April, then June. But because financiers were concerned the Magic, T-Wolves and Hornets would only stay for one NBA season — due to the league’s pending centralized local TV hub — the financing just never arrived.
With no backing, the end result was defaulted payments to the Ducks, Rangers and NWSL — whose models were actually flawed for Victory+ and ultimately cost Gruninger his CEO role.
The Ducks deal, for instance, included free simulcasts on a local OTA station that netted Victory+ zero extra revenue. The Rangers deal was behind a paywall, plus the Rangers Television Network was airing games on linear, taking the focus away from Victory+. As for the NWSL, that deal consisted of multiple games on one night, all while the soccer league had multiple partners.
The issue become exclusivity. Victory+’s model worked with the Stars because the games were all in one place where the advertising rev share could prosper. Sources said the non-exclusive deals with the other entities were more rev share averse, meaning rights fees needed to be reduced. To no avail.
The fallout became Gruninger losing his CEO title, with sources saying the board examined the Victory+ books and concluded they were paying too much money in rights fees without being able to add new financing. The sources said a decision to downsize following the departure of the Ducks, Rangers and NWSL should allow Victory+ to reset its budgetary bottom line, pursue smaller investments and stay current with its remaining rights payments.
For instance, expect Victory+ to pursue more WNBA teams under the same model they sold the Lynx and Dream on: stream games for free, earn money through ad rev share.
The job switch also puts Gruninger — according to people who know him — in his correct lane. When he originally founded the business with Mike Lowe, he was president and chief product officer. But when Lowe died tragically on Christmas Day 2023, Gruninger took over as CEO and was suddenly in charge of revenue and the bottom line when his actual expertise was entrepreneurship.
Longtime board member Spencer, though, is well-versed in finances. He is the current chair of Monarch Industries and a member of the board of Supreme International, Lithion Power Group, and Prostar Energy Services. Prior to joining TriWest, Spencer worked at RBC Capital Markets in the Global Energy Group, where he was involved in several public equity offerings and mergers and acquisitions.
“I am thrilled to step into the CEO role at such a pivotal moment for APMC,” Spencer said in a statement to SBJ. “Having served on the board, I’ve long believed in the power of this business, and I look forward to working alongside Neil and our entire leadership team to drive our business evolution.”
Regarding Victory+’s future, sources said the critical clue will be whether the Stars remain committed to the platform for the 2026-27 NHL season. Without the Stars, consensus is it will be a difficult reboot.
