Vice Sports, Carmelo Anthony Launch ‘The Clubhouse’ To Compete With Players’ Tribune

There’s a new sports-related venture launched by a major media company and a famous New York athlete, and no, it’s not The Players’ Tribune. Vice Sports and founding partner Carmelo Anthony are behind The Clubhouse, a new digital destination that will give athletes a platform on which they can discuss their lives beyond the stadium.

To get a good idea of what The Clubhouse is about, we can look at its first series, which is titled Stay Melo. It follows Anthony, an eight-time NBA All-Star, as he travels the world and explores his passions outside of basketball. The first episode takes him to Cuba, where he learns about the local sports culture.

Anthony isn’t the only big-name athlete involved in The Clubhouse. Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots tight end and noted party animal, will host also host a series under the banner of the new venture. “If you look at the world of sports coverage and video, one thing you almost never see is athletes doing the actual storytelling—so for us, this was a no-brainer,” said Will Kiersky

, Vice Sports Publisher, in a press release. “The Clubhouse will be a platform where fans can connect more closely with some of the biggest stars in sports. Melo and Gronk are fantastic athletes to start this project off with, and we’re excited to keep expanding our roster.”

With its focus on unfiltered content hosted by pro athletes, The Clubhouse is reminiscent of The Players’ Tribune, which was co-founded by Legendary and Derek Jeter last year. While The Players’ Tribune has seen some success, its widely-circulated pieces have mostly been text articles (with a few notable exceptions.) Therefore, The Clubhouse has a chance to find its own niche if it can hone in on video content and provide fans with the sort of behind-the-scenes access they crave.

New videos from The Clubhouse will be available on the Vice Sports YouTube channel, which launched last year.