Boardroom
Boardroom, the award-winning sports, media and entertainment brand co-founded by NBA superstar Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman, has rapidly evolved from an ESPN+ talk show into a comprehensive media network that covers the intersection of sports, business and culture. With premium video content, editorial features, podcasts and high-profile events that generate millions of social impressions, Boardroom has established itself as a leading voice in the competitive sports media landscape.
Custom Content Creation Was Choking Growth
As Boardroom's influence grew, so did the demands on their editorial team. Every piece of content—from their monthly cover stories to multimedia features—required custom development work, creating a bottleneck that threatened the company's ability to capitalize on breaking news and trending topics in the fast-moving sports business world.
The technical infrastructure presented even bigger challenges. Without content templates or version control, the team had no choice but to make all visual updates directly on the production site. This meant every content change carried the risk of breaking the live site. For a media company competing in real-time with major outlets, this publishing delay was unsustainable.
Strategic Iteration Over Complete Rebuilds
Rather than recommending a costly, months-long redesign that would disrupt operations, we partnered with Boardroom to implement an iterative transformation approach. Working strategically over 6 weeks, we evolved the site while keeping it fully functional throughout the process.
First, we implemented immediate brand updates to coincide with Boardroom’s offline brand update. Next, we built the foundation for scalable content management with structured templates, version control and deployment infrastructure. Finally, we overhauled the site-wide navigation, homepage and interior page designs.
Key Solutions That Transformed Operations
Flexible Content Templates: We developed branded page templates within the CMS that gave the editorial team complete control over content creation. These templates maintained visual consistency while allowing for creative flexibility, ensuring every piece of content aligned with Boardroom's refreshed brand identity.
Production-Safe Workflow: We implemented proper version control and staging environments, eliminating the need to make risky changes directly on the live site. This gave the team confidence to experiment and iterate without fear of breaking the user experience.
Strategic Brand Integration: We applied Boardroom's updated visual identity throughout the existing site structure, delivering immediate brand consistency without requiring a complete rebuild. This included updating typography, color palette and interface elements to reflect their position as a premium media destination.
Operational Efficiency Drives Business Growth
The transformation delivered immediate and measurable improvements to Boardroom's operations. Content publishing time for monthly Cover Stories dropped from 5 days to just an hour or two, letting the Boardroom team focus on what truly matters—the quality of the content.
An iterative approach also delivered significant cost savings. By working within the existing infrastructure and implementing strategic improvements, we achieved the same business outcomes as a traditional redesign at 75% less cost. These savings allowed Boardroom to invest more resources in content creation and audience development.
Most importantly, the new content management system empowered the editorial team to publish dynamic cover stories and multimedia features without any developer intervention, removing the technical bottleneck that was limiting their growth potential.
What This Means for Growing Media Companies
If your content team is waiting days for technical changes, or if every editorial update requires developer resources, you're facing the same scalability challenges that Boardroom overcame. The key is recognizing that sometimes the smartest approach is strategic evolution, not complete transformation.
