Funding & Businesspublisher monetizationlivestreamingad operationsssaI

Major League Fishing Prioritizes Video To Recover Ad Revenue

|May 4, 2026

6.2

Relevance Score

Major League Fishing Prioritizes Video To Recover Ad Revenue — Photo: adexchanger.com · rights & takedowns

AdExchanger published an interview with Jared Collett, senior director of ad operations at Major League Fishing (MLF), about MLF's content monetization strategy. AdExchanger reports MLF transformed from annual televised tournaments into a league after receiving funding from Bass Pro Shop in 2018, and that Collett joined MLF in 2019. Collett told AdExchanger that MLF treats its site like a publisher and that its largest ad inventory is livestream commercials and pre-rolls, which are SSAI-stitched to mimic live TV. He said hosting livestreams on MLF's own site yields higher revenue per view than third-party platforms and allows on-site ad experiences including display banners, sponsorship takeovers, email, and social extensions. AdExchanger notes Collett will speak at AdExchanger's Programmatic AI event in Las Vegas, May 18-20.

What happened

AdExchanger published an on-the-record interview with Jared Collett, senior director of ad operations at Major League Fishing (MLF). AdExchanger reports MLF expanded from annual fishing tournaments aired on The Outdoor Channel into a league after receiving funding from Bass Pro Shop in 2018, and that Collett joined MLF in 2019. AdExchanger quotes Collett saying MLF treats its website like an online publisher and that the organisation's biggest ad inventory is livestream commercials and pre-rolls, delivered with server-side ad insertion so the experience resembles live TV.

Technical details

Collett told AdExchanger that MLF runs SSAI-stitched pre-rolls and traditional ad inserts inside its livestreams and also sells traditional display inventory, sponsorship takeovers, email placements, and social audience-extension buys. Collett is quoted saying, "At the end of the day, we're going to get more revenue per view from someone watching on our website than watching on YouTube," and he noted historical limits on running mid-rolls on platforms like YouTube and Twitch as part of the rationale for hosting on-site.

Context and significance

Editorial analysis: Publishers and digital-first sports properties increasingly prioritise owned livestreams because on-site viewing preserves ad control and multiple downstream monetisation opportunities. Industry-pattern observations: Using SSAI to replicate broadcast-style ad breaks is a common tactic among publishers seeking to keep CPMs high and to integrate sponsorship primitives that are harder to execute through third-party platforms.

What to watch

Observers should track metrics MLF and comparable publishers disclose publicly, such as view-through rates, average revenue per user on-site versus off-platform, and the share of total inventory sold as livestream commercials. For programmatic teams, monitoring how demand partners value SSAI-stitched livestreams relative to third-party-hosted streams will indicate whether this approach scales across niches.

Event note

AdExchanger also notes Collett will speak at AdExchanger's Programmatic AI event in Las Vegas from May 18-20.

Scoring Rationale

The piece is directly relevant to ad ops and digital publishers because it describes a practical monetisation approach-owned livestreams with SSAI-that practitioners can benchmark. The story is not a frontier AI development, so it rates as notable rather than industry-shaking.