Ken Griffey Jr. and Trevor Bauer Just Made Major Investments in a Sports Network

Ken Griffey Jr. and Trevor Bauer have a lot of faith in a new sports network. According to Variety, Griffey, a Major League Baseball Hall of Famer, and Bauer, an All-Star pitcher, are investing in PlayersTV, which is a network that focuses on sports lifestyle. The duo will join an investment group that includes basketball stars Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. Griffey and Bauer will focus on the baseball side of the network.

PlayersTV made its debut in March on Samsung TV Plus after Deron Guidrey and Collin Castellaw established Players Media Group 18 months earlier. “All of these guys are interested in doing content now,” Guidrey said to Forbes when talking about athletes. “They have these huge followings, but none of them are managing their IP (Intellectual Property) like the major production companies are doing. No one is talking about the major problem, which is distribution. What’s content without distribution?”

PlayersTV told Variety it anticipates three undisclosed distributors will carry the network by October, which means it could be in as many as 75 million households. As for Griffey, he’s looking forward to his own documentary, which will air on the MLB Network Sunday. Griffey is arguably one of the best players in MLB history, and fans will get a chance to take a closer look at his journey from a highly-touted prospect to one of the legends of baseball. The documentary will also take a look at his relationship with his father, Ken Griffey Sr., as they became the first father-son duo to play on the same team at the same time.

Griffey started his MLB career in 1989, and it ended in 2010. He finished his career with 630 home runs, 2,781 hits, 1,836 RBIs, and a batting average of .284. He was named to the all-star team 13 times and won the American League MVP award in 1997. In 1999, Griffey was elected to MLB’s All-Century Team.

Bauer is a member of the Cincinnati Reds but has also spent time with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Cleveland Indians. In 2018, Bauer was named to his first All-Star game. He finished the year with a 12-6 record with a 2.21 ERA and 221 strikeouts. In July 2019, Bauer was traded to the Reds from the Indians. He has a career 70-60 record in eight seasons.