SportsBall started in 2024 after husband and wife Riley and Claire Martin moved in together in San Francisco, CA. Claire grew up watching sports but didn’t know many of the basics, whereas for Riley, sports had always been a big part of life. To bridge those lifestyles, the two landed on the belief that the more you learn about something, the more you can respect and enjoy it; even if you don’t become a fan.

To bridge the gap between those who knew nothing about sports and those who spent their entire Sundays yelling at the TV, they created SportsBall to help people better understand sports; giving them the opportunity to join conversations more easily and connect with others.

Over time, Riley incorporated his data visualization skills into a newsletter, leading up the the Summer Olympics of 2024 where things took off. Riley had an idea for how to visualize information within the games, and it was quicker to hand-draw the graphs than it was to create them on the computer. He filmed himself drawing graphs around the 100 meter dash, swimming, and other events, and eventually grew popular on social media into the page many of you know and love today.

The goal of SportsBall is to introduce information in a way we can all follow and understand. Whether you’re a fan of sports or not, we want to help empower you to enjoy and connect over the stories happening every day. We’re glad you’re here and hope you enjoy our page.

Sincerely,

Riley and Claire