Former NFL star Shawne Merriman is taking on a new challenge: building his own streaming service. Lights Out Sports, which recently launched, offers a wide range of sports content, including mixed martial arts, chess tournaments, and World Poker Tour events. Merriman, who played eight seasons in the NFL and earned three Pro Bowl appearances, hopes to create a "locker room in one place" for sports fans.
Former NFL star Shawne Merriman is taking on a new challenge: building his own streaming service. Lights Out Sports, which recently launched, offers a wide range of sports content, including mixed martial arts, chess tournaments, and World Poker Tour events. Merriman, who played eight seasons in the NFL and earned three Pro Bowl appearances, hopes to create a "locker room in one place" for sports fans.
The idea for Lights Out Sports came to Merriman while he was watching other free TV channels and noticing the lack of sports content. He said he wanted to create a channel that would include a variety of sports, including some that are not typically covered by mainstream media.
"I’ve had this idea for so long to create a locker room in one place and we got it," Merriman told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. "It’s completely free, 100% free. It’ll be on every major TV platform. And soon, you’ll be able to get it all over the world and that was my main thing."
Merriman partnered with OTTera to help create Lights Out Sports. He said he had to learn the ad tech side of the streaming business while coming up with the ideas of what he wanted the channel to look like.
The former San Diego Chargers star said even before getting into Lights Out Xtreme Fighting and Lights Out Sports he had a curiosity for how the production side worked.
"I look back on it now and I had a different level of curiosity," he told Fox News Digital. "I remember going to Sunday night games and seeing the cameras and the lights and all the people working back there and I just remember asking questions all the time."
That’s what led to me understanding and loving the production side of things, which is why I got into the production side with Lights Out Xtreme Fighting. We have all in-house production and I was always curious about it. I had no idea that this would lead me here."
Lights Out Xtreme Fighting’s Lights Out 16 will stream on Lights Out Sports. There will be 19 fights on what’s expected to be a five-hour show.
While Merriman tried to hide his excitement for all of the major moves he’s made, he couldn’t help but be ecstatic over the launch of the channel and the success of his MMA promotion.
"I don’t really get excited… I do excited but I just don’t pat myself on the back anymore. I have this feeling that I’m supposed to do it. Certain things, I don’t really celebrate a whole lot. But when I saw it on every major TV platform, I was like, man this is it. OTTera has been a huge help."
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