User:Oaxaca78/COMPETE, The Gay Sports Magazine

COMPETE, The Gay Sports Magazine is an American niche-market sports magazine published by Media Out Loud, LLC since 2007. Originally titled Sports Out Loud, the magazine is published monthly, with the exception of combined issues in January-February, and August-September.

COMPETE is the brainchild of  Eric Carlyle and David Riach. The two originally discussed the idea of a gay sports magazine in March 2006. Later that same year they both participated in the Bingham Cup, the World Championship of gay and gay-friendly rugby. David noticed a lack of coverage from the news media surrounding the Bingham Cup. The pair decided that their original idea of a gay sports magazine was a solid one, and Media Out Loud, LLC was founded.

The Preview Issue of COMPETE (then Sports Out Loud) hit the streets in February 2007 and was distributed primarily to the media, ad buyers, and select readers at such festivals as Phoenix Pride. The first official issue debuted in June of 2007 and featured athletes from Dallas, Texas modeling swimwear. The first issue started a trend, and subsequently, each anniversary issue of COMPETE celebrates this tradition as an annual swimsuit issue.

In 2008, Eric Carlyle and David Riach were named finalists in PlanetOut’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award. This inspired the two to offer the same kind of award for an athlete within the gay sports community. In the May/June Issue of 2008 Jeff Kagan of New York, NY was named the magazine’s Athlete of the Year. The tradition continues each year in the December issue of COMPETE.

In January of 2009, the magazine was renamed COMPETE, The Gay Sports Magazine. In May 2010 Media Out Loud, LLC announced a new, interactive website renamed COMPETE, The Gay Sports Website (www.competemag.com). After the success of the website, the company announced an agreement with QNation.fm to air a weekly radio show and podcast of COMPETE, The Gay Sportscast, based on the magazine.

Key People: 	David Riach (Founder/Publisher) Eric Carlyle (Founder/Publisher) Buddy Early (Editor in Chief) Circulation: Print 20,000+ Readership: 60,000 Radio Audience: 40,000+ (estimate)