SPG got its start in 2011 when Jon Miller of HawkeyeNation.com and David Max of HuskerMax.com became partners. The two site owners had become friends and were both doing work helping other fan sites increase their ad revenues, so they joined forces and started consulting together.
Both Jon Miller and David Max have extensive experience in the publishing industry. Miller got started in online publishing in 1999 when the original Rivals.com invited him to be a publisher of their Iowa Hawkeye website. He worked with the Rivals Network and the Scout.com Network before breaking off in 2009 as an independent website with HawkeyeNation.com.
Max has been growing HuskerMax.com since 1995 — and managing its ads, too.
After a year of trial and error with HawkeyeNation.com, Miller found a way for his advertising revenue to pay the bills — and then some. He realized that his understanding of third-party and CPM advertising could be used to help other independent publishers make more money. Soon after, he found Max and they started down the path to Sports Publishers Group — the path they’re still on today.