We recently connected with Ernest Ricks and have shared our conversation below.

Ernest, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Our mission is to shine a light on best stories in sports. As of late those stories have shine a light on historically black colleges and universities of HBCUs. Last December, our group wanted to cover the Celebration Bowl. The Celebration Bowl is the first bowl game of the college football bowl season. It pits the champions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) vs the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). When we applied we thought because of our history of covering an HBCU adjacent high school, that we would be a shoe-in, we were wrong. We received a rejection letter from the Celebration Bowl. However, at about 12 pm something hit me and told me to thank the decision makers for looking over our application and to ask if anyone drops out if could we serve as a replacement. At this point, we had been covering games for a while, and I realized that there would always be a ton of empty seats in the press box. So, I sent the email. Within a few minutes, we had a reply back stating that there was no evidence of HBCU coverage on our website. The lady who sent the letter was absolutely right. Even though I graduated from an HBCU, Grambling State University, I still was not using my platform to highlight the schools that led so many of my heroes to prominence in their field. I wrote back that she was right and I would do my best in the future to shine a light on HBCUs. At one point in this nation, if African Americans wanted an education or a chance to play college sports, we didn’t have a choice, we had to go to a black college. Now that primarily white institutions have grown to accept African Americans, those schools are acquiring the top black academic achievers and the top black athletes. This led to HBCUs having less than the best talent. Which also led the media away from covering those schools. We shamefully were falling into that same pattern. So the promise I made in my email was one that I fully into to stick to throughout the remainder of my sport journalistic career. We will highlight the best stories in sports, but we will make sure that a significant portion of our stories shine a positive light on HBCUs.

Ernest, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

MTMV Sports Network started in August 2017. Initially, I was a part of a show called Debate Fuel, which I hosted with two of my friend Derrick Myers and Chris Dawson. We recorded our show from the Trackstarz Studio and would go live right before their shows. Trackstarz is one of the most respected media outlets in all of Christian Hip Hop. They have been responsible for amplifying the voice of so many Christian creatives. Their audience is largely made up of males so having a sports show come on before their Saturday noon show was a great fit. We realized that there were gaps in our sports knowledge, specifically when it came to college basketball. So we reached out to fans of our show for help. As they started to respond, I found out the people I was talking to had so much knowledge and passion for their favorite sports that they needed more than a role in helping us. They needed a platform to be heard by as many people as possible. A member of the Trackstarz team, Jason Bordeaux, told me about Anchor and once I learn about the platform and how to use it, I made my first episode. I then talked to all the people I interviewed about helping with the show, and in about a week, the beginnings of MTMV Sports were in place.

Any advice for managing a team?

The best thing that I have done as a leader is be a servant. It is my job, duty, responsibility, and privilege to help all the people under my leadership achieve their individual goals. The members of my team love sports and want to cover it at the highest level. Some would like to interview some of the best players in the NBA, while others want to be involved in major post game press conference. There are members of my team that want to have their own show and to build a respected platform. I ask each member of our team what are your goals and how can I help you achieve those goals. Once I understand the goals of each member of the team, if I can help, I am driven to help them achieve those goals. For example one member of my team had a podcast that they advertised every week on Twitter. I found her podcast through the link she posted and checked it out. I thought it was good, so I DM’ed her and asked could we talk. In our conversation she talked to me about her vision to cover sports on a larger level like, making her show better, interviewing more guest, and covering WNBA games or women’s college basketball games. I did not promise her that our platform would allow her to do any of that but I did say that I along with the other members of the team will do our best to support her in all the goals she was trying to reach. Once she agreed to join the team, I went to work on looking for opportunities for her to achieve her goals. We tried to initially fix the sound in her podcast, by giving her equipment suggestions based on the things we learned. Her cousin was playing for a nearby college basketball team and I asked her if she wanted to cover the team. Once she told me that she would love to do it, our team empowered her to take the leap and try to cover the team. We gave her a template to request credentials and guided her through the steps and company expectations when covering a game live. When she was granted credentials, she covered the game like an absolute professional and above all else she enjoyed the experience. From there she started to cover more games, and even began covering the WNBA. This year she become a sports writer and covered the WNBA Championship Series. She is now a respected voice in WNBA spaces and in women’s college basketball. She is continuing to spread her wings and that makes me extremely happy.

I am a servant leader and our team understands my role in helping them achieve their goals. To that end they are all supportive in help each other achieve goals. Everyone also congratulated each other as they have Dream interviews, cover major sporting events, or achieve personal goals. When we see each other at our yearly retreat, we are excited to see each other. A great atmosphere is easier to create when you know that everyone has your best interest at heart. When I was a student working for Dr. David Katz at Emory University, he asked me, “what are your goals”. He then heard my goals and then worked with me to design a plan for me to reach those goals. He also stayed consistent with his actions while helping me achieve those goals. It left a mark on me and set the stage for my style of leadership. It is now my responsibility to do that for others.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

We wanted to cover the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia December of 2021. We were denied credentials by the person in charge of giving credentials. It hurt, but something told me to reach out via email and simply say thank you for considering our request and that if anyone who has been accepted decides not to come then we would be honored to take their place. I knew that some times major networks or NFL teams have empty seats in the press box, from my time covering other events and I thought if any of them dropped out we could replace them for the event. To my surprise, the person in charge reached out to me and said that she didn’t see much coverage of HBCU teams on our website. She was right! While we had been covering the NFL, NBA, and other college teams. There was not an emphasis on HBCU sports. As an alumnus of Grambling State University, it hit me to my core that I owned a sports company and was not using my platform to show love to the schools that needed more media coverage. I expressed that in my reply to her email. To my surprise again at about 1 am, she granted me credentials to attend Radio Row and the game. I was so grateful for that opportunity that I wanted to make her decision worthwhile. Our team worked hard to not only cover the game but to produce content from the game to add to our website. We made videos, did interviews, and I wrote my first HBCU article. That article was viewed over 1,200 times and it was the first time any article on our website had been viewed that many times. It sparked massive conversations in Facebook groups. For the next few days as I wrote more HBCU articles, I saw the numbers grow and grow. The next article was viewed over 4,000 times. On one of the first HBCU videos we added to our YouTube channel was viewed over 6,000 times. It was a turning point for our business. Ms. Michelle Jinks changed the trajectory of our company and we are forever grateful! She challenged us to shine a bright light on HBCUs and to bring attention to the schools that served me so well in my youth. Since that time, just a year ago our YouTube subscribers are up over 2,000% percent. Simply because we had about 11 subscribers and now we have 2,280, lol. It’s a significant jump for us, and it was a pivot that was worthwhile. We still have dedicated shows that cover all the major professional leagues, but alongside those shows, we have a clear focus on covering HBCU sports and highlighting HBCU athletes.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mtmvpn.com
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