From time to time, David Kaplan would be inspired to record what he called a “REKAP,” a video several minutes long in which he’d recap a game in his usual energetic tone and post it on Twitter. He didn’t benefit much from it outside of the enjoyment of doing it.
It was February 2022. He was working double duty, co-hosting the morning show on ESPN 1000 and appearing on NBC Sports Chicago, where he was preparing to launch his show “Unfiltered with David Kaplan” in April.
Ryan McGuffey, an NBCSCH original in production who’s close with Kaplan, asked him to meet for lunch at Pennyville Station in Park Ridge. During the pandemic, McGuffey had spent a lot of time learning about YouTube, and he had seen Kaplan’s videos. It gave him an idea.
McGuffey went back and tracked Kaplan’s posts from the previous year. He extrapolated them over full seasons for the Bulls, Cubs and White Sox and discovered the millions of impressions — and the potential payout — Kaplan could accrue. McGuffey presented it to him at lunch.
“What are you proposing?” Kaplan asked.
“I think we should start a YouTube channel,” McGuffey said.
Almost four years later, their channel, The REKAP, has more than 243,000 subscribers. It has a catalog of over 3,700 videos that have been viewed more than 12.8 million times. And with revenue coming in from YouTube and over a dozen advertisers, the channel is making money.
Take that, as “Kap” likes to say.
But those numbers didn’t just add up on their own. At lunch, McGuffey explained to Kaplan that he couldn’t post videos whenever he wanted. To achieve the numbers McGuffey envisioned — which he and Kaplan have blown past — the channel would have to be a full-time commitment.
“You can never miss a game — ever again,” McGuffey said.
And they haven’t. Kaplan has recorded videos on vacations, including in front of the Eiffel Tower. McGuffey has left wakes and funerals to edit and publish videos. All of it can be done with their phones. They also have a studio in Northbrook.
They built a lot of momentum at that lunch, but they kept it quiet. Both still were working at NBCSCH, and there was little concern of the network shutting down. They aimed to launch their channel in time for baseball season but ended up posting their first videos April 29.
With their wives’ blessing, Kaplan and McGuffey got started. That night, they posted on the Cubs and White Sox’ games and the Bears’ second- and third-round draft picks. The videos drew 400 views and netted 100 subscribers.
Two weeks later, while McGuffey and his wife were on a preplanned vacation to Napa, California, the channel reached YouTube’s first benchmark: 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. At that point, YouTube pays creators to run ads on their channel. Kaplan and McGuffey began receiving the tidy sum of $17.50 per month.
“I remember very clearly going, ‘Holy hell, we did what I wanted to do,’ which is make money off of ‘REKAPs,’ ” McGuffey said. “From there, it was like a rocket ship.”
That rocket ship went through an asteroid field one week later. Kaplan wanted to expand the channel to include interviews. After the Bulls were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs in a season that saw star Lonzo Ball suffer a serious knee injury, why not have Lonzo’s father, the loquacious LaVar Ball, on the channel?
“We do a 45-minute interview. He’s amazing,” Kaplan said. “ ‘Zach LaVine doesn’t wanna be there; Lonzo’s this.’ He’s giving his opinion on a lot of stuff.”
McGuffey was in Indianapolis working on an Indy 500 feature for NBC. As he prepared the video to post while sitting at a hotel bar, he had a thought.
“I think things are going to change,” McGuffey said. “I called [Kaplan], I was like, ‘I think it’s going to officially piss people off.’ ”
Sure enough, the interview went viral, and NBC executives, both local and national, were livid. They wanted to know why the interview didn’t appear on their channels and how this conflict of interest would be addressed. Kaplan’s “Unfiltered” show was in its seventh week.
Kaplan argued that his half-hour TV show couldn’t accommodate the long-form interview, but he agreed to let the network use anything posted on The REKAP channel, as long as he could keep it all on the channel. Begrudgingly, the network moved on.
Kaplan kept making videos, sometimes from a conference room at NBCSCH. McGuffey kept posting them, sometimes from his desk. No one suspected McGuffey was pulling the strings. Everyone thought Kaplan was working alone.
In October, NBC offered buyouts, or voluntary early retirement opportunities, to employees based on tenure. Kaplan qualified, but he still enjoyed working at NBCSCH. He showed it to his agent, Steve Mandell, fully expecting to pass on it.
“He’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re doing this. You’re done,’ ” Kaplan said.
The buyout paid Kaplan for the final two years of his contract. The network couldn’t offer him an extension beyond that because it hadn’t reached a new deal with the Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks. Kaplan’s last day was Dec. 30. He would be down to two jobs: ESPN and The REKAP.
And The REKAP kept growing. When it passed 100,000 subscribers, YouTube sent Kaplan a commemorative plaque. The channel added Bears “REKAPs” and other shows, such as the live “Lunch Hour with Guff.” Advertising increased. The thing was taking on a life of its own.
But McGuffey was still working in the shadows at NBCSCH. By the summer of 2024, the network’s fate was sealed, and Chicago Sports Network was set to launch. Kaplan spoke with the new network but said he wanted to focus on The REKAP.
McGuffey was waiting to hear from CHSN, and with two young kids, he was getting nervous about his prospects there. He didn’t feel a fit. That’s when Kaplan called and asked him to meet for lunch at Pennyville Station.
“Same table,” Kaplan said.
“It was a very emotional conversation,” McGuffey said. “We were both crying at this booth. He said, ‘Let’s do this, you and me.’ ”
Kaplan made McGuffey a partner in The REKAP and put him in charge of content. The secret was finally out.
Two and a half years after McGuffey convinced Kaplan to start the channel, Kaplan convinced McGuffey to make it his living. Now, almost a quarter of a million people are watching.
“My expectations for this whole thing have changed,” McGuffey said. “I don’t know where the end result is, but I do know it’s further than I ever envisioned.”