Leveraging Fandom and Community to Avoid the Meta Hamster-Wheel

What if you built a breakout apparel brand without relying on Meta ads?Connor Hitchcock did just that with Homefield, a cult-loved collegiate brand now licensed with over 200 schools and doing 8-figures in revenue.In this episode, we dig into:- Why only 5% of their revenue goes to Meta and how word-of-mouth does the rest- How recreating tailgates in college bars became their marketing moat- The surprising ROI of selling $220 bundle boxes (yes, they crushed)- What licensing economics really look like in college sports- Why running Homefield is basically sports gambling with inventoryIf you care about brand, community, and doing things that don’t scale—this one’s for you.