The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. is moving deeper into digital commerce with the acquisition of the intellectual property of ShopHQ, the once-dominant television and online retailer that generated more than $500 million in annual revenue at its peak.
Arena Group and ShopHQ announced the acquisition deal Oct. 17, 2025. It transfers ShopHQ’s brand and first-party customer data from IV Media, LLC to Arena Group. That sets the stage for a revival built around live and social commerce rather than traditional broadcast retailing.
Arena Group CEO Paul Edmondson said the company intends to use ShopHQ’s extensive data trove and brand recognition to create “pools of first-party data sets” and merge commerce with the media network’s digital reach. Arena’s properties include TheStreet, Parade and formerly Sports Illustrated. It claims to engage millions of readers across its publishing network every day.
“The bridge we’re building between data, brands and users has enormous potential,” Edmondson said in announcing the deal.
Arena Group acquisition of ShopHQ
Under Arena’s ownership, ShopHQ will re-emerge as a digital-first marketplace accessible through social channels, YouTube and its website. The company plans to rely on a drop-ship-based inventory model, avoiding the burden of holding merchandise. It wants to emphasize creator-led selling, using hosts and influencers to drive engagement and conversion.
“ShopHQ has a loyal customer base that we’re eager to re-engage with trusted brands and experts,” said Jessica Gregory, general manager of ShopHQ. “Combining Arena’s capabilities with live selling and commerce content will enable ShopHQ to excite current customers while engaging and converting new ones.”
For Arena, the acquisition marks a strategic shift toward monetizing audiences through commerce as the digital advertising market grows increasingly competitive. By integrating a recognizable retail brand with rich customer data into its media ecosystem, Arena aims to offer advertisers precision targeting and create new revenue streams that go beyond display ads and subscriptions.
Previous ownership changes
The move also revives a storied retail name that has cycled through decades of transformation and turbulence. ShopHQ began life in 1991 as ValueVision. It was one of the early pioneers of televised home shopping. It became ShopNBC in the early 2000s under NBC’s ownership stake, later rebranded as EVINE Live. Then, it returned to the ShopHQ name in 2019. Its parent, iMedia Brands Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023. That led to a sale of assets to IV Media, a subsidiary of Innovation Ventures LLC. Innovation Ventures is best known as the maker of 5-Hour Energy. Despite an attempt to pivot toward streaming and online live selling, ShopHQ shuttered its network operations earlier this year.
Arena itself has had a tumultuous run. The New York- based media company is formerly known as TheMaven. It built its business by acquiring and licensing established publishing brands, including TheStreet and Parade, and by operating Sports Illustrated under license from Authentic Brands Group. That partnership unraveled in 2024 amid payment disputes and leadership turnover. Majority control of Arena now belongs to 5-Hour Energy founder Manoj Bhargava, whose Simplify Inventions acquired a 65% stake in 2023.
By bringing ShopHQ under the same ownership umbrella, Bhargava is effectively combining two of his portfolio’s strengths — consumer brand marketing and large-scale media distribution — into one commerce-driven platform. If the integration succeeds, Arena could transform ShopHQ’s dormant customer base into an engine for data-driven retail, where editorial content, influencer storytelling, and on-demand shopping converge.
The challenge will be execution. Reviving a legacy home-shopping brand in an era dominated by Amazon, TikTok Shop, and YouTube Shopping will require agility, fresh creative direction and seamless operations. Yet for Arena, still rebuilding its footing after the loss of Sports Illustrated, ShopHQ offers something it has lacked: a path from audience attention to direct consumer spending — and a chance to prove that content and commerce can, at last, share the same stage.
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