Ownership and Leadership
Varsity NC is independently owned and operated by Nick Stevens, founder and owner of Acorn Media LLC.
Stevens has covered North Carolina high school sports since 2006 and has more than two decades of experience in digital journalism, television, live sports coverage, audience development, editorial strategy, and high school athletics.
Before founding Varsity NC, Stevens spent 19 years with Capitol Broadcasting Company, where he helped launch HighSchoolOT in 2008 and later served as its managing editor. During his tenure, HighSchoolOT expanded from a Triangle-focused high school sports website into a statewide source for North Carolina high school sports news, scores, rankings, recruiting coverage, live broadcasts, historical information, and community recognition.
Stevens led and contributed to coverage of high school state championships, playoffs, coaching changes, conference realignment, athlete recruiting, major breaking news, statewide policy decisions, and the people and communities that shape high school athletics in North Carolina. His work has included written reporting, television appearances, video production, interviews, live digital programming, data-driven projects, and event coverage.
He also helped lead initiatives such as HighSchoolOT Live and the HighSchoolOT Honors, while developing relationships with student-athletes, coaches, athletic directors, school administrators, governing organizations, media professionals, and high school sports communities throughout the state.
Stevens is a two-time Edward R. Murrow Award winner, including for Excellence in Innovation in 2018. He was named the NCHSAA Media Representative of the Year in 2018, the N.C. Soccer Coaches Association's Media Representative of the Year in 2023, and received the N.C. Athletic Directors Association Distinguished Alumni Award in 2025.
Stevens sat on the Behavior In Sports Summit panel for the National Federation of State High School Associations and has hosted panels for other organizations, including the N.C. Athletic Directors Associations.
After leaving Capitol Broadcasting Company in 2025, Stevens continued working in high school athletics through content strategy, media development, school and district partnerships, and student sports media initiatives for National Amateur Sports.
He founded Varsity NC to create a more organized, connected, and lasting home for North Carolina high school sports. The platform combines original journalism with scores, schedules, statistics, historical records, databases, community contributions, and interactive tools designed to help users discover and understand the people, teams, events, and relationships that define high school sports across the state.
Varsity NC is not owned or controlled by a school, school district, athletic conference, governing association, television station, newspaper, or other media organization.
Ownership by Acorn Media LLC allows Varsity NC to make its own editorial, product, and business decisions while remaining accountable to its readers and the communities it serves.
Advertisers, sponsors, partners, schools, athletic departments, and outside organizations do not receive editorial control over Varsity NC's independent news coverage. Sponsored and paid content will be clearly identified in accordance with the Varsity NC Editorial Standards and Ethics and Sourcing Policy.
For questions about Varsity NC's ownership, editorial practices, partnerships, or business operations, please contact us through the information provided on this website.