Dave Cox is the owner of Santa Rosa’s most popular high school and college sports network, Youth Sports Network, or YSN365.
As the CEO and founder, he delivers all of the latest local sports news updates, scores and highlights.
An Oakland native, he moved to Cloverdale when he was 3. He’s lived in Santa Rosa ever since he was 11 years old. Cox graduated from Cardinal Newman High School and attended Pepperdine University, where he majored in communications and minored in art.
Cox has worked in sports journalism and broadcasting since he was 30. He worked with Comcast for more than 17 years before he founded YSN365. The company is in its fifth year and continues to expand and grow into a network that local fans can appreciate more each day. YSN365 provides all of the newest sports information on its website, and with the help of Facebook and Instagram accounts, it stays loyal and true to its fan base with Cox operating nearly everything.
YSN365 focuses on delivering sports information but manages to cover more than enough of Santa Rosa Junior College’s sports.
“While high school is our main focus, we love covering the college as much as we can,” Cox said.
He further explained the network’s purposes. “YSN is a micro multi-media sports network. We broadcast scores, games, updates, video highlights, news articles, photos, radio, TV,” Cox said. “We’ve actually worked in a studio for television broadcasting on a local Santa Rosa network called KFTY, but the studio got bought out and we were forced to stop doing that.”
Cox loves being his own boss. He said he benefits from the emotion of the crowd at the games he announces, as well as from the support his fans offer him on the official YSN365 website and the social networking profiles he’s created.
“I love finding that passion from the crowd while covering a game. As a broadcaster you have to be able to find that indescribable passion from the fans during a game,” Cox said. “That’s why I do this job, to feel that passion and emotion. Having the appreciation from the locals, that’s what supports and motivates me to entertain and deliver.”
Founding a network like this was a gamble, but Cox had a feeling with all of the competitive high schools in Sonoma County, YSN365 would succeed.
“Starting up a company like this was a huge risk.” Cox said. “It’s like with marketing — if you’re going to create a new shoe, what makes the new shoe better than the one people are already wearing? Since MaxPreps.com is nationwide and not just Sonoma-specific, the locals are going to follow the site and network more often than MaxPreps because a local network delivers what you want to see first. It was a wise investment after all and it’s starting to pay off.”
While Cox enjoys delivering local sports news, he still has the idea in the back of his mind to someday work for a bigger sports network. He mentioned the PAC-12 Network but says he just doesn’t have that “go and get it” attitude for a job like that yet, and doesn’t want to work for anyone any time soon. Working locally also means keeping the hours he wants, allowing for flexibility and free time with his family.
Cox is a husband and father. Aside from delivering the news, he enjoys watching the Golden State Warriors, San Francisco Giants and the San Francisco 49ers. He likes coaching youth baseball and skiing.
Cox sees himself possibly retiring from his current job, and maybe even handing the CEO title down to his son, who seems interested in what his father does. He hasn’t looked too much into that chapter in his life, but has a feeling YSN365 will be around for a while and continue to deliver the news and information that Sonoma County parents and fans want.
