Complex Kills Sole Collector to Launch Complex Bets

In decades past, there were only a few places to get information on sneakers online, and one of the original hotspots was Sole Collector. Many of the industry titans we know today were scouring the SC forums in the 2000s and 2010s, but today there are hundreds, if not thousands, of places to get your news. Instagram pages, Discord groups, X accounts, and of course, blogs like this one, just to name a few. Unfortunately, if you wanted to go down a nostalgia trip, Sole Collector is no more, thanks to Complex’s latest endeavor, Complex Bets.

Sole Collector's History at Complex

Let’s backtrack a bit and provide some context. Sole Collector was bought by Complex in 2013, and over the last decade, the Complex Sneakers arm of the company has become the priority focus for sneaker content from the brand. There were still programs from the Sole Collector wing, like the YouTube show Full Size Run, but in 2023, the forums disappeared as the Sole Collector forwarded users to Complex.

Still, Sole Collector lived on via social media, with the Instagram page often crossposting with the Complex Sneakers account and sharing sneaker content on its own occasionally. It was a shell of its former self, but this week, Complex officially killed off Sole Collector when it announced Complex Bets.

Complex Bets Announcement

Complex Bets is a partnership with Fanatics Sportsbook and Fanatics Market to create a sports betting and trading content platform that, according to their own press release, is “designed to connect sports, culture, and fandom through interactive storytelling and original programming.”

Basically, Complex Bets will start to cover predictive markets and sports betting through specialized content. And instead of growing the user base organically, Complex used the old Sole Collector socials that had millions of followers on Instagram and X to kickstart the new endeavor.

Online Reaction

After the sneaker community was made aware of what happened to the beloved legacy media brand, people began to sound off online. And just as quickly as posts on X were being fired off, Complex Bets went private.

Potential Revival of Sole Collector

Luckily, one of Sole Collector’s former employees, Nick Engvall, acquired the domain solecollector.org, with plans to revive the platform. “I bought SoleCollector.org. And I'm turning it into a real community hub for the people who were there in those forum days, and for the new generation of sneakerheads who never got to experience what that felt like.”

Engvall’s blog post also mentions that he reached out to Complex and asked Joe La Puma, senior VP of content strategy at Complex, if Nick could continue the Sole Collector account. “I know the answer I wanted is probably buried somewhere in legal approvals and contractual language and conversations that won't happen quickly, if ever. But I thought it was worth a shot. Complex still plans to use the account.”

Right now, the only way to view content from Sole Collector online is by using the Wayback Machine, and with the platform essentially buried now that Complex Bets has removed all traces of SC on social, now is a good time as any to go down memory lane.

Nicholas Vlahos

Sneakerhead from South Florida who turned his passion into a career. When not writing for Sole Retriever, I enjoy watching films and discovering music. Follow me on Letterboxd @nickvlah For tips, reviews, or any shoes in a size 13, email nick@soleretriever.com