Sports podcast

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Sports podcasts are a subset of podcasts that cover topics related to sports and athletes. Content can include sports news, predictions and analysis of game results, debates and discussions between hosts, and interviews with sports figures.

Contents

History

Bill Simmons is often credited with helping popularize sports podcasts Bill Simmons (cropped).jpg
Bill Simmons is often credited with helping popularize sports podcasts

Podcasts in general began to gain a following in the mid and late 2000s. In October 2004, Sam Coutin began The Sports Pod and shortly after he launched the My Sports Radio podcast network. [1] [2] By 2006, shows on Coutin's network were achieving 500,000 downloads each month. [2]

ESPN was an early adopter of the podcast format, launching their first in 2005. [3] In 2007, Bill Simmons stumbled upon a podcast interview of Boston Celtics executive Danny Ainge by ESPN NBA draft analyst Chad Ford. [4] Simmons, also an ESPN employee at the time, inquired to his management about hosting a podcast of his own. Simmons was sent basic audio equipment and hosted his B.S. Report podcast in a DIY fashion from his home. [4] Simmons' podcast was popular among sports fan and he his success would help "launch a sports podcast revolution." [4]

In 2016, Simmons left ESPN and founded his own website venture, The Ringer, that centered much of its focus through podcasts. [5] His Bill Simmons Podcast hosted on the website was "the lone sports program among iTunes' 20 most popular [podcasts in 2017]." [4] Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee retired following the 2016 NFL season and ventured into podcasting. His eponymous Pat McAfee Show has been credited with "paving the way for fellow athletes to pursue a media career upon retirement." [6]

Around this period, sports podcasst began attracting more attention as a vehicle for advertisements, similar to how sports radio functions. [4] [5] The Ringer's ad sales exceeded $15 million in 2018. [7] From 2015 to 2020, ad revenue for podcasts rose 1,350%; sports podcasts were near the top of all genres driving that revenue. [8]

By the late 2010s, podcast versions of sports television talk shows like The Herd with Colin Cowherd and First Take were among popular sports podcasts. [4] Radio shows are also repackaged into podcasts. [6] Established sports networks, such as ESPN, also offered original podcast programming in addition to their repackaged content. [6] Series hosted by Bomani Jones and Katie Nolan, as well as Barstool Sports' lineup, including Pardon My Take , were also cited as popular by the Sports Business Journal (SBJ). [4]

Colin Cowherd launched The Volume podcast network in 2021 Colin Cowherd (2011 crop).jpg
Colin Cowherd launched The Volume podcast network in 2021

The 2020s brought upon further expansion and growth for sports podcasts, with major acquisitions and network developments occurring. [6] Simmons sold The Ringer to Spotify for $196–$250 million in 2020. [9] [10] In 2021, television station group Tegna purchased the Locked On Podcast Network, "which produces 160 daily shows for U.S. sports teams." [6] Partnering with iHeartMedia in 2021, established sports media personality Colin Cowherd launched The Volume, his own podcast network, to better connect with consumers. [6] [11] In January 2022, Fox Sports launched Fox Audio Network, a podcast network to leverage its on-air talent such as Skip Bayless and Nick Wright, in the audio space. [12] [13]

Audience and demographics

Early in the history of sports podcasts, exact numbers on viewership was difficult to track. ESPN opted to not share viewership of The B.S. Report with Simmons, and the latter only realized how popular his podcast was when Seth Meyers, then a cast member on Saturday Night Live , asked to guest on it. [4]

In 2018, SBJ wrote that "Unlike TV, where live games account for all but a handful of the most-watched programs in the U.S. each year, sports podcasts trail shows focused on news and political shows or general interest in both audience size and revenue." [4] According to industry analyst Podtrac, only two sports programmers ranked among top 10 among podcast programmers in March 2018: ESPN was ranked 7th and Barstool Sports was ranked 10th, with 4.4 million and 2.4 million monthly unique listeners, respectively. [4] ESPN experienced a 43% increase in 2018 over 2017 in podcast downloads. [14] [15] The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz was the network's most downloaded sports podcast show in 2018, with more than 91 million IAB Certified downloads. [15]

In 2019, ESPN executive Traug Keller stated that "podcast listeners skew significantly younger, certainly younger than ESPN Radio, in fact, younger than any other platform at ESPN," detailing that, "the ESPN podcast listener is on average 33, and 60% of our podcast listeners are 18 to 34. That's 13 years younger than our radio listeners." [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Simmons</span> American sports writer (born 1969)

William John Simmons III is an American podcaster, sportswriter, and cultural critic who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website The Ringer. Simmons first gained attention with his website as "The Boston Sports Guy" and was recruited by ESPN in 2001, where he eventually operated the website Grantland and worked until 2015. At ESPN, he wrote for ESPN.com, hosted his own podcast on ESPN.com titled The B.S. Report and was an analyst for two years on NBA Countdown.

<i>The Herd with Colin Cowherd</i> US radio program

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Cowherd</span> American sports media personality

Colin Murray Cowherd is an American sports media personality. Cowherd began his broadcasting career as sports director of Las Vegas television station KVBC and as a sports anchor on several other stations before joining ESPN in 2003, where he hosted a radio show on the ESPN Radio network and also became one of the original hosts of ESPN's television program SportsNation, as well as Colin's New Football Show. Cowherd is currently the host of The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio and Fox Sports 1.

Ryen Russillo is an American sports journalist and sports host who for many years hosted a popular radio show on ESPN. Russillo left ESPN in 2019 to join The Ringer.

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Barstool Sports is an American blog website and digital media company headquartered in New York City that publishes sports journalism and pop culture-related content. It is owned by David Portnoy, who founded the company in 2003 in Milton, Massachusetts.

Juliet Elinor Litman is an American journalist, editor, and American media personality. As of 2017, she is the Head of Production at The Ringer, Bill Simmons' latest online enterprise. Litman is the former host of the Right Reasons and NBA After Dark podcasts and was also formerly the Special Projects Editor at Grantland.

<i>The Ringer</i> (website) American sports and pop culture website

The Ringer is a sports and pop culture website and podcast network, founded by sportswriter Bill Simmons in 2016 and owned by Spotify since 2020.

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Pardon My Take is a comedic sports podcast released three times per week by Barstool Sports. It is hosted by Dan "Big Cat" Katz and PFT Commenter. The podcast debuted on February 29, 2016. It first appeared on the US iTunes charts on March 2, 2016, in the number one position.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Volume</span> Sports media company

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References

  1. ↑ Herrington, Jack D. (2005). Podcasting Hacks. O'Reilly Media. p. 167. ISBN   9780596100667 . Retrieved September 27, 2022.}
  2. 1 2 Walch, Rob; Lafferty, Mur (May 22, 2006). Tricks of the Podcasting Master. Pearson Education. pp. 87–90. ISBN   9780132714730 . Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  3. ↑ Keller, Traug (February 7, 2018). "ESPN's podcast business benefits from history". ESPN Front Row . ESPN . Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Spanberg, Erik (May 7, 2018). "The Podcast Revolution". Sports Business Journal . Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Hull, Kevin (November 23, 2021). Sports Broadcasting. Human Kinetics. pp. 33–34. ISBN   9781492598572 . Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ratts, Tyler; Benedek, Jonathan J. (December 14, 2021). Pedersen, Paul M. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Sport Management. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 362–363. ISBN   9781800883284 . Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  7. ↑ Mullin, Benjamin; Flint, Joe (January 29, 2019). "For Bill Simmons's the Ringer, Podcasting Is the Main Event". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  8. ↑ Bassam, Tom (November 12, 2020). "Casting a wide net: The business of sports podcasting". SportsPro Media . Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  9. ↑ Spangler, Todd (February 12, 2020). "Spotify Is Paying Up to $196 Million in Cash to Acquire Bill Simmons' The Ringer". Variety . Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  10. ↑ Shaw, Lucas (February 11, 2020). "Spotify Pays $250 Million for Ringer in Podcasting Drive". Bloomberg News . Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  11. ↑ Hayes, Dade (May 18, 2021). "Colin Cowherd Podcast Network The Volume Taps Sports Media Vet Logan Swaim As Head Of Content" . Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  12. ↑ Chan, J. Clara (January 13, 2022). "Fox Sports Launches Podcast Network With New Skip Bayless Show". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  13. ↑ Goldsmith, Jill (March 2, 2022). "New Fox Audio Network Inks Advertising, Distribution Deal With Spotify's Megaphone" . Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  14. 1 2 Goldstein, Steven (February 15, 2019). "Why ESPN is all in on podcasts; We interview ESPN's Traug Keller". Amplifi Media. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  15. 1 2 "ESPN Exec Bullish on Podcasts". Podcast Business Journal. February 20, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
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