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A sports podcast is a genre of podcasts covering topics related to sports and athletes. The covering of these topics often include predictions, analysis, and opinionated discussions.

History

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] Around this period, sports podcast 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.[6] Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee retired following the 2016 NFL season and ventured into the podcasting. His eponymous Pat McAfee Show has been credited with "paving the way for fellow athletes to pursue a media career upon retirement."[7]

In 2018, Sports Business Journal (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] 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.[7] Established sports networks, such as ESPN, also offered original podcast programming in addition to their repackaged content.[7] A series co-hosted by Bomani Jones and Katie Nolan, as well as Barstool Sports' lineup, including Pardon My Take, were also cited as popular by the SBJ.[4]

In 2021, television station group Tegna purchased the Locked On Podcast network, "which produces 160 daily shows for U.S. sports teams."[7] Established sports media personality Colin Cowherd also launched The Volume, his own podcast network to expand his reach in 2021.[7]

Reception and audience

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 Myers, then a cast member on Saturday Night Live, asked to guest on it.[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]

See also

References

  1. ^ Herrington, Jack D. (2005). Podcasting Hacks. O'Reilly Media. p. 167. ISBN 9780596100667. Retrieved September 27, 2022.}
  2. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Spanberg, Erik (May 7, 2018). "The Podcast Revolution". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Hull, Kevin (November 23, 2021). Sports Broadcasting. Human Kinetics. pp. 33–34. ISBN 9781492598572. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b c d e Ratts, Tyler; Benedek, Jonathan J. (December 14, 2021). Pedersen, Paul M. (ed.). "Encyclopedia of Sport Management". Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 362–363. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
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