Athlete Podcasts Are Taking Off! (But Where Does This Lead?)

Athletes want their stories told better and a handful of companies are aggressively vying for the market share.

Andrew Petcash

Mar 10

I don’t know if you noticed this…

But there’s been A LOT of athletes launching their own podcasts as of late.

On the surface, this doesn’t seem that interesting (or important).

Yet I assure you that it is…

And for two main reasons:

athletes want their stories told better
brands are being built around assisting athlete creators (and I’m bullish on many of these companies)

Media is changing and so are the aspirations of athletes — this combination (especially when looking at podcasts) is interesting.

Let’s Dive In 👇

The Rise of Athlete Podcasts

Everyone will give you different answers, but if you ask me where this all started I will tell you…

The Player’s Tribune (TPT).

Which was launched in 2014 by Derek Jeter and his business partner Jaymee Messler, a former CMO at Excel Sports Management.

TPT uses podcasts, written articles, and video content to tell the stories of athletes.

It received massive funding in its early years and was acquired in 2019 by Minute Media, an Israeli digital entertainment media company.

Ok cool, but what does this have to do with anything?

Let me tell you…

The Floodgates Opened from TPT

The Player’s Tribune showed the world that athletes want to tell their stories, but from their own platforms.

Not long after you had:

Lebron James launch The Shop: Uninterrupted.
Pat McAfee retire from the NFL to start his own show.
Brandon Marshall create “I Am Athlete”.
Kevin Durant, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, and Steph Curry launch their own production arms.

LeBron James Fights For His Family | THE SHOP - YouTube

But the reality is…

Most athletes aren’t popular enough to have their own shows and/or enough money to create their own production arms.

On top of that, most athletes don’t have the infrastructure to support it.

And that’s when the opportunity arose (and founders jumped all over it).

Middleman Media Studios

So what goes into creating a successful podcast?

A lot more than you think:

equipment (mic, camera, lights, etc)
software (recording, editing, etc)
research and outreach
scheduling guests
posting short-form videos
publishing to podcast platforms
securing brand deals
and a whole lot more…

“What someone else makes look simple, is often complex, but made simple through repetition and iteration.” — Andrew Petcash

The ROI for most “active” athletes trying to do a podcast on their own isn’t worth it.

Once you’re “retired” it becomes more reasonable — but retired athletes don’t have as much social influence as when they were playing.

Pat McAfee Show Departs SiriusXM, Mad Dog Sports Radio

Companies that understand this dynamic have started building the infrastructure for athletes that don’t have time/resources to do their own podcasts.

Let me show you some examples:

Athlete Podcast Companies

*To note: some of these companies do more than just help set up athlete + celebrity podcasts — but that’s all I’m focusing on here.

It’s interesting to see how these companies are basically the same thing — but approaching it in different ways.

Blue Wire Podcasts

With over 300 podcasts under management, many of them being sports-focused, Blue Wire is leading the way.

They host the podcasts of several pro athletes including Gilbert Arenas, Chris Long, Lisa Leslie, Lolo Jones, Terrell Owens, Megan Rapinoe, and more.

Last summer, they raised an additional $2.5 million.

Team Whistle

Overall, in its creative network, Team Whistle has more than 200 content creators.

But they’ve done something unique — setting up creator incubators to identify talented athletes and sports personalities.

Team Whistle’s inaugural program even included two college athletes.

Washington State QB Cameron Ward and Montana kicker Adam Botkin.

Team Whistle launches 'Whistle Creator Program'

And given a long enough time frame, these creators will start to launch podcasts.

In 2021, Team Whistle was acquired by ELEVEN SPORTS.

Viral Nation

Last week, Viral Nation welcomed MLB superstar Mookie Betts to its expanding professional athlete roster with the launch of his YouTube channel (which will also have podcast segments).

Viral Nation Creator Studio is built around giving fans unprecedented access to the lives of their favorite celebrities and athletes.

Viral Nation’s roster includes top talent such as Tyreek Hill, Julio Rodriguez, and Sydney McLaughlin.

Wave Sports + Entertainment

With an array of sports-focused social media handles under management, Wave Sports + Entertainment has also started bringing on creators.

Last fall, they helped launch “New Heights” which is Jason and Travis Kelce’s podcast.

The show is already crushing it: 📈
IG: 424k
TikTok: 1.1M
Twitter: 130k
Youtube: 653k subs,164M views

How Travis Kelce And Jason Kelce's New Heights Podcast Comes Together

Wave Sports + Entertainment raised a $27M Series B last summer.

Others

With the success of the “micro-content” platforms above, we have seen the forward-thinking conglomerates get involved.

Brandon Marshall’s I Am Athlete signed a deal with SiriusXM.

The Pat McAfee Show signed a 4 year, $120M deal with FanDuel.

I think it’s important to take a peak at the business model behind these companies.

Podcast Management Model

First off, you have to identify talent and recruit them to come to your infrastructure.

Then you can figure out the revenue model which is fairly simple.

Revenue Split or Salary.

I would say the majority of platforms operate off of revenue splits (as it’s upside and downside protection for both the company and the athlete).

So where does the revenue come from?

title sponsors
podcast advertisements

And when you have an array of podcasts under management, it makes it much easier to sell sponsorship slots to brands.

I’m curious to see how these companies evolve their business models over time — as there is only a finite amount of athletes/celebrities worth having their own podcast (in terms of profitability).

Going Forward

I expect to see a lot more athlete podcasts over the next few years.

Why?

Pro athletes are increasingly turning to professional content studios to diversify their personal brand, as they see high value in connecting with fans and brands on digital platforms.

On the flip…

Big brands, particularly media conglomerates & betting companies, will most likely start setting up some of their own incubators.