Hit A Home Run: Tips For Launching A Successful And Bingeable Sports Podcast

Want your podcast and videocast to be seen, heard, found, and rewarded in this noisy digital world, you are not alone. Join the nonprofit community at Podcasters United and podcast industry experts Tom Hazard and Tracy Hazard as they debunk all that outdated and bad advice you've been getting from the podcast gurus and find out what actually works. Today, get ready to finish feed your brand with smart cut tactics proven to cast your original voice to the world.

Hey, everyone, Tracy Hazzard here on Feed your Brand. And today I'm going to talk about sports podcasting. We belong to this big group, Tom and I. We belonged to it for a while. It's a great group, the Sports and Entertainment Society, and they have constant newsletters, meetings, all kinds of virtual events, and they used to have some fabulous live events in conjunction with a group called fue, which Tom and I absolutely adored and miss since the pandemic started. But we're going to get back to it again.

The topic of sports podcasting has been really prevalent for us. I mean, it's. We know a lot of sports podcasters. There's a lot on our platform. We ran a podcast publicity pop up at the Super bowl in 2020. So we understand sort of the dynamic of what it takes to be a really great sports podcaster. But, you know, there are some reasons launching a sports podcast could boost your brand above the crowd, but there are also some reasons maybe it's not quite right for you. So I want to go over a little bit of that today and just give you a sense of whether or not boosting yourself above the crowd is what you're looking for for your brand. So a couple of things about sports podcasts that are just a little bit different. Many of them deal with news and information, so they're dealing with something timely that just happened. And it's really hard to even do an interview show and not address something timely, something that just happened in the sports field. So whether it's baseball or football or basketball, whatever, there's always something controversial or newsworthy to talk about right at any given time. What we want to be careful about is making something that's too newsworthy, because that's not the best show long term. It doesn't create a show that can get listened to after the fact. So, so when we're all news and not enough sort of sports entertainment part of it, then what happens is that we get a show that can only be listened to within a certain amount of time from whenever that event happened, or it's outdated. And podcasts, the Great thing about podcasts is that we can go back and listen to all of our back episodes. It's what we call bingeable, right? When we want to create a bingeable show. So I'm just going to quickly go over a few tips on how to create a more bingeable sports podcast, because it'll understand and frame the reasons why launching a sports podcast might be right for you. So I'm just gonna go over those really quickly. So the first thing is that we wanna have more timeless topics, right? Not that we're not gonna address the elephant in the room, the thing that just happened. We're going to address those. But if we can have more general timeless topics, like what do you define success as? How do you excel in your field? Like, things like that that we want to have as sort of the basis for the energy and main topic or direction of the show. We're going to do better with getting people to listen to all of our episodes and not skipping around. And that's going to create a more bingeable sports podcast at the end of the day. So that's our number one. Our number two is that we want to do it for the audience and not for ourselves, we or the people we're interviewing. This isn't an ego stroke. I know it seems like it is when you listen to some podcasts out there, and there are podcasts that it's all about that out there, where they're just in their own talking about their own things. But if at the end of the day you're not thinking about that audience that you are trying to attract and listening to your show, you're not going to sustain them. So at all times, if, you know you've got an audience built of sports enthusiasts who absolutely love everything about eat, breathe and sleep baseball. You know, we're in baseball season right now, as I'm recording that. So sleep, eat and breathe baseball and everything about baseball, and you're doing shows on basketball at the off season and it's just not the right time, then you're not necessarily serving that audience and they're going to go elsewhere to get what they're looking for at that moment. So we want to be thinking about always curating our guests that we have on our show, our topics, and directing the. The conversations that we have there to being something that the audience is curious about and deeply wants to know. And from that perspective, this is what I hear again and again on sports shows, is that a lot of times you guys are buddies, right? You're interviewing each other and your buddies on the show and your buddies off of it. And while that rapport is fabulous, you forget that some of us aren't in on the show. We don't unknow that inside track. And, and getting your guest to tell stories of what it was like when you guys were in college playing ball together, that's awesome. Your audience gets backstories to it. So when you've got something where you refer to something and that is that inside joke, bring your audience into the fold. So always be thinking about that audience perspective and what it's like to be a listener of your show and you're going to have a better show long term. And then the third thing, the third tip that I have for you for making a more bingeable, successful sports podcast show is to think about the in season and the off season. You know, we get football widows, people who are so sad and upset that football season ended and they're dying for more information. So if you are deep diving into a football sports podcast show and you don't show up in the off season is going to get a whole lot harder to get their attention back in the in season again. So thinking about showing up for them post season and preseason and during the season, like all of that is extremely important. Don't forget to show up week after week after week. And you are thinking, tracy, that is just awful because I don't want to show up week after week. I would like to take a vacation. That is the beautiful part about podcasting. We can record them. We can record four episodes and take a whole month off. So go ahead and change up your show in the off season if that's what you want to do. You don't have to have it be exactly the same show that you do during the season. You can have a different style show, you can restructure it, you can make it shorter, you can have a different setup and format for it, but keeping consistently in front of your listener at all times and being sensitive to the fact that they're dying for information and contact and someone to talk sports with.

Right.

Talk their sport with. Don't forget about that because again, that goes back to that listener sensitivity, that audience curation, that group that we want to attract and we want to be there for them week after week. And when we do that, we earn their trust, we earn their listenership and their subscribers, and you earn their referral to other fans. And that will get you more. That is going to get you even more than you could have gotten Otherwise. So being that sports podcaster shows up week after week after week.

Those are just my main basic tips for it. Creating something timeless, be there for their audience first and show up week after week. Some super simple things. These are just really easy. But here's what it's going to get you. This is some of the reasons for launching show and one that's really going to boost your brand and make you stand out. Now, everybody has a reason for podcasting their why is your why is really important? Like why are you doing this? Is it because you want to show that you can be at that broadcasting level and you want to show it now? Is it that you are building a business around sports coaching? Are you building a business around financial management for sports celebrities? Whatever it is that your business is building, you want to be thinking about, how can I show up every week? Because when I show up every week, I'm showing that I am consistent and constant and it's really going to get me exactly what I want. It's going to get you in front of the fans or in front of those potential clients or in front of that audience. And it's going to show that you can be the choice because you know how to show up. And that's really, really ultra important in this marketplace where there's a lot of shows that fade out. They do 10, 12 episodes and they're gone. So when you show a week after week and you're really putting your whole heart in this, then you're going to get yourself right there in front of and at the top of the list for whatever it is that you were looking for and your why in that process. So that's one of the best reasons and the most important reason to think about launching a show if you need that, if that's really important to you. The other thing is sometimes we don't know what our brand appeal is. We don't know why people love us. Right. I know that people love me and love my shows, the binge factor and feed you'd brand. They love that. Why? Because I don't tell them all the same things that's regurgitated from everyone over and over again. Now, do I tell you some things again and again and again? Yes. I'm always reiterating the things that are really important. But I'm not giving you regurgitated bad information. I'm giving you new perspectives on things. I'm always giving you something that's right on the edge, that's up and coming. But I'm also not giving you stuff that's not going to work for you. I'm not giving you hacks that are going to work today and be gone tomorrow, right? I'm giving you stuff that's tried, true, going to work for you. And that's who I am. I'm your how to girl, right? I know my brand, I know who I am. And that means that me showing up here makes a lot of sense. But sometimes we don't know what that brand is. We don't know who we are. We don't have our message and our appeal. We know people like us and we have a good personality and we have a lot to say and a lot to share. Or we're just a really good interviewer. One of the great ways of the best experimentation ground because it's so flexible, because it doesn't require a whole ton of money and time and effort. You know, where we don't have to put in full video productions and have a big production support staff. Audio is so easy. A podcast is so easy. $100 microphone, a camera on your computer, some zoom and you have a podcast, right? And you can record. All you gotta do is get a host on the other side and productize. Is always happy to be there for you, right? And support you in that. We're happy to be your coach and your host at the same time, but that's not the point. The point is that you can co own your message, your appeal and learn about your audience. Treat it like an experimentation, start to figure out what works for you. Try different types of interviews, try different types of topics, start to see what's really working for you, especially if you're in search of that next thing or what's the next thing in your career? What's the next thing for your business? How do I reach my market? How do I reach my audience better? What can I do? If your brand needs that kind of crafting and honing, this is a perfect experimentation place for you to do it. Because it's super easy to get rid of episodes that don't work and super easy to expand on ones that do and really turn it into something bigger. It's never too late to take a podcast, turn it into a blog and a website, or turn it into a YouTube channel later. It's never too late to do that. But start in a place that's super easy, super accessible and inexpensive to be able to hone that message and create your hypothesis about your brand. Like, why are you here? What are your purpose? Try it out and see if it Works. The last thing that I want to say for the reasons for launching a sports podcast that can really boost your brand and really help you rise above the crowd and the noise that's going on is, is that when you have a podcast, you show up week after week and your listenership is growing over time, and it doesn't matter if they're like hockey, sticking off and, you know, just taking off, and you've got hundreds of thousand listeners, right way doesn't matter at all. No one can see those statistics on the back end. They're yours. And you might get caught up in them, but everybody else can't see it. They only hear what people are talking about. And if people are talking about your show within your industry, within your niche, then you are doing really well. And that helps you command your brand, right? And get that brand so that you're standing above the next guy or the next guy above that, right? And it kind of ratchet you up in what we call authority, right? So it's moving you up. So it demos. Not only that, you can raise your authority by who you're interviewing, by how you're approaching a show, by the fact that you're showing up week after week, you're putting it out there and you're really putting effort into that, but it shows that you can engage an audience off the field or off of whatever you were doing before you wanted to start this sports podcast show. So really thinking about that is that it's proving that you can take an audience and command them and bring them in and bring them week after week and get them to subscribe to you. It's a whole lot harder to grow a podcast show than it is to get a few likes on Facebook or on Instagram, right? But that people on Instagram, if you can get them to come off of Instagram and come and listen to your podcast, now you have a transferable fan base, you have a transferable audience. And that means if you want to go into doing movies and TV and other things like that, you are more likely to be able to do that because your fans are coming with you, no matter what media type you're choosing.

So these are just a few reasons to think about launching a sports podcast, launching one that boosts your brand, and some ideas for how to create a more bingeable show. I'm always here for you. I love the sports podcast niche. It's one of my favorites to talk about. I'm not into every single sport, so I'm not an expert. I'm not an expert in basketball, for instance. I am a huge baseball fan, but I understand the structure of how the shows work because I've worked with so many sports podcasters over the last five years. And because of that, we've really gotten to this place of understanding of what's working, what's not working, what's working today that worked three years ago, but doesn't work today. We want to make sure we're always thinking about those things. So feel free. Reach out. Love to talk to you, love to hear about you. We have Clubhouse host in the hot seat. So if you've already got a sports podcast and you'd like to know how to shift it to the next level or what else you can do to make it a better show, I'd love to talk to you. I'd love to put you in our hot seat and help you grow that show to that next place. So as always, you can reach out to us@potatize.com there's an inquiry form right on the main website and there's email. All kinds of ways to reach out to us and you can always find us on social media. Odditize and I will be back next week with another show talking about different types of podcasting and how to get a show started and make it successful.

Heard something valuable today but didn't get a chance to write it down. No worries, we've got you covered. We partnered up with podcasters united.org where podcast hosts like you can get free resources, free masterclasses, the largest podcast tip library assembled, and free promotion opportunities while you're there. Don't forget to follow us on YouTube and on social unitedwipod so you can get feed you'd brand live. Until next time, keep podcasting.