Sports Podcast Trends We Expect For 2023

1.????More athletes picking up the mic

With athletes becoming increasingly more media savvy and with more of an appetite to build their brand outside of their sport, current sportspeople in their prime are increasingly turning to podcasts as a way to express their own unfiltered voice, control the narrative, portray a different side to their character and build a direct relationship with their audience.

2022 saw the likes of NFL stars and brothers Jason and Travis Kelce become the most popular sports podcast in the world, having only launched their New Heights show in September. We also saw EPL footballer Ben Foster see huge success with his FozCast, announcing his retirement on the podcast and turning down a lucrative contract with Newcastle United to focus on his post-football career as a content creator.

With the likes of Tom Brady, Ben Stokes, Paddy the Baddy, Draymond Green, Richard Sherman, Joe Marler, Andrew “Beef” Johnston and Geraint Thomas also seeing huge success in this space, we can expect more unique insights from inside the locker room in 2023.

2.????And it’s live!

The live podcast scene returned with a vengeance after a Covid-enforced break, with multiple leading podcasts heading on tour and the venues getting bigger and bigger – an example being Crouchfest 2 selling out Wembley Arena in November.

Expect this trend to continue in 2023, with multiple leading sports podcasts already having confirmed their shows and tours for the year, and with our very own Pod Live – the first ever Sports Podcast Festival happening in London in February.

Why are podcasters going live? Live podcast shows allow you to build a deeper relationship with your audience, builds more of a community feeling and allows for more interaction with your loyal listeners.

Pod Live Sport is taking place at Kings Place London between February 8th-12th, featuring Fighting Talk, The Cycling Podcast, Socially Distant Sports Bar, Morning Kombat, The Race F1 Podcast and more.

3.????Rights Holders to join the party

Right Holders have traditionally been slow to the game when it comes to having their own podcasts, especially in the UK, but 2022 saw many teams, leagues and tournaments enter the market, with the Wimbledon: Between The Lines being an ace hit, The Official Liverpool FC Podcast recently launching and the NFL adding significantly to their podcast network. ?

Expect this trend to continue in 2023, with more Rights Holders in general finally recognising the power of podcasting as a fan engagement tool.

To keep your eyes peeled for any new team or tournament-specific podcasts, be sure to sign up for The Scout newsletter – the ultimate source of discoverability for sports podcasts.

4.????The niche takeover

There are more podcasts being created than ever before, but the top of the sports podcast charts have remained pretty consistent in the style, topics and format, leading to a certain element of saturation and repetition. Finding the correct podcast niche can help podcasts cut-through and offer something unique and valuable to their listeners. If you’re passionate about a subject, no matter how obscure, chances are there are others out there who share your passion – and you can build a small, but super-engaged community of listeners.

In this year’s Sports Podcast Awards we saw entries from podcasts covering wild fishing, bowhunting, and rugby refereeing! What’s your niche podcast idea?

Did you know: According to Statista, nearly three out of every four consumers in the US listen to podcasts because they want to learn new things? It’s no wonder the niche is taking over.

5.????The Blurred-Lines of Creators & the growing influence of TikTok

Even though the dominant age bracket for podcast listening is 25-34, TikTok is emerging as a key platform for podcast discoverability, so ignore it at your peril!

The next generation of podcast stars are omni-channel creators, with huge audiences across podcast, Youtube and social media - with TikTok being central to this. Irrespective of which channel they originate in, having that multi-platform presence will be the norm.

For a podcast creator, creating video content from your podcast, whether for long-form consumption or short-form highlights, is hardly a new trend, but its application and importance will continue to increase in 2023, as the lines between “Podcaster”, “YouTuber” and “Social Media Influencer” become increasingly blurred and TikTok’s influence continues to rise.

On that note, give @SportsPodGroup a follow across all social channels to stay up to date with everything that’s happening in the sports podcast industry?

6.????Bolder formats of sports podcasting

We referenced earlier a certain level of saturation with the content-type and format of sports podcasting, relative to other genres. Sport is the perfect genre for immersive story-telling, with many nostalgic moments, controversies and interesting characters to delve deeper into, so we expect to see more non-fiction narrative storytelling podcasts being commissioned in sport.

This style of content is more labour-intensive to produce, but the success of recent podcasts such as BBC’s Spygate, The Moment Of Truth and The Last Cup by NPR, a podcast focused on Lionel Messi’s journey to World Cup glory, should encourage more creators and publishers to invest the time and money to create higher quality, well-researched content that will stand out from the status quo.

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