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Bill Simmons Explains Spotify’s Sports Vision

“The COVID-19 pandemic may have derailed the big picture a bit, but Simmons says The Ringer is in good position to succeed in the short term.”

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Vulture interviewed Bill Simmons on Wednesday, just one day after Spotify reached a $100 million deal to obtain the exclusive rights to The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Earlier this year, the company acquired Simmons’s The Ringer for a reported $250 million.

“It’s a nut they’ve been trying to crack for two years, but it’s hard to find the right team,” Simmons said of Spotify’s plan for sports content and why the company saw value in The Ringer. “I think they felt they had most of the right pieces in place, and the thing they were missing was that one person who had succeeded in this space and had gut instinct on what works.”

Simmons said that the opportunity to help crack said nut was part of what made joining Spotify so appealing to him.

“There were two big reasons I went to Spotify. One was that they were going to blow out The Ringer — make it bigger, all that stuff. But the second was, they wanted me to figure out their global sports strategy with [Spotify head of studios and video] Courtney Holt, who’s my boss and who reports to [Spotify chief content officer] Dawn Ostroff. That was one of the tasks that we had this first year, and that’s impossible to figure out when we don’t know when sports are coming back.”

The COVID-19 pandemic may have derailed the big picture a bit, but Simmons says The Ringer is in good position to succeed in the short term. He points to shows like The Rewatchables, Binge Mode, The Book of Basketball podcast, and The Watch as perfect shows for the moment – the type of content that doesn’t require an active sports calendar to thrive.

“That goes back to the Grantland days: We try to think outside of the box and get creative during dead spots on the calendar.”

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said that he felt like he was buying “the next ESPN” when the company closed on the deal with The Ringer. Simmons says that those expectations were what pushed Spotify over the top while he was also talking with AT&T and Bleacher Report.

He acknowledges that the path to the top is going to be an interesting one, because while pieces of many companies make up Spotify’s competition, Apple is the only one-to-one competitor in the podcasting space and Simmons is confident that Spotify is more focused on podcasting than Apple is.

When asked if he still has eyes for TV, Simmons notes that his first look deal is still in place at HBO. He is still open to new opportunities, but podcasting and the growth of The Ringer under the Spotify umbrella remain his priorities.

“I love doing my podcast. I love the creativity of it, the format. I don’t just mean that podcast. I love The Rewatchables. I love doing the Book of Basketball stuff. I love popping on other people’s pods.”

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Joe Buck Misses Calling Baseball But Says He’s Already Called it for “A Lifetime”

“People go, ‘Do you miss calling baseball?’ — I did it for 35 years, that is a lifetime in broadcasting…I feel like I put my time in.”

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Picture of Joe Buck
Credit: Richard Shotwell AP

Longtime sports broadcaster Joe Buck gave up calling baseball when he made the switch to ESPN and, while he says he misses the sport, he’s called 35 years’ worth of the sport. On the latest edition of Nothing Left Unsaid with Tim Green, Green asks his former broadcast partner about the lack of baseball in his life. While Buck says he misses parts of baseball, he doesn’t miss all of it.

“People go, ‘Do you miss calling baseball?’ — I did it for 35 years, that is a lifetime in broadcasting…I feel like I put my time in. I did 24 World Series — that’s a lot, 24 more than I ever expected to do on national television. What I do miss is calling the game for the home crowd. I do miss the local stuff, where you go into the booth, and you’re the Cardinal announcer, and when the Cardinals win, ‘Yay,’ and when the Cardinals lose, ‘Boo.’ When you do the network stuff, it’s like death by 1000 cuts. It’s, ‘you hate my team, screw you,’ and it gets in your head and it takes a little bit of the fun out of it…I don’t miss the stress that comes with all that, but I do miss calling baseball for [a local team]…You show up, you’re not just there for an organization, but for their fans, and you’re kind of rooting along with them. That’s fun. And so, I miss that, but as far as the national stuff, I don’t miss a lot of that.”

Buck reiterated points he made months ago on 810 WHB with Jason Anderson. “I miss doing local baseball. I miss putting on a headset and being the eyes and ears of Cardinal fans, Royal fans, Rangers fans, whatever,” Buck said back then. “That’s more fun than being Switzerland and getting all the junk that comes with it.”

He stopped calling baseball when he and longtime football partner Troy Aikman moved from FOX to ESPN to call Monday Night Football. While he said publicly that he would miss calling the World Series, he also said the 2022 World Series would have been his last anyway. Buck says he may one day feel compelled to call baseball again, though, saying, “I’ve never said that before, but I just feel like I’m 53, basically 54, [and] I think it’s too early to say nevers at this point in my life. I think at some point, I’ll get the itch again.”

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Former Red Sox Pitcher Jonathan Papelbon Joins Roster of ‘Foul Territory’ Hosts

“I am joining the Foul Territory podcast full-time, no more guest spots…I’m coming in and I can’t wait to pop a bottle on this year’s baseball season.

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The already-stacked roster on Foul Territory just got its closer. Jonathan Papelbon, formerly of the Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, and Philadelphia Phillies, announced today that he was joining fellow former All-Stars A.J. Pierzynski, Todd Frazier, Adam Jones, Lorenzo Cain, Brock Holt and Jason Kipnis on the show.

The podcast also features former MLB Network host Scott Braun and former 11-year MLB catcher Erik Kratz.

“I am joining the Foul Territory podcast full-time, no more guest spots,” Papelbon said in a video posted to his X account. “Whether it’s a big Ohtani gambling scandal or me giving you baseball gambling winners…I’m coming in, no bulls—-, real talk, and I can’t wait to pop a bottle on this year’s baseball season.”

Papelbon has been a contributor to the show in the past as a guest but will now join in an official capacity. He has also contributed to linear and digital content for NESN since 2021 and will reportedly head to the booth this year.

The former closer will join Alanna Rizzo on the Foul Territory network, who was brought on just a week ago to co-host the podcast’s live program, Fair Territory, with baseball insider Ken Rosenthal.

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Sage Steele Debuts Episode 1 of ‘The Sage Steele Show’ Through Bill Maher’s Club Random Studios

“The Sage Steele Show” is the first show on Bill Maher’s Club Random Studios podcast network and episode one features UFC CEO and President Dana White.

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Sage Steele is back in the sports media space with her own YouTube show, The Sage Steele Show. It comes courtesy of Bill Maher’s Club Random Studios and features UFC CEO and president Dana White in Episode 1.

Steele announced the move via her X account, saying that she was, “THRILLED to announce [her] new show! Genuine convos with fearless people who are unafraid to tell their stories & speak their truths in this crazy world!”

Steele left ESPN after 16 years and one First Amendment lawsuit, after claiming the company and her colleagues wanted to suppress her rights to free speech after making public comments about COVID-19 and former President Barack Obama. Steele says she lived in fear during her last few years at the company because of her beliefs and the potential clashes they would have with her colleagues. She made appearances on other programs in the time since her ESPN departure but now finally has a new home.

Steele’s show is the first on Bill Maher’s new Club Random Studios podcast network. She will join other hosts like Billy Corgan and Fred Durst with shows on the network. According to Variety, Club Random will also partner with Kevin Garnett on his KG Certified podcast and develop new shows in-house.

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