The controversial new media presence, Draymond Green, appeared on the latest Jim Rome Podcast to talk about returning the Warriors to glory, getting right mentally and promoting the new Amazon series called, The Sessions.
But Rome did take time to ask about Green’s Podcast The Draymond Green Show, and how it took the NBA Playoffs and NBA Finals by storm.
“The podcast became a thing during the Finals,” Rome began his question, “because I’m not sure any player has ever really let us in the way you did during a championship series. It became a big thing. What was your reaction to all of the reaction to your podcast?”
Green did not waste a moment before explaining that the attention it garnered surprised him.
“If you want me to be honest with you, I was a little shocked by what the reactions have been to it, especially during the playoffs. Obviously it was something that had never been done to that magnitude before in our league. So it’s a really big deal. It’s groundbreaking. Everyone’s talking about it. It became a big thing. It became a topic of discussion.”
Draymond then added that his podcast becoming a “thing” was beneficial, in his eyes, to the sport itself.
“For me? That’s amazing. Ultimately they are helping to grow the audience of the podcast. I enjoy sharing my knowledge of the game. I enjoy helping grow the overall knowledge of the game of basketball because ultimately I think that puts our game in a much better place.”
Green ended his comments by ackowledging that the interest definitely helped download numbers, no matter who they came from.
“I absolutely love it. For people to have the reaction that they had to the podcast, I am thankful for that. I don’t take it for granted. Appreciate all our supporters, all our listeners. Those that listen because they enjoy it, or they enjoy the content or they enjoy me or they are fans of mine, I appreciate them.
And then those that listen because they are haters I appreciate them because ultimately you’re listening, you’re a supporter and for that I thank you.”
Lakers Lounge, hosted by Anthony Irwin, Green With Envy, hosted by Will Weir, Greg Maneikis, and Adam Taylor, and Pod Maverick with Kirk Henderson are all being revived with Blue Wire.
“We’ve built Blue Wire around being able to identify exceptional talent hitting the podcast free agency market,” said Blue Wire CEO Kevin Jones. “We were thrilled to act quickly and provide a new home for three standout local NBA podcasts.”
“I’ve known Kevin for years and we’ve often spoken about working together,” Irwin said. “I couldn’t possibly be more excited to add to all the great work Blue Wire has become known for as we finally see years of conversations become a fruitful partnership.”
The former SB Nation programs that follow the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Dallas Mavericks, respectively, were able to negotiate the ownership of their podcasts with Vox, allowing them to bring their former feeds with them to Blue Wire.
The addition of the three podcasts adds to the company’s growing list of NBA shows. Currently, Blue Wire hosts Road Trippin’ with Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye, and No Chill with Gilbert Arenas, among others.
Rob Parker loves Major League Baseball and he is expanding his reach in the sport. His site MLBBro.com is taking another step forward just weeks after announcing a partnership with the league to provide coverage of minority players from the past and present.
He will add a podcast to the brand’s portfolio. The MLBBro Show Podcast – The Mixtapewill join the iHeartRadio podcast lineup. While Parker oversees the brand, the show will be led by MLBbro.com’s Vice President of Operations JR Gamble.
Gamble brings more than two decades of experience covering the league to the show. The first episode drops right after Opening Day on March 31.
“I’m thrilled to be a part of this groundbreaking project – this sound has never been heard before in connection with Major League Baseball,” said Parker, who has been a Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) member since 1990.
“It’s baseball coverage with hot sauce, loud and proud and in living color. Get on board from day one!”
If TikTok is banned in the United States, a very realistic possibility, the ad market around sports and sports media stands to take a significant hit. Front Office Sports took a look at the companies that used the social video platform to advertise to sports audiences in 2022 and 2023.
Among the advertisers making major investments in TikTok was Degree, whose March Madness advertising campaign includes an ad that is exclusive to TikTok and stars Giannis Antetokounmpo. For the Super Bowl, T-Mobile supplemented its FOX ad buy with a TikTok campaign, while State Farm chose to skip the network broadcast of the game and spend all of its advertising with the digital platform.
It’s not only advertisers. Leagues and networks factor TikTok prominently into reaching younger audiences. The WWE, FIFA and the NBA all saw significant growth in their audiences on the app last year. On top of that, FOX and ESPN both have taken advertising money from TikTok in the past for postseason baseball and college football broadcasts respectively.
Prominent Democrats have spoken out against banning TikTok in the United States, but the effort has bipartisan support. The Biden administration and other lawmakers have voiced concern about the security threat the Chinese government’s involvement with the app poses to Americans and their personal data.
The appeal of TikTok for networks and advertisers is easy to see. Between 2021 and 2022, no social media platform showed more growth for engagement from sports fans. TikTok’s sports audience jumped 65% in that timeframe. Facebook saw 22% growth and for Twitter, it was just 8%.
