Sports media outlet The Athletic will partner with Global media and entertainment group, in order to monetise its podcast portfolio.
The move by The Athletic comes after it spotted an explosion in the popularity of sports podcasts, with the magazine having launched a dedicated podcast division in 2019 to help fans connect with its sport journalism in fresh ways.
To cover the beautiful game, The Athletic has to compete with independent podcasters as well as other journalistic brands including The Guardian, whose highly popular Football Weekly podcast announced a second live tour and an upcoming book last month.
Tapping into Global, whose acclaimed podcasts include The News Agents (which is third most listened to on Apple’s GB podcast linkings) will help provide it with a solid platform upon which to grow.
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Podcasts including The Athletic Football Podcast and The Totally Football Show are now available through Global for custom reads and sponsorship, with hosts from the likes of James Richardson, former president of Channel 4’s Football Italia and broadcaster Ayo Akinwolere.
Topics that have been tackled include everything from popular weekend Premier League talk, such as whether Arsenal needs a striker, to the impacts of Saudi Arabia potentially hosting the 2034 world cup.
“I’m delighted that The Athletic has chosen Global to represent its thriving sports podcast slate. I’m looking forward to working with all our advertising partners to score huge reach amongst an audience of passionate and dedicated sports fans,” said Global chief commercial officer Mike Gordon.
