Bomani Jones is bringing his hit podcast to Wave Sports + Entertainment, which will include a live video format and air three times a week – Monday; Wednesday and Friday. With the move of The Right Time with Bomani Jones from ESPN to this digital platform, the show will join a growing lineup of sports podcasts from commentators and athletes. Jones’ contract was recently not renewed by ESPN, a decision that came just weeks after HBO canceled his sports show, Game Theory with Bomani Jones.
Wave Sports + Entertainment has accumulated more than 117 million followers across the globe, and the company includes a score of several strategic investors, including Milwaukee Bucks forward and two-time NBA most valuable player Giannis Antetokounmpo. His investment took place during a $27 million Series B funding round for the sports and entertainment conglomerate, which is now the home of podcasts from Paul George, Robert Griffin III and Travis and Jason Kelce.
“The best thing about Wave is that digital is what they do. It’s not a wing of their operation,” Jones told Demetri Ravanos of Barrett Sports Media. “So this is what they’ve been focused on for years and they’re leaner and more nimble and thereby, I think, probably better able to give the support to a podcast like ours. ESPN, we did great over there. We had great numbers with them, but I think in terms of like the executive class and all the way down, I’m probably better aligned with Wave than I would have been honestly with any other company that we talked to.”
Jones began working in sports media when he started appearing as a contributor on the ESPN investigative program, Outside the Lines, and as a panelist on Around the Horn. A few years later, he began to be featured on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz and ended up co-hosting Highly Questionable with Le Batard when the show launched on ESPN in 2015. Jones’ podcast initially aired on ESPN Radio, eventually moving to the afternoon drive daypart. It started exclusively being available as a podcast in the spring of 2018.
A full conversation between Jones and Ravanos will be featured on Barrett Sports Media as part of our “Meet the Podcasters” series presented by Point-to-Point Marketing on Wednesday.
