A new era of the WWE began this past weekend, as the first Wrestlemania of a new regime leading the company took place. And one of the developments should be a stark reminder for sports radio.
The Vince McMahon days — for better or for worse — are over for the WWE. Nick Khan, Paul Levesque (better known as Triple H), and Brad Blum now lead up the executive team for the billion-dollar company.
And they’re embracing change. The company isn’t operating under the “same ol’, same ol’,” guise as past leaders have. I half expected Roman Reigns to keep Cody Rhodes from “finishing the story” Sunday night, simply because the usual WWE way would be to milk another year of the story for all of the profits it would bring, but that’s a different column for a different day.
The new leadership at WWE is embracing what it is, who it is, and just as important, who it isn’t.
For decades, the company has insisted on utilizing the moniker of “Sports Entertainment.” It’s a fair — and frankly accurate — description of what goes on inside that squared circle. The participants are undeniably athletes, and the scripted nature of the outcomes certainly deserves an “entertainment” label.
But, under the stewardship of Khan, Levesque, and Blum, the company is pivoting. Gone is the insistence on using “Sports Entertainment”, with a focus on now calling it what it is: Professional Wrestling.
The WWE is, at it’s core, “professional wrestling.” While “sports entertainment” is accurate, it doesn’t speak to the foundation of the industry.
And that’s a lesson, I think, sports radio needs to recognize and embrace. Every year at the BSM Summit, someone will mutter the phrase “We’re not in the radio business, we’re in the content business.”
And while that’s accurate, it doesn’t embrace the foundation of the business. What are 98.5 The Sports Hub, WFAN, AM 570 LA Sports, and 810 WHB (I could go on forever)? If you believe they are “sports content creators” or “multi-media sports entities”, is that an accurate representation? Absolutely. But is it the core of what they do? No.
They are sports radio stations. And should embrace the medium as such. Is it important for stations to be content factories? Of course it is. Hardly anyone in the industry is pounding the table as hard as I am that every since one of your local shows should be live streamed on YouTube, Twitch, Rumble, or whatever video platform you can get on. I’ll die on the hill that if you’re not putting your local shows in on-demand or podcast form, you’re doing yourself and your listeners a great disservice, while missing out on valuable sales opportunities.
However, anyone, and I think it’s been proven anyone can start a podcast or YouTube channel these days. With a few hundred bucks — not an exaggeration in 2024 — you can have a full-fledged studio in the spare bedroom of your house or apartment. Believe me, I personally have one, and know countless others who do, too.
But do you know what separates sports radio from the rest? Radio! I don’t have a terrestrial radio signal, and frankly, I’m highly unlikely to ever have one. The most widely used, widely accessible platform isn’t being embraced by the companies that saw their fortunes, brands, and businesses built off its back.
I understand the shift away from a focus on radio. Podcasts, video streams, and other digital offerings are the shiny new toys, and everyone is chasing the ad dollars they see shifting from the medium elsewhere.
But if you built your brand and business on radio, shouldn’t that still be the driving force? It’s what separates you from everyone else. Countless digital brands have risen to prominence in the past decade. But do you know what sets Barstool Sports, The Ringer, OutKick, and others from iHeartMedia, Audacy, and Cumulus? No, not crippling debt loads. It’s radio!
Due to technological advancements, those digital companies were able to launch and disrupt a a sports media sector that was frankly asleep at the wheel in many aspects. But, at some point, we have to embrace what separates us. While I believe it’s important to be everywhere your audience is and create platform-specific content, the biggest platform, and the biggest focus, should remain on terrestrial, over-the-air, good old-fashioned radio.
Take the WWE mindset. Stop trying to chase legitimacy from the outside and embrace who you are. Reap a focus on local radio and see what you sow.
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
