By now I would think most anyone reading this has either watched the roast of Tom Brady on Netflix or certainly has at least seen some of the clips that have gone viral on social media. It wasn’t perfect, but, despite what Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo thought, man was it hilarious at times. And boy was it needed.
If you haven’t noticed by now, it seems a PR company has gotten ahold of Tom Brady, or perhaps he called them and asked for help. As he gears up to tackle his new career as an analyst for FOX Sports, someone decided Brady needed a bit of an image makeover. I don’t know if that is the only reason why he did the roast, I am sure money played a big factor, but he is definitely trying to become more…likeable? normal? relatable? human?
You knew what a lot of the roast topics would be and with the lineup of professional comedians such as host Kevin Hart, “Roastmaster General” Jeff Ross and the two that stole the show, Nikki Glaser and Tony Hinchcliffe, it would be funny. However, the rest of the storylines surrounding it really made the event, with Bill Belichick on hand as well as Patriots owner Robert Kraft and several of Brady’s former teammates including Julian Edelman, Drew Bledsoe, Rob Gronkowski and Randy Moss. It’s always interesting seeing non-comedians try and roast people, but some of them, such as Bledsoe and Belichick, did really well. Belichick’s line to Gronk about his work in the studio for FOX, “Stop doing your job!” was perfect.
Even Brady was funny, although it always seems to me like he is acting. Or more like he is taking acting lessons and trying to work on his acting. He almost delivered his lines too well. Guess you can’t be perfect at everything.
As I watched the event itself and saw all of the reaction to it afterwards, it made me think of the big picture and how sports radio might learn from what took place. They thought big, they made headlines and the biggest thing, to me, was taking the risk in the first place. Netflix took a risk, Tom Brady took a risk, Bill Belichick took a risk, Kevin Hart took a risk, everyone took a risk on this.
Most of all, it was something different. Not that roasts haven’t been done since the beginning of time but thinking this big and landing one of the GOATs, and one not that far removed from his playing days, that is what made it different. And this was someone who had some baggage he knew was going to be brought up and he went through with it anyway.
Of course, Netflix is the big winner here and deservedly so. Based on a very in-depth analysis of scrolling through my social media timeline, it seems the overwhelming majority of people loved it. It created a ton of buzz and was definitely what people were talking about at the water cooler the next day.
So, getting back to us and how this can be a lesson. Take risks. Do something that makes some noise. What would your audience love, what experience could you give them that would be different or a new twist on an old classic?
I think every station in the sports format needs a signature event or several smaller ones they are known for. Frankly, if you can’t come up with something your talent could do that would get a big pop from your listeners, you might need to evaluate who your talent is and/or their connection with the audience.
I get it, we aren’t all going out and booking Tom Brady for a roast. Nor can we all go out and do something gigantic, but there has to be an opportunity or a local partnership you can make that would allow you to have a signature event. You have the gigantic megaphone and the audience, who can help provide the space and entertainment?
It might be a ‘Bar Olympics,’ a trivia night, a holiday party for the listeners, an e-sports tournament, a speaker series, a road trip, a golf tournament. As I used to ask marketing directors and talent, “what’s our Wing Bowl?”
There is no better feeling in the world than to have a successful event that everyone is talking about the next day. Something where your staff is on hand mingling with the people who consume your content while hopefully several of your sponsors are there as well.
Netflix and Tom Brady tried something very different, they took a risk and made a big splash while not really reinventing the wheel. Time to get the creative team at your station to huddle up and see how you might be able take a bit of a risk on pulling off something big that people will talk about and look forward to the next one.
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
What “risk” did Netflix take in presenting a scatological “roast” of a star athlete? Comedy Central was doing that for years, and before that Dean Martin did PG-rated roasts on NBC. A risk for Netflix would be doing something that raises the bar of cerebral entertainment rather than plays to the lowest common denominator – instead of this show or the upcoming Shane Gillis mess “Tires,” how about offering something more significant along the lines of classic drama or even ballet or opera? Of course, Netflix won’t do that. The real message from Netflix is not to take risks, but to play it safe and repeat formulas that worked for others for years.