Fantasy football continues to be one of the more popular ways for the average American to follow the National Football League. Over 60 million people play fantasy sports in the United States with three-quarters of those playing fantasy football specifically. Where the average fan could turn into the best virtual general manager. Fantasy football is also big business. The billion-dollar industry is projected to reach $20 billion by the year 2030 in the United States alone. It’s a bullet train. Rolling on all gas, no brakes, with Andy Holloway and The Fantasy Footballers Podcast along for every step of the ride.
“When we started this podcast, we were in real estate school,” said Holloway. “We thought we were going to be realtors, but we were refreshing our download numbers in the middle of class. None of us really thought it would be viable enough to support three families.”
Just over a decade ago, Holloway, along with his friends Jason Moore and Mike Wright, launched The Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Three like-minded friends with backgrounds in tech and entrepreneurship took the chance on creating content from a passion for playing fantasy football. Rooted in a confluence of circumstance after working together at a video game company in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Fantasy Footballers Podcast has grown into the number-one podcast in the niche category of fantasy sports.
“We went all in right away and treated it like a business, not just a hobby. We put everything that we had known and learned in other industries into it,” explained Holloway. “The only chance it was going to have was to give everything for a period of time. We knew with the traction of the download numbers. It was on its way, and kind of went from there. It wasn’t that long in terms of having to do that grind-out phase for us.”
Crafting an Ultimate Draft Board for Success
With fantasy football season about to begin in a couple of weeks, drafts are happening across the country and the globe. Young and old. Men and women. All walks of life signing in on their phones or computers to track the latest trends on who to draft and when to draft. Holloway first began his obsession with fantasy sports through basketball when he was in high school. Over time, he saw his uncle become an avid fantasy football player and grew into the space.
From there, a passion for the sport began. Today, nearly 20 years later, Holloway, Moore, and Wright find themselves at the pinnacle of sports podcasting.
“The biggest thing for us is connection and community,” said Holloway. “We were very committed from day one to being a year-round show. No other fantasy show was doing year-round. We were fans, and we were hungry for that content. It didn’t exist. We thought maybe there are some other fanatics like us out there. It turned out there were.”
The Fantasy Footballers Podcast aims to treat the audience as a fourth member at the table, creating connection and community through the love of fantasy football. It builds a family feel that can bring an already intimate medium like podcasting to a new level.
“I’ve been a part of businesses where the leadership at the top have different worldviews. They have different directions they want to go. It’s really challenging,” said Holloway describing the benefits of working alongside his friends Moore and Wright. “We really respect one another. That goes a long way in how we run the business. I’m thankful to have two like-minded folks to run the company with.”
Bringing Their Talents to SiriusXM
With over 40 podcasting awards to their brand, the spotlight has never been brighter on the success of The Fantasy Footballers Podcast. This past January, Holloway and his team signed a new, exclusive podcast agreement with SiriusXM, which showcased the podcast on the network’s Fantasy Football Radio channel 87. The agreement provided the podcast with exclusive advertising assistance plus distribution, bringing the product to a whole new audience.
“The fact that they [SiriusXM] were so familiar with our brand really made the transition super smooth. It’s been great so far,” noted Holloway. “Just being with a partner that really understands us. They’re creative and find really good brands for us.”
Holloway says that the podcast worked with the Midroll network previously, which was acquired by SiriusXM in July 2020. After signing with SiriusXM, they found that a lot of the people who had worked with The Fantasy Footballers Podcast at Midroll were still with SiriusXM. This made the transition even easier, leading to more effective collaborations on the podcast.
“Our philosophy with the show is always audience first. We don’t want anything we do with ad sales or agreements to infringe on what makes the show great,” said Holloway. “We’re on the phone with them [SiriusXM] all the time, coming up with ideas, approving or changing language to be conducive to the show. It’s been a very collaborative and creative process. It’s been the smoothest of any transition we’ve ever had.”
The agreement with SiriusXM airs The Fantasy Footballers Podcast daily, with daily tips in other programming and guest appearances on other SiriusXM programs. Holloway explained the importance, with any partnership, of allowing for the widest distribution possible without insulating the audience from the content.
An extremely important point for a very crowded podcasting landscape, according to Holloway.
“It is oversaturated. You must bring something unique to the table,” explained Holloway. “If you are one more of a bunch of the same thing, you’re certainly not going to get to the business success side of things, even if you produce a good show.”
Staying Fresh Year Round
While every new season brings excitement for a new year, The Fantasy Footballers Podcast is a year-round venture. There is no offseason for Holloway, Moore, and Wright. This provides a unique challenge to not only bring fresh material when no games are going on but also remain mentally in the game as well.
“It’s a challenging thing when you are having success. You want to maintain that and give your fans of ten years what they’ve come to know and expect. But you don’t want to stagnate and do the same old thing,” said Holloway.
With media consumption shifting to more short-form content, Holloway noted that the podcast is investing more assets into mid-form content on YouTube while paying attention to trends on social media. He admitted that none of the hosts are TikTokers. They all “know their lane,” but the luxury of being on top is the ability to hire people to assist on those platforms.
“We are very much like a news organization in the sense that a lot of our content expires very quickly,” explained Holloway. “Nobody’s looking up a Week Two waiver wire show from last year. We’re paying attention to the way that modern news media-type content gathers eyeballs and trying to apply it while still focused on connecting with the listeners.”
Holloway explained that the joy of the business he has created with his friends is that the content never gets old. Over time, you learn lessons from your experience. Especially when working with your best friends. While the season is long, and the offseason seems longer, there are times when diving into fantasy rosters and rankings tends to weigh on the mind.
“It can be a grind, but we’ve been very fortunate. If we were producing the show in the exact same fashion that we were in year one, I think we’d be dead,” said Holloway. “If we can get back to here and love this game, I can’t wait for there to be games. If that passion is still there, then we’ll keep rocking.”
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
