The college football season officially kicked off with the first full weekend of action underway. The demand for content surrounding the sport has never been higher. The sport consistently evolves with time. Conferences realign, and the insertion of name, image and likeness funding continues to roll in for athletes all over the country. To meet the demand for quality content, Will Compton and Taylor Lewan’s Bussin’ With The Boys brand has stepped up their efforts in expanding their digital footprint to cater to the college football fan.
“We’ve always had a vision to continue growing and expanding. The fan base for college football is so passionate and loyal,” said Compton. “The conversations we were having. The way the fans were responding, showed us there was a lane for us to go all-in on college football.”
Compton and Lewan announced earlier this month their first focused venture into the college game. They added The Locker Room: CFB. A spinoff of the popular The Locker Room series with a sole focus on the headlines, matchups and predictions in college football.
To separate the already known commodity from their newest venture, Bussin’ With The Boys enlisted the help of college football insider Josh Pate.
How Josh Pate Hopped on with Bussin’
“It really happened organically,” said Pate of how he was approached for the program. “We see each other a lot, interact with each other throughout the week, and we’re all in Nashville.”
Pate has been a growing voice surrounding the sport since landing his first job in sports media hosting on a local ESPN Radio affiliate in Columbus, Georgia. A few years later, that position led Pate to host a show on WLTZ television as a news anchor. After turning down a contract extension at the local television station, Pate followed his passion for college football. He began his own YouTube channel, which launched him into working over time with 247Sports, CBS Sports and On3.
This summer Pate has expanded his work, owning his own IP, and reshuffled an already stacked portfolio with one of his landing spots being with the emerging Bussin’ With The Boys brand.
“I somehow found time to get married and make trips to 16 different campuses during the spring as well,” Pate joked. “I’d say this spring and summer have been busier than any actual football season I can recall. It’s extremely rewarding though.”
The growing spotlight for Pate was no stranger to the Bussin’ With The Boys franchise. With all three living within the same Nashville metro area, it was easy to keep tabs on Pate’s growing network and reputation as a creator for college football analysis.
“He’s a storyteller and one of the best personalities in college football,” noted Compton. “I reached out to him and started talking about the opportunities in the college football space. We realized we had a similar vision. He understood what we were trying to build, and it felt like a natural fit.”
Growing the Bussin’ Portfolio
The addition of The Locker Room: CFB adds another element to Pate’s growing digital arsenal. The current broadcasting schedule for Pate includes his College Football Show three nights a week live, while balancing taping an episode of The Locker Room: CFB among his other work with On3, Yahoo Sports and ESPN.
“I imagine we’ll be able to fit a midweek recording of The Locker Room into that mix effectively,” said Pate. “That’s prime real estate in our business. The previous week is still relevant but the next week’s kickoffs are less than 72 hours away.”
Despite the workload, Pate understands the reasoning behind it.
“I view it as validation that our approach is working,” noted Pate. “The key is to stay focused on the season itself, which I’d say is the biggest risk you run with everything else happening around you professionally and personally.”
For Compton and Lewan, it’s been a year of change. Following a five-year partnership with Barstool Sports, the duo took their podcast independent. Bussin’ With The Boys stated the move was due to a larger offer from a sponsor that they couldn’t pass up. Just a week after leaving the popular digital content outlet, FanDuel announced a multi-year partnership with Compton and Lewan, securing their footing after leaving Barstool Sports.
“We have a ton of respect for what they’ve built [at Barstool Sports],” said Compton regarding his time there. “We’re focused on how we can get better and how we can continue to build our relationships with players, coaches and the entire football community.”
With the first football season under a new partnership and fully independent, there is much to look ahead to for the growth of Bussin’ With The Boys.
“We’re pumped about the partnership with FanDuel and excited to integrate their brand in a way that feels natural and valuable to our audience,” said Compton. “We’re looking to bring a new level of fan experience to the sports betting world.”
This also marks the first football season where the Bussin’ With The Boys brand plays in the same spaces as their prior partner in Barstool Sports. While Compton says they don’t consider themselves to have any competition, the focus is still on point as football arrives.
“We’re focused on creating content that we love and that our audience loves,” explained Compton. “As long as we stay true to that, we’re not worried about anything else.”
Meeting Demands of Digital Media
With Pate joining the Bussin’ With The Boys brand for football season, it’s another sign of creators teaming with creators to better serve audiences while cross-promoting one another. In the digital ecosystem those opportunities continue to exist. Ones that Pate has learned over time work for everyone involved.
“Digital media has fundamentally transformed how I view distribution,” explained Pate. “A generation ago it was about which networks you could be on. Today it’s about organic and strategic collaborations. They have to be both, or the audience sees right through it. When it’s both there’s no substitute for what it can do in terms of visibility and scalability.”
Strategic and organic, but authentic and honest. That’s the approach taken by Bussin’ With The Boys since their inception. This approach made Pate the right person to choose in expanding The Locker Room catering to college football on a full-time basis.
“Josh has an unfiltered perspective that makes him great in the space,” said Compton. “He’s a professional who can break down the game in a way that makes sense to everyone. From the most die-hard fan to someone who’s just starting to catch on to the new nature of the sport. With NIL, the transfer portal and CFP news all circulating at the same time.”
With the official kickoff of the college football season already underway, expectations are high for what’s to come from the collaboration between Pate and the Bussin’ With The Boys brand. Albeit it’s just sports, some fun will surely be had along the way.
“I have to perform better than Will and Taylor picking games,” joked Pate. “Losing is not an option here, my pride would never recover. I’m laying it all on the line for the people.”
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
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.
