Taylor Swift is a phenomenon. A moment in time. An experience unlike anything else in the world of music. Her presence drives engagement, revenue and connection for everything her brand touches. We saw this earlier this year when she provided more than two hours of non-sports commentary on her boyfriend’s podcast, New Heights. It shattered records, touching the music, news and sports media all in a single appearance. Sports radio brands were discussing it, news media brands were criticizing it and music brands shared in it.
That’s the definition of a phenomenon.
On Friday, Barrett Media published a lengthy piece on how music radio celebrated the release of her new album, The Life of a Showgirl. While the title may not appeal to the under-18 crowd, the music encased within the tracks surely did. Getting back to being a phenomenon — is there anything that sports radio could learn from its music counterparts this past weekend as they celebrated the album’s release? There is. And it should shed light on the biggest opportunity sports radio continues to miss.
Let’s state the facts first.
Swift’s album will no doubt be the best-selling record of the calendar year. She had a documentary filmed about the creation of the new album that tops the box office this weekend. Last year’s Eras Tour grossed more than $1 billion in revenue and more than $2 billion over its two-year run.
She is the hottest music artist since Michael Jackson. Go ahead, debate me on that. Everything she creates is heralded as amazing, her lyrics become gospel to many and the cash cow doesn’t seem to be slowing anytime soon.
Is there anything in sports like Taylor Swift — or a Taylor Swift record-release party — that can generate a massive amount of buzz for sports fans across the nation?
There is, and sports radio always seems to be left out of the party.
A Super Bowl Type of Moment
The single biggest event on the sports calendar: the Super Bowl. The NFL has partnerships with iHeartMedia (NFL Podcast Network, several local rights), Cumulus (Westwood One play-by-play, several local rights) and Audacy (10 local NFL broadcasting rights agreements on its stations). There are also local rights belonging to other radio broadcasters such as Lotus Communications, Bonneville and others.
What music radio does better than any format is find a moment in time and build the formula for a promotion that fits all its brands. It finds opportunities with a record release, tour announcement or even an artist’s death. Stations pre-build contesting, prizing, promotional support, graphics, social media collaborations and more on the front end.
Then the moment in time occurs, and everyone launches their execution of the creative.
Music radio looks great. Listeners get exclusive playlists to celebrate the moment. The creative is clean. The website remodel for the day grabs attention, and social media is flooded with posts capturing the moment.
Has that ever happened with sports radio for anything?
Is it a challenge to get all sports radio stations on the same page? Of course. No sports radio station is the same. Every brand is modeled differently because the content is not a playlist — it’s spoken word.
However, have broadcast companies ever attempted to do anything similar that could create that same level of buzz, excitement or attention?
Sports radio plays in the same attention economy as every other format.
It Starts up Top, Not Locally
Where music radio stations receive massive support from upper management teams for nationwide execution, it’s almost as though sports radio is forgotten in the discussion. Several sports radio stations carry market share for their music contemporaries locally. There are plenty of NFL fans spread across the country who don’t all live in NFL markets but still want to celebrate the event itself.
When did spending a week at Radio Row become a reward to the listener? Most stations have already slashed their budgets for the trip because Radio Row has morphed into Media Row — full of podcasts and influencers looking for content.
It seems sports radio continues to give up ground on that front too.
However, what no podcast or influencer can do is build a promotion to launch on all radio across the country, driving revenue, reach and attention.
Why not have the massive national audio teams develop vignettes of Super Bowl moments instead of sports minutes? That’s sponsorable and better content than 45 seconds of a talent not heard on every brand spouting off about the NBA during NFL playoff season.
Why not work with your NFL partner or through your local NFL franchise to launch a national ticket giveaway promotion for the “big game” (yes, be careful with that, sports radio)? The whole point of the two weeks between Championship Weekend and the Super Bowl is to hype up the matchup.
Why can’t iHeartMedia do a national giveaway for the Super Bowl like its iHeart Music Festival?
Can Cumulus do a national giveaway for all stations that carry Westwood One’s NFL product?
Why can’t Audacy work through its local NFL partners to do something similar?
Try Something New
It’s all about attention in an attention economy. These companies have national brand teams that develop their websites and social creative. Why not get creative, lean on AI and your teams to do something that hasn’t been done before — catching the eye and heart of the NFL fan during the single biggest time for the most viewed sport in the country?
Are we just happy with quarterly cash contesting that doesn’t lift cume, increase TSL or do anything for branding your sports radio station?
While there are many hoops to jump through, in sports radio no idea is a bad idea. The format continues to lose ground to podcasting, on-demand video and social influencers. Instead of resting on what has worked with live coverage from Radio Row (if you can still afford it), why not think outside the box and take a lesson from what music radio does with its Super Bowl moment?
It could be a phenomenal moment for the format.
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.
Such an on-target article. The morning show on the Adult Hits station in my market was doing the too-cool-for-the-room thing, “Man, who really cares about Taylor Swift? 15 years olds maybe?”
I’m on the heritage CHR and loved it! We own her, did Eras Tour ticket promotions, have the merch and more. Our ratings went through the roof.
The fools on the Adult Hits failed to realize that their audience is mostly parents and grandparents who buy the tickets, vinyl, and merchandise for their kids and grandkids. Some are likely fans of Taylor Swift, especially the moms.
Here’s to hoping they have more brilliant on-air discussions during the fall book. Drinks up!