There’s an audience for everything, right? That’s the first thing that came out of my mouth when I saw the news that former NFL quarterback Brett Favre launched a podcast. The 4th and Favre podcast features the Pro Football Hall of Fame signal-caller discussing sports, his career, and everything in between.
Was there an audience asking for this? Does Brett Favre command a digital audience that’s salivating to hear his thoughts on Aaron Rodgers, the death of Nick Mangold, and Arch Manning’s struggles at the University of Texas?
There’s been a lot of chatter over the past couple of years about whether we’ve reached “peak athlete podcast” levels. With advertising dollars shifting to digital and social media, and athletes attempting to remain relevant to a younger audience, will we ever truly reach “peak athlete podcast” levels?
For every Pat McAfee and Shannon Sharpe, there’s a Brett Favre and a Dwight Howard. Bill Simmons told The Hollywood Reporter the most overrated trend in podcasting today is “the ex-player sports podcast boom.” Make no mistake about it, sports podcasts are a growing business in an industry has turned numerous everyday joes into sports media royalty.
Just Another Podcast Evolution
It’s where the scribes took what they gained from radio experience and crafted their own niche of insight and opinion. It’s where former sports talk radio hosts go when the traditional model is out-aging their audience. There’s a cool factor to sports podcasting that has no limitations or time constraints, and it offers a scale that reaches the world instead of just a local market.
It’s also a business where the more salacious you are, the more downloads you get. The audio version of clickbait—keeping the audience coming back for more with a new hot take or in-depth guest interview. It’s uncensored, unfiltered, and more often than not, uninteresting for a number of podcasts.
Podcasts used to be just recorded audio made for download. Today, podcasts still exist in audio form but become lost in the pack if that’s the only format. Podcasts now involve live streams or taped video, heavy editing, social media clips, teaser videos, and the occasional post-show recording. Podcasts have become a television operation, albeit with audio still at the heart of their success.
You can tell the story of success through downloads, engagements, views, click-throughs, time spent listening, time spent watching, likes, shares, and so much more. The ease of access has become absolute—making it easier than ever to simply start talking and hope someone is listening, watching, sharing, or liking.
Where current and former athletes come into the industry is that they bring what any podcaster wishes they had: a following of the masses before saying a word. Athletes bring instant attention, social buzz, and advertisers because of the star factor they carry from the field of play. This makes “peak athlete podcast” levels a concern for podcasters looking to cut through the noise and grow their own following today.
Follow the Signs
There are a number of top podcast charts to follow, from Spotify to Apple to YouTube.
Glancing over the top ten sports podcasts this morning on Apple’s charts, not one of the top ten is hosted by a current or former athlete. Spotify has three of its top ten sports podcasts hosted by current or former athletes. YouTube’s latest charts show nine sports podcasts in their top 100, with six of those nine hosted by current or former athletes.
You can see that on the visual side of the podcast industry, athletes are making more impact than in the audio space alone. Has anyone paid attention to where podcasts are growing and where more investment is being made? Video.
Netflix added a selection of Spotify video podcasts to its platform in early 2026 to keep up with YouTube’s massive growth and relevance in the podcast space. Let’s not even begin to talk about social media platforms now hosting live streams of podcasts and building their own networks for consumption.
Much like former athletes once took jobs away from qualified sports columnists on television and hosts on sports radio, here they come for podcasting.
That’s the bigger issue for the future of non-athlete-hosted podcasts—the athletes flooding the ecosystem. The Bill Simmons Podcast was founded in 2015. Pardon My Take? That was in 2016. The Dan Le Batard Show is eleven years old, and The Fantasy Footballers have been around even longer. These are some of the most successful podcasts in the sports category, but they were all launched when the field rarely had an athlete participating.
We live in a new day today.
Show Me The Money
Athletes are hopping into the space because they know that with their following, they can make money instantly by taking away opportunities from others. It doesn’t matter if it’s good content or not—the consumer already has a built-in relationship with the athlete.
Like blind sheep, many will follow, like, listen, and download without even thinking about whether it’s worth their time or whether they should take a chance to discover something else.
Unfortunately, it’s no longer about finding a niche in sports podcasting. It’s not about standing out among the rest. Saying something different just to say something different may not matter anymore. Be unique? Wish you luck.
The former athlete’s presence in sports podcasting has damaged the industry’s outlook for non-athletes looking to join the space. Of course, the first step is the most important, but breaking through a very crowded field that grows more saturated with each retirement is becoming nearly impossible.
So, will we ever reach “peak athlete podcast” levels? We’re not there yet, and the notion of it is awful for podcasting’s future.
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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.
