Amazon-owned podcast network Wondery has announced a new slate of sports podcasts, including four original series which will start rolling out from August this year.
The first podcast to kick off this slate is an anthology documentary series titled Sports Explains The World which is co-produced by content studio Meadowlark Media and podcast production company Campside Media. The podcast aims to tell stories around the world and society through a sports lens, and is hosted by Sam Dingman, co-host and writer of critically acclaimed sports podcast The Rumor.
Subscribers of Wondery+ will be able to stream the podcast starting 9 August before it is made available across all major platforms and Amazon Music on 23 August. This podcast accompanies Meadowlark’s series of 16 documentary shorts within the Sports Explains the World franchise, which the company debuted at this year’s Tribeca Festival.
“Sports is one of the biggest categories that podcast listeners want, and this is a home run roster of shows,” said Wondery chief content officer Marshall Lewy. “We have award-winning storytelling about the world of sports, along with sports talk shows that will get fans going, with some of the most talented sports personalities and partners in the game. We couldn’t be prouder of this group of shows.”
Other titles that will be coming out once a month for the rest of the fall period include Beadle Royale, hosted by sports reporter and NBA announcer Michelle Beadle. Each episode, Beadle shares opposing newsworthy stories - one sports related and one pop culture related - to see which one will be the last-topic standing when put against each other.
New York Times best-selling author and former Grantland and The Ringer writer, Shea Serrano, is also hosting a new weekly podcast series on basketball and pop culture, which currently has no title or release date. Former ESPN anchor Trey Wingo will also host Makin’ Waves, which is a weekly podcast in which Wingo and a guest discuss “what if?” moments in sports history.
Wondery’s new slate of sports podcasts joins a number of existing sports titles including sports news series The Lead and spinoff The Lead Starting Five, The Old Man & The Three, Men in Blazers, and more. As sports podcasts continue to grow in demand, podcast network Sport Social has also recently expanded its global presence by partnering with US-based sports podcast network Blue Wire and Australian-based broadcasting corporation ARN, offering more brands the opportunity to advertise across its network of sports podcasts.
