We are delighted to announce that Sport Social is the Media Partner for Fantasy Football Fest 2024.
The event is widely recognised in the fantasy gaming community as a curtain raiser for the new FPL season, and one of the biggest gatherings of avid Fantasy Football managers in the world.
We are really excited to be partnering with Fantasy Football Fest for this year’s event. The Sport Social Podcast Network is the go-to destination for Fantasy Football creators and audiences making this the perfect partner. We work with over 20 fantasy sport podcasts, helping them to grow and monetise their audience. Plus, we are fast becoming the hub for fantasy football fans looking for new audio content via our website.
Stefan Doyle, Head of Sport Social
Last season, millions of people around the world created fantasy teams as they pitted their wits against their friends, families and colleagues in mini-leagues that dominated dinner-table conversations during the season.
Sport Social Podcast Network’s bank of fantasy football podcasts help those users navigate the pitfalls that many managers fall down throughout the year, including advice on when to activate chips, when to bench big names and advice on the best cut-price assets your team needs to succeed.
2024 promises to be the biggest year of Fantasy Football Fest yet. We’re delighted to be working with Sport Social as we look to grow the event and attempt to reach even more fantasy football managers. 2024 FEST is set to be the biggest and best yet and will be hosted at a new location – the Vauxhall Food & Beer Garden. Attendees can expect more games, competitions and content than ever before.
Ed Gray, Head of Fantasy Football Fest
Sport Social listeners can get £5 off their tickets at checkout with the code ‘FEST5’.
Grab your ticket now and join over 350 managers ready to panic together as the first FPL deadline of the season approaches.
Sport Social Podcast Network is delighted to announce a partnership between Hickory’s Smokehouse and leading NFL Podcast, The Nat Coombs Show.
The show is one of the biggest National Football League podcasts which is hosted by Nat Coombs, who has spearheaded NFL coverage on TV and radio in the UK for the last 15 years.
American BBQ restaurant brand Hickory’s will be able to tap into a passionate and engaged audience of NFL viewers and fans as a result of the partnership which will run throughout the 2024/2025 NFL season.
Listeners will hear unique, targeted and engaging content in a campaign including host-reads, sponsored mini-episodes, and a live recording of The Nat Coombs Show from Hickory’s Wilmslow restaurant.
As the NFL season kicks off, Hickory’s will be the go-to place for fans to watch the games – particularly on NFL Sundays – so joining forces with The Nat Coombs Show is a powerful way to further elevate the fan experience.
“There’s also a significant focus on engaging new audiences, with content aiming to help demystify the NFL and make it more inclusive to UK fans.
“Podcast advertising can be hugely beneficial for brands, especially when working with shows that truly align with their essence and ethos, and this partnership is an ideal example of that.
Paul Swaine, Brand Partnership Director at Sport Social Podcast Network
We’ve been huge fans of the NFL ever since we first fired up the smokers and swung open the doors in Chester back in 2010.
“We’ve loved introducing a whole host of new fans to barbeque and the NFL over the years, with guests joining us to watch and share the love of the amazing game. And, with the growing popularity of American football in the UK, our NFL Sundays and Super Bowl parties just keep getting bigger.
“We’re super excited to be partnering with The Nat Coombs Show. It will be a great opportunity for our team and regular fans to engage with even more content around the sport and help us reach new audiences.
“We can’t wait to welcome listeners to Hickory’s and give them an unforgettable experience of this high-stakes game.
Our comprehensive white paper combines industry insights and listener behaviour with campaign data from past sporting events.
Inside, you’ll discover:
Spending trends: Discover why there is a growing appetite for brands tapping into podcast advertising during major sporting events, as we analyse podcast download increases with campaign spending data from Magellan AI.
Fan engagement: Understand how passionate sport fans are about their audio content.
Behavioural shifts: Explore how podcast listener behaviour changes during key sporting events
Brand benefits: Find out how your brand can reap the rewards on these insights.
Our white paper demonstrates why incorporating podcast advertising into your marketing strategy can be the game-changer brands and advertisers during major sporting events.
Welcome to the latest edition of Team Talk with all the latest news from the Sport Social Podcast Network.
It’s been an eventful few weeks, with the team exhibiting at the Podcast Show in London and speaking at Radiocentre’s Tuning In North event in Manchester. We also have some exciting new additions to the network to announce!
If you’d like to book a meeting to see what Sport Social can offer you, please email podcast@sport-social.co.uk
The Podcast Show 2024
The Sport Social team had an incredible time at the Podcast Show in London at the end of May. It was great to catch up with some of the podcasters we already work with, and speak to potential new shows about joining Europe’s biggest dedicated sport podcast network.
Didn’t manage to speak to us at the event? Want to find out more about how we can grow the audiences and revenues of your podcast? Email the team at podcast@sport-social.co.uk today to arrange a chat.
Podcast Consumption is Undercounted due to Co-Listening
Your podcast audience could be bigger than you think! A new report from Cumulus Media and Signal Hill has found that podcast listening numbers may be under-estimated as many people listen with friends, family and children (which currently go un-uncounted). You can read the full report and delve into the state on listening habits here.
Sport Social Announces Partnership with Goalhanger Podcasts
We are delighted to announce a partnership with Goalhanger Podcasts that will see Football Cliches, The Spanish Football Podcast and Football Ruined My Life hosted on Sport Social!
Football Clichés sees Adam Hurrey explore the glorious and unique language of football: the words, the phrases, the mannerisms and, above all, the clichés.
The Spanish Football Podcast is the award-winning LaLiga show from Phil Kitromilides, Sid Lowe and Alex Kirkland. Since 2013, they’ve been the only pod in Spain sharing their love of Spanish football with listeners every week.
Football Ruined My Life is the new podcast about old football. Colin Shindler, author of the best selling Manchester United Ruined My Life, joins with the distinguished football journalist Patrick Barclay and the Super Agent Jon Holmes (think Gary Lineker, Peter Shilton, Tony Woodcock etc.) to talk about football as it used to be in the days before the invention of the Premier League.
New to Sport Social
Wisden Women’s Cricket Weekly
Since 2022, we have been working with Wisden on their Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast. We are delighted to announce that we are now also the hosts of Wisden’s new women’s edition of the podcast! Join Lauren Winfield-Hill, Yas Rana and Katya Witney discussing the biggest stories from the women’s game each week.
Let’s Be Having You: The 00s Football Podcast
Attention noughties football fans! Join Quickly Kevin’s Chris Scull and Alex Brooker (of Last Leg, Soccer Aid and Masked Singer fame) and sports producer Nick Lustig, to embark on a series of 00s based football adventures. Get ready for a dynamic lineup of footballers, broadcasters, and comedians as they delve into that thrilling decade of football.
That’s all for this month, we’ll be back next month with more headlines from Europe’s biggest sport podcast network!
The Sport Social Podcast Network is delighted to be partnering with the Audio Production Awards for the second year running, as Media Partner. The awards are to be once again held at the BFI in London on 20th November and celebrate some of the leading talents in the world of audio and tickets are available now.
The Audio Production Awards, sponsored by Audible, return for their fourteenth year in 2024. Celebrating the people both behind the scenes and in front of the mic, the awards celebrate audio right across the board – from podcasts to radio, audiobooks to sound design, production to presenting.
The Awards are organised by AudioUK, which provides business support and growth to people who make podcasts, radio and audiobooks.
There are 23 categories ranging from Best Producer in Comedy, Factual, Drama & Fiction, Arts, Music, Entertainment, Lifestyle & Society, Audiobooks, Sound Design and more, plus a variety of on-mic and emerging talent awards, Best Ensemble Cast, and the special AudioUK award – last year awarded to Reform Radio.
This year welcomes a new category, Little Ears Producer, which celebrates the explosion of audio being created for younger audiences. Winners from the 2023 awards included Anishka Sharma who took the coveted Producer of the Year award, Overcoat Media were named Production Company of the Year, Kwesia AKA City Girl in Nature took home Best New Voice and Betty Glover, Christian Hewgill and Greg James were voted Best Ensemble.
As usual, there are awards for Production Company of the Year, Publisher or Network of the Year, as well as the continuation of last year’s addition of Producer of the Year and The Sustainability & Climate Award.
Once again, the Grassroots Production category will celebrate producers, teams and/or organisations working close to their communities, and this category will be free to enter, recognising the particular challenges faced in that part of the sector.
The Awards are opening for entry earlier this year so applicants will have 12 weeks to enter instead of 9 as in previous years. Voting is open now and closes on Wednesday, September 11th at 2pm.
I am delighted that the APAs now sit alongside an ever increasing number of audio awards ceremonies – testament to the thriving popularity of audio. The APAs have really stood the test of time, as this year marks their 14th year. What started as a small ceremony is now a yearly staple at the BFI in London. There is always an enormous effort that goes into bringing the awards to life from the APAs team, and I am very grateful to them for their work.
It is really important to have an opportunity to celebrate audio across the industry, as well as an opportunity to really shine the light on producers, who are so central to the audio industry and to AudioUK as an organisation. Once again Audible are supporting us as the lead sponsor, for which we are extremely grateful – enabling us to celebrate the many excellent people who make up the audio industry.
We’re committed to there not being any barriers to entry, so if you can’t afford to enter the awards, please take advantage of the Pay What You Can scheme, which we run in partnership with Amazon Music & Wondery, or if you face other barriers to entry, please get in touch with the team.
What started as something that was focussed purely on the independent sector retains that independent spirit, but has now been opened up to the whole audio industry. So get your best audio ready to battle it out across the categories.”
Chloe Straw, Managing Director of Audio UK
Early Bird entry fee is frozen at 2018’s prices of £35+VAT for AudioUK Members and £45+VAT for non-members, and will run for 5 weeks until Wednesday 31st July at 9am. From then on, the standard entry fee will be £50+VAT for AudioUK Members and £60+VAT for non-members until the final deadline on Wednesday 11th September at 2pm (please note: there will be no late extension to the entry deadline).
With the excellent support from Amazon Music and Wondery, AudioUK will be running the Pay What You Can scheme for a third year, offering discounted entry rates and tickets for those under financial constraints, who would otherwise be unable to enter and attend the Awards. Please email katie@audioproductionawards.co.uk to access the scheme.
If you thought 2023 was a busy one in the world of sport, get ready for an even busier 2024!
Last year, we were treated to a pulsating Ashes series as England locked horns with Australia, the Tour de France where Jonas Vingegaard reigned supreme and a women’s European Championship where England’s Lionesses went agonisingly close to bringing football home, as well as too many other events to dive into!
But what’s happening in 2024 that can match – or even top – last year? Worry not, as we’ve pulled together a list of what’s happening when in the next 12 months.
January
7th – 14th: Masters Snooker
13th – February 11th: African Cup of Nations
15th – 28th: Australian Open tennis
28th: WWE Royal Rumble
February
2nd – 16th: Six Nations Rugby
11th: Super Bowl LVIII
17th: Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk
March
2nd: F1 season begins in Bahrain
8th: Anthony Joshua v Francis Ngannou
12th – 15th: Cheltenham Festival
April
6th – 7th April: Wrestlemania
8th – 14th: Masters Golf
13th: Grand National at Aintree
20th – 6th May: World Championship Snooker
25th – 27th: NFL Draft
May
16th – 19th: US PGA Golf
20th – June 9th: French Open Tennis
22nd: Europa League final
24th: Rugby Union Challenge Cup Final
25th: Rugby Union Heineken Cup Final
25th: FA Cup Final
26th: Monaco Grand Prix
29th: Europa Conference League Final
June
1st: Champions League Final
4th – 30th: ICC T20 Cricket World Cup
8th: Super League Challenge Cup Final
6th – 23rd: NBA Finals
13th – 16th: US Open Golf
14th – 13th July: Copa America
14th – 14th July: EURO 2024
16th: Stanley Cup Final
29th – 21st July: Tour de France
July
1st – 14th: Wimbledon
14th: Euro 2024 Final
18th – 21st: The Open golf
21st: Tour de France finish
26th – 11th August: 2024 Olympic Games
August
26th – 8th September: US Open tennis
28th – September 8th: Paralympic Games
29th: PGA Tour Championship
September
5th: NFL Kickoff Game
18th – 24th: Solheim Cup
20th – 22nd: Laver Cup tennis
TBC: Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup
TBC: AFL Grand Final
October
12th: Super League Grand Final
November
2nd: England v New Zealand Rugby Union Autumn Series
At the Sport Social Podcast Network, we take pride in our ability to help take the guess work out of booking campaigns and deliver exceptional results for our clients, using a leading tracking and measurability platform.
With the help of our trusted partner, Veritonic, we have been able to provide our clients with real-time insights and transparent data on their podcast advertising campaigns. By leveraging cutting-edge tracking technology, we can measure key metrics such as downloads, engagement rates, and conversions, allowing our clients to make informed decisions and optimise their marketing strategies. Brands who are seeing success include; My Diesel Claim, Travis Perkins and Bet Victor. Brands who are seeing success include; My Diesel Claim, Travis Perkins and BetVictor.
Recently, we reviewed four different audio spot ad campaigns directly related to car sales and/or leasing that ran in 2023. The conversion rate for these campaigns delivered by Sport Social was based on driving unique users to the participating brands’ websites and ranged between 3 and 18% (expressed as a percentage of reach). This means that not only have Sport Social podcasts outperformed the average benchmark of 1.32% and 1.92% motor category benchmark – according to the Podsight Q1 2023 Report – but our results show that even the lowest performing campaign was delivering ahead of benchmark.
According to Veritonic, Sport Social campaigns had an average conversion rate of 7.1%, based on reach of campaigns and driving web traffic to client sites.
We will work with you to achieve your marketing goals using data-driven success metrics.
There has been a lot of techy talk in podcasting land over the past week about “Dalvik”, and some podcasting hosts announcing that they are not recognising some downloads. It’s not the easiest to understand how this affects you as a podcaster or podcast advertiser so we wanted to give you a step by step guide on what it is all about.
Podcast Listening
We all listen to our podcasts using different podcast players; the big hitters are Apple Podcasts and Spotify, but there are many more out there.
One of those alternatives is a content aggregator from Samsung called “Samsung Free”. It groups together interesting videos, tv, news and podcasts on the Android home screen of newer Samsung phones. It uses a standard piece of Android software called Dalvik to download audio like podcasts. Other Android phones and software (such as Google Pixel) also use Dalvik.
When we look at podcaster stats and see where the listener traffic to podcasts have come from, there has always been traffic from Dalvik based players, but it’s never accounted for much of the audience.
From November 1st to November 18th, Dalvik downloads on the Sport Social Podcast Network accounted for 2% of the network downloads. From the 25th to the 29th, that rose to 44%.
On the around 19th of November, the Samsung Free app was updated by Samsung. In the new update, the Listen tab opened a player automatically. If not stopped within three seconds, the player would auto-play segments of featured podcast episodes and it also pre-downloaded other episodes for instant play. This resulted in a lot of downloads that weren’t initialised by listeners or where the pre-downloads never played.
Here is part of a chart that shows all the devices that have used Dalvik on the Sport Social Podcast Network. All the “SM” device codes are different Samsung phone models, which accounts for the bulk of the Dalvik downloads, but you can see a small number attributed to other players, like a Google Pixel phone.
How does the Auto play feature in Samsung Free affect download numbers?
All good podcast hosts, including Megaphone which we use for the Sport Social Podcast Network, are IAB certified – an external 3rd party who set standards on what is counted as a download and an impression of an advert.
Normally, this auto-play feature In Samsung Free wouldn’t be a problem; other podcasting apps have similar features, downloading a smaller amount of the podcast e.g. 15 or 30 seconds.
IABv2 standards say that a download is counted if 60 seconds of audio is consumed by a unique listener within 24 hours. If a listener was just flicking through podcasts that auto-played, hearing just a few seconds of each, then these downloads would be automatically filtered out of any IABv2 podcasting hosts data.
As the Samsung Free app was downloading for more than 90 seconds, this “passed’ the IABv2 criteria and shows as a certified download on many posting hosts. This also means that there are advertiser impressions that are also passing the IABv2 criteria as being delivered, but they haven’t been heard by human ears.
How is the podcast industry reacting to the Dalvik issue?
Some podcasting hosts and podcast tracking companies have taken the decision to discount all of the Dalvik downloads for the month – regardless of the type of device that is downloading the podcast – including the downloads from legitimate Dalvik sources, such as the Google Pixel phones we see on our data.
Megaphone are waiting for IAB guidance before making any decisions and the Dalvik downloads are currently (12th Dec) still showing in the download figures for the podcasts that they host.
What are Voiceworks doing about the Dalvik issue?
We at Sport Social have decided to identify the Dalvik downloads and impressions delivered on the 19th of November when the app was launched and then between the 25th and the 30th of December when we can see the bulk of the downloads. From these, the downloads and impressions that were delivered on only Samsung devices will be discounted.
This is the fairest way available to us to adjust for what we know hasn’t been listened to, but keep in as many downloads and impressions from other devices and on other dates where the Samsung auto-play feature wasn’t having an impact.
Some of our podcasters on the Sport Social Podcast network might see a different number of downloads on their statements for November 2022 compared to what they see on Megaphone – the Dalvik download issue hasn’t affected all our titles.
Our advertising clients may have seen that we have over delivered on impressions and/or extended campaigns to make up for the impressions that were affected by the Dalvik downloads.
Click here to listen to Andrea discuss the Dalvik issue on our podcast.
What brings you to the Sport Social Podcast Network?
Sport has always been a huge passion of mine. I’ve never really been any good at playing it, but I love the adrenaline and rollercoaster of emotions you get from supporting a team or an athlete to victory.
I am a very ambitious person who loves a challenge and speaking to people about great content. So naturally, I am very excited about the opportunity to grow the Sport Social Podcast Network and help turn it into the biggest audio network in the world.
We have huge plans in the pipeline for 2023 and I can’t wait to share them with you all in the coming months!
When did you first fall in love with audio?
Working in the creative industries was always something that fascinated me from an early age. I originally wanted to be a film director before I started to do radio modules in media studies at school, and from that point on I was hooked. I loved everything about it from making my own sound effects to creating content for my shows and playing my favourite music.
I remember always listening to BBC Radio 5 Live on a Saturday with my Dad for their football coverage and I was a big Radio 1 listener as a teenager. I’d religiously listen to the chart show on a Sunday afternoon while doing my homework. So, I guess that’s where my early passion for audio came from.
I went on to complete a media degree specialising in radio at Birmingham City University and was Station Manager of the student radio station, Scratch Radio, in my final year. Since graduating, I have gone on to work as a Producer for the BBC, Global and Bauer before joining the Sport Social Podcast Network in September.
What are the podcast titles that are always on your listen list?
I’m an Arsenal fan so to get my fix on this I like to listen to Arsecast, ArsenalVision and Seaman Says. Zero Ducks Given have just joined the Sport Social Podcast Network and are sounding great. They’re my go-to cricket podcast at the moment.
I’m also a big fan of Anything Goes with James English. I love his interview technique and the stories he manages to get from his guest are fantastic. If I’m after a laugh, I like to listen to Help I Sexted My Boss. I also really enjoy listening to the Office Ladies with Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. I watched The Office (US version) during the first UK covid lockdown and absolutely loved it. It’s quite fun to hear them talk about the unknown secrets and facts of each episode.
Where and when do you listen to podcasts?
Usually when I’m on the move. Whether that be commuting to meetings and the office or going for a walk in my own time. I flick between music and podcasts when I’m working at home too.
What in your view makes a good podcast?
A good podcast should have hosts (and guests!) who have a real passion and knowledge for the subject they’re talking about. The show should know what it wants to do (educate, entertain, inform) and most importantly it should be well structured and planned out. Listening to podcasts that waffle on with no purpose is a big pet peeve of mine and will see me reaching for the skip button immediately.
Why do you think sport and podcasting work together so well?
Because it creates an opportunity for people to escape into a space where they can indulge in topics and conversations they are truly passionate about.
Whether that be basking in the glory of their team’s latest victory with fellow fans, taking in every word of a real-life conversation with their sporting heroes or giving a rights holder the opportunity to push their brand, it is a match made in heaven.
The podcasting landscape has never been in a better position. While attending the IAB’s Podcasts Upfront event in London earlier this month, my favourite quote of the day came from their Chief Marketing Officer, James Chandler.
“Podcasting is not an emerging channel, it has emerged.”
For a sporting organisation or brand not to be involved in the medium right now is a massive, missed opportunity. And if they aren’t prepared to establish themselves within it, someone else will.
What do you see as the next big development in the podcasting world?
I think in 2023 we’re going to see the number of podcasts visualising their content soar to new levels across social media and more specifically on YouTube.
In May, American broadcasting company Cumulus Media published a study, in partnership with Signal Hill Insights, that identified YouTube is narrowly the most popular platform for podcasts in the US. In fact, six in ten weekly podcast listeners said they preferred podcasts with video.
Football Social Daily has been named the ‘Best News and Current Affairs’ podcast at the inaugural Sports Podcast Awards, beating off fierce competition for the title.
One of the flagship shows of the Sport Social Podcast Network, Football Social Daily has been providing daily, Premier League-focused podcasts for over two seasons now, with a loyal audience always coming back from more from regulars such as Niall, Jim and Marley.
‘The Dugout’, the Friday night/Saturday morning preview show with ex-professionals has proved a popular addition to the roster this season, and the Sunday ‘review’ show, featuring a raft of journalists and media personalities has always drawn listeners back for more.
The Sports Podcast Awards is a brand-new annual celebration of the very best that the global sports audio community has to offer – rewarding the best podcasters in the space, uniting the industry under one umbrella and boosting discoverability for podcasters and listeners.
The advisory board of the Sports Podcast Awards includes Gabby Logan, Barney Francis, Peter Hutton, Bimal Kapadia and Liseli Sitali, with a voting process determining the winners of each category.
Here’s the moment they were announced as winners by former England rugby player James Haskell:
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