Shortlists Announced For The Sports Podcast Awards
A host of top names in the sports podcasting world have been shortlisted for this year’s inaugural Sports Podcast Awards, with voting having opened for the virtual ceremony that will take place in March.
The annual celebration, which has been launched to honour the work of the very best that the global sports audio community has to offer, is being brought to you by the company behind the prestigious Sports Industry Awards.
After a rigorous judging process from an expert industry jury, a total of 128 podcasts from 13 countries and more than 50 different podcast networks from across the globe have been shortlisted.
Podcasts from global networks such as The Athletic, NBC, Sky Sports, The Ringer and iHeart Media will be in contention for the top awards. The 24 categories include shows that cover well known sports such as football, baseball and golf, as well as others such as ombat sports, urban and adventure and winter sports, all of which are well represented.
There are also awards for other important topical subjects within the industry, including Performance and Wellbeing, Sports Business and Equality and Social Impact, as well as the coveted Sports Podcast of the Year, which will be decided from the winners of each category by the awards’ advisory board.
Among the podcasts in the running for an award are Jake Humphrey’s High Performance Podcast and popular US podcast The Fantasy Footballers, which will contest the Performance and Wellbeing category and Big Hitters awards alongside others.
The Equality Social Impact category will be contested by eight shows that tackle important issues within sport, including the BBC’s LGBT Sports Podcast, climate change awareness show Emergency on Planet Sport, and female football podcast Goal Diggers.
Other big names on the shortlists include The Greatest Game with Jamie Carragher, The Socially Distant Sports Bar and the Joe Marler Show.
The Sports Podcast Awards were launched to unite the sports podcast community globally, from elite podcasters to the grassroots, and 61% of entrants to this year’s awards were independent podcasts.
Research has shown that sport was by far the fastest growing podcasting category in 2021, with download growth of 89% compared to the previous year. With recent data showing that over 20 million major sports fans in the US are tuning into podcasts at least once a week, sports podcasts are now among the most listened to in the world of audio content.
“Announcing our shortlists for this year’s awards is the perfect way to kick off 2022, and we’re proud to have podcasts of all shapes and sizes included,” Sports Industry Group Managing Director Dylan Pugh said.
“Now, we want the wider podcasting community, including content creators and listeners, to engage by voting for their favourites. Joining the Sports Podcast Awards community is truly the best way to boost discoverability for your favourite podcasts and we’re very much looking forward to a fantastic virtual ceremony in March to crown our winners.”
With the shortlisted podcasts now in place, it is the turn of the podcasters and listeners themselves to have their say on who deserves to be crowned the winner in each category. Both will have the power to decide, with a unique judging format that makes this a truly democratic process.
There is still time to sign up to become a judge, and Sports Podcast Awards would encourage podcasters and listeners to get in touch if they want to be part of the community. Simply visit www.sportspodcastawards.com and register to become a judge.
Now that judging has begun, participants will be able to follow along as the results are recorded and shown via an ever-changing live league table for each individual category on the Sports Podcast Awards website. You can also win prizes for being the most active and accurate judge!
The winners will be unveiled in the virtual ceremony at the end of March, with the league tables going dark for the final week to build suspense.
