Sports podcasts are some of the newest ways that sports fans can consume sports media. From scathing hot takes, to a simple method to keep up to date with your favorite sports teams, there is something for every sports fan to enjoy.
The Robinson Lecture series which started back in 1988 in honor of Bradley educator and journalist Mary Leslie Robinson, has this year focusing heavily on podcasting and its role in multiple news and media industries.
Ty Hildenbrandt and Dan Rubenstein, the co-hosts of The Solid Verbal, one of the longest running and most listened to independent podcasts came to Bradley University on April 19 to talk about their journey in the sports podcasting industry.The Solid Verbal, began in a time when podcasts were still a thing of the future back in 2008. Focusing on college football, the idea came up when they were working with SI.com, Hildenbrandt writing a c
olumn on college football called “Quick Slants” and Rubenstein shooting his popular “SI Tour Guy” video series.
What once started as an accident would garner the interest of tens of thousands of passionate listeners.
“The early [podcast] shows were not good, but we kept going,” Hildenbrandt said. “Being able to do well takes practice, it took us a long time to get to where we are.”
It took Hildenbrandt and Rubenstein two years after they started The Solid Verbal before they actually met each other in person, and even to this day they still do their show across states virtually.Preparation is key for The Solid Verbal as Hildenbrandt and Rubenstein have to be caught up on the world of college football and live in this world. From watching games, catching up on missed games, and consuming any sort of media possible.
Even after all this preparation, the podcasts only have a shelve life of about 48 hours since brand new football games start every Saturday during the college football season.
Image taken from The Solid Verbal website from The History of Solid Verbal episode
Hildenbrandt and Rubenstein do admit that the process has changed in some ways since the first time back in 2008. While on the technical side of the production, Hildenbrandt insisted that “I would Bore you all to tears, if I told you about all the little tweaks,” in regards to the technical changes that he had to make to the show over the years.
Hildenbrandt and Rubenstein insist that one of the difficulties when preparing for this job now opposed to back in 2008, is that there is so much information out there that it’s hard to determine the best way to consume it all.College football like most sports has a “season”, so having a podcast solely on college football can be hard to maintain during the off season. During that time Hildenbrandt and Rubenstein make bad ideas interesting and find unique ways to keep the show moving forward.
As its expected, the trends seem to follow the college football season with the most web traffic happening during the season
Some examples they’ve done is discussing teams that went 3-9 on march 9. Another example of “making bad ideas interesting,” has been to listen to music albums and joining songs with college football teams.
“The offseason is just a big sandbox for ideas,” Hildenbrandt said. “We also try to trickle in pop culture into the show since football does not happen in a vacuum.”
The next phase of The Solid Verbal seems to be heading in a direction that will incorporate more video, livestreaming, and adding new shows to the family.
“We’re constantly looking at ways to improve the product,” Hildenbrandt said.