Podcasting with Brotherly Love About Sports, with Timothy, Michael & Jason Petropoulos of the BRoto Fantasy Football Podcast
As part of my series of interviews about “5 things you need to know to create a very successful podcast”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Timothy, Michael & Jason Petropoulos.
BRoto Fantasy is YOUR all-encompassing fantasy sports outlet that includes podcasts multiple times a week, a website with rankings from our Fantasy Pros rankers, new REVOLUTIONARY stats called True Values that will help you make the toughest of start-sit decisions, waiver recommendations and more.
Started by three brothers with a love and passion for fantasy football (and a proven track record of domination), BRoto is meant to help people win championships by giving you in-depth analysis in a fun way that only brothers can.
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Can you tell us a bit of your “personal backstory? What is your background and what eventually brought you to this particular career path?
The first thing that brought us together is the fact that we are brothers. We talk all the time, we grew up in the same house and we are all best friends — this also applies to our fourth brother Johnny, who started the podcast with us but is no longer a part of it. Sports have been a common thread in our relationship, particularly fantasy football. We’ve been in the same leagues for as long as we can remember and spend every Sunday together playing and watching football (and trash-talking the whole time).
Tim got started on the podcasting path as a member of “Veteran’s Minimum,” a variety sports and comedy podcast. He was a sports journalism and media major in college, but found a changing landscape in sports journalism upon graduating in 2011. He spent some years working for newswires, the NY Daily News, the Queens Courier, and other print media outlets. After a while, he noticed that media wasn’t being consumed that way anymore, and joined up with Joe Santagato and a few friends to start a podcast roughly 5 years ago. With Veteran’s Minimum taking off, he decided to branch out and do a second podcast about fantasy football. He knew that there were only 2 people with the minds to do the job: Michael and Jason, his brothers.
Since then, we have built a loyal fanbase and continue to provide a high-quality podcast with top-ranking advice and the rapport that only 3 brothers can have.
Can you share a story about the most interesting thing that has happened to you since you started podcasting?
Building a community has been amazing. Through the podcast, we have met people who we now consider real friends. We laugh and cry together and we support each other. I think that’s the most interesting thing, meeting people and making connections all over the world — just through the power of a few microphones and a computer. Last baseball season, a few fans of ours were visiting NYC and offered us amazing seats to come watch the Mets game with them. It was a great time, and we returned the favor with Shake Shack.
Can you share a story about the biggest or funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or takeaways you learned from that?
The biggest mistake we made was releasing the first version of the podcast in general. It was a completely different show and it was unhinged. It didn’t have proper direction. We have luckily worked out the kinks since then and now intricately plan and prepare for each show.
How long have you been podcasting and how many shows have you aired?
We’ve released well over 400 shows in the 4 years we have been podcasting. You can hear Tim’s voice on over 1000 podcast episodes. We are a year-round podcast that really ramps it up during the football season. We release one podcast a week from January through August, but release four podcasts every week once the football season begins.
What are the main takeaways, lessons or messages that you want your listeners to walk away with after listening to your show?
We want them to be able to dominate their fantasy football league while having a good time. So much of fantasy is either designed for the overly analytical crowd or the super “bro” crowd. We have a great mix of giving you well informed information in a digestible manner and we do it in a way only 3 brothers can. We laugh at each other, make fun of each other, even yell at each other sometimes. But the love comes through in each episode and we hope that’s what the listener connects with.
In your opinion what makes your podcast binge-listenable? What do you think makes your podcast unique from the others in your category? What do you think is special about you as a host, your guests, or your content?
- It’s funny and entertaining. Beyond that, you will win in fantasy football if you listen, which is ultimately the reason you are listening. We will give you the right advice in an entertaining, informative way.
- We give a great balance of stats while not overwhelming you with them. We give great advice, are blunt, and use logic in an effective way. We also have the x-factor of being brothers and best friends. You can’t fake those kinds of relationships and that comes out in the podcast. There is nothing fake about us.
- We have had some of the best minds in the entire industry on our show, from Jason Moore of The Fantasy Footballers to Nando DiFino and Scott Fish. We also cover every single player that might be fantasy viable every week, unlike other shows that only talk about big or relevant names. This is what gives our listeners a leg up. They get informed opinions about every player and they get it while listening to 3 brothers just having some fun with each other. They also get the intimate personal stories that you simply can’t find in other fantasy football podcasts.
Doing something on a consistent basis is not easy. Podcasting every work-day, or even every week can be monotonous. What would you recommend to others about how to maintain discipline and consistency? What would you recommend to others about how to avoid burnout?
Do something you love to do. I am not a detective, so if I did a true-crime podcast, I would burn out. Everyone has something they read about, talk about or consume information about on a daily basis. For us, we love football. In particular, we love fantasy football. The grind can get tiring, but if you are doing what you love and you are doing it for the right reasons, you will never burn out. Doing the podcast with people you trust is also huge. When one brother can’t record a podcast, the other two pick up the slack with no questions asked.
What resources do you get your inspiration for materials from?
We are huge fans of The Fantasy Footballers. They were the first to make podcasting about fantasy football into a viable business. We get our inspiration from them.
However, the segments and the formatting of our show are 100% original. As a teacher by trade, Tim is always looking for ways to bring originality into delivering info to keep people interested. Jason and Michael are also very creative and have great minds for analysis. This combo allows us to go into brainstorming sessions and come out with original segment ideas. We come from a musician father and a floral design mother, so creativity runs in our blood.
Is there someone in the podcasting world who you think is a great model for how to run a really fantastic podcast?
In the fantasy football world, the only answer to this question is The Fantasy Footballers. They created the entire fantasy football podcast industry. What we have learned from them and from our own experience is that three things make a great podcast –
1. Equipment. Look, you don’t have to break the bank, but if you sound like you are talking on a phone line people aren’t going to listen. If you aren’t willing to sink some money into sounding great, then you should probably reconsider doing the podcast in the first place. Now, everyone is in different financial situations so I understand if you can’t buy the equipment, but you can certainly put in the work to learn programming audio to make it sound clear. Or finding the best equipment possible on budget you have. People don’t want to listen to an amateur talk about something they can listen to a professional for.
2. Consistency. As a member of Veteran’s Minimum and BRoto, Tim has been listened to over 4 million times across episodes. He’s also been lucky enough to learn from Joe Santagato, whose podcast, The Basement Yard, is consistently in the top comedy charts. Whether it’s a big operation or a small one, consistency is the main factor. If you tell your fans that every Tuesday they should expect an episode, then that’s what needs to happen. Because when you miss a Tuesday, that’s the day they go looking for content somewhere else. Consistency shows care, dedication and professionalism to the listener.
3. Originality. The first thing Tim learned as an editor for his college’s newspaper was to ask himself the question: “Why would someone come to you for this and not somewhere else?” You need to bring something that no one else can bring. You need a clear vision and a path towards that vision. You need to provide something that can’t be found anywhere else.
What are the ingredients that make that podcast so successful? If you could break that down into a blueprint, what would that blueprint look like?
I would say the main thing is to be an expert on your topic. If you aren’t, give yourself time to become an expert before you start your podcast. Be truthful and original.
Can you share with our readers the five things you need to know to create an extremely successful podcast?
1. Consistency.
2. Professionalism. Don’t get me wrong, you don’t have to speak the Queen’s English and wear a suit. You have to provide a quality product, even if that product is fart jokes.
3. Branding. Make sure you are promoting your brand. Create a logo with a cool design (not just what you think is cool either. There is science behind this stuff). Promote yourself. Promote your brand. Build consumer trust. Build a reputation.
4. Fan interaction. The most successful part of BRoto is our fan interaction. Fans come to us because they know they can count on us to respond to them. They join our Patreon because they know we will deliver on what we promise. Your fans are like your friends. Don’t neglect them.
5. Love it. Talk about what you love. It shines through.
Check out the full interview in Tracy Hazzard’s Authority Magazine Article about Timothy, Michael & Jason Petropoulos!
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Podcast Influencers, Timothy, Michael & Jason Petropoulos of the BRoto Fantasy Football Podcast share the best ways to:
1) Book Great Guests. Twitter has been the most effective way to book guests. If someone’s DMs are open, hit them there. We have gotten great responses that way.
2) Increase Listeners. Consistency and promotion.
3) Produce in a Professional Way. Get the right equipment. Sound clear. Check the levels and make sure you aren’t too low or too loud. Don’t talk over one another if there are two or more people.
4) Encourage Engagement by offering engagement. Use your socials and respond to everyone. Open up different lines of communication, like through a discord account. And, always make consumers feel welcome. We pride ourselves on helping every type of fantasy football player, whether you’ve been playing for 10 years or just decided to take it up 10 minutes ago. No question is a bad question, when you ask BRoto.
5) Monetize Your Show. The best way to monetize is through a payment service like Patreon. Ad deals are okay, but unless you are on a podcast network with ad sharing or your podcast has 100,000+ listens per episode, you are never going to make real money. Offer up exclusive content, contests, extra episodes, and put them on Patreon. Cut out the middleman.
What makes your podcast binge-listenable? What do you think makes your podcast unique from the others in your category? What do you think is special about you as a host, your guests, or the content itself?
Check out the full interview in Tracy Hazzard’s Authority Magazine Article about Timothy, Michael & Jason Petropoulos!
