Binge Factor Media

Sports have the remarkable ability to unite fans and podcasters, creating a powerful connection that transcends boundaries. In this episode, we dive into the world of sports podcasting with the dynamic host and moderator, Kevin Warren of the Sports Chasers Podcast. Kevin shares his passion for sports and the driving force behind his podcast. He emphasizes the importance of providing rich, engaging content that goes beyond surface-level discussions. With the information age in full swing, Kevin and his team are determined to be the detectives of sports storytelling, uncovering the what, why, when, and how of each story. As the discussion progresses, Kevin discusses the challenges faced by podcasters in a crowded industry. But Kevin remains determined to push through the noise and secure the exposure his podcast deserves. He shares his strategies for gaining more publicity, from utilizing social media platforms to connecting with influential figures in the sports industry. With consistency and perseverance, he knows that success is within reach. Join us as we uncover the power of sports and how it can bring fans and podcasters together in an electrifying way.

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The Power Of Sports: How To Score Big Wins For Fans And Podcasters Alike With Kevin Warren Of Sports Chasers Podcast

I have a sports team going on. I have two sports shows in a row. One of them is one of my clients, and I love the show, the Sports Chasers Podcast. I love it because it is a compilation of a group of guys talking about sports. It is anti-broadcast media in a good way. Kevin works his butt on this show. Kevin Warren is the host of the Sports Chasers Podcast. He is my guest. I don’t love to feature my own clients here because it makes me feel a little uncomfortable when they gush a little, so we will excuse that when it happens on this episode.

I truly value what Kevin does on our platform because he is using the do-it-yourself side of the platform at Podetize, and he’s just killing it with the show. He is doing such great things. He is always participating in our coaching calls. I couldn’t not take a look at the show for you because he’s using exactly how I imagined he would. He’s using our portal the way it should. He’s getting bigger and better things that he’s growing his show bit by bit as he utilizes everything we have to offer. That makes me proud. I have to feature a show.

He’s got a really unusual show. You’re going to want to read all the things and all the thoughts that he puts into it. The group that he has is quite something to manage as well. Kevin has a long lifetime of sports love like baseball, basketball, football, hockey, golf, and tennis. He is the buttoned-up one on the show in a totally good way. He keeps the show flowing while his co-hosts have spirited and engaged discussions on all sports matters. He’s intrigued by all levels of sporting competition, from amateur to pros. He’s a native New Yorker from the borough of Brooklyn. His favorite sports team is the New York Yankees, New York Giants, New York Knicks, and New York Rangers.

I grew up in Connecticut just across the border and grew up in a family of big New York sports fans as well. We have a lot to talk about and a lot in common. His favorite sport is baseball as is mine. He plays football and basketball in high school and is a weekend warrior on the golf course. He attends several sporting events in a year and he started the Sports Chasers Podcast to ensure that all sports get covered along with the participants.

Kevin’s most notable quote about sports is, “Sports is everything. It brings people together, win, lose, or draw.” He calls his show, and this is the brilliant part that I love the most, the Sports Chasers Podcast is the defender of the fans. He sets out his premise of the show right at the beginning, and everything else follows from that. Let’s hear it from Kevin Warren and the Sports Chasers Podcast. Sports Chasers Podcast, I love that name. Your byline is Defenders of the Fans. That’s a brilliant angle. You’re stating right out there what your mission is. How’d you come up with that?

I have six co-hosts, which is a challenge. We came up with the defender of the fans because, as a sports fan myself and an enthusiast for years and years about sports, I wanted to have a podcast or something where regular people can have their voice and we defend their views and their focus is on the world of sports, whether it be baseball, football or whatever. That’s where we’re at with that.

You’re pushing up against what you guys call programmed sports. I didn’t realize until I started checking out your show and really listening to it that there is something seriously programmatic going on in this sports industry.

I recognize it a few years ago when you would wake up in the morning with the media outlets, the regular ones such as ESPN. I woke up every morning and they were pushing me through their narrative of what you wanted to hear. I just thought that was so unfair. As a sports guy, I was like, “I want to hear other things besides that or the other subject that they’re pushing.” I wasn’t pleased. That was the catalyst that brought me and my other cohorts together to make the Sports Chasers, and we chase all the sports. That’s how we come up with that.

This is the brilliant positioning for a podcast, and that’s why your show works. It is because you’re looking at it from this perspective of, “What am I not getting over here from the general sports broadcasting that I can deliver because it’s what I’m passionate about, it’s where I live, and it’s what I’m all about?” You do that brilliantly. This is an ideal reason to start a podcast.

It definitely was. One of the origins of it is this. One of my cohosts, Dorian, his wife one day said to us as we were on the phone, “You guys argue so much about sports. You guys need to just start a show.” I was like, “Rhonda, that’s a great idea.” We started in October 2018. When she said that, something just rang out. I was like, “I hear this podcasting thing. We can do it. We can try it.” Years later, 174 episodes later, we’re here and we’re doing this.

As you pointed out, having six cohosts is a challenge, but I also think it’s a benefit. As I was thinking about it and listening to all of you, I love how you give all of them. To all the audience out there, you want to listen in all the way through one of the shows. I’m always telling you that don’t just listen and listen to the first five minutes. Listen all the way through because you got to give all these guys.

They want their last word, and I love the way you get them their last word, and sometimes you send them off because you’re like, “Stop talking. You’re gone. I got to get under the next one.” They have their viewpoint and they also have their specialty, which is great. You have some that are NBA specialists or NHL. It gives it so that you don’t have to bear the burden of having to be an expert in all the sports.

One of the things that I did brainstorm about it when I started this that I wanted to do was bring people on who had a specialty, who loved a certain specific sport. It just reminds me again of some of the legacy media companies like ESPN and Fox Sports that have contributors and those who are specific to their sports. Me and the guys, we came up together, “You like NBA?” Dan, he’s an NHL guy. We call him The Hockey Dude. Dan comes on and does this thing with hockey. My brother Darrell, he’s the one that does the boxing and MMA. It came together where the guys can focus bullseye on what they liked as far as the sports world.

I always talk about people’s binge factors. I’m going to say that you don’t quite have what I would call a binge-able show for someone going back and listening to all your episodes because of the newsworthiness, but you have a forward-facing binge factor, and this is it. I might disagree with one of your 6 guys, but I’m going to agree with 1 of them and I’m going to be like, “Listen to him,” and that is going to make me want to tune back in and get his perspective. It’s great because if I don’t resonate with all, that’s okay.

I like the fact that we don’t agree. Sometimes we’ll have meetings before the show and we’ll have different viewpoints, and we’re like, “We’ll hash it out on the show.”

The other thing that is great is there’s consistency. I’ve only listened to a handful of your 173 episodes, but the reality is that I’m hearing some definite consistency between you and your hosts on your viewpoints. Sometimes when we listen to the newscasters and the broadcasters, they’re going like, “What’s going to get tweeted tomorrow?” They pick a contrary position to do it and it’s not in keeping with their viewpoint.

Tracy, that’s one of the other factors that made me want to start this. Again, some of the media weren’t really true to what they were saying. They said one thing and believed another thing. I don’t want us to be that. If this is what we truly believe in, let’s say it, let’s believe it, and let’s stand on it. That’s basically what we do. That’s where we are at with that.

Now you have a newsletter, you have social pages, you got a website, and you got all those functional things going on. Are people reaching out to you and disagreeing with you and arguing with you? Are you feeling that?

Sometimes on our YouTube live, some folks will jump into the comments when we’re on 7:30 on Thursdays. They’ll have their difference of opinion. I like the fact that we can go back and forth with those opinions because, at the end of the day, you have your opinion, and I might have mines. Who’s to say we’re right? Who’s to say we can measure it? The beautiful thing about sports is it’s like the barbershop effect of going in the banter, “Whose better, MJ or LeBron?” You just want to bring people together. In my bio, “Sports should be a thing that brings people together, win, lose, or draw.”

That’s so true. I love how you’re thinking that way. Let’s talk about some things that are working for your show that you enjoy it. You wouldn’t keep showing up five years later, week after week.

One of the things that I do enjoy is the consistency. This might be for all the people that do psychology podcasts. It’s therapy for me.

I hear that from other podcasters. You’re not the first one.

I literally can’t wait until Thursday. I’m excited. I’m going through all the week and I’m just ready. I’m talking to the guys. I’m texting the guys, “We’re going to talk about this. We’re going to do this on the rundown.” They’re like, “Kev, slow down.” I’m saying, “Thursday’s already here.” I’m always thinking and seeing how I can improve this show. I had a guy about motorsports. As I said, it’s Sports Chasers for a reason. We want to talk about all types of sports. My brain is running 1,000 miles an hour trying to see what other sports we can bring on this show.

I was listening to one of the episodes you were talking a little bit about NBA things, and my daughter said to me, “How come we don’t see a lot of girls playing sports on TV?” I said, “Your dad watches a lot of MLB. There really aren’t a lot of girls doing baseball now.” I said, “If you watch the NBA, there’s the WNBA.” I love that you guys always give shout-outs to the ladies. You are always giving shout-outs when it’s due. You’re like, “So-and-so’s good, but she’s better.” You are paying attention to all sides of the sport.

That was another thing, Tracy. I always said I wish I had the budget of ESPN. It would be awesome because I can get more information out. The six of us, we come together, we do our homework, we do our research, and we’re very serious about it. I even heard you say one time on one of the shows that, “If you’re podcasting, you should take this thing really seriously, even down to the mic block that we’re going to get here real soon. Be professional and hone your skill in whatever your subject matter is.”

I agree. That’s what I see or hear in your show. I see that model of you taking that defender of the fans seriously, which means even if you’re not getting that feedback loop, you’re hearing it in your head. You’re hearing it in your consciousness. I love that because that means that you’re putting out a great show week after week.

That’s the goal. Every week, I say to the guys we have a little production meeting on Wednesdays. I’ll be like, “Let’s make this the best show. Let’s put our best foot forward and make sure we do what we’re supposed to do on our end to make sure we give our fans everything that they need as far as information wise when it comes to the world of sports.” We’re checking for the hot stories. Sometimes we also do the not-so-hot stories that people may not know the things that may be ambiguous to others. We try to seek out those shows.

You were talking about it like the barbershop. I thought that’s an interesting visual of what your show is like. It is this idea that you guys know each other fairly well. You’re ragging on each other a little bit. You guys do that. There’s a rapport there that’s fantastic. You don’t let each other get away with just touching on the surface of something because you want to make sure that they define it and they go deeper for the fans. An interesting thing is that maybe because you’re not the NFL guy. You go, “What were you talking about there? What does that mean?” That helps the fans because some of us became fans and didn’t play. We don’t have the deep knowledge underneath it.

That’s true what you said about that. People want more. It’s the information age, so people want more. I say to myself and the guys, “We got to dig deeper, we got to make sure we cover everything when it comes to the story.” Don’t get it on the surface. Dig down. Get the what, the why, the when, the how, and all that stuff. Be like a detective.

This is what frustrates me and is also the part I love the most about the podcast industry. I love podcasts like yours, Kevin, because you are providing this wonderfully rich bit of information and a bright spot in somebody’s week that getting them to argue with their phone, headphones, or their computer. They’re getting something out of it that’s energizing and important to them. I’m frustrated that you’re hidden. You should be getting so much more credit for what you’re building and what you’ve built already. That frustrates me.

My role and job in this industry is to try to make sure that you get some more exposure. I’m trying all kinds of different ways, but I feel that there’s some publication or news channel somewhere that should be picking up what you guys think and using it as a basis for something else. They should be paying you for that, by the way.

Some of the media people have gotten away from this model of providing this information in this way. Getting back to following back to what you said about being hidden, Tom says this all the time. I’ve been with you guys for a few years now. He says this all the time when he says it on the other show about podcasting is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. Especially if you’re not famous, it’s going to take a little bit of time. I acknowledge that. On the other hand, we’re hidden. I’m just waiting for that opportunity to push through the crowd because the sports industry in the podcast is a lot.

There’s a lot of noise there.

I believe in being consistent. What Tom said to us earlier was, “You got to make sure you do this. Whatever you do, just make sure you’re consistent with it.” That’s so true. That’s why we make it a point every Thursday to be out there to whatever’s going on to make sure we give a good show or give a good 90 minutes and we bring it in those 90 minutes.

You do bring it. I love that. What’s the biggest challenge you think as you’re moving forward?

Going back to that thing, we want to get more exposure. That’s what we’re looking for.

Getting some more publicity out there for the show is a big challenge for you.

I’m trying a little bit of not everything, but we got the YouTube channel going. You guys syndicate us on every major podcast platform, as I always say on our social media. I’m doing social media. We get a lot of engagement on TikTok and YouTube shorts for whatever reason. We are trying. Salute to you guys. Also, hanging out with Podetize which helps podcasters go to the next level is a great thing. I’ve seen so much growth with us since we’ve been with you guys for the last couple of years.

Sports Podcast: Hanging out with Podetize, who help podcasters go to the next level, is definitely a great thing.

I’m so honored that you say that. I love that you show up to our coaching calls all the time where a lot of people don’t, and then they wonder why their show isn’t growing. They aren’t making the effort, but you’re making the effort there. You’re not alone in the challenge of growing a show because there are so many podcasters, but there are so many that don’t stick it out as you have. You put in the time. It’s time for that tip to tip here. We have to keep looking at what we can do to make that happen and making connections and figuring out ways for that to occur. One of those ways is with guests. You’ve taken a few guests in on your show, and you’ve gone and guessed on some other shows, I believe. How’s that work for you?

We did the thing with the PodMatch with Alex Sanfilippo. I sometimes scour social media such as TikTok and Instagram. There was a young lady that we got here a couple of months ago right before the Superbowl. Her name is Deb Wickers. I sent her a message and she would love to come on the podcast. She’s a woman in the sports media. She came on, she gave us about twenty minutes, and it was awesome. I had a good time. Sometimes I ask the guys also, and I say, “Let’s find some person who would want to come on the show.” They don’t necessarily have to be big sports figures but somebody that’s in sports. We had a young lady in charge of social media for the minor-league baseball team in Charlotte, North Carolina.

She came on the show and talk baseball with us. She said it was her first time coming on a podcast and she was excited about it. I say to guys, “It doesn’t necessarily have to be a big-time sports figure because, theoretically, we might not be there yet.” We tried, we reach out to Pat McAfees of the world, and they sent a generic letter saying, “No, thank you at this time.” That’s fine. I’m good with that. Our time will come, I strongly believe, if we keep pushing and keep on doing this thing and persevering.

I believe it too, Kevin. I love what you built here. I want all the best for it. Whatever I can do, I’m always thinking in the background. When something comes across my desk, I’m like, “Sports Chasers, I got to refer them over.” One of the other benefits to you participating and being so active out there is that it might not be right at this moment, but someone’s going to go, “I remember there were some guys you wanted to guest on a podcast. There were these guys who didn’t stop sending us a letter every couple of months.” It’s going to happen.

Yes, I strongly believe that. I believe in the beauty of connecting with people. My brother had reached out to you, I believe, and you gave us some Kris Dehnert who owns the Dugout Mugs cups. That was a great interview we had with him. He hung out with us. We had a good time hanging out. I believe in the power of connection and connecting with people. When those things happen, you don’t know what can happen as far as connecting with the right people.

Sports Podcast: You don’t know what can happen as far as connecting with the right people.

It all comes back to you. Keep defending the fans, Kevin. I love that, and flying in the face of what’s going on in broadcast media because it’s just not good out there. Podcasting is the antidote to that.

I absolutely think so. Challenging legacy media podcasts are keeping people on their toes. You can even see in the sports world, all the Stephen A’s and Dan Le Batard, they got their own podcast now.

They find it a little freeing. That’s so true. I can’t wait to hear about where you are in another year, so you’ll have to touch base with us and let us know where you’re going. Do you have any words of wisdom you’d love to leave some aspiring podcasters with?

I would say to aspiring podcasters to stick with it. Don’t listen to all the noise. Keep yourself focused and educate yourself too. Don’t go out there blindly. For the first couple of years, we were out wandering around. Lo and behold, I was scrolling through social media and I found this company called Podetize. Here I am another couple of years later with our numbers going up and getting better and better every day. That’s my wisdom for that. Be consistent and keep pushing. That would be my words of wisdom to podcasters.

Sports Podcast: Don’t listen to all the noise. Keep yourself focused and just educate yourself too. Don’t go out there blindly.

Thank you so much, Kevin. I am so glad to have you on the show and so glad the Sports Chasers Podcast is still going strong. It is Thursdays 7:30 PM Eastern Time, and you can check it out live on YouTube.

This has been awesome. Check out this Sports Chasers Podcast. I am Kevin L. Warren, your host, and moderator. You got Darrell L. Warren. You got James, The Angry One. You got Dan, The Hockey Dude, you got Mike Mills and you got Dorian, the DA. The six of us we’re here and we’re not going anywhere. Check us out.

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I told you it’s going to be insightful and a lot of fun to hear from Kevin about all of the different things he’s doing and how he’s working. I so appreciate his shout-out at the end there, saying that you need to get an expert in it. This is something that is worth reiterating. He said something to me after that I thought was valuable. When you are an up-and-coming podcaster, you need to have some mentorship. It doesn’t matter if it’s me. That’s not important. It could be someone like Kevin. It could be someone who you look up to. You need to get some advice.

It’s critical that you align yourself with individuals who are growing within the industry. It’s not just get a course and get a program. Get someone to mentor you in this process so that you can do what you want to do with it. That’s what Kevin has done. He’ll show up in our coaching calls and ask us questions. He’s like, “What do you think of me trying this? Do you think this will work for me?” Because we’ve got to know him because he’s participated and is so active in it, we understand the show. Every time we give him advice or he asks a question, we can personalize it.

We understand what his goals are and where he’s going. That is the critical factor. Often, we just type questions into Google and expect an answer. That’s not what Kevin is looking for. That’s not what sports is all about either. The more you grow with sports, you get yourself a good coach when you are starting out so you don’t get injured and you know what you’re going to do. In baseball, you might get a batting coach or a pitching coach. You get different types as you go along the way. That’s exactly what we want to happen for you here. It’s what Kevin has built. He got started. He started to play with podcasting and loved it, and then he wanted to take it to the next level.

He’s growing because of that. That’s what’s so brilliant about his show. He’s also got a big challenge. I’m not going to kid you. A sports show, a show that is set in a time where you’re going to talk about a subject that might be out of date next week, is more work. It’s harder for you to do that because you have to work at marketing it in the moment so you get people to show up right down and listen because they won’t come back and listen to past episodes.

They might listen here and there to something that caught their eye or something they missed a couple of weeks ago, but they’re not going to go back all the way to two years ago and start binge-listening on the show. It’s not going to work like that, but you will get them to subscribe and move forward with you and not want to miss an episode. You have that fear of missing out. That’s something a little bit different than the rest of us podcasters don’t get to tap into. You have to make sure that your strategy is tapping into that and thinking of that.

Kevin’s worked that out by having that dynamic group of all his cohosts with the five New York natives and just working together. You’re going to love that. It’s challenging the way he’s got everything going on and all the different personalities, but he’s making it worth it by putting effort into the pre-production of it, what he’s thinking about, what they’re going to talk about, and the planning of it and also in the execution of it. He’s always upping his game as he goes.

I hope you enjoyed getting Kevin L. Warren’s Sports Chasers Podcast. You’re going to want to check it out. Make sure you listen in and see the style of podcasting. If you are a sports fan, this is probably the show for you, defenders of the fans. I love that. I’ll be back next episode and I’m going to have another sports topic next episode as I’ve got Dugout coming up. I’ve got polar opposites. I’ve got a female New York Yankee fan who’s got a fan podcast that is off the charts. We’re going to look at the two sides of this. I’ll have a different recap of the show so make sure to tune into that and hear the comparison and the differences between these two distinctive episodes. Stay tuned. I’ll be back next episode.

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