One year after joining the NBA on Prime studio team, Blake Griffin will expand his partnership with the company by launching a new, late-night-style sports show.
Griffin will produce and host The Stepback, a sports-focused talk show taped in front of a live studio audience. New episodes of the show, which Griffin likened to The Daily Show and Last Week Tonight in a press release, will be released weekly on Prime Video and YouTube. The Stepback will be co-produced by Amazon’s Wondery and Griffin’s Mortal Media, which he runs with former NFL offensive tackle Ryan Kalil.
Per the release, Griffin will explore “everything from the economics of sports betting and the rise of “hot-take” culture to officiating controversies, athlete empowerment, and the internet’s obsession with viral pop-culture moments.”
The format is more reminiscent of HBO’s various forays into late-night sports programming than the short-lived, Jason Kelce-fronted They Call It Late Night from ESPN. Griffin will fold into Amazon’s growing Creator Services division, alongside Kelce; LeBron James; Thursday Night Football studio analysts Ryan Fitzpatrick and Andrew Whitworth; and Griffin’s NBA on Prime colleague, Steve Nash.
Despite its old-fashioned, late-night sensibility, Amazon appears eager to cater the show more toward an online audience.
“Late night has always been at its best when using comedy to go deeper on the things we obsess over. Sports is one of the internet’s great shared languages – the debates, the personalities, the controversies, the stories, and the things fans can’t let go,” said Matt Sandler, the GM of Amazon’s Creator Services, in the release. “Blake has lived the life to understand how the sports world really works and knows where to find the funny. The Stepback brings those things together in a special way.”
Though Griffin was the clear breakout media star of the first season of the NBA’s new rights cycle, the late-night sports format has rarely caught on. And these days, even the longest-running network late-night shows are fading, as both CBS and TBS have axed their lineups in recent years.
The Stepback will premiere Oct. 20.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is an Editorial Lead at Awful Announcing overseeing digital content and special projects. He lives in Phoenix and has covered sports media for Awful Announcing since 2023.