Point Forward, the interview show hosted by former NBA athletes Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner, is joining SB Nation and Vox Media for its third season after launching with Meadowlark Media in 2021.
Point Forward will continue to drop weekly on both audio feeds and YouTube, where the show has 58,000 subscribers.
In addition to Vox managing sales, distribution and marketing for the show, Vox’s press release describes a wider partnership with New Amendment, the hosts’ production company.
The two companies will explore opportunities for live events, as well as more “editorial and creative collaborations throughout the NBA season.”
Interestingly, the DraftKings Sportsbook will remain a presenting sponsor and official sports betting operator of the show. Point Forward previously was distributed by Meadowlark Media, whose podcast network operates within a licensing deal with DraftKings and whose shows air on the DraftKings Network FAST channel.
Vox also has a separate partnership with DraftKings. Vox publishes a DraftKings Nation sports betting blog, while DraftKings has sponsored recent live activations from SB Nation.
So it appears Point Forward‘s relationship with DraftKings will follow it to Vox.
From an SB Nation standpoint, the deal marks a pretty clear inflection point. As SB Nation axes more of its foundational team sites and seeks revenue growth from branded content and live events, it now appears to also be entering the athlete-driven video podcast space.
Bringing Point Forward to the Vox Media Podcast Network under the SB Nation brand also follows in line with Vox’s broader strategy in podcasting. Shows like On with Kara Swisher and Into It with Sam Sanders similarly feature recognizable hosts who appear to get more freedom and resources from Vox.
As for Meadowlark, the departure of Point Forward signals the further move away from the company’s original slate of podcasts. Through the Looking Glass with Kate Fagan and Meadowlarkers with Howard Bryant were canceled this year. Hank Azaria’s Brockmire podcast has not published since 2021.
Meanwhile, Meadowlark launched a flashy new show with Pablo Torre called Pablo Torre Finds Out this month and moved Jon “Stugotz” Weiner’s God Bless Football to twice-weekly, featuring guests like Chris Simms, Austin Ekeler and Mike Golic.
It appears that Meadowlark, in its licensing deal with DraftKings, is aiming for the more traditional sports media hosts-plus-interviews format. And Point Forward was no longer a priority.
