Various podcasters and content creators took to social media on Thursday to say they have been informed that the SB Nation Podcast Network is being shut down.
“We found out today that the Blogging The Boys podcast network is no more. SB Nation is ending their podcast program in general,” posted Dallas Cowboys site Blogging the Boys. “It is impossible to say how saddening this is. We have so many great shows and podcasters.”
“SB Nation opted to end its support for our [Arrowhead Pride] podcasts today,” wrote Chiefs site Arrowhead Pride EIC Pete Sweeney. “That’s all I have to say about this for now. This was out of my hands.”
“Effective immediately, the SB Nation podcast network is being shut down. That includes the Talking Chop/Battery Power podcast,” wrote Atlanta Braves site Battery Power writer Scott Coleman.
“We’re both confused and absolutely heartbroken over SB Nation’s decision to cut their podcast program immediately. When we have more answers about the future of the PODcast, we’ll let you know,” posted the Detroit Lions site Pride of Detroit.
Multiple accounts noted that the SB Nation sites associated with the podcasts will remain unchanged or unaffected. Many of them have also said they will attempt to stand up the podcasts elsewhere. There is an ever-growing history of SB Nation sites and podcasts that have been bought or separated from Vox and restarted independently.
Pride of Detroit’s Chris Perfett added on a Reddit post that “We’re all extremely blindsided by this, especially me,” and that “This is the second time Vox/SB Nation has screwed me and I don’t really want there to be a third time.”
He later noted on X that he was unable to upload the final podcast to the Pride of Detroit feed because he had already been locked out of the account.
can't even upload the goodbye @PrideOfDetroit podcast because @SBNation seems to have already locked me out of Megaphone.
Very cool.
Going to go unplug for a while. You can find un-edited versions on our YouTube and Twitch pages.
— Chris Perfett (@chrisperfett) April 5, 2024
Other SB Nation podcasters and content creators also noted the announcement and the end of their podcasts, with some saying they were no longer working for SB Nation.
Vox Media, which owns SB Nation, had a series of layoffs and cutbacks last year that involved shuttering various sites and podcasts. The podcasts that survived those cuts were the ones that ended Thursday.
Pride of Detroit and Arrowhead Pride are, perhaps coincidentally, the two sites that SB Nation launched paid newsletter products with last year.
Ironically, Vox celebrated their many podcast nominations for The Webby Awards just one day before shuttering their SB Nation Podcast Network.
Congratulations to Vox Media on their@TheWebbyAwards nominations! In total, Vox Media's work in podcasting and video earned 12 nominations and four special honors. Read more below and be sure to vote now through April 18. https://t.co/dsTqs5djLf
— Vox Media (@voxmedia) April 3, 2024
It’s hard to know what the future holds for SB Nation as it continues to shed content offerings and recently lost its publisher. SB Nation has also been at the center of various furloughs and layoffs in recent years as well.
In what seems like a never-ending cycle, the content creators who have invested so much of their time and effort in building these brands and sites are the ones who seem to pay for those decisions.
“I don’t have a ton of answers for what things look like in the future relative to what we do at BTB and the audio space,” Blogging the Boys EIC RJ Ochoa posted on X. “But my heart breaks for our talented podcasters and the departure of so many shows I have loved over the years. So many people have worked so hard and that the platform for that is just gone is really difficult to take in right now.”
[Blogging the Boys, Pete Sweeney, Scott Coleman, Pride of Detroit, RJ Ochoa]
