In a logical move, DraftKings is reportedly set to bring Mike Golic Sr. and Mike Golic Jr. back together for a daily video podcast.
They’ll be joined by Jon “Stugotz” Weiner for the production, which is still a few months from launching ahead of football season.
That’s according to this report from Richard Deitsch at The Athletic, who notes that Golic Jr. is also finalizing an overall content deal with DraftKings:
The news continues the second broadcast act – multiple acts, in fact – for Golic Sr. since ESPN opted not to bring him back, after he had worked for the company for a quarter-century. Over the past 12 months, Golic has served as an NFL analyst for Westwood One, a college football analyst for Learfield and a podcaster for Meadowlark Media, where he makes appearances on multiple shows including on the “STUpodity podcast with Weiner. Golic Sr. also does weekly hits on Peacock with Mike Florio. Golic Sr. currently co-hosts one-hour weekly video podcast (Golic & Smetty) for DraftKings on the intersection of sports, news and culture alongside Meadowlark Media personality Jessica Smetana.
In addition to the news on his father, Golic Jr., who announced in February that he was leaving ESPN after a 6.5-year run that saw him co-host morning and afternoon shows for ESPN Radio, will formally be announced soon by DraftKings as joining that company as a daily content provider.
The Golic & Golic dynamic worked well for ESPN until they elected to not keep the elder member of the duo, a breakup that seemed fairly acrimonious and probably didn’t help ESPN keep Golic Jr., either. For DraftKings, it’s yet another step towards being their own content creation company, which is seemingly their ideal goal.
Creating organic viewership and cultivating an audience that way is clearly something they and other gambling companies see as a step towards lowering customer acquisition costs. Though that probably doesn’t mean the constant drumbeat of sportsbook ads during games are going away any time soon.
