Stephen A. Smith has career aspirations that exceed what ESPN can offer, and the boisterous sports personality also has big plans for his rapidly growing podcast.
On the latest episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, the longtime ESPN host was asked whether he has goals of building his media enterprise into something that rivals what Colin Cowherd has done with The Volume.
“Yes,” Smith answered definitively. “But here’s the thing. I’m not interested in just sports. Sports will always be a part of me, I’m just not interested in being limited to just that. Stay tuned. Stay tuned.”
The question was not selected at random, there’s a reason Smith picked this tweet about Cowherd’s The Volume as one he wanted to address on his podcast. And the most logical reason is that he has plans of building a podcast network by recruiting a cast of talent.
Recently, Cowherd said The Volume is worth “over $100 million.” Not bad for a brand that is just two years old. Cowherd’s company, which does stick to sports, boasts 18 different shows and has nearly 700,000 subscribers on YouTube. Smith, who launched his independent podcast just over one year ago has just over 330,000 YouTube subscribers.
Earlier this week, Dan Le Batard surmised that Smith has been building himself a “safety net” through his personal podcast platform in case ESPN ever fires him. If we’re using Cowherd’s The Volume as a marker, a $100 million podcast company isn’t a bad safety net.
Acknowledging that he has aspirations of building something similar to The Volume, paired with his “stay tuned” declaration could mean Smith has plans of bringing in other podcast personalities to join his platform. Cowherd has built his network by investing in a cast of talent that includes Shannon Sharpe, Draymond Green and Richard Sherman. But with Smith vowing not to stick to sports on his podcast platform, it could open the door to some interesting, or even controversial personalities joining his brand.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com