The Ringer is finally getting in on college football with Ringer Tailgate, a new podcast and live YouTube show.
The show will include a weekly video podcast on YouTube and the Spotify app, plus a live YouTube stream each Saturday evening following the day’s games. Ringer hosts Van Lathan, Joel Anderson, and Tate Frazier are joining forces to lead The Ringer’s first college football podcast since the company’s early days.
The first episode dropped ahead of Week 0, with the crew previewing the biggest teams and storylines of the season.
Before the launch of Ringer Tailgate, the outlet’s only college football content came from Ryen Russillo’s podcast and Todd McShay’s recently launched NFL Draft coverage. Taking the lead of its founder, Bill Simmons, The Ringer has never focused closely on college football as a core vertical. This despite employing college football commentators like Rodger Sherman, Mallory Rubin, and Ben Glicksman over the years.
After The Ringer’s launch in 2016, Rubin and Glicksman hosted a college football podcast within the company’s early “Channel 33” sports feed.
Now, as the sport continues to generate significant money and attention, The Ringer is getting back in. With Simmons’ beloved Bill Belichick in Chapel Hill, the Arch Manning era beginning in Texas, and the expanded College Football Playoff in its second season, Ringer Tailgate aims to broaden the Spotify-owned network into a must-cover sport.
With Lathan hailing from SEC country, Anderson from Big 12 country, and Frazier from ACC country, the hosts figure to bring a good breadth to the show during what should be a thrilling, wide-open college football season.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.