Since Pablo Torre left ESPN to launch his investigative podcast, Pablo Torre Finds Out, nearly three years ago, his profile has risen as a newsmaker in the sports world and as one of the key components of both Meadowlark Media and The Athletic’s foray into a new kind of journalism fit for the modern media ecosystem.
But, it turns out, Torre nearly went to a competing podcast network.
In an episode of The Colin Cowherd Podcast released on Wednesday, Cowherd revealed that he was also in talks with Torre to launch PTFO at The Volume, the digital video and podcast company that Cowherd launched in 2021.
The comments came as part of a broader segment about the state of sports journalism, which Cowherd argued has continued to make an impact through different formats, citing PTFO as an example.
“Shout to Pablo Torre, who is one of those podcasters, and who we considered, at The Volume, of hiring him,” Cowherd said. “And he was very expensive, and we were a young company. But again, I think Pablo’s always been super sharp, and is a little bit of a disruptor in terms of that.”
Both sides have been successful even though Cowherd seemingly could not afford Torre’s show. Torre gave Meadowlark its biggest new show, while The Volume has spun off into talk shows spanning music, entertainment, and culture in addition to its core focus on sports.
PTFO struck a licensing deal with The Athletic last year after leaving Meadowlark’s partnership with DraftKings.
But given the close relationship that Torre and Meadowlark founder Dan Le Batard have maintained publicly, dating back to their ESPN days, the news that Torre shopped PTFO elsewhere is noteworthy, if not shocking, given the competitive podcasting market over the past several years.
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.