ESPN is about to start airing its most popular podcasts on TV

ESPN’s podcasts are evolving again, and you’ll start seeing them on the airwaves.

ESPN’s podcasts are getting a bit of an upgrade quite soon.

As part of what the company calls a new “seasonal content initiative,” the company will be airing one of its podcasts every weekday from 2-3 p.m. ET on ESPN2 starting on January 29, according to an ESPN statement sent to For The Win. 

The lineup of podcasts will include The Lowe Post by ESPN NBA expert Zach Lowe, The Hoop Collective run by NBA insider Brian Windhorst, The Mina Kimes Show led by NFL expert Mina Kimes, First Draft run by draft experts Mel Kiper Jr. and Field Yates and The Elle Duncan Show featuring ESPN anchors Elle Duncan and Gary Striewski.

The shows were already featured on YouTube so there was already a video component included. But for the podcasts to be broadcast on ESPN’s airwaves is another step forward in video.

It’s similar to how the company once aired its radio programming live on television, except it’s ESPN’s podcasts with a different show playing daily. The shows will be pre-recorded and then re-formatted to be aired on TV.

Here’s what the schedule will look like:

This is a move that the brand could potentially use to further highlight some of its lesser-known individual personalities. As things stand, Pat McAfee and Stephen A. Smith are the brand’s biggest personas.

RELATED: Aaron Rodgers and Pat McAfee have created a problem ESPN needs to solve

Current ESPN Senior Vice President and former For The Win founding editor Mike Foss said this is about audience expansion.

“This strategic content initiative provides our ESPN podcasts with a tremendous opportunity for continued growth and audience expansion while simultaneously lending compelling content to our ESPN2 television lineup,” he said in a company statement.

Broadcasting podcasts probably won’t make stars in the magnitude of names like Smith or McAfee, but it does give other ESPN personalities a chance to shine outside of the show formats we’re used to seeing them in. That’s a good thing.

Nine (newish) golf podcasts worth your time

Golf podcasts are a dime a dozen.

Golf podcasts are a dime a dozen. It seems like every one and their brother has started one and it makes it difficult to keep up with them all, or to determine what shows are worth your time.

On the drive to a variety of tournaments during March and April, I listened to my fair share and I made a discovery swiping through my library: a fair number of pods I liked are either extinct or on a lengthy hiatus. (Will Haskett, bring back The Perfect Number, please, Shane Ryan, it’s a Ryder Cup year and I’m ready for The Ryder Cup Run, and Tony Finau and Boyd Summerhays, Let’s Get It a little more often.) It seems many podcasts fade into oblivion almost as quickly as they pop up – anyone know what happened to the Rory & Carson Pod?

There are still way too many to listen to but if you’re wanting to mix it up and try something different from the mainstays – No Laying Up, Fore Play, Sub Par, Shot Gun Start seem to have emerged as the Big Four – here’s a bunch I’ve been enjoying and am rooting for to gain some traction (in no particular order).

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Draymond Green got on his podcast to tell us to stop complaining about his podcasting after his awful Game 3 performance

And, honestly, he’s kind of right. Even though it’s funny.

Draymond Green’s podcast has been discussed entirely way too often during these NBA Finals.

He’s been on it all playoffs, honestly — not even just for the Finals. He went off about his flagrant foul during the Grizzlies series. He’s talked about how the Warriors were planning on covering Derrick White and Al Horford. He’s even talked about Kevin Durant while on someone else’s podcast. He’s just letting the podcasts fly at this point.

And they’re going to keep coming, too. Green jumped on his podcast Thursday morning to let us know that we need to stop complaining about his podcast because he’s going to keep podcasting no matter what happens.

Yup. Seriously.

“You gonna get this podcast. It baffles me. It’s so funny when I hear people say ‘oh, you shouldn’t be podcasting.’ So what should I be doing when I get to my room? Should I go to sleep? Should I watch the film of the game, because I’m going to do that anyway. So what should I be doing when I get to my room? I want to know the real answer from people that say Draymond shouldn’t be podcasting.” 

Pretty clear, folks. We gon get that podcast. It’s that simple. People are still up in arms about it, though.

Best Houston Rockets podcasts for the 2022 NBA trade deadline

As the NBA’s Feb. 10 trade deadline approaches, here’s a look at some of the most active podcast channels covering the Houston Rockets, along with where to follow the hosts on social media.

At RocketsWire, we strive to give you the best written coverage of the Houston Rockets. We do have a podcast channel (RocketsWire Extra) for occasional longer interviews, but our wheelhouse is text content.

For other media outlets, audio is king. That includes Locked on Rockets, where I (Ben DuBose) hosted the show for three years before taking this job in August 2019 and handing things off to Jackson Gatlin.

But LOR, as it is best known, is far from alone when it comes to Rockets discussions in the multimedia space. As the Feb. 10 trade deadline for the 2021-22 season approaches, here’s a look at many of the leading Houston podcasts that you may want to follow for conversational analysis of various rumors and any moves that are made by the team.

P.S. Make sure you’re also following the hosts on Twitter, because many are now hosting live Twitter Spaces conversations with fans, as well.

Q&A: Dawn Staley on why it’s the perfect time for her new podcast, South Carolina and, of course, sneakers

Dawn Staley’s new podcast

Dawn Staley has been around the world. She’s seen a lot of things.

She’s lived a lot of life from her time coming up as a young hooper in the rough and rugged streets of North Philly to her coaching Team USA’s Women’s Basketball Team to yet another gold medal in the cozy confines of Tokyo last summer.

She’s done all of this while also being a Black woman stuck in a spotlight she never necessarily asked for. That’s what her journey has looked like. And while she’s been on her journey, she’s met countless others who have been on theirs as well.

And that’s why the South Carolina basketball coach is launching her new podcast, NetLife with Just Women’s Sports. She’s ready to share the details on her journey and give other women in sports a platform to share theirs. She’s already kicked things off with an episode featuring Lisa Leslie.

Through sharing, she hopes, she can continue to elevate more women in sports. “I just feel like I have a story to tell,” Staley told For The Win.

We asked her why, after such a wild 2021, this was the right time to launch a pod. Below is our conversation. Enjoy. (This interview has been condensed and edited).

Q&A: Meet the basketball geniuses who turned their love of hoops into a quirky, must-read NBA book

The authors of ‘The Joy of Basketball’ explain how their friendship helped them see the NBA in such a unique way.

NEW YORK — Ben Detrick and Andrew Kuo have a friendship built on the love of basketball and when you listen to them or even read their words, they make you remember why you started following the sport.

Detrick is a sportswriter who reported the infamous Burnergate story about former Philadelphia 76ers executive Bryan Colangelo. He is a contributor for The Ringer and has also written for the styles section of the New York Times. Kuo is an excellent visual artist who was also a longtime DJ in NYC.

They host the “world’s most influential” basketball podcast, Cookies Hoops, which is where all of your coolest friends get their basketball takes. If none of your friends are listening to Cookies yet, you can quickly become the hip sports fan in your circle by subscribing.

Detrick and Kuo linked up with For The Win to discuss their book, THE JOY OF BASKETBALL: An Encyclopedia of the Modern Game (which could make for a great holiday gift!) at Scarr’s Pizza in the Lower East Side. After Scarr’s started blasting Kendrick Lamar and Baby Keem so loud that transcribing our conversation would become impossible, we moved locations to Clandestino, the Canal Street bar near Dimes Square.

The two enter the room at Clandestino with comfort and confidence that is typically reserved for the fictional bar in Cheers, a comparison they would hate due to their self-administered rivalry with all things Boston.

There, we covered as many topics vaguely adjacent to hoops as we could while enjoying “an beer” — a running bit they have on their podcast about drinking precisely one beverage.

Who in the NBA is legitimately cool and why is the only answer LaMelo Ball? What should we make of the narrative surrounding Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving and how does it relate to populism? What is it about their Cookies Hoops podcast that draws so many artists, models, influencers, musicians and other media personalities to their events?

These are questions that only Detrick and Kuo could answer, so For The Win picked their brain for as long as possible before the two would have to make their way to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

New episodes of The Sneak: The Disappearance of Mario Rossi are out now

In Season 3 of our true crime podcast, The Sneak, we tell the story of NASCAR crew chief Mario Rossi, his disappearance and how it could be connected to a massive drug-smuggling ring.

The newest episode of The Sneak, a serialized true crime podcast with a sports twist from For The Win and USA TODAY, dropped Thursday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

The third season premiered last week with the first two of eight total episodes. Episode 3 is available now, and one episode each week is being released for the next six weeks.

This season, we dive into the life and disappearance of Mario Rossi, a brilliant NASCAR crew chief and engineer who mysteriously vanished just after New Year’s in 1983. He was just 50 years old when he disappeared.

The Rossi family was told Mario died in a plane crash in the Bahamas with details fed to family members through a series of strange phone calls. But not everyone believed he died in the unconfirmed accident, and for nearly 40 years, the family has been searching for answers, often leading to more questions.

With their help, we investigate his disappearance.

But in our attempt to uncover what happened to Rossi almost four decades ago, we have to look deep into a $300 million drug-smuggling ring that infiltrated NASCAR. And it could explain everything.

The first three episodes of Season 3 of The Sneak are now available anywhere you get your podcasts — including Apple Podcasts and Spotify — with a new episode coming out each week for the next six weeks. Or you can binge the entire season right now, ad free, on the Wondery Plus app.

Listen to the latest episode below, via Spotify:

Or start from the beginning with the Season 3 opener:

Forward Press podcast: Peter Kostis on the 2021 Masters, what Hideki Matsuyama’s win means for Japan and more

In this episode of the Forward Press Podcast, David Dusek and Peter Kostis recap the Masters and Hideki Matsuyama’s historic win.

Welcome to episode 92 of Forward Press, a weekly podcast from Golfweek.

In this edition of the Forward Press Podcast, Golfweek’s David Dusek chats with golf instructor and analyst, Peter Kostis, about Hideki Matsuyama’s historic victory at Augusta National, the incredible performance by Will Zalatoris in his Masters debut, what Xander Schauffele needs to take away from this weekend, and much more.

As always, you can download the Forward Press podcast and listen on all of your favorite platforms, including: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | Castbox | Radio Public.

Did you like what you heard? You can catch up on previous episodes of the Forward Press podcast here.

Listen to the new season of our true crime podcast, The Sneak: The Disappearance of Mario Rossi

In Season 3, we tell the story of NASCAR crew chief Mario Rossi, his disappearance and how it could be related to a drug-smuggling ring.

Season 3 of The Sneak, a serialized true crime podcast from For The Win and USA TODAY, premiered today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

This season, we will dive into the life and disappearance of Mario Rossi, a brilliant NASCAR crew chief and engineer who mysteriously vanished just after New Year’s in 1983.

The Rossi family was told Mario died in a plane crash in the Bahamas with details fed to family members through a series of strange phone calls. But not everyone believed he died in the unconfirmed accident, and for nearly 40 years, the family has been searching for answers, often leading to more questions.

With their help, we will investigate his sudden disappearance.

But in our attempt to uncover what happened to Rossi almost four decades ago, we have to look deep into a $300 million drug-smuggling ring that infiltrated NASCAR. And it could explain, well, everything.

The first two episodes of Season 3 of The Sneak are now available anywhere you get your podcasts — including Apple Podcasts and Spotify — with a new episode coming out each week for the next six weeks. Or you can binge the entire season right now, ad free, on the Wondery Plus app.

Listen to the first episode of the new season via Spotify below:

Get a sneak peek of our true crime podcast, The Sneak: The Disappearance of Mario Rossi

The Sneak, a serialized podcast which tells true crime stories from inside and around the world of sports, is back for its third season.

The Sneak — a serialized podcast from For The Win and USA TODAY, which tells true crime stories from inside and around the world of sports — is back for its third season, called The Disappearance of Mario Rossi.

Rossi was, by all accounts, a brilliant NASCAR crew chief and engineer from the 1960s and ’70s who worked with racing legends like Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip. But just after New Year’s Day in 1983 — four years after his last NASCAR race — Rossi disappeared.

Through a series of mysterious phone calls, the Rossi family was told Mario died in a plane crash in the Bahamas, but some family members and loved ones didn’t believe it. They said the information they were fed didn’t add up.

But if he didn’t die in a plane crash in 1983, what happened to him?

On this season of The Sneak, we will investigate Rossi’s sudden and quiet disappearance with the help of his family. But in our attempt to uncover what happened to Rossi nearly 40 years ago, we have to look deep into a $300 million drug-smuggling ring that infiltrated NASCAR, and it could explain, well, everything.

You can binge the entire third season of The Sneak right now on Wondery Plus, either on wonderyplus.com/sneak or via the Wondery Plus app.

The full season will be available April 6 anywhere you get your podcasts. But for now, here’s a sneak peek of the season, which you can listen to on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.