Sport Social has strengthened its position as the preferred audio partner for Premier League clubs, reaching a new milestone for the 2024/25 season.
With Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Leicester City joining this year, Sport Social now hosts podcasts for eight top teams and nine shows in total, cementing its place at the heart of football fan engagement.
The network’s current Premier League roster includes Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Leicester City, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Beyond the Premier League, Sport Social’s reach extends to official podcast content for other well-known clubs including QPR, Celtic FC, Hibernian, Preston North End and Stoke City. The network says more Premier League partnerships are expected soon, as clubs increasingly see podcasting as a key channel for building closer connections with fans.
Podcasting is proving to be one of the most effective ways for clubs to capture and hold supporters’ attention. Typical episodes run for 30 to 45 minutes, offering clubs a rare chance to communicate directly with fans without the distractions of social feeds or short-form video.
This deeper level of engagement is reflected in audience figures too. According to RAJAR, 84% of podcast listeners stay tuned for all or most of an episode – a loyalty level that is becoming harder to match on other digital platforms.
Ryan Disdier, Vice President Content from Aston Villa said: “We wanted to launch an official team podcast to help bring our fans closer to the team by providing them content through a medium we hadn’t fully maximised yet. Having an in-house podcast is a crucial asset for any club.
“Sport Social was incredibly helpful during the initial stages of the development of the podcast, helping answer any and every question we may have had. Following the launch of the podcast, they have remained invaluable in our partnership in helping us produce the best content we can.
“I think being able to connect with the club through every outlet (social, digital and podcast) is an incredibly critical component for a supporter in 2025. The value in having a presence through the podcast landscape is immense.
“We want to continue to evolve our content and offer supporters new ways to engage with the club they love. The podcast, in collaboration with Sport Social, is a tremendous way to do that.”
As well as Sport Social’s production partnership with Aston Villa, Stoke City were amongst the new recruits over the last years, trusting Sport Social Podcast Network to deliver their official podcast.
Thomas Holdcroft, Head of Marketing and Communications at Stoke City, said: “We launched Potters’ Pod at a time when we were seeking to increase the volume and elevate the quality of our content offering.
“As the partnership has progressed and the podcast has become established, we have come to enjoy a hugely productive working relationship with Sport Social, based around a variety of different factors.
“They balance their own expertise with the humility to appreciate that you know what is right from a tactical communications perspective for your club, always making recommendations that assist you as a club in making the right decisions.
“Finally, the team at Sport Social are always willing in their endeavours to work to your timelines, however challenging they may be, and take pride in their craft, thus ensuring that decision making when refining edits can always be based on editorial factors and never on basic quality control.”
