Top names in the sports podcasting world are set to go head-to-head as the shortlists are announced for the inaugural Sports Podcast Awards.
Taking place in March with a virtual ceremony, the awards are from the Sports Industry Group, a part of Benchmark, the company behind the Sport Industry Awards. After a rigorous judging process from an expert industry jury, a total of 128 podcasts from 13 countries and more than 50 different podcast networks all over the globe have made the short-list.
Podcasts from the likes of The Athletic, NBC, Sky Sports, The Ringer and iHeart Media will be competing in categories including Football, Baseball and Golf, as well as others such as Combat Sports, Urban & Adventure and Winter Sports.
There are also awards for other important topical subjects within the industry including Performance and Wellbeing, Sports Business and Equality and Social Impact, as well as the Sports Podcast of the Year, which will be decided from the winners of each category by the awards advisory board.
Among those sports podcasts in the running for an award is Jake Humphrey’s, High Performance Podcast, which will contest the Performance and Wellbeing category and Big Hitters awards, for which it will go up against popular US podcast The Fantasy Footballers among others.
The Equality Social Impact category will be contested by eight shows each tackling important issues within sport, these include BBC’s LGBT Sports Podcast, climate change awareness show Emergency on Planet Sport and female football podcast Goal Diggers.
Other big names to be recognised at the shortlisting phase include The Greatest Game with Jamie Carragher, The Socially Distant Sports Bar and the Joe Marler Show.
The Sports Podcast Awards were launched to unite the sports podcast community globally, from elite podcasters to grass roots and anything in between – 61% of entrants to this year’s awards were independent podcasts.
Speaking on the announcement, Dylan Pugh, Managing Director of Sports Industry Group said: “Announcing our shortlists for this year’s awards is the perfect way to kick off 2022, and we’re proud to have podcasts of all shapes and sizes included.
“Now, we want the wider podcasting community, including content creators and listeners, to engage by voting for their favourites.
“Joining the Sports Podcast Awards community is truly the best way to boost discoverability for your favourite podcasts and we’re very much looking forward to a fantastic virtual ceremony in March to crown our winners.”
With the shortlisted podcasts now in place, it’s the turn of the podcasters and listeners themselves to have their say on who deserves to be crowned the winner in each category. Both have the power to decide, with a unique judging format that makes it a democratic process.
There’s still time to sign up to become a judge and Sports Podcast Awards would encourage podcasters and listeners to get in touch if they want to be part of the community.
Now judging has begun, participants will be able to follow along as the results are recorded and shown via a live league table for each individual category on the SPA website. You can also win prizes for being the most active and accurate judge! The winner’s announcement will then take place at the end of March with the league tables going dark for the final week to build suspense for the ceremony itself.
To register to become a judge and to see the entire shortlist, go to the Sport Podcast Awards website.
