<\/p>\n
\u201cTony from Conshohocken, you\u2019re on the podcast.\u201d<\/p>\n
A new, Philly-centric sports outlet is leaning on podcasting to balm the city\u2019s ravenous fans on Broad Street. Phly (pronounced Philly, <\/em>not fly) <\/em>is the Philadelphia outlet for the AllCity Network, a streaming-first media company that started in Denver and has since expanded to Chicago and Phoenix.<\/p>\n In Philadelphia, AllCity has deployed a strategy The Athletic employed not too long ago: Pulling big names from local papers, radio stations, (and in Phly\u2019s case, The Athletic itself), with the hope that those audiences will follow them to Phly.<\/p>\n AllCity is venture-backed\u2014like The Athletic, which was never profitable, before it was bought by The New York Times\u2014with growth and scale as the primary goal, according to AllCity co-founder and CEO Brandon Spano.<\/p>\n AllCity is largely focused on podcasts and video\u2014and a ton of it. A month into its Philly tenure, the 19-person team is pumping out one podcast for each of the five professional sports franchises in the city, with the goal of publishing episodes roughly five times a week per team.<\/p>\n Across the four cities where it has a presence, AllCity releases a total of over 100 hours of sports podcasting per week. The tonnage play is almost reminiscent of sports talk radio\u2014have a constant stream of sports content and let audiences tune in.<\/p>\n \u201cWe created what we think is the future of local sports media,\u201d Spano told us.<\/p>\n Spano, who\u2019s worked in ad sales in Denver, said he started Dnvr (then called BSN Denver) in 2014, largely inspired by SB Nation. Podcasts followed, then daily podcasts, events\u2014mostly watch parties\u2014and merch. Eventually, the site got big enough that someone asked to license the website\u2019s branding for a sports bar.<\/p>\n But it was making most of its money from ads. \u201cBy the end of 2017\u2026Most of our revenue was coming from podcast advertising and the video we would create,\u201d Spano said. Currently, about 70% of AllCity\u2019s revenue comes from advertising.<\/p>\n That diversified revenue strategy of events, merch, and content is what Spano is hoping to replicate with outlets in Phoenix (started in September 2021), Chicago (started in March 2022), and now, Philadelphia. Each site also sells city-specific annual memberships for $79.99 that include discounts on events, merch, and access to a Discord server. \u201cA successful media company can\u2019t be one thing. It just can\u2019t,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In August, AllCity\u2019s three established markets reached 8.4 million total listens, made up of podcast downloads and YouTube views, according to Spano. Denver alone accounted for 3 million of those, though these are not unique users.<\/p>\n Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n At least 1,000 people have signed up for Phly\u2019s membership plan, according to Spano. He expects Phly to be profitable within the first year, with the goal of eventually bringing in $10 million annually.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a model Spano said he wants to replicate quickly: \u201cI kind of joke, but, we can pop these up like Chick-fil-As.\u201d<\/p>\n AllCity has raised about $8 million in venture capital, and it\u2019s still raising. A national podcast network is set to roll out this month, helping AllCity court national advertisers. Phly rolled out with DraftKings, Manscaped, Gametime, and Athletic Greens as Phly sponsors, and has a total of nine more advertisers as of this month, Spano said.<\/p>\n In Philadelphia, Phly\u2019s splashy entrance has led to a boil. The company hired 97.5 The Fanatic\u2019s Anthony Gargan, who allegedly violated the noncompete clause in his contract, according to a lawsuit filed by the station\u2019s parent company. When asked about the situation, Spano said \u201cWe\u2019re looking for exposure, and this has been great exposure for us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we believe is that we\u2019re standing up a different product that\u2019s not disruptive to sports talk radio. It\u2019s a different listenership, it\u2019s a different audience, and it\u2019s a different product. These are team-specific products. It\u2019s very different,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A sales deck shared with Marketing Brew and confirmed by Spano pairs Phly\u2019s projected audience against sports talk radio stations with a graphic that says \u201ccompetitive edge.\u201d Written in all-caps, the first slide reads, \u201cTHE LOCAL ALL SPORTS MEDIA MARKET IS COLLAPSING,\u201d above screenshots of headlines about media layoffs.<\/p>\n To Spike Eskin, VP of programming at New York sports talk radio station WFAN and former program director of Philadelphia\u2019s WIP station, all sports talk radio stations are fighting for listeners\u2019 time regardless of new competition. Eskin also co-hosts a Philadelphia 76ers podcast called The Rights to Ricky Sanchez<\/em>.<\/p>\n Sports talk radio stations become ingrained with the culture of a city\u2014when Eskin was program director, he went to the funeral of a regular WIP caller, he said\u2014and that isn\u2019t something that can be built overnight, even if Philly is a \u201cpretty crazed sports town.\u201d The question, Eskin said, is \u201cHow many spare hours do people have in a day? And who do they want to spend [them] with?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think we have to do our jobs well every day, and I don\u2019t think the appearance of somebody else doing more podcasts and more YouTube changes that,\u201d he told Marketing Brew.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nPods and parties<\/h2>\n
Get marketing news you’ll actually want to read<\/h5>\n
Phly, Eagles, Phly<\/h2>\n