Exclusive: Sports comedy host Katie Nolan to launch SiriusXM podcast
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Katie Nolan. Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photo: Maro Hagopian/SiriusXM
Sports comedy host Katie Nolan is launching "Casuals," a SiriusXM podcast covering sports and culture, she exclusively tells Axios.
Why it matters: The deal marks the return of a digitally native media personality to sports media amid a boom in sports podcasting.
What they're saying: "I've always said sports are for everybody, but I do think that sometimes the way that sports shows tend to talk about sports is not a way that's accessible to everybody," Nolan tells Axios. "'Casuals' is basically a sports podcast for people who didn't think they would like a sports podcast or a sports podcast for people that just want to be entertained by sports."
Catch up quick: Nolan started her career blogging and making videos from her Allston, Massachusetts, apartment, leading to a job at Fox Sports 1. She won a 2016 Emmy for "Garbage Time with Katie Nolan" and was recruited to ESPN, where she hosted "Always Late with Katie Nolan." She also hosted the ESPN podcast "Sports?"
- Other career highlights include working as a correspondent for NBC Sports during the 2022 Winter Olympics and as a commentator for Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV+. She also made it to the "Celebrity Jeopardy!" finals.
Zoom in: "Casuals" starts on Jan. 21 and will release twice weekly.
- For the Tuesday episodes, Nolan will commentate on the week's sports moments on and off the field. For Thursdays, Nolan will chat with guests about their sports fandom and other topics.
- Episodes, which Nolan says will likely be an hour, will be available on all major podcast platforms. SiriusXM has the exclusive ad sales and distribution rights.
- For now, there's no full video version. Video clips will be shared as promotion and more could come later, Nolan says.
Zoom out: Sports ranked as the second-most-listened-to podcast genre, after comedy, in a 2023 IAB report by PwC. Media networks have been investing in sports audio, and athletes have been launching their own podcasts.
- SiriusXM, home to "The Howard Stern Show," has continued to invest in personality-driven programming. Last year, the audio giant signed deals with "Call Her Daddy" host Alex Cooper and SmartLess Media, run by Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes.
