The Varsity
by Puck | Audacy
Is this your podcast?On the show
From 10 epsHost
Recent guests
Recent episodes
Is Netflix About To Go Big On Sports?
Oct 18, 2026
43m 49s
Jay Bilas’s NCAA Gospel
Oct 14, 2026
43m 39s
Can the NHL Really Go Global?
Oct 11, 2026
43m 47s
What’s Next For Adam Silver’s NBA?
Oct 7, 2026
43m 50s
The Passion of Saint Nick
Oct 4, 2026
43m 48s
Insights from recent episode analysis
Audience Interest
Podcast Focus
Publishing Consistency
Platform Reach
Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Most discussed topics
Brands & references
Total monthly reach
Based on 1 signal.
Built from
By chart position
- 🇺🇸United States · Business NewsHOME#19233K to 1.2M
- 🇪🇸Spain · Business News#215.1K to 27K
- 🇵🇭PH · Business News#113.7K to 20K
- 🇨🇦Canada · Business News#492.8K to 15K
- 🇮🇱IL · Business News#201.1K to 5.8K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
249K to 1.3M🎙 Daily cadence·221 episodes·Last published 2d ago - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
828K to 4.4M🇺🇸94%🇪🇸2%🇵🇭1%+1 more - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
456K to 2.4M
Market Insights
Platform Distribution
Reach across major podcast platforms, updated hourly
Total Followers
—
Total Plays
—
Total Reviews
—
* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
Social Links & Contact
Official channels & resources
Official Website
Login
RSS Feed
Login
| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/18/26 |  Is Netflix About To Go Big On Sports? | Axios’s Sara Fischer returns to the pod to discuss Bela Bajaria’s exit from Netflix and whether her successor, former Disney and Fox executive Peter Rice, will lean more heavily into live sports. They also get into ESPN’s Super Bowl debut, sports rights in a Skydance world, the dramas playing out across the NFL’s broadcast booths, and more. | 43m 49s | ||||||
| 10/14/26 | Jay Bilas’s NCAA Gospel | ESPN’s Jay Bilas joins John for a temperature check on the college sports landscape. Jay argues that the talent has never been better, and scrutinizes the NCAA for blaming the disorder it created while refusing to fix it—and hoping Congress will instead. He shares the reforms he’d like to see, his critiques of the Protect College Sports Act, and why he believes the NCAA neither needs nor deserves an antitrust exemption. | 43m 39s | ||||||
| 10/11/26 | Can the NHL Really Go Global? | ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski joins John to preview the NHL season and assess the league’s business outlook. They get into the new 84-game schedule, league expansion, the NHL’s international ambitions, Bettman succession plans, and more. | 43m 47s | ||||||
| 10/7/26 | What’s Next For Adam Silver’s NBA? | In this special live recording from Puck’s In the Arena, NBA commissioner Adam Silver joins John to reflect on the first year of the league's 11-year media deal, which delivered the NBA’s highest regular-season viewership in more than two decades. Silver also gets into the Clippers scandal, the Lakers’ eye-popping $12.5 billion valuation, his embrace of A.I. to enhance fan engagement, and much more. | 43m 50s | ||||||
| 10/4/26 | The Passion of Saint Nick | John is joined by Words + Pictures co-founder Connor Schell and chief creative officer Aaron Cohen to discuss their new six-part Saban documentary, chronicling the life and career of the legendary college football coach. They also discuss the evolution of '30 for 30,' the state of the sports documentary genre, and why the market is bigger than just ESPN, Amazon, and Netflix. | 43m 48s | ||||||
| 9/30/26 | Golf’s Rolapp Revolution | Andy Johnson, founder of Fried Egg Golf, joins John to discuss the state of the PGA Tour under Brian Rolapp’s stewardship. He highlights Rolapp’s star-centric vision, argues that LIV’s real legacy may be forcing the Tour to innovate, and digs into the shrinking pool of rights bidders, golf’s equipment regulation debate, and more. | 43m 40s | ||||||
| 9/27/26 | The NFL’s Ratings Slump & PGA Tour’s New Swing | Fan favorite Andrew Marchand joins John to run through the sports-media news of the week. They dig into the NFL’s underwhelming early-season ratings, Joe Buck’s $108 million extension with ESPN, Brian Rolapp’s new plans for the PGA Tour, the growing scrutiny around College GameDay, and more. | 43m 44s | ||||||
| 9/23/26 | Ted’s Monumental Adventure | Ted Leonsis, C.E.O. of Monumental Sports, joins John to talk about the ins and outs of owning the Washington Capitals, Wizards, and Mystics. He gets into the billion-dollar rebuild of Capital One Arena, why the Lakers’ $12.5 billion sale makes him nervous, his conviction that D.C. should become the women’s sports capital of the world, and more. | 46m 51s | ||||||
| 9/20/26 | Kevin Burkhardt's Art of "Not Showing How Smart You Are" | Fox's go-to guy for the Super Bowl and World Series joins John to discuss his enviable broadcast career, his weekly prep routine during the NFL season, and the zen of knowing when not to let your research get in the way of the game. Join us at In the Arena on Oct. 1 in NYC. Tickets here: https://puck.events/inthearena/ | 43m 51s | ||||||
| 9/16/26 | TV’s New Gatekeepers | Super analyst Michael Nathanson returns to the pod to discuss the tectonic forces reshaping how America watches sports. He and John unpack the logic behind Fox’s bid for Roku, why YouTube TV could save cable, Charter’s streaming-bundle strategy, and Netflix’s “eventization” of everything. Join us at In the Arena on Oct. 1 in NYC. Tickets here: https://puck.events/inthearena/ | 42m 42s | ||||||
Want analysis for the episodes below?Free for Pro Submit a request, we'll have your selected episodes analyzed within an hour. Free, at no cost to you, for Pro users. | |||||||||
| 9/13/26 | Peter Schrager’s Big Day | ESPN's Peter Schrager joins John to discuss his winding road to hosting his own daytime show. The two also dig into the Rams’ rough Australia opener, the NFL’s flag football and international push, the next wave of team owners, and the NFL’s standoff with YouTube over live rights.Join us at In the Arena on Oct. 1 in NYC. Tickets here: https://puck.events/inthearena/ | 43m 46s | ||||||
| 9/9/26 | boxingWWE+4 | Nick Khan | WWETKO+4 | NYC | Nick Khanboxing+6 | — | 43m 40s | ||
| 9/6/26 | NFLsports broadcasting+3 | Jim Gray | NFL | NYC | Jim GrayNFL+6 | — | 43m 23s | ||
| 9/2/26 | college sportsbipartisan legislation+4 | Marc Ganis | President Trump’s College Sports CouncilLakers+4 | NYC | college sportsbipartisan bill+7 | — | 43m 52s | ||
| 8/30/26 | NFL broadcastingsports media+3 | Andrew Marchand | CBSNBC+2 | — | NFLbroadcasting+6 | — | 43m 43s | ||
| 8/26/26 | NASCARmedia rights+3 | Brian Herbst | NielsenDays of Thunder | NYC | NASCARmedia rights+5 | — | 43m 49s | ||
| 8/23/26 | sports mediacareer transition+3 | Jimmy Traina | Sports IllustratedUnderscore Media | NYC | Jimmy TrainaSports Illustrated+3 | — | 43m 39s | ||
| 8/19/26 | sports ownershipfranchise valuations+3 | Mark Ein | CommandersOrioles+3 | — | sports ownershipMark Ein+5 | — | 43m 49s | ||
| 8/16/26 | NBAfranchise valuations+3 | Ramona Shelburne | ESPNLA Lakers+2 | — | IgerLakers+5 | — | 43m 49s | ||
| 8/12/26 | NFL media rightscable bundles+4 | Mike Morris | Sunday TicketGuggenheim+2 | — | NFLmedia rights+5 | — | 43m 57s | ||
| 8/9/26 | NFLoff-field intrigue+3 | Mike Florio | NBC SportsCBS Sports+1 | — | NFLMike Florio+6 | — | 42m 16s | ||
| 8/5/26 | Netflix’s NFL Booth & CBS’s Romo Conundrum | Athletes First executive Gideon Cohen joins John to take the temperature of a broadcasting market undergoing sweeping change alongside the rest of the sports media industry. The duo chew over the slow death of the studio show, Netflix’s new NFL booth, the Tony Romo suspension, and why the future of the business increasingly runs through an iPhone. | 43m 48s | ||||||
| 8/2/26 | Can the WNBA Survive Its Own Success? | Annie Costabile of The Athletic, who covers the WNBA and women’s basketball at large, joins John to discuss the league’s growing pains as it makes the leap from niche product to mainstream juggernaut. Annie explains why, despite record TV ratings, attendance, and sponsorships, the WNBA remains mired in internal conflict—from online harassment to the breakdown in communication between star players and commissioner Cathy Engelbert, whose future in the role is very much in question. | 43m 46s | ||||||
| 7/29/26 | Is the A.I. Arms Race Coming for Sports? | Analyst Michael Nathanson joins John to break down some of the biggest storylines in sports media right now—from the implications of Paramount pausing its Warner Bros. deal to the way the A.I. capex arms race has reshaped how streamers approach sports rights. He also gets into Netflix’s sports strategy, Apple’s sports rights appetite, and more. | 43m 40s | ||||||
| 7/26/26 | What ESPN’s Layoffs Really Signal | The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand rejoins John to break down ESPN’s recent layoffs, which hit more than 100 employees. They explain why the NFL Network acquisition—and the massive salaries commanded by the likes of Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee—set the stage for the cuts. They also discuss the SEC’s stance on the Protect College Sports Act, streaming’s growing influence over NFL rights, the future of NFL Network under ESPN, and more. | 43m 40s | ||||||
Showing 25 of 221
Pitch Fit is a Pro feature
See how bookable this show is for guests, which brands already advertise, the per-episode ad value, and the best-fit guest and sponsor profile. The numbers are blurred on the free plan.
How readily this show books outside guests like you.
How proven this show is for host-read sponsorships.
For Guests
ProFor Advertisers
ProUpgrade to Pro to unlock guest cadence, sponsor categories, fit scores, and per-episode ad value for this show.
Similar Audience Demographics
Podcasts that attract a similar listener profile
Chart history for The Varsity
Peaked at #11 in PH, currently #11 in PH.
| Market | Genre | Peak | Current | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PH | — | #11 | #11 | — |
| United States | — | #19 | #19 | — |
| IL | — | #20 | #20 | — |
| Spain | — | #21 | #21 | — |
| South Africa | — | #36 | #36 | — |
| Canada | — | #49 | #49 | — |
| Australia | — | #83 | #83 | — |
| Denmark | — | #101 | #101 | — |
| PT | — | #120 | #120 | — |
| Ireland | — | #128 | #128 | — |
| CO | — | #133 | #133 | — |
| United Kingdom | — | #137 | #137 | — |
| Sweden | — | #158 | #158 | — |
| TW | — | #190 | #190 | — |
| PL | — | #191 | #191 | — |
| Mexico | — | #199 | #199 | — |
Chart Positions
16 placements across 16 markets.
Chart Positions
16 placements across 16 markets.