Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast

Hosted by Neil Horowitz

Management Marketing SportsInterviews guests

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Episodes

150

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

A business-minded look at digital and social media in sports, featuring interviews with pros and thought leaders in the space.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 4, 20261 hr 13 min

Episode 328: Dave Benson on Scaling Athlete Access, Activating Meet & Greets, the Business of Fan Memories, and Operationalizing More Authentic Engagement

Watch or listen to episode 328 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, in which Neil chatted with Dave Benson, Founder & CEO, SuperQuickQuestion. Dave Benson has sat in a lot of seats: ESPN, Bleacher Report, MLB’s Fan Cave, and a marketing run at IBM, before founding SuperQuickQuestion, the one-on-one, one-minute video meet-and-greet platform. We get into why the meet-and-greet has barely changed since our dads’ day, the eye-opening reality that 60% of contracted athlete appearances never actually happen, how a hard one-minute clock makes athletes MORE willing to say yes, the death of the shill post, and why the smartest, most nascent leagues treat fans as assets instead of threats. Packed with stories, real numbers, and takeaways for anyone working in fan engagement. 73 minute duration. Listen on Apple, Spotify and YouTube  

July 21, 20261 hr 46 min

Episode 327: Joe Farren on Building Sports Innovation That Drives Revenue, How Man City Rocked Roblox, 3D Data, and Emerging & Lasting Fan Behaviors

Watch or listen to episode 327 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, in which Neil chatted with Joe Farren, Innovation Consultant, Future Sport Co. Joe Farren has sat in a lot of seats: six years at Hawk-Eye, leading the innovation unit at Manchester City, and now running his own consultancy, Future Sport Co. We get into the Man City Roblox playbook that drove 55 MILLION unique players (and 6,000 new members in four hours), why 3D player tracking data could one day rival media rights, and the fan behaviors that outlast every tech hype cycle. Loaded with case studies and real numbers. 106 minute duration. Listen on Apple, Spotify and YouTube  

July 7, 20261 hr 14 min

Episode 326: Ben Valenta of Fox Sports on What Really Makes a Fan, the Business of Belonging, and Why Fans Have More Friends

Watch or listen to episode 326 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, in which Neil chatted with Ben Valenta, EVP of Strategy and Analytics at Fox Sports and co-author of Fans Have More Friends. Ben discusses how he came to see fandom as a “belonging engine,” and why the real definition of a fan is “passion plus action” (which his team measures through what they call a value score). He breaks down why it’s far easier to grow the fans you already have than to convert non-fans (the 0-to-1 problem), why fandom is horizontal rather than vertical so your next fan is already a fan of something else, and how youth fandom actually takes root through repetition and family bonding rituals. He also gets into the most underrated metrics in sports media, the wellness research at the heart of the book (the bigger the fan, the happier and more connected), the difference between strong-tie and weak-tie fandom online, and the Greg Armstrong story that reframes what a season ticket is really for. 75 minute duration. Listen on Apple, Spotify and YouTube  

June 23, 20261 hr 20 min

Episode 325: Everything You Need to Know About Creator Strategy in Sports with Neil Tennant (540 Agency, ex-NHL)

Watch or listen to episode 325 of the Digital and Social Media Sports podcast, in which Neil chatted with Neil Tennant, Founder of 540 Agency, a creator talent management agency. Tennant discusses building the NHL’s creator marketing program from the ground up, the two pillars of a creator strategy (experiential activations and commissioned content), using “concentric circles” to build a creator wish list, how the league’s fan UGC program seeded it all, measuring “return on creator spend” and bringing data to a vibes-driven space, the first-of-its-kind 3-on-3 creator tournament he dreamed up around the 4 Nations Face-Off, why long-term relationships and creator equity are the next frontier, how he discovers and signs creators today, what he’s building at 540, and more. 80 minute duration. Listen on Apple, Spotify and YouTube  

June 9, 20261 hr 26 min

Episode 324: WMT Digital’s Andy Zeilman & Chris Freet on Activating Fan Data and Maximizing O&O in College Sports

Watch or listen to episode 324 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, in which Neil chatted with Andy Zeilman, President of WMT Digital, and Chris Freet, EVP and Chief Strategy Officer of WMT Digital. Andy and Chris discuss how WMT has built a technology-and-data-first company inside college sports, and why the real bottleneck for athletic departments isn’t a lack of data but the ability to act on it. They break down the move from fan ID to fan intelligence, the push to reclaim fans (along with their data and dollars) from social media and back into an owned-and-operated ecosystem, and how AI is powering a fan data flywheel that surfaces new segments and behaviors. They also get into fluid fandom and what it means for college loyalty, where pro sports can actually learn from the innovators in college, and their own distinct paths into the industry. 87 minute duration. Listen on Apple, Spotify and YouTube  

May 26, 202647 min

Episode 323: Themes, Insights, and Takeaways from the 2026 Gondola Sports Summit

Watch or listen to episode 323 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, in which Neil breaks down some of the key themes, insights, and notes from the 2026 Gondola Sports Summit 2026. WATCH OR LISTEN BELOW!48 minute duration. Also, find the podcast on Apple, Spotify and YouTube

May 15, 202650 min

Episode 322: A Strategy and Biz Analysis & Review of NFL Schedule Release 2026 feat. Sponcon Sports’ Alex Kopilow

In a special edition of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, Neil chatted with Sponcon Sports' Alex Kopilow about the recent NFL schedule release, discussing how teams in 2026. The ins and outs of schedule release, which ones stood out and why, the business considerations around schedule release content, and more.

May 12, 20261 hr 50 min

Episode 321: Elijah Burke on NASCAR Team Social Strategy, High-Performing Content, Activating Partners, Driver Brands, and More

Watch or listen to episode 321 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, in which Neil chatted with Elijah Burke, Head of Social at Dirty Mo Media, and previously social media management and strategy at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing (RFK) and Chip Ganassi Racing. Elijah discusses what makes NASCAR social a unique corner of the sports space, including the driver vs. team brand dynamic, what makes content go viral on a race team account, sponsor activation, fan development in NASCAR, and more.

April 28, 2026

Episode 320: Kevin Richardson on Content as IP, Non-Endemic Storytelling, and Clemson Athletics’ Production House

Watch or listen to episode 320 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, in which Neil chatted with Kevin Richardson, Vice President of Content, Clemson Ventures. Kevin discusses how Clemson Athletics is operating as a full-scale production house — building ownable IP, distributing original content across ESPN, Fox, Amazon Prime, and streaming platforms, and pushing the boundaries of what college athletics content can look like. Kevin breaks down the shift from fan affinity to content as a revenue driver, the vision for non-endemic storytelling that goes well beyond wins and losses, and how data is informing every content decision they make. He also shares his career path from Louisiana Tech and Rice to Texas and ultimately Clemson, the business case behind every piece of content Clemson Ventures produces, and why he believes college athletics hasn’t come close to scratching the surface of what’s possible. 87 minute duration. Listen on Apple, Spotify and YouTube

April 14, 2026

Episode 319: Alex Magleby on Developing Major League Rugby Fans, the Entertainment-First Match Experience, and Capitalizing on the 2031 Rugby World Cup

Watch or listen to episode 319 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, in which Neil chatted with Alex Magleby, Co-President of Major League Rugby. Alex discusses his journey from US national team rugby player and early sports analytics entrepreneur to co-founding the New England Free Jacks and now serving as Co-President of Strategy & Communications at Major League Rugby — and what it’s genuinely taken to build the sport in America from the ground up. He breaks down MLR’s entertainment-first model (live music, post-game field access, family of four for under $100), how the league thinks about fan development one block at a time, and why the 2031 Rugby World Cup is the north star for everything they’re building right now. 66 minute duration. Listen on Apple, Spotify and YouTub