Sports podcasts are some of the newest ways that sports fans consume sports media. From scathing hot takes to a simple method to keep up to date with your favorite sports teams, there is something for every sports fan to enjoy.
The Robison Lecture series, which began in 1988 in honor of Bradley educator and journalist Mary Leslie Robison, has focused heavily on podcasting and its role in multiple news and media industries this year.
Ty Hildenbrandt and Dan Rubenstein, co-hosts of “The Solid Verbal” (one of the longest-running and most listened-to independent podcasts), joined a Zoom lecture on April 19 to talk about their journey in the sports podcasting industry.
“The Solid Verbal” began in 2008, when podcasts were still a thing of the future. Focusing on college football, the idea came up when they were working with SI.com, Hildenbrandt writing a column on college football called “Quick Slants” and Rubenstein shooting his popular “SI Tour Guy” video series.
What once started as an accident would garner the interest of tens of thousands of passionate listeners.
“The early shows were not good, but we kept going,” Hildenbrandt said. “Being able to do well takes practice; it took us a long time to get to where we are.”
It took Hildenbrandt and Rubenstein two years after they started “The Solid Verbal” before they actually met each other in person, and, even to this day, they still do their show across states virtually.
Preparation is key for “The Solid Verbal,” as Hildenbrandt and Rubenstein have to be aware of everything going on in the world of college football, from watching games to catching up on missed games and consuming any sort of media possible.
Even after all the preparation, the podcasts only have a shelf life of about 48 hours since new football games start every Saturday during the college football season.
Hildenbrandt and Rubenstein do admit that the process has changed in some ways since the first time back in 2008. On the technical side of the production, Hildenbrandt insisted that “[he] would bore you all to tears if [he] told you about all the little tweaks” in regards to the changes that he had to make to the show over the years.
Hildenbrandt and Rubenstein insist that one of the difficulties when preparing for this job now as opposed to back in 2008 is that there is so much information out there that it’s hard to determine the best way to consume it all.
College football has a “season” like most sports, so having a podcast solely on college football can be difficult to maintain during the off-season. During that time, Hildenbrandt and Rubenstein make bad ideas interesting and find unique ways to keep the show moving forward.
Some examples they’ve done include discussing teams that went 3-9 on March 9 and listening to albums to join songs with college football teams.
“The off-season is just a big sandbox for ideas,” Hildenbrandt said. “We also try to trickle in pop culture into the show since football does not happen in a vacuum.”
The next phase of “The Solid Verbal” seems to be heading in a direction that will incorporate more video, live streaming and adding new shows to the family.
“We’re constantly looking at ways to improve the product,” Hildenbrandt said.
