No, podcasts are not video games. Perhaps they fall a little outside the purview of a self-imagined video game blog.
However, as someone who contends for the title of most podcasts consumed per week, I have taken it upon myself to catalog the best of the best when it comes to the trendy media form with little barrier to entry.
Below is a non comprehensive list of the best sports podcasts with a rating up to three stars.
1-star: For addicts.
As a University of Utah alum, I’m always on the lookout for good Pac-12 coverage. 12 Pac is a fairly casual approach to the conference run by Arizona grads. The hosts are enthusiastic and provide good perspective of each team’s reputation nationally and within the conference as a whole.
ESPN posts the audio of this daily sports talk show where writers are awarded points for good debate and muted for cliches or ridiculous narratives. It fits the stereotype of “sports yelling” to a tee, but it’s an efficient way to get through the top stories from the previous day.
This is the podcast to come to for nitty gritty analysis of the financial side of the NBA. Nate Duncan and Danny Leroux cover the CBA, draft, betting lines, and every team in the league five days a week. It’s dry but informative and definitely only for hardcore fans.
Bryan Windhorst’s soapbox is the best insight from an NBA beat reporter’s perspective. These are the people talking to the players. coaches, and owners on a daily basis and are on point in telling the human stories associated with the league.
2-star: Sport enriching.
NFL.com’s general debate podcast reviews every game of the season. The show doesn’t excel at any on thing specifically. Instead it opts to be a decent mix of comprehensive coverage, entertainment, and analysis. This is the definitive podcast for the everyday-nonfantasy-NFL fan.
Sports Illustrated’s Ben Golliver and Andrew Sharp read and roast listener letters and tear down any homerism sent their way. They’re not as plugged in as Windhorst nor as comprehensive as Duncan, but Open Floor is close enough and a more entertaining listen then either of them.
The paradigm of Pac-12 podcasts is put out by the 247sports representatives from the LA schools. They cover every game in the conference (football only) and answer literally every question sent to them.
Their cutting bitterness towards the conference the cover is a refreshing extra bonus.
3-star: These might be better than the sports they cover.
Podcast Ain’t Played Nobody (NCAA)
Steven Godfrey and Bill Connolly are here to tell you that your college football team isn’t actually that good. The only niche podcast you’ll find with a 3-star ranking, PAPN can be acquired taste… but when it hooks you, it’ll open your mind to information for only the saltiest football analysts.
When it comes to college football, Dan Rubenstein and Ty Hildenbrandt run the most comprehensive operation around. The Verbal covers the most games per week by far and their reverb call-in line is digs up the amazing truffles of misplaced passions by college super-fans. This podcast is the cure for the common ignorance.
Originally called The Basketball Jones when it was started in 2006 by a group of Canadians, The Starters eventually evolved into its own television show on NBATV. The episodes are available in the podcast stream along with an extra pair of “Drop” shows designed specifically for the audio-only audience. They excel at satire and pinpointing the best parts of the NBA to highlight. This make The Starters the best way to follow the league short of watching it.
This daily fantasy football podcast is the best around. It is rare to find a podcast that fuses consistently entertaining banter with legitimately good fantasy information. Three guys from Arizona have managed to strike that balance and the best part is they run episodes year-round.
Honorable Mention
Rest in peace. The wide ranging FiveThirtyEight podcast was replaced by The Lab, an NBA focused podcast which also has gone on hiatus. Kate Fagan, Neil Paine, and Chad Matlin took a sledgehammer to the dumbest things that came out of the mouths of sports pundits. Being a FiveThirtyEight podcast, it was chock-full of analytics based debate. While it’s unclear why the show ended, we’ll always have the banger of a theme song to remember it by.
Gamer's Daytimer 