How Tennis Channel's first original podcast fits into the 2026 podcasting landscape

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Tennis Channel launches first original podcast, "The Big T"

There have been a lot of jokes over the last decade-plus about how "everyone has a podcast now." In sports, though, the last few years seem to have seen some consolidation; many of the largest podcasts have gotten bigger, and there have been some high-profile new launches, but the rate of launches seems to have diminished, and several well-established fan podcasts have faded away.

The advertising and funding challenges that have hit print and digital sports media are present in podcasting too. And that makes Tennis Channel's decision to launch their first original podcast at this time interesting. But the details on The Big T Podcast have some potential and explain why they think this will work. Here's more from their announcement Monday:

And here's a preview clip:

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How successful might this be? Well, a key part of that aforementioned podcast consolidation has been around big names in sports. While many of frequent media critic Draymond Green's claims about athletes being the "new media" have not come true, and many athlete podcasts have gone nowhere, there have been quite a few (including Green's, which headed to Audacy this fall after a long run with The Volume) that have drawn a lot of attention and viewership/listenership. Many fans like getting perspectives directly from prominent current or former players, and many of those big names who have adapted well to podcasting as a medium and found ways to be entertaining and informative have found success.

For The Big T Podcast, the concept at least sounds like it will bring together several things that are working for podcasters elsewhere. To begin with, there are those notable names as hosts and guests (including Alcaraz, seen in an interview with Petkovic at the top here), and they all have significant playing and/or coaching experience. These are people who will attract attention from tennis fans. And that's a good starting place.

To keep that attention, the podcast will have to offer something memorable and different from what's already out there. But Tennis Channel SVP of Production Bob Whyley's quote at the end of the quoted release above suggests something promising there, especially with "where...the sport is talked about the way it actually is when the cameras aren't rolling." Yes, this is still a professional broadcast and the commentators will hopefully be thoughtful with what they're saying, but more informal and conversational approaches have led to a lot of success for many podcasts and altcasts. (We'll see if The Big T Podcast adopts a signature look like the Mannings' quarter-zips.)

This podcast will also have the advantage of Tennis Channel's on-site access and promotion. Being on-location at big events, including in the channel's return to live broadcasts from the Australian Open, will certainly help them stand out in a crowded podcasting space. The Tennis Channel connection should also give them good production standards, essential in this space these days, and the distribution through Tennis Channel's website, app, and YouTube channel in addition to other podcasting platforms should be quite helpful. It remains to be seen how successful The Big T Podcast will be, but the details here certainly make it seem more logical than "launching a new sports podcast in 2026" might be otherwise.