MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Professional sports teams are more profitable than ever, and some fans are following those teams in a new way. Colorado Public Radio's Andrew Kenney reports.
(CHEERING)
ANDREW KENNEY, BYLINE: Basketball fans started claiming tables at a sports bar on Denver's Colfax Avenue an hour before the Denver Nuggets tipped off a recent playoff game.
(CHEERING)
KENNEY: But they weren't just there to watch Nikola Jokic. Many were hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite local sports personalities, who were recording the DNVR Nuggets livestream and podcast upstairs.
RANDY MUSICK: I think the personality they bring is so much about what makes it so fun.
KENNEY: That's Randy Musick. Here's Mark Ajluni.
MARK AJLUNI: They all know hoops, for sure. But they also are funny as hell and super entertaining.
KENNEY: This is Micaiah Chacon.
MICAIAH CHACON: They're not afraid to, you know, have a hot take here and there, but they're also just, like, genuine fans.
KENNEY: Upstairs, the show's four hosts are settled into a studio, watching the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves as thousands more people online watch them watch the game.
(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, "DNVR DENVER NUGGETS PODCAST")
UNIDENTIFIED PODCAST HOST #1: Cam Johnson, catch and shoot. It's - go (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED PODCAST HOST #2: Let's go.
UNIDENTIFIED PODCAST HOST #3: Oh, no. Are they not missing tonight?
UNIDENTIFIED PODCAST HOST #1: Fifteen...
KENNEY: The bar and the upper floors are the headquarters of a growing sports media company that started in Denver. Allcity Network has expanded to four more cities, 140 full-time employees, and revenue well above $10 million, says CEO Brandon Spano.
BRANDON SPANO: Our goal is to see a $100 million-plus valuation by the end of the year. Our goal is to get to 30-plus markets in the next five years.
KENNEY: The company's shows about the Nuggets and other Denver teams can draw 6 million viewers and listeners per month, making a profit on sponsorships from gambling companies, local roofers, Toyota and others.
ERIC WEDUM: If something goes well, you want to sort of live in that moment a little bit longer and sort of, like, savor it.
KENNEY: Co-host Eric Wedum, aka D-Line, says he covers sports like a superfan, not a buttoned-up journalist.
WEDUM: Also, there's the other side. If you're feeling despondent, you want to feel, like, that therapy session. You want to be able to sort of talk it out and rationalize.
KENNEY: The company is capitalizing on a bigger shift in media, according to sports media academic Brian Moritz at St. Bonaventure University. Audiences want to see and hear from personalities. They want streaming and podcasts, and they want to feel like they're part of something. But the model comes with risks, too.
BRIAN MORITZ: They came along at a good time 'cause the Nuggets got good. Well, what happens when the Nuggets aren't good anymore? And I think that's kind of when you find out how kind of, like, robust and built the community is.
(GROANING)
KENNEY: Back in the bar, the crowd gets hyped as the Nuggets take a 19-point lead, but the team slowly wilts under pressure from the Wolves. When the final buzzer sounds around 11 p.m. on this Monday night, Denver has lost, and what's left of the crowd filters out. Up in the studio, the hosts start to make sense of it all for the die-hards online.
(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, "DNVR DENVER NUGGETS PODCAST")
UNIDENTIFIED PODCAST HOST #4: Man, that was tough. That was tough. Get in here, everybody. Come suffer together.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED PODCAST HOST #4: Be with your people. Be with your people here. What is up, everybody? Welcome to the Losers Lounge. (Imitating sad trombone).
KENNEY: Shows after losses tend to get significantly fewer views than after wins. But if they can keep growing to new cities, they'll always have a winner somewhere. For NPR News, I'm Andrew Kenney in Denver.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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