1 month ago
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For a couple of years now, the bottom has dropped out of the podcast industry. Circa 2019-20, everybody was getting a lucrative podcasting deal, tens of millions of dollars were being thrown around for exclusive podcasts. Then the industry retracted, big-time, and only a handful of podcasts are getting those kinds of seven-figure and eight-figure deals these days. So this is sort of a throwback, but I understand why it’s happening. Since 2022, Travis and Jason Kelce have hosted the New Heights podcast. They talk about everything, from football to their relationships to pop culture and everything else. New Heights was a huge success before Travis began dating Taylor Swift last year, but the pod has definitely gone next-level ever since the Swifties became religious listeners (alongside the gossip & entertainment media). Now that Jason is retired from the NFL, people wondered if New Heights would continue or what would happen. Well, the Kelce brothers have struck a NINE-FIGURE deal with Amazon.
Wondery has snapped up the rights to the podcast New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce. The podcast studio, owned by Amazon, has signed a distribution and an exclusive, ad-sales representation deal with the podcast from the two brothers turned NFL stars. The deal size was described as being in the nine figures and “very competitive,” according to a person familiar with the matter.
As part of the multi-year deal, Wondery will have global distribution rights to all audio and video episodes of the podcast, the podcast’s back catalog and the right to create international audio adaptations of the podcast.
The brothers launched the podcast in 2022, with Wave Sports + Entertainment, with behind-the-scenes looks at their football careers and their own lives, as well as insights on the season and pop culture. While Jason, then a center for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League, and Travis, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, were already a draw, the podcast entered a new level of the cultural zeitgeist when Travis started dating Taylor Swift and began talking about life with the pop star on the podcast.
New Heights typically ranks as the top sports podcast on Apple and Spotify during football season, and has recently won Ambies, Webbys, and Shorty awards, in addition to podcast of the year at iHeartMedia’s 2024 iHeartPodcast Awards.
This is what I mean when I describe Travis as in it to win it. While his career will be just fine if he and Taylor break up, he understands the enormous heat score that comes with being Taylor’s boyfriend. Again, New Heights was already a success pre-Traylor, but I do not believe that Amazon would be shelling out nine-figures on the Kelce Bros’ pod without the Taylor connection. This is all happening in addition to Travis entering the acting world AND hosting a game show AND all of his other lucrative side-gigs and sponsorships.
Photos courtesy of YouTube and Backgrid.
