Chuck Todd and J.A. Adande are getting ready to turn the past into a business of their future.
The former host of NBC News’ “Meet the Press” and the former NBA correspondent at ESPN have joined forces to launch “Dynastic,” a new podcast that will analyze how sports teams build themselves into true franchises and influential case studies. Their first shows will center on the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, diving into how the Dodgers, for example, were early to grab on to the lure of a stadium; to reach out to different cultures to fill the team’s roster; and to grasp the power of sports media.
If such talk inspires you, there will be plenty of it. The first episode lasts two and a half hours. “Dynastic” debuts Tuesday and will be distributed by iHeartMedia as well as by major podcast platforms
When it comes to sports, “everybody’s understandably obsessed with the on-the-field product. But we think there’s a great story to tell about the history of these franchises,” says Todd. “We plan to do college, as well, whether it’s UConn women or Alabama football.” And while most sports teams would no doubt prefer to vet any story about them. Not on “Dynastic.” “We have no patron,” says Todd. “We are not going to have to be careful because the franchise won’t cooperate or do things through the lens of one player.”
The pair — a third business partner, Steve Hull, a former editor and owner of magazines covering the Washington, DC suburbs and a former senior executive at Atlantic Media Company, serves as an executive producer — is betting that a surge of interest in sports will bring with it new attention to ancillary topics. With more audiences moving to pick-your-own media diets tied to streaming video, sports telecasts remain one of the few things that can command the broad audiences that advertisers still covet. Diving into sports history in compelling digital fashion may be a new way to lure parts of the crowd.
Todd has spent much of this time since leaving NBC News working with the start-up outlet Noosphere on a Sunday-night podcast tied to politics. But he sees this new podcast as an extension of the work he’s been doing for years. “You’re using sports to go into some history,” he notes. “When people say, ‘stick to sports’ or ‘stick to politics,’ it’s like, hey, guess what? It’s all life. Everything gets intertwined.”
Still, Todd recognized he lacked the regular face time others had with sports aficionados. So, he turned to Adande, who, after many years spent logging stints at the Los Angeles Times, ESPN and other outlets, now works as the director of sports journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. The three partners have been working at this for months, and Adande believes followers will see them working out their on-air rapport. “Chuck has a long history at the highest levels, and I’ve spent two decades on air ESPN. It teaches us not to take things personally,” he says., “There’s a there’s sort of a professional understanding that we have, and our chemistry will develop.”
Todd has long burnished an entrepreneurial streak. At NBC News, he prodded “Meet the Press” into extensions such as film festivals and podcasts, and he’s been vocal in recent months about trying to produce content for digital audiences that isn’t so reliant on hot political talk or polarization.
Now, he believes “Dynastic” will bring history to younger viewers who might not otherwise gravitate towards it. “Even though we’re spending a lot of time in the past, a lot of it feels fresh. It’s going to be fresh ground. I think a lot of it’s going to be fresh to the audiences as well.”