As part of a wider push into producing more original content, Spotify is developing multiple sports programs that will be offered in podcast format, according to Bloomberg.
The music-streaming giant will reportedly develop several of the shows, the first of which will be a 10-minute recap of the day’s events in sports. Once that show is off the ground, the Swedish company will likely begin offering more sports podcasts options, some of which will be catered to fans of specific teams.
A move into sports coverage will allow Spotify to offer programming in one of the most popular genres in traditional radio and podcasting as well as reduce its costly dependence on music.
“Spotify is eager to reduce its reliance on music, and has pinned much of its future on the growth of podcasting,” Bloomberg reports. “Music rights holders collect the majority of Spotify’s revenue under current contracts — leading to losses for the company in every year of its existence.”
Amy Hudson, the former head of Facebook’s sports media partnerships in North America, was hired to oversee Spotify’s sports podcasting efforts.
As Hudson likely knows, Spotify will have a good deal of competition in the sports podcast market as outlets like The Athletic, ESPN and Barstool Sports already offer daily podcasts.
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