Alex Cooper & Kelce Brothers' impact on Jomboy Media Revealed!

Welcome to the Courtney Ep! hello and welcome to morning meeting I'm Courtney Hirsch the CEO of johnboy media I'm here with Maddie mass and we are going to talk about behind the scenes building johnboy media I don't have the agenda in front of me so Maddie's going to run through how was my intro that was my first intro that was a good intro um and yes like you said I can run through our agenda for us uh some exciting stuff and a lot of the business world of johnboy media that we can talk through so podcast Agenda movement you were there you were on stage there so we'll talk about that there's a few big podcast deals happening in the world and we want to talk through the impact of those on johnboy media uh we have a couple quick fun more personal questions for you and then two fun ones at the end you're hosting a big dinner with a a lot of important people and then our entire team is hosting an upfront which is like a sales pitch at a large scale right yeah we thought we were through the busy part and now I'm like it's a Sprint to Thanksgiving break like that's where my mind at right now yeah I think it was yesterday in our Blitz Ball Battle 5 meeting where Sam said last next week is the last of these preparation meetings and then it's here and I was like oh that means the UPF front's here like yeah that means we're less than two weeks away the upfront and bb5 uh we'll wrap out with some questions asked to Courtney so if you have have any questions uh Jimmy will be in here next week or if you leave them for Courtney the next time she is here we will ask her those so leave questions Jimmy Courtney um I'll answer any of your questions but while you're down there press subscribe press like and let us start let's start with the big headlines Podcasts are getting big deals again! y um and talk about the podcast deals that have gotten done so the Kel Brothers their podcast New Heights got a deal from Amazon wondery that was worth over 100 million mhm and then call her daddy signed with Sirius XM that was like 125 million right something like that yeah so can you speak to those deals both in the entire podcast landscape what that means but also how it impacts johnboy media yeah it's really interesting because we've seen Spotify did these huge deals so they signed like Joe Rogan and then call her daddy for 60 million that was a couple years ago and then last year we really saw the industry pulling back and tightening up budgets not making these huge upfront commitments Spotify had like a couple of round of layoffs so it was really surprising to see these two big headlines last week that Alex Cooper signed the three-year deal with SiriusXM and then we saw the Kelsey brothers and I think one of the reasons that the industry is so taken back by this is because because they were like wait we already saw this happen and then it proved not to work because companies couldn't sustain the deal didn't it make sense economically why are people why are companies doing this again didn't we learn from this yeah um and then from the creators perspective I think um what we've thought is podcasting is really saturated now because everyone can make a podcast and it's competitive and then if they're not getting these deals what's the value of it so I think it made everyone stop and think and what it means to me is that there is still a lot of value on the big Talent big Brands big IP and that these large networks they know that they have to evolve and change because media is evolving so much so they're willing to make really big bets on proven talent and do you think that that them signing these deals like Amazon's thought process is hey we can get the Kelsey Brothers in and we're going to pay a like a high upfront cost for them but then that can also attract new talent to join our platform I think they it's an audience acquisition play for them so like SiriusXM I think Their audience is older males so they're like let's sign with Alex Cooper and her unwell Network and we're going to pay 125 million and maybe we're going to make half of that back through advertising but then we're going to gain so many young female audience that then we can monetize across our subscription service or other products or shows that they have so I don't think there's any way that these companies are making their money back in this single show but I think it's an audience acquisition strategy and I think that one of the reasons that this failed last time was is all of the exclusiveness of it right so Spotify signs Joe Rogan and you can only watch the full podcast on Spotify and I believe that that's where like audience had a hard time converting like not all of that audience was going over I believe these deals are so that you could still put episodes on YouTube is that correct yeah they have exclusive sales and distribution rights but what what I've been reading is that most of these companies will distribute the podcast or show across all apps and maybe even YouTube and I think this understanding is a big win for creators like the longtail smaller creators getting started even our company is something that we've seen too you want to be platform agnostic and meet people where they're already listening not try to like convert and migrate communities so seeing the big players in the space fall this model I think is beneficial for the whole industry and you you touched on it it do you see anything that has a direct impact whether it's twofold right now at johnboy Media or in the future at johnboy media how these deals are impacting the way we think about things or the way that we're doing things I think it reconfirms the strategy that we we leaned into a couple months ago which is let's focus on our biggest IP and Brands and nurture those and put our all of our energy towards those and then I think that that although you know we there's a focus for us on shorts and to gain new audience I think the real value is in creators that can hold long attention spans and build deep communities through long form content yes and that is yeah still proves to be like King absolutely uh Courtney at Podcast Movement speaking of people that are able to hold an audience you were on stage at the podcast movement um can you just walk us through for all the listeners that don't know what podcast movement is first what is podcast movement and what was your UH responsibilities while you were there podcast movement is the biggest podcast conference in the country maybe even in the world um they had it in DC this year it's four days so all individual podcasters go industry people like myself like leading and running podcast companies podcast buyers go some brand marketers go it is 4 days like Monday through Thursday it is huge it's it's more like a Convention Center there's a main stage for panels but then there's like a floor where SiriusXM had a booth and wry would have a booth Spotify and you can kind of like go around and check out all the activations and then there's stages within this big Hall so I was really lucky I submitted um to be on stage for a panel idea about building Creator Le businesses and how we do that alongside our partners at DraftKings and then DraftKings executes their me uh media buy through this agency called veritone one and they've been awesome Partners so it was cool for the three of us to be on stage together our Draft Kings client Max Courtney from verone and then me other Courtney right and we talked about how we've scaled together as companies and it was crazy because I went back to our very first thing they bought from us and and it was they bought I think one breakdown and then they bought talking Yanks reads and now they're across 44 shows like 20 Brands 20 creators doing their reads and it's like how do you go from this to like this y yeah so that was cool nice what were what were your takeaways from being there outside of you know being able to talk on stage what do you have like any key learnings after having walked around it all I spent my time mostly meeting with with other Executives and kind of having those meetings I think that their podcasting is still so new and people are still trying to figure it out but it's not slowing down like I think it's going to be like a big business moving forward yeah no I completely agree and you know we've talked about DraftKings and being there with them I think I Thank You DraftKings! would be remiss if I didn't let you know about DraftKings and thank them for sponsoring this video uh whether you're cheering on your Alma moer or just love the thrill of college football you're going to want to listen to this because right now all new customers who bet just $5 on anything will get $200 in bonus bets instantly that's something that we can all celebrate together that's right new customers can bet just $5 on anything and receive $200 in bonus bets instantly so stay in on the action and use your $200 in bonus bets to bet anytime touchdowns on DraftKings DraftKings is the place to bet touchdowns so download the draftking Sportsbook app now new customers you co use code meeting and bet just $5 on any wager and get $200 in bonus bets instantly that is promo code meeting only at the DraftKings sports book uh before we hop in I'm going to navigate off the agenda just slightly because you saying the word convention reminded me Courtney’s experience at Fanatics Fest that I don't believe that we've sat down since Fanatics Fest and I just wanted we got Jimmy's takeaways I just wanted wanted to hear about your experience and your takeaways having been at fanatic Fest for 3 days last month overall was just really Blown Away with what our team was able to do and pull off in like six weeks time I thought we learned a ton but the being able to interact with our community and seeing the kids was just the Highlight I just actually went we did a Fanatics Fest survey and I got all the um input from team members that worked and that was every single person's High was just like seeing the kids faces when they see our creators are moments that make all that hard work so worth it so just seeing our impact is really nice I think being part of a bigger event and getting to deepen the connection with our community but then also getting exposed to new sports audience was really beneficial for us so and then yeah I think we were surprised about like how much merch we sold and that we were the only company of our kind that had a booth like that that felt really special so I think it was hard work we knew it was going to be hard work but it was kind of more work than we even thought I think so too so we need to like figure out how to get better at that part of it yeah but um happy with all of the like business and like Community results that we saw for sure yeah I think that we're going to be seeing the impacts of Fanatics Fest continually down the line I know that a lot of people would come come up to our booth and you know talk to us about business propositions and everything and you know Jimmy and Jake aren't the right people for that so they just point them my way right I I think I handed my email out to you know 10 different people so I'm still getting those emails and trying if it's a sales thing oh here's the sales team this and there yeah yeah so cool though back to the agenda a few fun uh personal bits for you I had this Free train week on NJ Transit bullet on here and we didn't get to do an episode with Jimmy last week but I knew that he had an opinion he took James on free train week and just went like down and back and then actually went to work right did you have any free train week experiences because what I had saw on social media was different than Jimmy's positive experience it was like nightmares of commutes and that's what I heard no I thought it was a normal week but I bought my monthly pass already so I did not benefit from Free Trainer so I was jealous that was the only thing that was my only experience that's funny and then uh your daughter First day of school! it was her first day of school today um paris's too she was stoked her brothers were taking her school pictures for her on the front and she was modeling striking poses yeah but I think overall like the school year the start to the school year post Labor Day I think feels like the second start to the year I said this to the company it's like a time to like reset and refresh for parents working parents especially I think it's extremely overwhelming because my husband and I we have three kids in three different schools this year yeah and as tough as it can be yes there are 43 weeks in the school year and we counted 25 of those weeks have a half day or just no school that day right so the amount of juggling like that has to go on every week is a part-time job in itself yeah uh Rob who edits this I know that I think I saw him say it in slack like on those half days he knows parents at his daughter's school that are just like ah it's not worth me sending them and then I have to go the logistics of me going and getting them are just that much of a headache that it's not you're not going to school I like that I'm going to steal that uh well that's good is are your sons going back they go back tomorrow is their first day okay yeah nice mhm and it's at two different schools so are you able to go to both of them yeah we're going to do we do like family drop offs the first day first day is a really big deal good good good well hopefully they have a fantastic school year yes um all right let's hit these two last uh business points and then we'll dive into some questions this is something that Small Table Big Ideas you added that I wasn't aware of so I'm excited to hear about it too so I will give you the floor you're hosting an industry dinner with CEOs and key operators yes can you fill me in on that I'm calling it small table Big Ideas the future of sports media okay and I thought wouldn't it be cool if I was invited to a dinner that I could connect with people that have my role in other upand cominging sports media companies and my role the title can really vary it's coo CEO president director of operations whatever it may be um and I was like that would be cool if that invite came my way but was not getting invited to anything like this so I was like you know what I'm going to do it you send it that's right I'm going to send it so it was kind of nerve-wracking to put this together put yourself out there invite all these really important people but so far I've gotten 100% acceptance rate so maybe everyone else was like waiting for this dinner to happen too and we're going to do at the end of September so in attendance I have um the CEO of All City the CEO of front office sport the CEO of tton Ridge the president of doing things media president of bucket Squad which is jesser um YouTube channel um I'm forgetting a few more off the top of my head but it's a really good crewp oh Snapback Sports is coming um and we're just going to get together and kind of discuss like what's the highlights of running companies um and what some of what challenges we were facing and yeah just connect that's fun dinner yeah I'm really make a little group yeah exactly it's a little Club it really is now the question becomes are you always going to host or do you think that that you you start the group and now they'll host the next I don't know so I got a co-host Zach Miller thank God and I think my mom taught me as a little girl like when you H want to have a party you just have to like find someone and like be like you're coming right like I'm not going to be alone so Zach was that person for me nice so maybe we'll continue to co-host together I'm hoping that maybe someone else we could like rotate kind of who hosts we'll see great yeah I know that you always say like your uh social activity is still on that like pattern right while you're in a book club and everything so this is like a once every six months that's the that's the system I'm putting in for this that's fun um Jomboy Media Upfront last Point here we have The Upfront coming up for our community members that don't know we're doing a sales upfront the night before bb5 filming begins benefit there is all of our bb5 crew and personalities will be uh in the New York area and can attend this event um can you just run us through where we currently stand it's coming up so quick I can't believe it we're two weeks away yeah we just started sending invites out last week and we've gotten an overwhelmingly positive response um we were a bit nervous because Labor Day week you're kind of like are people just like checked out of the office so we have two more invite pushes coming up but our um like DraftKings will be there that Tommy John will be there Optimum sports like a big sports agency in New York they're going to be in attendance so it it's exciting that um people are showing interest and really Keen to see what programming we have slated for next year absolutely I I think the question that everybody really wants to know is if the claw machine will be in attendance the claw machine is going to be in attendance I think one of the most ridiculous things I saw on slack over the last couple weeks was after Fanatics Fest when I woke up to slack and it was a video were you in that video no it was like people lifting up our claw machine and putting it into our Sprinter van and I was just like why do we own a claw machine and a sprinter van and how is this my job how did I get here that this is my slack seriously I know that Steve has now used the claw machine as well to pick a fantasy football draft order so oh really oh so okay we're getting it's I think we might have to wheel it I think so down to The Upfront which is like 20 blocks away so unless we like it fits in the back of the van we now know that so maybe we just bring the van in yeah lift it again take another video um before we dive into these questions we have a new presenting Thank You Superlost Coffee! sponsor of the morning meeting which is super exciting a big big thank you and shout out to Super lost coffee uh for being the presenting sponsor they were founded here in New York City by two friends who wanted to make better coffee for both coffee Drinkers and coffee Farmers super loss coffee subscriptions program is all about giving you the best coffee experience without the hassle I know that they installed a big cold brew machine in our kitchen which the office has been going crazy for um their wide variety of freshly roasted specialty coffee is delivered straight to your door with 30% off of all our coffees plus free shipping uh their self-service platform gives you complete control if you want to try a new roast swap it out with one click need to pause the delivery frequency done it's all in your hands right from home and it's all locally brewed in Brooklyn with free Nationwide shipping with no minimums so head over to super.com and use code johnboy for 30% off your super lost order that's SU p e r l o s.com promo code jamboy big thank you to them we're excited to have them on board Superlost Question of the Week and the super lost question of the week is our first question here and it comes from B Sabers he said hi guys will here not the one from the Michael K show that's funny I've been rewatching the warehouse games on Bal and I'm curious has this deal been of any benefit to you when it comes to negotiating with Warehouse sponsors or if you haven't engaged with them yet do you expect it to it's a great question I think that it provides validation and recognition so one of the more complicated things when it comes to advertising and how Brands by media is that their teams are very siloed so we speak to the team that buys digital Media or social media media and then there's another team that buys TV so it does help in the sense of hey look at our brand it's on balet Sports a huge Network found value in what we're creating you're going to get additional awareness and exposure but I don't think the if the question is about like direct monetization like can we charge more for a specific read I think yes we could charge a premium or marginally more but it's more about um yeah the brand awareness and recognition and kind of these like intangible value now that we bring to Brands yeah I mean I'm still not over seeing like all the tweets and Instagram stories and stuff where people are at a bar in uh Detroit watching house games yeah it's awesome I love the tweets when it's like Boomers like now know what Warehouse games is yeah exactly exactly uh we have two more questions before we wrap up this episode uh cheer said does johnboy media have New ventures for Jomboy Media? have any plans for new Ventures next year any Uncharted territories or things of that nature yeah I think you'll see us doing um content-wise I think we're thinking about what our content expansion plan looks like that's really adjacent to what's working well now and who we are um one of the things we talked about is like more like sports Challenger videos and that type of programming on the business side I think it's really leaning in into Commerce so one of the things I'm excited about is that our merch shop has a stort been mostly t-shirts sweatshirts and I think there is a big opportunity for more physical products um maybe that's just hosted on our website maybe that's retail stores but think about all the equipment and Sporting Goods that we use in Warehouse games um to bring that uh and merchandise that to our community I think that's exciting yeah that's super exciting I I've always said that if there was a package of like the four different balls that have been used in the warehouse they're all yellow it would look so nice just on the Shelf that's what would excite me the most um last question here coming in from Josh uh he asked where do you envision the Where do you see JM in 20 years? state of johnboy media being at in 20 years yeah uh I feel like we would half struggle to answer that if it was five years well Josh is asking about 20 years what would be your dream for the company if there's a young man or woman wanting to start their career and stay with the company for the Long Haul is JM the best fit so a few questions there okay two very different questions I'm going to ask the first I'm going to answer the first one so the the best way that I can describe my vision for the company is to compare it to the WWE and I think that it is a kind of sports media entertainment company that's really centered and built around fandom and when I think about the warehouse games I see a lot of similarities there and that's what I want to build it's all about fandom and community and dedicated loyal following and nurturing that and then once you've built that and grown it like WWE they did a huge deal with Netflix for Monday Night Raw they sell um out you know International media right they merchandise all of their posters gear figurines um then they have a big huge advertising business and that's where I want to take johnboy media and Warehouse games is like that's what I think uh the vision is it sounds like Fanatics Fest was rubbing off on you for those for those that don't this has been my vision forever but then seeing the families oh the lines to me WWE stars and talking to the families that like they flew like this is like the fifth place they flew as a family to go experience them and meet them I was like that is dedication yeah our booth was right near the autograph area FS F so we often had like massive lines of people forming uh in front of our booth and near our booth waiting in line for these autographs for hours yeah and the first day it was a lot of NBA MLB players I feel like Saturday Sunday transition to WWE and holy cow those lines were different it was int yeah theg yeah it was crazy uh well thank you oh wait I want to answer the second one okay you answer the second one the second one was was is this a good career choice is that is this a good for somebody that's wanting to start their career and stay with the company for the Long Haul yeah I think that depends on what you're looking for I think johnboy media offers great learning opportunity very high growth a lot of autonomy and responsibility for each role if you're looking for a place that you really want to stay within a 9 to-5 work schedule and you don't want to move fast and you don't like high stress I don't think this is the best place for your career but if you're like I want to dive in work with a team roll up my sleeves figure the stuff out and always kind of achieve the next Milestone together I think the people that thrive in that like this is the best one of the best places you could be yeah we we've referenced Fanatics Fest a number of times but that I think is like the most recent true example of none of us really had that experience before mhm but as a team we were able to do it all internally and like staff our own booth and you know work in roles that we never had before whereas a lot of companies might just Outsource that to a convention Booth whatever like an events company right and we're like well we could we got this we'll figure it out exactly so yeah it's all about like doing and although you might be uncomfortable at times with new experiences that might not necessarily fall under the average resume for your role I think that that's like the best part is like being able to experience and grow within those new it gives us such confidence as a team when we do something that we all have never done together and then it's a success oh yeah for sure great cool well thank you very very much Courtney for being on please remember to leave questions leave your utmost praise for Courtney subscribe like yeah yeah I love the business questions I like scan like yes it's a question for me I love it so leave them great thank you very much Courtney thank Thank you, bye everyone! you bye everyone