Jeff Mans, host of SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, and VP Head of Industry Laura Fernandez at SiriusXM Media, share some intriguing insight into the company’s strategy when it comes to keeping sports fans engaged throughout the sporting calendar.
SBCA: Jeff, you’ve had a long-standing presence on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio. Can you tell us a bit about your background and what initially drew you to the world of sports broadcasting, especially in the fantasy sports space?
JM: I always wanted to be a sports broadcaster and went to journalism school for two years before switching majors to computer science. When I was 13 years old, I started one of the first fantasy football message boards on the internet using the Prodigy Online service. I started a sports video game newsletter a short time after that and wrote articles about our sports program for my high school newspaper.
In college, I covered women’s soccer and men’s basketball for the school newspaper and for the Daily Herald newspaper in Chicago. I grew up playing fantasy football, fantasy hockey and the baseball card and dice simulation game Strat-O-Matic. As the popularity of fantasy sports grew and the need for analysis rose, I realized that my experience as a fantasy player and journalistic passion could serve this growing audience well.
SBCA: Jeff, as a host on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, you’ve built a strong connection with your audience. How does SiriusXM, across its platforms, create such a unique and engaging experience for sports fans?
JM: SiriusXM has an incredible ability to reach sports fans in every portion of the country. The ability of subscribers to listen to their local team broadcasts as well as the opposing views is something no other sports entity can claim. Having channels dedicated to each of the major sports as well as college, hot topic talk and of course fantasy gives a variety of sports fans opportunities to engage with their fandom.
SBCA: SiriusXM has partnerships with some of the biggest names in sports. How do these partnerships enhance the content on channels like Fantasy Sports Radio, and what value do they bring to both fans and brands?
JM: The ability to utilize the names, images and likeness of every professional and collegiate sports team is a very big advantage for us. Having access to live play-by-play and in-game highlights are tremendous advantages for us. This helps our programs sound more polished and professional while greatly improving the listener experience. These partnerships help us reach a broader audience and offer them the kind of content they are most interested in and searching for.
SBCA: Laura, can you share how SiriusXM Media’s multi-platform approach—across satellite radio, streaming, and podcasts—helps to reach different segments of sports fans and keeps them engaged throughout the sports calendar?
LF: Sports listeners spend over six hours a day with audio, which is more than two hours above the national average. Brands can reach sports fans wherever they are—whether it’s a game-day playlist on Pandora at home, in-game highlights on SiriusXM in the car or a postgame recap on their headphones at the gym. SiriusXM Media keeps fans engaged across all platforms, meeting them where they listen most!
SBCA: With fantasy sports being such a significant part of fan engagement, how do you and your team at SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio stay ahead of the curve in providing relevant and timely content that resonates with your audience?
LF: The fantasy sports experience is something that touches people directly at their core. These are the most dedicated of fans, most of which are eager to prove that their knowledge of the players, teams and games are as good as those who do it for a living. In that spirit, our job at Fantasy Sports Radio is to always be aware of the needs and interests of these sports fans and players on a day in and day out basis.
We need to create unique and provocative content that these fantasy players are interested in and will respond to. I believe strongly in having an interactive show both live and on demand. We utilize social media like X (Twitter) and Facebook to create a 24/7 experience for those looking for our content. Taking live phone calls from listeners who have questions that also pertain to thousands of others that are tuned in is a very strong way to touch a large swath of these listeners.
Answering questions throughout the day by those who are listening on a delay or on demand creates the sense that we are “always on” for them too. Creating content such as videos, polls, asking questions via social media also keeps us in front of the listener as much as possible. This also allows us to always be relevant and not grow “stale” by their standards.
Laura, from your perspective, what makes SiriusXM a key player in the sports media landscape, and how do you see the role of shows like Fantasy Sports Radio evolving to meet the changing demands of fans and advertisers alike?
LF: SiriusXM has been a leader in sports audio for years, partnering with six major leagues like the NFL, MLB, and NBA. With 20+ talk channels offering top analysis, live game broadcasts, and a Sports Podcast Collection featuring over 300 shows, we give advertisers unmatched reach. In fact, adding SiriusXM to podcast campaigns boosts incremental reach by over 80%!
