Best Athlete Podcasts Right Now

Key Insights

• New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce is the most important athlete podcast right now, sitting at the top of Spotify's sports charts while both brothers were still active players.
• The Pat McAfee Show proved that a specialist player with no conventional star power could build a larger media presence than most Hall of Famers through personality and consistency alone.
• Athlete-fronted podcasts are reshaping sports audio because they offer something no journalist-led show can replicate: the actual perspective of someone who has been in the room.

Why Athlete Podcasts Took Over

The shift from journalist-led sports podcasting to athlete-led sports podcasting happened quickly and for reasons that make complete sense once you understand what podcast audiences actually want.

Traditional sports media gives you analysis and opinion from people who cover the sport from the outside. Athlete podcasts give you the inside perspective, the locker room dynamics, the real feelings about coaches and front offices, and the texture of what professional sports actually feels like from the people living it. That access is something no amount of journalistic skill can replicate, and audiences responded to it immediately when athletes started providing it directly.

The shows that have succeeded have also figured out that the podcast format rewards personality over credentials, which gave athletes a structural advantage over established media figures for the first time.

The Essential Shows

A handful of athlete podcasts have separated from the field to become genuinely must-listen programs that go beyond sports fandom to reach broader audiences.

New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce

The most important athlete podcast in sports right now, and the clearest proof of concept for what the format can become.

New Heights reached the top of Spotify's sports chart while both brothers were still active NFL players, which is remarkable because it meant the show was competing on pure content quality rather than nostalgia or post-career credibility. The dynamic between Jason and Travis is the product, and it works because they disagree on things, say specific things about specific situations, and are comfortable being genuinely funny rather than just professionally entertaining.

What the show delivers that no journalist-led equivalent can:

• Real-time inside perspective on what an NFL season feels like from two players in different markets
• Family dynamics and personal content that humanizes both brothers without feeling manufactured
• Genuine disagreements that create the kind of tension that makes long-form audio compelling

The Pat McAfee Show

The most important proof of concept in the history of athlete podcasting, and it came from a punter.

McAfee's career as a player gave him credibility but not star power in any conventional sense. What he had was genuine passion for talking about sports, a specific comedic sensibility, and the discipline to produce content consistently at a high level across years before the audience caught up to what he was doing. The show is now one of the most influential sports media properties in the country, which demonstrates that the format rewards commitment and personality over athletic celebrity.

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The Basketball Shows

NBA players have taken to podcasting more naturally than athletes in any other sport, and several current and recently retired players have built genuinely compelling shows that go beyond the standard sports talk format.

Draymond Green's Podcast

Green's show is the best current example of an athlete using the podcast format to say specific, arguable things about basketball that no journalist would be allowed to say in a mainstream media context.

His willingness to name names, identify specific tactical failures, and express genuine opinions about player and team decisions gives the show a utility that most sports analysis lacks. The access is real, the knowledge is elite, and the format gives him the space to develop arguments rather than just deliver takes.

Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe

The podcast built around Bird and Rapinoe's partnership demonstrates how athletes can use the format to address the intersection of sports and broader cultural questions in a way that mainstream sports media consistently avoids.

Their show works because both hosts have genuine authority on the subjects they discuss, earned through careers that made them central figures in conversations about gender, representation, and the value of women's sports. That authority makes the content more interesting than entertainment alone, which is a different kind of value than the Kelce show or McAfee provides but equally compelling for a specific audience.

The Niche Shows Worth Finding

Beyond the headline programs, several athlete podcasts serve specific communities with a depth and specificity that broader shows can't match.

JJ Redick's Show

Redick's transition from player to podcast host to NBA broadcaster is the clearest recent example of a podcast serving as an audition for a larger media career, and the show that produced that audition was genuinely good rather than just strategically useful.

His basketball knowledge is elite and his communication style is accessible without being dumbed down, which is the balance that distinguishes good sports analysis from the versions that either bore knowledgeable fans or confuse casual ones.

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What the Best Shows Have in Common

The athlete podcasts that have built lasting audiences all share one quality: the hosts say specific things rather than safe things.

Generic sports opinions are available everywhere. The athlete podcast's competitive advantage is the inside perspective, and shows that use that perspective to deliver actual information and genuine opinion rather than carefully managed public statements are the ones audiences return to consistently. The hosts on this list all understood that the audience came for the access and stayed for the honesty, and they delivered both.

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FAQ

What is the best athlete podcast right now?

New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce sits at the top of Spotify's sports charts and delivers the best combination of inside access, genuine entertainment, and consistent quality of any athlete-hosted show currently running.

Why have athlete podcasts grown so quickly?

Because they offer something journalist-led shows can't: the actual inside perspective from people who have been in the locker room, the film session, and the negotiations. Audiences want that access, and the podcast format is the most direct way to deliver it.

Is Pat McAfee's show still considered an athlete podcast?

It started as one and still has that DNA, but McAfee has built something closer to a full sports media brand than a traditional podcast. It belongs in the conversation because it established that the format could produce mainstream influence.

What makes a podcast different from other athlete media?

The format rewards long-form honesty in a way that press conferences, social media, and traditional broadcast appearances don't. Athletes can develop arguments, tell complete stories, and say things that would get edited out of other formats, which is why the best shows feel more revealing than anything else in sports media.

Should I listen to athlete podcasts if I'm not a fan of their team?

Yes, because the best shows transcend team fandom. New Heights is worth listening to whether or not you follow either team the Kelces play for, because the content is about the experience of professional sports rather than the specific results.

The best athlete podcasts right now are doing something that sports media has never fully managed before: giving you the actual perspective of the people playing the games rather than the filtered version that every other format produces. That access is the product, and the shows on this list deliver it better than anyone.

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