IS THERE ANYTHING better than kicking back and taking in a podcast during a long commute to work or a boring Saturday afternoon?
As the medium has exploded in recent years, the quality of content in sports podcasts has arguably surpassed what you see on television.
But where do you start?
Here are a selection of our favourites sports podcasts to pass the time on your way to work.
1. Football Weekly
The Guardian’s footie podcast offers the ideal mix of professional opinion and risky pub banter. It combines the sensible, well-informed opinions that you would expect out of a podcast from The Guardian with enough light-hearted discussion and jokes to keep the mood free-flowing and entertaining.
James (Jimbo) Richardson, Barry Glendenning, Rafa Honigstein, Sid Lowe and the rest of the award-winning Football Weekly put together probably the best football podcast available, and an absolute must for any Premier League fan.
2. Off the Ball
In many cases, sports journalism has becomes somewhat bland in recent times, with too many of its figureheads content to spout cliches instead of coherent argument and incisive points.
Off the Ball is an exception. The phrase ‘like listening to men in a pub’ is probably thrown around a bit too much these days but it perfectly describes OTB. There is plenty of good incisive points but it can also be witty and fun.
Off The Ball is Ireland’s favourite sports show with a record nine PPI radio awards. It’s current lineup includes Ger Gilroy, Joe Molloy, Dave McIntyre, Nathan Murphy and former Laois footballer Colm Parkinson.
The radio show runs from 7-10 every week night and due to their success, it now has a 30-minute slot on Setanta Sports between 7 and 7.30 each night.
3. The Football Ramble
Very much a podcast by fans for fans, unlike many of the entries on this list, The Football Ramble is an independent sports podcast, which has achieved its success largely through word of mouth.
Hosted by a quartet of enthusiastic, knowledgeable and laughter-prone soccer nuts – including the Absolute radio presenter Pete Donaldson and the stand-up comic Jim Campbell – it covers everything from the English and Scottish Premier Leagues to the most obscure leagues, and manages the rare feat of being both funny and illuminating.
4. The MMA Hour
The MMA Hour is the show for MMA fans. Ariel Helwani has been the number one journalist in MMA for years now and it is probably more well known than some of the fighters.
The MMA Hour essentially revolves around him doing what he does best – interviewing the people that matter in the sport. As someone who regularly breaks major stories, his interviewees are often happy to divulge information you wouldn’t hear anywhere else which is a definite plus point. No other show, on tv or radio, gets the level of guests he does.
The only drawback is it’s only on once a week. But the show is three hours plus most weeks and is incredibly well produced in both audio and video format.
It’s also a show that interacts really well with the fans. Helwani and New York Ric have a lengthy segment at the end of each show in which they answer questions from Twitter, YouTube and their website.
5. The BS Report
The BS Report’s success is down to its host, Bill Simmons. Before he broke out with his now insanely famous podcast, Bill Simmons was an all-star ESPN columnist. Simmons is a great talker, pop theorizer and all-around B.S. artist — his pod makes for compulsive listening.
It’s also the only podcast on our list that could help with a listener’s knowledge of American sports, so if that’s what you’re looking for — Bill Simmons is your guy.
It covers a wide range of topics, and so it will often feature guests from the entertainment world too. Each week, the he manages to fit in athletes, sports executives, coaches, and even a few literary folk.
6. The Game
Essentially, The Times’ equivalent to Football Weekly. Football journalist Gabriele Macrotti is always interesting as its host but the show is also renowned for bringing on great guests, with a vast knowledge of the subject matter.
Not quite as good as Football Weekly, but always a very informative listen.
7. Second Captains
The famous OTB five. Eoin McDevitt, Ken Early, Mark Hogan, Ciaran Murphy and Simon Hick shocked the wor…Ireland when they announced they were leaving Off The Ball in March 2013.
They had spent nine years at Newstalk and in the process turned Off The Ball into Ireland’s favourite sports show. But now they have their own hugely popular podcast.
There are 4 podcasts released every week, 2 on Mondays and 2 on Thursdays. The first show on each day, Second Captains, focuses on all sports, the later show is Second Captains Football. It won iTunes Podcast of the Year in Ireland for 2014.
They also now do a very popular television show on RTE, with “The Good Wall” segment being a particular fan favourite.
Have we missed any? Or have you any good suggestions for us?