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There are an estimated 3 million podcasts actively being produced, and Amazon's Wondery just made a $100 million deal for one of them.
Jason and Travis Kelce have finalized a deal with Wondery to hand over the exclusive ad-sales and distribution rights for their show, New Heights, in a blockbuster deal. The agreement includes the show's entire library—past and future audio and video episodes—staking its claim as a top contender in sports podcasts, particularly during the NFL season.
Jason (former Philadelphia Eagle) and Travis (current Kansas City Chief and Taylor Swift BF) released a statement expressing thanks and love for their fanbase: "We love this show, and the fanbase that has grown with us over the last two seasons. Wondery understands the shared vision and will offer a wealth of experience and resources to take us to 'New Heights'! We are going to create some groundbreaking moments together through this partnership. We are thrilled to start Season 3 — see you soon, 92%ers!"
On the show, the Super Bowl champion siblings talk about life in the NFL and share personal stories from their day-to-day lives, varying from Travis's relationship with Taylor Swift to the ratios of a perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich to UFOs. The show has ranked among the most popular podcasts on both the Apple Podcast and Spotify charts, according to Variety, and it was named Podcast of the Year at the 2024 iHeartPodcast Awards.
Despite the exclusivity of the deal, the podcast will remain accessible to listeners across various platforms, with Wondery+ subscribers receiving early, ad-free access. This marks yet another landmark podcast deal in recent times, coming on the heels of Alex Cooper's "Call Her Daddy" $125 million deal with SiriusXM and Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes's "SmartLess" $100 million agreement with the same media giant.
And before all of these deals was the blockbuster that you could say started it all: Joe Rogan's reported $250 million deal with Spotify.
All of these big numbers beg the question: can these shows possibly be worth it? In short, the Los Angeles Times's reporting points to yes. "Back in 2020, when Spotify made its first deal with Rogan, the podcast ad revenue market in the U.S. was just $842 million, according to a report by IAB and PwC," wrote staff writer Wendy Lee. "That's now expected to grow to about $4 billion in 2025, according to the report."
