Barstool Sports, Alex Rodriguez aim for home run with return of 'The Corp' podcast
Former New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez is looking to add to his home run total in the business game by capitalizing on the emerging media space.
Rodriguez has partnered with fast-growing media brand Barstool Sports on a podcast that interviews industry leaders, sports legends and entrepreneurs. Along with sports podcaster Dan “Big Cat” Katz, "The Corp" Season 2 focuses on failure and reinvention and navigates the audience through the successful business paths the guests have taken.
"We are interested in people that have done great things and when you think about them, a lot of them have one common theme," Rodriguez told FOX Business anchor Maria Bartiromo on Thursday. "They've all failed miserably and they have a comeback."
"We are interested in people that have done great things and when you think about them, a lot of them have one common theme. They've all failed miserably and they have a comeback."
Barstool Sports CEO Erika Nardini told Bartiromo the brand is able to make its mark in the digital space because it identifies and understands its demographic.
"We're bigger than ESPN Digital, bigger than Turner Sports Digital, bigger than the New York Times, bigger than Washington Post," Nardini said on "Mornings with Maria." "We are making a huge move because we understand what young people want and we understand how to deliver it to them on the web."
Barstool Sports' business model consists of advertising, e-commerce, live events, licensing and subscription-based content distribution.
"We're looking to build a zero dependency economic system underneath our content system," Nardini said. "Brands want to reach out audiences and they want to move products and it's getting increasingly difficult to do that in other mediums."
LinkedIn, the world's largest professional network, is partnering with season two of "The Corp" as the podcast's premiere sponsor, Nardini announced.
Rodriguez and co-host "Big Cat" are set to have guests like Bartiromo, Living Omnimedia founder Martha Stewart, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, WWE chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon, actor Kevin Bacon and former NASCAR driver Danica Patrick in season two of the podcast.
Rodriguez said the podcast is interested in speaking with people who have the mindset of "poor, hungry and driven," who lean on their past failures to drive them toward success.
"The power of Barstool is been an incredible partnership and its powerful," he said.
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He added that he is more asked about "The Corp" at his speaking engagements at some of the most prestigious business universities in the U.S. such as Harvard and Stanford than his 22-year Major League Baseball career.
"When it comes to podcasts, I think there's an intimacy about going to direct to consumers," Rodriguez said. "There's something about listening to something on your headphones or driving that you connect at a different level."
The first season of "The Corp" launched last year and was the number one podcast on iTunes when it debuted. It pulled in an average of half-million downloads per episode and featured five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant, real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran and Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin.
Rodriguez is a 14-time MLB All-Star and a 2009 World Series champion with the New York Yankees.