Sports Just Keep Getting Bigger

Baker Machado started at E! News when cable was thriving, pivoted to business at Cheddar, and followed his passion for sports all the way to Front Office Sports. Now hosting a daily podcast and launching a nightly entertainment and culture show on Fox and Nexstar affiliates this September, he says sports is not just big. It is still growing.

Sports Is Still Growing and the Numbers Prove It: NBA Finals ratings at an all-time high. WNBA setting attendance and ratings records. Seven million people watching an NFL preseason game that did not matter. Baker says the aperture of appetite is only widening. 🏆

The Knicks Changed Who Watches Sports: Celebrities who had never watched basketball in their lives became obsessed during the Knicks championship run. Baker says that is what sports does right now in a hyper-divided world. It brings people together. 🏀

Sports Franchises Are Becoming International Brands: The Kansas City Chiefs have a production company doing Hallmark Christmas movies. The NFL has nine international games this season and ten next year. The NBA wants a European league. Sports is not a category anymore. It is an empire. 🌍

Perseverance, Pivot, and a Lot of Luck: Fifteen years in media through cable, the internet boom, TikTok, streaming, and COVID. Baker says the people who survive this industry have all three in equal measure. 💡

Love Island UK Is a 65-Episode Commitment. He Is Almost Done.: After consuming news all day, Baker goes home and puts on something completely mindless. Bravo. Love Island. Cooking dinner and calling his mom with the TV on in the background. 📺