The New York Times-owned sports site The Athletic is heading Down Under. It has inked an ad sales partnership in Australia with ARN’S iHeart. The companies say the alliance will significantly expand the Australian sports podcast landscape, including giving advertisers new opportunities to engage with a previously untapped audience at scale.
The Athletic produces dozens of sports-focused podcasts, including The Athletic FC Podcast, The Totally Football Show with James Richardson and No Dunks. “The passion Australian sports fans hold for The Athletic’s premium podcast slate is immense,” said Corey Layton, Head of Digital Audio at ARN. “Our teams are looking forward to opening up this far reaching opportunity to brands across Australia.”
ARN says the deal with The Athletic reinforces its commitment to sports. The Athletic content complements the existing sports podcasts on iHeart including Dyl & Friends, F1: Beyond The Grid, The Final Word, The Footy with Broden Kelly, The Pool Room with Tony Armstrong, and Two Good Sports.
ARN’s iHeart launched in 2013 as a joint venture between iHeartMedia and the Australian broadcaster. Then in 2020, ARN launched iHeartPodcast Network Australia, providing advertisers with access to significant scale across the local and global and podcast markets. The network become Australia’s number No. 1 podcast publisher.