Sporting Soundwaves: The Best Sports Podcasts of 2023

By Will Olsen

Over the years, sports podcasting has exponentially increased in popularity and is due to increase by 29% in the next seven years. This growth is in part due to the increase in people interested in sports but also the fact more sports personnel and teams are using the podcasting industry. In such a fast growing industry and a world where free time to sit and listen to a podcast is hard to find, it can be tricky to know what’s worth your time. Here, I’ll have a look at the podcast highlights of 2023 and what we can look forward to in 2024.

The High Performance Podcast

To begin, The High Performance Podcast has been a highlight for much of 2023, finishing second in the Best Performance & Wellbeing & Fitness section of the 2023 Sports Podcast Awards. What this means is whatever your sport, if you’re into music or even just looking to boost your grades, this podcast will help you get the best out of yourself and life overall.

On The High Performance Podcast, they talk to world class athletes, leaders in the business world and much more. In 2023, they talked to England cricket legend, Stuart Broad, two-time Rugby World Cup winning captain, Siya Kolisi, and Gareth Southgate. They discuss what high performance means to the athlete and how we can all relate to them to improve our own lives and our personal performance, whatever that may be in. The breadth of people they talk to is brilliant for opening your mind and considering other sports and professions. I love this podcast and think it has hugely boosted my performance on the sports pitch and my general outlook on life. Much worth a listen!

The Totally Football Show

The second podcast I will talk about is The Totally Football Show. The Totally Football Show came first in 2023’s football podcast of the year at the Sports Group Podcast Awards. Twice a week, James Richardson and his team talk about all the football news of the week.

Richardson expertly discusses FA Cup controversy, Premier League highlights and much more. A personal highlight was Tom Williams, who brought a unique twist on the football world. He frequently changes his guests who each bring their own brilliant views on the footballing world. Now I am not the biggest football fan (don’t hold it against me) but love to be kept up to date by Richardson and his guests, so even if you don’t watch every football game it’s a great podcast, twice a week, to keep you up to date with all the highlights of the week and what to look out for next week.

The Rugby Pod

Finally, The Rugby Pod is a brilliant podcast that discusses most recent rugby news and events, the hosts Andy Goode, Jim Hamilton and Andy Rowe, all rugby icons of their time, are brilliant at taking you through all things rugby and making you laugh. The hosts are great to listen to and they are brilliant at encapsulating all audiences. They discuss current tournaments, regularly consider the best moments of the week and get amazing greats of the game onto the pod. A personal highlight was Courtney Lawes, England rugby legend who discussed career highlights and his Six Nations predictions. Even more so, they talked to World Cup winning Springbok, Jean Kleyn who talks about his incredible journey to the top of world rugby.

Other Great Podcasts

But it doesn’t stop there, to look forward to in the future, For The Love Of Rugby, hosted by legendary England rugby players Dan Cole and Ben Youngs is just beginning and they plan to discuss all things rugby. Furthermore, That Peter Crouch Podcast has just started its new season where England football legend talks about what he makes of the football world while making you laugh. There is much to look forward to in the sports podcast world so get listening!