S
T
The Ringer
Login Join Starter Story
Source
Researched profile. Starter Story's AI research system compiled this page from 24 public sources — the founder didn't write it. Automated research can misread or misattribute a source, so treat figures as best-effort. How this works →
The Ringer logo

How The Ringer Grew

Sports and pop culture website and podcast network.

How did The Ringer grow?

Summary of the sourced claims below

The Ringer grew significantly through podcasting, with Bill Simmons hosting the most downloaded sports podcast of all time and creating multiple other podcast titles. Strategic partnerships, such as deals with Vox and HBO, also played a role in scaling the business without large upfront investments. Additionally, The Ringer expanded its reach through content marketing by integrating website writers and videomakers alongside its audio content.

Channels

13 channels · grouped by how The Ringer grows

  • Podcasting

    · 4 mentions · 4 sources
    “In May 2007, Simmons began a podcast for ESPN.com called Eye of the Sportsguy.[34] In June 2007, the podcast was changed to The B.S. Report with a new theme song written by Ronald Jenkees.[35] Simmons created one or two hour-long podcasts a week ... The B.S. Report was regularly the most download...”
    medium
    Show 3 more quotes
    “But what Spotify really wants out of the deal is Simmons’s ability to create podcasts, including his Bill Simmons Podcast, and some 30 other titles, which range from an NBA chat show to one devoted to rewatching old movies.”
    medium
    “And I think this is roughly the point where you started expanding your role at ESPN beyond just writing, into things like podcasts and documentary series, but why? Why did you wanna do that? ... So within the first couple months, I sent them the long memo about 30 for 30, and that was in the spri...”
    medium
    “HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons hosts the most downloaded sports podcast of all time, with a rotating crew of celebrities, athletes, and media staples, as well as mainstays like Cousin Sal, Joe House, and a slew of other friends and family members who always happen to be suspiciously available.”
    medium

  • Organic social media

    · 3 mentions · 3 sources
    “by the time I started my own thing in 97 and I was able to get on Digital City Boston and write my column for that ... And by the way, this was a time we should mention when almost nobody read the internet. Like 97, very few people are reading. I mean, AOL subscribers maybe, but it wasn't like, o...”
    medium
    Show 2 more quotes
    “He began receiving e-mails from people asking if they could be put on his mailing list.[19] For the first 18 months, Simmons would send it to about 100 people, until it became available on the web in November 1998.[19] The website quickly built up a reputation as many of Simmons' friends from hig...”
    medium
    “is changing Bill’s mindset so he has more fun online at his expense in order to further grow his pod, especially with a younger audience.”
    medium

  • Word of mouth

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “my friends couldn't read it at work. So I would mail them the columns and then they would mail it to a couple people. Email it to them. I'm sorry, email it, yeah.”
    high
    Show 1 more quote
    “The website quickly built up a reputation as many of Simmons' friends from high school and college were e-mailing it to each other.[9]”
    medium

  • Content marketing

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “While podcasts have driven The Ringer’s business, Ek said the site’s writers and videomakers were an important part of the company. 'What’s really interesting with the website and the audio is that he’s really tried to play them off of each other.'”
    medium
    Show 1 more quote
    “Edgers, Geoff. "Bill Simmons's new site, The Ringer, goes live. And please, don't call it just another Grantland".”
    medium

  • Email List Growth

    · 1 mention
    “So I had this email list that I would send out. Like a hundred people. Yeah, it might've been more than that. It might've been like 200. I was getting some attention locally, especially because I used to make fun of the media members all the time.”
    high

  • Brand Videos

    · 1 mention
    “We had a deal with YouTube. We built this little studio that we were cutting all these different videos that we were doing.”
    medium

  • Email marketing

    · 1 mention
    “the column started to do well pretty much immediately. Like, I could tell because I had my email address at the bottom and just the amount of emails I was getting, but I still really didn't have a sense for how big it was because they weren't telling me anything.”
    medium

  • Earned media

    · 1 mention
    “And by the time the competitors came, you had a structured audience. Yeah, we were too established. Yeah. So we, and we found a lot of talent, like even like we had the pod save America guys, that podcast started with us in 2016. And on the way through, we, we developed a lot of stars and a lot o...”
    medium

  • Video content

    · 1 mention
    “We had a deal with YouTube. We built this little studio that we were cutting all these different videos that we were doing. We were doing March Madness pregame shows live for my house.”
    high

  • Ecosystem partnerships

    · 1 mention
    “And then the big thing for me is did we want VC money or not?... So it was HBO put in 5 million bucks as part of, they didn’t want me to do the ringer, right? They wanted me to do the TV show and that’s it. And I was like, you don’t understand I I’m doing the ringer and I have to do the ringer an...”
    medium

  • Strategic partnerships

    · 1 mention
    “And then Jim Bankoff, he ran Vox and he really wanted us to do the ringer of Vox. So this was kind of a half-assed way of doing that, where we got to kind of be on Vox. They got to participate in the profit stuff. And you did a deal with them. Yeah, we did a deal with them. So all those partnersh...”
    medium

  • Social media mentions

    · 1 mention
    “Bill Simmons Twitter and r/BillSimmons becoming more popular lately”
    medium

  • Partnerships

    · 1 mention
    “And then Jim Bankoff, he ran Vox and he really wanted us to do the ringer of Vox. So this was kind of a half-assed way of doing that, where we got to kind of be on Vox. They got to participate in the profit stuff. And you did a deal with them. Yeah, we did a deal with them.”
    high

How 2,739 businesses grow

Of businesses with mapped growth channels, the share using each — The Ringer’s highlighted.
  • Referral/Word-of-mouth
    68% ◀
  • Social media
    60% ◀
  • Search/SEO
    57%
  • Email
    48% ◀
  • Community
    35%
  • Content/Inbound
    33% ◀
  • Partnerships
    32% ◀
  • Paid ads
    24%
  • Events
    24%
  • Press/PR
    17% ◀
  • Outbound/Sales
    17%
  • Marketplaces/App stores
    10%
  • Product expansion
    2%
  • Influencer partnerships
    2%
S
Starter Story
Support Privacy Terms