► Tell us about you and your podcast
TFFINOTS is the number one Michigan State basketball podcast in America. It features in depth pre and post game analysis, player, media, and coach interviews. and recruiting. The show is for both the casual and hard core MSU basketball fans who want to stay up to date and have a deeper understanding of the game.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
Rod began the podcast in 2017 because of his profound and deep interest in MSU basketball. Eric joined the show in 2022 and shares Rod's lifelong passion for the Spartans.
The show began as an extension of Rod's participation on an MSU basketball fan forum and his fairly extensive work covering high school recruiting. It was basically launched to talk about basketball and connect with other Spartan fans.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
During the season, our episodes are released around the basketball schedule. We do a pre and post game analysis of each exhibition, regular, and post season game. Occasionally, we will add another show if there is a lot of time between games.
During the off season we try to record one show a week on special topics, AMAs, media interviews, or player interviews.
The show records around our other jobs and is just something that we make time for before and after watching the games.
Fortunately, the expense of maintaining the operation is not tremendous and we have been able to get a few sponsors and then some donations from fans to keep things running.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
We do sponsors and are always looking for partners looking to get in front of our listeners. For a while we were part of a sports network which provided some revenue but they downsized this summer and dropped our show despite 50% growth over the last year.
So our sponsors have been people we have reached out to organically and have had great relationships so far. Our monthly downloads vary depending on when it is in the season. For the off-season we ran about 15,000/ month but we exceeded 35,000 one month last year.
As for benefits, we have had the fortune of speaking to players, coaches, and media personalities (Jay Bilas, Robbie Hummel, Mike DeCourcy, and others) which we never could have encountered without a podcast.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
We record via Zoom and use GarageBand for editing. Rod uses a mic connected to his iPhone while Eric uses a standard ATR USB mic.
Preparation involves research and write up by Rod and Eric does the back end work with editing and posting each episode.
► How do you market your show?
We have marketed our show by placing an ad on a local sports podcast which seemed to help quite a bit. We have also had Rod appear on some shows too.
We primarily use Twitter to drive traffic but also have a small and growing YouTube channel.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
Make sure the quality is good, keep a reliable schedule, and don't be afraid to ask people to come on your show. You will be amazed at who says yes.
► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?
The easiest way to reach us is through our website at www.thefinalfourisnotontheschedule.com (www.tffinots.com)