Carlton supporter Terry Dehghani was working as a lawyer in Tel Aviv when he started. Adrian Houghton was fed up with the off-field direction of his beloved Demons. North Melbourne fan Marnie Cohen was searching for a “voice of reason”. Premiership Bulldog Tom Boyd has one; so too actor Alex Williams, who has played Shane Warne and Julian Assange on the small screen.
All of these people are part of the growing industry of fan-created content, the new media in football.
Podcasters Terry Dehghani and Chris Michaels are part of a new wave of footy media.Credit: Jason South
Every club has several independent shows about them, either in the form of a podcast, a YouTube channel or on social media – part of a new generation that does not necessarily conform to the conventions of traditional media, yet has a reach that some clubs are beginning to recognise.
The average AFL supporter will likely not have heard of them (except for Boyd), but thousands of diehard fans are tuning in as they provide what the smorgasbord of footy shows and newspaper print cannot. Chances are they know more about your team than any expert you read, see or hear.
Most titles are labours of love. Typically, the weekly in-season programming consists of a review and preview show, while some offer online discussions and the occasional live show.
Why are they done?
Nobody knows a club better than an avid supporter who watches their club every minute of every week.
Fans can’t get enough. The 16 footy shows on TV is evidence of this. There are dozens more online.
While mainstream media must cover more clubs and is constrained by time and column inches, fan shows can go into the granular, discussing issues that only a supporter would ponder.
In 2017, Houghton was a long-suffering Demons supporter who “wanted the club to change its identity and challenge itself to become a powerhouse of the competition”. He wanted a platform where fans could vent if needed and also share their love of the club – so he started his own show, The DeeBrief.
“I was already having a million conversations about this football club in phone calls and text – I thought I may as well get behind a mic and share my thoughts, feeling and emotions and try and build an audience and see if anyone wants to listen to me,” Houghton, 35, said.
Adelaide fan Mark started The Sensible Crow in late 2018 when the club, dealing with the disastrous fallout from a grand final defeat the previous year, began a descent that would take it to a first wooden spoon in 2020.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it other than create accountability of the club,” Mark said.
Chris Michaels put his hand up to host the BigFooty Tigercast because he thought it would be a “good bit of fun to talk footy”. Founded at the start of Richmond’s premiership era, the show has had a different feel in the past 12 months as the club tumbled down the ladder.
“It’s turned into a therapy session on a Monday night,” Michaels quipped.
Relationships with clubs
Fan feedback can be brutal. A quick scan of social media during and immediately after a game is proof of that. Supporters can be both damning of their own clubs and the first to defend them.
Fan-created content is a growing industry. Several of the shows contacted by this masthead said they typically get from 1500 to 5000 downloads per episode – presumably from hardcore fans.
It is in a club’s interest to foster relationships with podcasters, as they would other sections of the media. At a minimum, they should be paying attention.
“Niche, biased media coverage isn’t the worst thing in the world,” the media manager of one club told this masthead.
In 2020, after a thumping loss to Port Adelaide, Melbourne gave The DeeBrief an interview with then-chief executive Gary Pert. Houghton had been scathing of the club, which was en route to a second year out of the finals after what had seemed a breakthrough 2018 when they made the preliminary final.
The pair had a “constructive” chat, and the fiercely independent Houghton came away appreciating how he could still be critical of the club without going too hard.
“Starting out during Goodwin’s first official season in 2017, we have been on one hell of a ride as Demons supporters on the podcast,” Houghton said.
Demons fan podcast “The Deebrief” never shies away from the big issues at Melbourne – including the performance of Simon Goodwin.Credit: Getty Images
“Finals wins in 2018, a long-awaited premiership and the back-to-back straight sets [finals exits] in recent times, then back down to earth with a thud last year. While emotions might get the better of us – and we don’t always get it right – my hope is that we provide a bit of joy to each listener, even during the hard years.”
Saints TV’s Jake Bertone has had president Andrew Bassat as a guest. The Don The Stat podcast has interviewed Bombers president David Barham and members of the club’s coaching staff. Their focus is on the tactical side of the game, which ties in with co-host Jonathan Walsh’s former job as an Essendon football analyst.
“They’ve started to treat us a bit more like other media representatives and see us as an extension of traditional media,” Walsh said.
There would not be many fan shows with a stronger relationship to their club than Hawks Insiders. Founded by respected football writer Ashley Browne during the COVID-19 years, the group last week hosted a ticketed live show at the Glenferrie Hotel for more than 100 listeners.
“While emotions might get the better of us – and we don’t always get it right – my hope is that we provide a bit of joy to each listener, even during the hard years.”
Demons fanatic, and podcast host, Adrian Houghton
Among the panellists were club great Jordan Lewis and former player Adrian Cox. Coach Sam Mitchell dropped in midway through.
“The whole room was buzzing,” Hawks Insiders contributor Andrew Weiss said.
Hawthorn president Andy Gowers last year gave Hawks Insiders a private tour of the club’s new base in Dingley, which the group filmed in a live podcast.
“We’re not a mouthpiece but [we] need to maintain some sort of relationship,” Weiss said.
Former premiership hero Tom Boyd, pictured here in 2016, is a key part of a Bulldogs fan podcast.Credit: AFL Photos
Something different
Boyd and comedian Danny McGinlay, who host the Danny/Boyd Bulldogs Podcast, have a different outlook to most in the genre.
McGinlay is the archetypal fan, Boyd the former player. Both are learning from each other. When McGinlay is critical of something the club has done, Boyd will explain the rationale. Boyd is learning what McGinlay says is the “irrational, the stupidity and also the fun” of being a fan.
The angriest they have been was after Mitch Wallis’ departure, which inspired an episode named Requiem for a Mitch.
“I enjoy the role of educating Danny and the listeners of what it’s like to be a footballer, but I’ve also enjoyed the journey of transferring from a football player to a football fan,” Boyd said.
The They Might Become Giants pod is run by Williams and his NRL-loving mate Brandon McClelland. Williams teaches McClelland about the game, and McClelland takes him to a different western Sydney pub every fortnight to watch away games.
“By the end of the year we had a few hundred at watch parties,” Williams said.
Women in a male-dominated field
The Carlton Besties and Marnie Cohen’s Kanga TV stand out in a male-dominated field. Both outfits have aspirations to go full-time.
Jasmina, 26, and Tori Saros, 23, who have nearly 15,000 followers on their TikTok channel, say they have deliberately avoided the serious and analytical side of football.
“The point of our player content is we want our fan base to get to know the individual, and the person,” Jasmina said. “In football media, these people are dehumanised by the media and heavily scrutinised. No one really cares about them as individuals on the field. That’s what we want to provide for the fans.”
Cohen wants Kanga TV to be the “voice of reason” for the fan, a contrast to what she says is the mainstream media’s tendency to “doomsday every scenario for every club”. But she doesn’t view her club through rose-tinted glasses. After five seasons in the bottom two, it’s time North improved, she said.
“There’s a lot of fans playing the patient, long game,” said Cohen, who left a corporate PR job for a 9-5 office admin role that would allow her more time to build her YouTube channel. “I think time’s running out.”
Full-time
One person who has gone all-in is Dehghani, who quit his job as a lawyer midway through 2023 to go full-time with his Blue Abroad fan channel, which he started in 2018 while living in Tel Aviv.
Game time is sacred, but he leaves after the first rendition of the song to rush home in time to host the post-game fan cam shows that he describes as “talkback radio with video”. There’s a live show every night, including after selection.
Numbers can be higher for a loss when rival supporters log in to watch Carlton fans melt down, but he would “rather earn a bit less and win”.
It was not until late last year when Dehghani was comfortable with his finances – “you have to eat some dirt before you eat fruit” – but he feels vindicated in going full-time.
“The idea that you can talk about what you love for a living – it’s a one in a million chance. I gave it a crack and it worked out.”
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