What happens when some of the biggest names in rugby sit down with a microphone and a shared love for the game? The result is the Stick to Rugby podcast.
It offers in-depth analysis, interviews, and a good dose of laughs—this is rugby, like you’ve never heard it before.
Scott Melvin left his role as senior producer at Sky Sports in 2017 to co-found Buzz 16 with Gary Neville and Diana Law. Buzz 16 is a multi award-winning production company who create live and non-live entertainment across multiple digital platforms, including YouTube channel The Overlap.
For Scott Melvin, picking the hosts for the company’s next venture was vital in making a successful podcast, he said: “The key is finding a balance of personalities…the chemistry is what’s massively important because that’s what resonates with people”
The four hosts of the highly anticipated podcast are former Wales international Tom Shanklin, ex-England players David Flatman and Lawrence Dallaglio as well as World Cup winning and ex-England captain Katy Daley McLean.
Subsequently to their talent, the hosts were chosen for their diverse personalities and chemistry. The format of the podcast will allow for more flexible, humorous content that traditional television wouldn’t allow.
Stick to Rugby is an extension of the production’s award-winning YouTube channel The Overlap. The company looked for different sports to expand into and CEO Scott Melvin said: “We were presented the opportunity with Land Rover, who are a big sponsor of rugby, and have some great rugby ambassadors. And it was a bit of a perfect match, really.
They were looking for expansion in rugby content, and we were looking to expand into the other sports. And the stars kind of aligned a few months ago”
With the launch just before the men’s Six Nations, the podcast will cover the tournament in the up-and-coming weeks. As the podcast progresses through the month it will then look to cover other tournaments, such as the Women’s World Cup, the Lion’s tour and the Women’s Six Nations.
The podcast aims to attract fans but also to entice a new audience, Scott Melvin discussed: “There’s enough sports fans out there that that we think will come to it. Ultimately, we’re trying to attract a new audience, a rugby focused audience.
“If we can bring a percentage of the overlap football audience over to rugby, then brilliant. The fact that we’re talking about international rugby, and particularly the Six Nations.
“It’s something that I think resonates with audiences who aren’t just sort of rugby fans. It’s got a much wider appeal”.
With many rugby podcasts already out there, Scott Melvin spoke about what makes Stick to Rugby unique, he said: “The big-name guests we know the talent can attract to the show, made it something that we felt would be quite a compelling offering.
“Rugby is very popular. There’s a huge amount of quality rugby podcasts out there, but we think we can slightly be an outlier. What we do on the overlap is try and make our content video first rather than audio first… we’re quite confident. There’s a, I wouldn’t say a gap in the market, it’s definitely not fully saturated. We think there’s something we can ad to it”.
If you’re looking for your next rugby fix, look no further. The brand-new Stick to Rugby podcast is here, with the first guest lined up to be England’s World Cup winning captain Martin Johnson. It promises to deliver the latest news, lively debates, and insider perspectives, straight to your headphones.
Inquiry into Sandbanks Ferry price increase began today