Presenters of hit podcast, Suzi Ruffell and Maisie Adam, speak to Broadcast Sport
The presenters of the Big Kick Energy podcast, Suzi Ruffell and Maisie Adam, believe the sport needs further platforming if it is to continue its growth.
Speaking to Broadcast Sport, Adam said the industry needs to, “Platform it. It’s as simple as that. Me and Suzi have both sat in many a room with bigwigs of the entertainment world who have said they’re absolutely committed to more women on screen, more diversity on screen, more platforming of the women’s game. Then it’s never really followed up with action, and it takes two comics doing it themselves to make it, and look how popular it’s got.”
Ruffell noted that this is why the pair have turned to podcasting, “No one else would really be willing to take a chance. That’s the great thing with podcasting - there aren’t the gatekeepers that there are in big radio stations, on TV and the streamers. We thought there’s room for this, and our audience have gone, ’Yeah. You’re bloody right. We’re going to get behind you.’”
Adam noted that if they’re ”committed” to women’s sport, “commissioners need to do the commissioning bit of their job more.”
The Big Kick Energy podcast is produced by Vibrant Television and won the Broadcast Sport Awards’ Sport Podcast of the Year prize in 2023. Vibrant is an independent production company founded by Mob Dar and Ish Kalia.
Adam and Ruffell both believe that community is a big part of the podcast’s success - which has led to them launching a live tour, beginning with London on 19 and 20 February. There are further dates in Brighton, the North, Midlands, and South West.
Ruffell said, “We knew that people would be excited for the World Cup, and we created a real fan base and loyal listenership. Then as soon as we were getting towards the end of that tournament, we were getting so many messages from people saying, ’Please keep this going for the WSL and the domestic season.’
“We worried that it would peter out, but actually it feels like we’re growing. It feels like we’re at the beginning, of the Big Kick Energy journey, rather than coming to the end of it because it was a podcast for a tournament. I hope this is going to be something we’re doing every year for the WSL, all the World Cups, all the European tournaments, the Olympics, maybe.”
She added, “It feels like we’ve got a sense of community within people that go and watch the games.”
“People are also looking for something that is fun and playfulness. Maybe they don’t have mates who are also into football, so they want to feel like they’ve got a couple of mates chatting about it. We know that people listen to the podcast and they’ll text their friends about what we’ve said and whether they agree with it or not, and then they’ll try to loop us in online.”
Adam believes this shows that football has a wider appeal than some give it credit for, “It’s real proof that football, because it’s for everybody, everyone enjoys it. We get people of all ages, people from all over the world, people of all levels of fandom. We get people who listen to it with their mates, with their sons and daughters, or when they should be fast asleep! I’m hesitant to call it a surprise, I’d rather call it smug proof of what I’ve always thought, that football is not just full of, loud, angry men venting their frustrations on the world, 11 players on a pitch. It’s actually every different type of person that exists.”
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