Cowherd’s Podcast Network Adds Boxing Show Ahead of Packed Summer
The Volume, the podcast network launched by sports radio personality Colin Cowherd, is buying the distribution rights to Boxing with Chris Mannix, part of its plan to capitalize on a busy boxing calendar this summer.
Starting on Friday, the podcast hosted by Sports Illustrated senior writer Chris Mannix will move from SI’s platform to The Volume, and will expand to twice a week. Mannix will also appear on a variety of other shows in The Volume’s network, talking boxing, NBA playoffs and gambling.
The acquisition comes with boxing at an inflection point. The traditional pay-per-view model is being upended by streaming services like DAZN and ESPN+, and a pair of uber-popular internet celebrities, brothers Logan and Jake Paul, are bringing new eyeballs to the sport. In keeping with the zeitgeist, Mannix’s first guest as part of The Volume will be retired champion Floyd Mayweather, who is fighting Logan Paul this weekend in an unsanctioned exhibition match on Showtime pay-per-view.
“With a number of high-profile fights on the calendar, boxing is having a moment, so it’s a perfect time to welcome Mannix to The Volume,” said Logan Swaim, the network’s head of content. “Week in and week out, Mannix hosts the biggest guests in the sport and covers the soap opera of the sweet science like no one else in the sport.”
Financial details of the arrangement weren’t disclosed. Mannix, who often discusses gambling on his show, will remain a reporter with Sports Illustrated and a commentator with DAZN.
That gambling piece is particularly important. The booming sports betting industry is fueling a land grab that’s begun to extend beyond just sportsbook platforms. Operators like FanDuel and DraftKings are expanding rapidly into alternative forms of media, hoping to use podcasts, studio shows and TV partnerships to attract new users.
The Volume, which launched four months ago, has become a central part of that ecosystem. Its presenting sponsor is FanDuel, and it also has a multiyear partnership with the Action Network. Its family of shows, seven before the Mannix addition, includes a pair that are gambling specific. It’s a core focus for the whole group, and people across the sports betting industry expect boxing to be a draw for gamblers this summer. That includes many who might not be boxing fans at all, but rather followers of the Paul brothers, both of whom will be in the ring over the next few months.
Logan Paul is fighting Mayweather in an exhibition on June 6, while Jake Paul is fighting former UFC welterweight champion Tyrone Woodley in August. Beyond the pseudo-celebrity cards, heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is fighting Deontay Wilder for a third time in July; Manny Pacquiao is facing undefeated Errol Spence Jr. in August, and it appears Canelo Alvarez, boxing’s biggest star today, will fight again in September.
Mannix is the first talent hired at The Volume since it added Swaim as head of content last month. Swaim was previously at DAZN, where Mannix has also works as a commentator and host while at Sports Illustrated.
Cowherd, a longtime Fox Sports personality, launched The Volume earlier this year in partnership with iHeartMedia. Other hosts on the network include former NFL cornerback Aqib Talib and Cooper Manning, brother of Peyton and Eli.
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