House of Strauss
House of Strauss
HoS Pod: Matthew Berry
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HoS Pod: Matthew Berry

On making the leap from ESPN to NBC and what Fantasy can teach us about life
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Matthew Berry is arguably (or inarguably?) the biggest name in Fantasy sports and has been so for at least a decade. His Fantasy Focus podcast was a massive hit back in the early days of podding, to say nothing of his popular writing that began under the Talented Mr. Roto moniker. Recently, he made the big leap from ESPN to NBC, where he’s joined the cast of Football Night in America. So why did he leave ESPN, his home for 15 years, and the place where he achieved so much success? We get into that, plus a lot else on the ways in which Fantasy mirrors life. On this pod, we discuss:

  • Matthew’s got a branding pitch for me.

  • How does a man with five kids possibly do this job?

  • How did the groundbreaking Fantasy Focus Podcast come to be?

  • How Matthew was a genius at navigating Bristol bureaucracy

  • Trades are about listening

  • At ESPN, Bill Simmons was outside in and Matthew was inside out

  • What were those Love/Hate columns really about?

  • Is Matthew morally conflicted about gambling? Even a little bit?

  • Who’s more the archetypal Gen Xer, Matthew Berry or Bill Simmons?

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