We – Catherine Whitaker and David Law – would like to keep The Tennis Podcast going and growing in 2020, and to do so, we need the support of our listeners.
We began producing The Tennis Podcast in May 2012 and spent the first four years recording, editing, promoting and paying for the show ourselves until we realised we needed help. We enjoyed limited success trying to obtain sponsorship, didn’t want to compromise the podcast, and didn’t want to put it behind a paywall. So, we decided to crowdfund on Kickstarter. It was nerve-wracking and exciting in equal measure.
Our first annual Kickstarter in 2017 helped us to hire an editor and produce 106 podcasts, including daily editions at the Grand Slams for the first time.
Our second enabled us to increase production to 115, and last year, after hiring Grad Matt Roberts full-time, we upped it again, to 130 podcasts. We published daily editions at the Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA and ATP Finals, and the Fed and Davis Cup finals, along with big interviews with Janko Tipsarevic, Larry Stefanki and Andy Roddick.
In 2020, we want to do even more, and to do so, we will need to increase our budget to pay for additional flights, accommodation, and adding further equipment and production assistance. Plus, we want to give Matt a chance to progress his career with us rather than feeling that he needs to go elsewhere. We are sure you will agree that he has added enormously to what we do. With a 70% increase in our listenership over the past year, we hope to have many more people contributing in order to reach our target.
We have many categories for you to consider crowdfunding us in, but you can also contribute at a level of your choosing without reward, if you prefer. We are grateful to everyone that supports us, so pledge whatever the podcast is worth to you, but ultimately what you can afford.
Thank you for your support.
Catherine and David
We have over-delivered with all three of our annual Kickstarters to-date, producing in excess of 350 podcasts between 2017 and 2019. We have maintained a high production quality throughout, and the feedback we have had has been very positive. With that in mind, unless we endure health issues or similar beyond our control, we are confident that we can deliver (and over-deliver) once again, if we reach our target. If we don’t reach our target, we receive nothing.