Hello Sport Podcast’s Tom Birmingham and Eddy Simpson on their podcast ‘pipe dream’ to sporting success
From sneaking into a radio station to spinning yarns with some of Australia’s most revered athletes, the boys from the bush behind the Hello Sport Podcast have lifted the lid on their sports podcasting success. Aymon Bertah tells their story.
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It’s the “home of unqualified opinion and unwavering bias” and both claim they have “absolutely no idea” what they’re talking about.
But, these two country larrikins went from spinning yarns in the early hours of the morning, battling their way with only a handful of friends listening to their Soundcloud episodes, to the heights of Australian sports podcasting.
And there’s no sign of Tom Birmingham and Eddy Simpson slowing down anytime soon.
They’re the brains behind Hello Sport Podcast, and never expected to be where they are today.
In fact, the pair only turned full-time podcasters in the last few years after Tom was laid off from his radio job, forced to take up labouring and selling Covid products during the pandemic to make ends meet.
Eddy joined shortly thereafter, taking a leap of faith, selling his share in a marketing agency, knowing there was a genuine product with Hello Sport.
Nowadays, the pair have cultivated a cult-like following in the ‘Punters and Dribblers’ with more than 63,000 followers on Instagram, and tens of thousands of listeners across various platforms each week.
As the pair approach the huge milestone of 600 episodes, and while Eddy endeavoured to explain to The Sunday Telegraph about the “zenith” behind Hello Sport Podcast’s creation, as often heard during their episodes Tom quickly interjected to say he had used the “incorrect word”.
The word Eddy was quickly reminded of was “genesis”.
“We would just chew each other’s ears off on nights out in Bathurst,” Eddy said.
“Like we’d invariably be in a corner somewhere … barking at each other and if people came over, and they couldn’t really match the tempo … they would [quickly] leave.”
Although the pair lived together, often staying up all night, watching live sport or classic moments on YouTube, turning the “dribble and yarn” into an actual podcast didn’t come until three years after finishing up at university.
“[But] that was where the fire was lit, so to speak,” Eddy said.
CHASING THE ‘PIPE DREAM’
The idea of actually doing a podcast was merely a “pipe dream”, and according to Tom, getting behind the microphone and spinning yarns was a “nice outlet” and “a good excuse to catch up”.
“We found notes on [Eddy’s] phone from like two or three years before we ever started … it was [a bunch of] podcast ideas,” Tom said.
“It was always like … should we do a podcast … but now it’s almost a joke, that’s what everyone says … it’s the most self indulgent sort of beliefs like, ‘hey, you know, maybe we’ve got something to say’.”
And while working at Triple M, Tom often snuck Eddy into the studios after dark, saying “we would do it regardless” so it was “just a matter of recording it”.
The two diehard Manly Sea Eagles fans would often be rambling to each other on the phone at halftime of NRL matches, and knowing how to make each other laugh, it was a no-brainer to see what everyone else thought.
Asked whether their large following was vindication, Eddy said in the early going, there were roughly “30 vindicators a week” for the first five years.
It wasn’t a setback “because it was never about” growing to the point they’re at now, mixing it with former Cricketers in McDonald’s commercials or interviewing some of the country’s most prodigious professional athletes.
“We didn’t promote it, we would only send it to mates, and we were even embarrassed about that … still the self-promotion side of things, it’s still … uncomfortable,” Tom said.
“There was a thing though where we were getting 30 listens every week [and] we were like, ‘you don’t have to listen’ and the fact your friends are still listening … they’ll only indulge you for so long.
“It at least meant whatever we were doing wasn’t awful.”
PODCAST TAKES OFF
The podcast slowly “took off”, but it wasn’t until a close friend set up an interview with his brother-in-law and Manly legend Anthony Watmough.
“He obviously left Manly in circumstances that weren’t really talked about publicly, everyone sort of knew that there was a falling-out between players at the club, but he never spoke about it, not once,” Eddy said.
The boys just wanted to “shoot the s**t” with a club legend, but “as soon as he came in, he said ‘ask me about [Daly] Cherry-Evans’”.
And while not intending to cause controversy at their beloved club, Watmough went on to call his former teammate a “f**kwit”.
“Tom’s kicking me under the table being like ‘are you listening to what this guy’s saying’, and obviously I was in the room, but it was wild stuff,” Eddy said.
“And credit to Choc [Watmough] … he would get calls from journalists and he would go nah, Hello Sport exclusive and wouldn’t give another comment.”
With the episode receiving almost 10,000 downloads, it helped kickstart the pair’s rise.
While they didn’t continue to reach the same numbers, they soon went on to link up with Betoota Advocate to wrap up notorious NRL off-season scandals, which has been mainstay in their podcast ever since.
“There was one year of … glory day scandals … not the ones that are disgraceful, get you into jail scandals, [but] … penis in schooner glass, Daily Telegraph photograph [type scandals],” Tom said.
“And Adam Elliot’s got quite a penis, so it’s not that hard to capture.”
COLLABORATION IS KEY
It wasn’t until linking up with former NRL winger turned “grandfather of sports podcasting” Denan Kemp on Bloke in a Bar which was “huge for us”.
“Denan has been amazing in terms of helping us out … but then also giving access to his audience has been … the biggest boost for us for sure,” Eddy said.
Since then, it started a trend in the NRL podcasting space, basically emanating from Kemp to Hello Sport to other popular creators like Rugby League Guru and SC Playbook.
Everyone has their role to play, either through expert analysis or what Hello Sport is best at – sports comedy.
“Tom and I … we have absolutely no idea what we’re talking about,” Eddy said.
“Don’t listen to us if you want an expert opinion.”
GROWING THEIR BRAND
But don’t be blindsided by their comedic approach and easygoing attitude, the pair have cultivated a podcasting empire, inspiring their close friend Jack Archdale or ‘Jarchy’ to create his own podcast.
Joining Tom and Eddy’s Shane Keith Productions, named after the late Cricketing legend Shane Keith Warne, the We Mean Well podcast with Luisa Dal Din has quickly become one of Australia’s best performing podcasts.
That’s in the midst of the pair selling out Hello Sport branded merchandise and diving into the wine business through ‘Big Day Rose’.
It hasn’t stopped there, the pair have just announced ‘Good Day’ a multivitamin brand, but are only on in the game of quality.
“It’s not just like we … slap our names on it, we don’t want to be putting out something we think is s**t,” Tom said.
As episode 600 comes in the next week or so, the boys are now preparing to mix it with the NRL in Las Vegas and cheer on their beloved Sea Eagles at Allegiant Stadium on March 2.
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