Yes it is true
We’re not going to draw this out. The podcast part of The Buckeye SloopCast has ended. So it goes. We did one last goodbye episode, you can find it here: What Will College Football Look Like In 2036.

The Discord server isn’t going anywhere. This is strictly about the podcast.

The Future of Youtube Channel and Podcast Feed.
Again, the podcast, as a podcast, is over. Jared is playing with the idea of making something new with the channel. It will still be centered around Ohio State/CFB. If he follows through with it, and he’s not sure that he will, it will be more of a video essay format. It will focus on the past and future, but will not be about current events. No game pregame previews or post game reactions. No recruiting updates, no coaching rumors. It will be scripted, researched, and tightly edited. Content that doesn’t become irrelevant days after it is posted.

The Future of The Discord Server and Patreon.
With some of our time freed up, we will be putting our entire asses into the Discord server. We want to make this the best Ohio State Discord server that it can be. We will be keeping the Patreon page alive to help fund the Discord server. We are keeping the paywalled channels. If you are contributing more than $3 a month, please please please lower your donations to $3 a month. With no external content, we feel like we are ripping you off if you stay above that level. You can also help fund the Discord server through Discord. That costs more ($5 a month) but it gives you the same access. Why? Because Discord keeps more of your money. We encourage you to use Patreon instead, or you can contribute server boosts. Because, new policy, we will be granting access to the paywalled channels to anyone who Boosts the server.

Why?
Over a year ago, we made a post in the Discord Server called “The Future of The Buckeye SloopCast”. If you didn’t read it then, we encourage you to read it now if you want deeper insight into why we are making this choice. But we will quickly summarize here.

The Changing Us
The reality of the situation is that the show takes a ton of time to make and that means sacrifice. Time spent on The SloopCast is time not spent elsewhere. Jared is in a very liminal phase of his life for reasons we are not going into here. More importantly, Kyle has a growing family that requires and deserves his attention.

The Changing Landscape
When we started, there were fewer Ohio State blogs and each one of them, maybe, had one podcast doing one episode a week. Now each outlet has multiple podcasts posting near-daily. Podcasts went from an afterthought to an important revenue source for these outlets. They are hosted by credentialed media people who have access and sources. They are pushed by websites with far reach. We are at a insurmountable disadvantage. Additionally, podcasts used to be decentralized, rss-based, and not dependent on algorithms. It used to be that your podcast spread as far as you could market it. Now it is app based. It is algorithm-based. Spotify and others changed that. Your discoverability is now dependent on algorithms that are skewed towards promoting podcasts that are partnered with Spotify (it's not just Spotify but they are the biggest) and towards the sensationalized, the drama fueled, the outrage baiters. If we were better podcasters, better marketers, better social media promoters… then maybe we could have overcome this. But we aren’t. So it goes.

In Conclusion
Thank you. We don’t think we’ve said that enough over the years. Thank you. If you ever contributed in any way. Thank you. If you ever contributed to the Patreon or bought a shirt, thank you. If you ever told a friend about us or posted a link to our show, thank you. If you ever live chatted during a recording or commented on a Youtube video, thank you. If you are an active member of the discord server or joined us for a social screen, thank you. If you ever once downloaded a podcast or watched a Youtube video, thank you. Thank you thank you thank you. Most podcasts don’t last for 11 episodes, let alone 11 years. We are so so grateful for this experience.

Again, thank you,
-Jared & Kyle

“Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it.” -Dave Foster Wallace