In case there were any lingering doubts, podcasts are officially a big business, with some podcasters getting famous in that field alone and going on to sign the kind of blockbuster contracts you might expect to see in film, television, or sports. Take Alex Cooper, who along with Sofia Franklyn hosted the podcast "Call Her Daddy" with Barstool Sports from 2018 until a falling out in 2020. Less than a year after Franklyn exited the show, Cooper signed a $60 million three-year contract with Spotify, and now The Wall Street Journal reports that Cooper is looking to line up a new deal that makes the previous one look like chump change by comparison.
Cooper has reportedly set the bidding at $100 million for her show's next distribution partner, and it remains to be seen whether that will be Spotify or another company. With Spotify reportedly trimming down some of the more expensive marquee names from its podcast lineup as of late, it could be that another brand will swoop in and take up Cooper's offer. SiriusXM, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, is said to be the front-runner to become the new home of "Call Her Daddy," and the brand is certainly no stranger to cutting big checks to top podcast talent. They recently signed Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes to a $100 million deal for their "SmartLess" podcast, and in 2022, they bought Conan O'Brien's "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend" series and the entire "Team Coco" network for an undisclosed sum reported to be in the neighborhood of $150 million.
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The split between Cooper and Franklyn was, according to rumors at the time, surrounding Franklyn's insistence on a new contract with Barstool, a position that certainly seems vindicated in retrospect now that the show is at least somewhat plausibly valued at $100 million. "Call Her Daddy" and Spotify's current three-year contract was reported in July of 2021, which means it is set to expire very soon if it hasn't already, so we may find out soon what the financial future holds for Alex Cooper and her podcast brand.
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