There’s no questioning that Pablo Torre has carved out his own unique place in the world of sports media.
But even as the Meadowlark Media host receives critical acclaim for his work hosting Pablo Torre Finds Out, he also recognizes the uphill battle that many within the industry still face in today’s climate.
“Sports media has so over-indexed, has so gone all in on conflict programming and debate and all this sh*t that when I say, ‘I wound up running a race no one else was running,’ it’s because we’ve put all of our best minds towards trying to win debate contests in sports. And the actual thing of discovering new information, it’s just not incentivized anymore,” Torre said during a highly anticipated interview on The Joe Budden Podcast. “So yes, I do think sports media is worse in totality. But I also think that you follow the money and you realize why it happened, and I’m not surprised by it.”
Budden proceeded to theorize that a big part of that is that members of the sports media aren’t just competing with their peers, but an endless list of ex-athletes who have entered the space. Torre didn’t disagree, singling out the obvious example.
“Every former athlete wants to compete in that now, by the way. So why did I get out of that business? You could listen to me or you could listen to Tom Brady,” the ex-ESPN writer and personality said. “I get what I can do and what I can’t… who would you rather listen to? And by the way, Tom Brady is f*cking terrible on television.
“The contest that you’re trying to enter, where it’s like, ‘I’m a guy who can argue why I’m right about sports’ — I love that job, still. It’s fun. It’s the best way to make money. You can still argue in America. You wake up and argue about sports. But now every athlete is competing for the same job. All of them — the best that’s ever played is doing it… what does it mean to be a non-athlete working in sports? And so I’m trying to do this sh*t. But like, it’s really hard. It’s just really hard.”
Whether that’s made sports media better or worse is ultimately subjective, but it would be tough to dispute Torre’s analysis. To make a living in sports media 2025 typically means competing with former athletes who have several inherent advantages, or carving out your own niche like Torre has, which can often prove easier said than done.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.