Introducing Home Run Applesauce, Fans First Sports Network, and Our Podcast Patreon

Hello folks,

At the end of January, Vox made the decision to cut back their monetization for the SB Nation podcasts. Many podcasts were affected, including Amazin’ Avenue’s. Without the support that Vox was providing, and with a strong desire to keep making podcasts, the podcasters of Amazin’ Avenue went looking for alternative solutions.

Vox has been eminently generous throughout this situation, providing Amazin’ Avenue, and others, with their RSS feed, so that listeners will see no break in coverage (aside from a few hours of the past three days as various pieces of the transition were happening). And so, while we thank Vox for all they’ve done in getting these podcasts to exist in the first place, it is time for us, collectively, to find a new home.

That new home comes with a new name. Since Vox owns Amazin’ Avenue, it was imperative that we came up with a new name that could be our own. Enter: Home Run Applesauce. Both a nod to a classic Amazin’ Avenue column and a celebration of the best ballpark feature in baseball, we feel the name is playful and evokes joy. We think it is a good sign to hang on our new home.

That home comes in two forms. The first is the Fans First Sports Network, a new podcast enterprise started by five people, four of which were SB Nation podcasters (in the interest of full disclosure, one of the four is Amazin’ Avenue deputy site manager Brian Salvatore). FFSN is committed to being a place where podcasters can do their best work while being part of a community that values collaboration, fairness, and an opportunity for growth. We want our podcasts to be great, and we want as many people as possible to hear them.

FFSN will be having a sort of slow rollout over the next few weeks, with the MLB side (hopefully) fully operational by Opening Day. Stay tuned on socials (@FansFirstSN and @HRApplesauce) for more information.

In addition to our new home at Fans First Sports Network, we heard a lot of people tell us that they wanted a more direct way to support our podcasts. And so, as of today, you can officially support our shows via Patreon.

For five dollars a month, you can help support our podcasters directly. The money that we bring in, in addition to paying the hosts for the work they do, will also buy new equipment, allow us to host more live events, make some merchandise, and more.

What do you get for that fiver? Well, you’ll get two bonus pods a month from our crew of podcasters. You’ll also gain access to our new Discord server, where you can chat with the hosts and listeners of Home Run Applesauce podcasts about the Mets and lots more. You’ll also get an exclusive invitation to a monthly livestream event. We have lots of fun extras planned too, but we need to focus on getting the season started before we can do too much extra. There are only so many hours before March 30th.

As a reminder, if you already subscribe to our shows, or listen to them on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or here on Amazin’ Avenue, you can still do all of that. Nothing about how you get the shows has changed. It’s just a fresh coat of paint on your good ol’ AA podcasts.

So that’s our story. It’s been an incredibly stressful six weeks or so as we’ve tried to plot a course forward, but we honestly couldn’t be more excited about our new homes. With a season about to start, there is no better time to embark on a new journey. We hope you’ll join us.

LFGM,
Brian, Chris, Allison, Linda, Maggie, Steve, Lukas, Ken, Thomas, and Rob.