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Popular multiplatform host Rachel DeMita has agreed to a licensing deal to bring the YouTube and podcast feeds for her Courtside Club show to SiriusXM, the company confirmed to Front Office Sports.
FOS spoke to DeMita about the growth of her show—where she discusses the NBA and WNBA—reaching new audiences during Caitlin Clark’s rookie year, and promptly losing tens of thousands of followers on Instagram after she shared posts from her wedding.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Front Office Sports: How did this SiriusXM deal come together?
Rachel DeMita: So Courtside Club has been around since 2022. We had Season One on ESPN platforms and since then it’s been a solo show and it’s just myself. I have three other guys that help me work on the show. We were looking for someone to partner with who kind of understood the show and could just help us to support it because it’s really been like something that has been so homegrown. I went over to [talent agency] UTA recently, and we started shopping the show and we talked to a lot of different partners who were interested, but Sirius just made the most sense.
FOS: You’ve got over 1.5 million followers across your YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X, etc. How do you not go crazy with all the comments and notifications constantly buzzing?
RD: Notifications are not turned on, so I have to actively go look at them if I want to see them. But also, I’ve been doing this for years, I’ve been in the social media space for over a decade. I started on YouTube, so I’m used to the comments flowing in. When I was younger, I used to cry about them. Now I just smile and keep it pushing.
And honestly, if you choose to be a public-facing figure in this industry, you know the extra noise comes with it.
FOS: Would it be accurate to say that Courtside Club really took off with a new audience during Caitlin Clark’s rookie season in the NBA?
RD: For sure. And that’s the thing, too: Season One of the show was mostly an interview show and I knew when I took Courtside Club back to my personal YouTube channel and we fully owned the show, I was like, “I need to get my audience familiar with my voice.”
Because if you do have an interview-only show, your view counts are contingent on how good your guest is. And I said, “You know what, people need to be comfortable with my voice first.” And it was also me finding out, “What are these topics that I’m truly passionate about talking about?”
Obviously I’ve been covering the NBA for over a decade and I was a basketball player myself. So, basketball is always going to be my anchor in anything that I do. And then obviously you have this superstar in Caitlin Clark who just takes over the sport like we have never seen before. It was just such a massive story, and a lot of people are interested in her story.
FOS: We reported that you were let go from your gig as a Big 3 correspondent for tweeting about Clark during a game you were covering. What’s your perspective, looking back on that?
RD: I don’t look backwards so much. I’ve moved on from it, and I actually did a whole episode on Courtside Club just kind of giving everybody my side of the story and what actually happened. But I’ve moved on from it. Everything has been great. And I’m sure that they’ve moved on as well. So we’re moving forward over here.
FOS: You’ve had great traction of late, from the SiriusXM deal to YouTube and socials getting a lot of engagement. Was there ever a time where you had self-doubt about whether you would “make it”?
RD: There’s always self-doubt, for sure. But I think with Courtside Club, my goal has always been to continue making the content better, and that’s always been my focus. I’m so obsessed with it. And that was the thing when I brought my show back to owning it fully on my channel. I’m like, “I want to make something that I would also like to watch.”
I was looking back at some of my old episodes, and I’m like, “These are boring. I wouldn’t even tune into this. How can I make the show better?” Everybody is always trying to make sure their titles and thumbnails are good. That’s a huge part of it, absolutely. And we do study that. But at the end of the day, if you click on one of my episodes, if you’re listening to one of my episodes, if you’re watching it on YouTube and you’re not entertained and informed, if you don’t have something to walk away with, then it’s not good content. And in this landscape when there’s literally so many podcasts—everybody has a podcast—you have to be able to be truly authentic, talk about something that you’re passionate about.
And the fans see that, so I feel like Courtside Club is in a really good space, but I still feel like it’s only the beginning for us. I have so many goals and aspirations with the show—and we’re in such a good spot now with Sirius XM.
FOS: When you revealed your relationship with [former Thunder guard] Andre Roberson, you said you lost thousands of followers. How many exactly did you lose, and was that something surreal to watch happen in real time?
RD: So it was actually when we got married. We’ve been together for a very long time. When I posted the wedding, I think it was 30,000—maybe a little bit more.
But honestly I’m very happy in my personal life, and I don’t monitor social media like that. I would lose my mind if I was worried about how many followers I was gaining or losing. At the end of the day I’m focused on making sure my content is really good. And my personal life is thriving. So if people are mad about that, totally fine. They can go follow somebody else who isn’t married.
