YouTube Pirating of Netflix’s Sports Podcasts Has Already Begun

Less than two months into Netflix’s push into sports podcasts, the streamer is already dealing with copyright issues.

A YouTube channel racked up more than 100,000 views posting pirated video of the podcast 3 & Out with John Middlekauff, one of several shows that moved its video rights to Netflix last month alongside popular mainstays like Pardon My Take from Barstool Sports and The Bill Simmons Podcast from The Ringer.

Middlekauff’s show is the primary NFL and college football show from The Volume, which is Fox Sports personality Colin Cowherd’s podcast network.

The YouTube page John MiddleKauff Podcast posted more than a dozen videos of 3 & Out content, beginning as far back as Jan. 12 and as recently as Sunday, all of which have been taken down as of Wednesday. 

The channel, which has roughly 2,680 subscribers, is still live; its page description reads: “Bringing You Full Episodes of podcasts from The Colin Cowherd, John Middlekauff, Nick Wright and Sharp or Square!” It has amassed a total of 117,149 views and was first created in 2014; it’s unclear what content, if any, it posted prior to 3 & Out videos.

Comments from multiple users on the since-deleted videos mostly remarked positively about the availability of videos on YouTube, from people who appeared to be fans of the show and did not have Netflix.

The channel is not associated with The Volume or iHeartMedia, multiple sources told Front Office Sports, and that posting the video violated the Netflix deal. Some sources said efforts to get the channel’s content removed had been ongoing for several weeks.

A copyright strike has been applied to the @JohnMiddlekauffPodcast channel per YouTube’s policies, another source told FOS.

The show’s official YouTube page, 3 & Out With John Middlekauff, last posted a full episode on Jan. 9, but continues to post Shorts from the Netflix video, like it does on other social media platforms.

The 3 & Out situation is the only known instance of pirated Netflix sports podcast video emerging on YouTube so far. 

There are more than a dozen sports podcasts on Netflix, also including Barstool’s Spittin’ Chiclets, The Ringer’s The Zach Lowe Show, and The White House With Michael Irvin. 

But each show’s situation is unique. Video from The Ringer’s shows is still available on Spotify, which owns the media company founded by Bill Simmons. Pardon My Take episodes are no longer on YouTube, but the show’s hosts still post other non-podcast video content to their YouTube channel.

In all cases, the audio versions of the shows remain available on most podcast platforms.

Last week in San Francisco ahead of Super Bowl LX, Middlekauff told FOS the move to Netflix has been “pretty cool” and that “nothing’s really changed” on his end. 

The Volume, iHeartMedia, Netflix, and YouTube declined to comment for this story.