The Next Round Is Joining Sport & State.
If you woke up this morning, saw Clay Travis announce Sport & State and wondered what exactly that means for The Next Round, here’s the short version:
The Next Round is still The Next Round.
As Bo O’Neal, President and General Manager of The Next Round, put it in today’s announcement, “We’re not changing what The Next Round is. We’re giving it a much bigger stage.”
That’s really the whole story.
DBL Down Media and The Next Round remain independently owned and operated. There has been no change in ownership of The Next Round or it’s parent company, DBL Down Media LLC.
What has changed is where you’ll be able to watch us.
Beginning August 24, The Next Round is expanding from three hours to four hours of live programming every weekday, from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. CT.
You’ll still be able to find The Next Round on the platforms you already use.
The difference is that from 9–11 a.m. CT, the show will also be distributed nationally through Sport & State in addition to our regular channels.
That’s the partnership.
Same guys. Same Birmingham studio. Same show. Same platforms. Bigger stage.
Why Sport & State?
If you’ve followed The Next Round for any length of time, Clay isn’t exactly a stranger.
His relationship with Lance, Jim and Ryan stretches back nearly two decades to their days at WJOX. Clay has continued to be a regular guest on The Next Round since it launched in 2021.
“Twenty years ago I came on Lance’s JOX radio show. He was broadcasting from an Atlanta strip club and listeners were furious with him. Then I suggested Alabama’s new football coach should be Bear Bryant’s exhumed corpse, and they didn’t care about LT at the strip club anymore,” said Clay Travis in our official announcement on August 19, 2026.
Now that relationship is taking another step.
Clay officially launched Sport & State this week as a national digital media company built heavily around live programming. Its weekday lineup includes Jonathan Hutton and Chad Withrow from Nashville, The Next Round from Birmingham, The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, The Clay Travis Show and On Tilt with Kelly, Ariel and Joe.
View Clay Travis’ official announcement here
In perfect alignment with The Next Round vision, Clay believes live sports and news programming is becoming more valuable, not less, and he sees college sports in particular as significantly underserved.
So, What changes August 24?
The Next Round is expanding from three hours to four hours of live programming every weekday, from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. CT.
You’ll still be able to find The Next Round on the platforms you already use.
The difference is that from 9–11 a.m. CT, Sport & State will also carry The Next Round to its national audience.
