Andy Roddick's Tennis Podcast Earns $4 Million a Year, Revenue Doubles for Two Consecutive Years
Founded by Andy Roddick and on air for over two years, the video podcast "Served with Andy Roddick" is getting more and more popular. According to Forbes estimates, the podcast generated about $4 million in advertising revenue over the past year, with a sponsor lineup that includes Cadillac, Wilson, Airbnb, and smart mattress brand Eight Sleep, among others.
Andy Roddick officially entered the tennis world in 2000. In 2002, he won his first and only Grand Slam title at the US Open. During his career, he won 32 men's singles titles, was ranked in the ATP top 10 for nine consecutive years, and earned over $20 million in career prize money. In 2012, Roddick announced his retirement.
In the 10 years after retiring, Roddick rarely engaged with tennis, instead investing in commercial real estate, running his foundation, and focusing on family. The opportunity to start a podcast came when he met sports television producer Mike Hayden while picking up his kids from school.
Above: Mike Hayden (left) and Roddick (right) often record podcast content together
Hayden proposed combining his television production experience with Roddick's tennis knowledge to create a video podcast. One night, the two ordered about $5,000 worth of equipment on Amazon and decided to just go for it, founding Served Media. Roddick described it as a "fun side project" and initially thought "no one would listen."
At the time, most tennis match analysis was limited to 30-second segments on live television, and most players only had a few minutes to speak at press conferences. Roddick and Hayden observed this phenomenon and decided to provide regular weekly updates (usually on Tuesdays), storytelling, match recaps, and in-depth interviews, so fans could get quality content on an "ordinary Tuesday" rather than scattered highlight shows.
Many regular Tuesday main episodes are recorded in a converted garage studio at Roddick's home, while some daily episodes during tournaments are recorded in a Cadillac.
"We felt there was still a lot of room to play—after all, people usually only pay attention to tennis for about eight weeks a year—so we thought that if we could put out relevant content every week, there would be a broad storytelling space," Roddick recalled. "We wanted to build a predictable viewing habit for fans. We predicted this was a direction worth trying, and the market feedback proved our judgment was correct."
The podcast's first episode launched in January 2024, with Roddick and veteran sports journalist Jon Wertheim doing an in-depth analysis and recap of the Australian Open.
In March 2025, tennis legend Nadal appeared on the show. It was his first in-depth interview after retirement, and it instantly made "Served with Andy Roddick" explode in popularity. According to Forbes estimates, the podcast's advertising revenue grew from less than $1 million in its first year to more than $2 million in its second year.
As of now, "Served with Andy Roddick" has 249,000 subscribers on YouTube and 293,000 followers on Instagram.
In December 2024, Served Media licensed advertising sales, marketing, and distribution to the Vox Media Podcast Network to help the podcast scale up, while Roddick, Hayden, and co-host Jon Wertheim retained majority ownership of the company.
But less than a year into the partnership, the two sides negotiated an end to the original two-year agreement. One of the main reasons was that the partnership limited Served Media's flexibility to launch new shows, while the team wanted to expand its content.
Currently, Served Media operates fully independently, handling production, advertising sales, and marketing on its own, and has hired sales staff. It has also spun off programs including the main podcast, a show hosted by former WTA world No. 1 Kim Clijsters, and a weekly news recap, while also developing a newsletter, merchandise, and a membership program.
According to Hayden, all programs under Served Media average 2.2 million downloads and views per month, with half of the audience coming from outside the United States. Roddick has also begun planning the future direction of Served Media, aiming to build it into a platform encompassing multiple shows, newsletters, and other content.
The podcast's success inspired Roddick to become a television commentator. This July at Wimbledon and in September at the US Open, he worked with ESPN as a television commentator and analyst.
Roddick (right in the photo above) made his debut as an ESPN tennis commentator in July this year
At the same time, he has also appeared frequently in other settings: in the pickleball movie The Dink released by Apple in July this year, Roddick made a cameo as "himself"; he also appeared as a guest at an exhibition match held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York on the eve of the US Open.
| Sources: Forbes, usopen, sportsbusinessjournal
| Image sources: podcast's official YouTube, official Instagram