The UB Interview: ‘Keeping Up with Sports’ Creator Steve Marcano Talks New Podcast

Last week the new podcast “Keeping Up with Sports,” was announced, hosted by Olympian Caitlyn Jenner, NBA Champion Lamar Odom, and award-winning sports podcaster Zach Hirsch. The podcast will feature interviews with some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment,

“Keeping Up With Sports,” is the brainchild of Steve Marcano, the sports production legend behind the top boxing events with Don King, and hit sports programming such as Knockout on Azteca America, live boxing events with Don King, “Inside his Look with Ray J” for Wealth TV, and “Knockout Live” for FUSE among many other projects.

Steve is a pioneer in sports, and starting out as a concert promoter, Steve dived into combat sports when he negotiated a recording-breaking deal for Mike Tyson’s WWE Championship at WrestleMania XIV 15 when Tyson knocked out Shawn Michaels. That same year, he transitioned into the film industry in 2005 when he inked a product placement deal for the movie “Wifey for My Little Star” baby products and N Rage sports management. He also consulted on the deal between Janet Jackson and Paradigm Talent Agency, and her Las Vegas residency.

Since then he has created and executive produced shows such as the groundbreaking lifestyle series, “Soulfood with Tara Wallace,” and “Behind The Grind” hosted by Fredro Starr for The Impact Network, and other to live sports events. He now owns and operates, the Steven Marcano Holdings Group, that partners with leading companies like SMM, Cash Jones Consulting, Great Minds Consultant, Impact Network and others to maximize the opportunities and growth potential within film, television, and the tech and finances spaces.

In September, they anticipate the launch of an app entitled Only Sports that does nothing does Sports.

Filmed on location at Sunset Strip’s iconic Andaz West Hollywood hotel, “Keeping Up with Sports” also reveals the often-unspoken challenges of being a professional athlete. Through unfiltered discussions on taboo topics such as mental health struggles, addiction, and the difficult decision to walk away from it all, “Keeping Up with Sports” invites a candid dialogue on critical issues within the sports and entertainment industries.

In the premiere episode, the trio sit down with boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard to discuss his proudest moment, the importance of having the right trainer, what it takes to overcome defeat, and more.

Aries from UB recently spoke to the deal maker Steve Marcano about the new podcast “Keeping Up with Sports.”

Steve shares how the podcast came about and how the hosts were selected and why.

Plus Steve gives UB an update on when “Keeping Up with Sports” will premiere.

Steve also shares more exciting news on more upcoming projects and breaks down, what a great business deal is and more!

UrbanBridgez.com: Pleasure to speak with you. So thank you for taking the time out to speak with me.
Steve Marcano: It’s my pleasure to speak with you. You know, I love when people want to have conversations with me. I just think it’s a great thing, when you’re behind the scenes and people want to help you get your message out. And who want to recognize your accomplishments. It’s a great thing, so thank you.

UrbanBridgez.com: My pleasure, no doubt that’s what we’re here for. So I have to get right into it. How did the idea even come about For Keeping Up with Sports?
Steve Marcano: We were actually sitting down and started a company called Only Sports. And Only Sports is nothing but sports. And a real close friend of mine Scott, he’s a marketing guy, and he’s really, really, really smart. And I’m like, you know, I gotta do something different in this space. We’ve been doing boxing forever, and this podcast space I really want to get into. And he Was just joking around and said we should do keeping up with sports. We didn’t have any idea about Lamar Odom at that time or Caitlyn Jenner at that time. But when he said keeping up with sports, it was actually a name that he came up with. And I was like, this is incredible. And then I went and built out the show around the name.

UrbanBridgez.com: I like that. What is it that Caitlyn and Lamar bring that made them the choices for the host?
Steve Marcano: Well, you know, Caitlyn Jenner we wanted her from day one. When you look at Bruce, you know what he accomplished in the Olympics and being on that Wheaties box. I remember looking at that Wheaties box as a kid, like a very, very young kid. But I looked at that Wheaties box, and I remember the Wheaties box used to motivate me, and I remember looking at him, you know, with the medal and his arm raised and, you know, just knowing, wow, this guy really, really, really accomplished so much! So was the beauty of it is when the transformation to Caitlyn came. A lot of people understood that this is an incredible athlete, and they weren’t giving the athlete the same amount of attention, like they’re not looking at it as the same person and it is the same person. So I was like, yo, I need Caitlyn Jenner. We were looking at a lot of people, we looked at Reggie Bush and, Lamar Odom I knew him previously before this. The young gentleman that’s on the show, Zach Hirsch and because Zach’s been doing podcasts and he’s really a super up and coming young man, and he’s definitely going to win. I believe he’s going to be like the next Stephen A Smith and the next Max Kellerman combined in the next five years.

UrbanBridgez.com: That makes sense.
Steve Marcano: So when we all discuss it and they were like, what about Lamar? I reached out to Lamar through his representation at the time, which was a gentleman named Alex. I was able to get a number back to him, and we were able to go from there. And now that’s where you got Keeping Up With Sports. I got the new, you know, hybrid of Stephen Smith and Max Kellerman in Zach, and I knew Zach was really the true stats guy. He’s going to know the stats on everything. He’s going to know whether it’s UFC, whether it’s baseball, whether it’s boxing. He’s just going to know the stats. He’s going to dig in, he’s going to study. He’s actually a college student or former college student. So he’s going to study like a college student. I know Caitlyn is the personality, and I know Caitlyn is bigger than life. And I know Lamar is just gives you that gritty street feel and, you know, an incredible athlete. So when you put college the streets and and drive together, you get, keeping up with sports.

UrbanBridgez.com: That’s right, a winning combination I love that! The one thing I personally love about it, is that you guys are going to touch on subjects like mental health and different addictions and things like that. Why was that important for you to have that included in the podcast?
Steve Marcano: The mental health portion I don’t really like to take credit for things that. Aiden script in the beginning, but between Lamar Zack and Caitlin, that was really, you know, their creative process. My creative process was wanting to come up with something that crossed every gender and every boundary, and then they have creative control over subject matter, and they have creative control over direction of the show. So it’s something I’m very, very happy that they created on their own and I’m very, very happy. That they want to go down that road, just period overall. But at the same time, to be truthful, it’s not something that was demanded from me. It was something created by them.

UrbanBridgez.com: Great stuff! Is there a time frame for the premiere of Keeping Up with Sports?
Steve Marcano: You know the problem we have now with Keeping Up With Sports? You ever hear the expression you get too big, too quick? Keeping Up With Sports is too big, too quick. So the platforms that we were in negotiations with, because we were going to put this out on our own platform, Only Sports and we’re still going to launch only sports in September. But the show got so big, so quick, we can’t wait to September. So now we’re taking we’re taking a lot of offers and a lot of partnerships. Request and deals. The only difference is, you know, before Only Sports would have been first run. Now we’re second run because I have to place it on a different platform because the world knows about it. And I have a responsibility to the talent to make sure that I get them the most attention and the most reward for their hard work.

UrbanBridgez.com: No doubt it’s being set up to win. That’s how it’s supposed to be. So that’s real good. We’re going to have to switch gears real quick because I have to know, how did you first get it started in like boxing events?
Steve Marcano: Mike Tyson WrestleMania, like 20 years ago. I knew Shane McMahon. Shane Man approached me and was like, we need Mike Tyson as a special as a special guest referee. And I was super cocky and I was like, no problem, I can get Mike Tyson. And I met with Vince McMahon and he gave me he gave me a number to get Mike and the number because, you know, I’m from the projects. I really wasn’t very successful at the time. The number to me was gigantic. The number to Mike Tyson was minimal. So we had to go back and forth and back and forth. And then I saw Vince McMahon from WWE, at the time it was WWF, and I saw him build something that was already worth hundreds of millions of dollars and that transaction to a billion. And I know Don King and I knew Mike Tyson, and I know Zab Judah and everybody else. Zab was probably still 1 or 2 fights in, and I was like, I’m gonna get into this. And I got into it and I got really, really good at it. And I created Knockout and after Knockout, it was nothing else to talk about. Knockout, you know, was the cult following boxing show for five years. If you’re a boxer, like, we were never mainstream, but we were always on TV. We were always on the internet and we always had the biggest stars. So, you know it worked. And that’s that just launched me into boxing. And luckily I got successful at it and I made some money. But, you know, it’s really hard not to be successful knowing Don King and Mike Tyson. And, you know, it’s really hard, you know, to fail with that kind of winning combination at the time.

UrbanBridgez.com: Word is Knockout is returning?
Steve Marcano: Knockout is coming back for season five. It’s probably be our last two seasons, season five and six. I think that the boxing series I think we ended abruptly. I think when Covid came, we really couldn’t film because we couldn’t do live events and it made no sense to keep filming without a live event. And then we placed it on impact in 21, right after the pandemic, and I was about to bring it back. But at the time, Impact, which it is still today, was a family faith based television network. And Knockout is wild, you know, knock outs, crazy knock outs, you know, you got people fighting in the gym , you got Floyd Mayweather and Ruben Guerrero fighting at restaurants. And you know it’s on TMZ and you and boss up and everybody’s talking about it. And it’s wild and it’s a wild show you know. But it’s a fun show. And it’s the true look into the competitive business between, you know, individuals in the boxing space. So I didn’t want to really water it down. So I was like, yeah, I’m gonna wait till I put the platform up, which is September, when I put the platform up, it’s the return of Knockout. We’re about to really have fun this year. We’re also looking at of course, Keeping Up With Sports. And I’m really, really proud of a new show we’re about to do called Sexy in Sports.

UrbanBridgez.com: Exciting times!
Steve Marcano: I really, really love this show that I’m creating right now called Sexy in Sports. So between Knockout, Sexy and Sports and Keeping Up With Sports, I got another financial literacy show that’s going to really help, all people, not just athletes with taxes and investments and health plans called The Crossover. And we got a show which I’m really in love with a show called Hobbies that I created. So, you know, we got a full slate of shows and I believe Only Sports is going to be… I won’t say the biggest platform because it’s very hard to get bigger than ESPN when it’s owned by Disney. But I think we’re going to be the most fun and the most recognizable sports platform in the country within one year. Because, you see, we’re doing things that are outside the box. You know, no one would have ever thought about putting Caitlyn and Lamar together, and no one’s ever going to really thought about Knockout, you know, really it’s very combative. And, you know, when you think Sexy in Sports, people are going to think it’s sexual and it’s not. It’s really highlighting what makes, you know, certain individuals and sports sexy, whether they’re just good dads or they do charity or they give back to the community, so we’re doing a lot of cutting edge, breakthrough entertainment that other people just don’t do.

UrbanBridgez.com: I’m looking forward to all those projects, especially Knockout. Earlier you mentioned the Mike Tyson deal. Ray-J is someone else you’ve worked with because you’re known as a deal maker. Can you tell us a bit about what it takes, what is the formula for a great business deal?
Steve Marcano: You got to start somewhere. So you know most people they create something and then they go cast it. For me, we don’t cast anything. We create things around the individual, and then we turn it into a great business deal, because we don’t just depend on the financial success of ad revenue or the financial success of sponsors. We like to basically go all the way across the board from retail to, you know television. So most people don’t understand if you formulate your products properly, you don’t have 2 or 3 revenue streams, you have 7 or 8 revenue streams, like Ray J. I’m so proud of Ray because he did Raytroniks now he’s doing his network. And, you know, Ray was always so smart as a businessman. Even though he was a great entertainer, they don’t give Ray J the amount of credit he deserves. He had a lot of hits and basically built that Raytroniks business to almost 100 million, and they don’t give him the credit for that.
And now he has this network, and I’m letting everyone know. Ray J is a great business man, just like Mike Tyson. You know, Mike knows how to reinvent himself several times. He has has his wife Kiki and his brother in law, Azeem. And they have an incredible team. So I think, I think to do great business and to have great deals, you need a really great team of visionaries and everybody’s equal. You know, there’s so there’s so many things that are spawning off teamwork. And that’s where I’m at with it. I like being part of a team and you could be team captain, but you still have to listen to other people and you got to figure out how to build out the deal. I build out deals. I don’t do deals. I build them out. You know, like whether it’s a things that we did for Floyd Mayweather or whether it’s things we did for Janet Jackson. I build out deals.

UrbanBridgez.com: Well you do it well bro!
Steve Marcano: I’m trying man.

UrbanBridgez.com: Before we wrap what’s some of the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Steve Marcano: That’s the best advice that anyone’s ever said to me was, no is not a no, it just means no right now. If you look at life and people take notes, they get discouraged and they quit and they leave their path and go somewhere else. But if you go, they go. You think they don’t like you or like your idea. Alright, cool. In my mind, I never took it as a no. I took it as a just not right now, you know. And so that’s the best thing. Just take somebody when somebody disappoints you or when somebody closes the door on you, don’t get mad. Don’t ruin your relationship with that person. Just leave the relationship where it’s at and get better and then, you know, revisit it. And when you revisit it, make sure you get as much money as you can. Because remember they told you no. But always keep the relationship because it’s just not right now. You know, like if you look at the biggest people in the world, the biggest one of the biggest rappers in the world ever was Jay-Z, remember, he couldn’t get a record deal? Now he can get anything he wants. He can own the record company. He can own the distribution avenues. He can own radio station, he can own anything he wants right now. Anything he wants in the world they’re going to give him. But they didn’t want to give him a deal in 96. So just not right now. That’s my best advice to everybody.

UrbanBridgez.com: Full circle, that’s some great advice. So I really appreciate you for sharing. And then before we wrap, is there anything else you want to leave with us or leave with the people, your fans, anybody that’s supporting you?
Steve Marcano: If you support me and you support the projects we do, I’m super regular, you can hit me on Instagram, you can DM me. You know, it’s real easy to reach me. And, you know, if somebody has a great, incredible idea that they want to share with me, if there’s anything I can do to help them grow their, their path to the entertainment stuff, because I understand how hard it is. I’m right here. I’m like the young kids today, I’m still outside every day. So if I can help anybody, I love to help.

UrbanBridgez.com: I appreciate you taking our time speaking with us. So again, Steve, continue success and blessings and thank you again!
Steve Marcano: No, thank you guys again. I appreciate you just even taking the time out to reach out to me. And thank you so much. So it’s a vice versa two way street. Thank you!