BarDown (website)
{{Short description|Social media brand owned by The Sports Network}}
BarDown is an online media brand of The Sports Network (TSN) focused on pop culture and attracting a younger audience. Created in 2014, the website and YouTube content have become one of TSN's most popular segments.{{Cn|date=January 2025}}
History
On March 4, 2014, Dave Krikst created the BarDown brand for TSN's web and social platforms, including a YouTube channel, focused on attracting a younger audience.{{cite web |last1=Fitz-Gerald |first1=Sean |title=Going BarDown: How an act of protest from TSN created a sports site that caters to young fans |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1434497/2019/12/30/going-bardown-how-an-act-of-protest-from-tsn-created-a-sports-site-that-caters-to-young-fans/ |publisher=The Athletic |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220321144640/https://theathletic.com/1434497/2019/12/30/going-bardown-how-an-act-of-protest-from-tsn-created-a-sports-site-that-caters-to-young-fans/ |archive-date=March 21, 2022 |url-status=live |date=December 30, 2019}} The intent was to merge the pop-culture style of Buzzfeed with the sports content on TSN.{{cite news |last1=Mudhar |first1=Raju |title=TSN goes searching for viral success with BarDown: Mudhar |url=https://www.thestar.com/sports/tsn-goes-searching-for-viral-success-with-bardown-mudhar/article_4a1f9664-898b-5644-8fcc-2b7e672e2752.html? |access-date=July 27, 2023 |publisher=Toronto Star |date=March 10, 2014}} Krikst later described BarDown as "a place where you probably get to practise your craft.” The name BarDown was chosen for its reference to the hockey term and that the "content will come from all sports."{{cite web |last1=Powell |first1=Chris |title=TSN LAUNCHES NEW DIGITAL SUB-BRAND, BARDOWN.COM |url=http://marketingmag.ca/media/tsn-launches-new-digital-sub-brand-bardown-com-102817/ |publisher=Marketing Mag |access-date=July 27, 2023 |date=March 5, 2014}} The subsidiary originally began solely focused on hockey; they posted viral content and included branded content and advertising on their similarity named website.
In 2019, the main contributors to BarDown content were TSN producers Jesse Pollock, Corwin McCallum, Sam Glisserman, Daniel Zakrzewski, Eric Kirk, and Luca Celebre. As their content developed into YouTube videos, BarDown also gained their own sponsors as a subsidiary{{cite web |last1=Rody |first1=Bree |title=Five years later, TSN's BarDown is all grown up |website=Media of Canada |url=https://mediaincanada.com/2019/11/15/five-years-later-tsns-bardown-is-all-grown-up/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |date=November 15, 2019}} and their videos averaged more than 620,000 views. The producers' success from BarDown led them to appear in more traditional TSN coverage such as pregame segments and part-time anchor roles on SportsCentre.{{cite web |last1=Fitz-Gerald |first1=Sean |title=How SportsCentre and Sportsnet Central are trying to keep your attention |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/2337349/2021/01/27/how-sportscentre-and-sportsnet-central-are-trying-to-keep-your-attention/ |publisher=The Athletic |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230727184620/https://theathletic.com/2337349/2021/01/27/how-sportscentre-and-sportsnet-central-are-trying-to-keep-your-attention/ |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |url-status=live |date=January 27, 2021}} Another member of BarDown, Julia Tocheri, went on to host Leafs Lunch before it was cancelled in 2023.{{cite web |last1=Fitz-Gerald |first1=Sean |title=How Julia Tocheri went from Thunder Bay to BarDown to the radio on 'Leafs Lunch' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/2948977/2021/11/16/how-julia-tocheri-went-from-thunder-bay-to-bardown-to-the-radio-on-leafs-lunch/ |publisher=The Athletic |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20221120061931/https://theathletic.com/2948977/2021/11/16/how-julia-tocheri-went-from-thunder-bay-to-bardown-to-the-radio-on-leafs-lunch/ |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |url-status=live |date=November 16, 2021}} In September 2020, Bardown launched the BarDown Podcast, hosted by McCallum and Zakrzewski.{{cite web |title=The Best of Beer League Banter: TSN Launches the All-New BARDOWN PODCAST, Available Now |url=https://www.bellmedia.ca/the-lede/press/the-best-of-beer-league-banter-tsn-launches-the-all-new-bardown-podcast-available-now/ |publisher=Bell Media |access-date=July 27, 2023 |date=September 28, 2020}} In honour of their five-year anniversary on YouTube, EA Sports added a BarDown-themed jersey in their World of Chel and Hockey Ultimate Team game modes. The jersey had been previously worn by BarDown members at their beer league games prior to the COVID-19 lockdown.{{cite web |title=Special Edition BarDown Jersey Included in EA SPORTS NHL 23 |url=https://www.tsn.ca/tsn-front-row/special-edition-bardown-jersey-included-in-ea-sports-nhl-23-1.1914720 |publisher=The Sports Network |access-date=July 27, 2023 |date=February 3, 2023}}
On 4 September 2024, Corwin announced he was leaving Bardown.{{cite web |title=CAN YOU PASS THIS NHL GEOGUSSER QUIZ |url=https://youtube.com/xfem7xBEEKs?si=zXuhzJKfv6YlGSlC |publisher= Bardown |access-date=17 September 2024 |date=September 4, 2024}} Soon on the same day, he then posted a video to his own new channel talking about why he left.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.bardown.com}}
{{Sports television in Canada}}
{{Bell Media}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bardown}}
Category:Social media accounts