This week, we’re celebrating the highs, the lows, the best, and the worst of the year with The Awfulies. As we’ve done for the past four years, the Awful Announcing staff has cast its votes for who we think should take home the coveted golden microphone in a wide variety of categories across the sports media industry.

The announcers, broadcasters, and TV shows receive much of the attention, but the sports media landscape is broad and diverse. It’s also expanding with the ascention of content creators and influencers. Today, we honor those on the cutting edge of the industry and leading it into the next decade, as well as the sports-related entertainment that commanded our attention this year.

Best Sports Media Podcast of 2025: The Press Box

After the Laura Rutledge-Justin Herbert incident, it’s time to reinvent the postgame interview.@byjoelanderson and I discuss: https://t.co/SRKXLv1LJx pic.twitter.com/90VrdJpK2z

— Bryan Curtis (@bryancurtis) December 13, 2025

Calling The Press Box a “sports media podcast” is honestly a disservice to the work host Bryan Curtis has put in to building the show into a must-listen for both sports media observers and non-sports media observers alike. While sports often serve as the North Star for Curtis and his rotating co-hosts David Shoemaker and Joel Anderson, The Press Box is at its best when it veers outside the lines into politics and culture.

2025 was a banner year for the show. While other podcasts in the shockingly oversaturated sports media genre have grown stale, The Press Box continues to iterate and innovate. The year-long feature “25 for 25” featured everything from news-making interviews with ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro to an episode on the future of physical media to a discussion with Zohran Mamdani’s comms strategist. Along those lines, the show does an impressive job of talking both about the stories you want to hear about (looking at you, Olivia Nuzzi) and the stories you didn’t know you wanted to hear about (Texas Monthly‘s definitive barbecue rankings).

For the sports media junkie that might have gasp listened to enough interviews with the same five play-by-play announcers on those other podcasts, The Press Box can scratch that media nerd itch in ways few other shows are capable of. – Drew Lerner

Best Sports Media Content Creator/Influencer of 2025: Katie Feeney

One of ESPN’s most polarizing hires of the past year was Katie Feeney, a recent Penn State graduate who has made her name in social media. But while she may not fit the previous mold at the Worldwide Leader in Sports, she’s clearly a big part of the network’s future, as evidenced by the support she’s received from some of its most powerful executives.

“We’ve thrown her right into the fire and this is, I guess, the poise that she gathered by building her own profile independently on her own at such a young age, but she’s already been on-location at College GameDay, at Monday Night Football, at Sunday and Monday Countdowns,” ESPN content president Burke Magnus told The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch. “She’s essentially curating SportsCenter on Snapchat for us… She’s been great. This is the world we live in.”

As Magnus noted, Feeney’s been everywhere, and based on her output, it’s easy to see why ESPN was drawn to her content as it turns toward the future. It’s also worth noting that Magnus told Deitsch the network is already considering hiring another influencer, which could further intensify competition in this category next year. – Ben Axelrod

Best Sports Documentary/Docuseries: ‘America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys’

The official trailer for America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys.

Coming to Netflix on August 19. pic.twitter.com/ks6jFWfZzW

— Netflix Sports (@netflixsports) June 30, 2025

Although it was an admittedly weak year for the calendar, Netflix’s eight-part docuseries on the 1990s Dallas Cowboys is a worthy winner.

Are the criticisms of it being a Jerry Jones vanity project fair? Perhaps. Still, America’s Team remained plenty entertaining and more journalistically sound than most hagiographies.

Moving forward, we’d like to see this category become more competitive again. For now, we’ll have to settle for an engaging piece of 90s nostalgia. – Ben Axelrod

Best Sports Radio Show of 2025: The Rich Eisen Show

The college football world was shocked Wednesday by the firing of #Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore — @richeisen reacts to the news and what happens now for his beloved alma mater: pic.twitter.com/EJvZeqIKGB

— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) December 11, 2025

Sports radio is in a precarious place in 2025. The format remains effective, especially when hosts understand what makes someone want to tune in for 2-3 hours at a time, in a world that pulls our attention in 12 different directions at once.

It would be easy to take The Rich Eisen Show for granted. Host Rich Eisen isn’t larger-than-life or in it for the hot takes. He’s amiable and personable, and seems like a good hang. He knows how to get something interesting out of his guests, whether they’re a professional athlete, a broadcaster, or a Hollywood actor. He’s also able to roll with the punches. And when the situation calls for it, he can handle a serious conversation with a sober sensibility and touch of grace.

While the show bounced around for years, it found its natural home earlier this year when Eisen returned to the ESPN fold as an anchor for ESPN Radio. As for whether Eisen’s show is also ESPN’s backup plan if Pat McAfee ever takes his ball and goes home, that’s a conversation for another day.

After hosting SportsCenter for the first time in 22 years, Eisen’s discussion about what it was like and how his tribute to Stuart Scott came together was the perfect bit of entertainment synergy. – Sean Keeley