When Launch Workplaces opened in the Sangamore neighborhood of Bethesda, illustrious sports newscaster and Montgomery County native Kevin Sheehan knew it would be the best location to house his podcast studio for his sports talk podcast show The Kevin Sheehan Show. Close to home and only minutes to Northwest Washington, DC with free parking and a bakery below, the brand new Launch office could be customized to meet his discerning requirements, after previously broadcasting out of a local restaurant. “This place works out perfectly,” he admits. Now, thousands of people from all over the country tune into his show daily to hear his take on the Washington Redskins, The Washington Wizards, and University of Maryland men’s basketball, among other sports topics.
Being among other start-up businesses at Launch makes Kevin feel even more at home. While he is perhaps best known for being the voice of sports radio WTEM 980, Kevin is an entrepreneur at heart. “I am used to an entrepreneurial environment,” he explains. Kevin spent much of his career starting, growing and exiting four internet businesses, including a grocery shopping solution called Streamline.com that was eventually folded into popular grocery delivery website Peapod.com and later bought by Ahold.
His tech businesses kept him on the road four to five days a week for more than ten years, and it’s during this period that Kevin would become influenced by the sports talk radio industry. To pass the time driving from city to city, he often tuned his radio to the local sports shows. A true sports fan to the core with a basketball player’s build and that perfect “radio voice,” Kevin was convinced he could do the job as well as those other guys. When the timing was right, Kevin dove into the industry and started doing play-by-play for Catholic University sports teams. Soon after, he applied for the 4:30 AM sportscasting slot for WTEM when an employee’s absence opened the door for Kevin to jump in. Within two years, he had his own show, hosting the pregame program for the Redskins for the next 12 years, up until the radio station was sold and changed its format away from sports talk.
Podcasting allows Kevin to reach a younger audience as well as maintain his fan base from the radio station. Much like podcasting is the new reality for sharing sports content and entertainment, Kevin feels coworking is the future for how to get work done. “I love it here at Launch. Everyone is so nice, and it’s convenient and easy,” he says.
If you want to get the scoop on local sports, tune into Kevin Sheehan’s show here. You can listen to current and past shows directly on the website or in podcast apps such as iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.
