Sport Salon started as a radio show in 2016. The premise was straightforward yet daring: create a radio show with an all-women cast capable of captivating both hardcore sports aficionados and those who might be considered casual fans. Challenge accepted. We embarked on the journey to design our show, but quickly realized that while our premise might have been simple, the sports industry was anything but easy to navigate.
Our initial foray was rocky; we had callers who adored us and others who phoned in simply to ridicule us. However, Nigeria Info stuck with us, and we were as resilient as Badgers; nothing could easily break our spirit. There was no blueprint to follow, so we had to create everything from scratch. Our shows became a captivating blend of timeless sports conversations, from debates about the greatest boxer of all time to delving into the influence of the divine in sports.
However, amid all the excitement, something felt amiss. We quickly realized what it was: the lack of access to women’s sports. Determined to rectify this, we returned to our production desk and began incorporating women’s sports into our shows. We started discussing men’s and women’s sports on equal footing, covering tournaments, conducting interviews with athletes, bringing them onto our live shows, and relishing every moment of it. For us, Sport Salon evolved into something far more profound. We organized roundtable discussions, facilitated vital conversations, offered mentorship opportunities, and redefined what involvement in sports meant for diverse individuals.
In a world characterized by unpredictability, where plans are never set in stone, we can always strive to be consistent and show up for the causes we hold dear and the communities we support. When the pandemic struck in 2020, like the rest of the world, we had to take a break. Fortunately, this hiatus allowed us to ponder how we could continue to support our community. It was a year marked by uncertainties, but we confronted these challenges head-on and redefined our purpose, not just as a brand but as an organization.
We had always pondered how to bridge the disparity gap in sports, how to combat the prejudice, sexism, and abuse we had witnessed both up close and from afar. We knew that a weekly show alone couldn’t rectify these deep-rooted issues; we needed something more enduring and radical. Our community stood by us, and we relaunched Sport Salon, not as merely another radio show, but as a community. Our initial step was to create a learning program for content creators and conduct a newsroom workshop focused on language usage in women’s sports.
Gradually but surely, we opened our studio doors to this new world and amplified our community’s voices even louder.
Sport Salon has always been a brand that evolves and innovates. When challenges arise, we find creative ways to navigate them. We are excited about the myriad possibilities for making a positive impact, and we wholeheartedly support anyone who chooses to make us a part of their journey. But above all, we eagerly anticipate engaging and exploring all the ways our lives intersect with the world of sports.
