[William Lou] I have decided to leave @TheRaptorsShow after three seasons. I am so grateful for this opportunity from Sportsnet and a sincere thank you to everyone who supported our project! I will still be covering the Raptors moving forward, but more details to come. All the best.
I have decided to leave @TheRaptorsShow after three seasons. I am so grateful for this opportunity from Sportsnet and a sincere thank you to everyone who supported our project!
I will still be covering the Raptors moving forward, but more details to come. All the best. pic.twitter.com/z1ULoSLz48
— William Lou (@william_lou) April 12, 2024
by IonHazzikostasIsGod
22 Comments
typed this off the accompanying image in his tweet in like 3 minutes lmao
> I have decided to leave *The Raptors Show with Will Lou* after three seasons. The stated goal was always to deliver the best coverage of the Raptors, and that dream was fully supported by the team at Sportsnet. I’m so proud to have produced daily programs on radio, television, and podcast, while being able to access everyone from the commissioner, the front office, the coaches, the players, and most importantly, the fans.
> I owe thank sto so many people who made this project possible. Thanks to Dan Toman for bringing this program to the station and for always believing in me. Thanks to my producers Derrick Brandao, JR Manatad, Amit Mann, Jennifer Rolnick, and many others who have subbed in off the bench. Thanks to the Raptors PR team for accommodating access. Thanks to all the guests who gave us their time and perspectives. Lastly, thanks to my co-hosts Blake Murphy and Alex Wong for bringing your energy and creativity on a daily basis.
> Most of all, I am so thankful for every listener. The most rewarding part of doing this job is being embraced by the Raptors community, Thank you for allowing me to be authentic so that we could experience the ups and downs of the team together.
> I will be launching a new podcast project focused on the Raptors. The mission is still the same – to create the No.1 Raptors program – and I feel that the best way forward is to go independent. This was always a show made for Raptors fans, by a Raptors fan. That part will never change. I will share details when everything is finalized, but here’s one pretty important note: Alex will return as the producer and co-host.
> Thanks for everything, and see you in the summer!
Given he’s starting a new Raptors pod with Alex as co-host/producer, sounds to me that Sportsnet was getting in the way of what they wanted the pod/show to be.
I don’t know how much sportsnet paid Will to run it on their broadcast but my guess is its probably quite a bit more than when they were independent given how well the show does.
I commend Will for his integrity, and I’m excited to listen again with Alex back
Good luck Will and Alex! Hope this means more slander pods in our future!
Probably something behind the scenes with sportsnet, probably why alex left too
This kind of came out of nowhere.
With Alex, he basically had cut back his on air time. But Will been on every show
Completely makes sense. I could see it being very difficult and frustrating to do the show you want when your employer owns the team.
Probably felt he had to hold back with some of his opinions and didnt have the directive control he wanted
Interesting, I always assumed this change in Will lou has got to do with going corporate.
I missed Alex, show wasn’t the same without him.
Glad they are teaming up again.
Hopefully they have a better team to discuss on the pod next season.
Oh hell yeah, slander and banter are back on the menu, baby
Who’s gonna listen to this show now haha
I guess he wasn’t getting Fired Up with Campbell’s new soup.
Its for the best, the show has felt kind of off this year and well its because Sportsnet/Rogers seems to have no idea why it was popular to begin with and to completely warp it from what it was.
Now he can focus on soccer
Does this mean the Raptors show will end or it’ll continue on with Blake and a new co-host? If we could get a Raptors show of Blake and Samson Folk I’d be watching much more. I get the appeal of Will and Alex for a fun podcast, but when I want to hear actual basketball talk I’ll listen to Blake and Folk
He’s going independent of SportsNet? Good.
This is why I get all my team news and opinions from anyone not affiliated with TSN/SportsNet whose parent companies are Bell and Rogers respectively who in turn each have a stake in MLSE
The first episode of the pod should be will and yuta finally having ramen. lol
The suits at Sportsnet are to blame or thank, depending on how you look at it. Glad to see Alex and Will doing their own thing.
I feel like a big part is probably the fact they can’t criticize Rogers since they worked for them. There were plenty of times where I would listen and think not once have they said Rogers fumbled the ball or ran the org into the ground especially after Larry sold his chunk. They had to walk on eggshells with almost every issue. I like Blake, and enjoyed the episodes where the 3 of them contributed together. It was a good balance of personalities.
It sucked the life out of it all. Love this
I think this was an integrity move. Pressure behind the scenes to not say certain things in exchange for insider/industry access.
Good on Will for not letting a company ruin another podcast with censorship/notes. Looking forward to hearing the new one
has shitty knee-jerk opinions, literally does not know how the game is played, doesn’t understand playsets and strategies, just caters to casual fans who came on in past 5 years. overrateddd
How random. At least Alex wong gave us notice 😪