Who Wants the Kelces’ Transition to Hollywood?
What Travis and Jason’s entertainment ambitions reveal about the new athlete economy and what happens when the content outweighs the talent
Travis Kelce just showed up in Happy Gilmore 2 (it’s hard to believe the original came out in 1996)
It’s his latest Hollywood move, and he’s not even retired yet. He’s already hosted Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, executive produced My Dead Friend Zoe, joined Ryan Murphy’s Grotesquerie, and now he’s riding Sandler nostalgia in a Netflix sequel built for TikTok.
Meanwhile, Jason Kelce landed a late-night show on ESPN, which just hit record-low ratings.
The Kelces aren’t dabbling in entertainment. They’re going all in.
So What’s Really Going On?
This isn’t about acting. It’s about owning the next chapter before the current one ends.
Athletes are no longer waiting until retirement to reinvent themselves. They are leveraging media visibility, podcast reach, and cultural capital to become content properties in real time.
Some will break through. Most won’t. Because being famous for playing does not automatically make you worth watching once you are not.
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Disruptive Play: Here’s the real question - Will fans follow athletes anywhere, or are we about to hit the saturation point?
1. Why are streamers and networks so eager to cast athletes?
Disruptive Play POV: Because athletes come with built-in reach. But social followers do not equal ratings. Jason Kelce’s flop proves that.
That said, hiring for audience can work if the platform fit is right. ESPN nailed it with Katie Feeney. She is a true creator with 14 million followers who actually show up. She understands how to retain attention and deliver in the format that made her.
The real lesson: Don’t just hire people with followers. Hire people who understand the medium.
2. Can superstar athletes reinvent themselves as entertainers?
Disruptive Play POV: It’s rare. The most successful transitions like The Rock, Terry Crews, and Michael Strahan were not the biggest stars in their sport. That gave them room to reframe their identity.
Superstars often assume their fame carries over. It doesn’t.
The real lesson: You can be the star, but what’s the story? Don’t start by casting yourself. Start by defining the movie:
What’s your tone?
What world are you building?
Why should people care?
Without narrative clarity, you are just freelancing in someone else’s show.
3. Will companies like SpringHill, Boardroom, and Omaha be mimicked by other athletes or only the select few with real leverage?
Disruptive Play POV: They will be mimicked. But most shouldn’t be.
It’s not just production companies anymore. It’s podcasts too. Every week, a new athlete drops a trailer. Same cover art. Same format. Same vibes.
But here’s the thing. SpringHill, Boardroom, and Omaha work because they are extensions of a clear identity. A real point of view. Most athlete ventures chase the format before understanding the foundation.
The result is a flood of forgettable content.
So what should athletes do?
Before you build a brand or hit record, get clear on:
What’s your take?
Who’s it for?
Why you?
Don’t start with a mic. Start with a point of view.
4. Are fans really asking for this much content off the field?
Disruptive Play POV: Yes, but only if it feels real.
Fans are not rejecting off-field content. They are rejecting content that feels forced, overproduced, or out of touch. What actually lands are the moments that make athletes feel like people:
Brothers giving each other crap on a podcast
Honest reflections after a tough loss
Quiet moments with family or teammates
Relatability is the filter. If the content makes fans feel closer to who you are, not just what you do, they will watch. If it feels like a media plan in disguise, they won’t.
The real lesson: More content is not the problem. But the more there is, the higher the bar becomes. Relatability is not optional. It is what separates the scroll from the stop.
Final Thoughts
The Kelces are everywhere right now. But ubiquity does not equal longevity.
They may be opening doors. Or they may be overexposing the formula for everyone else.
The next era of athlete content will not just reward fame. It will reward taste, timing, and restraint.