Bomani Jones Is Heartbroken By What Sports Media Has Become

A lot of young people aspiring to have careers in sports media are sent to Bomani Jones. But the former ESPN star doesn't know what to tell them.

Jones, a longtime star on ESPN's "Around the Horn" and "Highly Questionable," has maintained success since leaving the Worldwide Leader in Sports. He's hosted his own show on HBO and had a successful podcast.

But when young people are sent to Jones, seeking advice in the sports media world, he doesn't know what to tell them.

And it breaks his heart.

During an appearance on The Young Man and the Three alongside New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III and comedian Adam Friedland, Jones spoke out on what sports media has become.

"It breaks my heart," Jones said.

"I literally can't tell them anything," he added. "Like I've told people: ‘Stop sending people to me.'

"I have no idea what the answer is. I don't know what the industry is going to do… I can't imagine trying to break a new podcast at this point. I don't know how any of this runs. I'm just trying to hold onto the people that I've got, forget about trying to get bigger, I'm trying to hold onto what I've got. And it breaks my heart, because I was able to change my life in a lot of ways by doing this job.

"And it's not even that I can't recommend to you that you do it, if you want to do it, that's fine. I just can't tell you anything about how you're supposed to make it."

The internet has changed a lot, too

Jones admitted that the internet is a different place, too.

"It's where people go to be unhappy. What catches on the internet is unhappiness," Jones said.

"I made it explicit and said it out loud: ‘I am going to make my content about things we love and the people that we love and go around that,' and I am not convinced that that has been good for business."

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This story was originally published May 3, 2026 at 10:56 AM.