On August 15, Colors of the Game, a sports-dedicated podcast channel, celebrated its 100th episode, featuring Kiran Chemjong, the captain and goalkeeper of Nepal’s national football team. Avash Ghimire, the Co-Founder and the host of the podcast is amazed to realise that the podcast has come such a long way.
Started on April 3, 2023, currently, It has become one of the most popular podcasts in Nepal, especially among sports enthusiasts. As of the time of this writing, the podcast has over 19,000 subscribers.
The beginning
Prior to starting Colors of the Game, Avash Ghimire had already hosted three episodes of The Doers Nepal. His experience hosting those three episodes of the podcast inspired him to create his platform. Being a lifelong sports enthusiast, Ghimire decided to focus on a sports-dedicated podcast. He then began the search for a team to bring his vision to life.
“Well, it was not easy to find a team who would align with my motive and passion,” says Ghimire.
One fine day he happened to have a meeting with a team of Mero Mazzako Karyalaya, a production company based in Kathmandu. Ghimire liked their energy. After multiple meetings, both of them decided to collaborate on the podcast.
Ghimire says Mero Mazzako Karyalaya are technically sound and they have good energy.
In their initial days, they lacked the equipment that would make the video quality of a podcast even better. However, Ghimire was not worried about it.
“Rather than the quality of video I wanted my podcast to have fine audio and content,” says Ghimire. “For me, podcasts are more about quality audio content than video.”
The first episode of Colors of the Game featured Gyanendra Malla, the former captain of Nepal’s national cricket team. The episode resonated so well with audiences that it led to the podcast’s immediate success. In fact, the very first episode generated enough traction to monetize the Colors of the Game channel, marking a strong start for the podcast.
The first episode of Colors of the Game was initially supposed to feature footballer Jagit Shrestha. The team even shot the podcast with Shrestha, but unfortunately, a puja ceremony was taking place upstairs on the same day, causing noise disturbances throughout the recording. Additionally, the episode ended up feeling more like an interview rather than a podcast, leading the team to ultimately decide against uploading it.
Following the success of its first episode, Colors of the Game maintained its consistency, releasing engaging content regularly. This steady momentum helped the podcast grow, and as a result, it gradually began attracting sponsors, further boosting its presence and sustainability in the sports podcasting scene.
The sports-dedicated podcast also did its first giveaway after garnering ten thousand subscribers.
However, finding sponsors has not always been easy for Colors of the Game. Many sponsors were reluctant to understand their idea.
“Some of them ignored us because it was a new concept, and relatively had fewer followers on social media,” recalls Ghimire.
Despite the challenges of getting sponsorship, the team continues to put in effort to improve the podcast.
We have a healthy team, each of us motivates each other for better content, says Ghimire.
“Podcasts have been a significant part of our life.”
Selecting guest
So far, the podcast has featured a wide range of sports-related personalities, including players, scorers, physiotherapists, coaches, organisers, representatives from sports associations and others who are integral to the sport.
In addition to featuring Nepali guests, the podcast has also welcomed international sportspersons such as Baichung Bhutia and Chencho Gyeltshen.
While asked about their process to select the guest for the podcast, Ghimire says, we try to go for positivity. So we usually try to invite guests with a positive attitude and from whom we can get a positive perspective.
“Negative attitudes are prevalent and we don’t want to follow the trend,” says Ghimire. “You can also see that our set is very bright, symbolising that we want to focus on positive content.”
Sports is something that brings positivity, he adds.
Ghimire further says that the podcast does not look for celebrity figures, instead this is a podcast for people dedicating life to sports.
“For instance, Kabi Raj Negi got popular just recently, but we knew his contribution from a long time ago. So we had already called him earlier.”
Moreover, Ghimire feels happy that many “unsung heroes” of the sports fraternity are getting exposure through his podcast.
What’s next
In future, Colors of the Game wants to be more than a podcast show.
The Colors of the Game wants to come up with various shows such as explainers, documentaries and among others. Recently it has started a new football dedicated show Red Card Rebels.
Lastly, Ghimire mentions that Colors of the Game aims to feature the country’s finance minister to gain a deeper understanding of the financial aspects of the sports industry.
