The Next Round Joins Clay Travis' Sport and State

A relationship that began nearly 20 years ago comes full circle as The Next Round joins Travis’ national digital media network

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 19, 2026

Sara Walker
The Next Round
404.245.9579
sara@nextroundlive.com 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — August 19, 2026 — A media relationship that began nearly 20 years ago at Birmingham sports radio powerhouse WJOX is entering a new chapter. DBL Down Media announced today that beginning August 24^th, The Next Round, the independent digital sports platform built by veteran broadcasters Jim Dunaway, Ryan Brown and Lance Taylor, will join Sport & State, the national digital media network founded by Clay Travis, as part of a three-year, multimillion-dollar agreement.

View Clay Travis' announcement on Sport & State here

Dunaway, Brown and Taylor left traditional radio in 2021 to launch The Next Round, building a personality-driven sports platform with an audience extending far beyond Alabama. Travis has remained a regular guest on The Next Round over the years, continuing a relationship with the hosts that dates back nearly two decades.

The agreement adds national distribution to an already significant digital audience. Over the past 30 days, The Next Round has generated more than 240,000 YouTube views representing more than 60,000 hours watched, nearly 80,000 podcast downloads and millions of additional video views across its social platforms.

“The Next Round has proven that a great live sports show doesn’t have to be confined by a radio signal or a geographic market. What Jim, Ryan and Lance have built is pretty remarkable. They’ve created independent, personality-driven sports content with an audience that reaches well beyond Alabama.

“What Clay is building with Sport & State aligns perfectly with who we are and feels like the natural next step for us. We’re not changing what The Next Round is. We’re giving it a much bigger stage. It’s an incredible opportunity for the guys, our team, our advertising partners and everyone who has played a part in making The Next Round successful,” said Bo O’Neal, President and General Manager of The Next Round.

Travis recalled the beginning of his relationship with Taylor — and in typical fashion, exactly where it started:

“Twenty years ago I came on Lance’s JOX radio show. He was broadcasting from an Atlanta strip club and listeners were furious with him. Then I suggested Alabama’s new football coach should be Bear Bryant’s exhumed corpse, and they didn’t care about LT at the strip club anymore. This is a long way to say, The Next Round Live is now going to be doing a new two-hour daily show for my new media company, Sport & State, from 9–11 a.m. CT, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. ET. So the four Alabama and Auburn fans who are white dudes for Harris are going to be SO MAD ONLINE. And the rest of you will love them being part of the new badass, awesome network of digital shows we have built. And if they suck, blame Dunaway,” said Clay Travis, founder of Sport & State.

August 24, The Next Round will expand to four hours of live weekday programming, airing 9 a.m.–1 p.m. CT across all of its existing platforms. Through the agreement, Sport & State will also distribute the first two hours of The Next Round each day, giving the show an additional national outlet and expanded reach.

The Next Round will continue to originate from its studios in Birmingham, Alabama, with the same hosts, format and personality its audience knows.

For more information, visit DBLdownmedia.com (https://dbldownmedia.com) or Nextroundlive.com (https://nextroundlive.com)

About DBL Down Media / The Next Round

DBL Down Media is an independent, digital-first sports media company and home of The Next Round, its flagship daily sports platform hosted by veteran broadcasters Jim Dunaway, Ryan Brown and Lance Taylor. Launched in 2021, The Next Round produces daily live sports programming and original content distributed across video, podcast, social and streaming platforms to a growing audience across the Southeast and beyond.

Media Contact

Bo O’Neal
President and General Manager
The Next Round
205.790.2590
bo@nextroundlive.com