Inside the 'Player’s Box' podcast and the group chat that started it all

It started with a group chat.

Jennifer Brady, Desirae Krawczyk, Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula had joked over text that someday they should start a podcast.

The idea was always a casual, not-so-serious thought for the four American players on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. Their chat is filled with banter and funny moments that made them question why not share those with the world.  

"Somebody would say something funny in the chat or something funny would happen, or something crazy would happen at a tournament," Brady said. "It would be like, 'Wow, if only people knew about this or if we could share this on a podcast.'"

Finally, they pulled the trigger. Corralling a production crew, in just a couple weeks they had the -- as Brady dubbed --  "fastest launch ever" at last year’s US Open. The four stars created the "Player’s Box" podcast, which recently hit a milestone 10,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Also available on Apple Podcasts, the group records their weekly, one-hour episodes to give fans a glimpse behind the scenes and share anything from travel nightmares to funny moments in training.

"We finally just said, 'Screw it. We'll start it. We'll do a trial. We'll see if we're any good. We'll see if we like it,'" Keys said. "We ended up really enjoying it, and it seemed like fans quite enjoy it as well, so we've just kind of run with it."

It’s not your typical podcast. No formal interviews or studios, but rather individual homes, hotel rooms or tournament locker rooms in a conversation-based video call format. Some days, they're all calling in from the United States, making the time difference manageable, and others, each of them are in four different time zones, creating a challenge, but that hasn't halted any progress.

Regardless, the casual, not-so-serious fun persists, and it’s exactly the way they envisioned it to be.

"We want them to feel like they're part of the group chat in a way," Krawczyk said.

Building an episode

Within an episode, fans find their usual segments complemented with fresh content on what’s actively happening on the WTA Tour, the buzz around a specific tournament or in pop culture. Some players have their staple roles such as Krawczyk's introduction and Brady's fan questions.

"I think people just fell into those roles," Pegula said. "Jenny loved doing fan questions. From the first couple episodes, by far, her favorite part. Madi loves reality TV. If there's any sort of tennis, reality crossover, we're like, 'Madi, that's all you.’ She's good also at being pretty clear on like rules and scenarios, so we're always like, 'Default to Madi.'"

"I don't really know what I do, I think I'm just the filler,” Pegula said jokingly.

They work closely with their production team to develop the finished product, but much of the content is determined by the players' themselves. Pegula said she's appreciated the consistency in the format, structure and content segments since they started, maintaining a strong balance of insight for the fans, without divulging too much information. 

"We’ve learned how to designate who's good at what things, what parts, being a little bit more structured, and how the episode is going to go, who's talking about what things," Pegula said. 

Signature segments

Following Krawczyk's introduction, the group quickly dives into one of their signature parts of show -- the "Unforced Error of the Week" -- where each player shares a humorous blunder from their life to be voted on. It can occasionally be a "winner," a success that week. 

The blunders have ranged from Pegula accidentally flooding her hotel room bathroom to Krawczyk booking a flight to from Abu Dhabi to Doha two weeks later than her actual departure. In her pajamas thinking she wouldn't see anyone she knew, Brady was spotted by nearly 30 tennis-related people in Florida while picking up an evening food order.

As for Keys, her most notable unforced error was having to indulge in a Pegula family Thanksgiving tradition, a piece of apple pie with a slice of cheddar cheese heated on top. It stemmed from a friendly wager the two made ahead of their Australian Open Round of 16 match.

Pegula, whose family owns the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills, won 6-3, 6-4 to spare herself from having to wear a Kansas City Chiefs Jersey, and Keys kept her word, sampling the pie much to her chagrin.

"As a Bills fan myself, I would hate to wear a Chiefs jersey," Brady said. "I think that that would probably be a worse punishment. Madi said that piece of apple pie was absolutely repulsive. For now, I guess we could say Madi's was worse until they play again."

Another favorite are the fan questions, an opportunity for the listeners to pick the brains of the stars with tennis related and miscellaneous queries. Fans don't often have the opportunity to meet athletes, aside from receiving autographs, so it gives them a chance to get insight from the life of a professional athlete.

"The fan questions are also very intriguing, because they really want to know, like, ‘What are you guys doing when you're holding three balls? Are you actually looking, if it's newer or what?’ They're actually curious," Krawcyzk said.

"One of the fan questions was, ‘What can you steal at tournaments?’ We're like, 'It’s not stealing, your have the towels on the court. We can, that is ours.' The fans want to hear that insight, and they want to know 'Oh, it's not stealing, you can take as much as you can.'"

Dream guests

Most episodes consists of just the main four, but they brought on two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff in one of their offseason episodes. Krawczyk said they want the guests to enjoy the same informal experience that the group prides the "Player's Box" podcast on. 

Asked about dream guests, Brady and Krawczyk mentioned Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, respectively, for tennis-related selections, since they both felt it'd be intriguing to pick their brains. As for non-tennis, there was one particular athlete that Brady -- so much that Krawczyk and Pegula knew her choice, too -- would want to be on the podcast.

"Josh Allen obviously, that's a no-brainer," Brady said of the Bills' quarterback.

"Jenny would freeze up so bad," Pegula laughed. "She’s so confident when she's just with us, just spitting off things and saying crazy stuff all the time. If Josh came on, she would fold up like a clam, and it would be so funny."

A global audience

Given all are current or former top 15 players in either singles and doubles, each have their own following that they're able to connect with on social media and promote their podcast.

Since their first episode in late August, they've amassed 10,000 subscribers on YouTube and nearly 30,000 followers on Instagram through more than 27 episodes. All four pinpointed to moments where fans have approached saying how much they enjoy the "Player's Box."

"It's really fun, but people care, and they think that we're as funny as we think that we are," Keys said. 

Surprisingly, one of the largest fan base presences of the "Player's Box" is in China. When Pegula and Krawczyk were there for tournaments, fans made little gifts, key chains and signs that Pegula brought back home to the United States, and the players were begged to find a way to get the "Player's Box" available into Chinese platforms, Keys and Pegula noted. 

"I was not expecting the players box podcast to be so popular -- especially when we just started -- in China," Pegula said. "To see that be so popular in an area of the world that -- I don't even know where they listen to it. I'm not sure how that crossover happened -- but it's pretty neat to see."

The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and Pegula said they're committed to the show's future. Krawczyk said the podcast has helped them grow closer.

Still, their favorite part has simply been just sharing their life experiences with the fans. They enjoy interacting with them in-person at tournaments and online through social media comments, and it's evident that the podcast is growing among the tennis community. 

"Just the four of us, I wouldn't change the group at all," Krawczyk said. "We're such different personalities that we shine in our own ways. We complement each other so well. It’s just constant banter and the chemistry is just there.

"That's probably the best part."