Think back to when you were 25 years old. Do you recall the pressures of life on the journey of your career path? The ups and downs with a singular vision of where you’d like to go and what you’d like to do. When you finally reach the destination, the trials and tribulations of the journey are what help you embrace the challenge of the opportunity. At 25 years old, Drake Toll took an opportunity that many in sports radio will never achieve in the entirety of their careers.
Hosting morning drive on Westwood One Sports with more than 300 radio stations distributing his voice.
“This opportunity is another domino of a short career of failing forward,” said Toll.
At 25 years old, Toll has risen through the sports media ranks faster than anyone could have imagined — including himself. He grew up listening to local sports talk radio and the voices that shaped his self-admitted “odd” approach to the format.
He credits his early days listening to The Show with No Name on 103.7 The Buzz in Little Rock, Arkansas, for igniting his passion for radio. Pushing the limits. Being different. Always attempting to sound like your best friend.
The First Voice Of Westwood One Sports
Since beginning his broadcasting journey in 2017, Toll says there has always been someone at every stop along the way who disagreed with his approach.
“This is vindicating for me. I didn’t go to a broadcast college and didn’t study broadcasting either. I have no classical background in broadcasting,” said Toll. “It feels like trusting myself and what I feel is what’s most comfortable on the air for me. Trusting my voice has worked. I was told by many mentors that I’m going to have to fall back in line. Having not done that has led to this.”
When Cumulus Media and Audacy announced the formation of Westwood One Sports in late October of last year, the two companies wasted little time defining the timetable. By Dec. 29, a new syndicated sports radio network would launch just six weeks after being announced. While Nick Kostos would be retained from the BetMGM Network along with Jim Rome in afternoons, there were many holes for Bruce Gilbert and new executive director Armen Williams to fill.
The first was then 24-year-old Drake Toll — a play-by-play announcer for the Savannah Bananas, content creator, and successful podcaster for the Locked On network. According to Williams, Toll came recommended through several trusted advisors.
“I was very clear with Armen in our first conversation that I’m not a radio guy… He was going to hire a 24-year old without legitimate radio experience to anchor a morning show on a national network like Westwood One. He said that’s the best part, that’s why we want you,” explained Toll. “Bruce Gilbert is also the king of the industry in making hires that may not make sense immediately, but pay off down the line. That’s my goal.”
Toll acknowledged he understood the concerns many affiliates had about his hiring as the morning voice for Westwood One Sports. An untraditional approach in a tradition-rooted industry can feel uncomfortable at first. Nearly three months into the role, Toll says the reception has been “almost shockingly positive.” Affiliates have rallied behind his arrival on the Westwood One Sports Network.
“If I’m an affiliate and someone tells me that the national station I’m carrying is hiring a 24-year old to host mornings, I’m probably freaking out a bit,” said Toll. “The willingness for our affiliates to open their mind and their ears to the show has been a pillar of what has led to its success early on.”
Building Community
With the short amount of time the network had to form, Toll’s first entry into syndicated radio became a sprint to the finish in setting up the program. Just days after his hire, Toll worked with station management to identify who his production team would be. He landed on 23-year-old Addy Bates, whom Westwood One Sports brought on just a month before the network’s launch.
Toll says morning drive was the only daypart he would consider because of his roles with the Savannah Bananas and Locked On. Early discussions included adding a co-host. Management and Toll ultimately decided he would begin as a solo host on Westwood One Sports. While the operation may seem small, the day-to-day approach to crafting content is quite unique.
“For us, it’s me and Addy Bates. I have three jobs, and she has two major producing jobs and works with MLB Network. So, our time is strapped [for creating content],” explained Toll. “I want to best represent the stories driven by the public. Instead of finding headlines on websites, I love to go to social media and see the public’s opinion. Sometimes headlines on networks are void of emotion and human feeling, because people just don’t care.”
The days are filled with shooting links back and forth in group chats. A 5 a.m. production meeting is scheduled before every show. Toll admits he has little time to plan the program the day before. His heavy workload makes that difficult.
One would think that could concern Westwood One Sports management, but Toll’s mindset ensures he stays on top of his game at all times.
“My promise to every role that I have is that they will never know I work another job,” said Toll. “My first call with Armen [Williams}, he asked how I would even do this timing wise. I told him I’m 24 and love beer and caffeine. And I have more caffeine than beer. If I was a seasoned vet, it would be a little harder to justify. For me, I’m still excitable about sports media that there’s nothing I’m saying no to right now.”
Lessons From Savannah
Despite having a national sports radio platform, his morning show isn’t where Toll may be most well recognized. He is currently in his third season working as the lead voice for the Party Animals of the Savannah Bananas. The nationwide sensation has been filling stadiums around the country with its own brand of “Banana Ball” and a fan-first mentality.
The man at the center of the Savannah Bananas promotion is Jesse Cole, who created Banana Ball and founded Fans First Entertainment. Toll credits his time working under Cole’s leadership as key to his personal and professional growth — not only in expanding his creative vision for presenting the Party Animals, but also in learning how to say no.
“We are predicated on being fans first and saying yes. Internally, that means we say no a lot. We ask ourselves if this decision truly fans first. If the answer is no, there’s no further explanation needed,” said Toll. “That transfers to the radio. It’s given me the ability to say no and say no efficiently where we can move on from any situation. That allows me to work at a much faster pace and cater to fans better.”
For Toll, he doesn’t view the opportunity as a daily platform to market Banana Ball to the Westwood One Sports listening audience. He says management has trusted him to find balance in how much he brings the Banana Ball community to listeners. Using his executive producer as a litmus test, Toll says it’s more about sprinkling the event into conversations over time with the goal of helping legitimize it.
A Different Approach
Toll’s advantage is his youth and the fearless approach that comes with it. He lives on the lower end of the key demographic that sports radio stations around the country attempt to chase every day. For Toll, he understands the challenges of appealing to younger audiences but also knows where many sports radio talents fail to do so.
“The younger demographic can sniff out a gimmick instantly. We grew up with iPads and social media sniffing out AI videos. We have a hyper awareness of what’s real and what’s fake,” explained Toll. “When you can tell a host is putting on a schitk, it’s harder to sit through… The younger generations for what they lack in attention span, you make up for in being able to recognize authenticity.”
Westwood One Sports was not built to be a mirror image of its syndication competitors. The focus is on being different from the rest. That effort starts every weekday morning with Drake Toll — a 25-year-old driven, multifaceted talent aiming to deliver an entertaining listen through the lens of his odd yet instantly friendly approach.
In an age where success is often defined by revenue and ratings points, Toll sees the goal differently. For him, it centers on community — a group of people who enjoy a fan-first experience on the radio while living through the sports journey every day.
“Success is defined by community. It’s not ad revenue, social media clicks, or pay for play insights. It’s community. To me in my personal life, I know that success for me is rooted in community, and that community is rooted in love. If I have love, I have success,” said Toll. “It’s the fly wheel that I’ve lived by since college. What I want more is not a lucrative career or to call the Super Bowl. It’s to have a fruitful loving community around me and Westwood One Sports.”
For an industry that often values experience above all else, Drake Toll represents something different — a reminder that the next generation of sports media voices may not follow the traditional path.
At just 25 years old, he has already found himself behind a national microphone, balancing multiple roles and building an audience one show at a time. But in Toll’s mind, the journey is only beginning.
The pressures that come with morning drive on a national network might overwhelm some. For Toll, it’s simply another opportunity to keep “failing forward,” trusting the voice that got him here in the first place — and seeing just how far it can take him.
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