A New Lane in Sports Media

The list of 2026 Pulitzer Prize winners was, as usual, littered with journalism’s heavy hitters. But one awardee stood out among the traditional stalwarts: the podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” produced by Meadowlark Media. The show beat out podcasts by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal to win the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting for its series of episodes investigating alleged salary cap circumvention by the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.

For Bimal Kapadia ’99, Meadowlark’s chief executive officer, the recognition was vindicating.

“At Meadowlark, we’re trying to show that independent journalism can thrive today, and that you can build a business off of it,” Kapadia says. “We’re telling bigger stories about the world, but we’re telling it through the sports lens.”

Kapadia’s career path has taken him from the media’s biggest players to independent startups. But his journey began at William & Mary, where he majored in economics — following in the footsteps of his older brother Darpan Kapadia ’95, now chair of the W&M Foundation Board of Trustees — and minored in art and art history.

“I was keen on getting a liberal arts education as much as I could, and that was one of the major things that drove me to William & Mary,” says Kapadia, who grew up on New York’s Long Island and developed an interest in photography as a teenager. “But I always knew I wanted to go into media in some way. It was just a question of what it was going to be, sports or news or music.”

Sports turned out to be his path. After several years in telecommunications consulting, Kapadia ended up at ESPN in 2005. An avid soccer fan — a love he says he picked up from friends at William & Mary — Kapadia launched the company’s global soccer property, ESPN FC, and helped shape the company’s international digital media strategy.

Kapadia notes that, while at ESPN, he was able to act “like an entrepreneur within the larger institution.” He had the opportunity to experiment and take risks, but he did so with confidence because of ESPN’s resources and trust in his vision.

“If you were to ask independent journalists who are out there today, they love the freedom they have by being on their own,” he says. “But if you gave them truth serum, I think they’d say they want the comfort and protection of an institution behind them.”

After a decade-plus at ESPN, Kapadia moved on to The Players’ Tribune in 2017. He served as the head of global content and business development for the startup. Specializing in first-person storytelling, his experience laid the groundwork for what he saw as the future of journalism.

A couple years later, Kapadia reconnected with a pair of his ESPN colleagues, former President John Skipper and media personality Dan Le Batard. All three were thinking about independent media as a way forward in a time of declining institutional trust, changing consumption patterns and shrinking news operations. Kapadia, Skipper and Le Batard founded Meadowlark Media in 2021, with Skipper as CEO, Kapadia as COO and Le Batard’s daily radio show and podcast serving as the company’s initial flagship program.

“Dan was the galvanizing personality to start Meadowlark Media,” Kapadia says. “John had a rolodex of information and access from his years of running one of the biggest sports companies in the world. And I had startup experience on the digital front.”

Meadowlark grew quickly, branching out from podcasts to documentaries and unscripted television shows. But its biggest breakthrough came from another podcast. In 2023, sports journalist Pablo Torre, also formerly of ESPN, joined Meadowlark Media and launched his show, “Pablo Torre Finds Out.”

“PTFO,” as it’s known, was successful right out of the gate, with topics ranging from the serious (such as a notable investigation into the NFL players’ union) to the silly (like looking into NBA star Nikola Jokic’s infatuation with horses).

But it was Torre’s investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers that received the most attention. Starting in September 2025, “PTFO” released more than a dozen episodes diving deep into the salary cap allegations, earning plaudits from the journalism world and spurring an NBA investigation. Almost exactly a year after the first episode released, the NBA announced sweeping penalties against the Clippers for violating salary cap circumvention rules. The historic discipline handed down by the league added even more public validation to Meadowlark’s reporting.

“It all started with a tip, and it ended up being a thread we kept pulling. Beyond the salary cap issues, it’s really a bigger story asking if the rules we make in society apply the same to the most powerful people,” Kapadia says.

Kapadia, who became CEO of Meadowlark in 2025 when Skipper stepped down, says that the reporting of the Clippers story reflects his vision for the company. Meadowlark has offered support and backing for Torre — such as a distribution deal for “PTFO” with The New York Times’ sports department, The Athletic — without interfering in his reporting.

One reason Kapadia points out for declining trust in institutional media is that many media companies have conflicts of interest. Because Meadowlark doesn’t have a relationship with sports leagues like the NBA, he notes that their reporting on those leagues can be truly independent.

“I never want to say that we can’t do a story because of a deal or partnership we have,” Kapadia says. “We should be mindful of our partnerships, but I want to show that journalism can thrive, even in this climate.”

Meadowlark’s journalism isn’t the only avenue for Kapadia to show civic leadership. In his personal capacity, he serves on the Board of Education for South Orange & Maplewood, the New Jersey school district his two kids attend.

“I felt like if I had questions about what was happening in our district, I could either shake my fist from the sideline, or I could get inside and see what impact I could have,” Kapadia says. “In both journalism and public service, I have that conviction to find the truth and fight for the greater cause.”

And in both journalism and public service, William & Mary’s liberal arts education provided Kapadia with the skills needed for success.

“What William & Mary taught me was how to think,” Kapadia says. “Being exposed to as wide-ranging of an education as you can get at the highest level allows you to apply your abilities in an ever-changing world.”