The Only Social Media You Should Try in 2026 [Substack TV & Notes]

Why Substack Just Leveled Up For Sports CreatorsMost social platforms treat your content like fast food. You post, the algorithm chews it up in a few hours, and then it is gone. You are constantly feeding the machine and getting very little long term value back.Substack plays a different game. With Substack TV rolling out on smart TV platforms, sports creators can turn one idea into a newsletter, a Note, a podcast, and a TV ready video that all live inside the same ecosystem. Substack already gives you newsletters, a social style feed with Notes, podcasts, and now a TV app where subscribers can watch videos and live streams from creators they follow.The “Infinity Stones” Of Substack For Sports CreatorsThink of Substack like a creator version of the Infinity Gauntlet. Every feature is a stone that makes you more powerful when you combine them.* NewsletterYou own your list and talk directly to inboxes.* NotesYour short form takes and mini posts live in a discoverable feed that can bring in new readers through likes, comments, and restacks.* PodcastYou can host audio right on Substack and send episodes straight to your audience.* Publication siteYour Substack doubles as your website and archive so you do not need a separate site just to look “official.”* TV appWith Substack TV, your videos now show up on big screens for subscribers through a dedicated TV experience.The point is not to use everything on day one. The point is to realize you finally have a place where all your sports content can live and compound instead of being scattered across five different platforms you do not own.How To Use Substack TV Without Burning OutYou do not need to become a full time YouTuber overnight to benefit from Substack TV. The TV app lets subscribers watch video posts and live streams from creators they already follow, and it surfaces videos in rows and per publication pages.Here is a simple way to plug into that as a sports creator.* If you already create video* Upload your best existing interviews, breakdowns, and show segments as video posts on Substack.* Treat Substack as an additional distribution channel, not a replacement. Your videos can live on YouTube and Substack at the same time.* If you do not want to be on camera* Consider audio first content that still exports as a “video” with a static image or simple visuals.* Use screen share, slides, or highlight clips so the attention is on the game, the data, or the story more than your face.* If you are brand new to video* Start with short, simple segments. One take. One topic. One clear takeaway for sports fans or sports writers.* Remember that Substack’s core is still writing and connection. Video is an amplifier, not a requirement.The opportunity here is that as Substack leans harder into video, early sports creators who show up with TV ready content first will look bigger than they are and will be better positioned when TV discovery expands.When To Post: Notes And Articles TimingTiming is not everything, but it matters. Substack gives you basic stats, and third party analytics tools can show you exactly when your audience is most active.For Sport Stackers style creators, a common pattern is* Peak activity in the early to late afternoon local time.* Strong performance around lunchtime and early evening when people are scrolling between work and games.You can test this by* Picking two consistent publish times for your articles each week, for example* One early afternoon send.* One late afternoon or early evening send.* Running that schedule for at least a month or two before you change it, then checking open rates and click rates.For Notes, you can post more frequently during your peak window and then let the algorithm continue to surface them over time. Daily Notes at those peak hours can contribute a big share of your subscriber growth through Substack’s internal ecosystem.Durability Over “Consistency”People love to say “just be consistent,” but the real word here is durability. Can you keep showing up when your Notes get ten likes for months. Can you keep posting when your podcast downloads look small.Growth on Substack often looks flat for a while, then suddenly spikes once the algorithm and your audience catch up to your effort. The graph usually looks like a hockey stick. Long, quiet base. Then a sharp climb.So instead of asking “Can I do this every day for a week,” ask “Would I still do this if no one noticed for three months.” That is durability. That is what pays off when Notes suddenly start getting hundreds of likes and restacks after a long, quiet stretch.The Restack HACK (I hate that word)Substack heavily rewards restacks in the Notes feed because they act like built in recommendations. When someone restacks your Note, it shows up for their followers with context.Most people only restack other people’s content. They post a Note, interact for a day, then abandon it forever. That is old social media conditioning. On Substack, you can and should restack your own best Notes to give them a second and third life.Here is a simple daily Restack Routine* Once a day, open the Notes you posted yesterday.* Pick the ones that still feel relevant and sharp.* Restack them to your own feed, optionally adding a short new comment or update.* Mix in a few restacks of other creators’ work that your audience would love.In five minutes, you have told the system that your older ideas still matter. That increases the chance new readers see them in their feeds. There is no penalty for restacking your own work, and it is one of the easiest ways to get more reach without creating anything new.How To Think About Shelf LifeOn platforms like Instagram or TikTok, most posts spike quickly and then flatline. You either win in a few hours or you are done.Substack Notes behave differently. Because the feed is personalized and because restacks and recommendations push older content back into circulation, a Note can keep attracting engagement long after you write it. A Note from last week, or even last month, can still show up in someone’s notifications today.So when you are deciding where to put your limited energy as a sports creator, you have a choice.* You can keep feeding platforms that treat your posts as disposable.* Or you can invest in a system where your notes, newsletters, podcasts, and videos all live together, build your email list, and stay discoverable over time.That is why focusing on one or two platforms, like Substack and YouTube, usually beats scattering yourself across five channels at once. You are working where your content can compound instead of disappear.A Simple Game Plan For Sport StackersIf you want a practical starting point, here is a step by step plan.* Pick Substack as your home base and one other platform, like YouTube, as your secondary channel.* Post at least one newsletter per week with clear value for your audience.* Post Notes daily!* Quick takes on games or storylines.* Behind the scenes creator lessons.* Calls to action that invite people into the Sport Stackers community or onto your list.* Run your Restack Routine daily for yesterday’s Notes.* If you already have video, start uploading your best sports content to Substack so it is ready for Substack TV viewers.* Use tools like WrireStack.io to find your peak times and your best-performing ideas, then double down on those formats and topics.You do not need to do everything perfectly from day one. You just need to show up, experiment, restack your wins, and let time work for you.Thank you Kwame Twumasi-Ankrah, Dominic Butler, The SafeSport Illusion, The Jag Roar Podcast, and many others for tuning in to watch this live!Robin Nathaniel AKA Robbin MarxTEDx Speaker | Award Winning Author & Social Media Strategist | Gold Telly Award Winner | Davey Award Winner | Two-Time W3 Award WinnerExperience: NBC Sports - Rotoworld, Hashtag Basketball, vidIQ, Fantasy Sports Writers AssociationFOLLOW ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS: @robbinmarx @bleavinfantasy Get full access to Sport Stackers: A Community for Substack Sports Creators at sportstackers.substack.com/subscribe