Dynamic pricing, empty seats, and the trust clubs can't afford to burn. Ticketing and growth expert Jim McCarthy (Impresario) joins Simon Evans to unpack ticketing, and what MLS, USL and other clubs should do differently. Jim founded Gold Star, one of the first live event marketplaces (12 million buyers, tickets for around two million events), and now helps clubs grow their audiences. In this conversation: • Why FIFA treated the World Cup as a revenue-maximizing event, and the cost to fan trust • The season ticket no-show problem: why 20%+ no-show rates are common, and why carrots work better than sticks • What clubs should do with the data when Messi comes to town • Why revenue per seat matters more than average ticket price • Whether cheaper tickets mean more spend inside the stadium • How a USL club should go about filling its stadium • How fan expectations of matchday have changed, from the Rose Bowl to the Buffalo Bills' new stadium • Why Gen Z's appetite for real-world events is a big opportunity for soccer

There's nowhere else in world soccer where clubs are built from a blank sheet of paper, and Bay FC is doing exactly that. Lisa Goodwin Scharff, the club's Chief External Affairs Officer, joins Simon Evans and Karisa Maxwell McKee to explain what it takes to run an NWSL franchise that is only three years old and still shifting out of start-up mode. Lisa came to Bay FC from the Golden State Warriors and San Francisco 49ers, where the infrastructure was already in place. Here, there was no email system, no existing playbook, and five months between her first day and the first kickoff. She explains why the established-team blueprint doesn't transfer, and how the club is listening to fans and partners rather than copying what worked elsewhere.

Was there a World Cup bounce for MLS? Andrew Hosmar, who has worked in data and strategy for the Houston Dynamo, San Diego FC and New England Revolution, joins Simon Evans to assess what MLS really gained from the World Cup.

They cover how host-city clubs turned Fan Fest crowds into potential fans, why the attendance bump may be a slow-burn story rather than an overnight one, and how a new commissioner, the sprint season and the 2027-28 calendar change could compound the effect. They also debate whether on-field quality or matchday atmosphere matters more, whether MLS's parity model holds back national relevance, what the ideal media deal looks like after Apple, and why the USMNT's young core and the Olympics may matter more than the World Cup itself.

• 00:00 Was there a World Cup bounce for MLS?
• 00:28 Houston as a host city: Fan Fest, Hector Herrera and activating casual fans
• 06:19 The attendance bump and the long-term play
• 09:26 Does on-field quality matter? Fan segments and club culture
• 13:29 Parity vs mega clubs: does MLS need a villain?
• 18:35 Owner appetite for change, and the Messi effect fading
• 21:53 Media: Apple, linear TV and reaching casual fans
• 30:41 Storytelling, coach reactions and the case for personalities
• 35:05 The USMNT, the Olympics and the next generation
• 40:46 Wrap-up

Former Manchester United, Chelsea and Spain midfielder Juan Mata and his business partner Jürgen Griesbeck join Simon Evans to launch Unleash Football, a new project that aims to give players, fans and the wider football community a bigger say in how the game is run.

Unleash Football is part of the C Lab framework. It lets anyone take part by answering questions on an anonymous survey platform. Mata and Griesbeck say the results will be a "mandate" from the game: a first wave of data that can be built on in later waves and shared with governing bodies, candidates in the FIFA presidential election, and the media. The project was unveiled at the World Football Summit.

In this conversation, recorded at the World Football Summit in Madrid, Mata and Griesbeck discuss:

• What C Lab is and why collaboration is at its core
• Why players and fans are football's most important stakeholders, and why they've been overlooked
• Including volunteers, parents and grassroots communities, not just the professional game
• How the data will be gathered, analysed and put in front of decision-makers
• Mata's own experience as a player in the Premier League and beyond
• How this fits with his work at Common Goal and Right to Dream
• Whether he'll play again after his time in Australia with Melbourne Victory

Sam Mewis signed her first pro contract for $15,000. Ten years later, the league she came up in has free agency, purpose-built stadiums and a wave of brands that had never touched sport before.

In this episode, I spoke to two USWNT world champions, Emily Sonnett and Sam Mewis. We discussed how they turned a sport that barely had a league into a career, what it takes to build a team around you as a pro, and how they're planning for life after the final whistle.

We talk about:

• What a pro career looked like a decade ago compared to now, from Sam's $15,000 rookie deal to free agency
• How endorsements and brand deals work, and why the national team has always been the gateway
• Why Sam started a podcast mid-career and how it grew into her role as editor-in-chief of The Women's Game at Men in Blazers
• Emily's plan to stay in sport through scouting, roster strategy and the business side of the club
• Why brands that have never been in sport before are now coming into women's soccer, including the National Pork Board partnership
• What Kansas City's stadium shows about the economics of owning your own venue
• Where the game will be in ten years, from training facilities and player care to media coverage

#nwsl #uswnt #womenssoccer #soccerbusiness

Como's rise from Serie D to Serie A is one of the most unlikely stories in modern football — but what's happening off the pitch might be even more interesting than what's happening on it.

In this episode, I sit down by Lake Como with club President Mirwan Suwarso to break down how the club engineered its climb through Italian football, and the innovative commercial strategy powering its next chapter — one that leans into tourism, fashion, and food as much as it does results on the pitch.

We talk about:

• The blueprint behind Como's rapid rise from Serie D to Serie A
• Why Como is positioning itself as a lifestyle brand, not just a football club
• How tourism, fashion, and food fit into the club's revenue strategy
• What other clubs can learn from Como's approach to commercial growth
• The vision for Como's future in Serie A and beyond

Kay Cossington spent 20 years building women's football from the inside at England's FA — then walked straight into private equity. Now she's CEO of Bay Collective and Head of Global Women's Football at Sixth Street, running a multi-club ownership platform with no ceiling on ambition.

She talks through the FA's "What It Takes to Win" model that led to hiring Sarina Wiegman, why England never tried to copy the US college pipeline, and what she really thinks happens when private equity money meets a sport still building its infrastructure. Plus: the uncomfortable question nobody's asking about patient capital versus the five-year-flip playbook already familiar from the men's game.

Robert Faulkner, Chief Marketing Officer of Wrexham, joins the pod to break down how the club, backed by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, have managed their extraordinary rise through the divisions, their new American fan base and the global impact of the Welcome to Wrexham documentary. This episode was recorded on-site at the World Football Summit in Madrid.