Because Football

What if the cure for one of the loneliest eras in American life is already happening every Saturday at 3pm - in a supporters section, a soccer bar, a tifo?

Matthew Barry didn't grow up chasing this game. He grew up half-Italian, watching his uncles nearly come to blows over Italy vs. France in 2006 — and it planted a question that never left him.

Years later, a Master's thesis at Northwestern turned into Heart of a Fan: 30+ podcast episodes, 28 monthly journals, and a running study of what fandom — soccer, K-pop, Star Wars, doesn't matter — actually does for the people inside it.

In this conversation, Matthew and Andrew dig into the real mechanics of belonging: why "bandwagon fan" is the wrong question and "how often do you show up" is the right one, why clubs claiming to represent a community have to actually stand by it (not just slap a slogan on a kit), the history of UK supporters' trusts and the Football Supporters Association, and what he's learned interviewing fans from Detroit to Guadalajara to Los Angeles about finding "rebellious joy" in a divided moment. This one goes deep into the human need underneath the sport.

Connect with Matthew and the Heart of a Fan :

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewdbarry19/

https://www.heartofafan.org/

Connect with Because Football here:

⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BecauseFootball_⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/becausefootball_/⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/baggaleyandrew/⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/because-football-media/⁠⁠

Need help with your content strategy and production? We can help.

To get in contact with us, email becausefootballmedia [at] ⁠gmail.com⁠

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Most people think selling tickets is about getting fans to buy seats. Joe Medcalf will tell you it's about connecting people with a great game day experience they didn’t know they were missing.

In Episode 112 of the Because Football Podcast, we delve into how to sell the game to non-soccer fans. In this case, groups: schools, companies, youth soccer clubs, churches, etc.

How can soccer become a meeting place for people to gather and be together?

Joe is the senior group sales manager at New England Revolution — one of MLS's founding clubs, playing out of a 65,000-seat stadium that averages around 24,000 on a matchday - one of the highest in MLS. We talk about that gap, the Revs role in New England soccer landscape, and how that may change with the newly announced stadium closer to Boston.

In this episode, Joe breaks down what professional football ticket sales actually looks like from the inside. We get into why group sales is the most insulated part of a club's revenue from on-field performance and why that is actually a huge advantage.

We talk about the real pitch for families: convenience, parking, tailgating, and a matchday environment that feels more relaxed than a Patriots game. We dig into how you build trust with youth soccer organizations, schools, and community groups. And we talk honestly about the challenge of selling a regional identity when your club covers the whole of New England but your marketing budget pulls toward Boston.

Joe also brings the full picture of what it was like to grow up following Hull City home and away with his family for ten years — and how that experience quietly shaped everything about how he thinks about the game day experience today.

If you work in soccer ticket sales, run a club, or are trying to get more people through the gates, this one's worth your full attention.

Connect with Joe and the New England Revolution here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-medcalf-305b81106/

https://www.revolutionsoccer.net/schedule/matches

Connect with Because Football here:

⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BecauseFootball_⁠

⁠https://www.instagram.com/becausefootball_/⁠

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/baggaleyandrew/⁠

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/because-football-media/⁠

Need help with your content strategy and production? We can help.

To get in contact with us, email becausefootballmedia [at] ⁠gmail.com⁠

What happens when a club just stops paying a player and hopes they'll go away? How are multi-million dollar contracts and transfers done?

In Episode 111 of the Because Football Podcast, we delve into the obscure world of professional sports law, intellectual property, and the inner workings of contracts in pro football. As a partner at BrandSmiths in Manchester, David Seligman is one of the sharpest minds in football law, having worked deals involving Jeremy Frimpong's move to Liverpool, Moussa Dembele's transfer to Celtic, and transactions spanning the Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, MLS, Saudi Arabia, and even Kazakhstan.

This episode lends insight into a critical - but often hidden - part of professional football and David shares how he supports players and brands in countries all over the world. David explains the legal world most fans never see: how contracts actually get drafted, what the Court of Arbitration for Sport looks like from the inside, why multi-club ownership might not be the villain it's painted as, and what the incoming UK football regulator could mean for the game.

And, because we love a good underdog story on the Because Football Podcast, we hear why David supports Bury FC - through the ups and downs - and why he chose the club over global behemoths Manchester United and Manchester City, just down the road.

Connect with David here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-seligman-29a43b50/

Connect with Because Football here:

⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BecauseFootball_⁠

⁠https://www.instagram.com/becausefootball_/⁠

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/baggaleyandrew/⁠

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/because-football-media/⁠

Need help with your content strategy and production? We can help.

To get in contact with us, email becausefootballmedia [at] ⁠gmail.com⁠