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- Sam Mewis launched the women’s soccer podcast “The Women’s Game” about a year ago.
- The former US soccer star has grown the show into one of the most listened-to in women’s sports.
- Mewis explains her conversational approach and expansion plans with the media company Men In Blazers.
Former US soccer star Sam Mewis is part of a new wave of media personalities reshaping women’s sports coverage.
The 32-year-old former US Women’s National Team player was considered one of the best in her position until a knee injury forced her to retire from soccer in 2023. Mewis could no longer play the game she had dedicated her life to, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t stay close to it.
Mewis joined the soccer-media company Men In Blazers to launch about a year ago its first women’s sports vertical with a podcast, called “The Women’s Game.”
Until recently, women’s sports were underserved by mainstream media. Because TV coverage was not widely available, women’s sports have expanded in other areas like podcasting.
Mewis has built “The Women’s Game” into one of the most listened-to podcasts in women’s soccer. According to podcast database Podscan, the show had averaged 11,700 listeners per episode since its launch and was the 22nd-most listened-to soccer podcast in the US on Apple Podcasts as of January 30. The other podcasts on the list largely focused on the men’s sport.
“In many ways, what we were able to accomplish last year exceeded my expectations for going into the first year of a brand new vertical,” Mewis told Business Insider.
‘The Women’s Game’ feels like talking to a good friend about soccer
“The Women’s Game,” which has over 30,000 subscribers on YouTube, has stood out for its conversational approach.
Guests make regular appearances, some of whom are friends of Mewis from her days playing professional soccer, while others play on international teams. To date, its 45 guests have included USWNT captain Lindsey Horan, US teammates Rose Lavelle and Kelley O’Hara, and international players like Daniëlle van de Donk.
In addition to the flagship podcast, Mewis has shows under “The Women’s Game” banner, including “Friendlies, ” where she interviews athletes one-on-one, and “Good Vibes FC,” which she cohosts with her former teammates Becky Sauerbrunn and Lynn Williams.
The podcasts aim to create an environment that makes listeners feel like they’re talking with friends about soccer rather than getting hard analysis. In a recent Christmas special with 39,000 YouTube views, Mewis brought on players including Lavelle, O’Hara, and former US teammates Ali Kreiger and Megan Rapinoe, who debated topics from egg nog versus mulled wine to their favorite holiday songs.
Mewis attributed the tone of the show to her strong relationships with her cohosts, including Williams, with whom she previously hosted the Just Women’s Sports podcast “Snacks.”
“I feel safe when I’m with them to be myself and to explore topics that maybe I don’t know every single thing about,” Mewis said.
She said the approach also helped her take ownership of her personality. As a professional athlete, she had to be careful about what she said to the press, but she could control the narrative with her own show.
“It is an opportunity for players, people in the media, and in the public eye to show a side of themselves that we don’t always get to see,” said Mewis.
Podcasts offer regular content to hungry women’s soccer fans. When the USWNT isn’t playing, or the National Women’s Soccer League isn’t in season, coverage of the sport has been hard to find. Research firm Nielsen found through fan surveys that the biggest barriers to seeing women’s sports have been a lack of information and access.
With “The Women’s Game,” Mewis aims to cover all sides of the sport, said Roger Bennett, one of the cofounders of Men In Blazers, who followed Mewis during her playing days and approached her for the podcast.
“She said, ‘I want to cover this women’s game, not just American, I want to cover it all globally, have the biggest names in world football come and talk about themselves to the audience and to build a regular narrative around the biggest games in women’s football,'” Bennett said. “That’s exactly what we’ve set out to do.”
The popularity of women’s soccer has risen worldwide. In a 2023 Nielsen survey, 41% of the global respondents said they were excited about the Women’s World Cup, rising from 34% before the 2019 tournament.
Fresh funding could help expand ‘The Women’s Game’
Looking ahead, Mewis is preparing for two major soccer events: the 2027 Women’s World Cup and the 2028 Olympics. She also wants to bring international tournaments like the Euros or the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations to North American audiences.
She wants to expand the vertical with more weekly programming, as well. It currently publishes two to three times a week across its three podcasts.
“The Women’s Game” is set to receive fresh funding from a $15 million Series A round that Men In Blazers announced earlier this month.
“As women’s soccer explodes and just continues to grow, there’s more and more space for people like me and companies to invest in content production around women’s soccer,” Mewis said.
