Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we are turning
our attention to something that honestly feels
like it sort of shifted the tectonic plates of
sports media in North America. Yeah, it really
did. It's not often we get to talk about a show
that didn't just cover a sport, but actually
changed the way the industry and the fans, for
that matter, think about it. We are talking about
Football Americas. It's a fascinating case study
because on the surface, sure, it's a soccer show
on a streaming platform, right? But if you look
closer at the sources we have today, specifically
the show's Wikipedia history, the casting changes
and the critical reception that's been documented
since about 2021, it's really a story about culture.
It's about demographics and finally admitting
that the old way of doing things just wasn't
working anymore. Exactly. It's not just highlights
and goals. It's a cultural touchstone. And for
this deep dive, we are working off a really comprehensive
stack of notes centered on the show's entry and
related coverage, which tracks its journey from
the launch back in March 2021 all the way up
to where we are now in early 2026. And, you know,
the timing of this deep dive is perfect because
we are looking at a media property that essentially
filled a massive vacuum. I mean, think back to,
say, 2018 or 2019. If you watch soccer coverage
in the States. What did you actually see? Oh,
I can answer that. Yeah. It was very, very Eurocentric.
Yeah. You're waking up at 7 a .m. to watch the
English Premier League. Maybe you're catching
some Champions League in the afternoon. The narrative
was always that the real soccer, quote unquote,
happens across the Atlantic. Precisely. The underlying
message was basically Europe is the best and
everything else is second tier. But football
Americas. Their mission was radically different
right from the start. It was looking at the actual
map of North America and saying, hey, we live
here. Why aren't we talking about us? Right.
It was a total rejection of the Euro snob mentality.
Exactly. It challenged that Eurocentric view
by focusing strictly on CONCACAF. Now, for those
who might just be casual fans, CONCACAF is the
Confederation of North Central American and Caribbean
Association Football. It's our region. Right.
It's our region. And historically. mainstream
sports media treated it like it was the minor
leagues. But this show leaned into the specific.
intense and often chaotic, but incredibly passionate
relationship between the United States and Mexico.
Which is the heartbeat of the reason. So whether
you are a diehard fan of the U .S. men's national
team or a supporter of El Tri, that's the Mexican
national team, or maybe you just noticed that
soccer seems to be taking over your social media
feeds lately. This is the story of the vehicle
that helped drive that culture into the mainstream.
So let's get into the nuts and bolts of what
this show actually is. Let's unpack it. Because
soccer show feels a bit generic. We are talking
about a program that streams on ESPN Plus and
ESPN Caribbean. It's become a twice -a -week
habit for a lot of people on Mondays and Thursdays.
But the schedule is key, but the scope is what
defined the niche. Most general sports shows
try to cover everything. They'll do five minutes
on the NFL, two minutes on the NBA, maybe 30
seconds on a soccer goal if it's spectacular.
Yeah, usually a bicycle kick or something. Exactly.
But... Football Americas drew a circle around
a very specific set of topics, specifically the
men's and women's national teams for both the
U .S. and Mexico. Which is already a huge amount
of ground to cover when you think about the player
pools. It is. But they didn't start with the
national teams. They committed to the domestic
leagues that feed those teams. So you have MLS,
obviously. You have the NWSL, which is the top
women's league. You have the USL, the second
division here. And crucially, you have Liga MX.
And that last one. one is the kicker, right?
Because I think a lot of mainstream sports media
in the U .S. used to ignore the Mexican league
entirely. But looking at our notes here, there
is a quote from The Athletic, a very reputable
sports journalism outlet that really spells it
out. They noted that the show places equal focus
on Mexico's top players alongside the Americans.
That decision was revolutionary in its own way.
It was. And The Athletic acknowledged the fact
that honestly still surprises a lot of people.
League MX is the most watched soccer league in
the States. That is the aha moment for the industry
right there. For years, executives just assumed
the English Premier League was the king. But
the data shows that more people in the U .S.
are tuning in to watch teams like Club America
or Chivas than the English Giants on many weekends.
Right. By ignoring League MX, previous networks
were ignoring the biggest audience. So Football
Americas didn't just acknowledge it. They built
the entire show around that binational reality.
It's seeing the world as it actually is not how
traditional executives thought it should be.
And it wasn't just about viewership numbers either.
It was about the tone. The Athletic praised the
show for holding power to account. What does
that actually mean in this context? Well, usually
if a network pays millions of dollars for broadcast
rights, their studio shows tend to be cheerleaders.
They want to sell the product. They say everything
is great. Look at this amazing goal. Football
Americas took a completely different approach.
They tapped into an underserved audience, but
they didn't treat them with kid gloves. They
offered critical analysis. So if the U .S. Federation
made a baffling coaching hire or if the Mexican
Federation was mishandling a player situation,
they called it out. Exactly. It's not just look
at this game. It's why is the Federation making
this decision or why is this player being left
out? It's that blend of passion and actual journalism.
That builds trust. You know, they aren't just
selling you a ticket. They are analyzing the
ecosystem. Yeah. Now, I want to talk about the
timeline here because the show has evolved significantly.
But before we get to the current cast, we have
to talk about the original duo. Oh, you absolutely
can't tell this story without them. When the
show launched on March 8, 2021, it was anchored
by Hercules Gomez and Sebastian Salazar. It was
such a specific dynamic. You had Hercules Gomez,
the former player. And not just any player. He's
a guy who played for the U .S. national team,
but played his club soccer in Mexico. He lived
the rivalry. And then you had Sebastian Salazar,
the journalist and host who brought this incredible
energy and passion. He wasn't the calm anchor
type at all. He was in the trenches with the
fans. They built the identity of the show together.
But as anyone following the show knows, and as
our source material documents quite clearly,
we had a major shift recently. On December 19,
2024. Sebastian Salazar dropped a bombshell.
He did. After nearly four years, he announced
he was stepping away from full -time hosting
duties. And the quote he gave, it's in a YouTube
video referenced in the notes, was really touching.
He simply said, this was my dream. That feels
heavy. This was my dream. You build this thing
from the ground up, you define the culture, and
then you step back. It implies he felt he'd accomplished
the mission. Exactly. It wasn't a failure, it
was a graduation. But the show didn't stop. It
evolved. And this brings us to the new era we
are in now. Following Salazar's departure, Christina
Alexander stepped into that main role. And she
wasn't exactly a stranger to the audience? No,
she had been part of the network's soccer coverage
specifically regarding Mexican soccer for a long
time. But taking over the main chair is a...
Big move. We have a note here from ESPN Front
Row dated March 14, 2025, so roughly a year ago
from where we sit today, discussing Alexander
preparing for the NWSL 2025 season. It really
solidified her as the face of the franchise alongside
Hercules Gomez. It's a smart pivot. You keep
the credibility of Gomez, but you bring in Alexander,
who is fully bilingual and has deep roots in
the Mexican game as well. And we should mention
the show has a deep bench. You have Mauricio
Pedroza and Alexis Nunez, who have historically
filled in. It's a robust ecosystem of talent
now. It's not just two guys in a room anymore.
It's a rotating cast of experts who all speak
that same binational soccer language. But I want
to go back to something you hinted at earlier.
We talked about the launch and the host shift.
But in between, there were some production moments
that made me go, OK, these guys are crazy, but
in the best way possible. You were definitely
thinking of the whip around, aren't you? I am
absolutely thinking of the whip around. OK, let
me set the scene for the listener, because this
is probably my favorite detail in the research.
It's May 2022. It's the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
For those who don't know, this is a tournament
that can get, well, messy. Messy is a very polite
way to put it. It's the oldest ongoing national
soccer competition in the US. It involves everyone
from amateur pub teams to the top MLS pros. You
have games happening in pristine NFL stadiums
and games happening on high school fields with
questionable lighting. Usually covering that
is a logistical nightmare. The fees are different
qualities. The timing is unpredictable. But Football
Americas decides, let's do a whip around show.
Just jumping live from game to game to game,
catching goals as they happen. Which from a production
standpoint is like trying to juggle chainsaws
while riding a unicycle. Right. But the reaction,
we have a quote here from USA Today. They said
the show achieved something bordering on the
impossible. That is high praise. Bordering on
the impossible. And the best part of the quote
is everyone loved it. It captured the chaotic
spirit of the sport in this region perfectly.
That moment really proved they understood the
assignment. They weren't trying to make the U
.S. Open Cup look like the Polish Champions League
in Europe. They embraced the chaos. They said,
this is American soccer. It's wild. It's unpredictable.
And we are going to show you all of it. That
builds immense trust with the hardcore audience.
It does. And they took that trust and went global.
The notes mentioned they broadcast a live daily
show from Qatar during the 2022 World Cup. Which
is a massive scaling up from a twice a week streaming
show. Think about the resources that takes. It
showed the network had total confidence in them
to be the voice of that tournament for the American
audience. And the industry noticed, too. It wasn't
just fans on Twitter. In 2023, they picked up
some hardware, a silver telly award in the general
sports category. That validation matters. Awards
like the tellies move the show from cult favorite
to industry standard. It signals to advertisers
and executives that this quality is real. And
by the time they hit the 300th episode, which
was November 9, 2023, they were an institution.
Now, they filmed that one at the NWSL Championship
Media Day in San Diego. And 300 episodes is no
joke in the streaming world where shows get canceled
after one season. It speaks to the hunger of
the audience. We often hear that attention spans
are shrinking, that people only want 15 -second
clips on TikTok. But if you give people deep,
nuanced coverage of the thing they love, they
will show up 300 times. Speaking of showing up,
let's talk about the expansion. Because apparently
one show wasn't enough to contain all this content.
This is a crucial part of the story. You can't
talk about Football Americas today without talking
about the spinoff Football W. This launched back
in July 2024. Right. And again, look at the strategy.
They identified that while the main show covered
women's soccer, the women's game, specifically
the NWSL and the U .S. Women's National Team,
had grown so much it needed its own dedicated
real estate. You can't cram it into a segment
anymore. It needs its own hour. So Football W
airs Tuesdays on ESPN Plus Space Game. So now
the schedule is Monday, Football Americas, Tuesday,
Football W, Thursday, Football Americas. They're
blanketing the week. And the talent acquisition
here was massive. They brought in Ali Krieger.
A two -time World Cup winner with the U .S. You
don't get much more credible than that. If you
want to understand how a defense works or the
mentality of a champion having Ali Krieger break
down the tape is the gold standard. And here
is where the timeline intersects with the host
changes we mentioned earlier. When Sebastian
Salazar left, it wasn't just the main show that
needed steering. Exactly. Christina Alexander
took over hosting duties for both Football Americas
and Football W. So she really became the central
hub for this entire soccer coverage universe
on the network. That is a heavy workload, but
it also creates a nice consistency. You have
that familiar voice guiding you through the men's
game on Mondays and Thursdays and the women's
game on Tuesdays. It creates a cohesive brand.
It says this is all part of the same conversation.
It prevents the women's show from feeling like
a side project. It's integrated into the main
flow of the network's soccer identity. Now, we
can't do a deep dive on a talk show without looking
at the guest list, because ultimately a show
is only as good as the people willing to come
on it. If you claim to be the voice of the region,
the players need to respect you enough to show
up. And this is where the power of the show reveals
itself. If this were just a small niche blog,
they wouldn't be getting the names they're getting.
Let's run through the who's who here from our
notes. On the men's side, we have Christian Pulisic.
Captain America himself. And Pulisic is known
for being pretty reserved in interviews. The
fact that he comes on the show suggests he feels
comfortable that they get it. Then you have Guillermo
Ochoa. A Mexican legend. a goalkeeper who has
played in five World Cups. Javier Chicharito
Hernandez, Alfonso Davies, Leon Bailey. These
are the biggest names in CONCACAF. And what's
fascinating is that list represents the exact
binational or rather multinational struggle the
show covers. You have the face of the U .S. men's
national team in Pulisic and the face of El Tri
in Ochoa. Getting them both validates that the
show is a neutral ground. It's the town square
where both sides of the rivalry meet and get
treated with equal respect. And on the women's
side, it's just as stacked. Alex Morgan, Megan
Rapinoe, Lynn Williams, Rose Lavelle. These are
global superstars. These are players who transcend
the sport entirely. And the notes also mention
recurring insights from Julie Foudy. Having someone
with her history, a pioneer of the women's game,
appearing numerous times elevates the discourse.
It connects the current generation to the history
of the sport in this country. And we mentioned
Allie Krieger is the star of the spinoff now.
But the notes say she was appearing on the main
show multiple times even before Football W launched.
Which shows they were testing the chemistry.
They saw the audience reaction. They saw the
insight she brought. And they organically grew
that spinoff. It wasn't forced by a marketing
department. It came out of the existing fabric
of the show. So when we step back and look at
this from the launch in 2021 as a bit of an experiment
to the award wins, the casting shifts, and now
the spinoffs, it feels like. Football Americas
did something rare. It didn't just cover a sport.
It validated a fan base. That is the perfect
way to put it. For decades, the American soccer
fan and specifically the fan who loves the domestic
game and the rivalry with Mexico was told you're
not important. The real soccer is in England
or Spain. This show said, no, what is happening
in Columbus, Ohio or Mexico City or San Diego
is just as vital, just as dramatic and just as
worthy of primetime analysis. And the numbers
and the longevity back that up. They do. It proved
that the niche wasn't small. It was just ignored.
There are millions of people who care about this
region. Football America's just gave them a clubhouse.
So here's where it gets really interesting for
you, the listener. We are now in a world where
Christina Alexander is leading this massive franchise
covering the NWSL, Liga, MLS, and the national
teams. The ecosystem is growing. And with the
spinoff, Football W firmly established, the coverage
is deeper than ever. So here is the question
I want to leave you with today. We often talk
about mainstream sports media catching up to
reality. With Football America's finding this
level of success by ignoring the Eurocentric
model and focusing intensely on our own backyard,
has this niche show actually become the model
for the future of American sports media? It's
a compelling thought. As audiences fragment,
the days of the generic one -size -fits -all
sports show might be numbered. Are we going to
see more hyper -focused, culturally specific
shows replacing the generic highlight reel programs?
When you look at the engagement Football Americas
gets, the model certainly seems to be working.
Specificity wins. Something to think about the
next time you stream a match. That's it for this
deep dive into Football Americas. Thanks for
listening. A pleasure as always. Keep exploring.
We'll catch you next time.