NWSL's Unwell FC and Alex Cooper partnership: An ‘incredible platform' to grow the game or a risk?
SAN JOSE, Calif.—For what it's worth, 'Call Her Daddy' podcast host Alex Cooper's Unwell Hydration drinks taste fine.
On a sunny patch of lawn in San Jose's PayPal Park before a budding California derby between Bay FC and Angel City FC, Cooper invited attendees to sample Unwell Hydration at the official launch of her brand's partnership with the league.
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This particular National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) game bore an emotional heaviness for both sides. It was Angel City's first match since defender Savy King collapsed during a home game last week in Los Angeles. She had been rushed to the hospital after receiving on-field care from the team's medical staff. Doctors later discovered an abnormality in her heart that required surgery, from which King is now at home recovering with an 'excellent' prognosis, according to the team. The 20-year-old former University of North Carolina player was initially drafted by Bay FC last season. On Saturday, both teams wear black T-shirts with 'SK3' written across the front, King's initials and jersey number.
Two hours before kickoff, a modest, curious crowd curved toward an eye-catching marquee sign adorned with colorful balloons that spelled out 'Unwell FC,' the fan hype group Cooper plans to tour around other NWSL matches this season.
This league has witnessed its fair share of experiments throughout its 13-year history. Anything's worth trying in the interest of growing the game, right?
On paper and from far away, this union seems obvious. Cooper, 30, was a former Division I soccer player before launching 'Call Her Daddy,' a podcast of proudly unfiltered conversations concerning a range of topics affecting women, in 2018. The show is billed as one of the most-listened to podcasts by women, and the 'Daddy Gang' community surrounding it is dogmatic in its loyalty to Cooper and her former co-host, Sofia Franklyn.
According to NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman, Cooper reached out to the league wanting to collaborate. Speaking to the media at halftime of the match, which ended in a 2-0 victory for Bay, she commended Cooper for having built what Berman called 'an incredible platform which is rooted in the premise of women supporting women,' saying it was an 'amazing partnership' to pursue. Last December, about three months before the relationship became official, Cooper interviewed U.S. women's national team (USWNT) and Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman and has since spoken with USWNT legend Abby Wambach and writer Glennon Doyle (the two are married) among a wide-ranging guest list that includes singer Chappell Roan and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Before Cooper signed a three-year deal with Spotify in 2021 worth $60 million, 'Call Her Daddy' was owned by Barstool Sports, which acquired the show shortly after it first aired. The sports multimedia site's founder, Dave Portnoy, has a history of making misogynist and racist comments under the same guise of ironic, apolitical provocation that's commanded the attention spans and intellectual capacities of Barstool's male-dominant audience for years. Early-iteration 'Call Her Daddy,' meanwhile, brandished its own brand of raunchiness within Portnoy's media empire, though Cooper told The Athletic she has made the show more her own since parting ways with her previous employer.
Nevertheless, Cooper's association with Barstool and Portnoy — on top of the league's insistence on cultivating an unorthodox corporate-sponsored, league-wide fan group — soured the announcement of the partnership in March.
Various members of supporters groups that rally behind each of the league's 14 teams, primarily as volunteers, spoke with The Athletic about their concerns surrounding the message the league is sending about its values with the partnership. They expressed a desire for NWSL executives to have initiated a dialogue with the supporters groups before bringing Cooper on, not to ask for permission, but to ensure the partnership was built on a foundation of mutual understanding among the various parties.
Ahead of Saturday's game, The Athletic spoke to three supporters group members — two from Bay FC and one from Angel City — and none begrudged Cooper for wanting to do business or grow the game, with one suggesting the latter ambition inevitably means that more people with more varying viewpoints will be filling seats. As money continues to flow into the expanding league, questions of growth, in which directions, and for whom, and at what cost, will only become more fraught with urgency. Unwell's foray into the NWSL is but the latest version of that dilemma.
Cooper declined an in-person interview with The Athletic and requested an email correspondence. According to one of Cooper's representatives, that decision was made to ensure Cooper 'can really be present with fans and watch all the game has to offer.'
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Cooper made a brief appearance at the Unwell FC activation, donning a black LA Dodgers baseball cap to wave to and snap photos with fans. On the pitch right before kickoff, Cooper and Berman embraced and Cooper was gifted a navy blue Bay FC kit with her name on the back above the number 25, to indicate the year.
'The passion surrounding the NWSL fan base is undeniable and continues to grow every season,' Cooper said in one of her emailed responses to The Athletic, which arrived during pre-match festivities at 6:47 p.m. PT, 'What stands out is their deep engagement at matches and the powerful sense of community you feel. Community is also a strength of Unwell. That is why I am genuinely excited about this partnership. If we can help continue to grow the League and Bay FC fan base today, then that's a win.'
A reported 150 attendees who purchased an exclusive Unwell matchday ticket were handed an Unwell FC jersey when they reached the front of the line of the pregame activities. The black V-necks had Unwell arched across the front, the No. 25 emblazoned on the back, and Unwell and NWSL patches adorning the sleeves above a pair of white stripes. Attendees who hadn't purchased Unwell tickets were guided toward a concept once reserved for marketing specialists that has since taken a swan dive into the mainstream: activations. Gaggles of teens and some enthusiastic adults took turns posing in front of the Pinterest-y balloon display, while others awaited their turn inside a red-curtained photobooth. But nearly everyone accepted free samples of Unwell Hydration.
Kali Gabler wasn't familiar with Unwell Hydration, 'Call Her Daddy,' or Cooper before news of Unwell FC reached the Bridge Brigade, one of Bay FC's supporter groups. The 29-year-old San Jose native got involved right before the team's inaugural season started last February, pushing through the discomfort of showing up to an event alone, yearning for a tribe to belong to. By the time Gabler left a watch party for Bay's first game of the season last year — an away match against Angel City — she knew she'd found it. 'The energy around the team was insane,' she recalled. She was hooked. Gabler quickly started drumming for Bridge Brigade, joined the welcome crowd at the airport when Bay FC striker and Zambian national Racheal Kundananji arrived stateside, and has since recruited more friends.
'I'm always excited for more people to be in the stands,' Gabler said, pointing out that she wished all teams in the NWSL had the same support Bay FC has among its fans. (Bay's home attendance average last season was more than 13,600, compared to an overall average of 11,235. The bottom three teams averaged just over half that at about 6,254, according to Sportico.)
'That said,' Gabler added, 'I don't think this partnership is the best way to do that.'
Gabler listened to a recent episode of 'Call Her Daddy' to draw her own conclusions about Cooper and the show.
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'She kind of promotes the idea of women treating men the way that men treat women, and that's super toxic and not what anybody should be doing,' she said.
When asked about her association with Barstool Sports and the concerns it's raised for some fans, Cooper replied via email: 'I'm incredibly proud of the journey that's brought me to where I am today. As I've grown, Call Her Daddy has also grown into something entirely my own. What I'm building now — whether through Unwell or the podcast — is about creating space for women to feel seen, heard, and empowered. I'm so excited to be partnering with a league that reflects those same values.'
Barstool did not respond to a request for comment before publishing this story.
Berman, for her part, acknowledged the potentially divisive nature of Cooper's brand but ultimately welcomed it as a necessary part of the NWSL's growth. She has also been meeting with NWSL supporters groups on her travels to games throughout the league.
'Of course I recognize that there are some people out there who don't love everything she does, and that's OK,' she said during a press conference held during halftime of the game. 'We see the partnership as an incredible opportunity to grow our audience, and I think all of us in this room and everyone who's in that stadium wants more women's soccer fans. We want more people to know who the NWSL is and Alex Cooper wants to do that.'
Having worked in sports management and marketing, Tory Lathrop is fascinated by the inner workings and ambitions of a sports league as the vice president of Rebellion 99, a supporters group for Angel City and a non-profit organization that advocates for women, the LGBTQIA+, and other marginalized communities. Lathrop listened to the Rodman interview when it came out and said they found the show entertaining and informative. They hope that members of the Daddy Gang develop a curiosity for team-based supporters groups, using Cooper and Unwell FC as both a portal into the NWSL and a launchpad to explore within it.
'It feels influencer-y and less genuine,' they said of the partnership.
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'I know (Alex) played soccer, but where have you been this whole time? Who do you rep? Who's your home team?' Lathrop asked. 'I might grill her a little more because I might not believe she's in this for more than selling her energy drink.'
Cooper told The Athletic that soccer shaped her into who she is today.
'Soccer will always be a part of my identity,' Cooper told The Athletic via email. 'I was just telling Abby (Wambach) when she came on 'Call Her Daddy' that Unwell Hydration's partnership with the NWSL felt like coming home and returning to a part of myself. It's very meaningful and intentional to me, as I'm always looking for ways to celebrate the sport and the amazing women athletes.'
Lathrop mostly regretted the lack of dialogue between the league and any of its veteran supporters groups before bringing Cooper into the fold.
'I get that everyone's trying to find whatever they can to market,' Lathrop said, 'but I wish the league had taken a moment, done research and a vetting process, and asked if it aligned with the league mission. Set up a meeting with us. If we give you feedback and you still go with (the original plan), at least you've invited us to the table.
'That's where this feeling of dismissal comes from. We do this organically and on our own, independent of the league, but you could go an extra mile and ask how we feel about this partnership. They don't have to, but if it were up to me, I'd give it a chance.'
JT Service was quick to acknowledge his vested interest in Unwell FC's success as the CEO and founder of the sports marketing company, he said, 'helped bring Bay FC into existence.' Service joined forces with Ricky Lewis, husband to Bay FC co-founder and former USWNT player Leslie Osborne, to create a supporters group for dads and their families called Big Poppies.
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'We're a little less traditional than other supporters groups,' said Service, opting for family-friendly venues over sports bars for watch parties to encourage parents to bring their kids, and sitting with their own families at games, not necessarily as Poppies.
'I have a much wider perspective of who could and should be targeted' as new fans, Service said. 'This is for everyone, even people who don't consider themselves sports fans. I think sometimes we get too insular in terms of who can be in, out, who this is for, and you have to do it a certain way, and that's why we're a multigenerational fanbase that has kids involved, all the way through grandparents, for everyone, and not telling who to and who not to partner with is the way to go.'
The way Service sees it, the Unwell partnership 'goes with an idea of what is going to make this pie bigger. Is it going to be voices like Alex's, where she has millions and millions of followers to bring to these NWSL parties, or should we be limiting those voices and partnerships? I lean toward more partnerships, more opportunities for the players and teams by making the pie bigger, creating long-term growth by having unique partnerships.'
But what happens if the league grows to such a size that it invites more people whose beliefs create an unsafe environment for others — queer people, for example, or people of color?
Service said that sort of tension 'would go against the reason we came together and why this was formed in the first place. When push comes to shove, you have to ask yourself if this was beneficial, but if you look at a success story like the NBA or NFL, where there is a multiplicity of views and beliefs and not everybody is going to think the same way or have the same viewpoints, at that point you have a very successful league.'
A few minutes before kickoff on Saturday afternoon, I met again with Service as groups were performing at Bay FC's Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) Heritage Night. Service and his family had just attended the home opener for the Golden State Valkyries' inaugural season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) on Friday night. It was his first WNBA game.
He told me he'd been thinking about inclusion since I interviewed him earlier in the week, and found himself noticing the finer details that contribute to a person's sense of belonging in a sporting environment. At Warriors' games, he's used to fighting against the crowd for space, everybody elbowing their way against the tide to shuffle down a tight aisle or wind through a concession line.
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'But at the Valkyries game, it was all, 'Come on in!'' he recalled, gesturing with outstretched arms. Everybody was working together rather than in silos. 'It just got me thinking,' he said, trailing off.
Berman said last month that she and the NWSL board believe the league has the potential to grow to the size of the NFL, and that all it needs to do is harness and develop its talent. The same could be said of the people who come together every week (and often in the interim) to support the league, whether as casuals who are in it for the friends they meet along the way, to the ones spitting out stats as a love language.
Last year, Horizon Sports & Experiences debuted a thought leadership series '& Now' and a corresponding study that showed that 67 per cent of women's sports fans are intentional about throwing their dollars behind brands that support their favorite teams or athletes; that includes listening to episodes of a podcast whose host wants to join the party. The NWSL thrives when it bucks against the traditional blueprint for how sports are done, and the success of Unwell FC will be no different.
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