Host Simon Evans is joined by Alex Silverman of the Sports Business Journal and Jonathan Tannenwald of the Philadelphia Inquirer to go over this week's main news items impacting the North American soccer industry.

LALIGA's Miami plans cancelled Apple TV and the MLS Playoffs - the F1 Factor? 2031 Women’s World Cup - the new Four Nations bid Brian McBride becomes GM of USL club Brooklyn FC NBA star Jimmy Butler invests in the NWSL's San Diego Wave.

Megan Oglesby of Carolina Core joins the podcast to discuss how she and her team created a new club from scratch in High Point, North Carolina.

Megan goes through each stage of the journey from the initial idea, due diligence, early steps, stadium work, creating player pathways and delivering a state-of-the-art training facility that has been earmarked by FIFA as a potential World Cup base for a team.

She also explains why she chose MLS Next Pro as the right league for the project over other alternatives and details the advantages of being an independent club in the Major League Soccer ecosystem.

Plus why WPSL Pro could be prove to be the 'perfect bridge' between lower league women's soccer and the top flight NWSL and how a thriving soccer club can be at the heart of a community and local economy.

In this episode we welcome a true architect of American soccer - Sunil Gulati.

Sunil is widely regarded as one of the most influential figure in the sport’s growth in the United States, having been involved in the administration of the game since the 1980’s and serving as president of the U.S. Soccer Federation from 2006 to 2018.

With over 30 years of experience at every level of the game, Sunil continues to shape the future of soccer business. He is a senior lecturer in economics at Columbia University and Chairman of UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body.

In this interview, Sunil looks at the growth of the game from the tough days of the 1980’s through the 1994 World Cup, the creation of Major League Soccer and the National Women’s Soccer League. He also gives us his thoughts on the prospects for USL and on the state of youth soccer. It’s a wide-ranging interview and I am sure you’ll find many insights.

Before we get down to this interview - if you enjoy this podcast make sure that you are subscribed to our weekly newsletter - The Soccer Business. You can sign up for free at thesoccerbusiness.com