Gotham FC’s Emily Tisch Sussman on Building
a Dynasty in Women’s Soccer From the Inside

When Gotham FC won the 2023 NWSL Championship, the New York Post ran a story about Megan Rapinoe tearing her ACL. The home team’s victory got zero coverage. Emily Tisch Sussman saw that, made note of it, and got to work.

In this episode of FOMO Sapiens, Patrick McGinnis welcomes Emily Tisch Sussman, co-owner of the two-time NWSL champion New York/New Jersey Gotham FC, creator and host of the award-winning iHeart podcast She Pivots, Tony-nominated Broadway producer, and Democratic political strategist who spent 20 years working on federal policy and campaigns before pivoting into one of the most exciting spaces in sports and media today.

The conversation covers:

• Why campaign workers — not policy wonks — are the most entrepreneurial people in politics, and what scrappy, reactive, resource-constrained campaign culture has in common with building a startup
  
• How Emily Tisch Sussman and her sister Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, former Head of Global Marketing at Peloton and now NWSL Chair, became the controlling owners of Gotham FC and what they found when they got there
  
• The systemic challenges of owning a women’s sports team — from sharing stadiums built for men’s teams, to fighting for parade permits, to making the case for a White House visit that had never happened for women’s soccer before
  
• Why the fan conversion model in women’s sports is not what most people expect: fans of other women’s sports convert far more readily than fans of men’s soccer, and what that tells you about what actually drives the growth
  
• What brands get wrong when they try to enter women’s sports, why tokenistic investments waste everyone’s time, and what authentic sponsorship actually looks like
  
• Five years of hosting She Pivots and what 155 conversations with women who’ve gone through major life transitions taught Emily about what it means to build something real out of disruption
  
• Why the language we use — saying “soccer” versus “women’s soccer” — has measurable consequences for algorithms and media coverage, and what everyone can do right now to move the needle

Patrick and Emily Tisch Sussman also get into the algorithm bias problem in sports search results, the cultural playbook Emily runs at the intersection of Gotham and New York City — from Spike Lee opening home games to front rows at Fashion Week — and why Sue Bird’s quote about dynasties is the only one that matters.

Meet Emily Tisch Sussman:

Emily Tisch Sussman is a media entrepreneur, political strategist, and advocate for women’s empowerment, known as the creator and host of the award-winning podcast “She Pivots.” The podcast has received recognition for its approach to redefining how women view success, featuring interviews with high-profile guests such as Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary Hillary Clinton, Priyanka Chopra, and Brooke Shields. Sussman’s experience as an interviewer and her focus on amplifying women’s voices have established her as a public speaker and thought leader in media, politics, and gender equity.

Before launching “She Pivots,” Emily Tisch Sussman developed her career as a Democratic political strategist, serving as vice president of campaigns at the Center for American Progress, where she contributed to policy development and public discourse. Her political work includes more than 250 television appearances as a correspondent and contributions to major campaigns, including that of President Barack Obama. Sussman has also served as an editor for Marie Claire, expanding her involvement in media and advocacy.

In addition to her media and political work, Sussman is a Tony-nominated Broadway producer, co-owner of Gotham FC—the NWSL champions—and an active board member for organizations supporting women, education, and the arts. Her leadership roles include serving on the boards of Swing Left, Vote Forward, and the Ross School, as well as being a founding member of her local Moms Demand Action chapter. Sussman continues to support causes that empower women and promote social change.