162. Dennis Crowley, Co-founder and CEO of Street FC

Today, I’m joined by Dennis Crowley, co-founder and CEO of Street FC, a tech-enabled street soccer league.

Street FC is building the world’s biggest football club, organizing 5v5 street soccer games on hard-court surfaces in urban settings. Scheduled and monitored through its app and Discord channel, it runs games in NYC, Austin, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Minneapolis, with plans to expand to 20 cities by the end of 2023. 

In this episode, we discuss Dennis’s experience using technology to bridge digital and real-life communities, plus Street FC’s growth plans for soccer and beyond.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Dennis’s journey from Foursquare to creating the “SoulCycle for soccer” • How Street FC leverages playing surfaces as billboards for brands • Street FC’s strategic plan to grow to 20 cities by 2023 

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Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:14 Dennis’s background 03:43 Bridging the gap of digital and physical worlds 06:50 Why Street FC exists 09:49 How the community works 12:53 Street FC expansion 15:07 Getting more people to play soccer 16:39 Growth strategy 19:26 Merchandise and branding 23:50 Discord community 26:06 Soho House for soccer 27:57 International expansion and evolving into other sports 29:06 The fun and hard parts about start-ups 31:10 Conclusion