🔮 The future of Getting CONCACAFed
Some professional news, sort of
You: Whoa, are you ending the newsletter?
Me, Jon Arnold of Getting CONCACAFed: Hey, no! Calm down.
Let me reflect for a minute.
I launched this newsletter on the cusp of a global pandemic. What was supposed to tell stories of under-the-radar games in Concacaf became something different as games … didn’t happen (well, mostly). I’d imagined using it as a sandbox for stories too small for my huge list of freelance clients, but instead wound up hustling outside the soccer world for a while and using this as the only platform to write about the game.
When I launched a paid option, I sat and refreshed, and refreshed. What if nobody paid for this? Like, if everyone agreed it was a fun little project but not worth financially supporting. Finally someone went paid. Then more and more people to where I’m now reaching hundreds of people with every premium newsletter. Look, Substack even gave me a little checkmark up there as proof.
OK, so?
So I am leaving The Striker, the independent MLS site I helped launch with a great team. I had a lot of fun and am thankful to the leadership for trusting in me. I wish them all the success in the future.
It sounds like corporate speak but after two years intensely covering FC Dallas and nearly a decade covering the team day-in, day-out for The Striker and/or the Dallas Morning News, I’m ‘looking for a new challenge.’
The Striker accounted for a fair portion of my income, so I’m looking to find a way to replace and perhaps even exceed that.
What does that mean for this newsletter?
The newsletter is my passion project, my baby, something I find extremely fun and rewarding. For now, I’ll be able to put way more time into it.
One of my biggest frustrations with the way I’d previously structured things is when I had to cut corners on something or skip writing an article, it was the newsletter getting the squeeze.
So, it is helpful if you and others subscribe to the newsletter. It means I can keep doing it and do it way more often. You can subscribe here:
In an ideal world, so many readers want to enjoy stories from around the region, I could dedicate all my time to this project. Even if that isn’t likely to happen in the next months or years, I’ll be able to do that much more the more people that subscribe.
I hope to have more time to not only tell more stories but also to try out different things with the format. Should I split #MexicoMonday and the Conca-catch-up? Do people want a weekend preview? What about expanding the newsletter’s focus but going daily like the fantastic
or ?Should I land a full-time opportunity with a digital media outlet, a television company, the right team/league/governing body or something out of the box I haven’t seen coming, everybody will get their money back through Substack’s refund channels.
Also, I know everyone is asking for $$$ for subscription services, charity, Christmas gifts, etc. There will always be a free component of the newsletter that allows readers to sink their teeth into the juiciest, most Concacaf-y stories.
How else can I help?
Wow, that’s cool of you to ask, dear reader. In addition to subscribing to the premium edition, which, again, you can do here, you can RT the tweet I am putting out about leaving The Striker and also put me in touch with any editors, producers or media decision-makers you know.
Maybe you are an editor, producer, decision-maker in your company. I’d love to chat. Whether something in English or Spanish, freelance or full-time, something focused on one team or the entire Americas, a print magazine or a YouTube channel, I’m in an exciting moment where I can envision so many paths forward to share stories that matter that touch the game I love.
The easiest way to set something up is replying to this email or DMing me on Twitter.
Until then, thanks for reading. Got the usual premium edition Monday and a chat with a Concacaf legend Tuesday or Wednesday.
Wait, that’s it? Nothing on the Saint Lucia women’s team or something?
I’ll try to get around to that, too.
Keep up the great work - a weekend look ahead would be awesome. Good luck !
Whew. I was worried for a second.
Okay, I’m just waking up, but, no, I don’t think you should go daily. Football is a weekly sport, generally. I’ve been happy with the pace with you’ve had. The interviews are the best part, for me. With the CONCA-Catchup I’m slowly learning about the small leagues I know little about, and I love that.