The Orange Slices podcast, hosted by former U.S. Men’s National Team player Heath Pearce, has emerged as a vibrant platform where soccer enthusiasts and former professionals converge to share the personal stories that shape American soccer.
A Night of Stories in SoHo
Earlier this month the podcast staged a live event at Saturdays Football, a vintage soccer‑jersey and lifestyle brand tucked in New York’s SoHo district. The venue, adorned with curated soccer literature and retro jerseys, set the stage for an evening that blended nostalgia with forward‑looking conversation.
The gathering featured a panel of guests that read like a who’s‑who of U.S. soccer: former USMNT defender Jimmy Conrad, current defender Mark McKenzie, and veteran analysts Julie Stewart‑Binks, Gregg Berhalter, Bruce Arena, Bob Bradley and Rob Stone. Their dialogue ranged from the formative moments of youth soccer to the ambitions surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
FanDuel, a leading sports‑technology company, presented the event through its prediction‑market arm, FanDuel Predicts, and used the occasion to spotlight its new "Coaches Corner" series, underscoring a broader push to deepen soccer content for American audiences.
Beyond the marquee names, the evening celebrated a simple tradition that inspired the podcast’s title: the exchange of orange slices at halftime in youth leagues. That ritual, once a modest gesture of camaraderie, now symbolizes the connective tissue between fans, players and the evolving culture of the sport in the United States.