Good Seats Still Available

Tim Hanlon

4.0 (1)
SPORT
UPDATED WEEKLY

"Good Seats Still Available" is a curious little podcast devoted to the exploration of what used-to-be in professional sports. Each week, host Tim Hanlon interviews former players, owners, broadcasters, beat reporters, and surprisingly famous "super fans" of teams and leagues that have come and gone - in an attempt to unearth some of the most wild and woolly moments in (often forgotten) sports history.

1 DAY AGO

US Soccer World Cups, National Teams & Pro Leagues - With Alan Rothenberg

Few figures have shaped modern American soccer more profoundly than Alan Rothenberg ("The Big Bounce: The Surge That Shaped the Future of U.S. Soccer") — and in this revelatory conversation, he tells the story in his own words. Best known as the founding architect of Major League Soccer and the driving force behind the record-breaking 1994 FIFA World Cup, Rothenberg's influence on the game in the United States stretches back decades earlier than most fans realize. Long before MLS kicked off in 1996, he was immersed in the sport's early, fragile professional era. In the late 1960s, Rothenberg worked alongside Jack Kent Cooke in the United Soccer Association, helping operate the Los Angeles Wolves — an ambitious effort to import top international clubs to American audiences. He later held a brief ownership stake in the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League, gaining firsthand insight into the promise and ultimate collapse of pro soccer's first boom-and-bust cycle in the U.S. A pivotal turning point came when Rothenberg ran the soccer competition for the 1984 Summer Olympics. At a time when many doubted the American market, the tournament drew unexpectedly strong crowds — helping persuade FIFA that the United States could successfully host a World Cup. As president of the United States Soccer Federation from 1990 to 1998, Rothenberg delivered on that promise. The 1994 World Cup became the most financially successful in history to that point, and he fulfilled the bid commitment to launch MLS — creating the stable Division I league that had eluded the country for generations. He also chaired the 1999 Women's World Cup, another watershed moment. In this candid interview, Rothenberg reflects on risk, resistance, political maneuvering, and the long game of institution-building — offering rare, behind-the-scenes insight into how American soccer finally found its footing. + + + SUPPORT THE SHOW: Buy Us a Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/goodseatsstillavailable The "Good Seats" Store: http://tee.pub/lic/RdiDZzQeHSY BUY THE BOOK: "The Big Bounce: The Surge That Shaped the Future of U.S. Soccer": https://amzn.to/4kSgacQ SPONSOR THANKS: Old School Shirts.com (10% off promo code: GOODSEATS): https://oldschoolshirts.com/goodseats Royal Retros (10% off promo code: SEATS): https://www.503-sports.com?aff=2 FIND AND FOLLOW: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/GoodSeatsStillAvailable Web: https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/goodseatsstillavailable.com X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodSeatsStill YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@goodseatsstillavailable Threads: https://www.threads.net/@goodseatsstillavailable Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodseatsstillavailable/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodSeatsStillAvailable/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/good-seats-still-available/

1h 29m
1 DAY AGO · BONUS

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16 FEB

Sports, Marketing & Mayhem - With Bob Wilber

*:first-child]:mt-0 gmail-[&_>*:last-child]:mb-0"> Sports lifer. Road warrior. Straight shooter. In this no‑holds‑barred conversation, veteran sports marketer, former minor‑league ballplayer, and acclaimed author Bob Wilber opens up about a wildly unconventional career that somehow connects the Detroit Tigers minor-league system, Converse sneaker deals, indoor soccer barns, and nitro Funny Car mayhem. Wilber takes us inside a childhood spent in dugouts and press boxes as the son of longtime Major League catcher, coach, and scout Del Wilber, and a trailblazing mother who broke barriers in the St. Louis Cardinals' front office. From there, we follow him onto college diamonds and through the harsh realities of chasing – and losing – the big‑league dream. The story hardly slows down. Wilber walks through his pivot into sports marketing and front‑office life, selling corporate America on emerging properties and trying to keep the MISL's St. Louis Storm, NPSL's Kansas City Attack, and CISL's Indianapolis Twisters alive in the boom‑and‑bust world of indoor soccer. Then he details his second (third?) act in motorsports, running NHRA Funny Car teams and becoming one of drag racing's most distinctive PR voices and storytellers. Along the way, Wilber talks candidly about burnout, constant travel, reinvention, and why he finally stepped away to write his autobiographical "Bats, Balls, & Burnouts: A Life of Sports, Marketing, and Mayhem". If you care about the business behind the games – the hustle, the politics, the strain on real life – this conversation is a masterclass in how sports really work once the lights go off and the fans go home! + + + SUPPORT THE SHOW: Buy Us a Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/goodseatsstillavailable The "Good Seats" Store: http://tee.pub/lic/RdiDZzQeHSY BUY THE BOOK: "Bats, Balls, & Burnouts: A Life of Sports, Marketing, and Mayhem": https://amzn.to/3Myak3F SPONSOR THANKS: Royal Retros (10% off promo code: SEATS): https://www.503-sports.com?aff=2 Old School Shirts.com (10% off promo code: GOODSEATS): https://oldschoolshirts.com/goodseats FIND AND FOLLOW: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/GoodSeatsStillAvailable Web: https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/goodseatsstillavailable.com X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodSeatsStill YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@goodseatsstillavailable Threads: https://www.threads.net/@goodseatsstillavailable Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodseatsstillavailable/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodSeatsStillAvailable/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/good-seats-still-available/

1h 51m
9 FEB

World Team Tennis & The Boston Lobsters - With John Schwarz

In the spring of 1974, a bold experiment arrived on the American sports scene: World Team Tennis (WTT) — a mixed-gender professional league co-founded and championed by Billie Jean King, who envisioned a more inclusive, fan-friendly, and forward-looking version of the sport. WTT challenged tennis tradition and reimagined how the game could be played, packaged, and consumed. With innovative scoring, raucous arena atmospheres, and genuine star power, the league aimed to pull tennis out of the country club and into the mainstream. Men and women competed side-by-side, fans were encouraged to cheer, and matches moved at a faster, television-friendly pace. It was daring, disruptive, and unmistakably ahead of its time. The original incarnation of WTT lasted just five seasons, folding in 1978 amid financial losses, franchise instability, and the realities of building a national sports league before modern media economics took hold. Yet its influence — on tennis, sports marketing, and gender equity — continues to echo decades later. John Schwarz, author of"World Team Tennis and the Legacy of a Sports League", joins the pod this week for a revealing conversation that brings rare firsthand perspective to the original circuit's remarkable story. Schwarz is uniquely positioned to tell it: during WTT's initial 1974-78 run, he separately served in the front offices of both the league itself, and then for one of its most emblematic franchises — the Robert Kraft-owned Boston Lobsters. In many respects, the Lobsters were a lens into WTT itself — a franchise that embodied the league's ambition, creativity, and community appeal, while also confronting the harsh economic truths that ultimately doomed many teams. Despite its short existence, Schwarz explains why WTT mattered, why it struggled, and why its lessons still resonate in today's evolving sports landscape. ALSO: Your chance to win a pristine vintage 1978 Boston Lobsters full-color poster in this week's trivia contest! + + + SUPPORT THE SHOW: Buy Us a Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/goodseatsstillavailable The "Good Seats" Store: http://tee.pub/lic/RdiDZzQeHSY BUY THE BOOK: "World Team Tennis and the Legacy of a Sports League": https://amzn.to/3Md4kgE SPONSOR THANKS: Old School Shirts.com (10% off promo code: GOODSEATS): https://oldschoolshirts.com/goodseats Royal Retros (10% off promo code: SEATS): https://www.503-sports.com?aff=2 FIND AND FOLLOW: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/GoodSeatsStillAvailable Web: https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/goodseatsstillavailable.com X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodSeatsStill YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@goodseatsstillavailable Threads: https://www.threads.net/@goodseatsstillavailable Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodseatsstillavailable/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodSeatsStillAvailable/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/good-seats-still-available/

1h 42m
2 FEB

"Return of the King" - With Tom Aiello

Valdosta State University history professor (and Episodes 334 and 244 guest) Tom Aiello is back — this time for an intriguing look at one of the most politically and culturally charged nights in American sports history: Muhammad Ali's comeback fight against Jerry Quarry on October 26, 1970, in Atlanta. After nearly three and a half years in professional exile, Ali returned to the ring having lost far more than his world heavyweight title. His refusal to be drafted into the Vietnam War had stripped him of his license to box, cost him his prime athletic years, and turned him into one of the most polarizing figures in the country. By 1970, however, the nation had changed. Public opinion about the war had shifted, Ali's moral stance looked increasingly prescient, and the question was no longer if he would return — but where and on whose terms. Atlanta provided the answer. The fight was as much a civic and cultural event as a sporting one, staged before an audience that reflected the city's rising Black political, economic, and social leadership. Civil rights figures, elected officials, entertainers, and power brokers filled the arena, transforming the evening into a declaration of legitimacy and self-determination. Ali's presence — confident, defiant, unapologetic — symbolized a broader shift in who held cultural authority in America. Quarry, a skilled and respected heavyweight contender, became the necessary counterpart in Ali's rebirth. The fight itself ended swiftly, with Ali winning by third-round stoppage, but its significance far outlasted the final bell. Drawing from his new book "Return of the King: The Rebirth of Muhammad Ali and the Rise of Atlanta"Ali," Aiello helps us understand how this night fused boxing, politics, and spectacle — how Atlanta became the stage for Ali's return, and how the event marked a turning point not just in his career, but in the public embrace of a new, unapologetic vision of Black power and identity. ALSO: A computer pits Ali vs. Rocky Marciano in "The Super Fight"; the curious ringside inspiration for "Uptown Saturday Night"; and the notorious tale of Gordon 'Chicken Man' Williams, as fictionalized in 2024's "Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist". PLUS: Your chance to win a copy of "Return of the King" in this week's trivia contest! + + + SUPPORT THE SHOW: Buy Us a Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/goodseatsstillavailable The "Good Seats" Store: http://tee.pub/lic/RdiDZzQeHSY BUY THE BOOK: "Return of the King: The Rebirth of Muhammed Ali": https://amzn.to/4ket0BY SPONSOR THANKS: Royal Retros (10% off promo code: SEATS): https://www.503-sports.com?aff=2 Old School Shirts.com (10% off promo code: GOODSEATS): https://oldschoolshirts.com/goodseats FIND AND FOLLOW: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/GoodSeatsStillAvailable Web: https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/goodseatsstillavailable.com X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodSeatsStill YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@goodseatsstillavailable Threads: https://www.threads.net/@goodseatsstillavailable Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodseatsstillavailable/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodSeatsStillAvailable/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/good-seats-still-available/

1h 39m
26 JAN

"Everybody Loses" - With Danny Funt

This week, we pull back the curtain on one of the most seismic shifts in American sports and culture: the explosive rise of legalized sports gambling. Once condemned as a corrosive menace to the integrity of competition, betting on games is now a pervasive part of how fans watch, interact with, and spend on sports. But at what cost? Our guest, journalist Danny Funt, has spent years investigating the forces behind America's betting boom. His new book, "Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling," lays bare how fantasy sports startups, professional leagues, and tech platforms helped normalize wagering — transforming billions of everyday fans into active gamblers. Drawing on explosive interviews with former sportsbook executives, VIP hosts, lawmakers, and people who've seen their lives upended by addiction, Funt reveals how the industry is engineered to benefit the house and keep bettors coming back for more. We'll explore how a 2018 Supreme Court decision ignited this rapid expansion, how major leagues reversed decades-long opposition to gambling, and why the odds are stacked against individual bettors' success. Along the way, Danny explains the social, economic, and ethical consequences of marrying sports and wagering — from the relentless barrage of advertising to concerns about corruption, exploitation, and long-term harm. PLUS: Your chance to win a copy of "Everybody Loses" in this week's trivia contest! + + + SUPPORT THE SHOW: Buy Us a Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/goodseatsstillavailable The "Good Seats" Store: http://tee.pub/lic/RdiDZzQeHSY BUY THE BOOK: "Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling": https://amzn.to/3YYEeAF SPONSOR THANKS: Royal Retros (10% off promo code: SEATS): https://www.503-sports.com?aff=2 Old School Shirts.com (10% off promo code: GOODSEATS): https://oldschoolshirts.com/goodseats FIND AND FOLLOW: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/GoodSeatsStillAvailable Web: https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/goodseatsstillavailable.com X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodSeatsStill YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@goodseatsstillavailable Threads: https://www.threads.net/@goodseatsstillavailable Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodseatsstillavailable/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodSeatsStillAvailable/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/good-seats-still-available/

1h 14m
19 JAN

The Negro Leagues' Memphis Red Sox - With Keith Wood

*:first-child]:mt-0"> Author and baseball historian Keith Wood ("The Memphis Red Sox: A Negro Leagues History") joins the show to explore the rich yet often overlooked story of the Memphis Red Sox, one of Black baseball's most resilient and community‑rooted franchises. From their semi-pro origins in the early 1920s to their run through the Negro Southern, National & American Leagues, the Red Sox embodied sustained Black ownership and stability in a turbulent era for segregated sports. Wood details how the Martin family, a group of influential African American professionals, uniquely controlled both the club and its home field, giving Black Memphis rare economic and cultural autonomy around the ballpark. We dig into the social life of Martin Stadium, where Sunday doubleheaders doubled as civic gatherings and a showcase for elite Black talent passing through the Mid-South. The Red Sox story features future Major Leaguers and other notable figures who wore the Memphis uniform - including Dan Bankhead, Bob Boyd, Buck O'Neil, and even country music hall-of-famer Charley Pride - and what their stories reveal about the broader pipeline from the Negro Leagues to integrated baseball. Wood also explains how the forces that followed Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color barrier led to the slow decline and eventual disappearance of the franchise by the end of the 1950s - while leaving behind a powerful legacy of entrepreneurship, community pride, and baseball excellence. PLUS: Charley Pride's only Billboard Top 40 pop crossover hit! + + + SUPPORT THE SHOW: Buy Us a Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/goodseatsstillavailable The "Good Seats" Store: http://tee.pub/lic/RdiDZzQeHSY BUY THE BOOK: "The Memphis Red Sox: A Negro Leagues History": https://amzn.to/45QtWGx SPONSOR THANKS: Old School Shirts.com (10% off promo code: GOODSEATS): https://oldschoolshirts.com/goodseats Royal Retros (10% off promo code: SEATS): https://www.503-sports.com?aff=2 FIND AND FOLLOW: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/GoodSeatsStillAvailable Web: https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/goodseatsstillavailable.com X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodSeatsStill YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@goodseatsstillavailable Threads: https://www.threads.net/@goodseatsstillavailable Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodseatsstillavailable/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodSeatsStillAvailable/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/good-seats-still-available/

1h 47m
12 JAN

"Stadium City" - With Helen Morgan Parmett

Sports stadiums are often framed as engines of civic pride, economic development, and shared spectacle. But what if they are something more consequential — and more complicated — than that? In this episode, we're joined by University of Vermont professor Helen Morgan Parmett, author of "Stadium City: Sports and Media Infrastructure in the United States", for a wide-ranging conversation that rethinks stadiums not merely as venues for games, but as powerful urban media infrastructures shaping how cities function, govern, and imagine themselves. Drawing on case studies from Atlanta, Seattle, and Minneapolis, Parmett explores how modern stadiums operate as connective nodes linking sports, media systems, urban planning, political power, and civic identity. We discuss her concept of the "sportification of place" — the idea that cities increasingly organize space, culture, and public investment around sports and spectacle — and how broadcast media, branding, and digital platforms amplify the influence of these massive projects far beyond game day. Our conversation examines what stadium development reveals about who cities are built for, how public resources and attention are allocated, and how issues of race, class, governance, and belonging are deeply embedded in sports infrastructure. We also explore how everyday civic voices — not just those of team owners and politicians — surface tensions over access, identity, and urban priorities. This episode offers a deeper look at stadiums as contested civic spaces — where entertainment, media power, and urban life collide — and considers what their rise reveals about the modern American city. + + + SUPPORT THE SHOW: Buy Us a Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/goodseatsstillavailable The "Good Seats" Store: http://tee.pub/lic/RdiDZzQeHSY BUY THE BOOK: "Stadium City: Sports and Media Infrastructure in the United States" : https://amzn.to/3Z3PuvA SPONSOR THANKS: Royal Retros (10% off promo code: SEATS): https://www.503-sports.com?aff=2 Old School Shirts.com (10% off promo code: GOODSEATS): https://oldschoolshirts.com/goodseats FIND AND FOLLOW: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/GoodSeatsStillAvailable Web: https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/goodseatsstillavailable.com X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodSeatsStill YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@goodseatsstillavailable Threads: https://www.threads.net/@goodseatsstillavailable Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodseatsstillavailable/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodSeatsStillAvailable/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/good-seats-still-available/

1h 13m

"Good Seats Still Available" is a curious little podcast devoted to the exploration of what used-to-be in professional sports. Each week, host Tim Hanlon interviews former players, owners, broadcasters, beat reporters, and surprisingly famous "super fans" of teams and leagues that have come and gone - in an attempt to unearth some of the most wild and woolly moments in (often forgotten) sports history.

Creator

Tim Hanlon
Years Active

2017 - 2026
Episodes

472
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© 2025 Good Seats Still Available
Show Website

Good Seats Still Available

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