Podbit · New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Alex Morgan laid out why the US struggles to develop soccer talent at scale: the youth system is fractured, prohibitively expensive, and forcing California kids to fly across the country every other weekend for no good reason. The sport has become a business, and that's strangling the pipeline.
Where this was said
At 57:40 · chapter starts 49:50
Asked how the US can sustain and grow its soccer appetite beyond the World Cup, Alex Morgan gives an answer with real teeth. The youth system, she says, has been 'made as a business' — and that commercialization is strangling development. In the state of California alone, there is a country's worth of kids playing soccer, yet they're flying across the country every other weekend to compete in out-of-state club tournaments for no structurally necessary reason. The travel costs alone make the sport inaccessible to families without significant disposable income. Kelley O'Hara agrees: the best path forward is nurturing the youth pipeline, not just banking on World Cup momentum. It's one of the sharpest policy observations in any episode the brothers have aired [1] — Alex Morgan "Alex Morgan laid out why the US struggles to develop soccer talent at scale: the youth system is fractured, prohibitively expensive, and fo…" 57:40 .
Alex Morgan pointed out that the inaugural Women's World Cup was held in 1991, while the Men's World Cup dates back about 100 years.
Alex Morgan called the US soccer youth system 'fractured' and too expensive, noting California kids unnecessarily travel across the country every other weekend to compete.
Thomas's wife deferred her CrossFit career — she's in the global top 1% of athletes — to put him through law school debt-free. He wants her to chase the dream now; she wants the emergency fund and house down payment first. On a $200K lawyer income with no debt, the opportunity cost is just a few months of slower saving.
Underground calisthenics battles are exactly like UFC meets a rap battle — 150 people crowded around a circle, fighters walking out with masks and chains, nicknames like 'Extra Money' vs 'Calisthenics the Prince,' and people throwing money and betting. The battle set: 100 burpees, 50 muscle-ups, 75 dips, 75 squats with a 65-pound dumbbell. This is the next big spectator sport.
Rico Verhoeven controlled the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion for approximately 10 rounds — and had his appeal upheld when officials admitted the fight was stopped after the bell. The result was never overturned. Rogan calls it either incompetence or corruption, and argues the money behind Usyk made an upset politically inconvenient.
Rogan lays out a blunt case: boxing's 3-judge system is structurally broken, and the judges know who the promoter wants to win. Glory's 5-judge format is the right model. Corruption doesn't have to be conscious — just knowing Usyk is the cash cow is enough to tilt the scales.
With the Usyk-Wilder fight stalling and Fury-Joshua coming too late, the real fight the world wants is the rematch. Rico is a free agent. Usyk vacated his belts. The story is unfinished and both Rogan and Rico know it. His Excellency Turki Alasheikh already called for it ringside — the question is money.
Rico texted Jason Statham during the Canelo-Crawford fight. Statham showed Rico's highlight videos to promoters. Two days later, Rico was on a call about fighting Anthony Joshua. When Joshua pulled out, Rico pitched Usyk himself — Undisputed vs. Undisputed. Usyk said yes in two weeks. The whole thing started with one text.
Every heavyweight who faced Usyk tried to move to the right — straight into his power hand. Rico and Peter Fury identified the obvious solution: move left, away from the left hand, and smother him with size. It sounds simple. Nobody had done it. That one adjustment was the foundation of 10 dominant rounds.
MMA fans boo when fights go to the ground. They love stand-up. Kickboxing is pure stand-up. Yet it barely exists in America while boxing and MMA are enormous. Rogan's diagnosis: no promotion machine. If the UFC got behind kickboxing the way they've built MMA, it would explode. The talent is there — the storytelling machine is not.
A nation of 17 million people gave the world Ramon Deckers, Peter Aerts, Badr Hari, Melvin Manhoef, Rob Kamen, Ernesto Hoost, and Rico Verhoeven. Rico's theory: the country is so small that every gym shares knowledge freely. In the US, you need a flight. In Holland, you drive 40 minutes and spar the national champion.
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