Former pro athletes Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe are relaunching their sports and pop culture podcast A Touch More Live with Vox Media.
The podcast was originally launched on Instagram by the couple during the pandemic and will continue to feature a dissection of sports news and games, stories from their respective worlds of basketball and soccer.
The podcast will publish audio and video episodes each week across Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and more. The two announced the partnership between their company, A Touch More, and Vox Media during a live taping of the show at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
“We are thrilled to have A Touch More partner with Vox Media to expand A Touch More Live into a dynamic podcast that explores the intersection of sports and pop culture,” said Bird and Rapinoe. “Producing the show during the pandemic sparked our larger interest in production which eventually led to us launching our company, A Touch More, so this show holds a special place in our hearts. We are excited for A Touch More Live to be a place for exciting, honest conversations with compelling guests.”
The video podcast will be co-distributed by TOGETHXR, the media and commerce company also co-founded by Bird, and other top athletes. Vox Media will also lead sales, marketing, and distribution for A Touch More Live, and will explore additional opportunities with Bird and Rapinoe, such as live event activations.
The show will officially launch later this summer. As a former point guard, Bird has won an Olympic Gold Medal, a World Championship Gold Medal, an NCAA Championship, and a WNBA Championship. Rapinoe is a two-time World Cup Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist, who helped lead the U.S. women’s soccer team to the 2019 Women’s World Cup Championship.
They two also recently announced a deal to develop a TV series based on the queer, sports romance novel Cleat Cute and to executive produce a docuseries about the lives of professional female athletes in the U.S.
“Megan and Sue are singular voices who are using their platforms as world champion athletes to tell stories and shed light on important issues impacting our society today,” said Ray Chao, Vox Media’s SVP and general manager for audio and video “We are honored to partner with Megan and Sue on A Touch More Live and bring their expanded show to audiences everywhere.”