The Conversation
A monthly flagship with the people shaping the industry.
SportsNotSports.Independent, operator-led media platform
SportsNotSports.
The Industry. Not the Game.
The stories, culture, and business behind the games.
Sports is the setting. The people behind the work are the story.
01 / The mirror
What moves through the world moves through sports.
Sports is no longer a closed system.
The people reshaping the industry now arrive from technology, media, finance, design, hospitality, culture, and beyond.
The old vertical path—building a career entirely within teams, leagues, and venues—is no longer the only way in. Outside experience is changing how sports organizations lead, create, compete, communicate, and grow.
Sports Not Sports holds up a mirror to that exchange: a reflection of the wider forces moving through the world, told through the people bringing them into sports.
02 / The platform
One point of view. Four expressions.
The format begins tightly. The ambition does not. Each conversation becomes a deeper editorial, cultural, and physical experience.
The Written Companion
Original editorial that extends the conversation rather than recapping it.
The Signal
Ideas, moments, and cultural observations worth carrying forward.
The Edition
A physical expression of the idea—art, hospitality, and useful things made with intention.
The Carry What moves from one expression into the next.
Issue 001First Tuesday
Sports Not Sports.
Coming soon · Podcast + editorial
The Early Signal
Tim Hayden
Featured by Apple.
Challenged by Major League Baseball.
03 / The first expression
Coming soon · Podcast + editorial
Why Tim Hayden?
His career is a map of the modern sports industry.
Tim’s path moves through startup technology, professional soccer, venture investment, education, mentorship, and advisory work—a clear expression of the Sports Not Sports philosophy.
The episode · Coming soon
Featured by Apple. Challenged by Major League Baseball.
Building an in-stadium sports app before the market was ready.
04 / Inside the room
Recorded around one table. Built to travel far beyond it.
The studio is part of the story.
A warm room, a prepared conversation, and enough space for the unexpected. This is where Sports Not Sports becomes more than a show.
Enter the studio05 / The rhythm
SNS. Every Tuesday.
One conversation opens the month. Each Tuesday gives the ideas another form.
01First Tuesday
The Conversation
The monthly flagship.
02Second Tuesday
The Written Companion
An original editorial extension.
03Third Tuesday
The Signal
A lighter idea, detail, object, or moment.
04Fourth Tuesday
The Carry
What remains, what mattered, and one reason to return.
06 / From the conversation
Written Companion / 001TimingReputationRelationshipsEarned Optimism
What Happens When
You’re Right Before
the Market Is Ready?
A founder risks being publicly wrong, but rarely bears the consequences alone.
Tim Hayden’s story opens a larger question about timing, reputation, relationships, and what remains when the original company does not. The answer is neither failure worship nor easy reassurance. It is earned optimism.
Read the Written Companion07 / Pull up a chair
Operator-led.Human first.On the record.
Executive Producer · Showrunner · Operator
Alex Rodrigo
A people-first operator who brings disciplined preparation, military structure, and the instinct to know when to let the conversation breathe—always with a smile.
Executive Producer · Creative Lead · Entrepreneur
Brian Cross
Startup instinct, business intelligence, curiosity, and playfulness—an unexpected perspective that keeps the room alive.
“The work behind the games, told by the people still building it.”
08 / The edition
Coming soon · Concept studies
The Studio Mug Series.
Five ideas. One palette. Nothing in inventory—yet.
A working catalog of useful objects for the table, the desk, and the road. Considered like a retailer. Introduced like a media company. Released only when the right idea earns its place.
The Classic
Matte black ceramic
The Editorial
Natural cream ceramic
The Two-Tone
Black with a gold interior
The Commute
Insulated tumbler
The Demi
Espresso cup and saucer
First Tuesday. Every month.
Be first to hear the conversations—and the stories behind them.
New episodes, written companions, previews, and controlled edition releases.