The Athletic FC Podcast sponsors and ad reads

If your team's communication is messy, customers feel it. Mix messages, drop threads, slow replies. It's one of the easiest ways to lose momentum. And that's why today's episode of The Athletic FC is brought to you by Quo, spelled Q-U-O, the business communication system built so you never miss a call. Quo is the number one rated business phone system on G2 with over 3,000 reviews built for how modern teams work. More than 90,000 businesses from solo operators to growing teams rely on it to stay connected, professional and consistently reachable. Quo works wherever you are, right from your phone or computer. Keep your existing number, add teammates in minutes, sync your CRM and let the call routing handle itself as you scale. Money is on the line, so always say hello with Quo. Try Quo for free, plus get 20% off your first six months when you go to Quo.com slash Athletic FC. That's Quo.com slash Athletic FC.

If your team is dealing with more support tickets, more channels and higher expectations from customers, you've probably thought about using AI for customer support. And you've probably seen how limited or time consuming most options are. And that's why I'm excited to tell you about Decagon. Decagon helps companies create personalized concierge style customer services with AI agents across chat, email, voice and SMS. They're available 24-7, feel natural to talk to, and can resolve customer requests on their own so businesses can keep up with requests without losing their personal touch. And because workflows can be updated using natural language, teams can make changes themselves without long engineering cycles. That means less time spent managing workflows and more time focused on customers and ROI in just weeks. ready to transform your customer support go to decagon.ai athletic fc to get a personalized demo and see what decagon can do for your team check decagon out at decagon.ai athletic fc that's decagon d-e-c-a-g-o-n dot a-i slash athletic fc

Time now for our discussion of the day sponsored by Threads. Now, last night we asked our Threads followers, which World Cup star do you want your club to sign this summer?

If your team's communication is messy, customers feel it. Mixed messages, drop threads, slow replies, it's one of the easiest ways to lose momentum. And that's why today's episode of The Athletic FC is brought to you by Quo, spelled Q-U-O, the business communication system built so you never miss a call. Quo is the number one rated business phone system on G2 with over 3,000 reviews built for how modern teams work. More than 90,000 businesses from solo operators to growing teams rely on it to stay connected, professional and consistently reachable. Quo works wherever you are, right from your phone or computer. Keep your existing number, add teammates in minutes, sync your CRM and let the call routing handle itself as you scale. Money is on the line, so always say hello with Quo. Try Quo for free, plus get 20% off your first six months when you go to Quo.com slash Athletic FC. That's Quo.com slash Athletic FC.

I've been getting really excited about all the fanfare surrounding the FIFA World Cup 2026. And luckily for me, the Active Cash Visa credit card from Wells Fargo scores unlimited 2% cash rewards on all types of fanfare purchases. Tickets to a game, thunder sticks to make some noise, commemorative scarves to wave around, 2% cash rewards on all of that is a big win in my book. Terms apply. Visit wellsfargo.com slash Active Cash Visa, worldwide partner of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

This episode of The Athletic FC is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp's 2026 state of stigma report surveyed 2,000 Americans and revealed that 85% of Americans believe getting support is wise, yet 74% say society discourages people from doing so. That shows there's a huge gap between believing in mental health support and actually seeking it. Therapy can help you get out of your negative thought cycles and find some mental peace, building positive coping skills and enabling you to be the best version of yourself. And if you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible and suited to your schedule. Just fill in a short questionnaire and BetterHelp will pair you with the therapist based on your preferences, needs and goals. If you aren't happy with your match, you can switch to a different therapist at any time, safe in the knowledge that BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the US. So don't let stigma stand in the way of support. Start therapy with BetterHelp. Sign up today and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash athleticfc. That's betterhelp.com slash athleticfc, all lowercase and without any spaces.

This episode of The Athletic FC is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp's 2026 state of stigma report surveyed 2,000 Americans and revealed that 85% of Americans believe getting support is wise, yet 74% say society discourages people from doing so. That shows there's a huge gap between believing in mental health support and actually seeking it. Therapy can help you get out of your negative thought cycles and find some mental peace, building positive coping skills and enabling you to be the best version of yourself. And if you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible and suited to your schedule. Just fill in a short questionnaire and BetterHelp will pair you with the therapist based on your preferences, needs and goals. If you aren't happy with your match, you can switch to a different therapist at any time, safe in the knowledge that BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the US. So don't let stigma stand in the way of support. Start therapy with BetterHelp. Sign up today and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash athleticfc. That's betterhelp.com slash athleticfc, all lowercase and without any spaces.