Photography courtesy Men in Blazers
Roger Bennett might just be an honorary St. Louisan.
The co-host of the popular Men in Blazers podcast grew up in Liverpool, but he knows his way around a plate of toasted ravioli. Bennett knows where in town to go for good barbecue. And he knows that soccer’s deep-rooted history in St. Louis makes the city a fitting stop for the Men in Blazers’ upcoming This Cup’s For You tour, which hits The Pageant on November 21 at 8 p.m. Bennett and fellow host Michael Davies will be breaking down the action from that day’s World Cup opener for the U.S. Men’s National Team, while engaging in their unique brand of “suboptimal” banter.
We recently caught up with Bennett to talk about his love for St. Louis, the upcoming World Cup, and more.
Men in Blazers made a men’s World Cup tour stop in St. Louis in 2018, but when you visit next week, you’ll be able to actually discuss the U.S. Men’s National Team’s performance. How much different will this show be? That is the joy of this World Cup, that the U.S. men have actually qualified for this one. They’re young, delirious, and feature a really big cast of characters. We'll be in St. Louis on November 21, the night they play their first game against Wales. So the reality of all of their dreams—all of our dreams—will have just kicked in. We’ll be at The Pageant, and we’ll be able to break down everything that happens on the field and off it. St. Louis is a city I adore. The last time we came to town, we had all the toasted ravs, and we adored Salt & Smoke, which was really the find of the entire tour. The joy of the World Cup is to make collective memories. That’s the whole point of these shows is to be able to bring American fans together to revel in everything that happens on the field as it unfolds.
You briefly mentioned your adoration for St. Louis. What kinds of things make it special to you? What a sports city St. Louis is. In 2018, we had a slew of guests that joined us on the tour. One of our guests in St. Louis was Josh Sargent. He was there, and he was just breaking through in Germany. He was a young, ambitious, talent-soaked teen who blew me away with his insight, his honesty, and his intelligence. Now, he’s going to be one of the kids on the field for the United States. You also have Tim Ream, possibly the closest thing America has produced to a football playing viking. So to be able to talk with sports fans in St. Louis and just drink it all in together, raise a glass, and consciously make memories, that’s what coming to your city is all about. The other thing that’s great to me—other than the fact that Budweiser’s world headquarters are located in the city—is the deep roots football has in St. Louis. It’s a proud tradition. You have 1950 when we first played England in the World Cup and beat them, 1-0. Many of those players came from St. Louis. There’s a tradition that it’s a hotbed, and not just on the men’s side. You have Becky Sauerbrunn, and the way she talks about St. Louis and what she’s carried forward in her game. It’s a hotbed—and not just for great athletes, but wonderful people.
Obviously, Josh Sargent won’t be able to make it to the Pageant this time. He’ll be busy. But do you have any plans for guests? We do have a couple of guests, one of whom will sing loudly and joyously about the wonders of St. Louis. Nikki Glaser is going to come join us on stage, and I can’t think of a few people I’d rather talk about the wonders of your city with than Nikki Glaser.
Do you have any other pre- or post-show plans for your visit? I’m hoping to be able to go and watch the St. Louis Blues. I’ve never seen the Blues play, but I hope that the schedule allows it. When I first came [to the United States], I’d watch Keith Tkachuk and Brett Hull and those guys, and just revel in it. Pat Maroon came on our show, and we talked to him about the St. Louis sports scene and what it meant for him to win with St. Louis. Listening to that gentleman and his story of joy and tenacity, I’ve always wanted to go watch the Blues play and raise a glass.
You grew up in Liverpool. Do you think your experiences there have informed your appreciation for industrial U.S. cities like St. Louis? In some ways, given the challenges they’ve endured, both cities might seem like kindred spirits. As a city, Liverpool is doing incredibly well now. But when I grew up, it fell on really challenging economic times. Our football teams and our music was all we had. The football teams, in particular, were how we announced ourselves to the world. Whenever I’ve been in St. Louis for Cards games, that sense of community, that sense of local pride and deep connectivity feels familiar and I adore that. I was last here in 2019, and took in a Cards game. The sense of community building in the hours leading up to first pitch was really awe-inspiring. Sports is at its best when it transcends sports. What you have developed in St. Louis is that sense of appreciation that life is short and nothing should be taken for granted.
And make no mistake, there seems to be a ton of excitement focused on the newest team in town: St. Louis CITY SC. What kinds of things can having a big league soccer team do for a city’s sports culture? We’ve talked about how the football culture has existed in St. Louis for a long time. We’ve been exposed to it and it’s a thing of wonder. With some of these new MLS teams, it’s allowed cities to have something maybe they’ve not had before. In Atlanta, they’ve gotten 60-70,000 fans to games. It’s delirious, the football culture. Nashville is very much the same. It’s great for transplants, who may have already come with their rooting interests. These transplants retain their fandom in other sports, but these new MLS franchises allow them a fresh start—a fresh connection—and a new emotional muscle. It becomes a team that the entire city can get behind. That’s what happened in Atlanta and Nashville, and it’s what I hope will happen in St. Louis. The organization there is smart, thoughtful, strategic, and wonderful.
As MLS continues to grow, what sorts of things do you feel like the league is doing correctly? MLS just signed a deal with Apple. Its willingness to be entrepreneurial and experimental might give us a taste of the future of sports broadcasting. It’s really a fascinating and remarkable moment. From a football perspective, there’s a hierarchy of leagues. It’s not like American sports where every league is the best. The NFL? The best. Major League Baseball’s World Series really is the World Series. The NBA? There’s nothing even close. But football has a whole Star Wars cantina of leagues, and MLS is rising. It’s growing incredibly fast, but it’s spotted all of them a head start. But the plate tectonics underneath football are never settled. It’s always moving. It’s very easy to see, with the World Cup coming back to the United States in 2026—it’ll be in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico—that it is the driver that will put the MLS over the top in this nation. To be honest, this will put football over the top in a way I’ve always dreamed. I came here in 1994, right before the World Cup. That World Cup was meant to turn America into a football—soccer!—loving nation, almost overnight. Instead, its growth has been slow and steady, propelled by the rise of the internet. The success of the U.S. Women’s National Team, the amount broadcast of the English Premier League, Champions League, and elite football has now made it easy to access in the United States. There’s also the growth of EA Sports’ FIFA game, which is the silent hand that’s grown the game. Those things, together with the World Cup coming back, will be the drivers that will finally make, as we joke on our show, soccer America’s sport of the future—as it has been since 1972.
I’m not sure how to feel about the U.S. men in this year’s tournament. Let's just say that I’m guarding my heart. Can you give me some reasons for why it’s OK to be optimistic about this group? This is the most accomplished group of individuals we’ve ever had on the men’s side. Part of the reaction to failure in the last World Cup meant that these young guys, aged 17, 18, and 19, were like, ‘I can’t stay here in America to be the best player I want to be. I’ve got to go over to Europe to test myself against the best.’ And they have. So we’ve never had a more talented group of individuals. International football is really just a group of all-star teams thrown together. They don’t have time to practice, and they don’t really have time to train together. It’s a crapshoot. The World Cup is a crapshoot. Anything is possible. It’s about chemistry, and how they will thrive in the crucible of pressure with the world watching. They’ve never done this before. A thing to draw strength from is that this is the most fearless group of individuals I’ve ever come across. There are so many that I admire so much. But if you’re asking me to make sure that you don’t feel pain and trauma, that’s what sports is about. It’s about feeling pain and agony, just as much as joy, wonder, and glory. The funny thing is you leave just as unscathed after you turn the TV off as you did before it was on. That’s the wonder of sports. It allows us to feel every single human emotion, and do so in the safest bloody possible human way—and to do it together. So brace yourself, and pray for wonder. Brace yourself for darkness. But I do believe that with what’s going on in the game, and what’s going on in St. Louis, we’re going to win the World Cup off the field, even if the boys don’t win it on it.
Men in Blazers Live: This Cup's For You comes to The Pageant on Monday, November 21 at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $30, and can be purchased through Ticketmaster.
