"In 2016, Alexis Guerrero and Christian Polanco were in their first year as hosts of The Cooligans and finessed wristbands for a VIP MLS Cup party, sensing immediately that they didn't belong there. We had no business cards, Guerrero told amNY. We were handing professional people stickers [of the show]. The comedian duo was struck by being in the same room as former MLS commentators Rob Stone and John Strong, and noticed a few players not involved in that year's championship were off to the side on their phones including 2017 Gold Cup-winning striker Juan Agudelo."
"We normalized having comedians in this space, Polanco said. In the first five years we would have hardened journalists that cover American soccer [find out] we actually know our stuff, and we know the game. There's a certain level of respect that we have to have for the game and for [professionals] to be fans and say we offer something really cool to the game that's the more validating statement [that] we're contributing to something that people appreciate."
"From recording their first shows in each other's kitchens in 2015, Guerrero, a Cuban-American from Newark, NJ, and Polanco, a Dominican-American from Sunset Park, Brooklyn, have blended their unique humour and comedy with the Beautiful Game for over 900 episodes on Yahoo! Sports."
Alexis Guerrero and Christian Polanco began The Cooligans with kitchen-recorded shows in 2015 and landed a breakthrough connection with active player Juan Agudelo after a 2016 MLS Cup party. They combined comedy and soccer to produce over 900 episodes on Yahoo! Sports and expanded into TV and event hosting, including CBS Morning Footy and work with FuboTV. They emceed local tournaments and were chosen to host the U.S. Soccer Federation's 2026 World Cup draw watch party in Times Square. They earned respect from traditional soccer journalists by demonstrating deep knowledge of the game while normalizing comedians within soccer media.
Read at www.amny.com
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