LOVE WINS

It’s been a major year for professional soccer stars Tobin Heath and Christen Press. In addition to getting married, the former World Cup champions both retired from the sport, officially hanging up their jerseys with the end of the 2025 season. Now, the couple is focusing on growing their global sports media brand, RE-INC, and with it their podcast, RE-CAP, dedicated to the ever-changing world of women’s sports.

“We started the media division [of our business] with the mission to reimagine the way women are seen and experienced in sports,” Heath tells Bustle. “We want to tell stories around the culture that exists in women’s sports that wasn’t being shown anywhere in the media.”

What started as a side project in 2023 has since grown to thousands of listeners worldwide and even earned them the 2024 Sports Podcast Award for “Best Equality and Social Impact Podcast.” They’ve also earned a sponsorship with Ally. In addition to a segment called “Banking with Bob,” the duo was invited to host a live podcast segment at Ally House during the 2025 NWSL championship weekend in November.

Below, the podcasting power couple discusses the future of women’s sports and what they hope for the next generation of soccer stars after their appearance at Ally House.

Can you tell me more about your mission to change the way women are seen in sports and how RE-INC helps usher in this new era of media representation?

TH: During my playing days, I felt like the media was so disconnected from who the athletes actually were and what they were actually doing. There was a very narrow lens for women's athletes, and, honestly, it was just what the patriarchy would like to see as opposed to the fullness, the diversity, the interesting stories that actually existed in and around our sport. Because of that, I always shied away from media. It felt like I would have to conform to a different version of myself to be in the spotlight, and there's no worse feeling for me than being inauthentic to who I am.

Everything we’ve created around RE-INC is all about re-imagination; we took those frustrations and built a business that filled in the gaps. It was an opportunity to be the voice that we desperately wanted as athletes. We were probably the last people that you would've ever thought would've stepped up to take that role, but we were like, “If it’s not going to be us, who’s it going to be?” Somebody’s going to try to tell our stories; it should be the people who know and have been in this culture that know it the best.

How has it been seeing the rise in viewership for women’s sports over the past few years?

CP: It's very inspiring. We've been fighting for progress and opportunity across the board, and it’s not often you work towards something and see it come to fruition. What’s happened in women’s sports has been truly phenomenal. This little league has come so far in 12 years; just imagine where it’s going to be in the next 12.

What does the future of women’s sports look like to you?

TH: I don’t want it to be “women’s sports.” I want the future of all sports to look different. I want it to feel more expansive, more accessible, more inclusive. That, to me, would be the true reflection of the vision that I have, because we're opening another door, but it's all for the same purpose. Sports inspire; sports bring people together. It makes people cheer for things. It makes people celebrate. It's ingrained in our culture. It's the way that we are able to settle differences. Sometimes it's the way we compete. It's the way that we push progress in society forward. It's the way that we stand up for things. It's the way that we fight. It's such a visual art of society. Sport is art, and art ultimately progresses us further. When I look at the future of women's sports, it's the future of what I want all sports to look like, which is a beautiful tapestry of progress and the values that we think should exist in this world that sometimes feel like, in sports, are closed off. We want to open all those doors so that every single person is included in what we believe is the most magical thing in the world: sports.

CP: I would love for women's sports to be pushing forward the way that we pay and treat athletes. I want everyone to be looking at the NWSL as a model for the future of fair pay and treatment of the players. I would then want women's sports to be what it's always been, which is the movement behind progress, equity, and inclusion for others. For Tobin and me, we spent most of our careers fighting for the groups that we represent ourselves, and that's because we were under siege. We didn't get paid enough; we didn't get respect. There wasn't inclusivity in the space for us, and we fought for it. There's still more work to be done, but once we achieve that to a certain level, once the NBA is looking at us for how we treat our players, then I think women's sports gets to have this opportunity to fight for what we want to see in the world at large. And that's what I love about sports. I love it as a vehicle for change. I love it for the kneeling and the protesting and the signage in the stadium that is trying to make people feel seen and heard and understood. And I think when that can go from a necessity to an athlete just representing what they want for others, that's really a big transformation.

How has starting a company and podcast helped strengthen your relationship?

CP: I always wanted a partner who I admired, someone who I could look up to, and through the business, Tobin has opened and expanded in what I understand she's capable of. I always knew she was good at everything, but she was so singular in football, and to see her expand in this way to create a media division and design all of our products, she’s just so incredible in what she believes in herself to be able to do that it’s made me feel really proud and joyful to be partnered with someone that I will always be looking up to.

TH: It’s such a weird thing because we're so aligned, even in our strengths and weaknesses, and I believe that there's no vision or dream that I can put out into the world that Christen can't execute. For some reason, our two forces came together, and I believe they came together for something so much more beyond us. We get to enjoy each other — that's so easy — but to be inspired by somebody that you get to wake up next to every day is really an incredible thing.

Do you have any advice for the next generation of NWSL players?

TH: I think the greatest thing that we can give to the next generation is the ability to dream and have hope and to realize that their dreams can be achieved.

CP: And I think there’s this natural evolution of players where you fight so hard for everything to get better, and then it gets way better, and you're out and don't necessarily get to experience it. And all of that is the most beautiful part of it. Of course we're all like, “Well, it could have been better for us,” but it's all in jest, because getting to watch these players just be players and not have to juggle negotiations and not have to juggle media where everyone's getting bombarded about the things that you're standing for, which they still do, but not in the same way it did during our moment — that's the dream. That's what we fought for. And I think the torch will be carried so beautifully by great football. The fight is still there, and everyone's going to keep fighting, but if there was nothing more done than beautiful football, getting paid, scoring goals, and inspiring, that's the job, and I think the next generation is doing it beautifully.