Five Years of Sports Gossip
Plus: A gift to you!
If Bravo and ESPN had a baby, it would be Impersonal Foul. This newsletter is free, but consider becoming a paying subscriber to support the work that I’m doing.
For partnership inquiries or to just say hello, email madeline@impersonalfoul.com.
Five years ago today, I sent my first newsletter about Larsa Pippen dating NBA player Malik Beasley.
I’ve spent a lot of time this past week offline at the absolutely magical Golden Door, thinking about all of the lives I lived that got me here.
Before we discuss all that, I wanted to share that annual subscriptions are 20% off for a limited time to celebrate five years of sports gossip. Your support means the world!
✨Plus: The first 10 people to email me their new annual subscription receipt will get a free Impersonal Foul hat! USA shipping only.
I started this newsletter during the pandemic as a passion project while I oversaw social media strategy for Reese Witherspoon’s production company.
I always loved and played sports, but I never worked in the industry.
The closest I ever came to Sports Media™ was interviewing the stars of an upcoming Paramount movie at a press junket held at the ESPN offices in LA.
Flash forward to this past spring and I found myself sitting on a *sports* panel at the ESPNW Summit.
The idea of Impersonal Foul was born out of my love of sports and pop culture.
In 2020, no one was covering off-the-field storylines in a way that spoke to me, so I figured I’d do it myself on a new platform called Substack.
I posted a Note about this last month, but I cannot keep track of how many new initiatives from media companies or current/former athletes have launched since then that are trying to tap into this mysterious intersection of sports and ______.
I have my own opinions on which of these ventures are actually working and which aren’t, but you can DM me for those thoughts.
My first newsletter went out to 60 people, but I knew in my delusional soul that I had something special—even if the sports world wasn’t quite ready for it yet at the time.
Since then, this community has grown beyond my wildest dreams and I’ve been able to do things I never thought were possible.
I started a note in my phone with a list of those things and I thought I’d share a few highlights:
Trademarked Impersonal Foul™
Launched The Sports Gossip Show with Charlotte Wilder.
Went on sports-themed brand trips, which I still can’t get over. Thank you, Nike and Salomon.
Charted in the top 20 sports podcasts on Apple Podcasts.
Interviewed incredible creators like ArtButMakeItSports.
Collaborated with friends on here, like Hunter Harris and Erika Veurink.
Was interviewed for a Hulu doc (yes, the one that got cancelled) and Vice doc both about you know who...
Credentialed at NFL and WNBA home openers, a Buffalo Bills game, and the US Open.
Interviewed as a sports gossip expert by The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
Went on CNN!
Became a bestselling newsletter on this platform.
Got a PR box from Gatorade!
Partnered with some of my favorite brands, like Brooklinen.
Received my first troll email.
In this middle of all of this, I also had some personal highlights:
Got married.
Graduated with a master’s degree from Oxford and wrote a thesis about how celebrities use Instagram.
Moved to London, back to California, and finally settled in New York.
Started taking adult beginner ballet classes.
Cleared most of my adult acne. If you have acne, you know how hard this is. If you’re in New York, see Sofie Pavitt and she will change your life.
I’ve sent over 200 newsletters and I’ve included a few of the ones that have been read the most and some of my personal favorites below:
Most Popular
My Favorites
I can’t believe writing this newsletter for all of you is now my job.
I really can’t believe it!
Thank you to everyone who has subscribed, shared it with a friend, left a comment, or even sent me a troll email.
If this is what five years of sports gossip looks like, I can’t even begin to imagine what a decade will bring.
If Bravo and ESPN had a baby, it would be Impersonal Foul. This newsletter is free, but consider becoming a paying subscriber to support the work that I’m doing.
You can follow me on Instagram here, Twitter here and TikTok here. Enjoy the endless void of content!