“There are so many women who love sports in general, but aren’t connected to the other girls who love sports. There’s no place for us to go, and it’s not because women don’t watch,” says Victoria Henderson, Coronado High School 2013 graduate and founder of The Game, a football community for women.
Growing up in Coronado
Victoria enjoyed growing up in Coronado and spending her summers at the beach. “It’s the most iconic childhood you could possibly have. You don’t realize how special that is until you move away. The freedom that you’re able to have as a child living on Coronado is unlike anything that you can get anywhere else. I’m so grateful for the ability to ride my bike around, and for my parents not to worry about me.”
In addition to the island itself, Victoria appreciated the Coronado lifestyle. “It’s a community that you can count on. If I ever needed anything, I knew I could ride my bike down the street to any number of friends and family houses. That support is really special.”
Victoria credits Coronado High School for setting the stage for her future success. “Coronado, being a competitive high school, was an incredible preparation. I studied psychology at UC Davis, and I’m so grateful for that experience. Coronado High School gives you skills to show up professionally, make connections, and present yourself. That preparation leads to everything else.”
Launching The Game podcast
On September 6, 2025, the first episode of The Game podcast was released. Victoria had recently gone through a breakup and was working in real estate, but knew that was not her end game. “I was getting really burned out in the real estate market. I needed something that felt really fun, really creative, and exciting. I had thought about this podcast for the last three years, since I became a football fan. I was at a very transitional point of life.”
In July 2025, Victoria did what any millennial would. “I posted on TikTok and asked if anybody wanted to be my co-host. That post blew up, and I realized, ‘oh my god, there’s something here.’”
Victoria decided to bring in a co-host as she didn’t feel she had the depth of football knowledge yet to confidently do it on her own. “I knew it would be much more compelling to hear a conversation between women than to have me talk at people about football. This is [only] my fourth season being like a true fan, so I knew it would be beneficial to have another person.”
The Game Summary:
The Game is an NFL-based podcast redefining how we look at and talk about sports. We champion female voices, challenge the status quo, and spark the kinds of conversations the sports media world has long overlooked—blending statistics with lifestyle, analysis with authenticity. With casual banter, bold perspectives, and meaningful dialogue, The Game is where every fan, long-time fans, and newcomers alike pull up a chair.
Women belong in The Game
“I am a woman who’s unafraid to speak in a way that isn’t traditional,” said Victoria. “Women have a seat at most major league sports tables, but they only have a seat there, and a lot of times they’re interviewing the men, and there aren’t that many women-created tables. I feel very compelled to create a table built by women, so we can talk about football in a new way that’s interesting to women and to men.”
The Game navigates both the football game itself and the players’ backgrounds. “Some of the girls don’t care about the X’s and O’s, but then there’s a lot of girls who know their X’s and O’s extremely well,” Victoria explains. “I didn’t want to be a Girly Pop show. I care about the business side. I can hold my own in a conversation about sport. I have no intention of being the Girly Girl’s Guide to Being a Girly Girl at a Football Game. I can talk ball as much as you can talk ball, but I’m going to talk it in a way that is fun. Sport is supposed to be fun. It’s not supposed to be a competition of who knows more stats, and we try to embody both sides.”
Becoming a football fan
While Victoria has four seasons under her belt, her late entry into the sport is exactly what inspired her to create The Game. She said she’d wanted to be a football fan for a really long time, but didn’t have any football-fan girlfriends, nor a big group of guy friends, and wasn’t sure how to jump in on her own.
The final push she needed came in the form of a bet while playing pool on a date. “If I lost, I had to become a Lions fan, and if he lost, he had to pay for the third date. I’m terrible at pool,” she laughs. She lost the bet and is still a Lions fan to this day.
Securing sponsorship for The Game
Cuso Cuts is a sponsor of The Game, a huge victory for a new podcast. “Cody Allen saw what I was doing and said, ‘We think that this is important. We think that this is impactful. We really like what you’re doing, and we really believe in you,’” Victoria explains. “I signed with them before our show existed, and I genuinely cannot say how grateful I am for them. They were just so confident in me, which obviously, starting anything new is nerve-racking, but having somebody say they believe in what you’re doing, and they’re willing to put money behind it, it was really special, especially from a male-owned company. I’m super grateful for them. They’re an incredible company.”
Head to cusocuts.com/thegame for 10% off your Cuso Cuts order.
The Game is accepting additional sponsorships for the podcast, Substack, and social media posts. If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, contact Victoria at [email protected].
Beyond the Podcast
While at a Buffalo Bills game, Victoria struck up a conversation with the woman next to her, who shared that she had been a season ticket holder for 40 years. She told Victoria she was never able to get her friends to come to games.
Victoria explains the impact of that moment. “There are other women sitting in that stadium thinking the exact same thing that she was. I see The Game as bigger than just a podcast. The reason I started the whole thing was that nobody I knew was talking about football the way I wanted to.”
“At the end of the day, we all want connection, close friends, and people who like to do what we like to do.”
Adding Substack and a Fantasy Football League
While the podcast is the cornerstone of The Game, Victoria wants to reach as many people as possible. “I built The Game to meet other women who like football and want to talk about it in a similar way that I do. Once I started running with that, I added the Substack and the fantasy football. Not everybody’s going to want the exact same thing. Not everybody listens to podcasts. That’s fine. But there are girls who want to play fantasy. If they don’t play fantasy, maybe they want to read an article. Maybe they just want to chat during game day. To truly build the broadest community possible, I started rolling with what the girls told me they wanted. We ended up in this multi-channel, multi-dimensional community, which I’m so grateful for, because it’s so fun.”
Victoria envisioned creating something very different in the sports world. She says that a lot of media around sports is male-dominated, especially around the men’s sports leagues, and they often focuses on tiny details that she didn’t think mattered as much. She feels they often get so zoomed in on a specific thing, latch on, and carry it through an entire season. “A woman’s ability to zoom out from any specific play, stat, coach, or team and see the full picture is really special,” she said.
International NFL
The Game has taken Victoria across the world. Shortly after starting the podcast, there was an Indianapolis Colts game in Berlin. Victoria says she loves the Colts because of the ownership story. “The owner, Jim Irsay, passed away and gave the ownership to his daughters: Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt, and Kalen Jackson. Carlie Irsay-Gordon has taken on one of the more front roles with the organization, and she’s been on the field. She’s dripping in Dior on the field, with a notepad and headset on, really diving in. I love everything that she’s doing. I love the way that she’s representing herself, like she truly is a woman in sport who is just demolishing barriers at every angle. You don’t see many owners on the field. You see them in their press box. Watching her was very inspiring, especially with my mission to amplify the feminine voice in the NFL.”
When Victoria learned that Carlie Irsay-Gordon would be at the Colts v Falcons game in Berlin, she had to be there. She found a cheap ticket and made a solo trip. While there, she met other women travelling solo for the game as well, fueling her belief in The Game. “It felt so serendipitous that I had met these two women who wanted to go watch some football, who were interested in the NFL, and who were also unafraid to travel on their own.”
Interviewing Women
At NFL games, Victoria interviews other women. She shares a standout experience where she approached a group of women and asked to interview them for her podcast. “It was Matt Goncalves’ (Colts offensive lineman #71) family: his mom, his fiancée Julie Seifert, and his fiancée’s mom. It was incredible, and I did a full interview with them.”
Overall, Victoria describes the Berlin trip as special. “It was cool to be able to share with the girls in our community that I went to the game and about the game experience. I posted on social media, and that post helped me grow a lot. Any growth on social media helps our mission of amplifying female voices.”
The Game off-season
While football season will be coming to an end in February, The Game will not. The podcast currently drops two to three episodes a week, and in the off-season will change to one. They hope to interview people they can’t get during the season — players, coaches, or staff in the building. It’s hard to schedule them during the season, especially since it’s a new show. The plan is one interview a week for the summer months, as football really never ends; the games are over, but there’s the draft, player trades, coaching changes. Content will also include the drama of where players are vacationing, what lawsuits are happening, and what’s happening with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding.
In the off-season, Victoria is taking time to reflect on how she can best serve the community and create experiences for women. “We did a tailgate this year, which was small but very fun. I plan on expanding in that capacity next year.”
Super Bowl predictions
When asked about Super Bowl predictions, Victoria lets out a nervous laugh. [Editor’s Note: this interview took place prior to the playoffs.] “It’s so hard. I think it’s going to be the Seahawks. I wish it were the Bears, but I’m going with the Seahawks and Broncos. They are both the number one seed, and both are in the AFC and the NFC. It’s so hard, though. I would love to see the Texans go. I would like to see the Bills go so we can stop talking about them. I’m obsessed with Ben Johnson, so I’d love to see the Bears. The Rams, I don’t really care about.”
Join The Game Community
Victoria concludes with gratitude. “I’m just really grateful for all the support and for the women who have come on our show. The girls in the community are some of the best girls ever. It’s a really welcoming, loving place for people to hang out and enjoy sports.”
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