Men in Blazers Media Network and Visa Team Up to Launch Fan-Powered City Guides Celebrating Soccer Culture and Local Businesses
SPORTS
Men in Blazers City Guides, presented by Visa.
With millions of travelers set to explore new cities across North America this summer, Men in Blazers Media Network and Visa announced a new collaboration designed to celebrate the cities, cultures, and small businesses that give the global game its local heartbeat.
Product Architecture and Community-Driven Curation
As part of this effort, Visa and MiBMN are launching Men in Blazers City Guides, presented by Visa, a fan-powered travel companion for this summer and beyond, fueled by soccer-fan-curated recommendations and video reviews. City Guides were built to offer the authentic, local soccer fan's perspective in helping global traveling supporters discover where to eat, drink, watch, and explore around the 13 cities across the U.S. and Canada, while driving visibility and commerce to local businesses during one of the world's most anticipated sporting moments.
The City Guides bring together Visa's commitment to small businesses and MiBMN's deep connection to soccer fans, using fan insight and storytelling to turn match-day travel into meaningful, locally rooted experiences.
Strategic Vision and Local Experience Focus
"The game of soccer lives far beyond the stadium," said Roger Bennett, Founder and CEO of Men in Blazers Media Network. "When the whole world arrives on our shores this summer, we want travelers to truly feel and absorb the distinct and beautiful wonder of each city. To do that, we wanted to take on the burden of sourcing the local favorites, so they can focus more on the joys of the experience and less on the planning of it. Working together with Visa allows us to elevate those local institutions and help supporters experience these cities through the lens of the people who know them best."
The positioning reframes travel curation as service removing friction rather than adding discovery burden, acknowledging that planning fatigue often diminishes travel enjoyment. The local lens emphasis differentiates from algorithm-driven recommendation systems that lack cultural context.
Data Foundation and Content Structure
The inaugural City Guides are designed to help travelers navigate each destination with intention. Powered by more than 25,000 fan recommendations collected through a nationwide survey, the guides spotlight 25-plus destinations per city across four categories.
The 25,000 recommendation dataset provides statistical validity while the four-category structure creates navigable framework preventing overwhelming choice. The per-city destination count balances comprehensiveness with usability.
Visa & Main Integration and Small Business Support
This collaboration builds on Visa & Main, Visa's program dedicated to supporting small businesses at the intersection of commerce and community. Through Visa & Main, Visa works to connect small businesses with customers, tools, and opportunities, making the City Guides a natural extension of that commitment during a global moment when local discovery matters.
"This initiative is about capitalizing on the moment and directing fans toward the small businesses and local institutions that shape the character of each city," said Kyndra Russell, Chief Marketing Officer, North America at Visa. "By working with Men in Blazers and its incredibly passionate fan community, and building on our broader commitment through Visa & Main, we're connecting global fandom with local commerce in ways that meaningfully support small businesses this summer and beyond."
The Visa & Main alignment positions City Guides within existing corporate responsibility framework while the timing capitalizes on concentrated tourism driving measurable economic impact during compressed event window.
Content Ecosystem and Distribution Strategy
The City Guides serve as the flagship expression of Traveling Support, a new travel-focused storytelling platform designed to help fans experience soccer culture wherever the game is played. Additionally, MiBMN will release a series of short-form videos filmed at fan-recommended locations, featuring Roger Bennett and network talent alongside local creators. The content will appear across Men in Blazers' social channels and extended digital platforms, highlighting the people and places where soccer culture thrives.
The short-form video component creates social media distribution vehicle while local creator collaborations provide authentic voice and production scalability across 13 cities. The Traveling Support platform branding suggests ongoing content series extending beyond single event.
Availability and Access
Fans can explore the City Guides, presented by Visa by visiting meninblazers.com/city-guides and start planning their journeys today.
About Men in Blazers Media Network
The Men in Blazers Media Network operates as the largest soccer dedicated media company in North America, entertaining the most passionate and expansive fan base on the continent with comprehensive coverage of the global game across the men's and women's landscape. MiBMN has grown over the last decade from a single podcast to 360-degree coverage, including verticals offering authentic storytelling and analysis specifically tailored to superfans of the women's game through The Women's Game platform and the hyper-passionate Hispanic American soccer community through the VAMOS platform.
Through trusted partnerships with iconic brands and unparalleled relationships with the biggest names in entertainment, sports, and world football, MiBMN leads the conversation on the global game in North America with meaningful, genuine storytelling. The MiBMN ecosystem produces over a thousand shows a year, with millions of followers and billions of views across platforms.