An Update on Five Stripe Final

Offering insight on our little boat over here.

Why does Five Stripe Final exist? The answer is simple. We want to strengthen your connection as an Atlanta United fan to the team. We want you to understand more about the club, the players individually, the team’s performances, and on and on. We want to be a conduit to help you, our readers, better enjoy the Atlanta United product.

It’s our opinion that simply publishing words on a page is not enough. Those words can convey valuable information, and we work hard to put those words together — be on a screen or in your ears. But we aren’t the only ones covering this stuff, Atlanta United fans have many options ranging from the club itself to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to Scarves and Spikes, to other local news outlets and fan groups.

With that in mind, we owe it to you to let you know how we’re doing over here, what we’re doing over here, and how you can help us make this place even better.

How we’re doing

• We are happy to report that Five Stripe Final is in solid health, especially among a fraught soccer landscape that has seen attention fall across the board in terms of viewership, readership, etc. It’s not a full-time job for any of us, but the income certainly helps us pay the bills and offers us the time we need to record podcasts, write, research, and pull our (theoretical) hair out with the rest of you watching this team play very poorly over the better part of the last several years.

• Five Stripe Final’s total subscribership is up 8.6% YTD and paid subscribers ticking up at 2.3%. This is a huge testament to you, Atlanta United fans who continue seeking new information and insight about the club despite significant headwinds in the form of economic conditions and, most importantly, Atlanta United’s performance and relevance in the market. Media and journalism outlets are suffering in particular as evidenced by recent cuts at national and local media institutions. We are very thankful for your support, and we hope our product is offering value for your hard earned dollar.

• Podcast listens have increased massively (40%). This number is aided slightly by the fact that Five Stripe Final relaunched here in February 2024, leaving one less month of business in our opening year. But we love that you love the show and hope to make that offering and others even better.

• We made a four-figure donation to Soccer in the Streets last year, and will again this year at an even higher total amount. We pride ourselves on giving back to the soccer community. That’s why we have pledged to donate 10 percent of all proceeds from subscriptions to Soccer In The Streets. They are a wonderful organization that we all believe in.

Our goals for 2026

• As you have seen by now if you’re reading this, we are bringing our show to video and will be expanding in that medium. That includes not just our regular featured episodes, but more throughout the year from the training ground, from the pitch at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and hopefully other places where we have boots on the ground. You’ll also see more short-form from us too, offering quick takes, tactical ideas, reactions, etc.

• To grow, duh. We want more people. All the people. We just want more people to pay attention to soccer and Atlanta United. If we can be the ones to help facilitate that, it’s an honor and privilege, truly. And the larger we grow the audience, the more we can do. From in-person live shows, hiring producers, to simply physically being in more places to report — it all costs time and money. We’d love to do some or all of those things in the future, and we hope that the groundwork laid this coming season will set us on that path. But it won’t be easy in what is an increasingly challenging media environment.

How you can help Five Stripe Final

• First, if you are a paid subscriber, you’re a true legend and hero to many. You are doing your part and we can’t thank you enough.

• If you’re a free subscriber, try subscribing for a month and see if you enjoy? You gotta admit, it’s pretty low risk at $7 (all hail Josef Martinez setting our subscription cost… true story).

• Gift a subscription. If you have a friend who follows Atlanta United, or better yet, a friend you WANT to follow Atlanta United but doesn’t, this is a great way to get them in! Also works as a birthday gift or belated Christmas present? We don’t push this stuff basically ever because we want our podcasts and written content to be 100% pure uncontaminated goodness (and Lord knows they’re already long enough as it is). But this is a great option that we’d highly recommend.

• Get friends involved. Sure, tell them about us I suppose. But they won’t get much out of us if they aren’t already interested in the sport or the team, so get your friends out to a game soon. ESPECIALLY if they used to attend games but haven’t done so recently. There’s a massive population of people here in this city and state that have shown they’ll embrace an exciting soccer team.

Again, thank you for everything you’ve done to support us, even if it’s just listening or reading our free content. This team needs serious coverage, and that’s only possible through you, the fans. Lets hope for all of our sakes that this is the best year yet at Five Stripe Final and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.