Game Changer

By Patrick Bohn, March 17, 2025

Matt Hochberg '16 and his company elevate professional women soccer players by connecting them to opportunities on and off the pitch.

Matt Hochberg '16 at right with clients and professional women soccer players (from left) Emily Boyd, Vanessa DiBernardo, Danny Colaprico, and Arin Wright.

(Photo submitted)

In 2019, Matt Hochberg ’16 was sitting in a café in Chelsea with his laptop, sending Instagram DMs to female professional athletes on behalf of his newly launched company, Hochberg Sports Marketing (HSM).

“When you’re doing the social media version of cold calling, it’s a numbers game. Over a two-week stretch, I sent so many messages that Instagram wouldn’t let me send anymore for a certain period of time,” he laughed.

Hochberg, who majored in sports management at IC, was in that café trying to get his company off the ground and saw opportunities to elevate the profiles of women in sport by connecting them with paid sponsorship opportunities.

Officially founded in December of 2019, HSM is a full-service women’s soccer agency currently representing more than two dozen clients who play in some of the biggest women’s professional soccer leagues in the United States and abroad. Brokering more than 60 deals a year for its clients, in December 2024, the media outlet Rise of Women’s Football named it one of the top 10 women’s soccer agencies in the United States.

“Female athletes were applying to campaigns and either charging too little or not at all. It was clear they didn’t see the value they could add and what they’d get if they asked. And that hesitancy to ask for appropriate compensation was something I hadn’t seen from male athletes."

Matt Hochberg '16

The company was the result of an “ah-ha” moment Hochberg had while working at OpenSponsorships, a New York City-based company that connects athletes with brands looking for spokespeople.

“If a company was looking for a California-based athlete aged 25 to 30 to do a social media post for their product, I would find an athlete who fit that description and who had a sizeable enough following on that platform,” he said. “I’d also help athletes ‘apply’ for campaigns I thought they’d be a good fit for.”

Hochberg recalled one award-winning athlete in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) who had tens of thousands of followers on social media but was doing “product-only” deals — making posts in exchange for free products. One day, he saw she had applied to a beverage company campaign but hadn’t asked to be paid. He reached out, and the pair started a conversation, and Hochberg shared that he saw an opportunity for her.

Hochberg, seen here with clients (from left to right) Kenna Caldwell and Simone Charley before the 2024 National Women's Soccer League Championship game, has not only secured sponsorship deals for clients, but negotiated free agent contracts as a FIFA-certified football agent. (Photo submitted)

“It was this real eye-opening moment for both of us,” Hochberg said. “She just loved making the posts; she hadn’t even thought about getting paid for it. I told her that she’d be able to charge, given the size of her following, and she wound up being paid $5,000 for the posts.”

The more Hochberg looked at the campaigns the female athletes were applying for, and the more he spoke to athletes, the clearer the trend became.

“Female athletes were applying to campaigns and either charging too little or not at all,” he said. “It seemed like they didn’t see the value they could add to companies and what they’d get if they asked. And that hesitancy to ask for appropriate compensation was something I hadn’t seen from male athletes.

“I think for a long time, there was a cloud over women in sports,” he continued. “Where they’re not seen as being worth the money. So, they get underserved, and aren’t shown what they can ask for, so they feel less confident in asking, which perpetuates the cycle.”

Hochberg saw opportunity to break that cycle, starting with paid sponsorships. Which bring us back to that fateful café in Chelsea and the hundreds of DMs.

Hochberg’s pitch was direct and simple: “I told them that I was focused on helping women athletes market themselves, that I had identified them as someone who could provide value to companies by promoting their products, and I wanted to help them secure sponsors.”

“I think for a long time, there was a cloud over women in sports. Where they’re not seen as being worth the money. So, they get underserved, and aren’t shown what they can ask for, so they feel less confident in asking, which perpetuates the cycle.”

Matt Hochberg

Those first few weeks, he estimated his response rate was “about 5%.” But all it takes is one, and for Hochberg, the one was Danny Colaprico, then a midfielder for the Chicago Dash of the NWSL.

“She took a call with me, became a client, and two months later, I closed a brand partnership for her with NOW Foods, an Illinois-based health and wellness company,” he said. “Danny then recommended me to her teammates, and HSM grew from there.”

While women’s soccer had always been HSM’s primary focus, over the next few years, it briefly expanded into working with volleyball and track athletes. Then, in 2022, everything changed when the NWSL introduced free agency, allowing players to sign contracts with other teams in the league.

Hochberg secured client Ali Riley, a member of the NWSL's Angel City FC and the New Zealand national team, in 2022.

“My client Arin Wright called me and asked me to be her representative and help her negotiate her contract,” he said. “I was humbled and told her that while it would be a learning experience for me, I’d advocate for her.”

Hochberg did just that, helping Wright secure her contract. In 2024, he became a FIFA-certified football agent, and he now advocates for female athletes on and off the field.

“Everything I do goes back to trust,” he said. “Especially when it comes to on-field management, because most of my clients there are based on referrals.”

Hochberg sees more growth opportunities for female athletes in marketing and branding, especially with name and likeness deals becoming more common for college athletes.

“In my experience, female athletes create better content and value for the companies they partner with,” he said. “I see them doing more than just the basics in the posts themselves. And women’s fans go above and beyond in supporting the brands that these athletes endorse, because they want to help these athletes.”

Hochberg and his clients are gradually elevating the expectations for what female athletes can demand and leveling the playing field.

“My earnings through HSM are more than double my salary from the NWSL. Working with a company that understands me and my goals has allowed me to be my authentic self through my job, my passions, and in the media.”

Ali Riley, member of Angel City Football Club in the National Women's Soccer League

“In 2022, I called Ali Riley, who plays for Angel City FC in the NWSL,” he said. “Here’s was someone who had played for the New Zealand national team in four Women’s World Cups and three Olympics, had more than 100,000 followers on Instagram, and had no one formally representing her on the marketing side. She’s our client now, but the fact that she was that accomplished and had no representation — you’d never see that on the men’s side. That’s what we’re trying to change.”

The athletes who work with HSM say it’s had a major impact on them, and their sport.

“There is a ton of opportunity for partnerships between female athletes and brands that we have not taken advantage of in the past, and HSM has been a major player in changing that for the better,” said Colaprico. “With growing and passionate fanbases, female athletes have huge influence. So HSM being there has really helped push forward women’s sports and women's soccer.”

“My earnings through HSM are more than double my salary from the NWSL,” Riley said. “Working with a company that understands me and my goals has allowed me to be my authentic self through my job, my passions, and in the media.”