It’s 3 p.m. on a Friday, and Dan Helfrich (SFS’98, MBA’99) is in the press box above Georgetown’s soccer field.
Broadcast headset on, Helfrich scans a stat sheet while keeping a close eye on the game.
“Providence just isn’t able to find a way through the impenetrable Georgetown defense,” he says with 17 minutes left as the Hoyas maintain their 3-0 lead.
Helfrich is the U.S. chair and CEO of Deloitte Consulting. He leads 85,000+ employees to provide consulting services for clients across the United States.
But every fall, no matter his schedule, he carves out time for his “side hustle”: broadcasting Georgetown men’s soccer games.
“The last 20 years have brought me an immense amount of joy that have become a huge part of my identity,” he said. “My life doesn’t feel complete without it.”
Helfrich started broadcasting back in 2004. He played soccer for Georgetown while earning his undergraduate degree in three years from the School of Foreign Service and master’s from the McDonough School of Business in 1999.
Helfrich runs down the field during a Hoyas’ soccer game in 1995.
After graduating, Helfrich remembers seeing two career tracks ahead of him: sports broadcasting or consulting. He chose consulting — but he wasn’t willing to let the other go.
In his early days at Deloitte, Helfrich asked his managers if he could leave work early on certain fall days to broadcast. They said yes, and he’s only missed two home games since.
“For me, it was a no-brainer to say, if I can have a few extra hours of joy in my life through broadcasting, then wouldn’t that be great for my employer to have one of their team members feel more joyful, more fulfilled, happier?” he said. “I had the confidence to ask, and it’s played out in all the right ways.”
For Helfrich, calling soccer games has made him a better leader at Deloitte. In the press box, he’s honed how to be agile, articulate and memorable in the fast-paced rhythm of a soccer game — skills that have served him well in the boardroom, town halls and meetings with clients.
He also said that the time he spends analyzing field dynamics — from coaching to how teammates interact and play together — translates to the teams he leads professionally.
“In many ways the two jobs are mutually reinforcing,” he said, who is also an inaugural member of the McCourt School Advisory Board. “I’m a better CEO because I broadcast and I’m a better broadcaster because of my work at Deloitte.”
Broadcasting His Son
Helfrich plays soccer with his kids at Georgetown when they were growing up.
Helfrich with his wife and their four children at a Georgetown game.
Helfrich’s love for Georgetown soccer runs deep.
He got his own start playing soccer when he was five years old.
“There’s a lot of awkward pictures of me as a five or 6-year-old in my parents’ house wearing awkward sweatpants and with unruly hair, but with a huge smile on my face,” he said. “Soccer’s still putting joy on my face, and my experience playing at Georgetown was unquestionably the most formative experience of my life.”
On the Hilltop, Helfrich was part of the first men’s soccer team in Georgetown’s history to go to the NCAA tournament in 1994.
Almost 30 years later, Helfrich watched his own son play in the NCAA tournament for the Hoyas. On Nov. 17, Georgetown won its sixth Big East championship in program history, this time against Providence.
Helfrich (right) with his wife Kristie and son Matthew (B’27), who plays for Georgetown men’s soccer.
Helfrich said he finds watching his son play from the stands more stressful than calling his son’s moves from the press box. In the press box, he’s in broadcaster mode. After the game, he’s dad again.
“This place has deep meaning to me,” he said. “It has deep meaning to my family. It’s a borderline spiritual experience for me. Every time I’m here, it connects me to my past, it connects my generation to my son’s generation. So much of who I am is formed by my five years as a student at Georgetown.”
Dan doesn’t see his broadcasting gig letting up any time soon. The broadcasting booth at Georgetown feels like home, he says.
Helfrich broadcasts with Tom Greaser (B’98) (left), a fellow alumnus and former men’s soccer teammate.
“Being a storyteller and building a relationship with that audience over time is such a privilege. It’s such a gift. Twenty years down and 40 more to go and we’ll keep doing it,” he says.
