Since 2001, Dan Pfeifer’s voice has been part of the soundtrack of the best soccer in the State of Wisconsin, as well as some of the biggest moments in Racine sports. Now, that voice will also be part of the matchday experience for RKC Third Coast.

Pfeifer will be the public address announcer for about half of the men’s & women’s RKC Third Coast matches in 2024. He comes to Pritchard Park with a sound familiar to sports fans from the Belle City, as well as anyone who has been around high-level college or high school soccer in southeastern Wisconsin over the last quarter-century.

“I’m excited to strengthen my connection to Racine & Kenosha Counties and sports fans along the I-94 corridor, as well as be a part of an organization as committed to growth and improvement as RKC Third Coast,” Pfeifer said. “I’ve seen what this organization can do first- hand. From the new crest to the people surrounding the team and a fighting, never-say-die spirit, it’s a great fit for me and the attitude I try to bring to everything I do.”

Pfeifer has provided the PA voice for every Marquette University men’s & women’s soccer regular season, tournament and postseason game at Valley Fields since the 2007 season — a streak that will enter its 18th year this fall and currently stands at 356 consecutive matches. Pfeifer has also been the voice of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state boys & girls high school soccer championships at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee since 2019.

“It takes people by surprise now when I say soccer was an acquired taste for me,” Pfeifer said. “I was one of the few kids who went to school in the club soccer stronghold of Brookfield (Wis.) who didn’t play. I was the PA announcer for the first match I ever watched in person when I was 19. I needed the offside and corner kick rules explained to me that day. I was Ted Lasso before Ted Lasso.”

That first match was an intrasquad scrimmage for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s soccer program when Pfeifer was a UWM sophomore in 2001. At the time, the Panthers were led by head coach Louis Bennett and associate head coach, former UW-Parkside All-American and Racine-area native Stan Anderson. Under Bennett’s leadership, UWM was consistently a nationally ranked program. During Pfeifer’s time at UWM, representatives from Puma visited what was then known as Engelmann Field and declared it to have the best college soccer atmosphere in the nation.

“Bennett and Anderson had no reason to take me under their wing,” Pfeifer said, “but they did, and I’m eternally grateful.” “They saw the potential in me to bring an energy unlike what most other colleges had to their matchday environment. They also made me feel like a valued part of their program, helped me learn the game and set me up for success in sports in general. We had a very special thing at UWM during those years, and it was exciting to me to know I was just getting started with the game.”

Over the past 17 years at Marquette, Pfeifer has announced the names of numerous eventual MLS players, including Marquette’s own Calum Mallace, Charlie Lyon and Luis Barraza. While Bennett retired from Marquette after the conclusion of the 2023 season, Anderson has utilized Pfeifer for over a decade as the emcee for Camp Shutout, a goalkeeper training program Anderson has run for over 40 years. Camp Shutout’s “Big Show” is the world’s largest residential youth goalkeeper camp, a six-day event for over 400 youth goalkeepers held annually in July in Stevens Point, Wis. With over 100 college and pro keepers working as staffers as well, Pfeifer’s voice and energy are familiar to most players who have spent any amount of time as a high-level keeper in the Midwest over the last decade. Anderson also continues to be assistant coach for the University of Illinois-Chicago and a cherished friend of Pfeifer’s. Pfeifer served as UWM’s matchday announcer music coordinator from 2001-04 before stepping away from the game for a couple years to finish school and establish a career path. When Bennett made the move from UWM to Marquette in 2006, Pfeifer was immediately interested in helping. It took a year, but in 2007, Pfeifer took the mic at Marquette’s Valley Fields and has figuratively never let it go. Anderson nicknamed Pfeifer “the Voice of the Valley” early in their Marquette tenures; the moniker has stuck as Marquette has been able to use the energy, professionalism and consistency

Pfeifer brings to the Valley as a recruiting tool ever since. In the 23 years since Pfeifer’s first UWM scrimmage behind the mic, he has had “the honor,” in his words, of being on the microphone for:

• Nine NCAA College Cup & Women’s College Cup matches hosted by UWM or Marquette
• Thirty WIAA state championship matches across all four divisions of the boys & girls tournaments
• Ten meetings between UWM Marquette for The Milwaukee Cup, often the best- attended soccer match in the state annually and a true derby featuring a longstanding and storied traveling trophy claimed by the victorious team
• The 2013 BIG EAST Women’s Soccer Championship
• Four Horizon League Men’s Soccer Championships

The 2002 Horizon League Women’s Soccer Championship
Pfeifer’s work is not limited to soccer, though. He also has a strong connection to one of Racine’s longest-running and proudest sporting institutions: Minor-league (gridiron) football’s 10- time national champion Racine Raiders. Pfeifer is currently in his second run as the Raiders’ primary PA announcer, having resumed work with the Raiders in 2021 after previously having held the role from 2011-14. “When it comes to the list of clients for my sports work,” Pfeifer said, “the Raiders are among my proudest ones to name because of their over 70-year history of success and deep commitment to the Racine community. Their success should rightfully be a source of pride for the people of Racine, and I’m hopeful RKC Third Coast can become a similar beacon of pride for Racine & Kenosha Counties as the organization grows and achieves its own victories.”

Pfeifer’s work in sports began while he was in high school at Brookfield (Wis.) Central in 1996. While the majority of his work in sports has involved PA announcing, he is now also one of Marquette men’s & women’s basketball official statisticians, does play-by-play for the University of Chicago’s gridiron football team and lists a roster of 15 “clients” across colleges, high schools, sports governing bodies, leagues, events and media organizations for his work, including Milwaukee’s FC Milwaukee Torrent, with whom Pfeifer has worked with for nearly a decade. Last year, Pfeifer formally turned his sports work into a business unto itself, Pfeifer Sports LLC.

“I use the title of ‘Sports Media Professional’ for myself with my sports work because it’s difficult to describe what all I’m lucky enough to do with anything more specific. I get to be around a lot of teams and great events. It’s one of the most fun ways I can think of to make a little extra money.”

Among Pfeifer’s previous clients was also the Green Bay Glory soccer team. In 2023, Pfeifer was the streaming broadcast’s color commentator for the first RKC Third Coast women’s team victory, a 2-1 win over the Glory in Green Bay. “We were stunned on the broadcast,” Pfeifer said. “RKC had struggled in its first matches, but showed no loss of confidence whatsoever and was by far the better team than the established Glory that night. I was tremendously impressed. RKC didn’t just win the match that night; it won me over as well.” “There are awesome people with the Glory organization, as there are with every club in the state. I had a great, longstanding relationship with the leadership of the Glory’s media team, dating back to when a couple members lived in Milwaukee, and was willing to help. The trip from my home near Milwaukee to Green Bay was taxing, though, and it wasn’t always a perfect fit. Accordingly, when I found out there was interest on the part of Wayne Howard and RKC in having me be a part of what they were doing this year, having seen their spirit and heart last year, I was interested.” “I’m excited to see where we can take things in terms of encouraging fan energy at matches, delivering great value to our sponsors and showing the Racine & Kenosha areas that we’re producing great soccer players & teams in this region.”

As the “beautiful game” grew on Pfeifer, his commitment to the sport did as well. He began playing recreationally early in his time as Marquette’s announcer and has occasionally, and poorly, taken a spot as a striker on both indoor & outdoor rec teams since. He became a Chelsea FC supporter when Marquette’s fan base adopted Blue Is The Color as a song for itself in the early 2010s; his fandom was cemented when Eden Hazard potted a hat trick on a 2014 morning when Pfeifer also had a tryout for the then-vacant PA job with the Chicago Fire of MLS. After the tryout, Pfeifer was one of four finalists out of 400 applicants for the role, losing out to Tim Sinclair, who has since gone on to be the NBA’s choice as its PA announcer annually for its All-Star Game, in addition to taking on the roles with the Chicago Bears & Bulls. As for Chelsea, Dan and his wife, Pam, included visits to Wembley Stadium and Stamford Bridge in their 2015 London honeymoon, with the trip to the Bridge coming as Chelsea finished the 2014-15 Premier League season by raising the championship trophy and carrying heroic striker Didier Drogba off the pitch in his final appearance in Chelsea blue. Drogba later played with Mallace, Pfeifer’s favorite Marquette star, as Drogba wound down his career with the team now known as CF Montreal.

Pfeifer turns 42 on June 1, 2024. He met Pam through a shared hobby of swing dancing and the two are still known to do a mean Lindy Hop on occasion. The Pfeifers live in Greenfield, Wis. with three beloved cats in lieu of choosing to forego children. In addition to Pfeifer Sports LLC, Dan maintains a 9-to-5 day job working with Marquette University’s alumni & donor database. In what little free time he has, Dan has many interests, including rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers, Green Bay Packers and Marquette, naps, root beer, bicycling, travel, working out, listening to podcasts, music by favorite artists like Billy Joel and Fastball, watching Whose Line Is It Anyway? and reading about a wide variety of topics.