Ryan Cassidy ’99: PhillyGoat Impacts Philly Phan Culture While Being “For and With Others”

If you walk around Citizens Bank Park during any Phillies game, you will see the results of his work:

The shirts all evoke the feeling of “If You Know, You Know,” and that’s exactly the idea that Ryan Cassidy '99 had when he started PhillyGoat in 2020. 

Though he now lives in Boston, where he works as the head of global media marketing for New Balance, Cassidy continues to be a huge fan of the Philadelphia sports teams. When the pandemic hit in 2020 and he had time on his hands, he created PhillyGoat, wanting to impact the fan base that means so much to him.

“It has been a nice outlet for me,” says Cassidy. “Growing up in Delco, I was Philly sports obsessed — Phillies, Eagles, Sixers. For a long time, though, all you could get were generic, team-sponsored items from the stadium store or through a sporting goods store. I wanted to create items that had tongue-in-cheek links to the Philly sports culture that my friends and I would wear.”

At first, the shirts were for his own use, and then for a few family members and friends, and it has “snowballed from there,” he says. Former Eagle and now WIP Sportstalk host Hugh Douglas and Phillies legend and broadcaster John Kruk both frequently sport the brand.

 “It has really grown, and I am so happy that I am in a position to help influence the Philly fan culture,” Cassidy says.

Having been educated to be a “man for and with others,” as Cassidy’s audience grew, he knew he wanted to use his platform to support causes important to him. A big fan of the 1993 Phillies, Cassidy connected with the Darren Daulton Foundation, which was founded in honor of the former Phillie to support patients going through brain cancer treatments. As of today, PhillyGoat has donated more than $25,000 to the cause. 

Working with Kruk, he also connected with the Battle Brothers Foundation, which helps veterans transition back into civilian life, with a focus on mental health. A portion of all proceeds of “Kruk-related” merchandise goes directly to this cause, and more than $15,000 has been raised. Cassidy has also utilized his relationship with Douglas to raise money for the Hugh Thomas Douglas Memorial Fund, which supports a scholarship at Morehouse College in the name of Hugh’s son after the young man’s sudden, tragic death. 

The most recent act of service Cassidy has been involved with may be the one of which he is most proud. His 10-year-old daughter Devin, an aspiring artist, asked if she could draw something to help kids who were sick. Proud father Ryan asked what she liked best about the Phillies and she answered, of course, the Phanatic. PhillyGoat posted Devin’s design last month, with proceeds going to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 

“That hit home for me,” Cassidy says. “She’s a great kid and I’m thrilled to not only support her artwork but also to do this in a way that connects us to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.” In just a few weeks, the donations have reached almost $1,000. 

The company is booming, with new items coming all the time, adding to his special collections (including one for the Prep that is mostly an homage to his time at the school he loves with items that are mostly catering to his classmates and friends). Still, it is the charitable side that is Cassidy’s favorite part.

“That has been the most rewarding thing for me,” he says. “Yes, it’s nice to get some money on the side, in addition to my full-time job at New Balance, but doing it in a way that helps others is great.” 

He credits his strong Catholic and Jesuit education, first at Waldron Mercy Academy and then at the Prep. “Waldron really instilled strong Catholic values and that, obviously, continued at St. Joe’s Prep,” he says. “Being in service to others, being of use to others, is something I have always known I wanted to continue in my life. I think I have found my own unique way to do it.”

While Cassidy and his wife, Christine, have created a family of their own with three children (including twin boys in addition to Devin), he still considers his Prep friends as family too. 

“You go through life hoping that you have made an impact, and at the Prep, I learned to see that impact through retreats like Kairos or service trips like Ivanhoe,” he says. “I’m still on a text thread with about a dozen of my SJP classmates that we go back and forth on daily. The Prep is a special experience and a place where you form lasting bonds.”