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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News.

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Speaker 2: This is the.

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Speaker 1: Business of soccer. They appa divers here in this country

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Speaker 1: is here to stay.

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Speaker 3: The Global World Cup of twenty six will bring just

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Speaker 3: that the globe to the United States.

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Speaker 1: Every four year, you know, there's this moment where the world.

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Speaker 4: Wakes up to the incredible athletes that we have on

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Speaker 4: the US and these national teams.

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Speaker 3: There are more soccer games available to watch on television

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Speaker 3: in the US than any other country in the world.

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Speaker 2: Soccer, or as.

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Speaker 1: I would call it living in the UK, football is

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Speaker 1: the biggest sport.

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Speaker 2: In the world.

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Speaker 1: There's a gap in the market around women's soccer, and

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Speaker 1: we're here to fill that gap. Bloomberg Business of Soccer

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Speaker 1: from Bloomberg Radio. Welcome back.

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Speaker 4: This is a special edition of the Bloomberg Business of

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Speaker 4: Sports podcasts, The Business of Soccer. I'm Vanessa Perdomo and

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Speaker 4: I'm diving in behind the scenes of the world's game

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Speaker 4: more as we get ready for the twenty twenty six

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Speaker 4: fee Foot World Cup, which is only eight months away. Today,

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Speaker 4: we'll be taking a closer look at one of the

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Speaker 4: co hosts of the World Cup, Mexico. Mexico will host

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Speaker 4: ten games across three major cities Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara.

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Speaker 4: Soccer has been the biggest sport in the country for

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Speaker 4: over one hundred years, and the fans are beyond passionate.

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Speaker 4: They are consistently among the top travelers for the World Cup,

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Speaker 4: and their top league, League MX, is more popular in

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Speaker 4: the US than Major League Soccer. In this episode, we're

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Speaker 4: going to speak to Bloomberg reporter Gonzalo Soto out of

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Speaker 4: Mexico City about the economic impact of the sport in

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Speaker 4: the country. But first I spoke with one of the

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Speaker 4: owners of Lega MX team, Club Nicoxa, about why he

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Speaker 4: invested in the league and the potential he sees in

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Speaker 4: Mexican soccer. Here's my conversation with Sam Porter, owner and

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Speaker 4: co manager of Club Nakoxa. So, Sam, really new and

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Speaker 4: interesting information just came out that you've now been a

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Speaker 4: part of Chief Strategy Officer Sports at Apollo Sports Capital.

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Speaker 4: Tell us about this new exciting news.

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Speaker 2: Yes.

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Speaker 3: So, on September twenty ninth, Apollo announced the formation of

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Speaker 3: a new company, Apollo Sports Capital, and Apollo Sports Capital

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Speaker 3: will be focused on providing capital solutions to teams, leagues, meteorites, companies,

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Speaker 3: you know, anything in the sports ecosystem that needs liquidity

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Speaker 3: and really capital solutions of all shapes and sizes is

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Speaker 3: what we're trying to address in the marketplace.

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Speaker 4: And Apolo has been invested in sports for a little while. Now,

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Speaker 4: what is exactly the intent of this specific fund and

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Speaker 4: is there anything you can tell us direction wise European football,

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Speaker 4: certain things you guys are looking at.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think Apollo has done deals and I've been

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Speaker 3: an advisor to Apollo for a number of years prior

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Speaker 3: to taking this role as a full time position, and

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Speaker 3: at Apollo we have done deals in the sports space,

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Speaker 3: you know, investments, credit deals, investing in stadium. Now, this

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Speaker 3: is a public sports capital is going to be a dedicated,

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Speaker 3: full time platform with its own balance sheet and its

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Speaker 3: own resources that we'll be able to address the needs

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Speaker 3: as the asset class really grows and matures, and every

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Speaker 3: year and every month you're seeing more and more and

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Speaker 3: so the idea of a Polo sports capital is to

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Speaker 3: be even better situated than Apollo was previously to address

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Speaker 3: the needs of the growing asset class. And in terms

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Speaker 3: of what we're looking to do, it's really going to

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Speaker 3: be you know, kind of look at a lot of

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Speaker 3: the different stuff that comes our way and then address

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Speaker 3: as it comes. But we're looking for big size. You know,

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Speaker 3: we have long dated capital that we can we can

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Speaker 3: use to be you know, really helpful partners to the

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Speaker 3: different owners, operators, leagues, teams that we'll do deals with.

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Speaker 4: Great And as we talk about that, obviously now we're

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Speaker 4: going to get more into your personal investments and things that.

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Speaker 4: But I want to set the stage of a little

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Speaker 4: bit of your background and obviously this is part of

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Speaker 4: your backgrounds investing in sports. So can you set a

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Speaker 4: little bit more of your background in it and give

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Speaker 4: us a brief detail about your experience as a sports executive,

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Speaker 4: sports and investor.

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Speaker 2: Yes.

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Speaker 3: So, I was the chief strategy officer for DC United

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Speaker 3: in the MLS for a number of years. In twenty

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Speaker 3: twenty one, myself and my partner Al Tails, along with

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Speaker 3: a number of LPs including Eva Longoria and Justin Erlander

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Speaker 3: and Sean Marion, we invested in and bought around fifty

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Speaker 3: percent of Club Nakoxa and League MX. That has been

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Speaker 3: something that's been really great for us in terms of

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Speaker 3: being in League iMX as owners and operators, working with

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Speaker 3: our Mexican partners, the Tineharo family, and really kind of

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Speaker 3: bridging that gap between League AMEX and the US in

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Speaker 3: terms of the soccerculture. Since then, the League's Cup has

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Speaker 3: really blossomed into this competition between League MX and MLS,

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Speaker 3: and we've just seen a huge amount of interest in

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Speaker 3: League MX in the United States. Obviously, League MX is

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Speaker 3: the most popular sport by far in Mexico. It's also

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Speaker 3: the most watched soccer league in the United States. And

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Speaker 3: earlier this year, our TV show Nakasa that features Eva

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Speaker 3: Longoria and Ryan Reynolds and Rob meck All was debut

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Speaker 3: on FX and its streams on Hulu and Disney Plus,

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Speaker 3: and that's been really popular and we're very happy with that.

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Speaker 3: So that just shows the kind of growing interest in

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Speaker 3: a product like a show about Nakasa. That's that's primarily

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Speaker 3: in Spanish English subtitles sometimes if I'm talking it's in English.

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Speaker 3: These are this is something that was not coming out

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Speaker 3: of League MX in prior years. And the League's Cup

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Speaker 3: has been a huge success too, when you're seeing the

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Speaker 3: competition between League MX teams and MLS teams. So that's

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Speaker 3: that was our initial investment into the Sports World privately,

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Speaker 3: and then in uh we bought the book Wind pickleball

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Speaker 3: team in Major League Pickleball subsequent to Nicasa, and then

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Speaker 3: earlier this year, as you covered, we purchased clubek You

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Speaker 3: Dodd one hundred percent of Clubechi DoD in Bogota, Columbia,

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Speaker 3: and we will be relaunching that team. It's existing, but

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Speaker 3: we're going to be rebranding it in January twenty twenty

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Speaker 3: six as Internationale de Bogata to really reflect the international

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Speaker 3: nature of the club and sort of the presence of

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Speaker 3: Bogata's international city. So those are our three sort of

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Speaker 3: marquee sports investments that we've done as a group and

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Speaker 3: now obviously transitioning into this role at a polo sports capital.

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Speaker 4: So much unpack there and I want to get to

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Speaker 4: all of it. I really am excited to talk about Nacoxa,

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Speaker 4: the TV show. I love it, you know, candidly welcome.

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Speaker 4: Rerexham is my favorite sports documentary like ever. I just

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Speaker 4: think the whole formula of it, and I think, you

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Speaker 4: know the Naicoxa, you know, watching it the same thing,

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Speaker 4: the formula of its showing the city, showing the personal story.

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Speaker 4: I mean, I cry like literally cry, like you know,

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Speaker 4: watching Nacoxa, watching Alexi Bena his dad crying when he

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Speaker 4: gets hurt, and it's just really amazing. So to go

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Speaker 4: into that, you know, when you're looking at this investment

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Speaker 4: and you're looking at the city of aguasc Ca Allgientes,

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Speaker 4: did you go to it first? How did you get

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Speaker 4: involved in Nacoxa and Lega MX as an investment first?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so great.

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Speaker 3: I can tell that you actually have watched the show

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Speaker 3: knowing those details, and of course went to Aguas Clantates

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Speaker 3: a ton before we invested into the team. Because when

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Speaker 3: you're making international sports investments or any sports investments domestic

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Speaker 3: or international, match day, the city you're investing in, the

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Speaker 3: club is typically a large part of that city, and

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Speaker 3: the city is a large part of that club, so

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Speaker 3: you need to get a feel for what that's like.

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Speaker 3: So I went to Aguas clients a lot, toward our stadium,

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Speaker 3: toward our training facility. We did a ton of diligence

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Speaker 3: leading up to it, and the city's quite nice, it's

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Speaker 3: pretty big. It has an international feel to it because

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Speaker 3: Nissan's based there and you've got a Japanese population. Mercedes

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Speaker 3: Benz has a big presence there, so you've got German population.

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Speaker 3: It's a very international city. I don't think it's at

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Speaker 3: all what people's initial expectations are around, you know, a

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Speaker 3: Mexican city of a million plus people. So we we

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Speaker 3: knew that League MX was a huge opportunity. You look

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Speaker 3: at the media, you look at the viewership numbers, you

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Speaker 3: look at the demographics of how many Mexican Americans are

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Speaker 3: watching it in the US, how many Mexicans are watching

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Speaker 3: it in Mexico. The opportunity for growth is obviously something

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Speaker 3: you're always looking for in investments, and League MX really

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Speaker 3: checked a lot of those boxes. But when you're buying

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Speaker 3: sports teams, it's not like there's a menu at a

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Speaker 3: restaurant and you go, oh, I'll have this team, this

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Speaker 3: team or this team. You know a lot of teams

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Speaker 3: aren't for sale at any given time. There's scarcity, which

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Speaker 3: is part of what makes teams valuable. So when we

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Speaker 3: met the Tinharo family, who who were the one hundred

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Speaker 3: percent owners of Nicoxa before we came in, and when

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Speaker 3: we got to Aguas Calientes and we got a feel

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Speaker 3: for the club, we at that point knew that it

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Speaker 3: was the right fit for us. We had local partners

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Speaker 3: who we really trust and have a great relationship with.

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Speaker 3: We had a club that is now one hundred and

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Speaker 3: two years old that you know, has had a lot

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Speaker 3: of success and has a historic fan base. And because

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Speaker 3: Nikoxa had moved from Mexico City to Aguas Calientes, we

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Speaker 3: also have a really robust Mexican City fan base, which

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Speaker 3: is cool. And then you have a lot of Nickoxa

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Speaker 3: fans in the US. If I were a Nikosa hat

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Speaker 3: or sweatshirt around New York City, I mean people come

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Speaker 3: up to me and they're like, why is this, you know,

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Speaker 3: giant gringo wearing Nikoxa stuff. It's always an interesting conversation. So, yeah,

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Speaker 3: that we did the diligence of visiting the city, got

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Speaker 3: to know the club and then and as if you've

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Speaker 3: seen on the TV show, it is there's real passion

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Speaker 3: around the club and getting to feel that you knew

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Speaker 3: that it was at the time, we knew it was

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Speaker 3: something we wanted to get involved in.

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Speaker 4: One of the things that's interesting when you're watching the

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Speaker 4: show too, is that, I mean, you ment it's one

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Speaker 4: hundred and two years old, but it hasn't always been

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Speaker 4: in aguastc Alliente's kind of the counter to Wrexham, where

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Speaker 4: it's always been there and they're suffering through it and

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Speaker 4: you know whatever. So the interesting thing was there is

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Speaker 4: like you have the citizens wanting to root for it,

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Speaker 4: but they're also angry at the team all the time,

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Speaker 4: and you know there's this kind of you know, well,

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Speaker 4: you know, they haven't always been here, so we kind

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Speaker 4: of root for them. We kind of root for Club

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Speaker 4: America still, like you know other things like that. How

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Speaker 4: is that when you first got there, having this team

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Speaker 4: that was rooted in the city but still kind of new,

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Speaker 4: and you know what, we were goals to try and

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Speaker 4: get them to really get behind Nikoso.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think what I found was you want to

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Speaker 3: you want to give them something to cheer for. When

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Speaker 3: a team's losing, it's really tough. And so you even

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Speaker 3: see it in New York, for instance, when you're walking

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Speaker 3: around and talking to NFL fans and you're like, oh,

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Speaker 3: you're a Giants fan or a Jets fan, and the

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Speaker 3: teams have been you know, I'm a Giants fan. Historically

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Speaker 3: teams have been quite bad for a while now, both

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Speaker 3: of them, and so you'll talk to nobody in New

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Speaker 3: York who who's a Dallas Cowboys fan or a or

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Speaker 3: a Chiefs fan more more recently. Right, So, when you're

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Speaker 3: in a city and you want to try to connect,

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Speaker 3: you have to win. You've got to put a good

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Speaker 3: product on the field, and you also have to connect

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Speaker 3: with folks. I think I think fans can put up

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Speaker 3: with some losing because they know that that's just you

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Speaker 3: know that not every team is going to win every year,

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Speaker 3: and there's very few teams even when you look at

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Speaker 3: the historic giants in any in they're given sports. The

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Speaker 3: Yankees don't win the MLB every year, Man United doesn't

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Speaker 3: win every year, Cowboys don't win ever year. You know,

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Speaker 3: the biggest teams don't always win. So you have to

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Speaker 3: you know, you you want to set expectations and you

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Speaker 3: want to put a good product on the field. So

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Speaker 3: I think if you communicate with the fans, show an effort,

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Speaker 3: show ambition. If you don't show any ambition and you're

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Speaker 3: not really trying, then you can't really blame them if

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Speaker 3: they're apathetic about the product. But if you're out there

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Speaker 3: showing ambition, you know, hiring coaches who bring something to

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Speaker 3: the table, hiring players who play hard and bring a

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Speaker 3: type of football to the table that the fans can

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Speaker 3: get behind. That's that's that's really all you can do.

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Speaker 3: And then and then it's so point. If you keep

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Speaker 3: doing things the right way, you hope the wins come

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Speaker 3: and the playoff success comes, and the championships come. And

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Speaker 3: when they do, then then you buy, you earn that

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Speaker 3: sort of respect and equity with the.

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Speaker 4: Fans, and you know, with that and the respect and

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Speaker 4: all of that. Obviously, when you first came in, it

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Speaker 4: was it was a couple of years ago, and now

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Speaker 4: the TV show has come much later than you know,

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Speaker 4: watching something like Rexham from the startup. How has everything

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Speaker 4: changed since twenty twenty one you came in, What were

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Speaker 4: your first initial goals and what are your goals now

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Speaker 4: that the TV shows out and there's more visibility for

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Speaker 4: the team.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I think when we first came in, our thoughts were

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Speaker 3: to our goals were to you know, we came in

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Speaker 3: and we really didn't want to, you know, create a

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Speaker 3: lot of trouble because I think when you're the first

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Speaker 3: so we were the first American group to come in

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Speaker 3: and really be part of an ownership group, which.

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Speaker 4: Is important to know for r sure.

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Speaker 3: And there's folks at Juarez, who are you know, that's

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Speaker 3: a border town, so there's Mexican Americans there.

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Speaker 2: Nothing again.

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Speaker 3: And then we were the first, like true fully American

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Speaker 3: group to come in and say, Okay, we're controlling owners

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Speaker 3: of a league AMX club and so we wanted to

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Speaker 3: We didn't want to come in and give this perception, Hey,

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Speaker 3: we're the Americans who know everything and we're going to

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Speaker 3: be super forceful. We wanted to take some time to

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Speaker 3: understand the league, understand what worked, what didn't work. We

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Speaker 3: wanted to be the one thing that we felt we

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Speaker 3: could do behind the scenes would be forward looking from

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Speaker 3: our player recruitment model of football. How did we look

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Speaker 3: at finding new players? How did we look at putting

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Speaker 3: the best product on the field. So we spent some

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Speaker 3: time building up and analytics group, which is still part

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Speaker 3: of our recruitment now, and we've recruited really well and

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Speaker 3: sold a lot of players. But that was kind of

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Speaker 3: the initial stage. Now I think we're in a stage

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Speaker 3: where we now have some of the most famous people

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Speaker 3: in the world and Eva and Ryan and Rob as

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Speaker 3: part of our ownership. We're driving a TV show that

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Speaker 3: has the league hasn't had before in existence something like this.

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Speaker 3: So our goals now change to where it's okay, we

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Speaker 3: still need to get better at the football and win

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Speaker 3: on a on a semester semester by semester basis, but

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Speaker 3: we also want to continue to grow the commercial and

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Speaker 3: really our goal is to break into that tier of

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Speaker 3: Mexican football that's probably the top six seven clubs, and

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Speaker 3: I think where we've been is just probably a little

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Speaker 3: bit below that, and we're really trying to make that

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Speaker 3: push to be a club that semester and semester out

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Speaker 3: can compete with the Manterreys and the Cruises rules and

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Speaker 3: these are clubs that have a lot more financial resources

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Speaker 3: than we do, frankly just due to their ownership structure,

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Speaker 3: in our history within the league, or their geographic locations.

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Speaker 3: But that is the ambition that we're pushing for and

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Speaker 3: trying to, you know, find that right balance of commercial growth,

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Speaker 3: staying true to our fans and competing on the pitch.

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Speaker 3: And you know, it's it's it's tough because when you

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Speaker 3: do sign those good players and they do really well

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Speaker 3: for you, there's almost this fluid free agency that exists

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Speaker 3: in global football where we had a tremendous player that

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Speaker 3: was our best player last semester, and when this semester ended,

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Speaker 3: one of the biggest clubs in the league came in

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Speaker 3: and made put together a financial offer where the player

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Speaker 3: wasn't going to stay.

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Speaker 2: We didn't really have a say in it.

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Speaker 3: We couldn't keep and and so that was the that's

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Speaker 3: the that's the gift and the curse of finding these

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Speaker 3: good players that you can develop.

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Speaker 2: When they get really good, you know, you have a

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Speaker 2: tough time keeping them.

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Speaker 3: So that's always been something that we struggled with and

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Speaker 3: we're still trying to get to a place where they go,

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Speaker 3: I can stay here because this club is big enough

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Speaker 3: for that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Do you think that the commercial success of having the

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Speaker 4: TV show will help in that regard because they will

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Speaker 4: have more of an outward appearance to have, you know, commercials,

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Speaker 4: whatever it is, more than just the soccer side of

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Speaker 4: it all.

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Speaker 2: One hundred percent.

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Speaker 3: I think you've seen it at Wrexham where after a

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Speaker 3: few seasons of the show, players can go there. They

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Speaker 3: have this, they have a platform. You've seen several of

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Speaker 3: their players, you know, write books and do other things

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Speaker 3: that add to their commercial level. So that needs to

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Speaker 3: be proven out. Probably, you know, the show needs to

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Speaker 3: get some more momentum. We need we need that, we

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Speaker 3: need a sort of a case study and how it

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Speaker 3: can be successful. Because at the end of the day,

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Speaker 3: if the player goes, hey, you can get X to

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Speaker 3: stay at Nicaso, or you can get three X to

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Speaker 3: go to cruisezul or Monterrey called America, the players and

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Speaker 3: their agents and their families are still going to go.

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Speaker 2: I think we're going to take this money.

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Speaker 3: But as we build this up, I do think the

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Speaker 3: show and the platform that we're building with ni Cox

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Speaker 3: as a club will allow us to be more competitive

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Speaker 3: in that right.

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Speaker 4: Absolutely. Let's talk a little bit about Eva Longoria as

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Speaker 4: one of your partners, and she's a partner and across

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Speaker 4: multiple of the ventures you have. Correct And how did

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Speaker 4: you guys first meet and how did you guys you know,

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Speaker 4: come together in all these different partnerships.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so my partner al is al Tylist very involved

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Speaker 3: in various philanthropic organizations. Through some filanthree that he was doing,

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Speaker 3: he got connected with one of the agents at Endeavor

347
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Speaker 3: the and he and the agent said, oh, you know,

348
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Speaker 3: what do you what do you do?

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Speaker 2: What are you working on?

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Speaker 3: And Al said, you know, actually I'm in the process

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Speaker 3: of buying a Mexican soccer team. And he said, oh,

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Speaker 3: do you know Eva the Longoria and said, no.

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Speaker 2: This was you know, before we bought the team.

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Speaker 3: This was you know, this is probably almost a year

355
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Speaker 3: before we were in the process of doing it and

356
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Speaker 3: h and we got connected with Eva and kind of

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Speaker 3: hit it off right out of the gates. We had

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Speaker 3: some some some dinners together and she was all in

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Speaker 3: right out of the from the jump. She understood the vision,

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Speaker 3: knew what we wanted to do. And so basically her

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Speaker 3: agent introduced us and from there we had a direct relationship.

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Speaker 3: And she's an amazing person, a great investor, really brings

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Speaker 3: her all to everything she does and so it was

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Speaker 3: a great fit for us because she looks a lot

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Speaker 3: better in front of the camera than we do. And uh,

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Speaker 3: and so it's just been a great partnership across all

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Speaker 3: the you know, across all the platforms. So she's she's

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Speaker 3: in interbo guitar with us, she's in the Brooklyn pickleball team,

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Speaker 3: and really brings a great you know, joy of life

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Speaker 3: and enthusiasm to everything that that she does and.

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Speaker 4: She lives in Mexico City now, right, so her being

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Speaker 4: there has that authentic factor to it as well. Is

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Speaker 4: it Padrina they call her and patron right, that's it? Yeah, Yeah,

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Speaker 4: that's it.

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Speaker 2: I think it's translation. She's definitely the boss.

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Speaker 3: She she spends, she lives, she has a place in

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Speaker 3: Mexico City, she has a place in La a place

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Speaker 3: in Spain. She's a very very much a globe trotter,

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Speaker 3: but definitely is is connected to Mexico in a very

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Speaker 3: real way. Her husband, Pepe, is Mexican and he's around

381
00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,160
Speaker 3: a bunch too, awesome, good eye and yeah, so it's

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00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,960
Speaker 3: a great, great connectivity around her in the club.

383
00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:08,359
Speaker 4: You know, watching her in the series makes me really like, Okay,

384
00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:10,480
Speaker 4: she didn't grow up speaking Spanish either, but I can

385
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Speaker 4: learn too, So that's really that's really great, you know, exciting,

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Speaker 4: very impressive.

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Speaker 3: How Yeah, she didn't didn't grow up speaking Spanish and

388
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Speaker 3: is doing all this stuff in Mexico and Spain and

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Speaker 3: speak Spanish.

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Speaker 2: It's very impressive.

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Speaker 4: Yeah. So we had mentioned earlier that you know, you

392
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Speaker 4: guys were one of the first to invest in LEMX,

393
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Speaker 4: but now we've seen a lot more American investment come

394
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Speaker 4: in in the last couple of years, particularly this year

395
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Speaker 4: in general. So what did you think that is the

396
00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,320
Speaker 4: time right now? Why people are seeing the value in

397
00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:43,400
Speaker 4: Lemex right now?

398
00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:49,479
Speaker 3: Well, I think sports franchises, teams specifically as an asset class,

399
00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:51,480
Speaker 3: have just kind of grown and grown and grown. You've

400
00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:57,720
Speaker 3: seen the Lakers trade for ten billion and a minority

401
00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:00,439
Speaker 3: sale of the New York Giants for at a ten billion,

402
00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,520
Speaker 3: and you're seeing these numbers that a few years ago

403
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,720
Speaker 3: were probably unthinkable, and that's kind of been the case

404
00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:08,840
Speaker 3: for quite a while now of the way that sports

405
00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:09,840
Speaker 3: franchise is trade.

406
00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:11,840
Speaker 2: So I think you start.

407
00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:15,760
Speaker 3: To go, Okay, where is that a place where there's

408
00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:17,600
Speaker 3: As an investor, you just go where where is there

409
00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:19,199
Speaker 3: a place where I can still capture some of that

410
00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,040
Speaker 3: upside that hasn't been unlocked yet, that isn't that hasn't

411
00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:25,359
Speaker 3: been fully invested out by the folks who are buying

412
00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,080
Speaker 3: NFL and NBA teams. And I think League MX holds

413
00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,800
Speaker 3: a lot of that appeal because, yes, the league is

414
00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,320
Speaker 3: in Mexico, but we as I mentioned earlier, we play

415
00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:35,119
Speaker 3: the League Cup where you play a good amount of

416
00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:38,040
Speaker 3: matches in the US. But also it's every match is

417
00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:41,479
Speaker 3: effectively on television in the US with major ratings, so

418
00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:45,119
Speaker 3: you're almost you're buying an interesting franchise that that is

419
00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:49,240
Speaker 3: based in Mexico but is the most watched soccer league

420
00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:51,280
Speaker 3: in the US but also the most watched foreign league

421
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Speaker 3: of any sport in the US, So that that's pretty interesting.

422
00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:57,359
Speaker 3: And so I think that's that's gotten more people to

423
00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,600
Speaker 3: the table to look at it, and then you know

424
00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:05,280
Speaker 3: they're they're because of some FIFA rules, there's a couple

425
00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,520
Speaker 3: clubs that have the same ownership groups within League MX.

426
00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:10,920
Speaker 3: It is diminishing now, but that's that's forcing a couple

427
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,919
Speaker 3: groups to sell. So there are a couple clubs that

428
00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:19,360
Speaker 3: can be sold, which is what happened with Corea. So before,

429
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,080
Speaker 3: I mean League m X teams don't trade a lot.

430
00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:24,320
Speaker 3: So when we were doing our work on Nakaksa was like,

431
00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:26,000
Speaker 3: what was the last team that sold and what did

432
00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,520
Speaker 3: it sell for? And it was really hard because they

433
00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:32,480
Speaker 3: are desirable to have and they don't the people who

434
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:34,800
Speaker 3: own them aren't really typically looking to sell them. So

435
00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:39,480
Speaker 3: now because of their the multi club ownership groups have

436
00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:42,919
Speaker 3: to divest. Multi club within within the League MX have

437
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,600
Speaker 3: to divest. It's opened up the opportunity for some some

438
00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:47,679
Speaker 3: clubs to be sold, and I think that's very appealing

439
00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:48,840
Speaker 3: to international investors.

440
00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:50,800
Speaker 4: I think that's an interesting part of it too, that

441
00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:54,200
Speaker 4: they don't change hands a lot, or they haven't previously.

442
00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:58,800
Speaker 4: And what do you think that goes into maybe the

443
00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,399
Speaker 4: lower valuation we see for le MX teams that like

444
00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,240
Speaker 4: MLS teams are at a higher valuation right now, even

445
00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:07,800
Speaker 4: though LEEMX is more watched in the US, Like, what

446
00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:08,679
Speaker 4: do you think goes into that?

447
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,080
Speaker 3: I think that you pay a premium to be in

448
00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:14,639
Speaker 3: the US because it's the US. I think there's a

449
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,920
Speaker 3: little bit of the way that the media covers lat

450
00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,720
Speaker 3: Ham in general is a whole separate conversation that we

451
00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:25,520
Speaker 3: could have. But I think that, yes, you pay premium

452
00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,000
Speaker 3: to be in the US. It's a known quantity, it's

453
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,040
Speaker 3: a known entity. Some of the investors in the MLS

454
00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:36,119
Speaker 3: clubs are very famous, notable businessmen and sports investors and

455
00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,159
Speaker 3: famous guys, and I think that that all adds to

456
00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,840
Speaker 3: the valuations of MLS teams. And I think the MLS

457
00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:45,480
Speaker 3: has done a great job of positioning themselves as a

458
00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:50,120
Speaker 3: as a value growth league where the franchises become worth

459
00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:52,919
Speaker 3: more and more, and I think that League MX.

460
00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:55,840
Speaker 2: You know, we talked about how old Nakasa is.

461
00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,000
Speaker 3: You know, MLS started in nineteen ninety six, and I

462
00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:01,320
Speaker 3: think the people who created it had a vision for

463
00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:03,800
Speaker 3: what it could be because they had seen the NFL

464
00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,199
Speaker 3: and the NBA and the way that these leagues were

465
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,800
Speaker 3: going trajectory wise for team valuations, so they I think

466
00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:11,320
Speaker 3: that was always in the mind of the MLS and

467
00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:13,720
Speaker 3: how they structure things and how they navigate things. League

468
00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:18,359
Speaker 3: MX came together much earlier and in a much different

469
00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:22,119
Speaker 3: way where I think a lot of the League m X,

470
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:23,360
Speaker 3: at the league level and a lot of the team

471
00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:27,879
Speaker 3: owners were never really thinking about it as a the

472
00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:30,119
Speaker 3: way we think about the asset class now, which is

473
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,600
Speaker 3: this is a scarce asset that has value, that generates

474
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,320
Speaker 3: money that's going to go up and up and up.

475
00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,920
Speaker 3: I think that League MX came together as as really

476
00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:40,840
Speaker 3: a hey, we're here to play football and provide entertainment.

477
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:42,879
Speaker 3: Of course they were businesses, but I don't know that

478
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:47,160
Speaker 3: there was that sort of planning and thought to creating

479
00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:51,480
Speaker 3: an asset class. And I think that now that is

480
00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:53,640
Speaker 3: something that League MX is, the league and the other

481
00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:56,239
Speaker 3: owners are are starting to understand, so I think that's

482
00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:58,160
Speaker 3: why you're seeing some of that change. But it definitely,

483
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:00,399
Speaker 3: you know, just being in the US and general is

484
00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,520
Speaker 3: going to make a company more valuable. There's so much

485
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:05,800
Speaker 3: wealth in the US and where the MLS teams have

486
00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:09,159
Speaker 3: put there, where the MLS has put MLS teams city wise,

487
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:12,159
Speaker 3: has been really strategic and well thought out, and I

488
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,679
Speaker 3: think that that leads to some of the delta by

489
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,520
Speaker 3: I actually think you will see a compression between League

490
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,240
Speaker 3: MX team valuations and MLS team valuations when you just

491
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:24,840
Speaker 3: look at the media rights that League MX teams are

492
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,879
Speaker 3: going to be generating, the interest from private equity and

493
00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,119
Speaker 3: where that's going to go in the coming years.

494
00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:33,600
Speaker 4: I'm glad you brought up the media rights because it

495
00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,880
Speaker 4: is a little bit different structured right in LEAMX right

496
00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,520
Speaker 4: now than obviously we have in the MLS. In US sports,

497
00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:42,360
Speaker 4: it's very clear and it's one of the reasons why

498
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,000
Speaker 4: evaluations are so high in the US right So for

499
00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:47,760
Speaker 4: LEAGA MX, can you break down for us what it

500
00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,320
Speaker 4: is right now the media rights and hopefully what it's

501
00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:52,840
Speaker 4: going to become, because I know I spoke to LEEMX

502
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:56,280
Speaker 4: president Michael Ariola earlier this year, and he said that's

503
00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,439
Speaker 4: obviously a big priority, but it hasn't happened for a

504
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:00,840
Speaker 4: reason yet, right.

505
00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:02,159
Speaker 2: Yeah.

506
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,399
Speaker 3: So the way that Leaga MX is structured is that

507
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:09,040
Speaker 3: each team sells their own individual media rights package. So

508
00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:12,200
Speaker 3: at Nakaso, we sell METEA rights package and it's it's

509
00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:15,440
Speaker 3: broken down between a US basically a US and a

510
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:19,520
Speaker 3: Mexico and then you may have some South American or

511
00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:22,600
Speaker 3: other territories, but primarily it's a US package and a

512
00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:24,720
Speaker 3: Mexican package. You might do that with the same company,

513
00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,240
Speaker 3: you might do it between two different companies, and each

514
00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:30,760
Speaker 3: team is doing their own and League MX is the

515
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:34,360
Speaker 3: largest team league in the world that is using this

516
00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:38,080
Speaker 3: format for its media rights. Pretty Much every other league

517
00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:43,520
Speaker 3: in the world, NFL, NBA, LA, Liga, EPL, they are

518
00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:48,080
Speaker 3: all using a collectivized media rights approach where the league

519
00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:50,760
Speaker 3: goes out, perhaps they hire an outside consulting group, perhaps

520
00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:53,720
Speaker 3: they do it themselves, and they sell a league wide

521
00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:56,920
Speaker 3: media rights package and they may set they may split

522
00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:59,720
Speaker 3: that into several sub sub packages like what you see

523
00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:02,280
Speaker 3: with the NBA, in the NFL, et cetera. And they

524
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,520
Speaker 3: may sell international packages like what you see with La

525
00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:08,960
Speaker 3: Liga and the EPL. LaLiga was probably the largest international

526
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:12,520
Speaker 3: soccer league that had not had collectivized media rights until

527
00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:16,040
Speaker 3: relatively recently, and I think that you see because of

528
00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,159
Speaker 3: the connectivity between the two countries, Spain and Mexico and

529
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:24,120
Speaker 3: the way that League MX views La Liga Spain, there

530
00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:25,880
Speaker 3: tends to be a lot of like, Okay, they're doing

531
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,480
Speaker 3: that there, we can do this here. So Laaliga, compared

532
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,320
Speaker 3: to the other large European leagues, was the last one

533
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,840
Speaker 3: to collectivize their media rights, and I think that League

534
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:40,080
Speaker 3: MX were now as a league looking to fully collectivize

535
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,399
Speaker 3: our media rights in the next couple of years. Michel,

536
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:45,680
Speaker 3: who you interviewed, would know it, would have a better

537
00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,800
Speaker 3: sense of exactly what that timeline looks like than than

538
00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:50,360
Speaker 3: I do. I do anticipate it being in the next

539
00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,639
Speaker 3: couple of years, and I think that's going to be

540
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:56,679
Speaker 3: a tremendous value add because when you're negotiating on a

541
00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:01,119
Speaker 3: one off basis, you have less information. These networks and

542
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,880
Speaker 3: broadcast partners do this again again, and when you're doing

543
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:06,640
Speaker 3: it as a league, you have, you know, considerably more

544
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:08,840
Speaker 3: leverage and you can kind of come up with how

545
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,160
Speaker 3: you what you want your outcome to be and and

546
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,679
Speaker 3: you know, navigate your way there as opposed to just

547
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,879
Speaker 3: being one club doing it on your own. So I

548
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,879
Speaker 3: think it's time for that. I think it's probably you know,

549
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:22,520
Speaker 3: past time for that. And I think it'll be a

550
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:24,920
Speaker 3: big boost to the league in terms of media rights

551
00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:29,320
Speaker 3: and revenues because it is a league that really gets

552
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:31,679
Speaker 3: people watching, you know, in both sides of the border.

553
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:33,880
Speaker 3: It moves the needle in terms of ratings, and now

554
00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:38,160
Speaker 3: more than ever, live sports are the backbone of not

555
00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:40,800
Speaker 3: just linear but but streaming in terms of what people

556
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,359
Speaker 3: are willing to turn their TVs or their devices on for.

557
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:46,800
Speaker 4: It's the only thing that people go to for specific

558
00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:50,359
Speaker 4: time to watch, you know, is live sports. So when

559
00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:52,400
Speaker 4: I the other part of the conversation that you had

560
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:56,320
Speaker 4: mentioned too about MLS being you know, coming together as

561
00:27:56,359 --> 00:27:59,639
Speaker 4: a business sort of at first and lay MX not

562
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:02,320
Speaker 4: necessary really coming together for that exact reason was one

563
00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:04,280
Speaker 4: of the things that Michel had also said was that

564
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:06,720
Speaker 4: one of the things they're learning from the MLS and

565
00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:09,800
Speaker 4: the partnership, because the leagues are very close together, is

566
00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:14,520
Speaker 4: the governing governing body and governing sense that the MLS

567
00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:17,480
Speaker 4: has that he would like to bring to LEA MX.

568
00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:19,480
Speaker 4: What are you sense, you know, sitting as a co

569
00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:23,400
Speaker 4: managing partner of the team of the governing body, governing

570
00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,679
Speaker 4: source of the of League iMX, and how everything was.

571
00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,919
Speaker 2: I think that I think it's evolving. I think that

572
00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:31,440
Speaker 2: it's been.

573
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:35,359
Speaker 3: It's been a league that has There are some major

574
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:40,640
Speaker 3: clubs Club America, Chievas, Cruise, Azul. There there are clubs Manterrey, Teachers,

575
00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:43,400
Speaker 3: some really big clubs in our league. And I don't

576
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:46,160
Speaker 3: know that MLS has the equivalent of like these massive

577
00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:49,520
Speaker 3: historic clubs in the same way that League MX does,

578
00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:52,360
Speaker 3: and and the people that run those clubs, you know,

579
00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:55,800
Speaker 3: it's it's political, and so I'm not saying that that's

580
00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:58,960
Speaker 3: necessarily a bad thing, but I think the league is

581
00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:03,320
Speaker 3: evolved to a place where they understand that that, you know,

582
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,040
Speaker 3: like in the EPL, when you have big clubs like

583
00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:09,880
Speaker 3: Man United and Man City and Arsenal and Chelsea and

584
00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:12,680
Speaker 3: then you have the smaller clubs. When when everybody's growing

585
00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:14,840
Speaker 3: in the same direction and aligned at a league level,

586
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:19,120
Speaker 3: it's helpful to everybody. The big clubs are going to

587
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:22,920
Speaker 3: do better when the when the smaller clubs aren't just

588
00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:25,480
Speaker 3: cannon fodder aren't left out in the cold in terms

589
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:29,040
Speaker 3: of decision making and processes. So I think that League

590
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,400
Speaker 3: MX is evolving in that direction and understanding that yes

591
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:34,680
Speaker 3: we've got big clubs, yes we've got smaller clubs, but

592
00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:37,280
Speaker 3: we need to think about this as a you know,

593
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:40,720
Speaker 3: we compete on the pitch every weekend and every match,

594
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:43,760
Speaker 3: but out off the pitch, we're thinking of ways to

595
00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:46,920
Speaker 3: make our league as successful as possible. And I am

596
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:50,520
Speaker 3: seeing guys like Mchel you know, understand that more and

597
00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:52,640
Speaker 3: be and be thinking of ways to do that. So

598
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:57,080
Speaker 3: I'm positive and optimistic on the way that the that

599
00:29:57,120 --> 00:29:59,200
Speaker 3: the league is going and just be kind of becoming

600
00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,760
Speaker 3: more open. I think that that happens by way of

601
00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:07,760
Speaker 3: more international investment, more us being owners the group that

602
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:10,680
Speaker 3: just bought Correno being owners in the league and coming

603
00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,880
Speaker 3: in and bringing different perspectives and bringing different you know,

604
00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,400
Speaker 3: ideas of what the norm at a league should be,

605
00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:20,440
Speaker 3: and really thinking about it as a business in a

606
00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:21,480
Speaker 3: in a modern sense.

607
00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:25,080
Speaker 4: Absolutely, and as we talk about that, I obviously have

608
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:28,480
Speaker 4: to mention that, you know, and bring up Apollo again,

609
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,360
Speaker 4: because Apollo last year was meant to invest over a

610
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:33,640
Speaker 4: billion dollars and that was supposed to help get the

611
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:37,120
Speaker 4: media rights steal really centralized. Is there anything you can

612
00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:41,840
Speaker 4: say about if at least this sports capital will help

613
00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:42,600
Speaker 4: that deal along.

614
00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:46,800
Speaker 3: Yes, so obviously a tricky situation for me as an

615
00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:48,720
Speaker 3: owner in League of MX and now working at a

616
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:53,840
Speaker 3: post sports capital. That being said, with just my nacoxa

617
00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:59,600
Speaker 3: hat on, I would say that there's still a willingness

618
00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:02,840
Speaker 3: and a a strong relationship between Apollo and League MX

619
00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:07,000
Speaker 3: and ongoing conversations. I think that where League MX is

620
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:10,000
Speaker 3: at the moment is trying to get you interviewed, Michael,

621
00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:11,960
Speaker 3: so I think you touched on this in that interview.

622
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:14,320
Speaker 2: But I think LEGAMX is doing some.

623
00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:18,680
Speaker 3: Structuring in its relationship with the Federation of Mexican Football

624
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,720
Speaker 3: and doing some internal governance stuff that the league feels

625
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:25,120
Speaker 3: will put them in a better position to enter into

626
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:28,640
Speaker 3: an agreement with an Apollo or somebody else however, whatever

627
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:32,520
Speaker 3: direction that goes in, and I think that I think

628
00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,720
Speaker 3: I think there's there's progress going on there, and I

629
00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:38,360
Speaker 3: think there's a real willingness and an appetite from US

630
00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:41,680
Speaker 3: private equity, private credit, whatever you want to call it,

631
00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:44,560
Speaker 3: to engage with the League MX and work on that

632
00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,200
Speaker 3: stuff because I think they, I think, not just Apollo,

633
00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,280
Speaker 3: but others see what the opportunity is that we've seen

634
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:53,240
Speaker 3: for quite a while. And I think that as League

635
00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:56,360
Speaker 3: MX gets a couple of these governance things sorted, I

636
00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:58,120
Speaker 3: think then it will make it easier for them to

637
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:00,360
Speaker 3: enter into that agreement that they have on the table

638
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:03,479
Speaker 3: with Apollo that I think was quite close, and you know,

639
00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:05,320
Speaker 3: a few things just had to get cleaned up. So

640
00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:09,880
Speaker 3: I'm as a as a Nacoxa owner, I'm cautiously optimistic

641
00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:12,960
Speaker 3: that something gets done in the near future in that

642
00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:17,000
Speaker 3: direction in terms of investment from US private equity.

643
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,719
Speaker 2: And that's probably the most I could say about that.

644
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:24,200
Speaker 4: I appreciate that. And as much as we're talking about

645
00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:26,560
Speaker 4: Club Nacasa, I also want to mention, like you said,

646
00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:29,440
Speaker 4: about lat like Wedad and the investment that you have

647
00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:32,480
Speaker 4: there in Colombia. I'm interested in the idea that these

648
00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:35,960
Speaker 4: are both you know, Latin countries and the idea was

649
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:39,040
Speaker 4: it the idea to hone in on these Latin countries

650
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,840
Speaker 4: because the Latinos are so passionate about soccer.

651
00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:45,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, So these are places, both Mexico and Colombia where

652
00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:48,560
Speaker 3: I think the fans over index on passion about football,

653
00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:50,680
Speaker 3: and it is just it's a way of life.

654
00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:53,720
Speaker 2: It's it's it's the most.

655
00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:55,840
Speaker 3: Popular sport, the second most popular sport in the third

656
00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:57,840
Speaker 3: most popular sport in the US. We've got the NFL

657
00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:00,720
Speaker 3: is the most popular sport. And then you've got the NBA,

658
00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:05,320
Speaker 3: You've got your various soccer MLSPL, League MX, You've got

659
00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:06,959
Speaker 3: the NHL, You've got college sports.

660
00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:08,440
Speaker 2: There's so much here.

661
00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:10,440
Speaker 3: And some you talk to some people who are huge

662
00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:12,840
Speaker 3: baseball fans, and some people who are huge basketball fans,

663
00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:17,680
Speaker 3: and some people huge soccer fans. And in Mexico and Colombia,

664
00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:21,000
Speaker 3: everybody's a soccer fan. You know, everybody's a football fan.

665
00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:27,240
Speaker 3: Football with you, and so we really like that. That's

666
00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,640
Speaker 3: appealing from an investment standpoint. Then I think what some

667
00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:33,760
Speaker 3: people fail to realize is Mexico is a domestic population

668
00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:35,600
Speaker 3: of one hundred and thirty million people. That's bigger than

669
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:38,800
Speaker 3: any European country by far, so that that's a huge

670
00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:43,720
Speaker 3: demographic push of just people who can watch and commercially

671
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:47,040
Speaker 3: engage with your product. Colombia is about fifty three million people,

672
00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:50,960
Speaker 3: so a massive country that is bigger than many Spain,

673
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:53,560
Speaker 3: has a Colombia has a bigger population than Spain, which

674
00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:55,560
Speaker 3: I just don't think a lot of people would would

675
00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:59,920
Speaker 3: think intuitively. So these are big markets, these are growing markets,

676
00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:06,239
Speaker 3: These are markets with you know, with a lot of

677
00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:10,120
Speaker 3: new businesses being created and a lot of import export.

678
00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:12,719
Speaker 3: And so what I what we've liked about then is

679
00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,720
Speaker 3: that they are we think that their lat Ham countries

680
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:18,880
Speaker 3: are going directionally in a in a good place. Obviously,

681
00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:20,880
Speaker 3: there are some things you've got to work through and

682
00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:23,440
Speaker 3: figure out being an international investor in a country that

683
00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:26,920
Speaker 3: you're not native to the language or the culture. But

684
00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,480
Speaker 3: but yes, it's it's all part of a thematic opportunity

685
00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:31,880
Speaker 3: to go into places where there hasn't been a lot

686
00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:35,520
Speaker 3: of international investment and you can you can find those

687
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:37,440
Speaker 3: spots and it's not been picked over and and and

688
00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:40,960
Speaker 3: look for opportunities that you think are really exciting. The

689
00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:42,560
Speaker 3: two clubs kind of go together in a lot of

690
00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:45,120
Speaker 3: ways because I mentioned before about what we're trying to

691
00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:48,880
Speaker 3: accomplish at Nakaksa, and what I think about in the

692
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:52,240
Speaker 3: football space and the soccer space is that you're gonna

693
00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:54,200
Speaker 3: when you're a team like Niccoxa and you do well,

694
00:34:54,280 --> 00:34:56,239
Speaker 3: people are gonna come by your players. It's just it's

695
00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,000
Speaker 3: just the nature of the beast, and that that happens

696
00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:00,560
Speaker 3: for smaller clubs in the e PL or the league

697
00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:03,160
Speaker 3: or anywhere else. So what we're trying to solve for

698
00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:06,040
Speaker 3: by adding a Columbian team to our portfolio is to

699
00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:10,680
Speaker 3: expand our access to young talent by having the first

700
00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:13,200
Speaker 3: team there but also having the academy team there and

701
00:35:13,239 --> 00:35:17,520
Speaker 3: then having a lot of crossover between the two, between

702
00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:20,120
Speaker 3: the two clubs the same you know, people oversee the

703
00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:23,080
Speaker 3: football and the scouting and get that going in the

704
00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:25,200
Speaker 3: same direction. And it's going to give us when we

705
00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:26,919
Speaker 3: do have to sell our best player to a bigger

706
00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:29,320
Speaker 3: club because we can't afford to keep them or the

707
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:33,120
Speaker 3: offers just too enticing to the player. Okay, now maybe

708
00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:34,880
Speaker 3: we've got a couple guys that can come up and

709
00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:36,360
Speaker 3: do that. Now, that takes a couple of years to

710
00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:40,040
Speaker 3: get that operation fully syncd up, but that was part

711
00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:42,640
Speaker 3: of it. So I would have made either investment, honestly

712
00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:44,560
Speaker 3: in a vacuum, because I think both are great buys,

713
00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:47,560
Speaker 3: but I think together they're much more valuable.

714
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:50,440
Speaker 4: Yeah. Absolutely, sharing the talent makes a lot of sense,

715
00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:52,719
Speaker 4: or having the pool. Having the talent pool makes a

716
00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:55,399
Speaker 4: lot of sense, That's right. Lastly, I want to ask,

717
00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:57,040
Speaker 4: I can't you know, I can't let this whole conversam

718
00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:58,880
Speaker 4: go by without talking about the World Cup. You know

719
00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:02,400
Speaker 4: how big of a landscape that that's going to be

720
00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:06,240
Speaker 4: for North America next year? And with all the upside

721
00:36:06,239 --> 00:36:08,520
Speaker 4: you've already seen in soccer, how much bigger do you

722
00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:10,879
Speaker 4: think it's going to get having the World Cup here

723
00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:11,359
Speaker 4: next year?

724
00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:12,359
Speaker 2: Yeah?

725
00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:15,840
Speaker 3: I think the sky's limit. I mean everywhere. People in

726
00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:18,319
Speaker 3: the community where I live, people who I work with

727
00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:22,359
Speaker 3: obviously know if they know that I'm in soccer, They're like, so,

728
00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:23,640
Speaker 3: what do you think about the World Cup?

729
00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:24,879
Speaker 2: What's going on with the World Cup tickets?

730
00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:27,279
Speaker 3: Where is going to be the best locations to go

731
00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:28,240
Speaker 3: see matches?

732
00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:28,520
Speaker 2: Where?

733
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:30,880
Speaker 3: You know, if the New York market's going to be crazy,

734
00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:33,000
Speaker 3: crazy expensive, is there someplace where we could you know,

735
00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:34,800
Speaker 3: like what you heard about with like the Taylor Swift

736
00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:36,840
Speaker 3: tour of like, well, you could try to go in

737
00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:38,440
Speaker 3: Miami or New York, but maybe if you fly for

738
00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:40,680
Speaker 3: the it might be cheaper to fly to Indiana and

739
00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:43,080
Speaker 3: go there than it is to for the flights in

740
00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:44,600
Speaker 3: the hotels than it is to go see it in

741
00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:47,560
Speaker 3: your home market. So what I'm seeing is a real

742
00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:52,360
Speaker 3: fervor just colloquially in my life about getting to matches,

743
00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:55,000
Speaker 3: tuning in, learning about who's going to be on the team.

744
00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:56,920
Speaker 3: So I really think the sky's limit. I think that

745
00:36:57,239 --> 00:36:58,920
Speaker 3: the World Cup twenty twenty six is going to have

746
00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:04,560
Speaker 3: a massive impact of people learned, people who are getting

747
00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:06,560
Speaker 3: another sport for the first time, people who are already

748
00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:09,680
Speaker 3: into it getting more into it, a generation of young

749
00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:13,560
Speaker 3: people really feeling that vibe of how that is. I

750
00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:16,880
Speaker 3: attended a few club World Cup matches with my kids

751
00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:21,480
Speaker 3: this summer. I went to some Copa America Cups matches

752
00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:24,839
Speaker 3: the summer before that, and all I've seen is, you know,

753
00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:28,040
Speaker 3: the build up of like anticipation of how exciting this is.

754
00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:31,240
Speaker 3: So I personally think it's just going to be like massive.

755
00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:35,120
Speaker 3: I have no I think I'm like full fully on

756
00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:37,720
Speaker 3: the side of like this is going to be truly huge,

757
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:39,160
Speaker 3: and I think it's going to be.

758
00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:40,200
Speaker 2: I think it's going to be great.

759
00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:42,080
Speaker 3: You know, the logistics are always going to be a

760
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:44,560
Speaker 3: little crazy, but I think that you know, every match

761
00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:46,759
Speaker 3: will probably be sold out. I think there's going to

762
00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:50,520
Speaker 3: be some some some just amazing experiences and we're really

763
00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:51,359
Speaker 3: excited about it.

764
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:52,000
Speaker 2: You know.

765
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:55,319
Speaker 3: Obviously, from business perspective, I think it's good to be

766
00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:58,640
Speaker 3: in if you're in the soccer soccer ecosystem here for

767
00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:00,279
Speaker 3: the World Cup to be here, But just as a

768
00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:01,680
Speaker 3: fan of the sport, I think it's just going to

769
00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:04,120
Speaker 3: be awesome to have it on our you know, home

770
00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:06,560
Speaker 3: turf for the first time in you know, thirty years.

771
00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:09,239
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm pumped. And you know, we are both from

772
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:11,080
Speaker 4: New Jersey. We live in New Jersey and we have

773
00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:13,560
Speaker 4: to make sure everybody knows the finals on New York.

774
00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:16,439
Speaker 4: It's in New Jersey and everybody needs to know that.

775
00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:20,000
Speaker 4: So from that landscape, though, like you were saying from

776
00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:22,360
Speaker 4: the business side, from the owner's side, how much bigger

777
00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:25,680
Speaker 4: and more valuable do you think this makes the business

778
00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:29,040
Speaker 4: of soccer, having having that on this on our soil?

779
00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:32,800
Speaker 3: Well, I think you're going to see people want to

780
00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:34,960
Speaker 3: invest in the sport more. I think you're gonna want

781
00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:37,360
Speaker 3: to I think you're going to see brands are going

782
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,319
Speaker 3: to want to do more sponsorships. I think media rights,

783
00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:43,120
Speaker 3: broadcast partners are already pretty you know, all in on soccer.

784
00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:45,520
Speaker 3: But I think this will actually push that up a

785
00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:48,480
Speaker 3: little bit. And I think that you know what makes

786
00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:50,640
Speaker 3: those things make money is the fans, And I think

787
00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:53,200
Speaker 3: it's just going to create more fans of the sport.

788
00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:57,920
Speaker 3: And so, you know, I think a little kid goes

789
00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:00,520
Speaker 3: to a World Cup matcher watches one on TV that's

790
00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:02,920
Speaker 3: in the United States, and I think it's kind of

791
00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:05,319
Speaker 3: hard not to get hooked on the sport. So I

792
00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:08,120
Speaker 3: think it's going to create fans, which create sponsors, which

793
00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:11,160
Speaker 3: create broadcast partners, which create investors. So I think it's

794
00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:14,120
Speaker 3: gonna be a real flywheel that's just going to bring

795
00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:17,080
Speaker 3: more interest in, more dollars and more eyeballs into the space.

796
00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:19,560
Speaker 4: Absolutely. I know what the nineteen ninety nine World Cup

797
00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:22,440
Speaker 4: did for me, so I'm sure there's gonna be some

798
00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:24,480
Speaker 4: some of that for everyone else.

799
00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:25,759
Speaker 2: Hopefully there will be.

800
00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:28,520
Speaker 4: Sam, thanks so much for joining us, and I really

801
00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:31,080
Speaker 4: appreciate you coming on the Bloomberg Business of Soccer.

802
00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:33,480
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me, Vanessa, this was great. I appreciate

803
00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:33,920
Speaker 2: your time.

804
00:39:34,080 --> 00:39:36,279
Speaker 4: This is a special edition of the Bloomberg Business of

805
00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:39,160
Speaker 4: Sports podcasts, The Business of Soccer. Up next, we'll hear

806
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:42,560
Speaker 4: from Bloomberg News reporter Gonzala Soto on how Mexico is

807
00:39:42,600 --> 00:39:46,120
Speaker 4: preparing for the World Cup. I'm Vanessa Perromo. This is Bloomberg.

808
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:52,680
Speaker 4: You're listening to a special edition of the Bloomberg Business

809
00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:56,040
Speaker 4: of Sports podcast, The Business of Soccer. I'm Vanessa Perromo.

810
00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:59,200
Speaker 4: My next guest is Bloomberg News reporter Gonzala Soto, who's

811
00:39:59,239 --> 00:40:01,919
Speaker 4: based in our Mexico City office, so he's plugged into

812
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:04,600
Speaker 4: everything going on with Mexican soccer. He gave us a

813
00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:06,759
Speaker 4: deep dive on the business of League MS and why

814
00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:09,880
Speaker 4: are they're so closely following in the MLS's footsteps, and

815
00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:12,520
Speaker 4: we discussed how Mexico is preparing as a co host

816
00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:14,640
Speaker 4: for the World Cup. Let's listen to my conversation with

817
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:18,279
Speaker 4: Bloomberg News reporter Gonzalo Soto. So, Gonzalo, I want to

818
00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:22,200
Speaker 4: use this opportunity to take a deep dive into soccer Mexico,

819
00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:24,480
Speaker 4: and you know how deep it runs in the history,

820
00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:26,680
Speaker 4: how important it is, you know, not just to the

821
00:40:26,719 --> 00:40:29,799
Speaker 4: citizens and the fans, but how important is to the economy,

822
00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:31,840
Speaker 4: and how that's all going to work together as we

823
00:40:31,920 --> 00:40:34,640
Speaker 4: come together for Mexico to host, you know, co host

824
00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:37,160
Speaker 4: the World Cup. But I want to start with something simple.

825
00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:41,480
Speaker 4: In Lega MX, the you know the league there who

826
00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:45,040
Speaker 4: are historically the most successful teams in League MS.

827
00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:47,640
Speaker 1: Well, thank you, Vanessa.

828
00:40:48,239 --> 00:40:48,920
Speaker 2: I think the.

829
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:54,799
Speaker 1: Well, soccer is by far the most popular sport here

830
00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:58,879
Speaker 1: in the country. I mean, baseball has grown, basketball has grown.

831
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:02,920
Speaker 1: There is for large football fan base. However, soccer is

832
00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:07,200
Speaker 1: still king and on the most popular teams remain the

833
00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:10,880
Speaker 1: historical ones, the ones that have the most championships. And

834
00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:14,000
Speaker 1: we're talking about Club America, we're talking about Chiva as

835
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:17,960
Speaker 1: we talk about both teams from Monterey which is in

836
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:22,320
Speaker 1: the north part of the country, Glube Monterey Tires as well,

837
00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:27,880
Speaker 1: and well, recently we've had a lot of other teams

838
00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:31,799
Speaker 1: that have been able to win some championships. There are

839
00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:39,320
Speaker 1: other teams that have lost some of its previous brilliance,

840
00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:42,480
Speaker 1: like Pumas which is the team of the national university

841
00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:45,920
Speaker 1: here in Mexico, which used to draw and still draws

842
00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:50,839
Speaker 1: younger crowds and younger audiences. And of course Crusasul which

843
00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:53,640
Speaker 1: was one of the most which was one of the

844
00:41:53,680 --> 00:41:57,080
Speaker 1: winningest teams in the country. However in the past few

845
00:41:57,160 --> 00:41:59,280
Speaker 1: years they haven't done so well.

846
00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:02,479
Speaker 4: That's really interesting. So what is it, you know that

847
00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:06,040
Speaker 4: makes a club you know, so successful or you know

848
00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:08,800
Speaker 4: that some of them have dropped off. Is it similar

849
00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:10,799
Speaker 4: to what we see in the Premier League where you know,

850
00:42:10,880 --> 00:42:13,120
Speaker 4: the teams who have the most money you're consistently at

851
00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:14,840
Speaker 4: the top, or what is it for LEMX?

852
00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:20,440
Speaker 1: Yeah? I think Mexico hasn't been able to escape that

853
00:42:21,719 --> 00:42:24,920
Speaker 1: tendency in which teams that have the most money are

854
00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:28,200
Speaker 1: able to win the most championships. That is still a

855
00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:31,680
Speaker 1: rule here and that applies as well here in Mexico. However,

856
00:42:31,920 --> 00:42:36,600
Speaker 1: the way our tournament is structured makes it able for

857
00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:39,920
Speaker 1: other teams, teams that are not as rich as the

858
00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:43,160
Speaker 1: ones that I mentioned previously, they can compete for a

859
00:42:43,239 --> 00:42:49,080
Speaker 1: championship and that's something that makes fans, you know, dream

860
00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:51,080
Speaker 1: a little bit larger. I mean, it's not the same

861
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:53,680
Speaker 1: to be a fan in England of I don't know,

862
00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:58,799
Speaker 1: Nottingham Forest or Wolverhampton that you do not aspire to

863
00:42:58,880 --> 00:43:03,200
Speaker 1: win the Premier Leage League. You aspire for maybe European football,

864
00:43:03,239 --> 00:43:06,840
Speaker 1: you know, being able to compete in European tournaments the

865
00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:09,440
Speaker 1: next season here in this country is kind of different

866
00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:15,000
Speaker 1: because smaller teams get the chance because we are not well.

867
00:43:15,160 --> 00:43:18,080
Speaker 1: Lega MX is not a tournament that is point based,

868
00:43:18,239 --> 00:43:21,839
Speaker 1: that means the team that makes the most points in

869
00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:26,440
Speaker 1: the season win the tournament. Here we have a playoff

870
00:43:26,480 --> 00:43:30,960
Speaker 1: system in which sometimes there are big upsets, there are

871
00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:36,359
Speaker 1: surprises and the black courses that in the end make

872
00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:40,960
Speaker 1: it possible for many, many teams to actually win a championship.

873
00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:44,120
Speaker 4: Well that's good because those are the most exciting times.

874
00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:44,319
Speaker 1: Right.

875
00:43:44,719 --> 00:43:47,600
Speaker 4: You hate to see the same people keep winning, But

876
00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:51,160
Speaker 4: I love an underdog is my favorite thing.

877
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:55,800
Speaker 1: I mean, we all love a thing Humaniza is that

878
00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:02,000
Speaker 1: the level of Mexican soccer, some experts say, has actually

879
00:44:02,120 --> 00:44:07,040
Speaker 1: dwindled because of this rule, and that is because teams

880
00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:11,760
Speaker 1: do not really aspire to play well during the whole season.

881
00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:15,920
Speaker 1: I mean, they don't actually play their best football for

882
00:44:16,440 --> 00:44:19,919
Speaker 1: seventeen eighteen weeks of the regular season, but they do

883
00:44:19,960 --> 00:44:23,239
Speaker 1: play their best during the playoffs. So you have for

884
00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:27,360
Speaker 1: months not the best kind of soccer, not the best level,

885
00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:30,040
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, once you get to playoffs,

886
00:44:30,360 --> 00:44:34,719
Speaker 1: you usually get much better games. That's something that has

887
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:38,120
Speaker 1: put off many many soccer fans here in Mexico.

888
00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:40,279
Speaker 4: Do you know what that is? Very interesting and I

889
00:44:40,320 --> 00:44:44,040
Speaker 4: think it's very American. Actually, it seems like that's when

890
00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:46,279
Speaker 4: we have the same problem, right with the NBA and

891
00:44:46,719 --> 00:44:50,160
Speaker 4: the MLB. The seasons are long, and you know, people

892
00:44:50,200 --> 00:44:53,799
Speaker 4: complain about how how much people rest, and they don't

893
00:44:53,800 --> 00:44:57,399
Speaker 4: try until really the playoff season. I feel I'm also

894
00:44:57,520 --> 00:45:01,200
Speaker 4: guilty of getting fatigued throughout the season of watching not

895
00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:04,280
Speaker 4: the best until the playoffs. Really, So I guess.

896
00:45:04,120 --> 00:45:07,920
Speaker 1: It's very interesting and it's very interesting that you mentioned

897
00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:14,120
Speaker 1: the US system because in the past few years, LEAGAMEX

898
00:45:14,239 --> 00:45:19,480
Speaker 1: and Mexican soccer in general, has mostly followed what the MLS,

899
00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:22,080
Speaker 1: the Major League Soccer in the United States, has been doing,

900
00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:26,920
Speaker 1: i think, instead of following the European model that remains

901
00:45:26,960 --> 00:45:31,319
Speaker 1: basically the same, although many changes have occurred, especially in

902
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:34,440
Speaker 1: European football, and I mean the Champions League for example,

903
00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:40,120
Speaker 1: the continental tournaments. Leagames has actually tried to follow with

904
00:45:40,719 --> 00:45:44,200
Speaker 1: the MLS model, and that has bring them a lot

905
00:45:44,239 --> 00:45:47,960
Speaker 1: of trouble, especially with teams that are in what it's

906
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:51,160
Speaker 1: called league expansion or the second division. I mean LEAGAS

907
00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:56,000
Speaker 1: is the top tier in Mexican soccer. Then you have

908
00:45:56,120 --> 00:45:59,720
Speaker 1: the second division with league expansion and since the twenty

909
00:45:59,800 --> 00:46:03,240
Speaker 1: ninth team twenty twenty season, with the excuse of the pandemic,

910
00:46:03,239 --> 00:46:08,560
Speaker 1: with the pretext of the pandemic, promotion and relegation was suspended.

911
00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:13,320
Speaker 1: So a team that did poorly in the first division

912
00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:17,520
Speaker 1: in League iMX was don't relegated to the second division

913
00:46:17,760 --> 00:46:21,359
Speaker 1: as it usually happens in European football, And that led

914
00:46:21,480 --> 00:46:24,960
Speaker 1: to a lot of financial and business decision to be made.

915
00:46:25,239 --> 00:46:30,040
Speaker 1: And it also, you know, put Mexican soccer on a

916
00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:35,320
Speaker 1: path to reply or to copy the MLS model.

917
00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:35,839
Speaker 2: Right.

918
00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:38,239
Speaker 4: I'm so glad you brought that up, because that is

919
00:46:38,320 --> 00:46:40,880
Speaker 4: exactly what we're seeing right now. A lot in Le

920
00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:45,480
Speaker 4: MX is the parallel to the MLS. You know, President

921
00:46:45,640 --> 00:46:49,120
Speaker 4: Michael Ariola has a really really close relationship with Commissioner

922
00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:51,440
Speaker 4: Don Garbera of the MLS. They do a lot of

923
00:46:51,480 --> 00:46:54,600
Speaker 4: things together. They have about three or four competitions throughout

924
00:46:54,640 --> 00:46:57,360
Speaker 4: the year that they do together. So I'd love to

925
00:46:57,400 --> 00:47:01,440
Speaker 4: get your take on how you know Mexican fans feel

926
00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:04,840
Speaker 4: about this close relationship with the US and with the DAMS.

927
00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:09,439
Speaker 1: Well, it is mixed, and it is mixed because if

928
00:47:09,480 --> 00:47:14,239
Speaker 1: you support a League MS team, you might see that

929
00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:17,120
Speaker 1: your team gets an extra revenue for playing, for example,

930
00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:20,680
Speaker 1: in the League's Cup, which is again something that was

931
00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:23,200
Speaker 1: invented to be played in the middle of the summer

932
00:47:23,600 --> 00:47:30,880
Speaker 1: in the United States, where Mexican teams draw very large crowds,

933
00:47:30,920 --> 00:47:34,680
Speaker 1: and of course that that becomes that that transforms into

934
00:47:34,719 --> 00:47:39,120
Speaker 1: a very good revenue for them. Let's let's remember that

935
00:47:39,600 --> 00:47:44,400
Speaker 1: MLS teams bringing far more revenue than most of Mexican teams,

936
00:47:44,719 --> 00:47:48,880
Speaker 1: So for LEAGAMX teams to play in the United States,

937
00:47:48,920 --> 00:47:52,520
Speaker 1: that means there is an extra source, a very locrative

938
00:47:52,560 --> 00:47:55,760
Speaker 1: source of revenue, and that is why League Cups still exist.

939
00:47:55,880 --> 00:48:00,600
Speaker 1: That is why Miquelila and the rest of the U

940
00:48:01,360 --> 00:48:06,000
Speaker 1: League a mis directive or management have been able to

941
00:48:06,600 --> 00:48:10,040
Speaker 1: you know, or are willing to follow more closely what

942
00:48:10,120 --> 00:48:12,960
Speaker 1: the MLYS is doing and try to bring you know,

943
00:48:13,680 --> 00:48:17,680
Speaker 1: the alliance even closer because that it's it's good for

944
00:48:17,760 --> 00:48:20,760
Speaker 1: the it's good for the finances, it's good for the business.

945
00:48:21,280 --> 00:48:27,480
Speaker 1: But teams don't really engage too much. Let's say in

946
00:48:27,520 --> 00:48:31,680
Speaker 1: a game where America is playing the Seattle Centers or

947
00:48:31,920 --> 00:48:37,640
Speaker 1: Houston playing Ada, so that's still not there. There aren't

948
00:48:37,719 --> 00:48:41,239
Speaker 1: really true rivalries there that actually draw the attention of

949
00:48:41,360 --> 00:48:42,160
Speaker 1: Mexican fans.

950
00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:45,719
Speaker 4: So oh, so you're saying the level of competition isn't

951
00:48:45,760 --> 00:48:51,080
Speaker 4: necessarily there between the two leagues. Yet it's not like, oh,

952
00:48:51,200 --> 00:48:54,400
Speaker 4: Mexico's coming over to the US and rearrival, Like you

953
00:48:54,400 --> 00:48:57,600
Speaker 4: were saying, there's not that rivalry that's creating a natural

954
00:48:57,680 --> 00:49:01,360
Speaker 4: storytelling aspect of it that has the fans excited for

955
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:02,280
Speaker 4: for something like that.

956
00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:07,600
Speaker 1: Yet the only narrative that I think it's actually gaining

957
00:49:07,719 --> 00:49:12,880
Speaker 1: traction is the one that I mean several years ago.

958
00:49:13,400 --> 00:49:19,480
Speaker 1: Mexican teams, namely clubs or the national team will usually

959
00:49:19,600 --> 00:49:22,840
Speaker 1: dominate anywhere in Conkcap, which is the region where the

960
00:49:22,920 --> 00:49:26,720
Speaker 1: United States and Mexican football. It's a region where Mexican

961
00:49:26,960 --> 00:49:29,279
Speaker 1: and US teams belong to.

962
00:49:29,719 --> 00:49:30,200
Speaker 3: And.

963
00:49:32,600 --> 00:49:36,799
Speaker 1: The rivalry, it's more that it's more likely to be

964
00:49:37,880 --> 00:49:44,680
Speaker 1: how Mexican football still remains somehow better than US soccer. However,

965
00:49:45,680 --> 00:49:49,760
Speaker 1: that has been changing a lot recently, especially in national

966
00:49:49,840 --> 00:49:55,400
Speaker 1: teams matches, where the US has been quite successful taking

967
00:49:55,440 --> 00:49:58,719
Speaker 1: on the Mexican national team and that has sort of

968
00:49:58,800 --> 00:50:03,960
Speaker 1: permeated to Mexican clubs. So journalist, analysts, experts will tell

969
00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:08,080
Speaker 1: you that Mexican teams are being left behind or are

970
00:50:08,200 --> 00:50:13,839
Speaker 1: being caught up by MLST teams, especially because Emmelyst has

971
00:50:13,840 --> 00:50:19,000
Speaker 1: been extremely successful in drawing and bringing in UH soccer

972
00:50:19,040 --> 00:50:22,120
Speaker 1: stars that yes they might be in the dawn of

973
00:50:22,160 --> 00:50:26,000
Speaker 1: their careers, but still they're fantastic. And of course also

974
00:50:26,280 --> 00:50:33,840
Speaker 1: they drew huge audiences. I mean, I just have to mention, Uh,

975
00:50:34,600 --> 00:50:37,880
Speaker 1: that's the that's the that's the top example. But also

976
00:50:38,320 --> 00:50:41,960
Speaker 1: I mean other players from Germany, from France, you got

977
00:50:42,040 --> 00:50:47,120
Speaker 1: huge playing in in in Los Angeles. That's pretty exciting.

978
00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:51,600
Speaker 1: You got all the visu also playing there. Thomas Mueller,

979
00:50:51,880 --> 00:50:55,920
Speaker 1: a German legend for bann Munich now playing in Canada

980
00:50:55,960 --> 00:51:01,480
Speaker 1: and Vancouver. So that's something that Emmeles has done terrifically

981
00:51:01,520 --> 00:51:05,279
Speaker 1: well and the MLS has had, sorry and lega I

982
00:51:05,360 --> 00:51:09,319
Speaker 1: makes has tried somehow to replicate, but it's not there yet.

983
00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:12,040
Speaker 4: That's really interesting and I think one of the things

984
00:51:12,040 --> 00:51:14,919
Speaker 4: that you know, we're talking about in the parallels there,

985
00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:17,640
Speaker 4: and it's interesting to me that you're saying, you know,

986
00:51:17,719 --> 00:51:19,759
Speaker 4: they're kind of being left behind in this way. But

987
00:51:19,800 --> 00:51:22,480
Speaker 4: I feel like that's when I was talking to you know,

988
00:51:22,560 --> 00:51:25,160
Speaker 4: Michael Arola earlier this year, and he was kind of

989
00:51:25,160 --> 00:51:27,719
Speaker 4: saying that the reason they're so close to the US

990
00:51:27,760 --> 00:51:29,279
Speaker 4: and one of the things they would love to get

991
00:51:29,320 --> 00:51:31,880
Speaker 4: from the MLS is the way their governance works and

992
00:51:31,920 --> 00:51:35,120
Speaker 4: the way they structure their business right to get that revenue.

993
00:51:35,160 --> 00:51:37,759
Speaker 4: Like you were saying, how the US teams still you know,

994
00:51:38,120 --> 00:51:40,960
Speaker 4: they have much bigger revenues. But the interesting part there

995
00:51:41,080 --> 00:51:43,480
Speaker 4: is that Lega MX is actually more popular in the

996
00:51:43,600 --> 00:51:48,239
Speaker 4: US than the MLS is. So how how do you

997
00:51:48,280 --> 00:51:50,480
Speaker 4: think they get to that point where it is a

998
00:51:50,520 --> 00:51:53,000
Speaker 4: true business and they are making that money and they're

999
00:51:53,040 --> 00:51:56,040
Speaker 4: able to attract you know, outside players.

1000
00:51:57,360 --> 00:52:01,400
Speaker 1: Well, you're right when you say the Lega MAX is extremely

1001
00:52:01,400 --> 00:52:04,640
Speaker 1: popular in the United States. I mean, I think the

1002
00:52:04,719 --> 00:52:10,400
Speaker 1: last season the average half a million viewers across several networks,

1003
00:52:10,600 --> 00:52:16,080
Speaker 1: mostly in Univision, which is one of the most watched

1004
00:52:16,640 --> 00:52:20,400
Speaker 1: TV stations for Spanish speaking population in the United States.

1005
00:52:21,400 --> 00:52:25,200
Speaker 1: One thing that I believe it's the reason why Miquel

1006
00:52:25,360 --> 00:52:28,719
Speaker 1: Riola was brought in in twenty twenty one to be

1007
00:52:28,800 --> 00:52:32,960
Speaker 1: the president of Lega MX, is that. I mean when

1008
00:52:33,000 --> 00:52:35,759
Speaker 1: you look at his at his rescume, he was a

1009
00:52:35,800 --> 00:52:40,200
Speaker 1: public servant, mostly working in finance, and that is the

1010
00:52:40,280 --> 00:52:44,520
Speaker 1: aim that the owner's Assembly, which is the most powerful

1011
00:52:44,560 --> 00:52:48,279
Speaker 1: buddy in Mexican football. That's why they brought him in

1012
00:52:48,360 --> 00:52:51,520
Speaker 1: because they needed to check in the finance. They needed

1013
00:52:51,520 --> 00:52:53,400
Speaker 1: to put owner in the house, you know, to clean

1014
00:52:53,400 --> 00:52:58,880
Speaker 1: the house financially in terms of administration. And his example

1015
00:52:59,560 --> 00:53:02,839
Speaker 1: was or his model was m less because he thought

1016
00:53:02,960 --> 00:53:07,239
Speaker 1: and LEEMX has seen in the m l as a

1017
00:53:07,360 --> 00:53:11,200
Speaker 1: model that could be replicated in Mexico successfully, given the

1018
00:53:11,239 --> 00:53:14,719
Speaker 1: fact that a lot of its revenue comes precisely from

1019
00:53:14,719 --> 00:53:15,840
Speaker 1: the United States.

1020
00:53:16,520 --> 00:53:19,880
Speaker 4: Yeah, and now we're seeing more American investors coming into

1021
00:53:20,000 --> 00:53:23,239
Speaker 4: LEE MX. Do you think that do you think that

1022
00:53:23,280 --> 00:53:26,120
Speaker 4: it's because of the fact that they see that potential

1023
00:53:26,160 --> 00:53:30,960
Speaker 4: that is there the assets or undervalue. Teams are undervalued

1024
00:53:31,080 --> 00:53:34,040
Speaker 4: right now, but there is so much room to grow

1025
00:53:34,080 --> 00:53:36,480
Speaker 4: because it is such a popular score in Mexico and

1026
00:53:36,520 --> 00:53:38,920
Speaker 4: in the US.

1027
00:53:39,239 --> 00:53:41,239
Speaker 1: I mean, I completely agree with the first part that

1028
00:53:41,840 --> 00:53:45,920
Speaker 1: several teams may be undervalued, And of course buying an

1029
00:53:46,040 --> 00:53:51,399
Speaker 1: MLS franchise is much more expensive than buying Mexican one.

1030
00:53:51,440 --> 00:53:53,640
Speaker 1: And of course there is a lot of storytelling there.

1031
00:53:53,719 --> 00:53:57,239
Speaker 1: I mean, just ask Eva Longoria buying the casa in

1032
00:53:57,480 --> 00:54:01,040
Speaker 1: a very very small town called Awas Callia This which

1033
00:54:01,719 --> 00:54:04,600
Speaker 1: I mean, like ASA is a very storied team used

1034
00:54:04,600 --> 00:54:10,400
Speaker 1: to play in Mexico City, was largely successful in the

1035
00:54:10,520 --> 00:54:14,440
Speaker 1: nineteen nineties, but then it just kind of disappeared. And

1036
00:54:14,480 --> 00:54:18,720
Speaker 1: now Evan Goya comes in and she gets to create

1037
00:54:18,760 --> 00:54:22,319
Speaker 1: this narrative, you know, sort of what Ryan Reynolds did

1038
00:54:22,320 --> 00:54:26,800
Speaker 1: with Wrexham in Wales. So there is a lot of

1039
00:54:26,840 --> 00:54:31,040
Speaker 1: opportunity there, and of course US investors are always looking

1040
00:54:31,080 --> 00:54:35,919
Speaker 1: for opportunities here in the Mexican League. There is there

1041
00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:39,960
Speaker 1: has been since at least two years, the promise of

1042
00:54:40,600 --> 00:54:46,239
Speaker 1: an American fund willing to invest in Mexican soccer in

1043
00:54:46,320 --> 00:54:50,239
Speaker 1: order to make it grow, to create better experiences. That

1044
00:54:50,400 --> 00:54:53,880
Speaker 1: hasn't materialized yet, but it's still something that's in the

1045
00:54:53,880 --> 00:54:57,359
Speaker 1: books and still something that is in the plants, and

1046
00:54:57,400 --> 00:55:01,560
Speaker 1: I think it will bring first in somewhere after. So

1047
00:55:01,800 --> 00:55:03,440
Speaker 1: some time after the World.

1048
00:55:03,280 --> 00:55:06,200
Speaker 4: Cup, do you think that that will be met with,

1049
00:55:06,880 --> 00:55:10,279
Speaker 4: you know, acceptance by Mexican fans or will it be

1050
00:55:10,360 --> 00:55:13,520
Speaker 4: met by a little bit of friction there with not

1051
00:55:13,680 --> 00:55:17,560
Speaker 4: wanting the league to really be taken over by American money.

1052
00:55:18,480 --> 00:55:20,720
Speaker 1: I think in the end, the Mexican fan just wants

1053
00:55:20,719 --> 00:55:23,040
Speaker 1: their team to win. And as I said, I mean,

1054
00:55:23,120 --> 00:55:27,440
Speaker 1: unlike other teams in Europe that you know, they know

1055
00:55:27,600 --> 00:55:31,520
Speaker 1: exactly which here they belong to and what they truly

1056
00:55:31,600 --> 00:55:35,040
Speaker 1: aspired to. I mean here the idea is that they

1057
00:55:35,160 --> 00:55:39,240
Speaker 1: just want to see their team win. I mean and money,

1058
00:55:39,400 --> 00:55:43,759
Speaker 1: money does buy success in soccer. I mean, just take

1059
00:55:43,760 --> 00:55:46,760
Speaker 1: a look to Manchester's just take a look at Manchester City.

1060
00:55:46,920 --> 00:55:50,040
Speaker 1: I mean twenty twenty five years ago, Manchester City was

1061
00:55:50,200 --> 00:55:54,480
Speaker 1: the other team in Manchester while Manchester United absolutely dominated

1062
00:55:55,040 --> 00:55:59,920
Speaker 1: European and English football. And nowadays it's a huge power

1063
00:56:00,080 --> 00:56:02,560
Speaker 1: house that has already won the Champions League and other

1064
00:56:02,760 --> 00:56:07,280
Speaker 1: big tournaments, draws large crowds from everywhere in the world.

1065
00:56:07,680 --> 00:56:11,279
Speaker 1: And I think that's the expectation of some fans to

1066
00:56:11,480 --> 00:56:17,359
Speaker 1: be able to match the amount of expenditure that other

1067
00:56:17,520 --> 00:56:21,240
Speaker 1: teams that are being held by big conglomerates like America

1068
00:56:21,400 --> 00:56:27,440
Speaker 1: or Monterey or Chieva's, you know, the amount power and

1069
00:56:27,520 --> 00:56:28,200
Speaker 1: money that they have.

1070
00:56:29,280 --> 00:56:31,480
Speaker 4: I want to get a little bit, you know, shift

1071
00:56:31,480 --> 00:56:33,560
Speaker 4: gears a little bit. But I mentioned, you know, kind

1072
00:56:33,600 --> 00:56:36,360
Speaker 4: of the cities that you were just talking about in

1073
00:56:36,680 --> 00:56:40,080
Speaker 4: I want to talk about the World Cup and obviously

1074
00:56:40,239 --> 00:56:42,799
Speaker 4: the Mexicos has three cities hosting the World Cup. That's

1075
00:56:42,800 --> 00:56:47,280
Speaker 4: Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. So from what you're saying there,

1076
00:56:47,400 --> 00:56:50,400
Speaker 4: it sounds like Monterrey has this big, huge, you know,

1077
00:56:51,080 --> 00:56:54,239
Speaker 4: history in soccer and they're very successful. So is that

1078
00:56:54,280 --> 00:56:55,880
Speaker 4: one of the reasons why they were chosen. Tell me

1079
00:56:55,920 --> 00:56:59,080
Speaker 4: how these three teams, these three cities were chosen and

1080
00:56:59,120 --> 00:56:59,759
Speaker 4: why do you think?

1081
00:57:00,719 --> 00:57:04,440
Speaker 1: Well, basically, there are the three largest cities in Mexico

1082
00:57:04,640 --> 00:57:10,879
Speaker 1: and they all three have a huge soccer story. Mexico City,

1083
00:57:10,920 --> 00:57:14,160
Speaker 1: of course, will be and the A Steca Stadium will

1084
00:57:14,239 --> 00:57:18,400
Speaker 1: be the first one to host three World Cups. I mean,

1085
00:57:18,560 --> 00:57:21,600
Speaker 1: nowhere else in the world has this happened, So it

1086
00:57:21,640 --> 00:57:24,760
Speaker 1: is an historic opportunity. It happened in nineteen seventeen, it

1087
00:57:24,800 --> 00:57:29,360
Speaker 1: happened in nineteen eighty six, and now twenty twenty five. Well,

1088
00:57:29,360 --> 00:57:36,920
Speaker 1: Allajada is very very it's very passionate about soccer and

1089
00:57:38,280 --> 00:57:42,360
Speaker 1: Chiva as gud Adlajada is perhaps the most popular team

1090
00:57:42,440 --> 00:57:45,880
Speaker 1: after America, both in Mexico and in the United States.

1091
00:57:46,000 --> 00:57:50,240
Speaker 1: And it also has a fairly news stadium that is

1092
00:57:50,320 --> 00:57:53,920
Speaker 1: being refurbished, I mean a Steca Stadium is also being refurbished.

1093
00:57:53,960 --> 00:57:59,640
Speaker 1: It's being adapted for what the fifth standards, for what

1094
00:57:59,640 --> 00:58:06,680
Speaker 1: FIFAT centers require. Whereas Monterey is also a very soccer

1095
00:58:06,760 --> 00:58:11,120
Speaker 1: passionate city, it's also it divides its passion and its

1096
00:58:11,120 --> 00:58:17,360
Speaker 1: attention with baseball. However, the current governor of Monterey, Samuel Garcia,

1097
00:58:17,480 --> 00:58:21,720
Speaker 1: he is a huge soccer fan and therefore he is

1098
00:58:21,800 --> 00:58:25,760
Speaker 1: really investing big in the state and in the city

1099
00:58:25,920 --> 00:58:31,160
Speaker 1: to make it really stand out in the World Cup.

1100
00:58:31,280 --> 00:58:35,160
Speaker 1: Let's remember something, this will be the best. Sorry, this

1101
00:58:35,280 --> 00:58:38,240
Speaker 1: will be the first World Cup that doesn't have to

1102
00:58:38,280 --> 00:58:41,400
Speaker 1: read two but forty eight teams playing and therefore there

1103
00:58:41,400 --> 00:58:44,280
Speaker 1: will be more games. However, most of the games will

1104
00:58:44,320 --> 00:58:47,480
Speaker 1: be played in the US. Mexico City will get on

1105
00:58:47,560 --> 00:58:50,200
Speaker 1: in four games. We will get three games, and Montoreal

1106
00:58:50,240 --> 00:58:54,720
Speaker 1: will get three games. So these cities are these three

1107
00:58:54,720 --> 00:58:57,240
Speaker 1: cities are trying to get the best of it and

1108
00:58:57,280 --> 00:58:59,760
Speaker 1: are trying to really stand out in a tournament.

1109
00:59:00,520 --> 00:59:04,680
Speaker 4: How much economic boom is Mexico and these specific cities

1110
00:59:04,760 --> 00:59:05,960
Speaker 4: expecting from the World Cup.

1111
00:59:07,120 --> 00:59:11,200
Speaker 1: I mean they're expecting or five million invistitors just in

1112
00:59:11,280 --> 00:59:15,200
Speaker 1: Mexico City during the World Cup, and that has been

1113
00:59:15,240 --> 00:59:18,960
Speaker 1: reflected in a lot of investment being made in the

1114
00:59:19,320 --> 00:59:24,840
Speaker 1: past few months. Some experts actually believe that the Mexican government,

1115
00:59:24,920 --> 00:59:27,760
Speaker 1: especially here in Mexico City, kind of started a little

1116
00:59:27,800 --> 00:59:32,800
Speaker 1: bit late in the investment for the World Cup, especially

1117
00:59:32,880 --> 00:59:38,640
Speaker 1: in infrastructure around the stadiums. Mexico City, or as the

1118
00:59:38,680 --> 00:59:41,920
Speaker 1: Osteka Stadium is kind of in the heart of a

1119
00:59:42,080 --> 00:59:46,000
Speaker 1: very popular, densely populated area of the city, so it

1120
00:59:46,120 --> 00:59:49,400
Speaker 1: needs a lot of refurbishment. It's not really the case

1121
00:59:49,440 --> 00:59:52,240
Speaker 1: with the other stadiums, although they are still in the city,

1122
00:59:52,520 --> 00:59:56,640
Speaker 1: but they have better connection, they have better infrastructure, so

1123
00:59:56,680 --> 01:00:00,880
Speaker 1: they're really pouring in in and they are expecting well

1124
01:00:01,320 --> 01:00:03,640
Speaker 1: millions of people coming in. As I said, over five

1125
01:00:03,680 --> 01:00:09,480
Speaker 1: million just for Mexico City, and that should reflect a

1126
01:00:09,560 --> 01:00:14,439
Speaker 1: large seremoney coming in. One example of it is Formula one.

1127
01:00:14,800 --> 01:00:17,200
Speaker 1: They are following the example of Formula one. When Formula

1128
01:00:17,240 --> 01:00:21,440
Speaker 1: one returned to Mexico a few years ago, it became

1129
01:00:21,840 --> 01:00:27,360
Speaker 1: a weekend where businesses and hotels have almost full occupation,

1130
01:00:27,840 --> 01:00:30,960
Speaker 1: and that is something that they're expecing again during the

1131
01:00:31,120 --> 01:00:33,600
Speaker 1: Work Cup weeks that will be taking place here in

1132
01:00:33,600 --> 01:00:36,920
Speaker 1: Mexico City or in guad Alajata and in Montalay.

1133
01:00:37,680 --> 01:00:40,440
Speaker 4: So before I let you go. Before I let you go, Gonzale,

1134
01:00:40,520 --> 01:00:45,320
Speaker 4: I have to ask Mexico and US are obviously co

1135
01:00:45,440 --> 01:00:47,640
Speaker 4: hosts in this World Cup, who do you think is

1136
01:00:47,640 --> 01:00:48,240
Speaker 4: going to go further?

1137
01:00:48,960 --> 01:00:52,600
Speaker 1: Well, oh my god, then you're putting me here in

1138
01:00:52,640 --> 01:00:57,560
Speaker 1: a very very difficult situation. I think, well, well, Mexico,

1139
01:00:58,040 --> 01:01:02,240
Speaker 1: Mexican national team hasn't done really well over the past

1140
01:01:02,240 --> 01:01:05,680
Speaker 1: few years. And one of the reasons it's linked, as

1141
01:01:05,680 --> 01:01:08,080
Speaker 1: I said, to the fact that there is no relegation

1142
01:01:08,200 --> 01:01:13,200
Speaker 1: and no promotion. Therefore, many many sport experts and or

1143
01:01:14,160 --> 01:01:20,120
Speaker 1: say that that has reflected into a reduction of good,

1144
01:01:20,880 --> 01:01:26,240
Speaker 1: good soccer talent available for the national team. But to

1145
01:01:26,280 --> 01:01:29,880
Speaker 1: answer your question, I think Mexico will go a little

1146
01:01:29,880 --> 01:01:33,000
Speaker 1: bit further. I think just one stage further than the

1147
01:01:33,120 --> 01:01:38,920
Speaker 1: United States. I think Mexico will reach finally the quarterfinals

1148
01:01:38,960 --> 01:01:42,480
Speaker 1: of the tournament, and I think the United States will

1149
01:01:42,480 --> 01:01:44,880
Speaker 1: stay any around behind.

1150
01:01:46,280 --> 01:01:48,280
Speaker 4: I'm not going to argue with you on it. You know,

1151
01:01:48,600 --> 01:01:50,440
Speaker 4: we'll see, we'll see.

1152
01:01:50,960 --> 01:01:54,480
Speaker 1: Please do not, please do not bring this up in

1153
01:01:54,560 --> 01:01:57,280
Speaker 1: a few months, this doesn't happen.

1154
01:01:57,320 --> 01:02:00,480
Speaker 4: But yeah, well now it's on the record, and we

1155
01:02:00,560 --> 01:02:01,320
Speaker 4: might come back to it.

1156
01:02:01,480 --> 01:02:02,200
Speaker 3: You know, you never know.

1157
01:02:03,080 --> 01:02:05,600
Speaker 4: Gonzala, thanks so much for joining the Bloomberg Business of Soccer.

1158
01:02:05,840 --> 01:02:08,400
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you very much for indication. I'm very

1159
01:02:08,440 --> 01:02:12,240
Speaker 1: happy and I hope this is used before our off

1160
01:02:12,280 --> 01:02:12,920
Speaker 1: with listeners.

1161
01:02:13,480 --> 01:02:16,240
Speaker 4: That was my conversation with our esteem colleague, Bloomberg News

1162
01:02:16,320 --> 01:02:19,160
Speaker 4: reporter Gonzalo Soto out of Mexico City. And that does

1163
01:02:19,200 --> 01:02:21,680
Speaker 4: it for this edition of the Business of Soccer. It's

1164
01:02:21,760 --> 01:02:23,880
Speaker 4: part of a new series we're starting on the Bloomberg

1165
01:02:23,920 --> 01:02:26,360
Speaker 4: Business of Sports as we get ready for the FIFA

1166
01:02:26,400 --> 01:02:30,080
Speaker 4: World Cup in twenty twenty six. I'm Vanessa Perdomo. Subscribe

1167
01:02:30,080 --> 01:02:32,480
Speaker 4: now so you never miss an episode. You're listening to

1168
01:02:32,520 --> 01:02:35,720
Speaker 4: the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the way.