Speaker 1: All right, Well, we're just a few months away from
Speaker 1: one of the biggest scoring events in the world, the
Speaker 1: FIFA World Cup, and that will draw for that World
Speaker 1: Cup just wrapped up a little bit earlier today at
Speaker 1: the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Joining us live from
Speaker 1: New York is Alex Lazri. He's the CEO of the
Speaker 1: FIFA World Cup twenty twenty six New York New Jersey
Speaker 1: Hosts Committee. Alex, great to have you here and of
Speaker 1: course where our viewers don't know, most of these games
Speaker 1: will be played, of course in the New York, New
Speaker 1: Jersey area. Talk a little bit about the potential impact
Speaker 1: that that's going to have for the local economy here.
Speaker 2: Well, the impact of these games on the local economy
Speaker 2: is going to be massive. I mean, we're looking at
Speaker 2: over three billion dollars of economic impact, millions of fans
Speaker 2: from around the world that are going to be coming
Speaker 2: right here to our region, and I think the potential
Speaker 2: legacy is even bigger. Right. What we want to do
Speaker 2: is show the world that if you want to have
Speaker 2: the premier sports and entertainment event, you want to do
Speaker 2: it in the biggest stage right here in New York,
Speaker 2: New Jersey.
Speaker 1: I am curious, Alex about this idea of having all
Speaker 1: of these national visitors coming to the US, particularly at
Speaker 1: a time where there's been a huge crackdown in immigration
Speaker 1: and a lot of concerns about how welcome some of
Speaker 1: these people are going to be when they start to arrive,
Speaker 1: and assuming they do arrive, are they going to be welcomed?
Speaker 2: They are, and we're going to make sure they are
Speaker 2: because we are really excited to welcome the entire world
Speaker 2: to our region. And that's what the benefit of this
Speaker 2: World Cup is and what makes this World Cup so unique.
Speaker 2: The economic impact of this World Cup has a lot
Speaker 2: to do with the millions of visitors who are going
Speaker 2: to come to this region to participate in the World Cup.
Speaker 2: And I think what's unique about a World Cup is
Speaker 2: that most people that come aren't going to the stadium
Speaker 2: to go to a game. They're coming to come to
Speaker 2: our fan fest, come to our fan village, come to
Speaker 2: all of our activations, and just be part of the
Speaker 2: World Cup experience. And that's what we're really excited about,
Speaker 2: to welcome the entire world right to our region.
Speaker 3: And you think about that, welcoming the entire world, do
Speaker 3: you think about where this is being held. MetLife. MetLife
Speaker 3: of course can handle a lot. It's hosted a Super
Speaker 3: Bowl before, for example, how will this final compare to that?
Speaker 2: For example, this final is going to be the biggest
Speaker 2: sporting event, maybe even the biggest event in human history.
Speaker 2: We're looking at If you think about the last the
Speaker 2: last World Cup Final, it was viewed by the same
Speaker 2: amount of people as the last thirteen Super Bowls combined.
Speaker 2: So if you think of you know, American football as
Speaker 2: our sport, football is the world sport and we're going
Speaker 2: to be having the eyes of the world upon us
Speaker 2: for this final. So this is going to be the
Speaker 2: biggest event that we've ever hosted out out pacing a
Speaker 2: Super Bowl, Taylor Swift concert, you name it. This is
Speaker 2: going to be the biggest event we've ever had, and
Speaker 2: we're going to show the world that if you want
Speaker 2: to have a sporting event or anything on the biggest stage,
Speaker 2: you got to do it right here in New York,
Speaker 2: New Jersey.
Speaker 3: Well to your point, I mean, this is the world's game.
Speaker 3: We're talking about the US market, and it feels like
Speaker 3: everyone growing up in the US plays soccer in some form.
Speaker 3: Do you think about soccer's popularity though in the United States,
Speaker 3: I mean, what do you think the stakes are here
Speaker 3: when it comes to raising the profile of the sport domestically.
Speaker 2: I think our hope for this World Cup and the
Speaker 2: legacy for this World Cup is doing the for football
Speaker 2: what you know the Dream Team did for basketball around
Speaker 2: the world, Right, it inspired a generation of basketball players,
Speaker 2: and now you've had like the last six MVPs not
Speaker 2: being from the United States, And I think our hope
Speaker 2: for this World Cup is that it inspires a next
Speaker 2: generation of athlete. Right You're going to have a bunch
Speaker 2: of six seven eight year olds who are going to
Speaker 2: be feeling the energy seeing the best players from around
Speaker 2: the world competing on the biggest stage, and hopefully it
Speaker 2: inspires them to go play football and to go join
Speaker 2: the US men's national team to make us the strongest
Speaker 2: team in the world. When you look at the ninety
Speaker 2: nine Women's World Cup, you know, those images and that
Speaker 2: energy led to the women's national team being the most
Speaker 2: impressive and biggest powerhouse in women's soccer. So I think
Speaker 2: we're hoping for the same thing for this World Cup.
Speaker 1: And absolutely you talk about the formation of MLS back
Speaker 1: in ninety six coming out of the ninety four World
Speaker 1: Cup and exactly all the attention that Americans, who traditionally
Speaker 1: ignored soccer certainly gave it. It gets to the question, though,
Speaker 1: Alex as well as to sort of what is the
Speaker 1: international cooperation going forward? And I don't mean at the
Speaker 1: at the high end World Cup level, but do you
Speaker 1: think we're going to see maybe a little bit more
Speaker 1: symbiosis between say the leagues here in the United States
Speaker 1: with those the big powerhouse leagues in Europe and the UK,
Speaker 1: et cetera.
Speaker 2: I think you're already seeing a lot of symbiosis, right
Speaker 2: You're having Premier League teams playing in European teams from
Speaker 2: all over the you know, from all over Europe playing
Speaker 2: in the United States. You know, we just hosted the
Speaker 2: Premier League series am met Life. We just have the
Speaker 2: Club World Cup right here in you know, the finals
Speaker 2: and the semi finals right here in MetLife Stadium. So
Speaker 2: I think you're already starting to see kind of an
Speaker 2: expansion of of football from around the world, you know,
Speaker 2: really partnering with with us in the United States. I think,
Speaker 2: you know, kind of the next step and next stage
Speaker 2: is for the growth of the MLS to continue, the
Speaker 2: growth of the NWSL to continue, and also maybe you know,
Speaker 2: you start to see some of these other leagues doing
Speaker 2: what US leagues have been doing. Right when you look
Speaker 2: at the NBA and the NFL playing regular season matches overseas.
Speaker 2: I think the hope is that, you know, we can
Speaker 2: start to do that with football and that'll really expand
Speaker 2: the game and continue to grow the sport.
Speaker 1: I know you're basically just in charge of what's going
Speaker 1: on here in the New York, New Jersey area, but
Speaker 1: we should point out obviously these games are going to
Speaker 1: be spread out in other cities as well as other countries,
Speaker 1: including Mexico and Canada. What are the discussions that you're
Speaker 1: having with your counterparts in those cities and countries with
Speaker 1: regards to what they're doing and maybe sharing some interest
Speaker 1: and advice as to what maybe you can do as well.
Speaker 2: We're all trying to share best practices because the fan
Speaker 2: experience in one city is going to directly affect the
Speaker 2: fan experience in another. And so what we want to do,
Speaker 2: especially here in the United States, but all across North
Speaker 2: America is we really want to put on an incredible
Speaker 2: show and we want people from around the world who
Speaker 2: are coming here for possibly the first time, or CEOs
Speaker 2: of other companies coming here who are looking to maybe
Speaker 2: create jobs and invest We want them to see the
Speaker 2: United States, especially as as the place to do that.
Speaker 2: And so the fan experience in Atlanta or Miami or
Speaker 2: Dallas is going to directly affect the fan experience that
Speaker 2: you have in New York, New Jersey. And so we're
Speaker 2: trying to make sure that we're all in communication, all
Speaker 2: talking about what we can do to make sure that
Speaker 2: everyone coming to the United States has an incredible experience,
Speaker 2: because I think that the studies that I've seen are
Speaker 2: saying that the World Cup could have an over thirty
Speaker 2: billion dollar economic impact for the entire United States, expecting
Speaker 2: over six million visitors. So this is this is a
Speaker 2: very big deal, not just for our region, but for
Speaker 2: the entire country.
Speaker 3: And you know, you think about an event like this,
Speaker 3: I have to imagine a lot of it, you know,
Speaker 3: falls on the state governments, the local governments. But talk
Speaker 3: to us about the relationship with the federal government. How
Speaker 3: much you know, buy in and participation you need from
Speaker 3: that level of government in term of putting on something
Speaker 3: on this scale.
Speaker 2: You can't put on an event like this without coordination
Speaker 2: and buy in from your state, local, and federal government.
Speaker 2: And when I look at the planning and all of
Speaker 2: the conversations that I've been involved in and all the
Speaker 2: preparations that we've made, the connectivity between federal, state, and
Speaker 2: local has been truly incredible. Right. I think we're actually
Speaker 2: seeing a putting a side of politics to make sure
Speaker 2: that these games are successful. And if you look at
Speaker 2: you know, kind of the next ten years here in
Speaker 2: the United States, this is really the decade of sports,
Speaker 2: and the World Cup is kind of the kickoff of that.
Speaker 2: Right We've got the World Cup in twenty six, the
Speaker 2: La Olympics in twenty eight, We've got the Women's World
Speaker 2: Cup in twenty thirty one, and then the Salt Lake
Speaker 2: City Winter Olympics in twenty thirty four or thirty six. So,
Speaker 2: you know, this is the decade of sports. We are
Speaker 2: the first one, and so we really have to make
Speaker 2: sure that we put on a great show to you know,
Speaker 2: I think really set the tone for what these mega
Speaker 2: sporting events over the next ten years are going to
Speaker 2: look like.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, Alex really appreciate your time on this Friday afternoon,
Speaker 3: that is Alex Lazri. He is the CEO of the
Speaker 3: FIFA World Cup twenty six New York, New Jersey Host
Speaker 3: Committee