Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about what's going on, because I you know,
Speaker 2: the Odd Lots podcast they're doing something and I was
Speaker 2: reading in and they pointed out that the last time
Speaker 2: the World Cup came to the US was back in
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety four. Before then, the World Cup was an
Speaker 2: enormously popular event with surprisingly limited commercial significance. Fast forward,
Speaker 2: it is massive with the global audience and reaching. I
Speaker 2: got to say it's one of the really world's most
Speaker 2: watched global sports events. So leading the way forward with
Speaker 2: US as j T. Batson, He's been CEO and Secretary
Speaker 2: General of the US Soccer Federation since September of twenty
Speaker 2: twenty two. He joins us from Los Angeles. JT. Great
Speaker 2: to have you here. And then also with us as
Speaker 2: our own Randall Williams. He's Bloomberg new senior reporter co
Speaker 2: host of the Business of Sports podcast. He's here in
Speaker 2: our New York studio. Great to have you here. You've
Speaker 2: been tracking all the games in and out. I'm going
Speaker 2: to let you ask the first question of JT. Because
Speaker 2: you've been watching all of this stuff.
Speaker 3: I mean, let's start off pretty basic. Jac how happy
Speaker 3: are you right now.
Speaker 4: Definitely happy and based on everyone I keep running into
Speaker 4: here in LA and my travels around the country, you know,
Speaker 4: lots and lots of happy people here and they're excited
Speaker 4: for the run we're on.
Speaker 2: Are you surprised at how well it's going? You know
Speaker 2: that there were a lot of stories leading up to
Speaker 2: it about cost and access, and everybody here in the
Speaker 2: New York metro was like, it's going to be a nightmare,
Speaker 2: and it is a little tough moving around, but it
Speaker 2: just seems to be going well, and everybody who's at
Speaker 2: the games are just having a blast.
Speaker 4: Well, the US is a soccer country. They are will
Speaker 4: more than one hundred million people in America who are
Speaker 4: fans of soccer, and of course we have such a
Speaker 4: diverse country with people from all over the world, so
Speaker 4: every team was going to feel welcome here. Everyone is
Speaker 4: going to have an amazing time, and you know, people
Speaker 4: are not seeing that all around the world.
Speaker 1: It's pretty cool. Walking around the streets of New York.
Speaker 1: You see Argentina jerseys on a day that Argentina's playing,
Speaker 1: see Brazil jerseys all over even here at the office.
Speaker 1: I sometimes am seeing jerseys this week, no question, World
Speaker 1: Cup fever is hitting here in the streets of Brooklyn.
Speaker 1: Over the weekend, they were selling all the jerseys that
Speaker 1: were available for these countries around the world. They were
Speaker 1: out of US jerseys in every size, And I think
Speaker 1: that really speaks to the enthusiasm that we're seeing right now,
Speaker 1: especially among kids. How do you translate that enthusiasm into
Speaker 1: something sustainable for the US.
Speaker 4: Well, A couple of things, you know. One is you're
Speaker 4: right around the incredible demand for the US jerseys. They're iconic,
Speaker 4: they are a ton of fun, and even though Nike
Speaker 4: produced way more than they ever have before, they have
Speaker 4: been you know, hot items all across the country, and
Speaker 4: so it doesn't surprise me to hear about that in Brooklyn.
Speaker 4: And I think, you know, more broadly, we view we
Speaker 4: have now this World Cup, the la Olympics, and hopefully
Speaker 4: the Women's Roll Cup in twenty thirty one to have
Speaker 4: a similar impact on the growth of this sport as
Speaker 4: we did ninety four, the Atlanta Olympics in ninety six
Speaker 4: and then the Women's Roll Cup in ninety nine. And
Speaker 4: if you think about what soccer is like in ninety
Speaker 4: four relative to where we are now, imagine what it
Speaker 4: could look like in the future with all this excitement,
Speaker 4: and you know, we're excited about using this as a
Speaker 4: way of getting more soccer in schools, getting soccer and
Speaker 4: more communities across the country, getting more commercial investment in
Speaker 4: our sport, getting more government film throughpic investment in our sport,
Speaker 4: and so lots of exciting progress. And we know that
Speaker 4: the best days for soccer in this country ahead.
Speaker 1: I should clarify. I don't know if the woman's selling them.
Speaker 1: They said Nike on them, Randall, I don't know if
Speaker 1: they were official, official Nike gear. I just want to
Speaker 1: clarify it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a good clarification point. I do wonder for you,
Speaker 3: j T, what do you think the real impact of
Speaker 3: this World Cup is on US soccer in comparison to
Speaker 3: previous World Cups? Of course we had Qatar and South
Speaker 3: Africa and so many other ones that created incredible memories.
Speaker 3: But for you being here in the States, seeing you know,
Speaker 3: the fans sing along in the arenas after and in
Speaker 3: the stadiums after the US is won, what do you
Speaker 3: think the real impact of this World Cup is going
Speaker 3: to be on US soccer?
Speaker 4: Well, I think the for us, we've always viewed this
Speaker 4: as an opportunity for one for Americans to fall in
Speaker 4: love with his team, and I think they've done that,
Speaker 4: and folks are excited. You know, being in the Seattle
Speaker 4: Stadium when everyone was singing Country Roads was pretty special.
Speaker 4: And I think, you know, the sort of collective energy
Speaker 4: of that and the fifteen thousand people who all march
Speaker 4: together to the game, just the pride, the passion has
Speaker 4: been awesome. And then I think more broadly, we've always
Speaker 4: viewed this summer as an opportunity in the World Cup
Speaker 4: being here as an opportunity to get organizations, communities, individuals
Speaker 4: to take the big steps forward to propel soccer in
Speaker 4: this country. So as an example, before our first game
Speaker 4: in La, we announced with La Unified School District that
Speaker 4: they're committing to put soccer in every school. So it's
Speaker 4: four hundred thousand kids who are now are going to
Speaker 4: have access to soccer, and we're working with communities all
Speaker 4: across the country to do that with our goal of
Speaker 4: by twenty thirty two, every school in America having soccer.
Speaker 4: And so it's those sort of movements, those sort of
Speaker 4: you know, actions that you know, we believe or you
Speaker 4: going to propel soccer forward for generations and generations to come.
Speaker 3: Now, Jaj, I could congratulate you on US Soccer's two
Speaker 3: wins here, but I could also congratulate you on your
Speaker 3: contract extension, and I wonder you know you being locked
Speaker 3: down long term for US Soccer. What is your vision
Speaker 3: beyond the World Cup to make sure that this momentum,
Speaker 3: this excitement around the game of football in soccer here
Speaker 3: in the US continues.
Speaker 4: So at US Soccer, we view our role as being
Speaker 4: in service to soccer. We think our role is to
Speaker 4: support those who are bringing soccer to life in communities
Speaker 4: all across the country, and we have three generational ambitions.
Speaker 4: We're focused on US Soccer success. So we want our
Speaker 4: teams to win World Cups. We want US Soccer to
Speaker 4: be everywhere. We want soccer to be the number one
Speaker 4: played sport in every community, and we want US Soccer
Speaker 4: to be yours. We want everyone who cares about our
Speaker 4: sport to feel connected to US Soccer and to our sport.
Speaker 4: And we're just getting started. There's a lot of work
Speaker 4: to do to bring those to life at the scale
Speaker 4: that match the ambition of our fans and everyone who
Speaker 4: cares about us. And so I'm excited to be doing
Speaker 4: this for the long haul, and you know, I'm looking
Speaker 4: forward to you know, many many years of great progress ahead.
Speaker 2: JT. Thirty seconds. When do you want to see the
Speaker 2: World Cup hosted here again?
Speaker 4: I love it always to be here. Of course, we
Speaker 4: got the bises works in the world. Okay, We've got
Speaker 4: the Women's World Cup bid in for twenty thirty one.
Speaker 4: That's going to be spectacular. Will be the first time
Speaker 4: forty eight teams will be in a Women's World Cup.
Speaker 4: We will set a new standard for what all of
Speaker 4: that can look like and there'll be a ton of fun.
Speaker 2: So maybe in two years three years now, we.
Speaker 4: Got the Olympics back in la Oh, Okay, so we
Speaker 4: you know, want to win medals on the men's and
Speaker 4: women's side there, so you know, we'll keep the party rolling.
Speaker 2: Listen, this is really fun. Good luck and congratulations on
Speaker 2: the event. Certainly has a lot of folks here in
Speaker 2: Bloomberg and really around the New York metro area really
Speaker 2: excited about these games. JT. Bats and CEO and Secretary
Speaker 2: General of the US Soccer Federation, and of course are
Speaker 2: sports expert one of them here unbelievable. Randall Williams. Bloomberg,
Speaker 2: new senior report and co host of the Business of
Speaker 2: Sports podcast, highly recommend. He's done some reporting Blue Owl
Speaker 2: and advanced talks for a stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers,
Speaker 2: so check it out on the Bloomberg