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Bloomberg Business of Sports
Business of Soccer Ep. 3: Mexico's Passion For The Game And Turning It Into Profits
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Commercial Announcer
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Sam Porter
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Podcast/Radio Announcer
Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts Radio.
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Sam Porter
News this is the Business of Soccer the appetite for soccer in this country.
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Gonzalo Soto
Is here to stay.
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Commercial Announcer
The global World cup of 26 will.
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Sam Porter
Bring just that, the globe to the.
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Vanessa Perdomo
United States every four years. You know, there's this moment where the world wakes up to the incredible athletes that we have on the US Women's national team.
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Sam Porter
There are more soccer games available to.
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Gonzalo Soto
Watch on television in the US Than.
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Sam Porter
Any other country in the world. Soccer, or as I would call it.
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Gonzalo Soto
Living in the uk, Football is the biggest sport in the world.
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Vanessa Perdomo
There's a gap in the market around women's soccer and we're here to fill that gap.
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Sam Porter
Bloomberg Business of Soccer from Bloomberg Radio.
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Vanessa Perdomo
Welcome back. This is a special edition of the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast, the Business of Soccer. I'm Vanessa Perdomo and I'm diving in behind the scenes of the world's game. More as we get ready for the 2026 FIFA World cup, which is only eight months away today we'll be taking a closer look at one of the co hosts of the World Cup, Mexico. Mexico will host 10 games across three major cities, Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara. Soccer has been the biggest sport in the country for over 100 years and the fans are beyond passionate. They're consistently among the top travelers for the World cup and their top league, League mx, is more popular in the US Than Major League Soccer. In this episode, we're going to speak to Bloomberg reporter Gonzalo Soto out of Mexico City about the economic impact of the sport in the Country. But first I spoke with one of the owners of Liga MX team Club Nakaxa about why he invested in the league and the potential he sees in Mexican soccer. Here's my conversation with Sam Porter, owner and co manager of Club Nakoxa. So Sam, really new and interesting information just came out that you've now been a part of. Chief Strategy Officer Sports at Apollo Sports Capital. Tell us about this new exciting news.
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Sam Porter
Yes. So on September 29, Apollo announced the formation of a new company, Apollo Sports Capital. And Apollo Sports Capital will be focused on providing capital solutions to teams, leagues, media rights companies, you know, anything in the sports ecosystem that needs liquidity and really capital solutions of all shapes and sizes is what we're trying to address in the marketplace.
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Vanessa Perdomo
And Apollo's been invested in sports for a little while now. What is exactly the intent of this specific fund and is there anything you can tell us direction wise, European football? Certain things you guys are looking at?
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Sam Porter
Yeah, I think Apollo has done deals and I've been an advisor to Apollo for a number of years prior to taking this role as a full time position. And at Apollo we have done deals in the sports space investments, credit deals, investing in stadiums. Now Apollo Sports Capital is going to be a dedicated full time platform with its own balance sheet and its own resources that will be able to address the needs as the asset class really grows and matures. And every year and every month you're seeing more and more the idea of Apollo Sports Capital is to be even better situated than Apollo was previously to address the needs of the growing asset class. In terms of what we're looking to do, it's really going to be.
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Podcast/Radio Announcer
Look.
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Sam Porter
At a lot of the different stuff that comes our way and then address as it comes. But we're looking for big size. You know, we have long dated capital that we can, we can use to be, you know, really helpful partners to, to the different owners, operators, leagues, teams that we'll, we'll do deals with. Great.
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Vanessa Perdomo
And as we talk about that, obviously now we're going to get more into your personal investments and things that, but I want to set the stage of a little bit of your background and obviously this is part of your background investing in sports. So can you set a little bit more of the, your, your background in it and give us a brief detail about your experience as a sports executive, sports investor?
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Sam Porter
Yes. So I was the Chief strategy officer for D.C. united in the MLS for a number of years in 2021, myself and my partner Al Tylus, along with A number of LPs including Eva Longoria and Justin Verlander and Sean Marion. We invested in and bought around 50% of Club Nikaksa and Liga Max. That has been something that's been really great for us in terms of being in league as owners and operators, working with our Mexican partners, the Tinajero family, and really kind of bridging that gap between League MX and the US in terms of the soccer culture. Since then, the league's cup has really blossomed into this competition between League MX and mls and we've just seen a huge amount of interest in League Max in the United States. Obviously League MX is the most popular sport by far in Mexico. It's also the most watched soccer league in the United States. And earlier this year, our TV show Nikaksa that features Eva Longoria and Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac all was debuted on FX and it streams on Hulu and Disney plus and that's been really popular and we're very happy with that. So that just shows the kind of growing interest in a product like a show about Nakoxa that's, that's primarily in Spanish, English subtitles. Sometimes if I'm talking it's in English. These are, this is something that was not coming out of League MX in prior years. And, and the league's cup has been a huge success too, when you're seeing the competition between League MX teams and MLS teams. So that's, that was our initial investment into the, the sports world privately. And then in. We bought the Brooklyn Pickleball team in Major League Pickleball subsequent to Nicoxa. And then earlier this year, as you covered, we purchased Club Eki.100% of Club Eki DOD in Bogota, Colombia and we will be relaunching that team. It's existing, but we're going to be rebranding it in January 2026 as International de Bogota to really reflect the international nature of the club and sort of the presence of Bogota's international city. So those are our three sort of marquee sports investments that we've done as a group and, and now obviously transitioning into this role at Apollo Sports Capital.
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Vanessa Perdomo
So much to unpack there. And I want to get to all of it. I really am excited to talk about Nico, the TV show. I love it, you know, candidly. Welcome. Wrexham is my favorite sports documentary ever. I just think the whole formula of it and I think, you know, the Nakoxa, you know, watching it, same thing. The formula of it showing, showing the city, showing the personal stories. I mean, I cry like, literally cry like you know, watching Nakaxa, watching Alexi Pena, his dad crying when he gets hurt, and it's just really amazing. So to go into that, you know, when you're looking at this, this investment and you're looking at the city of Aguascalientes, did you go to it first? How did you get involved in Nakoxa and Liga Amex as an investment first?
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Sam Porter
Yeah. So great. I can tell that you actually have watched the show, knowing those details, and of course, went to Aguas clientes a ton before we invested into the team. Because when you're making international sports investments, or any sports investments, domestic or international match day, the city you're investing in, the club, is typically a large part of that city, and the city's a large part of that club. So you need to get a feel for what that's like. So I went to Aguas clientes a lot toward our stadium, toward our training facility. We did a ton of diligence leading up to it. And the city's quite nice. It's pretty big. It has an international feel to it because Nissan's based there and there, so you've got a Japanese population. Mercedes Benz has a big presence there, so you've got German population. It's a very international city. I don't think it's at all what people's initial expectations are around a Mexican city of a million plus people. So we knew that league was a huge opportunity. You look at the media, you look at the viewership numbers, you look at the demographics of how many Mexican Americans are watching it in the us how many Mexicans are watching it in Mexico. The opportunity for growth is obviously something you're always looking for in investments. And League MX really checked a lot of those boxes. But when you're buying sports teams, it's not like there's a menu at a restaurant and you go, I'll have this team, this team or this team. You know, a lot of teams aren't for sale at any given time. There's scarcity, which is part of what makes teams valuable. So when we met the Tinajero family, who were the 100% owners of Nicoxa before we came in, and when we got to Aguas clientes and we got a feel for the club, we. We at that point knew that it was the right fit for us. We had local partners who we really trust and have a great relationship with. We had a club that is now 102 years old that, you know, has had a lot of success and has a historic fan base. And because Nikoxa had moved from Mexico City to Aguascalientes, we also have a really robust Mexican City fan base, which is cool. And then you have a lot of Nikaksa fans in the US If I wear a Nico hat or a sweatshirt around New York City, I mean, people come up to me and they're like, why is this, you know, giant gringo wearing Nico stuff? It's always an interesting conversation. So, yeah, we did the diligence of visiting the city, got to know the club, and then. And as if you've seen on the TV show, it is. There's real passion around the club and getting to feel that you knew that it was. At the time, we knew it was something we wanted to get involved in.
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Vanessa Perdomo
One of the things that's interesting when you're watching the show, too, is, I mean, you mentioned it's 102 years old, but it hasn't always been in Aguascalientes, kind of the counter to Wrexham, where it's always been there and they're suffering through it and, you know, whatever. So the interesting thing was there is, like, you have the citizens wanting to root for it, but they're also angry at the team all the time. And, you know, there's this kind of, you know, well, you know, they haven't always been here, so we kind of root for them. We kind of root for Club America still, like, you know, other things like that. How was that when you first got there, having this team that was rooted in the city but still kind of new and, you know, what were your goals to try and get them to really get behind Nikaka?
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Sam Porter
Yeah, I think what I found was you want to. You want to give them something to cheer for. When a team's losing, it's really tough. And so you even see it in New York, for instance, when you're walking around and talking to NFL fans and you're like, oh, you're a Giants fan or a Jets fan. And the teams have been. I'm a Giants fan. Historically, teams have been quite bad for a while now, both of them. And so you'll talk to somebody in New York who's a Dallas Cowboys fan or a. Or a Chiefs fan more. More recently. Right. So when you're in a city and you want to try to connect, you have to win. You've got to put a good product on the field, and you also have to connect with folks. I think. I think fans can put up with some losing because they know that that's just, you know, not every team's going to win every year. And there's very few teams, even when you look at the historic Giants in any. In their given sports. The Yankees don't win. The MLB every year. Man United doesn't win every year. Cowboys don't win every year. You know, the biggest teams don't always win. So you have to, you know, you want to set expectations and you want to put a good product on the field. So I think if you communicate with the fans, show an effort, show ambition. If you don't show any ambition and you're not really trying, then you can't really blame them if they're apathetic about the product. But if you're out there showing ambition, you know, hiring coaches who bring something to the table, hiring players who play hard and bring a type of football to the table that the fans can get behind that, that's. That's really all you can do. And then, and then at some point, if you keep doing things the right way, you hope the wins come and the playoff success comes and the championships come, and when they do, then, then you buy. You earn that sort of respect and.
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Vanessa Perdomo
Equity with the fans and, you know, with, with that and the respect and all of that. Obviously, when you first came in, it was, it was a couple of years ago, and now the TV show has come much later than, you know, watching something like Wrexham from the startup. How has everything changed since 2021? You came in. What were your first initial goals and what are your goals now that the TV shows out and there's more visibility for the team?
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Sam Porter
Yeah, I think when we first came in, our. Our thoughts were to. Our goals were to, you know, we came in and we really didn't want to, you know, create a lot of trouble because I think when you're the first. So, so we were the first American group to come in and really be.
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Vanessa Perdomo
Part of an ownership group, which is important to know.
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Commercial Announcer
Right.
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Sam Porter
And there's folks at Juarez who are, you know, that's a border town, so there's Mexican Americans there. So, so nothing, Nothing. And then we were the first, like, true fully American group to come in and say, okay, we're. We're controlling owners of a league, Amex club. And so we wanted to, we didn't want to come in and give this perception. And, hey, we're the Americans who know everything and we're going to be super forceful. We wanted to take some time to understand the league, understand what worked, what didn't work. We wanted to be the one thing that we felt we could do behind the scenes would be forward looking. From our player recruitment model of football, how did we look at finding new players? How did we look at putting the best product on the field? So we spent some time building up an analytics group which is still part of our recruitment now. And we've recruited really well and sold a lot of players. But that was, that was kind of the initial stage. Now I think we're in a stage where we now have some of the most famous people in the world and Eva and Ryan and Rob as part of our ownership. We're driving a TV show that has the league MX hasn't had before in existence, something like this. So our goals now change to where it's okay. We still need to get better at the football and win on it on a semester, semester by semester basis. But we also want to continue to grow the commercial. And really our goal is to break into that tier of Mexican football that's probably the top six, seven clubs. And I think where we've been is just probably a little bit below that. And we're really trying to make that push to be a club that semester in and semester out can compete with the Montereys and the Cruises uls. And these are, these are clubs that have a lot more financial resources than we do, frankly, just due to their ownership structure and their history within the league or their geographic locations. But that is the ambition that we're, we're pushing for and trying to, you know, find that right balance of commercial growth, staying true to our fans and competing on the pitch. And you know, it's, it's tough because when you do sign those good players and they do really well for you, there's almost this fluid free agency that exists in global football where we had a tremendous player that, that was our, our best player last semester and he is, when this semester ended, one of the biggest clubs in the league came in and made, put together a financial offer where the player wasn't going to stay. We didn't really have a say in it. We couldn't keep him. And so that was the, that's the, that's the gift and the curse of finding these good players that you can develop when they get really good. You know, you have a tough time keeping them. So that, that's always been something that we struggled with and we're still trying to get to a place where they go, I can stay here because this club is big enough for that.
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Vanessa Perdomo
Yeah. Do you think that the commercial success of having the TV show will help in that regard, because they will have more of an outward appearance to have commercials, whatever. It is more than just the soccer.
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Sam Porter
Side of it all, 100%. I think you've seen it at Wrexham, where after a few seasons of the show, players can go there. They have this. They have a platform. You've seen several of their players write books and do other things that add to their commercial level. So that needs to be proven out. Probably, you know, the show needs to get some more momentum. We need. We need that. We need sort of a case study and how that can be successful. Because at the end of the day, if the player goes, hey, you can get X to stay in Nico, or you can get 3x to go to cruises or Monterrey or Club America, the players and their agents and their families are still going to go. I think we're going to take this. This money. But as we build this up, I do think the show and the platform that we're building with Nickox as a club will allow us to be more competitive in that. Right?
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Vanessa Perdomo
Absolutely. Let's talk a little bit about Eva Longoria as one of your partners, and she's partnering across multiple of the ventures you have. Correct. And how did you guys first meet and. And how did you guys, you know, come together in all these different partnerships?
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Sam Porter
Yeah, so my partner, Al, is altierlist, very involved in various philanthropic organizations. Through some philanthropy that he was doing, he got connected with one of the agents at Endeavor. The. And he. The agent said, oh, you know, what do you. What do you do? What are you working on? And Al said, you know, actually, I'm in the process of buying a Mexican soccer team. And he said, oh, do you know Eva Longoria? And said, no. This was, you know, before we bought the team. This was, you know, this is probably almost a year before we were in the process of doing it. And we got connected with Eva and kind of hit it off right out of the gates. We had some dinners together, and she was all in right out of the. From the jump. She understood the vision, knew what we wanted to do. And so basically her agent introduced us, and from there we had a direct relationship. And she's an amazing person, a great investor, really brings her all to everything she does. And so it was a great fit for us because she looks a lot better in front of the camera than we do. And. And so it's just been a great partnership across all the, you know, across all the platforms. So she's. She's in Inter Bogota with us. She's in the Brooklyn Pickleball team and really brings a great, you know, joy of life and enthusiasm to everything that she does.
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Vanessa Perdomo
And she lives in Mexico City now. Right. So her being there has that authentic factor to it as well. Is it La Padrina? They call her La Patrona, I think.
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Sam Porter
Right?
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Vanessa Perdomo
That's it. Yeah, yeah, that's it.
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Sam Porter
Boss lady, I think is the rough translation. She's definitely the boss. She, she spends, she lives. She has a place in Mexico City, she has a place in la, a place in Spain. She's very much a globetrotter, but definitely is connected to Mexico in a very real way. Her husband Pepe is Mexican and he's around a bunch too. Awesome guy. And yeah, so it's a, it's a great, great connectivity around her in the club.
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Vanessa Perdomo
You know, watching her in the series makes me really like, okay, she didn't grow up speaking Spanish either, but I can learn too. So that's really, that's really great, you know, exciting.
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Sam Porter
Very impressive how she didn't, didn't grow up speaking Spanish and is doing all this stuff in Mexico and Spain and speak Spanish. It's very impressive.
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Vanessa Perdomo
Yeah. So we had mentioned earlier that, you know, you guys were one of the first to invest in Liam X, but now we've seen a lot more American investment come in in the last couple of years, particularly this year in general. So what do you think that is the time right now, why people are seeing the value in Liga Amex right now?
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Sam Porter
Well, I think sports franchises, teams specifically as an asset class have just kind of grown and grown and grown. You've seen the lakers trade for 10 billion and minority sale of the New York Giants for out of 10 billion. And you're seeing these numbers that a few years ago were probably unthinkable and that's been the case for quite a while now of the way that sports franchises trade. So I think you start to go, ok, where is that a place where there's, as an investor, you just go, where is there a place where I can still capture some of that upside that hasn't been unlocked yet, that isn't, that hasn't been fully invested out by the folks who are buying NFL and NBA teams. And I think league MX holds a lot of that appeal because, yes, the league is in Mexico, but we, as I mentioned earlier, we play the leagues cup where you play a good amount of matches in the US but also it's every match is effectively on television in the US with major ratings. So you're almost, you're buying an interesting franchise that is based in Mexico but is the most watched soccer league in the US but also the most watched foreign league of any sport in the us so that's pretty interesting. And so I think that's, that's gotten more people to the table to look at it. And then, you know, because of some FIFA rules, there's a couple clubs that have the same ownership groups within League mx. It is diminishing now, but that's, that's forcing a couple of groups to stay, to sell. So there are a couple clubs that can be sold, which is what happened with Correro. So before, I mean League MX teams don't trade a lot. So when we were doing our work on Nikaksa, it was like what was the last team that sold and what did it sell for? And it was really hard because they are desirable to have and they don't. The people who own them aren't really typically looking to sell them. So now because of their, the multi club ownership groups have to divest. Multi club within, within League MX have to divest. It's opened up the opportunity for some, some clubs to be sold and I think that's very appealing to international investors.
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Vanessa Perdomo
I think that's an interesting part of it too that they, they don't change hands a lot or they haven't previously. And what do you think that goes into? Maybe the lower valuation that we see for League MX teams that, that like MLS teams are at a higher valuation right now, even though Lee MX is more watched in the US like what do you think goes into that?
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Sam Porter
I think that you pay a premium to be in the U.S. because it's the U.S. i think there's a little bit of the way that the media covers Latam in general is a whole separate conversation that we could have. But I think that yes, you pay a premium to be in the US It's a known quantity, it's a known entity. Some of the investors in the MLS clubs are very famous, notable businessmen and sports investors and famous guys. And I think that that all adds to the, the, the valuations of MLS teams. And I think MLS has done a great job of positioning themselves as a, as a value growth league where the franchises become worth more and more. And I think that league, you know, we talked about how old Nakaxa is. You know, MLS started in 1996 and I think the people who created it had a vision for what it could be because they had seen the NFL and the NBA and the way that these leagues were going trajectory wise for team valuations. So They, I think that was always in, in the mind of the mls, of how they structured things and how they navigate things. League MX came together much earlier and in a much different way where I think a lot of the League MX at the league level and a lot of team owners, we're never really thinking about it as a, the way we think about the asset class now, which is this is a scarce asset that has value, that generates money, that's going to go up and up and up. I think that League MX came together as really a, hey, we're here to play football and provide entertainment. Of course they were businesses, but I don't know that there was that sort of planning and thought to creating an asset class. And I think that now that is something that League MX is a league and the other owners are starting to understand. So I think that's why you're seeing some of that change. But it definitely just being in the US in general is going to make a company more valuable. There's so much wealth in the US and where the MLS teams have put their, where the MLS has put MLS teams city wise has been really strategic and well thought out and I think that leads to some of the delta. But I actually think you will see a, a compression between League MX team valuations and MLS team valuations when you just look at the media rights that league teams are going to be generating, the interest from private equity and, and where that's going to go in the coming years.
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Vanessa Perdomo
I'm glad you brought up the media rights because it is a little bit different structured right in Liga MX right now than obviously we have in the MLS in, in US Sports. It's very clear and it's one of the reasons why valuations are so high in the U.S. right. So for League MX, can you break down for us what, what it is right now, the media rights and hopefully what it's going to become. Because I know I spoke to League AMEX president Mikhail Areola earlier this year and he said that's obviously a big priority, but it hasn't happened for a reason yet.
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Sam Porter
Right? Yeah. So the way that League AMEX is structured is that each team sells their own individual meteorites package. So at Nikaka, so we sell meteorites package and it's broken down between a U.S. basically a U.S. and a Mexico and then you may have some South American or other territories, but. But primarily it's a US package and a Mexican package. You might do that with the same company, you might do it between two different companies and each team is doing their own. And League MX is the largest team league in the world that is using this format for its media rights. Pretty much every other league in the world, NFL, NBA, La Liga, epl, they are all using a collectivized media rights approach where the league goes out. Perhaps they hire an outside consulting group, perhaps they do it themselves. And they sell a league wide media rights package. And they may set, they may split that into several sub packages like what you see with the NBA and the NFL, et cetera, and they may sell international packages like what you see with La Liga and the epl. La Liga was probably the largest international soccer league that had not had collectivized media rights until relatively recently. And I think that you see because of the connectivity between the two countries, Spain and Mexico, and the way that Liga MX views La Liga Spain, there tends to be a lot of like, okay, they're doing that there. We can do this here. So La Liga, compared to the other large European leagues, was the last one to collectivize their meteorites. And I think that League mx, we're now as a league looking to collect fully collectivize our media rights in the, in the next couple of years. Mikael, who you interviewed, would know, would have a better sense of exactly what that timeline looks like than I do. I do anticipate it being in the next couple years and I think that's going to be a tremendous value add because when you're, when you're negotiating on a one off basis, you have less information. These networks and broadcast partners do this again and again and when you're doing it as a league, you have considerably more leverage and you can kind of come up with how you, what you want your outcome to be and, you know, navigate your way there as opposed to just being one club, doing it on your own. So I think it's time for that. I think it's probably past time for that and I think it'll be a big boost to the league in terms of media rights revenues because it is a, a league that really gets people watching, you know, in both sides of the border. It moves the needle in terms of ratings. And now more than ever, live sports are the backbone of not just linear, but, but streaming in terms of what people are willing to turn their TVs or their devices on for.
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Vanessa Perdomo
The only thing that people go to for a specific time to watch, you know, is live sports. So when I. The other part of the conversation that you had mentioned too, about MLS being, you know, coming together as a business sort of at first and not necessarily coming together for that exact reason was one of the things that Mikhail had also said was that one of the things they're learning from the MLS and the partnership, because the leagues are very close together, is the governing, governing body and governing sense that the MLS has that he would like to bring to Liga mx. What are you sense, you know, sitting as a co managing partner of the team of the governing body, governing source of the, of league IMAX and how everything works.
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Sam Porter
I think, I think that, I think it's evolving. I think that it's been, it's been a league that has, there's some major clubs, Club America, Chivas Cruises Old. There are other clubs, Monterey Tigre, some really big clubs in our league. And I don't know that MLS has the equivalent of like these massive historic clubs in the same way that league does and, and the people that run those clubs, you know, it's political and so I'm not saying that that's necessarily a bad thing, but I think the league is, is evolving to a place where they understand it that, you know, like in the epl, when you have big clubs like Man United and Man City and Arsenal and Chelsea and then you have the smaller clubs when, when everybody's rowing in the same direction and aligned at a league level and it's helpful to everybody, the big clubs are going to do better when, when the smaller clubs aren't just cannon fodder, aren't left out in the cold in terms of decision making and processes. So I think that league Max is, is evolving in that direction and understanding that yes, we've got big clubs, yes, we've got smaller clubs, but we need to think about this as a, you know, we compete on the pitch every weekend and every match, but out off the pitch, we're thinking of ways to make our league as successful as possible. And I am seeing guys like Mikel, you know, understand that more and be, and be thinking of ways to do that. So I'm, I'm positive and optimistic on the way that the, that the league is going and just kind of becoming more open. And I think that that happens by way of more international investment, more us being owners, the group that just bought Correll, being owners in the league and coming in and bringing different perspectives and bringing different ideas of what the norm at a league should be and really thinking about it as a business in a, in a modern sense.
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Vanessa Perdomo
Absolutely. And as we talk about that, I obviously have to mention that, you know, and bring up Apollo again, because Apollo last year was meant to Invest over a billion dollars and that was supposed to help get the meteorite steel really centralized. Is there anything you can say about if at least this Sports Capital will help that deal along?
- [31:58]
Sam Porter
Yes. So obviously a tricky situation for me as an owner in leagues and now working at Apollo Sports Capital. That being said, with just my Nikaka hat on, I would say that there's still a willingness and a strong relationship between Apollo and League MX and ongoing conversations. I think that where League MX is at the moment is trying to get you interviewed, Mikhail. So I think you touched on this in that interview, but I think League MX is doing some structuring in its relationship with the Federation of Mexican Football and doing some internal governance stuff that the league feels will put them in a better position to enter into an agreement with an Apollo or somebody else. However, whatever direction that goes in. And I think that, I think, I think there's, there's progress going on there and I think there's a real willingness and an appetite from US private equity, private credit, whatever you want to call it, to engage with League MX and work on that stuff. Because I think they, I think not just Apollo, but others see what the opportunity is that we've seen for quite a while. And I think that as League MX gets a couple of these governance things sorted, I think then it will make it easier for them to enter into that agreement that they have on the table with Apollo that I think was quite close and, you know, a few things just had to get cleaned up. So I'm, as a, as a Nikoxa owner, I'm cautiously optimistic that something gets done in the near future in that direction in terms of investment from, from U.S. private equity. And that's probably the most I can say about that.
- [33:35]
Vanessa Perdomo
I appreciate that. And as much as we're talking about Club Nakoxa, I also want to mention, like you said about La er, and the investment that you have there in Colombia. I'm interested in the idea that these are both, you know, Latin countries and the idea. Was it the idea to hone in on these Latin countries because the Latinos are so passionate about soccer?
- [33:57]
Sam Porter
Yeah. So these are places, both Mexico and Colombia, where I think the fans over index on passion about football and it is just, it's a way of life. It's, it's, it's, it's the most popular sport, the second most popular sport and third most popular sport in the us We've got. The NFL is the most popular sport and then you've got the NBA, you've got your Various soccer, MLCPL League mx, you've got the NHL, you've got college sports. There's so much here. And some. You talk to some people who are huge baseball fans and some people who are huge basketball fans and some people are huge soccer fans. And in, in. In Mexico and Colombia, everybody's a soccer fan. You know, everybody's a football fan. Football with a U. And so we really like that. That's. That's appealing. From an investment standpoint, then I think what some people fail to realize is Mexico has a domestic population of 130 million people. That's bigger than any European country by far. So that's a huge demographic push of just people who can watch and commercially engage with your product. Colombia is about 53 million people. So a massive country that is bigger than many. I think Spain has a. Colombia has a bigger population than Spain, which I just don't think a lot of people would think intuitively. So these are big markets, these are growing markets. These are markets with a lot of new businesses being created and a lot of import, export. And so what we've liked about them is that we think that their latam countries are going directionally in a. In a good place. Obviously, there are some things you've got to work through and figure out being an international investor in a country that you're not native to the language or the culture. But, but yes, it's. It's all part of a thematic opportunity to go into places where there hasn't been a lot of international investment and you can, you can find those spots and it's not been picked over and look for opportunities that you think are really exciting. The two clubs kind of go together in a lot of ways. Because I mentioned before about what we're trying to accomplish at Nikoxa and what I think about in the football space, in the soccer space, is that you're going to. When you're a team like Nick Oxa and you do well, people are going to come by your players. It's just, it's just the nature of the beast and that that happens for smaller clubs in the EPL or La Liga or anywhere else. So what we're trying to solve for by adding a Colombian team to our portfolio is to expand our access to young talent by having the first team there, but also having the academy team there and then having a lot of crossover between the two. Between the two clubs the same. You know, people oversee the football and the scouting and get that going in the same direction. And it's going to Give us, when we do have to sell our best player to a bigger club because we can't afford to keep them or the offers just to too enticing to the player. Okay, now maybe we've got a couple of guys that can come up and do that. Now that takes a couple of years to get that, that operation fully synced up, but that was part of it. So I would have made either investment, honestly in a vacuum, because I think both are great buys, but I think together they're much more valuable.
- [37:02]
Vanessa Perdomo
Yeah, absolutely. Sharing the talent makes a lot of sense. Or having the pool. Having the talent pool makes a lot of sense.
- [37:07]
Sam Porter
That's right.
- [37:08]
Vanessa Perdomo
Lastly, I want to ask. I can't, you know, I can't let this whole conversation go by without talking about the World Cup. You know, how big of a landscape that that's going to be for North America next year. And with all the upside you've already seen in soccer, how much bigger do you think it's going to get having the World cup here next year?
- [37:26]
Sam Porter
Yeah, I think the sky's the limit. I mean, everywhere, people in the community where I live, people who I work with obviously know, if they know that I'm in soccer, they're like, so what do you think about the World Cup? What's going on with the World cup tickets? Where is going to be the best locations to go go see matches? Where, you know, if the New York market is going to be crazy, crazy expensive, Is there some place where we could, you know, like what you heard about with like the Taylor Swift tour of like. Well, you could try to go in Miami or New York, but maybe if you fly for the. It might be cheaper to fly to Indiana and go there than it is for flights and hotels than it is to go see it in your home market. So what I'm seeing is a real fervor just locally in my life about getting to matches, tuning in, learning about who's going to be on the team. So I really think the sky's the limit. I think that The World Cup 2026 is going to have a massive impact of people learn, people who are getting to know the sport for the first time, people who are already into it, getting more into it. A generation of young people really feeling that vibe of how that is. I attended a few club World cup matches with my kids this summer. I went to some Copa America Cups matches the summer before that, and all I've seen is the buildup of anticipation of how exciting this is. I personally think it's going to be, like, massive. I have no. I think I'm, like, full fully on the side of, like, this is going to be truly huge. And I think it's going to be. I think it's going to be great. You know, the logistics are always going to be a little crazy, but I think that, you know, every match will probably be sold out. I think there's going to be some, Some. Some just amazing experiences and we're really excited about it. You know, obviously, from a business perspective, I think it's good if, to be in, if you're in the soccer. Soccer ecosystem here for the World cup to be here. But just as a fan of the sport, I think it's just going to be awesome to have it on our, you know, home turf for the first time in, you know, 30 years.
- [39:21]
Vanessa Perdomo
Yeah, I'm pumped. And, you know, we are both from New Jersey, where we live in New Jersey, and we have to make sure everybody knows the finals. Not in New York, it's in New Jersey. And everybody needs to know that. So from that landscape, though, like you were saying, from the business side, from the owner side, how much bigger and more valuable do you think this makes the business of soccer, having. Having that on this, on our soil?
- [39:44]
Sam Porter
Well, I think you're going to see people want to invest in the sport more. I think you're going to want to. I think you're going to see brands are going to want to do more sponsorships. I think media rights, broadcast partners are already pretty, you know, all in on soccer, but I think this will actually push that up a little bit. And I think that, you know, what makes those things make money is the fans. And I think it's just going to create more fans of the sport. And so, you know, I think a little kid goes to a World cup match or watches one on TV that's in the United States, and I think it's kind of hard not to get hooked on the sport. So I think it's going to create fans which create sponsors, which create broadcast partners which create investors. So I think it's going to be a real flywheel that's just going to bring more interest and more dollars and more eyeballs into the space.
- [40:31]
Vanessa Perdomo
Absolutely. I know what the 1999 World cup did for me, so I'm sure there's going to be some. Some of that for. For everyone else.
- [40:39]
Sam Porter
Hopefully. I think there will be.
- [40:40]
Vanessa Perdomo
Sam, thanks so much for joining us, and I really appreciate you coming on the Bloomberg business of soccer.
- [40:46]
Sam Porter
Thanks for having me, Vanessa. This was great. I Appreciate your time.
- [40:48]
Vanessa Perdomo
This is a special edition of the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast the Business of Soccer. Up next, we'll hear from Bloomberg News reporter Gonzalo Soto on how Mexico is preparing for the World Cup. I'm Vanessa Poromo. This is Bloomberg.
- [41:03]
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- [43:05]
Vanessa Perdomo
Edition of the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast, the Business of Soccer. I'm Vanessa Peromo. My next guest is Bloomberg News reporter Gonzalez Soto, who's based in our Mexico City office. So he's plugged into everything going on with Mexican soccer. He gave us a deep dive on the business of Liga MX and and why are they so closely following in the MLS's footsteps? And we discussed how Mexico is preparing as a co Host for the World Cup. Let's listen to my conversation with Bloomberg News reporter Gonzalo Soto. So, Gonzalo, I want to use this opportunity to take a deep dive into soccer in Mexico and you know, how deep it runs in the history, how important it is, you know, not just to the citizens and the fans, but how important it is to the economy and how that's all going to work together as we come together for Mexico to host, you know, co host, the World Cup. But I want to start with something simple in Liga mx, the, you know, the league there who are historically the most successful teams in Liga mx.
- [44:00]
Gonzalo Soto
Well, thank you, Vanessa. I think the. Well, soccer is by far the most popular sport here in the country. I mean, baseball has grown, basketball has grown. There is a large football fan base. However, soccer is still king. And well, the most popular teams remain the historical ones, the ones that have the most championships. And we're talking about Club America, we're talking about Chivas, we talk about both teams from Monterrey, which is in the north part of the country. Club Monterey Tigres as well. And well, recently we've had a lot of other teams that have been able to win some championships. There are other teams that have, well, lost some of its previous brilliance, like Pumas, which is the team of the National University here in Mexico, which used to draw and still draws younger crowds and younger audiences. And of course, Crusoe, which is, was one of the most, was one of the winningest teams in the country. However, in the past few years, they haven't done so well.
- [45:13]
Vanessa Perdomo
That's really interesting. So what is it, you know, that makes a club, you know, so successful or, you know, that some of them have dropped off? Is it similar to what we see in the Premier League where, you know, the teams who have the most money are consistently at the top or what is it for Liga mx?
- [45:29]
Gonzalo Soto
Yeah, I think Mexico hasn't been able to escape that tendency in which teams that have the most money are able to win the most championships. That is still a rule here and that applies as well here in Mexico. However, the way our tournament is structured makes it able for other teams, teams that are not as rich as the ones that I mentioned previously. They can compete for a championship and well, that's something that makes fans, you know, dream a little bit larger. I mean, it's not the same to be a fan in England of, I don't know, Nottingham Forest or Wolverhampton, that you do not aspire to win the Premier League. You aspire for maybe European football, you know, being able to combine compete in European tournaments. The next season here in this country is kind of different because smaller teams get the chance because we are not. Well, Ligamex is not a tournament that is point based. That means the team that makes the most points in the season win the tournament. Here we have a playoff system in which sometimes there are big upsets, there are surprises and black horses that in the end make it possible for or many, many teams to actually win a championship.
- [46:55]
Vanessa Perdomo
Well, that's good because those are the most exciting times, right? You hate to see the same people keep winning. But I love a, I love a underdog is my favorite thing.
- [47:05]
Gonzalo Soto
I mean, we all have an underdog story. The thing here, Vanessa, is that.
- [47:11]
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- [47:11]
Gonzalo Soto
Level of Mexican soccer, some experts say, has actually dwindled because of this rule. And that is because teams do not really aspire to play well during the whole season. I mean, they don't actually play their best football for 17, 18 weeks of the regular season, but they do play their best during the playoffs. So you have for months, not the best kind of soccer, not the best level. And then all of a sudden once you get to playoffs, you usually get much better games as that's, that's something that has put off many, many soccer fans here in Mex.
- [47:52]
Vanessa Perdomo
Do you know what that, that is very interesting and I. It's very American actually. It seems like that's what. We have the same problem, right with the NBA and the, and the mlb. The seasons are long and you know, people complain about how people, how much people rest and they don't try until really the playoff season. I feel I'm also guilty of getting fatigued throughout the season of watching, you know, not the best until the playoffs really.
- [48:17]
Gonzalo Soto
So I guess very interesting and it's very interesting that you, that you mentioned the US System because in the past few years ligaments and Mexican soccer in general has mostly followed what the mls, the Major League Soccer in the United States has been doing. I think instead of following the European model, that remains basically the same. Although many changes have occurred, especially in European football and I mean the Champions League, for example, the continental tournaments, Liga MX has actually tried to follow with the MLS model. And that has bring them a lot of trouble, especially with teams that are in what is called league expansion or the second division. I mean League MX is the top tier in Mexican soccer. Then you have the second division with league expansion. And since the 2019, 2020 season, with the excuse of the pandemic with 20, the 20 pretext of the pandemic Promotion and relegation was suspended. So a team that did poorly in the first division in Liga Amex was not relegated to the second division, as it usually happens in European football. And that led to a lot of financial and business decision to be made. And it also, you know, put Mexican soccer on a path to reply or to copy the MLS model.
- [49:49]
Vanessa Perdomo
Right. I'm so glad you brought that up, because that is exactly what we're seeing right now. A lot in Liam X is the parallel to the mls. You know, President Mikel Areola has a really, really close relationship with Commissioner Don Garber of the mls. They do a lot of things together. They have about three or four competitions throughout the year that they. They do together. So I'd love to get your take on how, you know, Mexican fans feel about this close relationship with the US and with the mls.
- [50:19]
Gonzalo Soto
Well, it is mixed. And it is mixed because if you support a league team, you might see that your team gets an extra revenue for playing, for example, in the league's cup, which is, again, something that was invented to be played in the middle of the summer in the United States, where Mexican teams draw very large crowds. And of course, that becomes that. That transforms into a very good revenue for them. Let's, let's remember that MLS teams bring in far more revenue than most of Mexican teams. So for League MX teams to play in the United States, that means there is an extra source, a very lucrative source of revenue. And that is why league's cup still exists. That is why Michael Riola and the rest of the League MX directives or management have been able to, you know, or are willing to follow more closely what the MLS is doing and try to bring, you know, the alliance even closer. Because that, it's. It's good for the, it's good for the finances, it's good for the business, but teams don't really engage too much, let's say, in a game where America is playing the Seattle Centers or Houston playing Guadalajara. So that's still not there. There aren't really true rivalries there that actually draw the attention of Mexican fans.
- [51:56]
Vanessa Perdomo
So. Oh, so you're saying the level of competition isn't necessarily there between the two leagues yet. It's not like, oh, Mexico's coming over to the US and we arrive. Like you're saying, there's not that rivalry that's creating a natural storytelling aspect of it that has the fans excited for, for something like that?
- [52:16]
Gonzalo Soto
Not yet. The only narrative that I think is actually getting, gaining traction is the one that, I mean, several years Ago. Mexican teams, namely clubs or the national team, will usually dominate anywhere in concacaf, which is the region where the United States and Mexican football, it's a region where Mexican and US Teams belong to. And the rivalry, it's more, it's more likely to be how Mexican football still remains somehow better than U.S. soccer. However, that has been changing a lot recently, especially in national teams. Matches where the US has been quite successful taking on the Mexican national team and that has, that's sort of permeated to Mexican clubs. So journalists, analysts, experts will tell you that Mexican teams are being left behind or are being caught up by MLS teams. Especially because MLS has been extremely successful in drawing and bringing in soccer stars that yes, they might be in the dawn of their careers, but still they're fantastic. And of course also they draw huge audiences. I mean, I just have to mention Lino Messi. Yeah, I mean that, that's, that's the, that's the top example. But also, I mean, other players from Germany, from France, you got the Hugo playing in, in, in Los Angeles. That's pretty exciting. You get all the Virgin also playing there. Thomas Mueller, a German legend for Bayern Munich, now playing in Canada in Vancouver. So, so that's something that MLS has done terrifically well and the MLS has had, sorry and Liga make has tried somehow to replicate, but it's not there yet.
- [54:23]
Vanessa Perdomo
That's really interesting and I think one of the things that, you know, we're talking about in the parallels there, and it's interesting to me that you're saying, you know, they're kind of being left behind in this way. But I feel like that's when I was talking to, you know, Mikhail Ariela earlier this year and he was kind of saying that the reason they're so close to the US and one of the things they would love to get from the MLS is the way their governance works and the way they structure their business. Right. To get that revenue. Like you were saying how the US teams still, you know, they have much bigger revenues. But the interesting part there is that Liga Max is actually more popular in the US than the MLS is. So how, how do you think they get to that point where it is a true business and they are making that money and they're able to attract, you know, outside players.
- [55:11]
Gonzalo Soto
Well, you're right when you say the league MX is extremely popular in the United States. I mean, I think last season the average half a million viewers across several networks, but mostly in Univision, which is one of the most watched TV stations for Spanish speaking population in the United States. One thing that I believe, it's the reason why Michael Arreola was brought in in 2021 to be the president of Liga Amex, is that, I mean, when you look at his. At his resume, he was a public servant, mostly working in finance. And that is the aim that the owner's assembly, which is the most powerful body in Mexican football, that's why they brought him in, because they needed to check in the finance, they needed to put order in the house, to clean the house financially in terms of administration. And his example was, or his model was mls because he thought, and Ligament has seen in the MLS a model that could be replicated in Mexico successfully, given the fact that a lot of its revenue comes precisely from the United States.
- [56:30]
Vanessa Perdomo
Yeah. And now we're seeing more American investors coming into Liga mx. Do you think that. Do you think that it's because of the fact that they see that potential, that. That that is there, that the assets are undervalued? Teams are undervalued right now, but there is so much room to grow because it is such a popular sport in Mexico and in the US The.
- [56:52]
Gonzalo Soto
I mean, I completely agree with the first part that several teams may be undervalued. And of course, buying an MLS franchise is much more expensive than buying Mexican wine. And of course, there is a lot of storytelling there. I mean, just ask Eva Longoria. Buying Nicaxa in a very, very small town called Aguascalientes, which, I mean, Nicaxa is a very storied team, used to play in Mexico City. It was largely successful in the 1990s, but then it just kind of disappeared. And now Evelyn Goyer comes in and she gets to create this narrative, sort of what Ryan Reynolds did with Wrexham in Wales. So there is a lot of opportunity there. And of course, US Investors are always looking for opportunities here in the Mexican League. There has been since at least two years the promise of an American fund willing to invest in. In Mexican soccer in order to make it grow, to create better experiences. That hasn't materialized yet, but it's still something that's in the books and still something that is in the plans. And I think it will bring fruition somewhere after. So sometime after the World cup, do.
- [58:18]
Vanessa Perdomo
You think that will be met with, you know, acceptance by Mexican fans, or will it be met by. By a little bit of friction there with not wanting the league to really be taken over by American money?
- [58:32]
Gonzalo Soto
I think in the end, the Mexican fan just wants their team to win. And as I said, I mean Unlike other teams in Europe that, you know, they know exactly which tier they belong to and what they truly aspire to. I mean, here the idea is that they just want to see their team win. I mean, and money, money does buy success in, in, in soccer. I mean, just take a look to Manchester's in, just take a look at Manchester city. I mean, 20, 25 years ago, Manchester City was the other team in Manchester while Manchester United absolutely dominated European and English football. And nowadays it's a huge powerhouse that has already won the Champions League and other leagues. Big tournaments, draws large crowds from everywhere in the world. And I think that's the expectation of some fans to be able to match the amount of expenditure that other teams that are being held by big conglomerates like America or Monterrey or Chivas, you know, the amount of power and money that they have.
- [59:43]
Vanessa Perdomo
I want to get a little bit, you know, shift gears a little bit, but mention, you know, kind of the cities that you were just talking about in. I want to talk about the World cup and obviously the Mexico has three cities hosting the World Cup. That's Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. So from what you're saying there, it sounds like Monterrey has this big, huge, you know, history in soccer and they're very successful. So is that one of the reasons why they were chosen? Tell me how they, these three teams, these three cities were chosen and why do you think?
- [60:14]
Gonzalo Soto
Well, basically there are the three largest cities in Mexico and they all three have a huge soccer story. Mexico City, of course will be and Azteca Stadium will be the first one to host three World Cups. I mean, nowhere else in the world has this happened. So it is an historic opportunity. It happened in 1919 17, happened 1986 and now 2025. Guadalajara is very, very, is very passionate about soccer. Chiva is perhaps the most popular team after America, both in Mexico and in the United States. And it also has a fairly new stadium that is being refurbished. I mean, a steady is also being refurbished. It' adapted for what the FIFA standards, for what FIFA standards require. Whereas Monterrey is also a very soccer passionate city. It's also, it divides its passion and its attention with baseball. However, the current governor of Monterrey, Samuel Garcia, he is a huge soccer fan and therefore he is really investing big in the state and in the city to make it real, really stand out in, in the World Cup. Let's remember something. These will be the best. Sorry, this will be the first World cup that doesn't have 32 but 48 teams playing and therefore there will be more games. However, Most of the games will be played in the U.S. mexico City will get only four games, while I will get three games and Montana will get three games. So these cities are. These three cities are trying to get the best of it and are trying to really stand out in the tournament.
- [62:14]
Vanessa Perdomo
How much economic boom is Mexico and these specific cities expecting from the World Cup?
- [62:20]
Gonzalo Soto
I mean, they're expecting over 5 million visitors just in Mexico City during the World Cup. And that has been reflected in a lot of investment being made in this past few months. Some experts actually believe that the Mexican government, especially here in Mexico, Mexico City kind of started a little bit late in the investment for the World cup, especially in infrastructure around the stadiums. Mexico City, or as the Azteca Stadium, is kind of in the heart of. Of a very popular, densely populated area of the city. So it needs a lot of refurbishment. It's not really the case with the other two stadiums, although they are still in the city, but they have better connection, they have better infrastructure. So they're really pouring in and they are expecting millions of people coming in. As I said, over 5 million just for Mexico City. And that should reflect a large sum of money coming in. One example of it is Formula One. They are following the example of Formula One. When Formula One returned to Mexico a few years ago, it became a weekend where businesses and hotels have almost full occupation. And that is something that they're expecting again during the World cup weeks that will be taking place here in Mexico City or in Guadalajara and in Monterrey.
- [63:51]
Vanessa Perdomo
So before I let you go, before I let you go, Gonzalo, I have to ask, Mexico and us are obviously co hosts in this World Cup. Who do you think is going to go further?
- [64:02]
Gonzalo Soto
Well, oh, my God, then you're putting me here in a very, very difficult situation. I think. Well, Mexico, Mexican national team hasn't done really well over the past few years. And one of the reasons it's linked, as I said, to the fact that there is no relegation and no promotion. Therefore, many sport experts say that that then has reflected into a reduction of good football, good soccer talent available for the national team. But to answer your question, I think Mexico will go a little bit further. I think just one stage further than the United States. I think Mexico will reach finally the quarterfinals of the tournament, and I think, think the United States will stay around behind.
- [65:00]
Vanessa Perdomo
I'm not going to argue with you on it. You know, we'll see. We'll see.
- [65:04]
Gonzalo Soto
Please do not, please do not bring this up in a few months when this doesn't happen.
- [65:11]
Vanessa Perdomo
But that's well, it's, it's now it's on the record and we might come back to it. You know, you never know. Gonzalez, thanks so much for joining the Bloomberg Business of Soccer.
- [65:19]
Gonzalo Soto
Thank you. Thank you very much for the invitation. I'm very happy and I hope this is useful for our Fox listeners.
- [65:27]
Vanessa Perdomo
That was my conversation with our esteemed colleague Bloomberg News reporter Gonzalez Soto out of Mexico City. And that does it for this edition of the Business of Soccer. It's part of a new series we're starting on the Bloomberg Business of Sports as we get ready for the FIFA World cup in 2026. I'm Vanessa Perdomo. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Around the world.
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