Chapter Twenty-Three: Charlie Stillitano and ChampionsWorld (with Charlie Stillitano)

European club exhibitions have become a fixture of American soccer fandom. Premier League teams like Manchester United, Arsenal Liverpool and Chelsea have built, in part, their massive followings in the United States through television exposure, but also by touring US cities and building community at live events. While clubs have a long history of touring the US, the weight and gravity of those exhibitions changed through the vision of Charlie Stillitano and his company, ChampionsWorld. Stillitano founded ChampionsWorld as a full-service soccer promotional agency, one that facilitated the sale of Tim Howard to ManU. But he always had a vision of spotlighting European clubs via events in America and turned that vision into reality with the ChampionsWorld Series in 2003 and 2004. Stillitano joined Founding Futbol to share his journey to the creation of the company and the touring series. He shared the inspiration for the idea behind ChampionsWorld and more. Founding Futbol is a year-...