Special Edition: The Business of Soccer Ep. 2: Andres Cantor & Atlanta Sports

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0:57Welcome. This is a special edition of the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast, The Business of Soccer. I'm Vanessa Perdomo. The summer of international soccer is getting down to the wire. The FIFA Club World Cup is in its knockout stages, and the CONCACAF Gold Cup has its final set between U.S. and Mexico, a good old neighborhood rivalry game that will crown this year's champions of the region. Last week, I spoke with legendary broadcaster Andres Cantor about what a U.S. win for the Gold Cup would mean as a precursor to the World Cup next year. The previously taped conversation was before the latest round of games played for the Club World Cup, but he gave his perspective on how the tournament has gone and the biggest takeaways when it comes to South American versus European soccer.

1:38Here's my conversation with broadcaster Andres Cantor. Okay, so Andres, first thing is we're in the thick of the international tournaments right now. You're pulling double duty, Club World Cup, Gold Cup. First thing is, I need to say, how are you doing? Are you doing okay? Are you tired? Are you okay? I am doing awesome. I really enjoy doing what I do, obviously. And actually, it's triple duty because I've called the FIFA Club World Cup in English for TNT and its sister networks. I am calling the U.S. women's national team matches for Telemundo in the same week. And then on the weekend, I have the U.S.

2:23men's national team and the Mexican national team on radio in Spanish for my Radio Network Football de Primera. So it's going to be a very interesting last seven days for me. Yeah. How do you keep it all straight? I mean, does it get jumbled in your head at all? I mean, switching Spanish, English, Club World Cup, World Cup. I mean, U.S. men's national team, U.S. women's national team. And I will add another component, which is the speed I need to go in radio. Because, you know, when I do play-by-play in radio, it's at a much higher speed. And I have to use probably, you know, double the words I use on television to describe the action.

3:08It's fun. It's challenging sometimes because you have to prepare two games at the same time. That's the reality. I'm preparing the weekend's game for the Gold Cup while I'm preparing the women's national team game. So it's a little bit challenging to keep it all focused and make sure that when I put my notes down that I don't put some stats of the women's team in my Mexican national team notes or the U.S. men's national team in my women's. But it's fun. It's lots of fun. Do you have a favorite component to it, a favorite medium, TV or radio or team that you like to cover? No, not really. I mean, I enjoy both.

3:51I've been doing television for 40 years and radio probably as long. So both of them are very different in essence, because like I said, radio takes a greater physical toll on me. because you have to, you know, go a little bit full speed harder than television, which doesn't mean that, you know, I don't give it 100%. I give it 110 % in each television broadcast. So I enjoy both calling games in both mediums. You're doing your own sport up there for sure. So I want to get into the Gold Cup first. And what have we learned so far and how have the U.S. been playing in the tournament so far? The U.S.

4:40cruised, but I don't know whether this team is good or not because the opposition was not the best. So obviously, people need to understand that this is not near what Mauricio Pochettino will put on the World Cup debut because there are so many players missing key positions. So definitely this is kind of the A-B +, thing. Not to call it A or B, but somewhere in between because out of this group, probably, I don't know, some will make it into the final roster of the FIFA World Cup next year and some will not. So, so far, the U.S. has shown some promise because they have been able to resolve the matches that perhaps before they didn't, even though the opposition always was much tougher.

5:41But actually, they need a good goalkeeper. I know that you were a former goalkeeper yourself. So, yes, maybe. Why not? Yeah. I mean, you know, bring the women's out there because we're always good at that spot. We're never lacking. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, what you're saying there, you know, as we as we see what's going on next year and then obviously, like you mentioned, it's going to be a different team in the World Cup next year. So does winning the Gold Cup even really tell us anything about what the men will be able to do in the World Cup next year or what does it do for them? It's a great question.

6:18It will build confidence in the team. The team as a whole, obviously, will build confidence in some of the players that will have shown the coach that they belong for next year. That's for sure. What will it do beyond that? I'm not quite sure. It's always good winning, obviously. It will send a strong message that even without their star players, the U.S. men's national team can compete at this level, which will be obviously very welcomed and very good. Heading into next year, they will have the honor of being CONCACAF champions, but not much else because the World Cup is a total different animal.

7:14Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, U.S. Soccer Federation and billionaire Ken Griffin got together. They invested a lot of money. And Mauricio Pochettino hasn't been a good investment so far, do you think? I believe so, yes. I think he's a very good coach. You know, the U.S. men's national team needed a good coach, a coach that has proven himself a coach that handled the biggest stars that this game has, like Guillermo Mbappé, Messi, obviously, all the big Tottenham and Chelsea stars. So he's a very good coach. He is very flexible in adapting. I think he has been adapting quickly to the way we do things here.

8:07And he's trying to instill in the mindset of the American players that they can be at their best if they want to. And I think he brought that South American-Argentinian mentality into the team. And hopefully that will reflect on the pitch come next year in the World Cup. Yeah, well, we hope so, for sure. All right, so shifting gears then a little bit to the Club World Cup. In your opinion, with this expanded format for the tournament, how have you seen it play out? You know, obviously we've had some really unchallenging group matches and, you know, scarce games there. But then obviously there has been some really good competition.

8:47How do you see it from that perspective? Well, I see it. First, I have my doubts about, you know, the tournament. and it's so new that it was kind of, you know, unpredictable. And I'm liking it so far. Like you say, in every major competition with so many teams, and this will probably happen in the FIFA Club World Cup next year with 48 teams, you know, there will be match-ups that will be, you know, one-sided. Obviously, the Bayern Munich 10, Auckland City 0. It's a testament to that. Benfica scored six. But other than that, there weren't that. I mean, most of the matches were kind of competitive.

9:28So you will have, obviously, an emerging nation. I'm not saying that it was Begistan or Jordan that made it to the next World Cup for the first time. You know, we'll lose that badly. But obviously, you will have matches next year, as we did see in the first round of this Club World Cup that were one-sided. So other than that, I agree with your assessment. the competition has been very fair and even though the two Argentinian teams didn't go through for example they competed against Bayern Munich Boca was 1-1 until the 75th minute River lost against Inter in the last 20 minutes I would say of the match they showed that they could compete and the competition has been fairly good and kind of even throughout.

10:23I think that was, for me, the thing that I was looking at the most was South American teams versus European teams, how they were going to stack up, because especially here in the U.S. market, maybe the South American teams aren't known as well as you think maybe some of the European teams. So right now it's pretty much Brazil versus Europe, and obviously we have some others, and Messi made it through, and Inter-Miami has the one MLS team. But do you think that a Brazil versus Premier League team, like a Serie A team versus a Premier League team, is what would be best for the tournament in the final from an audience perspective, from a competition perspective?

11:04Does it prove, does something like that then prove, yes, this is what the whole tournament was about, competing across regions or is Premier League, Premier League or PSG versus, you know, Chelsea or something the best that FIFA can expect? We shall see. Obviously, first and foremost, let me clarify something. Brazilian teams are not known to the Eurocentric fans because they never pay attention to this side of the world. This is one of my biggest fights, and I'm on record for saying that Copa Libertadores is as good as the Champions League. People laugh at me because people don't turn over and don't see the value that our South American football has.

11:49And I believe it's as good. Obviously, we don't have the resources, but obviously the South American teams lose their biggest stars every year and they go to Europe. You named three, four European teams. Most of them have South American players that make them win in the Premier League, in Spain, wherever. So that aside, what will be good for the competition? Obviously, now it's Brazil against the world, basically. You know, Brazil has very, all four teams are very good. The Europeans are at the end of their season and are complaining about how tired they are and this and that. But yet, you know, they showed interest and are competing well enough.

12:44So that will not be an excuse if they happen to lose to a Brazilian team somewhere along the way. So for a global audience, obviously the ideal final will be to have the Champions League winner PSG in the final, you know, with all that happened with them in Champions League or Real Madrid for that matter, obviously, because that's a global brand. and it would be great to show a balance of power if we can have South American against Europe final. That would be awesome. And when you're seeing out in the stadiums and things like that, obviously Real Madrid and Boca Juniors were the two highest-selling teams in the group stage for tickets.

13:38What else are you seeing as people are bringing in fans? Is it a lot of South American fans coming in? Is it a lot of European fans? Is it just U.S. fans just rooting for whoever they know already? It's a mix of both. The South American teams, including the Brazilians, brought a lot of people. I was really surprised at the amount of people that they brought from their countries. Obviously, in South Florida, where Boca played two matches and Palmeiras played one, there are plenty of Argentinians and Brazilians. I'm pretty sure when to root for them as well. But I would say 70 % of the fans that showed up came from either Argentina or Brazil.

14:30Then you have the American fan that went out to see the big teams, Inter Milan. PSG, Real Madrid, Atletico de Madrid. I mean, you could tell by the support they had that it looked like they were just casual US-based fans of those teams. And I also said this that goes in favor of the FIFA Club World Cup, that if you take the FIFA Club World Cup to Germany and played in Germany, how many fans will River Plate against Urawa Reds in Hamburg, Germany draw? Probably not even 5 ,000. So I think attendance has been good, good enough. The big teams sold out. The South American teams sold out. And when you have, you know, a game on a Tuesday at 12 noon to adjust to the European primetime television audience at the Rose Bowl, I'm not even sure Beyonce can, you know, sell out the Rose Bowl at 12 noon on a workday.

15:46Right. Yeah, exactly. It is one of the things I wanted to ask you about. It's the scarcity that we saw at a lot of the stadiums. And it's a really good point, though. I mean, they're midday, you know, during the work week. But we obviously will see that next year for the World Cup. But it's a completely different beast, right, for the World Cup. people are going to be willing to take off. So do you think that the scarcity that we saw doesn't say much about the U.S. as a soccer market? Do you think that we're still emerging, or is there some work to be done? No, it doesn't say anything. It says, obviously, a lot about the U.S.

16:26soccer market. There have been 1.5 million tickets sold, or over 1.5 million tickets sold in the group phase. Again, if you take that Rose Bowl game and move it to the LAFC Stadium or Dignity Health, the Galaxy Stadium that has a capacity of 25 ,000 people, you would have had a packed and sold out game between Monterrey and Uragua Reds. Or River Plate and Uragua Reds that didn't draw that much. I think obviously like you say the World Cup will be totally different I know people are already asking for time off a year in advance there will be a lot more tourists hopefully coming to the US to watch their nations and I think soccer has shown throughout the summers and I refer to the summers because we always have these big pre-season tournaments that are friendly in nature with the big European teams that play one 11 team.

17:45I mean, they put 11 players on the first half and then the coach, because it's pre-season, makes 11 changes in the second half. And yet, you know, you will have 75 ,000 people or 100 ,000 people in Ann Arbor, Michigan, watching Real Madrid against Manchester United. So the appetite for soccer in this country is here to stay. It's very solid. And I don't think we have to dwell on the negative of the 18 ,000 fans that the Mamelodi Sundowns game drew. because, again, take that to any other city in the world outside of South Africa. That's where this team is from. And that, you know, it will not draw 300 people.

18:35And here they put, you know, 15 ,000 and everyone's saying, oh, they only drew 15 ,000 people. And two o 'clock in the afternoon, three o 'clock in the afternoon, so I mean, I think all in all is very good. It's a good point, for sure. So we got to talk about the MLS really quick before we wrap up. Inter-Miami made it to the next round with one win, two draws. The other teams didn't fare as well. What do you think that says that LAFC, Seattle didn't even get a win or a draw, any points, right? So what does that say about how the MLS is stacking up against other leagues and how far they really need to go?

19:18well we didn't need to have this tournament to know where MLS stands in the world scheme of football in the world ranking of football obviously the MLS is doing great it's a very good league but it's not competitive enough and Inter Miami can prove me wrong but obviously you know they got messy which is the difference maker But I think it's unfair because even though Seattle didn't win, the two Argentine teams played six matches in between them and won only one of them, which was River beating Uruguay Reds. So if I make the argument that LASC and Seattle didn't win too many games or Seattle didn't win any, I would have to make the same argument for Argentinian football and Argentina is the world champion.

20:20So, again, MLS has a long way to go, but obviously the competition in Europe is much tougher. It's better.

20:41And MLS, it's a couple of steps down from there. Right. All right. Well, before I let you go, I have to get some predictions. predictions for Club World Cup final and winner?

20:57I think PSG will win this tournament. And they might play. I wish I had the brackets. I like Bayern Munich, the way they played. The winner of that quarterfinal, if it's PSG Bayern, will make it all the way to the final and win it. Yeah, absolutely. Prediction for the Gold Cup? I'm going to bet on the U.S. All right. I think there's three wins in the group phase, even though, like I already explained, doesn't mean way too much. I think we'll give them confidence to go all the way to the final and win it. That was my conversation with legendary broadcaster Andres Cantor. We'll be checking back in on his predictions to see if PSG or Bayern Munich take home the Club World Cup title.

21:50This is a special edition of the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast, The Business of Soccer. Up next, we'll hear from leaders from the Atlanta World Cup host committee on how they're prepping for the big games. I'm Vanessa Perdomo. This is Bloomberg.

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23:09You're listening to a special edition of the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast, the business of soccer. I'm Vanessa Perdomo. My next guests are Dan Corso, president of the Atlanta Sports Council and head of the Atlanta World Cup Host Committee, and Tim Zaloski, president of A &B Sports and Entertainment, more so known for owning the Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta is one of only a few cities that are hosting the Club World Cup this year, as well as the 2026 World Cup next year. So they're in a unique position to solidify themselves as a soccer hub in the U.S. Not to mention, owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Blank, is a big donor for U.S.

23:43soccer. Let's listen to my conversation with Tim and Dan. Club World Cup, World Cup, everything's coming in at once. Tim, I'd love to get your perspective on a stadium that's hosting both of these tournaments. What's this next year like for you, and what are the preparations like for to host these back-to-back tournaments? Ultimately, it's the vision we had for Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is to bring the best events from around the world to Georgia and to Atlanta for the people of the United States and or state and local residents to enjoy. So it feels great to be bringing that to life. The actual matches themselves, we're the busiest 70 ,000-seat stadium in the world.

24:24So the idea of bringing people in is obviously not foreign to us. the working with a new federation in this case FIFA who we've not worked with previously there that has been a little different you know just because they're first time and new the club world cup obviously the best clubs in the world and then you get the chance for country in 26 so the unique thing actually has been creating that distinction between people or four people so they understand you know what is coming because also the 25 club world cup came, well, the 26th World Cup was already well under its planning way. And so there's, I would say, some market confusion in general, but ultimately you're going to have the best representing club and country coming through Mercedes-Benz Stadium for America to enjoy.

25:13It's interesting that... Or for the world to enjoy, actually. Yeah, absolutely. But it's interesting that market confusion almost, right? Because you have them right on top of each other. Dan, tell me about how that works, how you distinct that for the community of Atlanta and have these different tournaments, but make sure people are excited for both. Yes, we've made it very clear that the 26th World Cup and our host committee, the Atlanta World Cup host committee, which is responsible for getting the community ready to host the 26th World Cup, we're not directly involved in the club. So we're supportive because it's the game of soccer and it's a big event happening in our city and happening at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

25:51So we'll work where we can, but we're not responsible, obviously, for putting on the logistics or the operations or the marketing thereof for the Club World Cup. But we do see it as a potential opportunity to kind of kick the tires a little bit on 26. And, you know, whether it's traffic flow, traffic management, ingress into the various hotels that surround Mercedes-Benz Stadium, some of the activation areas that will be used for club, how do those respond in prep for 2026? So while they're completely different events, you know, the fact is we have 14 international matches between six with club.

26:24and eight with the FIFA World Cup, you know, that's 14 matches that we could really learn from, you know, and take the lessons from one and apply to the next. If I could piggyback on Dan, what you do have in commonality is FIFA. What is not common is the consumer and audience. So for the Club World Cup, with the beauty of digital tickets, we can see where people are coming from. And Club World Cup's disproportionately domestic, where there's a full expectation that the global World Cup of 26 will bring just that, the globe, to the United States. And so who's coming in your doors is probably going to be disproportionately international than it would be domestic.

27:05So two different audiences enjoying the beautiful game, if you will. And how do you think that that plays into the attendance that you're going to see at the stadium and things like that? I mean, you guys are pretty lucky in the early stages of the Club World Cup. You got some really, really great matches and the MLS teams as well. How does that play in for you? Well, in the case of club, you're now going to have fandom. People follow and have a passion for that institution, you know, where that is. Let's say you're a Chelsea fan and whatever their audience is that supports Chelsea, which we'll be hosting here in early June.

27:42Whereas if you're from the country, you know, you have it's it's a completely different emotion and feeling. Are you representing the United States? Or are you representing Atlanta United? And so you're going to be a much wider fan base in the case of World Cup, whereas you'll be what I'll call wide, mile deep in club fandom. And so when Inter-Miami plays, it'll be, although Messi may broaden that gap a little bit, it'll be folks who are hyper-focused on Inter-Miami, as an example, or hyper-focused on Chelsea, much different when it's an entire country that they're coming in support of. Yeah, absolutely.

28:22And when you see the pattern that you're seeing for ticket sales already, say for the Club World Cup, what are those looking like? Obviously, some people are saying the tickets are a little bit, they're not anticipated as much as they anticipated them as. How are you guys seeing that in Mercedes-Benz right now? I mean, like you said, you have Messi and all these people are really excited for. Look, there's going to be thousands of people really excited to see the athletes that they watch every day, whether it be on TV or maybe even in their home country and in their home stadium. So a great show will be put on.

28:56FIFA is handling all the marketing and administration relative to these matches. So I'm sure they're going to do everything in their power to represent the Club World Cup for the esteemed tournament it is. And Dan, you talked a little bit earlier about just the overall Atlanta of it all, right? And it's such a big sports town and noted already that it's not new to host these big tournaments. But I want to get back a little early on in the early stages of how you go about becoming a host city and why Atlanta was chosen, do you think? Yeah, I think it depends on how far back you want to go. So if you go all back to 1996, when we hosted the Summer Olympic Games, and now 30 years later, we're going to host the World Cup, becoming one of only two U.S.