American Ownership in Liga MX: Chairman Marc Spiegel Unveils Club Querétaro's Vision - VAMOS with Herc Gomez 08/07/25, Presented by Michelob Ultra.

0:00Herc Gomez:With the Amex Gold Card, earning rewards on dinner is just the beginning. Earn 4x points at restaurants and make your outings even greater by accessing over$500 in annual value on select dining and travel purchases. Living in the moment is more rewarding with the Gold Card. Apply today and learn more at AmericanExpress.com slash Explore-Gold. Terms and points cap apply. You're listening to the Men in Blazers Media Network Suboptimal Radio. Rossi, Alleyou, cleverly in behind, Herrera across goal, not completely done with, here's Arvston! Patience and persistence pays off! Vamos! That was Ian Joy from Apple TV with Max Arvston who scored the winning goal for the Columbus crew against León in the third matchday of League's Cup.

0:55Herc Gomez:This is Vamos, presented by Michelobotre and Superior Light Beer, and I'm your host, Triculis Gomez. In this episode, we're sitting down with Mark Spiegel, a tech entrepreneur from Kentucky who's just made a historic move to Liga Américas. And as always, we'll be shooting it straight. And then we'll finish with Drop the Bag, this week's action in Major League Soccer, Liga Américas, and the English Community Shield. And let's not forget the Dutch Eredivisie. So what are you waiting for? Vamos! This week, we're sitting down with the man who just made history in Mexican football and is trying to find a new perspective on the game.

1:24Herc Gomez:Mark Spiegel is an American businessman who, through his firm Innovatio Capital, has completed a reported$120 million purchase of Club Querétaro in Liga Mexes from Jorge Alberto Jank of Cholos de Tijuana, making his group the first majority American ownership in the history of Mexico's top division. Mark Spiegel, welcome to Vamos. How are you, my man? Thanks for having me. Appreciate you having me on. Absolutely. Where are you calling from right now? Because we get people in Vamos calling from all over the world. Last time we had Brad Freely called from the Bahamas. Where are you at? I'm in Atlanta.

1:50I wish I was in the Bahamas. We love it there.

1:53Herc Gomez:I'm very interested in your story, Mark. It's not every day we get American ownership in any facet, let alone majority American ownership in League of Mackeys. You've achieved success in logistics and business by founding Rubicon, a tech company that transformed waste management using analytics and logistics, spending years identifying insufficiencies in industries that others have often overlooked. I'm very curious how those experiences prepared you for the sports world. I've been around sports a lot in my life, mainly college sports. I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and obviously that's a mecca for college basketball and obviously college football has grown significantly.

2:25But when I exited Rubicon, I knew that the next chapter I wanted to do something on the business side of sport and kind of fell into the investment side. I had an opportunity to get invited to invest in a couple other teams and looked at it and realized for me as a 42-year-old at that point, just being an investor was not going to keep me busy. I started looking at soccer globally and really in Europe from an investment perspective and then took more of an assembly line approach to really wanting to use data to identify investment opportunities where we felt like there was the most opportunity for return.

2:58You know, long story, but that led us to Mexico and we loved what we were seeing. We loved the upside in the league. Obviously, the proximity for us here as Americans, it's much closer to jump on a flight and time zones. It's much easier to follow than it is in various parts of Europe. But when you dig in and you look under the hood at what's going on in Liga MX, it was extremely exciting. So probably about a year ago, we said this is where we want to plant our flag in the sand and really took a methodical approach to identifying teams that we knew would likely transact. But we couldn't be happier.

3:30I think it's been a whirlwind the last three weeks in terms of signing players and really creating the foundation of the business. But I would say there's nothing that we've seen thus far that dissuaded us from our thesis that Mexico and Liga MX has the most upside of any league in the world.

3:45Herc Gomez:I want to get to Mexico and Liga MX in a second, but I want to talk about Football Strategies Group. You guys made a strong bid at Charlton Athletic in the UK. According to an article on Bloomberg, February 7, 2023, you signed an exclusive term sheet to acquire the club for reported valuation of$15.4 million. Can you take us through that process and tell us why Charlton Athletic deal ultimately did not come to fruition? We moved like many Americans when you decide to get in from an investment perspective, you're kind of initially guided to England. I think it's not only the language, but there's at least a perception of ease.

4:16And Charlton obviously is a great club based in London. We probably moved too quickly and we didn't really have our arms wrapped around our true thesis. And it was fortunate for us. One thing that did crystallize was our thesis was not to invest in businesses that were loss making. And obviously, Charlton has recently been promoted to the championship, but from a cashflow perspective was not the profile that we ended up wanting to invest in. So a lot of learning lessons there. Some of that we've certainly taken and it's helped us, like I said, crystallize who we want to be. But England is obviously a mecca of soccer.

4:51There's so many great people involved in it that the guys, actually Americans ended up buying it. we wish them nothing but the best.

4:58Herc Gomez:Mark, many Americans or American investors that want to bid on football teams, soccer teams, go the major league soccer route. Why did you and your group not go major league soccer? What made you want to go league and amicies over major league soccer? You look at MLS and the price tag to buy in right now is so high. We realized the type of model that we wanted in terms of player trading, in terms of not having some of the roster restrictions, but also looking at where we felt like the largest opportunity was to grow. You look at MLS and it's extremely well run. The owners there, I live in Atlanta, obviously with Arthur Blank and seeing firsthand as a season ticket holder, what the start of this club and the growth of what that looks like.

5:38We felt like that maybe it's a little further along in its evolution commercially. So we think that the Mexican league, there's just more upside. And obviously the barriers to entry are a bit less, not just from a monetary perspective, But structurally, in terms of so much of MLS right now is, you know, can you get an expansion team? And for us wanting to operate and be able to run our strategy, we didn't think it was possible in MLS. And so that's where we really didn't look. Certainly respect MLS. We've gotten beat by two MLS teams the last week or so in League's Cup. Love what's happened to the league.

6:12I think my love for soccer really started as I started to follow MLS and lived in a city that had it. But we are where we are supposed to be. We haven't given any second thoughts to the decision we made.

6:23Herc Gomez:I'm glad to hear you're a Major League Soccer fan. I think it's very important for domestic soccer in the U.S. to thrive in order for the national team to thrive. That's where the base is. What have you seen from Major League Soccer in its infancy to now, if you have followed it, that you could say maybe with the inclusion of Messi, they could do X to capitalize more? MLS was smart in terms of the rigidity that they structured with the roster rules and making sure that financial sustainability was a hallmark. I think any new league needs to do that. It's hard to have owners. And I think this is one of the gripes I have or we have for even many of the leagues in Europe is the expectation that owners just continually fund losses.

7:06These are businesses. And I think MLS is smart. I think MLS is in most, if not all of the major cities in the U.S. The move towards having clubs build their own soccer-specific stadiums was incredibly smart. It's something that, you know, I think what you'll see in Mexico, I think you'll see new stadiums being built to obviously capitalize on fan experience and, you know, premium club level, suite level, things like that. I think one of the things that everyone talks about with MLS, though, is, is it time to, you know, kind of unleash some of the reins on some of the roster rules? And I don't know enough to be an authority to say yes and no.

7:41I think, you know, when you're playing more competitions, whether it's against League MX or, you know, CONCACAF Champions League or Club World Cup, I think what you see from MLS is a little bit of the lack of depth. And I think that that specifically comes from salary cap and the DPs, the U22s, those types of things. So I think maybe that's an opportunity, but you look at, you know, when I go to a game, I go to Atlanta United game. I went to the games with, you know, with Man U and Everton and Bournemouth and West Ham. I went to those games here in Atlanta this weekend and it's such a diverse fan base.

8:17It's young. And so the future is incredibly bright with soccer in the United States, be it MLS or even other leagues if they want to host games in the US.

8:26Herc Gomez:Mark, you mentioned that you see new stadiums being built in the Liga Mackey's future. Is that a wish of yours or is that insight into what is going to happen in Liga Mackey's? I certainly believe it's going to happen. You have the potential investment from private equity. I know Apollo was kind of in pole position. There's a number of other PE firms that did full diligence. Apollo was the investment firm that was going to come in and fund Liga Mackey's as a whole, like their own collective bargaining, if you will. Yeah, they, you know, Apollo, one of the two or three biggest PE firms in the world was going to invest well over a billion dollars into the league and that money flows down to the clubs.

9:05And then obviously the use of those funds for infrastructure and things like that. I think what you've seen, if clubs use it appropriately, you know, there are some teams down there who have new stadiums. They obviously aren't going to use that money to fund a new stadium, but there are several others that, you know, could in fact do that. And I think having clubs, being able to own their own stadiums, having something new, it's just going to enhance the profile and it's going to enhance the financials for these clubs to allow clubs to invest more in players. I think, you know, that alongside of centralizing the media rights and, you know, Herc, you're obviously in the media business.

9:39League MX is the biggest league in the world that doesn't have centralized media rights. So, you know, when you look at the metrics on the number of viewers and the brands that want access to that, it makes total sense to, you know, that to occur. So what you can very easily envision is an influx of additional revenue at every club in the very near future. And so obviously we know with that, that the level of play will increase. It's already good. It could increase significantly again. So I think what we see is Liga Mequis really positioning itself as the best league in the Americas, which is great because obviously, you know, the huge fan base in the United States, huge fan base in Mexico.

10:23I think an opportunity to showcase that from a content perspective to other nations, whether in the Americas or even to Europe, and build natural bridges from a talent perspective to leagues all across the world.

10:36Herc Gomez:Just my personal opinion, but it's only behind Brazil in the Americas, South America, North America in terms of quality of league, in terms of player personnel, in terms of infrastructure, in terms of everything. Why the resistance then? Because we saw the Apollo deal get nixed not too long ago by not the majority owners, but certainly most owners. Why do you think there's a resistance maybe from the old guard to take this newfound centralized TV rights deal? Well, I think we can bifurcate the private equity from TV because they're mutually exclusive. But I think like anything, change doesn't happen overnight.

11:09Sometimes it takes a little bit of time. I think from what we've been told, you know, there were some small tweaks that some of the owners asked for. And so we certainly believe a deal will happen. But, you know, we're happy now just to have a seat at that table and maybe bring a fresh new perspective. I think one of the things that the U.S. pro leagues do really well is the owners understand that the stronger the league is, the stronger each club is. And so I think that that mentality, if we grow together, will certainly permeate. And what you said about Brazil, I tend to agree with. But I think understanding the potential economics of the growth that's coming, I think you could certainly see the league in Mexico surpass Brazil.

11:48But ultimately, I think a big part of that is the clubs. And, you know, we're sitting at the bottom of the table right now. We understood when we bought it that there was a building process. It's up to us, you know, those smaller clubs, so to say, to certainly improve and develop the mentality that we want to compete and not just be part of the league.

12:05Herc Gomez:So a few years ago, we saw Necaxa was purchased for 50 % by Iva Longoria, by Mesut Ozil and company for$25 million, 50%. And here comes a reported$120 million offer accepted by American ownership for Querétaro. My jaw hit the ground. I could not believe, one, what was happening, what was changing, the changing of the guards, and then the number. How did you and your partners come to the evaluation of$120 million for Querétaro? Yeah, first, I'm not sure if the number with Nacoxa is correct. We've heard very different numbers. But obviously, you know, that group came in and the folks involved with DC United, amazing people.

12:43I've talked to one of the partners there who was one of the people to wish me congratulations and welcome me into the league. But they actually beat us already as well. But you look at this as a business. And so the things where you can't really compare, I mean, this club is producing a good amount of revenue. It's very profitable, which, you know, in global football is not the norm. So, you know, we were able to certainly look at this as any other business you would acquire. But you also look at what the growth levers are and being able to have valuation that looks into the future as well and make it really attractive.

13:15So we were really comfortable with the value. I think you look at Atlas, which is publicly being sold right now. I expect that to transact for a really good number. Great club in Guadalajara, well run. And so I think what's happening in Mexico right now, I equated to if somebody were to have told you two years ago that a WNBA team would have transacted for 350 or 450 million, you'd have been like, no way. And part of the job of being an entrepreneur and investor is being able to be early to the party and not late. The value of the teams in Mexico are just going to continue to grow. And then you compare them to what's going on in MLS where both leagues have no relegation.

13:56Both leagues, many of the teams are around the same from a revenue perspective. I think League MX probably has more profitability on a team-by-team level, but then you have expected revenue growth for each team coming in the next three or four years. So valuation was not something that concerned us one bit, and it wasn't one of these things where it's aspirational. You look at MLS teams trading for 10, 11 times revenue, even ones that are not profitable. We felt like where we were in, you know, south of that, but north of what you see in some of the European leagues, we feel real comfortable being in that territory.

14:33And obviously we think revenue multiples will increase and start to move closer and closer to what we see here with MLS.

14:40Herc Gomez:Mark, just north of$15 million for Charlton Athletic,$120 million for Querétaro. One league has promotion relegation, the other league does not have promotion relegation. How much of a factor was pro-rail in your decision? It's a factor. I think you see businesses and we look at this as a business. It's very difficult to prepare and strategize when you could lose a huge chunk of your revenue overnight. One of the opportunities with global soccer, if you're looking at how do you build sustainable businesses, you look in England right now, there's multiple teams. Sheffield Wednesday, you know, just I read an article about them this morning.

15:14They're in financial ruin. I think it's incumbent upon leagues to really understand what's the goal here, right? Promotion and relegation came from when every town had their own team years ago, and it wasn't really a business. But now you're talking about businesses that are producing tens, hundreds, if not into the billions a year. And so you've got to take a hard look at what are we actually doing to create sustainable business practices. And I read Sheffield Wednesday, their players haven't even been paid for last month. And here they are starting a new season and playing without being paid.

15:50So I think that's where you've got to realize. And we saw the opportunity with what's happened in Mexico. It's just the right structure for us.

15:58Herc Gomez:What does$120 million get you in terms of what you're purchasing? Are you just purchasing the rights to the team? Are you purchasing just the first team? Is it facilities? What does$120 million get you? We get everything from two buses that the teams travel on to really the IP and the right to play. I think, you know, the most valuable asset is the license to play in League MX. As of right now, we don't own our own stadium. We don't own our own training ground. So, you know, those are opportunities that maybe in the future we'll look at that. But it's really just a seat at the table to play.

16:34Herc Gomez:one of the most intriguing parts of you guys's model is the application of data-driven approach to an industry that at its core is is emotional i'm curious how this translates to analysis recruitment and player development at the retro it's core to everything we do whether sporting or on the business side i think when we decided that this was the the industry that we wanted to to really be a part of for the next you know decade plus we looked around the world and said okay, who's doing this the way that we feel like we want to emulate. And everyone points to Brighton in the Premier League and obviously Union Saint-Germain in Belgium, which is bought in the second division a few years ago and is now playing Champions League.

17:11And these are two of the most data-driven clubs in the world. So understanding how do we recruit globally without having scouts, and I think the eyeball test creates a lot of biases, whereas data doesn't. And so we're able, We've signed, I think, seven or eight players thus far, really looking at where we can create value and again, being ahead. So one of the things that we see as an opportunity with Queretaro is creating more of a player trading pipeline and model. So it hasn't historically done that. But we think that there's a tremendous opportunity because you can obviously recruit domestic talent, but getting talent from Central America, from South America.

17:48We've got a player who's either signed or getting ready to sign from Spain, you know, looking at players in Japan and elsewhere. Data gives us the ability to look all over the globe where, you know, looking in various leagues in Africa. We've said we're agnostic to where the talent comes from. Our job is to find it and recruit them on the vision and the project that we have at Caratro. And then ultimately, we want players who want to take that next step and aspire to play for the biggest clubs in the world. So, you know, I hate to say if people think that Caratro is their final spot, that's probably not who we want.

18:22We know that the team we took over, we have to get younger, we have to get more dynamic. And so we're certainly recruiting to that, but we're really fortunate to have the data group that we do. It's cutting edge. You know, we have 100 % confidence in the outputs and obviously our job, you know, taking over three weeks ago on the day of the first game. One of the things we couldn't do is it's not like we had a year's worth of ability to scout and to understand. So we've had to move quickly. But what you'll see with this team is constantly looking to get better. Every time we add a player, you know, that player needs to be better than the person who was there.

18:56And when they leave, we need to upgrade that. So getting better with every single move, every single transaction that we make.

19:02Herc Gomez:You know, when I was playing in the Liga Mexicans, you could only have a certain amount of foreigners or players not formed in Mexico. That's still the case today. There's a lot of talk about if that number should be reduced, extended, et cetera, et cetera. But there weren't that many Mexican-Americans when I played. Today, Fuerzas Básicas, the academy systems all throughout Mexico are littered with Mexican-Americans. I'm curious about the approach of Querétaro and maybe tapping into that pipeline within the United States. We want that for sure. We've said that for us, this transaction should be a borderless transaction.