- 6 minutes ago
MLS and CBS Sports broadcaster Chris Wittyngham joins the show to discuss Inter Miami’s recent home struggles and explains the frustrations surrounding this summer’s FIFA World Cup.
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00:00Inter-Miami hosts Orlando City Saturday.
00:04You can watch the game on Apple TV.
00:06Taylor Twellman and Jake Zivin on the English call.
00:10Bruno Vane and Andres Agula?
00:15Aguilla.
00:16Is that correct, Witty?
00:16Actually, it might even be Agusha because it's Argentine.
00:20On the Spanish call.
00:21Game is at New Stadium where Inter-Miami has yet to win.
00:24Witty will be on the call of the Philadelphia Union-Nashville SC game
00:30on Saturday night for Apple TV.
00:32That's at 7.30.
00:34And he's going to be on the call Tuesday for the UEFA Champions League
00:38semifinal second leg between Arsenal and Atletico Madrid.
00:43That is a huge match.
00:45It's on CBS, the network, and Paramount+.
00:49It's a big deal, Witty.
00:51Yeah, I got a bunch going on in the next few days.
00:54I'm actually currently at the Baller League Arena in southwest Miami-Dade County,
01:00currently in the Tropical Park area.
01:03And then so I'm doing the games here tonight.
01:05And then I have four games this weekend and one on the Tuesday.
01:09I only gave you two to read out because otherwise the whole segment would just be plugs.
01:14What, are you getting gray?
01:16Yeah.
01:16Or is that the camera?
01:17No, no, no, no.
01:18It's graying.
01:20It's graying.
01:21It's really bad when the gel's not in there.
01:22I'm like, I'm going to be fully gray by the time I'm 40, I think.
01:27That's wow.
01:28How about that?
01:29And all that stuff that he's doing.
01:31He's got time to have lunch with me tomorrow.
01:33I mean, what a world.
01:36I got a free day in Fort Lauderdale.
01:38What else would I rather do?
01:39What a world we live in.
01:40So, inter-Miami.
01:4111.30 a.m. lunch.
01:43Yes.
01:43The normal start time for lunch.
01:45Well, I got to be back to do the show at 2.
01:47We like to kibitz for a while.
01:49You know.
01:50You know how it works.
01:51We need more time for kibitzing.
01:52Yeah.
01:53Anyway, inter-Miami has been unable to win in new stadium.
01:58So, what's the problem?
02:00Well, if you look at the way that the games have all played out since they moved into the new
02:05stadium,
02:05they've kind of taken a familiar pattern.
02:07They expose themselves in the attack.
02:09They kind of give away a goal off some kind of defensive mistake and are scrambling at the very end
02:14of the game.
02:14They have the opponent under all the pressure in the world in the final 15 to 20 minutes.
02:18But in the interim, they can't seem to figure out how to start games well.
02:23They seem to actually have a better disposition away from home where they've gone.
02:27They went to, you know, Mile High Stadium and won in front of 75,000 fans.
02:31Three days later, won in Salt Lake in front of another sellout crowd at elevation on a short week.
02:37So, they managed to win these games against the Western Conference opponents in difficult locations.
02:41But at home, it really has been controlling the game with the ball early that I think has been the
02:46problem for them.
02:46They will have the ball.
02:47They're not dangerous enough.
02:48And then when they give it away, they're in crazy, crazy vulnerable positions.
02:52And I think come the end of the 90 minutes, they're desperate.
02:55The other team wants to hang on, but they don't have enough to get over the line.
02:58So, I think it's how they start matches and how they use the ball in possession.
03:01And what are you saying?
03:03I'm no soccer expert.
03:06You're not aggressive enough early, and they're trying to play defensive.
03:10Like, what is it?
03:10Turn the bus sideways, whatever.
03:12Solana gives me a hard time.
03:13Parking the bus.
03:14Parking the bus.
03:15Do you park the bus, or do you get aggressive?
03:18Like, you have to decide on either way to play, don't you?
03:22I mean, realistically, when Lionel Messi's in the team, you have one choice, and that's but to be aggressive.
03:26I just don't think that you can play on the counter when you have Messi.
03:31It just doesn't feel right.
03:32He's played in so many teams that are so used to controlling the ball.
03:35Yeah, you have to be more aggressive.
03:37The starting team has to have that idea of going out and attacking the opposition
03:41because I just don't think that you really have the option to play defensively when he's in the team.
03:46So, I think, yeah, I think they have to go out and just be better, frankly, in the attack.
03:49And I think you are really seeing over the course of this first part of the year,
03:53they missed Sergio Busquets, they missed Jordi Alba.
03:55That's kind of been the answer from day one, but they still missed those guys.
03:58And the replacements are okay, like they're good for MLS level,
04:02but I think the one thing that you see that's missing is players on the same wavelength as Messi.
04:07He looks a little bit on an island sometimes.
04:09Witty, Ojos decided to switch up the starting 11.
04:13He put Leo Messi, Berterame, and Suarez.
04:18It's not exactly MSN, but, you know, it's, I guess, the MLS equivalent to it.
04:23Is that the fix moving forward?
04:25Because you didn't necessarily see a much more prominent attack,
04:30even with Suarez getting in the starting 11.
04:33It doesn't seem like it to me.
04:34I think you certainly solve the problem of having someone on the pitch who's on the same wavelength as Messi.
04:41He just, Suarez just doesn't physically have the ability to get into those positions consistently enough.
04:46It doesn't seem like an attack that makes very much sense from a sort of fluidity standpoint.
04:51I think Berterame has kind of been, you know, not to, you know, cast a finger of blame,
04:56but they spent $15 million on this guy.
04:58I thought he was going to come in here and score goals for fun.
05:00He actually is starting to score goals, but he isn't a fit from what I've seen.
05:05Just from a pure playing standpoint, he doesn't fit with Messi.
05:07He doesn't fit with the team.
05:08And obviously this is early.
05:10We're 10 to 12 games into this.
05:12They can figure this out over the World Cup break or whatever.
05:14But I think if you're going to spend the money that they did,
05:18you can realistically, as Miami, go out and attract whomever you want.
05:22And they could potentially do this in the summer as well.
05:25But they can go out and attract whomever they want to go and be a big-name star,
05:29someone who has played at higher levels and thinks the game on the same wavelength as Messi.
05:34Realistically, if you're doing this transfer, it's to go out and win CONCACAF,
05:38which they didn't.
05:39They got knocked out in the last 16 by Nashville.
05:42And you're thinking that this guy is going to come in and score all the goals in the world,
05:46which just hasn't happened yet.
05:47So I think Pertaname, for me, is the biggest problem,
05:50just on the basis of the money that you've spent.
05:52You only have a few bites at the apple in terms of getting big-money players.
05:56And he just hasn't really quite worked out yet.
05:59Sounds like a party out there, Witty.
06:00They have brownies?
06:03They do have Sergio's here.
06:06Sergio's is kind of like the main caterer here.
06:07So if you want to get some Cuban food, Sergio's is available here.
06:10You can get some coquetas and some empanadas if you like.
06:13I know you like both of those things.
06:15I like the brownies, though.
06:16The brownies from Inter-Miami.
06:18I don't know if they have them at New Stadium, but they had them at Lockhart.
06:20I have heard that the best club level at New Stadium
06:24is like a major international airport lounge level of luxury.
06:29Really?
06:30So I've heard it's brilliant.
06:32I've been there myself.
06:33I hope to get there someday.
06:34But I've heard it is that level of class.
06:37Oh, I've got to check that out.
06:39Again, Inter-Miami is on Apple TV on Saturday,
06:41or you can go see the match at New Stadium if you want.
06:45Quick, there's other stuff I want to get to you with.
06:49But I want to ask you about the World Cup
06:51because there's been all these things written about the World Cup,
06:54and then there's the fees for public transportation
06:58up in New York and New Jersey, parking.
07:02What's going on?
07:03And then I read something today about someone who owns an Airbnb,
07:08I forget what city, who has spent the last year
07:12renovating the house for Airbnb
07:15because they figured World Cup was going to bring so many visitors,
07:17and she's saying, now, I'm not certain it's going to pan out
07:20the way that we thought.
07:21What's brewing here?
07:23Well, I think what's brewing here is a variety of things.
07:26One is I think a lot of people, particularly not from here,
07:29aren't used to the level of expense
07:31that comes with going to American sporting events.
07:35As a matter of fact, UEFA has kind of come out
07:37and sort of got a lot of good PR out of,
07:40well, the Euros are coming up in 2028.
07:42We're capping, you know, supporter-level tickets at 30 Euros apiece.
07:47Like, they're basically making hay out of this idea
07:48that we don't charge what they're going to charge over there
07:52in the U.S. for these crazy events.
07:53I think a lot of people were expecting a crazy amount of travel
07:56to happen within the U.S.
07:57and on the basis of the paperwork that it takes
08:00in order to get a visa to come here,
08:02especially if you're not from a country
08:04that is currently viewed favorably by the country.
08:07I think, so there are fewer travelers.
08:10And then I think a lot of people are just looking at it
08:12and going, wait a second.
08:13So if I go to Boston, I hear, you know,
08:15you hear a lot, obviously, from the U.K. base, right?
08:18So Scotland.
08:19Scotland is playing in,
08:20I think they're playing two games in Foxborough.
08:23And there are a lot of fans that are just like,
08:25I read a story today,
08:26they're chartering school buses to take them to Foxborough
08:29because right now, if you stay in downtown Boston,
08:34it's $80 one way to get from Boston to Foxborough.
08:38For a Patriots game, that's $12.
08:41And so they are like-
08:43You're talking on a train.
08:44You're talking on a train.
08:44Right, on a train, yeah,
08:45to get from downtown Boston out to Foxborough.
08:47The parking is several hundred dollars.
08:49Like, there just is no economical way
08:51to do anything.
08:53You mentioned sort of the idea of
08:55there being, like, you know,
08:57the parking situation
08:58and Airbnbs and all this stuff.
09:01The hotel chains jacked up their prices
09:04as soon as the World Cup draw was done.
09:06And now they're lowering them down again
09:07because there just hasn't been the demand
09:09for $1,000 stays at the Hampton Inn
09:13in Providence, Rhode Island,
09:15so you can get around to Foxborough.
09:16It just hasn't happened.
09:18And so everyone thought of this
09:20as an economic opportunity first.
09:22And I think so many people
09:24have been turned off to this
09:25all over the world
09:26that realistically what's going to end up happening,
09:28in my view,
09:29is you will have a few travelers,
09:31the wealthier in other countries,
09:33but realistically,
09:34the crowds at World Cup games
09:35are going to be people from the countries
09:38that have moved to the United States.
09:40So people in Denmark,
09:42people from Denmark
09:42who have moved over to the U.S.
09:44that are from Denmark,
09:45they will go to the games.
09:46People from Denmark
09:47will not be going to the games.
09:48And so this sort of economic impact
09:50that was meant to come
09:51is going to be a burden.
09:52In Miami,
09:53the issue is with parking.
09:55So right now,
09:56Hard Rock Stadium as it is
09:57has had all the parking
09:58taken off of it
09:59because of the Dolphins training facility,
10:00because of the Formula One,
10:01because of the tennis.
10:02And so there just isn't as much parking.
10:04$175 is what it's going to cost
10:06to park at the stadium
10:07for like the bad games.
10:08For the better games,
10:09it's going to be $250.
10:10And so they're going to have to offer
10:11these shuttle services.
10:13I think logistics has a chance
10:14to be a nightmare,
10:16not just in Miami,
10:16but all over the country
10:17because people are going
10:18to be trying to avoid
10:20paying this exorbitant amount of money
10:22just to get to the game.
10:24And Woody,
10:24is that the U.S.
10:26figuring out soccer?
10:27Because that's what it seems like
10:29when you're talking.
10:29We're trying to figure out soccer right now
10:31because we didn't have a big,
10:33you know...
10:33It's the U.S. ruining soccer.
10:35Yeah, I was going to say
10:37the opposite crowd.
10:38I think it's soccer
10:39figuring out the U.S.
10:40where it's like,
10:41how can we economically squeeze
10:44every dollar out of this?
10:46If you think of the last World Cup,
10:47the last World Cup was in Qatar,
10:48right?
10:49And the way that the money was made
10:51was with the incredible amount
10:53of money that was spent
10:54by the actual regime,
10:56the actual people
10:57that run the country.
10:58They have...
10:58And where you come to the United States,
11:00how are you going to make...
11:01I believe they're projecting
11:02to make $11 billion
11:03out of this World Cup.
11:04That's $11 billion
11:05made in six weeks.
11:07How are you going to do that?
11:08In the American capitalist system,
11:10it's ticket prices.
11:12It's parking.
11:13It's travel.
11:14It's hotels.
11:15It's this incredible economic engine.
11:18And so, realistically,
11:19I mean, my point of blame
11:22is towards Taylor Swift.
11:23You go back to the Ares Tour.
11:25The Ares Tour was squeeze
11:26every possible dollar
11:27out of every possible seat.
11:29I went to the Ares Tour in Toronto.
11:30It cost me $1,600 a person
11:33to get in.
11:34And I felt like I was getting a deal
11:36because if you were looking
11:38at the secondary markets,
11:39it was like $2,000, $2,100
11:41to get in the door in Toronto.
11:43And so I think there's this idea
11:45that Ticketmaster
11:46and all of the ticket companies
11:47have figured out
11:48what is a dollar less
11:50than we can make
11:51to fill out every stadium.
11:53And that's exactly
11:54what we're going to do.
11:55And it's the same with everything.
11:56This has incrementally
11:57gone up over time.
11:58And so, to answer your question, Crowder,
12:01it is soccer America.
12:03You know, it is America
12:05figuring out soccer
12:06rather than soccer
12:06figuring out America.
12:07I think it really is
12:08this sort of idea of like,
12:10what can we do
12:11to squeeze every dollar?
12:12Because I don't think
12:13if the idea was to grow the game,
12:15hey, we're coming
12:16to the United States
12:16because 32 years ago we came,
12:18there wasn't even
12:19a domestic league,
12:20there wasn't any
12:21soccer infrastructure at all.
12:23And now, we see,
12:26you know, 32 years later,
12:27there has been a foundation built,
12:28but it still needs to grow.
12:30But FIFA has decided
12:31they're not interested in growth.
12:32They're interested in getting
12:33every dollar possible out of this.
12:35I'm taking issue, Witty,
12:36with you calling Uruguay,
12:38Cabo Verde,
12:39one of the bad games
12:40at Hard Rock Stadium
12:41that'll only be $180 for parking.
12:43But to that point,
12:44I haven't bought tickets yet
12:45to either of the Uruguay games
12:47in Miami.
12:47And my idea is,
12:49right now,
12:49they're $500, $600.
12:51My idea is,
12:52for some of these games
12:53that don't feature Messi,
12:54don't feature Ronaldo,
12:55the ticket prices
12:56will ultimately plummet.
12:58Do you agree with that?
13:00I'm not just talking Uruguay.
13:01I'm saying in general,
13:01for fans who are maybe
13:03just going to wait
13:04until the day of
13:05to buy tickets,
13:06those prices are going to drop
13:07eventually, right?
13:08Yeah, I mean, look,
13:09I don't think 100,000 people
13:10can rely upon that strategy.
13:12But yeah,
13:12I do think at some point,
13:15look,
13:15we don't have enough transparency
13:17into what the ticket process
13:19was like,
13:19but I imagine
13:20a fair few brokers
13:21got in there.
13:21And the reason why
13:22ticket brokers get in there
13:23to buy tickets
13:24is because they think
13:24that they can resell for more.
13:26But if the entire demand
13:28is on the basis
13:29of there being resell value,
13:31well, then what happens
13:31when there is none?
13:32What happens if everyone
13:33is trying to resell
13:34their ticket to someone
13:35at a profit
13:36and there is no market
13:37left for tickets to be bought?
13:39So yeah,
13:39I think there is going to be
13:40a fairly significant
13:42dropping of prices.
13:43We saw this last year
13:44during the Club World Cup.
13:45FIFA also ran that event.
13:46They tried to run those prices
13:48as expensive
13:48as they could possibly do it.
13:50The semifinal last year
13:51that was in New Jersey
13:52between Chelsea
13:53and Fluminense,
13:55they started the ticket prices
13:56get in the door
13:57at $480.
13:59By the time the game
14:00kicked off,
14:01they had lowered the prices
14:02to $13 per person
14:04to get in the door
14:05because they didn't want
14:06to be embarrassed
14:06at the stadium being empty.
14:09And so I think
14:10that a similar thing
14:11could happen.
14:11I think there's enough
14:12of a demand for a team
14:13like Uruguay
14:13where I can't imagine
14:15that stadium,
14:15well, you know,
14:16you're not getting
14:17in the door for $50.
14:17But yeah,
14:18I imagine at some point
14:20all these people,
14:20you mentioned that Airbnb,
14:22the hotels,
14:22all this stuff,
14:23there was this idea
14:24that we're just going
14:24to bleed everyone dry,
14:26that there's going to be
14:27this crazy market
14:28that has no end.
14:29And at some point,
14:30the market will reach an end
14:31and things will lower
14:32and people will get
14:33to go to games
14:34for a reasonably cheaper price.
14:37Chris Whittingham
14:38will be on the call Tuesday
14:40for one of the biggest games
14:43that you can watch
14:44and you can see him
14:45on CBS,
14:46UEFA Champions League
14:48semi-final,
14:49Arsenal and Atletico Madrid.
14:52Apple TV,
14:54Saturday night,
14:55we'll have Inter Miami.
14:56You can watch that game
14:57on Apple TV
14:58and you can also watch
14:59Whittingham's game,
15:00Philadelphia Union
15:01and Nashville SC.
15:03Before we're out of time,
15:04which we are,
15:05who's the better quarterback,
15:06Aaron Rodgers
15:07or Brett Favre?
15:09I'm going to say Aaron Rodgers.
15:11I just think
15:12from a longevity standpoint,
15:14young people,
15:15it's young people, Crowder.
15:17I told you he was going to say it.
15:18It's these little puppies,
15:18these little puppies
15:20with no children
15:21that want to say
15:22Aaron Rodgers all the time.
15:24I really think
15:25that Aaron Rodgers
15:26like perfected quarterbacking
15:27at his absolute peak.
15:30I mean,
15:30Aaron Rodgers was like,
15:31I called him top five all time.
15:34I don't think you can be
15:35just on the,
15:36just from how we think
15:37of these things
15:37on the basis of
15:38not having won
15:39enough Super Bowls,
15:40but on the basis
15:41of like how well
15:42he played
15:43at his peak.
15:44I mean,
15:44Brett Favre was reckless.
15:45Brett Favre threw interceptions.
15:47Aaron Rodgers
15:47sort of perfected
15:48the position
15:49in a way
15:50that I just don't think
15:51that Brett Favre did.
15:52Do you like prime rib?
15:55No.
15:56No,
15:56and I,
15:57I love almost
15:58every cut of beef.
15:59It's disgusting,
16:00right?
16:00It's wet and bloody
16:02and chewy
16:03and like,
16:04I like a bit of fat
16:05with my steak,
16:06but when the whole thing
16:07is fat,
16:08then you sort of
16:09defeated the whole purpose
16:10of the meat.
16:11You never got the meat
16:13close to the bone?
16:14That can be fat,
16:16the good meat.
16:16there's like three bites
16:17in there that's close
16:18and then everything else
16:19is fat.
16:20Right,
16:20and then you just have
16:21like a little chunk of fat
16:22that you just sit in there
16:22and you haven't eaten.
16:23And it gets all over the plate,
16:25so everything that's on the plate,
16:27the bread,
16:27the vegetables,
16:28it's all sopped up
16:29in that water blood.
16:31I had prime rib in Hawaii,
16:33so I think I would say
16:34that I have some prime rib
16:35bona fides.
16:36I don't,
16:37I'm not having it.
16:38I'm not having it
16:39with prime rib.
16:40That's my guy.
16:41Witty.
16:41He's on your,
16:42Witty.
16:43You eat in bed,
16:44though.
16:45You look like you,
16:46you eat in bed.
16:47There's no chance.
16:49Oh,
16:49I've never eaten in bed,
16:51maybe like some candy,
16:53but like an actual meal?
16:55No,
16:55I don't think you've ever
16:55had breakfast in bed.
16:56Even candy.
16:56Would you sit in bed,
16:58would you sit in bed,
16:59watch TV,
17:00and eat popcorn,
17:01or eat Oreos?
17:03Well,
17:04we don't have a TV
17:06in our bedroom,
17:06so there's just like
17:08nothing of that going on
17:09in our bed,
17:10but no,
17:10I don't trust people
17:11who don't have TVs
17:12in their bedroom.
17:13That's like a big thing
17:14for some people,
17:15like we don't have a TV
17:16in the bedroom.
17:17The bedroom's not for TV.
17:19I don't trust people
17:20who don't have TVs
17:20in the bedroom.
17:21I tried.
17:22I asked my fiance
17:23if she wanted to,
17:24but she just wasn't
17:26interested in it.
17:26Honestly,
17:27like it probably is
17:28a good idea.
17:29Like go somewhere else
17:29to watch TV.
17:30I have an office
17:31so it's like 15 steps
17:32down the hall,
17:32but as a TV,
17:33if I really need
17:34to see something,
17:36it's not necessary.
17:37I like it,
17:38Witty,
17:38because the bedroom
17:39for action,
17:40right?
17:40Exactly.
17:41Right,
17:42but how do you get
17:43in the mood for action?
17:45House Hunters International.
17:47House Hunters International.
17:48All right,
17:49we got to go,
17:49Witty.
17:50We love you.
17:51All right,
17:51see you guys.
17:52See you guys.
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