00:00Congratulations to the entire World Cup effort, FIFA, all the federations.
00:05The excitement has been palpable for the last five weeks.
00:09A lot of lack of sleep from all the fans watching it.
00:12And I just think the excitement, the foundation that's been built here,
00:15is something that's going to take MLS and soccer viewership in the United States to a new level.
00:20So whether that's the incredible venues we've had, the communities, the watch parties,
00:25just in Orlando alone, we had 65,000 people come to our watch parties.
00:28So just seeing every time the success of the U.S. soccer team, the run they had,
00:33and all of it is just great passion, great excitement for the game.
00:38I am curious just about the impact here on New York.
00:41And obviously you are more or less a local guy, even though obviously your business interests are elsewhere.
00:46I mean, this has been a huge impact economically for the New York, New Jersey region,
00:51and obviously for the other cities as well, like Kansas City, Seattle, et cetera.
00:55Give me a sense here as to how that translates into other economic opportunities going forward.
01:02A lot of foreigners came here to these various cities, and they got a taste of America
01:05in a way that maybe they wouldn't have if the World Cup hadn't been here.
01:09Well, I think the world's taken notice that the U.S. is a great place to do business,
01:14North America, all the excitement.
01:16And I think hopefully FIFA will put us on the map for another World Cup sooner than later.
01:21And just the economic impact of the entire world coming here and seeing how open,
01:27and particularly the United States, just how open and welcoming the United States and North America
01:32is in terms of fandom, excitement, and passion.
01:35And I think that goes for players, too.
01:37We in Orlando, for instance, just signed the Antoine Griezmann, a world champion with France,
01:42someone who everyone in the world knows.
01:44And players like that now want to come to MLS, come to the United States.
01:49And I know our fans were going to leap off of this, and MLS is launching tonight their season again.
01:55And so I think there will be a lot of passion and excitement from what you see out there,
02:00and we'll roll into the seasons ahead.
02:03Yeah, it has been fun to watch particularly European tourists sort of discover the U.S.
02:10and Middle America on social media.
02:12There have been plenty of viral moments.
02:13But I do want to talk a little bit more about that halo effect.
02:16I mean, you mentioned Griezmann, for example, signing on.
02:19I mean, realistically, how much more of that type of activity might we see,
02:24you know, the fact being able to attract that sort of a talent to U.S. teams?
02:30I think it's going to help a lot.
02:33I think the type of ownership we have, for instance, in Major League Soccer.
02:36Just remember, in 1994, that World Cup led to the creation of Major League Soccer.
02:43And just to think, four years ago at the World Cup, there were seven MLS players that played in the
02:48World Cup.
02:49And this go around 45 players.
02:51So that's a testament to the level of play we have, the level of the league we have.
02:56And it's growing dramatically.
02:58And soccer viewership and passion comes with great moments.
03:02And there have been a lot of great moments in this World Cup.
03:04And it's not just the great fan things you see with the Norwegian rowing and all the rest.
03:10It's great plays, great excitement, and young people coming out to the stadiums,
03:15best venues in the world that we have, and seeing great soccer.
03:18Well, that's where I wanted to go because, you know, related to bringing talent to the U.S.,
03:23you think about sort of the youth engagement as well.
03:26You sit on the board of governors for the MLS and the Women's League as well.
03:31How do you keep the momentum going and, you know, sort of encourage more young people to play in the
03:37sport,
03:38which ultimately, you know, if you play a sport as a young person, I'm thinking about myself with track and
03:43field,
03:43you become a fan as an adult.
03:46Well, it takes a great deal of infrastructure and investment.
03:49And I know ownership and MLS working a great deal of alignment with U.S. soccer in terms of investing
03:56in academies,
03:57in stadiums, in youth leagues, MLS Next, MLS Next Pro, and the academies,
04:03players as young as 11, 12, being around a professional environment.
04:07Remember, the U.S. has really been deep into this youth development,
04:12but not nearly as long as the nearly century of these other countries that are at the top of the
04:17game.
04:17So I have all the confidence in the world with investment and infrastructure
04:20and the great passion for the game we have in the United States,
04:25that our game will only grow here higher and higher,
04:28and that comes with investment and the great opportunities that young people can get to play the game.
04:32I do want to talk about the actual investment in the physical space itself.
04:37We just had a conversation with the New York City FC owner,
04:42of course, building a big stadium at the sports complexes out there in Queens.
04:46In your capacity as head of the Vikings,
04:49you've done something similar out there with your headquarters out there in Viking Lakes out there in Egan.
04:54And I am curious about this idea of using sports to sort of anchor broader development
05:00beyond just, say, the stadium or training facilities themselves,
05:03but to also bring in housing and other retail restaurants, et cetera.
05:07It's a great anchor to have that work, live, play environment.
05:11Like you said, we've done it in Egan, Minnesota.
05:13We've done it in Minneapolis with a great city and state public partnership, public-private partnership.
05:19And the same goes in soccer.
05:20You see great cities like New York, Chicago, what Arthur did in Atlanta, now in Boston.
05:27So the big cities are now investing in big facilities, and that leads to economic development around it.
05:34And, again, that could be real estate.
05:37That could be corporate relocation.
05:38And even in Orlando, we're doing it in Osceola County around our practice facility.
05:42So sports is a place that everyone gets.
05:45You see the common ground that it brings the whole world together.
05:49And I think it's a great basis for economic activity, and we've proven it,
05:52and it's been proven in a lot of cities around the world.
05:54And, Mark, you have an interesting portfolio because in addition to your involvement with U.S. professional soccer,
06:00you also have been the owner of the Minnesota Vikings since 2005, I believe.
06:06And I want to have you sort of bridge the gap here.
06:09What takeaways can the sport of professional soccer in the U.S. take from the NFL,
06:14which, of course, we know is wildly successful and wildly popular with the American audience?
06:20Well, the product on the field is paramount.
06:23And the NFL, we know, is an incredible product.
06:26And we see in this World Cup how great soccer is.
06:29And the secret sauce is the same.
06:33Investing in top talent, making sure the game is great.
06:36Right. Investing in fan experience.
06:39People are putting their hard-earned monies to go for a day to a stadium or a couple hours,
06:45and we want to make sure that they want to come back.
06:48And that's the kind of things we're doing is investing in that infrastructure
06:51and also being part of the community.
06:54This sports has a great community passion, whether it's country or club.
06:59We want to make sure people are energized.
07:02And so those are the things you invest in, whether it's football or the original football.
07:08The same truth holds.
07:09All right. I've got to put you on the spot, Mark, before we let you go.
07:12Spain, Argentina, this Sunday, who you got?
07:17Well, I'm not going to go there in terms of predictions.
07:21I will tell you, you have great offensive power, great defensive on the other side.
07:28So I can make some analogies to the NFL games, but it's going to be a great, great match for
07:33the fans.
07:34And billions will be watching, and I'm very excited for the weekend.
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