00:00Will this World Cup be the legitimate once-and-for-all spark
00:07that results in America falling in love with soccer?
00:12301-230-0980.
00:16You can also weigh in on yesterday's game.
00:19By the way, on the big macro question about what this will do,
00:25to be fair, I don't even know how to define that quantitatively.
00:30Is it attendance? Is it ratings? Is it merchandise?
00:33What is it? I don't know.
00:36Because it's all so different.
00:38We're not talking about just the MLS.
00:41We're talking about all of these other much better products, soccer products.
00:47La Liga, Premier League, Bundesliga, etc.
00:51But I think as sports fans, I think we'll know if it happens.
00:57You know, I think we'll know it if it actually starts to become important,
01:04outsized importance in this country like the other sports are.
01:08Like if the conversation, you know, among sports fans in any environment,
01:13it could be in this environment, it could be, you know, bloggers, sports websites, whatever.
01:18If it becomes more soccer, as much soccer as it is Major League Baseball or the NBA,
01:25like let's be honest, it's never going to, it's never going to top football in this country,
01:31American football, the NFL or college.
01:34These are the two passions for American sports fans that are so far ahead of everything else
01:41in terms of the numbers that they, you, I mean, we'd be talking about 50 to 100 years from now
01:47for that kind of a change.
01:49But, you know, if we're talking about baseball or basketball or hockey or anything else,
01:55like, and here's the thing, like I say, we'll know it if it's happening.
02:03That means that, you know, I come in here one day, you know, taking calls on the Real Madrid-Barcelona
02:10game
02:10from the La Liga match the day before because it was a significant match in the standings,
02:16you know, or an MLS game between Miami and, you know, D.C. United or whatever.
02:23My personal opinion is I don't see it becoming anything close to that.
02:30I could see more people being interested in international soccer events moving forward,
02:37the Euros, the qualifying concaf stuff with the U.S. men's soccer team.
02:43I could see those big events getting more attention, you know, World Cup, of course,
02:49but some of the others getting more and more attention.
02:53But I don't see, you know, the environment that I'm in that in November or even March
03:02or whenever these seasons are played, see, I don't even know, coming in here
03:06and doing an hour on Real Madrid against, you know, whatever.
03:11I don't even know the other teams in La Liga.
03:14Those two teams are in La Liga, right?
03:17Yes, they are.
03:18Yeah.
03:19I mean, I was actually very curious.
03:22Is Real Madrid now the number one brand in soccer or is it somebody else?
03:29I mean, do you know that Madrid or Barca are kind of the two, at least the big ones in
03:36La Liga.
03:37But if you want to go European Premier League, that would also like Man City, Man U, Chelsea's big.
03:45Like Liverpool.
03:46Yeah, Liverpool.
03:46You could really make the case for a lot of them.
03:49Yeah, I do think that there is, I do think there's a level, that's the kind of, I'd actually like,
04:00yesterday's experience was certainly intriguing enough that I think the next soccer game,
04:07if I ever go to another one, would be one of those big league games, you know,
04:12where you've got the major supporters of each of the two teams, Chelsea-Liverpool, Chelsea-Man U,
04:18Man City versus whatever.
04:20Like one of those things would be cool to go to.
04:24Anyway, Max, what is, my overall takeaway is I enjoy the World Cup.
04:30I do.
04:30I've enjoyed the Euros to a certain degree.
04:34So I enjoyed that.
04:36I enjoyed my experience yesterday.
04:38The game was not for me necessarily with that little of scoring and action.
04:44And I don't see it becoming a major part of mainstream American sports off of this experience.
04:53I think we'll tune back in four years from now again, and we'll be into it.
04:57Maybe not as into it because it won't be here.
05:01But I think that that's where the interest lies in these major international events.
05:06And I think it stays there primarily, maybe with an increase, an incremental jump in some of the international competitions.
05:13But I don't see the MLS being a massive beneficiary off of this personally.
05:19I don't.
05:20No.
05:20Max, what do you think?
05:21I don't see the MLS being a big benefactor of this either.
05:26But what I will say is the future of soccer, I think, is very bright in this area, in this
05:32country.
05:33Because a lot of parents, and I noticed this as I was growing up playing football, a lot of parents
05:39started kind of pivoting their kids to other sports.
05:42And soccer was a big one of them.
05:43Like my little cousin, like I've long said he'd be a really, really good football player, but he plays soccer.
05:49He plays it well.
05:49He plays travel.
05:50It does all that stuff.
05:52So I think you're going to get a lot more kids doing that.
05:55So that, I think, is going to help the development.
05:57So maybe 15, 10 years down the road, soccer in this country is going to look a lot different.
06:03Atletico Madrid, Barcelona Athletic Club.
06:07These are some of the other teams.
06:09Real Madrid, Valencia.
06:12Yeah.
06:13Like I, to really be into it.
06:16Like if somebody, I have somebody in my life, his name shall remain nameless, who just for years has been
06:24Mr. Soccer.
06:25But I have this sense that there's a bit of a performative part of it.
06:29Because if I asked him to name all of the teams in La Liga or the Premier League, I got
06:362,000 bucks that says he couldn't do it.
06:40And if you're an NFL fan, you can name not only all the teams, but the divisions they're in.
06:45And the rivalries they have and their best players.
06:49All right.
06:51Phone lines open.
06:52301-230-0980.
06:56Let's start with Ayan.
06:58Because Ayan's a big soccer guy.
07:00And we've had some reasonable soccer conversations with Ayan over the last month plus.
07:07Go ahead, Ayan.
07:09Yeah, so in terms of the World Cup game, I thought it was really tough to watch.
07:14I thought that was a really boring final.
07:16If you go back four years ago, Argentina, France was one of the best finals we've ever had.
07:22I think it was 4-3, and then they tied it and won the penalty kicks.
07:26And I thought that was an outstanding final.
07:29Spain is a really tough watch.
07:31I love their players and their game, but their marriage to possession and triangles, it's really tough.
07:40I don't even have a good analogy, but it's tough to watch sometimes.
07:45And they are the best team, and they've proven it in multiple competitions through multiple iterations.
07:51And as a country, Spain is just phenomenal in their development of athletes, whether it's tennis, soccer, basketball, et cetera.
07:59So I thought the final was boring.
08:02In terms of your next question, I don't ever see anything eclipsing football.
08:09But, Kevin, you know this.
08:11If you take calls on hockey or baseball, you're probably going to get less interaction than you would if you
08:18did the backup tight end conversation on minicamp.
08:21And I think that's okay.
08:23Hey, I reject this notion that we always have to do a referendum on soccer.
08:29There are people who are tennis fans.
08:31There are people who are tennis fans who only watch the majors.
08:34There's golf fans.
08:35And then there are golf fans who only watch the majors.
08:38It's okay to just like the Champions League final, the World Cup, and the Euro Cup.
08:44That's okay.
08:45I really dislike how soccer fans are performative and try to tell people, you have to love this.
08:52Focus on yourself.
08:54I like sports that you don't like, Kevin, and vice versa.
08:58You love college regular season basketball.
09:00So do I.
09:01But 99% of this country only watches college basketball for two weeks a year.
09:07And that's it.
09:08And I think that's okay.
09:09I just wish every four years we didn't have to do a referendum on soccer.
09:13That's fine.
09:14But I think the reason that it happens is because for 50 years, the world's been telling us this is
09:24the greatest game.
09:26And inside this country, we've been told this is going to be the year.
09:33This is going to be the league.
09:34This is going to be the event.
09:36And so that's why we have this conversation.
09:38The other sports that you're talking about, we've never had that kind of big picture conversation because this is the
09:46only sport that exists that is so massively popular everywhere else in the world except for here.
09:53Yeah, no, I get that.
09:55And I wish the world didn't do it.
09:58I wish everybody didn't do that.
10:00But to go back to one thing you said, I think in 10 years, 15 years, as time goes on,
10:06I think soccer will be at the same level of baseball and hockey.
10:12I don't see it getting anywhere near football.
10:15Then there's a big drop down to basketball.
10:18And then I think soccer, hockey, baseball will be on the same level.
10:22Yeah, the basketball thing, too, because that is arguably, I think, maybe cricket, somebody would say, but it's the second
10:28most popular world sport.
10:29And the NBA in particular.
10:31Yeah.
10:32Yeah, I have one question for you, and that is, would France, Argentina, would that have been a much more
10:41fun game to watch, much more wide open, more scoring?
10:45Like, how did France get so bottled up by Spain?
10:49I thought that they were so beyond everybody else from an offensive skills standpoint.
10:55Yeah, I don't gamble on sports, but I would have bet my house that France would have beaten Spain.
11:01And it shows you how incredible Spain's defense is.
11:05I think France, anybody, would have been a good final.
11:09Argentina, I think, and you alluded to this, is kind of late comeback their games all through the four knockout
11:17stages.
11:18I would have loved to have seen France, England in a non-third place game.
11:23I think it obviously wouldn't have been six to four, but I think that would have been more wide open.
11:27I think France is the most enjoyable team for the casual sports fan, whether they're American or foreign.
11:36I felt that way watching them during the thing.
11:38Yeah, they have the three best offensive players in the world, three of them.
11:43And so they were fun.
11:44Norway was fun.
11:45But Spain, I mean, Spain's probably going to be a front runner for the next Euro Cup.
11:50And their brand of soccer is very slow and methodical.
11:55And yet they have this incredibly young, dynamic offensive star.
12:00But even he is throttled a little bit when he's playing there.
12:05If you watch him play for his club, they play a different style at Barcelona.
12:09Barcelona.
12:10Yeah.
12:11Okay.
12:12All right.
12:12I got to run.
12:13Thanks for that.
12:15Good insight from I am during the World Cup.
12:18All right.
12:19Skip, Billy, Dominic, Johnny, Anthony, Pauly.
12:21Everybody stay there.
12:22Question.
12:24What's this going to do for soccer?
12:26This World Cup experience that I think most of us attempted to, you know, watch.
12:34And I think many of us, I put myself into this group.
12:36I enjoyed it.
12:38I enjoyed the last five, six weeks.
12:40I think the timing of it's perfect, too.
12:42But I don't see this becoming something where we look back and say the 2026 World Cup in North America
12:50brought the United States to where the rest of the world is on soccer.
12:56I don't see that happening.
