00:00This has been a very interesting tournament coming.
00:03In 2019, it started out, listen to this,
00:06eight-team single elimination invitational hosted in the U.S.,
00:11won by Cruz Azul, as mentioned, defeating Tigres.
00:14Then in 2020, because of the pandemic was canceled,
00:17it was a tournament that was supposed to be every year.
00:20But after that, they pushed it to 2021,
00:22and they realized that it was easier to make it every two years.
00:25In 2021, Club León defeated the Seattle Sounders 3-2.
00:30And then in 2022, they decided to do a showcase, just for enlist.
00:33Just for funsies.
00:34Just for funsies.
00:35And then we move to the overhaul, to the new phase
00:38and the new era of League's Cup 2023 to the present,
00:41expanding the competition to a massive World Cup-style tournament
00:45featuring all 47 clubs from both MLS and League MX,
00:49officially sanctioned by CONCACAF.
00:51And then we move on to the 2024-2025 Evolution.
00:56Columbus Crew won that edition.
00:58And we see that this tournament, little by little,
01:00is getting better and better and better.
01:02It's more competitive.
01:04It's more fair.
01:05Now, like we mentioned, there's games in Mexico.
01:07There's games in the United States.
01:08But let's talk about the prices.
01:10Yeah.
01:11Because the prices are crazy.
01:13The winner is taking home $2 million in cash.
01:17The loneliness.
01:18That is right.
01:18Not only are they taking that, but the match bonus is $100,000 per appearance.
01:25The win bonus is $50,000 per match won.
01:29So those are some hefty prices.
01:32Some good money for the team that win this competition.
01:35But I think that the best and most important prize that this competition gives out
01:39is the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
01:41La CONCACAF Champions, my friend.
01:43The top three finisher in a spot in the Continental Tournament.
01:47And the winner advances directly to the round of 16.
01:51Now, you will wonder why it's so important to qualify to the CONCACAF Champions.
01:55Because if you win CONCACAF Champions, you qualify to the Club World Cup
01:59that just happened two summers ago.
02:01One summer ago.
02:02Yeah.
02:02And it was a success.
02:03And this is one of the tournaments that most people are excited to.
02:06Definitely.
02:06Because this new version was great.
02:09We were able to see great football, just like the World Cup.
02:12And now, we are battling it out to see this new cycle.
02:16Absolutely.
02:16This is going to be such massive competition, right?
02:19It is.
02:19I think that fact that we are playing more games in Mexico is going to make all the difference.
02:23We know those fan bases are intense.
02:25I think it's going to be a challenge for MLS teams.
02:28And I think it's going to make it more fair, ultimately.
02:31And I think we might even have a Liga MX winner this time around.
02:35That would be great.
02:36That would be great.
02:37There's been Liga MX winners in the past.
02:39But we've had three MLS.
02:41Three MLS.
02:42Now, one of the biggest points of this competition has been the presence of top players like Messi.
02:50Last, you know, we heard that Messi.
02:52His debut.
02:53His debut was in this competition.
02:54Like you mentioned earlier, or last week, with Cruz Azul.
02:58And they're going to play again.
03:00Again, they've only faced each other two times.
03:02In September, they're going to play.
03:03Now, the importance of this tournament.
03:07That's why we created this special this week.
03:09Because it is so important to recognize that this cross-pollination of Mexican football and MLS is happening.
03:17It's real.
03:18And it's not going anywhere.
03:19Like we've mentioned before, the business objectives are lining up.
03:23The business model is lining up.
03:25Is this good for the region?
03:28Are we going to see more competition?
03:29Is this CONCACAF growing?
03:31Or what's going to happen is that we're going to see the United States and Mexico continue to, you know,
03:36break away from the rest of Central America and the rest of the conference.
03:39Because I don't see that they're inviting other teams from Central America and CONCACAF to be part of this competition.
03:46More like a Copa Libertadores style of tournament that we, you know, we have CONCACAF champions.
03:51But I think that we could see League's Cup grow into type of a Libertadores type of tournament.
03:56I mean, I would love to see that.
03:57That even made me think about, you know, like the Champions League, right?
04:00I would love if we could see all the Americas facing each other in a top-notch clubs competition.
04:06I think that would be incredible.
04:07And I think at the end of the day, League's Cup is definitely good.
04:10It's challenging both of these leagues.
04:13It's pushing them, making them better.
04:15And, you know, hopefully over time, as it grows, as it expands, we'll be able to see, you know,
04:20more expansive and more clubs and more leagues coming into the tournament.
04:24And then, you know, we'll be able to see them in the tournament.
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