That meeting took place at Hanauer’s house in Cabo San Lucas, just before the pandemic shut things down. and Liga MX convening together, he said, was in February 2020. The first time anybody can remember multiple owners from M.L.S. Hanauer, the Sounders owner, was happy to entertain the question, but he also urged caution. Wouldn’t a single league made up of the best clubs across North America improve the level of play? Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, stoked such speculation earlier this year when he said such a league could be “ the best league in the world.” After all, they are hosting the World Cup together with Canada - which already has teams in M.L.S. But that might also mean he can get a look at where the sport should be - or is - going faster than his tradition-bound peers in South America and Europe. “I have always been tasked with having to answer questions about why do the Americans want to do things differently in the sport of soccer,” Garber said. clubs can consistently win those matchups, its credibility and global profile can only grow. Playing more games, and more consistently, against Mexican opposition may further close the gap between the leagues. team has not lifted the Champions League trophy since 2000. In continental competitions, Mexican clubs have traditionally overpowered teams from the U.S., and while that disparity has narrowed in recent years, an M.L.S. But the most immediate benefit may be a competitive one. make inroads with those fans too, as well as with soccer fans in Mexico. Garber’s bet is that aligning with Liga MX will help M.L.S. per capita 700 percent above ours, and they consume televised games two times compared to the Mexican consumer,” Arriola said. “We are a net exporter of football as a country because we have 60 million consumers in the U.S., and those 60 million people have a G.D.P. Arriola acknowledged that, like Mexico’s soccer federation, the Mexican clubs he represents see valuable revenue streams waiting on the northern side of the border. Mexico’s national team, through its own partnership with the M.L.S.-affiliated Soccer United Marketing, already plays more games in the United States than it does in Mexico, and Liga MX matches regularly draw higher television ratings than M.L.S. will do the same for his league.įor Liga MX, an increased presence in the United States means spurring revenue growth by tapping into a larger fan base. And also another thing happened that year, which was the execution of NAFTA,” he said, referring to the free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada.įor Arriola, whose career was mostly spent in a series of Mexican government positions, NAFTA best represents what soccer is now trying to replicate: It jump-started economic growth in Mexico, and he contends collaborations with M.L.S. “If you remember what happened in 1994, we had a soccer championship here,” said Mikel Arriola, the new president of Liga MX. and Mexico that extends well beyond soccer. The collaboration between Liga MX and M.L.S., then, represents how soccer economics are being upended globally, as well as a close relationship between the U.S. While teams from different countries often square off in various continental competitions, rarely do the leagues themselves interact unless there is a problem that needs fixing. all-stars prevailed in a penalty shootout, 3-2, after the team played a 1-1 tie - that the game happened at all was perhaps the best demonstration yet of where the two leagues, and therefore their two countries, believe their futures lie: together.Īlejandro Irarragorri, who controls the Liga MX clubs Santos Laguna and Atlas, this week described the leagues as having arrived at an inflection point at which they could continue to go their separate ways, or choose to work together.Ĭollaboration between leagues in different countries is rare in world soccer. Whether in a series of new cross-border club competitions or in two important national team tournaments, the Nations League and Gold Cup, U.S.-Mexico matchups - in a variety of jersey colors - are now more frequent than ever.īut whatever Wednesday’s exhibition lacked in stakes - the M.L.S. All-Star Game on Wednesday night in Los Angeles, it was not - for a handful of them - the first time they had played an important match north of the border this summer. When some of the best players from Mexico’s Liga MX lined up against some of the biggest stars from Major League Soccer in the M.L.S. One could forgive the top soccer players in Mexico and the United States if they feel as if they have seen quite a lot of each other recently.
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