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Why is the Club World Cup happening?
938 Plays6 hours ago
One question that continues to haunt the Club World Cup is “why does this exist?” One of the only people to really attempt to answer that question is Yahoo! Sports reporter Henry Bushnell. Jeremiah has him on the show to discuss that very issue as well as many other issues circling the next two summer’s tournaments.
Follow Henry Bushnell on BlueSky and find his written work at Yahoo! Sports.
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Will Bruin's New Role with Sounder at Heart
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go. Come on. Hey, O'Shaughnessy.
00:00:14
Speaker
Let's go. What save by Frye.
Sounders Celebrate MLS Cup Victory
00:00:18
Speaker
The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winning. Here comes Ruiz Dias through the middle to crowd it for Seattle.
00:00:29
Speaker
And now they truly can start the celebrations. It's the Sounders MLS Cup. Nico Lodero leaves absolutely no doubt. The Sounders rule the region.
00:00:43
Speaker
Seattle, Sounders, it's got built.
00:00:52
Speaker
This feels fucking awesome. This is a tiny dog. Nice work on your little yacht yat thing. And Portland can't say shit. know, what was the thought process i did in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't?
00:01:06
Speaker
Ever since Southert Hart wrote a commentary that we didn't take over coming seriously. Go, not Seattle!
Sponsorship: Full Pull Wines and Nos Arietes
00:01:18
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This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
00:01:43
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adientes on the Sounder at Heart podcast network.
Club World Cup Preparations with Henry Bushnell
00:01:48
Speaker
We are getting ready for the Club World Cup. It is coming up on Sunday. we're It's Thursday right now, so we still have a few days away.
00:01:57
Speaker
But to help me sort of give some of the big picture stuff that's been going on here is one of, honestly, i say this from the bottom of my heart, one of my favorite national soccer reporters out there. He does great work.
00:02:08
Speaker
Henry Bushnell from Yahoo Sports. Welcome to the show. I've been looking for an excuse to get you on here, and I finally found one this week. So I'm really excited about this. I'm glad you did. I'm um' a big fan of yeah of your coverage of the Sounders, Jeremiah. So I appreciate you having me on.
00:02:23
Speaker
Yeah, no, this is a I'm fascinated almost as much about this tournament for like the storylines that go beyond the games, because I do think these might be compelling games. I don't think it's going to be quite the spectacle that everyone hoped it would be.
00:02:39
Speaker
But there is no shortage of stuff going on. around these games. And, you know, I thought you had a ah really good, like the reason I reached out to you is I read a story that I thought did a really good job of framing this tournament. And because I think it is a question that a lot of people are asking, which is essentially, why is this club world cup even happening?
00:03:00
Speaker
Uh, and, and your story does a good job, I think of laying out some of the reasons, but rather than me recapping it, why don't you sort of tell us like the, the TLDR on why you think, why is this tournament even happening? Why, why, are why did they decide to expand, a 17 tournament that no one really thought about into one that is, you know, essentially a club version of the world cup as the name implies.
Why Did FIFA Expand the Club World Cup?
00:03:26
Speaker
Yeah. So the, it's complicated. I'll try to give the, the, the, the two on don't read. Uh, the look, ah first of all, the, the prior club, world cup, I don't even know what to call it. Now. Uh, the, the 17 version.
00:03:39
Speaker
Yeah. wasn't Very appealing to people. Um, and it and it clearly wasn't that successful. And there would be maybe one, know, the final would, the final would be the one relevant game that, that kind of globally people cared about. And the European team almost always slash always wanted.
00:03:54
Speaker
Um, The point of this expanded Club World Cup is to... Basically, but it's to make the club game more global.
00:04:06
Speaker
And then we have to unpack what exactly that that means. Does that mean that we want to give ah chance to clubs from the Americas and Asia and Africa, you know a chance for them to compete with the the European teams and a bigger stage to compete on?
00:04:27
Speaker
That is certainly part of it, or you could argue that as part of it. The other part of it is that
00:04:34
Speaker
we want FIFA wants more money going to the global game. And to make, to to get more money to the global game, FIFA has to make more money. And the way to make more money is to, to organize more games. And currently most slash all of the big club games are organized by European entities.
00:04:54
Speaker
And the, the essentially what, what this is going to do, the vision for this, for the, for this expanded club world cup, is to not necessarily replace the Champions League, but just put into the Champions League's monopoly on those big club games and take some of that money or get some of the the same type of money that is going to UEFA via the Champions League, back to the clubs and back to European soccer and get some of that money to
00:05:27
Speaker
global soccer entities, whether it's clubs, whether it's federations via the the payments that FIFA makes to them annually, um et cetera. Yeah, I think you actually did a pretty good job of summing up what like a 1500 word story into about a minute. So congratulations on that. I think you did a good job there of of managing a pretty complicated story. And as you said, i think you you did a good job of illustrating in your story is that it is it is about money, but what that money is supposed to represent can kind of be viewed differently. On one hand,
00:06:02
Speaker
It does it undeniably is this is a play to enrich FIFA. But what FIFA does with that money is very
Revenue Goals for FIFA's Club World Cup
00:06:08
Speaker
important. and And FIFA does do a lot of stuff to put money back into the world game. And a lot of the money goes to places that we don't necessarily think of.
00:06:16
Speaker
Even in this tournament, I believe they're giving a million dollars to each local ah community to help sort of like grassroots soccer. And yet there is also this undeniable element of just making a big spectacle for the purposes of making a big spectacle. And that's sort of what I think most people have focused on. And I think rightly so.
00:06:39
Speaker
Like this tournament, they're they're offering a billion dollar prize pool. The winner is going to likely walk away with something like $125 million, dollars assuming it's a European team. And that puts it on par with the European Champions League in terms of how much money is out there.
00:06:55
Speaker
And yet that alone does not seem like it's built the buzz that, that is going on here. But reading your story, I also felt that FIFA looks at this, not as a not necessarily like 2025 was not a make or break year for this tournament in their mind. This is part of a much longer play. Is that fair to say?
00:07:15
Speaker
It's a startup and startups don't make money right away. and Right. Like it's, it's, it's going to take some time and as, as much as FIFA. So one of the things that bugs people is that FIFA is, won't come out and just like talk openly about that. And they're talking already ah as this is like new era of global football. This is the biggest thing ever. is's going to make $3 billion dollars of profit. Yeah. Yeah. Um, where, where's clearly we all sense that that's not the case and there's not that much interest in tickets right away. And,
00:07:44
Speaker
Broadcasters were very clearly lukewarm at best and and sponsors as well. um So that's kind of the just the weird aspect of this tournament. But yes, like they don't necessarily... They're probably not going to make...
00:08:00
Speaker
much money or any money at all on this first tournament. think the hope is that it is good enough that it sets the groundwork for 2029 and 2033. twenty thirty three There's also rumors that it could even, they could even try to make it a biennial tournament rather than once every four years, once every two, because, and one of the reasons for that is so one of the, one of the reasons they're not going to make money is because they've had to pay all these clubs, a lot of prize money to get them to participate at all. Right.
00:08:30
Speaker
But now all the clubs see this prize money. And so like you know Liverpool sees Manchester City getting potentially $80 million dollars or whatever. And all these clubs actually do, I think, want to be ah part of it now. It would be because of the money on offer. So that's both why it's not going to be a huge moneymaker for FIFA right away.
00:08:53
Speaker
and also why it has, you know, potential for the future because these clubs do want to be involved. And I think, you know, we'll see how the players take it, but you know, at, at board level, like I think the clubs do care about this.
00:09:07
Speaker
Oh yeah. I mean, no you would think so. I mean, this is, this is, I guess the, this is a lot of money for every single team that's playing it. Now, is it, is it as big of ah of a deal for some of the bigger clubs? I don't know, maybe not, but,
00:09:23
Speaker
the fact that even that every European team or not every year, every every big European team is getting $40 million dollars just to show up is a huge chunk of money. There's no organization. There's no sporting organization in the world where $40 million dollars is an irrelevant amount of money.
00:09:40
Speaker
We're seeing this in MLS where, you know, each team is guaranteed $9.55 million. dollars And that represents anywhere from, you know, uh, that's like a 20, that's like 20% of their annual revenue for a lot of these teams or 10 to 20% of their annual revenue.
Financial Benefits for MLS Teams in Club World Cup
00:09:58
Speaker
Like that's a huge, there's no other single source of income that will be bigger. I would think then on a per game basis than the three games that the Sounders will play in this thing.
00:10:08
Speaker
And I would think from a, Oregon, i would like you said, like a board level, it's undeniably attractive to want to be a part of this. And I and i suppose there could be an attraction to make it more, even more frequent than it is now.
00:10:21
Speaker
And yet, again, we i can't, we can't really get around the fact that at every step of the way, The interest in this from the sporting public has been at best lukewarm. You know, when they first announced this in 2023, at least, and correct me up I'm getting some, if I'm being unfair with my timeline, but 2023 is when they first announced this is happening. It's going to be in the United States.
00:10:45
Speaker
We're all, we're all in on this thing. They, and I think they even announced all the, that was, ah they they announced all the the venues at that point. And from jump, the biggest story was how no one wanted to pay to broadcast this thing.
00:11:00
Speaker
Like they were, I think they were seeking a billion dollar, uh, media deal basically with that seemingly with the idea that that was going to pay for the prize pool. And then, um and you know, Apple was supposedly going to want it. Apple didn't want it. And then they just presumably went down the list and and nobody wanted it until they end up with the zone, which is a, I think only the most soccer sickos of soccer sickos, even know what the zone is in the United States.
00:11:29
Speaker
And i mean, to their credit, they're going putting it on for free. I'd like to think that it will work just fine, but it's going to have very little TV presence here. it's like it I guess there's going to be what, 20 games or so on TNT, but otherwise, and then there's going to be a bunch of games in Spanish as well on the universe and channels, but,
00:11:49
Speaker
it And then it went from there to like, oh, the players might not even want to participate in this thing because of the... And it just felt like for the first 18 months after the announcement, it was almost all negative, like almost all the earned media was negative.
00:12:01
Speaker
Yeah, and it's interesting because we have to clarify that this is This is a very like Western Eurocentric view, right? And for a lot of the non-European, non-North American ah clubs, fans, et cetera, that are involved in this, but it's it's certainly not beloved everywhere, but but it's there's a bit more of a warm reception towards this. I think you're right, yeah.
00:12:28
Speaker
but But yes, and it's interesting to think about how much... was all that resistance and lukewarmness because people actually don't want this and actually aren't interested in and how much of it was driven by sort of the economic factors at play at a high level where the Premier League is resisting this and La Liga and UEFA was resisting this.
00:12:53
Speaker
And they have such a grip on the media in a way in their respective countries and end on fans that like if ah if a fan sees the Premier League you know not wanting this, then are they just going to automatically assume that, oh, this is a BS tournament that shouldn't exist at all?
00:13:09
Speaker
So I don't know how much of that is a part of it. That's an interesting perspective. Yeah. Yeah. So it's, it's been very, yeah, it's been, i think the, where I come out on it and where I think a lot of kind of independent rational people come out on it is it is a as a concept it is good.
00:13:30
Speaker
Like, yes, you should have, like, it is great that the Sounders and um other MLS teams and teams from Mexico and Argentina, et cetera, get Japan and yeah Korea. And so yes, Saudi Arabia and ah Egypt.
00:13:47
Speaker
And not just to play against the European teams, like to play against each other. Like I'm, Right. We're looking forward to the Sounders opener. Like that that's, it' it'll be fascinating to see how all these teams compare.
00:13:58
Speaker
It's just the way that it's, that FIFA has gone about launching it. And, you know, the the initial ticket prices and all this, um I think just has rubbed people the wrong way and contributed to that, you know it contributed to and confirmed that initial like react anti-Club World Cup reaction that that people had to it.
00:14:18
Speaker
So you you bring up the ticket prices, and i don't know how much insight you have into this, but I know when I first heard of this thing, I sort of assumed, okay, this is a you know, going back to the the startup kind of idea that this is a proof of concept that FIFA is going to want to come out of this.
Challenges with Club World Cup Ticket Sales
00:14:38
Speaker
And whether or not they make money is not really what's important. The important thing is laying a groundwork and showing people what an amazing tournament they can put, what um an amazing thing this can be.
00:14:49
Speaker
pack the stadiums. That's why you put it in the United States where you already have all the infrastructure you need. You're going to have built-in fan bases for almost everybody. It's theoretically like an easy country to get into, uh, uh, or there's flight everywhere flies into the United States. So you can, you know, you have all these things working for it in its favor, seemingly.
00:15:09
Speaker
And then the prices come out and it's like, Oh no, they're pricing these like the super bowl. Uh, these, you know, you couldn't get into, you know, most of the Sounders games for less than a hundred bucks. And then on top of that, they were, they had this really wild, uh, uh, structure where they sold the worst tickets first.
00:15:28
Speaker
And so you could only buy tickets in the, yeah the worst sections of the stadium instead of letting people choose wherever they wanted to sit. Uh, have you done, have you heard much from anyone about the, the, the way this was priced and sort of the,
00:15:44
Speaker
sort of the, the the i i don't know, what right the way to but the the the momentum, the sort of negative momentum that sort of fed into? Yeah, I mean, it was just, frankly, it was stupid.
00:15:56
Speaker
Like, they they they they owe they they way overestimated how much interest there would be. And as you said, like, there's really no way to recover it. You know obviously they have eventually lowered prices and i mean, they're literally giving tickets away in Seattle.
00:16:13
Speaker
Yes. They're good. Yeah. They're giving all sorts of, yes, they're giving it. there' They're offering all sorts of deals. but And there's, so there's no way to recover from that early, like we way overpriced it um Obviously the, the reason they did that was because they had to make a lot of money on this tournament to to meet the prize money that these European clubs are making.
00:16:39
Speaker
um and Obviously, the the big reason they are going to be able to give that prize money is this DAZN deal ah that is right seem seemingly largely funded by by Saudi Arabia.
00:16:53
Speaker
um Although what's funny is yeah it's like that's all – just to digress on that. What's funny is like if you look that up, like the the AI answer that you get from ah from Google is it's not a third party that put up the money.
00:17:06
Speaker
Right, right. Because that's what they were saying at the time. But but it's, you know, that's clearly part of it. But anyway, you know, they were, they they had to make they had to make a lot they had to make but So they they came in with huge expectations for how much money they could they could make on this. Yes.
00:17:23
Speaker
They lowered those expectations, but they still have to meet those lowered expectations to pay the clubs and the various other operational things that they they have to do.
00:17:34
Speaker
ah So that's why they, I think, initially... That that and just um overconfidence was why why thee the high ticket prices initially. And as you said, like, yes, it's not just that they priced them so high. It's the ones that they sold so that they were, they were stuck with, you know, people are getting moved from the upper decks to other sections. And I, my understanding is that at at least multiple stadiums, ah you know, up upper decks are going to be closed for some games. um Yeah. It's just, just a,
00:18:04
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's you know they're certainly not the first soccer organization in the United States to overpriced tickets. and And you would think that a good strategy would have been just to sell them at lower prices, have full stadiums.
00:18:19
Speaker
But I think, you know, there there was resistance to the idea of, look, startups can, most startups are willing to lose money initially. um There was big resistance to FIFA, like dipping into its reserves to fund this tournament for for understandable reasons, I think.
00:18:36
Speaker
um so So they had to, they had to make a certain amount of money on it. And I think that's why you, see all this. That's why you see all these conversations about money related to the tournament. Yeah. ah I guess the, what this all leads to is, you know we're almost exactly one year out from the start of the 2026 men's world cup.
Concerns for 2026 FIFA World Cup Buzz
00:18:58
Speaker
And we you know, we saw a lot of coverage of this yesterday and you had some more great coverage, frankly, of sort of some of the the things that are going on around this, but it,
00:19:09
Speaker
I think there's this growing sense that FIFA and maybe more than FIFA, the world soccer organization, i the i mean, sorry, the, the world of international soccer seems to view the United States sort of as an ATM for their, you know for their friendlies, for their tournaments.
00:19:28
Speaker
You know, we see La Liga talking about wanting to have competitive games here. You can kind of go down the list. There's many examples of how, uh, the United States is sort of just seen as this cash register for, ah for all these, these teams.
00:19:42
Speaker
And I'm sure on some level, FIFA was expecting that too. You know, the, the 1994 world cup was, so you know, famously the most profitable world cup in history at the time. And, and they played to these huge crowds. And I think it might still actually be the but highest average attendance, if not the highest total attendance at a world cup.
00:20:02
Speaker
And, And I think they i think there sort of this assumption that the this club World Cup would be kind of like a nineteen a ah club version of the 94 tournament, which it obviously isn't.
00:20:15
Speaker
But here, I do wonder what impact do you think this has on 2026? twenty twenty six Like, are these seen as completely independent tournaments? ah tournaments that have that there's nothing to be taken away from or is this opening some eyes you think in Switzerland about okay maybe maybe we have to rethink our our approach going into the World Cup because if this happens like it would be an absolute nightmare for empty stadiums to be an American World Cup right yeah I don't think it's leading any to any big rethinks I think personally just the sense that I get
00:20:53
Speaker
is that I do think some people involved have been a bit surprised by... the relative lack of buzz about the 2026 world cup at this stage.
00:21:05
Speaker
And I, yeah there's a chance that it's not the huge party, everybody interested in it. um You know, taking, a you know, daily news cycle, taking over everything.
00:21:20
Speaker
it's not that that as big as as, as a lot of people involved thought or assumed it would be. But it's still big, like most of the stadiums are going to be. i I can't imagine that. I don't think every stadium, every single seat will be sold.
00:21:35
Speaker
um But I think the vast majority... should be will be uh and yeah they're gonna the prices are gonna be high like there's no right i don't i don't know i can't tell you exactly how high um but i mean we're seeing like twenty thousand dollar ticket packages in all kinds of like we're seeing i mean the stuff that's been out now i mean they're doing all these things with nfts which i didn't even realize were still a thing
00:22:05
Speaker
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00:23:02
Speaker
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00:23:55
Speaker
Sounder at Heart's Club World Cup coverage is being sponsored by realtor Marnie O'Shann. Yes, that's my sister. With 20 plus years in marketing, business and negotiation and an MBA from UW, Marnie O'Shann helps home buyers and investors make smart, informed real estate decisions.
00:24:10
Speaker
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00:24:28
Speaker
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00:24:50
Speaker
I mean, it's and like they they clearly there's going to be a lot of money here, but I guess... And then i I suppose the pricing is not what I'm wondering about, but you pointed out that, you know, we're a year away. And, you know, I got an email from someone at FIFA and they're like, I'm sure you're aware of this and I'm sure you're covering it about the World Cup being a year away. And I'm like, man, I'll be honest with you. it wasn't even on my radar, let alone like my, let alone like something I'm planning on doing something big for.
00:25:14
Speaker
um Like, and and it is funny because there's just not, you know, like, we have with the world cup coming here in Seattle in a year. And the local media is covering this in a way that they would cover virtually any sporting event, not like the biggest sporting event in the world is coming here. And I feel like that's probably pretty, and and this is a pretty soccer savvy, you know, community.
00:25:39
Speaker
and I, and I don't get the sense that, that the, but like, and I, it doesn't help that the U S national team is in a total shit show right now. Yeah, yeah. ah well I think it's i think that that's probably part of it. the the the The broader thing, I think, is that it's just about the U.S. market and the U.S. s as a country.
00:25:57
Speaker
There's just so much going on here, both in a... bad sense like in a political just news like know politics the daily news cycle and also in a just there's so many entertainment options there's so many things for people to do ways in which they can can spend their day just like yeah but we we live in the most privileged country in the world in that sense um that people don't people don't come around to getting excited about things like that until closer to the event.
00:26:34
Speaker
And I think that's what FIFA and a lot of the people involved in the organization of it are probably correctly banking on that. Yes, there may not be the but buzz that everybody expected right now, but come March of 2026, we'll start to feel that.
00:26:51
Speaker
But I also do think that like, it's not going to totally, consume people the way it would in other countries. I think you'll see a lot of people get interested in it, but maybe ah for a lot of people, it will be in more so of a ah casual sense.
00:27:09
Speaker
And unfortunately, because of the ticket prices, I think that could be a decent portion of the demographic at games too. It's just the but people who can afford to pay ah will pay a lot um after they have you know not really cared about the World Cup until a month before it.
00:27:27
Speaker
and And we'll see we we'll see how that how that impacts the atmosphere is it gains, but know, I mean, there there are, there are a lot of variables here, um, about just what, what the vibe will be like.
00:27:37
Speaker
So yeah, we'll see. It is funny. ah Three years ago I was on, i was like on a Vox explainer talking about, ah the world cup. And when they asked me like, what's one thing that you think is maybe not being covered as thoroughly as it should be. And I think that at the time, and the thing I said is I don't think people are really appreciating how big of a deal the 2026 world cup is going to be. And at the time I felt like, man, I don't even know if I believe how big of a deal it's going to be.
00:28:07
Speaker
And I'm sitting here now, you're going, man, I think I was maybe overselling that. Yeah. yeah because it it is It's interesting how this is going. I just don't know. I mean, it could end up being a ah huge deal. It's just the the the degree to which the buzz feels like it's just been really tamped down by, like you said, a lot of things. It's not necessarily stuff that's all in FIFA's control or even the U.S. national team's control, but you start adding it all up together.
00:28:34
Speaker
and you know, one of the things that you highlighted in a recent in story i think you just published today that the security concerns around this tournament. And I think sometimes... it's easy to disregard that specifically because we don't really think about the way that like American sporting events, that's just become part of, part of life.
00:28:58
Speaker
But yet the Copa America Centenario was this like eyeopening thing that just because you have American facilities doesn't mean everything's going to go smoothly just because it's in the United States, everything's going to go smoothly. And it, and that seemed to be the tone of your story, which was,
00:29:12
Speaker
the Copa America Centenario really did open some eyes about how this is not just another sporting event. This is not, ah this is not like having an AFC championship game.
00:29:23
Speaker
Yeah. And just because you're talking about the one last year, right? The 2024. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Not Centenario. Sorry. The, I called it the Centenario because it was in the United States, but that was obviously a long time ago.
00:29:35
Speaker
I am sorry. No, this was just the last year's Copa America that they decided to bring the United States. Right, exactly. No, you're right. The last year's Copa America. Sorry. yeah No, exactly. But I think – but yes, like I think – I think it did open people's eyes, and and I heard from a few people that like they're almost – Look, ah what happened in Miami last summer was in no way a good thing.
00:29:59
Speaker
um But they avoided the worst outcome, which would have been, you know, people dying. um And it's almost good that it happened then so that people our ah alive to the possibility that it could happen this summer or next summer.
00:30:19
Speaker
um you know and And people are more on alert and prepared. Now, obviously, there there could be ah downside to that, but there's even more extensive security. And i think you know one of the things that people talked to me about was just the worry of over-policing to the point that it becomes not even fun anymore.
00:30:38
Speaker
um and It's almost like you're going to a world cup in a police state. um and And you, we certainly don't want that. ah But I think, yes, like I think it really alarmed people to a necessary degree that they will all be on.
00:30:55
Speaker
or And maybe it'll be, maybe they'll go a bit over the top this summer, especially because there won't be that many, um the the crowds won't be as, as big as they will be next summer. um But I think,
00:31:06
Speaker
My sense is that they're all pretty confident that, you know, look, security, securing any event is a huge, complicated challenge, but I think there are enough competent people involved um that they're they're confident that it will it will go okay.
00:31:23
Speaker
And so and I guess ah one of the things that I found fascinating going to pick up my credentials yesterday from Lumen field is that they've all, they've created this whole different security barrier that wouldn't normally be there.
00:31:40
Speaker
They're going to have turnstiles, which is something that they don't normally have at games. And Uh, is that, is that something that they're just now implementing for this world cup? Or has this been, do you know if this has been sort of like the standard way that they do things where they have this extended security, uh,
00:31:57
Speaker
what they call it? Security yeah len yeah perimeter as well. And and then like all the, like, so there's all this fencing up everywhere that hasn't ever been there before. Yeah. This is the international standard in a lot of ways. Now it it varies stadium to stadium, country to country on the specifics, but this is what, you know, i went to games in Argentina a couple of years ago and You get your ticket get checked by somebody several blocks away from the stadium.
00:32:24
Speaker
And then a few blocks later, there's another check where you're actually going through gates and you might even have to show an ID. And then and like, that's just to get to then a few blocks later to the actual entrance to the stadium.
00:32:38
Speaker
Right. so this Multiple securities checkpoints, basically. Yes. this is This is what happens. this you know if you like at I was in Qatar for the World Cup. um there's a you know Very far away from the stadium, there's an initial check where you put your bag
Security Measures for Club World Cup
00:32:54
Speaker
through.
00:32:54
Speaker
In my case, you show your credential for a fan. Obviously, you show your your ticket. and And then there's another one closer to the stadium. So, yes, it's it's certainly different. though i you know I think some...
00:33:06
Speaker
I don't know exactly what it's like for NFL games these days. There usually are, there generally are like at least two checkpoints, but they're usually pretty close together for international soccer. And it's special even more so next summer, it will be very fun. Like the entire, a very big area around the stadium will be enclosed and and shut off. And there will be all these different parts of the process to get in.
00:33:30
Speaker
So like a FIFA zone, essentially. Yeah, exactly. Yes. I don't know what their exact term for it is, but yeah, it's there's an outer perimeter and inner perimeter. And even I think for for well, for 2026, they're talking about secondary perimeters and tertiary perimeters.
00:33:46
Speaker
um especially for some of the bigger games um so yeah and and inside that zone so it's both for security it's also that inside that zone is where you'll have some sort of musical performance before the game and the hospitality tent and the media center and all these uh different things that um usually for an nfl or mls game are just inside the stadium and you don't need all this outside. but So there's so many different aspects of it and, and things they need to build out that aren't built into the stadium.
00:34:21
Speaker
And so in, in this reporting, did you, obviously this is, I assume the reporting happened ah before, you know, a lot of what's going on right now in real time with, you know, the ice stuff, like just, yeah I guess it was yesterday or maybe was two days ago.
00:34:35
Speaker
There was a custom, a border patrol basically put out this tweet saying we're going to be suited and booted for the Miami game. And I, apparently there's some expectation that there's going to be an ice presence, uh, at, at many stadiums, if not all the stadiums, have you, did did you get any hint of that during the reporting of your story?
00:34:58
Speaker
the Mostly no. Um, what I would say is, and I think, um, CBP has come out and clarified this today or or yesterday that like,
00:35:09
Speaker
it's not uncommon for them to have some like very secondary role in securing major events. like they they know And maybe even... I'm a bit unclear on the ice side, but I think that the the sense I get is that there's a chance...
00:35:30
Speaker
that this fear is a bit overblown. And a lot of different a lot of different federal agencies have, especially for an event like next summer for the for the big World Cup, a lot of different federal agencies, um mostly within the Department of Homeland Security, have roles in this. And there's this super complicated web of command ah that, and and it filters down to,
00:35:57
Speaker
local, state, county level, police departments, et cetera. um there's There's just a lot of different um entities involved. That said, like if ICE was going to and be at these games and trying to detain people they they wouldn't come out and and say it so obviously like the fear is that given what's happening in the country right now the fear is totally understandable um and it's an inescapable backdrop to these tournaments both the club world cup and the gold cup that are about to start um that are
00:36:39
Speaker
their international events. And they, they attract a lot of people who are from the United States who ah live in the United States, but are from elsewhere um with varying, you know, varying all sorts of different backgrounds and and stories. But they just, they love soccer. And we all love to to think that soccer is this game that brings everybody to together. But, you know, the, the, the political backdrop in the United States right now is not,
00:37:08
Speaker
super amenable to just yeah yeah be a big celebration where nobody's thinking about this. Yeah. And I guess on along those lines, ah you know, Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA spent a lot of political capital sort of buttering up ah President Trump and sort of like trying to, you know, to be generous with his, his, that his effort was to make sure that these tournaments went off as smoothly as possible and understanding that, you whether or not he supports him politically, he needs him to be on his side to just make sure these events go off.
00:37:46
Speaker
and it seemed and the And it seems like for all of his efforts... We're still getting these stories about you know fans aren't going to be fans from certain countries, just certain like are being told, no, you're not going to be able to get in. There's all these delays with getting visas.
00:38:01
Speaker
You know, your story illustrate, I believe was your story that that that talked about how the wait to get visas for a lot of these countries is is very long and probably won't get cleared in time at the at its current pace.
00:38:13
Speaker
I guess, how big of a concern, like, what is the sense that you're getting about that aspect of it, just from a pure tourism perspective?
Gianni Infantino's U.S. Engagement
00:38:22
Speaker
I think it's a big unknown.
00:38:24
Speaker
And you, yeah I think you laid it out pretty well that
00:38:29
Speaker
Johnny Infantino and Donald Trump have done, they they have it they have built a close relationship, an alliance. They are going to give each other various things over the next year, and and i already have.
00:38:43
Speaker
And the question is, but for example, like Johnny Infantino is going to give Trump probably whatever visible role he wants at the 2026 World Cup. He will be in the spotlight as as much as he wants.
00:38:56
Speaker
um the The question in all this is like, what is Gianni Infantino getting in return? Is he just getting personal you know publicity and dinners with all these ah high up heads of state and and things like that?
00:39:11
Speaker
Or is he actually getting a lot of key things for FIFA and and and for these tournaments? and And then also, like, within that, to what extent could he actually go to Trump and say, hey we need to let more fans into this country to so be able to watch the World Cup?
00:39:33
Speaker
I kind of doubt that that's going to happen too much. But on the topic we were just talking about, could he go to Trump and say, hey, can we not have ICE or CBP at these games?
00:39:46
Speaker
Right. And is that legitimate? Could he actually, Gianni Infantino actually affect how the Trump administration enforces immigration?
00:39:57
Speaker
Or could he just... convince them to try to make it more quiet and convince CBP to delete this tweet or whatever. um and And so like how how real is the pull that Infantino has and what can what can he get out of the relationship I think is going to be just a fascinating dynamic over the next 13 months.
00:40:19
Speaker
Yeah, well, it's it's going to be a very exciting and very interesting ah here.
Henry Bushnell's Insight on International Soccer
00:40:27
Speaker
It's going to be fascinating to see what we are able to learn from this tournament itself.
00:40:31
Speaker
ah Henry, I really do look forward to reading your coverage of this because I and i do i would urge everyone, if you aren't a reader of Henry's, I would urge you to ah follow him on social, to read his work because he is really doing some first-class coverage of ah the entire soccer scene. And especially when it comes to international soccer, he's got another great piece that we didn't get to get into about the sort of the the place that the U S national team is in right now, which is ah seemingly a pretty, pretty dark place right now. You've got Christian Pulisic going on, doing a media tour where he's basically saying,
00:41:09
Speaker
i I don't be mad at me for not playing games. um But in any case, Henry, ah where can people follow you? What's the best way that they can kind of keep up on your work?
00:41:21
Speaker
Yeah, I'm ah at Henry Bushnell on X, I guess we're calling it now. And I'm i'm not super active there. I'm more active on on Blue Sky. ah You can probably find me by searching my name. And also my ah my author page at Yahoo Sports is always a ah trustworthy place.
00:41:37
Speaker
trustworthy place Awesome. Well, Henry, thank you for doing this. Thank you for your time and looking forward to to reading more of your good work. Thanks, Jeremiah. appreciate it. All right. You're listening to Nos Adietes, part of the Center at Heart Podcast Network, and we will catch you next time.
00:42:17
Speaker
I expect the LAFC who is motivated ah to prove themselves at home, to prove to their fans that that they're capable of winning in this league. And it's up to us to really ruin the party.
00:42:33
Speaker
i feel a lot better than