Episode 96: Nearing the MLS 2026 Season ft. Juan Arango ( Formerly MLS Apple TV )

Hey, this is Sebastian the Jet, this is Jordan Stewart. Hey, this is Rob Stone from Fox Sports. Hey guys, this is Kevin Egan, and you are listening to The Soccer View. What's going on, everybody? Welcome to The Soccer View Podcast, episode 96. Thank you so much for tuning in. My name is Ronnie, and I'm joined here with my two soccer View co-hosts Vast and Eric, and before we get started with the show, you guys know I got to give a shout out to our Soccer View Show sponsor. Come on now. At this point, you guys already know them. Dakidia 86, they're an amazing Mexican soccer team restaurant. They located on 94th and Broadway here in Manhattan in the city. Definitely go check them out for some amazing tacos, burritos, drinks, tequila, moscowl, all that good stuff. And of course, we're gonna follow at Dakidia 86 and Y on Instagram. Now, that's up the way full squad today. Vast, Eric, good to be on with you guys episode 96. We're about two and a half weeks away from the MLS kickoff. Most importantly, how are you guys doing? How's everything with you guys? It's great to be back, episode 96. Like you said, we got the whole squad here. We got a great guest in this virtual studio. And it's the first row of the year for me, so it's great to be back. Yeah, Ronnie, it's great to be back. Another episode, super excited. Lots of news to get to. And again, you have another great guest. You brought us a great guest again. And let's get to it, man. Appreciate it, fellas. Yeah, for the soccer fans, for the MLS fans, we keep going. We're getting closer to the MLS 2020 60s. And obviously, a lot of MLS news this past week, starting with the MLS Spanish broadcast for MLS Apple TV, getting cut as of recent. So we'll talk a little bit about that, continuing conversations on the FIFA World Cup. You know, we're getting just a few months away. Obviously fans feeling frustrated with the resale market, with tickets, airfare. Obviously, logistics of the whole FIFA World Cup, we'll talk about that in just a few minutes. Obviously, just on NYCFC in the Red Bulls front, man, NYCFC, the Moosa Silla move, falling apart from Shalki. We need a Death Striker. Eric, we'll talk about that in just a few minutes. NYCFC, also, I'm getting themselves a mascot in a pigeon. Sky scraper, Eric, I know we will discuss that as well. And for the Red Bulls, yeah, they got themselves a DP from Pumas, Jorge Rubalcava. And man, there's just been a lot of talks recently on this past week. More movement on MLS with Copa Libertadores and possibly seeing a door there for the upcoming years for MLS and Liga and Mekis for Copa Libertadores. But yeah, just to help us break down episode 96, obviously MLS and just Alping Soccer. We got a special guest joining us in the virtual studio. He's a former bilingual announcer at previously at Gold TV, as well as a soccer writer. He's covered FIFA World Cups for Brazil, locations such as Al Jazeera, Telegraph, Retro UK. He's planning to have him out with us finally, joining us from Hollywood, Florida. Just things like welcome to Mr. Juan. - I don't go. - Welcome home. - Hey, what's up? (laughing) - I thought you were gonna do the soundboard, but you guys actually clap. That's, I'm impressed. I'm impressed. The very acoustic kind of sound there, I like it. I like it, I like it a lot. - Thank you so much Juan. Thank you so much for taking the time. Like we mentioned, love your content. Love your videos, love everything you put out there. - Why did I get it going right away? I know, obviously, love the content that you put out there for the soccer fans. And I love just the rawness that you put into the videos and the feelings and the emotion. Why did I get it going just with MLS and going into the MLS season coming up? Why did I get your thoughts? It's really on the product that's out there right now. Obviously, there's a lot of rumblings with MLS Apple TV. But most importantly, just how the league is right now. And obviously, you know, we're seeing the MLS, the messy tour right now in South America and the stars coming in and out. So, just how do you feel about the product right now? - It's at an interesting moment because, especially with the interest from Copa Liv. And I think that's where you can start seeing the growth. The big thing, and I usually say this with when I'm talking about people about MLS saying, hey, you know what? It's very difficult to get a read on it if it's only competing against one other league. It's, like I'm saying, you know, you have a read on how the Premier League is doing year in, year out because it competes with La Liga, because it competes with the Bundesliga, because it competes in Champions League with City I and whatnot. With MLS, it only, and it's to a certain extent, not their fault because it's just the confederation that they happen to be in, that it's just two countries and then third, you know, Canada is also there, but then after that, you have 38 also rans that are also part of it. You don't get a real sense of the competitive nature, because it would be great to see them play in South America, to see the actual true level of MLS and where I can get there. Now, I'm gonna play a bad guy here for something. Maybe it sounds like I have a bit of dissonance here, but what Inter Miami is doing is probably the best thing that should be happening to MLS, because they're actually doing what the rest of the world is doing. They're doing something that the Barcelona's, the Real Madrid's, the PSG's, those type of squads are doing, because they're saying, okay, fine. Well, we'll go as far as we're allowed to and bring in as many players as we're allowed to and have as many DPs as we're allowed to and have as many international spots as we're allowed to. And, well, when we get stopped, we get stopped. And that should be the avenue that MLS is taking. And obviously, that generates a great deal of, and it's kind of weird to see Leo Messy be seen by some fan bases as the bad guy, as being part of that evil empire type of team that many are starting to see Inter Miami as. I mean, I've been talking to people in other parts of the world saying, why are they playing the league? Inter Miami should be given the crown now. - Oh man, that's a lot to unpack, Mr. Ronnie. So let me just start with at least where into Miami stands, how good they're looking. And yeah, I think what they mean for the league and what kind of standards they're trying to raise, what an MLS club can be is a welcome site. I don't think you want to have teams that are striving for mediocrity. And look, I don't want to sound like I'm talking ill of some franchises here. But look at, I don't want to say the rapids, for example, historically, have not been big spenders. They're kind of changing things around with a new head coach, they got to that stuff. And yeah, Paxton Aronson, but a lot, maybe DC United. You know, you don't want to see teams just being in contention to be in contention. You want to be a team that's bettering yourselves, bettering your squad, bettering the not just what your team can bring in right now, but where they could stand in the future. And I think Jorge Moss has done a very good job of that. I think he's done in terms of having that not so near-sightedness in terms of a squad build. But he saw a few guys retiring, and he was quick to replace them with someone, if not on the same level, if not equally on the same level with guys like Sergio Rejilón, Juan Betrame, Betrame, it's a welcome sight. So I know a lot of people, it's not the popular opinion, like, oh, Inter Miami is doing something good. But it can be a hiter all the time, guys. You've got to be, I call an ace, an ace. No, I think it's a great move if Inter Miami can get into Libertadores. I think that at the end of the day, as strong as Inter Miami is as much as it appears, there's some type of favoritism for them with all these trance removes and all these things that they're just seemingly allowed to do. And people criticize, and they can. Ultimately, it's good for the league. I think it brings ice to the league. It brings a talent to the league, and then potentially joining Copa Libertadores just serves as a test. I'm a less if they can compete with some of these South American superpowers, you know? Yeah, definitely agree with that, Eric. And Juan, I mean, I love how you mentioned that right before we had record, but that you actually used to come to New York quite frequently and covered a little bit of both the Red Bulls and YCFC. What do you think on both teams just right now? I mean, that's too high level, but just overall on maybe the New York market, and just right now on the 2020 '60s and as both teams are having making moves, and they definitely look different in previous years. Well, from what I've seen, the changes that they've made, obviously, on one end, the coaching change at the Red Bulls, maybe that's something that needs to be looked at. And it seems interesting where they could go. You need to see a lot of fresher faces when it comes to American coaches. You need to see different viewpoints. You need to see a coach that it has, maybe not the experience, but does have the wherewithal of understanding where teams need to be now. When it comes to NYCFC, I mean, it's a team that's kind of, you know, getting there. They're going to be in the mix in the Eastern Conference at a certain point. How much won't-- that's the big question because you do have teams like NYCFC that kind of somewhat stayed the same. Then you have teams like Philadelphia that might have dropped off a little bit. So you end up seeing-- obviously, Inter Miami somewhere else. But everybody else, the rest of the pack, you see kind of the places shifting a little bit. Maybe one scale down, one just come a little bit further up. But then you start seeing the United. You say seeing Toronto. You start seeing those clubs. And you're like, well, Montreal, no price. They will be on the very outside of it. And that's a sad part because I tell you about going to New York. But my two favorite cities going to do and well, as games happen to be Toronto, Montreal. Not for the football, though. You agree with that, Juan? Thank you so much. Vaz, we missed you on the last episode. Just two quick highlights. Obviously, Michael Bradley coming into the Red Bulls and then Ruvalcava now with your DP. Just a quick status of how you think on the Red Bulls. And obviously, we'll get more in depth on the upcoming episodes, but just some of the big stuff coming up. I mean, it's a start, right? Bringing in a guy like Juan. And I think he's the first Mexican internationals that the Red Bulls are bringing in since Rafa Marquez. So that's some-- I don't think those are the biggest issues the Phil's seeing what Marquez actually did with the Red Bulls. So I think he should be a much better signing than the one a few years back. But I think the bigger news that we haven't really talked about, even in the last episode, was the rumors of Noah Isle being potentially sold to Bristol City, who are currently coached by former Red Bulls head coach, Gerhard Schubert. And that deal fell-- it went through today. I think 4.2 million was the number. It makes Noah Isle the most expensive defender in team history to be sold overseas. And I think that leaves a huge hole for the Red Bulls to have to fill, because up until that point, I felt that this team looked like they were doing everything to be heading towards the right direction, getting rid of some of the dead weight, getting rid of some of the bigger contracts, and seemingly replacing guys like Carlos Cornell, who-- with someone like Ethan Horvaz. But I think that whole defense that is being left by Noah that hasn't exactly been filled yet. I know there's some rumors of a young Ecuadorian down an ML, and I like that might be coming in. But that's not exactly a pen and pencil then for it to happen. So it's a tough spot to be in, because you saw the Red Bulls have a great game against Harvard Athletic. They-- the preseason is going on right under Michael Bradley. But we also have to remember that Michael Bradley is a very young head coach, who it's his first ever preseason as a head coach even. He-- he joined Red Bulls 2 in the middle of the season, so he's seemingly learning on the job. And for as great as the players he was, for as much of the leaders he was on the field, we still have to take that into consideration and try to have the expectations of the fans on the red side of New York be not exactly reaching for a Eastern Conference final. But at least, you know, baby steps make the playoffs again. That in itself would be a win. And just as we were signing on, I saw that another rumor just popped up that the Red Bulls might be signing Nicolas Ivanez from Dita. So look, if they're adding these pieces, I can be mad. The team looks like it's trending towards the right direction with two weeks left in the preseason. I appreciate that. Boss Eric, I mean, we got to talk real quick on the blue side and, man, tough news today with NYCFC's rumored striker, Moosa Silla, that transfer fell through from Shalkee. I think this is kind of concerning, man, because season starts in two weeks. And Alonso is not playing at all. So just have to get your quick thoughts on that boot falling through. And then also, we'll get to the mascot in a few minutes, too. That's the move falling through, you know? I hope it's being addressed behind the scenes, just because as you said, Ron, it is, I mean, listen, we're a few weeks off from the season starting. Our most clinical striker will be out for the whole season, due to an unfortunate injury last season. And NYCFC, it seems like we only have young guys. Unless NYCFC continue to experiment that they were actively doing towards the end of last season where they were playing Fernando at striker, which it worked out in quite a few games. But ultimately, I thought the striker that was going to come in was going to bring fresh new legs, a new style of play. And the move falling through is very concerning. And you got to wonder what's going on in that front office. I know we have a new sporting director, but I definitely want to know more as to why the deal fell through. And Pigeon, man, Pigeon to Scott, oh god. At first, I looked at it. I was like, eh, I'm not really too sold on the mascot. But taking another look at it, I think it fits the team really, really well. I don't mind, it looks very nice. It's going to, you know, attract lots of young fans. And, you know, like most things in sports, especially when they're first introduced, it'll take a while to get used to. But I think that mascot is eventually going to grow on us and the rest of the fans. Now, I appreciate that. Juan, thank you so much for all that. I want to go back to you because I think I want to discuss some of the big topics. And one of them, we saw your video and just all your thoughts really on the MLS Apple TV with cutting some of the Spanish Apple crew with apparently there's a couple updates coming up from them. So MLS will only be keeping seven of its best on our Spanish pairings. Some games will be shifting to a single in-game commentator. And the MLS 360 show in Spanish is going away. So I know you had some thoughts on MLS as being supported by a lot of Latino fans. And what are your thoughts on this? They never supported them. They never have. I mean, I could tell you even when before they never did, they never have. And they look at the Latino-- fine, OK, they talk about the Latino market and this and the other. But there's really no plan. There's really no idea. And I can tell you this because when I was in there, when I was with MLS, I happened to be in Chicago one weekend. I mean, walking around downtown Chicago and all of a sudden I get a call. And we're doing a conference call. And they go and confirm, hey, but guys, Messi's coming through. Messi's going to happen. What are we going to do? This is the marketing people, OK? These are the marketing guys that come and ask us the commentators, OK, what are we going to do? I have a great idea. Let's have each and every one of you. I think it was 14-- it was 14, 15 commentators we had at that time. 15 commentator pairings. And of those 14, 15 commentator pairings about 11 or 12 of us had called Messi matches. Whether it was with Barcelona PSG, whether it was the Argentine national team, at some point in our careers or at some point, we all had done that. Someone came up with the idea for the Spanish commentator, not the English, for the Spanish. Said, hey, why don't you guys do a fake goal call welcoming Messi? That was their idea. That was their idea. They say, hey, let's have Juan. Let's have all the other guys-- I mean, many of you guys know many of them already. And also, you saw in the chat say, no, no, no, no, not happening. No, no, no, no. Because they thought it was a great idea for someone to do a goal call and say, hey, welcome, Leo. No, it was-- and it shows, again, the inability of the people that run the league to understand-- because here's the biggest problem and the biggest disconnect that there is between Spanish and English commentary. The English side believes that the Spanish side when they do goal calls are inauthentic. There's-- it lacks authenticity. I'm like, first of all, dude. And I've said this to a lot of people. Only on the English side have I ever seen guys writing what they're going to say if such and such a thing happens. Never in Spanish. So don't tell me about inauthentic, OK? So and so scores a goal. And you already have a phrase prepared for how you're going to say it. So you have a play on words with something else. Never does it happen in Spanish. And the guys-- you guys know that rarely ever happens. It's very spontaneous. So seeing how that was taken from a marketing perspective, it shows you that there was no plan. That there is no idea. That there is no idea how to approach the Latino market. Because the people that are running it for the most part and the ones that make the big decisions aren't Latino. And nor have they cared about the Latino market-- not just in MLS, but in anything else-- that has been done in US soccer. Yeah, I think it was said best that the league always tends to profit off of the Spanish market, but doesn't exactly tend to cater to it. I think this is a prime example of that when you think of having a show like the MLS 360 Show be as accessible as it was. And now that there's not going to be a paywall behind it, you'd think that now that there's more eyes, you're going to have a lot more over the world view-- the world's audience being tuned in to watch some of these things that Apple TV was offering for not just English, but the Spanish speaking audience as well. And to not have that now just leaves that huge gap. Like, I know you can always do the SAP on your TV, but is that really the same? We're not really-- we're not doing anything in terms of trying to have breakdowns in terms of analyzation. I think Michele Gianoni, I think Gio Sabadezi, I think all these guys who were on that panel did a phenomenal job. And Juan, I think you said the best to be saying that the Spanish broadcasters have any sort of an authentic nature within their broadcasting is a fallacy that I think a lot of people should be opening their eyes to because-- I agree. I agree with us because at the same time, in mind, I have a great deal of respect for them. The one of the people that obviously kind of went through that same school, if that was Ray Hudson. And yet, Ray Hudson was looked at, oh, natural authentic. It was great. But when a Spanish commentator would make a goal call, or, oh, you know, oh, no, that's not authentic. That's not. And I mean, there's other things I could say about that. But when, for the most part, you call the Spanish broadcast, the other thing going on, it tells you exactly where it's at. Yeah, exactly. It speaks volumes as to where the mindset of the people who are calling the shots really are thinking. And I think that just bring a great example of something that has to have Peruvian seeing the kid, Cliveau Monsanches, doing his commentary and broadcasting from like amounts. And now he's gotten all these opportunities. Think about this Andres Canto with Messi in the World Cup final. Like, there's nothing more passionate, authentic than these moments when you have them in Spanish. And again, even in, again, I'm half Greek and half Peruvian. So I've seen it on the Greek side. I'm in Greece when the Euro is in 2004. Broncos, they're crying quite literally like yelling to the skies and to the gods. Like, what's going on? So yeah, I think the league does have to a much better job to try to figure out how to cater to this demographic. Because I think they were doing a great job with a 360 show. So they were to take it away. I think they should try to replace it with something even better. Maybe having more on-- maybe they have like a TV show or how Caelin Carr has his segment of him going around checking out all these fan base. So maybe we could have a Michaela J. I know I need doing something similar to try to figure out and try to put on a map. Some of these more passionate fan base, like the Vata Brava is in Charlotte, for example. We've seen them since day one being some of the most passionate fans in the league. But we don't exactly put a spotlight on them. And having the guy who, I can't remember his name, the supporter who is always wearing the, like, the mask, the, like, with the-- he's got the day of the celebrating like the-- the day the dead. My words, the day the dead, I think. Yeah, there we go. Celebrating the day the dead, like that. That and some of some that I think we should try to be putting on posters and trying to put these people on pedestals. But we've seen a lot of the blind eye be turned towards-- It was promoted. Yeah. It was promoted. It was promoted a lot. I'll tell you another thing. When the first season was started-- I'll show-- we got brand new iPhones, OK? Brand new iPhones, brand new-- everything. And one of the things that we promoted was exact-- I mean, 2-A-T. It was vasa. If you were in that room pitching it, that's basically what we had pitched. Not only that, understanding who we were working with, understanding who was basically putting, you know, the resources in. We started talking about even cross promotion of going and doing videos around the city, which I did. I actually did a-- I was-- when I go to New York, I couldn't do it at Harrison. Well, I actually did it at a place in Harrison. I did-- I actually did a preview at Sabata over at Harrison. The supermarket. It's like right there. I could walk to Sabata when I was-- so you got to have an idea. I did previews for NYCFC over at Central Park. I did a preview of NYCFC-- of an NYCFC. Inter Miami game is a matter of fact. I was bundled up. I mean, I had to buy winter clothes for that occasion. Imagine that. And I did a preview from inside the Empire State Building. Not one bit of attention. Nothing, nothing. The only one that has done it consistently ever since I left was Bruno Wein. And he would talk about things constantly on his Instagram. But it was never really relayed onto the MLS side. It was really never used because MLS-- and the marketing on the Spanish side from a financial standpoint is nonexistent. There's no money in it. There's absolutely not-- basically almost not even a dime. And we had to go in and pitch ourselves and say, OK, how can we help you to be able to get that? There was no money in the marketing at everything was on the English side. Every single thing, every single resource, every single capacity, every single person, every single support was on the English side. Nothing on the Spanish. So we were going in and trying to see how we could help out. And what you said, Vaz, was to a T, what was proposed to them to market to the Latino community. Yeah, I can't think of a better kind of show or structure or platform to try to give these fans and not just the fans, like to highlight the league in itself, because it's still mind-blowing that since 1996, a league that was built on guys like Carlos Valerama, guys like El Diablo, the Bolivian striker, who was more much of a very high-memorano. Carlos Ruiz a little further down the line. Some of these guys, even GeoSoperacing, first goal scorer for the New York Metro Star, is to not have them be backed is still-- it's honestly blowing my mind, Juan. Like I didn't know it was to that state. And I don't want to put anyone in any sort of trouble, but to just think that is a bit mind-blowing on this, I don't know what other words to really use. Yeah, I mean, the last season, I don't know if you guys knew-- I mean, you probably figured it out at a certain point. Many of the games were being done in South Florida, but half of the games. Because I mean, it sounded kind of weird. Hey, how could-- I don't know, how could Vass be doing Atlanta United at 7 o'clock, and then at 10 o'clock he's doing Portland? How could he fly across the country in the span of an hour? Well, now you know why? Because there's a lot of things that are-- and it's frustrating because, look, I've always been a critic of Emma Lass. And I was always critical of US soccer because of those things, and even worse things that have happened, or worse things that have done. And of course, you've seen in the past couple of days and weeks kind of being expressed, seeing what Mauricio Puchetino was saying to Tim Wea, you heard a lot of the shut up and dribble from a journalistic standpoint. And I was extremely critical of it. But I was willing to put that aside because I know that at the end of the day, the success of this league, and the success of something like USL, depends on someone being able to go in and say, OK, fine. This is what we do. You go into Minnesota, and you saw the great people doing the work there. And you talk about the traditions. You talk about those certain things, and it would fall in deaf ears. Because you would have games where, at this point, when you start to figure things out or you start to hear the numbers, you maybe had 100 people watching. Maybe had less than that, unless it was intermiami because nobody else watches-- people aren't watching Apple TV. I'm sorry to say it to see NYCFC sporting Kansas City. They're not. Especially that brought me-- when you hear 3 million people are watching, that's phenomenal for the US. But when they say globally, it sucks. It really sucks, but there's really very little things that are being done in order to attract that global audience. I mean, you follow your respective teams. You follow your respective teams. And if there's something with MLS at school that has always been-- it's not something that's in the last couple of years. It's been always that way that fans follow their teams. And sometimes they only follow their teams. So they're not going to go sit and watch Seattle, L.A.F.C. if they're a New York Red Bulls fan or if they're a Norlando city fan. They just don't. And I say that not because I know about it, is because I learned about it as I was doing MLS games. Hey, so you guys are going to watch the game tonight? Oh, no, no, no, I only watch Minnesota United. But it's also part of what the league hasn't done. Hey, by the way, pay attention to these types of matches because they have ramifications to your team as well. You know, kind of how the NBA has done. Kind of how the NFL has done. Where people watch the 1 o'clock game. I always say since we're on the East Coast, we can talk with say 1 o'clock game. The 1 o'clock game, but also the 4 o'clock game on the East Coast. And people watch both. Or college football, where you watch whatever school you have a fitting towards. And maybe another team that you kind of feel interested about. I don't know what you guys say. I'll throw that one out there and I'll let you guys scrap over that. I was just, you know, when things like that happen, it's very mind-boggling in terms of like, what's the thought process behind that? Well, I want to know what's the rationale behind the scenes that's to why, you know, what drove them to this decision, especially with, you know, I think the Spanish side of things for Apple TV providing almost a different experience to someone who, you know, think about it. Like if you're from a specific demographic tuning into MLS soccer, you're used to watching, you know, I don't know, La Liga or South American soccer. Like, you know, nothing's all right now. Let me tune into MLS. And it really potentially, you know, the turd certain fans from wanting to engage well, I'm a less Apple TV. I mean, let alone the paywalls that it's already placed on Apple TV and now like, you're tuning in and like the Spanish side of things is also not there anymore. It's like, I want to know more, man. It's very interesting. And I think it's something that happens quite often in journalism. I mean, what particularly are you asking about? I mean, what particularly are you curious about? Because, I mean, look, most of the people that run these operations aren't football people. They've been involved in football. Doesn't mean that they're football people. There's people that I've worked with, actually, actually, at the studio where they were doing games, where they said, what the hell is the difference between doing a game in front of a screen or doing it at a stadium? And yeah, that ball is, it's like, okay, where do I start? So when you have that, when you have to deal with that, then you already know you're behind the table because you have to start basically, I mean, when you're trying to introduce to a child how the birds and the bees are, instead of being a more high level conversation, you have to go to that level to explain. This is how it, wait a second. You're the guy that's getting paid the big bucks to be able to figure this out, not me. I'm the one that's supposed to add everything else, but if I'm the one that has to figure this out, then we're in trouble. - Yeah, it's gonna be interesting 'cause just part of that article from the Guardians is saying that they're gonna be shifting to high energy live broadcasts from the stadium, closer to the fans. They wanna, I don't know what idea really they have for the upcoming season is gonna be interesting to see, but they're doing games from London too. - Yeah, and that's another thing too that I was gonna mention, just a lot of operators. - The Spanish games though. - Yeah, a lot of operations from the US are now shifting over to IMG studios in the UK. And yeah, man, I don't know what a lot of rationale is behind some of these decisions or research they've done behind it, but it's gonna be interesting to see. - It's easy research because the company has been behind it since day one is IMG. And mind you, no one talks about what happened with WWF or WWX, excuse me. - Yeah. - Remember, they were doing, I mean, it's the second or third time they changed studios, they were doing it in downtown New York City the first couple of years, and they headed to Connecticut to do some other work over at WW, over in Connecticut. And now they're heading, I mean, so instead of making things less expensive, they're getting more expensive because production costs in London are much more. If you think a production cost in New York are expensive, wait till you cross, I mean, that's why CBS also, with their Champions League covers, they end up hammering money because they do all the production from London. And it's much more expensive than if they were to do it in New York, might as well do it in New York if you wanna. And look, this is not just an MLS thing, guys. This is a football industry thing that's going on, especially here in the United States, where whatever hasn't been canceled has been hoarded, whatever hasn't been hoarded has been outsourced. So you're gonna be hearing completely different styles of football now in English. In Spanish, you can't do the same type of commentary in a one-man booth as you do in a two-man booth. You just simply cannot because you have, when you do a one-man booth in football commentary in Spanish, it's like you have to have a bipolar personality because you're kind of having a conversation, you're like when the guy's doing, you're that. You're basically two people at one time. You're looking at one position, you're looking at the other because you have to serve as both. And then you have to, not only that, you can't drop off your level and you have to also anticipate certain things and you have to be able to give a read of what's going on, whether it's at a stadium or try that 'cause you're at the stadium, but you're trying to base it on what's going on in the screen. So you're going to have a lot of struggles there. Will they come through? Eventually the people that will remain will do a good enough job, actually a very good job of sustaining what they can sustain. After that, they can only hold up the part of the roof that they're holding up. If everything else is caving in, well, one thing I can assure you is that part of that roof is not gonna cave in. Yeah, Juan, thank you for all that. And this is a great stuff and definitely want to keep the conversations going for coming up episodes. And Juan, I wanted to just quickly shift over. I know we got some slight time left. Obviously, we're just a few months from the FIFA World Cup. We were talking a little bit about on our first episode last week. Just so much behind the scenes right now or fans feeling priced out with the prices of tickets, the resell market, airfare hotels. And most importantly, I just got to mention, it's not a popular opinion, but just the political climate in the US. Just had to get your thoughts on the average tourists, the average foreigner coming to the US and just a lot going out right now in the country, a lot of money being spent for the World Cup. I mean, I don't know how much is going to be spent. I really don't know because there's people that are saying, you know what, maybe I'll go see the matches in Mexico and Canada. I know for sure that going to Mexico, people are gonna have an amazing time. But now going to Mexico doesn't mean that you're not gonna spend money. You're probably gonna spend a little less than coming to the US. If you, I don't know how to come here for a week, how much would you give, I ask you guys, and you guys can give me a different answer. How, as an estimate, how much would you budget me to come to the US for the World Cup during those three weeks? I wanna take three weeks. - There's not the tickets already bought? If the ticketory bought, that's a deal. - Assuming tickets are bought. Assuming everything's bought. I think budget-friendly-wise, you go to South Florida, somewhere in the either Orlando. New York, New York, you're gonna be spending minimum a thousand a week. - A thousand a week. - That's the middle. - That's the middle. - That's the middle. - Five paying minimum. - Unless you have a friend to stay over at, you know? - Oh yeah, I mean, I mean, all those, you know, like Tinder and stuff are really gonna be blown up because they're gonna be looking for a girlfriend just to, just to go and stay at their house, forget anything else, forget the hookup. Because, I mean, Miami's just, guys, Miami's just as expensive as New York. The only difference is that people are in seven dollars an hour here, you know what I mean? Okay, so, how fast you said what, five? - I think at least a minimum, look, if you, I think five K per week, if you're staying three weeks, and that's, - Okay. - Okay. - I honestly think, look, around that time, I think just staying at a hotel room for one night is gonna be right now, regular hotel room is around $3,400. You gotta think double that. So you're gonna be, - They're about, yeah, they're about the same here. They're gonna be about the same here. So, so. - Yeah, it's true. - And here, and here you have to add the Uber. I mean, over at least in New York, you can take the subway. - That's true. - Yeah. - So, not taking the consideration, yeah. Another like five K and just travel alone, man. - This is a par, maybe if you even rent, you're still gonna have to pay around that. - Because, on top of that, the parking for the stadium, here's gonna be around $175. It's better than the 750 for, you know, that happened just a couple of weeks ago, but still. Okay, I mean, okay, 5,000 sounds, sounds pretty conservative. Well, I was telling people 10. I wasn't gonna say 10 K a week. I mean, I think I'm seeing hotel rooms going for, at least 1,000 night already, at least here in New York around that time frame. - And then on top of that, you're gonna probably stay three days and you're going to have to fly somewhere else to see your team or see another game somewhere else. It's not like, the wonderful thing about Qatar, guys, was that, and it's funny because there were a couple of times where I was at two games in one day. That was amazing from that perspective. Obviously for me, Qatar still wasn't able to, test to pass what Brazil was because Brazil just, and when they were talking about having the Club World Cup in Brazil in 2029, I'm like, God, please make it happen. That would be amazing. But I told people 10, but going back to you guys, originally we were saying, okay, fine, 10. Mexico will probably be seven or eight. Canada will probably be around seven or eight. So, so, you know, if you can do it, come, but if you can't, don't. And if it's gonna be complicated, don't. And if you're gonna, and keep in mind, if ICE is gonna be at the Super Bowl, they're gonna be at the World Cup. I mean, let's talk about, you know, we're leaving the elephant in the room and we have to say how it is. The situation here is not the best. And it's not something that really is conducive to tourism because, I mean, imagine you going to a country where you're paranoid about, well, I wanna go here, but I don't know if I'm gonna be, you know, detained for six months, you know. I mean, there is that fear. Will it happen? Probably not, but you still have it in the back of your head where it could happen. - Right, no, look, that alone, just the fact that we even have a conversation of 5K, 1K, 10K a week is insane in itself because you think back to the 1994 World Cup and you have a few conversations with some of the people who got to attend those matches. None of them talk about no $1,000 hotel rooms a night. They talk about an affordable World Cup. World Cup that was for the people. And I know the FIFA worked alongside US Soccer to make a lot of those stadiums be packed by offering youth soccer teams tickets like realistically speaking. Do you think any youth teams are gonna be at a World Cup match in the US? - Hell no, hell no. It's not financially speaking smart for FIFA to give out any tickets this time around. The game has been established after the 94 World Cup. So now they're about to start scalping like crazy. And we've already seen it happen. It's mostly disappointing because as someone who, I was born in 1994, so I don't exactly have any memories of the World Cup while I have his stories from people who are older than me. And they tend to, like I said, talk about the affordability of it, the ability to be able to travel to see your team. Again, I don't got to not to go too far. Like my father got to see Greece play in their first World Cup in Boston, New York and in Florida somewhere. And you got to travel and got to see all those games. As someone who works within the soccer spaces, I can't even imagine trying to go through the logistics just getting a ticket. I was either a fan or as a media member. So I think what the game has kind of become, I think is just blankly in our face now. The greed and its corruption and the money that surrounds it is really tarnished. What should be the people's game and the biggest event and the biggest state, again, I'm not trying to put, oh, this is the best in the world, we're really not. We're just the biggest platform to put the game on everyone's minds and everyone's attention. So it's disheartening as someone who, like I said, is a byproduct of the 1994 World Cup to think to myself that I might not be able to afford a game. That should be-- It's fun. It's fun you say that, Vaz, because ITV was the rights to the World Cup in England, in the UK, actually, I'm sorry. And many others in Europe are doing most of their games from studio over there. They're not bringing crews here. One of the rights holders here is talking about doing the games from studio as well. I won't tell you which one. Actually, both, you could probably even say. They're even considering that because the price of the logistics and the cost of the logistics is so great that it just is infeasible. I mean, some spent their entire budgets in Qatar, but they were able to go and shuttle them in different cities or in different stadiums and different venues there. That was a different story. But now, with this and having to seat teams, not only just go to different cities, but maybe fly in and out of different countries, is a massive task as well. So just from a media coverage standpoint, it will be a challenge as well because it'll be limited. And many say, you know what, we'll just get the world feed, we'll do it from here and we'll do a studio. And some world feed and some world cup rights still have not been sold, especially in Asia. That's unbelievable. Does everything happen? No, that's not that's not FIFA's fault, though. Let me not let me not get things twisted. That's more the FA and that's that's more the country's fault. Like India right now. No one knows where the world cup will be broadcast in India, for example. Nobody knows. Actually, no one has has the least lightest idea, where will we broadcast, or if it will be broadcast at this point? Because of course, the problem with the Indian super league, that it's basically five months late starting. That's a major issue for them as well, because football's in a major crisis in that area and other places because of the economics behind it. Yeah, now good stuff one. And why not? I know we got some, like just a few minutes left, but when I start closing out soon, I know we got to we got some fan questions. One of them had to be, I know we talked a little bit on it. I mean, to begin the episode, what are the teams you keep in an eye out for for the MLS season? Who else could even try to have that? You know, I'll be honest with you, I have it. Probably the team that I'm most intrigued on, not because of what they can do, but what the hell's going to happen to them is Vancouver. Yeah, I mean, those are reporting a stadium situation, right? With the whole, yeah, who's going to who's going to buy them? Because those are a report that came out two days ago, saying that, well, you know what? I don't think anyone's interested in buying 1% stock in that, or you know, 1% stake in that team. And I've heard about issues with BC place. I've heard about what's gone on there, and how the World Cup is being organized in Vancouver. I have actually a friend of mine is now involved in the whole process of helping organize the World Cup in Vancouver. And from that perspective, it seems that it will be interesting to see. For me, the usuals, man, I mean, obviously being down here, you're going to get into Miami a lot, and being asked constantly from South America, how's Inter Miami doing? And Copa Libertadores, if they're going to play, which I don't think they're going to, if they're playing, it might be next year. I don't think it's going to happen this year. And LAFC, because to me, LAFC is one of the more serious franchises in MLS. It's probably one of the better organized franchises in MLS, just on the way they're structured. That's just basically it. So those are the teams that, if I'm watching, I'm probably observing. Those are probably the teams that I'm going to be looking at. Yeah, now, I guess I've been Vasanero. We'll talk about that more for the next episode. But some of the big topics this week. Vasotro, this one to you. Dennis Belanga to Fluminense, man. A lot of rumors, things are heating up. I think it might happen. Wanna get your quick thoughts on that? I know that came up actually yesterday and today. Yeah, I think they're-- Oh, my boy, what are they, sight, like, 15 mil for Dennis Belanga? Yeah, I think that's the kind of money that it's hard to say no to. But at this point in the off season, two weeks before your season is about to kick off with no real replacement in sight, I don't think LAFC is-- I don't want to say dumb enough to do the move. But I just don't think that with the new head coach in town, although he was Steve Schringel's assistant, Mark dos Santos is not going to let go of his best player this late into the off season. I don't see it happening. But if it were to happen, I think Fluminense has a few former MLS players. I know they got Lucho, a cost of, for example, if memory serves me right, Marrano from the Portland Timbers. Ever since Oteldo, who played for Toronto of C, yeah, that's quite a bit of a roster of guys to have who formerly played within MLS. So you know for a fact that these rumors are true, because one of their scouts got to be out here watching the town in Major League sockets to even know who Dennis Belanga is to even make that kind of bit. So I was like, interesting. I don't think he gets done. I appreciate that. So now I got to throw it to you real quick before we start getting out of here. Obed Vargas to Atlético Madrid, man. That one's official. You already know I had to ask you on that. Man, Obed Vargas to Atlético Madrid. I think that's a giving extra rate of eyes for when he went to Atlético Madrid. But no, I think it's an exciting move for the young Mexican midfielder from Seattle, man. I think he was, he's been long overdue for a move to Europe. I know there's been rumors from multiple clubs eyeing him. He had a very successful campaign over the summer. Last season, I just hope the move isn't too big for him, especially with, you know, over the years, we've seen a numerous amount of Mexican talents make the jump to Europe who ultimately tends to either, you know, either they stay performing there at a decent level, or they just end up back in Liga, and he said, I'm a loss. And I just hope that the move works out. He's still very, very young. I have very high hopes for him. And I hope this move pens out for him, man. Very exciting stuff for Obed Vargas. And obviously a very good look for him a loss. Yeah, and thank you for that. Juan, I wanted to ask one of the last questions for you. It was a whole headman bet that I'm a move to enter Miami. Yeah, you know, that's already been done. But I think what was interesting was that he actually had another offer from Wolves from the Premier League that was reported. And he turned that down, obviously, to play with Messi. And that's been the common trend. I think that easy one liner. You're going to get to play with Messi and a player sold on that. So had to get your thoughts on his moment that I'm refusing that Premier League move and just that messy effect of lowering players to Miami. Yeah, I mean, it imparted that. But also, I mean, Wolves are sinking ship right now. I mean, with only eight points. And John Adius is looking to get out. And apparently, Flamengo is looking to bring him in. So, you know, or actually, not Flamengo. Palmeiras are looking to bring him in. They've already insisted a couple of times. And he's kind of said, no. But Palmeiras are willing to spend the money. And bet that I'm to enter Miami. You knew it because Luis Suarez is basically on his last legs or on his last leg in his particular case. But it's, I mean, all of it makes interesting sense because Berthirame has the same agent as Rodrigo de Pol. And Rodrigo de Pol and Berthirame have also the same agent as Anke Correa of Tigres. So when the Pol comes, people are saying, well, how does he come on loan to enter Miami? Well, imparted's that. They're willing to pay the money to athletic Madrid. But also knowing that in the future, Berthirame would be an option. I mean, if you go back a couple of years ago, Berthirame had some interest. If I'm not mistaken, it was either Seattle or the Portland Timbers, one of the two. I think it's Portland Timbers, yeah. Yeah, the Timbers. OK. But he never went. The former sporting director of Atlético San Luis is now the chief, is the chief soccer operations officer enter Miami. So he had a lot to do with him coming in. And of course, his agent being able to hook things up, there's something like around anywhere between 35% to 40% of the purchase of head of my admit that I'm going to athletic Madrid. So it all makes sense if you kind of see where I'm heading with all of that. That ends up being where you say, oh, now I see. There's too many things that are kind of intertwined to one another. No wonder it was so easy for Berthirame to go in there. And of course, Messi is saying, hey, we want you. He's also a huge attraction. But knowing all the money that's being translated or transfer from one end to the other, if you just follow that and follow that alone, you know how bent that I was able to get to enter Miami. Yeah, no, and I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you. I know you've been around him a lot for quite a long time. Going into the 2026 season, who are some coaches that you really admire out there? There's a lot of good coaches in the league right now with Bradley Carnell. It was kind of badass. Still going with Orlando, BJ Callahan, Pat Noon, and Bruce. You said, well, okay, I'm sorry, you know, okay, cool. Well, have to get your thoughts on what are some of the coaches that you really admire in the league, who are some, that you look up to or just that you're a fan of? I mean, seeing Dr. Reterna at Atlanta will be interesting. You know, he'll be now with full control base, I would assume. So, you know, basically when he had the control, or at least he had the final say at Atlanta was successful as soon as the ego started coming in, the book on negatives, and everybody else trying to, you know, get a bite out of it as well. That's when things started going south for Atlanta United. Well, now with that, the back in the saddle, if you will. And he didn't leave with bad performances within to Miami. It's just, we know that, you know, he wanted something and Jorge Mas and David Beckham and Leo Messi didn't want to give up their power either because Tatum Arthino wanted to bring in some other players. And there's a lot of issues there. There's another side in Miami that many don't know about. So, I might as well even go there. But anyway, there's that in Atlanta United, he's going to have that. You'd mentioned Bradley Carno. Yes, also a very interesting coach to see. For the most part, that's basically what I'm looking at. I mean, this year is going to be a bit different for many of us as obviously since we're not looking there. And of course, I have some other projects going on with the Brazillade out that I'll be doing that. I'll probably be more focused on the Brazillade out this year than most of you have any other league. Even more than Argentine football as I was in the past. So, MLS, I'll be looking in a very casual manner. But those would be probably the teams that I mentioned before that I'll be focusing on especially. Appreciate that Juan Juan. I want to say thank you so much for staying up late with us. Before we let you go, we're going to fans find you. Do you have a Twitter and Instagram? And we hope to have you back on with us. Maybe for the World Cup. Yeah, right now I'm doing a lot on TikTok, it's 1G or Angle TV. I've been doing a lot with Instagram as well. Juan G underscore Angle, I should change it, but they don't allow me to. And then, of course, you can hear me on radio all the time. I'm doing the lead news anchor for Maryland News Network and for radio PA, as well as doing a segment nationally syndicated national in Spanish that's basically talking about the World Cup. We started the project in September. And every day, we have at least three capsules that we do on the history, statistics, anecdotes, player profiles, player histories, all, you know, from September all the way to the end of the World Cup, talking about the World Cup, we'll have it, you know, basically on radio and, of course, on social media as well. I'll be doing a lot more. And that will start in English, keeping my fingers crossed. In the month of April, May, for syndicated radio for the United States, and for hopefully some other platforms, as well. A huge thank you to Juan. Huge thank you to all the listeners for letting us be a part of your soccer lives in this new year. I know it's the second episode of the year, but it's my first episode of the year. So huge thank you to everybody. And I always say, look, the five stars, it helps get the show out there, it takes you guys a second, but it means the world does if you were to hit that, try to let your friends know, let your friends know that we got some soccer to talk. So thank you to everyone again, and Ronnie, Eric. You guys know how to close the show a lot better than me. I thank again, thank you to all the fans for listening. It's always great to hop on. Ronnie always doing an amazing job, bringing in amazing guests a weekend, a week out, and it was another great episode, and can't wait to get to it, man. Thank you again to all the listeners. I appreciate it, Eric. And yeah, thank you again to Juan Adango for joining us for episode 96. We'll be back next week, just continuing to preview the NYCFC, the Red Bulls. Obviously we're just about two and a half weeks away from kickoff for the 2026 season. Give us a follow up, soccer, be ready on Instagram, soccer, be ready on X, and we'll see you guys next week. Everyone take care, and have a good one. (upbeat music)