Meet the other World Cup hosts: James Johnson on why Canada will be the tournament's legacy story; Club América's COO on Mexico's lively sports market

About this episode

The episode discusses the roles of Canada and Mexico as co-hosts of the upcoming FIFA World Cup, featuring insights from key figures in the sports market.

With the US taking the lion's share of the headlines, you could be forgiven for forgetting that Mexico and Canada are also co-hosting the upcoming Fifa men’s World Cup. While the US will host 78 of the 104 games, Mexico and Canada will each stage 13 games, in Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Vancouver and Toronto. On the sidelines of March’s Business of Soccer event in Atlanta, David Cushnan sat down with Héctor Gonzalez Iñarritu, COO and President of Business at Club América, and James Johnson, newly installed at Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment, to hear more about both markets as they make final preparations for the tournament. Iñarritu runs LigaMX’s most successful club, which plays home games at the newly-refurbished Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, venue for the first game of the World Cup. He shares what international visitors and businesses should expect when they enter the Mexican sports market. And Johnson, new to his post after a stint as CEO of Football Australia, explains the changes he's making to the way Canadian soccer is packaged and sold, and why he believes Canada will be the legacy story of this summer’s tournament.

People in this episode

Host: David Cushnan

Guests: Héctor Gonzalez Iñarritu, James Johnson

Topics covered

• World Cup
• sports market
• soccer
• Canada
• Mexico
• Club América
• legacy story

Keywords

• FIFA World Cup
• Canada
• Mexico
• Club América
• soccer
• sports market
• James Johnson
• Héctor Gonzalez Iñarritu

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Club América

Places: Canada, Mexico, Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Vancouver, Toronto

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