Advertise on podcast: Intersections: A podcast by The Connect

Football Investment: Five Years Later | Jordan Gardner on MCOs, Infrastructure, Capital & Sports Ownership Five years ago, as part of the United States of Soccer series, I sat down with Jordan Gardner to explore football through an American investor’s lens. At the time, multi-club ownership was accelerating, institutional capital was pouring into the game, and many believed professionalization would transform football. Five years, multiple market cycles, and countless ownership experiments later, we revisit those themes with a much clearer view of what has worked, what hasn’t, and what comes next. How can clubs in the English Premier League and Championship—with sold-out stadiums, global audiences, massive media rights revenues, and worldwide commercial reach—still lose money? In this special episode, Jordan and I discuss football investment, multi-club ownership, infrastructure, financial sustainability, and the future of sports ownership. From private equity and private credit to the impact of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, we examine the opportunities, risks, and contradictions shaping modern sport. Topics Covered ⚽ What held true—and what proved wrong—about football investment ⚽ The realities of Multi-Club Ownership (MCO) ⚽ Fan backlash, regulation, and governance challenges ⚽ Debt, private credit, and financial sustainability ⚽ Why infrastructure may be a better investment than clubs ⚽ MLS, NWSL, Liga MX, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup ⚽ The growing influence of Middle Eastern capital ⚽ Where Jordan would invest if starting today About Jordan Gardner Jordan Gardner is an investor, operator, and football executive who has owned and operated clubs across Europe. He currently serves as Chairman and Operating Partner of Kelty Hearts FC and advises investment groups evaluating opportunities in global football. About the United States of Soccer Series United States of Soccer explored the business of football through the perspective of American investors, executives, owners, and operators. This special episode revisits one of the series’ most popular conversations five years later. About The Connect The Connect is a strategic advisory and business development platform helping organizations, investors, brands, and rights holders create value through partnerships, market expansion, and commercial growth across sports, entertainment, tourism, and media. About SPORTHINK SPORTHINK is an international sports business advisory firm focused on strategy, commercialization, investment advisory, and venue development for clubs, leagues, federations, investors, and governments. About Rayde Luis Báez Rayde Luis Báez is an international sports business executive, investor, and advisor with more than 20 years of experience across sports, entertainment, media, and commercial partnerships. He is the Global Revenue Director of Dubai Basketball and founder of The Connect. Share your thoughts in the comments. #FootballInvestment #FootballBusiness #SportsBusiness #MultiClubOwnership #SportsOwnership #Football #Soccer #FIFA #WorldCup

On this series of “Intersections: a podcast by The Connect”, we wanted to go a bit deeper on the analysis of football or soccer as a business from the United States perspective, and setup a series of conversations with executives and personalities that we admire, that through their vast experience as player, investor, team owner, agent, business developer, and promoter, we would extract a wealth of knowledge about the next decade of football business, and how North America is positioned as the next frontier for growth.   For Episode 5, the final of this current series, we have someone that is regarded by the industry as a whole as one of the top soccer business executives in the world, Charlie Stillitano, Executive Chairman at Relevent Sports. Of deep Italian and soccer heritage, Charlie is a lawyer and former All-American soccer player at Princeton, and has played a vital role in the development of soccer in the United States in the last 30 years, from his appointment as venue director for Giants Stadium at the 1994 World Cup, going through the formation of Major League Soccer in 1996, when he became became the general manager of the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. His deep connections into the global soccer world led him to create in 2003 the promoter ChampionsWorld, before moving on to Creative Arts Agency (organizers of the World Football Challenge) in 2007. The latter acquired by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross' agency, Relevent Sports in 2012, from which Charlie leads a multinational team of professionals that developed and run the International Champions Cup, and the joint-venture with Spanish LaLiga to develop LaLiga's brand and business in North America.   Watch more: https://linktr.ee/TheConnect   www.TheConnect.co

On this series of “Intersections: a podcast by The Connect”, we wanted to go a bit deeper on the analysis of football or soccer as a business from the United States perspective, and setup a series of conversations with executives and personalities that we admire, that through their vast experience as player, investor, team owner, agent, business developer, and promoter, we would extract a wealth of knowledge about the next decade of football business, and how North America is positioned as the next frontier for growth. On Episode 4 we welcome Justin Papadakis, who is the current COO & Chief Real Estate Officer of United Soccer League (USL), the largest, fastest growing professional soccer organization in the United States. In his current role, Justin oversees numerous departments that are critical to the league’s success, including expansion, digital media, emerging technology, finance, human resources, and stadium development where the USL currently has a slate of more than 15 soccer stadium developments, for a total sum of more than $500 Million of stadia development investment value, part of more than $2 Billion worth of city-centre entertainment district developments, that place a USL soccer franchise at the center of it all. Watch more: https://linktr.ee/TheConnect www.TheConnect.co

On this series of “Intersections: a podcast by The Connect”, we wanted to go a bit deeper on the analysis of football or soccer as a business from the United States perspective, and setup a series of conversations with executives and personalities that we admire, that through their vast experience as player, investor, team owner, agent, business developer, and promoter, we would extract a wealth of knowledge about the next decade of football business, and how North America is positioned as the next frontier for growth. On Episode 3 we have David Wright, Chief Commercial officer at the U.S. Soccer Federation. David is a senior marketing executive and business leader, who has also led exponential growth for emerging sport properties, including Minor League Baseball (MiLB) and Major League Soccer (MLS) / Soccer United Marketing (SUM), evolving them from commercial startups into widely recognized leaders within the sport and entertainment industry. Sports Business Journal Forty Under 40 award recipient who excels at establishing culture, driving strategy, and leading growth organizations focused on maximizing marketplace positioning, fan engagement, and enterprise revenue. Watch more: https://linktr.ee/TheConnect www.TheConnect.co

On this series of “Intersections: a podcast by The Connect”, we wanted to go a bit deeper on the analysis of football or soccer as a business from the United States perspective, and setup a series of conversations with executives and personalities that we admire, that through their vast experience as player, investor, team owner, agent, business developer, and promoter, we would extract a wealth of knowledge about the next decade of football business, and how North America is positioned as the next frontier for growth.  Episode 2 is with Jordan Gardner, who is an investor and sports executive with a diversified multi-club investment portfolio in football (soccer) and wine. Currently Chairman of the Board, Managing Director & Co-Owner for Danish Professional Football Club FC Helsingør, responsible for all day-to-day operations, strategy and leadership at the club. His investment portfolio also includes a minority stake in Swansea City AFC (United Kingdom), co-ownership of Dundalk FC (Rep. of Ireland), investment into a group bidding on an A-League (Australia) expansion franchise, and ownership of a vineyard at the Vines of Mendoza in the Uco Valley in Argentina. Jordan was previously Vice President, Investment & Business Strategy for the digital media company JUGOtv before it was acquired by Relevent Sports Group, and was the owner & CEO of an event ticketing and technology company based in San Francisco.   Watch more: https://linktr.ee/TheConnect www.TheConnect.co

On this series of “Intersections: a podcast by The Connect”, we wanted to go a bit deeper on the analysis of football or soccer as a business from the United States perspective, and setup a series of conversations with executives and personalities that we admire, that through their vast experience as player, investor, team owner, agent, business developer, and promoter, we would extract a wealth of knowledge about the next decade of football business, and how North America is positioned as the next frontier for growth. In this episode we kick off the series with a conversation with Brad Friedel, who is now a football agent and is former goalkeeper of the US Men’s National Team and professional clubs like Galatasaray, Liverpool FC, Blackburn Rovers, Columbus Crew, Aston Villa, and Tottenham Hotspur. Find Us Online OUR LINKS Credits - Hosts: Rayde Luis Baez, Twitter: @RaydeLuisBT - Executive Producer: Luis Manuel Baez. - Editor(s): Luis Manuel Baez  LinkedIn About Us Intersections podcast dives into the overlapping layers of brand partnerships, and the overall sports and entertainment business world.

The sports industry was turned upside down, when 12 of the most important sports companies on the planet -that happen to be the top 12 soccer clubs- decided to roll out an alternative competition structure, that was called to substitute the current UEFA Champions League. In a radical, but expected, turn of events the house of cards came down, with a great dose of vonspiranpic rhethoric, sparkled with misinformation, poor execution, and an evident lack of dialogue from stakeholders. On this special episode Rayde, Luis and Vedran give their perspective on the whole ordeal, and come out the other side with a clear understanding that for this to be solved, and for the sake of fans, there’s an impending need for the parties appoint appropriate negotiators and address the Governance and the Financial Operations issues as they are, putting aside futile competition model excuses. Find Us Online OUR LINKS Credits - Hosts: Rayde Luis Baez, Twitter: @RaydeLuisBT, Vedran Kusljugic & Luis Manuel Baez. Twitter: @LuimaBT, - Executive Producer: Luis Manuel Baez. - Editor(s): Luis Manuel Baez & Vedran Kusljugic. LinkedIn About Us Intersections podcast dives into the overlapping layers of brand partnerships, and the overall sports and entertainment business world. The Connect is Rayde Luis Baez. Rayde Luis Baez, is a Dominican born, passionate partnership builder based in Europe with strong relations with the top brands and properties across the world. Find out more at: https://theconnect.co/

Our guest for this special episode is Dídac Lee. He is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Galdana Ventures, a venture capital fund with over 1B USD invested across Silicon Valley, China and Europe. Dídac is a seasoned entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience, having funded or co-funded and managed companies in the internet space, education and retail. He materialized his childhood dreams of becoming a board member for the team of his life, FC Barcelona, being on the Board of Directors for 10 years, and heading the Club’s most ambitious business process in decades transforming its digital output and putting in place a self sustaining content production structure, Barça Studios, that fuels FC Barcelona’s global digital engagement ambitions. A proud Figuerenc, Dídac talked talked with Rayde about his origins as one of the first Catalan children of Chinese descent born in the province of Girona, and how his journey has shaped his World view, and his mission in life and in business. #advertising #creative #innovation #digitaltransformation #sports #sportsbusiness #media #content #storytelling #sports #basketball #football #fcbarcelona #entertainment #sportsmedia #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #digitalmedia Find Us Online OUR LINKS Credits - Hosts: Rayde Luis Baez, Twitter: @RaydeLuisBT, Vedran Kusljugic & Luis Manuel Baez. Twitter: @LuimaBT, - Executive Producer: Luis Manuel Baez. - Editor(s): Luis Manuel Baez & Vedran Kusljugic. LinkedIn About Us Intersections podcast dives into the overlapping layers of brand partnerships, and the overall sports and entertainment business world. The Connect is Rayde Luis Baez. Rayde Luis Baez, is a Dominican born, passionate partnership builder based in Europe with strong relations with the top brands and properties across the world. Find out more at: https://theconnect.co/

Our guest Cesar Ruiz is the Regional Vice President for Global Strategic Sales at Microsoft Global Advertisement. An advertising sales veteran, with vast experience in the media & sports industries across the Hispanic and General markets, now leading a multifunctional team at the avantgarde of platform offering in search advertising sales. Cesar’s experience has taken him through industry-leading multimedia companies in North America,, namely Tribune Media, Televisa, ESPN and BeIN Media, before his current appointment leading Global Strategic Sales on the US Eastern seaboard at Microsoft. On this episode, Cesar takes Rayde, Luis and Vedran through the shifting tides in the advertisement and media world, and where opportunities can be found in the new world of digital media. #sports #sportsbusiness #media #content #entrepreneurship #sports #basketball #nba #entertainment #sportsmedia #printmedia #digitalmedia Find Us Online OUR LINKS Credits - Hosts: Rayde Luis Baez, Twitter: @RaydeLuisBT, Vedran Kusljugic & Luis Manuel Baez. Twitter: @LuimaBT, - Executive Producer: Luis Manuel Baez. - Editor(s): Luis Manuel Baez & Vedran Kusljugic. LinkedIn About Us Intersections podcast dives into the overlapping layers of brand partnerships, and the overall sports and entertainment business world. The Connect is Rayde Luis Baez. Rayde Luis Baez, is a Dominican born, passionate partnership builder based in Europe with strong relations with the top brands and properties across the world. Find out more at: https://theconnect.co/

Our guest Joel Rodriguez, is the Group Context Director at Translation LLC, as well as a recording MC, Superbad Solace. Through his role at Translation, Joel has touched some of the most iconic campaigns of recent times, like Codes of Culture for AT&T, Hello Brooklyn for the Brooklyn Nets launch, and most recently for Beats by Dre with You Love Me. Joel talked to Rayde, Vedran and Luis about his story, the pride he feels on his origins, and how that helps define who he is and how he sees himself. A true authentic creator, being his full self and letting that show through his masterpieces. Latest music from Superbad Solace: Sol Controller pt. 2 FastCompany article: http://bit.ly/FC_Translation_JoelRodriguez #advertising #creative #agency #euroleaguebasketball #sports #sportsbusiness #media #content #storytelling #sports #basketball #nba #entertainment #sportsmedia #printmedia #digitalmedia Find Us Online OUR LINKS Credits - Hosts: Rayde Luis Baez, Twitter: @RaydeLuisBT, Vedran Kusljugic & Luis Manuel Baez. Twitter: @LuimaBT, - Executive Producer: Luis Manuel Baez. - Editor(s): Luis Manuel Baez & Vedran Kusljugic. LinkedIn About Us Intersections podcast dives into the overlapping layers of brand partnerships, and the overall sports and entertainment business world. The Connect is Rayde Luis Baez. Rayde Luis Baez, is a Dominican born, passionate partnership builder based in Europe with strong relations with the top brands and properties across the world. Find out more at: https://theconnect.co/

Our guest Jose Luis Rosa-Medina, is the Senior Director Corporate Partnership and Licensing for Euroleague Basketball. He embodies the multiculturalism that is necessary to figure out today's world. Jose Luis talked to Rayde, Luis and Vedran about his professional journey and his long tenure at Euroleague Basketball. Giving the new realities of the sports world, we dove into the new perspectives that Euroleague and other sports properties must have in order to better serve their fan base. #euroleaguebasketball #sports #sportsbusiness #media #content #storytelling #sports #basketball #nba #entertainment #sportsmedia #printmedia #digitalmedia Find Us Online OUR LINKS Credits - Hosts: Rayde Luis Baez, Twitter: @RaydeLuisBT, Vedran Kusljugic & Luis Manuel Baez. Twitter: @LuimaBT, - Executive Producer: Luis Manuel Baez. - Editor(s): Luis Manuel Baez & Vedran Kusljugic. LinkedIn About Us Intersections podcast dives into the overlapping layers of brand partnerships, and the overall sports and entertainment business world. The Connect is Rayde Luis Baez. Rayde Luis Baez, is a Dominican born, passionate partnership builder based in Europe with strong relations with the top brands and properties across the world. Find out more at: https://theconnect.co/

For S2E10 of “Intersections: a podcast by The Connect” we have a very special guest: Vanessa Åsell Tsuruga, Senior Manager of Global Sports Digital Strategy at Rakuten. She recently spoke with Rayde and Luis about her journey and responsibilities within the Rakuten Sports business, what inspires her in life and work, and why representation matters. As  a common thread of our conversations so far, we explored the importance of mentoring and who and how shaped the life journey she finds herself in. Vanessa also spoke about her love for writing, and how she is now a published author with her debut novel in Swedish, also translated into English, “Forget-me-not Forever” which is available on Kobo as an eBook: English - https://www.kobo.com/ebook/forget-me-not-forever Swedish -   https://www.kobo.com/ebook/forgatmigej-for-alltid #sports #sportsbusiness #media #content #storytelling #digital #mentorship #representation #entertainment #sportsmedia #publishing #literature #books #ebooks #technology Find Us Online OUR LINKS Credits - Hosts: Rayde Luis Baez, Twitter: @RaydeLuisBT, Vedran Kusljugic & Luis Manuel Baez. Twitter: @LuimaBT, - Executive Producer: Luis Manuel Baez. - Editor(s): Luis Manuel Baez & Vedran Kusljugic. LinkedIn

On S2E9 our guest is Adam Martin, the Founder & Creative Director at T/A Martin Studio, an award-winning design studio with the fundamental purpose to serve as a strategic brand consultancy, content resource, and multidisciplinary design studio for a wide range of clients in the sports, entertainment and adjacent industries. Adam talked to Rayde, Luis and Vedran, about his journey, starting by his early inspiration to become a designer, how that evolved towards sports, the importance of design in communications and his love for sneakers and well-crafted brands. #sports #sportsbusiness #media #content #entrepreneurship #design #footwear #branding Find Us Online OUR LINKS Credits - Hosts: Rayde Luis Baez, Twitter: @RaydeLuisBT, Vedran Kusljugic & Luis Manuel Baez. Twitter: @LuimaBT, - Executive Producer: Luis Manuel Baez. - Editor(s): Luis Manuel Baez & Vedran Kusljugic. LinkedIn About Us Intersections podcast dives into the overlapping layers of brand partnerships, and the overall sports and entertainment business world. The Connect is Rayde Luis Baez. Rayde Luis Baez, is a Dominican born, passionate partnership builder based in Europe with strong relations with the top brands and properties across the world. Find out more at: https://theconnect.co/

Andrew Pitagorsky is the Vice President of Brand Partnerships at SLAM, he is a successful business development executive with sixteen years of sales, media buying, marketing, and team building experience. Andrew talked to Rayde, Luis and Vedran about the current media landscape, in concrete sports & basketball media, and the state of New York City basketball. Andrew “Pitt” Pitagorsky, is an expert in helping brands create and deliver effective custom content across multiple channels, and you can enjoy that expertise with every issue of SLAM Magazine, which in our opinion is the ultimate cultural validation guidebook since its inception in the basketball culture scene. #sports #sportsbusiness #media #content #entrepreneurship #sports #basketball #nba #entertainment #sportsmedia #printmedia #digitalmedia Find Us Online OUR LINKS Credits - Hosts: Rayde Luis Baez, Twitter: @RaydeLuisBT & Luis Manuel Baez. Twitter: @LuimaBT, - Executive Producer: Luis Manuel Baez. - Editor(s): Luis Manuel Baez & Vedran Kusljugic. LinkedIn About Us Intersections podcast dives into the overlapping layers of brand partnerships, and the overall sports and entertainment business world. The Connect is Rayde Luis Baez. Rayde Luis Baez, is a Dominican born, passionate partnership builder based in Europe with strong relations with the top brands and properties across the world. Find out more at: https://theconnect.co/

Guest: Joe Markowski, EVP, Global Platform & Revenue Innovation at DAZN Group Joe Markowski is a young media executive with hands-on experience across Europe, Asia and North America. He takes us through his journey from an undergrad out of the University of Nottingham, to working at the Perform Group through the ranks managing key client accounts like Euroleague Basketball and FIBA for their LiveBasketball.tv platform, and how that intimate understanding of rights holders enabled him to have a unique perspective of the current and future opportunities in global Sports Media, earning a spot on the internal DAZN foundational team at Perform Group, and how his work at DAZN has taken him from his native England to the United States, going through Japan. We also touch upon what’s in store for DAZN with their imminent global launch, and what the industry can expect in regards to the next model revisions that will balance out subscriptions and in-platform advertising. #sports #sportsbusiness #media #content #entrepreneurship #sports #basketball #nba #football #baseball #mlb #nfl #soccer #entertainment #football #boxing #ott #sportsmedia #subscriptionmodels Find Us Online WELCOME TO THE CONNECT Credits - Hosts: Rayde Luis Baez, Twitter: @RaydeLuisBT & Luis Manuel Baez. Twitter: @LuimaBT, - Executive Producer: Luis Manuel Baez. - Editor(s): Luis Manuel Baez & Vedran Kusljugic. LinkedIn About Us Intersections podcast dives into the overlapping layers of brand partnerships, and the overall sports and entertainment business world. The Connect is Rayde Luis Baez. Rayde Luis Baez, is a Dominican born, passionate partnership builder based in Europe with strong relations with the top brands and properties across the world. Find out more at: https://theconnect.co/