Weekend Listen: FIFA’s Jill Ellis on the the World Cup

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio, News.

**Alex Rodriguez** (0:09)
If Jason and I wanted to make an investment in soccer, what's your pitch?

**Jill Ellis** (0:12)
Well, I think it's the truly global sport. I mean, right now, we're in China negotiating broadcast deals for China. In terms of revenue, so for the Women's World Cup, it'll be a billion in revenue for next summer. And for the Men's World Cup, you're probably talking upwards of four to six billion, I would say, in that range. So, yeah, I mean, the numbers are big, but those are the numbers that go back into the sport.

**Jason Kelly** (0:37)
Welcome back to The Deal. I'm Jason Kelly.

**Alex Rodriguez** (0:38)
And I'm Alex Rodriguez.

**Jason Kelly** (0:40)
All right, Alex, coming up on the show, Jill Ellis, she is the Chief Football Officer of FIFA, meaning she's one of the chief architects of the global game of soccer. Also, not for nothing, she won a couple of World Cups in 2015 and 2019 as the head of the US. Women's National Team.
The World Cup, even if you wanted to escape it, you couldn't.

**Alex Rodriguez** (1:00)
And I haven't said. I'm down in Miami. I mean, it is everywhere and I cannot wait to dive into the numbers of what FIFA represents.

**Jason Kelly** (1:08)
And all eyes are going to be what happens next in the business of soccer. Coming up, Jill Ellis.
Jill Ellis, FIFA's Chief Football Officer. You know, Alex, we love to make this show timely. What is more timely than talking to the Chief Football Officer of FIFA on the eve of the World Cup? So let's start there. How are you feeling about this World Cup?

**Jill Ellis** (1:33)
I mean, excited. I think what I've learned over time, whether either competing in them or watching them, is there's always a lot of controversy. It always feels like a three ring circus kind of getting into there. But once the games kick off, it's magical. So excited. Obviously, I'm from the US. So it's exciting to have a World Cup back here on the shores of America. I think it's going to be brilliant.

**Jason Kelly** (1:54)
You're feeling it down in Miami, aren't you?

**Alex Rodriguez** (1:56)
There's no doubt. I think for the first time, Joe, I was born in New York, but I've been in Miami over 40 plus years.
I think soccer right now could be the number one, if not the number one sport, the number one kind of conversation and narrative around them. You have Beckham, you have Messi, you have the championship, and there's so many people. It's a multi-pot. I guess my question to you, obviously, FIFA, I'll be throwing the coin flip. I'm really excited about it.

**Jill Ellis** (2:22)
Amazing.

**Alex Rodriguez** (2:23)
But tell me in the sport, if it was an investment, obviously, I'm into women's sports, with the W, I'm into men's sports with the NBA team with the Wolves. If Jason and I wanted to make an investment in soccer, what's your pitch?

**Jill Ellis** (2:34)
Well, I think it's the truly global sport. You always hear, obviously, you've got American football, baseball, but it's played everywhere. I think you've got an immediate global audience. There's not a bigger audience for it than obviously the World Cup. I mean, even the Women's World Cup, two billion viewers in 23 So, you've got probably the glimpsed global sport out there. In the US., it's trending. I mean, I think it's becoming probably the largest participation sport amongst youths. You've now got a whole generation of people playing it. You've got established professional leagues here. I mean, 30 plus teams in the MLS, obviously the Women's League. So, it's not just emerging anymore. It's very much here. There's a baked-in fan base. You've got an educated fan base now.
You've had success. Obviously, the Women's teams had a lot of success on the global stage. Listen, I think it's a count-miss sport, and I think people that are engaging in sport, and especially in America, where we make it something that is a count-miss, it's such an exciting sport. I mean, there's nothing like the last five minutes of a soccer game.

**Jason Kelly** (3:31)
You mentioned, Jill, the three-ring circus of it all, and I mean, it may be a 12-ring circus. At this point in this lead-up, we're talking to you just a few weeks before it all kicks off, and everybody's talking about something. I recently talked with your colleague, Johnny Infantino, about ticket prices. People are worried about visas. People are worried about who's going to play.
From your job perspective, what do you worry about in this tense lead-up to the matches actually getting played?