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On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams speak with MLS executive Camilo Durana about the so-called men’s ‘Summer of Soccer’—with Copa America, Euros 2024, Leagues Cup and MLS all overlapping. That run will lead right into the start of the major European seasons in August.
Durana is the executive vice president of the Apple partnership, properties and events at both Major League Soccer and Soccer United Marketing (SUM), the league’s commercial arm. They discuss how this confluence of major events can benefit soccer in the U.S. at a number of different levels.
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SUM, MLS’ commercial arm, has become big business by itself for MLS owners, each of whom own a stake alongside their team equity. SUM’s clients include the Mexican national teams in the U.S., Copa America and the Leagues Cup. Its long-time relationship with U.S. Soccer ended in 2021. Durana talks about what makes SUM so unique in U.S. sports, and how it has grown into an economic driver.
In MLS, attendance is up 12% so far this season vs. the same time last year, including five games with more than 60,000 fans in attendance, the league’s highest total ever at this point in the season. The hosts also talk about Lionel Messi’s impact in his first 12 months in the league, and the growth of Leagues Cup, the in-season tournament launched last year by MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX.
They also talk about MLS’s partnership with Apple. The league’s 10-year, $2.5 billion deal was a first in major U.S. sports—in that the league handed over virtually all of its media assets to one streaming company—and it allowed MLS access to other Apple platforms and sifted the start times of games. They also talk about how MLS can better reach young fans.
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