S1: Coming up on KPBS roundtable , we take a look at San Diego's newest sports team , San Diego FC , as they get ready for their franchise debut this weekend.
S2: I think their season will be considered a rousing success.
S1: We hear about Major League Soccer's newest additions and what it means for San Diego Tijuana's sports landscape. That's all ahead on KPBS roundtable. San Diego soccer fans get ready. A new team is making its franchise debut this weekend the San Diego F-c. Their first regular season match is Sunday afternoon against the LA Galaxy in Carson , and their inaugural home match will be Saturday , March 1st at Snapdragon Stadium. CFC is the 30th team in Major League Soccer. That's the top division of men's soccer in the US. It's also a league containing some pretty big international soccer stars , including a legend of the sport , Leo Messi. Here to talk more about San Diego's newest team is our Hernandez. He's a reporter with ESPN who covers North American soccer. Also joining me is Alejandro Villasenor. He's with San Diego Football and co-host of the soccer podcast Two Balls and a mic. And finally , Ryan Finley is also here with us. He's a sports editor with the San Diego Union Tribune. Thanks all for being here. Before digging into this new club , I wanted to ask each of you how you found a love for the sport of soccer. Alejandro.
S3: To start off , uh , I think just being from a Mexican background , growing up in Tijuana , uh , in Mexico , uh , it was just kind of like , eh , you either watch it and play soccer or you don't really do anything else. So I think from an early age I just fell in love with soccer. Watching Chivas , that was my , uh , still is my favorite soccer team. Uh , and just being able to play with my dad at the park and again , going outside in the street and playing with the neighbors and , you know , yelling , hey , car coming , everyone get out of the way. And then putting the goals back again with the rocks and kicking the ball around. So that's really what got me into soccer.
S1:
S4: It was captured , just more so just forced upon me. Since I don't ever remember a time that soccer wasn't a part of my life. According to my parents. Like shortly after I was born , they already putting soccer jerseys on me. Uh , so it's always been a part of my life. It was a passion at a young age. And then when I realized I wasn't good enough to be a professional , I then pivoted to write about it instead. Since I would not be able to keep pace with any of those athletes out there , whether it be First Division , Second Division , third Division. But yeah , always been a part of my life.
S1: And Ryan , I know , you know , you grew up here in San Diego. We've talked about the Padres on the show before. I think you were a charger fan. You spoke about your San Diego fandom.
S2: Right. Uh , the only soccer where , you know , you can allow 13 goals and still win handily. Uh , so grew up going to the sports arena seeing , you know , Broncos Sargodha , Zoltan Toth. I can name way too many of these guys. You know , I think I went to a soccer camp when I was a kid. Uh , to me , you know , soccer was the one sport that San Diego always won in. You know , the Padres struggled. The Chargers could break your hearts. The soccer seemed to win their league when I was a kid almost every year. And actually , if you look at them now , they're still killing it in their indoor league. I know that that's not the level of soccer that we're getting with San Diego FC , but San Diego FC is much more , I think , nuanced , um , a much tougher level of competition. But , you know , I always grew up associating San Diego with winning when it came to soccer. And , uh , you know , you had in the San Diego Wave who've had some success. And now San Diego FC , it's going to be really fun to see , um , how San Diego embraces this club.
S1: So one part of soccer that I think differentiates it from other sports is some of the lingo. Um , you know , it's played on a pitch , not a field soccer club , not a team. But even the word soccer is kind of a part of this discussion. And it's in the name of the team , right. It's San Diego Football Club. Scissor. I'm wondering if you can talk about how they kind of came upon the name and how that works.
S4: I think a lot of that in my own perspective , it could be interchangeable. And then North American soccer , like like landscape. Some people , I mean , even use the example of pitch or field. I use that interchangeably. Club team. I think it's the same idea. But I think that when you say football or football , you know , whether whether it be the O where the U with the accent and Spanish , I think that tries to give a little bit more credibility , if you will. I don't I I'm not entirely sure if I believe that entirely. I think you're allowed to use soccer. I think there's nothing wrong with being a soccer club if you wanted to be SC instead , but I think that it kind of like harkens back to the early days of soccer. Remember , MLS is just celebrating its 30th year , which is making me feel pretty old because I was there in the first year of MLS back in 96. And it's made me realize that little by little how older I'm getting. But obviously we're talking about soccer and football and football that has been around in a professional setups for 100 plus years , right ? There have been leagues and there have been competitions that have been around since the late 1800s. So I think because of that , I think that's why people sometimes like the idea of calling a team football or football , because it kind of like lends to that older idea of what soccer came from. But from my perspective , I think there's nothing wrong with calling yourself a soccer club if you really wanted to do that.
S1: Alejandro , I'm curious about your your thoughts. I mean , our senior producer actually mentioned , oh , there's there's not a mascot name. I mean , that's like another differentiator for soccer teams than for , like , the Padres or the Chargers , right ? Yeah.
S3: From what we know , San Diego FC won't have a mascot. I think that that really depends on what type of fan you are , right ? I mean , you have traditional teams like Manchester United being called the Red Devils , and then you have in Mexico with Chivas , and then you have la maquina Marina de Cruz Azul. And it's just it really comes down to just what type of fan you are. If you're really just worried about what's going to happen on the field , you're not too worried about that. If you're kind of more worried about the optics of how San Diego is going to be represented , then you kind of do wish you had a mascot , I guess. Uh , but yeah , I mean , there's some clubs that don't have them. There's clubs that do. And I think at the end of the day , it's going to be it's going to come down to how they play on the field.
S2: And this is the evolution of Major League Soccer isn't it guys ? Uh , when this first started , you know , the league's in its 30th year , they had very sort of Americanized team names , right ? You had the New York , new Jersey , Metro Stars , the Columbus Crew , they still exist , the LA Galaxy , they still exist. But these early names in Major League Soccer were very , very Americanized. And I think you've seen and I don't know if it's maybe the league taking itself a little bit more seriously or trying to capture sort of a savvy international fan , but I think that you've seen these names get more and more , for lack of a better word , serious. Um , and maybe international , you know , Inter Miami , right. Real Salt Lake. Uh , now you've got , you know , San Diego FC. I mean , even looking at something like , you know , the old San Jose Earthquakes , Kansas City Wizards , you know , they were the Wiz when they first started , right ? Um , now they're sporting Kansas City. Yeah. There's been this evolution of the league I think is the league has grown and matured , um , that the team names have too. And I , I'm , I don't know if that's necessarily a good or a bad thing for an American fan , but I think it's important to note that , you know , they really do have this sort of serious side to MLS. Now.
S4: I think that's an important thing to bring up , because I think that and it speaks to what San Diego's goals are too , because maybe back in 1996 , 1997 , you're trying to appeal to just the domestic fan base. I think now with a , let's say , San Diego FC , like you're looking at a more international audience. You see that through the broadcast deal that they have with Apple , which is a global deal that they have as well. Um , you could say it's modern. Personally , I think it feels a little generic sometimes when you do that , because it isn't as exciting. Those names from the 90s. But but yeah , I think it speaks to just the way that Major League Soccer is growing and how it wants to want to grow beyond just the North American region , get a lot more attention outside of just the United States.
S1: Well , and as you mentioned , you know how different it was 30 years ago , says our one part of it that I remember is they had they didn't have penalty kicks.
S4: They're willing to they're willing to try different rules. I , I advise anybody who wants to see what things were like back then , just Google YouTube goalkeeper wars or yeah , the penalty shootouts or just yeah , it's like.
S1: A hockey shootout.
S5:
S4: But yeah , obviously try to be more in line with with the global game now. Okay.
S1: Okay.
S3: It's it's an academy that commits to youngsters with their studies. They get to preside at the sport at the facilities. And they have that academy over in Ghana , Egypt and Denmark. So it's something that could potentially revolutionize the game here at the state. That's really what singles out from San Diego FC. That's what's more unique about them than ever. You can talk about bringing superstars like Chucky Lozano , but San Diego , we've brought Alex Morgan. Uh , that could be an argument that she's a bigger soccer star than what Chucky Lozano is worldwide.
S2: You know , they can , for lack of a better word , recruit , um , promising young players from both sides of the border , right. Both San Diego and from Mexico. They put them up out at Singing Hills , where they've built a brand new facility. It's scheduled to open. The academy is scheduled to open this summer. That's going to be their angle. The problem is , is even the players who you get today aren't going to be ready to play Major League Soccer for another , what , 4 or 5 , six years. And so I think what we're seeing now with this roster construction really is almost a little bit of a patch or a temporary shift in their strategy until those young players are ready to be developed and come up through their system. They've signed some players who have played for Right to Dream Academy teams , um , players who know the style of play that they try to play , and that's good. But you know this , I don't think that their sort of overall strategy is really going to be in place again for another couple of years , until their younger players really develop. Cesar.
S1: Cesar.
S4: I was it just important to keep in mind because what the team looks like now , within or even just within the next few seasons , it's not what their end goal is. But yeah , just to reiterate , they are going to have the highest operating budget for an academy in MLS. They're the first team in MLS to combine a private , on site like school with free residency. That's just not something that happens in Major League Soccer. They're the only ones that could legally recruit players from Baja California , due to FIFA rules dictating that you're 50km within a border , and also people with are housed within 100km within a club's headquarters. So that is extremely unique within Major League Soccer. And like like the two of you said there , it's going to be all about development , but it's going to it's going to take some time. Definitely. It takes some time.
S1: When we look at a lot of the big stars in MLS , there are some big international stars that come and play. It sounds like CFC is really investing in building up , you know , its product homegrown. And as is the point Ryan made , it's going to take a while for that to happen , right. But it did sign one pretty big name Irving Chucky Lozano. Alejandro , can you tell us about him. Like what makes him special and what do we need to know about him ? Yeah.
S3: So Chucky Lozano is a Mexican native that really made his mark , scoring a goal for Mexico in the 2018 World Cup against Germany. Uh , and then he just it skyrocketed from there. He's a fast player that plays on the wings on the field. Uh , he likes to take on players one on one. He likes to score goals. Uh , he made his mark in Europe , going to , uh , PSV over in the Netherlands and then transitioning over to Napoli in Italy , going back to PSV and now landing , uh , in San Diego FC. Uh , he is , I believe , almost 30 years old. So typically a soccer player. They're prime goals from anywhere from 26 to 29. So he still has a couple of years up there. So , uh , he's a player that's going to be just a franchise player. He's the face of the team and everything is going to go through him.
S4: And I think what's important about that too , is that he checks two boxes. There's one box right there that Alejandro just brought up that like , yes , he's no longer at his peak , you know , but he still has enough talent to become an MVP candidate in MLS. And I think the other very important box that that's checked off is that he's a household name in the Mexican soccer world. My father , who doesn't really care about MLS , he's asking me about Chucky Lozano and like what he's going to do over here in San Diego. So I think that's gonna be very significant. But this is still a business in the end , right ? And you're going to have to have those sellouts the first season. And a big part being able to do that is having a superstar. Lozano. So I think that's very , very important what he brings on the field and off the field. And and I could talk for , for hours and hours about what he could possibly do off the field with his help with the Right to Dream Academy , because he was a part of what I think is probably the most important academy in Mexico and all of North America , which is called Pachuca. So I think because that there's gonna be that tie in as well , which is what he's been able to do with the right to dream. But yeah , he checks a number of boxes for , for for CFC.
S1: Right ? Yeah.
S2: I thought it was a brilliant signing. When they decided to go get him , you know he. Yes. He checked some boxes like you said. You know , I think being a Spanish speaker , Mexican national will help with the international appeal of this team. You know , I'm still really curious to see how this team resonates in Tijuana and beyond. Right. Uh , they have the shows there. Obviously , they have a soccer culture. They're they're discerning soccer fans. Um , by and large. Um , but I think that Lozano really is a fantastic signing for them. It's not just getting a big name to get a big name. Right. I think that Major League Soccer has a reputation , and maybe it did all the way up until Leo Messi got to Miami. It had a reputation of sort of where great international players go to retire. Right. Um , I think Lozano still got enough in the tank to be the star of this team. Um , I think that , uh , that really this is a brilliant first star for this team to have.
S1: So that's that's Chucky. Are there you know , any other players worth mentioning or , you know , bringing attention to as their seasons getting started here.
S3: I will say San Diego did something interesting and they kind of gave an answer to the fans have been asking for a homegrown player or someone that's from San Diego and that's , uh , midfielder Luca de La to look at later. Was born in San Diego , and at the age of 14 , he decided to go to Europe to play for an academy and try to pursue his dream of making it professionally in Europe. That every professional soccer players dream is to play in Europe. That's the motherland of , uh , soccer. Uh , and he did that successfully for a couple of years. He got a couple of call ups to the , uh , US men's national soccer team. Uh , and then now , at the age he is , he wasn't getting the minutes , uh , at his club , Celta Vigo , over in Spain. So he decided to come. He's in San Diego on loan. So at the end of the contract , he can go back to Celta Vigo or San Diego FC can decide to purchase him. But he's a great signing. He's very , very skilful in the midfield. He knows how to pass the ball , uh , give through balls to the attacking players. So he's going to be a pivotal point in that midfield.
S1: Anybody else come to mind. Scissor.
S4: Yeah I think we've got to talk about the other , uh , DPS , the designated player. That's what they talk about in MLS. We don't have to get lost and in in the very confusing rules at MLS have it. Let's just say that DP means the limited amount of like , very good top level players that can sign that doesn't impact the salary cap. Um , Andres Dreyer , he's a 26 year old Danish winger. I mean , listen , I'm not gonna pretend that I've been watching every weekend of him in the Belgian top flight , but those who have and who I've talked with have stated that he's a very well rounded attacker and he has a capability of becoming another star alongside Chucky Lozano. So that's definitely someone to keep an eye on. Right there. Is Andrew Striker.
S1:
S2: Primarily. Those are the two guys. You know , if I was buying jerseys for my kids , um , it would be a Lozano jersey or a drier jersey because I think that those are the two guys who have a chance to really be standouts and to stick , um , here as this team transitions from year one to year two and beyond.
S1: So one other name , um , I wanted to get your take on is the head coach , Mikey Vargas.
S3: Mikey Vargas , he he has a lot of experience with youth players. And he was previously the interim head coach for the US men's national team , uh , for two games. And then he got this gig with San Diego FC , but he is bought into the system of Right to dream. He loves to develop young players into , uh , making it into the professional level. Uh , and I think his playstyle was going to be very attacking , very high pressing. and , uh , you know , that could kind of bring some conflicts on the counterattacking and defensive side. But again , it it's lined up to be fun watching them play. And it's going to be fun soccer.
S4: I think without getting too much into the X's and O's , I think a way of simplifying it is that it's got to be an entertaining soccer. The clear intent is to play entertaining soccer. They want to be the protagonist. They want possession of the ball. They want to dictate the pace of the game through their attack. Whether that's going to lead to a number of goals being scored against them because they want a lot of the ball as well , is another question. But I think it's going to be it'll be , it'll be fun. And that's the that's the intent , at least early on. And then if they lose some games , we'll see what happens. But that's their goal at the moment.
S2: We'll see. You know San Diego I think can be I say this as a native San Diego can be a weird sports market. Guys , you know this , right ? It's not only winning , but you have to win a certain way. And , you know , you look a little bit at , say , San Diego State football , which I think was a great example , Brady Hoke , they ran the ball and played defense. And when you're winning ten , 11 games a year , Fans love it when you're winning six games a year. You don't last very long and you look at what San Diego State did. They brought in somebody who said , hey , we're going to be exciting. And when I hear some of the things that Mikey has said so far and kind of reading the tea leaves with this team , I think the expectation is to go out there and try to score some goals , try to get your fans into the game , you know , expectations. I don't think outside of their building , outside of their headquarters. I don't think expectations are terribly high of a major League Soccer expansion club. To me , if they could go out there and score goals , feel Snapdragon Stadium and , you know , get some building blocks for the future , I think their season will be considered a rousing success.
S1: So I think every good sports team inevitably has a really good rival. Do we know who SC's biggest rivals are ? Cesar.
S4: That's a good question. That's a good question , because right now people would just look north and be like , well , obviously it's got to be somewhere like in LA. But right now , I mean LA Galaxy , Lafc , They both have a pretty strong rivalry against each other. Um , I think the answer will be one of those two. I think the easy answer is maybe Galaxy , because that's going to be their their first game of the season. And maybe there's some animosity would be built through that , especially since they are the current title holders. Um , but I would say it's either those two. I would say if we're looking beyond that , there's a chance perhaps with the earthquakes , maybe that was that was chatted with some of the other day like , you know what , like in MLS , sometimes a lot of the conversation surrounds the big coastal teams and including Miami as well. But maybe the way that , uh , CFC and the San Jose Earthquakes could take away a little bit of the attention away from the Los Angeles team is develop their own rivalry there , uh , uh , later on. But I would say probably the Galaxy , but it's it's absolutely up the air. And I'm curious to hear what you guys have to say and what comes to mind.
S1:
S3: Uh , just based on the same similarities of how they started. Tom Penn was also their CEO when they started , and they got a big Mexican DP signing with Carlos Vela at the time. And then the UFC is kind of following the same , uh , footsteps with Tom Perez signing Chuck Lozano. So I think a lot of like , the fans kind of are developing that rivalry already with Lafc. I think L.A. Galaxy is going to be more like the annoying cousin or anything like that. Uh , we're yeah , we're cool , but we're still going to not like each other from time to time. But yeah , I would put my money more on Lafc.
S1:
S2: Diego is going to consider LA the big rival in LA is going to pretend like they don't care. Um , the LA teams are going to go , no , we have each other. We don't worry about that. You know , the way you build a rivalry. And we've seen this in other sports in San Diego over the years. The way you when you start a rivalry and you get one going to win some games. And especially if San Diego FC can open their season against the Galaxy in Carson , which , not for nothing , is the same stadium where the Chargers played when they left San Diego. If they could win Sunday against Lafc in Carson , I think you might see the spark of what could maybe one day grow into a pretty good rivalry.
S1: Up next , we continue our look into San Diego's soccer culture when roundtable returns. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. This week on the show , we're talking about San Diego's newest sports franchise , San Diego FC. I'm joined this week by some familiar voices to San Diego soccer fans. Alejandro Villasenor from San Diego. Football's here. ESPN's Cesar Hernandez is also joining us , along with the Union Tribune's Ryan And Finley , you know , you'd been talking about , um , a little bit about Spc's Right to Dream Academy and how they're looking to develop players scissor. I think one unique aspect you recently wrote about to the team comes down to the proximity to the border and the relationship with Mexico and the United States.
S4: Let's start with the markets. Um , it is one of the largest cities in Mexico. And right now , yes , you do have solos down there , but solos , uh , if promotion relegation wasn't paused in Mexico , they'd be a minor league soccer team right now in Mexico , which says a lot about the issues that they've had in recent years. And yes , they have a diehard fan base , but it's middling results. And I think a lot of Tijuana sports fans are looking for something exciting up north , especially if it happens to have a Mexican national team player in a Mexican superstar. And then you talk about beyond that , the the talent in Tijuana. Um , back in the 2012 Olympics , uh , Mexico won gold medal in the Olympics , and that had three players that had ties to the Baja California region. There are a number of players that you look at in Mexican soccer that are from the Baja California region. There's there's huge potential here for San Diego to be able to scout these players legally because once again , without getting lost and lost in the weeds here , FIFA rules dictate that , like , you know , if you're underage , you can't move from one country to another unless you're close to the border and therefore you're able to legally do that. So San Diego are able to do that and also capitalize on a country that has a history of success with Mexican youth soccer at the international level , but difficulties with transitioning those players to senior teams and league of matches. There are a number of players that's happened to in Tijuana , and San Diego can capitalize that and bring some of those players over , and then you couple that with the ability to get an education through Right to Dream. So it's going to be very appealing. It's going to be very interesting to see how that plays out. And I wouldn't be surprised if ten years down the line , if we're talking about up and coming players for not only the US men's national team , but also for the Mexican national team that are being developed through CFC.
S1:
S3: They'll get to live here in the state. That's what a lot of families over in Mexico aspire to. So I think it's a no brainer for a lot of people over there.
S1: So earlier tickets and selling tickets kind of came up. That's inevitable. Part of , you know , a new franchise. I wanted to talk about your impressions of how San Diego soccer community has responded to the team so far.
S2: Right. There are seven different supporters groups , um , following San Diego FC right now. It's it's a bunch of different communities coming together. And I think that the really smart thing that San Diego FC did when they first started again , you know , more than a year ago , was to try to bring in all the different neighborhoods and all of the different , um , communities and sort of bring them together under the banner of San Diego FC. Um , they did a ball , a ball tour , a chrome ball tour , where they went to the 18 different communities and neighborhoods in San Diego. Um , and had sort of , you know , come meet the team things there. Uh , we went by the one in la mesa , and it was great. And , you know , to me , that's it's really smart. Um , I don't know if any bad blood exists between fans of the former San Diego Loyal and this new club. Um , I know that there was a thought at some point that the group that ran the loyal would one day get an MLS club that they could call their own. Um , but , you know , it looks as if the locals , their old supporters group , has folded nicely in the San Diego FC. Um , to me , it's just going to be a matter of it's the same challenges that the Padres faced , same challenges that San Diego State faces. You know , can you hit the right price point ? You can fill the stadium. Can you create a fun environment not only for diehards but for families and , you know , can you win or can you can you be exciting enough that maybe the wins and losses aren't necessarily imperative in year one ? Um , those are their challenges at this moment. I don't know how many season tickets they've sold. Um , but I do know that their price point is in line with going to a Padre game. And that's a that's a high price point for a lot of people. And so , you know , the question is , what do you get when you go to a San Diego San Diego FC game. And you know , we'll find out for sure on March 1st.
S1: And Alejandro , you know , we've been talking about all the different other soccer teams. We have the wave their season starting up. You know soon enough. What's your impression of how this team's being embraced and the potential popularity there ? Yeah.
S3: No , I mean just to kind of touch on the tickets too. I know they're they're big worry is filling up that supporter section. Uh , they want all those 5000 tickets sold , uh , to the point where they even ran a very , very good promotion. If you became a , uh , a member of the San Diego Independent Supporters Union , uh , you would have access to the $18 per game ticket. Uh , so when you pay for that season ticket membership , if you do the math , you're paying for 21 games , $18 a ticket , which is a great deal , to be honest. But yeah , I think overall they're doing a pretty good job at just reaching out to the community. Like , uh , Ryan said on the Chrome Ball tour , if you went out to the one in Chula Vista , that was massive. They have lucha libre , they have concert , they had concerts , they had everything. Uh , so I think they are doing a pretty good job compared to maybe what San Diego Wave hasn't been able to do , especially kind of like in the South Bay area. Uh , said the UFC is capitalizing on that and trying to win on that like Latino population to go into the stadium sizzle.
S1: Go ahead.
S4: So I am curious , though , because I think there's going to be a lot of tickets sold. I think Tsuki is going to bring in a lot of fans , but I do think that there's still some simmering frustrations with loyal , um , just because I mean , let's be real. Like they the introduction of San Diego FC did help cement the death of loyal , and I think that's worth recognition. You know.
S1: Just to chime in , the loyal war in the the second division of men's soccer , right. And correct. I think their hope was that they would eventually become an MLS team or be able to enter that market.
S4: There are a number of different issues there regarding that , but I do think that there are some fans who are still a little justifiably bitter about that. I think there are also some wave fans who are also justifiably bitter about saying , hey , we had we were doing some record numbers at Snapdragon Stadium. We , you know , were really breaking barriers within within the NWSL. And suddenly this new team shows up and says , hey , you're now behind us in line when it comes to priority for scheduling games. So I , I am curious to see how that plays out. Maybe it's not as serious as , you know , as I may think it is , or maybe it's just a small little factor , but I think that's also something to keep in mind for for a couple of those soccer bubbles. Um , that that may not fully buy into it just yet.
S1:
S3: I know when we did an interview with CEO Tom Penn , he did say that they pay more rent , so they get priority on scheduling the games. And we followed that with the , uh , who the coach for San Diego with Casey Stoney was , and she said she was used to it. She said she's not surprised. And it caused a lot of controversy. But at the end of the day , uh , it always when it comes to San Diego State , it always comes down to who's paying more money. And that was San Diego FC. And I mean , now that the schedules are both out , you see that when San Diego FC is playing away , San Diego Wave is going to play at home and vice versa. There's I think maybe a couple of weekends where one place on Saturday , one place on Sunday. So it's interesting , but at the end of the day , I don't think it'll it'll be a worry anymore for a lot of fans now that they have the schedules. But it was a big talking point before that.
S1: After the break , what San Diego sports fans can expect from the team in its first season. That's ahead on roundtable. This is KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. Today on the show , we're talking about San Diego's new sports team , San Diego FC. I'm speaking with ESPN , Cesar Hernandez , Alejandro Villasenor from San Diego Football and the Utes , Ryan Finley. Alejandro , we were chatting before we got started , and you kind of made the comment of of just the amount of media coverage the team has , has seen so far. Are you surprised by the lack of media coverage that San Diego FC has gotten , or do you think ? I guess , you know , another way to phrase it is , you know , do you think the San Diego media is ready to have an MLS team. And for what comes with it ? Yeah.
S3: No , I mean , just to give everyone some background , uh , my colleague Tony and myself started kind of like our soccer podcast five years ago , and , uh , we started covering San Diego Loyal. And we fell in love with the local soccer scene. And then wave came along and now San Diego FC. So , uh , we kind of been able to build it up. And Cesar's here as a witness from when we first started. We've managed to grow quite a bit. And yeah , the , the I am a little worried about the lack of coverage that San Diego is having. I think , uh , legacy media here in San Diego is not ready for what soccer's going to bring to the city. Uh , you do see it from time to time when you go to trainings. Uh , the first media availability for San Diego FC packed house. Everyone was there. Fast forward two weeks after its use. My buddy Tony and a couple other local media from Tijuana. So , uh , it'll be interesting to see how the team plays. If they start winning , how much coverage they'll start getting. Uh , and I think that will kind of determine that factor to Ryan.
S1: Talk more about that. I mean , you , you know , you guys cover so many different sports , so many different teams. You know , how does SFC fit in. And you know , what are some of the challenges you're seeing in UT kind of covering this new team and new league.
S2: You know we have an excellent soccer writer , Mark Ziegler um , who's you know , goes to every World Cup , every Olympics. Um , is as smart a soccer fan as I know. Um , and he will be covering the club. Um , the problem is , is his day job right now is also covering San Diego State basketball. And so when you reach February and March , uh , he's a busy man. Um , as you might imagine , uh , we have a staff full of people who want to be a part of the coverage , who are excited by the prospect of something new. I still think a lot of San Diegans have been scarred by the Chargers leaving. And , you know , when new teams come in , you know , there's this idea that they're sort of filling this hole left by the Chargers. And you know , it's hard to fill a hole that an NFL team leaves the NFL super popular. But you know they've patched it with the wave and now with with San Diego FC and with you know even like a G League team and these other things that are coming in , you know , San Diego is becoming a much better sports town because of the addition of professional soccer. And , you know , in terms of coverage , in terms of our readership , you know , I think that they want to learn more about this team and learn more about soccer. I think our readership base probably is a little less soccer savvy than Alejandro's podcast listeners. Right. Or even the people who read CSR in ESPN , you know , trying to explain to them not only why it's important , but what makes for good soccer. That's going to be the real sort of task for us here in year one , to introduce our readers to this team in a way , sort of on their level and in a way that will get them , you know , excited to see what San Diego FC is all about.
S4: It's something to capitalize on , too , because it just I mean , you look at the average age of a no offense to to MLB fans. I'm like , I'm a fan of the Padres. Like that's like one. I'm definitely support them. But like like the average age of MLB fan. And then you look at a soccer fan , they tend to be more diverse. They tend to be younger. It's a it's an interesting demographic that I feel like , uh , I'm not going to say that it's overlooked , but it's just something that's something that could be capitalized.
S1: So historically , I think this has come up. You know , expansion teams are not always that great in their first season. I think San Diego soccer fans may have been spoiled somewhat from From the Wave , because they seemed like they were really good right out of the gate.
S3: They're really being sneaky with it. They're trying to build a powerful team with not well known players. So in my opinion , it's either going to be a fantastic season where they fight for some of the top four spots on the table and make a playoff run , or it's going to be going to be the very opposite is going to be bad or good. I don't think there'll be any in between there.
S4: It's an interesting point because the guy who's running the stuff in the background , he Tyler Heaps , he comes from an analytical background. I know maybe other sports be like analytical , like who cares ? Like , everybody is like analytical and has some sort of like sports data scientist. And that's not always the case in soccer. That's not always the case in Major League Soccer. There are some teams who don't have anybody , like full time staff member who's looking at these things. Tyler Heaps is comes for that. And he's a general manager for this team. And like like Alejandro was talking about there. Yes. You're going to be looking at this roster. They're going to be fans who say I don't know that guy. I don't know this person. But like I but I can guarantee that they have crunched the numbers , and I could guarantee that they've pored over probably like hours and endless amount of data to make these choices , whether that works on the field. I'm not entirely sure , but I am really curious to see how that pans out. And all that said , I don't have the I don't have the highest of hopes when it comes. This team when I'm looking at this roster and yes , there's some interesting names here. I could see them being competitive and barely sneaking into the playoffs , which I think would be a success for a for a team in their inaugural season. But beyond that , I think that fans will have to be patient with this project. Yeah.
S3: Yeah. I mean , if there's any baseball , uh , fans listening to this , think of San Diego FC as a moneyball team. We all love that movie. And that's kind of like what San Diego FC is trying to do.
S1:
S2: I think it comes down to number one. You put an exciting product on the field. Number two , To you. Develop a fan base that will support you in good times and bad. And number three , you inch closer to. You know we talk about player development right. You open the academy. You know they I guarantee you that if the academy opens in San Diego FC brings talented young young men into their program , they will consider this a success. There's a reason why an American pro sports expansion teams almost never make the playoffs. The system is a little bit rigged against expansion teams. It just is. Um , you know , the Las Vegas Golden Knights , I think are the one expansion team to ever win the whole thing. Um , there's a reason why it's a struggle. And I'd be lying if I thought the season wasn't going to be a little bit of a struggle for San Diego FC , but I think that you can get some off the field victories that will really help cement yourself as a part of the fabric of San Diego sports , and that's what they're going to have to look at this year earlier.
S1: You know , the the topic of supporter groups came up and ticket prices , things like that. And you mentioned the sort of , you know , cheaper ticket prices for the supporter sections. One thing to note for for potential fans going to games is you kind of have to work. If you're in the supporter section. It's not so much sitting down during the game. Right , Cesar ? Yeah.
S4: No , I mean , it's just it's a , it's a , it's a 12th man like perspective. But perhaps take it to another level. You have people who may not even watch the game at all whatsoever , because they're waving flags the entire time. You have people who aren't who it's it's an extension of the team and it is nonstop. No it's not it's not as if they're just , you know , take breaks and they're just like 5 to 10 or just don't know. It's it's they they do genuinely see themselves as an extension of the team. And it is for those who and for those out there who have yet to experience a soccer game and have yet to experience something like that , I think it's something that's definitely unique and a very interesting aspect of soccer , and I highly recommend checking out a game just to see what supporter supportive groups are like , because it's it's a much more active involvement when it comes to a sports team.
S1:
S3: I mean , MLS is uh , partnered with Apple TV. So you have to get kind of like the MLS season pass to watch every MLS game. Uh , I'm not too sure why the system is like that. Uh , I wish you could just kind of turn on the TV and , uh , watch the game , but MLS is kind of weird in their own way like that. But the best the best part would be through Apple TV. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. And they did announce , I will say the San Diego FC did announce some bar partners , some pub partners. I forget exactly which pubs they announced. If you don't want to make the investment in the in MLS season pass because , you know , unfortunately it's just another subscription you're going to have to add to , which can get very annoying when it comes to trying to follow all these leagues and all these all these sports. But , um , SFC did announce a pub partner program , and I'm not entirely sure which ones that they , they noted , but , uh , but that's also an option there. If you don't , you don't want to get a subscription. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Something to look out for.
S2: To say nothing. Caesar. That that soccer's just more fun. Watched with other people , you know ? There you go. Yeah , I think I think more really , maybe more so than any other sport. You know , you can walk into a bar and meet up with a bunch of fellow fans and , and it becomes really fun , really fast. And I think that that's something , again , I'm excited to watch develop here in San Diego as the San Diego FC kind of gets rooted here , right ? You know , where are the fun places to go ? Watch them. If you if you can't go to Snapdragon Stadium , you know , where can you go. And and uh , you know what ? Different bars offer different things. I think that that's going to be a really fun offshoot of of this team.
S4: Yeah , 100%.
S1: And those , uh , pub partners that you mentioned there , it sounds like they're mavericks , Mr. Tempo and McGregor's so you know FC's their first regular season match is Sunday afternoon.
S4: It's going to be a really interesting litmus test against the current title holders in MLS. Yes , it's not the same champions from from last season , and what fans will soon learn is that success doesn't exactly mean that you can maintain your same roster in MLS , and I'm sure it's the same for other sports. So Galaxy have changed in the off season. That being said , it's not easy to go up against the Galaxy , especially up at Dignity Health Sports Park. So I'm curious to see one if Chucky Lozano lives up to the hype , and two if CFC will be competitive from the get go. Alejandro.
S6: Alejandro.
S3: Yeah , no. Can I want to piggyback that off from Cesar ? It's just I want to make sure I want to see that if they kind of have that chemistry already built. Uh , we've heard Mikey Vargas , their head coach , talking about the team already finding their identity. So I kind of want to see if it's shown on this game. I do think those score first in this game , if anyone's interested in here in that , but I think they'll end up tying this game , to be honest.
S1: Ryan , your final thoughts from you ? Yeah.
S2: To me , I look at , you know , is this going to be the team that lost its first two exhibition matches by a total score of 6 to 1 ? Or is this going to be the team that won six oh , right in its third and final exhibition ? Um , to me it's can you be aggressive offensively without getting beat on the back end ? I mean , to me that's what it's all going to come down to. Uh , it's a really challenging first match for them , but I'm super excited to watch them play again.
S1: SFC kicks off uh , their first regular season match this Sunday at 4 p.m. against the LA Galaxy in Carson , and they'll be hosting their home opener Saturday , March 1st at Snapdragon Stadium. I want to thank my guests this week Sister Hernandez. He covers soccer for ESPN. Cesar , thanks so much for joining us.
S4: Yeah , thanks so much for having me.
S1: Alejandro Villasenor has also been with us. He's with San Diego football. You can hear him on the podcast Two Balls and a mic as well. Alejandro , thanks a lot for making the time.
S3: Thank you so much for the invitation.
S1: And Ryan Finley is sports editor with the San Diego Union Tribune. Ryan , thanks to you. Great.
S2: Great. Anytime , anytime.
S1: That'll do it for a roundtable this week. Thanks so much for listening. If you missed any of today's show , you can listen to roundtable anytime as a podcast. KPBS roundtable airs on KPBS FM at noon on Fridays again Sundays at 6 a.m.. If you have any thoughts on today's show , you can email us at roundtable at PBS.org. You can also leave us a message at (619) 452-0228. Roundtable's technical producer this week was Brandon Truffaut. The show was produced by Ashley Rush. Brooke Ruth is Roundtable's senior producer. I'm Andrew Bracken , thanks again for listening and have a great weekend.
