The Copa America tournament opener may have pitted Argentina against Canada on the pitch last Thursday, but Atlanta also had a stake in the match: showcasing its steady growth as a soccer city and ability to host world-class events ahead of the World Cup 2026.
Netting a contest featuring reigning world-champion Argentina gave a small foretaste of the football fanaticism that the city can expect when FIFA brings eight matches including a semifinal to town in two years.
It also showed how sports can create a springboard for international investment recruitment.
On the morning of the match, fans crowded around the Westin Peachtree Plaza in hopes of glimpsing the legendary Argentine footballer Lionel Messi, who caused a stir when he didn’t play in Inter Miami’s match against Atlanta United last September.
Other supporters fanned out for tailgates in downtown parking lots or day trips to Atlanta sights, taking in the city as they awaited the evening match. Heavily favored Argentina ended up taking home a 2-0 victory.
The outcome dashed even the modest hopes of Canada Soccer President Peter Augruso.
“I’m hoping that you don’t score too many goals. But I feel in my bones we’re going to get one, so if we get one I’m very happy,” Mr. Augruso said during a breakfast roundtable at the Metro Atlanta Chamber that featured a heavy presence of Argentine tech companies using AI, big data and virtual reality to augment the fan experience and help companies drive revenue and engagement.
While Canada didn’t manage to put one on the board, it did hold Messi scoreless despite some breakaway shots deftly deflected by goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau.
Still, sharing the pitch with the Argentines was privilege enough for a Canadian crew whose core aspiration is to keeping moving up from No. 49 and crack the world’s top-25 in the coming years, Mr. Augruso said.
“In order for us to be with the top nations, we have to play against the top nations, and sometimes it hurts, but that’s how you grow the sport,” he said.
The global “football family” may be fiercely competitive on the field, but teams often will share best practices and ideas.
“People are willing to help, and it doesn’t matter if you do not speak Spanish, or speak Italian, or if you don’t speak French. In football, the language is the game, and people are willing to help.”
Perhaps for that reaoson, Canada is seeing a huge uptick in soccer among its growing foreign-born communities. Last year, Canada welcomed 500,000 new residents in a country of just over 38 million, Mr. Augruso said.
“Immigration is helping with the growth of the game. Now our goal is to put eyes on it.”
Argentine Ambassador Gerardo Werthein, a prominent businessman and longtime member of the International Olympic Committee before his appointment by new Argentina President Javier Milei, similarly believes that despite rivalries, sport can be used as an agent for social cohesion — as long as tempers don’t boil over.
“Football is a way of uniting people. It’s much more than a game. It’s a passion, and we have to keep this passion together with peace,” Mr. Werthein said, sharing an anecdote about an area in Argentina overcoming school integration problems by creating a soccer team.
He praised the U.S. for its development of the game, as teams like Atlanta United have ignited passionate fanbases and the U.S., Canada and Mexico have come together to host the next FIFA World Cup. Canada has two host cities: Toronto and Vancouver.
The U.S., he said, should continue to invest in top-tier players but also make sure that there is a healthy pipeline of young talent to continue its growth path.
“Anything that the USA takes seriously, it will be a success,” he said, praising the U.S. as “one of the greatest countries in the world.”
Both men shared optimism about the women’s game, with Mr. Augruso saying it represents an “untapped market” with “limitless potential” in Canada and beyond. Mr. Werthein noted that in the Olympic context, gender equality has been a guiding light.
During a Q&A session led by Argentina Consul General Alana Lomonaco Busto, a delegation of Argentine sports technology companies — a key sector of interest for Atlanta — shared ways that they are using immersive technologies to boost inclusion while driving growth for clubs.
Guardians of the Ball CEO Federico Khaski said his platform is going “from storytelling to story-living,” allowing people to connect via their devices to stadiums all over the world, and even travel through time to watch classic matches featuring bygone heroes.
“The idea is to teleport people from their houses to any stadium any part of the world,” he said.
Sports needs to keep up with the fast-changing landscape of digitization to provide the experiences that fans expect, he said. Economically it’s also key, since many teams have millions of fans but venues that can only seat 30,000 people at a time.
“What about the other millions? We are helping them to feel and live the experience.”
Other Argentine companies featured included:
Ole Media — a soccer news platform expanding its coverage into North America while trying to use AI and other tech to help viewers get access to snippets of the game as their viewing habits change.
ScoutTech — a hiring platform applying sophisticated statistical modeling for gathering and sorting soccer data with the goal of improving talent acquisition. With 600,000 young soccer players around Argentina alone, helping scouts sift and find hidden gems can be extremely lucrative.
Globant — a tech giant working with FIFA, F1 and to bridge digital and physical experiences. “The secret recipe is to create emotion when the fan is not in the game, so we’re creating bridges in day to day life,” said Ariel Capone, who added that he is most excited about how lessons from AI use in sports will later be applied to treating cancer and depression.
Argentina Juniors Football Club — a storied team using its history as a developer of players like football legend Diego Maradona to cultivate young talent that can be sold to teams around the world, erasing the club’s debt and putting it on firmer financial footing. Now the company has invested millions in its facilities and is opening academies around the world to double down on the model.
Good Morning Sports — A platform for fan engagement events.
Siemens Argentina — How buying a company in Argentina helped advance innovation
Aleph — working on an edtech platform to train the next generation of tech talent
…and many more.
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Publish date : 2024-06-25 00:03:37
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