My World Cup Predictions, Soccer in the US, and All Things Social With Rio Ferdinand

and I will still say this I believe the reason proper football has the momentum it has in the U. S besides globalization besides social media was originally because of FIFA the video game the rooftop on a football pitch soccer pitch with Mr garyvee we call it football too us Americans have learned proper football you're messy I didn't realize you were a football fan I've heard about you looking and talking I've watched an actual video of you talking about it's a great story by the way about wanting to buy the Jets yes yeah and but I didn't kind of correlate it up between that football and this football you know my I was born in Belarus the former Soviet Union and my dad um was a man that worked all of my childhood and is also a quiet guy not as talkative as I am but the one thing he would talk about all the time was when the USSR made the final four in the World Cup when he was a kid and so the World Cup was a big deal in 86 um uh with Maradona that finals I watched that with my uncle and my dad and so that kind of got me going in 94 it was in the U. S and what's happened in the states in the last 20 years is profound I mean the far majority of kids under 18 in the U. S who are into sports have a Premier League team so it's but in 94 it hadn't happened yet but I went to that World Cup and went to uh the Italy Ireland match which was a big one and so that got me going and then where it really took off and I will still say this I believe the reason proper football has the momentum it has in the U. S besides globalization besides social media was originally because of FIFA the video game oh the game yeah the game I remember in college we would play Madden we would play the basketball back then it was NBA live now it's 2K and FIFA came out and I bought it and I for Sega Genesis and I brought it home and all my friends all my mates were like and then by a month later it was the only game everyone was playing and that started the process so for me the World Cup's a big deal I follow it very heavily I was crushed when the US didn't qualify for the last one um uh but American football and the New York Jets specifically is my deep passion so much so that when I got here I had to miss the opening ceremonies because the Jets were playing the Patriots and I watched the game in the hotel room they get beat like late on in the game they lost such a heartbreaker it was just the guy caught it and ran the hole in for the field huh with five seconds left in the game it was 3-3 and he ended the game and you know for us there are Boogeyman we haven't beaten the Patriots in 14 matches and so for seven years because we played twice a year so yes it's my deep passion so if anybody who's watching you might not know yes imagine there's many yes what do you do now what is your main state of business now I uh I'm an entrepreneur the two I run two major businesses right now one is a global advertising agency so you know if you've seen the show Mad Men which was a global phenomenon what are the 2020 to 2023 version of that social media television all marketing globally uh 2 000 people around the world APAC UK US Latin Mexico City uh will eventually expand here into the Middle East soon uh so that's one and then over on the other side the other thing I do full time is uh I started intellectual property multimedia brand called V friends which is like a mix between Pokemon and Sesame Street uh 200 80 characters that I created launched them as an nft project now you know executed in collectible trading cards toys um animation so building up IP which is really exciting and you know the third chapter of my life is the garyvee of it all where I talk about the things that I'm passionate about kindness competitiveness I call it purple in the US we've become very polarized between the blue and the red of the political parties but I find myself very purple you know I uh I've been kindness and being compassionate and sympathetic are requirements to humanity at the same token I believe in winning and building and competing and so the mix of those two things that matter to me so you know I just want to go back to marketing and the pr yes you're immersed in from a football perspective yes how can football do more to kind of amplify the game in the states well I think you know some of the stuff that you and your team have been doing congrats to you and many others I think you know I think that it's happening I think what can be done more it's all storytelling

at the end of the day this is all storytelling literally before I flew out for this trip kid in my office said man could you imagine Argentina Portugal and you know what he's referring to is two superheroes playing against each other in their final World Cups it's a dream story stories right Stories the Fist stories right uh and so I think that storytelling matters and so you look at Beckham you look at Ronaldo you look at mbappe you know just even how much his story has been told in the States but there's so many other young players ironically many on the England team that just need more stories more conversations I think trading cards and stickers have been huge the US is very much into collecting cards obviously they're in proper football it's normally stickers that's been huge that's been the guy I'll see you does that who is your Meek Mill Meek Mill's into it buster there's a another Jewish guy a white guy oh Eric W um nonetheless there's a lot of personalities doing a ton of uh I've done a ton with the trading cards the video games the documentaries look at formula one I mean F1 was I you couldn't find an American talking about formula one five years ago if you looked for them and paid someone to talk about it one Netflix execution and you know I hear about Max and Hamilton once a week in random conversations and so you know I think it's storytelling you know and I think proper football I actually would argue that football has done as good of a job I would say mixed martial arts I would say basketball but those are the global Sports now crazy because I mean the American Sports is just so powerful within America and they're trying to globalize their games as well I come in here yes I was part of the thinking of that with I don't need a premier league but man united the team I played yes used to come to the states the owners were Americans that's right all that commercialization that's right growing the brand but you always felt like it just wasn't sticking but I get again there's a World Cup coming and that's going to be really important and I think us as a brand as well five are going to be making a real good push to kind of come into that market you know again when you grow up in Europe any interest in America even today seems quite small when you're an American the interest is so much greater than it was a decade ago that it feels like it's sticking um I do think the world company America is obviously Canada Mexico is going to be a profound moment but look I think if you go back to two and three World Cups ago even making the round of 16 captured America's attention the ratings on those matches were enormous you know I'd like to think as an American that it's going to happen in my lifetime where that team comes along and the interest at the Young level is so much greater and you do have kids who are six and seven the LeBron James of the world the DeAndre Hopkins these freak athletes I do believe more of them are considering football than American football than basketball and you're going to get the right group of two or three kids that eventually are going to time you said it before we went on air it's timing if we in America if we get the right two or three kids to choose football instead of the other Alternatives at the right time at the same time and capture the right moment you get a final four you get a finals in the U. S in the World Cup in the next 20 years I think you'll see America continue with it so I mean even the MLS is a far healthier league today than many of us thought they could ever be 20 years ago and so and you see Christian playing at the highest levels like there's just too many people there's too much money there's too much ambition there's too much American bravado it just feels like it's an inevitable and I think a final four team would take it I mean again for my father to continuously bring up that one the only USSR yeah England same right I mean you know like that's exactly it was the same World Cup it was both 66 for both of them it's amazing to me that for a half a century like later you can have so many people in England and in the former Soviet Union continue to talk about something that happened in 1966. so I think that's what America is looking for its final four run but I couldn't leave without speaking to you about If You Is Us yes

we've got a four year run now yes going to America what would be your key three or four steps I would bet the Forum on short form content and the algorithms so I would have an American plan for your content which I think you've done incredibly well but specifically for the states for Tick Tock YouTube shorts that is a battleground of awareness I would also be very aggressive in doing JVS like this reaching out to the top podcasts in culture the Mr beasts the Charlie demilios and everybody below that and do as much collaboration as possible I would Lean Into The Gamers I really do think the FIFA you know Gamers is a on YouTube and twitch is a huge audience um and I would be present it's a good time of year with the way that leagues work between premier league and MLS it gives you the opportunity to be in the state's off cycle and I think that's an important road but I think it's a culture and the sport itself and this you know it's fun to say this to you because you've already executed it it's more content more right it's just like shots on goal yeah like just keep putting shots reps keep putting shots on goal and so I think the more content you can produce for the channels that matter in the states and the individuals and the media platforms that matter in the states some I think some JVS some Partnerships with you know the bar stools the 137 PMS the different media Outlets complex and so I think there's a lot of opportunity so what are you doing here though I mean you love football obviously have you got anything planned what's your plans just some meetings with some of the local entrepreneurs and business people but the plans have been to absorb as much football as possible you know the timing worked out nice back to you know no different than I always like living the things that I talk about so if I'm going to sit here and tell you to make the commitment to the US and the road for me when I saw the schedule and I saw formula ones last weekend in Abu Dhabi and World Cup Opening you know and I could squeeze it in right before Thanksgiving which is a hair quieter these this Monday Tuesday which is normally a lot of stress for me a little quieter because of Thanksgiving it just kind of was a perfect storm and I made the commitment to make to put in the work and get out here and uh and I'm glad I did enjoy it but also when we spoke about earlier your team your passion for the Jets I've watched this video man the passion and the story was just like well it's only a matter of time before this guy buys his Club but I looked at the value of the club is four billion dollars if you've got four billion dollars you're standing of me there's a problem purchasing the Jets you know my plan is pretty simple I've done very well investing but I think I'm going to operate these two very enormously large companies they're both already pretty big boys and if I do that for the next 15 years properly I think that puts me in Striking Distance and then like anything you just we talked it's yes it's definitely that but you know I think I've got to build well through the two companies that I have the biggest equity in which is be friends and vaynerx um and then it's going to be similar to what we talked about this the theme of this whole conversation it's timing if I'm fortunate enough to be in a place of wealth creation that maps with when the club becomes available then Destiny played out and if not to be very Frank um I'm just enjoying the process of trying to achieve such a big goal is incredibly fulfilling and uh of course I would be disappointed especially if I was dangerously close and lost the bid to somebody but I can only control what I can control and that's what I focus on good just um as well as social media yes obviously pays up your life yes I'll just finish making like a three-part docky series for um Amazon yes and it was around football and sexuality and football mental health and football racism in football yes the key pillars in all of the three episodes was the impact of social media yeah and the negative edits that can surround it and that kind of the negative impact it can have on these athletes yes again where do you stand on social media in that sense I the way I stand on religion traditional media the way I stand on parenting I believe that social media is an amplifier of the truth that's within someone you know obviously the days of 2006 to 2010 or over where we all spent all our time talking about the greatness of social media it was connecting the world it allowed Americans to fall in love with proper football we've got to meet people we now are spending our time talking about the negativities of social media are empty pipes

media social media are empty pipes Tick Tock and YouTube and Facebook and Twitter these are empty pipes I think that what social media is doing is exposing humans truth I think that if everybody who's watching Reign out chose to see all the beauty in social media they would find it I for example on my birthday just 10 days ago decided to find 15 different gofundme's and contribute to them share them with my audience and we profoundly affected 15 different families lives in one minute on the flip side as you know a footballer I mean look what happened in England in that championship match I watched it by the second so both sides of humanity show up in social media because it's empty these are empty pipes that humans fill I don't believe that social media is doing anything other than showing us the truth I don't think the algorithm makes you a racist I think you're a racist that's exposed by the algorithm and so I think we're in this period right now where we're going through it I believe it's actually one step backwards two steps forward I think the exposing of some of our human shortcomings are actually going to allow us to address it and so for me I view social media as a net positive I think it's painful right now but I think we need to have a very substantial conversation in the world about modern parenting I think parents need to be accountable you know like putting your hands up that's not the parents we grew up with or our parents grew up with I also think parents need to focus on self-esteem building I mean I get hate every single day and I meet that with compassion for the other person and I mean that when somebody leaves Gary you're a blowhard you're full of crap you're not as good as you think you are you're bananas when I see those comments and much worse I don't feel bad about myself I feel compassion and empathy that someone is hurting so much that they're trying to tear me down is that because you're built a certain way that's right it's because that's right my circumstances my parenting and thus that is my message if you're a parent that deeply loves your child and you're so scared of tick tock or Twitter maybe you should focus on building their self-esteem and holding them accountable instead of blaming everybody besides yourself and so I think accountability you know it's funny I mentioned the friends there's a character I created a countable aunt and it is emerging as my favorite character of all my characters and that is because I genuinely believe that if we become more accountable that the world would be a much happier place and so if you're a parent watching right now and you're so mad at Instagram delete it from your child's phone but you don't want them to be upset with you maybe you should decide that being your friend's child your child's friend is not more important than being your child's parent and so once we lean into accountability and stop blaming everything governments people platforms and we start looking at what we can control I think we can have a much better world could you uh do you don't feel that any they do need help from the platform governments and legislation for instance there's new platforms coming out and I don't maybe have different ways of looking at it and battling with the in terms of verification yeah I look I believe that governments have a seated table I have I believe that entrepreneurs have a seat at the table I I've never struggled with the concept of let governments regulate that's fine uh but governments have regulated alcohol governments have regulated Firearms that's right we have to get into a bigger conversation and that conversation is how are we parenting what are our value systems can we tune out the outside noise and so I'm as an entrepreneur as a business person I'm pro-government involvement I'm fine whatever the governments want to decide we'll navigate around but I'm telling you once we take this on our table as parents as Elder silver I'm an oldest child as oldest siblings as humans as people of platforms you know one of the things one of the reasons I said yes to this is I think you're spewing positivity and I think people that are happy and people that see it right now negativity is quite loud I believe the people that are happy and have joy have a responsibility to get louder and that's why I produce the content I produce every single day in the face of a negative world that comes with judgment for your positivity might choose to get louder and I think people that are happy and positive need to do the same I love that I love it let's line it up I know you want the USA men's team I do want that unfortunately I'm gonna have to let you down and it's not going to happen I understand maybe in the four years we've got a better chance but who do you think realistically is going to win the World Cup I'm this weird vibe towards Spain wow yeah I think Spain is being slept on a little bit um that's who I've been going with the

whole time um I like most football fans around the world I'm Dreaming for Argentina Portugal as a final I mean I couldn't of course by the way actually I if I had my choice I I'm I actually have a lot of you know I was really disappointed that England and the US ended up in the same group because I actually have a lot of love towards England you know I back to it's been such a long time back to being a passion back to our incredible relationship with that beautiful country and so I would love to see England get there I have a weird feeling that Spain's gonna make a real run and then as I mean I couldn't even imagine how many people would watch Portugal Argentina in a final that would be one of the great Sports stories of the last hundred years and so there's definitely a part of me Romancing that final Portugal versus Argentina breaks the culture the whole world thank you for having me my friend good luck such a pleasure cheers thank you thank you foreign