A Mastermind is what happens when key people come together with intention, structure, and a shared stake in each other's success.

Napoleon Hill called it "the coordination of knowledge and effort between two or more people who work towards a definite purpose in a spirit of harmony."

But the part that matters most: when minds come together this way, they create "a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind."

That third mind is the one that sees what you missed. The one that asks the question you did not know to ask. The one that holds you to the goal you set three weeks ago.

THE CFL MASTERMIND LAUNCHES SEPTEMBER 22.

Third Tuesday of the month. 6:30 p.m. At American Social in Brickell.

This is not a happy hour with fútbol in the background. This is the room where the game becomes the lens we use to talk about markets, leadership, media rights, ownership models, and the economics behind what we love.

Co-hosted with Jaime Macias, the Telemundo and Apple TV sports bench-marker & analyst consultant. He will decode the business of the sport: what is happening in club ownership, the influence of broadcast deals, the commercial backbone of the game we watch every weekend.

The format is simple. A strategic topic. Guest voices from the industry. Open dialogue among our CFL players, AKA: You.

Casual setting. Serious exchange.
This is the birth of the CFL Networking series.

EL DATO

It started with the CFL Awards Gala in 2025. That night showed us what happens when you give the community a stage and a reason to gather beyond the game.

Then came the Altura Capital happy hour. Both proved the same thing: our players want more than the pitch. They want the connection. They want to build true relations.

The Mastermind is my vision for bringing the best of us around what we love.

LA JUGADA

The CFL has something rare. Our players are not just athletes on Saturday. They are interesting people who have traveled. Who have sat in boardrooms across industries. Who understand markets, operations, media, finance.

With fútbol, who have attended matches in different countries and built careers in different corners of business.

That profile allows us to build a different kind of room.

Instead of just another networking event where people drink and chat, the Mastermind invites us to use our minds. To dig into what we know in a conversational mode.

To show the depth of who we are and what we have seen.
It seduces us to think together.

In the CFL We Are All Stars

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Week one of the CFL Finance Cup. A fresh start, with a new lineup of teams that barely know each other.

Most players keep to themselves. Most will just play and leave. But a few shake hands after. A few stop to talk.

Eventually, this will change. And that's the beauty of the CFL.

This is not me building community. This is the community starting to build itself.

THE SHIFT YOU CAN FEEL

Nowadays we call any gathering a community: LinkedIn groups. Slack channels. Group chats. Almost any event.

But there is a difference.

A group is gathered by one figure. It responds to one leader. Common interest brings them together, and the organizer holds it together.

A community is different.

The core is not in the organizer anymore. The core is distributed. It lives in hundreds of relationships happening on their own. You set the conditions, but you do not control what happens inside.

The community exists when the leader loses control of the group. And that common interest is what allows it to keep it together.

THE FINANCE CUP IS THE PROOF

Eight teams. Santander. Morgan Stanley. JP Morgan. UBS, Ocean Bank, EFG, the Reinsurances.

Some players know each other from work. Most do not. At the beginning, teams are shy. Players keep their distance.

But the CFL has one advantage: repetition.
Every Saturday, 8 AM. Same pitch. Same faces.

Week one, they play their match. A few stay. A few talk.
That is when you see it’s starting.

They do not all need to be friends. The community is also shaped by rivalries, by differences, by groups within the group.

But when they identify each other as part of one whole, everything changes.

The Finance Cup is not just a bracket. It is the platform for one sector to foster true relations.

LA JUGADA

You cannot build a community by controlling it. You build it by creating the conditions where it can build itself.

The conditions are simple: shared interest, repeated interaction, the opportunity for expression, and space for people to connect on their own terms.

Set the rhythm. Protect the space. Then step back.

The job is not to make every connection. The job is to make the conditions where connections happen without you. That is when you know it is real.

That number 13 jersey is being worn somewhere in your office, too. And the story behind each of us is what makes us one.

Use code CFLFAM at checkout and get your first month for just $1!

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THE SECTOR WE BUILT FOR

Eight teams from Miami's finance world: Morgan Stanley, Ocean Bank, JP Morgan, UBS Bank, Santander, EFG, Reinsurance United (AIG), and Reinsurance City (AON, Liberty).

Some are back. Ocean Bank, Santander, UBS Bank: they were founding squads, and now they return.

That return matters.

Getting banks to commit takes time. Captains pitch to their players, then to HR, then to marketing, then to VPs. Finance has a reputation for working in silos, and brands in this world move carefully with their image.

So when they say yes, it is a big deal to us.

The format: round robin so everyone plays everyone. Top four advance to semi-finals and finals. Bottom four play silver finals. **Everyone is guaranteed nine matches.**

Nine Saturdays. Nine chances to meet someone. Nine mornings where the hierarchy flattens and the squad forms.

We care about who plays. How they experience it. Who they meet.

This is not a weekend tournament that delivers a trophy and disappears. This is nine weeks of showing up. That is where the relations form.

EL DATO

Corporate sports leagues work because informal ties predict performance better than org charts.

MIT's Human Dynamics Lab proved it. Gallup found employees with a best friend at work are seven times more likely to be engaged. The National Bureau of Economic Research showed corporate sports participants report 25% higher workplace satisfaction and form cross-departmental relationships at twice the rate.

The squad creates what meetings cannot.

The captains who lead these squads show something their companies notice. They recruit. They coordinate across departments. They pitch internally to get budget and buy-in. Harvard Business Review found 70% of emerging leaders first demonstrated cross-functional influence through employee-led initiatives outside their core role.

That level of initiative does not go unnoticed.

LA JUGADA

If your company is in finance and you want to be part of next season: reach out. The captains who join early get first choice on match times and bracket placement.

We are building this one as a boutique version of the CFL for this sector. Every detail matters: from the pitch hydration to how we structure the brackets to guarantee interaction across firms.

This is the model.

You are welcome to join us every Saturday at 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM. Watch the matches. Meet the squads. See what we are building.

All of it shared across our social media so you can follow from anywhere. Let's partner if you can bring value to the League.

That is what fútbol does. That is what the CFL Finance Cup delivers.

Leo

What company in Miami finance do you think should be in the next Finance Cup edition?

THE GAP WHERE WE'RE FREE

We're in a moment where everything is being automated.

Goldman Sachs Research estimates that generative AI could expose the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs to automation, and in March 2026, AI became the number one most-cited reason for workforce reductions for the first time ever.

Whether it's our work or what we do with our time, we're starting to lose some kind of contact with reality.

But this isn't something we should fight against.

It's just part of how society is evolving. We should dive deep into it and make the most of it.

So what does that make fútbol?

Fútbol becomes the gap where we are free.

Not free from AI. Free to be.

When you play, you have this chance to express valuable traits of yourself that no computer can perform:

- Leadership.
- Teamwork.
- Fast decision making.
- Managing conflict.

So many complex things happen in fractions of seconds. No one can make these decisions for you.

You have the ball. You have to mark the man. Pass or shoot?

And when you play a tournament, it gets even more interesting. There are rivalries. Leadership conflicts. Long-term decisions versus short-term results.

There's this key ingredient inside us, the inner star, that turns even a Wednesday pickup game as important as a World Cup final.

So emotions emerge.

Parts of ourselves are exposed:

- Frustration.
- Glory.
- Anger.
- Excitement.
- Joy.
- Euphoria.

Sometimes personal. Sometimes collective.

And this is why we create such deep relations with whom we play. Because we see parts of each other that otherwise would never be exposed.

Research consistently shows that people who maintain participation in organized sports or recreational leagues report lower rates of depression, higher social connectedness, and better stress management than sedentary peers.

Such richness of experiences can't be performed by computers.

But are we against computers?

Of course not.

We're building the CFL world using the best of technology to provide the best personal experience to our players and our CFL community.

Technology serves the human thing. Not the other way around.

EL DATO

Adult recreational soccer league registrations in the U.S. jumped 14% in the six months following the 2026 World Cup final, the sharpest post-tournament spike on record.

LA JUGADA

If you haven't played this week, do it with your heart.
Put your soul in it because it is sacred.

Invite that friend. Wear cool jerseys. Run for the ball. Give your best.

We're not getting any younger, so let's enjoy what we can.
Fútbol is not a hobby. It's our sanctuary in the marketplace.

The space where no algorithm can reach us is the space we should protect the most.

We Are All Stars.

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THE WORK BEHIND THREE YEARS BUILDING IN MIAMI

1. The way to find the path is to get in action and try.

I knew everything I wanted. I had done the research.
When I started, almost nothing from my initial plan worked.

The audience wasn't interested. Brands didn't want to sponsor. Venues preferred renting day by day.

But by starting, I found what I wasn't expecting.
Our content was shaped by new players. Executive experiences became our best offer. The Corporate Fútbol League changed everything. We became a fútbol business agency.

Starting is the only teacher that shows you what actually works. You learn who your real audience is. You discover the offer they want. You find the revenue model that fits reality, not your deck.

The insight: your job is not to execute the plan. Your job is to create the conditions to learn fast. Every conversation that doesn't go as expected is data. Every "no" from a brand redirects you toward the "yes" that matters.

All of this can only be learned by starting.

2. Planning is underrated.

It will never happen as you planned. But planning allows you to learn from what you're doing.

You understand what works and why.
Here's what planning actually gives you: the ability to notice when reality diverges from expectation. That gap is where the insight lives. Without a plan, you're reacting. With a plan, you're learning.

When an unexpected opportunity shows up, planning lets you evaluate it fast. Does it fit the structure? Does it accelerate a goal? Does it open a door you didn't see?
You make the most of unexpected opportunities because you understand how to make them part of what you've built.

Planning is not about control. Planning is the best way to optimize for all the unexpected.

3. Learn every day: from books, podcasts, people, yourself.

There are universes of knowledge from people better than you. People who have focused on sharing their wisdom.

Make the most of it. Open your mind.
A framework from a book changes how you price. A podcast guest mentions a sponsorship model you didn't know existed. A founder two steps ahead tells you the mistake they made so you don't repeat it.

Study what you did. What worked and didn't. Learn, try again, go full throttle once you took note.

Every time you're with someone valuable, ask. The best operators are generous with specifics if you ask the right question.

The compounding happens when you combine what you learn from the world with what you learn from yourself.

EL DATO

Today FCnoise runs a league with 20+ companies fielded and 400+ players in the ecosystem. None of that was in the original plan.

LA JUGADA

Pick one thing you've been researching or planning. Start it this week. Small. Imperfect. The path reveals itself in motion.
Three years of FCnoise and I just understand that I don't know much.
But what I've learned is the base to go for a bit more every day.
This is the love of building the ultimate community through the love of fútbol.
What's one thing you started that taught you something you never could have planned for?

Thank you for being part of this community.

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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NETWORK AND SOCIAL CAPITAL

I think having a good network is one of the most important things in life.

But let me be clear: I'm not talking about the LinkedIn grind. Not the events where everyone is chasing the next deal or the next promotion.

I'm talking about building a network that actually adds value to your life.

In the corporate world, there are rules. Certain behaviors expected. Professional boundaries that exist for good reason.

But behind all of that, we are people.

When you have a real network, you learn from so many different topics and hobbies. You start playing padel. You pick up golf again. You play fútbol on Saturday mornings.

But then you meet new friends. New opportunities. New businesses.

You share books that change your life. You have dinners that open you to new worlds. You learn from markets. You see how other families set priorities: what people invest their time in, their money, their energy. How they stay fit.

It's not only the business you can close. It's not only the promotion you can get.

It's about growing. But it's also the company of the people. Their presence. A good conversation. Building new friendships.

Not all friendships have to go as deep as a childhood one. But you can build different levels and branches of relations. One for exercising. Another for investing. It's like a big mastermind where you are the silent director of your life.

In Colombia, there is a saying: "Es mejor tener amigos que plata."

This doesn't mean your friends are going to give you money. But when you have a strong network, you can actually get anywhere you want. They teach you. They help you. They support you.

Most of all, because you can also be that person to anyone.

One of the most important things you can be in life is useful.

There's nothing more rewarding than helping someone achieve their dreams. Helping someone close that deal. When you teach someone something, that person gains so much value. But you also get that benefit: you confirm who you are. You strengthen your identity with yourself.

You are transforming lives.

Don't be afraid to give. Don't be afraid to teach. Don't be afraid to connect.

The world is so abundant that everyone has room to grow and improve. When you help someone grow, you are transforming your own life.

Give, give, give. Connect, connect, connect.

There are so many things you know that you think are not valuable because they are easy for you. Because they come naturally. But for others, they can be a life-changing insight. A tool. An experience.

This is the true social capital: the value of the warmth of sharing with someone. That is what makes us human.

WHY THE CFL IS A PLATFORM FOR REAL CONNECTION

This is why the Corporate Fútbol League matters.

You are sharing with people from so many different backgrounds. Premium people who have had great experiences, great education. They are growing in strong industries and lanes.

But when you play fútbol, it's very different.

You are exposed with your emotions. With your physique. Running. Wanting to play. You really need to show up as yourself.

Sometimes you explode in anger. Frustration. Glory. Joy.

When you allow yourself to be seen, that's what connects us.

That's why the CFL in the timeline becomes a way to connect. All of us have seen each other in so many different facets.

That is what is so valuable about what we're building with FCnoise: something beyond the corporate compliance.

For me as Leo, it's so great because I get to know so many valuable people. Such capital of valuable people. I get to know them inside: the leaders, the followers, the promoters, the ones who keep up the energy, the ones who support.

This is why I love the CFL as Leo.

But I feel so proud to share it with the world. To share it with my community so that my community benefits from it.

EL DATO

The CFL fields 30+ companies and 900+ players in the ecosystem. Most of them are immigrants in Miami. Every Saturday, they show up at 8 AM in Brickell to be themselves.

LA JUGADA

Pick one person in your network you have really connected with.

Give them something this week: an intro, a book recommendation, an insight they need. No transaction. Just value.

Watch what happens when you give without asking.

THE ECHO

Building social capital is not about collecting business cards. It's about building prime relations where you grow and transform lives by giving.

What's one thing you know that feels easy to you but could be life-changing for someone else?

SoccerPath helps parents find the right soccer program for their child — compare 7,000+ academies & clubs and 14,000+ programs across the US, free

BODY
Leo here.

Three years ago I left a 13-year career to build FCnoise full-time in Miami. Today we run the Corporate Fútbol League with 20 teams, executive private experiences, and we just kicked off the Finance Cup.

The point of this issue is not motivation. The point is that you can be courageous and strategic at the same time. You don't need to kill yourself on the first try.

THE MONEY BEHIND CREATING A COMPANY TO LIVE FROM FÚTBOL

I started FCnoise as an idea in 2006. Germany World Cup. I had surgery, my vesícula removed, and I spent 30 days watching every single match. When it ended, I wanted more. That's when I knew: fútbol could be every minute of my life.

FCnoise was part of every college project. Graphic design. Marketing. Ideas. I started executing at 21 and had early success with big brands. The original plan: a soccer club competing in lower divisions to promote players.

But how do you get followers in a city that bleeds green or red for Deportivo Cali and America de Cali? I created a tournament so people could love a brand that made them enjoy fútbol again. You could be orange for FCnoise AND loyal to your childhood team.

Then I stepped away for ten years. Spiritual coaching. One-on-one sessions, workshops, conferences. I supported hundreds of people pursuing their dreams. And every time I listened to them, a fire burned inside me asking me to do it myself.

In 2023, I couldn't resist anymore. I came to Miami to rebuild FCnoise, this time solely focused on community and experience.

I researched 15+ tournaments in town. No one was doing what I envisioned. I started with two tournaments in August 2023. I could only find four teams per edition. One was always the FCnoise team. Another was Fushion FC: all the players who wanted to play but didn't have a team.

I had stomach problems for more than seven months. My model didn't work.

Then I worked Copa America. I told myself: I was made for this.

After that, I created the Corporate Fútbol League. I took 30 days to think and plan. I read Alex Hormozi's "100 Million Dollar Leads" and "100 Million Dollar Offers." This is how I brought the first teams: FIFA, Santander, Visa, UBS, Peña Real Madrid, EFG, and of course FCnoise.

The key learning: I had been pointing at a market that didn't care about experience. They played for money. That was their rush.

I needed the market that valued experience. That could go crazy with my proposal. I found it in the corporate world.

Back home, it wasn't called the Corporate Fútbol League. It was the FCnoise Cup. Same people I knew. I couldn't see the difference in the market.

Today: executive private experiences, CFL with two divisions and 20 teams, Cup of the League, and now the Finance Cup.

EL DATO

From four teams in August 2023 to 20 corporate teams in the CFL today. Seven months of stomach problems in between. The gap was not the model. It was the market.

LA JUGADA

Use your unfair advantages. I had 13 years coaching people through their dreams and years executing fútbol ideas in college. When I finally aimed those advantages at the RIGHT market, everything moved. Map your advantages, then aim them where they compound.

What's the dream you've been coaching others through while the fire burns inside you?

Leo here.

Some of you have known FCnoise for years, through emails about the Corporate Fútbol League: results, updates, what happened last Saturday. This is something different, starting today. Every week, one real story from inside the business of fútbol: the money, the decisions, the numbers nobody shows you. No news, no scores. Just what’s worth five minutes of your Wednesday.

This week: what it actually costs to chase your national team to a World Cup match, and whether it’s worth it. I know, because I did it four days ago.

THE MONEY BEHIND WATCHING YOUR TEAM AT A WORLD CUP

Two nights before Colombia played Ghana in Kansas City, I found out I was going.

The itinerary the airlines handed me: Miami to Baltimore. Baltimore to Denver. Denver to Kansas City. I flew directly over the state of Kansas to land in it three connections later. Twelve hours, one way, to watch ninety minutes of fútbol.

In October, that route was $300. Booked two days before kickoff, it was $1,100, and I paid another $150 to sit somewhere I could actually sleep. Call it $1,250 for a plane seat. Almost four times the normal fare, and I wasn’t even paying the worst price in that airport.

That’s not bad luck, it’s the market. Fares to World Cup host cities have run 40 to 80 percent above normal all tournament, and on flights booked right before a match, some prices have run 200 to 400 percent over baseline. I got Kansas City on a good week.

Hotel, I got lucky. My friend Nico, founder of Dapta AI and one of my closest advisors since before FCnoise existed, handled that piece while I chased tickets. We landed in what our driver diplomatically called “an up-and-coming neighborhood.” It was fine, actually good once we were inside. But it told me something: in a host city, even the fallback options aren’t cheap, and nobody warns you until you’re standing in the lobby.

Inside the stadium, a beer was $20. A chicken tender basket was $60. Water was $20 to $25. I’m not exaggerating for the newsletter, that’s what I paid.

Turns out I wasn’t special. Beer prices across World Cup stadiums this summer have ranged from $8 to over $21, and fans from Toronto to Kansas City have been posting the same disbelief all tournament. FIFA didn’t standardize concessions this cycle, every venue runs its own pricing. Atlanta kept beer around $8. Kansas City did not.

Here’s the number that actually matters: FIFA’s own projections put this tournament’s revenue between $8.9 and $11 billion, the most profitable World Cup ever run. Everyone talks about that number. Almost nobody talks about the $20 beers that helped get it there. Revenue is the headline. Fans covering the gap, one Powerade at a time, is the business model.

All in: four days in Kansas City cost me somewhere between $2,000 and $2,500. Flight, food, the small stuff, I got lucky on tickets and lodging in ways most fans don’t. A fan doing this trip from scratch, flights, hotel, tickets, food, is looking at meaningfully more.

So: is it worth it?

The stadium held 69,045 people for this tournament. I’d guessed “almost 70,000” before I checked, my gut was right down to the seat. When Colombia’s anthem played, I stood in that crowd and cried. Not poetically, actually cried. Seventy thousand strangers who will likely never meet again, all wanting the same eleven people to win, for ninety minutes, in a city almost none of us had visited before that week.

Outside, the fan zone looked like Lollapalooza wearing four different flags. I watched an England fan cheering for Norway. I watched Colombians who’d just lost jumping in a circle with Ghana fans, because somebody still had to win that night. At the bar after, the bartender, and I’m fairly sure someone from the mayor’s office, wouldn’t let us pay for a round. Kansas City didn’t know us. It hosted us like family anyway.

I was there with Nico, and with Jigga and Santi, my two best friends since we were kids trading Panini stickers, and Santi’s son Adrián. That’s four days I’ll tell my own kids about. Top three of my life. I don’t know the other two yet.

So, the money behind watching your team at a World Cup: about $2,500 you didn’t plan to spend, on a version of joy you can’t buy anywhere else, once every four years. I’d wire it again tomorrow morning.

EL DATO

$8 to $21.50: the range Newsweek found for a single beer across 2026 World Cup stadiums this summer. No standard pricing, every venue sets its own. FIFA is projecting $8.9 to $11 billion in tournament revenue. The concessions aren’t a rounding error. They’re the business.

LA JUGADA

If you’re even considering the final or the third-place match this week: buy the flight today, not when the price “feels right.” It won’t. Fares to host cities have run 40 to 80 percent over normal all tournament, and the closer you get to kickoff, the worse it gets. I booked two days out and paid for it. Don’t be me. Book today, sort logistics tomorrow.

Are you going to the final? Hit reply, I’ll read you.

Leo

By the way, since we’re talking all things World Cup, we have to ask: Messi or Mbappé? Who ya got?

Head over to the video right now and drop your vote in the comments!
Messi vs Mbappé