The Money Behind Creating a Company to Live From Fútbol
What it actually takes to build a fútbol business in Miami: unfair advantages, stomach problems for seven months, and the moment I realized I was aiming at the wrong market.
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?