Gerardo Martino: Business hinders football with ‘El Tri’

Gerardo Martino will be remembered as the head coach of what might have been one of Mexico’s worst performances at the World Cup. ‘El Tri’ failed to reach the group stage for the first time since 1978 and scored just two goals in three games. Despite the end result, the 60-year-old thinks Mexico did well in Qatar.

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“We played well in our three games in the group stage. We didn’t reach the level we had in our first two years in charge, But we did improve on the last area [2022]. I know we should have finished second in the group, but the final result was not a surprise. We tied for second with Poland and we lost to the champions [Argentina] We beat Saudi Arabia,” Martino said in an interview Radio 780 in Paraguay.

mexican football is a business

As we all know, Mexico is one of the national teams with the highest income during the World Cup cycle. Before the 2018 tournament, El Tri had a total of 12 sponsors, four years later they have 20 sponsors including: Adidas, Banorte, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Kavak, Bitso, Xiaomi, Sabritas, Gamesa, BeGo, Lala, Corona , Visa, G500, Betcris, Izzi, LG, Draftea, ADO and Hyperice, according to Havas Media Group.

Sponsors are considered at a premium given the revenue they generate for the national team each World Cup cycleAccording to the report, the Mexican Football Federation makes $10-150 million a year from these endorsements, with Adidas alone paying $80 million a year and other sponsors generating $20-45 million.

a mexican fan l

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a mexican fan lKarim JafarAFP

In September 2022, before the start of the World Cup, Mexico will rank fourth in the world with sales of 1.6 million replica jerseys, second only to Spain, Argentina and France. The rest of the money the federation receives comes from broadcast rights (30%) and gate receipts (20%).according to El economistMexico will receive around $9 million for each friendly they play in the US under their new contract with Soccer United Marketing (SUM), which is extended until 2026.

That being said, when Martino accepted the Mexico job in 2019, he had no idea how big the national team business was. “The business side is pretty obvious. I have no objection because it’s everyone’s salary and we can’t live without the commercial side of the sport. But in my opinion, I want something more balanced.

Geraldo Tata Martino

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Geraldo Tata MartinoJose MendesEffie

I understand what it takes to keep going, but football cannot be excluded. It’s not just about making money because we let the sport die and if it dies the commercial side dies too. “

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