The Unique And Appealing Culture Surrounding Soccer
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Learn more at phrma.org slash IPWorksWonders. Welcome to the Jason and Al's podcast. I'm Jason Chaffetz. Thanks for joining us. We got a lot of good stuff to talk about. There's always stuff happening in the news. And of course, there's always somebody doing something stupid. So we're going to definitely talk about those two things. And then we're going to bring on somebody that I'm excited about, Alexi Lawless. Now, you may or may not be a soccer or a soccer player.

The English would say football fan. But I think you're going to be fascinated because Alexi's been in the heart of American soccer for a long time. Major League Soccer is celebrating an anniversary that you won't believe. Fox Network is airing a lot of these shows. And then we have the World Cup that's coming up.

So, may not like soccer, may not be a football fan. You may not want to watch that round ball. But I'm telling you, I grew up with it. I loved it. A lot of families, you may have kids that do this. I've loved the sport. I think it's, I like it far better than any other sport.

And Alexi's just good, energetic, vibrant person, an amazing background. And I think the discussion will be a vibrant one. I never quite know exactly where it's going to go. So with Alexi, that's exponentially true. But he is fun. He's passionate. He loves his country and he certainly loves soccer. So I think we're going to have a good discussion about that and what it means in America and

I think it's a good thing, but I want to talk about stuff in the news because man, the news happens fast with Donald Trump. You've heard me say this before, but you got to give the guy an A plus off the chart. His ability to answer impromptu questions in mass is just, we've never seen a president like this.

And some may say, oh, well, you shouldn't do that. Well, you know what the converse of that, like the opposite of that is something contrived by some staffer you've never met or heard before who maybe didn't even spend time with the president. I mean, Kareem Jean-Pierre, I think, was fairly candid. I didn't see the full interview, but out there now in –

In the atmosphere is this idea that she wasn't in the room with the president in perpetuity. Oftentimes she was commenting about the president, the policy positions, but she wasn't in the room. Part of what makes a good spokesperson is somebody who has access and is sitting in on the meetings and then she or he can get out there and talk about them.

In the case of Donald Trump, not only does he have an exceptional spokesperson, I mean, she's just wonderful. That's a whole other topic. But his accessibility is just unparalleled. And so I want to try to unpack some of that and try to decipher at least a couple of things. Now, as you know, we do these podcasts a couple days in advance of their release. So we're coming into a government shutdown.

And I want to tackle this thing first because the president talked about it and there's some other things that he talked about. And I think the president is absolutely right. And I'll tell you why. First of all, the government shut down. Republicans did what I did not think they could do in the House. And that is they held it all together with one exception and voted for a continuing resolution that would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year in September. Now, that is a tough sell.

It's a tough sell, and you've got to have total faith in the president, Elon Musk, Doge, and what the administration in whole is doing. Because according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, that continuing resolution, which was a continuing resolution of 2024...

meant that you were going to take the Biden level spending and it can, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Maya McGinnis has run that organization. She's brilliant mind on numbers and I encourage you if you want to get in depth into the budget, go look at their website. Huge fan of her and that organization, what they do and how they do it. I relied heavily on them when I was in Congress. I rely on them heavily now.

Their analysis shows that that continuing resolution was a net increase in spending of roughly $10 billion. Now, it's very complicated because it gets into chimps, changes in mandatory programmatic spending, chimps, and what they call some fake chimps. And then you really start getting into the weeds of how the budget works. But...

80 to 90% of the budget is mandatory programmatic spending, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and hundreds of other programs.

The remaining 10% is the Department of Defense, interest on our debt, and all of those other agencies that you're familiar with. From the Department of Justice, the FBI, the FAA, the Environmental Protection Agency, you go down the list. You really, when Congress votes, they're only really talking about that last 10%. So that's why...

I don't think we ever fully solved the problem of funding of the government. Because if you don't root out, as Doge is keenly aware of, the mandatory programmatic spending and the waste, fraud, and abuse, the absolute fraud, just outright fraud...

then you start to run short of money because it's based on formulas in the increase in spending on that 80 to 90% of the budget. Hope that makes sense. So House Republicans go and they push forward on this continuing resolution because they want to implement what's called the rescission. So if you pass a budget and then you implement spending at that budget level,

The theory is, and we'll see how they execute on this, is that a president working with Congress can then spend less than what was appropriated.

Those recisions, those reductions will give the savings that fiscal hawks and conservatives in particular really want to see in order to have this savings that will amount to the amount of money that we need to to eventually reach balance. Now, remember, we got to balance an annual budget before we can start to pay down the $36 trillion. And that interest is going out the door so fast now.

to the tune of like $2 billion a day is what it takes to service the debt, that is the daily interest payment. So you can see how it's like unbelievable. And you hear Elon Musk, one of the smartest business minds that we have in this planet, and Donald Trump, a president who understands and gets this, that they're trying to get those reductions. Now, you can get there by increasing revenues,

and decreasing expenses. And you've heard lots of people saying, "Look, the problem with our federal budget is we don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem." You hear Secretary Besant, the Secretary of Treasury, talk about that a lot. It's true. We got this spending problem that's out of control. The first time they did the so-called Trump tax cuts, tax cuts came into play. Almost everybody in every economic class got tax cuts

Democrats would say, oh, it's just millionaires and billionaires. That's not true. It's just totally false. But what they did was when the economy got better and the taxes were down, guess what? The economy started soaring and revenue overall to the treasury went up. Imagine that. Cut taxes, revenue goes up.

Very smart, simple process. So then you couple what Donald Trump is talking about and Howard Lutnick, who's one of the brighter minds out there in the world, to the Secretary of Commerce. What they're talking about is the goal, the laudable goal that I heard a lot of Howard Lutnick talk about. We want to try to get to this place in the country where if you make $150,000 or less, you pay no taxes, pay none.

Now, I believe that you should not tax productivity. What you want to tax is consumption. If you tax consumption as opposed to productivity, it's even for everybody. I like a flat tax, an easy tax. They tax on a postcard. You know, you should be able to fill in a few blanks.

Maybe have an exception for interest payments on getting a car or a, I'm sorry, a home or charitable deductions. I would still leave that into place. But other than those two big broad categories, yeah, tell us your revenue, tell us your income, and then you pay tax from there. Or better yet, what Donald Trump and Howard Ludnick are trying to get to, let's do zero. So how do they do that? How would you possibly do that? Well, that's why you're hearing so much about tariffs.

That's a whole other discussion. We're not going to have a show about tariffs today, but I'm just telling you that whole combination, there's a lot of moving pieces going on here. So right now, what's right on our plates here today is funding the government. Now in the Senate, it's different than the House. In the Senate, you have to get by what's called cloture. Cloture requires 60 votes. That is the motion to proceed to the vote.

Democrats saying, hey, we're not doing that. And this is all on Chuck Schumer. This is 100% Chuck Schumer and the Democrats. Now, continuing resolution is a continuation of 2024. Democrats were in charge. Chuck Schumer was in charge.

Chuck Schumer, for the first four months of the fiscal year, was the Senate majority leader. Now they're coming out and saying, oh, what we need is another month. We want a 30-day CR because we need more time to negotiate. They didn't include us. Didn't include us? Do you think they included Republicans at the beginning when they kicked this thing off before September of 2024 while the election's going on? No.

And don't tell me you just need this because it's a continuation of the Biden budget, the Biden years. Plus, it's a $10 billion a year more spend. So it's kind of hollow. This gets me to the second big broad point I want to make today on the podcast. And that is, guess what, folks? Democrats are flailing.

They are leaderless. Their message is off kilter. It is pre-scripted. There doesn't seem to be any original thinking other than Senator Fetterman. By the way, I was on Capitol Hill last week, or actually earlier this week, and I'd never met the man, never had a conversation with him, but I walked by him. I was there on the Senate side. I was going to meet with a good friend of mine, Senator Mike Lee, who's a

of Utah. He and I know each other exceptionally well. And I happened to walk by when senators were kind of coming and going to the floor of the Senate, and there was Senator Fetterman. He's big. He's tall. He is much larger in person than I thought he would be. Sure enough, wearing a car heart, but nevertheless.

Democrats are flailing. They choose your fighter, that stupid graphic. You see them in unison send out the exact same tweet or the exact same message or exact same video. And it's totally off message. It's just totally off message. I won't bore you with too many of the details. It's pretty self-evident here.

whether it's TikTok videos or everybody carrying their paddle to the State of the Union or dancing to the songs. I mean, when they do their rallies and their protests of Elon Musk and of electric cars, it's just so embarrassing. They've got a guitar out there singing off-key these terrible, hideous songs.

I don't think anybody in America can relate to what's going on there, but you know, Hey, if that's what they, where they want to go, I just don't think they have a leader and I don't think they have a message. And yet now you hear stories and reports that people like Pete Buttigieg, you know, want to run for, he's not going to run for Senate out of Michigan. He wants to run for government. He wants to run for president. Like why you have no justification for that. It's almost laughable.

Because right now, they don't want to keep the government open. And that's, it'll be, you know, by the time this podcast comes out, I'm guessing that the Democrats have come around. Maybe Senator Thune offers a few amendments that are put up and that they fail. Or they try to do a voice vote and then that fails. Or maybe it passes. Maybe we're in a shutdown.

I don't know, but I can just tell you, I am more than impressed that Republicans understand this is a team ball, and they're following the lead of the president and the administration, and that they got it passed out of the House. Now, House is in recess until March 24th. Many of them are overseas conducting and doing congressional oversight and congressional meetings. I saw a group meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel.

So it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. But let's just keep in mind where we're at in this process and that, yeah, we got to get around to saving a lot of money, spending less and getting our revenues up without saying, oh, we got to have a tax increase. Because that's what the Democrats simultaneously say. We don't want to cut spending, but we need a tax increase.

That is so fundamentally wrong on every level. I can't even... It just baffles me. All right, time to bring out the stupid because you know what? There's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere. All right, this gets to a bigger, broader issue. The Democrats, the far left...

The people who were screaming and wanted to mandate, they wanted a mandated law that we had to increase the CAFE standards on vehicles to the point where it's just unfathomable. There wouldn't be any combustible engines. They would get rid of gas-powered cars. They wanted to mandate the transition to electric cars. Now what are they doing? Because Elon Musk and Donald Trump

are trying to fundamentally put our fiscal house in order. They hate Tesla. They want to put graffiti on them. They want to do sit-ins. Well, you go to North Charleston, a beautiful part of the world. I love Charleston, South Carolina. But North Charleston, this is the headline, or this is the headline from the Associated Press. A man torches Tesla chargers in South Carolina and catches its clothes on fire.

A man burned three Tesla chargers in South Carolina parking lot and also apparently inadvertently said his goes on fire. All right, idiot. That's what you get. I don't want any harm to you. Hope you didn't have some like life altering thing. But why did you do this? You're an idiot. In addition to being just flat out stupid. If that's true, if it's true.

Then, gosh darn it, I don't want to say karma, but yeah, kind of karma, but really wish you hadn't have done that. There are consequences for doing something stupid. And then we got one. I don't know if it's stupid. Maybe it's just adorable. But I'm moving now to Wisconsin. Police got a call. You know, you get a call, 911. Police are going to respond.

They got to go there. They don't really know what's going on. Maybe somebody said something. But here's the headline, according, again, to the Associated Press. Four-year-old calls police in Wisconsin after mom eats his ice cream. And I can understand the four-year-old's dilemma. And he's probably been taught, like a good young man, that, hey, if you got some, if disaster is happening, you're in real trouble, you call 911. But, yeah, mom eats your ice cream.

Dialed 911. Whoops. Whoops. I'm sure the police did it with a smile on their face. Don't want to make that commonplace. Don't want him picking up the phone every time mom says, hey, you got to get in bed. And or, you know, or he or mom ate his ice cream. But it did come in the cute category.

All right, let's move on because right now I want to introduce Alexi Lawless, one of the great American soccer players, a defender, just a flamboyant personality, great, great guy. And let's bring in Alexi Lawless. Alexi, thanks for joining us.

It's an absolute pleasure. I have watched you from afar and admired you from afar. You have a really interesting history when it comes to not just media, but obviously government and soccer and all sorts of stuff. So, like I said, real pleasure to talk to you today. Well, thank you. I'm honored. That's fun because right back at you, I've been a big fan of

Look, I grew up playing soccer. I mean, my earliest memories are playing soccer. And then it's a little bit crazy, but my dad was involved in the old NASL, the North American Soccer League. So I go way back to going to earthquakes games as a little tiny kid. And we're talking 70s earthquakes here. Okay, so...

And then went down. My dad was the managing general partner of the Los Angeles Aztecs back in the day.

Yep, yep. I mean, so you have an incredible breadth of experience when it comes to what soccer was and certainly what soccer is. And you got a close-up look of the landscape, if you will, especially back in the 70s and 80s. And then that Wild West type of feel that obviously has changed over time. But man, oh man, that is awesome in terms of...

In terms of your history from soccer, both on the field and off the field in terms of the business of soccer, which obviously is a huge part of the conversation anytime we talk about soccer. Well, yeah, and you've helped make that transition. I do want to talk about that, but let's stay back on the early, early. You grew up in Michigan, right?

Yep, I grew up in the suburbs of Michigan, and I grew up on, you know, Slurpees and MCP and Bubble Yum and, of course, youth sports, right? And certainly youth soccer and, you know, co-ed teams and mom and dad coaching and orange peels and juice boxes at halftime and all the kind of things that...

Kids still do nowadays, but I am certainly a product of the youth soccer system. Although, growing up in Michigan, I actually played as much and at times even more hockey growing up because it's the law there. But that was also a time before specialization in sports. And that's just kind of what you did. You went from one sport to the other. And I played it. My father's Greek, so I grew up going back and forth between Detroit and Athens, Greece. And when I was in Greece and very young,

My mom kicked me out the door and said, go down to the proverbial dirt lot down on the corner where they were playing. And I was this redheaded American kid that didn't speak Greek. And so I sat on the corner for a couple of weeks. And eventually, as is often the case, the goalkeeper didn't show up. So put the American in goal. And I went in goal. And then, you know, eventually somebody else doesn't show up. And I learned a couple of words, including swear words. And they say, OK, maybe you can play out on the field. And that was my introduction to the game. But then most of my vocabularies

you know, early upbringing was playing in youth, youth sports and obviously youth soccer, especially in Michigan. So I, you know, I'm in Northern California at the time and then Southern California, then Arizona, then Colorado before I ended up in landed in Utah and,

But I want to stay back because you're bringing back just your listing of products that you were consuming with bubble and all of that. I mean, that pop rocks. And you're right. Those orange slices. Somehow it was halftime and everybody got a slice of orange and, you know, of an orange. And that was just those were the days. Those were that was like the glory time, you know, the wonder time.

the wonder years back in the day. Now I was playing like AYSO soccer. I don't know if Michigan had AYSO. We had the same version of it. Obviously AYSO actually started in Southern California and then kind of spread across the country. And, you know, I had the, like I said, the, the youth soccer experience, like, like you had my dad actually simply because he was Greek. They said, you need to coach right now. My dad was a complete academic. He was a foreigner. Yeah.

And so it's like, hey, put the Greek in the coaching position. He had no idea when it came to the game. But, you know, fake it till you make it type of situation. But it was fun. And then obviously I progressed from there and continued on and played in high school and different travel teams and that kind of stuff. Now, you were a big kid, right? I mean, you're a big guy.

Yeah. Yeah. Big guy. It was a little kid when you were little. I mean, what were you like outside for your age? Yeah, there weren't this. There weren't the spurts that sometimes kid kids have. So it was a gradual but consistent type of growth. And yeah,

From a soccer perspective, you know, your listeners might might think, you know, a lot of soccer players, the stereotypical kind of look is kind of short squat type of thing. But if you see some of the players, especially in the modern day, they've gotten bigger and faster and stronger. And so I was part of an initial breed of, you know, much bigger player.

You know, what I love about soccer is you got boys, you got girls, you got really good competitive soccer now. And I love...

I've said this for a long time and I've talked about on this podcast from time to time too. I really do believe there are so many lessons that kids learn by participating in a team sport, individual sports too, you know, tennis, you know, things like that. I'm not trying to take anything away. I think you learn how to win, you know how to lose.

But you need to learn how to communicate. You got to dedicate yourself. You got to commit. You got to practice. You can't just show up on game day. It's pretty evident really quickly who's working and who's not. What were some of those lessons you were learning as a little kid that now you recognize, but maybe you didn't recognize when you were, you know, eat? Yeah, so the dynamic of...

team sports i think it's not lost on people i think people realize that as a matter of fact a whole multiple generations have grown up valuing it and recognizing that beyond the scores behind behind beyond the glory because that to be quite honest that fades out i still have friends that i met when i was eight nine years old playing soccer really yeah we don't play soccer anymore but

but to your point the lessons that you learn uh the necessity of communication um the dynamic that exists when you don't get along with others and yet you have to perform on the field and the realization that you might not even not even like somebody

but you can recognize their value on the field and you can use that on the field. The experience of not playing, not being a starter, not being a star on the team, the experience of losing and how that can affect you, the experience of playing through, whether it's playing through something physical in terms of an injury or something that's hampering you, or whether it's playing through something from a mental perspective. All of those different things

I absolutely have applied in my life beyond soccer and they are invaluable when it comes to the life. Because, you know, while, you know, I was incredibly fortunate, I mean, I'm in the complete minority, right? A very, very small percentage are ever going to be able to play in World Cups and even be able to play professional, let alone to even play, let's for example, at the collegiate level.

But the tools and the skills that you gain from organized sports and team sports, like I said, those will last you for the rest of your life. And even if you don't realize it at the time, you will be able to use those when you go on and do other things in life. Yeah, whether, you know, we talk obviously a lot about politics on this podcast, but we talk about business and just life in general and how do people become...

the strongest personalities, you know, how did they, how did they rise to the top? And, and, um, cause you're right. A lot of people want to be Alexi Laws, right? They want to be you. They want to make a career and, and, uh, you know, be famous and be able to, you know, play a sport that they love, but very few get to do that yet. I still argue that. Yeah. By participating again, uh,

men's sports, women's sports, you're learning so many life lessons, whether it's business, your family and everything else, you're going to apply those in a positive way. Like I never thought about anybody's race going growing up. And I look, I grew up in a pretty affluent, you know, mostly white neighborhood. Um, but still when I got out on the, on the soccer field, you know, that wasn't always the case, but it didn't really matter. It was like,

Who can pass? Who can dribble? Who has the foresight to put the ball into open space? Things like that. That's what we were focused on. And at the end of the game, you had respect for people who played you well. Yeah, I would argue that it is the most merit-based profession out there. Now, is it perfect? No. Do people have advantages and disadvantages? Yes, but welcome to life. However, relative to normal life,

The reality is, to your point, you get on the field and it's there for everyone to see. Either you do it or you don't. And you are rewarded more often than not for your actual performance as opposed to, you know, whatever. You know, the color of your skin or your ethnicity or who you're sleeping with or anything else that you could throw in there. I loved that about soccer. I also loved about soccer in particular was...

the international aspect of it and the global aspect of it. I love that when I walked out of my little suburban house in the suburbs of Detroit and I'm juggling the ball on my sidewalk out there, that there was another young boy or girl on the other side of the world that I had very, very little in common with in terms of culture, language, anything. But they were doing the exact same thing. And that shared experience of the game

That, to be quite honest, was incredibly unique. And I grew up playing all of the sports, the quote unquote American sports, like I said, and I love them to this day. But the international aspect of soccer was something that really drew me to it. Yeah, no, I think there's a lot of truth to it.

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Look, I just, I love watching the game, attending a game. I just, I find it relaxing and fun. And, and yeah, now you're part of an effort here. This is amazing to me, but the, the major league soccer, the MLS is amazing.

celebrating 30th season. I wouldn't have guessed that. I mean, it seems more recent because there's been such a surge in personalities and attendance. And, you know, like here in Salt Lake City, you know, we have Real Salt Lake. They're selling out those stadiums. Hard to get a ticket. And a venue that's been built specific for soccer. And that's happening across the country. Tell us more about that.

What's going on? Because Fox Sports is a big part of it. You're a big part of it. But the success, it's been, you know, it's really catching on across the country.

Yeah, so we started out talking about your father and his involvement in the old NASL. And for your listeners that aren't necessarily into soccer, the NASL was an old league in the United States. And it came and went, as was the case with a lot of leagues. So our past is littered with teams and leagues that unfortunately have folded. And there was this Wild West and then this kind of barren wasteland after...

after the demise of the NASL. And for those that may remember back in the 1900s, when I was running around in 1994, the U.S. hosted the Men's World Cup. And off of that, two years later, we brought to market basically a new version of

an American soccer league in the form of MLS. Now, as the saying goes, you've come a long way, baby. And I could not have imagined back in 1996 when myself and a bunch of other guys actually returned from different places. I was playing over in Italy to start this league and the proverbial league of our own that we had talked about in the back of buses and bars and everywhere else. Then 30 years on, we would be, like I said, going into our 30th year, our 30th team in San Diego, which is just coming online this year.

But on and off the field, the things that have happened, the infrastructure, the stadiums, the soccer specific stadiums that we have. But more importantly, the climate and the culture has completely changed. And you mentioned the culture of soccer. It's a very, very different experience to be a soccer fan. And it's very communal. It's very tribal, like a lot of like a lot of sports. But it's very different. It's a two hour type of event when you're actually going to it. But it goes well beyond that in terms of your identity.

And growing up, there were kind of the soccer kids. And you know who they were and the way they dressed and they were wearing these types of shoes and stuff like that. Well, it's become much more acceptable. And for a whole generation, whether it's Major League Soccer or anything else, it's just part of their sports palette when it comes to professional leagues.

And they are connoisseurs of the game, if you will, with what's going on around the world also. So it's wonderful. Here's to another 30 years when it comes to Major League Soccer and the pathways that it's opened up on and off the field for multiple generations of American soccer players.

Yeah, the league has just kicked off and they got some big stars out there too. Now, you may not be totally into soccer and appreciate listening to this podcast, but I think what we're talking about is this just transcends so much. It's so much part of the culture now.

Obviously, you've got basketball, you've got football, you've got golf, you've got a lot of different sports. But hey, I kind of like them all, but I love soccer. But you've got Lionel Messi. To have him out there and see him in person is kind of a special moment.

Yeah. So, you know, we were talking earlier about my size. If you saw Leo Messi, and for those that don't know, he is arguably the greatest player ever to play the game, plays for Argentina and over the last couple of years has come over to play in Major League Soccer down in inter-Miami and fundamentally changed the business off the field. And then, to be quite honest, just been incredible on the field. And you would expect that from

you know, arguably the goat of the game. But if you saw him walking down the street and you didn't know anything about soccer, you would not look at him and his diminutive stature, shall we say, an unassuming look and say, there goes arguably the greatest player ever to play the game. And that's part of what I love about the game of soccer. But he has fundamentally changed the equation coming over. And he's been everything that you want

from a star in that stars are the ones that when they step on the field, everybody's looking at them. A lot of people have their arms folded and they are expecting magic to happen. And stars embrace that and they give you that magic on a continual basis. Like I said, when people are expecting that to happen. And he has done that

I mean, just time and time again. It's nothing new for him, but it's really been really fun to see him kind of explore the United States. And now, you know, a year and a half from now, the World Cup is coming back to the United States, the men's World Cup coming back to the United States. And Messi,

playing for Argentina, will be defending his World Cup championship right in his backyard in the United States. So there's a lot going on right now, but it's good stuff when it comes to Messi relative to MLS, Messi relative to the World Cup, and Messi relative to soccer in the United States. Yeah, the World Cup, I mean, will take over. And it's really a North American experience that's going to happen in 2026.

It takes literally kind of four years of matches and whatnot to get to the point where we're going to see some of the best soccer in the world. And you talk about...

rabid fans who are, I mean, you, some of these countries will literally shut down when their team is playing. If an Argentina is playing, you can't, there's nothing else happening in that country because literally every person in that country will be watching. And, and it, it's such a great sport, but let's go back to, to messy for a second, because I,

Every team knows you're a defender, right? You've had guys that are like, okay, this guy scores goals. We've got to defend against him. But his burst of speed, he can just be walking around there and all of a sudden –

I don't know how he does it, but that's the magic that you're talking about. Talk to me about being a defender, knowing you've got a great striker you're going against. This guy scores goals. How do you – I mean, nobody's really kind of figured out how to defend against him, but what do you do in a situation like that? I think great athletes recognize space and how space works. Gretzky used to talk about being where the puck is going to be, not where the puck is. And I think Messi –

Messi has that mathematician in him and the geometry and the triangles that are a huge part of soccer and a huge part of sports, to be quite honest, many sports. And so I think he recognizes where the space is, when he needs to be in that space. He certainly has the quickness to get there. And then when he arrives in that space at the right time, either with the ball or to receive the ball,

his first touch. A lot of people talk in soccer about your first touch because that's the touch that enables you, obviously, to control the ball. And it's where most of the mistakes happen.

And his first touch is just so subtle and so soft and sets up that next touch. And that could be a shot on goal. It could be him diamond something, somebody out with an incredible pass, or it could be him dribbling. But his first touch in that space and that split second of time that it gives him to have that touch, I think that's part of where his ultimate greatness lies in his understanding and his ability

math genius of where to be. Yeah. You know, I was watching some of those games when he first came to play for the MLS and

And, you know, if you just kind of isolate on him and just sort of watch him, he's casually walking around. He'll maybe jog a little bit. He may get a shot or two off and it's nothing special. And all of a sudden he just turns on the juice and you're like, how did he do that? Like, okay, they show the replay and I'm thinking, I still don't understand how he pulled that off. That's just, that's sort of the, you know, they call it the beautiful sport and there's a reason for it.

Yeah, I mean, I think he embodies the, you know, don't work harder, work smarter type of thing. And it is amazing when people who have not seen him in person, because sometimes on television, there's not necessarily the ISO camera. So when you go to an actual game and see him, a lot of people's attention is focused on him, even when the ball might not even be near him. And so many people I've talked to are amazed at the downtime that he has.

But what he's doing is, again, just being smarter about whether it's keeping something in reserve or recognizing that,

he doesn't need to be running here or there. He just needs to run at the right time. And you can see it in his eyes and obviously see whatever synapses are happening up there where he clicks into gear in that moment. And it's almost as if he smells it before anybody else. And so his ability to smell things before anybody else

make him an incredibly smart player and therefore an incredibly effective player. And you could probably say that about Jordans and all the great players out there when it comes to their sport. Yeah, they he's playing at Miami, right? David Beckham. I went to when Beckham was playing for the L.A. Galaxy and they came to Utah. They played in Salt Lake City. And oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh.

I, you know, look, I've been to a lot of sporting events. I've seen a lot of stars, but there was a corner kick and he was going to take it. And when he walked over to take that, I have never seen so many flashbulbs. It was unbelievable. I mean, that guy talk about it like a legitimate on and off the field star. But his involvement, I think, is also really helpful to the league.

Yeah, I was, you know, after I stopped playing, I went into the front offices and I was fortunate enough to be with the Galaxy when David Beckham arrived. And it was, I mean, it was heady stuff. It was a hurricane, the likes of which we had never seen. And, you know, there were, you know, we had to deal with that hurricane. But to see the level of fame and the level of attention and to try to harness that. And I think the Galaxy and Major League Soccer did a good job of that at the time was phenomenal. And then you add to the

you know, the package, if you will, this incredible business acumen of him and his team, so much so that they were incredibly prescient to, in his contract, build in a set cost at an expansion team, which has made him a lot of money because that ended up being Inter-Miami, which has done great stuff on and off the field. And like I said, is appreciated dramatically internationally.

in value the only thing i regret it and i don't remember we've got a lot of things but back in 96 when i did return to mls i should have had a beckham clause in there to be able to buy a team it would have been really really valuable ah i could have should have would right well i think i read there there are five teams now valued at more than a billion dollars and and i kind of liken it to the you know to to where the nba was because i remember you know back when there was like

I think the name was like the Kansas City Stars. And, you know, there were some teams out there that were just kind of, eh. But, you know, they built the league. They built it with players. They got the kids involved and engaged. But soccer is so much more prevalent, you know, than where the NBA was, you know, decades ago. Because there's so many kids playing. And we have...

so many people who have experiences outside the United States and even it is the world sport. It's not even close. Basketball. Yeah. Popular football. People watch it, but nobody's playing it outside the United States. Really? I mean, I guess you can make a case for Canada, but there is everywhere on the planet. Everybody's playing soccer. And I think the United States is, is still in its infancy, if you will. But if you talk to kids, you know,

And what did they play when they were growing up? I mean, all you have to do is, you know, drive around on a Saturday spring day and you're going to see soccer game after soccer game.

Yeah, I mean, ignore the sport at your own peril. And I don't think it's any coincidence that, you know, for example, President Trump now, when you see him in the Oval Office, there is a replica of the World Cup behind him in, you know, prominent view. When he's talking and giving big, big speeches, oftentimes he will reference Johnny and relative to the World Cup in 2026. And he's referencing Johnny Infantino, who is the head of FIFA, which is the governing body of soccer. So he recognizes Johnny.

the power of the sport, the global reach that it has. And he also, I think, recognizes smartly that he can harness that leading up to 2026 and beyond. And the same goes for, you know, the Olympics, you know, sports and harnessing it from a political standpoint and the

power that these big tournaments have. And when it comes to soccer, obviously it permeates through so many different countries and cultures. It's, it's cheap relative to other sports. Like I said, you don't have to be ridiculously strong or tall or fast necessarily to play the game. I think there is a coolness factor when it comes to soccer that, uh,

that appeals to a lot of young people, even stuff that, you know, for example, the, uh, the FIFA video game has raised a whole generation to be so much more involved and interested and knowledgeable when it comes to soccer. And this is where, uh,

I get into, you know, on, on my, my soapbox when it comes to American soccer, don't let anybody tell you that we're not a soccer playing nation. Don't let anybody tell you that we're not a soccer culture. We call it soccer. We lean into the American this of it. And I think that that is a good thing. Uh,

The American soccer fan out there is as cultured and knowledgeable, maybe even more so than around the world out of necessity. And yes, we do it our own way, but that's a good thing. We are vibrant. We are passionate. We are discerning. And we are creating a version of the game both on and off the field that is uniquely American and never, ever, ever apologize for what we are or aren't relative to the rest of the world when it comes to soccer.

Stay with us. We'll be right back. Can say to my new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, hey, find a keto-friendly restaurant nearby and text it to Beth and Steve. And it does without me lifting a finger. So I can get in more squats anywhere I can. One, two, three. Will that be cash or credit? Credit.

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Well, so like I said, Fox Sports is airing a whole bunch of games. And Fox Deportes is also, I think that's how you pronounce it, right? Deportes? Oh, yeah. They're airing a lot of games. So you can tune in over there as well, particularly if you want to see a Spanish podcast.

But I'm glad to see it's out there. Now, I'm a huge fan. And I also know in the Fox world, Brian Kilmeade is a big fan. I mean, he's all in. When I go on his radio program, in between commercials, and I've seen you in there. I think that's where you and I shook hands. So when he's doing the Brian Kilmeade show on radio,

And he has a soccer ball in there. It's a little bit deflated. I got to get him a little better ball, or maybe you can bring him one too. But he likes to stand up and just kind of pass it back and forth during the radio break. He is all in. His kids are into it. That is his sport.

Oh, he loves it. And he's actually been involved in soccer and Major League Soccer, for that matter, for years and years and started out with it. And so sometimes, you know, I'll see him and, you know, he's, I don't know, talking to Trump or, you know, doing something, you know, in the morning or something like that because he does a million different things. And next thing I know, he's texting me about some random soccer player. So it's amazing what he can keep in that little mind of his going forward. But yeah, it's amazing also how...

how soccer in a positive way infects people and finds people. And sometimes there's no rhyme or reason, but when it does and it gets it gets its hooks into you, it's very, very difficult to leave. And that's why 2026 and the World Cup, which, like you mentioned, you can see all of. And by the way, it's going to be the biggest World Cup in history. Forty eight teams with our friends to the North Canada and our friends to the South Mexico are.

Once it gets into you, it's very, very difficult for you to get rid of it. But this is a great opportunity to bring people into the tent. Politicians out there, as you know, they recognize that they're not necessarily going to get everybody to vote for them, but if they

can get in front of them. They can get them in places where they could possibly convince them and give them a taste test to introduce them to their ideas and what they're talking about. That's a good thing because some will stay. And the same thing goes for something like a World Cup where many people are going to come into that soccer tent.

We know that some are going to leave after the actual event in the same way a couple weeks ago or last week when we were talking about hockey so much. These are opportunities to give people a taste of what it can be and a certain percentage are going to stay. And then incrementally, you get bigger and bigger and bigger as you go along. But you can't waste these opportunities. So that's why the summer of 2026 is such a great opportunity for soccer and the growth of soccer in the United States.

Yeah, no, it will be an amazing time. We tend to think, I think, as Americans in general, that, you know, the Super Bowl, everybody's watching Super Bowl. The audience for the Super Bowl is minuscule in comparison to the World Cup. I mean, it's not even close.

And especially you get these big countries participating, but the world watches. And there's a huge fundamental difference. I'm not trying to dish on football. I can like football. I watch football. I played football. I took my soccer skills and was a place kicker in college, for goodness sake. But I'm just saying, once you understand the gravity of soccer and then really start to understand –

why they call it the beautiful game. It's, it's really, it's really, it's infectious, I think. And I've, I've had it part of my life, my whole life. And I, and I love it. And it's, it's fun and it's engaging. And I think it's, it's perhaps the best sport for youth. You know, if you're raising kids, you got young kids, you know,

I remember being on a baseball team. Again, I like going to a baseball game, but man, I was standing out there in left field just looking at the clouds going by. I mean, I wasn't getting a whole lot out of it. But soccer, everybody's moving the whole time.

Yeah, I mean, and it's like I said, it's a two-hour type of experience from a spectator perspective, but also from a playing perspective, you're constantly moving. One of the things that I love and loved about soccer growing up was the autonomy, especially relative to other sports.

I don't think that there's a sport where you are left more to your own devices than soccer. The whistle blows. And I'm not saying that there isn't preparation. I'm not saying that there aren't plays necessarily that you work on. But ultimately, the whistle blows. And then it's kind of up to you to make those decisions. And I loved that responsibility that I got when that whistle blew. And again, not downplaying the importance of coaches out there, as a matter of fact.

Coaches are really, really important in that period leading up to the game. But then it's your game. It's up to you to implement at different times what you have learned and what your coaches have taught you. And I think that that appeals to a lot of people as opposed to,

You know, football, you know, where it's just stop and start and the plays are sent in, you know, sometimes into all that kind of stuff. Or, for example, basketball, where there's timeouts and you can stop and the play is written up and it's much more choreographed, if you will. So I loved that about soccer. And from a spectator perspective, you'll figure it out.

And there's never a better way to kind of be baptized in the game than a World Cup. I'll give you a real quick story. In 1994, a couple weeks before the World Cup, I get on a plane and I sit on my middle seat. I was with the U.S. team. We were getting ready for the World Cup.

I sit in my middle seat in the economy because that's what we did. And I sat down next to an older woman and we struck up a conversation. She said, what do you do? I said, I play soccer. She said, you know, what's your job? I said, well, I play soccer. And she said, what do you do for money? And I said, I play soccer. And two weeks later, I'm in front of a billion people playing in a World Cup. I always wonder if

couple weeks later she didn't you know turn on the television and see that happening that's just to give you an idea of where we were as a soccer playing nation then now we've changed dramatically since then but there's still again this opportunity if we harness it correctly to catch some lightning in the bottle on the field with the team that we are going to have and you know hopefully a team that does very very well and off the field in terms of the experiences that people have and the people that you meet and the people that are using this summer to visit our country

and get another taste test of our country and what it is through the lens of soccer and people that are already in the country that, like I said, are going to discover it maybe for the first time. Yeah, well, you're an incredible spokesperson for the sport because you can tell it radiates from within. It's in your heart. You've got a passion for it, and that passion and excitement about the sport is contagious. So now...

We want to learn a little bit more about you. When we have guests on, we ask them a few questions and we'll do this. And I don't care how many, you know, how many slide tackles you've been involved with. You're not properly prepared for this. Are you ready? All right. First, first concert you attended.

Pat Benatar Crimes of Passion Tour at Pine Knob Music Theater, which is right outside of where I was growing up in the suburbs of Michigan. Yeah, it was incredible. The sights, the sounds, the smells. It was glorious. It would have been around 1981-ish, 1982-ish. I would have been about 11 years old or something. My 16-year-old, my friend's 16-year-old sister.

sister drove us there. I mean, it was a different time, my friend, a very different time. Now you've got a bit of a musical background, right? I do. I've been playing and recording and, you know, tell us a little bit. Tell us about that because I, I, that's pretty interesting. Tell it, tell us what you're doing and where people can find you on that.

Well, like I said, I grew up in a real kind of academic household. My dad was a professor. My mom was a writer. And while they encouraged and supported my athletics, they had nothing necessarily to contribute. They just recognized, hey, he's good at it, and it keeps him out of trouble. However, they were adamant about me doing as many different things as possible. And so...

you know, I would be in plays. I would, and then obviously music, whether it was garage bands or being in chamber singers, music and doing all this kind of stuff. And it was wonderful because it enabled me not only to experience things and try things that I didn't even realize I enjoyed, but also to be in different groups of people and social, social interactions that wouldn't have happened if I was just the, the jock or, you know, or that, but yeah,

All that is to say I grew up playing in garage bands and, you know, doing talent shows. And then I played in, you know, the bar scene forever. And I went to Rutgers University and we would go in and play in New York at CBGB's or Kenny's Castaways or the Bitter End. And the list goes on and on and on. Stone Pony in New Jersey. And so it's a huge part of my life.

And I continue to write and to record, and you can find all of it over there on the Spotify machine or any place else. I can't stop doing it for me and for my three fans, including my mom. Well, sometimes my mom. They just type in Alexi Lawless. Is that how they find you? That's it. That's it. And it's just kind of straight-ahead pop rock, and I enjoy it.

rock songs with melody. And, you know, I grew up on what would be for my generation, the classics in terms of the Beatles and the Stones and Zeppelin and that kind of stuff. And then into rock

you know, Van Halen and a huge like, you know, Def Leppard and Bon Jovi and Rat, I think, is the greatest band ever. So there was a huge metal part of it. But then I'd listen to Duran Duran and Kaja Gugu and then into, you know, Tom Petty and John Mellencamp. And the list goes on and on and on and on and on. But I just like a good melodic pop rock song. No, that's that's great. No, I think that's

That's a great way to express. And I look, I got to go over and check that out. So over on Spotify, there you go. All right. High school mascot. What was your high school mascot?

I went to a prep school outside of Detroit called Cranbrook. And for those that have ever watched 8 Mile, that's where the antagonist of the movie actually went and was made fun of. I had an incredible time. I was incredibly fortunate to go there. We were the Cranbrook Cranes. Cranes? Yes. Nothing puts the fear of God into the opposition more than coming up against the crane. Right.

Yeah, I can imagine what your, yeah, what the mascot was actually like. That's, that's awesome. What was your first job? Like, hey, Alexi, you got to get out. You got to make some money. Go work over here. Not for mom and dad, but like, what was your first job?

So I did a couple of things. Some of them were soccer related and I refereed at a very young age. And I think everybody that is involved in sports should be made to referee. You know, I did it a little bit and I really kind of enjoyed it. I, you know, young kids.

Yeah, but you do realize the incredible flack that referees get out there. It makes you appreciate referees more, but I think it also makes you appreciate them. So I did some refereeing when I was young. I worked in a bookstore. My first job was probably in a hall hosting banquet types of stuff and kind of setting up and pulling down. When I got a little older, I worked as a bouncer, so

I've done a lot of different things. All right. Pineapple on pizza. Yes or no? Absolutely. I love it. I will die on the pineapple on pizza hill. Really? Bite me if you'd like. Yeah, the judges don't like this answer, but, you know, I appreciate your passion. I love it. And I don't think anybody's going to challenge you on it. I've never had anybody so passionate about it. That's impressive. 100%.

I mean, you want a hot take. If you really want a hot take, I think that bacon is a ridiculous food, okay? I think that wings are even more ridiculous food and simply a conveyor. I'm not going to fight you on that, yeah. I mean, wings are absolutely insane. The ratio of work to product is just insane, all right? And like I said, they're really just used as a dipping machine for the actual dips that you have. I just think that they're a horrible, horrible invention. And...

You're left with crap all over your hands. I know I've derailed this into a wing. True that, though. Everybody's been there. We all understand exactly what you're saying. That makes total sense. All right, last question. Best advice you ever got. Take what you, you know, take...

Take what you do seriously, but don't take yourself too seriously. I think that that's it. You know, and I've tried to use that everywhere where I where I've gone. It's served me well over the years. I know it's kind of a simple, almost trite type of thing, but I think it's important. And I think it just speaks to perspective and recognizing that what you may feel in that moment is the end of the world or the most important thing ultimately and usually isn't.

Yeah. You'll, you'll get through it and you kind of, you need to get through life. I think you got to laugh at yourself. You know, you gotta look back and say, Oh my goodness. Oh, wait till I tell somebody about this, you know, and the further you get from it, you know, I can't even remember what clothes I wore two days ago. I doubt anybody else is going to remember either. So, um, yeah, I, I think that's, but you know, take life seriously, get up, get, get up and get after it. We'd love your enthusiasm. Um,

Alexi Lawless, check out the MLS. If you haven't had a chance, if you grew up, maybe played a little soccer as a kid, you might want to see a game in person. Fox Sports is all in on supporting soccer and airing the games. Fox Deportes, if you want to see even more games, is out there.

But I'm glad that Fox is all in and broadcasting so many of the games here right in our own backyard. And then leading up to 2026 at the World Cup, it's going to be a great one. Yeah, it's awesome. Like I said, MLS action every single week on Fox. And then obviously the World Cup in 2026. And you can catch me on my State of the Union soccer podcast over there on Fox where we look at the game through the eyes of red, white and black.

blue-colored glasses. So that's kind of how we do it. And onward and upward, both on and off the soccer field when it comes to what we're doing from a soccer perspective, but more importantly, what we're doing from a country perspective. I think this is the greatest country in the world. I love celebrating it, and I think we're heading into a wonderful and interesting direction, to say the least. Well, you're one of the great players out there. A lot of fun to watch, and love your enthusiasm for the red, white, and blue. So,

Thanks for joining us on the Jason and the house podcast. I really do appreciate it. Thank you. Oh, Alexi Lawless. Very generous with his time. Great guy. Loves the game. Loves America. And you're going to see a lot of soccer. Maybe you don't want to, but I think if you got to the end of this podcast, give it a try. It's a great sport. A lot of great fans.

I love it. There's a reason why they call it the beautiful game. It's been a big part of my life, big part of our kids' life. And my guess is it's part of yours. And what I love about it is young men, young women, they can all play.

and you're actually doing something and uh you know most people don't go on and get to be an alexi lawless and play professionally but we need up our game we got the world cup which just the world watches we think the super bowl's big no compared to the world cup not even close so glad fox is broadcasting it and uh it'll be great so hope you can rate the show i'd appreciate that subscribe to it because we got great shows every week

And I want to remind people you can listen ad-free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. And Amazon Prime members can listen to this show ad-free on the Amazon Music app. Join us again next week. We'll have something good, fun, and exciting. And we know there'll be some stupid happening too. So join us again next week. I'm Jason Chaffetz. This has been Jason in the House.

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