Coffee & Football

Born and raised in Milan, Italy, at age 15 Claudio Storelli moved to the US as an exchange student. By the age of 20 he graduated from Stanford University with honors and as an NCAA Soccer Division 1 runner-up. By 23, Claudio had graduated with honors from Columbia Law School, and joined McKinsey & Co. as a management consultant. In 2010, he joined Bloomberg LP, where he became the COO of a $1B Enterprise Technology division. To say that he is an ambitious overachiever is an understatement. Please join us as Claudio take us through his journey, from distinguished Ivy League schools to the hallways of some of New York’s most prestigious companies to running a soccer startup—that carries his name, how could it not?—in Brooklyn, NY. This is a conversation jam-packed with valuable insights, business learnings, and recommendations for those with an idea. We discuss his life and business philosophies, how he got the idea to start a business after playing games with bruised up Wall Streeters, the best cold call he ever made, rubbing shoulders with Mike Bloomberg, seeing Waney Rooney unknowingly wearing Storelli gear in the Premier League, what the navy seals taught him, and much more. 

Jim Trecker is considered one of the most prominent communications and public relations professionals in US Soccer history. He has been involved as a journalist, administrator and communications maven at all levels of the game, working for the NY Cosmos during the Pelé era, the Washington Diplomats when Johan Cruyff played there, the US Soccer Federation in the 1990’s, the Japanese Federation, and the organizing committees of the 1994, 2002, 2010, and 2022 World Cups. Most recently he has been involved with the build out of the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco, TX. Join us as we discuss his journey from Connecticut to the top echelons of world football. 

Originally from Abilene, Texas, Bundrant is one of the most prominent football executives hailing from the US. After graduating from West Virginia University, VA, he initiated his career with DC United of the newly started MLS with an unpaid internship. That laid the foundation for an over 20 year career at the very top of global sports business. After stints at Sportfive, one of the most recognized sports rights agencies, GMR Marketing, a sports engagement and experiential agency with clients including VISA, FIFA, and the Miller Brewing company, to name a few, he was named the Head of Commercial Partnerships at Liverpool Football Club in 2008. After a successful five seasons in North West England, he ventured further south when being named the Commercial Director & Head of International Business Development at AS Monaco - a team then purchased by the Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev who was looking to take the entity to the very top of European football, by acquiring players such as Falcao, James Rodriguez, Joao Moutinho, Anthony Martial, Eric Abidal, among others. The glory days lasted until Monaco was caught under the rules of Financial Fair Play, which brought Bundrant back to the US and Relevant Sports, a Stephen Ross company that owns, manages, and operates all aspects of the International Champions Cup. Currently, as the CEO & Founder of Riviera Sports Marketing, Bundrant focuses on building brand value, generating commercial revenue, and growing sponsorship opportunities for an international clientele of companies, ownerships groups, and individuals involved in sports business. Please join us as Bundrant delves into his journey, from humble beginnings in the West Texas farmlands to the top echelon of world football. We discuss what it takes to make successful team investments and acquisitions, negotiation tactics, Liverpool’s Champions League glory days, striking multimillion dollar sponsorship deals, rubbing shoulders with Russian billionaires, learning French at 40, accomplishing ambitious goals, and much more. 

As the Head of Media, Marketing, and CRM at Arsenal Football club, Micheal Leavey has the overall responsibility for the club’s commercial growth ambitions. He has been with the club for over 8 years and until recently was the General Manager of the club’s media business.Leavey was formerly CEO of 10Duke Software, an advanced social media application platform working with leading global brands and broadcasters. Prior to this he was Managing Director at Mondus, a $300 million European B2B software procurement company. He has over 12 years online experience covering all aspects of social media, online brand development and effective monetization strategies.Please joins us as Michael takes us through his journey and dives into the inner workings of the commercial side of Arsenal Football Club. We discuss the team’s global marketing strategy, the key target markets, bringing an increasingly global fan base closer to the club, the challenges that all top club’s share, the important role CRM plays, exchanging insights with rivals, taking pictures in China as well as outside the Emirates Stadium with fans who think he is Arsene Wenger (they do resemble one another), and much more.

Nacido y criado en Barcelona, Joan Laporta es uno de los ejecutivos y presidentes de club más influyentes y reconocidos de la historia del fútbol. Aficionado del Barça de toda la vida, Laporta empezó a estar vinculado profesionalmente al club cuando lideró “Elefant Blau”, un grupo del que también formaban parte Albert Vicens, Jordi Moix, Alfons Godall y Albert Perrín, todos ellos futuros directivos del club, que promovieron una moción de censura contra el entonces presidente de la entidad, Josep Luis Nuñez, que no prosperó.Antes de las elecciones de 2003, Laporta formó su propia candidatura juntando a un grupo de jóvenes y exitosos empresarios de la ciudad. Gracias a que introdujeron un toque de modernidad, tácticas innovadoras de management, nuevas tecnologías y sobre todo, gracias al apoyo de Johann Cruyff, la candidatura triunfó. La etapa de Laporta como presidente, 2003-2010, es sin lugar a dudas la etapa más exitosa de la historia del club. Durante su presidencia, el Barça ganó 12 títulos, incluyendo 4 ligas, 2 Champions, el Mundial de Clubes y la maravillosa temporada del sextete, en la que se ganaron los 6 títulos disputados durante la temporada 2008/2009.En esta conversación, Laporta nos habla sobre su vida y trayectoria profesional, una historia que comenzó en Barcelona un 29 de junio de 1962. Tocamos temas tan variados como la vida en Barcelona durante los 60 y 70 bajo la dictadura de Franco, la transición de dictadura a la democracia en España, la influencia de su padre, el proceso que le hizo ganar las elecciones y convertirse en presidente del Barça, la idea de poner Unicef en la camiseta, sus primeros recuerdos de Messi, el apoyo de su consejero personal Johann Cruyff, La Masia, cómo se expresan el poder, el ego y la vanidad dentro de un grupo de directivos, y mucho más.

Grant Wahl is a Senior Writer at Sports Illustrated and a Correspondent on FOX Sports. He is by many considered the top American soccer journalist. He has interviewed and done numerous memorable and acclaimed pieces with some of the biggest names in world soccer, ranging from Jose Mourinho to David Beckham to Lionel Messi. Grant is also a New York Times best-selling author with The Beckham Experiment, a book launched in 2009 which chronicled David Beckham’s first few years as an MLS & LA Galaxy player. He recently announced the launch of his latest book, Masters of Modern Soccer, that will hit the shelves in Spring 2018 - it is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com. Join us as we discuss his journey and go in-depth on his work at Sports Illustrated and FOX Sports, We touch on his first cover story, Who’s Your Daddy?, that put him on the map and landed him at Oprah, studying under John McPhee, the legendary Pulitzer Price winning writer, at Princeton University, interviewing superstars, his fascination with interview technique, working with Beckham and his people, traveling to away games with Boca Juniors’ hardcore fans, his admiration for Alexi Lalas and Landon Donovan, the early Freddy Adu story that added perhaps even more pressure on the young phenom, all that and much more. Follow: Twitter @GrantWahl Facebook @GrantWahl Instagram grant_wahl