Word: brazile
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Imagine that major league baseball had been so poorly managed that its team owners had to sell their best players to the Mexican or Japanese leagues just to stay solvent. Welcome to Brazil. In the home of the world champions--a good bet to defend their title in Germany--where the beautiful game is part of the nation's soul, the professional league is a money-losing shambles, with poorly paid players performing in mostly empty arenas. Except for one team. In São Paulo, at Pacaembu Stadium, 35,000 fans are on their feet, pounding samba drums. Legions...
...investment has already paid off with a trophy: Corinthians won Brazil's professional-soccer-league championship for the first time in six years. But Joorabchian's strategy has produced more than a trophy. He may well have established a new business model that could rescue pro soccer in Brazil, the cradle of superstars like Pelé and Ronaldinho--which has been sinking under corruption, violence, archaic management and a hemorrhaging of talent to Europe and Asia. "You pick a company because you believe it's undervalued," Joorabchian told TIME. "We believe Brazilian football as a whole is undervalued...
Joorabchian's entry into the Brazilian game was, to kick a metaphor around, out of left field. An investment banker and former car salesman, he arrived in Brazil from Britain in 2004 seeking to buy a media outlet. But after watching Corinthians, he decided sports was a better bet. The team was desperate for a benefactor. Despite a fan base of some 24 million, the club attracted fewer than 10,000 people at most games, was more than $20 million in debt and had a revenue stream one-tenth of the $300 million that English powerhouse Manchester United rakes...
Still, Brazilian heads turned when Joorabchian signed a 10-year deal giving MSI control--and 51% of the profit. Joorabchian spent $14 million to bring three top players back to Brazil. Then he lured star Argentine forward Carlos Tevez for a South American record $22.6 million...
...talking about the growth of the economy. In other words, China is growing at double-digit--we're growing at 2%. Last time I checked that compiles to 5 to 1. India is growing at 8% or 9%. Mexico is growing at 6%, Brazil is growing at 8%. So all of those places are growing much more rapidly than we are. And that creates demand and therefore creates opportunity. In many of those countries, they have a very, very limited real estate supply because of the historical unavailability of capital...