March 8, 2023 • 32 mins
On this episode of AFP, David is joined by former MLS player and current President, MLS NEXT Pro at Charlotte FC Darrius Barnes (@D_Barnes25) to discuss the new MLS expansion team and his transition from his playing career into the business world. They also talk his career with the New England Revolution and the excitement coming up for Charlotte FC.
Have you joined Patreon? Get ad-free episodes, access to discord and our all-new weekly Euro Round Up: https://www.patreon.com/afootballpodcast
Follow @AFootballPod on Twitter! While you're there say hello to @DesaiDevang, @EmpireGass and @nickandrade.
If you enjoyed today’s show, please rate A Football Podcast 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts.
See you again next week for an all new AFP.
Have you joined Patreon? Get ad-free episodes, access to discord and our all-new weekly Euro Round Up: https://www.patreon.com/afootballpodcast
Follow @AFootballPod on Twitter! While you're there say hello to @DesaiDevang, @EmpireGass and @nickandrade.
If you enjoyed today’s show, please rate A Football Podcast 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts.
See you again next week for an all new AFP.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:22):
Very excited for this next interview.Wanted to talk to someone about leaving a
playing career and finding your feet outsidethe field, but also about one of
the most exciting stories around North Americansoccer, and that is the launch of
Charlotte FC, the new expansion teamin MLS coming up next year. So
who better than the director of businessoperations Darius Barnes of course former Revolution legend
(00:44):
as well. Darius, thanks forjoining us, Dave, thanks for having
me, you know, happy tobe on and looking forward to the conversation.
You're doing some good stuff over here, so I really appreciate you having
me on. So let's start here. You're playing professional soccer. At what
point, from when you start yourpro career or maybe even in college,
do you start thinking what else amI going to do with my life?
(01:07):
Yeah, I mean that's a that'sa great question. It's a loaded question.
I feel like you're always taught growingup right to you know, start
planning out your next step and youknow, don't put all your eggs in
one basket. You know, allthose cliche things, but you know,
when you're when you're playing, you'relike extremely invested and you know, putting
all your being into playing and doingeverything you can to you know, to
(01:29):
be the best that you can be. And for me, that was it.
You know, I grew up,grew up playing soccer. I just
you know, the game kind offound me and I gravitated towards the game
just at a very young age.Started playing when I was five years old
in the Triangle area. You know, never really had aspirations to play professionally.
It was just something that I enjoyeddoing and something I was good at
(01:49):
and it was my escape. Andso you know, fast forward a couple
of years, you know, startedto develop and and get better, started
to gate some interest obviously, youknow, winning youth tournaments and getting some
accolades and things of that sort.And you know, I was fortunate enough
to get a to get a scholarshipto Duke University. And honestly, even
then, I didn't really have aspirationsto play prom or thought that I could.
(02:14):
Yeah, it was just you know, it wasn't really until after my
freshman year um that I, likeI started to have that thought that I
could go pro. You know,I had had a really good freshman year
at Duke, and you know,after after this season, our assistant coach
came to me and said that,you know, there had been some interests
from you know MLS teams um andasked that I ever think about, you
know, coming out early, andby no means that I ever want to
(02:34):
come out earlier. You know,it was very important for me to get
my education. You know, myparents instilled that in me at a at
an early age, so that nevercrossed my mind. Twice. So but
when he mentioned that, that kindof got the wheels turning that I had
a chance to play pro. Soreally from that off season four it I
you know, kind of did everythingI could to put myself in a position
to to go pro. And sothat meant, you know, taking summer
(02:58):
school and graduating from Duke, reallyjust understanding the schedule of when you know,
the MLS season starts to if youget if you're fortunate enough to get
drafted, you know, preseason startsin January, and so in order to
put myself in the best position,I wanted to make sure I graduated from
Duke early, which was a sacrifice. And you know, luckily, you
know, I had had a greatyou know, four year career at Duke
(03:20):
and was fortunate to get drafted byNew England Revolution and that's kind of where
things took off. But you know, really from there, I was just
focused on on playing. I wasn'treally thinking about what was next. Had
a good rookie year with New Englandand so all my all my eggs are
in the basket of being the bestprofessional that I can be. But if
I could go back, I probablywould have started thinking about, you know,
(03:43):
kind of post playing a little bitearlier, just knowing what was to
come, you know, in termsof you know, good years, bad
years, just understanding the roller coasterride it is of you know, being
a professional athlete and injuries and thingsof that sort, and so you definitely
want to make sure you have youknow, plans ABC kind of subsequently like
following each other and making sure you'rehaving keeping your options open. I assume
(04:05):
the moment you realize you could gopro was when you found out you could
stay in front of Mike Greller.Right once you play with him, then
you know you can hang with thebig boys. And I mean, you're
not wrong. You know, Mikegirls probably he's one of the best players
I've ever played against. And meand him, we used we used to
have battles in practice, and there'sa lot of chirping going on, a
lot of a lot of smack talkgoing on. We had some we had
(04:27):
some chippy days in practice. ButI like to think that I made him
better. He definitely made me bettergoing against someone of that caliber day in
and day out. He is alegend and a comedian at the same time.
Yeah, but you mentioned you wishyou had started thinking about this earlier.
So in your playing career, you'rewith the REVS for over seven seasons.
I think at what point did youstart thinking about this and was there
(04:49):
any mechanism in place in the leagueor with the REVS at the time where
you know people came to you andsaid, what's your thought process after your
playing career? Yeah, that's agreat question. You know. What I
would say is just that you know, it wasn't really too I got an
injury, UM, you know,a substantial entry that I started to think
about what was next because you know, in this league, you know,
(05:12):
there aren't too many you know,long term contracts, and contracts can be
very much UM here today gone tomorrowtype type ward deals and so um.
In twenty fifteen, UM, Itore them up with teller tendon, and
so that gave me a lot oftime to really just you know, I
was just rehabbing, you know,really started to develop you know the mental
side of my game and you know, my mental capacity and figuring out,
(05:33):
um just how to be mentally toughand you know what I wanted to do
post post playing wise, and soyou know, I'll started to look at
everything from studying for the GMAT andyou know, applying to business school to
exploring different you know, just careerroutes, whether it be you know,
you know in banking, um,you know what jobs there were in sports,
(05:54):
you know, within soccer. JustI dating all all up and down
the board, um, and soI started that's when I started to think
about, you know, what wasnext, um in my journey. And
luckily, you know, I wasable to come back from the injury.
You know, I played eight seasonsfor New England and then you know,
after my contract with New England,I played one year for the New York
Cosmos and that's really when I startedthink about a little bit more. I
(06:15):
knew twenty seventeen with the Cosmos thatwas going to be my last year.
Just just knowing I wanted to getinto something else, and you know,
I had fulfilled a childhood dream ofmine, a lifelong dream to play professionally.
But it was time to, youknow, to try something else.
And I didn't want to be thirtyeight thirty nine before I'm getting some you
know, real business experience, andso that that was really where you know,
(06:40):
I started to take information interviews andmeet with different people m and really
you really start to see that someof your past experiences kind of lead up
to where you are. Like youasked me, you know, if were
there any resources in place, youknow, specifically, I would say no,
you know, there wasn't you know, a roadmap or you know,
programming from a league standpoint at thatpoint in time to prep players when they're
(07:02):
done, when they're done playing.But you know, even just from like
player appearances that I did with corporatesponsors, you know, as a player,
media obligations, you know, Iremember, I think twenty fourteen World
Cup, the REVS and their localbroadcast partner had me and someone else kind
of break down and analyze games anddo like postmatch reviews, and so those
(07:25):
were things like different experiences that Itook that you know, I was able
to make applicable to when I wasable to transition, just giving me exposure
and experience and different arenas within thegame but outside the game at the same
time. So to answer your questions, yes, but no, there wasn't
anything kind of official like there isnow, which I think it's fantastic,
just a great work that you know, MLS Player Engagement Group is doing right
(07:47):
now with you know, Jamale northCut and his team just providing programming for
you know, academy players, currentplayers and you know MLS greats and giving
them you know, options and resourcesum and experience so when they're done playing,
that transitions a little bit easier becauseit's definitely a tough transition when you
decided to hang up the boots,and the more resources and people you can
(08:09):
have in your corner um the better. So you know, for me,
I just you know, try tryto figure it out as best as I
could, and you know, dideverything people tell you to do in terms
of networking, and you know,just you know, kind of humbling yourself
and and and bring yourself back downto a level where you're not afraid to
reach out to people and ask forhelp. You mentioned those resources. You
(08:30):
mentioned the tough transition. What's thetoughest part. Is it the change of
lifestyle or is it um you know, starting over and that experience you said
of being a little bit older andkind of starting from the beginning. Yeah,
I think it's all of that.I think starting over, you know,
you're used to you used to acertain lifestyle. First and foremost,
(08:50):
you're used to a certain routine.Um. You know, you're used to
you know, waking up, youknow, getting your breakfast, you know,
being in the locker room, youknow, getting your your prehab,
your activation training, come in,get your treatment, postgame, mill ice
bath, all that stuff, andyou know, it kind of shifts on
his head. And I think thebiggest thing for me is just like you
(09:11):
didn't really have to think about well, I won't say the biggest things,
but an important thing for me was, you know, you didn't think about
having to work out. It wasjust kind of part of the norm,
Like you were expected to stay inshape and be in shape. And nowadays
I'm having to like work and findworkout classes and make up my own workout
routines, and it's like it's areal struggle to stay in shape. I
(09:31):
remember when I was like when Iwas planning, you'd see someone, you
know, someone that retired years ago, when you look at him and be
like like, wow, he kindof he kind of fell off a little
bit, like he used to bethe fittest person, like on the team
or like in the league. Andthen you realize, like it's very hard
and very slippery slope that you canlose that because it's it's not part of
your everyday routine. It's something thatyou really have to plan for now instead
(09:52):
of it being part of you know, your job. I was one.
And then you know, to yourpoint, just just getting kind of humbled
back down, like you're learning awhole new skill set for the most part,
and a lot of players go fromplaying to maybe the competition side and
the technical side, whether that becoaching or scouting, um, you know,
whatever that may be. But there'sstill a learning curve for that,
(10:15):
Like you still have to get humbledand and and you know, work your
way back up. Very few playersget a chance just to you know,
step in and be a head coachor step in to be you know,
a technical director or a sporting director. Um, you really have to kind
of learn the rope. So it'salmost like being a rookie again, where
you know the normal person um comingout of college. You know, you
(10:35):
start that, you know, atwenty two entry level job, then you
know mid level job, and youwork your way up um. But as
a professional athlete you somewhat have toyou know, you climb a ladder and
then you get your ankles chopped offand you got to start that client right
back up again. So I thinkthat was probably the most challenging part um,
disunderstanding how you have to kind ofreidentify yourself. Did anyone ever say
(10:58):
you were too old to start something? Because I remember, I mean one
of the examples was Brandon Vincent they'dpick in the draft, was a national
team guy. In two years intohis pro career, he retired so that
he could work in the finance sectorbecause he didn't want to be too far
behind. Was that a conversation thatpeople ever brought up to you. I
don't think it was a conversation thatpeople brought up to me. Is just
something that I kind of recognize inmyself and just seeing experiences and having you
(11:20):
know, having conversations with people theywouldn't necessarily pointed out, but you could
kind of tell it was, youknow, alluded to that, you know,
And I think that's the reason whya lot of players, when they're
done playing, they just kind of, I don't want to say stick,
but for lack of a better word, kind of stick to the competition route
because it's not as there's a learningcurve. Don't get me wrong, but
(11:43):
it's not as big of a leapas if you transition to something that's completely
you know, novel in its ownright, or go to the business side.
You definitely have to like you alreadyhave that understanding of the game and
you've developed, you know, abulk of those skills is just an amount
of a matter of you know,defining them and fine tuning them a bit.
So I think that's a reason whya lot of players do stick to
(12:05):
the competitive and technical side of thegame because that learning curve isn't as steep
and it's not like you get knockedall the way back down. But um,
you did get knocked down and humblequite a bit. But if you're
going into something completely different, youknow, you're you're definitely kind of starting
back off here at the bottom end. It's I don't say I won't say
it's easy, but athletes have alot of traits that help you as sin
(12:26):
very rapidly. But it's a matterof matter of putting in that that work
ahead of time and making sure you'regrinding it out and you know, kind
of putting your head down and doingwhat you have to do, just as
if you just as you did whenyou were playing and you were an athlete
and you know, a young soccerplayer, you know you did everything you
could to get to the position youwere. The same thing goes for post
playing career as well. You mentionedJimil and for people who don't know,
(12:50):
UM, he's running a player engagementportion of Major League Soccer that's new and
he's his background is in the NFLand he's sort of done that for both
the NFL and and C double atof helping athletes, you get tools figure
out those ideas around what do youwant to do when the sports stops and
when you stop playing? UM,what would you tell young athletes or maybe
(13:11):
what would you like to see?UM? You know MLS and now I
think the big thing is MLS academyplayers have that maybe you didn't have back
in your day. Yeah. Imean I mean, first from from a
competitis tentpoint, I think the thingsare starting to be put in place,
you know, just kind of aclear pathway you know to the professional level
UM and obviously with with you knowMLS Next and you know MLS Next Pro
(13:35):
UM. These are clear pathways thatthat MLS is putting in place to you
know, young players can see whatit takes to get to the top,
and they're having these engagements you knowwith professional players and professional clubs and professional
coaches you know kind of all inthe same event um and right there in
their local markets. So I lovewhat the league is doing. UM.
(13:56):
From that regard, also think there'sthere's tons of opportunity, I know,
you know just within these you knowdifferent sectors with MLS Next and MLESS Next
Pro and MLS just providing opportunities foryou know, not only for players to
develop, like it's a it's aplayer development pathway, but coaching development,
referee development, you know, diversityinitiative development, all these things. Is
(14:20):
how do we create different programming thatreally builds and grows you know, complete
humans, right, complete humans.And it looks after the complete, complete
pathway and not just a player pathway, but it really kind of encapsulates and
brings everything together within within one andI think, you know, the more
we continue to do that, themore opportunities there will be for players like
(14:41):
myself who you know, who playeda while ago in the league and maybe
looking to shift and be given differentopportunities. It gives players a way to
kind of dabble in a couple ofdifferent arenas and really figure out where they
want to land, um, youknow, what work they want to do
post playing, where that that ison the competition and technical side, and
you know, from a scouting beingable to scout young players and bring them
(15:01):
into the fold of you know MLSclubs and MLS academies or um. You
know, just an accelerated program tohelp people identify what it's like to work
on the business side of leagues andyou know, giving them those experiences from
whether it be an academy, MLSnext pro and then you know, moving
up to MLS you're able to seeit um and you're able to grow and
(15:24):
gradually build with the league instead ofreally just being thrown into the So you've
you've mentioned a couple of times fora lot of players the next step is
on that sporting side, whether it'sin a coaching staff or front office or
scouting or all those things. That'snot the case for you. I mentioned
(15:46):
your title at the top director ofbusiness Operations at Charlotte FC. So what
made you lean away from that?What? What did you see that made
you want to go towards the marketingand the business side. Yeah, for
me, it was a matter ofI wanted to stay involved with the sport.
You know, First and foremost,I think the sport UM, it's
it's continue to grow steadily. There'sso much potential for the sport. It's
(16:11):
a passion point of mind. Theleague's a passion point of mind. It
gave me my opportunity to play atthe professional rank UM. And so I
have a passion and you know,love for this sport and for the league.
And so first and foremost is like, how do I get involved and
stay involved and how can I contributeto UM just the growth of the sport
and the game, you know,here here in the United States. And
(16:33):
so I wanted some stability, UMin life as well. I wanted you
know, I'd already experienced you know, the traveling um. You know,
and you know, being on thepitch day in and day out, um,
and there's it's aware and it's agrind. UM. But I was
like, how can I, youknow, just continue to push the game
for it in a different regard.And I also wanted to use my degree,
you know, I wanted to useyou know, the degree, and
(16:56):
you know wanted to um, youknow, all those hours of I put
into school, I wanted those topan out for me as well. So
how can I have the best ofboth world as really was my thinking.
And so I gravitated towards the thebusiness side and just wanting to learn more
about the commerciality of the league andthe business side and you know, revenue
generation of the league and the sport, which is something I've always found fascinating.
(17:19):
And you know, I think youknow, whatever route you decide to
go, um, if you wantto stay within the sport, I think
you should learn both sides, boththe sporting and the business side, because
it just helps you learn the economicsof the league and makes you understand the
league from an inside out and whysome decisions are made and you know,
the strategic approaches of you know,the leadership, you know from from a
(17:42):
players standpoint, you may not youknow, understand or you know when a
decisions made, why why things happenor shake out that way, But when
you take a peek behind the curtain, you're like, Okay, you may
not agree with it, but youunderstand and can um you know, you
can sympathize or why you know suchand such decision was made. I got
to ask, how often does someonefind out you played in MLS? You
(18:04):
know what I mean? Like areyou on calls and in conversations with people
and at some point it comes outlike, yeah, I know about that
I played in this league. Yeah, it happens very weird and randomly,
like it's it's funny. I wantto get to the point where, well,
I'll take a step back. Likea big piece of you know,
when you transition is just that identityidentity standpoint, like who you identify yourself
(18:27):
as, Like I've always identified myselfas, you know, Darius Barnes,
the soccer player, and then likeright when I transition, it was like
Darius Barnes, you know, theformer MLS player or whatever it may be.
So like I've tried, like Ireally like try intentionally to strip myself
up that a little bit. SoI'm more so looked at as you know,
(18:47):
you know, Darius Barnes to directtheir business operations and kind of see
things through that pur view, becauseif you always kind of hamper on the
pass and who you were, you'reyou're always going to see yourself in that
in that light. And while that'sa big part of who I am and
you know who I was, it'skind of onto this next chapter and want
to be kind of viewed as onbackground. So I say all that to
(19:08):
say, like I've been on callsand like people will you know, they'll
recognize that I used to play,or I bring up you know, stats,
or you know, say they calledone of my games. You know.
Right now, I'm in the middleof, you know, interviewing for
our broadcast talent and Siline reporter andinterviewed someone who said they called one of
my games one time. So it'slike little things like that kind of bring
(19:30):
me back to the pitch. ButI imagine that the next couple of years,
it'll it'll start to fade away quitea bit well, and then it'll
transition to someone who helped one ofthe most successful expansion teams in MLS history.
So let's get to North Carolina.Now, you are a Raleigh native,
you are a North Carolina native.So I guess let's start with this
because most of the people listening tothe show in Canada, in the US
(19:52):
maybe not from North Carolina. Giveus the pitch, Give us an idea
of the soccer landscape in this area. Yeah, I mean North Carolina and
South Carolina is just such a soccerrich region. I think we're very fortunate
to to be in the region thatwe are. I think we're very fortunate
to have so much young talent withinlike right within arms reach of us.
(20:18):
It's on our shoulders to really figureout how we engage and cultivate and so
really what we're really what we're rightright now doing. It's just like what
is the best method and how dowe prioritize just all these great clubs that
we have, you know, atour disposal. How can we make a
mark, How can we help theseclubs grow? Um, it's not just
(20:40):
about you know, these clubs helpingCharlotte FC get the best talent, but
how do we put um you know, how do we relay our coaching foundation,
our coaching curriculum and pass that onso that we're helping these clubs grow
and we're cultivating and developing the bestplayers possible for the collective region. UM.
So I think for us, we'revery lucky just to have you know,
so much talent already at our disposal, but it's up to us,
(21:02):
you know, really how do wemaximize that? And so you know,
our from you know, from ourleadership down, it's super important, um
just a player development and pro playerpathway and making sure, um, these
young boys that we bring into ouracademies are just well rounded and that we're
building complete human beings while also areyou know, developing um, you know,
top level athletes and talent at thesame time. And so you know,
(21:26):
we we've really put some of thepieces in place where they just be
our you know, our academy directorand Dan Locke and our technical director Mark
Nichols, you know, our headcoach of the first team. You know,
Miguel Ramirez is huge on player developmentand they're always present and um they
have touch points with with all ofour academy kids as well. So it's
a very open door policy and transparentand I think you'll start to see and
(21:48):
we'll start to see some of thefruits of that labor um start to develop
and show up in the first teamhere in the in the upcoming years.
Yeah. For anyone who doesn't know, Mark Nichols ran a very successful academy
in the Carolina area for a numberof years and then was out in Seattle
running the academy that brought through DannyLava and Josh Atencio and all those players
we've seen be successful. For Seatt, I'm very excited to see what he
(22:11):
does with you. So that's theplayers side. Give us the fan side.
Now, what is what is CharlotteFC fan base gonna look like?
What's it gonna sound like? Where? Where are we going to see the
colors? Like? Give people anidea of what you're hoping this region will
be. Yeah, I think forus, we just we just really want
to unite the region um and bringthe region together. Like we're not a
club just for Charlotte. While whileour name may be rooted in Charlotte,
(22:34):
you know, we're a club forall the Carolinas. We're trying to show
up in all these markets, whetherit's Charlotte, Greensboro, Rawley, Uh,
you know, Greenville, South Carolina, Asheville, North Carolina, Columbia.
We're trying to paint the Carolina's blue, and so I think we've we've
done that in a number of ourmarketing and media efforts, just you know,
showing that, showing these communities thatwe're you know, that we're here
(22:56):
for them. UM. I thinkthat's the main part of about building a
club. It's just you know,first and foremost, just getting involved in
the community. UM. When youyou know, show communities that you care,
I mean, you're giving back.UM. I think the communities just
in turn support what you're trying todo in the initiatives that you're um looking
to do. So our fans havebeen fantastic just in terms of supporting a
(23:18):
lot of community initiatives that we've had. UM. You know, we have
an initiative, are many pitches,twenty too many pitches that we're trying to
build throughout the Carolina region over thenext few years. UM and making sure
that you know, we're engaging withlocal community captains to help program those as
well. UM, local leaders whereyou know, combating you know, food
insecurity. At the same time,we have military initiatives. So I think
(23:42):
all these initiatives that we have asa club and that we're building and growing.
Um you know, we continue toengage with different fans and constituents of
these communities, which we which wehope you know, turns into Charlotte FC
fans. You know, we want, we want that stadium to be packed
with you know, with blue andwhite. You know, our first game,
(24:02):
we're looking to get seventy four thousandfans and break Atlanta's record for an
MLS match. So you know,I encourage everyone to come, but you
know, other than that, we'retrying to you know, trying to average
thirty thousand fans of the stadium andreally make Bank of America Stadium a fortress
in the Carolina region and just reallyput soccer and the Carolinas on the map.
(24:22):
So you've i know, obviously you'vebeen around the league for a while,
but also in this role, Iknow you've been waiting and researching for
this moment. You've talked to alot of the other expansion teams, You've
watched a lot of the other expansionprocesses. What are some of the keys
that you've kind of locked in onthat have been successful, Other places that
you think are must for an expansionteam, or maybe you're trying to not
(24:45):
co op but used to help youguys hit the ground running. Yeah,
I think for one, is justbeing intentional about what we're doing. Like
like you said, we've had plentyof conversations with other expansion teams and seeing
what they've tried to do. ButI think for us, we've really just
tried to look at things through ourown lens. At the same time,
if you look at you know,what we did from an expansion draft standpoint,
(25:07):
we really wanted to you know,we had the advantage of being the
only team, um, you know, selecting an expansion draft this year.
So how how can we make amoment out of that? How can we
make that something that's exciting for ourfan base, um and more centric to
to Charlotte. And you know,we we televiseed that live and broadcast that
live with our you know, intandem with our local broadcast partner WSOC and
(25:30):
Telemundo, and we're able to shootyou know, both English language and Spanish
language you know, live version ofthe expansion draft. So I think it's
for us, it's just trying tothink out of the box and how do
we leverage you know, some leagueplatforms, in league events, in league
moments, and leverage these once ina lifetime moments that we have as a
club to really capitalize on that UMand really bring fans into the fold and
(25:52):
show them that we're going to beyou know, we're gonna be transparent,
We're going to be as assessible aspossible, and we're trying to do things
different and do things in a differentway. And I think you'll see that
with a lot of things that weunroll that we unravel here in the first
year. Um, you know,one just being our broadcast experience and broadcast
production, you know, just lookingto have different you know, tech and
(26:14):
innovative integrations into how we're you know, having the game view to to our
fans who aren't able to be therein stadium. So there's different things that
that will do and unfold throughout theyear that I think are going to be
new and novel to the league.Would it be fair for me to ask
UM for a comparison for us ofmaybe what type of market Charlotte will be
(26:36):
like when Nashville came in, theysaid, we're not lafc right, They're
different cities. They're different markets,they're different styles. Do you have an
idea of maybe a similar market oras you said, you want to be
new and innovator. I don't wantto I don't want to tie you to
anyone that you don't want to betied to. Yeah, I think that's
exactly what we want to be.We want to be our own, we
want to be we want to benew. I mean, I think people
will automatically, you know, youknow, they'll connect us to the the
(27:00):
southern cities, you're you're You're Atlanta, as your Nashvilles, you know,
of the world. But I thinkwhere we're all different. You know,
Charlotte is such a unique city.It's a changing and growing city. You
know every single day. You know, the Charlotte of ten fifteen years ago
is not the Charlotte of today andwon't be the Charlotte of the next ten,
fifteen, twenty years as well.So I think we're going to continue
(27:22):
to evolve. I think, um, you know, I think having this
lead time and runway up into ourinaugural season has been, you know,
a benefit. Obviously, you know, hasn't been great dealing with covid M
and trying to launch a team kindof in the middle back end beginning.
I don't know where we are withCOVID right now, but it hasn't been
the easiest thing. But um,I think there's been a lot of lessons
(27:44):
that we've been able to take fromthat, and that's just you know,
just learning our fan base, learninggetting invested and involved in our community.
M And I think if we dothings, you know, the way that
we know how and the way youknow that we've kind of um strategized,
I think you know that the fansare going to enjoy what we're doing from
um, like said, from acommunity engagement, from a match day experience
standpoint, from a broadcast standpoint.So I think for us, we're just
(28:07):
trying to be the best shot OFCthat we can be. And I'll leave
it to everyone else to compare whowe are once still once the ball rose
out to the field is how importantis it though for a club to have
those rivals, to have Nashville andAtlanta, to have not just the comparison,
but I mean, you know,we both lived in New York for
the Red Bulls and y CFC wasa great moment for them to have that
(28:27):
meaningful match. How important is itto sort of have that already in place.
Yeah, I mean I think it'simportant, But you know, for
me, it's it's right now.It's just you know, a geographical quote
unquote rivalry. Like I can't saythat it's a rivalry yet because we haven't
stepped foot on the field. Ithink I think rivalries are going to organically
(28:48):
play out. I think you knowthis, it's good to have, you
know, that Marquis moment and youknow, hopefully that's one that a lot
of fans have their eyes on andare now tuned in on, and that
match rolls around. But you know, I think vases are created on the
pitch, and you know, onceonce you know, those develop organically.
Um, you know, I thinkthat the geographical component of it is definitely
(29:08):
gonna help. But you know thatthose battles are going to take place on
the field and then you know,we continue to pull levers from there,
whether it be from a local umclub standpoint or from a league standpoint.
But I'm a big believers are that, you know, rivalries are created on
the pitch, So you're ready forthe random s KC or RSL Charlotte rivalry
when that comes through it, right, because you never know, you don't,
(29:30):
You don't. I mean when Iwas in New England, though,
Chicago was a rival, but that'sbecause there had been some you know,
some some testing matches and some fiveteam matches that have taken place. So
that's exactly what I mean though,that was created on the pitch and that
was kind of a natural one,and I don't I would necessarily say that's
a rivalry now, but you know, for a good you know, maybe
four or five years standard it wasjust because of what it's transpired on the
(29:52):
pitch um and you know, meetingin the playoffs. You know, all
those circumstances have to really align tocreate a rivalry, and so I imagine
they will just what you know,Holton will play some of those teams.
But TVD Patrick Miarco a legend,by the way, when you're talking about
those Chicago Fire teams, some greatteams. So for you, you have
the Jersey launch, you mentioned theexpansion draft where you guys were able to
(30:15):
build around that moment. Obviously thelaunch coming up and into the season.
What's like a little moment that you'reexcited about or what's something that you can't
wait to unveil for kind of everyoneto see, Like, what's what's your
moment that you're building towards. Imean, the moment we're building towards is
March fifth, March fifth, Bankof America Stadium. It's on the top
(30:36):
of your head. You've got itmemorized exactly. It is on the top
of my head. That's the onethat it's It can't get here soon enough,
and it also couldn't be further away. It's kind in that is in
that sweet spot right now. Butyou know that's that's kind of the pinnacle
for us from a club just hostingour first home match, but then you
know, our first match as aclub on February twenty six against DC as
(30:57):
well. Like, I think thosemoments are going to be amazing for the
club just because you know, we'restarting to see like it's just we've have
tangible items. We have we havea kit um. You know, we're
starting to fill out a roster.We have some of these tangible things that
make the club feel more real.Where you know, a couple of weeks
or a couple of months ago,it's kind of a it was a fairy
(31:17):
tale. It's like we existed butdidn't exist. And you know, now
we've launched a website. You knowthat we're on the MLS website now,
so we're starting to feel more realand things are coming together, and I
just think it's going to be fantasticjust to see so everyone can see a
witness, you know, all thehard work that's been done, you know,
behind the scenes from a you know, a sporting standpoint um, you
(31:38):
know, from a marketing standpoint,from a comms from a media standpoint um,
to really get to this point.And it's going to be cool just
to see kind of January first week, everyone flips the switch. We're in
twenty twenty two, and in CharlotteFC kicks off twenty twenty two as well.
So um, I think that that'sreally the moment that you know,
everyone internally really can't wait for.Obviously, you know we're gonna have our
(32:00):
first preseason coming up. We stillhave some more players to sign, but
all that the north Star for usis February twenty six and March fifth.
I'm excited for it. Seventy fourthousand in a stadium. I think both
of us would have, you know, kind of been shocked if you told
us that a few years back aboutthat's where MLS would stand. And now
another expansion team, another fan base, and we think another great club in
(32:22):
MLS. Darius Barnes, Director forbusiness Operations for Charlotte FC. Darius,
good luck, man. We knowyou're grinding hard behind the scenes and we're
excited to see it all come together. David appreciated man. Always a pleasure.
Very excited for this next interview.Wanted to talk to someone about leaving a
playing career and finding your feet outsidethe field, but also about one of
the most exciting stories around North Americansoccer, and that is the launch of
Charlotte FC, the new expansion teamin MLS coming up next year. So
who better than the director of businessoperations Darius Barnes of course former Revolution legend
(00:44):
as well. Darius, thanks forjoining us, Dave, thanks for having
me, you know, happy tobe on and looking forward to the conversation.
You're doing some good stuff over here, so I really appreciate you having
me on. So let's start here. You're playing professional soccer. At what
point, from when you start yourpro career or maybe even in college,
do you start thinking what else amI going to do with my life?
(01:07):
Yeah, I mean that's a that'sa great question. It's a loaded question.
I feel like you're always taught growingup right to you know, start
planning out your next step and youknow, don't put all your eggs in
one basket. You know, allthose cliche things, but you know,
when you're when you're playing, you'relike extremely invested and you know, putting
all your being into playing and doingeverything you can to you know, to
(01:29):
be the best that you can be. And for me, that was it.
You know, I grew up,grew up playing soccer. I just
you know, the game kind offound me and I gravitated towards the game
just at a very young age.Started playing when I was five years old
in the Triangle area. You know, never really had aspirations to play professionally.
It was just something that I enjoyeddoing and something I was good at
(01:49):
and it was my escape. Andso you know, fast forward a couple
of years, you know, startedto develop and and get better, started
to gate some interest obviously, youknow, winning youth tournaments and getting some
accolades and things of that sort.And you know, I was fortunate enough
to get a to get a scholarshipto Duke University. And honestly, even
then, I didn't really have aspirationsto play prom or thought that I could.
(02:14):
Yeah, it was just you know, it wasn't really until after my
freshman year um that I, likeI started to have that thought that I
could go pro. You know,I had had a really good freshman year
at Duke, and you know,after after this season, our assistant coach
came to me and said that,you know, there had been some interests
from you know MLS teams um andasked that I ever think about, you
know, coming out early, andby no means that I ever want to
(02:34):
come out earlier. You know,it was very important for me to get
my education. You know, myparents instilled that in me at a at
an early age, so that nevercrossed my mind. Twice. So but
when he mentioned that, that kindof got the wheels turning that I had
a chance to play pro. Soreally from that off season four it I
you know, kind of did everythingI could to put myself in a position
to to go pro. And sothat meant, you know, taking summer
(02:58):
school and graduating from Duke, reallyjust understanding the schedule of when you know,
the MLS season starts to if youget if you're fortunate enough to get
drafted, you know, preseason startsin January, and so in order to
put myself in the best position,I wanted to make sure I graduated from
Duke early, which was a sacrifice. And you know, luckily, you
know, I had had a greatyou know, four year career at Duke
(03:20):
and was fortunate to get drafted byNew England Revolution and that's kind of where
things took off. But you know, really from there, I was just
focused on on playing. I wasn'treally thinking about what was next. Had
a good rookie year with New Englandand so all my all my eggs are
in the basket of being the bestprofessional that I can be. But if
I could go back, I probablywould have started thinking about, you know,
(03:43):
kind of post playing a little bitearlier, just knowing what was to
come, you know, in termsof you know, good years, bad
years, just understanding the roller coasterride it is of you know, being
a professional athlete and injuries and thingsof that sort, and so you definitely
want to make sure you have youknow, plans ABC kind of subsequently like
following each other and making sure you'rehaving keeping your options open. I assume
(04:05):
the moment you realize you could gopro was when you found out you could
stay in front of Mike Greller.Right once you play with him, then
you know you can hang with thebig boys. And I mean, you're
not wrong. You know, Mikegirls probably he's one of the best players
I've ever played against. And meand him, we used we used to
have battles in practice, and there'sa lot of chirping going on, a
lot of a lot of smack talkgoing on. We had some we had
(04:27):
some chippy days in practice. ButI like to think that I made him
better. He definitely made me bettergoing against someone of that caliber day in
and day out. He is alegend and a comedian at the same time.
Yeah, but you mentioned you wishyou had started thinking about this earlier.
So in your playing career, you'rewith the REVS for over seven seasons.
I think at what point did youstart thinking about this and was there
(04:49):
any mechanism in place in the leagueor with the REVS at the time where
you know people came to you andsaid, what's your thought process after your
playing career? Yeah, that's agreat question. You know. What I
would say is just that you know, it wasn't really too I got an
injury, UM, you know,a substantial entry that I started to think
about what was next because you know, in this league, you know,
(05:12):
there aren't too many you know,long term contracts, and contracts can be
very much UM here today gone tomorrowtype type ward deals and so um.
In twenty fifteen, UM, Itore them up with teller tendon, and
so that gave me a lot oftime to really just you know, I
was just rehabbing, you know,really started to develop you know the mental
side of my game and you know, my mental capacity and figuring out,
(05:33):
um just how to be mentally toughand you know what I wanted to do
post post playing wise, and soyou know, I'll started to look at
everything from studying for the GMAT andyou know, applying to business school to
exploring different you know, just careerroutes, whether it be you know,
you know in banking, um,you know what jobs there were in sports,
(05:54):
you know, within soccer. JustI dating all all up and down
the board, um, and soI started that's when I started to think
about, you know, what wasnext, um in my journey. And
luckily, you know, I wasable to come back from the injury.
You know, I played eight seasonsfor New England and then you know,
after my contract with New England,I played one year for the New York
Cosmos and that's really when I startedthink about a little bit more. I
(06:15):
knew twenty seventeen with the Cosmos thatwas going to be my last year.
Just just knowing I wanted to getinto something else, and you know,
I had fulfilled a childhood dream ofmine, a lifelong dream to play professionally.
But it was time to, youknow, to try something else.
And I didn't want to be thirtyeight thirty nine before I'm getting some you
know, real business experience, andso that that was really where you know,
(06:40):
I started to take information interviews andmeet with different people m and really
you really start to see that someof your past experiences kind of lead up
to where you are. Like youasked me, you know, if were
there any resources in place, youknow, specifically, I would say no,
you know, there wasn't you know, a roadmap or you know,
programming from a league standpoint at thatpoint in time to prep players when they're
(07:02):
done, when they're done playing.But you know, even just from like
player appearances that I did with corporatesponsors, you know, as a player,
media obligations, you know, Iremember, I think twenty fourteen World
Cup, the REVS and their localbroadcast partner had me and someone else kind
of break down and analyze games anddo like postmatch reviews, and so those
(07:25):
were things like different experiences that Itook that you know, I was able
to make applicable to when I wasable to transition, just giving me exposure
and experience and different arenas within thegame but outside the game at the same
time. So to answer your questions, yes, but no, there wasn't
anything kind of official like there isnow, which I think it's fantastic,
just a great work that you know, MLS Player Engagement Group is doing right
(07:47):
now with you know, Jamale northCut and his team just providing programming for
you know, academy players, currentplayers and you know MLS greats and giving
them you know, options and resourcesum and experience so when they're done playing,
that transitions a little bit easier becauseit's definitely a tough transition when you
decided to hang up the boots,and the more resources and people you can
(08:09):
have in your corner um the better. So you know, for me,
I just you know, try tryto figure it out as best as I
could, and you know, dideverything people tell you to do in terms
of networking, and you know,just you know, kind of humbling yourself
and and and bring yourself back downto a level where you're not afraid to
reach out to people and ask forhelp. You mentioned those resources. You
(08:30):
mentioned the tough transition. What's thetoughest part. Is it the change of
lifestyle or is it um you know, starting over and that experience you said
of being a little bit older andkind of starting from the beginning. Yeah,
I think it's all of that.I think starting over, you know,
you're used to you used to acertain lifestyle. First and foremost,
(08:50):
you're used to a certain routine.Um. You know, you're used to
you know, waking up, youknow, getting your breakfast, you know,
being in the locker room, youknow, getting your your prehab,
your activation training, come in,get your treatment, postgame, mill ice
bath, all that stuff, andyou know, it kind of shifts on
his head. And I think thebiggest thing for me is just like you
(09:11):
didn't really have to think about well, I won't say the biggest things,
but an important thing for me was, you know, you didn't think about
having to work out. It wasjust kind of part of the norm,
Like you were expected to stay inshape and be in shape. And nowadays
I'm having to like work and findworkout classes and make up my own workout
routines, and it's like it's areal struggle to stay in shape. I
(09:31):
remember when I was like when Iwas planning, you'd see someone, you
know, someone that retired years ago, when you look at him and be
like like, wow, he kindof he kind of fell off a little
bit, like he used to bethe fittest person, like on the team
or like in the league. Andthen you realize, like it's very hard
and very slippery slope that you canlose that because it's it's not part of
your everyday routine. It's something thatyou really have to plan for now instead
(09:52):
of it being part of you know, your job. I was one.
And then you know, to yourpoint, just just getting kind of humbled
back down, like you're learning awhole new skill set for the most part,
and a lot of players go fromplaying to maybe the competition side and
the technical side, whether that becoaching or scouting, um, you know,
whatever that may be. But there'sstill a learning curve for that,
(10:15):
Like you still have to get humbledand and and you know, work your
way back up. Very few playersget a chance just to you know,
step in and be a head coachor step in to be you know,
a technical director or a sporting director. Um, you really have to kind
of learn the rope. So it'salmost like being a rookie again, where
you know the normal person um comingout of college. You know, you
(10:35):
start that, you know, atwenty two entry level job, then you
know mid level job, and youwork your way up um. But as
a professional athlete you somewhat have toyou know, you climb a ladder and
then you get your ankles chopped offand you got to start that client right
back up again. So I thinkthat was probably the most challenging part um,
disunderstanding how you have to kind ofreidentify yourself. Did anyone ever say
(10:58):
you were too old to start something? Because I remember, I mean one
of the examples was Brandon Vincent they'dpick in the draft, was a national
team guy. In two years intohis pro career, he retired so that
he could work in the finance sectorbecause he didn't want to be too far
behind. Was that a conversation thatpeople ever brought up to you. I
don't think it was a conversation thatpeople brought up to me. Is just
something that I kind of recognize inmyself and just seeing experiences and having you
(11:20):
know, having conversations with people theywouldn't necessarily pointed out, but you could
kind of tell it was, youknow, alluded to that, you know,
And I think that's the reason whya lot of players, when they're
done playing, they just kind of, I don't want to say stick,
but for lack of a better word, kind of stick to the competition route
because it's not as there's a learningcurve. Don't get me wrong, but
(11:43):
it's not as big of a leapas if you transition to something that's completely
you know, novel in its ownright, or go to the business side.
You definitely have to like you alreadyhave that understanding of the game and
you've developed, you know, abulk of those skills is just an amount
of a matter of you know,defining them and fine tuning them a bit.
So I think that's a reason whya lot of players do stick to
(12:05):
the competitive and technical side of thegame because that learning curve isn't as steep
and it's not like you get knockedall the way back down. But um,
you did get knocked down and humblequite a bit. But if you're
going into something completely different, youknow, you're you're definitely kind of starting
back off here at the bottom end. It's I don't say I won't say
it's easy, but athletes have alot of traits that help you as sin
(12:26):
very rapidly. But it's a matterof matter of putting in that that work
ahead of time and making sure you'regrinding it out and you know, kind
of putting your head down and doingwhat you have to do, just as
if you just as you did whenyou were playing and you were an athlete
and you know, a young soccerplayer, you know you did everything you
could to get to the position youwere. The same thing goes for post
playing career as well. You mentionedJimil and for people who don't know,
(12:50):
UM, he's running a player engagementportion of Major League Soccer that's new and
he's his background is in the NFLand he's sort of done that for both
the NFL and and C double atof helping athletes, you get tools figure
out those ideas around what do youwant to do when the sports stops and
when you stop playing? UM,what would you tell young athletes or maybe
(13:11):
what would you like to see?UM? You know MLS and now I
think the big thing is MLS academyplayers have that maybe you didn't have back
in your day. Yeah. Imean I mean, first from from a
competitis tentpoint, I think the thingsare starting to be put in place,
you know, just kind of aclear pathway you know to the professional level
UM and obviously with with you knowMLS Next and you know MLS Next Pro
(13:35):
UM. These are clear pathways thatthat MLS is putting in place to you
know, young players can see whatit takes to get to the top,
and they're having these engagements you knowwith professional players and professional clubs and professional
coaches you know kind of all inthe same event um and right there in
their local markets. So I lovewhat the league is doing. UM.
(13:56):
From that regard, also think there'sthere's tons of opportunity, I know,
you know just within these you knowdifferent sectors with MLS Next and MLESS Next
Pro and MLS just providing opportunities foryou know, not only for players to
develop, like it's a it's aplayer development pathway, but coaching development,
referee development, you know, diversityinitiative development, all these things. Is
(14:20):
how do we create different programming thatreally builds and grows you know, complete
humans, right, complete humans.And it looks after the complete, complete
pathway and not just a player pathway, but it really kind of encapsulates and
brings everything together within within one andI think, you know, the more
we continue to do that, themore opportunities there will be for players like
(14:41):
myself who you know, who playeda while ago in the league and maybe
looking to shift and be given differentopportunities. It gives players a way to
kind of dabble in a couple ofdifferent arenas and really figure out where they
want to land, um, youknow, what work they want to do
post playing, where that that ison the competition and technical side, and
you know, from a scouting beingable to scout young players and bring them
(15:01):
into the fold of you know MLSclubs and MLS academies or um. You
know, just an accelerated program tohelp people identify what it's like to work
on the business side of leagues andyou know, giving them those experiences from
whether it be an academy, MLSnext pro and then you know, moving
up to MLS you're able to seeit um and you're able to grow and
(15:24):
gradually build with the league instead ofreally just being thrown into the So you've
you've mentioned a couple of times fora lot of players the next step is
on that sporting side, whether it'sin a coaching staff or front office or
scouting or all those things. That'snot the case for you. I mentioned
(15:46):
your title at the top director ofbusiness Operations at Charlotte FC. So what
made you lean away from that?What? What did you see that made
you want to go towards the marketingand the business side. Yeah, for
me, it was a matter ofI wanted to stay involved with the sport.
You know, First and foremost,I think the sport UM, it's
it's continue to grow steadily. There'sso much potential for the sport. It's
(16:11):
a passion point of mind. Theleague's a passion point of mind. It
gave me my opportunity to play atthe professional rank UM. And so I
have a passion and you know,love for this sport and for the league.
And so first and foremost is like, how do I get involved and
stay involved and how can I contributeto UM just the growth of the sport
and the game, you know,here here in the United States. And
(16:33):
so I wanted some stability, UMin life as well. I wanted you
know, I'd already experienced you know, the traveling um. You know,
and you know, being on thepitch day in and day out, um,
and there's it's aware and it's agrind. UM. But I was
like, how can I, youknow, just continue to push the game
for it in a different regard.And I also wanted to use my degree,
you know, I wanted to useyou know, the degree, and
(16:56):
you know wanted to um, youknow, all those hours of I put
into school, I wanted those topan out for me as well. So
how can I have the best ofboth world as really was my thinking.
And so I gravitated towards the thebusiness side and just wanting to learn more
about the commerciality of the league andthe business side and you know, revenue
generation of the league and the sport, which is something I've always found fascinating.
(17:19):
And you know, I think youknow, whatever route you decide to
go, um, if you wantto stay within the sport, I think
you should learn both sides, boththe sporting and the business side, because
it just helps you learn the economicsof the league and makes you understand the
league from an inside out and whysome decisions are made and you know,
the strategic approaches of you know,the leadership, you know from from a
(17:42):
players standpoint, you may not youknow, understand or you know when a
decisions made, why why things happenor shake out that way, But when
you take a peek behind the curtain, you're like, Okay, you may
not agree with it, but youunderstand and can um you know, you
can sympathize or why you know suchand such decision was made. I got
to ask, how often does someonefind out you played in MLS? You
(18:04):
know what I mean? Like areyou on calls and in conversations with people
and at some point it comes outlike, yeah, I know about that
I played in this league. Yeah, it happens very weird and randomly,
like it's it's funny. I wantto get to the point where, well,
I'll take a step back. Likea big piece of you know,
when you transition is just that identityidentity standpoint, like who you identify yourself
(18:27):
as, Like I've always identified myselfas, you know, Darius Barnes,
the soccer player, and then likeright when I transition, it was like
Darius Barnes, you know, theformer MLS player or whatever it may be.
So like I've tried, like Ireally like try intentionally to strip myself
up that a little bit. SoI'm more so looked at as you know,
(18:47):
you know, Darius Barnes to directtheir business operations and kind of see
things through that pur view, becauseif you always kind of hamper on the
pass and who you were, you'reyou're always going to see yourself in that
in that light. And while that'sa big part of who I am and
you know who I was, it'skind of onto this next chapter and want
to be kind of viewed as onbackground. So I say all that to
(19:08):
say, like I've been on callsand like people will you know, they'll
recognize that I used to play,or I bring up you know, stats,
or you know, say they calledone of my games. You know.
Right now, I'm in the middleof, you know, interviewing for
our broadcast talent and Siline reporter andinterviewed someone who said they called one of
my games one time. So it'slike little things like that kind of bring
(19:30):
me back to the pitch. ButI imagine that the next couple of years,
it'll it'll start to fade away quitea bit well, and then it'll
transition to someone who helped one ofthe most successful expansion teams in MLS history.
So let's get to North Carolina.Now, you are a Raleigh native,
you are a North Carolina native.So I guess let's start with this
because most of the people listening tothe show in Canada, in the US
(19:52):
maybe not from North Carolina. Giveus the pitch, Give us an idea
of the soccer landscape in this area. Yeah, I mean North Carolina and
South Carolina is just such a soccerrich region. I think we're very fortunate
to to be in the region thatwe are. I think we're very fortunate
to have so much young talent withinlike right within arms reach of us.
(20:18):
It's on our shoulders to really figureout how we engage and cultivate and so
really what we're really what we're rightright now doing. It's just like what
is the best method and how dowe prioritize just all these great clubs that
we have, you know, atour disposal. How can we make a
mark, How can we help theseclubs grow? Um, it's not just
(20:40):
about you know, these clubs helpingCharlotte FC get the best talent, but
how do we put um you know, how do we relay our coaching foundation,
our coaching curriculum and pass that onso that we're helping these clubs grow
and we're cultivating and developing the bestplayers possible for the collective region. UM.
So I think for us, we'revery lucky just to have you know,
so much talent already at our disposal, but it's up to us,
(21:02):
you know, really how do wemaximize that? And so you know,
our from you know, from ourleadership down, it's super important, um
just a player development and pro playerpathway and making sure, um, these
young boys that we bring into ouracademies are just well rounded and that we're
building complete human beings while also areyou know, developing um, you know,
top level athletes and talent at thesame time. And so you know,
(21:26):
we we've really put some of thepieces in place where they just be
our you know, our academy directorand Dan Locke and our technical director Mark
Nichols, you know, our headcoach of the first team. You know,
Miguel Ramirez is huge on player developmentand they're always present and um they
have touch points with with all ofour academy kids as well. So it's
a very open door policy and transparentand I think you'll start to see and
(21:48):
we'll start to see some of thefruits of that labor um start to develop
and show up in the first teamhere in the in the upcoming years.
Yeah. For anyone who doesn't know, Mark Nichols ran a very successful academy
in the Carolina area for a numberof years and then was out in Seattle
running the academy that brought through DannyLava and Josh Atencio and all those players
we've seen be successful. For Seatt, I'm very excited to see what he
(22:11):
does with you. So that's theplayers side. Give us the fan side.
Now, what is what is CharlotteFC fan base gonna look like?
What's it gonna sound like? Where? Where are we going to see the
colors? Like? Give people anidea of what you're hoping this region will
be. Yeah, I think forus, we just we just really want
to unite the region um and bringthe region together. Like we're not a
club just for Charlotte. While whileour name may be rooted in Charlotte,
(22:34):
you know, we're a club forall the Carolinas. We're trying to show
up in all these markets, whetherit's Charlotte, Greensboro, Rawley, Uh,
you know, Greenville, South Carolina, Asheville, North Carolina, Columbia.
We're trying to paint the Carolina's blue, and so I think we've we've
done that in a number of ourmarketing and media efforts, just you know,
showing that, showing these communities thatwe're you know, that we're here
(22:56):
for them. UM. I thinkthat's the main part of about building a
club. It's just you know,first and foremost, just getting involved in
the community. UM. When youyou know, show communities that you care,
I mean, you're giving back.UM. I think the communities just
in turn support what you're trying todo in the initiatives that you're um looking
to do. So our fans havebeen fantastic just in terms of supporting a
(23:18):
lot of community initiatives that we've had. UM. You know, we have
an initiative, are many pitches,twenty too many pitches that we're trying to
build throughout the Carolina region over thenext few years. UM and making sure
that you know, we're engaging withlocal community captains to help program those as
well. UM, local leaders whereyou know, combating you know, food
insecurity. At the same time,we have military initiatives. So I think
(23:42):
all these initiatives that we have asa club and that we're building and growing.
Um you know, we continue toengage with different fans and constituents of
these communities, which we which wehope you know, turns into Charlotte FC
fans. You know, we want, we want that stadium to be packed
with you know, with blue andwhite. You know, our first game,
(24:02):
we're looking to get seventy four thousandfans and break Atlanta's record for an
MLS match. So you know,I encourage everyone to come, but you
know, other than that, we'retrying to you know, trying to average
thirty thousand fans of the stadium andreally make Bank of America Stadium a fortress
in the Carolina region and just reallyput soccer and the Carolinas on the map.
(24:22):
So you've i know, obviously you'vebeen around the league for a while,
but also in this role, Iknow you've been waiting and researching for
this moment. You've talked to alot of the other expansion teams, You've
watched a lot of the other expansionprocesses. What are some of the keys
that you've kind of locked in onthat have been successful, Other places that
you think are must for an expansionteam, or maybe you're trying to not
(24:45):
co op but used to help youguys hit the ground running. Yeah,
I think for one, is justbeing intentional about what we're doing. Like
like you said, we've had plentyof conversations with other expansion teams and seeing
what they've tried to do. ButI think for us, we've really just
tried to look at things through ourown lens. At the same time,
if you look at you know,what we did from an expansion draft standpoint,
(25:07):
we really wanted to you know,we had the advantage of being the
only team, um, you know, selecting an expansion draft this year.
So how how can we make amoment out of that? How can we
make that something that's exciting for ourfan base, um and more centric to
to Charlotte. And you know,we we televiseed that live and broadcast that
live with our you know, intandem with our local broadcast partner WSOC and
(25:30):
Telemundo, and we're able to shootyou know, both English language and Spanish
language you know, live version ofthe expansion draft. So I think it's
for us, it's just trying tothink out of the box and how do
we leverage you know, some leagueplatforms, in league events, in league
moments, and leverage these once ina lifetime moments that we have as a
club to really capitalize on that UMand really bring fans into the fold and
(25:52):
show them that we're going to beyou know, we're gonna be transparent,
We're going to be as assessible aspossible, and we're trying to do things
different and do things in a differentway. And I think you'll see that
with a lot of things that weunroll that we unravel here in the first
year. Um, you know,one just being our broadcast experience and broadcast
production, you know, just lookingto have different you know, tech and
(26:14):
innovative integrations into how we're you know, having the game view to to our
fans who aren't able to be therein stadium. So there's different things that
that will do and unfold throughout theyear that I think are going to be
new and novel to the league.Would it be fair for me to ask
UM for a comparison for us ofmaybe what type of market Charlotte will be
(26:36):
like when Nashville came in, theysaid, we're not lafc right, They're
different cities. They're different markets,they're different styles. Do you have an
idea of maybe a similar market oras you said, you want to be
new and innovator. I don't wantto I don't want to tie you to
anyone that you don't want to betied to. Yeah, I think that's
exactly what we want to be.We want to be our own, we
want to be we want to benew. I mean, I think people
will automatically, you know, youknow, they'll connect us to the the
(27:00):
southern cities, you're you're You're Atlanta, as your Nashvilles, you know,
of the world. But I thinkwhere we're all different. You know,
Charlotte is such a unique city.It's a changing and growing city. You
know every single day. You know, the Charlotte of ten fifteen years ago
is not the Charlotte of today andwon't be the Charlotte of the next ten,
fifteen, twenty years as well.So I think we're going to continue
(27:22):
to evolve. I think, um, you know, I think having this
lead time and runway up into ourinaugural season has been, you know,
a benefit. Obviously, you know, hasn't been great dealing with covid M
and trying to launch a team kindof in the middle back end beginning.
I don't know where we are withCOVID right now, but it hasn't been
the easiest thing. But um,I think there's been a lot of lessons
(27:44):
that we've been able to take fromthat, and that's just you know,
just learning our fan base, learninggetting invested and involved in our community.
M And I think if we dothings, you know, the way that
we know how and the way youknow that we've kind of um strategized,
I think you know that the fansare going to enjoy what we're doing from
um, like said, from acommunity engagement, from a match day experience
standpoint, from a broadcast standpoint.So I think for us, we're just
(28:07):
trying to be the best shot OFCthat we can be. And I'll leave
it to everyone else to compare whowe are once still once the ball rose
out to the field is how importantis it though for a club to have
those rivals, to have Nashville andAtlanta, to have not just the comparison,
but I mean, you know,we both lived in New York for
the Red Bulls and y CFC wasa great moment for them to have that
(28:27):
meaningful match. How important is itto sort of have that already in place.
Yeah, I mean I think it'simportant, But you know, for
me, it's it's right now.It's just you know, a geographical quote
unquote rivalry. Like I can't saythat it's a rivalry yet because we haven't
stepped foot on the field. Ithink I think rivalries are going to organically
(28:48):
play out. I think you knowthis, it's good to have, you
know, that Marquis moment and youknow, hopefully that's one that a lot
of fans have their eyes on andare now tuned in on, and that
match rolls around. But you know, I think vases are created on the
pitch, and you know, onceonce you know, those develop organically.
Um, you know, I thinkthat the geographical component of it is definitely
(29:08):
gonna help. But you know thatthose battles are going to take place on
the field and then you know,we continue to pull levers from there,
whether it be from a local umclub standpoint or from a league standpoint.
But I'm a big believers are that, you know, rivalries are created on
the pitch, So you're ready forthe random s KC or RSL Charlotte rivalry
when that comes through it, right, because you never know, you don't,
(29:30):
You don't. I mean when Iwas in New England, though,
Chicago was a rival, but that'sbecause there had been some you know,
some some testing matches and some fiveteam matches that have taken place. So
that's exactly what I mean though,that was created on the pitch and that
was kind of a natural one,and I don't I would necessarily say that's
a rivalry now, but you know, for a good you know, maybe
four or five years standard it wasjust because of what it's transpired on the
(29:52):
pitch um and you know, meetingin the playoffs. You know, all
those circumstances have to really align tocreate a rivalry, and so I imagine
they will just what you know,Holton will play some of those teams.
But TVD Patrick Miarco a legend,by the way, when you're talking about
those Chicago Fire teams, some greatteams. So for you, you have
the Jersey launch, you mentioned theexpansion draft where you guys were able to
(30:15):
build around that moment. Obviously thelaunch coming up and into the season.
What's like a little moment that you'reexcited about or what's something that you can't
wait to unveil for kind of everyoneto see, Like, what's what's your
moment that you're building towards. Imean, the moment we're building towards is
March fifth, March fifth, Bankof America Stadium. It's on the top
(30:36):
of your head. You've got itmemorized exactly. It is on the top
of my head. That's the onethat it's It can't get here soon enough,
and it also couldn't be further away. It's kind in that is in
that sweet spot right now. Butyou know that's that's kind of the pinnacle
for us from a club just hostingour first home match, but then you
know, our first match as aclub on February twenty six against DC as
(30:57):
well. Like, I think thosemoments are going to be amazing for the
club just because you know, we'restarting to see like it's just we've have
tangible items. We have we havea kit um. You know, we're
starting to fill out a roster.We have some of these tangible things that
make the club feel more real.Where you know, a couple of weeks
or a couple of months ago,it's kind of a it was a fairy
(31:17):
tale. It's like we existed butdidn't exist. And you know, now
we've launched a website. You knowthat we're on the MLS website now,
so we're starting to feel more realand things are coming together, and I
just think it's going to be fantasticjust to see so everyone can see a
witness, you know, all thehard work that's been done, you know,
behind the scenes from a you know, a sporting standpoint um, you
(31:38):
know, from a marketing standpoint,from a comms from a media standpoint um,
to really get to this point.And it's going to be cool just
to see kind of January first week, everyone flips the switch. We're in
twenty twenty two, and in CharlotteFC kicks off twenty twenty two as well.
So um, I think that that'sreally the moment that you know,
everyone internally really can't wait for.Obviously, you know we're gonna have our
(32:00):
first preseason coming up. We stillhave some more players to sign, but
all that the north Star for usis February twenty six and March fifth.
I'm excited for it. Seventy fourthousand in a stadium. I think both
of us would have, you know, kind of been shocked if you told
us that a few years back aboutthat's where MLS would stand. And now
another expansion team, another fan base, and we think another great club in
(32:22):
MLS. Darius Barnes, Director forbusiness Operations for Charlotte FC. Darius,
good luck, man. We knowyou're grinding hard behind the scenes and we're
excited to see it all come together. David appreciated man. Always a pleasure.
Popular Podcasts
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com