As the United States prepares to co-host the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup with its two North American neighbors, it appears poised to become something that would have seemed utterly inconceivable not long ago: a proper footballing nation. And Los Angeles has become the key nexus in bridging America to the global game. Looking ahead, what will America's shedding of its historic sports exceptionalism mean for the nation's soft power? And what will it mean for LA's global diasporas, its powerful sports industry, and for Hollywood?

Major sporting events like the World Cup and the Olympics are platforms for advancing and strengthening cross-border partnerships and understanding, shaping global narratives, and branding host cities. For Los Angeles, the next two years offer the opportunity to establish its bona fides as a global hub of the world's #1 sport and ratify its status as an Olympic city, all the while navigating the questions around equity, sustainability, and long-term legacy that continue to shape how cities leverage sport for both local and global impact.

On Tuesday, June 2, at 5:30 pm PT, the Pacific Council and Arizona State University's (ASU) Great Game Lab are hosting a screening of the short documentary How Los Angeles Became a Soccer City, followed by a conversation exploring how America came to appreciate "the world's game". The conversation will feature Consul General Paul Rennie, OBE, British Consulate-General, Los Angeles, and Andrés Martinez, Co-Director of ASU's Great Game Lab and author of The Great Game: A Tale of Two Footballs and America's Quest to Conquer Global Sport.

Why it's important:

• Iran has raised concerns about playing matches in the United States during the 2026 FIFA World Cup due to escalating geopolitical tensions and security risks. Officials have explored the possibility of relocating their matches to Mexico, which is also a co-host of the tournament.
• According to the Los Angeles FIFA World Cup 26 Host Committee, the city is projected to receive $892 million in economic impact, with an estimated $515 million coming directly from visitor spending. 
• Los Angeles faces a significant and growing budget shortfall for the 2028 Olympics, with city officials projecting nearly $1 billion in deficits in the coming fiscal year, raising concerns about financial strain ahead of the Games.

In partnership with:

 

 

 

Guest Speaker

Paul Rennie is the British Consul General. Based in Los Angeles, he is the senior representative of the UK government in Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Hawaii, and the US Territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.   

His role includes the promotion of trade and investment, scientific cooperation, tackling climate change, creative and media collaborations, and educational partnerships between the UK and the US Southwest. He also oversees the delivery of essential consular services to a 600,000-strong British resident community and British visitors.

Paul previously served at the British Embassy in Washington DC, leading the Trade and Global Issues Group. Prior to that, and in addition to his London roles, he has had postings at the United Nations (New York), Brazil, India, and Malaysia, as well as working on secondment to the Cabinet Office and the Department for International Development.

Paul is a professional economist and was the first Diplomatic Service Economist recruited in 2001. He has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Heriot-Watt University for services to UK education overseas.  He was appointed Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for services to UK-India relations.

Paul speaks English, Portuguese, Dutch, French, Hindi, and is learning Spanish.

Presider 

Andrés Martinez is a Special Advisor to Arizona State University President Michael Crow and a professor of practice at the Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He is also the Co-Director of The Great Game Lab, which explores how the US connects to the rest of the world through sport; and the Editorial Director of Future Tense, a Washington, D.C.-based collaboration between ASU and New America that explores the impact of technology on society. Martinez is also affiliate faculty to The Melikian Center: Russian, Eurasian & East European Studies.

Martinez has a track record of developing public-facing ideas journalism projects that bridge the worlds of media, academia, and policy, including Future Tense, Los Angeles-based Zócalo Public Square, and ASU's Convergence Lab in Mexico City. He writes and speaks often on sport and globalization, the future of technology, the intersection of media and politics, and the US-Mexico relationship. He is currently working on a book about sport and globalization. Martinez has taught courses on the geopolitics of sport, opinion writing, media ethics, and international/binational reporting. He is a columnist for Mexico City's Reforma newspaper, and frequently writes for such publications as Slate, The Atlantic, Time, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and Reuters.   

A native of Mexico, Martinez was appointed by Arizona governors Doug Ducey and Katie Hobbs to serve as a director of the Arizona-Mexico Commission. He has also been a director of the US-Mexico Foundation, and the editorial director and executive editor of ASU-affiliated Zócalo Public Square in Los Angeles.  Prior to joining ASU in 2014, Martinez was Vice President for Communications and National Fellows Program Director at the New America Foundation, an independent Washington think tank. Martinez has also been the editorial page editor of The Los Angeles Times and an assistant editorial page editor at The New York Times, where he was a 2004 Pulitzer Prize finalist for a series of editorials on the impact of U.S. farm subsidies on the developing world. Martinez had earlier been a business reporter at The Wall Street Journal and at The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (1994-95), as well as an editorial writer at the Post-Gazette (1995-97).

Before taking up journalism, Martinez practiced communications law at Verner Liipfert in Washington, D.C., and served as a law clerk for Federal District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer in Dallas. He is the co-editor of Future Tense Fiction: Stories of Tomorrow (Unnamed Press, 2019) and the author of 24/7: Living It Up and Doubling Down in the New Las Vegas (Villard Random House, 1999). Martinez earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history at Yale, a Master of Arts degree in Russian history at Stanford University, and a Juris Doctor degree at Columbia University Law School, where he was a member of the Columbia Law Review.

 

If you are interested in registering from outside the Pacific Council, please email events@pacificcouncil.org.