Huddle Up

I saw some tweets saying you won't believe what is written in this article and I thought how bad could it really be? Mannnnn was I wrong.

My wife and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary today. Since this picture was taken, we have moved to a new city, bought a house, had three kids, and made some amazing memories. I wouldn't change a single thing. We are blessed beyond belief!

It’s been a hell of a weekend for Matt Damon. He has #1 movie at the box office, got to attend the World Cup Final, and just got mistaken for Brad Pitt on the TV broadcast.

There is nothing like this app man

The World Cup Final is set

WHAT A SCENE

StubHub's CEO is facing a class action lawsuit for running (1) a hedge fund that resells tickets on the platform and (2) an affiliate that helps finance other resellers (so they can buy more inventory). This is a massive conflict of interest. READ: huddleup.substack.com/p/is-stubhubs-…

With the Seattle Seahawks selling for a record $9.6 billion, I wrote about the real reason valuations continue to climb so fast: NFL teams are one of the world’s best tax shelters for billionaires. Read: huddleup.substack.com/p/the-real-rea…

Erling Haaland has returned to Norway, and it looks like he brought home a $750 Whiskey Raccoon from Wild Bill's Western Store in Dallas, Texas. What an authentic piece of American culture.

Norway's youth sports model is super unique: • No scorekeeping until age 13 • Participation trophies for everyone • No travel teams or national championships • No online publishing of scores or athlete rankings • Parents typically spend less than $1,000 per child per year The result? A 93% participation rate — 40 points higher than the U.S. — and more Winter Olympic medals than any other country in history, despite Norway having a population comparable to the Philadelphia metro area (5.6 million). And it's not just winter sports... Norway now produces some of the world’s best summer sport athletes, including Erling Haaland (soccer), Casper Ruud (tennis), Viktor Hovland (golf), and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (track and field). So if you want to learn more about how Norway's youth sports system actually works (and what other countries can learn from it), here's an essay I recently wrote during the Winter Olympics that breaks it all down. READ: huddleup.substack.com/p/how-norways-…

Today's newsletter dives deep into the state of youth soccer in America, including why the USMNT continues to underperform (relative to its population) and what the US can do to close the competitive gap to Europe. READ: huddleup.substack.com/p/the-real-rea…

With the USA, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, and Portugal all getting eliminated in the Round of 16, ticket prices for the World Cup Quarterfinals are plummeting. Get-in Price Before Round of 16: France - Morocco: $1,485 Spain - Belgium: $3,261 Norway - England: $3,866 Argentina - Switzerland: $2,381 Get-in Price Today: France - Morocco: $1,097 (down 26%) Spain - Belgium: $1,223 (down 62%) Norway - England: $1,805 (down 53%) Argentina - Switzerland: $1,400 (down 41%) (Ticket Prices via @TickPick)

With the US losing last night (and Portugal/Ronaldo also getting eliminated), the get-in price for Friday's Quarterfinal match in Los Angeles has dropped from $3,000 to $1,200 overnight. (Data via @TickPick)

Seattle is such a great place for tonight's match against Belgium. Not only do they love soccer, but the stadium itself is incredibly loud. Since it was built on a small piece of land, the seats are super vertical, and the overhang redirects all crowd noise back to the field.

So to recap what happened with the USMNT: • Balogun received a bogus red card • VAR protocol isn't followed (no slow-mo) • Trump calls Infantino to ask about the process • US Soccer lawyers preapre & submit an appeal FIFA's independent 18-person disciplinary committee then met, approved the appeal, and told Balogun he could play in Monday's match against Belgium. That's what everyone is complaining about? All rules were followed, and that same process is open to every other country. The only difference is everyone knows the red card was a mistake to begin with.

Good video explaining why it’s so hard to play/win at the Azteca

Lutnick was sitting next to Infantino during the USMNT’s last match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is when the red card was given.

The USA-Belgium Round of 16 match on Monday in Seattle currently has an average ticket purchase price of $2,587. That makes it the most expensive event ever at Lumen Field. (Ticket data via @TickPick)

WHAT A SCENE!! THIS IS WHY WE LOVE THE WORLD CUP 🤯🤯🤯

Unreal first touch by Messi