The watch parties. The sold-out stadiums. Freddy and his fellow international visitors discovering Texas barbecue, gallon jugs of milk, and the sheer size of a Target. Something is happening with soccer in America – and it feels different this time.

Join us for a conversation featuring Andrés Martinez, author of The Great Game: A Tale of Two Footballs and America’s Quest to Conquer Global Sport, and political theorist Andrei Markovits, whose landmark work Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism first explored this terrain a quarter century ago. Drawing on both books, they will explore what this surge of excitement actually means – and whether it can last.

The Hunt family helped bridge two footballing worlds. But momentum is fragile. What does it take to turn a World Cup high into something permanent? This conversation will be as much about America itself as the game.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Andrei Steven Markovits was born in 1948 as the only child of a Hungarian-speaking middle class Jewish couple in the West Romanian city of Timisoara (Temesvar). Raised tri-lingually (Romanian, Hungarian, German), he left Romania as a 9-year old, landing in Vienna, Austria, where he attended and graduated from an elite secondary school. He arrived at Columbia University in the fall of 1967 where he obtained five degrees. His professorial career led him to teach at Columbia, NYU, Harvard, Wesleyan, Boston University, the University of California, Santa Cruz; and as of 1999 the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Additionally, Markovits taught at universities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Israel. His wide-ranging writings on European politics, comparative political sociology, transAtlantic relations and sports have appeared in 18 languages. Markovits is the recipient of many prestigious scholarly awards as well as teaching prizes. He holds two honorary doctorates from German universities and the President of the Federal Republic of Germany awarded him in 2012 the Order of Merit, First Class, the highest distinction given to a German citizen or foreigner.

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.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Chris Ackels is the Vice President of Strategic Engagement at the Hunt Sports Group, where he is responsible for media relations, speechwriting, government affairs, partnership engagement, and brand strategy for the ownership entity of the Kansas City Chiefs and FC Dallas. Both organizations will play a major role in hosting FIFA World Cup 2026, including nine matches in North Texas and six matches in Kansas City. Both teams are also currently undergoing major stadium projects, including renovations to Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, and designing a new Chiefs stadium in Kansas City, Kansas.