Melina Santiago is passionate about being involved in sports, especially soccer 鈥� not as an athlete but working on the management side of what is a growing industry in South Florida.
The 22-year-old Argentine, who wants to combine her passion for sports and her experience working for a non-profit, took a step to achieving her career goal this summer when she enrolled in a new course at Florida International University to develop future leaders in the multi-billion dollar sports industry.
FIU and the Argentina Football Association partnered to launch the 10-week sports leadership global program, where participants could learn about sports management. The hybrid course with the option to attend in person or online, started in late June to coincide with the Copa America soccer tournament. Miami hosted several games, including the final on July 14 at Hard Rock Stadium.
鈥淚 love the experience, it's great that they are bringing a lot of professionals,鈥� said Santiago, who lives in Miami and attends an in-person course on FIU鈥檚 Main Campus. 鈥淚 didn't expect it鈥 thought it was going to be a professor teaching the class. You can ask real questions to somebody who actually knows and has been in it.鈥�
READ MORE: Major League Soccer kicks off with all eyes on Lionel Messi & Co. at Inter Miami
Learning from professionals
The program addresses all kinds of topics from soccer governance, stadium and match-day operations, marketing to sports nutrition, sports science, and psychology. And, unlike traditional university lectures, the course features professionals in the sports industry as panelists.
"It鈥檚 not really theoretical. It's not historical or academic. It's really learning from people about what they do in their day to day 鈥� and how they have tried to apply different principles to what they're doing,鈥� said Anthony Pereira, director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University and one of the program鈥檚 organizers.
Lectures are predominantly in Spanish, with English subtitles available online. The program ends Aug. 29, but the modules are recorded and available for purchase. Registration for one module is $150, for three $350 and for the 10 modules, it costs $900.
Each module is moderated by local journalists, including famed play-by-play Fox Sports announcer .
Some of the most notable panelists are former Argentina player Javier Zanetti, Major League Soccer Vice President of Communications and co-founders of the Andres Naftali and David Rosenfeld.
Another noted program lecturer: Nicolo Zini, Vice President of Commercial Development for FIFA鈥檚 Miami Host Committee for the 2026 World Cup.
鈥淲e need to share knowledge, share best practices, especially for young people that want to work in sports,鈥� Zini said. 鈥淗ere in South Florida, specifically, it鈥檚 a fantastic opportunity whether it's NFL, MLB, with the Florida Panthers [or] college sports.鈥�
鈥淭here is so much going on that the more we are able to develop leaders, the more advanced we become and how we can then compete at a regional level, national level and a global level to become one of the main sports hubs across the board," he said.
Florida has been called the 鈥渟ports capital of the world鈥� with its many professional and college teams in all major sports and a plethora of golf and tennis tournaments, and auto racing events.
Sports business creates jobs, drives economy
The , a non-profit corporation funded by the state to promote the industry, estimates the economic impact of the sports business statewide tops $57 billion annually, providing 580,000 jobs.
Florida led all states in having the highest economic impact generated by sports tourism, according to a released in April by Sports ETA, the trade association representing the sports events and tourism industry.
In recent years, futbol, or soccer as it鈥檚 known in the U.S., has blossomed in South Florida.
FIFA, the international governing body of the sport, , and AFA, last year.
AFA鈥檚 move to open an office here, as well as partner with FIU, were both efforts to globally expand its brand in the United States, starting in South Florida.
鈥淚t made a lot of sense for AFA to associate with an institution such as FIU, which is leading in the region as well as in different spots in the country,鈥� Leandro Petersen, Marketing and Commercial director of AFA, told 港澳天下彩in Spanish.
The association also recently opened a new youth academy in Pembroke Pines where children can learn the sport the 鈥淎FA way.鈥� Petersen said this is an effort to better the soccer competition in the country.
According to a by the International Centre for Sports Studies Futbol Observatory, Brazil, France and Argentina are the top three countries that export the most players.
Messi's arrival boosts soccer interest
Many attribute Miami鈥檚 soccer boom to the in July 2023 when he signed with MLS鈥檚 Inter Miami club.
鈥淟eo has the ability to move crowds and masses. And that鈥檚 what he has done,鈥� said Zini, who previously worked with the MLS club Inter Miami. He told 港澳天下彩he didn鈥檛 expect Messi would have that big of an impact on the country.
Eduardo Gamarra, a political science professor at FIU, said the growth of soccer began long before Messi arrived.
鈥淏ut Messi's arrival kind of really gave this an impulse, from the perspective of real estate, the construction of stadiums, the entire business community's impact,鈥� he said.
Construction of Miami Freedom Park, which will be Inter Miami鈥檚 new home, started last year. Gov. Ron DeSantis recently to Miami-Dade County which will go toward transportation infrastructure in the stadium.
Zini, a former semi-professional player for Italy who is part of FIFA鈥檚 local host committee, said he moved to South Florida three years ago and witnessed firsthand the popularity of the sport in South Florida after playing at Kendall Soccer Park.
鈥淚 just showed up and started playing pickup games and I was amazed by the number of kids鈥� families that were leaving the park when the adults came,鈥� Zini said. 鈥淯sually the kids start leaving around eight and then the adults come and start playing. I think that was the big 鈥榃ow鈥his is really a soccer City.鈥欌��
Zini said besides preparing for the seven games of the World Cup as part of the local FIFA Host Committee, he and his colleagues are working on leaving a lasting legacy here by closing the gap between privileged and underprivileged communities when it comes to access to the game.
鈥淐oaches, programming, mentoring, give the opportunity to play a beautiful game so that we can offer as many different opportunities to as many kids as possible both young girls and young boys throughout the South Florida region,鈥� Zini said.
