Before becoming a strategic communications graduate student, I completed a bachelor's degree and a graduate certificate in sports management because I wanted to work in football. I knew that simply loving something did not qualify me for employment. That being said, I must tell you that I am not a mere enthusiast. I don't just love football; I live it. From 1990 until today, I have watched every televised World Cup match. I currently own enough subscriptions to stream leagues playing on every continent. I own and have read nearly 100 books ranging from the history of Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine to business models of Real Madrid. I am also a professional communications practitioner in the Marine Corps. With 15 years of active service in visual information and communications, I felt that there was a strong connection between the thing I love most and what I do for a living.
This blog will discuss the relationship between communications and the world of football. As the world's most watched and played sport, it transcends traditional sports as they are known in the United States. Football, in its own right, is a form of expression and communication. So vast and great is the reach of football that no historical account of the world can be complete without it.
This week I wanted to apply the diffusion of innovations theory to the Mexican National Team. Studying the diffusion of innovations theory made me think about the innovations that the Mexican Federation has tried to make the Mexican National Team more competitive internationally.
Mexico is a country that loves its football. Its fans can hang with any other fans in the world and are consistently among the most represented at every international tournament. In contrast, the Mexican players fall far behind the world's very best players and are not present in large numbers in the world's very best leagues. Among all Mexican players, both past and present, only Hugo Sanchez (to a much lesser extent Rafa Marquez) can truly be considered world-class.
Spending the bulk of his playing career in Spain, Hugo Sanchez, as a player and later as a coach, has been vocal about the need for Mexican players to move abroad and compete to earn places on teams in Europe in order to make the Mexican National Team improve enough to reach the quarterfinals of a World Cup.
Hugo Sanchez was always a Mexican innovator. Luckily, he was also a once-in-a-generation (lifetime by Mexican standards) talent. He was the leading scorer in the Spanish top flight for five consecutive seasons, from 1985 to 1990. His success inspired following generations of Mexican players to emulate his success and carry the Mexican banner in top European leagues. Unfortunately, no single player from subsequent generations has had his talent and none have come close.
Why has the Mexican exodus to Europe failed to transform the Mexican National Team? Initially, it should be stated that exodus is a flattering word. Although there are more Mexican players in Europe than there has ever been, it is not as if every single player has the aspirations to go. When examined using the diffusion of innovations theory, it becomes clear that Mexico's inability to meet the 5 innovation categories ultimately prevented them from realizing their aspirations.
Initially, relative advantage is not instantly viable. Professional football is brutal, unforgiving even. For a Mexican player, Europe represents a huge step up in competition and success is anything but a guarantee. Compounding the stresses are language barriers, travel, weather, culture, and family separation all have negative effects. Furthermore, there is an economic factor that informs the lack of visible relative advantage for a Mexican player to go to Europe. The Mexican League (Liga MX) is the tenth most lucrative league in the world, and the second most lucrative outside of Europe, behind Brazil. The average Liga MX salary is $300,000. As a country, Mexico's average monthly income is $843.00. When a player comes from a poor family in a poor neighborhood and attains enough success to support his family playing domestically, an uncertain move abroad is a large risk that is not seen as a relative advantage. Why move across the world with no guarantee of success to a place you may not like when you can potentially earn six figures in your own country? Rather than an advantage, a move abroad represents a risk that is not better than what it would supersede.
Furthermore, a move to Europe does not put a check in the simplicity box. To put it into perspective, the highest goal scorer in the history of the Mexican National Team, Javier Hernandez, currently rides the bench for London-based bottom feeders West Ham United. Although he has had an incredible career and featured at Manchester United and Real Madrid (two of the biggest clubs in the world), Hernandez, who is still only 30, cannot get a game for one of the worst top-flight teams in England. Again, Mexico's best is not good enough to feature regularly for one of England's worst teams. Another Mexican legend in his own right is Omar Bravo. Bravo is a retired player who is also the highest goal scorer in the history of Chivas de Guadalajara, one of Mexico's two biggest teams. When Bravo was signed by Deportiva La Coruna in Spain, he did not last even one season before transferring back to Mexico. Bottom line, there is no simplicity.
Lastly, the results of trialability do not paint a promising picture on a broad scope. When aspiring players see their heroes fail badly when they try, they are less inclined to want to follow suit. It is true that there are generational talents and that in Hirving Lozano Mexico have one of the brightest talents in world football. However, it is also true that for every Hirving Lozano, there is an Omar Bravo, Giovani Dos Santos, and Carlos Pena, who was touted as an emerging star and could not make the grade in Scotland. Yes, Scotland.
As the 2018 World Cup came to an end, so too did a 4-year cycle to get Mexico over the hump and into a quarterfinal. For the 7th consecutive tournament, Mexico was eliminated in the round of 16. As such, the innovation must be considered a failure. Present day, the Mexican National Team has more players in top European leagues than ever before, and their results at the international level have not changed. The Mexican Federation has since turned its attention to developing elite youth talent and has garnered enormous success. Despite this, the senior team remains where they have always been- among the world's best but a world away from the very best.
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