 All right, so football is where we start on the sportsmax zone. And the Jamaica Football Federation and the professional football Jamaica Limited, the PFJL, have extended their current memorandum of understanding, signing an updated 10-year deal. The PFJL serves as the body which administers the rare nephew, Jamaica Premier League, and their chairman, Chris Williams, made a strong commitment to deliver success during this 10-year period. I want to make a commitment to you. We know we're not reaching the weight. This 10-year thing we are going to deliver for you. We can't even tell you what we have planned. If we tell you what we have planned, the newscast are going to say, the PFJL board and chairman are going crazy. If we ever tell you what we have planned, we are going to say we are going crazy. So we now say nothing. All we can say is, Mr President, Mr Chung, we now have a letter. Don't thank you for this 10-year. Jamaica, look out. We are going to show you something. Meanwhile, GFF President Michael Ricketts says he's sure the GPL is in safe hands. If I take you back to the Premier League finals, I think football would have filled the cricketing venue when cricket could not have done so. So that in itself was something that excited us and we thought that football is in very good and capable hands. With us to share more about the MOU is CEO of the PFJL. Owen Hill, good afternoon. It's a pleasure to have you in studio as always. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I mean, it feels good being here. It feels like home. Yeah, it's home for sure. So a lot of promises, Owen, a lot of big, big moves. I'll start by asking you about this 10-year that you've been entrusted with. And of course, just heard from Chris Williams saying, you know, we don't reach nowhere yet. Right? And that he has a lot in store for us. But if he shares with us, we're going to think he's crazy. Yeah. It's interesting that he made that comment because he's a big dreamer. He actually believes that we can be one of those superpowers in the confederation and by extension the world. Jamaica is bestowed with natural talent and, you know, we just need that opportunity. So here we're building an industry, a football industry. It's not new, but what we're doing is planting the seeds ultimately so that, you know, future returns can be had in more successive generations. So the plans are there strategically. I mean, we have these discussions at a very high level and then, you know, it gets grind a lot. But for the most part, what we try to do is to incrementally build. So this MOU, as was mentioned, serves as a planning platform, you know, your strategic horizons over five, 10 years. You are entrusted with the ability to move the product and the industry forward. And that's what we're doing. We're very clear on what the directives are. I mean, there's that consistent dialogue between ourselves and the JFF as the parent body. Yeah. And we are doing what is required to ensure that all the stakeholder groups, whether it be the players, the clubs, the fans, the media, everybody gets their fair share of the growth that we're looking forward to. Yeah. And listening to JFF President Michael Ricketts, he has a lot of confidence in the PFGL. And I can understand why, because this team of administrators, this body of people put in charge of the football has really delivered. Do you feel any sort of pressure now that the boss himself has says the football is in safe hands? Correct. If we didn't feel pressure, then chances are we're probably in the wrong space. So we actually encourage the pressure that is on Jamaica once for us to deliver. So they set the bar ultimately for us. I mean, we know football is one of our number one, if not number one, sporting discipline, and the bar is raised really high. So we look forward to it. And it's something that we relish. We strategically plan. We take into consideration all the necessary input through stakeholder engagement, and we deliver. So time and time again, what we do is to stress test it and push the envelope a whole lot because we're not comfortable with where we are. And we know that there are miles to go. But we're celebrating as we hit the milestones. And this is another celebration of that. Yeah. So this has been on my mind all day. I was about to ask you and then we went live. So I didn't get to. So I'll ask you now, when the news broke that now the JFF will be in charge and oversee the accounting of the PFGL, you know, as a journalist, I have a lot of questions because to me it's as if, you know, the JFF has been in the headlines for many negative things and positive things too. Correct. So the first question I said I'd have to ask you is why this move and how is it beneficial to the PFGL that has been seen in a very positive light and has been seen reaping successes? The answer to that, Maria, is economies of scale. That's really what it is. So what it simply means, they have an entire staff that can operate back office operations for the PFGL in relation to accounting matters. It's not to say that they will be going out there and doing all the work. But what we are focused primarily on is commercializing the entire ecosystem while building it. So the back office stuff they will handle in relation to the MOU because, again, we are existing as a result of this MOU between ourselves and the JFF. Right. So essentially it's really them having stronger oversight capabilities and us providing the necessary inputs, which we don't have a problem with because, you know, it's very clear we have our audited financials. We have all the necessary things that any investor, which is why we have so much investor confidence, why Jamaica has seen us as this solid group of industry professionals moving football forward. Yeah. Was there a particular reason for this move? I know that you just said that it gives the JFF stronger oversight. What were the discussions like in leading to this decision? To be honest, Ricardo, it was relatively simple. I mean, the MOU was in existence from 2020. We are approaching the end of the tenure and looking forward as any, you know, solid planning team you want to ensure there's continuity. So regardless of any successive terms that may exist going forward, we're now in an election cycle. So regardless of that, it gives us that confidence and it gives Jamaica that confidence that football, local football is in the right hands. And regardless of whoever we are moving the industry where it needs to go. I must admit to you that when I saw the news and I saw 10 years, I thought to myself, wow, I mean, the PFGL replaced the PLCA for the 2020-21 season. So as you pointed out, you're at the end of that four-year cycle. Correct. The 10-year cycle now becomes a 10-year cycle. I don't want to say it seems unusually long, but this is more than double what it was originally. What was the thinking behind that? I would say confidence. Just confidence in knowing. I mean, as simple as if you entrust a security guard at your firm to manage the property and you find that the security guard is managing the property well, you want to give them the opportunity to continue. And I think that's really what it is. They have seen, and I mean, the evidence is there to show that we, the group collectively from directorship all the way down to operational team, we're very clear about the direction of what local football needs to be. And again, let's dive back into the fact that this is all because we're trying to build an industry. We're trying to get it better than it was. The timeline for me, I mean, and for the directors, I believe it's important, but it's not the biggest sticking point because regardless of whoever is here, you know, or it may not be here come next year or whoever it is, but there's continuity in planning. And as a result of that, I think the confidence of the investorship will be in safe hands. Yeah, important that you point that out and you mentioned continuity. I want to make the point, though, that continuity could still happen over five or six years. Yes. And so I'll ask an additional question. What sort of leverage does the 10 years give to the PFJL? It gives us planning leverage. It gives us execution leverage so you can put programs in place now that you can, you know, foretell with some kind of confidence that you are able to see through. Because oftentimes what we have is an execution challenge. Yes. You have these nice plans. You put them into place now. Because time is against you. And time is against you. So you end up hitting what is considered the ones that are immediate. But we want to say you have short, medium, long-term planning horizons and this gives us at least a medium to long-term horizon as opposed to looking over your shoulder, wondering what will happen and, you know, if something happens, who will pull out? And no, this gives us a firm footing to ensure that we can put a 10-year plan in place now because we have that kind of autonomy for the next 10 years. I really hope I'm not thinking too deeply here, right? But again, when I saw the signing of the MOU, the timing jumped out at me because we are in election season. But that's what I'm thinking here. So what happens to you if the elections don't go? Well, I don't want to go there. I just want to know if this MOU can be impacted by whatever happens with the JFF presidential election? No, no. I mean, an MOU is obviously not a legally binding document that, you know, you can bring somebody to court. But the understanding is that if football is in the right direction, why not continue? And this is a sign of continuation. Again, we try not to play into the negatives and all the nuances. And there are obviously, you know, questions that can be asked, but what are the positives that are coming out of this? So election cycle are not regardless of who is in charge. PFGL is an organization that is here to move football forward. And we have shown that, and we continue to do that. Right. Well, speaking about positives, I'm going to ask you about the partnership with Scott and the artificial intelligence. And the artificial intelligence, because that's a big, big deal. Massive. Massive. I mean, we are, we are again moving in the direction that we need to go. Why Scout is an artificial intelligent scouting platform that gives players, coaches, clubs an opportunity to grow their overall ecosystem. So outside of player tracking to, you know, giving you enough data on teams that you're going to be scouting against, to also able to condition players for sale because we are that developing market that we want to move players on to greener pastures. So Why Scout gives us that platform. And again, even in having a discussion with Why Scout, we can say, oh, let's have a five-year partnership and see how that five-year works. So Why Scout is going to help us significantly. And we're looking to pilot. We're in that pilot phase right now, and we're looking to improve on that as we go through the entire duration of the MOU and, you know, the player lifecycle. Yeah, I was researching Why Scout today. And the first thing I saw, the world's biggest library of football. There you go. And I think that tells you everything you need to know about what Why Scout does and how they can assist. But I'm quite interested in the genesis of this. Right. And how this partnership came about. Again, strategically looking at how do we grow player sales. Player sales is a strategic pillar on our strategic map. So this is not just, you know, out of thin air. We're very clear. We want to grow player sales. How do we grow player sales? Well, you have to get players on platforms that can showcase their talent. When you talk to the Scouts, when you talk to the agents, and this is from the global level, they want to know that the player's football education is high. They want to know that the quality of the data that they're getting to feed their own decision-making models work. And this is the most trusted library for doing that. So Why Scout gives you that platform. And again, it expands the range of the discussion that we have with football. It's not just anecdotal anymore. It's not how do you feel about Ricardo if he's a good left foot or a good right footer. His past accuracy is there. His ratios are there. And like how you measure everything else in any business, that's what we're doing in football. I don't want to get too controversial here, but you know, I listen to you, and I love where you're going. And the truth is, ever since the PFGL was formed, this is the direction you've been going in. So as far as I'm concerned, this is just another step in that direction. Part of that direction was having more and more matches on television so the Scouts could see what these players were or aren't capable of. There you go. But I have to ask though, because do you feel that the clubs are buying into everything that you're offering in the way that you want them to? And I'm not trying to put you on the spot here. Yeah, it sounds like you're trying to do. I mean, I like it. It spans the conversation. So the truth is, like with any change, I mean, we are change agents, and we understand the change cycle. Everybody will not, you know, buy into the change first go. But if we have more converts as we go along and if we stress test it and prove why we're doing what we're doing, I think it will work. That snowball effect will happen. And I think we're getting that. There are some clubs that, you know, are further along the curve than others because just by virtue of their talent pool, their experiential and institutional wisdom. But that's why we're here. We're saying learn from the guys who did it better and let's improve the overall. A rising tide lifts all ships. So I think essentially that's what we're trying to do and, you know, hopefully the clubs as our key stakeholders buy into it. And I think they have done so. And we must commend them because they keep improving the product. And by extension, you are a key stakeholder. I mean, the media plays an important role in promulgating the message. And I think so far you've done excellent at that. Yeah, are you continuing to have the conversations with the clubs? Sometimes I feel that sometimes small workshops can assist in situations like this just to sensitize as many of the clubs and not just the clubs, but all the stakeholders within the clubs including the players and so on. So they can all understand what you are trying to achieve. So, yes, we are in short in a more, you know, expanded answer. I'll tell you that, you know, something big is coming. Yeah, Chris said the same. Something big is coming. Bro, that Chris already said that. Something big is coming. But for sure, I mean, I can hint at it. Institutional knowledge needs to be transitioned to other spaces. So what we're saying is we're taking global concepts. We're bringing it to local spaces. We're taking global experts diving deeper into local spaces. So you'll hear more about it as we go through the process. And for sure, I can tell you that consistent workshop, consistent material, consistent access will be provided to all our key clubs as we move the product and the industry forward. I'm not in your meetings, by the way. Just to be clear. I like the fact that you're asking me these questions because Jamaica and the wider world, Caribbean gets to know what we're really doing here in, you know, the local space. Yeah, well, I want to thank you so much for stopping by. Thank you for having me. I look forward to hearing what the big things are and hopefully you can come on the Sports Max. You'll get it first. And you can tell us first. You'll get it first. For sure, you'll get it first. Well... Maybe on Monday night football. All right, well, thank you so much. This is a quick break from the CEO of the PFGL. For when he'll let's take a quick break. We'll be right back.