#7 - Xavi Acosta: Working at Austin FC, Soccer Ops, Sports Management Studies

The Smart Alec Show

Xavi Acosta is a Membership Service Executive at Austin FC of Major League Soccer. He’s a current graduate student of Sport Management at UT Austin, where he also graduated at age 19 with his bachelor’s degree in Sport Management. He holds multiple tactical certifications in the soccer/ fútbol operations space from FC Barcelona’s Innovation Hub University as well as Nacsport. Xavi is not only a good friend of the show, but an awesome teammate on the soccer pitch and a great person well on his way to accomplishing his dreams at an early stage in his career and life.

TRANSCRIPT/ TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Introduction

2:34 - How Xavi graduated college at age 19

7:03 - What Xavi learned in sports management studies that help in his role at Austin FC now

10:45 - Austin FC anticipation before 1st season

16:28 - Structure of MLS expansion & operations vs European models of promotion/ relegation, talk on Liga MX & soccer politics

20:25 - Xavi’s favorite soccer teams & coach across MX, Europe, South America

31:37 - Xavi’s recommendations for people trying to break into the sports/ soccer industry

41:15 - How Xavi feels living out his childhood dream of working in pro soccer

• “There’s a difference between having a goal and having a dream”

44:41 - What is soccer ops and how does one transition into this side of the industry?

49:10 - Impact working within his passion has on his work ethic

52:50 - How Xavi got into the Masters of Science in Sports Management program at UT and what it’s like

58:18 - Who’s the soccer GOAT

1:05:36 - 3 things someone working in sports ops has to have to succeed

Recorded Feb. 2021