Pitch to Pro
Pitch to Pro is the official podcast of Ozark United FC. This will be our platform to tell our story about the club and the special place that we call home, Northwest Arkansas. This is a journey. We want to bring you along for the ride. We'll share what's going on behind the curtain, help educate the community at large about soccer, Our league, and give updates on the progress of the club along the way.
Together, we'll explore and unpack our journey to professional soccer, the magic that is NWA, our community, and talk all things soccer from on the pitch to behind the scenes, telling the story of our club.
Pitch to Pro
Ep. 46 - KC and Portland Showed Ross Cully What NWA Soccer Could Be
What happens when passion for soccer meets the explosive growth of Northwest Arkansas? Ross Cully, founder and CEO of Harvest Group and early investor in Ozark United FC, reveals the powerful vision behind bringing professional soccer to this dynamic region.
Ross shares his personal connection to the beautiful game, from youth leagues in Missouri to watching his former teammate Jack Jewsbury captain the Portland Timbers. That experience opened his eyes to soccer's unique ability to unite communities through an electric matchday atmosphere unlike anything else in American sports. As a father of four, Ross recognizes how younger generations embrace soccer differently than previous ones did, a demographic shift that makes this the perfect moment for professional soccer to thrive in Northwest Arkansas.
Beyond the business opportunity, Ross articulates how Ozark United FC represents something more meaningful: a chance to give back to a community that has given him so much. The club's vision extends beyond the pitch to create a vibrant destination combining soccer, housing, retail, and community spaces that will enhance Northwest Arkansas's appeal for current and future residents.
The success of this vision relies on community support at every level. Whether you're following social media accounts, purchasing merchandise, attending events, or exploring investment opportunities, each action builds momentum toward making professional soccer a reality in Northwest Arkansas. For those interested in contributing to this community-transforming project, Ross encourages reaching out with questions about sponsorship or investment.
Join us on this journey as we unite Northwest Arkansas through the beautiful game and create unforgettable sporting moments for generations to come.
Pitch to Pro is the official podcast of Ozark United FC. This will be our platform to tell our story about the club and the special place that we call home, Northwest Arkansas. This is a journey we want to bring you along for the ride. We'll share what's going on behind the curtain, help educate the community at large about soccer, our league, and give updates on the progress of the club along the way. Together, we'll explore and unpack our journey to professional soccer, the magic that is NWA, our community, and talk all things soccer from on the pitch to behind the scenes, telling the story of our club.
Speaker 2:Pitch to Pro Podcast is proudly sponsored by PodcastVideoscom by PodcastVideoscom.
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Speaker 1:Hello everybody and welcome back to the Pitcher Pro Podcast. I'm your host, wes Harris, managing Director for Ozark United FC Northwest Arkansas' professional soccer club playing in the United Soccer League. I am very pleased to welcome back my very special guest, mr Ross Culley, founder and CEO of Harvest Group and Ozark United Investor Ross, thank you so much for coming back and joining me today.
Speaker 3:Really excited to be with you again.
Speaker 1:So last time we talked, you know, kind of growth of NWA, how you got here and your entrepreneurial journey, some of the insights and lessons learned and you know, funny enough, parallels into starting a soccer club and there's so much that I think we can draw in the grit and the vision and we talked a lot about that and we'll dive in a little bit more here. But first I want to understand kind of sometimes some investors are like I never really played soccer or don't have this affinity for it, but I see the value in the asset class. Where do you find yourself? Did you find yourself involved in soccer in any way before you kind of heard about the project and decided to invest?
Speaker 3:Yeah, thankfully there was not a tryout, you know, but yes, I was familiar with soccer before choosing to invest, and so really my introduction came as a kid.
Speaker 3:My parents signed me up for a rec program, ymca program in Springfield, missouri, and so that was my introduction, and my dad was my coach in every other sport except for soccer and he didn't know, know anything, and so maybe that correlated with why that was my favorite sport, because all he could do is cheer. You know, for me, um, he was, I, I was a the typical coach's kid. You know they got the extra uh points on the drive home, but um, but I know I fell in love with, with soccer, uh, and and was able to play on a competitive club, and so we would travel around and play tournaments in St Louis and Kansas City and do the show me game, state cup and and and just had a ton of fun and uh made a lot of memories, like a lot of youth uh sports families can relate to um, hanging at the hotel pool and eating out and just having uh time with friends that are your teammates yeah, that's uh, I know you're.
Speaker 1:You just came back from, uh, from dallas, doing that with with your family as well, and I'm in the middle of it with my son. Uh, I am the coach, so I try not to be that coach on the extra points, but I know that my son would tell me that I do. Uh, but no, that's great, I mean it's. It's. I always, you know, ask people that question like how did you find the game? What's your experience within the game? Um, and you know, either, as a player, parent, coach um, it's always fun to hear those stories.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think, uh, one of my favorite soccer memories besides the the memories of my kids was I grew up playing with a guy in springfield, missouri, that that made it to the mls oh, that's great, his name is is jack juiceberry, and uh, he was. He went to slew to play his college soccer and was drafted, uh, in the early days of them last, yeah, the kensley Wizards and then made his way to the Portland Timbers and it was now probably gosh 10 years ago that I thought, you know, I got to get up there and watch Jack play because he's probably going to be retiring the next few years, and so I had a reason to be up there for business and took my wife and my oldest son, jude, who was, I think, six or seven at the time, and we went and caught a match and he ends up scoring.
Speaker 2:Oh of course.
Speaker 3:And you know, for those that haven't been to a Timbers game, just the Timbers army is, you know, kind of unmatched in terms of some of their color and passion and just the tradition of, you know, cutting off the tree for the goal and uh, it was uh phenomenal and we got to hang out with him afterwards. He gave his captain uh band to jude and uh just had a phenomenal experience. But that was, I would say, where my eyes were open to the passion, the fans and, um, just the, the unmatched experience of just being pulled in to a soccer match yeah, I I think what a cool experience.
Speaker 1:By the way, and I remember uh jack and watching many games with jack uh and doing this at jack and I'm shaking my fist for those that aren't watching and are listening uh, because I was a dc united fan growing up and he was one of the best number sixes uh and holding midfielders uh out there during his time, so uh foiled many attacks.
Speaker 3:He uh, he had a great career and uh, yeah, they ended up winning the mls cup. Uh, when he was up there as captain for the timbers and I think when he when he retired, he was among like the top 10 players Timbers, and I think when he retired, he was among like the top ten players in terms of number of matches played I think over 300 in the last and so he was one of those guys that you know was in the league in the beginning the infancy, you know, and as we talk about our project, you know he was playing an arrowhead.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And so you think about a fan experience, uh, of early, early soccer interest and you know midwest united states in the you know early 2000s playing an arrowhead and then seeing the portland experience. I mean he was a local celebrity. Yeah, the local brewery said, captain jack, you know special edition brews and it was like okay, and so for me as an investor, that's actually a really important experience that I think maybe not many in Northwest Arkansas has actually going to like a major match and just feeling the energy, seeing the passion that fans bring the of of people that it brings in, because of how accessible a ticket is from a price point standpoint and just how unifying it is for a community. I mean just downtown portland was just buzzing, you know, ahead of that match.
Speaker 1:Um, it was just, it was really special I think it's such an important point and I love that you had that experience yourself. Um, as you know, even though you kind of grew up playing the game and you're a fan kind of already but even for fans, I think I think that's the I we talk about this all the time and you hit it is it's such a different experience to anything else in terms of as a fan and a, a just a, a participant, a viewer and, uh, a matchgoer to attend a live soccer match in an environment where you're not like Jack had to play in the 5,000 people in 70,000 seat stadium where it's echoing from players on the field in silence, uh, but more so, what you experienced important, which is smaller stadium, but a packed stadium and a very involved and passionate fan base and supporters group and all around you can just sense the vibe is just so different and when a goal is scored in a live soccer match setting, it's like, unlike anything else in pro sports, live sports in that arena.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, people go nuts. And since then, mainly chasing my kids, and so we play a lot of sports in that arena. Yeah, no, people go nuts. And I, you know, since then, um, mainly chasing my kids, and so we, we play a lot of tournaments in Kansas city, and you know so. I remember going to a sporting game I think it was last year, uh, my parents were in their seventies or with us and I said you know, we're going to go catch a match, why don't you come? They're like I don't know, you know, okay, you know. So they end up going. They talked about how much fun they had, how how great the seats were.
Speaker 3:You know I could see everything. I was, I was right there. You know they just went on and on about the experience and I think they had in their head, you know, big NFL, you know like arrowhead type of experience, and it just it blew them away how unique it was and and we just we just had a blast, so um, so yeah. So that that's kind of been my exposure to soccer. I think it's been helpful to me to see that vision that we're all aiming for, uh, to, to see it, uh, it, and it realized. You know, be that my experience in Portland or Kansas City, I think the other thing that's been helpful to me as an investor to kind of spot this trend and believe in it is seeing demographic changes, having kids that are you know 17 to 6, and see that what they're interested in from a sports standpoint is different than when my, my dad, was growing up.
Speaker 3:It's different than when I was growing up, um, in terms of where soccer ranks in terms of their interest, the jerseys that they own, uh, what they want to go watch, um, soccer is is, you know, I think in a lot of surveys the number two youth sport, and I think that's probably surprising to some older generations that that's changing. But I kind of have been able to see that, as my kids have been involved in soccer, and so I kind of put Portland, kansas City, my kids together in my belief in Northwest Arkansas and I'm so bullish about this club.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:No, thank you, and that's such an awesome thing to hear because it's, you know, being in it. We hear about it, talk about it and, you know, throw the numbers out, the stats and not preach it. But we say it a lot as we're going through the process, whether that's potential investors, partners, but to hear it from someone that you know kind of got to see, that experience it themselves already before they ever met us, you know was really cool to hear about and you know-shared here. But I think we I mean back to your point on not sure a ton of folks in northwest arkansas have had the opportunity, just from a proximity standpoint, I mean, the closest opportunity really is fc tulsa, technically within usl um, and then, you know, in the type of stadium that we're talking about, uh really is sporting Kansas city uh, which is three hours away, three and a quarter Um, and is not always necessarily accessible. I count myself fortunate to be able to, you know, be able to do that right and go to tournaments and things like that and take the kids, um, and we had, uh, the opportunity to kind of take some uh Northwest Arkansas leaders and community builders Uh, they were up in Providence, rhode Island, in the middle of June for, uh, something called the Congress of the New, congress for the New Urbanism, excuse me and it was all about, I mean, it's city planning, essentially, and one of the best stadiums that's in the league is newly opened, which is Rhode Island FC and is right there in Pawtucket, right next to Providence, and so we asked them they were already going to be up there.
Speaker 1:We were like, hey, would you guys go to a game if we were able to kind of coordinate that and get that available for you guys? And we had about 20 of them, there was like 71. The congress at cnu congress new era, is being held in northwest arkansas on 2026, so that'll be really cool. Yeah, um, and hopefully I've. We have a lot more to kind of talk about and and be able to share it. That, uh, that'll be really fun and cool.
Speaker 1:But about half of them had been to pro soccer in one way, shape or another. Another half probably had it. But I think it was even more powerful for me for listening to the people that had been to soccer before experience it, because their bar for you know kind of what's going to wow me, what's going to, you know, I've seen it. Yeah, I know what to expect. I feel like that was higher within that group. I mean, yes, your first time to a pro soccer match, especially in such an amazing stadium.
Speaker 1:Shout out to the Rhode Island FC group and ownership team Thank you guys so much for that trip and experience and for showing us a good time in your hospitality. But yeah, you know, everybody was kind of like that click, like oh my gosh, wow, I had no idea, like soccer was this big, this is great, this is so cool. I love the environment. But what was even more impactful for me, like I said, was the people that had been already. They were like this is so much more than I ever thought it could be. And that just is again one of those moments where, if you're on your journey and we talked about it in the last episode of those, I'm sure you had them of like, where you're like oh man, you may be in a trough and you hit that moment of you know I'm reaffirmed, I'm re-energized, like let's go yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:You know, I I think another, um, another opportunity we have to experience, that is is the, the, the late Razorbacks and Coach Hale and the job that Colby's done, and so I mean they're just perennial. You know top five, top ten, and if you've gone to one of those, you know NCAA tournament games or SEC tournament games. Uh, well, I guess those are usually out of town, but, um, the NCAA tournament games, it's just, it's an electric uh atmosphere.
Speaker 3:The team is phenomenally talented incredible um, and so you just imagine kind of that level of soccer, but in a stadium that's really designed to invite, you know, 5,000 or plus of your closest, you know, friends and super fans.
Speaker 1:Um it, it really is a unique uh vision that I'm excited about and I think I'm so glad you brought that up because I think it's yet a yes. If you haven't been, guys, oh my goodness, you cannot ask for like a better night out then, and you know it's not a knock on them, inexpensive, my goodness. The barrier to entry is, is and it's it's a shout out to the Razorbacks for making it that accessible, because it's an incredible experience and such a talented team, perennially, like you said, on the field top 10. But they're also a benchmark for somebody that is looking for, you know, again, solidification of Northwest Arkansas is ready for this.
Speaker 1:Ozfc is where I'm going. They're top 10 in the country in attendance, like annually, believe it, and they routinely pack in their 3,500 to you know, upwards of 4,600 people for Division I women's college soccer in SEC football country. That is just a testament A to their program and what they've done, but also a testament to a really encouraging benchmark for what is to come and the level of support that we do have for the sport in the area.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's definitely a proof of concept. If you're an investor looking for uh, could that, could this happen here? Um can? Can you have top performing top attending soccer in Northwest Arkansas? I would say we do uh on the NCAA uh level with coach Hale and his team.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely so, let's talk about it. You yeah, absolutely so, let's talk about it. You, one of our early investors, took a chance and and and but have a strong belief and, like you've said, you're very bullish on on the thought about the opportunity and evaluated it. I guess is is kind of an interesting uh lens to kind of you know, maybe take the discussion for a minute.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, I think I got introduced to you guys by a mutual friend, a coworker of mine. Shout out to Mike Harvey, uh, who had worked with Chris before and uh, and and so, as I heard about it, I was like I want to hear more and don't need to belabor. We've already talked about why. I've had some experiences with soccer, had seen pro soccer, and I'm just bullish on this area. And so as I, as I got to know what you guys were, were focused on, as I got to know warren, who, um, has done this what six times, yeah, times, yeah, all around the country, as I got to know you and Chris, who love this area, who know this area, and I thought about founding teams. Being a founder, being an entrepreneur, I loved the makeup of your team as you described how you wanted to build the club, how you wanted to build the brand with your customer, with your fan in mind, coming from the retail space, with market research, with different iterations of design, with lots of different input. You guys are using cutting edge research techniques in order to really come up with everything from the name to the logo, to the fan experience. Um, it gave me the confidence that you guys were were not just people with pipe dream. You know that had an idea one day, um, but that you were really going through this in a methodical, proven way. Uh, that had the person that you're catering to, which is our fans, at the center of what you were building from a design perspective, and so you know that gave me a ton of confidence as well.
Speaker 3:And then I'm an entrepreneur that is familiar with risk enjoy vision, uh, enjoy vision, uh. And so when I envision what this will be at the end, uh, I'm excited about what that will mean for our community. Um, I'm excited to experience it with my family. I mentioned I have four kids, um, uh, and, and from an investment standpoint, I believe that Northwest Arkansas will continue to grow, and I think this is something that will appeal to a very broad economic base in Northwest Arkansas, every community in Northwest Arkansas. I think there's the likelihood that it'll pull people that travel to this area from surrounding communities that don't have a professional team, and so I believe in the long-term value creation that's there from an opportunity standpoint.
Speaker 3:And then, you know, for Kate, my wife Kate and um, we're at a stage where Northwest Arkansas has given us so much, uh, both personally, with our family, and professionally, um, we were so excited to be part of a project that we can be proud of and say, hey, we, we helped get this thing off the ground. Um, and it's something that a lot of people can enjoy. Um and uh, and sports is something that really puts a community on a map. It's something that can represent an area, and we would love for Northwest Arkansas to continue to be represented in a positive way nationally. As citizens here, as an employer here, we want to continue to see Northwest Arkansas shine on a bigger stage, and we think this can play a small part in that.
Speaker 1:I think that it's such a cool thing to hear back, because that's part of why I jumped in, not as an investor, but as someone that took a pretty significant professional risk. You invested, you invested. I invested not money but professional risk. I had a long upward trajectory career within CPG and yet I'm beyond fortunate to have been offered this opportunity, but it for sure is a risk. But it for sure is a risk, um, and it part of my why is I want to do good through soccer and give back.
Speaker 1:The second kind of iteration of that is give back to a community that, even though I'm not from here, I call home and has given me so much. Two of my three kids were born here, met my wife here, and really cool to hear back from you that it's, yes, an investment in the club and helping that go, but it's also an investment in the community, and I think that that's such an important piece for people to hear because I think that, especially within the USL, the clubs are so interwoven into the fabric of the community and part and such active members of the community um, in everything that they do, as you said, with the customer or the fan, are our neighbors. Uh, as you know, the reason and the why behind what we do, and so I think that that's also a bit of a a differentiator for me for. But also soccer in the form that we have, that's very grassroots-oriented in the USL.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and you know some people might hear give back and, oh, this is charitable. My wife and I have a very different charitable strategy. I think it can be give back and an investment and uh and so um, an investment that's actively, positively contributing to our community. And but it is an investment and it's it's it's a unique asset. It's not an asset, um, that probably a lot of people are familiar with. I had to do my research to understand it better and get some wise counsel on that. But I think for somebody who's looking for a particular type of asset, it can play a great role in a financial strategy and have the benefit of contributing positively to the community. And so that's what really attracted Kate and I to jump in.
Speaker 1:I think it's such a good distinction too, and I'm glad that you did it. And, yes, it's giving back, but I mean it's an investment for a reason and it's because and you're also seeing a ton and this goes into again we can get into a Wall Street type-esque podcast here, but you're seeing a ton of investment into sports right now. There's a lot of transactions happening. We mentioned the LA Lakers last episode. There's just the whole Wrexham phenomenon with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, and there's a reason for that. Like, yes, it's, it's, it's they're, they're helping a community, all of those things. But you know, don't let anybody fool you, they're, they're. Also, they have a very smart and strategic investment strategy behind that, and so I think that that's also to your point. I mean, it sounds like you did your research and got some counsel, and sports is an asset class, like it's a place that you can invest in and definitely make a return but also have. I think it's so special because it's a vehicle that you can do so much good with as well.
Speaker 3:For sure, and I think what I've experienced about our area is there's some very popular asset classes and they've given great returns over the last 20 years Land, you know things that are, that are physical. There's collateral. It's easier to understand. I'm in a service business and I've gone through, you know, my own entrepreneurial journey of working with different banks. To describe what I do with a business that's more about knowledge and a knowledge economy and less about physical assets.
Speaker 3:And so when you think about risk and collateral and what could this be worth, land is very easy to get and see, but I think when we're in a knowledge situation or a service-based business or you know, dare I say, movement, you know with the Ozark United, it's harder to touch and feel that and understand the value of that. And so, to me, studying broadly across different sports, different levels, to see the movement of valuation across sports franchises gave me the confidence to invest here. But it takes vision because it will be an intangible movement. It'll be a pride in this club. It will be seeing, uh, this family from that community that you didn't think would show up in this community, this family from another community sitting next to that and all cheering for the same club and buying you know the merch at the store and then seeing you know as I think most people that are here will recognize the tremendous amount of sponsorship opportunities where we punch well above our weight as a size of community.
Speaker 3:For me, coming from that CPG retail space, I can clearly see that those are the revenue sources in this enterprise it's ticket sales, it's merge sales and it's going to be the sponsorships, and so I just see that and sorry I keep going on, but I believe it. And when you look at the recent pivot, it's beautiful because it matches that kind of intangible movement and spirit investment in sports that many of us are less familiar with, With that physical asset, tangible collateral of land and development that we all can see just driving around Northwest Arkansas and know that we need more housing, we need more apartments and more condos and various you know size real estate that people can access here. And if I can go back to my 20s, if I'm picking where to live, if I could live down the street from a professional soccer complex that's surrounded by you know shopping and restaurants and everything, I think I might pick that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's going to be. You know, the vision for, again, vision we keep using that word but I mean is to be that destination, that hub, that lifestyle center that you know, community placemaking, uh, you know, destination, um, and I think you hit it spot on it's. It's kind of symbolic of, you know, and much more representative of of the, of the area in which we're building this in Northwest Arkansas and and kind of you know, yes, you have incredible adding a new entertainment thing, more things for people to do. You know 60% of the population is not from here, they're used to pro sports, they've seen soccer, um, but also this need and understanding for combining that with a, an asset class that people can kind of be a little bit more comfortable with, perhaps, and understand and definitely can, can latch onto. But also, how do we, you know, add to and be contributive to the growth of the area and providing solutions for housing, for placemaking, for, you know, creating this vibrant district and destination for folks to enjoy?
Speaker 3:Yeah, Again, I think it's. It's just a beautiful marriage of that knowledge base movement type asset with the physical assets we've got in this development. That make it really exciting.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think let's pivot as we kind of get to a little bit of a close here. What are you most looking forward to for for the club and Ozark United?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think my vision mentioned it. You know just kind of the moments you have at a match. You know when a goal is scored. You know my boys uh we were in Kansas City. Uh you know the the Golden Cups going on in the US, you know won in penalties and I mean just going crazy. You know together and and just having those moments, I'm just excited to look around the stadium and see Ozark United as we kind of cheer for our club to do special things. It'd be known on a broader stage and I think that that would be really cool for us to uh to represent our community in a more broad way you, you kind of hit on it.
Speaker 1:I mean there's, you know, if the league and and gets all its ducks in a row, this, this Division I league and promotion and relegation, you could have a little bit of a Wrexham story here. Not quite as many levels as they've kind of caused, but we don't have to go as far, but it's kind of this really neat thing. And then once you're at that level, you start to then be eligible for the international stages and tournaments and things like that, like the CONCACaf Champions League and all of those fun things. And to your point, northwest Arkansas and our club and our community get to be. You know, there's the potential right for that type of stage to be on and to compete at, and it's just there's so many cool things.
Speaker 1:But I kind of share your. You know what are you excited for? I mean first match. I know I'm going to ball like a little kid, but it's going to just be just this overwhelming joy that this is happening in NWA and to see it to fruition. But also I tell people, you know what will? I think it was actually our marketing agency when we started going through this. Brett parker asked us the question of like, how do you know? If somebody were to ask you, like you were to tell me this project was successful, what would you say? And I'm curious to hear your thoughts and I'll um, I'll give you mine, but I think that's a fun question.
Speaker 3:It is a fun question yeah, for me I think it's. It's all in our name is actually seeing our community United again across all the different origin stories where people came from, whether that's around this country or around the world, and at least increasingly, we have a global group of neighbors here in Northwest Arkansas, across Solemylum Springs and Bentonville, fayetteville and just across. All of us just coming together to to cheer for one club and, um, I just think that that professional soccer offers, um, just beautiful moments to bring us all together. I'm excited for that, for that, that's what I think would make this successful.
Speaker 1:The beautiful game man, uh, I love that. My, mine was, um is very specific and it's kind of like walking down the street, uh, one day or or after a match, and I had, I had this vision of of a little kid and it was their first time at a professional soccer match and just being this biggest smile on their face and can't stop talking about it and the experience and getting someone, a little kid, that experience into the game in such a positive way and having that type of experience. I got to have that as a a kid. So if I can do something that allows for that to happen, just for one, um, you know, a little kid, special kid, then uh, and, and pass it on a little bit there, that's, that's my, that's my. Yes, we've, we've succeeded here that's gonna happen uh happen.
Speaker 1:I truly hope so and believe so. Uh, ross, before we leave, I guess, if you were to have, maybe, a call to action for people listening, um, whoever they may be and whatever capacity they may be, in terms of you want to find out more about the club or you want to support the club, like what, what would you say to them?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think, uh, you know at the stage that we're at every single action matters. So if, if, somebody is listening to this and they're like man I, I hope, I hope they make it, I hope that I hope this happens Um, and they're not, uh, going to be in a position to be an investor, um, that person could go out and really contribute to the momentum that we have in the club by following us on social media, buy some merch, just whatever is at the level that they're comfortable with. The more we can show the investment community that this area wants this, the better and the better chance we have of this happening. And so, um, I saw the other day a guy running down the street with an ozark united t-shirt. I'm like that's what we need more of, and that does take vision, because it's like we don't have a team yet.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, uh, but going to buy merch, following us, I think is key. Um, if you're a business leader here and you're in a you, you know you guys have budget for sponsorships, maybe sponsor the Razorbacks, or you know high school athletics here and you're interested reaching out and expressing like, hey, I want to know more. That kind of momentum is helpful to us as we talk with investors, and then I think there's inevitably going to be local entrepreneurs and local people here that say, hey, I actually want to learn more about becoming an investor. Reach out and look, there's no silly questions.
Speaker 3:I have never invested in professional sports, so I have never invested in professional sports, wasn't on my radar, wasn't on my life plan, and so if you're just a bit intrigued, reach out and so those are things that are helpful for us as we gain momentum in these early stages and that signal to those investors that are evaluating this that this area wants this.
Speaker 1:I think it's such a great message and showing up to events and even council meetings when those happen we don't have any on the docket right now, but any way that you can express man, we want this, this community needs this, deserves this and we want it to happen to your point. I think it's that movement that the bigger it gets, the more de-risked the project becomes and a potential investor or corporate sponsor or whatever that is can see that and say they've got something here and, man, that looks more interesting. We should find out more. So I really appreciate that message for everybody and just thank you again for believing in us and the vision and the team and the sport and this community.
Speaker 3:We are privileged to be a part and excited for the journey ahead. Thank you, ross, that's going to do it. And this community? We are privileged to be a part and excited for the journey ahead.
Speaker 1:Thank you, ross. That's going to do it for this episode of Pitch to Pro. We hope you guys enjoyed it. Be sure to catch all of our episodes at pitchtoprocom, or look for Pitch to Pro on YouTube, spotify, apple or wherever you get your podcasts. For more content Until next time. Cheers, northwest Arkansas.
Speaker 2:Thanks for joining us on this episode of the Pitch to Pro podcast. Be sure to tune in again in two weeks for the next installment and check out the Stoppage Time series for a recap of today's episode. Be sure to find us at Pitch to Pro on YouTube, instagram and everywhere you get your podcasts. Until next time, northwest Arkansas cheers.