LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- When Marc Spiegel took the stage inside Estadio Corregidora on Thursday, he didn't have to say he belonged. That much had already been made clear.
The commissioner of Liga MX was on one side of the Louisville native. Querétaro's mayor was on the other. All spoke glowingly of the city, the club and the new owner who had come to usher in a new era.
Spiegel had spent two years scouring the globe for the right football club to buy. The Atlanta-based entrepreneur looked in Europe, South America, Asia, Australia and across Mexico. He made offers, took meetings, ran valuations. But in the end, it wasn't just a club that Spiegel settled on. It was a city.
"We saw a city progressing rapidly, with many construction projects underway and warm, friendly and courteous people. We felt that there was a real opportunity to grow here," Spiegel said in his first public appearance as club owner. "We couldn't be more excited to be in Querétaro."
Louisville | Kentucky | Indiana | Eric Crawford
On Friday, WDRB News reported that a sale had been finalized. Spiegel and his investment group, Innovatio Capital, had acquired the Querétaro Football Club in a deal valued at a reported $120 million. On Tuesday, that sale was introduced formally to the public, with a news conference and official blessing from league and city officials.
Spiegel, 44, thanked former owner Jorge Alberto Hank for his professionalism and patience during what he called "a long process."
The moment marked the culmination of a global search, but also the continuation of a journey that began in Louisville — in a family that had worked in trash hauling for generations. Spiegel studied sports administration and public administration at the University of Louisville. He planned to go to law school and become a sports agent. Instead, he built a tech company that upended the waste industry.
Rubicon Technologies began with $10,000 on a credit card. It became a global sustainability firm — "the Uber of trash" — backed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Marc Benioff, and traded on the New York Stock Exchange with a $2 billion SPAC valuation.
But sports never left Spiegel's mind.
With memories of Louisville basketball games he attended as a child, he determined to help do something to bring the program back – and help his hometown in the process. In 2022, he helped launch 502 Circle, the first NIL collective supporting University of Louisville athletes.
In recent years, he began exploring club ownership abroad. He wanted more than a toy. He wanted a club he could build with integrity, modernize with technology and analytics, and integrate into a thriving community.
"We aspire to build a modern football club," he said Tuesday. "We know there's a lot of work ahead of us ... We are a group that believes highly in data and in analytics. That's something that we will use from a sporting perspective, but also commercially. We believe in content. We want to appeal and grow a brand. We have an opportunity here with a great platform and a great club, and again, in a great city and state that, fortunately, has a lot of fans already."
Spiegel laid out non-negotiables for the club: honesty, integrity, hard work and a commitment to excellence. "We want everyone in this club to be the best in their role," he said. "We want everyone to realize that we are here to be part of the community, not only in soccer but in everything that the community represents."
Liga MX commissioner Mikel Arriola called Spiegel's arrival "a great day for Mexican football," and said the sale had been approved by the league assembly in May. He noted that Querétaro now is backed by a respected global investor, and praised the timing of the deal aligning with the club's 75th anniversary.
"We know him as a businessman committed to quality," Arriola said. "Liga MX today has more than 200 million fans worldwide. It is the tenth league with the most followers and the sixth in average attendance. With new partners, innovative, modern, who come to invest, we will be able to exceed our goals."
Querétaro municipal president Felipe Macías echoed the optimism. "We are a first-class city, a first-class state, with first-class fans," he said. "And I am convinced that we will have a first-class team."
He called the investment a powerful symbol: "It is the greatest sign of the time of prosperity that is coming for Gallos Blancos."
Spiegel, who also brings experience in branding, digital content and data-driven strategy, said he and his partners have already begun work behind the scenes. That includes signing players, negotiating sponsorships and planning for the club's future.
"To our fans," he said, "the next chapter has already begun. We've been working hard. It will be a great chapter."
For Spiegel, the moment was about more than ownership. It was about planting roots. After years of innovation in waste and recycling, after startup risk and stock market reward, the Louisville-born billionaire had stepped onto a new kind of stage. And in Querétaro, a proud football city, he received something every owner hopes for.
A rousing ovation.
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