Marc Spiegel is the Founder and Managing Member of Innovatio Capital, the European private equity fund that in 2025 acquired Club Querétaro from Grupo Caliente for a figure close to USD 120 million. The deal made Innovatio one of the most notable new entrants in Latin American football: a fund with a clear thesis — identify undervalued franchises, apply data and financial discipline, and build a regional business platform connected to the United States.
Spiegel will speak at WFS Mexico City on 3–4 June at the Camino Real Polanco. This interview is a preview of LATAM Football Asset, a report produced by El Míster in partnership with World Football Summit, publishing next week.
What were the main factors behind the decision to invest in Querétaro?
When we were looking for a club to acquire anywhere in the world, we had very specific criteria. We wanted a league with growth potential, commercial viability, a quality local and international business community, access to an international airport, and a large city capable of hosting a top-level professional team. Querétaro and Liga MX met all of those requirements. The size of the opportunity and the enthusiasm of the local community to support our project have been impressive.
What do you see as the key advantages of the Liga MX market?
Liga MX is unique because it has a major commercial engine right to the north, in the United States. There is enormous growth potential coming from that market. And it doesn’t have many other sports competing for attention. While baseball is growing and the NBA G-League plays in Mexico City, 99% of people live and breathe football all year round. As a league, we are still in the early stages of modernisation. The next five to ten years will be crucial in terms of restructuring to support the growth that is coming. We have a large fanbase, which means we need to capitalise on and expand our base while improving the experience for our supporters both at the stadium and at home.
LATAM Football Asset will be available next week across WFS and El Mister channels. The full report maps over USD 1.5 billion in foreign investment into Latin American football over the past decade, analyses the three main capital models operating in the region — investment funds, multiclub holdings and private investment — and profiles the key funds and companies behind the deals across Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay.