My New Favorite Futbolista is an 8-episode TV series that you can only watch on PeacockTV. Ahead of WC 2022, it profiles inspiring footballers and their off-field commitments where they advocate for change or support important causes.
In 2022, NBC LX News and Telemundo partnered in producing the current video series in both English and Spanish, hosted by the Colombian great Juan Pablo Angel and news journalist Eric Alvarez. Its Spanish title is Mi Mundialista Favorita, and it spotlights male footballers at WC 2022, which in Spanish is known as La Copa Mundial.
The format
Podcast-like, Angel and Alvarez sit in a studio in front of big microphones while they read bits of narrative that go along with the subject interviews. However, the co-hosts have no interactions with the subjects, and Angel is quite wooden in reading his English dialog. The episodes also seem poorly edited with many repeated scenes. Most of the episodes are 25 minutes.
I found the first few episodes interesting, but the series seemed to lose its way. It also seemed like most of the subjects were not really that invested in their causes, raising as little as $2,000 or championing a cause that was quite far away, or not supporting that cause for very long. And sometimes the advocacy action was not much more than including a tag in their social media.
But my skepticism aside, the background and reasons for the players to pick their causes in the first place seemed genuine. Athletes’ platforms are getting bigger all the time, and Senator Chris Murphy, in his push for gun control, notes that he welcomes increased exposure. But what he really wants is that players and celebrities will continue to support their causes after those causes lose the immediate limelight.
The Episodes
Episode 1 – Julian Araujo on farmworkers
Julian Araujo played for the LA Galaxy. He grew up in Lompoc, and his father was an undocumented farmworker. Julian’s story and his family are quite touching. During the pandemic, Julian goes back to the farmworker community to hand out food supplies, and gift cards. The United Farmworkers UWF Foundation continues to need our help in assisting the community that feeds our country.
Episode 2 – Chris Richards on racism
Chris Richards was born in Birmingham AL, the most segregated city in the USA. His parents have a biracial marriage, which was unlawful in Alabama at the time he was born. His right upper arm has a huge tattoo of MLK (Martin Luther King). When right wingers say that athletes should stay out of politics, he points out that racism is not politics, it is life.
Episode 3 – Paul Arriola on cancer
Paul Arriola‘s segment talks about how soccer was his safe space where he could just focus on playing. But when he tore his ACL, he finally had to deal with the grief, within a short period, of losing his father, his grandfather, and having his mother-in-law suffer stage 4 lung cancer.
Episode 4 – José Cifuentes (Cafu) on education
José Cifuentes (Cifu) plays for LAFC but hails from Ecuador. He emphasizes that footballers should pursue education.
Episode 5 – Mark-Anthony Kaye on Single Mothers Outreach
At age 14, Mark-Anthony Kaye got a job at the local drugstore so that he could pay for his soccer that year. Half of single parents are at the poverty level, and he knows first hand how tough it is to be a single mom, so he supports Single Mothers Outreach of Santa Clarita.
Episode 6 – DeAndre Yedlin on LGTBQ
The series covers the San Diego Loyal incident when the team forfeited a potential playoff spot because of unpunished homophobic slurs against Collin Martin by a Phoenix Rising player. This unusual act of team support inspired DeAndre Yedlin to invest in the club. I kind of felt sorry for DeAndre, as he must have lost all of that investment. But that’s Don Garber’s fault.
Episode 7 – USMNT on Gun Reform, Now
In Jun-5-2022, after the Uvalde shooting, the USMNT wrote a letter to Congress demand action. On Jun-24-2022, the Senate sent the Safer Communities Act to the President for signature, which Joe Biden signed on Jun-25-2022. This bill is trying to “match thoughts and prayers with action”, requiring more background checks, increased registration of dealers, and funding for mental health.
Alejandro Bedoya points out that this is not politics, it’s living. What’s the price of freedom if we’re getting shot going to the grocery store, a theater, or dropping off our kids for school?
The causes to support are: Students Demand Action and March for Our Lives
Episode 8 – Ferran Torres on stray dogs
There are an estimated 600M stray dogs in the world. Ferran Torres supports Nikki Tibbles’ Wild At Heart Foundation in the UK, whose mission is to reduce the stray dog population through education and sterilization (spaying and neutering) and rehoming.
Series incarnations
The series originated in Jun-2021 as a podcast called My New Favorite Olympian, sharing stories of 2020 Olympians (the summer Olympics was delayed to 2021 due to the pandemic).
In 2022, the subject of this review was released ahead of WC 2022. Although it was supposed to also be a podcast, I could not find it. The video is only available on PeacockTV.
In 2023, an 11-episode series under the same My New Favorite Futbolista title was produced that highlighted female footballers of WC 2023 who were active in social causes. The series is available as a podcast and on youtube.
In 2024, the series continues as the podcasts My New Favorite Olympian and My New Favorite Paralympian, which aligns with the 2024 Olympics.
In Conclusion
Unfortunately, Peacock loads 6-8 minutes of advertisements into and throughout each episode, so sitting through so many ads for such a short episode is annoying. The episodes I liked best were those of Julian Araujo, Chris Richards, Mark-Anthony Kaye (now a player for my club the San Jose Earthquakes), and the USMNT on gun control. Even the episode on stray dogs taught me a bit.
If you have the time and are looking for causes supported by footballers you admire, this is the series for you.
I just wish this series were more widely available for viewing. It’s a shame that NBC made it possible for players to advocate for causes, but very few people can watch the show.
7 Soccer Movie Mom Rating = 7
Resources:
- Released: 2022-11-01 (PeacockTV)
- I watched this on PeacockTV
- Dual-language broadcast in English and Spanish
- Spanish title is Mi Mundialista Favorita
- 8 episodes for a total of 190 mins, or 3 hrs 10 mins
- prior series are described on IMDB
- PeacockTV webpage
- Director: Unknown
- Stars: Juan Pablo Angel , Eric Alvarez
- Watch the Trailer if you are a PeacockTV subscriber
- Listen to the podcast trailer here, although the podcast itself is not available
- A local NBC outlet has a webpage where you can listen to DeAndre’s episode
