EDM Artist Diplo Invests In Arizona United Soccer Team
Artist and music producer Diplo announced he has made a financial investment into Arizona United, Phoenix’s USL soccer team.
The five-time Grammy award nominee and producer of the summer hit “Lean On” always has been interested in soccer and jumped on the opportunity when it was presented. Founder and CEO of the the team, Kyle Eng, said not only is Arizona United excited to have Diplo, the artist is excited to be in Phoenix.
"I think he saw Phoenix as an opportunity for two things. One he's familiar with the market, and he's liked what we had to present to him in terms of being a part of a soccer team," Eng said.
Arizona United is starting their third season as a USL team this February. They are quickly gaining traction and interest in the Valley as soccer continues to be the fastest-growing sport among youth in Arizona.
Eng is aware that it is hard to start up a soccer team in a state that already has four major sports teams, but he believes that Diplo is the right guy for the project and is staying optimistic.
"How better to be the 'it thing' than to have the it guy in music?"
Diplo also performs with Major Lazer and is half of Jack Ü outside of his solo work, owning the Mad Decent record label and Mad Decent Block Party, the largest touring Electronic Dance Music in North America. His song "Lean On" was arguably the song of the summer and is currently the most listened to song in the history of Spotify.
The artist said in a team release that he "sees soccer the same way he sees music, as a connective tissue linking the world's cultures."
As far as being a part of the board, Eng has confidence that Diplo will not only help with promotion, but also thinks he'll bring a lot of ideas. Diplo understands the culture of millennials and Eng, as the CEO, can't wait to tap into that.
Arizona United hopes to make major improvements with outreach, but they're not asking Diplo to be anything but himself.
"We're going to have the coolest, best music at our board of directors meetings moving forward," Eng said jokingly.
