TOCA FOOTBALL AND VENTURA ENTERTAINMENT TO BRING TOCA SOCIAL SOCCER VENUES TO MEXICO
First venue to open in 2023, with seven additional sites planned prior to World Cup 2026
COSTA MESA, Calif., Feb. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TOCA Football, Inc. (TOCA), the world's leading, technology-enabled soccer experience company, and Ventura Entertainment, Mexico's premier entertainment operator, announced an exclusive partnership today to bring TOCA Social soccer entertainment and dining venues to Mexico. Ventura further announced its plan to open a minimum of 20 TOCA Social venues over the next 10 years with a total investment of more than USD$100 million. The partnership will mark the first franchising deal for TOCA.
TOCA Social opened its first venue in August 2021 at London's iconic The O2 to huge success, attracting over 300,000 visitors in its first year. Backed by England's national team captain Harry Kane, TOCA Social offers guests an immersive venue to eat, drink and play interactive soccer-themed games powered by TOCA's innovative technologies.
Ventura Entertainment is among the fastest growing entertainment businesses in Mexico and has extensive experience operating a wide range of attractions from theme parks to aquariums, adventure and water parks, sports and family entertainment venues. Ventura Entertainment attracts over 2 million visitors every year and is also the exclusive franchisor of Topgolf in Mexico.
"Mexico has a strong and embedded soccer culture, and we are delighted to bring TOCA Social, the world's first interactive soccer entertainment experience to this vibrant and important market," said Yoshi Maruyama, CEO of TOCA Football. "We are privileged to be partnering with Ventura Entertainment which has a proven track record of delivering great guest experiences to expand TOCA's brand in Mexico."
"TOCA Social in the UK is a great success, and bringing our venues to more communities around the world is very exciting," said Erik Anderson, TOCA's co-chairman and Founder and CEO of WestRiver Group.
"Futbol's status as the world's biggest sport is uncontested and given the size of Mexico's population and its huge fan base and enthusiasm for futbol amongst all demographics, we are convinced TOCA Social will be very successful given its unique entertainment offering to the public, but most importantly because of its high standard of service and great customer satisfaction. We are thrilled with this new partnership," said Javier Molinar Executive chairman of Ventura Entertainment.
"We are continuously searching for innovative and technological driven concepts around the World. From the moment we came across TOCA Social, we knew the concept would be a homerun, however when we met the team, we immediately bonded given our similarities in our mission and vision", said Guido Benassini, CEO of Ventura Entertainment.
TOCA recently announced a historic 10-year partnership with Major League Soccer (MLS) which makes MLS an official training partner and major shareholder of TOCA. With the announcement of TOCA Social's expansion in Mexico, TOCA will now have significant presence in all three World Cup 2026 markets, ensuring TOCA as a destination to experience the beautiful game outside of the stadiums.
ABOUT TOCA FOOTBALL, INC
TOCA Football Inc, is a leading technology-enabled soccer training and entertainment company. TOCA has two divisions that comprise its global portfolio: TOCA Soccer, the largest operator of indoor soccer centres across North America, and TOCA Social, the world's first entertainment and dining experience built around immersive soccer-based game play. TOCA provides authentic soccer experiences that inspire everybody to play the world's most popular sport.
TOCA was founded in 2016 by two-time U.S World Cup and former MLS and EPL midfielder Eddie Lewis. TOCA is led by a world-class management team and its Board of Directors is comprised of transformative leaders from the sports industry including Erik Anderson, former Executive Chairman of Topgolf, Abby Wambach, US Women's National Champion, Celeste Burgoyne, lululemon President Americas, and Julie Haddon, CMO of the National Women's Soccer League. The company also added Premier League superstar and England Captain Harry Kane as one of its latest investors.
ABOUT VENTURA ENTERTAINMENT
Ventura Entertainment was born in 2016 with the purpose of building a platform to consolidate the entertainment industry in Mexico. As of today, the company operates over 2.0m visitors per year and is actively looking for expansion opportunities that will diversify the product offering in terms of currency, geography, customer target, outdoor/indoor etc... Currently, it operates 7 attractions in Mexico including: Swim-with-dolphin facilities, aquariums and family entertainment venues, as well as the first Topgolf in Latin-America plus three new concepts that will be opening in 2023 which are already under construction.
Media Contact:
Jack Buttacavoli
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