Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and
Speaker 1: Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. Let's talk more about sports.
Speaker 1: It's so exciting that sports are back, Carol. Are you
Speaker 1: guys excited at home? Oh my god, are you kidding me? Yeah?
Speaker 1: We can't get enough. I mean, you got lacrosse coming
Speaker 1: up this weekend. We got a little baseball to watch.
Speaker 1: Not that my kids care about baseball, um, but so
Speaker 1: much going on the NBA on the verge of coming back.
Speaker 1: We'll see what happens in the fall. Obviously a lot
Speaker 1: of big questions, so so many questions for Noel la Montaigne.
Speaker 1: He is a director at Verden's Capital Advisors, joining us
Speaker 1: on the phone from Los Angeles. Noel, you're a former
Speaker 1: NFL player, former professional athlete. You've got to be excited
Speaker 1: to write. I'll tell you what, just to have something
Speaker 1: get going that we don't know the ending two already,
Speaker 1: or we it's gonna it's gonna be great, whatever's to
Speaker 1: be great? Well said? And so what do you make
Speaker 1: of it so far? Because I mean this is ultimate Lee.
Speaker 1: We're Bloomberg after all. I mean, this is an economic story.
Speaker 1: This is a business story in many ways part of
Speaker 1: why these teams had to get back on the field,
Speaker 1: and certainly in the case of baseball, we're talking on
Speaker 1: opening day here had much delayed Opening day was and
Speaker 1: how tortured it was was largely owing to uh, let's say,
Speaker 1: some disagreements between the owners and players, but ultimately business
Speaker 1: had to win out. Well, I think with any business,
Speaker 1: the player there's going to be a driving force, and
Speaker 1: in sports, the driving force as the players. So figuring
Speaker 1: out how to safely and efficiently get them back on
Speaker 1: the field, keep them safe, and make them comfortable going
Speaker 1: out there and performing for the audience, that's that's the
Speaker 1: key component. So you know, it's really kind of an
Speaker 1: interesting time. Um, you know, how do you see it
Speaker 1: kind of unfolding? I mean, it is all about safety. Well,
Speaker 1: and I just do wonder what you're hearing from some
Speaker 1: of your clients about their expectations, what they're hearing from
Speaker 1: their teams, from their managers, from the franchises about you know,
Speaker 1: is it really not going to be sports like we're
Speaker 1: used to until well into well with Burden's Pro which
Speaker 1: is our athlete and Entertainment division, we've had a lot
Speaker 1: of direct conversations proactively with our clients, and there's there's
Speaker 1: obviously a lot of trepidation and fear associated with the
Speaker 1: virus and the ramifications of the virus. Keeping your family safe,
Speaker 1: but it's also about seeing what the answers are from
Speaker 1: these leagues in terms of how are these athletes going
Speaker 1: to be kept safe, How are they going to be
Speaker 1: put back into the practice fields and on the field
Speaker 1: ultimately in a safe way, what happens if somebody gets sick,
Speaker 1: How are they going to be looked after? How is
Speaker 1: their financial well being going to be going to be
Speaker 1: considered if they do get sick. And as those answers
Speaker 1: have come, it's eased some of the tension. The virus
Speaker 1: isn't going away anytime soon. It's proven that, and the
Speaker 1: guys under and that. But the question just becomes how
Speaker 1: are they going to be treated when it when it
Speaker 1: does rear itself well, because and you said it very well, Noel,
Speaker 1: just a minute or so ago, about you know, ultimately
Speaker 1: the sports don't happen without the players. And at the
Speaker 1: same time, the players have a living that they need
Speaker 1: to make. How does it change the advice that you're
Speaker 1: giving them. Given all of this uncertainty, and I think
Speaker 1: about baseball, and in part because it is opening day,
Speaker 1: collective bargaining that is going to be renegotiated, the collective
Speaker 1: Bargaining agreement next year. A lot of folks looking ahead
Speaker 1: to that as we look ahead to an NFL season
Speaker 1: that may or may not happen, or may happen a
Speaker 1: little bit differently, how does the advice that you're giving
Speaker 1: your guys change well during tough times like this, times
Speaker 1: that are unfamiliar, we we fall back onto on, really
Speaker 1: onto our foundational beliefs, and education is one of the
Speaker 1: biggest things that we preached to of our clients and
Speaker 1: making sure that whatever situation they're going to go into,
Speaker 1: they do it knowledgeably. They look at it from every direction,
Speaker 1: they ask questions, and players are in a position of
Speaker 1: power if they are educated on what they're getting into.
Speaker 1: And I think those two things go hand in hand,
Speaker 1: between just making sure guys know what they're getting into
Speaker 1: and understanding the position that they're in when they do
Speaker 1: take the field. I mean, is it pretty clear. I mean,
Speaker 1: is it that teams and owners are kind of taking
Speaker 1: an approach of they want to take care of their players.
Speaker 1: They have they have a mutual um. They've got the
Speaker 1: same ultimate goal. The owners obviously want to run their businesses.
Speaker 1: They want to get the players back on the field
Speaker 1: so that they can make money, even if it's going
Speaker 1: to be a little bit less than it's been in
Speaker 1: the past. And players want to go out and do
Speaker 1: what they've been working their whole lives to get to
Speaker 1: the point of doing again. They don't want to be
Speaker 1: off the field. They don't want to be looking at
Speaker 1: a zoom call and and and trying to figure out
Speaker 1: how their teammates are doing. They want to be entertaining.
Speaker 1: They want to take the country's mind off of all
Speaker 1: of these things that have been thrown at it over
Speaker 1: the past several months. And they want to give people
Speaker 1: a little bit of hope that this country is resilient.
Speaker 1: Sports are resilient, and they want to be a part
Speaker 1: of the healing process. Do the short term or mid
Speaker 1: term economics change because of no fans And how do
Speaker 1: you counsel your players? What are you hearing from your
Speaker 1: players and candidly from the owners and the management of
Speaker 1: various sports around how this may change the economics, whether
Speaker 1: it's salary negotiations and other things that have to do
Speaker 1: with compensation in the short and mid terminal. Well, I
Speaker 1: think that's difficult to predict. Obviously, the most people assume
Speaker 1: it's going to be less. Again, I think sports are
Speaker 1: they are huge business. That's not a that's not a
Speaker 1: rocket scientist statement. But they're also going to be very
Speaker 1: very biliant. They're they're extremely popular prior to this. They're
Speaker 1: gonna be extremely popular in any form that they come back.
Speaker 1: So the players, the players have to be smart. They
Speaker 1: have to realize that there is potential for an economic
Speaker 1: dip and with certain sports careers are shorter than others,
Speaker 1: and an economic dip. This year, this this might be
Speaker 1: potentially your last or one of the last years that
Speaker 1: you're going to get the opportunity to play professionally. So,
Speaker 1: you know, we preach, we preached our clients you've got
Speaker 1: to be responsible. You've got to look long term and
Speaker 1: what's in your best interests, even if that might mean
Speaker 1: from a health concern not participating or opting out in
Speaker 1: some form. Um. You know, that's that's been a big
Speaker 1: discussion with a lot of the sports leagues as of late. Um,
Speaker 1: So you know, that's the way you've got to look
Speaker 1: at it. The ramifications are yet to be determined. It's
Speaker 1: all speculative and and um, there's gonna be there's gonna
Speaker 1: be different reasons for arguments on both sides of what
Speaker 1: that's gonna look like right now. But until we know,
Speaker 1: it's tough to react to from a league standpoint at least.
Speaker 1: All right, speaking of speculation, I'm gonna ask you to
Speaker 1: speculate on one thing you played in the NFL? Is
Speaker 1: there going to be an NFL season this year? Do
Speaker 1: you think? I am extremely optimistic? Uh, and hopeful. And
Speaker 1: there's there's so much there's there's so much willingness on
Speaker 1: both sides. Players want to play, the owners obviously want
Speaker 1: to make money. Um, and in this country we need
Speaker 1: an outlet. Everybody, everybody at home, whether they're a fan
Speaker 1: or not, they want something to watch. And I know
Speaker 1: that the athletes and the owners out there are fighting
Speaker 1: like heck against against this this virus to figure out
Speaker 1: how to give that to them. So, yes, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: an optimist and I think I think it will happen. Well.
Speaker 1: I think the TV contracts hopefully may and help ensure that. Right,
Speaker 1: a lot of money to be made. As you say,
Speaker 1: on all sides of this, all right, Nola Montaigne, thank
Speaker 1: you so much, directing director over at Vergen's Capital Management,
Speaker 1: giving us some nice insights as a former pro athlete
Speaker 1: and also someone who's talking to pro athletes every day.