WEBVTT - SI's Wertheim Breaks Down News from the US Open Tournament 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:10.719 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. This is Bloomberg business 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:13.960 Week Inside from the reporters and editors who bring you 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:18.319 America's most trusted business magazine, plus global business, finance and 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:22.880 tech news. The Bloomberg Business Week Podcast with Carol Messer 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:30.560 and Tim Stenebeck from Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:38.040 All Right, everybody, I got to say, when we think 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:40.080 about the US Open, there are players that you know. 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:43.120 There are players legends that are not here this year. 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:45.320 There are also players that are up and coming, maybe 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:48.279 not household names, but will be someone who knows them 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:50.839 all has written about them, continues to us. John Wertheim, 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:54.440 he's executive editor senior writer at Sports Illustrated correspondent for 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.560 the Tennis Channel, so this is a big time working 0:00:57.560 --> 0:00:59.800 event for him. He is covering the US Open for 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:02.480 the Tennis Channel. He's also contributing correspondent for sixty minutes. 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:04.840 He's a busy dude, and he found some time once 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:07.160 again to join us here on site at the US Open. 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:09.920 How are you good? Pleasure to be here. Nice to 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:11.880 see you guys. How are you doing good? Good week 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:12.279 at tennis? 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:14.520 Right, It's great, it got a little cooler. We're kind 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:16.959 of loving that coverage, what are you? What are you 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:19.119 loving about it this year? What's interesting for you? 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:22.039 Oh man? I you know, tennis, that's this weird point 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:26.600 where Roger Fetter is retired Titan player. Everyone loved him 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:29.160 not here, Clorida Williams Titan not here, rough and the 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:31.959 Doll not here, And I think everybody worried, oh man, 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:34.760 after these legends retire, what does tennis look like? Is 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:36.960 anyone going to care about the sport? And we've kind 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:41.480 of made uncharacteristically great, you know, graceful pivot for tennis, 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.800 and the grounds are more filful than ever. The attendance 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:47.400 is through the roof. It's going to set a record. 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:50.840 And it's kind of strange because we have this deficit 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:52.560 of stars compared to what we used to have. So 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:54.200 that's that's a story I'm looking at. 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:56.720 So do we have the deficit of stars or are 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:01.440 is Cocoa Gough going to be there? Shelton gonna be there? 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:02.720 Is Alcoraz there? 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:08.239 I mean Alcaaz could have been there? Yeah, last he's 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:10.360 not in the tournament? Yeah, I mean, I think they're 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:12.919 bright prospects. I think they're fans. They're players that fans 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:14.760 are starting to build relationships with. But you know, we're 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:18.040 not talking about guys, you know, twenty majors. Yeah, Cocoa 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:21.440 gots wonderful, but just one. And I kind of feel 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:25.160 like fans kind of like the unpredictability of it all, 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:28.720 and they don't mind that any of twenty players could win. 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:32.520 And they don't mind that Carlos Alcaraz wins two tournaments 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:33.760 and then loses in the second round. 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:34.840 Here, So in a sense, it is that better for 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:35.400 the sport. 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:37.519 It's funny because I think the conventional wisdom is you 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:39.600 sort of need excellence to the top. But the NFL, 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:42.600 which is the most successful sports league certainly in the US, 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:45.280 has this any given Sunday theory and parody is great, 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:47.520 and we want all fans to think their team could 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:50.560 get to the super Bowl. It's kind of worked out 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:52.560 for them. But I think tennis is sort of pleasantly 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:56.639 surprised how well things are going in the absence of stars. 0:02:56.800 --> 0:02:58.160 Why do you think it is that way? You know, 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:00.320 We've been talking with various folks from the US and 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:03.919 they talk about the Zendaya movie Challengers and how much 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:06.440 money it made, and you're rolling your eyes. 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:08.560 I didn't see it. Actually I didn't. 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:14.120 Das Day's rate is quite high, so I don't know, 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:15.919 you know how much it I made. But no, I 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:17.600 think you're I think Tennyson is having a bit of 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:20.400 a moment, and I think instead of tethering itself to 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:23.639 these stars Toreena Williams, Rodgers, Cetter, Rofinando, I mean, it's 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:26.480 kind of it's about the culture, it's about the fashion, 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:29.399 it's about the the international aspects. I mean, I think 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:31.760 some of it too is just you and I could 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:33.600 be playing and it woul still be fun to come 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:36.040 to the US Open and watch the tennis match. Yeah, 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:38.520 I mean, this is such a big event. It's almost 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:39.080 sort of. 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.240 Actually, John, if I was playing, though, it wouldn't be if. 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:45.160 They would have honey deuces and they would have music, 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:47.480 and it's I mean it's almost sort of. They're not 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:49.840 player dependent here the way they used to be. No, 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:53.040 I think there's a lot to recommend about tennis. I mean, 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:56.320 I have pet theories about I think I think pickleball 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:58.600 maybe a bit of a help that all millions, millions 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:00.560 of people are now sort of understand ending what it 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:03.200 means to hit a slice or they have a more 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.280 appreciation for tennis because they've been bopping around a whiffle 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:07.400 ball in their in their yards. 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:10.320 Our producer Sebastian and I were watching a match on 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:12.320 the side courts here yesterday and we were sitting next 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:14.240 to somebody and he was talking about his pick a ball, 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:15.680 playing pickleball. 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:19.920 It's a thing, but I think that translates to tests. Yeah, No, 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:21.480 it's it's just strange. I mean tennis is sort of 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:25.920 having this moment and whether it's exactly it's Zendayan movies 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:28.240 or it's the attendance, I mean, I just and I 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:30.000 don't think anyone saw this coming. I think there was 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:32.279 a lot of handwringing about what would the sport look like. 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:33.520 It's sort of a happy surprise. 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:36.000 Yeah, it's been. It's been really awesome to watch and 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:37.960 least be able to cover it over the last few years, 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:40.120 and even in those that little bit of time, see 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:43.360 the growth. Any big stories so far this year at 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:45.040 the US Open that are sticking out to you. 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:48.320 Well, I mean I think sometimes they're big stories in 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.440 Week one and that's you know, you've got either controversy 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:53.400 or you have big upsets, and then it kind of 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:56.200 leads to a little bit of a fizzle in uh 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:58.760 in week two. I mean this year we've had some upsets. 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:01.320 To me, Carlos Alcarez losing is obviously a big story, 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:03.000 and I think a lot of people are sort of perplexed. 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:05.279 This is supposed to be the new star. He won 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:08.240 the French Open, he won Wimbledon, and everyone thought, oh, 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:10.719 could he pull a summer triple. I mean, not even 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:12.680 Roger Feeder or not even know about Joko, but ever 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:14.479 did that. And then he comes out here and he 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:16.279 loses in the second round to a guy outside the 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:20.000 top fifty. That's been a strange story. I think, you know, 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:23.239 we've had sort of the usual, the celebrities and Aaron 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:25.920 Judge was here in Karen Washington. I mean, there hasn't 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:29.320 been sort of that huge controversy, which I suspect the 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:31.200 ustn AS in't mind. We had the longest match in 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:33.800 US Open history a few days ago, which was which 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:36.560 was good fun. But I think you know, sometimes week 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:40.600 one and excitement and upsets sort of doesn't pay off 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:42.520 in week two. So I think we're in a nice 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:45.480 place right now on first Friday as we make this turn. 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.280 How many opens have you covered? Oh, I'm not trying. 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:51.480 You're doing so well, and now you've kind of it's 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:54.840 really depressing a lot. I mean, like since the nineties. 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:57.560 Remember the Ninetiesmber it was. 0:05:57.640 --> 0:06:00.000 But that was a really important era for American men's tennis. 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:03.440 Yeah, I mean I sort of caught the very very 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:05.800 tail end of sampress Agasy and then I sort of 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:07.240 came up, you know, I came up with like. 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:10.080 I think Ma n Roe and Connor's before, and they 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:10.680 all looked at me. 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:15.160 Like I was eve I c nineties. Yeah exactly, Oh sorry, 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:17.320 go ahead. No, It's just funny because the game sort 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:20.280 of takes on different identities, and it was it was 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:22.760 tampress Agassy, and then you had the Williams sisters and 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:25.080 you sort of had this international. I mean I was 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:26.880 here when Andy Ronick won and he said, oh, there's 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:30.240 this fresh American champion. And then here comes Roger feder 0:06:30.320 --> 0:06:33.479 rof Nadal and Novak Djokovic that basically ate everyone else 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:36.600 lunch for twenty years, and now we're at this sort 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:38.680 of I mean, obviously Djokovic is still here, he's a 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:41.880 defending champion, he's somehow he's thirty seven years old. I 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:44.080 would say, do you guys remember just sidebar, Remember when 0:06:44.160 --> 0:06:46.680 Jimmy Connors had that crazy run in nineteen ninety one. 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.039 He's thirty nine years old, and it was sort of well, 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:51.480 it's everybody drinking their jaritol, and there were a lot 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:53.040 of jokes and he's gonna have to go to bed 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:55.000 early and someone's gonna have to chop up his steak 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:58.760 into bite sized pieces. Djokovic is only like eighteen months younger, 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:01.240 and we haven't been in his age once. He's just 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:02.159 a contender to. 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:03.720 Win the title. Like, look how far we've come. 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:05.000 So look how far we've but you. 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.239 Knew exactly think about that just coming off the Olympics. 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.080 I was a gymnast as a young kid, and I 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:13.080 mean to look at Simone Biles, right, and normally you 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:16.320 have a good season, maybe you're really young, But look 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:18.360 at like, I just think there's is there something happening 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:20.840 in sports where yeah, people can go the distance and 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:21.200 why not? 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:23.520 I have two theories, you want to real quick one 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:26.200 of that. One of them is just its emolution, it's 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:28.840 sports science. I also think it appropriate for a Bloomberg audience. 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:32.680 It's commerce, it's money, it's these players have I mean, 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:34.360 you know, Billy gi King used to come in the 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:36.400 back of a station wagon. Now you've got players, they've 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:38.760 got their own messuses, they've got their own teams. They're 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:41.320 not standing in line waiting for the Hurts rental car. 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.080 Counter to Oh, they're getting private jets, I think exactly. 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:46.480 And I think that has the extension a career. 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:48.960 Partly because they have deals with private jet companies. 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:50.920 Well that too. It doesn't doesn't hurt when you have 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:51.600 that endorsement. 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:53.560 But if they didn't play well, I mean they're playing 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:54.080 well though. 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:58.200 Yeah, sports science, they can avail themselves to all the 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:01.480 cold plunges and the trainers, the physiosm I mean all 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:04.080 is Tom Brady similar? And I think in Lebron James 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:06.760 is still going strong and yeah, twenty years into this career, 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:09.480 and I think it's because they can afford career extends. 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:12.360 This one's done a call plunge. By the way, Yeah, very. 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:14.360 Popular, They're very popular. I I mean, who knows it 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:17.680 to scientists, But this might be a good time to 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:23.000 talk doping, might be all right, what's the deal? I 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:23.960 don't in this sport. 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:28.040 I mean, I you want my honest opinion, I believe 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:31.080 I believe that incentives explained an awful lot of human behavior, 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:34.760 and I get why some athletes will dope. I get 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:37.959 why some athletes who might be trying to, you know, 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:41.080 have this career resurgence laid in their career with dope. 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:44.200 I can see how young athletes. I just I don't think. 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:46.920 I mean, obviously we're we're talking about Jon Excenter number one. 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.360 Everyone gave the tournament and we have this sort of 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:52.559 strange story where he had failed to doping tests from 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:55.320 about five months ago, but was essentially exonerated and found 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:59.599 no negligence, no fault because the trainer essentially was was 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:02.959 caroll And to use the substance that was legal in 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:04.880 Italy but it is not. It's on the bad list. 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:09.079 And I just I get the skepticism. I understand sort 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:11.400 of there are a lot of players who are very 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:15.280 suspicious about this. I just I'm I always look at incentives. 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:18.559 Why would a guy with one hundred and fifty million 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:21.760 dollars Nike deal starting his career in March when there 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:25.040 are no major tournaments for months and months. The amount 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:29.320 was so minuscule it wouldn't enhance performance. It just doesn't 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:33.040 make sense that he would intentionally dope. That may sound naive. 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:34.920 I think they're probably means naive to say there's no 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:37.280 doping in tennis. But I also think it's such a 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:40.839 sport that depends on hand eye coordination and focus and 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:43.160 mental toughness. It's not as though putting on five pounds 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.280 of muscle is really where the action is. I think 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:48.880 the doping probably might help with recovery and with some 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:50.760 of the cardio. Again, I don't think it's one hundred 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:52.480 percent clean. I don't think any sport is, but in 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.640 this case, I just the facts of the case that 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:58.559 the process is disturbing. It's very strange. The usually you 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:01.480 hear about this right away. Usually there's a strict liability 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:04.079 standard where hey, we don't care what happened. It's in 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:07.000 your system. You're the CEO of your system, right, you're guilty. 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:08.520 That wasn't the case. I mean, I think there are 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:09.800 a lot of process questions. 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:13.640 Does does that give you pause? The lack of process questions? 0:10:15.520 --> 0:10:17.840 Yeah, I mean, I think the way this handled, people 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:19.880 are going to have to go back and really pick 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:21.760 this apart and figure out why it was that this 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:23.959 guy played for five and a half months, which which 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:28.559 is very rare in tennis. You mentioned why wasn't there 0:10:28.640 --> 0:10:31.800 the publicity that usually accompanies some of these announcements. There 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:33.319 are a lot of players saying, boy, I wish you 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:35.640 know I. I tested positive too, and I also was 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:39.520 eventually exonerated, but I had to take the reputational hit. Yeah, 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:42.120 or I couldn't play, or I couldn't play. So I 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:45.199 think the way this was handled raises a lot of questions. 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:49.240 But I just, I mean, everyone's speculating. I just don't 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:50.840 think you don't. 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:53.200 Your point about incentives is really interesting because I didn't 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:56.679 think you were going to go exactly the other way. 0:10:56.800 --> 0:10:59.079 And I come from a world of cycling where you know, 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:01.719 don't doping is and has been rampid for years, and 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:03.640 you know, a tenth of a second or that much 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:07.520 more power is what ends up mattering in the end 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:11.160 of a race. And the idea. When you said incentives, 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:14.160 I thought, oh, incentives to win. But no, you're saying 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:15.960 that there's too much to lose for these players. 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:18.640 Yeah, exactly. I mean you think about how much of 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:22.040 these players income and networks has nothing to do with 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:26.160 prize money. It's image, it's reputation, it's what they represent. 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:28.880 It's how they carry themselves. You are jeopardizing all of 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:32.280 that to win a couple of tennis matches in Indian Wells, 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:35.520 California in March. I don't I mean again, I don't 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:38.400 want to be naive here. Everyone's one thing that's interesting 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.480 about this to me is that some very credible, very knowledgeable, 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:44.520 very reasonable former players agree with me and sort of 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:46.800 say it doesn't make sense. The amount was so minuscule. 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:52.000 Very credible, very reasonable, very educated former players say something's 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:54.920 really fishy here. The amount might just be that he 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:57.840 was cycling off of it. Don't be seduced by sort 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:01.520 of the fractional the sort of infinitesimally small amount. Don't 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:04.400 be naive and the guy got caught twice, what more 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:06.800 do you need? So so, even within tennis, even in 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:10.120 the sort of inner sanctum, there's they're very divergent opinions. 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:12.800 I just think, like, you get to a point with 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:16.199 your reputation and your net worth and how much sponsorship 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:18.400 you have. I mean, these players can make four or 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.520 five million dollars for being a worldwide brand ambassador. That's 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:24.560 more than the US Open champion will make. Right, Why 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:29.960 would you jeopardize that in March over this infant. I again, 0:12:30.120 --> 0:12:32.920 he is a vanishingly small amount of banned substance. 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:36.319 Well, but we see in our world very wealthy people, 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:40.640 financiers who have tons of money and yet do something 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:43.560 that breaks the law just to get a little bit 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:46.559 more money, right, and you think, really like why did 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:48.560 you do that? But but I hear what you said. 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:50.360 Yeah, no, it's a fair point. I mean, the risk 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:54.400 reward calculus is not always you know, sorated, you. 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:57.520 Know, could have been the like do you blame the coach? 0:12:57.640 --> 0:12:59.439 Yes, I mean that's sort of where this falls. Is 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:03.920 essentially that the trainer and again the substances. It's legal 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:07.080 in Italy, but on the box it says it says doping, 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:09.199 So I'm not sure where and I mean someone else. 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:10.920 So listen, your job as a trainer, what are your 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:12.240 big jobs that you put it down? 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:15.520 Actually get it away from me? You know what? Uh? 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:17.960 You know, aspread works pretty well too. I mean there 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:21.760 there are alternatives, but Bassett Tracin will cover that that 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:24.319 cut as well. It was a really strange set of 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:26.400 circumstances and it's almost a look, if you're a trainer, 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:30.560 your number one job basically is to get anything even 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:35.080 potentially illegal or on the band list away from the athlete, 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:37.400 and here's a guy putting it on his hand and 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:41.480 then giving the athlete an ungloved massage. The flip side is, 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:44.760 don't people do dumb things? I don't. I mean, I 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:47.720 don't know. It's it's definitely it's been. I mean inside 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:50.199 these doors where we are now, it's still a weekend 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.720 of this tournament, very much being discussed. 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:54.120 You talk about that a little bit because what we're 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:56.640 at the Bud Collins Media Center and you go inside here, 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:59.760 this is where all the journalists are. What's the what's 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:02.560 the I've been like covering this with the other journalists. 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:04.000 Is that the story in particular? 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:04.679 Yeah? Well is that? 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:06.200 I mean this story is still dominating. 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:09.199 Yeah, I mean the players, his initial press release and 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:11.400 I you know, whatever we all have, we're all familiar 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:13.679 with press releases. I look forward to putting this issue 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:17.120 behind me. And you want to say, oh, that's oh 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:19.640 do you Yeah, that's not really how it was. 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:21.920 One way to keep the issue front and center. 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:23.160 Yeah, exactly right. 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:25.080 We know this is what you would like. 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:26.080 I just want to move on. 0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:27.960 But that's you know, but the other players have been 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:28.800 really supportive of him. 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:32.520 It sounds like some of them, some of them. Yeah, 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:36.120 I'd say it's been very guarded. Actually you think so, Yeah, 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:37.880 I mean I think given the range, I mean sometimes 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:42.040 sort of my guilty pleasure is UFC is fixed martial arts. 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:45.760 There anytime someone there's a doping violation, everybody piles on 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:47.760 and sort of says, listen, this, I knew this guy 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:50.680 was cheating. This is much more guarded. But these are 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:54.320 sort of these very sort of meticulously worded sense. Nobody 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:56.840 is falling on the grenade, and no one's a couple 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.080 of former players. Nick Curios is here, and he's made 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:03.640 a number of sort of sundiary statements. It's been very 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:07.320 I've sort of been surprised at how little support he's gone. 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:10.600 There does seem to be real questions about the process, 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:15.320 and everyone's got a friend, everyone's got a colleague who 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:19.200 had a similar circumstance and didn't have the luxury of 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.680 six or seven figures worth of legal representation, and sort 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:25.760 of this this cakewalk just sort of get this thing 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:27.240 buried five and a half months later. 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:30.240 You know, Yeah, it's kind of interesting, but it is 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:31.880 funny when we start talking about that because and this 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:33.440 is something we want to We're going to do some 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:34.920 news and come back, but I do want to also 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:37.280 talk to you about like all the money in sports, 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:39.120 Like this has been a big week, Like we're just 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:41.880 talking about you know, private equity now being able in 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:45.600 an NFL. But I just again from our perspective, like 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:49.240 this idea of money corrupts at some point and causes 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:51.720 us to do I don't know, gambling, Like this is 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:53.640 another thing that we've been talking about, and just curious 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:55.720 your take on, like all the money that continues to 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:59.200 come into sports metia rites, like all this stuff good 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:01.120 or bad? And we'll come back and talk some more. 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:02.280 Is it good or bad? 0:16:04.800 --> 0:16:07.960 X thought before we get back. Okay, we're gonna continue. 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:10.440 We're gonna come back with John Worth time. He's executive editor, 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:13.760 senior writer of Sports Illustrated, as we said, correspondent for 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:16.000 the Tennis Channel, and sixty minutes we're going to talk 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:17.200 about that in just a moment. 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:21.640 You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week podcast. Catch us 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:24.920 live weekday afternoons from two to five pm Eastern. Listen 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:27.160 on Apple car Play and then Bright Auto with a 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:30.200 Bloomberg Business app or watch us Live on YouTube. 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:33.760 We want to get back to John Worth, tim executive editor, 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:37.000 senior writer over at Sports Illustrated correspondent for sixty minutes, 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:39.480 also for the Tennis Channel. He is working of course 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:42.880 the US Open here on site with us. So the 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:45.520 money that we continue to see in sports, it's a 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:48.000 big thing that we cover a vertical, certainly at Bloomberg 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:49.480 a business of sports. You know, you can go a 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:51.480 lot of different places, but this was an interesting week 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:54.400 where the NFL said, okay, private equity, you can own 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:57.960 a certain amount of ownership. The money that continues to 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:00.600 come into sports. Good bad indie friend like, how do 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:02.720 you feel about it? How do you think about it? Gambling? 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:03.440 We'll talk about that. 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:04.960 I mean, I think that, but I think that's it. 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:07.240 I think it depends on this sort Look any any industry, 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:10.760 we like money coming in and we like we like 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:13.119 more investment and not less. I mean, I think sports 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.760 are a pretty robust sector. I think it depends what 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:20.080 I mean, we can there's a sportswashing component to this. 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:22.960 Do we like money when it comes from the golf region, Well, 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:26.920 that comes with some strings attached. Do we like money 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:29.760 when it comes through sports gambling, and that's been a 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:32.840 huge infusion of cash for teams and leagues and media, 0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:35.159 not so much for athletes. We can talk about that. 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:37.080 That's been a big topic among the players and the 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:40.439 players lounge is a sports gambling we can we can 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:42.520 talk about that. I think media money, you know, great 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:44.920 if if ESPN wants to re up here. I mean, 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:47.520 very few properties are actually going to come up for 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:50.560 renewal anytime soon. But look, if the NBA can make 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:53.680 billion dollars a season from its media rights deal, like, 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:56.520 that's great, especially when there's a fifty to fifty split 0:17:56.600 --> 0:17:59.280 with the players. So right, yeah, I think it depends. 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:02.400 I think to rule with thumb, you know, commerce good 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:04.960 h but I think it depends on the source. 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:07.760 Tell us about the conversations that players are that's being 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:10.119 talked in terms of gambling because they don't necessarily get 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:10.600 a piece. 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:12.800 Of it, do they? Nohing, I mean, in this sport, 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.560 it's really problematic and team sports. Look, it's a fifty 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:17.800 to fifty revenue split, right, So if the NFL does 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:21.480