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Speaker 1: Hello, this is the Bloomberg Business of Sports show, where

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Speaker 1: we explore the big money issues in the world of sports.

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Speaker 2: I'm Michael Barr, I'm Scarlett Foo, and I'm Demian Sasa.

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Speaker 1: We've got a big, big, big, big, big, big Ed

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Speaker 1: Sullivan type show today coming up. We'll you know, I

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Speaker 1: bet you a lot of people don't even know who

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Speaker 1: had Sullivan is, but anyway, go look it up for

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Speaker 1: the youngins. Coming up today we will hear a special

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Speaker 1: conversation Scarlett had with WNBA Commissioner Kathy Engelbert from the

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg invest Conference earlier this week.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it was a great time to get Kathy's thoughts

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Speaker 3: about women's sports, but in particular the big headline in

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Speaker 3: the world of sports, which is Saudi Arabia's growing influence

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Speaker 3: in sports and how that might play into what the

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Speaker 3: WNBA is doing and thinking about involvement doing business with

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Speaker 3: the Kingdom. We'll get to that conversation, of course, in

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Speaker 3: just a little bit.

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Speaker 1: First though, speaking of Saudi Arabia, we had a headline

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Speaker 1: this week, as you mentioned, caught everyone off guard. My

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Speaker 1: goodness when it broke over the wires.

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Speaker 2: I'm like, say, gasp, my goodness, my goodness, Michael. I

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Speaker 2: mean when the PGA, too are announced that they would

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Speaker 2: be joining forces with Snawdi back Live Golf in a

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Speaker 2: shocking merger development, ending a long dispute and underscoring just

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Speaker 2: how the Kingdom and their money is increasingly influencing the

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Speaker 2: broad sports world.

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Speaker 1: That news rocked the sports world rocked me too, because

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Speaker 1: I had to take some alcasolt to I got. I

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Speaker 1: read that, and shortly after the deal, PGA Commissioner Jay

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Speaker 1: Monahan spoke about how he's handling sharing the news.

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Speaker 4: Obviously, it's a very It's been a very dynamic and

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Speaker 4: a complex couple of years. And for players, I'm not

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Speaker 4: surprised that, you know, this is an awful lot to

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Speaker 4: ask them to digest. And this is a significant change

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Speaker 4: for us, you know, in the direction that we were

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Speaker 4: going down. But as I'm trying to explain and I

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Speaker 4: will continue to explain as we go forward, this ultimately

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Speaker 4: is a decision that I think is in the best

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Speaker 4: interests of all the members of the PGA tour.

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Speaker 1: That's PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan, who's got his work cut

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Speaker 1: out for him, trying to explain how this deal got done.

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Speaker 3: Dynamic, complex, a lot to digest. Those are all understatements.

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Speaker 3: One of the people, of course, he had to explain

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Speaker 3: his rationale his thinking to was the CEO of USGA,

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Speaker 3: Mike one Damian, and I got a chance to speak

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Speaker 3: with him pretty much right after he found out about

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Speaker 3: the deal that same afternoon.

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Speaker 5: I'm not sure, you know, will the PGA Tour be

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Speaker 5: operating live? Will will it be some sort of combination?

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Speaker 5: But I do think that I do think that in

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Speaker 5: all likelihood a year from now they'll still be They'll

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Speaker 5: still be professional tours as we know them, and there

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Speaker 5: may and there may still be you know, live team

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Speaker 5: oriented sports that are that are slightly different formats.

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Speaker 1: We'll dive into that conversation with the CEO of the

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Speaker 1: USGA up next, but first we bring in Bloomberg Simone Foxman.

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Speaker 1: She has been following the money in the least and

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Speaker 1: is here to help us break down what this merger

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Speaker 1: means and the Kingdom's growing influence. So my own welcome

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Speaker 1: to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

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Speaker 6: Thanks for having me. I feel like big news is

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Speaker 6: a little bit understatement transformative for golf.

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Speaker 7: Certainly we all saw that.

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Speaker 1: I saw that when it first crossed the wire and

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Speaker 1: I was in shock. I'm like, say, what it's like,

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Speaker 1: what is going on? And so. And since that time,

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Speaker 1: there have been some reactions from golfers about this merger more,

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Speaker 1: I guess from the PGA golfers your thoughts, because the

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Speaker 1: PGA golfers didn't know. In fact, pretty much nobody knew

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Speaker 1: except that small group including Jay Monahan, Commissioner of the PGA,

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Speaker 1: about what was about to come down the rope.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, and certainly some of our reporting indicates that there

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Speaker 6: weren't even that many lawyers involved in this, which could

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Speaker 6: put this agreement in in uh, you know, under the

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Speaker 6: crosshairs going forward.

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Speaker 7: But yeah, certainly, I.

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Speaker 6: Think the folks on the PGA tour had, for the

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Speaker 6: most part rejected these massive paychecks that the Live Golf

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Speaker 6: was offering two folks to come over to their league.

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Speaker 7: And that was really the appeal.

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Speaker 6: For the golf community. That was the message put out

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Speaker 6: there by Greg Norman, the CEO of Live Golf, was

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Speaker 6: that we are willing to pay you a lot more,

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Speaker 6: a transformative amount of money for your lifestyle if you'll

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Speaker 6: just come over and join our league. But now it

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Speaker 6: looks like within this deal those billions of dollars could

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Speaker 6: go to the PGA Tour organization at least instead. Some

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Speaker 6: of these details though just still not certain as we stand.

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Speaker 3: And that was the amazing thing was that they made

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Speaker 3: this announcement of this merger partnership however you want to

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Speaker 3: call it.

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Speaker 7: But the day've.

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Speaker 6: Avoided mercher they've avoided mergers right for it's the media

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Speaker 6: has the qu mergers right joint venture where they're combined

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Speaker 6: for a for profit company.

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Speaker 3: Nevertheless, the details have not been worked out, and as

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Speaker 3: you said, there might not have been a lot of

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Speaker 3: lawyers involved in this. You have been reporting in Doha,

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Speaker 3: you were in the Middle East for a number of years.

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Speaker 3: You kind of have seen how Saudi Arabia has played

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Speaker 3: this big role. It has this strategy when it comes

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Speaker 3: to sports and investing in sports. What is the thinking,

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Speaker 3: what is the strategy behind why Saudi Arabia is expanding

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Speaker 3: so aggressively into sports.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, Saudi Arabia CLUTU as well as the UAE, and

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Speaker 6: the thinking here Saudi's sort of the new entrant into

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Speaker 6: this compared to Klutur, which won the World Cup back

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Speaker 6: in twenty ten, or the UAE, which has been doing

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Speaker 6: this for many years, especially with Man City. You know,

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Speaker 6: the thinking is, we want to present this image to

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Speaker 6: the world where we are behind an activity that creates

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Speaker 6: a lot of positive sentiment. Now they're not necessarily saying

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Speaker 6: to change the message from human rights or to take

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Speaker 6: attention away from some of the geopolitical things we're doing. No,

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Speaker 6: their idea is just we are important states. We want

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Speaker 6: the world to know who we are in this positive way.

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Speaker 6: We want, you know, clutter. The big idea there was

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Speaker 6: we want people to know where we are on the map.

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Speaker 6: We want them to know that we exist. You know,

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Speaker 6: Saudi's a little bit different because it has already had

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Speaker 6: some muscle on the geopolitical stage. People know what Saudi

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Speaker 6: Arabia is. But definitely there's this idea that people want

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Speaker 6: this positive association. They also want the world leaders to

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Speaker 6: know that they have the money and influence that they

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Speaker 6: can exert over sport, that they can also exert over

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Speaker 6: other different things.

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Speaker 2: Someone I have to ask you, you know, I mean,

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Speaker 2: I obviously we can't predict the future here, but there

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Speaker 2: seem to be a lot of pending liabilities around this

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Speaker 2: structure of this potential deal. And so let me give

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Speaker 2: you a few examples here the tax status of the

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Speaker 2: the justice of the compartment, and anti trust issues sponsored disputes.

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Speaker 2: Those contracts you mentioned with former live players that might

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Speaker 2: not hold water given a recombination of the two. Do

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Speaker 2: you really think this deal is gonna happen?

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Speaker 8: I don't know.

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Speaker 6: I mean, the PGA Tour was already under investigation in

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Speaker 6: the United States for potentially monopolistic behavior. These things have

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Speaker 6: come up in the past. And you know, when you

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Speaker 6: think about sports leagues in general, there's just one league

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Speaker 6: for a lot of difference, or one main league for

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Speaker 6: a lot of different sports, and you know, competitors even

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Speaker 6: to the NFL, where there have been, you know, a

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Speaker 6: handful of different leagues that are not always successful. But anyway,

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Speaker 6: I think I think it would be interesting to look

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Speaker 6: specifically at the involvement of Saudi money in the US.

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Speaker 6: There have been some Sciffius reviews of various foreign investments

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Speaker 6: in the United States. There's been some stuff in front

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Speaker 6: of the Supreme Court. You know, what kind of legal

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Speaker 6: liability do foreign sovereign wealth funds have when they invest

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Speaker 6: in the United States from you know, coming from them

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Speaker 6: having spent a lot of time in the Middle East.

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Speaker 6: This is a really interesting one because there is a

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Speaker 6: lot of golf money that wants to come into the

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Speaker 6: United States, whether it's sports or beyond, and that I

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Speaker 6: think is an interesting one to see where Justice Department

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Speaker 6: moves on.

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Speaker 2: Well, someone, I think one one fundamental issue here that

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Speaker 2: you mentioned is you call this a league, right, it

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Speaker 2: isn't really. I guess that's physic And so here's here's

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Speaker 2: I think a fundamental thing that I'm trying to grapple

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Speaker 2: with and trying to understand what's happening here, right, what's

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Speaker 2: to prevent you know, those players who don't like this

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Speaker 2: new combination of live in PGA from doing what those

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Speaker 2: live players did previously and just walking out the door

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Speaker 2: calling blacks door in a black rock, having them get

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Speaker 2: fund them and starting their own league, because again this

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Speaker 2: this is a collection of players, not.

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Speaker 7: A league, independents so exactly.

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Speaker 2: So, so I'm just trying to run my brain through

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Speaker 2: the scenario, all the various different scenarios here. But my goodness,

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Speaker 2: we haven't heard from and maybe we will hear shortly

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Speaker 2: from Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler and John bren people

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Speaker 2: who passed up hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars

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Speaker 2: because the PGA asked them to, and now here we

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Speaker 2: are today.

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Speaker 7: So it's just it's just unbelievable.

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Speaker 6: Hey, I mean we could, but I think the thing

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Speaker 6: to remember here is that Saudi money is much larger

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Speaker 6: and much less interested in return on investment in a

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Speaker 6: traditional sense. You know, PIF wasn't too too concerned about

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Speaker 6: throwing I think our estimates are about three billion dollars

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Speaker 6: at this league, despite a lack of distribution deals, despite

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Speaker 6: any immediate obvious return, and very few signs that they

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Speaker 6: were making progress with broadcasters. I don't you know, when

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Speaker 6: Saudi makes investments, they make investments for things beyond monetary

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Speaker 6: material returns, and it's hard to see, you know, a

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Speaker 6: major private equity firm doing the same.

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Speaker 1: Well, now there's another development in this story, and that's

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Speaker 1: Democratic lawmakers in Washington and say, hey, wait a minute,

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Speaker 1: we want to discuss what in the heck happened? Is

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Speaker 1: this a monopoly too? There's all the controversy involved about

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Speaker 1: the human abuse problems that Saudi Arabia has had. So

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Speaker 1: now I'm wondering could Washington muck up this deal?

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Speaker 6: I mean, I wonder how much teeth these congressional statements

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Speaker 6: actually have though, you know when you hear these, I've

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Speaker 6: heard these blanket statements against you know, the golf money

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Speaker 6: in general. They ra ra about human rights, et cetera.

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Speaker 6: But really, when it comes down to it, there's not

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Speaker 6: a lot of action behind that. I think the more

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Speaker 6: interesting place to watch is either the FTC. Lena Khan

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Speaker 6: has been very proactive. We saw this, we saw this

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Speaker 6: within pharmaceutical mergers. We've seen this really across the board,

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Speaker 6: a much more muscular FTC against monopolistic behavior.

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Speaker 7: That may be a place also, don't.

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Speaker 6: Don't count out Stiffius the Committee on Foreign Investment in

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Speaker 6: the United States to kind of take at least a look,

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Speaker 6: and it's unclear exactly how well these two entities, PGA Tour,

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Speaker 6: Live Golf are really prepared for that. I think we

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Speaker 6: expect to see this play out pretty visibly, and.

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Speaker 3: The dja's investigation continues and in fact may even widen

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Speaker 3: after this latest announcement.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, but it's not you know, on that point, it's

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Speaker 6: not necessarily changing the game to a degree. Live golf

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Speaker 6: is not old. You know, there were a new entrant,

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Speaker 6: but you know, would it be going back to status

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Speaker 6: quo if there's a single end, you know, a single

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Speaker 6: or league is the wrong word, but I don't know

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Speaker 6: how a partnership entity.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, So simone, let me give you a what

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Speaker 2: if here, and Scarlett and Michael, you know, weigh in

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Speaker 2: as well. You know, you think about other sports that

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Speaker 2: might be within So you mentioned Saudi Arabia, they don't

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Speaker 2: really care about profits and laws. What other sports do

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Speaker 2: you think fit neatly into that phinician? And so what

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Speaker 2: immediately comes to mind, because you know, the NFL, the

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Speaker 2: NBA they sort of capped. But major League Baseball, I mean,

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Speaker 2: look at what they've done in EPL. They're willing to

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Speaker 2: pay hundreds of millions of dollars every year. I'm talking

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Speaker 2: about the UA, I'm talking about Man City. You know,

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Speaker 2: they get them to create a super team. So you

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Speaker 2: think about Major League Baseball. I mean, you can do

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Speaker 2: that technically in Major League Baseball. Even more so college

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Speaker 2: sports now with nil and all that's going on, and

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Speaker 2: the fact that you can get big money donors who

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Speaker 2: can go out there and create super teams at the

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Speaker 2: college level, I mean, what does this open the door

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Speaker 2: to by allowing deep pocketed investors to come into I

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Speaker 2: don't want to say it, but yeah, US sports, I

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Speaker 2: mean both you know, at the collegion.

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Speaker 7: Right Arabia eyeing college sports in the US.

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Speaker 2: I mean, it's pretty unbelievable, right, I mean you could

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Speaker 2: if you think about what's going going on here in

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Speaker 2: the fact that it's unregulated and it's really the wild,

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Speaker 2: wild West right now. So you know, I see this

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Speaker 2: and I have to candidate to the PIF in the

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Speaker 2: saudist large. They found the in golf, an asset there

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Speaker 2: that was completely undervalued, and they have deep pockets and

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Speaker 2: a big ballent sheet to draw into and they want

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Speaker 2: to change the game. And whether or not the way

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Speaker 2: they did it was right or wrong, it's fundamental. Well

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Speaker 2: maybe it is or maybe it isn't. But fundamentally, if

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Speaker 2: if they're able to expand accessibility of the sport and

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Speaker 2: expand the sports reach, you know, in the end, it

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Speaker 2: might be a good thing. I mean, as crazy as

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Speaker 2: that's I mean, I think.

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Speaker 6: We should consider this in the context of the golf

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Speaker 6: investments that have already been made into sport, A lot

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Speaker 6: of them have taken place in Europe. This is a

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Speaker 6: conversation that we are just beginning to have in the

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Speaker 6: United States, but in Europe golf investors are extremely present.

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Speaker 6: We have a great big takeout today from our sports team.

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Speaker 6: I think they added it up and said that there

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Speaker 6: are five sovereign well fund owners of major European teams,

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Speaker 6: mainly golf investments. I've seen them in Formula one WWE boxing. Now,

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Speaker 6: I think the interesting bit, if you know, we try

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Speaker 6: and see more sports money in the United States from

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Speaker 6: golf investors. Specifically, they really like the big ticket stuff.

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Speaker 6: They like the trophy asset. Is MLB enough of a

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Speaker 6: trophy asset? Is our college sports? You know, trophy enough assets?

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Speaker 6: You Maybe I had never considered that one. Specifically. They

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Speaker 6: like the stuff that has a little bit of, you know,

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Speaker 6: a widespread enough attraction.

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Speaker 3: I think I see what you're saying, right, because college

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Speaker 3: sports might be huge profit generators potentially, but they don't

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Speaker 3: have the prestige, the global prestige that owning a premier

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Speaker 3: league team would have, or hosting a boxing match between

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Speaker 3: two heavyweights that are known around the world in the

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Speaker 3: same way, right, they.

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Speaker 6: Want prestige exactly Now, maybe it's enough, you know, maybe

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Speaker 6: the actual material returns and mind you, when you ask

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Speaker 6: you know, the PIA for the Qia or whoever.

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Speaker 7: They'll talk that, Oh no, we care about material or turns.

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Speaker 6: But when you look at their investing pattern, they're investing

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Speaker 6: for more than just numbers.

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Speaker 9: They know in women's sports by the way, Oh now

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Speaker 9: that's a good question, is it, because let's let's talk

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Speaker 9: about you know, and again I'm not It's all a

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Speaker 9: matter of perspective, right, you know, the way women are

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Speaker 9: treated in Saudi Arabia in the Kingdom relative to the

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Speaker 9: way women are treated here.

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Speaker 2: And now as a you know, owner of the PGA,

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Speaker 2: which you know, the LPGA is a part of you

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Speaker 2: have to believe, right, I mean, what does that mean

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Speaker 2: for women's golf and women's sports more, you know, more

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Speaker 2: proadly speaking, it's a very very good question.

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Speaker 6: I mean, you know, I think one thing that Americans,

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Speaker 6: you know, looking at the Middle East don't always see

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Speaker 6: is that there is a variety of different treatment for

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Speaker 6: women in each of these countries. And when you are

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Speaker 6: a foreign woman or particularly from a Western country. Uh,

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Speaker 6: you know, there are dress codes that you follow, but

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Speaker 6: for the most part you're treated quite well.

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Speaker 7: You know, the actual rights and these things when they can.

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Speaker 2: Drive it now yeah, I mean the rights.

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Speaker 6: But Mohammed bin Solma, who the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia,

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Speaker 6: he's really been pushing a very reformist cultural agenda. Say

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Speaker 6: what you will about his geopolitics or his involvement in

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Speaker 6: the murder of Jamaka Shogshi a couple of years back.

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Speaker 6: You know, people there, you know, forward thinking, progressive, very

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Speaker 6: worldly set really appreciate his policies because you know, he

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Speaker 6: has relaxed the dress code and and he's honestly, frankly,

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Speaker 6: one that's been behind a lot of these mega sports

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Speaker 6: deals try you know, trying to bring this different image

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Speaker 6: of Saudi Arabia to the rest of the world. Whether

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Speaker 6: it was Newcastle that was a huge deal there. He also,

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Speaker 6: you know, was very involved in the PIF, chair of

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Speaker 6: the p IF, so yes am I in the you

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Speaker 6: know who's controlling this, who is really super involved in

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Speaker 6: getting this deal done? You know, was clearly looking up

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Speaker 6: the chain.

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Speaker 1: Well before we let you go, Simone, we have to

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Speaker 1: talk about some big soccer news. Nothing messy about this deal.

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Speaker 1: I'm here on Thursdays. Criderhel lean O Messi man oh

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Speaker 1: Man coming to Miami. That was another story where like whoa,

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Speaker 1: what where? Thank you? Adidas, Adidas and Apple.

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Speaker 6: Simone potentially turning down a Saudi bid. I mean, there

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Speaker 6: was a lot of discussion that you know, he would

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Speaker 6: end up at a Saudi Arabian league a la Cristiano

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Speaker 6: Ronaldo who signed for two hundred and seven million dollars

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Speaker 6: a year with a NASAD.

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Speaker 7: There's a lot of.

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Speaker 6: Interesting facets to this, you know. Leonel Messi had been

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Speaker 6: actually a representative of Saudi Arabia during the World Cup

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Speaker 6: in Cuta, in you know, in various forms that had

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Speaker 6: worked for actually I'm sorry, he'd worked for Cluto doing

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Speaker 6: some promotional stuff, very involved there, and so the idea

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Speaker 6: that he would go to the Middle East something that

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Speaker 6: a lot of people there are very much wanted to see.

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Speaker 6: You know, I don't know what the commercial considerations for

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Speaker 6: him are going forward. Definitely, the Saudi leagues want to

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Speaker 6: bring a lot of big players from Europe and they

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Speaker 6: actually have a pretty substantial league. And don't mind you

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Speaker 6: they you know, their surprise victory in the World Cup

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Speaker 6: in the group stage. But you know he's going to

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Speaker 6: inter Miami.

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Speaker 2: I think for audience, you know, this is this is

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Speaker 2: the whisper in terms of what Leo's getting paid. And

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Speaker 2: this is what my understanding is, right, Adidas is gonna, sorry,

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Speaker 2: Adidas is going to give him a cut of their revenue,

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Speaker 2: not just for inter Miami, but for the whole MLS.

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Speaker 2: In addition, I believe it's the same deal for Apple.

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Speaker 2: They give him a cut, not just of whatever you

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Speaker 2: know deal the sponsorp deal they have with with just

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Speaker 2: inter Miami, it's with the entire MLS. Oh and by

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Speaker 2: the way, if that wasn't enough, they're giving the option

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Speaker 2: to purchase an equity steak, a majority equity stake. I

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Speaker 2: believe in a soccer club of his, of his choosing

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Speaker 2: his guess which soccer club he'd probably choose if he's

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Speaker 2: going to play for ins to Miami. So I think

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Speaker 2: that is what's on the table. And I don't remember

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Speaker 2: what you know, the Saudis were offering him to play

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Speaker 2: in the middle least, but it was in the hundreds

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Speaker 2: of millions of dollars. I got to imagine, right if

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Speaker 2: Christiano ronald I got paid over two hundred So you know,

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Speaker 2: it's unbelievable what they're placing the value of those rights

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Speaker 2: on and right now totally unproven. But I will give

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Speaker 2: you one interesting tidbit that I just found out this

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Speaker 2: morning before the announcement that Messi was going to play.

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Speaker 2: Tickets for a Red Bull Miami game were going for

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Speaker 2: forty dollars this year. They are now going for well

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Speaker 2: over four hundred dollars.

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Speaker 6: Wow.

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Speaker 2: So that is the impact of Leo.

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Speaker 7: Messi, ambassador of the sport, ambassador of the league.

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Speaker 6: Well, and this actually, if if I can really quickly,

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Speaker 6: there was this question whether Messi would represent Saudi Arabia

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Speaker 6: and its bid for an upcoming World Cup versus Argentina

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Speaker 6: and you know, the South American continue.

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Speaker 7: Maybe this makes it a little bit easier.

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Speaker 2: Well, Miami is little Buenos Aires, right, So I mean,

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Speaker 2: I gotta believe there's gonna be a lot going on

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Speaker 2: there on that front. But I'm I mean it's just

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Speaker 2: an awesome turn of events. I mean from Miami. Also,

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Speaker 2: who now with the Miami Grand Prix you mentioned if

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Speaker 2: one before, it's I mean, that.

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Speaker 1: City is hot, man. That's right, Miami. Man. It's like

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Speaker 1: they're just you gotta be like doing the happy Dance.

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Speaker 8: Now.

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Speaker 6: Man, don't forget all the people who you know can

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Speaker 6: now work remotely and decided that you can move to Miami.

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Speaker 6: The hedge fund's going there.

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Speaker 1: That's right. Prime T twelve got to try to deal it.

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Speaker 1: Simone Foxman, we love him, He's like a brother. Simone Foxman,

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Speaker 1: our very own Bloomberg's thank you so much for joining

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Speaker 1: us here on the Bloomberg Business Sports. Coming up next

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Speaker 1: on the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast after the break,

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Speaker 1: we'll hear instant reaction on the PGA Live deal from

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Speaker 1: us GA CEO Mike wand that straight ahead on the

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast from Bloomberg Radio around the world.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us for the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcasts.

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Speaker 1: I'm Michael Barr for Scarlett Foo and Damien sas Hour.

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Speaker 1: The PGA and the Saudi backed Live Golf shocked the

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Speaker 1: world and joined forces. Shortly after the deal, PGA Commissioner

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Speaker 1: j Monahan spoke about how this deal is good for

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Speaker 1: the game of golf.

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Speaker 4: This puts us in a position where we've got capital

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Speaker 4: that we can deploy to the benefit of our members

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Speaker 4: and through our tournaments, and it gives us capital to

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Speaker 4: deploy and growth businesses that ultimately will generate a return

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Speaker 4: that we'll reinvest in our players.

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Speaker 1: That's PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan. For more reaction to the deal,

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Speaker 1: Scarlet and Damien, we're able to talk with USGA CEO

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Speaker 1: Mike Wand straight out of the war room. Let's listen

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Speaker 1: in on their conversation.

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Speaker 3: Mike one, thank you so much for joining us. The

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Speaker 3: timing could not be better. Just put us in your position.

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Speaker 3: Where were you when you learned the big news of

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Speaker 3: the merger between PGA Tour and Live Golf.

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Speaker 7: What was your first reaction?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, so, you know, we're a week out from the

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Speaker 5: US Open at LA Country Club. So I was in

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Speaker 5: a critical path meeting with about twenty employees, ghost going

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Speaker 5: through every department and our readiness for next week when

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Speaker 5: we bring the world to LA and somebody from our

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Speaker 5: PR department walked in and said, you know, hey, can

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Speaker 5: interrupt you in the middle of this, but I need

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Speaker 5: you to read something real quick. And then as I

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Speaker 5: was reading it, I got a call from j Monahan

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Speaker 5: at the PGA Tour. Couldn't take it because I had

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Speaker 5: twenty five people in the room. But it was a surprise.

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Speaker 5: I think like everybody else in the golf world, we

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Speaker 5: were surprised by the news and if this proposed consolidation

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Speaker 5: can resolve these conflicts and get the world of golf

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Speaker 5: back focused on the opportunities and the growth that exists

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Speaker 5: for the game, then that's an important step.

437
00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:47,960
Speaker 10: Mike.

438
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:49,440
Speaker 2: I think you just hit the nail on the head here.

439
00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:51,760
Speaker 2: You just said the world of golf. I mean this

440
00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,000
Speaker 2: is now global, right. I mean that's the beauty of

441
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,200
Speaker 2: this deal if it actually does indeed go through, right.

442
00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:59,200
Speaker 2: I mean the fact that we now have global sponsorship

443
00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:00,760
Speaker 2: here at the PGA. You know, we're going to take

444
00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:03,000
Speaker 2: this thing across the world in whatever shape or form

445
00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,240
Speaker 2: it chooses to, you know, kind of manifest itself in.

446
00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:07,560
Speaker 2: But there's gonna be a lot of unhappy people here,

447
00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:10,560
Speaker 2: I imagine as well. I wonder as we head into

448
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,480
Speaker 2: you know, the US Open, and obviously twenty eight years

449
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:15,480
Speaker 2: since we've been in you know, the Los Angeles area

450
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,359
Speaker 2: with a major you know, what do you think is

451
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:20,760
Speaker 2: going to be the vibe surrounding the event?

452
00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:22,920
Speaker 5: Yeah? I mean the game of golf is global, even

453
00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:26,560
Speaker 5: if everybody in America doesn't really understand that. I came

454
00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:29,359
Speaker 5: here after twelve years as the LPGA commissioner where you know,

455
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,080
Speaker 5: when we played in seventeen countries a year and televised

456
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:33,720
Speaker 5: one hundred and ninety countries. I mean, here a game

457
00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:35,879
Speaker 5: with the US Open. This year we had almost ten

458
00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,359
Speaker 5: thousan two hundred people entered to try to play in

459
00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:40,480
Speaker 5: the US Open, and they came from We had entries

460
00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:43,280
Speaker 5: from all fifty states, Puerto Rico, District of Columbia, but

461
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,600
Speaker 5: also eighty seven other countries. So not just viewership, you know,

462
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,439
Speaker 5: they'll watch the US Open in one hundred and ninety countries,

463
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,359
Speaker 5: but even in terms of participants trying to play their

464
00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:54,960
Speaker 5: way in, I mean they literally come from all over

465
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,240
Speaker 5: the world. So that's an exciting time for the game.

466
00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 5: I mean, not only has the growth exploded in America

467
00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:01,679
Speaker 5: covered the last four or five years, but it's really

468
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,119
Speaker 5: exploded globally. And the best thing I can tell you

469
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,440
Speaker 5: about the game right now is it's never been more female,

470
00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:08,800
Speaker 5: it's never been more junior, and it's never had more

471
00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:11,600
Speaker 5: people of color. So if you'd asked me five years ago,

472
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:13,520
Speaker 5: if you could have your druthers you know, how much

473
00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:15,640
Speaker 5: would the game grow? I wouldn't have guessed this much.

474
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:17,320
Speaker 5: And then if you said, how about if all that

475
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:19,760
Speaker 5: growth was driven by women, junior and people of color.

476
00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:21,960
Speaker 5: I would have said, that's you know, now we're now

477
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,320
Speaker 5: we're dreaming too big, and both of those things have

478
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:24,840
Speaker 5: come true.

479
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:27,440
Speaker 3: I know that it's still early days and we still

480
00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:30,520
Speaker 3: don't know all the details of this combined company that

481
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:33,760
Speaker 3: will be formed between the PGA Tour and Live Golf.

482
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,480
Speaker 3: But given that you brought up development, what about the

483
00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,320
Speaker 3: pipeline of golf players? Does this mean that Saudi Arabia

484
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,440
Speaker 3: would play a role in funding development of future talent?

485
00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,640
Speaker 5: I think I think everybody has taken and myself included.

486
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:48,080
Speaker 5: You can't help, but you read this and you start

487
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:50,000
Speaker 5: trying to figure out all the all the stuff we

488
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,600
Speaker 5: don't know, and so exactly what this means in terms

489
00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,399
Speaker 5: of who's in charge of what I think is is

490
00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,080
Speaker 5: a lot to be uncovered. So I'm gonna I'm gonna wait,

491
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:01,520
Speaker 5: like the rest kind of figure that out. But I

492
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:03,640
Speaker 5: think I think people read this and they say, Okay,

493
00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:05,600
Speaker 5: Saudi's in charge of this, So maybe the PGA Tour

494
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:07,280
Speaker 5: is in charge of this. But I think I think

495
00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:08,560
Speaker 5: a lot of that will come out in the detail.

496
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:10,879
Speaker 5: And I'm not smart enough at this point to kind

497
00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:11,600
Speaker 5: of fill you in on that.

498
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:14,280
Speaker 3: That's a very politic answer, and I appreciate your your

499
00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:17,640
Speaker 3: giving us your your take on it or non take.

500
00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:20,240
Speaker 3: At this point, you know, in trying to figure out

501
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,040
Speaker 3: who comes out ahead or who wins out of this,

502
00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:26,200
Speaker 3: it's hard not to see Live as coming out on top.

503
00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:29,520
Speaker 3: Was the PGA kind of pushed into doing this?

504
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:31,880
Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't know, Scarlett, I don't know if you're

505
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:34,040
Speaker 5: if you're comments writer or now, I mean currently, if

506
00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:37,080
Speaker 5: you think about Live, it's a it's a golf tour

507
00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:41,159
Speaker 5: that has about a billion dollars of expenses and and

508
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:44,000
Speaker 5: very little, if any revenue. Yeah and so and nobody

509
00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,200
Speaker 5: nobody really concerned about that because as long as the

510
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:47,159
Speaker 5: Saudi Fund wanted to.

511
00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:49,240
Speaker 8: Keep funding it bottomless pockets, we keep funding it.

512
00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,160
Speaker 5: If this turns into the business that I read about

513
00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:54,480
Speaker 5: in the release, well you really have a business, an investment,

514
00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:56,800
Speaker 5: and a and a and a and a planned and

515
00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:59,920
Speaker 5: anticipated rate of return on that investment. You have to

516
00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,320
Speaker 5: you have to look at every asset in the portfolio.

517
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 5: Would say, is this one returning? You know, returning? So

518
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,280
Speaker 5: time will tell. But I the other side of me

519
00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:11,960
Speaker 5: reads that and says, you know, if I was sitting

520
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:13,880
Speaker 5: on a tour that had no revenue and a billion

521
00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:17,280
Speaker 5: dollars of expenses, and now there's a joint group owning

522
00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:20,520
Speaker 5: that what I feel more or less enthused about my future.

523
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:22,000
Speaker 5: I'm not sure what the answer to that is, but

524
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:24,400
Speaker 5: I think those are questions that aren't getting asked as well.

525
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:25,159
Speaker 4: Well, Mike.

526
00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:26,840
Speaker 2: One thing we do know for sure, and there's gonna

527
00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:28,840
Speaker 2: be plenty of content for the Longest Drive on Netflix

528
00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:31,960
Speaker 2: this season. No but but no seriousness. You know, prior

529
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,919
Speaker 2: to your role here CEO of the USGA, you were

530
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:36,840
Speaker 2: you were the commissioner of the LPGA, you know, and

531
00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:38,680
Speaker 2: I'd love to talk about, you know, Nelly Corter, the

532
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,440
Speaker 2: new Alpha and female golf, But you know, you have

533
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:43,800
Speaker 2: to kind of think about this, you know, this potential

534
00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,080
Speaker 2: merger between between Live and the PGA. You know, what

535
00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:49,359
Speaker 2: do you think that means for women's golf?

536
00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:51,720
Speaker 5: I don't know. I don't know if women's golf is

537
00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,879
Speaker 5: on the is on the horizon for that group or not.

538
00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:56,520
Speaker 5: I mean, I can tell you that as the commissioner

539
00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:58,920
Speaker 5: of the LPGA, I've always said in my twelve years,

540
00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:03,160
Speaker 5: almost every major breakthrough we had came at the hands

541
00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:05,720
Speaker 5: of a partner that had more resources and a bigger

542
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,920
Speaker 5: vision than we could that, whether that was that was

543
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,920
Speaker 5: adding a women's PGA Championship as a major, whether that

544
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,000
Speaker 5: was getting the RNA to take back over the Women's

545
00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:15,920
Speaker 5: British Open and take it to new levels, and so

546
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,720
Speaker 5: these bigger entities, in many cases men's golf entities getting

547
00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:22,200
Speaker 5: more involved in the women's game tended to always have

548
00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:24,639
Speaker 5: a really big lift for the women's game. Whether or

549
00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:26,679
Speaker 5: not this one will as well, I don't know. I mean,

550
00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:28,840
Speaker 5: at this point there hasn't been a lot of involvement

551
00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:31,400
Speaker 5: on either of those parties on the on the women's side,

552
00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:34,240
Speaker 5: but certainly be exciting if it if it could, because

553
00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,280
Speaker 5: the resources that they could bring would be really would

554
00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:40,119
Speaker 5: be really dramatic and a difference maker in the women's game, you.

555
00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:42,119
Speaker 2: Know, Mike, I really appreciate your candidates there. I mean,

556
00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:43,960
Speaker 2: this is about the economics, right, I mean, golf is

557
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,520
Speaker 2: not an expensive sport to play to be a part of.

558
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:46,760
Speaker 5: You know.

559
00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:48,440
Speaker 2: One of the things that you know, I've heard about

560
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,600
Speaker 2: this roll up is you know that they're going to

561
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:52,640
Speaker 2: try and make golf more accessible to those that really

562
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:54,280
Speaker 2: can't access it, you know, and that would be a

563
00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:56,840
Speaker 2: wonderful thing if this actually is able to do that, right.

564
00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:58,440
Speaker 2: I mean, but you know, now that we're on the

565
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:01,520
Speaker 2: economics and the US Opens around the corner, you really

566
00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:03,080
Speaker 2: think John Rahm's got it in him? I mean, you

567
00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:05,119
Speaker 2: know you've got Shuffler and Rahm at plus eight hundred

568
00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:06,480
Speaker 2: to win it all. I mean, you know you've got

569
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:09,159
Speaker 2: Rory Meckroroy, who can't be happy right now right behind him,

570
00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:12,080
Speaker 2: you know in Brooks Kapka obviously, I mean, I mean, god,

571
00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:14,639
Speaker 2: I mean, the storylines are going to be unbelievable. What

572
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:16,320
Speaker 2: do you think thought's going in? How's the how's the

573
00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:18,280
Speaker 2: Los Angeles Country could playing? What can we expect?

574
00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:20,440
Speaker 5: Well? Then the fun thing for US is we haven't

575
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:22,680
Speaker 5: been to LA for seventy five years for a US Open,

576
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,240
Speaker 5: So it's amazing that we haven't. But bringing the US

577
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:27,440
Speaker 5: Open back to LA and the excitement that's been built

578
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:29,920
Speaker 5: up there is through the roof. So for all these players,

579
00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:32,639
Speaker 5: they may have played LA Country Club in their in

580
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,240
Speaker 5: their lifetime, they've never played a major championship at it

581
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:37,320
Speaker 5: because it hasn't been one. It hasn't been one there

582
00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:39,000
Speaker 5: for for a long time. Some of them might have

583
00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:41,240
Speaker 5: been lucky enough to play in a USGA Walker Cup

584
00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:43,280
Speaker 5: two years back, but so most are going to be

585
00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:45,400
Speaker 5: walking on that golf course either for the first time

586
00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:47,960
Speaker 5: or for the first time in a major championship setting.

587
00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:49,720
Speaker 5: So this is very different than where they might be

588
00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:52,560
Speaker 5: walking on the Pebble or Pinehurst or Oakmont and some

589
00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,760
Speaker 5: of what they would consider more of the regular stops

590
00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 5: from a US Open perspective. So this is this is

591
00:28:58,240 --> 00:28:59,640
Speaker 5: going to be an unveiling and I think it's going

592
00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,560
Speaker 5: to be great for the worldwide audience. LA Country Club is,

593
00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:05,000
Speaker 5: you know, starting in eighteen ninety seven, so it's really

594
00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:07,600
Speaker 5: a year year or two after the USGA got started.

595
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:09,680
Speaker 5: So this venue has been around a long time, and

596
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,880
Speaker 5: it's an incredible risk reward venue, meaning you'll finish one

597
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:14,760
Speaker 5: of the most difficult holes you've ever played in golf

598
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,640
Speaker 5: and be followed by one of the greatest opportunities to

599
00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:20,520
Speaker 5: really score great on all it's to really back and forth.

600
00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:22,240
Speaker 5: Somebody told me the other day, what's the hardest part

601
00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:24,160
Speaker 5: about holding a US Open there? And I said, the

602
00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:26,520
Speaker 5: what we call standard bears, the little guy that walks

603
00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:29,000
Speaker 5: behind the group and changes score, because the scores are

604
00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:31,280
Speaker 5: going to change from each player virtually every hole. So

605
00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:33,560
Speaker 5: it's going to be If you think it's going to

606
00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:35,760
Speaker 5: be one of those championships where nothing ever changes that,

607
00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,720
Speaker 5: then buckle up, because this US Open at LACC is

608
00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 5: going to be stilled with risk, reward, driveable part burs

609
00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,440
Speaker 5: you know, followed by two hundred and sixty yard par threes.

610
00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,080
Speaker 5: It's really going to be a combination of having to

611
00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:49,560
Speaker 5: really hold on on some holes, yeah, and really trying

612
00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,040
Speaker 5: trying to go low and when when the opportunity exists.

613
00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:53,480
Speaker 3: You know, I'm going to jump on what you said

614
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:55,480
Speaker 3: about changes and how that's going to be a part

615
00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:57,880
Speaker 3: of the sport now, especially I believe in twenty twenty

616
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:01,400
Speaker 3: four when this new combined company, really that's going liv

617
00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,840
Speaker 3: slogan is golf. But louder, I know that there's a

618
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:06,840
Speaker 3: lot of unknowns. But I'm curious, from your point of view,

619
00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,000
Speaker 3: should that idea, should that vibe be part of the

620
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:13,880
Speaker 3: new combined company. How should the game of golf adapt

621
00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:19,440
Speaker 3: to incorporate some of the elements that live really presented

622
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:21,640
Speaker 3: to people, you know, a shorter game three days instead

623
00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:23,360
Speaker 3: of four days, fifty four holes, that kind of thing.

624
00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:25,920
Speaker 5: Well, I said from the beginning, I mean, golf's a great,

625
00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:29,240
Speaker 5: big game, and there's room for all kinds of formats.

626
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:32,200
Speaker 5: You know, what wasn't really helpful is really kind of

627
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:34,680
Speaker 5: divisive conflicts at the highest level. I mean, we were

628
00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:37,200
Speaker 5: spending I've said this many times, but in the middle

629
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,000
Speaker 5: of golf's greatest boom, I mean really in one hundred years,

630
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,560
Speaker 5: golf's greatest growth boom, we were spending ninety percent of

631
00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:46,560
Speaker 5: our time talking about the conflict between a few about

632
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:47,440
Speaker 5: four hundred people.

633
00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:48,480
Speaker 8: And that's okay.

634
00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:50,640
Speaker 5: I mean, you know, those four people had choices to

635
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:52,720
Speaker 5: make in terms of where to play. But while that

636
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:55,280
Speaker 5: was going on, we were leaving no watching in the

637
00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:57,760
Speaker 5: room to talk about more juniors than ever before, more

638
00:30:57,800 --> 00:30:59,960
Speaker 5: women than ever before, more people playing the golf course

639
00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:02,960
Speaker 5: off a golf course, at top golfs and driving ranges

640
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,320
Speaker 5: than ever before, more more people playing the game outside

641
00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:08,880
Speaker 5: the US than inside the US in the last couple

642
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,400
Speaker 5: hundred years. So it's it's been an amazing, you know,

643
00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,200
Speaker 5: amazing run in terms of in terms of the sport.

644
00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:18,479
Speaker 5: But unfortunately, a conflict that the very highest couple hundred, right,

645
00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:21,320
Speaker 5: is all we really seem to talk about. Unfortunately, we're

646
00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:22,840
Speaker 5: probably gonna talk it seems like we're gonna be talking

647
00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:23,080
Speaker 5: about it.

648
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:26,680
Speaker 7: No, no, I hear what you're saying. But at the

649
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:28,560
Speaker 7: same time, the innovations.

650
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,120
Speaker 5: That live, so maybe we can get back to the game.

651
00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:33,400
Speaker 3: Right, But the innovations that live, really put out there

652
00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:36,520
Speaker 3: and made part of its product is something that maybe

653
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:38,640
Speaker 3: the PGA Tour can incorporate, should it.

654
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:40,480
Speaker 5: I don't know, you know, I'm not really sure, to

655
00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:42,120
Speaker 5: be honest with you, because, like you, I mean, I've

656
00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:43,920
Speaker 5: read it, but I'm not sure, you know, will the

657
00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:46,640
Speaker 5: PGA Tour be operating live? Will will it be some

658
00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:49,440
Speaker 5: sort of combination. But I do think that there I

659
00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:51,880
Speaker 5: do think that in all likelihood a year from now

660
00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:55,120
Speaker 5: they'll still be they'll still be professional tours as we

661
00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:56,920
Speaker 5: know them. And there may and there may still be

662
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,200
Speaker 5: you know, live team oriented sports that are that are

663
00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 5: slightly different formats. So I'm not sure that's I'm not

664
00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:05,239
Speaker 5: sure that's ever been a bad thing as long as

665
00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:07,200
Speaker 5: it was in a constant conflict.

666
00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:09,400
Speaker 3: I just want to know, Damian, whether the chainsmokers are

667
00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:12,240
Speaker 3: going to be, you know, at the at these tournaments.

668
00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:15,080
Speaker 2: Right throwing beer, throwing beer cans down into the field

669
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,080
Speaker 2: when somebody gets a home campaign kept his brother gets home.

670
00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:20,240
Speaker 5: You know, if you've ever been to the waste management

671
00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:23,240
Speaker 5: in Phoenix, you I have about that. That's true, that's

672
00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:24,719
Speaker 5: not that's not just a live thing.

673
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:25,320
Speaker 1: That's right.

674
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:27,480
Speaker 2: Well, you know, Mike, one thing I do want to

675
00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:29,800
Speaker 2: say here, and it's it's it's not lib related at all.

676
00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:31,760
Speaker 2: It's it's more about some of the changes that you know,

677
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:35,080
Speaker 2: the game is potentially going to have to make, because

678
00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:37,360
Speaker 2: my god, these players are just so incredible. I mean,

679
00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:39,160
Speaker 2: the fact that they can golf, that they can drive

680
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:40,880
Speaker 2: the ball three hundred and fifty yards, and and and

681
00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:43,080
Speaker 2: I mean one of the things that I think you've

682
00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:45,200
Speaker 2: been sort of an advocate of, or the USGA has

683
00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:48,480
Speaker 2: been an advocate of, is a potential golf ball rollback, right,

684
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:51,600
Speaker 2: creating new rules to make the ball travel shorter distances,

685
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:53,520
Speaker 2: I believe. So I wonder if you could just comment

686
00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:55,640
Speaker 2: briefly on that. Is that something that you know, you know,

687
00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,120
Speaker 2: the USGA is supportive of, or is it more just

688
00:32:58,160 --> 00:32:59,760
Speaker 2: about you know, making the course is that much more

689
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:02,240
Speaker 2: in order to contend with you know, today's golfer.

690
00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:05,040
Speaker 5: Yeah. So, I think a lot of your listeners may

691
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:08,000
Speaker 5: or may not know, but the USGA combined with the RNA,

692
00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:12,960
Speaker 5: we've been We've been putting product conformity rules in place

693
00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:15,480
Speaker 5: for over eighty years, so I mean we've we test

694
00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:17,960
Speaker 5: five thousand pieces of equipment a year. We decide what's

695
00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:20,360
Speaker 5: you know, what's conforming within the rules of golf. So

696
00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:24,000
Speaker 5: and with regards to distance, whether it's golf balls, golf clubs,

697
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:26,480
Speaker 5: that's something we really look at all the time. And

698
00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:29,240
Speaker 5: the last time we made a significant change in sort

699
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:32,200
Speaker 5: of golf ball regulations two thousand and four, and if

700
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:33,840
Speaker 5: I was being honest, between two thousand and four and

701
00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:37,200
Speaker 5: maybe twenty twelve, distance state it's barely flat at the

702
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,160
Speaker 5: highest level. It's not just the PGA Tour, but i'd

703
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,760
Speaker 5: say elite men's golf across the board since twenty thirteen

704
00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:46,120
Speaker 5: till now. It's it's on a path on a new

705
00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:47,880
Speaker 5: slope that we haven't seen in a while in terms

706
00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:50,240
Speaker 5: of growth. And that's you know, you can see that yourself.

707
00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:53,000
Speaker 5: That's athleticism. That's what they call speed training and golfing

708
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:54,680
Speaker 5: and everyone trying to figure out how can I play

709
00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:56,680
Speaker 5: at a higher speed. I mean, how can I swing

710
00:33:56,800 --> 00:33:59,400
Speaker 5: the club faster and still be in control enough to

711
00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:02,239
Speaker 5: compete at levels, and that's really become kind of an

712
00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:05,480
Speaker 5: art form, and that art form has resulted in significantly

713
00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:07,880
Speaker 5: longer distances, not just on the PGA Tour, the VP

714
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,399
Speaker 5: World Tour Live or anywhere else, but really across all

715
00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:14,600
Speaker 5: high end eleite golf, and it's exciting, it's fun. At

716
00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:17,800
Speaker 5: the same time, golf courses are feeling the constant pressure

717
00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,840
Speaker 5: to respond to that distance, and respond to that distance

718
00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:24,440
Speaker 5: means more land, more yardage, more manicuring, more water, all

719
00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:27,080
Speaker 5: things that for the long term sustainability of the sport,

720
00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:29,520
Speaker 5: we don't want to be viewed as a bad land tenant.

721
00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:31,880
Speaker 5: So yeah, we just need to make sure that we

722
00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:35,920
Speaker 5: don't get so excited about said this many times. You know, baseball, football, basketball,

723
00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:38,520
Speaker 5: you picked the sport they typically don't, you know, they

724
00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:41,040
Speaker 5: don't ask the stadiums to get bigger, you know, because

725
00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:43,400
Speaker 5: the athletes have gotten stronger. I mean that there's a

726
00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:46,600
Speaker 5: reason why the NFL football that Tom Brady threw is

727
00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:48,400
Speaker 5: a little bit larger than the oney through in college,

728
00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:49,800
Speaker 5: and that one was a little bit larger than the

729
00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:51,680
Speaker 5: money through in high school, all to make sure one

730
00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:53,120
Speaker 5: hundred yards was still relevant.

731
00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:56,320
Speaker 3: Mike, as we get ready to wrap up this conversation.

732
00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:58,839
Speaker 3: I know that there's still a lot of unknowns. What's

733
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:02,719
Speaker 3: the biggest question you're curious about getting answered in the

734
00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:05,399
Speaker 3: next hopefully next couple of days. What do you want

735
00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:09,360
Speaker 3: to know about when it comes to this unexpected development.

736
00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:14,320
Speaker 5: You're talking about on the announced merger today? Who is

737
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:18,560
Speaker 5: running the professional tours that have come together? So PGA Tour,

738
00:35:18,719 --> 00:35:20,680
Speaker 5: DP World Tour, Live Tour, Asian Tour.

739
00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:25,640
Speaker 1: Who's in charge at USGA CEO Mike Wand with instant

740
00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:28,880
Speaker 1: reaction to the deal that rock the Golf World, PGA

741
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:32,800
Speaker 1: and Live joining forces. Up next on the Bloomberg Business

742
00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:36,760
Speaker 1: of Sports podcast, we stick with Saudi Arabia's growing interest

743
00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:41,160
Speaker 1: in sports around the globe. Scarlett spoke with WNBA Commissioner

744
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:45,359
Speaker 1: Kathy Engelbert and she would not rule out the possibility

745
00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:47,280
Speaker 1: of hosting a game in Saudi Arabia.

746
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:51,520
Speaker 11: I think we'd evaluated across what our global games platform

747
00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:53,359
Speaker 11: looks like. It wouldn't be the first place I went,

748
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:55,319
Speaker 11: for sure, but we have this opportunity like we had

749
00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:57,840
Speaker 11: in Canada, in Europe, in Asia and Africa.

750
00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:00,640
Speaker 8: I mean Africa would love for WNBA game to come there.

751
00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:03,120
Speaker 11: So we look at it in the context of maybe

752
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:04,160
Speaker 11: an EMEA.

753
00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:05,760
Speaker 8: Games, you know, Europe, Middle East Africa.

754
00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:09,520
Speaker 1: We'll hear more of that conversation with WNBA Commissioner Kathy

755
00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:13,640
Speaker 1: Ingelberg from the Bloomberg invest Conference up next on the

756
00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:17,920
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Around the world.

757
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:29,520
Speaker 10: You're listening to Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

758
00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:33,319
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports show,

759
00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:35,200
Speaker 1: where we explored the big money issues in the world

760
00:36:35,239 --> 00:36:39,400
Speaker 1: of sports Michael Barr along with Scarlett Fou and Damian Sassauer.

761
00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:44,120
Speaker 1: Earlier this week, Scarlett spoke with WNBA Commissioner Kathy Ngelberg

762
00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:47,920
Speaker 1: at the Bloomberg invest Conference and covered a lot of ground.

763
00:36:48,239 --> 00:36:48,959
Speaker 1: Let's take a listen.

764
00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:51,319
Speaker 11: When I came into the league, we had a lot

765
00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:55,000
Speaker 11: of transformation, into Scarlett, I mean, we didn't have enough fans,

766
00:36:55,080 --> 00:37:01,200
Speaker 11: we didn't have enough national platform broadcast, we hadn't globalized

767
00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:03,879
Speaker 11: the game. I have one marketing person when I walked

768
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:07,120
Speaker 11: in and now we have over twenty. So it's something

769
00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:09,360
Speaker 11: where you've got to build, you have to scale, and

770
00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:12,759
Speaker 11: ultimately expansion had always been on my list, but we

771
00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:14,880
Speaker 11: didn't want to rush into it because we wanted new owners,

772
00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:17,439
Speaker 11: like new ownership groups. Anyone who knows sports heers knows

773
00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:20,160
Speaker 11: like it's a slog to be a sports owner and

774
00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:22,160
Speaker 11: to make money. You just walk into the back of

775
00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:24,320
Speaker 11: the house of any arena or stadium and you figure

776
00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:26,160
Speaker 11: out how expensive it is to put on a game.

777
00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:29,799
Speaker 11: And so we're on the path to transform the entire

778
00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:34,319
Speaker 11: organization both teams, and we just had a capital raise

779
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:37,440
Speaker 11: of two of our teams, Seattle and Chicago had pretty

780
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:38,680
Speaker 11: good valuations for us.

781
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:41,960
Speaker 8: So that's like getting us on a good path.

782
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:42,600
Speaker 7: Now you said that.

783
00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:44,560
Speaker 3: We're transformed, because I've heard you talk about the need

784
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:48,920
Speaker 3: to transform the economics the business model before aggressively pursuing

785
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,440
Speaker 3: expansion of the league. What specific part of the model

786
00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:53,560
Speaker 3: do you think needs to evolve to meet the needs

787
00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:54,560
Speaker 3: of twenty twenty three.

788
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:56,880
Speaker 11: Well, first of all, the first thing I came in

789
00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:59,880
Speaker 11: after a long career thirty three years at Deloitte, and

790
00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:02,279
Speaker 11: I come into the league and the first stat someone

791
00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:05,040
Speaker 11: gave me is less than one percent of all corporate

792
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:08,160
Speaker 11: sponsorship dollars go towards women's sports, and less than five

793
00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:10,319
Speaker 11: percent of all media coverage of.

794
00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:13,560
Speaker 8: Sports covers women's sports. So of course, as a good

795
00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:16,120
Speaker 8: former accountant, I say, well, what's the denominator?

796
00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:18,959
Speaker 11: I said, it is the denominator a billion, thirty billion,

797
00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:20,920
Speaker 11: one hundred billion, Because if you were going to move

798
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:23,520
Speaker 11: that even a couple hundred basis points, let alone get

799
00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:27,200
Speaker 11: it to parody equity or whatever whatever word you want

800
00:38:27,239 --> 00:38:29,960
Speaker 11: to use, how hard is this going to be? And

801
00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:33,120
Speaker 11: little did I know that denominator is huge. Just in

802
00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:35,719
Speaker 11: North America, I think media rights steals are thirty to

803
00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:39,440
Speaker 11: forty billion for kind of US and Canadian based teams,

804
00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,319
Speaker 11: and obviously globally it's much bigger. So even to move

805
00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:44,680
Speaker 11: at two hundred basis points is going to be herculean.

806
00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:49,000
Speaker 11: We're doing that, but that's what you know, funds all

807
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:52,040
Speaker 11: the things that get higher pay and better travel conditions

808
00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:56,160
Speaker 11: and everything for men's sports is media rights steals, period.

809
00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:58,759
Speaker 11: So as we look at the transformation that's on the list,

810
00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:02,959
Speaker 11: marketing's on the list, under investment and undervaluation of women

811
00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:04,680
Speaker 11: in sports, I think we're a little bit of a

812
00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:08,759
Speaker 11: microcosm of broader society. Although I saw that the statistics

813
00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:11,399
Speaker 11: now and women's CEOs is up for the first time

814
00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:13,880
Speaker 11: over a little over ten percent, so that's progress, So

815
00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:16,360
Speaker 11: you know, we're trying to do the same thing around sports.

816
00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:18,719
Speaker 11: Sports is just a little behind the corporate world from

817
00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:19,440
Speaker 11: that perspective.

818
00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:22,520
Speaker 3: Well, one thing that when you talk about the WNBA,

819
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:25,160
Speaker 3: it started league playing nineteen ninety seven, and at that

820
00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:28,160
Speaker 3: time it was a huge draw, right like ratings bonanza

821
00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:31,520
Speaker 3: expanded aggressively, but by two thousand things the tide kind

822
00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:34,840
Speaker 3: of turned a little bit. Attendance to climbed. TV ratings dropped,

823
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:39,120
Speaker 3: and sponsors stopped renewing contracts because the games weren't drawing

824
00:39:39,239 --> 00:39:42,719
Speaker 3: enough viewers, particularly men. What are the lessons from that

825
00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:45,640
Speaker 3: FAUOL period? How do you ensure how do you safeguard

826
00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:47,560
Speaker 3: that from happening again?

827
00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:50,560
Speaker 8: I think the lessons are around data now. You know.

828
00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:52,360
Speaker 11: I walked in and I said to the league and

829
00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:54,279
Speaker 11: I said, who are our fans? And I kind of

830
00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:56,680
Speaker 11: got looked at, kind of funny, like you have to

831
00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:58,560
Speaker 11: have a ton of data determine.

832
00:39:58,120 --> 00:40:00,800
Speaker 8: Who your fans are. Do we skew women? Do we

833
00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:02,000
Speaker 8: skw more girl dads?

834
00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:04,800
Speaker 11: What's the name Does a fan in Miami, where we

835
00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:07,360
Speaker 11: don't have a team buy a New York Liberty jersey?

836
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:08,960
Speaker 11: And does that make them a New York fan and

837
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:11,960
Speaker 11: are we marketing to them and using data and technology

838
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,239
Speaker 11: And we were doing none of that. So I think

839
00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:16,320
Speaker 11: that's the lesson now is to find out who that

840
00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:19,600
Speaker 11: fan is, who that potential fan is. I mean, sports

841
00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:21,680
Speaker 11: betting now is legal and how many states here in

842
00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:24,480
Speaker 11: the US, and we never had a focus on grabbing

843
00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:27,000
Speaker 11: that fan in and a watch and bet versus a

844
00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:29,840
Speaker 11: bet and watch because so much of sports betting now

845
00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:34,160
Speaker 11: happens in the game. So there's things you can do globally. Globalization,

846
00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:36,840
Speaker 11: I mean, we hadn't globalized at all. And I admire

847
00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:39,600
Speaker 11: actually what the NBA has done with their global games platform.

848
00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:41,800
Speaker 11: And so we just played our first game in Toronto.

849
00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:45,640
Speaker 11: Twenty thousand people came to see a preseason.

850
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:46,520
Speaker 8: Game for the WNBA.

851
00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:49,879
Speaker 11: This is like astounding, by the way, so for any

852
00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:53,120
Speaker 11: Canadians in the audience, thank you. But globalizing the game,

853
00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:55,800
Speaker 11: so we're going to look at driving that global platform.

854
00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:59,480
Speaker 3: Bloomberg's reported that combined league and team revenue is projected

855
00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:01,800
Speaker 3: to reach two hundred million this year, which would be

856
00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:04,640
Speaker 3: about double the growth in twenty nineteen, or the total

857
00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,160
Speaker 3: I should say. The thing is the players don't always

858
00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:09,200
Speaker 3: see the full benefits of that growth.

859
00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:10,600
Speaker 7: Base salaries as.

860
00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:13,120
Speaker 3: A share of total revenue shranked to nine percent in

861
00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:16,640
Speaker 3: twenty twenty two from eleven percent twenty nineteen. When you

862
00:41:16,719 --> 00:41:18,879
Speaker 3: think about addressing to this, does it all come down

863
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:20,880
Speaker 3: to the next collective bargaining agreement?

864
00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:21,359
Speaker 8: Yeah?

865
00:41:21,400 --> 00:41:23,400
Speaker 11: So for those that didn't follow us, I walked in

866
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:25,319
Speaker 11: four days on the job and they said, you're going

867
00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:28,320
Speaker 11: to Vegas to negotiate your first collective bargaining agreement.

868
00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:30,320
Speaker 8: I said, collective what? So?

869
00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:32,840
Speaker 11: I knew the players reunion obviously. I knew the players

870
00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:34,640
Speaker 11: had opted out, as it was the right to do so.

871
00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:38,719
Speaker 11: So we did negotiate a very progressive CBA at the time.

872
00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:41,920
Speaker 11: Now now we're three years hence, and now the players

873
00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:44,759
Speaker 11: want more because we're doing well, and I totally understand it.

874
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:47,560
Speaker 11: And those statistics you just throughout are deceiving because we

875
00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:50,440
Speaker 11: have found every opportunity to put more money in the

876
00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:52,560
Speaker 11: player's pockets. We're going to pay them one point five

877
00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:56,239
Speaker 11: million dollars in league market player marketing agreements this year.

878
00:41:56,480 --> 00:41:58,279
Speaker 11: I don't know if you're watching the NBA playoffs, but

879
00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:02,239
Speaker 11: almost every ad or commercial has a WNBA player in it,

880
00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:06,480
Speaker 11: whether it's a rique Agumbawale or Nekagumaka, or Candice Parker

881
00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:08,719
Speaker 11: or Sue Bird who's now retired but still in our

882
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:12,560
Speaker 11: commercials and companies are really stepping up for those ad buys.

883
00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:14,400
Speaker 8: So we're finding ways.

884
00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:16,759
Speaker 11: We put a half million dollar prize pool up for

885
00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:19,680
Speaker 11: our Commissioner Cup in season tournament that now the NBA

886
00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:21,759
Speaker 11: is going to do a mid season tournament, but we

887
00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:23,840
Speaker 11: did it. This will be our third year of doing it.

888
00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:27,040
Speaker 11: We up the playoff bonuses by fifty three percent. I

889
00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:29,399
Speaker 11: put a four and a half million dollar charter fund

890
00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:32,520
Speaker 11: up this year. So we're finding ways that we know

891
00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:37,560
Speaker 11: what the players value. They value mom benefits, fertility benefits,

892
00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:41,839
Speaker 11: they value bonuses, things like that, so you know, those

893
00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:44,000
Speaker 11: don't always get taken into account in the math, but

894
00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:46,960
Speaker 11: you know, as we get into the next collective bargaining cycle,

895
00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:48,640
Speaker 11: what we're trying to do is set this league up

896
00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:51,040
Speaker 11: for forty to fifty years, not just the next five.

897
00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:54,480
Speaker 11: So that's why we raised the seventy five million last February,

898
00:42:54,560 --> 00:42:56,680
Speaker 11: because I said, I came in from a capitol rich

899
00:42:56,760 --> 00:42:59,640
Speaker 11: company to a capital poor company, and I said, not

900
00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:01,880
Speaker 11: only do we need the financial capital, but that'll give

901
00:43:01,960 --> 00:43:03,960
Speaker 11: us the ability to get the human capital we need

902
00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:08,400
Speaker 11: to again drive a new digital platform marketing, you know,

903
00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:10,120
Speaker 11: because sports, you know, you.

904
00:43:10,160 --> 00:43:11,879
Speaker 8: Look, I'm a big studier of history too.

905
00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:14,279
Speaker 11: You look back when the NBA was forty years in,

906
00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:15,520
Speaker 11: they were still on tape delay.

907
00:43:15,560 --> 00:43:16,280
Speaker 8: And what happened.

908
00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:19,080
Speaker 11: They got a big rivalry coming out of college called

909
00:43:19,200 --> 00:43:20,360
Speaker 11: Magic Johnson.

910
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:21,880
Speaker 8: And Larry Bird and that drove people to.

911
00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:24,439
Speaker 11: Watch and then comparatives to the people And a couple

912
00:43:24,440 --> 00:43:27,480
Speaker 11: of years later, what happened Michael Jordan and the marketing

913
00:43:27,560 --> 00:43:28,239
Speaker 11: machine Nike.

914
00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:29,920
Speaker 3: So I have to ask about the biggest story in

915
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:32,320
Speaker 3: sports this week, which of course is the unexpected mergerer

916
00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:35,680
Speaker 3: of the PGA Tour and Live Golf. What intrigued me though,

917
00:43:35,880 --> 00:43:38,600
Speaker 3: was how women's golf thought about potentially doing business with

918
00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:39,280
Speaker 3: Saudi Arabia.

919
00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:40,760
Speaker 8: And I know you're on the board of the LPGA

920
00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:41,520
Speaker 8: because the.

921
00:43:41,640 --> 00:43:44,719
Speaker 3: LPGA commissioner last summer said she would take a phone

922
00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:48,279
Speaker 3: call from Live Golf because it's my responsibility to evaluate

923
00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:51,200
Speaker 3: every opportunity. What do you think about that idea that

924
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:55,200
Speaker 3: women's sports can't afford to ignore a potential benefactor, even

925
00:43:55,239 --> 00:43:58,479
Speaker 3: when the benefactor might not be their first choice, right.

926
00:43:58,400 --> 00:43:59,960
Speaker 11: Well, first I'm not on the board of the LPGA.

927
00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:02,520
Speaker 11: I'm a board of the USGA, which is i apological

928
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:06,480
Speaker 11: profit about the game of golfs just but no. Look,

929
00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:08,760
Speaker 11: I think women's sports is really hard. It's like pushing

930
00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:10,759
Speaker 11: a big boulder up a hill. And whenever you can

931
00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:13,319
Speaker 11: look at opportunities, but it also has to be whether

932
00:44:13,360 --> 00:44:16,000
Speaker 11: it's a company that you're looking at partnering with or

933
00:44:16,080 --> 00:44:17,960
Speaker 11: a country you're looking at partner with, it has to

934
00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:20,480
Speaker 11: share your values and that's how we think about it

935
00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:23,040
Speaker 11: at the WNBA. So I can't comment on the lpgair

936
00:44:23,080 --> 00:44:24,480
Speaker 11: Golf specifically, but.

937
00:44:24,560 --> 00:44:27,239
Speaker 3: I do know hypothetically, if Saudi Arabia came to you,

938
00:44:27,719 --> 00:44:29,200
Speaker 3: how do you think you might respond to that.

939
00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:32,160
Speaker 11: I think we'd evaluate it across what our global games

940
00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:34,440
Speaker 11: platform looks like. It wouldn't be the first place I went,

941
00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:36,400
Speaker 11: for sure, but we have this opportunity like we had

942
00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:39,279
Speaker 11: in Canada, in Europe, in Asia and Africa. I mean

943
00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:41,719
Speaker 11: Africa would love for a WNBA game to come there.

944
00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:44,160
Speaker 11: So we look at it in the context of maybe

945
00:44:44,200 --> 00:44:46,840
Speaker 11: an EMEA games. You know, you're a Middle East Africa

946
00:44:47,239 --> 00:44:49,400
Speaker 11: as part of our global platform, but we'd look at

947
00:44:49,440 --> 00:44:52,560
Speaker 11: it too. So I don't disagree with Molly, but Commissioner,

948
00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:55,560
Speaker 11: you know of the LPGA, but it is something I

949
00:44:55,600 --> 00:44:58,960
Speaker 11: think you have to think through. And the WNBA players,

950
00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:01,879
Speaker 11: we were running a very player first, player led league

951
00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:04,120
Speaker 11: and I would go to them first and say.

952
00:45:04,160 --> 00:45:05,480
Speaker 8: That's a great air to you want to play.

953
00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:09,279
Speaker 3: Final question to you, women's sports overall, there's a lot

954
00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:11,879
Speaker 3: of eyeballs, there's a lot of money. It's a growth story.

955
00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:13,880
Speaker 3: So my question to you is what stage of the

956
00:45:13,960 --> 00:45:16,600
Speaker 3: growth are we at. Is it closer to pre IPO

957
00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:20,440
Speaker 3: Google Are we past that point? Do you worry perhaps

958
00:45:20,520 --> 00:45:23,439
Speaker 3: that it's getting frothy like an FTX in late twenty

959
00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:23,920
Speaker 3: twenty two.

960
00:45:24,320 --> 00:45:27,760
Speaker 11: Yeah, I would say we're approaching or the tween years

961
00:45:27,880 --> 00:45:29,239
Speaker 11: at least for the WNBA.

962
00:45:29,680 --> 00:45:32,080
Speaker 8: I think women's sports overall huge momentum.

963
00:45:32,080 --> 00:45:33,640
Speaker 11: We're going to get a huge lift off the Women's

964
00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:35,480
Speaker 11: World Cup soccer this year. We're going to get a

965
00:45:35,520 --> 00:45:38,280
Speaker 11: huge lift off the Olympics next year. The USA women's

966
00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:41,520
Speaker 11: national team is going for their eighth consecutive gold medal

967
00:45:41,560 --> 00:45:43,560
Speaker 11: there in Paris next year. It will be an all

968
00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:46,640
Speaker 11: time record in the history of team sports in the Olympics.

969
00:45:46,800 --> 00:45:51,080
Speaker 1: That's WNBA Commissioner Kathy Engelbert speaking with our own Scarlett

970
00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:54,200
Speaker 1: Foo at the Bloomberg invest Conference earlier this week. To

971
00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:58,919
Speaker 1: hear more conversations like this one from the conference and more,

972
00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:04,719
Speaker 1: subscribe to the Bloomberg Talks podcast, available on Apple, Spotify

973
00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:08,480
Speaker 1: and anywhere else you get your podcasts. Coming up on

974
00:46:08,640 --> 00:46:12,239
Speaker 1: the Bloomberg Business of Sports, we talked with Bloomberg TVs

975
00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:17,120
Speaker 1: Kaylee Lines us. He's back to preview the latest episode

976
00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:21,040
Speaker 1: of the Chief Future Officer on Monumental Sports and the

977
00:46:21,200 --> 00:46:24,279
Speaker 1: Leonses Family. That's straight ahead on the Bloomberg Business of

978
00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:31,160
Speaker 1: Sports Bloomberg Radio around the world. This is the Bloomberg

979
00:46:31,200 --> 00:46:33,319
Speaker 1: Business of Sports show where we explore the big money

980
00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:35,840
Speaker 1: issues in the world of sports on Michael Barr along

981
00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:39,399
Speaker 1: with Scarlett Foo and Damian Sasaur. Coming up this week

982
00:46:39,480 --> 00:46:44,160
Speaker 1: on the latest episode of Chief Future Officer on Bloomberg TV,

983
00:46:44,680 --> 00:46:49,279
Speaker 1: our own Kaylee Lines dives into a sports empire that

984
00:46:49,800 --> 00:46:54,040
Speaker 1: is continuing to grow. Monumental Sports and Kaylee's here to

985
00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:57,480
Speaker 1: give us a preview of the show. Klee, Welcome to

986
00:46:57,600 --> 00:46:59,120
Speaker 1: the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

987
00:46:59,400 --> 00:47:02,719
Speaker 7: Back like an left Yeah, we brought the smoke for you.

988
00:47:02,840 --> 00:47:06,759
Speaker 1: We appreciate it, but you're coming back to your old

989
00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:11,000
Speaker 1: stomping grounds, and you got the show that's taking place

990
00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:14,040
Speaker 1: right now, which is pretty cool. Tell us about it.

991
00:47:14,719 --> 00:47:18,600
Speaker 12: Yeah, well, it's the latest edition of Bloomberg's Chief Future Officer.

992
00:47:18,840 --> 00:47:21,279
Speaker 12: It's going to be premiering on June fourteenth at nine

993
00:47:21,320 --> 00:47:24,279
Speaker 12: to thirty pm Eastern Time across everywhere you get your

994
00:47:24,280 --> 00:47:28,200
Speaker 12: Bloomberg content. But it highlights Monumental Sports Group, which is

995
00:47:28,239 --> 00:47:31,879
Speaker 12: super exciting for me as a hometown Washington girl who

996
00:47:32,120 --> 00:47:34,560
Speaker 12: now lives in Washington, where I moved from New York

997
00:47:34,680 --> 00:47:37,120
Speaker 12: just a few months ago, and I grew up as

998
00:47:37,160 --> 00:47:39,960
Speaker 12: a Washington Capitals fan. And this is the empire under

999
00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:42,320
Speaker 12: which the Capitals, as well as the Washington Wizards and

1000
00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:45,919
Speaker 12: the Mystics and a slew of other sports teams fall

1001
00:47:46,080 --> 00:47:49,520
Speaker 12: under CFO Peter Biche and of course the man who owns.

1002
00:47:49,280 --> 00:47:52,640
Speaker 3: All of it is Ted Leonsis Okay, as a Rangers fan,

1003
00:47:52,760 --> 00:47:55,680
Speaker 3: this just hurts here and you say all this, but okay,

1004
00:47:55,760 --> 00:47:57,640
Speaker 3: well we'll go with this. Tell us a little bit

1005
00:47:57,680 --> 00:48:01,200
Speaker 3: about Monumental and how similar or different it is from

1006
00:48:01,280 --> 00:48:04,360
Speaker 3: say a Fenway Sports Group or Harris Splitzer Sports Entertainment.

1007
00:48:04,800 --> 00:48:06,880
Speaker 12: So it's similar in the sense that it really is

1008
00:48:07,160 --> 00:48:09,440
Speaker 12: a conglomerate, if you will, and they have all sorts

1009
00:48:09,440 --> 00:48:12,320
Speaker 12: of vertical integration. They just bought a regional sports networks

1010
00:48:12,360 --> 00:48:14,719
Speaker 12: to take ownership of the distribution of their content. They

1011
00:48:15,120 --> 00:48:18,320
Speaker 12: own teams across a variety of sports, including now Esports,

1012
00:48:18,320 --> 00:48:20,960
Speaker 12: where they've had an expansion. But what's unique about it

1013
00:48:21,320 --> 00:48:23,880
Speaker 12: is that it is all in Washington. They are a

1014
00:48:24,120 --> 00:48:28,040
Speaker 12: localized enterprise, and they don't really have interest in expanding

1015
00:48:28,120 --> 00:48:30,600
Speaker 12: outside of DC. When I was talking with Peter Bscha,

1016
00:48:30,719 --> 00:48:32,319
Speaker 12: I asked him, you know, have you ever even run

1017
00:48:32,360 --> 00:48:35,160
Speaker 12: the numbers on something like a Premier League team? And

1018
00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:36,879
Speaker 12: he said, yeah, you know, a lot has been brought

1019
00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:39,480
Speaker 12: to him. But ultimately they really believe in this market

1020
00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:42,640
Speaker 12: in particular and being so centered around it and kind

1021
00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:45,520
Speaker 12: of connecting with that community in that way. So they

1022
00:48:45,520 --> 00:48:46,960
Speaker 12: are DC all the way.

1023
00:48:47,080 --> 00:48:49,239
Speaker 2: So monumental sounds that a lot like Charles Dolan, sounds

1024
00:48:49,280 --> 00:48:51,360
Speaker 2: like MSG, right. It sounds like more of that regional,

1025
00:48:51,400 --> 00:48:53,760
Speaker 2: localized approach, and we know how that one is going.

1026
00:48:53,880 --> 00:48:56,279
Speaker 2: Now talk to us about Ted Leonsen's I mean, is

1027
00:48:56,360 --> 00:48:59,000
Speaker 2: he involved in the day to day operations of the company.

1028
00:48:59,080 --> 00:49:00,840
Speaker 2: I mean, hadgetown involved he is.

1029
00:49:01,040 --> 00:49:03,919
Speaker 12: He is very involved. I would describe him as really

1030
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:06,200
Speaker 12: the idea man. He says he is go, go, go

1031
00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:08,319
Speaker 12: all the time. And it's the role of Peter as

1032
00:49:08,360 --> 00:49:10,600
Speaker 12: the numbers guy, to be the one that kind of

1033
00:49:10,640 --> 00:49:12,919
Speaker 12: has to rain things in and make it work mathematically.

1034
00:49:13,800 --> 00:49:16,800
Speaker 12: So I would say ted Leonsis is definitely, you know,

1035
00:49:16,880 --> 00:49:20,040
Speaker 12: an idea generator. He wants to be expanding, especially post

1036
00:49:20,120 --> 00:49:23,799
Speaker 12: pandemic which shut down so many live sports for so long.

1037
00:49:24,239 --> 00:49:26,320
Speaker 12: I think coming out of the pandemic, they really wanted

1038
00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:30,759
Speaker 12: to accelerate what they were doing. And so he has,

1039
00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:32,560
Speaker 12: you know, all of these ideas and Peter has to

1040
00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:34,000
Speaker 12: make the numbers work.

1041
00:49:34,239 --> 00:49:36,640
Speaker 3: So did one of the ideas include bidding for the

1042
00:49:36,800 --> 00:49:40,560
Speaker 3: Washington football team because that would complete the portfolio.

1043
00:49:41,120 --> 00:49:43,719
Speaker 12: So the football team, no, although I did ask about

1044
00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:45,680
Speaker 12: that off the record, I will not be sharing what

1045
00:49:46,200 --> 00:49:49,440
Speaker 12: they said to me. But the baseball team, the Washington Nationals,

1046
00:49:49,520 --> 00:49:51,239
Speaker 12: is an interesting one because there has been a lot

1047
00:49:51,280 --> 00:49:55,160
Speaker 12: of reporting about Leonce's bidding two billion dollars for that.

1048
00:49:55,239 --> 00:49:57,719
Speaker 12: It's not officially for sale, but that obviously would be

1049
00:49:57,800 --> 00:50:02,160
Speaker 12: a huge bill in the DC market for Monumental add

1050
00:50:02,160 --> 00:50:03,719
Speaker 12: a lot of exposure for them at a time where

1051
00:50:03,760 --> 00:50:05,680
Speaker 12: they are trying to reach this milestone of a billion

1052
00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:07,080
Speaker 12: dollars in revenue.

1053
00:50:07,120 --> 00:50:07,239
Speaker 5: Now.

1054
00:50:07,239 --> 00:50:10,280
Speaker 12: I didn't get direct confirmation that that deal is happening,

1055
00:50:10,360 --> 00:50:12,440
Speaker 12: but Peter Biche did say one of the things he's

1056
00:50:12,480 --> 00:50:15,680
Speaker 12: most excited about in the next five years is an acquisition.

1057
00:50:16,800 --> 00:50:19,600
Speaker 1: Can't you remember the good old days when you could

1058
00:50:19,640 --> 00:50:23,080
Speaker 1: buy a sports team maybe for ten or eleven million

1059
00:50:23,200 --> 00:50:26,600
Speaker 1: dollars chump change. Now you need a billion and now

1060
00:50:27,160 --> 00:50:32,399
Speaker 1: it's it's just sky high. How can this sustain where

1061
00:50:32,680 --> 00:50:36,360
Speaker 1: the costs of teams in any of the four major

1062
00:50:36,440 --> 00:50:38,440
Speaker 1: sports continue to rise.

1063
00:50:38,360 --> 00:50:41,239
Speaker 12: Like this, Well, that's it's interesting because we did talk

1064
00:50:41,280 --> 00:50:44,520
Speaker 12: a lot about those valuations, how the valuations of Monumentals

1065
00:50:44,560 --> 00:50:48,880
Speaker 12: teams in particular have also gone up pretty materially and

1066
00:50:49,080 --> 00:50:52,080
Speaker 12: increased in value. But obviously the financing of these deals

1067
00:50:52,120 --> 00:50:55,320
Speaker 12: becomes really interesting, and that was a really interesting to

1068
00:50:55,360 --> 00:50:58,320
Speaker 12: get Peter's take on that, specifically what the actual financing

1069
00:50:58,360 --> 00:51:01,279
Speaker 12: would look like, and that alsought us to the idea of, well,

1070
00:51:01,480 --> 00:51:06,160
Speaker 12: could Monumental eventually be public one day and they did

1071
00:51:06,239 --> 00:51:07,839
Speaker 12: not rule it out, is what I would say.

1072
00:51:08,920 --> 00:51:09,759
Speaker 7: They did talk about.

1073
00:51:09,800 --> 00:51:11,919
Speaker 12: Ted Leonsis was talking about how he kind of views

1074
00:51:11,960 --> 00:51:14,640
Speaker 12: them as public already because they, you know, are accountable

1075
00:51:14,640 --> 00:51:17,719
Speaker 12: to the fans and it is so public facing. But

1076
00:51:17,960 --> 00:51:19,640
Speaker 12: what he said to me, they just need to be

1077
00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:22,360
Speaker 12: ready to do something like that emotionally, and if the

1078
00:51:22,400 --> 00:51:24,520
Speaker 12: time was right, then yeah, they could go public.

1079
00:51:24,719 --> 00:51:26,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, we'll talk to us about the assets.

1080
00:51:26,400 --> 00:51:28,600
Speaker 2: Telt us about monumental. It's not just about their ownership

1081
00:51:28,600 --> 00:51:31,120
Speaker 2: stakes and teams necessarily, it's also about the stadiums. It's

1082
00:51:31,120 --> 00:51:32,799
Speaker 2: the real estate. It's all that goes hand in hand

1083
00:51:32,880 --> 00:51:33,000
Speaker 2: with that.

1084
00:51:33,120 --> 00:51:34,279
Speaker 10: What does that portfolio look like?

1085
00:51:34,440 --> 00:51:36,719
Speaker 12: Yeah, that's a really important point, Damien, because they own

1086
00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:37,880
Speaker 12: Capital One Arena.

1087
00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:39,400
Speaker 7: It is their building.

1088
00:51:39,440 --> 00:51:41,399
Speaker 12: It was really cool for me to get the kind

1089
00:51:41,480 --> 00:51:44,239
Speaker 12: of full back, behind the scenes tour of it. But

1090
00:51:44,360 --> 00:51:47,120
Speaker 12: that allows them to do so much more than just sports.

1091
00:51:47,160 --> 00:51:49,480
Speaker 12: They host two hundred and twenty events there a year.

1092
00:51:49,560 --> 00:51:52,040
Speaker 12: I went to a Beyonce concert there. When I was

1093
00:51:52,080 --> 00:51:54,160
Speaker 12: a kid, I saw the circus there. So they have

1094
00:51:54,280 --> 00:51:56,839
Speaker 12: all those events and that venue also has now really

1095
00:51:56,880 --> 00:51:58,719
Speaker 12: turned into three hundred and sixty five days a year.

1096
00:51:58,800 --> 00:52:01,160
Speaker 12: They opened up dis strict E, which is now their

1097
00:52:01,200 --> 00:52:03,960
Speaker 12: e sports venue, something that they've bet pretty heavily on

1098
00:52:04,080 --> 00:52:05,960
Speaker 12: that has you food and beverage. You can just go

1099
00:52:06,040 --> 00:52:08,080
Speaker 12: there for lunch if you wanted to, as well as

1100
00:52:08,160 --> 00:52:11,080
Speaker 12: a sports book in the arena, the first of any

1101
00:52:11,200 --> 00:52:13,680
Speaker 12: kind like that, and that is also open three hundred

1102
00:52:13,680 --> 00:52:15,440
Speaker 12: and sixty five days a year. They can't actually get

1103
00:52:15,520 --> 00:52:17,680
Speaker 12: revenue from the betting. That all goes to Caesars, which

1104
00:52:17,719 --> 00:52:19,440
Speaker 12: is their partner, but they get all that food and

1105
00:52:19,520 --> 00:52:22,160
Speaker 12: drink money and that gets people into the building every

1106
00:52:22,239 --> 00:52:23,640
Speaker 12: day even if there is no event.

1107
00:52:23,880 --> 00:52:25,759
Speaker 1: I want to go back to something that Damien had

1108
00:52:25,800 --> 00:52:29,560
Speaker 1: briefly touched on. We're talking about RSN and all the

1109
00:52:29,680 --> 00:52:32,680
Speaker 1: media rights ands out there, and of course we know

1110
00:52:32,920 --> 00:52:35,680
Speaker 1: with RSN the wheels fell off like a you go

1111
00:52:36,200 --> 00:52:42,760
Speaker 1: and have we seen the day where the old business

1112
00:52:42,840 --> 00:52:47,080
Speaker 1: model of like trying to acquire the regular local sports

1113
00:52:47,480 --> 00:52:50,120
Speaker 1: is that gone? Now we go into streaming And as

1114
00:52:50,160 --> 00:52:52,560
Speaker 1: an old man, do I have to realize what inter

1115
00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:54,000
Speaker 1: means on the computer here?

1116
00:52:54,760 --> 00:52:57,080
Speaker 12: I think the answer might be both, because they do

1117
00:52:57,239 --> 00:53:00,719
Speaker 12: see NBC Sports Washington, the regional sports netw that they bought,

1118
00:53:00,920 --> 00:53:02,960
Speaker 12: is you know, a way to get their content, take

1119
00:53:03,000 --> 00:53:05,080
Speaker 12: ownership of it, distribute it to all of the fans.

1120
00:53:05,120 --> 00:53:07,080
Speaker 12: But they are thinking about ways to modernize it and

1121
00:53:07,640 --> 00:53:10,400
Speaker 12: expand it. They're investing tens of millions and dollars aside

1122
00:53:10,440 --> 00:53:12,759
Speaker 12: from the price that they paid for it to do

1123
00:53:13,040 --> 00:53:15,640
Speaker 12: you know, all of this OTT and other work to

1124
00:53:16,080 --> 00:53:18,960
Speaker 12: generate streaming content as well. And actually in the sportsbook

1125
00:53:19,000 --> 00:53:21,480
Speaker 12: I was talking about they have a studio with you know,

1126
00:53:21,600 --> 00:53:23,919
Speaker 12: glass walls if people run in a sports betting show

1127
00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:27,239
Speaker 12: right there next to the bar, which which was pretty cool.

1128
00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:29,719
Speaker 12: So they definitely are thinking about you know, media as

1129
00:53:29,719 --> 00:53:32,800
Speaker 12: a whole and how ultimately they can be generating content

1130
00:53:32,920 --> 00:53:34,960
Speaker 12: outside of just games to get to fans.

1131
00:53:35,080 --> 00:53:37,040
Speaker 1: How was next to the bar? But that's a different story.

1132
00:53:37,160 --> 00:53:42,560
Speaker 3: Yes, if they're only focused on Washington and they aren't

1133
00:53:42,560 --> 00:53:45,959
Speaker 3: really running the numbers in a serious way on say

1134
00:53:46,080 --> 00:53:49,520
Speaker 3: football teams outside the US, what's next for them eventually?

1135
00:53:49,600 --> 00:53:51,879
Speaker 3: Because you can hit upon all the major sports.

1136
00:53:51,600 --> 00:53:54,160
Speaker 12: And then what It's a really good question. I think

1137
00:53:54,239 --> 00:53:57,320
Speaker 12: that's why they are expanding into areas like e sports.

1138
00:53:58,280 --> 00:54:00,560
Speaker 12: That was something they bet pretty big on pretty early.

1139
00:54:00,680 --> 00:54:02,960
Speaker 12: I think a little bit of a first mover in

1140
00:54:03,080 --> 00:54:05,239
Speaker 12: that way. They have multiple teams, they have a full

1141
00:54:05,840 --> 00:54:10,000
Speaker 12: venue facilities for these esports players. So areas like that

1142
00:54:10,280 --> 00:54:12,520
Speaker 12: in the media as well. I think they're thinking about

1143
00:54:12,560 --> 00:54:14,840
Speaker 12: you know, it doesn't just have to be teams. It

1144
00:54:14,920 --> 00:54:18,400
Speaker 12: can be about this kind of entire ecosystem around sports,

1145
00:54:18,920 --> 00:54:20,600
Speaker 12: but branching out from there.

1146
00:54:21,320 --> 00:54:23,680
Speaker 2: So I'm not going to ask you to pronounce Alexevechkin

1147
00:54:23,920 --> 00:54:27,160
Speaker 2: or Perzinas. Can you pronounce this? I mean, Kelly and

1148
00:54:27,200 --> 00:54:29,000
Speaker 2: I have had some run ins with these names before

1149
00:54:29,680 --> 00:54:32,880
Speaker 2: now cally seriously, though, I mean, how involved is Monumental

1150
00:54:33,200 --> 00:54:36,320
Speaker 2: and Ted personally with the decision making around some of

1151
00:54:36,360 --> 00:54:38,960
Speaker 2: these impending free agents around I mean, these are two

1152
00:54:39,600 --> 00:54:42,319
Speaker 2: huge franchises in the respective sports. I mean, just how

1153
00:54:42,360 --> 00:54:43,400
Speaker 2: involved this Monumental?

1154
00:54:43,440 --> 00:54:44,840
Speaker 7: We also if he's like Jim Dolan or not.

1155
00:54:46,320 --> 00:54:47,920
Speaker 12: Well, so I had a lot of questions around this,

1156
00:54:48,040 --> 00:54:50,359
Speaker 12: right because we all see how huge some of these

1157
00:54:50,440 --> 00:54:52,840
Speaker 12: contracts are. And I asked, you know, Peter Biche, what

1158
00:54:52,960 --> 00:54:55,719
Speaker 12: is it like to sign a thirty plus million dollar

1159
00:54:55,800 --> 00:54:57,800
Speaker 12: bonus check to Alexovechkin, to which he said, you know,

1160
00:54:57,880 --> 00:54:59,600
Speaker 12: no one does checks anymore. It's all the wires. And

1161
00:54:59,640 --> 00:55:01,319
Speaker 12: I was like, that's not what the point I'm trying

1162
00:55:01,360 --> 00:55:04,200
Speaker 12: to make. But what's interesting about the role of Monumental

1163
00:55:04,280 --> 00:55:07,480
Speaker 12: as the kind of overarching enterprise is really those kind

1164
00:55:07,520 --> 00:55:11,240
Speaker 12: of decisions they leave to the teams, to the gms themselves. Obviously,

1165
00:55:11,400 --> 00:55:13,960
Speaker 12: in these leagues they're working with, there is a salary cap,

1166
00:55:14,040 --> 00:55:17,480
Speaker 12: so it takes some of the uncertainty around player compensation

1167
00:55:17,640 --> 00:55:19,239
Speaker 12: out of it. But when it comes to, you know,

1168
00:55:19,320 --> 00:55:21,800
Speaker 12: who should be paid, they kind of just give the

1169
00:55:21,880 --> 00:55:23,560
Speaker 12: high level number and this is how much the team

1170
00:55:23,600 --> 00:55:26,200
Speaker 12: has to spend and leave it to team management to

1171
00:55:26,400 --> 00:55:27,520
Speaker 12: decide how to divvy it up.

1172
00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:29,680
Speaker 1: Man, you sound like my wife. I was going to

1173
00:55:29,719 --> 00:55:31,719
Speaker 1: write h I really was, I'm gonna write it check

1174
00:55:32,239 --> 00:55:34,719
Speaker 1: and she looked at me and she said, hey there,

1175
00:55:34,840 --> 00:55:37,640
Speaker 1: old man. It's like you need your walker also because

1176
00:55:37,880 --> 00:55:40,080
Speaker 1: people don't do that anymore. But that, like you said,

1177
00:55:40,120 --> 00:55:43,960
Speaker 1: that's another Oh look who's back, Kaylee lines. Oh see,

1178
00:55:44,120 --> 00:55:46,680
Speaker 1: you're back where you belong and we love you.

1179
00:55:46,960 --> 00:55:47,799
Speaker 7: It's good to see you guys.

1180
00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:50,800
Speaker 1: Oh by the way, check it out, she's your officer.

1181
00:55:51,360 --> 00:55:55,160
Speaker 1: That's going to be the premium episode coming up Wednesday,

1182
00:55:55,400 --> 00:56:00,359
Speaker 1: June fourteenth, nine to thirty pm Wall Street Time. Klee again,

1183
00:56:00,440 --> 00:56:01,120
Speaker 1: thank you so much.

1184
00:56:01,280 --> 00:56:01,759
Speaker 12: Thanks guys.

1185
00:56:02,600 --> 00:56:04,520
Speaker 7: My goal is to one pick bus, something I've been

1186
00:56:04,560 --> 00:56:06,439
Speaker 7: dream since the kids. It feels better to be number

1187
00:56:06,440 --> 00:56:07,239
Speaker 7: one than number five.

1188
00:56:07,280 --> 00:56:08,480
Speaker 10: I'll wear a number because of Mike.

1189
00:56:08,640 --> 00:56:10,120
Speaker 7: We have a chance to go for three in a row.

1190
00:56:10,239 --> 00:56:12,120
Speaker 1: Good numbers are a good time. When I first started

1191
00:56:12,160 --> 00:56:14,400
Speaker 1: wearing that number, I would just have you in proud.

1192
00:56:14,160 --> 00:56:17,040
Speaker 10: Plumeberg Business of Sports, the number.

1193
00:56:16,840 --> 00:56:21,920
Speaker 1: Of the week. Hello, guess what time it is? It

1194
00:56:22,040 --> 00:56:24,359
Speaker 1: is that time. It's time for the number of the week.

1195
00:56:24,440 --> 00:56:26,600
Speaker 1: This is I think it's going to be a very

1196
00:56:26,640 --> 00:56:27,759
Speaker 1: easy Oh god.

1197
00:56:27,880 --> 00:56:30,319
Speaker 7: Are as much as the new PGA Tora Live Golf

1198
00:56:30,520 --> 00:56:31,640
Speaker 7: entity worth got it?

1199
00:56:31,760 --> 00:56:32,520
Speaker 1: You would now see?

1200
00:56:32,520 --> 00:56:33,279
Speaker 8: You know that.

1201
00:56:35,760 --> 00:56:37,880
Speaker 1: You'll know this though. I'm willing to bet it is

1202
00:56:37,960 --> 00:56:40,080
Speaker 1: just one of those things. Where As I was thinking

1203
00:56:40,120 --> 00:56:42,759
Speaker 1: about it, it slipped my mind this morning and I'm like,

1204
00:56:42,840 --> 00:56:44,880
Speaker 1: you know what, that's not bad. I might. I might

1205
00:56:45,000 --> 00:56:47,760
Speaker 1: try this. I'm going to start with you, Scarlett. Okay,

1206
00:56:48,040 --> 00:56:52,560
Speaker 1: what year did Floyd Mayweather retire from boxing? What year?

1207
00:56:53,440 --> 00:56:53,919
Speaker 7: Oh god?

1208
00:56:54,840 --> 00:56:56,760
Speaker 2: I would say, like you tried to make a comeback.

1209
00:56:56,760 --> 00:56:57,799
Speaker 2: I don't know, two thousand and five.

1210
00:56:57,840 --> 00:56:58,399
Speaker 7: I would guess.

1211
00:56:59,000 --> 00:57:02,600
Speaker 1: It's gotta be boy. If I say this, I'm gonna

1212
00:57:02,600 --> 00:57:04,600
Speaker 1: blow the I'm gonna give away everything, but I gotta

1213
00:57:04,680 --> 00:57:07,880
Speaker 1: say it. It was after he beat Connor McGregor.

1214
00:57:08,200 --> 00:57:10,840
Speaker 7: Okay, oh so it was recent twenty sixteen.

1215
00:57:11,480 --> 00:57:14,760
Speaker 2: Oh even after that, right, like twenty eighteen maybe.

1216
00:57:15,280 --> 00:57:19,760
Speaker 1: Boy, that's amazing. You guys went to too high, too

1217
00:57:19,880 --> 00:57:23,240
Speaker 1: low twenty seven Oh my gosh, yeah wow wow, yeah,

1218
00:57:23,400 --> 00:57:25,440
Speaker 1: and I forgot all about that. What year did he?

1219
00:57:25,920 --> 00:57:28,479
Speaker 2: I forgot he came out for that. So they're saying, okay,

1220
00:57:28,520 --> 00:57:31,480
Speaker 2: so retirement by after the Connor McGregor, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1221
00:57:31,320 --> 00:57:33,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was like man, and he what it was

1222
00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:38,000
Speaker 1: fifty consecutive fights without a defeat. Yeah, like wow, good. Well,

1223
00:57:38,160 --> 00:57:41,240
Speaker 1: hey see that's what I'm saying. Short term memory sometimes

1224
00:57:41,280 --> 00:57:45,400
Speaker 1: with me doesn't work. This has been the Bloomberg Business

1225
00:57:45,560 --> 00:57:47,560
Speaker 1: of Sports where we explore some of the big money

1226
00:57:47,560 --> 00:57:49,640
Speaker 1: issues in the world of sports on Michael Barr. Hey.

1227
00:57:50,200 --> 00:57:52,120
Speaker 1: You can follow me on Twitter at Big Bar.

1228
00:57:52,080 --> 00:57:54,360
Speaker 7: Sports and I'm on Twitter at Scarlett Foo.

1229
00:57:54,320 --> 00:57:56,080
Speaker 1: And you can catch me on Twitter at the Sas

1230
00:57:56,200 --> 00:57:59,720
Speaker 1: Hour and hey, you can download this show wherever you

1231
00:58:00,240 --> 00:58:03,800
Speaker 1: your podcast. Thanks for joining us. Tune in again next

1232
00:58:03,840 --> 00:58:06,880
Speaker 1: week for the latest on the stories moving big old

1233
00:58:06,960 --> 00:58:09,000
Speaker 1: money in the world of sports. You're listening to The

1234
00:58:09,040 --> 00:58:13,040
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world,