1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:04,800 Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business of Sports where in a situation 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: that we haven't dealt with in modern times, the pandemic 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,320 Speaker 1: here has really accelerated the investments that we've been havocating 4 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: for for a year. From a macro standpoint, I think 5 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: our sport industry is really forced to look at the 6 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: business a little bit differently. In depth conversations with the 7 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 1: leaders in the sports industry and sport, there's a good aberration. 8 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 1: We're still moving forward part of something much bigger than sports. 9 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:28,480 Speaker 1: Right now, the health and sadustry of our stakeholders a 10 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:31,160 Speaker 1: real smart important every moment. I think we're all from 11 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: a business respective thinking about the impact that the virus 12 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: is having across the country. In Bloomberg Business of Sports 13 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: from Bloomberg Radio, Hell everyone, I'm Jason Kelly, you know 14 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: Mike Lynch and Michael Barr And this is the Bloomberg 15 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: Business of Sports podcast where we explore the big money 16 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: issues in the world of sports. And today we're so 17 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: excited to be joined again by Angelo Riggiero. She is 18 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: the co founder c of the Sports Innovation Lab, former 19 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: ice hockey standout gold medalist for Time Olympian with Team USA, 20 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,399 Speaker 1: Harvard Business School, Hockey Hall of Famer. Uh, so much 21 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: to talk about, Angela. Really nice to have you back 22 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: with us. Hope all as well with you up in 23 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,919 Speaker 1: the Boston area. Yeah, thanks for having me on Chritchi 24 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 1: Chritchy back. Well. So much has happened in the world 25 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: of sports, and we were talking right before we came 26 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: on to start recording that. You know, one of the 27 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:27,040 Speaker 1: reports that that you and your group have put out 28 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: that I was just fascinated by, and I think I 29 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:31,759 Speaker 1: speak for everybody with this is the top twenty five 30 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: most innovative sports teams and sports franchises. Let's start there, 31 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: because I was blown away by a number of different 32 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: elements how much the pandemic has obviously changed, but also 33 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: how much these teams are really doing. And there are, 34 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: at least to me, some surprising elements of this. I 35 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: wonder what surprised you as you sort of put it 36 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: all together, you and the team. Yeah, well thanks for 37 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: calling that out. We um so. As the CEO and 38 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: co founder of Sports Innovation Lab. From day one, we've 39 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: been thinking about how do we use data to really 40 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: understand the industry, how do we help healthy industry evolve? 41 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 1: And as you mentioned the pandemic has really accelerated change, 42 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: accelerated the need to do things differently, moving the industry 43 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: at large from I would say more analog selling tickets 44 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: and kind of the same business model to a digital transformation. 45 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 1: Everyone's recognizing the industry has to do more to service 46 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: their fan, which is what we focus on at Sports 47 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:40,359 Speaker 1: Innovation Lab as the fluid fan as we call it. UM. 48 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: So we've been looking at it through the lens of 49 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: you know, the report UH for for many years. How 50 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 1: do you drive more revenue? How do you invest in 51 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: the right technologies, and how are you actually structured in 52 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: the right way? And UM, you know, I don't think 53 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: there are many surprises, UM, only because we've been thinking 54 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: about this for four years. But big takeaway UM, I 55 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: think was just how over reliant we've been UM on 56 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: the traditional revenue streams, the revenue diversification pillar, the the 57 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: specifically UM ticket sales, merch UM broadcasts rights, UM, you know, 58 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: the sponsorship if if you remove those, which we did 59 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,399 Speaker 1: from the report, and you know, you've looked at all 60 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,359 Speaker 1: the other ways that you can drive revenue, really trying 61 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: to then think about enterprise value. UM. You know, the 62 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: takeaway for us is a lot of teams been scoring 63 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: here that that have fantastic game day experiences. Fantasy are 64 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: known to be quote innovative, UM. But when you strip 65 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: all of the what they're you know, the core elements 66 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,120 Speaker 1: of sports away, which is what happened during the pandemic, 67 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: the usual way you make money and then rely on 68 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: other ways to touch fans, service, fans, support fans. UM. 69 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: You know a lot of international football clubs in March, 70 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: which you know, I would have thought the Cowboys and 71 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: the Lakers and some of these you know, sexier teams 72 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: would have scored higher. But again we were talking about 73 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: enterprise value and diversification of what you're doing, and it 74 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 1: and and it doesn't I guess it doesn't come to 75 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 1: a surprise of you. Then think about you know a 76 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 1: lot of these football clubs have been around for for 77 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:26,599 Speaker 1: decades and you know millennia. Uh, you know, they've been 78 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: around longer than some of the North American clubs. UM. 79 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: And so they've been thinking about this, I'm really trying 80 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,600 Speaker 1: to be global and diversified what they've been doing for 81 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:41,039 Speaker 1: you know, pre pandemic. But the pandemic just really cast 82 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: a light on what teams were doing for what they 83 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:48,919 Speaker 1: weren't doing. Looking at this report, people, especially here in 84 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,599 Speaker 1: the US when it comes to soccer, better get with 85 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:56,480 Speaker 1: the program because this isn't anymore they played in Europe 86 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: now none of this is. This thing is super duper 87 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: huge and we're going to get left behind in the 88 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,720 Speaker 1: US if we don't catch on. And I just want 89 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: your thoughts on that. Yeah, I would say, um, you 90 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: know the game they experienced, the some of the bells 91 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: and whistles. I think North America absolutely crushes it there. 92 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 1: You know, we are definitely ahead in terms of providing 93 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: that in game. You know, think the Vegas Golden Nights. 94 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 1: There's all these amazing examples of teams here in North America. 95 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: Um that over deliver in some ways on the game 96 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,279 Speaker 1: day experience. But then, but what this report was about 97 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: was again enterprise value. It's it's long term growth. It's 98 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: touching fans where they are in a personalized way that 99 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: you know, these football clubs, International football clubs have already started, 100 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:50,119 Speaker 1: say you know, their own O T. T channel, They've 101 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 1: they have a women's program, Um, they have, they've invested 102 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: in E sports, they've they've already been doing sportsmen. Again, 103 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: that's by nature of the laws and are up versus 104 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 1: where we are here or we're just catching on and 105 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:06,599 Speaker 1: you legally can't do sports betting in certain states, so 106 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: some teams get danged for that. But the report was 107 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: about what are the possible ways you could UM touch 108 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:17,160 Speaker 1: your fans, deliver and experience to your fans and ultimately 109 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:21,680 Speaker 1: create revenue, drive more revenue and wallet share from those fans, 110 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: and thinking global UM, thinking what are the different assets 111 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: you can build to support your your core fan base. 112 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: The football club's UM check a lot of those boxes 113 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:37,119 Speaker 1: in this and this report and in our analysis, which 114 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: I'll say isn't a report, it really to us is 115 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: a strategic roadmap for growth. UM. So uh I don't 116 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: I wouldn't say that the US is and North American 117 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,400 Speaker 1: sports teams are bad. I would just say we're focused 118 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: a lot on the game day experience unless on the 119 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 1: overall enterprise growth UM. And it's increasingly you see a 120 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:02,280 Speaker 1: lot of private exity firms and and and money coming 121 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 1: into the space UM uh financial instruments. They're looking for 122 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: that that bigger UM, that bigger play. So uh So 123 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: we're doing things well in US and in North America. 124 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: But are we really focusing on again getting two fans 125 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: where they are how they wanted that personalization? That that 126 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 1: is one thing that the football clubs in this analysis 127 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: really really stood out for. So Angela, I'm looking at 128 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: the list of the top twenty here and I'm just 129 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 1: going to focus in on a couple of American franchises 130 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: in your top ten, the Golden State Warriors and the 131 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: Sacramento Kings. I never would have picked those two franchises. 132 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: What are they doing right that? Like the New York Knicks, 133 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics, that Dallas Cowboys, the sexy or franchises 134 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: are not doing Yeah again, Um, what's interesting The league 135 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 1: with the most amount of teens is the NBA. UM. 136 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 1: So just to those examples, Um, you know, do you 137 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:04,280 Speaker 1: have a multi use district? I mean, that's one way 138 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: you can touch fans before, during, and after three sixty 139 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: five days of the year. You're are you building a 140 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,680 Speaker 1: facility that can can touch those fans and give them 141 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: more opportunities to interact with your brand and spend money 142 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: on your brand? Um? Are you investing? And again the 143 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: technology platforms that allowed your fans even if they never 144 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: step foot in a facility, which during the pandemic was 145 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:32,079 Speaker 1: again highlighted. UM, look at the ownership groups of those 146 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 1: two properties, specifically UM their technology uh technology billionaires. I mean, so, 147 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 1: what's the and that goes into our organizational agility pillar? 148 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:48,559 Speaker 1: Are you from a leadership perspective, if you're an owner 149 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: of one of these teams or or uh you know, 150 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 1: the CEO of one of these teams, you have the 151 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: right team underneath you that can execute on that vision, 152 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: that can make the right built by partner decisions. So 153 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 1: I always talked at some of the results as well, 154 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 1: believe me, but I've always wanted to produce a report. 155 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: It wasn't influenced by my opinion because I would have 156 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: gotten a very different list of It was just my opinion. Um, 157 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: you guys all a love the different list of it 158 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 1: was your opinion, And that, I think is what the 159 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: industry has been used to is, Hey, we're get in 160 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: a room, we talk about it. It's what who we 161 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: can get to or what we've read that week. And 162 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: this report was really about, like, let's let's lay the 163 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:28,319 Speaker 1: ground rules for what we think is important in terms 164 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,199 Speaker 1: of growth again, revenue diversification, technology alignment, to what your 165 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: fans want, or you're investing in the right technology what 166 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:37,680 Speaker 1: your fans want, and are you structured in the right 167 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:39,840 Speaker 1: way you have the right teams in place to have 168 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:42,840 Speaker 1: access to new ideas and really look and feel like 169 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 1: your fan base. UM, the teams that played well there, 170 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:49,560 Speaker 1: uh you know, invest in those areas. It comes from 171 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 1: the top, honestly, And I guess that's my point. Like 172 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 1: some of this is just looking at who your leaders 173 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,440 Speaker 1: are and again how they're thinking about UM investing in 174 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:00,160 Speaker 1: and supporting in their sports franchises, not just as a 175 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: killer game. They're not just winning. We heard that a lot. Well, 176 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:06,560 Speaker 1: my team wins, everything else, you know, falls into place. 177 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:10,080 Speaker 1: And what this report I think isolated is UM. I mean, 178 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 1: look at the Knicks, like to one of these examples, Like, 179 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:14,719 Speaker 1: even if you're out winning in some cases, you can 180 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:17,920 Speaker 1: still drive a lot of value and be innovative. UM. 181 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:20,880 Speaker 1: It doesn't just have to be on the court. Yeah, 182 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:25,199 Speaker 1: just look at the Knicks. Is the beginning different? Just 183 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,000 Speaker 1: so many different conversations, Angela. You know, you know, as 184 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:31,600 Speaker 1: you're talking about the different facilities and the different ownership 185 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 1: structures and whatnot. You know, one of the things that 186 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:36,280 Speaker 1: that intrigued me reading through the report was you know 187 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: you talked about some shared facilities. Uh, and specifically I 188 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 1: believe you mentioned, you know what's going on in Los 189 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: Angeles and the soccer franchises there, and I believe you're 190 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: gonna have l A f C. And Angel City the 191 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:54,679 Speaker 1: soon to be playing women's soccer team. They're sharing a facility. 192 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 1: And that leads me to I think I'm not making 193 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:00,440 Speaker 1: too far of a leap between and some of the 194 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: other work that that you're doing around the Fan Project, 195 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 1: which is about engaging around women's sports, and part of 196 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 1: it is the physical location, part of it is the engagement. 197 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: Tell us about the Fan Project because this is really 198 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 1: about elevating women's sports in many ways. Yeah, thank you. 199 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 1: Um So Again, we've we try to be data driven 200 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:24,440 Speaker 1: and everything we do um our analysis, our recommendations to 201 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:27,960 Speaker 1: our clients is about that. Um so that when you know, 202 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,200 Speaker 1: we produce lists or reports or research reports, it's all 203 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:34,200 Speaker 1: about what was the data say. And we realized that 204 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:38,680 Speaker 1: the number one question this industry gets asked and tries 205 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,960 Speaker 1: to answer but cannot do successfully in our opinion, and 206 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 1: I think most would argue the same is who is 207 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 1: my fan literally, who is my customer? Who is the 208 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:54,680 Speaker 1: consumer of sports? UM. A lot of the industry today 209 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:58,480 Speaker 1: looks at their own CRM system. They might have demographic, 210 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 1: they might have no mail lift UM, but they don't 211 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 1: understand the fan in terms of their different behaviors. And 212 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,440 Speaker 1: that's what our food fan research has been really focused 213 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,000 Speaker 1: on over the last few years is like behavioral analysis 214 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: and so UM I tie this to women's sports and 215 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:20,840 Speaker 1: the Fan Project because right now how we measure interest 216 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 1: in sports is almost exclusively focused on Nielsen ratings on 217 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,520 Speaker 1: linear viewership. And there's a chicken in the egg problem 218 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:33,720 Speaker 1: here that if we are focused simply on measuring one 219 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,160 Speaker 1: fan behavior is a very important behavior in this industry 220 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: watching um, you're missing out on all the other behaviors 221 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:47,680 Speaker 1: that would indicate and demonstrate fandom interest. Money on the table, Uh, 222 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 1: fans are co watching? Well, who's measuring that? Fans are buying? Well, 223 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:56,080 Speaker 1: that's it's in a different data set over maybe fanatic zones. 224 00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: What what are they betting? Okay, all the betting providers 225 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:03,960 Speaker 1: on data, all these different data sets are disaggregated, and 226 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 1: what we're focused on through the Fan Project is looking 227 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: at fan interest. Fan demand behaviors of fans and measuring that. 228 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 1: And so what we're doing with women's sports is actually 229 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:20,720 Speaker 1: asking fans to give us their social media archives. And 230 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: I believe because the vast majority of women's sports fans 231 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:30,680 Speaker 1: cannot view online or cannot view on linear TV. I 232 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:35,679 Speaker 1: think it's four percent of viewership is allocated to women's sports. 233 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: But there's a lot of fans out there. They're forced 234 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:41,559 Speaker 1: to go online on Twitch, on different O t Q 235 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 1: to whistle, other other O t t providers, other ways 236 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:50,319 Speaker 1: to to show interests there. They talk about women's sports online, 237 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:53,839 Speaker 1: they like athletes, they share content, they create content. There's 238 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:57,440 Speaker 1: a lot of activity which we hope to measure and 239 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:02,080 Speaker 1: then produce a really um amazing data driven report on 240 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:05,199 Speaker 1: the business opportunity of women's sports. So we're attempting through 241 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 1: the Fan Project to show with data that there's a 242 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,559 Speaker 1: hell of a market out there that's currently underserved because 243 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: you're measuring the wrong thing. You're measuring something is very important. 244 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: Put again back to the chicken and the egg problem. 245 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 1: It's not the only indicator of um of fan demand 246 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: or fan interest. So, uh, if you're if you're listening 247 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: and you care, go to the Fan Project dot CEO 248 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: help us out. We're literally gonna do good with your data. 249 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: We're gonna try to turn it into a recommendation to 250 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:38,320 Speaker 1: the market. UM. That shows that there's a lot of 251 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 1: interests out there, and it might be a food fan, 252 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: it might be the casual fan that doesn't watch women's 253 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:46,640 Speaker 1: sports but occasionally like something from the women's soccer teams 254 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 1: like oh that's awesome. Well, that to me shows in 255 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,520 Speaker 1: our data hopefully will show that UM enough of those 256 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:56,200 Speaker 1: people that are casual fans. If you put more on TV, 257 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: they'll watch it. If you build it, they will come, UM, 258 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: not the other way around. I want to expand on 259 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 1: that because what you guys are trying to do with 260 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 1: Sports Innovation Lab, the end result is you want to 261 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:11,240 Speaker 1: increase the coverage of women's sports to ten of all 262 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: sports coverage in ten months time. Can you expand more 263 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 1: on that? Yeah? I mean it's it's we keep referencing 264 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 1: the four UM. I think with the right UM information 265 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:30,600 Speaker 1: we can drive more investment. And investment could mean financial investment. 266 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:32,840 Speaker 1: You see all the money flowing into Angel City and 267 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: Washington and all these women's soccer teams in the w 268 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 1: n B a now, UM, it could mean investment in 269 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: terms of sponsorship, which certainly is a main is one 270 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: of the main pillars of any sports ecosystem, but viewership, 271 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 1: we found is also look the whole The whole ecosystem 272 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: works when you can be on, when you can be live, 273 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:56,520 Speaker 1: and when you can be on linear. UM. So we're 274 00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 1: trying to push for more visibility of women's sports and 275 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: had a whole campaign under the hashtag she did that, 276 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: which is, hey, if you if you were inspired by 277 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: a woman by women's sports, UM, tell us about it, 278 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:14,480 Speaker 1: because we know if you can, if we can see more. 279 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 1: Billy Jing King, one of my great friends UM and 280 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 1: and role models, always says, if you can see it, 281 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 1: you can be it. And so we want to get 282 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 1: more visibility today in International Women's Day. Give more visibility, 283 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: you'll get more interest and you'll you'll change the industry 284 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:34,360 Speaker 1: in the ecosystem. A lot of people say, I'm not 285 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 1: intoed to women's sports, so they've never seen it maybe 286 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: outside of the Olympics. It's it's hard to it's literally 287 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: hard to be a women's sports fan. So we're hoping 288 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: to move the needle from from four to ten percent 289 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: and just put a stake in the gown in terms 290 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 1: of where we want to go. All right, Angela capturing 291 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: the fluid fan. Who is and what is a fluid fan? 292 00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:02,880 Speaker 1: What do you guys think? They're everywhere? You guys are fluid. 293 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,000 Speaker 1: We're all fluid fans. They're all fluid by nature. We 294 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:10,159 Speaker 1: all don't do one thing, we don't look alike. The 295 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: fluid fan is about this elusive fan, this fickle fan 296 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:17,719 Speaker 1: in today's environment, especially you know, coming out of COVID, 297 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: that demands more, that wants a personalized experience, that it 298 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:25,440 Speaker 1: is digitally savvy, that um cares and votes through their 299 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:29,119 Speaker 1: values and watches according to who they are. And again 300 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 1: it's it's it's shifting away from the one size fits 301 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:34,119 Speaker 1: all approach. Look we're on linear it's at this time 302 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 1: ticket sales or this way. It's no, we need to 303 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:43,080 Speaker 1: do more to understand this, this ever changing fan that 304 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 1: wants these different experiences. They might want to they probably 305 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 1: never go. I'll just use the NBA as an example. 306 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 1: Maybe they've never gone in an NBA game, but they 307 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:55,919 Speaker 1: know every single player because of NBA two K. Maybe 308 00:17:55,920 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 1: they are they're the ones buying the top shot. Maybe 309 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 1: there everyone I'm sure following the top shot example Dapper 310 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:06,800 Speaker 1: Labs and the the blockchain that's allows you to own 311 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:14,040 Speaker 1: digital cards. Now, basically maybe they are simply using their phone. Literally, 312 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:17,800 Speaker 1: just a consumer that's not just buying tickets for watching 313 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:19,920 Speaker 1: a linear is a fluid fan because they're using their 314 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:23,439 Speaker 1: phone now, they're more digitally savvy to consumed content. They 315 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:26,360 Speaker 1: might watch something on Twitch and talk. All these behaviors 316 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: I can talk about. They they're open to change. I 317 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: guess so you guys, I don't know your favorite team. 318 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,199 Speaker 1: I was a Kings fan growing up, as Dick heard 319 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:37,920 Speaker 1: Kings fan. I grew up in l A. I love hockey. Um, 320 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:40,640 Speaker 1: but they're open to change. I'm a fluid fan now 321 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:42,639 Speaker 1: I'm I live in Boston. Now I'm okay, I'm a 322 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 1: Burns fan. They're empowered to choose because of technology. We've 323 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: given them multiple platforms, multiple options, so they're empowered to 324 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 1: do more as a fan, which is fantastic. Again back 325 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:56,280 Speaker 1: to our top twenty report. You need to give them 326 00:18:56,280 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: more experiences, and the key point is there constantly evolving. 327 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 1: You think you know your fan one day, and they change. 328 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: We all change. I order my groceries now with two 329 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:08,679 Speaker 1: clicks of a button because of the pandemic. I'm more 330 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 1: digitally savvy. Well, I expect the same of my sports 331 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 1: experiences and entertainment experiences, So they're constantly evolving. So the 332 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:19,119 Speaker 1: fluid fan harding to nail down in a sentence, but 333 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:23,160 Speaker 1: that they are like digitally savvy, they expect more. They 334 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: want personalized attention, and you don't. You'll never truly know 335 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 1: who they are, which means we have to really pay 336 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: attention to our fans, maybe for the first time in 337 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: uh in In in the in the sports industries lifetime. 338 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: And so Angela, give us a tangible example of something 339 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,840 Speaker 1: that you've seen a team do or you've advised a 340 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,600 Speaker 1: team to do that responds to that sort of fan 341 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:51,560 Speaker 1: because what you're describing, if you sort of play it 342 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:55,760 Speaker 1: out to its logical conclusion, you know, ultimately undermines the 343 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 1: economic model in many ways that we have come to associate, 344 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:03,240 Speaker 1: especially with pro sports across all the major leagues. As 345 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 1: you say, it was all about the game day, and 346 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,119 Speaker 1: you know, is the food good and are the site 347 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:11,200 Speaker 1: lines good? And you know, can you park and all 348 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: those different things. What are some things that you've seen 349 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: teams do to sort of adapt their business to this 350 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:21,479 Speaker 1: fluid fan. Yeah, and I'll tie that back to our 351 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:24,680 Speaker 1: top twenty report because that's literally what we did. We said, 352 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:26,679 Speaker 1: if you take away the core elements, and we're not 353 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,359 Speaker 1: saying throw the baby out of the bathwater, yet you 354 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:33,200 Speaker 1: still need your broadcast, you still need your tickets. Absolutely, 355 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:35,879 Speaker 1: this is about the R and D budget. Where are 356 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 1: you spending money against new experiences, new ways that fans 357 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:44,280 Speaker 1: want to interact, UM, new ways to drive to drive revenue. 358 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,160 Speaker 1: And if you go back to that report, UM top 359 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:50,240 Speaker 1: twenty five teams in the world, some of the trends 360 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 1: and emerge. I think we'll answer that question for you. UM. 361 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 1: Uh have a paid fan membership. What does that mean? 362 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:00,639 Speaker 1: You're gonna drive more reve you, but you're gonna give 363 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: them more unique custom experiences. Uh. Of the teams have 364 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,200 Speaker 1: their own O T T platform over the top. Why 365 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,680 Speaker 1: do we recommend that, Yes, it's a new driver revenue. 366 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:17,280 Speaker 1: You also begin to understand your consumer, collect data on 367 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 1: your on your fan and and again be able to 368 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 1: create more personalized experience for them. How to women's property, Well, 369 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:28,720 Speaker 1: that's not oh here, it's a laws leader who No, 370 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 1: it's there's a new funnel. That's why people are investing 371 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:32,880 Speaker 1: in the sports as well. It's like it's a new 372 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,640 Speaker 1: funnel into your core assets. So women's sports should be 373 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 1: a investment in of itself. But it's also again that 374 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:42,679 Speaker 1: you're if you're talking about the enterprise of of a 375 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,400 Speaker 1: team or property. We think is a good way se 376 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:48,439 Speaker 1: I think I mentioned this before. Had play in a 377 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:52,119 Speaker 1: mixed use environment, which means again you're bringing fans to 378 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:56,080 Speaker 1: your stadium for other experiences. It's it becomes a focal 379 00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:59,160 Speaker 1: point of your community. You get more wallet share that way, 380 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: more awareness. I mean, I can keep going on and on. 381 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:08,640 Speaker 1: Incubator programs, have an incubator program again, new ideas, new 382 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: ways to think about. Um, what your fans care about? 383 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:15,960 Speaker 1: What are these products and services hitting the market? Do 384 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: you understand them? You are? You? Are you on top 385 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: of the ideas, not just the products that come out 386 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:23,240 Speaker 1: of incubators. A lot of times startups sale you know 387 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:25,720 Speaker 1: that just like where is the market head and what 388 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:29,040 Speaker 1: are these young entrepreneurs trying to solve for there's a 389 00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: there's a there's a gap maybe so UM. A lot 390 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: of the report again tied back to that question, which 391 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,520 Speaker 1: is there are simple things you could do. You could literally, 392 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,919 Speaker 1: I mean a simple recommendation, do you have your Twitter 393 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:48,159 Speaker 1: profile in more than one language? Make sure you have 394 00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:52,800 Speaker 1: a Spanish Twitter profile, something very easy. If your fans 395 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:56,159 Speaker 1: don't all look and sound the same, what are you 396 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,879 Speaker 1: doing to build out that ecosystem which is all technology 397 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:03,080 Speaker 1: enabled as we know UM to really support them? And 398 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 1: the great thing is, you know, COVID exposed a lot 399 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: of that, but we see a lot of teams now 400 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,359 Speaker 1: really pushing forward with their digital transformations with trying to 401 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:17,520 Speaker 1: think through, um, how do they create more growth underneath them? 402 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:20,919 Speaker 1: And uh and ultimately, as fans, I'm want to go 403 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 1: back to the stadium, I'm I'm like, can't wait to 404 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: get back to the same. But some fans may not. 405 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: They want that really great leaned back experience at home. 406 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:30,800 Speaker 1: Maybe they have two or three screens where they're interacting 407 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:33,520 Speaker 1: and their betting and they're talking. Um, are you able 408 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:35,920 Speaker 1: to build out that that pick ask experience at home 409 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,680 Speaker 1: for those fans that want to you know, stay at home. 410 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 1: So again, hard answer, but like there's some easy things 411 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:46,560 Speaker 1: to do, just simply like to communicate in their language, UM, 412 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 1: and harder things, which is invest in build out your 413 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: own maybe o T product that allows you to see 414 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: that these fans are Yeah, a lot of disruption coming 415 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,959 Speaker 1: for sure. And as you rightly said earlier in the conversation, Angela, 416 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,560 Speaker 1: the pandemic has is just celerated so much, really really 417 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: good to catch up with you. Um, you just have 418 00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:06,240 Speaker 1: your finger on the pulse of so many interesting things. 419 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 1: Can't wait to have you back and hopefully back in 420 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,160 Speaker 1: the studio before too long, because I think we're all 421 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,680 Speaker 1: itching to get back to two stadiums, two offices, to 422 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:17,640 Speaker 1: all those things that look a lot more like normal life. 423 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:20,480 Speaker 1: So thanks again for spending some time with us. Always 424 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:22,160 Speaker 1: a pleasure. I was a fan of you guys keep 425 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:24,199 Speaker 1: educating the market. I'm a big fan of what you 426 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: guys are doing as well. This is the Bloomberg Business 427 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:30,040 Speaker 1: of Sports podcast on Michael Barr along with Mike Lynch 428 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,520 Speaker 1: and Jason Kelly, and we're here with you each and 429 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:35,320 Speaker 1: every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday exploring the world of money 430 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:37,400 Speaker 1: and sports. Join us again at the end of the week, 431 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: we're gonna catch up with Cynthia Marshall. She's the CEO 432 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: of the Dallas Fatoris you're listening to Bloomberg Business of Sports, 433 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 1: on Bloomberg Radio around the world and online. Wherever you 434 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:48,199 Speaker 1: get your body