Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: It is your first month on the job, so I
Speaker 2: just want to start off by asking you, how are
Speaker 2: you going to do things differently from your predecessor.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure it's about doing things differently, but I
Speaker 1: will tell you that we have this motto we've been
Speaker 1: talking through. It's long Live Golf, and we are celebrating
Speaker 1: the game of golf. We're celebrating the opportunity that we're
Speaker 1: in a business that's growing, with a fandom that's actually
Speaker 1: growing and increasing, which is incredible and inspiring. We have
Speaker 1: this kickoff right here or tee off to our season
Speaker 1: in Riad, which is a showcase of showcases. We have
Speaker 1: the best golfers in the world. We have the Backstreet
Speaker 1: Boys playing tonight. It's about as fun as it can
Speaker 1: possibly be on a golf course.
Speaker 2: So talk to me about why you brought the tournament
Speaker 2: to Reod. This is the actual first tournament, live tournament
Speaker 2: to end redd you mentioned Backstreet book, But how is
Speaker 2: this going to appeal to the broader audience?
Speaker 1: Well, first off, live is very different from a golf
Speaker 1: tournament that you might have experienced and may have known.
Speaker 3: We bring the fund to the game.
Speaker 1: And so if you were here with us, which I
Speaker 1: hope you are next year, you would find an incredible
Speaker 1: fan zone which is teaming with families and interactive VR
Speaker 1: and AR games. There's a bit of a carnival. We
Speaker 1: have incredible food trucks, there's music in a stage where
Speaker 1: you have incredible DJs and bands like the Backstreet Boys
Speaker 1: coming on tonight. And then you have the best golfers
Speaker 1: in the world, and so we want to bring them
Speaker 1: to the four Corners of the world.
Speaker 3: And in Riad you.
Speaker 1: Have one of the most important cities in the world.
Speaker 3: And so this is the center.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we're thrilled to be here.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, many of our viewers watching this interview will
Speaker 2: be interested to see where the discussions with the PGA
Speaker 2: are going. And we know that the PGA Tour Commissioner
Speaker 2: actually did go to the White House yesterday. He had
Speaker 2: a meeting with President Chump and on the back of
Speaker 2: that meeting he did say that Trump has brought PGA
Speaker 2: closer to a deal with Live. Well, well, speaking to
Speaker 2: you right now, what is the status of those conversations.
Speaker 2: How close are we in reality.
Speaker 3: To a deal?
Speaker 1: You know, we have been four of and about growing
Speaker 1: the game of golf, and there are so many new
Speaker 1: and exciting leaders. If you look at Derek Sprague at
Speaker 1: PGA of America and Mark Darbin at the RNA, and
Speaker 1: I'm new at Live and I know the PGA is
Speaker 1: looking for a new executive as well to work alongside Jay,
Speaker 1: and I think that provides an opportunity for us all
Speaker 1: to take a step back, appreciate where we are in
Speaker 1: this moment of time, and move forward. The fact that
Speaker 1: the leader of the free world, the President of the
Speaker 1: United States, thinks that golf is this important that he
Speaker 1: can engage makes us really happy and validates how important
Speaker 1: this game is. And I still believe it's one of
Speaker 1: life's great teachers and just as important as we could
Speaker 1: possibly find today and bring this game together. So any
Speaker 1: news that brings us closer to that, I think is
Speaker 1: really welcome news for all the golf founds around the world.
Speaker 2: Have you spoken to the President directly yourself?
Speaker 3: I have not known.
Speaker 1: In a few weeks, we'll be in Miami playing at Doral,
Speaker 1: which is a trump course, and I imagine he'll make
Speaker 1: an appearance there. But you know, in these first thirty days,
Speaker 1: I've had the time of a life time in my
Speaker 1: life getting to know these incredible stars like Brooks Koepka
Speaker 1: and Dustin Johnson and Bryson d. Chambeau. We have the
Speaker 1: best players from around the world. That's been an experience
Speaker 1: getting ready for this incredible events season kicking off in
Speaker 1: riod and getting our feet under us and planning for
Speaker 1: the future.
Speaker 2: Now, I know you're not in position to give us
Speaker 2: the contours of the deal, but is it your expectation
Speaker 2: that if a deal does come to fruition, that it
Speaker 2: would allow for more coexistence between live players and the
Speaker 2: PGA Tour. Is it your expectation that ultimately live players
Speaker 2: could participate in the PGA Tour without being penalized.
Speaker 1: You know, our focus right now is on making sure
Speaker 1: we put the take the best players in the world
Speaker 1: to the best locations in the world. It's a deal
Speaker 1: and a construct that we've all been working on for
Speaker 1: some time, and we're all focused on the same goals
Speaker 1: and objectives, and that is to grow this game, put
Speaker 1: as many of the greatest players on the biggest stages
Speaker 1: of the world. And while I'd love to walk chapter
Speaker 1: and verse into the deal, I will tell you that
Speaker 1: anything that's good for this game is good for live
Speaker 1: and we're thrilled that there's progress being made.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I want of recent developments. Earlier this week at
Speaker 2: the US Open, became the first major to actually create
Speaker 2: an exemption for live goal players. Do you expect other
Speaker 2: majors to follow suits as well?
Speaker 1: You know, very appreciative of Mike Wan and his leadership
Speaker 1: at the us GA.
Speaker 3: We heard today.
Speaker 1: From Mark Darbin, who runs the RNA and the Open Championship,
Speaker 1: and they will be following suit, and at least the
Speaker 1: early conversations with Derek Sprague at the PGA of America
Speaker 1: are are very.
Speaker 3: Positive as well.
Speaker 1: So it seems as if the headwinds are becoming tailwinds.
Speaker 1: There seems to be this incredible arc of momentum. And
Speaker 1: whether that's you know, our deal with Fox in the US,
Speaker 1: or our deal with I t V in the UK,
Speaker 1: or all the incredible partners we've had. Madden is our
Speaker 1: title partner here and Barri just came on board as
Speaker 1: well and Ros So we're starting to get momentum in
Speaker 1: terms of the entire business. So it's it's it's it's
Speaker 1: quite expected in terms of where we're heading.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you mentioned some of those broadcasting arrangements and obviously
Speaker 2: the p IF have have put in billions into live revenues.
Speaker 2: A big question mark from here onwards to what extent
Speaker 2: do you think those types of broadcasting, those arrangements are
Speaker 2: all going to be additive to your future revenue flow.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm here for one reason, and that's because
Speaker 1: spending time with his Excellency Yasser al Romayan is a
Speaker 1: man of vision and compassion, passion for the game of golf.
Speaker 1: He's got incredible love and understanding of what's to come
Speaker 1: and the investment to put this many incredible star players
Speaker 1: together will result in an incredible business. And so the
Speaker 1: foundational years have been built and now we're ready to
Speaker 1: grow this business. So it's a it's a really special
Speaker 1: moment in time right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, beyond broadcasting arrangements, what are your priorities for growth
Speaker 2: from here onwards?
Speaker 1: Well, there are different parts of the business. You know,
Speaker 1: we're a bit different from a traditional golf and that
Speaker 1: we have teams and so Bryson D. Chambeau, for example,
Speaker 1: has a team called the Crushers. Kopka has a team
Speaker 1: called Smash.
Speaker 3: Phil Nicholson has the high Flyers.
Speaker 1: So you have different teams, Dustin Johnson, the Aces. So
Speaker 1: for us, one part is how do we build value
Speaker 1: in those teams, and a lot of that will be
Speaker 1: driven through sponsorship and merchandise. On the league side, it's
Speaker 1: a pretty traditional model. You know, it's broadcast and sponsorship
Speaker 1: and then event revenue, which are ticket and hospitalities. So
Speaker 1: it's a pretty similar business to what I'm accustomed to
Speaker 1: in the US sports and we're looking to build on
Speaker 1: the foundation that we have already.
Speaker 2: And on the talent side, do you have any plans
Speaker 2: to bring in any new star players to the Live League?
Speaker 1: Well, we have a bit of a constellation of stars.
Speaker 1: Now I mentioned a few before, but Waco'neman is another one.
Speaker 1: Terrll Hatton might be the hottest golfer in the world,
Speaker 1: and we signed three of the top five talented players
Speaker 1: in the world to come on this year. So for us,
Speaker 1: we have a constellation of stars. You don't have to
Speaker 1: look too much further than our leader board to see
Speaker 1: what's happening.
Speaker 3: And it's a very special time.
Speaker 2: I want to ask you about other jurisdictions. Obviously we
Speaker 2: started off the interview speaking about the PGA, but I'm
Speaker 2: curious to see whether you've set your sights on expansion
Speaker 2: in Europe as well. A couple of months ago, Bloomberg
Speaker 2: reported that you were considering a partnership or a tie
Speaker 2: up with the DP World Tour. Can you elaborate on that,
Speaker 2: or at least on some of your European expansion goals.
Speaker 1: I very much appreciate your homework and your questions and
Speaker 1: your diligence. It's very difficult to, as you can imagine,
Speaker 1: to talk about ongoing negotiations or not in all of
Speaker 1: these leagues or aspects DP World Tour. It's been well documented.
Speaker 1: We have some work to do together, and we'll work
Speaker 1: on that and make sure we make good headway. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, you know, we have an incredible event at
Speaker 1: Valderrama which will be amazing in Spain, and then at
Speaker 1: JCB in the UK, and so we're well entrenched in Europe.
Speaker 1: And how we all figure out how this ecosystem coexists
Speaker 1: and how these puzzle pieces fit together. I think we'll
Speaker 1: unfold over the next twelve to eighteen months.
Speaker 3: Well, let me just.
Speaker 2: Put the questions to you then. If we were having
Speaker 2: this interview in a year's time, what would you deem
Speaker 2: as a marker of your success. What are the achievables
Speaker 2: that you would like to get to over the next
Speaker 2: twelve to eighteen months.
Speaker 1: I imagine you don't mean just a good night's sleep
Speaker 1: and a happy smile, but that'll be the result of
Speaker 1: a lot of positive momentum going forward. We have a
Speaker 1: wonderful team here working very hard, so I would certainly
Speaker 1: like to see increases in our viewership in the US
Speaker 1: and around the world. We actually are in almost eight
Speaker 1: hundred million homes around the world in eight hundred countries
Speaker 1: and territories, and so how we're penetrating that how many
Speaker 1: viewers is very important.
Speaker 3: I'd like to see the game of golf continue to grow.
Speaker 1: That's one of our core attributes in terms of how
Speaker 1: we and KPIs how we look at this is can
Speaker 1: we help grow the game of golf? And then from
Speaker 1: a revenue standpoint, I have some very aggressive goals and
Speaker 1: targets that we are very focused on in terms of
Speaker 1: sponsorship and tickets, and so i'd imagine if a year
Speaker 1: from now, I imagine I'd be having a big smile
Speaker 1: after a very good night's sleep talking about some very
Speaker 1: successful wins.
Speaker 2: Yeah, do you think the world of golf is doing
Speaker 2: enough to attract the younger audience these days, Well.
Speaker 1: You don't have to look too much further than our events.
Speaker 1: I mean, it is so much fun to come here,
Speaker 1: so I think I do. Our teams and our stars
Speaker 1: are so engaged in the communities. We put so many
Speaker 1: incredible events on to engage the local community around the world.
Speaker 1: But more importantly, if you cannot help but have fun
Speaker 1: when you step on site. This is not like walking
Speaker 1: into a library. This is quite more like going to
Speaker 1: an event with your friends. There's music, and there's action,
Speaker 1: and there's there DJs. It is just an absolutely integrated
Speaker 1: experiential and emotional upswing