Speaker 1: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports Show where we
Speaker 1: explore the big money issues in the world of sports.
Speaker 1: I'm Scarlet Folk and Damian Michael Barr is off this week,
Speaker 1: no doubt, getting ready for the big Game. We have
Speaker 1: an exciting show lined up in his absence because we
Speaker 1: are helping you get ready for the Super Bowl. That's right,
Speaker 1: We're going to take you behind the scenes of the
Speaker 1: Big Game. We'll talk with ASM Global CEO rom Bencien
Speaker 1: and Doug Thornton, a s MS Global Executive Vice President
Speaker 1: of Arenas, Stadiums and Theaters. ASM Global is a premier
Speaker 1: venue management company with more than three hundred fifty venues
Speaker 1: around the world, including one State Farm Stadium in Arizona, which,
Speaker 1: by the way, is the host site of this year
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. All that and more is on the way
Speaker 1: on the Bloomberg Business of Sports Show. But first, yes,
Speaker 1: it's a big, big week for football, but it's also
Speaker 1: been very exciting for NBA fans. Yes, it has has
Speaker 1: in its Scarlett a Ton is going on. We had
Speaker 1: to trade deadline with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Russell
Speaker 1: Westbrook all ending up on new teams and of course
Speaker 1: Lebron James said the milestones Lebron James shot at Heysturday alone,
Speaker 1: scoring record no belongs to Lebron Church. That's right. Lebron
Speaker 1: James is now the NBA's all time scoring leader, as
Speaker 1: you just heard courtesy of t n T here's King
Speaker 1: James speaking to reporters after that milestone. You know, almost
Speaker 1: a storian of the game. So I know what you know,
Speaker 1: guys like Kareem and Wild and MJ and Magic and Bird.
Speaker 1: You know, Oscar Robinson was in better arrest. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be up here all night talking about so
Speaker 1: many greats and legends, you know, for me, um personally, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, it was just an honor to be just
Speaker 1: named with the greats. Lebron James. They're speaking to reporters
Speaker 1: courtesy of ESPN. That's Lebron on the court, but he's
Speaker 1: doing pretty well for himself off the court scarlet. His
Speaker 1: net worth is now estimated to be around one point
Speaker 1: one billion dollars. So for more, let's bring in Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Wealth team leader Bryan Chapata, who also covers sports Bryan Chapatta.
Speaker 1: Bron James made how Lines this week because, of course,
Speaker 1: he became the top score in the NBA, surpassing Kareem
Speaker 1: Abdul Jabbar. But you guys took a look at his
Speaker 1: business empire and the numbers are going up here. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean we've long suspected that Lebron was a billionaire,
Speaker 1: but this seemed like obviously a natural time to go
Speaker 1: back and take a step back and look at just
Speaker 1: how impressive Lebron has been both on and off the court. Um,
Speaker 1: we value his overall fortunate about one point one billion
Speaker 1: dollars UM. That's a combination of all the salary that
Speaker 1: he's gotten, the various sponsorships, his investments, and also his
Speaker 1: his businesses um spring Hill Company, the entertainment business that
Speaker 1: he runs with his longtime business partner among them. So
Speaker 1: it's it's really impressive because he's obviously still playing and
Speaker 1: still very much at the top of his game in
Speaker 1: the n b A and and yet he's also you know,
Speaker 1: really really been accomplished off the court as well. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And what's most amazing is the portfolio of investments that
Speaker 1: he's made, right, I mean, he's not an old man,
Speaker 1: so for him to now own and convert through ownership
Speaker 1: of Liverpool a one percent state Confindway Sports is pretty impressive.
Speaker 1: I mean, he owns a piece of fine sports for
Speaker 1: crying out that, but also Beats electronics which are sold
Speaker 1: to Apple for three billion baeen. I mean, just some
Speaker 1: incredible moves. Talk to us a little bit about some
Speaker 1: of the advice Warren Buffett gave to him. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: thought that was pretty funny. When I was going back
Speaker 1: and thinking about this story, I wanted to see kind
Speaker 1: of what kind of stuff that he's heard from from
Speaker 1: business luminaries and and Buffett was was basically asked to
Speaker 1: address Lebron's question of what should I invest in back in,
Speaker 1: and he said, just just doing index fun man, Like,
Speaker 1: you're really good at basketball, but you're not going to
Speaker 1: also be really good as an investor. It's the same
Speaker 1: advice I give my clients the people who ask. And
Speaker 1: it's pretty funny because I think Lebron has proven to
Speaker 1: be the exception rather than the norm. Um, it's possible
Speaker 1: that obviously past investing would have yielded a lot of
Speaker 1: money for him as well, because he brings into point
Speaker 1: five billion dollars this year. But at the same time, UM,
Speaker 1: he's done really well for himself. Off the court too,
Speaker 1: And and I think that really speaks to the you know,
Speaker 1: he's embraced the moniker of King J Games for so
Speaker 1: long that he's known he was going to be a
Speaker 1: successful basketball player, and he's known that as a result,
Speaker 1: he's going to have to take care of his finances.
Speaker 1: And I think it's been honestly, just like pretty impressive
Speaker 1: overall how he's managed to do that, and he's basically
Speaker 1: created a blueprint for other professional athletes. Um. Back in
Speaker 1: the day, pro athletes signed endorsement deals, that's how they
Speaker 1: made their money along with their salary. But this is
Speaker 1: a whole different level of building equity and companies, associating
Speaker 1: yourself with brands, kind of becoming more than just Lebron
Speaker 1: James of the Cleveland Cavaliers or Lebron James of the
Speaker 1: l A Lakers. Yeah. I think it's a really great
Speaker 1: point and it's something that obviously, through this this podcast,
Speaker 1: were able to to see. It's just this this maturation
Speaker 1: of the professional athlete from just not really knowing what
Speaker 1: to do with becoming a multimillionaire overnight to really thinking
Speaker 1: hard about the role models that they want to follow.
Speaker 1: And yeah, building that equity, finding brands that they believe
Speaker 1: in and not just endorse them, but also kind of
Speaker 1: have a steak and have a skin in the game
Speaker 1: aam um when it comes to ultimately building a fortune
Speaker 1: and building a family business. Because his son Brawny is
Speaker 1: in the prospect and so you know, at some point
Speaker 1: a lot of this will, you know, generationally transfer over
Speaker 1: to his children. But I'm more of the point that
Speaker 1: you know, but by the time this is said and done,
Speaker 1: you know, he could be playing with his son. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is a thirty year old man who's playing in
Speaker 1: the prime of his career, but with over a billion
Speaker 1: dollars in the bank. I mean, he can be play
Speaker 1: pretty much as long as he's healthy, right, wouldn't you say? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I mean I was just looking back at his stats
Speaker 1: and it's really incredible if there's been really no drop off.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it speaks to obviously his frame
Speaker 1: of mind, his his willingness to put in the work
Speaker 1: in the gym. But I mean, he's he's ranking near
Speaker 1: the top of the league again in points rebounds a system. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the Lakers are not having a great year um and um,
Speaker 1: and it doesn't look like I'm gonna be getting that
Speaker 1: much greater. But at the same time, you know, he's
Speaker 1: still in peak condition and it looks like, yeah, his
Speaker 1: his stated goal is that he would love to play
Speaker 1: with his son, who is a top fifty prospect right
Speaker 1: now senior in high school. Yeah. Something else that I
Speaker 1: know you and Damien have been buzzing about is, um,
Speaker 1: some personnel moves at a certain team in New York.
Speaker 1: Not not the Knicks. Not the Knicks, now, um, the
Speaker 1: Brooklyn Nets. Brian, what do you think about the Brooklyn
Speaker 1: Nets and what they're doing over there? It certainly seems
Speaker 1: like a rebuild, doesn't it. It's uh, it's basically the
Speaker 1: end of an era in the sense of the super
Speaker 1: team that that Brooklyn was trying to build. Remember, James
Speaker 1: Harden was obviously on the team that was supposed to
Speaker 1: be the team that took them to the championship. That
Speaker 1: that that justified at three point five billion dollar purchase
Speaker 1: from Joe pih Um, And now we're pretty much in
Speaker 1: rebuilding mode. Yeah. And you know, I mean apparently Josie
Speaker 1: got a massive haul from this. I'm looking at you know,
Speaker 1: first round picks and a twenty pick swap. My question
Speaker 1: for you is if you look at the Knicks, they
Speaker 1: have a lot of draft picks. Also, do draft picks
Speaker 1: even work in the NBA anymore? I mean that's the question.
Speaker 1: I think it's always, um, you know, do you want
Speaker 1: to things so right? Do you want to take? Do
Speaker 1: you want do you want to take the shut thing?
Speaker 1: Or do you want Nothing is a short thing obviously,
Speaker 1: because of course with Brooklyn Durant missed his first year
Speaker 1: entirely due to injury. Nothing, So nothing is a sure thing.
Speaker 1: I don't want to drink so anything obviously, But um,
Speaker 1: you think about who is running the Phoenix Suns these days,
Speaker 1: and Matt Ishbea is coming in, uh new owner taking
Speaker 1: over for Robert Sarver, And you want to make an
Speaker 1: immediate splash. You don't want to say, Okay, I have
Speaker 1: first round picks and you know, wait a few years,
Speaker 1: wait four or five, six years, and we'll start to
Speaker 1: build this thing up. You want to make a splash
Speaker 1: right away. And I think that's that's a theme that
Speaker 1: you can see across professional sports franchises. UM. We wrote
Speaker 1: last year UM on the Wealth Team about Steve Cohen,
Speaker 1: hedge fund manager and New York Mets owner and how
Speaker 1: he's just willing to spend big to win now. And
Speaker 1: I think that's something that you could maybe extrapolate to
Speaker 1: to why the Sun's made this move right away. I mean,
Speaker 1: Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Chris Paul, I'm Chris Paul. We
Speaker 1: do a lot with Chris Paul here, Bloomberg DeAndre eight
Speaker 1: and I mean it's a super team. I mean the
Speaker 1: other one was Kyrie ir Ring leading right, So you know,
Speaker 1: I guess what comes next for Jota. I mean, the
Speaker 1: verdict is still out, but you know, let's hope he
Speaker 1: doesn't find himself in a situation such as the Knicks
Speaker 1: are in where they have a plethora of draft picks
Speaker 1: and not a whole heck of a lot of talent
Speaker 1: on the roster. Yeah, it's really tough. I mean, the
Speaker 1: New York media market is obviously unrelenting when it comes
Speaker 1: to its sports. But um, I mean, I think to
Speaker 1: your point, he did get a good haul for this.
Speaker 1: It certainly seems like if all the all the reports
Speaker 1: are true, and you've got to really just be judicious
Speaker 1: and and be smart when it comes to the draft.
Speaker 1: I think you've seen you've seen other examples of this
Speaker 1: throughout sports where you can, you can you can really
Speaker 1: rebuild through the draft pretty quickly and build up a team.
Speaker 1: You gotta do it, right. I mean, I was, I've
Speaker 1: been a Chicago Cubs fan, and obviously I still think
Speaker 1: back to that World Series win and that was entirely
Speaker 1: constructed through um, by and large, the draft process in
Speaker 1: in the Major League Baseball. So, um, we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: But but Joe size plans to win big with the
Speaker 1: splashy super team really hasn't panned out. So is the
Speaker 1: excitement over basketball in New York going to swing back
Speaker 1: to the Knicks from the Nets? Now? We'll see. I mean, um,
Speaker 1: it does seem to swing. But also it seems like
Speaker 1: the loyalties are are pretty firm too firmly entrenched. Yeah, exactly. Um,
Speaker 1: both of them are having ups and downs. Certainly over
Speaker 1: recent years seems more downs than ups. But um, but
Speaker 1: you know, it really only takes one or two really
Speaker 1: really bold moves to to swing things, especially in the NBA.
Speaker 1: I feel like, well, I mean, look, you know, I
Speaker 1: guess at the end of the day, there's been a
Speaker 1: lot of movement here. You know, obviously the Nets are
Speaker 1: in a rebuild. You know, let's talk a little bit
Speaker 1: more of I can ask you about that historic night
Speaker 1: on television when Lebron broke the record. I mean from
Speaker 1: what I heard, it attracted something in the order of
Speaker 1: three point seven million doll like an all time record
Speaker 1: in viewership. That is that, right? Can I just say
Speaker 1: one thing? Did you see still pictures of Um? You know,
Speaker 1: when Lebron broke the record, everyone in the stands had
Speaker 1: their phone in front their face. So yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1: Even Brownie did you might you might have seen on Twitter.
Speaker 1: But but Lebron's sons were right in the right by
Speaker 1: the basket where he where he made that that fateful shot,
Speaker 1: and they both had their phones up the fair way
Speaker 1: to record it. Lebron in the locker room was looking
Speaker 1: at I was looking at the video taken by Brawny
Speaker 1: and was like, that's awesome. Um, but yeah, everyone's looking
Speaker 1: through their phones at the at the moment that it happened. Wow. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, you want to hear something interesting. I mean,
Speaker 1: I just reading this here. Before Tuesday night, the minimum
Speaker 1: price to get into that game was seven ninety six dollars.
Speaker 1: It was one hundred dollars on Wednes. I mean it's
Speaker 1: just to get into the game. I mean, if you
Speaker 1: were gambling that he was going to break it, then
Speaker 1: I mean it was just a massive moment, you know what.
Speaker 1: Every point after that is a new record. So yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's a good way to look at I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm just honestly amazed that it was one of those
Speaker 1: records that you were not sure would ever get broken, right.
Speaker 1: I Mean Michael Jordan obviously didn't get there. He also
Speaker 1: obviously took time off multiple times during his career. But
Speaker 1: I think it really also speaks to Lebron's longevity in
Speaker 1: the league. I mean, he just he plays it feels
Speaker 1: like every game. I mean I really can't think of
Speaker 1: many times when he's been out for an extended period. Um,
Speaker 1: not that I track it as closely as as some
Speaker 1: people do, but um, he's just he's almost the cal
Speaker 1: Riff and I would almost say of a basketball he's
Speaker 1: just he's just always there and always putting up exceptional numbers. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know if anyone caught this, but
Speaker 1: there has been some blowback against Michael Jordan's because he
Speaker 1: didn't really converted commas congratulate Lebron after breaking the record
Speaker 1: where he he you know, it just was a very
Speaker 1: It wasn't like the kind of congratulations I think that
Speaker 1: social media one. It's a sea from Michael Jordan. I
Speaker 1: think I don't know I'm hearing about all this. But nevertheless, look,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, there's no comparison between the two.
Speaker 1: They're both the goats in my book, you know, in
Speaker 1: their own different ways in different times, and so you know,
Speaker 1: anybody tries to compare them, I mean, good luck. Well,
Speaker 1: the other thing that will be interesting is whether Lebron
Speaker 1: ultimately takes the same path as Michael Jordan's and goes
Speaker 1: into the ownership ranks of the n B a UM.
Speaker 1: The sky's really limit for him. Obviously, with a fortunate
Speaker 1: over a billion dollars already, he can do whatever he wants, really,
Speaker 1: whatever he wants to buy a pickup ball team and
Speaker 1: guess what it done. You can buy every pickupall team
Speaker 1: with that. Brian, thanks so much for stopping by. Brian
Speaker 1: Chapatta is Bloomberg's Wealth Tea leader, and of course you
Speaker 1: can catch his excellent reporting online at Bloomberg dot Com.
Speaker 1: Coming up next on the show, We've Got Ron Bension
Speaker 1: and Doug Thornton of a SM Global that is the
Speaker 1: firm and charge of the venue that's hosting this year's
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports
Speaker 1: from Bloomberg Radio around the world. This is the Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Business of Sports show where we explore the big money
Speaker 1: issues in the world of sports. I'm Scarlet Folk and
Speaker 1: Michael Barr will be back next week. We miss you,
Speaker 1: but Michael is getting ready for one of the biggest
Speaker 1: days on the sports calendar, on the football calendar. It
Speaker 1: is the Super Bowl. It's right, Scarlett. Our next guests
Speaker 1: are going to take us behind the scenes of how
Speaker 1: they're prepping for the Super Bowl at State Farm Stadium
Speaker 1: in Glendale, Arizona. So let's welcome Ron Bension, CEO of
Speaker 1: a SM Global, along with Doug Thornton, a s MS
Speaker 1: Global Executive Vice President of Arenas, Stadiums and Theaters. A
Speaker 1: SM Global operates over three d and fifty venues worldwide,
Speaker 1: but right now we're focused on just one State Farm
Speaker 1: Stadium in Glendale, where the Eagles and Chiefs will face
Speaker 1: off in Super Bowl fifty seven. Oh and by the way,
Speaker 1: Rihanna will also take the stage for the halftime show. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm tuning in for that one. Ron, Doug, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for joining us on what is I'm sure
Speaker 1: a very busy week. Ron, Why don't you get us
Speaker 1: started and tell us a little bit about what your
Speaker 1: last few days look like as you head into Superule Sunday. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean this is um uh, you know, it's a
Speaker 1: super exciting time. Obviously, UM everything is a little bit
Speaker 1: but a lot of planning goes in there. UM essentially
Speaker 1: committees that are on the ground and operating on the
Speaker 1: ground for you know, well in advance, maybe even a
Speaker 1: year in advance of these, um, these big events, and
Speaker 1: and we've done so many of them. A s M
Speaker 1: globals hosted eleven Super Bowls so far and we are
Speaker 1: hosting the next three. UM, so we've got an awful
Speaker 1: lot of experience UM in hosting these. We've got the
Speaker 1: confidence of the of the NFL, UM and and the
Speaker 1: venues that that hosts these. So UM it's I can't
Speaker 1: say we've been there, done that, but UM, I think
Speaker 1: that the experience of the team on the ground as
Speaker 1: well as UM, you know, from Doug's perspective and the
Speaker 1: senior leadership team that know how to get these kind
Speaker 1: of projects done. Um, we're not running around like chickens
Speaker 1: with her hands off. Well, you know we're on here,
Speaker 1: but I mean for our audience. By the way, before,
Speaker 1: before you joined a s M, right, you're president of
Speaker 1: Live Nation subsidiary Venue Nation right where you oversaw the
Speaker 1: largest portfolio of live music venues in the world. So
Speaker 1: for our audience here, Ron, it should come as no
Speaker 1: surprise that you know, Um, the big money question is
Speaker 1: who brokered Rihanna's this year's halftime before. I mean, I
Speaker 1: love the choice, don't get me wrong, I'm just curious,
Speaker 1: like a decision like that, I mean, where does it reside?
Speaker 1: Is that the stadium? Is it a s M? I mean,
Speaker 1: do you have any influences at the NFL front office
Speaker 1: or another body? Exactly who brokered rihanna Is this year
Speaker 1: is halftime performer? I don't know. Doug might no, but
Speaker 1: I think that's an NFL. Okay, it's an NFL. NFL decision.
Speaker 1: Damian Daire are the ones that picked the talent, you
Speaker 1: know for the show, but they would use a company
Speaker 1: like Light Nation typically to access that talent. Understood, understood
Speaker 1: and look I mean, you know, I guess the other
Speaker 1: thing I'd have for you. I mean, I mean, Doug going.
Speaker 1: You know, you're obviously you know the Super Bowl. You know,
Speaker 1: there's been all this talk. I believe State Farm is
Speaker 1: eighty eight luxury boxes. I think you've had to build
Speaker 1: a lot more for the event, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: as Scarlett wive test, I'm quite wealthy, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm not private jet wealthy. But you know, I'm just
Speaker 1: now emailing with my ticket broker and she quoted me
Speaker 1: one club level suite, eighteen tickets to v I P
Speaker 1: parking passes for a million fifty. I mean, you know
Speaker 1: it's chump change, right. I mean, so, so here's the
Speaker 1: question I have. You know, compare that to I don't know,
Speaker 1: Taylor Swift will be performing in March or Metallica in September,
Speaker 1: you know, for a suite there. I mean, is this
Speaker 1: just astronomical a million fifty or do we even scratch
Speaker 1: the surface with other other artists like Taylor Swift. Well,
Speaker 1: it's exponentially higher than what you would see for a concert,
Speaker 1: but space on market demand. Uh. And what's happened over
Speaker 1: the last twenty five years is the Super Bowl has
Speaker 1: become the largest event on the planet, and it is
Speaker 1: a major corporate event. UH tickets are you know, averaging
Speaker 1: five hundred and nine thousand dollars. You know, the lowest
Speaker 1: price ticket face value is probably in the upper deck.
Speaker 1: So it's largely a corporate event. UH. The NFL understands that.
Speaker 1: I mean, some of the participating team. UH fans will
Speaker 1: have a chance to buy tickets through their respective organizations,
Speaker 1: but UM, it's based on market demand, and I mean,
Speaker 1: I think you could probably get it for nine hundred
Speaker 1: thousand on Saturday. Keep strolling through there. But Tip gave
Speaker 1: you let me just jump in here. You've been at
Speaker 1: a s M for twenty seven years, and uh Ron
Speaker 1: mentioned how the company has hosted eleven Super Bowls. You
Speaker 1: are on top for the next, uh for this one
Speaker 1: and the two after that, so that's another three. So
Speaker 1: that's a lot of experience in doing this, UM, hosting
Speaker 1: this big game. Can you talk a little bit about
Speaker 1: how we know the game has grown in size and importance, UM,
Speaker 1: in cost and in revenue generated. How have fan expectations
Speaker 1: changed throughout the years from what used to just be
Speaker 1: a really important game for the fans of two teams
Speaker 1: to an all encompassing entertainment experience to now what's become
Speaker 1: as a George Pine of bruin Sports Capital was helping
Speaker 1: me a week long trade show for people who are
Speaker 1: in the industry. Well, it is, it is. I actually
Speaker 1: characterize it as an NFL convention. It's like an end
Speaker 1: of the year celebration of football, week long celebration. And
Speaker 1: what has happened in the last thirty years I've seen
Speaker 1: this actually since the last super Bowl that was hosted
Speaker 1: in Phoenix in nine this exponential growth and what the
Speaker 1: super Bowl can mean for your community. There are so
Speaker 1: many events that take place in and around the city
Speaker 1: the destination. Uh there are probably thirty five or forty
Speaker 1: sanctioned events this week that will will take place um
Speaker 1: in the Phoenix area, not just at the game. Jim Steig,
Speaker 1: who was the former executive vice president for UH the NFL,
Speaker 1: who ran Super Bowl for many years, used to call
Speaker 1: it at four hour excuse for four day party. And
Speaker 1: I think that's true. The super Bowl is a four
Speaker 1: hour game, but uh, it's a four to five day event. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think that the key point is the outside outside
Speaker 1: the game hospitality. I mean there's if you go around there.
Speaker 1: We've seen some drone footage. I mean, it's tense city
Speaker 1: of very high end hospitality, multiple levels of entertainment and
Speaker 1: and and nightly events and daily events. And so I
Speaker 1: think Doug's right at it's an NFL convention and in
Speaker 1: all of all of the ancillary business is associated with that.
Speaker 1: UM tend to tend to come out here and and
Speaker 1: entertain during those times. So it's it's not the game,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's everything, but the game that's changed. Well, Ron,
Speaker 1: I wonder if you could expand on that. I mean,
Speaker 1: we know a s M, you know, was instrumental in
Speaker 1: the development of places like l A Live, Mercedes Benzerena
Speaker 1: in Germany. You know, newly constructed venues that come with
Speaker 1: really what you're talking about here and outdoor playground you know,
Speaker 1: you know, theaters, restaurants, museums, hotels, etcetera. You know, talk
Speaker 1: to us about that. Is that really the layout as
Speaker 1: you know many of these new stadiums are built as
Speaker 1: these renovations go on with many of these older stadiums,
Speaker 1: Is that really, you know, the blueprint for success? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think I think it is. I think UM Sports
Speaker 1: UM concerts, they become more of a social event, and
Speaker 1: then then I have to go see you know, Group
Speaker 1: X or Game Y. There's still the hardcore fans that
Speaker 1: have to go see them. But what people are is
Speaker 1: making these events as just one element of their their
Speaker 1: their entertainment for that day. And so having external entertainment
Speaker 1: districts outside of these events that are huge you know,
Speaker 1: attention straws and so you know, seventy people walking through
Speaker 1: those gates and creating an environment where people can hang
Speaker 1: out before the game, hang out after the game, and
Speaker 1: in some cases hang out during the game. You're seeing
Speaker 1: seeing more uh premium spaces inside venues that are hangouts
Speaker 1: that people hang out can't even see the game in
Speaker 1: some cases because people are are really um you know,
Speaker 1: taking advantage of the social atmosphere that the game allows for.
Speaker 1: And so so yeah, I think it is the blueprint.
Speaker 1: I think where owners and cities can um accommodate and
Speaker 1: entertainment district within you know, walking distance, who are within
Speaker 1: the entry exit traffic patterns of of a major sports
Speaker 1: facility or arena. We manage an arena right across the
Speaker 1: way from UH the state farm that has one of
Speaker 1: the best entertainment of districts UM in in all of
Speaker 1: the US. So, UM, we understand that dynamic of putting
Speaker 1: outside retail entertainment UM and experiences within you know, legs
Speaker 1: reach of a of an arena. Of course, this year, UM,
Speaker 1: when you host the Super Bowl, and I know we
Speaker 1: just talked about how this is a big dollar event
Speaker 1: and obviously people go into this celebrating the sport of football,
Speaker 1: celebrating the industry. UM. So people are ready to lay
Speaker 1: out a lot of cash. But I wonder how current
Speaker 1: economic conditions in which you have rising inflation. There's definitely
Speaker 1: supply chain issues that are still being worked through, uh,
Speaker 1: and also a tight labor market which makes it difficult
Speaker 1: to hire on the spot. How does that impact a
Speaker 1: sensibility to prep for this Super Bowl as opposed to
Speaker 1: the past when economic conditions were very different and and perhaps, UM, Doug,
Speaker 1: this is a question for you, given that you're on
Speaker 1: the ground right now in Phoenix. Well I can answer
Speaker 1: that for you. UM, we have seen it's some inflationary pressures.
Speaker 1: You know, Unlike UM other you know markets, Phoenix has
Speaker 1: not been impacted as much as uh, you know, some
Speaker 1: of the other cities. We have we're fully staffed. We've
Speaker 1: been fully staffed for the entire football season. But you know,
Speaker 1: like other cities, we're seeing pressure on wages, you know,
Speaker 1: anywhere from fifteen increases across the board for various disciplines.
Speaker 1: But there will be literally thousands of workers. Uh. There
Speaker 1: are probably eight hundred credential workers that will be on
Speaker 1: site uh for the game uh this weekend, ranging from
Speaker 1: security to guest services, food service production. You just go
Speaker 1: down the list. Uh. Many of those folks are third
Speaker 1: party vendors who will be uh flown in from other jurisdictions,
Speaker 1: subcontractors to the NFL, subcontractors to us. Uh. Some of
Speaker 1: them are full time staff that we would have employed
Speaker 1: at the stadium. But uh, we'll be fully staff. It's
Speaker 1: not going to impact us at all. Yeah, I would think,
Speaker 1: I would say, given the fact that you have so
Speaker 1: much time to plan for this meeting, and given this
Speaker 1: this this game event, and given the fact that we've
Speaker 1: done so many of these, I think we're able to
Speaker 1: really look at and understand where there are going to
Speaker 1: be any issues, whether it's um, you know, it's on
Speaker 1: staffing or equipment supply, supply chain kind of stuff. And
Speaker 1: we know where to look, and we know how to
Speaker 1: react and do whatever it takes to bring in UM
Speaker 1: and ensure that we were ready to go. So you've
Speaker 1: got the ability um in the luxury of time to plan.
Speaker 1: And I think you have the ability and luxury of
Speaker 1: of of of a s M and tooting our hand
Speaker 1: or and but it's well deserved. Who really gets this
Speaker 1: game and understands how to produce big events? Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, Ron, you make a great point. You've got
Speaker 1: venues abroad and cities ranging from what Sydney and Kowloon
Speaker 1: to buy in Berlin. You know, how does the international
Speaker 1: experience compare with that of the U S. And I'm
Speaker 1: not talking to Super Bowl specifically, but I'm really talking
Speaker 1: about what what kind of hinting playing off what Scarlett
Speaker 1: was saying about inflation you know going up or remaining
Speaker 1: sticky high and growth coming down globally. You know how
Speaker 1: from a P and O perspective, you know the costs,
Speaker 1: You know the expenses that go into holding an event
Speaker 1: like this, you know the revenue, you know the match,
Speaker 1: you know the margins. You know, how do you compare?
Speaker 1: You know internationally? What what goes on their relative to
Speaker 1: what goes on here domestically in the US. I mean, look,
Speaker 1: we have three in or fifty buildings around the around
Speaker 1: the globe UM from arenas stadiums to small smaller venues,
Speaker 1: UM theaters and colosseums and and UH convention centers. So
Speaker 1: we we have data from you know, across the globe
Speaker 1: that we can look at to understand what's happening on
Speaker 1: a macro basis in our business. So what we were
Speaker 1: able to do is really look at at the macroeconomic
Speaker 1: issues and make you know, decisions on the fly, you know,
Speaker 1: based on what we see. I would say from a
Speaker 1: you inflation perspective, the only area that's really been tough
Speaker 1: is energy costs in Europe. UM obviously due to you know,
Speaker 1: what's going on over there, but even they are subsidies,
Speaker 1: subsiding a little bit. UM. I think everybody has seen
Speaker 1: some inflationary and wages and and cost of goods and
Speaker 1: things like that, and some of it gets passed on.
Speaker 1: Some of it UM we deal with just through efficiency
Speaker 1: and other and other other pieces of it we have
Speaker 1: to eat. So UM. You know, you just keep monitoring
Speaker 1: all that you you're able to really view UM again,
Speaker 1: really the macroeconomics of our business and really make changes
Speaker 1: in one market that may not affect another market. And
Speaker 1: we're able to kind of be quite nimble for for
Speaker 1: both our clients and our company and in uh in
Speaker 1: ensuring that we're driving revenues and profitability to the n
Speaker 1: use ROB Before we let you go, I just wanted
Speaker 1: to get your take. Damien recounted your bio and how
Speaker 1: you were the president of ven your nation just a
Speaker 1: division of Live Nation through. I'm curious on your take
Speaker 1: of the congressional hearings taking place on Ticketmaster and Taylor Swift. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't have an opinion. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: it was it was. It was, you know, a major
Speaker 1: major issue. I think Ticketmasters fested up to it. Um
Speaker 1: And I'm not going to get into the politics all that.
Speaker 1: It's really not not my forte or or experience. UM. Ticketmaster.
Speaker 1: You know they're doing the bance sale. Everything's going well. UM,
Speaker 1: that's all I can. You know, what's the best way
Speaker 1: for someone who wants to get a ticket but seems
Speaker 1: to always be behind the curve when they do go
Speaker 1: on Ticketmaster or any of those um websites that supposedly
Speaker 1: can get them tickets when they are first released. How
Speaker 1: do they work through that? Yeah, look, that's there. There
Speaker 1: there are issues with respect to bots. There are issues
Speaker 1: with respect pre sales. But I talked to a lot
Speaker 1: of people who have gotten Beyonce tickets and a lot
Speaker 1: of people who got Taylor Swift tickets. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: things happened on or Swift that didn't happen on Beyonce
Speaker 1: that didn't happen on the sale of Super Bowl tickets.
Speaker 1: I mean they're there are these high pressure sales that
Speaker 1: come out, um, and and things happen, But for the
Speaker 1: most part, there are you know, Ticketmaster has systems of
Speaker 1: waiting rooms and and allowing people to know where they
Speaker 1: sit in the queue. Um. And ultimately they service and
Speaker 1: sell millions and millions and millions of tickets annually. So
Speaker 1: they're good at what they do. And and unfortunately, uh,
Speaker 1: they had a problem in this particular case. And Ron
Speaker 1: and just just just one last thing. I know you're
Speaker 1: you know, you're hosting the Super Bowl the next two years.
Speaker 1: Just making a pitch here. I know it's not your call,
Speaker 1: but Pearl Jam, great halftime show, I mean, great band.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you've ever heard of. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you've a wonderful guys, thanks so much.
Speaker 1: It was awesome. This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports show.
Speaker 1: We're here each and every week at the same time.
Speaker 1: We're also online, you know. It is wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcasts. You can catch those on Monday's, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Speaker 1: And of course reach out to us on social media.
Speaker 1: I'm at scar at food on Twitter and I'm at
Speaker 1: d Thanks so much for joining us. Tune in again
Speaker 1: next week for the latest on the stories moving big
Speaker 1: money in the world of sports. You're listening to Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.