Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News. Welcome back to the Deal.
Speaker 2: I'm your host, Jason Kelly, longside my partner Alex Rodriguez.
Speaker 2: It's a by coastal edition. I'm in New York. You
Speaker 2: are in Los Angeles. On business, the business of the playoffs.
Speaker 2: All right, take me courtside, bro, Like, what is it
Speaker 2: like the Tea Wolves playing the mighty Los Angeles Lakers.
Speaker 2: We're talking on Tuesday afternoon, hours away from Game two.
Speaker 2: You took Game one in spectacular fashion. I'm dying to
Speaker 2: know what it's like.
Speaker 3: First of all, Crypto was lit for Game one. I
Speaker 3: mean everyone and their mother was there, everybody, and it
Speaker 3: was so much fun. But when you play the Lakers,
Speaker 3: like everything has to go through lay. Look, they've earned
Speaker 3: this place in Mount Rushmore. They have eighteen world titles.
Speaker 3: You think about the history of magic, Johnson, Kareem Abdujabbar,
Speaker 3: Doctor Boss Now, Genie Buss. I mean, they're as good
Speaker 3: as it gets. So it was fun to be there.
Speaker 3: It sets up a great Game two for us. But
Speaker 3: I can't say enough about what an electric atmosphere it
Speaker 3: was for Game one.
Speaker 2: I mean, is it fair to say that playing a
Speaker 2: playoff NBA game is similar to say, playing a playoff
Speaker 2: baseball game in Yankee Stadium.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean that's actually a great comp I would
Speaker 3: say Old Yankee Stadium even more, Yeah, because it was
Speaker 3: such a crazy atmosphere. But the difference is, Jason, on
Speaker 3: that side, I'm used to wearing pinstripes, so it was
Speaker 3: very comforting. This said as an opponent is much different.
Speaker 3: But the fans are awesome. I mean, they really are
Speaker 3: smart basketball fans. And look, they have an edge, right,
Speaker 3: and they've earned that edge, and in order to beat them,
Speaker 3: you have to really beat them, all right.
Speaker 2: So I do have one more question sort of on
Speaker 2: that point for you, And I'd like to ask this
Speaker 2: question to lots of different owners, especially owners who have
Speaker 2: been successful in business or like you have in athletics.
Speaker 2: What's it like going and sitting on the sideline instead
Speaker 2: of being on the court or on the field, Like,
Speaker 2: it's got to be even more heightened now because you
Speaker 2: must be jumping out of your skin.
Speaker 3: Definitely, it's definitely more heightened now. I would say this
Speaker 3: two things, Jason. I think I don't think people the
Speaker 3: generic fan or non fan realize how incredibly big athletic talented.
Speaker 1: These guys are supreme.
Speaker 3: And it doesn't matter who the ten players are on
Speaker 3: the court at any given time, they're all phenomenal.
Speaker 1: So that's one thought as a fan. It's helpless.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's like watching, you know, five of my
Speaker 3: kids out there, and you just want them to do
Speaker 3: so well because.
Speaker 1: I love love our players.
Speaker 3: And look, I will say this, I've been a player
Speaker 3: for two and a half decades and I'm always going
Speaker 3: to think player first versus governor. And it's really neat
Speaker 3: to see players play in this type of stage and
Speaker 3: there's so much at risk, but it really puts their
Speaker 3: talents on the biggest stage, which is awesome.
Speaker 2: I will say this as an NBA fan. The thing
Speaker 2: that I love about the playoffs is it's all on
Speaker 2: the line, and also to your point, like the intimacy
Speaker 2: of an NBA game, especially when it's all on the
Speaker 2: line like that. I mean, it's just like you literally
Speaker 2: see the sweat. I mean, it's just it's just phenomenal.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 2: So I'm doing some exciting stuff back here in New York.
Speaker 2: I'm headed down to see some of our old friends.
Speaker 2: In fact, some champions. Sue Bird among them at the
Speaker 2: Business of Women's Sports Conference. This is something put on
Speaker 2: by Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. This is an annual event.
Speaker 2: I'm doing a panel all about the return on investment
Speaker 2: in women's sports. So I'm excited excited to do that.
Speaker 2: You know, Sue and Meghan Rapino are going to do
Speaker 2: a live taping of their podcast A Touch More with
Speaker 2: Chelsea Clinton. So looking forward to to hearing that Azy Fudd,
Speaker 2: who is the most outstanding player in the NCAA Women's Tournament.
Speaker 2: I was on stage earlier, so excited to catch up
Speaker 2: with all those folks. The other big thing on the
Speaker 2: sports agenda this week is the NFL Draft. I know
Speaker 2: we're focused on the NBA playoffs, but what is happening
Speaker 2: in football? This has become a massive, massive, annual event
Speaker 2: and it's inescapable, right.
Speaker 3: I hear people at Crypto talking about the draft and
Speaker 3: who are the Rams going to draft? And you know,
Speaker 3: who are the Raiders going to draft, and it's pretty phenomenal.
Speaker 3: I mean, I remember back in the day it was
Speaker 3: just almost a non event. But again give credit to
Speaker 3: Roger Goodell and his executive team. The way they think
Speaker 3: about entertainment. It is clear that for the NFL, football
Speaker 3: is just the mote. There are an entertainment business just
Speaker 3: like UFC, just like WWE and everything in between. Entertainment first,
Speaker 3: football second, and no one does it better than the NFL.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and we're going to dig into that in a
Speaker 2: big way coming up in just a few minutes with
Speaker 2: Christine Dorflir, the CFO of the NFL. You know, the
Speaker 2: one thing that I would, you know, sort of offer
Speaker 2: to you is while they're excited in LA about the
Speaker 2: draft and across the country, they're especially excited back home
Speaker 2: for you in Miami because cam Ward, the quarterback for
Speaker 2: the University of Miami, is, at least as we sit
Speaker 2: here now, the likely number one pick according to a
Speaker 2: lot of the draftologists, including at the Athletics. So kim
Speaker 2: Ward could go number one to the Tennessee Titans. A
Speaker 2: great story University of Miami. I know obviously that school
Speaker 2: is very close to your heart. So it'd be interesting
Speaker 2: to see sort of what the atmospherics are around kim
Speaker 2: Ward potentially going number one.
Speaker 1: A very exciting quarterback, very much so.
Speaker 3: You know, when he came to Miami, some of the
Speaker 3: chatter with the Hurricane fan base was is Cam too small?
Speaker 1: Is he too short?
Speaker 3: And he quickly proved three four weeks in that he wasn't.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think he's going to be a phenomenal
Speaker 3: NFL quarterback from the little I saw with him as
Speaker 3: a Hurricane fan.
Speaker 1: It's exciting.
Speaker 3: And if he goes number one, he's definitely someone.
Speaker 2: To watch, Yeah, for sure, And so he would potentially
Speaker 2: go to the Tennessee Titans have a quarterback issue that
Speaker 2: they need to work out if they do have him
Speaker 2: come on board. I mean probably the other two players
Speaker 2: that will be most broadly watched, especially from a business
Speaker 2: of sports perspective, or Travis Hunter and Shador Sanders teammates
Speaker 2: obviously at University of Colorado. Shador of course the son
Speaker 2: of coach Prime Travis Hunter, a generational talent, Heisman winner.
Speaker 2: Wherever he ends up, he's going to do a lot
Speaker 2: of business for that team. You know, I was reading
Speaker 2: something earlier today which you'll appreciate, you know, having been
Speaker 2: a number one draft pick yourself, but you know, rated
Speaker 2: number one as a wide receiver and rated number one
Speaker 2: as a cornerback. Travis Hunter, I mean, he is an
Speaker 2: unbelievable athlete. So I can't wait to watch him play
Speaker 2: wherever he ends up playing.
Speaker 1: But it's going to be a fun draft to watch.
Speaker 2: And the last thing that I would say about the draft,
Speaker 2: and we get into this with Christine Dorfler in the
Speaker 2: conversation upcoming, is the whole notion of it's in green Bay.
Speaker 1: What a great NFL city.
Speaker 2: I mean, one cool thing about the Green Bay Packers
Speaker 2: is you well know, Alex, is that they're actually publicly owned.
Speaker 2: Now you can't go and buy the stock on the
Speaker 2: open market, but members of the public, they're fans, and
Speaker 2: there are thousands of them actually hold certificates of ownership
Speaker 2: in this team. It's a nonprofit, but they're actually owned
Speaker 2: not by a handful of individuals, but by their fans.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 3: And that's just a formality, Jason, Let's be real. I mean,
Speaker 3: if you like the Braves growing up because you grew
Speaker 3: up in Atlanta, you basically owned that team. And when
Speaker 3: you know Meta does well in their earnings or Google,
Speaker 3: you don't go.
Speaker 1: Around saying we did great.
Speaker 3: But when the Braves won a title, you say we
Speaker 3: won a title. So I love that. And Green Bay
Speaker 3: is one of the real iconic sports franchises, not only domestically,
Speaker 3: but I believe around the world totally.
Speaker 2: And now coming up on the deal. Christine Dorfler, the
Speaker 2: CFO of the NFL. Welcome back to the Deal. I'm
Speaker 2: your host, Jason Kelly, alongside my partner Alex Rodriguez. So
Speaker 2: excited to have Christine Dorfler. She is the CFO and
Speaker 2: executive vice president of the National Football League.
Speaker 1: Christine, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 4: Oh, thank you for having me. I am such a fan,
Speaker 4: so excited to be here.
Speaker 2: I think the place we want to start is basically
Speaker 2: with our obsession. I don't think there is an episode
Speaker 2: that goes by that we don't talk about the NFL
Speaker 2: in some form or fashion, because it looms so large
Speaker 2: in the business of sports, in this intersection of business,
Speaker 2: sports and culture that we talk about all the time. Christine,
Speaker 2: so take us inside the business. You know you've been
Speaker 2: in this seat for a couple of years now, how
Speaker 2: do you describe the business of the NFL.
Speaker 4: It's so fascinating. I've been here for two years. I'm
Speaker 4: just coming up on my two year mark at the NFL.
Speaker 4: But before that, I spent almost twenty years at NBC,
Speaker 4: so I was in the media and entertainment space. And
Speaker 4: as you think about the NFL and just the impact
Speaker 4: it has on fans, on people, on local markets, and
Speaker 4: on media and entertainment companies. I mean, this is a
Speaker 4: media and entertainment property, the world's largest arguably, and just
Speaker 4: the impact that that has our media partners, the way
Speaker 4: the content just resonates with fans, the way that fans
Speaker 4: are so incredibly passionate about it. I mean, that is
Speaker 4: the business. And it's an honor for me to be
Speaker 4: in this chair and just to be part of this
Speaker 4: fantastic league and this fantastic you know, delivery of content
Speaker 4: that excites and unites people across the country and hopefully
Speaker 4: at some point across the globe.
Speaker 2: So is it fair to say that because of your
Speaker 2: work at NBC, like you sort of knew what you
Speaker 2: were in for, but like, what was the thing that
Speaker 2: surprised you when you actually you know, when Roger you know,
Speaker 2: taps you for this job, Roger Goodell, the commissioner, you know,
Speaker 2: what's the thing that strikes you most when you.
Speaker 1: Sort of first get there, like the first few days, Well, it's.
Speaker 4: You know, it's so fascinating because I was on the
Speaker 4: other side my last job at NBC was the CFO
Speaker 4: of NBC Sports, So I was on the other side
Speaker 4: of those negotiation for media rights with our various partners,
Speaker 4: certainly the NFL being the biggest of that. But when
Speaker 4: I got to the NFL, I mean, I think the
Speaker 4: thing that surprised me is just, you know, just how
Speaker 4: incredibly you know, you know, the NFL is on the
Speaker 4: top of its game, but when you look at the
Speaker 4: work that is happening in the thirty two local clubs
Speaker 4: and everything they're doing day in and day out, as
Speaker 4: well as at the league office to grow, to innovate,
Speaker 4: to think about the future. You know, from the outside
Speaker 4: looking in, you could say, well, you know, jeez, the
Speaker 4: NFL is on the top of the game. You look
Speaker 4: at the revenue relative to any other sports league and
Speaker 4: it's certainly superior. You look at the viewership relative to
Speaker 4: other sports leagues, and you could say, geez, it would
Speaker 4: be so easy to sort of grow complacent and to
Speaker 4: sort of say, hey, we have great business model. We
Speaker 4: have a lot of stability with our media rights locked
Speaker 4: up for a little while, with the collective bargaining agreement
Speaker 4: locked up for a little while. But it couldn't be
Speaker 4: further from what's happening. You know, people here are constantly
Speaker 4: thinking about what's next and how do we continue to grow,
Speaker 4: how do we continue to innovate, whether that's with flag football,
Speaker 4: whether that's with becoming a global sport property, all of
Speaker 4: the things I love that I love adrenaline, sort of
Speaker 4: base places and businesses. That was surprising, but not surprising,
Speaker 4: I guess.
Speaker 3: I would say one of the things that's been surprising
Speaker 3: for me, Christine is like, you are the biggest and
Speaker 3: the best known around the world.
Speaker 1: The shield is very, very powerful.
Speaker 3: But I'm wondering, First of all, I'm fascinated with your background,
Speaker 3: which we'll get going to get into going back to
Speaker 3: Villanova and the army and all of that. But twenty
Speaker 3: years at NBC Sports as CFO, how did that help
Speaker 3: you shape and position you for this job that you
Speaker 3: have currently.
Speaker 4: You know, Alex, I started at NBC, I was a manager.
Speaker 4: I was a pretty junior level finance person coming out
Speaker 4: of the military, and I made my way through all
Speaker 4: sorts of different jobs. I think the one propelled me
Speaker 4: to the next propelled me to the next, and it
Speaker 4: was all the sort of twists and turns and the
Speaker 4: different experiences I had that then landed me at NBC Sports,
Speaker 4: which you know, growing up I was love sports. I
Speaker 4: played a bunch of sports. I ended up playing lacrosse
Speaker 4: in college, and so to be in that chair and
Speaker 4: to be in the sports media business was so exciting
Speaker 4: for me. But I feel like it was all the
Speaker 4: different steps along the way and the twists and turns
Speaker 4: and the jobs that were great and candidly some jobs
Speaker 4: that were not so great that helped to get me
Speaker 4: to NBC Sports. And then obviously that was a big
Speaker 4: part of why I think I'm here. I mean, the
Speaker 4: media partners are such a substantial part of our revenue.
Speaker 4: They're such a substantial part of our business. And focusing
Speaker 4: on strengthening all of our media partners and bringing new
Speaker 4: ones in like Netflix this year with the Christmas Day
Speaker 4: Games was you know, it's part of what we think
Speaker 4: about all the time. And so I would say it
Speaker 4: was all those kind of building blocks along the way
Speaker 4: that got me ready for that role and ultimately led
Speaker 4: me here.
Speaker 2: It's interesting, Christine, when you think about sort of the
Speaker 2: portfolio of things that you have in front of you
Speaker 2: across the business of the NFL. You know, media is
Speaker 2: one thing we've talked a bit about that I can
Speaker 2: tell you we could do it an entire episode just
Speaker 2: on private equity in the NFL. I know that that's
Speaker 2: something you were intimately involved in, and just to be
Speaker 2: clear to refresh the audience, this is the ability for
Speaker 2: a select group of private equity firms to own up
Speaker 2: to ten percent of individual NFL franchises. Tell us about
Speaker 2: that from the league's perspective, because I have to say
Speaker 2: I've never really had that conversation with you or with
Speaker 2: Roger Goodell. I'm interested to see how you think it's
Speaker 2: working and sort of what the intention was and sort
Speaker 2: of what you're taking away from.
Speaker 1: It so far.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it was one of the first things
Speaker 4: I was a part of working on which was incredibly
Speaker 4: exciting and interesting and just sort of fascinating to see
Speaker 4: how the league and the owners thought about it. I mean,
Speaker 4: I would say the league was very thoughtful and intentional
Speaker 4: in coming up with the instruct and a construct that
Speaker 4: works for the NFL. It's not the same construct as
Speaker 4: you know that other sports leagues have adopted and had
Speaker 4: adopted and implemented prior to the NFL. You know, we
Speaker 4: put together a committee of five owners and the owners
Speaker 4: worked a long time with staff from the league office
Speaker 4: to try to figure out what is the right construct,
Speaker 4: who are the right partners, how many partners should we have?
Speaker 4: And I think it was really you know, the ten
Speaker 4: percent works for the NFL. I think there's an element
Speaker 4: of this that is, you know, crawl, walk, run, and
Speaker 4: we're in the crawl stage and we're going to see
Speaker 4: how it goes. These are passive limited partner investments. You're
Speaker 4: not going to see any you know, fund managers making
Speaker 4: coaching decisions right. Sure they would love to, but that's
Speaker 4: not going to happen. I mean, it sort of maintains
Speaker 4: the foundation of the ownership construct where the controlling owner
Speaker 4: has to own thirty percent, but also offers owners of
Speaker 4: liquidity opportunity so that they can reinvest, reinvest in their businesses,
Speaker 4: reinvest in stadiums, reinvest in their club and their fan
Speaker 4: experiences and everything.
Speaker 1: Else like that.
Speaker 4: So it was important to get it right, I think,
Speaker 4: and I think there'll be you know, points in time
Speaker 4: we had to As you know, we had two fun
Speaker 4: transactions at the end of the calendar year last year
Speaker 4: with Miami and with Buffalo, with two of our fun
Speaker 4: partners with arctosin Ais and you know, we'll see what
Speaker 4: happens next. I think it'll continue to evolve, But out
Speaker 4: of the gate, I think it was a really thoughtful,
Speaker 4: intentional construct that works for the NFL and then protects
Speaker 4: all the foundational parts of our policy that have made
Speaker 4: the lead great.
Speaker 3: What makes it such a good business for private equity
Speaker 3: to come into space right now?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, look, first of all, I think number one,
Speaker 4: it's finding the right partners. I think a lot of
Speaker 4: the time that the committee that we put together with
Speaker 4: the five owners spent a lot of time thinking about
Speaker 4: who are the right partners because this isn't something you know,
Speaker 4: we have a six year old period that's part of
Speaker 4: the policy, as you know, but this isn't something that
Speaker 4: I think we're going to see a lot of exit,
Speaker 4: right I think what we will see is, you know,
Speaker 4: you look at and not just the NFL, but you
Speaker 4: look at the growth of franchise values. I mean, we
Speaker 4: saw it with the Bust and Celtic sale candidly, we
Speaker 4: see it with our limited partner valuations like the Philadelphia
Speaker 4: Eagles at the end of last year as well. This
Speaker 4: is something where I think Aiy's scarcity, right, there are
Speaker 4: only so many sports franchises. There are only thirty two
Speaker 4: NFL teams, and people want to be the owners of
Speaker 4: those teams. So the scarcity values certainly helps. And then
Speaker 4: I think you look at the long term growth and
Speaker 4: the impact that we have on society, on fandom, on engagement.
Speaker 4: I mean, there really is nothing like the NFL that
Speaker 4: unifies people in that way and people want to be
Speaker 4: a part of it. And so I think that as
Speaker 4: you think about funds who are investing, I think they
Speaker 4: see that growth. You know, certainly we spend a lot
Speaker 4: of time thinking about the media landscape and the disruption
Speaker 4: and what are the things we need to do to
Speaker 4: continue to innovate and how is that going to affect
Speaker 4: our top line When you think about scarcity and you
Speaker 4: think about the impact, you know, just sort of the
Speaker 4: power of the content in reaching so many people across
Speaker 4: the country and again hopefully across the globe. At some point,
Speaker 4: I think that these funds come in and they see
Speaker 4: that long term growth potential.
Speaker 3: Correct me if I'm wrong, or maybe you can't correct
Speaker 3: me if I am wrong, But NFL one of the
Speaker 3: reasons they're the envy of sports.
Speaker 1: Around the world.
Speaker 3: Is probably the only league at this scale that is
Speaker 3: not only growing top line revenue but also net earnings.
Speaker 3: And to be thirty two for thirty two or even
Speaker 3: close to that is it is such an anomaly because
Speaker 3: teams usually break even, they lose a little money, they
Speaker 3: make a little money, and they're fine and they're ready
Speaker 3: to go to the next hole. NFL is truly the
Speaker 3: anomaly that grows both sides top end net earnings.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, absolutely last year alsoty two of our clubs
Speaker 4: are profitable. And I don't think other sports leagues can
Speaker 4: say that. But you know, as you think about top
Speaker 4: line growth, and certainly you can make an argument that
Speaker 4: you know, franchise valuations are based on that top line growth,
Speaker 4: but there's profit growth as well. And we look at clubs,
Speaker 4: financials and sort of core tiles, you know, the four
Speaker 4: core tiles split into eight clubs each, and you know,
Speaker 4: you see the gap between the top eight clubs and
Speaker 4: you know the bottom eight clubs from a financial perspective closing.
Speaker 4: And that's what you want to see. You want to
Speaker 4: see sort of the tide lifting all boats, and that
Speaker 4: is what we've seen and that's a really really strong,
Speaker 4: you know, financial metric.
Speaker 2: Well, that's it's a really interesting point too. And Alex,
Speaker 2: I know something you and I have talked about on
Speaker 2: this show is how that is certainly not the case
Speaker 2: in all the leagues. And I'm thinking specifically at baseball,
Speaker 2: which is something that you've talked a lot about in
Speaker 2: terms of that that haves and the have not. The
Speaker 2: gap is widening, not drinking, and that's a real issue
Speaker 2: for the growth of a league.
Speaker 1: So when you think about those growth.
Speaker 2: Attributes, Christine International, you mentioned this in passing, but let's
Speaker 2: dig in on it a little bit. Is clearly an
Speaker 2: area where the NFL is keenly interested in individual franchise
Speaker 2: owners and club owners are very interested in that as well.
Speaker 1: It's a pretty complicated.
Speaker 2: System of you know, who has rights where and who's
Speaker 2: playing where, and I think people pay a lot of
Speaker 2: attention to who's doing what in which markets help us
Speaker 2: understand the strategy there, Like, how do you think about
Speaker 2: creating a system? Because we know that the NFL has
Speaker 2: been successful by being methodical, it does feel like you've
Speaker 2: been pretty aggressive internationally, is that fair? Like, how would
Speaker 2: you characterize the international expansion?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I will say there's an enormous strategic focus on it.
Speaker 4: What do we need to be doing, how do we
Speaker 4: need to be thinking about growing fandom globally, what are
Speaker 4: the key priority markets and really identifying where and how
Speaker 4: and how much money it's going to take to invest
Speaker 4: to grow that fandom. I mean, this coming season, we're
Speaker 4: going to play seven international games. We'll play three in London.
Speaker 4: We're entering three new markets right We'll be in Dublin
Speaker 4: for the first time, we'll be in Madrid for the
Speaker 4: first time, and we'll be in Berlin for the first time,
Speaker 4: and then we'll return to Brazil we played last year
Speaker 4: Eagles Packers kick off weekend in Brazil and South Paalo
Speaker 4: and we'll return to South Paalo and then we have
Speaker 4: our sites set on expansion beyond that. So we announced
Speaker 4: a multi year deal to play in Australia starting in
Speaker 4: the twenty twenty sixth season in Melbourne. So it is
Speaker 4: something we spend a ton of time thinking about how
Speaker 4: to get it right, how to be a global sports property,
Speaker 4: whether that's player academies and player development, whether that's a
Speaker 4: global markets program. In twenty nine of our thirty two
Speaker 4: clubs participate in our Global markets program, all of the
Speaker 4: things that you need to do to build that fantom,
Speaker 4: to get the rest of the world to know and
Speaker 4: to learn and to love the game as much as
Speaker 4: we do here.
Speaker 2: And so Christy, you know, one of the things, you know,
Speaker 2: when we talk about the globe, we can't help but
Speaker 2: think about the global economy and it is really something
Speaker 2: right now, to say the least. And one of the
Speaker 2: things that has always been attractive about sports franchise for
Speaker 2: people is the sort of uncorrelated nature to get very
Speaker 2: bloombergiy about it of these assets over time, and yet
Speaker 2: you know, you're still talking about not just people tuning in,
Speaker 2: but people showing up, people buying merchandise. How much as
Speaker 2: the CFO do you have to keep an eye on
Speaker 2: sort of what's happening forget geopolitically, but really just geoeconomically
Speaker 2: as it relates to your business.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's interesting because that question has come up a
Speaker 4: lot over the past couple of days, just as things evolve,
Speaker 4: and obviously read the headlines and from our employees even
Speaker 4: and we certainly have to keep an eye on it.
Speaker 4: I mean, there are aspects, certainly of our business model
Speaker 4: that are contracted and that's great, but we also want
Speaker 4: to recognize that most of our you know, about half
Speaker 4: of total league wide revenue comes from our media deals, right,
Speaker 4: And we want our media partners feel the impact of
Speaker 4: a recession if there were to be a recession, right,
Speaker 4: because they're you know, advertising based. In some cases, during
Speaker 4: a recession, those are the first budgets to get cut.
Speaker 4: And so if our media partners feel it, we feel it.
Speaker 4: We want them to be successful, we want them to
Speaker 4: grow revenue, and so we think about it from a
Speaker 4: media partner aspect, and we also think about it through
Speaker 4: discretionary spend. Right, Fans going to games, that's a discretionary spend,
Speaker 4: and in a world where an economy is challenged or
Speaker 4: where there is a recession, that discretionary spend could could
Speaker 4: be affected. And then I think, finally we just think
Speaker 4: about it as it relates to the tariffs and what
Speaker 4: impact that could have. As we think about international expansion
Speaker 4: and what we're doing internationally, and also stadium built stadium
Speaker 4: renovation and development in the stadium builds and how that
Speaker 4: impacts the clubs who are spending money investing in their stadiums,
Speaker 4: whether it's a renovation or a new build as well,
Speaker 4: so we keep a very close eye on it and
Speaker 4: try to account for different scenarios in the financial planning
Speaker 4: we're doing as well.
Speaker 2: All Right, So now we're going to play a fun
Speaker 2: little game, which is let's talk about the draft from
Speaker 2: three different perspectives. First, my perspective, which is the least interesting,
Speaker 2: which is a fan of football. I root for the
Speaker 2: Atlanta Falcons. That's my hometown. So it's always interesting to
Speaker 2: see who they're going to draft, to say the least.
Speaker 1: You know, Arthur Blank were with you, like, do it right,
Speaker 1: let's go.
Speaker 2: There's one person on this call right now who was drafted,
Speaker 2: and we're going to ask him about that perspective. And
Speaker 2: then Christine, I want to ask you about the business
Speaker 2: of the draft. But you know, Alex Partner, come on
Speaker 2: in here. We are literally, you know.
Speaker 1: Amid the NFL draft.
Speaker 2: You weren't drafted to play football, though you know, I
Speaker 2: don't know, maybe you could have been. You were drafted
Speaker 2: to play baseball. What's it like to be drafted?
Speaker 3: Well, the NFL did have an impact because Dan Marino
Speaker 3: was my favorite football player of course growing up here
Speaker 3: in Miami, and he was like the greatest, coolest thing
Speaker 3: in the world. As a matter of fact, I met
Speaker 3: Dan as a fifteen year old. He's put his arm
Speaker 3: around me and he said, you know you're gonna make
Speaker 3: it big one day. And now we're great friends. And
Speaker 3: it was just a really nice story that makes me
Speaker 3: feel good. And we bonded over thirteen. But as far
Speaker 3: as the draft, I'll never forget. It was June of
Speaker 3: nineteen ninety three. My mom comes from very, you know,
Speaker 3: humble background, so I had an opportunity to have my
Speaker 3: dream come true.
Speaker 1: I was drafted by the Mariners.
Speaker 3: I was going to play with the Michael Jordan of baseball,
Speaker 3: which was Ken Griffy Junior And it was a life
Speaker 3: change and experience and it was when my journey began.
Speaker 3: And as a day I'll never forget.
Speaker 2: And so, Christine, you were a fantastic lacrosse player at Villanova,
Speaker 2: but there was no professional lacrosse league at that point.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you would have been you wouldn't made it.
Speaker 2: Our friend Paul r who's been against on this program
Speaker 2: you know now, is making that right. And there is
Speaker 2: a women's professional league, but there wasn't at the time.
Speaker 2: And yet now you oversee and help oversee with Roger
Speaker 2: Goodell and others. You know, this unbelievable like is then,
Speaker 2: I mean the ratings for which are through the roof.
Speaker 2: It's this unbelievable sort of moment nowhere near the NFL
Speaker 2: season where everybody's talked about the NFL. So what is
Speaker 2: it like for the business of the NFL to have
Speaker 2: the draft be this big of a deal.
Speaker 4: Oh, it's huge, And you know it's interesting to me.
Speaker 4: I had never been to an NFL draft before I
Speaker 4: started in this role, and I went out to Detroit
Speaker 4: last year. It was just absolutely blown away by the
Speaker 4: you know, you think about the NFL being in the
Speaker 4: off season, right the off season, and I mean hundreds
Speaker 4: of thousands of fans hyped up, excited, wearing their jerseys,
Speaker 4: just ready to go. There's no game, right and it
Speaker 4: really does speak to long before my time at the NFL,
Speaker 4: the NFL's ability to really event tiz event ties and
Speaker 4: you know, really keep that engagement with fans throughout the
Speaker 4: calendar year all twelve months, right, you think about the draft,
Speaker 4: the combine, the schedule release in May, the start of
Speaker 4: training camp. I mean, it's just year round, continuing to
Speaker 4: grow and develop that excitement, and then from a business perspective,
Speaker 4: you know, as I've looked back and sort of studied
Speaker 4: the economics of it, the draft used to be up
Speaker 4: until twenty fourteen. I believe it was a local event
Speaker 4: done out of Radio City Music Hall, and now it
Speaker 4: is a full city takeover with hundreds. I mean every
Speaker 4: year it's breaking records in terms of attendance. You know,
Speaker 4: I think Green Bay this year will be the ninth city,
Speaker 4: ninth new market that the draft has gone into since
Speaker 4: it left Radio City in twenty fifteen, which is pretty incredible.
Speaker 4: And we have over half the teams have expressed interest
Speaker 4: in hosting a draft. I mean, there's just tremendous interest,
Speaker 4: you know, and there's all sorts of right correlations, I
Speaker 4: think as you think about you know, I've I've heard
Speaker 4: since I've started that the Draft in Nashville in twenty
Speaker 4: nineteen was a real turning point. You saw, you know,
Speaker 4: the all kinds of NFL fans up and down Broadway,
Speaker 4: and that was something that helped lead to public funding
Speaker 4: in the stadium development in Nashville. So there's all sorts
Speaker 4: of correlations that are positive from a business perspective, and
Speaker 4: you know, it's just you spoke about the ratings. I mean,
Speaker 4: the viewership is off the charge. It beats the finals
Speaker 4: of some other sports leagues. So it's it really is
Speaker 4: incredible in terms of the power of engaging with an audience,
Speaker 4: engaging with fans when you're not in season, and really
Speaker 4: continuing that sort of thread throughout the off season.
Speaker 2: By the way, the owner of an NBA and WNBA
Speaker 2: team is shaking his head at that very statistic, Christine.
Speaker 3: But go on, yeah, we all envy the NFL, that's
Speaker 3: for sure, you know, Christine. All of the business metrics
Speaker 3: we've been talking about over the last twenty or twenty
Speaker 3: five minutes have been under the leadership of Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Speaker 3: And he's been great with me personally. But I'm wondering,
Speaker 3: from your point of view, you've been there about two years,
Speaker 3: what do you see as his superpower and in such
Speaker 3: a short time, what are some of the lessons you've
Speaker 3: learned from him that make him tick Because the NFL
Speaker 3: has been up into the right for a very long
Speaker 3: time under his leadership.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, tremendous And look, I mean my understanding is
Speaker 4: Roger started as an intern at the NFL, and so
Speaker 4: he knows the place inside and out for sure. But
Speaker 4: I think his superpower is he's restless, right, He never
Speaker 4: grows complacent. It is always let's celebrate the wins, but
Speaker 4: let's look at what's next, Let's look at how we
Speaker 4: can do better, Let's look at how we can innovate.
Speaker 4: Let's look at tremendous partners. I mean, one of the
Speaker 4: things that was just so incredible to me when I
Speaker 4: started as CFO was the companies that want to work
Speaker 4: with the NFL, and it just is it's phenomenal, and
Speaker 4: so what can we learn from them? He is always learning, thinking,
Speaker 4: innovating and looking ahead to what's next. And you know, look,
Speaker 4: if you're a fan, if you're a player, if you're
Speaker 4: a coach, if you're a general manager, if you're an owner,
Speaker 4: if you're a media partner, that's that's what.
Speaker 1: You want, all right, Christine.
Speaker 2: We're going to get to our rapid fire segment in
Speaker 2: a second, but before we do that, you know, we've
Speaker 2: sort of nodded to some of your background, and you know,
Speaker 2: Villanova and you talked a lot about your experience at
Speaker 2: NBC one. I think very notable thing is your time
Speaker 2: you know, in the army, in army intelligence. How does
Speaker 2: that sort of experience play into a job like that. Certainly,
Speaker 2: I would imagine it gives you some perspective and gives
Speaker 2: you a sense of like what ultimately is important in
Speaker 2: defending our country, you know, versus a football game, which
Speaker 2: we all love to watch. But what's the perspective you
Speaker 2: bring or are there certain skills or attributes that you
Speaker 2: find yourself sort of going back to from those early days.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no question was. It was incredibly foundational for me.
Speaker 4: I wouldn't trade my experience in the army for anything.
Speaker 4: I feel very fortunate to have served and to have
Speaker 4: served alongside some really phenomenal human beings where services is
Speaker 4: front and center for them, and I learned a ton
Speaker 4: from them. I mean, the things I learned that were
Speaker 4: foundational for me that I still apply at this day.
Speaker 4: It's the grit and resilience. You can learn that from sports,
Speaker 4: you can learn that from a lot of different places,
Speaker 4: but when you see it in action, particularly when you're
Speaker 4: overseas and you see people away from soldiers, away from
Speaker 4: their families, and the way they dig deep and find
Speaker 4: that grit and resilience within them, it was just phenomenal.
Speaker 4: And I learned that. I learned it by watching people
Speaker 4: I served with, and I learned it myself. And then
Speaker 4: I think the ability to learn and adapt, to really listen.
Speaker 4: You know, when I was I was a twenty two
Speaker 4: year old platoon leader in charge of people who had
Speaker 4: far more years of experience than I did. And you're
Speaker 4: not successful unless you listen and you learn, and you're
Speaker 4: patient and you're thoughtful, and you learn an appreciation for
Speaker 4: what other people do and figure out how you can
Speaker 4: help support them as a leader. So all of those skills.
Speaker 4: I mean, it was a short you know, in the
Speaker 4: scheme of a career, it was a very short time.
Speaker 4: But at the same time, I draw on those lessons
Speaker 4: every day.
Speaker 2: All right, well, we're going to move to the rapid
Speaker 2: fire portion of the conversation, the lightning round five questions,
Speaker 2: Keep it tight. We're gonna bounce it back and forth
Speaker 2: all starting then Alex, we'll pick up what's the best
Speaker 2: piece of advice you've ever received on deal making or business?
Speaker 4: I think, always do something you're a little not ready
Speaker 4: to do, those nervous butterflies, and prepare but also be
Speaker 4: willing to take a risk.
Speaker 3: Who's your dream deal making partner?
Speaker 4: You know what I got to say. My father, he's
Speaker 4: retired now, spent a long career in finance, but has
Speaker 4: now become a historian. He wrote a book on sort
Speaker 4: of the lessons you can learn from history and how
Speaker 4: to apply him to the business world. He's patient, he's thoughtful,
Speaker 4: and he's just a super smart person, and he would
Speaker 4: be my dream deal maker. What's the name of the book,
Speaker 4: Battlefield Lessons to Business Bullets. It's a great, great book.
Speaker 4: It's short, but a lot of application there.
Speaker 1: And what's your dad's name.
Speaker 4: His name's Jerry mcnaff.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right on the reading list. Now, what's the
Speaker 2: most nervous you've ever.
Speaker 4: Been jumping out of an airplane? When I was in
Speaker 4: the military, you.
Speaker 1: Know that's number one for us.
Speaker 4: Haven't been more nervous than that. Less even day one
Speaker 4: working for Roger Goodell, I was still more nervous jumping
Speaker 4: out of a plane.
Speaker 3: I've never fail so un accomplished.
Speaker 1: All right, here we go.
Speaker 3: Number four. What's your hype song before you go into
Speaker 3: a big meeting or negotiation.
Speaker 4: Well, I'm a Philly girl, so it's got to be
Speaker 4: going to fly now. The rocky song.
Speaker 1: Ah yeah, love it, love it all right.
Speaker 2: What's your advice for someone listening who wants a career
Speaker 2: like yours?
Speaker 4: I think, figure out a way to show that grid,
Speaker 4: show that resilient, show that determination, and just figure out
Speaker 4: a way to lose without being defeated. You're not going
Speaker 4: to get your dream job day one. You're going to
Speaker 4: take twists and turns, but figure out a way to
Speaker 4: learn from the losses and not get defeated and keep
Speaker 4: plugging away.
Speaker 2: All right, Christine, It's been really fun to get to
Speaker 2: know you off camera, and you know, on this show,
Speaker 2: we really appreciate your time. We know it's a super
Speaker 2: busy time of year because the NFL never sleeps.
Speaker 1: Man, we know that Alex.
Speaker 4: Will never sleep.
Speaker 1: No, it's great. We really appreciate it. Thank you so much, now,
Speaker 1: thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Fun the Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and me
Speaker 2: Jason Kelly. This episode was made by Anamazarakus, Stacy Wong,
Speaker 2: and Lizzie Phillip. Amy Keen is our editor and Will
Speaker 2: Connelly is our video editor. Our theme music is made
Speaker 2: by Blake Maples. Our executive producers are Kelly Leferrier, Ashley
Speaker 2: Hoenig and Brendan neonham Sage Bauman is the head of
Speaker 2: Bloomberg Podcast. Additional support from Rachel Carnivale and Elena Los Angeles.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for listening to the deal. If you
Speaker 2: have a minute, subscribe, rate and review our show. It'll
Speaker 2: help other listeners find us. I'm Jason Kelly. See you
Speaker 2: next week.