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

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

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Speaker 2: Michael Lawn, I'm Scarlett Foo and Damian Sasauur.

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Speaker 1: Coming up, we'll talk with the commissioner of the NCAA's

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Speaker 1: Mountain West Conference, Gloria Navarrees, and we'll get her thoughts

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Speaker 1: on how the Big ten keeps getting bigger and what

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Speaker 1: all the conference realignments could mean from Mountain West.

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Speaker 3: The change is so significant, right, this is a change

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Speaker 3: unlike we've ever seen before in a consolidation of leagues

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Speaker 3: from five geographically balanced to four.

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Speaker 2: Navars is also just a second female commissioner of an

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Speaker 2: FBS conference and the first Latina conference commissioner in d

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Speaker 2: one history.

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Speaker 4: We'll also check in on the Women's World Cup, and

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Speaker 4: then so the competition whittles down, we'll take a look

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Speaker 4: at some of this year's biggest surprises.

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Speaker 5: The tag in the.

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Speaker 2: Third points back. It's the first time Germany loses in

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Speaker 2: a group stage map since nineteen ninety five.

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Speaker 1: All that and more straight ahead on the Bloomberg Business

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Speaker 1: of Sports. But first, we saw a huge headline in

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Speaker 1: sports betting this week.

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Speaker 2: Yep, ESPN finally diving in headfirst into sports betting after

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Speaker 2: parent company Walt Disney struck a deal with Penn Entertainment.

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Speaker 1: For more on what it means for Penn and the

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Speaker 1: House of Mouse, we welcome Bloomberg Media reporter Jerry Smith. Jerry,

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Speaker 1: welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

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Speaker 6: Thank you.

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Speaker 1: Well, let's start from the beginning. ESPN at a marriage

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Speaker 1: with sports and sports betting. Some people like it and

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Speaker 1: some people.

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Speaker 6: Don't, that's right.

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Speaker 5: I mean, if you go back a few years, this

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Speaker 5: was unthinkable because ESPN's owned by Disney, and Disney takes

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Speaker 5: a lot of effort to put in a lot of

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Speaker 5: effort to cultivate this family friendly image. And a few

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Speaker 5: years ago gambling was really seen as taboo, and things

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Speaker 5: have really changed. It's obviously legal now in more than

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Speaker 5: half the states in the country, and we're now seeing

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Speaker 5: sports leagues that are embracing sports betting. And so ESPN

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Speaker 5: now is saying, well, this is not as controversial of

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Speaker 5: a topic as it used to be, and ESPN certainly

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Speaker 5: could use the money given the challenges they're facing in

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Speaker 5: the cable business right now.

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Speaker 2: So this is a cash infusion of what one and

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Speaker 2: a half billion dollars over ten years to ESPN. Jerry

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Speaker 2: Pen Entertainment is the partner that ESPN is working with here.

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Speaker 2: Penn had to deal with Barstool Sports, which has its

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Speaker 2: own branding. I guess issues is this a case of

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Speaker 2: Penn upgrading to ESPN from Barsol because it's now getting

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Speaker 2: rid of its steak in Barstool.

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Speaker 6: That's right.

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Speaker 5: So Penn CEO said on a call yesterday that they

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Speaker 5: realized that if you look at the sports betting market

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Speaker 5: right now, it's consolidated around two big players, Fan Duel

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Speaker 5: and DraftKings, and they really needed larger scale if they

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Speaker 5: were going to try to compete there. Certainly has a

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Speaker 5: loyal following, but it's nowhere near as big as the

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Speaker 5: following of ESPN, which is really a global brand. So yeah,

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Speaker 5: this is an opportunity for Penn to use the ESPN

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Speaker 5: name to brand a sports book. They're also getting a

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Speaker 5: lot of help promotional help from ESPN. You're going to

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Speaker 5: see ESPN talent starting this fall start to promote ESPN

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Speaker 5: Bet on the air. So this is a much bigger

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Speaker 5: partnership than it was with Barstool. But the partnership with

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Speaker 5: Barstool was also very Rocky. There was a lot of

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Speaker 5: issues where Barstool got into trouble and regulators find them.

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Speaker 5: They had difficulty getting licenses in some states, so this

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Speaker 5: was a difficult relationship for a controversial media company, a

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Speaker 5: controversial person like Dave Portnoy, and a casino company that

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Speaker 5: operates in a highly regulated industry.

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Speaker 4: Well, Jerry, you know, take us through a little bit

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Speaker 4: of the history there. I just you know, if you

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Speaker 4: could expand on that. You know, we know that Penn

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Speaker 4: bought into Barstool a few years back. I forget the number,

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Speaker 4: but you know, from what I understand, they're going to

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Speaker 4: record a loss of between eight to eight hundred and

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Speaker 4: fifty million dollars from the Barstool acquisition and then subsequent.

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Speaker 6: Sale to Dave Portnoy for one dollar.

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Speaker 4: I wonder if you could just take us through a

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Speaker 4: bit of that, and more importantly, what's the market reaction

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Speaker 4: to this.

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Speaker 5: I mean, Pen investors are excited about the potential for ESPN.

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Speaker 5: But yeah, if you go back over three years ago,

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Speaker 5: was when Penn they first bought a thirty six percent

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Speaker 5: stake in Barstool, and then over the next few years

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Speaker 5: they ended up buying all of Barstool Sports, and they

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Speaker 5: saw barstool as an opportunity to reach a younger audience.

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Speaker 5: Barstool Sports is mainly geared towards men and younger men,

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Speaker 5: so they saw an opportunity there to reach younger betters.

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Speaker 5: But there was a lot of controversy. I mean, there

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Speaker 5: was a series of articles that where claims of sexual

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Speaker 5: harassment from Dave Portnoy. You know, it was something that

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Speaker 5: Penn had to deal with. There was examples of you know,

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Speaker 5: there was a Barstool Sports employee who made a video

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Speaker 5: talking about his gambling losses and they got fined in

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Speaker 5: a state for that. There was a few other fines

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Speaker 5: that they faced because gambling is just it's a highly

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Speaker 5: regulated industry and states are trying to you know, protect

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Speaker 5: betters and you know, enforce responsible gambling. So they ran

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Speaker 5: into a lot of issues there. And so now you know,

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Speaker 5: they're selling it back to Dave Portenoy for a whopping

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Speaker 5: one dollar and so you know, this is really ESPN

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Speaker 5: is just a bigger brand, and this is really a

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Speaker 5: win for Dave Portanoy in a lot of ways. That

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Speaker 5: he sold his company for five hundred and fifty million

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Speaker 5: dollars brought it back for a dollar.

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Speaker 1: Now, well, first of all, that dollar that's more than

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Speaker 1: I got in my bank account right now. But that's

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Speaker 1: another story. And putting a kid through college forget that part. Well,

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Speaker 1: this has implications also in Canada, doesn't it.

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Speaker 5: Well, yeah, so Penn also owns a separate brand called

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Speaker 5: The Score that operates in Canada and that's not going

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Speaker 5: to change. But this is really a US sports betting

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Speaker 5: partnership between Penn and ESPN. And you know, this is

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Speaker 5: ESPN really diving into to betting in a way that

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Speaker 5: they haven't before. They've had some deals with Caesar's and

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Speaker 5: DraftKings where if you went on the ESPN website there

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Speaker 5: would be some links sports betting links, but this is

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Speaker 5: a much I mean, for ESPN to license its name

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Speaker 5: to a sports book is you know, this is the

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Speaker 5: company diving into sports betting much deeper than they ever

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Speaker 5: have before.

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Speaker 2: So Jerry Disney also reported earnings yesterday, and one of

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Speaker 2: the many things that we learned from the earning support

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Speaker 2: is that it's also raising prices on its streaming businesses,

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Speaker 2: Disney Plus and ESPN Plus as.

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Speaker 5: Well ESPN Plus, Disney Plus, Hulu. The whole streaming suite

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Speaker 5: from Disney. The prices are going up and this shouldn't

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Speaker 5: come as a prize. This is something in the last

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Speaker 5: few years, Wall Streets really changed its focus from we

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Speaker 5: just want to see you grow subscribers as fast as

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Speaker 5: you can to now investors really want to see profits.

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Speaker 5: And these companies have been hemorrhaging hundreds of millions of

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Speaker 5: dollars in their streaming business and they're really under pressured

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Speaker 5: to cut those losses. So we're seeing the prices of

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Speaker 5: these streaming services across the industry going up.

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Speaker 2: Okay, so my question here is is just raising prices

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Speaker 2: because it has the pricing power to do so or

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Speaker 2: because it needs to do it.

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Speaker 5: I think whether they have the pricing power is remains

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Speaker 5: to be seen. I think that's the big question when

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Speaker 5: you raise prices on streaming is do people you know,

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Speaker 5: are they going to cancel if you raise the price

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Speaker 5: by one or two or three dollars a month? But

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Speaker 5: they also are under a lot of pressure to raise prices,

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Speaker 5: not just because they're trying to reach profitability and streaming,

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Speaker 5: but if you think about ESPN, they are the cost

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Speaker 5: of sports rights keeps going up. They're competing against tech companies,

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Speaker 5: so they, you know, to be able to afford those

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Speaker 5: sports rights, the cost of ESPN plus needs to keep increasing.

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Speaker 4: Jerry, let me answer the question I asked for you before.

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Speaker 4: The price of Penn shares rose eighteen percent Terry day

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Speaker 4: on the ninth, that was Thursday, on the announcement. I

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Speaker 4: think it closed the day up nine to ten percent.

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Speaker 4: At the same time, DraftKings and FanDuel were down anywhere

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Speaker 4: from what eight to ten percent? You know, talk me

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Speaker 4: through this is ESPN that powerful?

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Speaker 6: Is that name?

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Speaker 4: Is that brand gonna be that powerful? That Penn can

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Speaker 4: overlook the eight hundred and fifty million dollars right down

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Speaker 4: from Barstool and just you know, shareholders are just looking

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Speaker 4: through that.

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Speaker 5: I think there's there's some skepticism about this ESPN Pen

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Speaker 5: marriage because we now have a history of sports betting

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Speaker 5: companies and sports media companies getting together and not not

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Speaker 5: working out, Penn and Barstool being one example. A few

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Speaker 5: weeks ago, Fox bet shut down. That was a partnership

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Speaker 5: between Fox, Rupert Murdocks Broadcasting Company, and Flutter, which is

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Speaker 5: a big gambling company. So you know, we've seen a

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Speaker 5: few examples. I mean, the idea, the strategy is that

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Speaker 5: if you could merge these two worlds of sports betting

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Speaker 5: and sports media. You know, you're watching sports on TV

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Speaker 5: and you're getting promotions to bet, and then you go

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Speaker 5: on your phone in place a bet, and that was

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Speaker 5: the whole logic behind it. But we're seeing more and

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Speaker 5: more of these sports betting apps shut down, and some

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Speaker 5: of them are you know, examples where sports media and

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Speaker 5: sports betting have combined. I just think it's a really

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Speaker 5: tough time right now for anybody to start fresh in

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Speaker 5: the sports betting industry. FanDuel and DraftKings have you know,

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Speaker 5: upwards of seventy percent market share combined, so it's really

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Speaker 5: it's a difficult business. You have to spend a lot

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Speaker 5: of money upfront with advertising, a lot of money on

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Speaker 5: promotions to attract people to make bets on your app.

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Speaker 5: It's a tough business. And there's two players that are

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Speaker 5: just so big right now that ESPNS is obviously a

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Speaker 5: huge name, and I think investors are excited about the

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Speaker 5: potential there, but I think there's some skepticism that they

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Speaker 5: can really make a dent in this industry.

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Speaker 4: Well, Jerry, let me just ask you, well, just ask

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Speaker 4: one more question here. I mean in terms of what

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Speaker 4: this means for Barstool, right, I mean, I just want

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Speaker 4: to read you this quote from Dave Portnoy. He goes,

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Speaker 4: for the first time in forever, we don't need to

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Speaker 4: watch what we say, how we talk, what we do.

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Speaker 6: It's back to the pirate ship.

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Speaker 4: So does this mean barstool is going to basically retrench

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Speaker 4: refocus on sort of that gray area of the market,

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Speaker 4: you know, you know, the kind of you know, that

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Speaker 4: type of an audience. And and what does that mean

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Speaker 4: for Dave Portnoy in terms of you know, you know,

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Speaker 4: his pizza review. I mean, he just did Grigg Street

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Speaker 4: Pizza up here in Greenwich, Connecticut. You know, I want

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Speaker 4: to know is this going to impact his ability to

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Speaker 4: review pizza joints all over the East Coast thoughts.

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Speaker 5: I'm not a pizza expert, but I and I'm not

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Speaker 5: too worried about Dave Portnoy's financially but I think it's

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Speaker 5: going to be challenging for Barstool Sports now that they're

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Speaker 5: no longer part of this larger casino company that sort

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Speaker 5: of shielded them from scrutiny. They're now a standalone digital

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Speaker 5: media company in a business that's really challenging. You've seen

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Speaker 5: in the last year alone, We've seen Vice Media file

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Speaker 5: for bankruptcy, Buzzfeeds stock is down dramatically from when they

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Speaker 5: went public, Vox and other digital media big digital media

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Speaker 5: companies had layoffs, Gawker Media shut down for a second time.

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Speaker 5: This is a really, really tough business. We saw yesterday

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Speaker 5: and Penn's financial disclosures that barstool lost money in the

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Speaker 5: first six half, first six months of last year of

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Speaker 5: this year. So it's it's tough. He certainly feels unshackled

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Speaker 5: now that he doesn't have to worry about state gambling

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Speaker 5: regulators monitoring what his employees are doing and saying. But

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Speaker 5: it's going to be a tough road for Barstool if

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Speaker 5: they want to try to build a real business in

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Speaker 5: digital media.

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Speaker 1: Oh Damni and pizza, what a cheesy question. See what

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Speaker 1: I did there? See the pizza has gees and then

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Speaker 1: Michael Bark you got to explain the Joe. It's not

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Speaker 1: good anyway. Uh, Harry Smith, our own Bloomberg, thank you

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Speaker 1: so much for joining us right here on the Bloomberg

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Speaker 1: Business of Sports. There our thanks to Bloomberg's Jerry Smith

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Speaker 1: for joining US. Now we turn to one of the

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Speaker 1: biggest events in sports this summer, the Women's World Cup,

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Speaker 1: with some of the biggest powerhouses seeing early exits including

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Speaker 1: the US. Wow, smooth works, tough result for the US

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Speaker 1: who played their best yet are eliminated. To get us

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Speaker 1: up to speed on some of the big surprises and

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Speaker 1: this year's World Cup, we welcome you all know where

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg's Vanessa Vernomo. Hello, Vanessa, Welcome to the Bloomberg Business

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Speaker 1: of Sports.

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Speaker 2: Hello, Hello, it's great to be here.

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Speaker 1: Well, I'm just going to ask the question that everybody

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Speaker 1: in America is asking, what in the hell happened to

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Speaker 1: the women's team in the United States for the World Cup?

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Speaker 7: Isn't that what we're all asking ourselves? And I don't

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Speaker 7: think anyone has an answer. You listen to all the

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Speaker 7: you know, the pundits, the analysts, and they're all like,

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Speaker 7: this is not the US women's national team, It's not.

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Speaker 2: What they were built for.

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Speaker 7: A lot of you know, the old players, even who

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Speaker 7: are still friends with the team, is they're questioning, you know,

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Speaker 7: the mentality and the way that you can celebrate getting

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Speaker 7: into the round of sixteen as they did, because they

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Speaker 7: were like if It wasn't win or bust, not even final.

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Speaker 7: It was you have to win or it's a bust.

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Speaker 7: You know. That was the mentality of this team for

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Speaker 7: so long. So when you look at the breakdown of

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Speaker 7: what happened, it's the veterans who were still there. I

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Speaker 7: mean half the veterans who technically should be playing are

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Speaker 7: all hurt, Becky, Souerbron, Tobin, Heath, Christ and Press. And

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Speaker 7: then you have the veterans who are playing not at

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Speaker 7: their best, and it just didn't gel with the new

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Speaker 7: stars of the team, who are stars. They're gonna be incredible,

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Speaker 7: but they just weren't ready for this moment. We saw

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Speaker 7: it with Sophia Smith coming up for that penalty kick

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Speaker 7: in the US for a Sweden game. She wasn't ready

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Speaker 7: for the moment, messed it up.

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Speaker 6: It's still pretty tope, and.

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Speaker 2: She will be one day. It just it wasn't there yet.

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Speaker 2: So the fact that it even came down to penalty

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Speaker 2: kicks infuriates a lot of people because there was so

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Speaker 2: much expectation built into this US team. I've heard a

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Speaker 2: lot of commentary that this team lost the game. It's

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Speaker 2: not that they didn't score the penalty kicks, but they

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Speaker 2: it was their game to lose, and they didn't deliver

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Speaker 2: when they needed to during the game during regulation, right.

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Speaker 7: I think when you take a look at the stat

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Speaker 7: line for this game, it was US had fifty eight

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Speaker 7: percent possession, eleven shots on goal and let me tell you,

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Speaker 7: I was a goalkeeper. Eleven saves at a tournament like

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Speaker 7: this is unbelievable. I mean it was a record, so

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Speaker 7: to do something like that is incredible. So Sweden played

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Speaker 7: a good game, but you have to convert, and that's

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Speaker 7: just been their problem. Alex Morgan didn't score this entire tournament.

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Speaker 7: That's unheard of, you know, So they just missed out

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Speaker 7: on all these opportunities. And for some reason, the coach

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Speaker 7: Vlaco is getting a lot of criticism for the fact

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Speaker 7: that he just wasn't substituting at all.

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Speaker 2: And it was very weird.

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Speaker 7: You had to bring in fresh legs and he did well.

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Speaker 6: I mean, you're you're taking me right there.

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Speaker 4: I mean everyone, I mean, Alexi Lalas, Carly Lloyd, all

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Speaker 4: the old players are just crushing, you know, the team

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Speaker 4: and you know saying, hey, they'd rather be taking selfies

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Speaker 4: than being out on the pitch. But like let's really

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Speaker 4: talk about, you know, and Aonofski the US coach and

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Speaker 4: the fact that those players were on their last legs

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Speaker 4: in Sweden. I mean apparently, you know, their coach had

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Speaker 4: been resting them all throughout, you know, the playing rounds.

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Speaker 4: So I wonder, you know how much of this blame

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Speaker 4: kind of has to be put on that of the coach.

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Speaker 7: Oh, it's it's massively onto him. I think you can't

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Speaker 7: just blame the players, you know. I think when you

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Speaker 7: go through multiple games and you're not scoring, that's where

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Speaker 7: the coach comes into play and they say we need

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Speaker 7: to make a change. And we only made a change once,

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Speaker 7: substituting Lynn Williams in for the having her start for

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Speaker 7: the Portugal game, But why not bring her in the

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Speaker 7: game before. She didn't play until she started. That just

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Speaker 7: doesn't really make sense, you know. I mean she did

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Speaker 7: play for like ten minutes. It doesn't make sense. The

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Speaker 7: Sweden team, every single person on their bench played except

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Speaker 7: for the substitute goalkeepers. So it really comes down to

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Speaker 7: why would you not bring in fresh legs. We saw

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Speaker 7: the Netherlands game, we were so close to scoring.

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Speaker 2: All you needed was two more.

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Speaker 7: People out there, having fresh legs, getting people getting closer

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Speaker 7: to scoring.

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Speaker 2: It brings energy.

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Speaker 7: That you need. This is soccer, this is football. Everybody

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Speaker 7: does it. It's not a you know, nuts thing to do.

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Speaker 7: Everybody brings in subs. The US is number one in

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Speaker 7: the world that includes the players on the bench.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so.

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Speaker 1: Do we do I'm going to put an emphasis on

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Speaker 1: instant replay and more. Do we need that? Because I

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Speaker 1: saw a goal that was not called. I'm looking at

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Speaker 1: it and playing the game. They had the replay, the

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Speaker 1: whole blasted ball is in there and it's none a goal.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, so we need I'm sorry that that's me

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Speaker 1: throwing an opinion in there.

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Speaker 7: No, I mean it's it's definitely true. I think that

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Speaker 7: it needs the replays for some reasons weren't there this tournament.

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Speaker 7: I don't really know why. I mean, golden line technology

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Speaker 7: is important, but I think the var needs to be better.

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Speaker 7: Replays need to be better. It definitely failed, you know,

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Speaker 7: in this tournament multiple times. And you even saw it

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Speaker 7: in the penalty shootout where we were watching not knowing

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Speaker 7: if the ball was saved or not. At the end

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Speaker 7: of the game and Sweden's celebrating and it's like, no,

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Speaker 7: I saw her save that ball and you don't know,

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Speaker 7: they didn't replay it for like two minutes, and it

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Speaker 7: was just so confusing, And if I was a listener,

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Speaker 7: I would have also been really gutted. And I was

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Speaker 7: so sad, like just looking at her and feeling for her.

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Speaker 2: She did everything she could, yeah, including didn't she score goal?

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Speaker 7: Yeah, she took a penalty kick, and okay, again I'm

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Speaker 7: saying I was a goalkeeper. I loved penalty kicks. By

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Speaker 7: the way, a lot of people don't like how the

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Speaker 7: game ends in penalty kicks. It is the greatest feeling

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Speaker 7: in the world saving a penalty kick.

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Speaker 2: Winning on penalty kicks.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, it's also the worst feeling in the world to lose,

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Speaker 7: but like it really. I was listening to a podcast

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Speaker 7: the other day about Michelle Akers. Was on legendary US

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Speaker 7: women's soccer team player, and she said, penalty kicks. That

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Speaker 7: is what separates people from you know, from great to good.

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Speaker 7: Your mentality. It's that mamba mentality that not everybody has.

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Speaker 7: That this US team didn't show right. So to be

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Speaker 7: able to save a penalty kick and score one is nuts.

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Speaker 7: When she stepped up, my heart stopped. I was like,

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Speaker 7: don't do this because if you miss it, you can't

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Speaker 7: go back and save one your mentality, right right, But

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Speaker 7: I mean who she made it and then it almost

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Speaker 7: made the same afterwards, because that's such a baller move.

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Speaker 4: And I say, you know, it hasn't been all bad

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Speaker 4: news in women's soccer. And look, I mean, you know,

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Speaker 4: I listen ay or in the us A side. You know,

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Speaker 4: there's been some great stories and you know, I don't

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Speaker 4: know if you're able to comment on it, but I've

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Speaker 4: been reading about Jamaica, Nigeria, South Africa. Unfortunately all of

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Speaker 4: them were just knocked out at the round of sixteen,

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Speaker 4: but just to make it there when some of these teams,

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Speaker 4: such as Jamaica weren't even a team only a few

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Speaker 4: months back. You know, I wonder if you can comment

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Speaker 4: on that. You know, Nigeria, you know, I had heard

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Speaker 4: that the Nigerian Soccer Federation wasn't even going to pay

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Speaker 4: the agreed upon amount to the women's team once they

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Speaker 4: found out they were getting paid extra money for getting

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Speaker 4: it to the group of sixteen. I mean, some incredible

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Speaker 4: stories there. I just wonder if you can comment at all.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, absolutely, there has been some incredible stories. I think

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Speaker 7: that one of the things that we need to remember

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Speaker 7: about this World Cup instead of just I mean, we're

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Speaker 7: all reeling from the US losing, but there has been

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Speaker 7: some incredible momentum South Africa and knocking out Italy and Germany.

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Speaker 7: I mean that was I mean nuts and all of

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Speaker 7: these things that happened for Morocco to go through South

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Speaker 7: Africa to go through, and they were playing great too.

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Speaker 7: It's not that you just squeezed by Jamaica, didn't let

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Speaker 7: up a goal until you know, the knockout stages. But

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Speaker 7: with Jamaica, I think that one of the problems with

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Speaker 7: that they were having is their federation just isn't very

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Speaker 7: professionalized yet. And you see it that one of the

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Speaker 7: player's moms had to start a gofund me page to

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Speaker 7: get the girls what they felt like they needed.

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Speaker 4: That's right in order. Bob Marley's daughter, right, Bob Marley's

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Speaker 4: daughter put it together.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, yes, yeah, Bob Marley's started like she used her

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Speaker 7: own personal fortune to help these girls get there. And

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Speaker 7: then the mom, one of the girls mom's crowdfunded about

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Speaker 7: forty eight thousand dollars to get the team just the

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Speaker 7: necessities they needed to train to get a camp together,

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Speaker 7: you know. And I talked to people at fIF Pro,

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Speaker 7: which is the the people who help out the actual

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Speaker 7: teams against the federations, and they said that FIFA gives

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Speaker 7: everything they can to the federations. Everybody gets the same amount.

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Speaker 7: The US gets the same aount, Jamaica gets the same amount,

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Speaker 7: Nigeria gets the same amount, but it's up to the

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Speaker 7: federations to give out the money. And that's where the

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Speaker 7: problem that Jamaica and Nigeria are having that their federations

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Speaker 7: just aren't doing it right now. And after Nigeria was

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Speaker 7: done playing, fIF Pro came out with a statement saying

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Speaker 7: that they are going to be in a battle with

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Speaker 7: their federation to help the girls get the money that

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Speaker 7: they're deserved because they haven't been paid yet.

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Speaker 1: You learned something new every day because at first of all,

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Speaker 1: I realized that you were a goalie.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and now give one goalie.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, wow it is I'm okay, stupid bar all right,

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Speaker 1: tell us about I want to hear about this career

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Speaker 1: as a goalie, wingion school or yeah happening.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean it's funny too, because I'm sure it

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Speaker 7: surprised you, not for everybody at home knows this, but

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Speaker 7: I'm only five to three, so I'm sure it's surprised.

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Speaker 2: I was a goalkeeper.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, I played at Dukeane University in Pittsburgh, D one

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Speaker 7: and that we're in the Atlantic Ten. Won the Atlantic

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Speaker 7: ten Championship my senior year, and I might have been

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Speaker 7: MVP of the tournament.

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Speaker 8: Whatever it happens, but go to the tournament, here we go.

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Speaker 1: That is really cool. Thank you. I appreciate that. Vanessa Bernomo,

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Speaker 1: thank you so much. Bloomberg's own right here talking about

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Speaker 1: what happened to the women's team. By the way, before

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00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:48,879
Speaker 1: we let you go, what do you think will happen

436
00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:53,600
Speaker 1: now that this was Megan Rappino's last World Cup. Do

437
00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,760
Speaker 1: you think now she goes to the booth or what happens?

438
00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,119
Speaker 7: I don't think she would do that. I think think

439
00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:05,000
Speaker 7: what she and Sue Byrd, I imagine them being team

440
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:10,159
Speaker 7: owners of multiple teams across call the across the women's

441
00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:14,160
Speaker 7: sports franchise that WNBA and NWSL. That's what I see

442
00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:15,080
Speaker 7: for her in the future.

443
00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:15,960
Speaker 1: That's pretty sweet.

444
00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:16,520
Speaker 8: I like that.

445
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,600
Speaker 1: Vanessa. Thank you again for joining us on the Bloomberg

446
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:21,120
Speaker 1: Business of Sports. We appreciate it.

447
00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:22,440
Speaker 7: I'm glad to be here.

448
00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,199
Speaker 1: Up next on the show, we talked college football and

449
00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:29,800
Speaker 1: some of the recent conference shakeups with Mountain West Conference

450
00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:33,760
Speaker 1: Commissioner Gloria Navarrez. That's straight ahead on the Bloomberg Business

451
00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:47,159
Speaker 1: of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world. This is

452
00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:49,800
Speaker 1: the Bloomberg Business of Sports Show. We explored the big

453
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,080
Speaker 1: money issues in the world of sports, I Michael Barr,

454
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:56,080
Speaker 1: Scarlett Food, and Damien sass Hour. The college football world

455
00:23:56,119 --> 00:23:59,920
Speaker 1: saw another big shakeup, with Oregon and Washington announcing they

456
00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:03,040
Speaker 1: will join the Big Ten, leaving the Pac twelve with

457
00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,760
Speaker 1: just four teams and the Big Ten with a whole

458
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,720
Speaker 1: lot of teams. Here to help us make sense of

459
00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:12,840
Speaker 1: what's going on with all the conference realignments, we're happy

460
00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:15,800
Speaker 1: to welcome Gloria Navarrees So is the commissioner of the

461
00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:19,760
Speaker 1: Mountain West Conference, the very first Latina conference commissioner in

462
00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:25,640
Speaker 1: D one history and only the second FBS commissioner overall. Gloria,

463
00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:27,960
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us on the Bloomberg

464
00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:28,960
Speaker 1: Business of Sports.

465
00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:31,399
Speaker 3: Thanks for having me and no promises on helping you

466
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:32,080
Speaker 3: sort this out.

467
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:39,600
Speaker 1: I've been a fan of sports since the basketball had

468
00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:46,040
Speaker 1: laces and now I am totally confused about the realignment

469
00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:51,439
Speaker 1: here of what's happening in the college sports. Can you

470
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,919
Speaker 1: help us take us through what in the world is

471
00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:55,320
Speaker 1: going on.

472
00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,280
Speaker 3: I think at the center of all this, and it's

473
00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:03,479
Speaker 3: no secret, is about media contracts and the sport of

474
00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:07,760
Speaker 3: FBS football. It really drives the value one of the

475
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:10,680
Speaker 3: things that really just you know, I am a cal

476
00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,439
Speaker 3: grad and went to law school there. But Stanford is

477
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:20,040
Speaker 3: voted the best athletic department almost two decades running, and

478
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:24,040
Speaker 3: they're left out of having a place to land in

479
00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:27,920
Speaker 3: this round, and it's just it's just unthinkable. Yeah.

480
00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:30,080
Speaker 2: I kind of feel like we're at a point where

481
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:32,040
Speaker 2: every time we talk about the PAC twelve, it's like

482
00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,480
Speaker 2: rip PAC twelve because it's only a matter of time

483
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,760
Speaker 2: before more schools leave, and there aren't that many schools left.

484
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,480
Speaker 2: I know that you worked at PAC twelve with the

485
00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:46,399
Speaker 2: PAC twelve for a while from twenty ten to twenty eighteen,

486
00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:51,480
Speaker 2: overseeing all conference sports and championships except football. How much

487
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:56,399
Speaker 2: blame does Larry Scott deserve the former commissioner of PAC twelve,

488
00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:00,840
Speaker 2: when he was trying to build his own network as

489
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:03,560
Speaker 2: opposed to partnering with ESPN and Fox in terms of

490
00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:04,600
Speaker 2: where we're at right now.

491
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,679
Speaker 3: You know, it's hard to hang percentage blame on any

492
00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:11,840
Speaker 3: singular person. It's definitely been a process, and you know,

493
00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:15,720
Speaker 3: at the beginning of Larry's tenure, remember he brought in

494
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:19,040
Speaker 3: an amazing, you know, record breaking top of the market

495
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:23,560
Speaker 3: media deal and rebranded and it was camelot to a

496
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:26,639
Speaker 3: large degree for those of us in the organization, but

497
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,760
Speaker 3: certainly the network. You know, I really wasn't too involved

498
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:33,080
Speaker 3: in a lot of the behind the scene decision making,

499
00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:35,840
Speaker 3: but the network at its onset was intended to be

500
00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:39,600
Speaker 3: a platform for the Olympic sports and championships and really

501
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:43,480
Speaker 3: was quite well thought of, considered very successful. But then

502
00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:47,040
Speaker 3: something changed. I don't know what to put my finger on,

503
00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,880
Speaker 3: but certainly the inability to get the network on direct

504
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:56,440
Speaker 3: TV was I think one of the turning points that

505
00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:00,399
Speaker 3: changed perception on whether the network was about or not.

506
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:02,159
Speaker 2: Do you think it was the right idea but the

507
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:02,800
Speaker 2: wrong time.

508
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:05,920
Speaker 3: I think it was the right idea. I questioned whether

509
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:11,600
Speaker 3: the structure of it having seven regional networks underneath a

510
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:16,520
Speaker 3: singular network that in my amateur opinion, might have been

511
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:18,280
Speaker 3: the piece. So that was a little bit too much

512
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,919
Speaker 3: for an innovative network like that's all network.

513
00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:24,679
Speaker 4: Gloria, you came from the West Coast conference, you know,

514
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,040
Speaker 4: and while they are you kind of I think you

515
00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:30,400
Speaker 4: engaged in an agreement with ESPN and two other national

516
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,560
Speaker 4: television partners in CBS Sports and Stadium. You know, talk

517
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:35,159
Speaker 4: to us a little bit about the Mountain West. You

518
00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:37,040
Speaker 4: know what makes it unique. I know it's slogan is

519
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:37,720
Speaker 4: above the rest.

520
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:38,159
Speaker 6: I mean the.

521
00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:40,240
Speaker 4: Schools of the highest. Did you know this, Michael Barr.

522
00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:44,040
Speaker 4: The highest elevation in NCAA Division IE Sports. I'm talking

523
00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:48,120
Speaker 4: Wyoming war Memorial Stadium, seventy two hundred feet above sea

524
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:49,560
Speaker 4: level and the poll is louse.

525
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:51,560
Speaker 6: Look at that slops of the inside.

526
00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:55,520
Speaker 3: It's gonna be a touchdop for whi Omerga.

527
00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:57,920
Speaker 4: Talk to us, Gloria about, you know, the schools that

528
00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:00,119
Speaker 4: are currently in your conference and what you try.

529
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,600
Speaker 3: The Mountain West. In my opinion, it was very attractive

530
00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:06,640
Speaker 3: to me when I was first interviewing for the job

531
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:11,760
Speaker 3: because of what they represent. It's the highest level football

532
00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:17,000
Speaker 3: word FBS League, and we represent large public institutions that

533
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:19,399
Speaker 3: in a lot of cases are the only show in town.

534
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:23,280
Speaker 3: I you know, went to big public high school college,

535
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:28,359
Speaker 3: same thing. And you know, it just has a grittiness

536
00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:32,920
Speaker 3: and a work ethic, a lot of first generation, first opportunity,

537
00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:39,240
Speaker 3: you know, world expanding type experiences and many land grant institutions.

538
00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:41,560
Speaker 3: So I just even though we're probably one of the

539
00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,800
Speaker 3: youngest leagues, we're celebrating our twenty fifth season this year

540
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:48,040
Speaker 3: in existence. And if you recall, the Mountain West was

541
00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:52,080
Speaker 3: the original conference Realignenment disruptor twenty five years ago when

542
00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:55,640
Speaker 3: they separated from the Whack and formed a new league,

543
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 3: which at that time was unheard of. You know, it

544
00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:01,200
Speaker 3: just really has a lot of innovation. I really liked

545
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:05,680
Speaker 3: geographics footprint. We have a lot of vacation destinations and

546
00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:11,120
Speaker 3: really really interesting and cool and unique geographic locations.

547
00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,240
Speaker 1: Well I'll show you how old I am. I'm from

548
00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:18,800
Speaker 1: the era back in the day when college football was

549
00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:22,880
Speaker 1: on and Chris Schenkel was calling the game and Dave

550
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,880
Speaker 1: Dials was back in the studio and they had these

551
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,840
Speaker 1: huge boards. Didn't even have graphics. You know, back then,

552
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:31,600
Speaker 1: you just had you know, the scoreboard, and you know,

553
00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:34,160
Speaker 1: it would the numbers would flip around and this and

554
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:39,000
Speaker 1: that whatever, and back then you didn't even think about

555
00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:44,320
Speaker 1: something called nil today. I just wonder how much that

556
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:46,360
Speaker 1: has changed college sports.

557
00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,360
Speaker 3: It really has. And the other piece that happened around

558
00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,880
Speaker 3: the same time, and I feel you Michael transferring was

559
00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:57,520
Speaker 3: an anomaly, you know, focally transferred in something cataclysmic happened,

560
00:29:57,560 --> 00:29:59,760
Speaker 3: you know, you failed out of school or had to

561
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,200
Speaker 3: go home for some reason, and it just wasn't part

562
00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:05,120
Speaker 3: of the culture. And I do think I would like

563
00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:08,320
Speaker 3: to see us get our arms around name image likeness

564
00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:10,680
Speaker 3: in the sense of allowing the schools to get a

565
00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:13,720
Speaker 3: little more involved to both protect the athletes. I've heard

566
00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:18,560
Speaker 3: stories about signing away rights into perpetuity or signing deals

567
00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,880
Speaker 3: that don't come to fruition and students not having recourse,

568
00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:26,280
Speaker 3: and you know, and also just to really I don't

569
00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,760
Speaker 3: agree with how it's being used for pay for play,

570
00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:31,200
Speaker 3: and I don't have the answer to that, but I

571
00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:34,400
Speaker 3: really hope that I think there's good thinking out there.

572
00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:36,560
Speaker 3: I know that there was a subcommittee in the NCAA

573
00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:39,200
Speaker 3: a couple of years ago that did some really good thinking,

574
00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:41,760
Speaker 3: And if we could just resurrect some of that and

575
00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:44,320
Speaker 3: get it through the system, I think we'd be in

576
00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:45,920
Speaker 3: a little bit better place.

577
00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,360
Speaker 1: With and I am, and it put the smaller schools

578
00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:50,000
Speaker 1: at a serious disadvantage.

579
00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:54,280
Speaker 3: There certainly is a disadvantage. I would posit that it's

580
00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:58,840
Speaker 3: the NCUBA has a huge ecosystem, and within it there's

581
00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:02,280
Speaker 3: always been some the haves and the have not. I

582
00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:06,080
Speaker 3: don't know that if it's increased that disparity, but it

583
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:07,640
Speaker 3: certainly put a spotlight on it.

584
00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:11,880
Speaker 2: With all these changes across the different conferences, where does

585
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:16,080
Speaker 2: that leave the NWC. How do you see its role

586
00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:18,920
Speaker 2: in further realignment across the different conferences.

587
00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:21,440
Speaker 3: Well, you know, being out west has its pros and

588
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:24,600
Speaker 3: con Sometimes we grouse about our late time zones and

589
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,080
Speaker 3: you know, news not making it over to the Rockies

590
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:31,800
Speaker 3: until the next morning. But in this case, the geography

591
00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:35,560
Speaker 3: has until this last couple of weeks, really slow the

592
00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:39,800
Speaker 3: impact of conference reenlignment. I think until UCLA and USC

593
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:43,880
Speaker 3: moved to the Big ten, because that travel is a lot,

594
00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:47,520
Speaker 3: you know. So for the Mountain West, we feel really good.

595
00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:51,479
Speaker 3: We are united, and I'm not naive that could change.

596
00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:56,440
Speaker 3: Industry could change, something could change, and that unity could change.

597
00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,200
Speaker 3: But right now we feel really good about our position.

598
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:04,640
Speaker 3: We have solidarity in hanging together and see what this

599
00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:08,440
Speaker 3: next round has for us, and you know, we feel

600
00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:12,680
Speaker 3: we provide a really good student athlete experience. We compete

601
00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:15,959
Speaker 3: in the FBS at the highest level and in the

602
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:20,000
Speaker 3: new expanded playoffs. Now that may also be subject to change,

603
00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:25,160
Speaker 3: but next year an ability for a league like ours

604
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:28,560
Speaker 3: to get an automatic bid to the College Football Playoffs,

605
00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:30,080
Speaker 3: which is the goal.

606
00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:33,680
Speaker 1: That's Mountain West Conference Commissioner Glory and Navars. We've got

607
00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:35,600
Speaker 1: more with her coming up next.

608
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:38,120
Speaker 3: You know, we're in the middle of a strategic plan

609
00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:40,720
Speaker 3: at the mount West right now. And what is so

610
00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:45,080
Speaker 3: amazing to me and heartwarming is that DEI is a

611
00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,479
Speaker 3: very central pillar of That is the common theme throughout

612
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:48,880
Speaker 3: our league.

613
00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,959
Speaker 1: Stick around, you're listening to Bloomberg Business of Sports Bloomberg

614
00:32:53,120 --> 00:33:00,880
Speaker 1: Radio around the world. Thanks for joining us on the

615
00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:03,880
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Sports Show, where we explore the big

616
00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:06,920
Speaker 1: old money issues the world of sports. I'm Michael Barr

617
00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:10,360
Speaker 1: for Scarlett Fu and Damian Sasaur. We're talking with the

618
00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:14,080
Speaker 1: Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Navares about the state of

619
00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:16,880
Speaker 1: her conference. There's been a lot of moving around in

620
00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:21,160
Speaker 1: college football, with teams moving conferences. Let's dive back into

621
00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:24,880
Speaker 1: our discussion, starting with their thoughts on reports that San

622
00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:29,479
Speaker 1: Diego State tried and failed to create a new Power

623
00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:30,640
Speaker 1: five conference.

624
00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,080
Speaker 3: The interesting thing about Power five is it's a media designation.

625
00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:37,719
Speaker 3: You know, there's three things that categorize the FBS Division

626
00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:42,320
Speaker 3: I Conference, and that's NCAA voting authority and that's called autonomy,

627
00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:44,640
Speaker 3: and that's where you get the name A five. Then

628
00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:49,520
Speaker 3: there's FBS designation, which is the classification of football, meaning

629
00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:53,400
Speaker 3: you have to compete with SBS institutions, eight of them

630
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:57,000
Speaker 3: for eight years straight. If you fall below that standard,

631
00:33:57,040 --> 00:34:00,320
Speaker 3: you have two years secure. And then there's CSP the

632
00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:06,320
Speaker 3: playoff designation, and that is controlled by the CFB Board

633
00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:10,799
Speaker 3: of Directors, one president from the ten FBS conferences. So

634
00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:15,080
Speaker 3: from a Mountain West perspective, I think the concept of

635
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:19,520
Speaker 3: Mountain West schools breaking off the form of new league

636
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:23,920
Speaker 3: or to become a new PAC twelve didn't seem to

637
00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:27,880
Speaker 3: have a lot of momentum because there are just a

638
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:32,399
Speaker 3: lot ofanswered questions about how that's done, whether they can

639
00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:36,600
Speaker 3: retain the CFP status of the PAC twelve, what are

640
00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:39,920
Speaker 3: the assets and liabilities of the organization. There's just a

641
00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:42,520
Speaker 3: lot of due diligence that needs to be done, so

642
00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:45,280
Speaker 3: our schools are waiting for more information.

643
00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:48,640
Speaker 4: Gloria, you're a twenty five year veteran of intercollegiate athletics.

644
00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:51,360
Speaker 4: You are the second commissioner in the history of the

645
00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:53,160
Speaker 4: Mountain West Conference. But I want you to forget all

646
00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:54,640
Speaker 4: that for a minute. I want you to think about

647
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,600
Speaker 4: as an alumni, as a former student at the University

648
00:34:57,600 --> 00:34:59,960
Speaker 4: of California, where you received your jd. I believe you

649
00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:03,520
Speaker 4: work there as well. Talk to us right now, purely

650
00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:06,319
Speaker 4: as an alumnus of the University of California, one of

651
00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:09,320
Speaker 4: the four schools left in what was once the Back twelve.

652
00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:13,319
Speaker 4: What do you feel inside about that, about being one

653
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,960
Speaker 4: of those four schools left and what the future holds

654
00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:18,160
Speaker 4: for U cal athletics broadly speaking.

655
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:21,520
Speaker 3: Absolutely heartbroken. I mean I was still a little bit

656
00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:25,200
Speaker 3: in shock about the UCLA USC move and trying to

657
00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:30,120
Speaker 3: picture the PAC twelve Pack ten without those two schools.

658
00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:33,440
Speaker 3: There's so much history, so many rivalries. The league was

659
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,200
Speaker 3: one hundred and eight years old. I grew up in

660
00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:39,520
Speaker 3: the Bay Area. I mean, it's always been about the

661
00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:43,120
Speaker 3: PAC twelve and all the great rivalries, and you know,

662
00:35:43,239 --> 00:35:45,520
Speaker 3: I think about all the people at the PAC twelve

663
00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:49,840
Speaker 3: conference office and the network. I think they have about

664
00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 3: three hundred employees, and think about all the great things

665
00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:58,400
Speaker 3: the PAC twelve was doing the Student Athlete Health Summit

666
00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:02,120
Speaker 3: and getting all their medical experts together to talk about

667
00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:07,480
Speaker 3: athletic health issues. They did this really innovative project about

668
00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:11,799
Speaker 3: data collection and data sharing, and they had an independent

669
00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:15,160
Speaker 3: sales arm PAC twelve Sales and it's just you know,

670
00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:17,960
Speaker 3: while they took a lot of heat at the end

671
00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:22,000
Speaker 3: around their media agreements, I mean, there were some amazing

672
00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:27,400
Speaker 3: student athlete centric program built in the PAC twelve during

673
00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:29,560
Speaker 3: the last five to ten years.

674
00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:34,279
Speaker 1: Let's talk about something that you have achieved, and you

675
00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:39,480
Speaker 1: had become the first Latina commissioner in Division I history.

676
00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:45,400
Speaker 1: Can you take us through that and what that important landmark.

677
00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:48,560
Speaker 3: Means, you know, throughout my career being you know, not

678
00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:50,879
Speaker 3: in the leadership chair till I was at the West

679
00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:55,799
Speaker 3: Coast Conference, it wasn't really a thing for me. And

680
00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:59,360
Speaker 3: the day that I had to help draft the press

681
00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:02,359
Speaker 3: release about being the WCC Commissioner, and I was trying

682
00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:04,840
Speaker 3: to figure out I'm actually half Mexican, a fourth Filipino

683
00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:06,920
Speaker 3: and a fourth Irish I mean, what do you do

684
00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:07,360
Speaker 3: with that?

685
00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:09,520
Speaker 2: In every way?

686
00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:15,960
Speaker 3: I mean, that's the entire headline, right, I mean, and

687
00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:19,960
Speaker 3: so you know, we narrowed it down, and it's true,

688
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:24,880
Speaker 3: first Latina or even Latino Division one, there's only thirty

689
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:29,480
Speaker 3: two Division one commissioners, and it became a story, and

690
00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:33,160
Speaker 3: I realized that it's an important one, so I tried

691
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:36,880
Speaker 3: to lean into it. DEI programming is very very important

692
00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,160
Speaker 3: to me, and you know, we're in the middle of

693
00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:41,960
Speaker 3: a strategic plan at the Mount West right now. And

694
00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:46,160
Speaker 3: what is so amazing to me and heartwarming is that

695
00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:50,840
Speaker 3: DEEI is a very central pillar. That is the common

696
00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:54,359
Speaker 3: theme throughout our leagues. We have the most diverse board

697
00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:59,320
Speaker 3: of directors, our college presidents in Division one, our athletic

698
00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:02,400
Speaker 3: director room both in gender and race. Our athletic director

699
00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:06,160
Speaker 3: room is extremely diverse, our head coaches rooms, and so

700
00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:10,120
Speaker 3: it's just it feels like a very welcome environment. I

701
00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:11,520
Speaker 3: appreciate it, and.

702
00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:14,160
Speaker 2: We appreciate that diversity. But it took a while for

703
00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:17,480
Speaker 2: there to be a female commissioner, right, Judy mcmccleod of

704
00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:19,640
Speaker 2: Conference USA was the first or the second.

705
00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:21,960
Speaker 4: So you know, let's talk a little bit about the

706
00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:25,200
Speaker 4: conference atself, Gloria, you know, and how it'd shinnering revenue

707
00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:27,120
Speaker 4: and just looking ahead here, I mean, I've got some

708
00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:28,799
Speaker 4: data in front of me here. It looks like some

709
00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:31,319
Speaker 4: of the top schools right ranked by total revenue from

710
00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:34,200
Speaker 4: athletics were in this order, San Diego State, the United

711
00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:37,080
Speaker 4: States Air Force, and Colorado States, each of them getting

712
00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:40,520
Speaker 4: between sixty to seventy million you know, per university, per institution.

713
00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:44,239
Speaker 4: Football is such an important part of the equation here, right,

714
00:38:44,239 --> 00:38:46,759
Speaker 4: I gotta believe that's the driver. You know, I think

715
00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:49,680
Speaker 4: of the largest football stadiums in the conference, I think

716
00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:52,240
Speaker 4: of UNLV, I think of Allegiance, right sixty five thousand.

717
00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:54,280
Speaker 4: I do think of the US Air Force Falcons Stadium

718
00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:56,960
Speaker 4: forty seven thousand. Talk to us about the plans for

719
00:38:57,040 --> 00:38:59,440
Speaker 4: some of the you know, some of the universities to

720
00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:02,719
Speaker 4: expand the presence in Division one football, and you.

721
00:39:02,600 --> 00:39:07,320
Speaker 3: Know, because of that model, like you said, the large

722
00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:11,480
Speaker 3: portion of the revenue coming in through the Conference office

723
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:15,720
Speaker 3: is from the CFP playoffs and from our media rights,

724
00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:18,759
Speaker 3: and which is largely, as we've seen in the last

725
00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:23,840
Speaker 3: couple of weeks, anchored by football. And so our teams

726
00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:27,200
Speaker 3: really aim to compete at the highest level and win

727
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:32,239
Speaker 3: national championships. But as you know the football, if they

728
00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:35,120
Speaker 3: do well, all boats rides with that tide. And so

729
00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:38,120
Speaker 3: there is an effort and we think about how we

730
00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:41,960
Speaker 3: structure our league play, how we structure our championship in

731
00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:44,920
Speaker 3: order to get our two best teams in our championship

732
00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:49,480
Speaker 3: game and best position us to get that AQ into

733
00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:51,239
Speaker 3: the expanded playoffs.

734
00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:54,480
Speaker 1: I want to go more if I can, into the

735
00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:58,160
Speaker 1: idea by San Diego State to try to create the

736
00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:02,520
Speaker 1: Power five Conference with the PAC twelve Mountain West ACC

737
00:40:02,719 --> 00:40:09,040
Speaker 1: members and apparently it well, it didn't work. Somebody said

738
00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:13,319
Speaker 1: no and we're having none of that. Can you take

739
00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:17,239
Speaker 1: us through that? And what happened specifically.

740
00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:21,080
Speaker 3: Well, I'm not privy to conversations that San Diego State

741
00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:26,040
Speaker 3: may or may not have had around that. I do know,

742
00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:30,239
Speaker 3: and you know they've been very open about exploring options.

743
00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:34,479
Speaker 3: But I think the idea was the PAC twelve lost

744
00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:37,839
Speaker 3: a lot of schools. They had four left. Was it

745
00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:42,440
Speaker 3: possible for those four to pick up enough schools? You

746
00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:47,120
Speaker 3: need minimum eight to retain FBS status, to retain the

747
00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:50,839
Speaker 3: PAC twelve brand and the pact well standing in the

748
00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:55,640
Speaker 3: CFP PfP is where you get your lion's share of

749
00:40:55,680 --> 00:40:59,120
Speaker 3: the revenue based on being one of the top five conferences,

750
00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:02,360
Speaker 3: as well as voting authority over how the CFP is

751
00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:06,880
Speaker 3: run like awaited voting authority. So the central question was

752
00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:11,480
Speaker 3: could the PAC twelve add more school and keep that designation?

753
00:41:11,719 --> 00:41:14,719
Speaker 3: And right now the thinking is, and I think it's

754
00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:19,960
Speaker 3: correct that fairly quickly the College Football Playoff Board one

755
00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:23,600
Speaker 3: president for me to attend. FBS institutions will meet and

756
00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:27,680
Speaker 3: discuss whether the PAC twelve conference gets to keep that

757
00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:32,319
Speaker 3: what the media is calling power five standing. And there's

758
00:41:32,520 --> 00:41:36,839
Speaker 3: a low likelihood of that in my opinion. If the

759
00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:41,640
Speaker 3: PAC twelve backfield with what schools not from the Big ten, ACC,

760
00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:42,880
Speaker 3: SEC and ACC.

761
00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:47,239
Speaker 2: There's so much realignment between the different conferences. Now you know,

762
00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:49,719
Speaker 2: Big ten has become something much bigger. PAC twelve has

763
00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:52,000
Speaker 2: become something much smaller. Where do you think we are

764
00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:54,440
Speaker 2: in this process? Are we in the and I'm going

765
00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:56,800
Speaker 2: to borrow a metaphor from baseball? Are we in the

766
00:41:56,840 --> 00:41:58,600
Speaker 2: second inning? Are we in the fourth inning? Are we

767
00:41:58,640 --> 00:41:59,319
Speaker 2: in the eighth inning?

768
00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:01,880
Speaker 3: I wish I had a good answer for it, because

769
00:42:01,920 --> 00:42:03,479
Speaker 3: I feel like we're in Game two.

770
00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:06,680
Speaker 2: Oh, how many how many games in this series?

771
00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:11,600
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a good question, right, I mean really because

772
00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:14,640
Speaker 3: the change is so significant, right, This is a change

773
00:42:14,719 --> 00:42:19,360
Speaker 3: unlike we've ever seen before, and a consolidation of leagues

774
00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:25,319
Speaker 3: from five geographically balanced to four very large league. So

775
00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:28,759
Speaker 3: you know, I really I think this is new territory.

776
00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:32,480
Speaker 3: I think those leagues are gonna be doing a ton

777
00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:35,520
Speaker 3: of work to figure out. I mean, I can't imagine

778
00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:40,000
Speaker 3: the work behind creating schedules and bracketing tournaments and doing

779
00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:44,560
Speaker 3: all the things tactically that create a season in every

780
00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:45,560
Speaker 3: single sport.

781
00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:48,440
Speaker 2: Everyone's gonna have to add new staff because this is

782
00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:50,440
Speaker 2: such a you know, a mind puzzle.

783
00:42:50,680 --> 00:42:52,800
Speaker 3: Absolutely. Why was at the PAC twelve when we added

784
00:42:52,840 --> 00:42:56,760
Speaker 3: Colorado and Utah and that was two schools pretty close

785
00:42:56,840 --> 00:42:59,719
Speaker 3: in geography and that was no easy lift. So I

786
00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:03,640
Speaker 3: just I mean, the three X magnitude that we're dealing

787
00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:07,280
Speaker 3: with here is, Yeah, there's some scheduling folks whose minds

788
00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:08,520
Speaker 3: are blowing up right now.

789
00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:11,239
Speaker 4: So last question for you, Gloria, I mean, in lieu

790
00:43:11,320 --> 00:43:15,200
Speaker 4: of what is going on right now in college sports specifically,

791
00:43:15,280 --> 00:43:16,840
Speaker 4: you know the blow up, let's call it of the

792
00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:20,440
Speaker 4: PAC twelve. You know, you're talking to you know, your

793
00:43:20,480 --> 00:43:23,480
Speaker 4: colleagues at the various different universities each and every.

794
00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:24,239
Speaker 2: Day all day.

795
00:43:24,680 --> 00:43:27,040
Speaker 4: You know, what are you hearing from them? Is their fear?

796
00:43:27,560 --> 00:43:31,040
Speaker 4: Is their concern? Or is their excitement about the future

797
00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:33,000
Speaker 4: of your conference? I mean, what's the vibe you're getting?

798
00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:33,560
Speaker 4: What's sentiment?

799
00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:34,360
Speaker 2: Like a good question?

800
00:43:34,719 --> 00:43:38,240
Speaker 3: You know, a lot of at first, what is happening?

801
00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:40,160
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, what should we be doing?

802
00:43:40,239 --> 00:43:40,439
Speaker 4: Right?

803
00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:43,200
Speaker 3: Kind of? You know, I played basketball, so I imagine

804
00:43:43,239 --> 00:43:45,720
Speaker 3: everyone just immediately went into three point stan what should

805
00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:51,920
Speaker 3: we do? And then I think the more we got information,

806
00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:55,600
Speaker 3: the more you know, we did the research and really

807
00:43:55,640 --> 00:43:59,319
Speaker 3: looked into it. And you know, I'm fortunate that I

808
00:43:59,360 --> 00:44:02,520
Speaker 3: have a lot of good connections and colleagues and am

809
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:05,600
Speaker 3: able to you know, kick the brains of some folks

810
00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:10,400
Speaker 3: that are deep in this. And we came out, especially

811
00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:13,960
Speaker 3: Monday night after our board meeting, feeling really good about

812
00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:17,360
Speaker 3: our position. I mean, worst case scenario, we're the same

813
00:44:17,440 --> 00:44:19,680
Speaker 3: league we were two weeks ago, which was a pretty

814
00:44:19,719 --> 00:44:23,640
Speaker 3: damn good place to be. Best case scenario, you know,

815
00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:27,040
Speaker 3: we have some opportunities that we capitalize on, and those

816
00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:31,720
Speaker 3: range from you know, maybe something with the PAC twelve

817
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:35,360
Speaker 3: as it is now, or maybe being a safe landing

818
00:44:35,400 --> 00:44:37,920
Speaker 3: spot for some schools, but all of those for us

819
00:44:37,960 --> 00:44:41,440
Speaker 3: have a lot of positive upside. So we're pretty optimistic.

820
00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:44,960
Speaker 3: And I feel like our presidents understand what a great

821
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:48,000
Speaker 3: league we have, what a great student athlet experience we provide,

822
00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:51,120
Speaker 3: and yeah, I feel pretty good about our position right now.

823
00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:54,640
Speaker 1: Our thanks to Mountain West Conference Commissioner Glorian of RS

824
00:44:54,680 --> 00:44:56,960
Speaker 1: for joining us. If you missed any of that conversation,

825
00:44:57,160 --> 00:45:00,480
Speaker 1: check it out on demand now on the bloom Business

826
00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:04,080
Speaker 1: of Sports podcast. You can find that wherever you get

827
00:45:04,120 --> 00:45:07,080
Speaker 1: your podcasts up. Next on the show, we take a

828
00:45:07,120 --> 00:45:10,640
Speaker 1: look at Cyclic with National Cycling League co founder and

829
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:15,200
Speaker 1: CEO Paris Wallace. That is straight ahead on the Bloomberg

830
00:45:15,400 --> 00:45:28,280
Speaker 1: Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world. Hello,

831
00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:31,600
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast. We explored

832
00:45:31,640 --> 00:45:34,240
Speaker 1: some of the big issues in the world of sports.

833
00:45:34,560 --> 00:45:35,600
Speaker 1: I'm Michael Bark.

834
00:45:35,719 --> 00:45:37,759
Speaker 6: I'm Scarlett fil and I'm DEMANSASO.

835
00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:43,440
Speaker 1: This sounds really unique and I expect this to like

836
00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:46,239
Speaker 1: take off. Just we just got to get the word out.

837
00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:48,359
Speaker 1: That's where I come in, and that's where this man

838
00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:51,560
Speaker 1: comes in. Paris Wallace CEO and co founder of the

839
00:45:51,640 --> 00:45:55,880
Speaker 1: National Cycling League Paris. Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

840
00:45:56,880 --> 00:45:58,480
Speaker 8: Thank you so much for having me excited for this

841
00:45:58,520 --> 00:45:59,240
Speaker 8: discussion today.

842
00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:01,759
Speaker 1: We were talking talking about this just off the air,

843
00:46:01,880 --> 00:46:04,719
Speaker 1: is like, and I'm just saying I can see this

844
00:46:05,400 --> 00:46:07,760
Speaker 1: just taking off and going wild.

845
00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:08,000
Speaker 6: Here.

846
00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:10,560
Speaker 1: Tell us about the National Cycling League.

847
00:46:10,719 --> 00:46:15,400
Speaker 8: Yeah, well, the very easy elevator pitches. We are taking

848
00:46:15,520 --> 00:46:18,960
Speaker 8: the second most popular sport in the world, cycling, fifty

849
00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:21,680
Speaker 8: million people here in the US, two billion around the world,

850
00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:25,919
Speaker 8: and we're applying the same structure and business model as

851
00:46:26,040 --> 00:46:30,320
Speaker 8: every other professional sports league around the world. So applying

852
00:46:30,360 --> 00:46:32,800
Speaker 8: a proving business model to one of the largest sporting

853
00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:35,040
Speaker 8: markets out there. How are we doing that?

854
00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:35,560
Speaker 1: Well?

855
00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:38,560
Speaker 8: Right here in the US, we have a series of races,

856
00:46:39,160 --> 00:46:42,359
Speaker 8: closed circuit races, incredibly popular areas. Our first race, believe

857
00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:44,359
Speaker 8: it or not, was actually on Miami Beach. We shut

858
00:46:44,400 --> 00:46:47,520
Speaker 8: the beach down down Ocean Drive. We had fifty laps,

859
00:46:47,920 --> 00:46:50,759
Speaker 8: men and women competing side by side in a co

860
00:46:50,960 --> 00:46:55,000
Speaker 8: ed format. Twenty thousand people showed up the largest bike

861
00:46:55,080 --> 00:46:57,320
Speaker 8: race in the last decade. For our very first race,

862
00:46:57,680 --> 00:47:00,719
Speaker 8: over four hundred thousand people watch from around the So

863
00:47:00,760 --> 00:47:03,640
Speaker 8: we're really off to the races, really excited about the

864
00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:07,160
Speaker 8: new format and really being the home for these two

865
00:47:07,200 --> 00:47:08,920
Speaker 8: billion cyclists around the world.

866
00:47:09,640 --> 00:47:12,319
Speaker 2: Paris. Can you explain how you came to start the

867
00:47:12,440 --> 00:47:16,120
Speaker 2: National Cycling League Because your background is in health technology.

868
00:47:16,640 --> 00:47:19,319
Speaker 2: You founded Ovia Health in twenty twelve, which is a

869
00:47:19,440 --> 00:47:23,120
Speaker 2: digital health platform for women and families. You founded good

870
00:47:23,120 --> 00:47:26,680
Speaker 2: Star Genetics. What's the tie into cycling or is this

871
00:47:26,800 --> 00:47:29,440
Speaker 2: a hobby that became a hobby and a passion that

872
00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:30,240
Speaker 2: became a business.

873
00:47:30,560 --> 00:47:30,759
Speaker 1: Yeah.

874
00:47:30,760 --> 00:47:33,760
Speaker 8: Well, I grew up in northern California, was a passionate cyclist,

875
00:47:33,760 --> 00:47:36,080
Speaker 8: and actually the first business I ever started was in

876
00:47:36,160 --> 00:47:39,160
Speaker 8: high school a company called dirtmark dot Com, which was

877
00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:43,160
Speaker 8: one of the first online bike retailers. It's how I

878
00:47:43,200 --> 00:47:46,160
Speaker 8: got really hooked on entrepreneurship. I was in class one

879
00:47:46,239 --> 00:47:48,640
Speaker 8: day in high school and I made more money on

880
00:47:48,719 --> 00:47:51,239
Speaker 8: my online bike store than me and my two friends

881
00:47:51,320 --> 00:47:53,959
Speaker 8: had created at sixteen than I did work in full

882
00:47:53,960 --> 00:47:56,200
Speaker 8: time forty hours a week at the bike shop. And

883
00:47:56,239 --> 00:47:59,960
Speaker 8: I said, Okay, I'm hooked, and so ended up college

884
00:48:00,239 --> 00:48:03,160
Speaker 8: business school, and my last year at Harvard Business School

885
00:48:03,160 --> 00:48:05,319
Speaker 8: actually started good Start Genetics out of my dorm room

886
00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:09,960
Speaker 8: with the idea of frankly trying to lessen the healthcare

887
00:48:09,960 --> 00:48:13,319
Speaker 8: outcome gap for women and families in the US. So

888
00:48:13,640 --> 00:48:17,840
Speaker 8: twelve years later had helped over twenty five million people

889
00:48:17,920 --> 00:48:20,920
Speaker 8: start their families, changed the way that women's health was practiced,

890
00:48:21,200 --> 00:48:24,760
Speaker 8: and a lot of it was saying, look, women, women's

891
00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:27,600
Speaker 8: issues have not been invested in healthcare. There's a massive

892
00:48:27,640 --> 00:48:29,319
Speaker 8: gap here in a massive market, and I think that

893
00:48:29,360 --> 00:48:31,840
Speaker 8: we can do something about it. I didn't know anything

894
00:48:31,840 --> 00:48:34,600
Speaker 8: about healthcare when I started out, but you know, learned

895
00:48:34,640 --> 00:48:37,759
Speaker 8: it and built two very successful businesses that were bought

896
00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:40,320
Speaker 8: by public companies. And I think this is very similar.

897
00:48:40,400 --> 00:48:40,600
Speaker 1: Right.

898
00:48:40,680 --> 00:48:44,560
Speaker 8: Not only are we building, as I said, a formalized

899
00:48:44,600 --> 00:48:47,960
Speaker 8: sport around the second most popular participatory sport in the world,

900
00:48:48,160 --> 00:48:54,200
Speaker 8: but we're also doing it with majority minority and female ownership,

901
00:48:54,560 --> 00:48:58,120
Speaker 8: majority minority and female led company. We have a female CEO,

902
00:48:58,239 --> 00:49:01,239
Speaker 8: I'm the chairman. It's black founded, and one of our

903
00:49:01,239 --> 00:49:03,960
Speaker 8: big target markets is women. I like to say we

904
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:06,640
Speaker 8: can do better than just a pink jersey. We actually

905
00:49:06,719 --> 00:49:10,400
Speaker 8: value women and men's contributions equally. And that's the exact

906
00:49:10,400 --> 00:49:13,279
Speaker 8: type of thing that made Ovia and Good start so

907
00:49:13,320 --> 00:49:14,640
Speaker 8: successful parish.

908
00:49:14,640 --> 00:49:17,480
Speaker 4: You talk about the audience for cycling two billion globally,

909
00:49:17,520 --> 00:49:19,520
Speaker 4: fifty million here in the US. But you know, for me,

910
00:49:20,080 --> 00:49:22,880
Speaker 4: you know, obviously cycling took a pretty big hit following

911
00:49:22,920 --> 00:49:25,520
Speaker 4: the Lance Armstrom goping scandal of twenty twelve. What's the

912
00:49:25,560 --> 00:49:27,760
Speaker 4: state of cycling globally? I mean, talk to us about

913
00:49:27,800 --> 00:49:30,239
Speaker 4: you know, the ECI World Tour. It's thirty eight events

914
00:49:30,280 --> 00:49:32,680
Speaker 4: per year. I think we have developed us Aspanya coming

915
00:49:32,760 --> 00:49:34,520
Speaker 4: up at the end of this month's How is the

916
00:49:34,640 --> 00:49:37,200
Speaker 4: NCL different? I mean, what's the format?

917
00:49:37,239 --> 00:49:37,520
Speaker 6: Really?

918
00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:42,600
Speaker 8: Yeah, so it's interesting looking at cycling. Obviously, the Tour

919
00:49:42,680 --> 00:49:46,600
Speaker 8: de France and these longer races incredibly popular, especially here

920
00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:48,520
Speaker 8: in the US when when Lance was racing, and we

921
00:49:48,560 --> 00:49:51,960
Speaker 8: won't we won't get into that, but obviously that took

922
00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:55,040
Speaker 8: a big hit, right. But what's interesting and most people

923
00:49:55,080 --> 00:49:57,400
Speaker 8: don't know is cycling was the first and the oldest

924
00:49:57,400 --> 00:50:02,520
Speaker 8: professional sport. In fact, Madison's Where Garden was initially created

925
00:50:02,560 --> 00:50:06,920
Speaker 8: as a cycling venue back in the late eighteen hundreds.

926
00:50:07,160 --> 00:50:09,000
Speaker 8: It's pretty cool. Yeah, google it. You can see some

927
00:50:09,000 --> 00:50:12,640
Speaker 8: pretty fantastic photos and basically it was just created. The

928
00:50:12,680 --> 00:50:18,239
Speaker 8: format we believe was fundamentally created for a very different audience,

929
00:50:18,840 --> 00:50:21,120
Speaker 8: one that was willing to you know, sit there on

930
00:50:21,160 --> 00:50:24,200
Speaker 8: the sidelines to watch folks, you know, for four hours,

931
00:50:24,200 --> 00:50:27,000
Speaker 8: to watch folks pass at thirty to forty miles an

932
00:50:27,040 --> 00:50:29,840
Speaker 8: hour for about twenty seconds. And that's that. So the

933
00:50:29,920 --> 00:50:32,839
Speaker 8: idea of you know, having a twenty one day bike

934
00:50:32,960 --> 00:50:36,439
Speaker 8: race that's eighty hours long, you know, the modern world

935
00:50:36,480 --> 00:50:39,080
Speaker 8: doesn't really have time for it. So we've really gotten

936
00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:41,759
Speaker 8: rid of the traditional cycling rules and are trying to

937
00:50:41,800 --> 00:50:46,440
Speaker 8: create something that is uniquely American. So short course racing

938
00:50:46,600 --> 00:50:49,880
Speaker 8: one mile courses, multiple laps. The way it works is

939
00:50:50,360 --> 00:50:53,840
Speaker 8: we have teams, ten teams of twelve people, one hundred

940
00:50:53,840 --> 00:50:56,560
Speaker 8: and twenty people total, half of them women, half of

941
00:50:56,560 --> 00:50:59,640
Speaker 8: them men. One of those squads races first, either men

942
00:50:59,680 --> 00:51:02,040
Speaker 8: or women, and twenty five laps. A lap takes about

943
00:51:02,040 --> 00:51:04,879
Speaker 8: two minutes. There's a scoreboard and so you know who won,

944
00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:08,319
Speaker 8: you know what's happening. There's substitutions, and so you have

945
00:51:08,400 --> 00:51:11,680
Speaker 8: riders coming in and coming out. Every lap counts big points.

946
00:51:11,680 --> 00:51:14,880
Speaker 8: On the last lap. In Miami Beach, the women road first.

947
00:51:15,040 --> 00:51:17,560
Speaker 8: After twenty five laps, they leave the course. The men

948
00:51:17,640 --> 00:51:21,359
Speaker 8: come on the scoreboard doesn't change, and so it's the

949
00:51:21,400 --> 00:51:24,320
Speaker 8: men's points plus the women's points that equals the team's

950
00:51:24,360 --> 00:51:26,960
Speaker 8: points for the day, and then their record across the

951
00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:31,239
Speaker 8: season that determines the champion for the year, which seems.

952
00:51:30,960 --> 00:51:33,160
Speaker 4: In Paris just you know, I hear these names like

953
00:51:33,239 --> 00:51:36,120
Speaker 4: all round or striker, sprinter, diesel. I mean, is this

954
00:51:36,160 --> 00:51:38,320
Speaker 4: all a function of this new format that you've developed?

955
00:51:38,440 --> 00:51:42,160
Speaker 8: You know those are It's interesting, right, we are leveraging

956
00:51:42,280 --> 00:51:46,720
Speaker 8: kind of the existing cyclist, the existing infrastructure, and we're inventing.

957
00:51:46,760 --> 00:51:49,319
Speaker 8: It's new rules, new format, new way of racing. And

958
00:51:49,360 --> 00:51:52,720
Speaker 8: so yeah, we're using that terminology now, but in the future,

959
00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:55,240
Speaker 8: I think it's all going to be rewritten. Right, because

960
00:51:55,280 --> 00:51:58,520
Speaker 8: the traditional cycling is who can ride the fastest over

961
00:51:58,560 --> 00:52:01,840
Speaker 8: twenty five hundred miles eighty hours over twenty one days.

962
00:52:02,160 --> 00:52:04,959
Speaker 8: We're saying who can ride the fastest in one hour,

963
00:52:05,360 --> 00:52:08,080
Speaker 8: thirty laps all out. And so the way I like

964
00:52:08,120 --> 00:52:11,280
Speaker 8: to describe it is traditional cycling that Tour de France

965
00:52:11,400 --> 00:52:14,080
Speaker 8: is a marathon and we're one hundred yard dash. So

966
00:52:14,120 --> 00:52:16,680
Speaker 8: we have the usine bolts of the world that are

967
00:52:17,120 --> 00:52:20,560
Speaker 8: his personality, his type of strength going for it, and

968
00:52:20,560 --> 00:52:22,880
Speaker 8: then on top of that, we have, you know, this

969
00:52:23,120 --> 00:52:26,840
Speaker 8: really innovative and I think built for the future gender

970
00:52:26,960 --> 00:52:30,320
Speaker 8: equal format where men and women's contributions are treated equally

971
00:52:30,600 --> 00:52:32,880
Speaker 8: and the men can't women win without the women, and

972
00:52:32,920 --> 00:52:35,719
Speaker 8: the women can't win without the men. I like to

973
00:52:35,719 --> 00:52:38,200
Speaker 8: think about an NBA example, which is, you know, imagine

974
00:52:38,200 --> 00:52:40,600
Speaker 8: if the WNBA played the first half and the NBA

975
00:52:40,640 --> 00:52:42,839
Speaker 8: played the second half. You wouldn't have to choose if

976
00:52:42,840 --> 00:52:44,960
Speaker 8: you were a WNBA or an NBA fan, You'd just

977
00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:45,960
Speaker 8: be a basketball fan.

978
00:52:46,800 --> 00:52:50,400
Speaker 1: So mister Burns and me we decided we want to

979
00:52:50,440 --> 00:52:54,239
Speaker 1: get into this race. So we've got that. We both

980
00:52:54,280 --> 00:52:58,520
Speaker 1: have our high wheelers and we're out there and I'm

981
00:52:58,600 --> 00:53:00,839
Speaker 1: sure you're gonna get We're gonna get there, and you're

982
00:53:00,880 --> 00:53:03,799
Speaker 1: going to be like, what, Sam Hill, is this get out?

983
00:53:03,840 --> 00:53:07,600
Speaker 1: There's got to be some rules to the bike. What

984
00:53:08,080 --> 00:53:11,919
Speaker 1: are some of the regulations for the bike itself? Yeah.

985
00:53:11,960 --> 00:53:16,040
Speaker 8: Absolutely, So we're actually sanctioned by USA Cycling, which is

986
00:53:16,239 --> 00:53:20,080
Speaker 8: the official Cycling Olympic Committee of the United States that

987
00:53:20,160 --> 00:53:23,120
Speaker 8: falls under the UCI, which is like you know, FIFA

988
00:53:23,239 --> 00:53:26,360
Speaker 8: for cycling, and so there are some specific rules that

989
00:53:26,400 --> 00:53:31,200
Speaker 8: we follow that are sanctioned our riders are actually in

990
00:53:31,360 --> 00:53:33,920
Speaker 8: racing in our races or qualifying themselves for the Olympics,

991
00:53:34,280 --> 00:53:37,560
Speaker 8: and it counts towards those those records. The other piece

992
00:53:37,640 --> 00:53:40,480
Speaker 8: is bad news. You're probably going to be outgunned on

993
00:53:40,520 --> 00:53:43,040
Speaker 8: our teams. We have folks that competed in the Tour

994
00:53:43,120 --> 00:53:46,040
Speaker 8: de France, have won some of the biggest European races,

995
00:53:46,360 --> 00:53:49,759
Speaker 8: our Olympians, our national champions. You go for a riot

996
00:53:49,840 --> 00:53:51,840
Speaker 8: of these folks and you understand the difference between a

997
00:53:51,880 --> 00:53:54,680
Speaker 8: normal person and a professional athlete, and that difference is

998
00:53:54,719 --> 00:53:56,719
Speaker 8: exponential smoothies.

999
00:53:59,200 --> 00:54:02,040
Speaker 2: I got to ask parents, what about broadcasting or being

1000
00:54:02,040 --> 00:54:04,640
Speaker 2: able to stream these races you called the Toria Frants

1001
00:54:04,640 --> 00:54:08,120
Speaker 2: and marathon, but it is you know, the length of

1002
00:54:08,160 --> 00:54:12,120
Speaker 2: the race makes it compelling viewing on television or on

1003
00:54:12,160 --> 00:54:14,319
Speaker 2: your screen. What do you do or how do you

1004
00:54:14,360 --> 00:54:16,640
Speaker 2: maximize that for you know, your equivalent of the one

1005
00:54:16,719 --> 00:54:17,520
Speaker 2: hundred meter dash.

1006
00:54:18,040 --> 00:54:18,279
Speaker 1: Yeah.

1007
00:54:18,320 --> 00:54:20,440
Speaker 8: Well, when we think about kind of the fan experience,

1008
00:54:20,480 --> 00:54:26,920
Speaker 8: we have a fantastic in person experience. Three races this year, Miami, Denver, Atlanta,

1009
00:54:27,040 --> 00:54:29,840
Speaker 8: some of the best attended bike races in US history.

1010
00:54:30,400 --> 00:54:33,560
Speaker 8: Then we have a streaming deal with Warner Brothers, Discovery

1011
00:54:33,600 --> 00:54:36,600
Speaker 8: and specifically with GCN, the Global Cycling Network, which is

1012
00:54:36,680 --> 00:54:40,600
Speaker 8: incredibly engaged, which has an incredibly engaged audience of global

1013
00:54:40,640 --> 00:54:44,280
Speaker 8: cyclists over three million across the globe. And then lastly,

1014
00:54:44,640 --> 00:54:47,800
Speaker 8: we're building technology with our partner Wahoo that's going to

1015
00:54:47,880 --> 00:54:52,240
Speaker 8: allow you to see the cyclist's output and the first

1016
00:54:52,280 --> 00:54:56,600
Speaker 8: person view. Get on your your smart trainer at home. Basically,

1017
00:54:56,640 --> 00:54:58,560
Speaker 8: get on your bike at home, put an iPad in

1018
00:54:58,560 --> 00:55:01,040
Speaker 8: front of you, watch the race and actually ride in

1019
00:55:01,080 --> 00:55:03,680
Speaker 8: it so you'll be able to see how you can compare.

1020
00:55:03,719 --> 00:55:06,279
Speaker 8: And maybe that's how mister Burns and Smithers can get

1021
00:55:06,280 --> 00:55:08,960
Speaker 8: in the race from home in their basement as opposed

1022
00:55:08,960 --> 00:55:11,200
Speaker 8: to in person, a lot less likely chance for them

1023
00:55:11,239 --> 00:55:12,160
Speaker 8: to fall and get hurt too.

1024
00:55:12,440 --> 00:55:14,640
Speaker 4: So, Paris, I wonder if you could help me out here,

1025
00:55:14,640 --> 00:55:16,480
Speaker 4: because I'm just trying to better understand, you know, the

1026
00:55:16,520 --> 00:55:18,719
Speaker 4: state of US cycling. Forget about global you know, I

1027
00:55:19,000 --> 00:55:22,000
Speaker 4: think of Sepcus, you know, Mitail Jorgensen, Randon McNulty. You know,

1028
00:55:22,040 --> 00:55:25,040
Speaker 4: these are top thirty in the world or close to it. Now,

1029
00:55:25,719 --> 00:55:27,600
Speaker 4: you know, talk to us about the names you know

1030
00:55:27,880 --> 00:55:30,440
Speaker 4: at you know, at the National Cycling League, Like who

1031
00:55:30,440 --> 00:55:33,320
Speaker 4: should we be keeping an eye on what teams, what

1032
00:55:33,320 --> 00:55:36,440
Speaker 4: what cyclists individually? I mean, you know, male, female, you know,

1033
00:55:36,440 --> 00:55:37,560
Speaker 4: who should we keeping an eye on.

1034
00:55:37,920 --> 00:55:42,040
Speaker 8: Yeah, great, great question. So you mentioned some absolutely fantastic

1035
00:55:42,760 --> 00:55:46,480
Speaker 8: US World Tour riders. Unfortunately, if you want to go

1036
00:55:46,520 --> 00:55:49,640
Speaker 8: and see those riders ride here in the US, it's

1037
00:55:49,680 --> 00:55:52,520
Speaker 8: going to be very, very difficult. And my guess is

1038
00:55:52,560 --> 00:55:55,000
Speaker 8: most of your listeners have never heard of those folks before.

1039
00:55:55,560 --> 00:55:57,480
Speaker 8: So what we're trying to do is really bring cycling

1040
00:55:57,560 --> 00:56:00,759
Speaker 8: right into people's backyard, make it incredibly viewable, and then

1041
00:56:00,840 --> 00:56:03,080
Speaker 8: have it in a format that's a lot more welcoming.

1042
00:56:03,640 --> 00:56:03,839
Speaker 4: You know.

1043
00:56:03,880 --> 00:56:05,719
Speaker 8: The Tour de France, I think, is the only race

1044
00:56:05,760 --> 00:56:08,200
Speaker 8: where the person who wins it doesn't actually ever have

1045
00:56:08,320 --> 00:56:11,279
Speaker 8: to win a race, which is really confusing. So we're

1046
00:56:11,320 --> 00:56:15,719
Speaker 8: trying to make it much more I would say, accessible

1047
00:56:15,960 --> 00:56:19,680
Speaker 8: from a shorter time frame. Yeah, intuitive, Yeah, and accessible

1048
00:56:19,960 --> 00:56:23,000
Speaker 8: you know, from a two hour investment versus a you know,

1049
00:56:23,040 --> 00:56:26,719
Speaker 8: twenty one day investment to watch the race, to having

1050
00:56:26,719 --> 00:56:29,120
Speaker 8: a scoreboard and sprint finishes that make it very obvious.

1051
00:56:29,560 --> 00:56:32,560
Speaker 8: The folks that are riding in the races are incredible,

1052
00:56:32,880 --> 00:56:35,120
Speaker 8: you know, and I think what's really interesting about these cyclists.

1053
00:56:35,120 --> 00:56:37,960
Speaker 8: And I'll give one example of someone who I personally

1054
00:56:38,800 --> 00:56:44,200
Speaker 8: really respect her vision, her story and the sacrifices you made,

1055
00:56:44,719 --> 00:56:48,400
Speaker 8: doctor Andrea Seer, who is on our team Miami Nights.

1056
00:56:48,840 --> 00:56:54,000
Speaker 8: She is a practicing physician, sports medicine er doctor. She

1057
00:56:54,080 --> 00:56:57,240
Speaker 8: took a year off to ride professionally and she's second

1058
00:56:57,360 --> 00:57:01,960
Speaker 8: and she's currently the second highest in the US. You know,

1059
00:57:01,960 --> 00:57:03,520
Speaker 8: shook a pay cut to do this. So these are

1060
00:57:03,560 --> 00:57:07,439
Speaker 8: like Olympic athletes who are actually sacrificing to be able

1061
00:57:07,480 --> 00:57:09,319
Speaker 8: to do what they love. And that's a lot of

1062
00:57:09,360 --> 00:57:12,040
Speaker 8: what we're trying to change as saying, Look, if you

1063
00:57:12,160 --> 00:57:16,400
Speaker 8: are not a distance rider, you are a sprinter, and

1064
00:57:16,440 --> 00:57:19,800
Speaker 8: you want to have a career being a professional cyclist

1065
00:57:19,880 --> 00:57:22,320
Speaker 8: here in the US, racing in the US in front

1066
00:57:22,320 --> 00:57:24,640
Speaker 8: of home crowds, We're going to give you the opportunity

1067
00:57:24,720 --> 00:57:27,840
Speaker 8: to do that. And we've had hundreds of cyclists from

1068
00:57:27,880 --> 00:57:30,640
Speaker 8: around the world who have expressed interest in coming and

1069
00:57:30,720 --> 00:57:34,960
Speaker 8: riding with us because of the ability to be stars. Right,

1070
00:57:35,040 --> 00:57:37,720
Speaker 8: and you know, these sprinters will never be able to

1071
00:57:37,760 --> 00:57:40,040
Speaker 8: win the Tour de France. They that's just not what

1072
00:57:40,080 --> 00:57:40,760
Speaker 8: that race is.

1073
00:57:40,800 --> 00:57:41,120
Speaker 1: Really.

1074
00:57:42,120 --> 00:57:44,960
Speaker 8: No one who's a sprinter can win it, but you

1075
00:57:45,040 --> 00:57:46,720
Speaker 8: can be a star in the NCL, and so we're

1076
00:57:46,720 --> 00:57:50,640
Speaker 8: attracting these folks that also have bigger personalities, are really

1077
00:57:50,680 --> 00:57:52,640
Speaker 8: some of the best known folks out there, which we're

1078
00:57:52,680 --> 00:57:53,520
Speaker 8: really excited about.

1079
00:57:53,840 --> 00:57:56,440
Speaker 1: So my radio flyer is now being put back in

1080
00:57:56,480 --> 00:58:01,440
Speaker 1: the garage, and I've realized that there are a lot

1081
00:58:01,480 --> 00:58:05,520
Speaker 1: of big name athlete investors involved in this. This is

1082
00:58:05,760 --> 00:58:08,760
Speaker 1: this is gonna be big time, big time. Kevin Durant

1083
00:58:09,080 --> 00:58:11,320
Speaker 1: Jalen Ramsey tell us about that.

1084
00:58:11,600 --> 00:58:15,360
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's it's pretty incredible and humbling to have conversations

1085
00:58:15,400 --> 00:58:17,880
Speaker 8: with these folks that are that are absolutely at the

1086
00:58:17,920 --> 00:58:22,760
Speaker 8: top of their game, and to a person, they understand

1087
00:58:22,800 --> 00:58:26,880
Speaker 8: the value of ownership, right even though obviously these guys

1088
00:58:26,920 --> 00:58:29,720
Speaker 8: are making a tremendous amount of money being players, they

1089
00:58:29,840 --> 00:58:32,680
Speaker 8: understand the difference between them and the owners and being

1090
00:58:32,760 --> 00:58:35,920
Speaker 8: part of the first majority minority and female owned professional

1091
00:58:36,000 --> 00:58:39,160
Speaker 8: sports league in the world with a focus on gender

1092
00:58:39,200 --> 00:58:42,960
Speaker 8: equity from the beginning. They get it and they want

1093
00:58:42,960 --> 00:58:44,720
Speaker 8: to be part of it. They want to show that,

1094
00:58:44,840 --> 00:58:47,160
Speaker 8: you know, women and minorities can be more than players.

1095
00:58:47,200 --> 00:58:49,760
Speaker 8: They can be players and they can be owners. And

1096
00:58:49,800 --> 00:58:53,160
Speaker 8: I think that's really motivating Plus they see the economic

1097
00:58:53,200 --> 00:58:57,840
Speaker 8: opportunity here. You know that the ability to ride this

1098
00:58:57,880 --> 00:59:00,880
Speaker 8: thing from you know, basically zero where we started eighteen

1099
00:59:00,920 --> 00:59:04,040
Speaker 8: months ago to what we expect in our building towards

1100
00:59:04,040 --> 00:59:06,760
Speaker 8: a you know, multi billion dollar enterprise in the next

1101
00:59:06,800 --> 00:59:10,920
Speaker 8: decade is an incredible investment opportunity that they're excited to

1102
00:59:11,280 --> 00:59:15,439
Speaker 8: be part of, especially since it also matches their their

1103
00:59:15,560 --> 00:59:16,920
Speaker 8: view on how they want the world to be.

1104
00:59:17,960 --> 00:59:21,360
Speaker 2: Paris, you mentioned the Bay Area and you know the hills.

1105
00:59:21,400 --> 00:59:23,840
Speaker 2: I'm sure that you had to climb when you're cycling

1106
00:59:23,920 --> 00:59:26,800
Speaker 2: as a fan and as someone who just used it

1107
00:59:26,800 --> 00:59:30,440
Speaker 2: as a way to stay active. What about mountain biking.

1108
00:59:30,680 --> 00:59:33,920
Speaker 2: I'm curious whether the NCL will expand to different terrain

1109
00:59:34,280 --> 00:59:36,640
Speaker 2: like mountain biking, because that has really kind of taken

1110
00:59:36,680 --> 00:59:40,320
Speaker 2: off in recent years, especially as ski resorts look to

1111
00:59:41,160 --> 00:59:45,080
Speaker 2: make sure that they can monetize their terrain during the

1112
00:59:45,120 --> 00:59:45,960
Speaker 2: hot summer months.

1113
00:59:47,080 --> 00:59:49,160
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's a great question, you know, and I think

1114
00:59:49,320 --> 00:59:52,200
Speaker 8: a big piece of it is is the sport a

1115
00:59:52,320 --> 00:59:56,000
Speaker 8: spectator sport or is the sport a participatory sport? So

1116
00:59:56,120 --> 00:59:59,400
Speaker 8: mountain biking has done a good job being both. We're

1117
00:59:59,480 --> 01:00:02,560
Speaker 8: really foocused on getting the format down with road cycling,

1118
01:00:02,960 --> 01:00:06,560
Speaker 8: big open roads, opportunities to have drones, to have the

1119
01:00:06,600 --> 01:00:09,520
Speaker 8: technology to allow races to happen the metaverse, and for

1120
01:00:09,920 --> 01:00:12,640
Speaker 8: fans to be able to participate in it. Really high

1121
01:00:12,760 --> 01:00:17,000
Speaker 8: end videography that you get the type of experience from

1122
01:00:17,000 --> 01:00:21,080
Speaker 8: a viewer's perspective that you expect being an NFL or

1123
01:00:21,160 --> 01:00:23,880
Speaker 8: NBA fan. It's harder when you get into the woods

1124
01:00:23,880 --> 01:00:26,240
Speaker 8: obviously to be able to have that same sort of

1125
01:00:26,320 --> 01:00:29,600
Speaker 8: viewer experience. So we're not writing anything off. We're very

1126
01:00:29,640 --> 01:00:32,640
Speaker 8: focused on executing on the strategy that we're looking at.

1127
01:00:32,680 --> 01:00:35,840
Speaker 8: But you know, from gravel racing, which our riders are

1128
01:00:35,840 --> 01:00:39,040
Speaker 8: going to be competing in gravel races next year, to

1129
01:00:39,280 --> 01:00:41,959
Speaker 8: mountain biking. You know, we think the future is very

1130
01:00:42,000 --> 01:00:44,360
Speaker 8: bright for cycling. It's one of the fastest growing sports

1131
01:00:44,760 --> 01:00:47,880
Speaker 8: in the country and around the world, and we think

1132
01:00:47,880 --> 01:00:50,960
Speaker 8: that once we establish that brand, have the fans, and

1133
01:00:51,000 --> 01:00:53,320
Speaker 8: have the technology, there's a lot of different ways that

1134
01:00:53,320 --> 01:00:55,640
Speaker 8: we can expand, both vertically and horizontally.

1135
01:00:55,760 --> 01:00:59,560
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, stupid man. Alert gravel racing, I've never heard

1136
01:00:59,560 --> 01:01:01,000
Speaker 1: of that. What please?

1137
01:01:01,040 --> 01:01:02,800
Speaker 2: To different kind of bike, different kind of times?

1138
01:01:02,880 --> 01:01:05,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, what is it? I've never heard?

1139
01:01:05,560 --> 01:01:08,560
Speaker 8: Yeah, So so once you once you have your your

1140
01:01:08,640 --> 01:01:11,320
Speaker 8: road bike, and then you have your mountain bike. And

1141
01:01:11,400 --> 01:01:14,560
Speaker 8: you know, for all cyclists it's n plus one. That's

1142
01:01:14,560 --> 01:01:16,760
Speaker 8: how many bikes you want, the number you have plus one.

1143
01:01:16,800 --> 01:01:19,960
Speaker 8: More so, there's gravel bikes, which is kind of like

1144
01:01:20,040 --> 01:01:23,520
Speaker 8: a beefed up road bike that has bigger tires that

1145
01:01:23,560 --> 01:01:27,080
Speaker 8: you can go on gravel roads, not mountain bike roads.

1146
01:01:27,120 --> 01:01:29,560
Speaker 8: It can't be that technical. But things like fire roads

1147
01:01:29,560 --> 01:01:32,880
Speaker 8: and other things that have really been incredibly popular and

1148
01:01:32,920 --> 01:01:36,240
Speaker 8: growing in popularity. I think the issue is right, there's

1149
01:01:36,280 --> 01:01:39,680
Speaker 8: not kind of these sprints and you know, it's it's

1150
01:01:39,720 --> 01:01:41,600
Speaker 8: a lot more of an individual sport. And again you're

1151
01:01:41,640 --> 01:01:44,760
Speaker 8: going back to six seven eight hour races and hanging

1152
01:01:44,840 --> 01:01:47,160
Speaker 8: on for eight hours to see who Won's a little

1153
01:01:47,160 --> 01:01:49,600
Speaker 8: bit a little bit tough for current fans.

1154
01:01:50,080 --> 01:01:52,320
Speaker 4: You know, Paris, we mentioned some of your investors, some

1155
01:01:52,360 --> 01:01:53,440
Speaker 4: of the athlete investors.

1156
01:01:53,480 --> 01:01:53,640
Speaker 6: You know.

1157
01:01:53,720 --> 01:01:55,760
Speaker 4: I know you're one of the two co founders, the

1158
01:01:55,800 --> 01:01:58,960
Speaker 4: other being David Muligeta obviously of athletes.

1159
01:01:59,000 --> 01:02:00,560
Speaker 6: First, he was the chap.

1160
01:02:00,360 --> 01:02:04,080
Speaker 4: Who negotiated Dshaun Watson's two hundred and thirty million dollar

1161
01:02:04,160 --> 01:02:08,520
Speaker 4: contract with Cleveland Browns. Why isn't Dshaun Watson, an investor

1162
01:02:08,600 --> 01:02:10,440
Speaker 4: in the NCAL No, I'm just kidding, but seriously, I

1163
01:02:10,480 --> 01:02:12,800
Speaker 4: mean David's involvement in the company. Talk to us a

1164
01:02:12,800 --> 01:02:14,520
Speaker 4: little bit about that, what he's meant to the company,

1165
01:02:14,560 --> 01:02:17,120
Speaker 4: what it means to you know, the company's plans going forward.

1166
01:02:17,240 --> 01:02:21,840
Speaker 8: Yeah, David just brings such an incredible wealth of knowledge

1167
01:02:21,880 --> 01:02:25,960
Speaker 8: and understanding, frankly about the good sides and the not

1168
01:02:26,040 --> 01:02:29,720
Speaker 8: so good sides of current professional sports. So you know,

1169
01:02:29,800 --> 01:02:33,200
Speaker 8: obviously he's been involved in helping us get the word out,

1170
01:02:33,360 --> 01:02:37,240
Speaker 8: in connecting with his extensive network, but also in just

1171
01:02:37,280 --> 01:02:40,880
Speaker 8: thinking through some of the fundamental questions that we've had

1172
01:02:40,920 --> 01:02:42,920
Speaker 8: and we're trying to answer about what is the sport

1173
01:02:42,960 --> 01:02:45,880
Speaker 8: of the future right, what are the characteristics that work

1174
01:02:46,040 --> 01:02:48,560
Speaker 8: and don't work in the sport? And how do we

1175
01:02:48,600 --> 01:02:50,840
Speaker 8: build something that athletes are going to love to be

1176
01:02:50,920 --> 01:02:52,480
Speaker 8: part of, Owners are going to be loved to be

1177
01:02:52,560 --> 01:02:54,360
Speaker 8: part of, fans are going to love to be part of.

1178
01:02:54,400 --> 01:02:57,800
Speaker 8: I tell the team regularly that we can make mistakes.

1179
01:02:57,800 --> 01:03:00,280
Speaker 8: We're a startup. We just can't make any missis takes

1180
01:03:00,280 --> 01:03:03,280
Speaker 8: that any other league have ever made before. And David

1181
01:03:03,360 --> 01:03:05,960
Speaker 8: is a big part in ensuring that we're that we're

1182
01:03:05,960 --> 01:03:07,680
Speaker 8: doing exactly that Paris.

1183
01:03:07,680 --> 01:03:09,440
Speaker 2: How many bikes do you have? You said, N plus one?

1184
01:03:09,440 --> 01:03:10,040
Speaker 2: How many do you have?

1185
01:03:11,640 --> 01:03:14,720
Speaker 8: It depends on how you count. We split our time

1186
01:03:14,760 --> 01:03:18,520
Speaker 8: between Miami and New England, and so I think only

1187
01:03:18,560 --> 01:03:24,680
Speaker 8: the Miami bikes or the New Hampshire bikes count road bikes,

1188
01:03:24,720 --> 01:03:27,880
Speaker 8: mountain bikes or gravel bikes. Right, And so it's too

1189
01:03:27,920 --> 01:03:30,720
Speaker 8: complicated to get into here, but let's just say I

1190
01:03:30,800 --> 01:03:31,800
Speaker 8: do want another bike.

1191
01:03:32,920 --> 01:03:34,080
Speaker 2: That is a great answer.

1192
01:03:35,080 --> 01:03:36,880
Speaker 1: Well, listen, I know we're out of time, but you

1193
01:03:36,960 --> 01:03:40,600
Speaker 1: got to tell us. You've got some races, very important

1194
01:03:40,680 --> 01:03:45,000
Speaker 1: races that are coming up for the NCL, especially one

1195
01:03:45,000 --> 01:03:48,320
Speaker 1: that's taking place let's say, let's call it late August.

1196
01:03:48,680 --> 01:03:49,080
Speaker 6: Yeah.

1197
01:03:49,200 --> 01:03:52,560
Speaker 8: Yeah, so we're very excited. In August, we have two races,

1198
01:03:53,720 --> 01:03:57,760
Speaker 8: one in Denver, which should be a fantastic race at

1199
01:03:58,000 --> 01:04:00,760
Speaker 8: Dick Sporting Goods Park, and then we've actually partnered with

1200
01:04:00,800 --> 01:04:03,880
Speaker 8: the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta, which is going to

1201
01:04:03,920 --> 01:04:09,040
Speaker 8: be amazing VIP event. Two hundred spots there, and we're

1202
01:04:09,080 --> 01:04:12,880
Speaker 8: going to see what the fastest folks on two wheels

1203
01:04:13,080 --> 01:04:15,520
Speaker 8: can do on a track designed for the fastest cars

1204
01:04:15,520 --> 01:04:18,480
Speaker 8: on four wheels. It's going to be great. So you know,

1205
01:04:18,880 --> 01:04:21,640
Speaker 8: there's still space available if folks want to come out

1206
01:04:21,680 --> 01:04:23,680
Speaker 8: and check it out in person, or we're going to

1207
01:04:23,720 --> 01:04:26,240
Speaker 8: be streaming on GCN. So we're really excited.

1208
01:04:26,640 --> 01:04:30,480
Speaker 1: Wow, gravel racing is like well, heck, back in my

1209
01:04:30,600 --> 01:04:33,920
Speaker 1: day as a kid that was Tuesday, I didn't know

1210
01:04:33,960 --> 01:04:36,360
Speaker 1: that there really was a thing for gravel racing.

1211
01:04:36,400 --> 01:04:37,160
Speaker 6: That's really cool.

1212
01:04:37,280 --> 01:04:37,840
Speaker 1: It's wow.

1213
01:04:37,960 --> 01:04:40,919
Speaker 8: Yeah, well, you know I love spending other people's money

1214
01:04:40,960 --> 01:04:43,919
Speaker 8: on bikes, so we can connect this. You know, I'll

1215
01:04:43,920 --> 01:04:45,760
Speaker 8: buy you one. We can come up to New Hampshire,

1216
01:04:45,760 --> 01:04:46,439
Speaker 8: we can go for a ride.

1217
01:04:46,520 --> 01:04:51,880
Speaker 1: All right. Faris Walla CEO and co founder National Cycling League.

1218
01:04:52,720 --> 01:04:55,240
Speaker 1: There is no by the way, this has been going

1219
01:04:55,280 --> 01:04:57,720
Speaker 1: on now for about a year and a half and

1220
01:04:58,040 --> 01:05:01,080
Speaker 1: you know this, we're just get the word out so

1221
01:05:01,280 --> 01:05:05,600
Speaker 1: hopefully this will just grow and explode. Hey, NASCAR took

1222
01:05:05,600 --> 01:05:08,120
Speaker 1: a long time in its first year to start out

1223
01:05:08,160 --> 01:05:10,240
Speaker 1: and then it just took off, so this will also.

1224
01:05:10,640 --> 01:05:12,840
Speaker 1: Thank you so much Perris for joining us on the

1225
01:05:12,840 --> 01:05:14,120
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Sports.

1226
01:05:14,200 --> 01:05:14,960
Speaker 8: Appreciate you all.

1227
01:05:15,000 --> 01:05:18,040
Speaker 1: Thank you. This has been the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast.

1228
01:05:18,120 --> 01:05:20,280
Speaker 1: We explore the big money issues in the world of sports.

1229
01:05:20,320 --> 01:05:22,800
Speaker 1: I'm Michael barr On X said Big Bar.

1230
01:05:22,760 --> 01:05:26,880
Speaker 2: Sports, and I'm on Twitter slash x at Scarlettfoo.

1231
01:05:26,400 --> 01:05:28,480
Speaker 6: And you can follow me on X at the Sasaur.

1232
01:05:28,600 --> 01:05:33,560
Speaker 1: Hey, download this show wherever you get your podcasts. This

1233
01:05:33,800 --> 01:05:39,320
Speaker 1: has been the Bloomberg Business of sports, Bloomberg Radio around world.