1 00:00:02,759 --> 00:00:10,200 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. This is the business 2 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 1: of sports. 3 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 2: The business of sports can be intimidating or hard for 4 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 2: a starting to break into. 5 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 3: We really appreciate when our owners are actually there, you know, 6 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 3: with us through the journey. Teams ours especially have been 7 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 3: very intentional to diversify at all levels. 8 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:23,600 Speaker 4: Of the company. 9 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:26,120 Speaker 5: I think we're in bolden years for the NFL and 10 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 5: college football. 11 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 3: Our demographic reach has continued to explode. 12 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 6: This is going to be really unlocking the streaming platform 13 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 6: for sports fans. 14 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 7: Sports evaluations are rising. We'll see when they peak. 15 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 5: You don't have to be the best in your sport 16 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 5: to make a whole ton of money. 17 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. 18 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,560 Speaker 8: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore 19 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 8: the big money issues in the world of sports. Michael 20 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 8: Barr along with mcconnlleagues, Damien Sasaur and Vanessa Perdomo. Scarlett 21 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 8: fou is on assignment coming up on the show with 22 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 8: the mass there is coming up next weekend. We'll talk 23 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 8: a little golf with Anne Ligori. She has covered dozens 24 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 8: of golf championships and tournaments, including twenty six Masters. Will 25 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:12,400 Speaker 8: get her take on the state of the game heading 26 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 8: into this year's Masters. 27 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 6: It's the first time Roy McElroy is actually coming into 28 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 6: this Master's first time in a long time with two wins, 29 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 6: and he went to Pebble Beach a couple months ago. 30 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 6: He wanted the players. Even though he was not his 31 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 6: best off the tee get the Houston Open. He was 32 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:32,199 Speaker 6: tied for fifth, so he's playing really, really well. 33 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:34,960 Speaker 8: Plus, we'll check in on a company looking to lead 34 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 8: the way in the business of college sports in the 35 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 8: age of nil. We'll hear a conversation with Learfield President 36 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 8: and CEO Cole Ghagen. All that and more straight ahead 37 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 8: on the Bloomberg Business of Sports. But first we're a 38 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 8: step closer to another NFL season. Believe that Bloomberg US 39 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 8: sports business reporter Randa Williams went to Florida to be 40 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 8: our fly on the wall all for this year's NFL 41 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 8: annual meeting with league owners. He joins us now from 42 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 8: the road to tell us a little about what he 43 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 8: heard and saw. Randall, old friend, old buddy Opal, Welcome 44 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:13,519 Speaker 8: back to the Bloomberg Business of Sports. 45 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 7: As always, thank you for having me, mister barr oh Man. 46 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 8: It's like, hey could be seeing some flag football and 47 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 8: we could see a league. 48 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 7: Absolutely, NFL is considering starting a pro flag football league, 49 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 7: both men's and women's as soon as next year. That's 50 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 7: very fast. 51 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 4: As soon as next year. How is that actually possible? 52 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:37,640 Speaker 7: I don't know, uh transferred. I mean I figured that 53 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 7: they would have started this near the Olympics or around 54 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,080 Speaker 7: that time, but uh there. I mean, if you think 55 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 7: about the commitment from the dollars perspective of flag football, 56 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 7: in my mind, you don't necessarily need as much as 57 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 7: let's say a WNBA team, because you know WNBA teams, 58 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 7: you have to build a stadium, you have to have facilities, 59 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 7: all of these different things. And I think you definitely 60 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 7: need the same thing for women's and men's flag foot ball. 61 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,080 Speaker 7: But I don't know that owners would be in the 62 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 7: business of building brand new stadiums or brand new facilities 63 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 7: for these pro black football teams. That doesn't mean that 64 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 7: they won't, but I don't know that it makes sense. 65 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 9: Saranda'll talk to us a little bit. 66 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 3: They're talking about both a men's and a women's flag 67 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 3: football league, right and so you know, I know there 68 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:23,960 Speaker 3: was a lot of big names. You've got Mark Lassler's Avenue. 69 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 3: You've got CA doing some partnership with with an investor, 70 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 3: You've got you've got Serena Williams. 71 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:32,840 Speaker 9: Right, So talk to us a little bit about, you know, 72 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 9: what you. 73 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 3: Think the value of a flag football team may very 74 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 3: well be and what comp would you use? 75 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 9: Would you use like paddle and some. 76 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 3: Of these recent prices that are going on or some 77 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 3: of these you know, club golf teams. I'm just curious 78 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 3: to hear, like what you think is an appropriate comp 79 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 3: for trying to value these franchises. 80 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 7: Well, it's it's too early to be determined, in large 81 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 7: part because you just don't know the structure of the league. 82 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 7: Like these proposals from these groups all look different. And 83 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 7: I made an attempt to pin down a lot of 84 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 7: these things and I did find out a lot of details. 85 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 7: Is like the structure of some of these proposals that 86 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 7: the league is looking to partner with because the bottom 87 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 7: line is the NFL wants to operate this with someone. 88 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 7: They don't want to do it by themselves. They want 89 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 7: someone to come in and help. And so you have 90 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,359 Speaker 7: all these groups who are like, yes, let's absolutely do business. 91 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 7: But the exact business model, whether it's six, eight, ten, 92 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 7: twelve teams is still to be determined. And from the 93 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 7: financial side of things, you know, what does it look 94 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 7: like for Serena Williams because you know her husband. Her 95 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 7: husband has a bit Serena wants to buy a team, 96 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 7: and so those two things are a little separate. You 97 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 7: have Tko, who's in there, who I think could do 98 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 7: an incredible job because of the fact that you know 99 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 7: they have the UFC, they have the WWE and if 100 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,359 Speaker 7: you've ever been to one of those live experiences, I 101 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 7: can only imagine what that would be like with flag football. 102 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,480 Speaker 7: And then you have everybody else. Of course ice Cube, 103 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 7: who's the owner of the Big Three. There's a lot 104 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 7: of different groups and there's four more out there, I think, 105 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 7: but it's to be determined. I think that black football 106 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:01,160 Speaker 7: could potentially be a huge busin someday for the NFL 107 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:03,680 Speaker 7: because if you think about it from a calendar perspective, 108 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,600 Speaker 7: like football ends in February and then you have March 109 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 7: Madness and then you have the WNBA that starts, but 110 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 7: there is for football, you have like a six month 111 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 7: break that can be filled with these flag football leagues. 112 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:17,359 Speaker 7: And I don't know that it goes the whole summer 113 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 7: or the whole spring. We'll have to see. But there's 114 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 7: a huge business opportunity, and I think the NFL is 115 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 7: trying to capitalize on it. 116 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 3: Well, Randall, I understand doing a women's league, right, I mean, 117 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 3: you've got smaller schools who have women's teams. I mean, 118 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:29,159 Speaker 3: it's being adopted by a lot of high schools, certainly 119 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 3: in the New York area, you know, sort of Long Island, 120 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 3: New Jersey, et cetera. 121 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 9: But here's what I don't understand. 122 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,160 Speaker 3: Why would the NFL want to have a men's flag 123 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 3: football league. I mean, wouldn't that sort of creep in 124 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,159 Speaker 3: on its existing product, wouldn't it you know, maybe potentially 125 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,159 Speaker 3: if you have people who want to play, you know, injuries. 126 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:48,159 Speaker 3: I'm just thinking out loud here, I mean, like, why 127 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 3: a men's league. I mean, women make sense. But yeah, 128 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:51,160 Speaker 3: you know what I. 129 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 7: Mean, I hear you, and I think what you're saying 130 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 7: is funny. Is like we you know, the men should 131 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 7: be the tougher guys that play the tackle football. The 132 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 7: reality is when you think of the Olympics, you know 133 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 7: the Olympics is going to be I think it's five 134 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 7: on five it's not traditional seven on seven like you 135 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:07,719 Speaker 7: see at some of these high school tournaments, and you 136 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:11,480 Speaker 7: do there is a possibility that NFL players will be playing. 137 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 3: In the tire a ligament man, I mean, you know, 138 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 3: a hard cut the wrong way, you know, I mean, 139 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:16,919 Speaker 3: these are guys, That's what I'm saying. Like, it's just 140 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 3: not making so much sense to me, at least on 141 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 3: the men's. 142 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,919 Speaker 7: Said that's true, but if you've ever watched the flag 143 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:26,839 Speaker 7: football game, it's completely different. Like it's it's drastically different. 144 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 7: And so I think the NFL does want to have 145 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:31,479 Speaker 7: an opportunity. Which one do I think will do better. 146 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:33,680 Speaker 7: I think the women's will do ten times better because 147 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:36,360 Speaker 7: you're going to have fans who have that exact perspective 148 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 7: that you just did and say, well, you're so good 149 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,360 Speaker 7: at this, then you should be playing in the NFL, 150 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 7: the actual league, the tackle league. And for the women's 151 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,719 Speaker 7: like that, I think there's a tremendous opportunity because you 152 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:52,600 Speaker 7: have people like Diana Flores, who has been a trailblazer 153 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 7: for the men's. You'd be hard pressed going up to 154 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 7: someone on the street or even someone who loves the 155 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 7: game of football through and through and is able to 156 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:03,920 Speaker 7: name a men's flag football player. It's just a little 157 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 7: little different. 158 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,360 Speaker 8: Well, Roger Goodell, he is saying that the Olympics, that's 159 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 8: a critical moment for us, and they are hoping the 160 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 8: NFL to have the Olympic debut of flag football at 161 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:19,440 Speaker 8: the Los Angeles Games in twenty twenty eight. Is that 162 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 8: realistically possible it's going to be in those games? What 163 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 8: is still yet to be determined? And he mentioned that 164 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 8: the NFL and the nflpare hoping to work out a 165 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 8: deal to allow NFL players to play. But you know, 166 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 8: what does it look like for some of these regular 167 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 8: flag football players who have been training and competing for 168 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 8: Team USA that aren't NFL players, Like, what does the 169 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 8: selection process look look like for the average joes that 170 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 8: are going to be playing against the NFL players. Like, obviously, 171 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 8: from the NFL's perspective, this is like a dream team 172 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 8: scenario where you could have someone like Lamar Jackson, Justin Jefferson, 173 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 8: Jamar Chase, maybe Tyreek Hill, like really unguarded fantasy football 174 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 8: level lineups on the offense and defensive side of the ball. 175 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 8: But at the same time, do those guys understand the 176 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,000 Speaker 8: same do they understand the flag football game the same 177 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 8: way that they understand, uh, the NFL game. I'm not 178 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 8: so sure. 179 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 7: It's something that they're going to have to figure out 180 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 7: and USA Football is going to have to jump into 181 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 7: and be a problem solver. 182 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 4: I don't really know if they need to, you know, 183 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 4: know the rules as much because of how dominant they'd 184 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 4: probably be against other countries. The one thing that's interesting, 185 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,679 Speaker 4: and to Damien's point about why do a men's league, 186 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 4: but does it then create like that problem of the 187 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:39,199 Speaker 4: UFL of the XFL. This is like an actual viable 188 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:41,679 Speaker 4: property maybe that people would watch if the NFL is 189 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 4: the one putting it on instead of some other, you know, 190 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 4: outside property. 191 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 7: I think that they would operate if they get the 192 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 7: right partner, that it won't compete against itself, because what 193 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 7: they're attempting to do from the grassroots level. Of course, 194 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 7: you know, the NFL and college football go on at 195 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 7: the same time. And ideally, if enough schools and the 196 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 7: NCAA gets behind this and they back this, that you know, 197 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 7: in four years they're hoping to have women's flag football 198 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 7: as a collegiate sport, and I think men's will come 199 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 7: along someday too. But from the women's angle, you have 200 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,199 Speaker 7: all the momentum building up right now from the high 201 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 7: school level to the college level, and then of course 202 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 7: these these pro leagues are coming from the men's angle. 203 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 7: I'm not so sure. I'm a little cautious as to 204 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,559 Speaker 7: if a consumer would watch men's flag football the same 205 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 7: way that they would watch women's flag football, because, like, 206 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:36,079 Speaker 7: if you think about it from a position perspective, you 207 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 7: have I'll use the two receivers that I just named, 208 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 7: Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase. And let's just say a 209 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 7: guy's name is, you know, Jerry Jackson or something, and 210 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:48,839 Speaker 7: he's a receiver that plays flag football, Well, he's going 211 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,080 Speaker 7: to be compared constantly to be like, oh yeah, but 212 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,840 Speaker 7: you play the flag league, whereas with women's you're starting 213 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 7: with a clean slate. 214 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:55,959 Speaker 9: Let's let's shift gears here. 215 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 3: Earlier this week, you were in Palm Beach, Florida, and 216 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 3: it wasn't like you were at Mara alw Go talking 217 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 3: tariffs with Trump. You were at the NFL annual meeting, 218 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 3: and my goodness, wasn't come out of there. We had 219 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:08,959 Speaker 3: the toush push, never got banned, we got some replay 220 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 3: assist right, the chain gangs are getting banned or maybe 221 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 3: they're you know. 222 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 9: Getting cast off to the side. I don't know. 223 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 3: And then there's a change to the kickoff rule. I mean, 224 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:17,439 Speaker 3: what stood out for you the most? What was the 225 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:18,240 Speaker 3: vibe on the ground. 226 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 7: I like, I'll tell you like there was not a 227 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:24,319 Speaker 7: lot of finance stuff happening. There were some stadium proposals. 228 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 7: A lot of this meeting was rule changes. And the 229 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 7: reality is, I'll start with the touch push. The touch push. 230 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 7: Of course they're trying to work out the rules, but 231 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 7: they just did not have enough votes. Straight up. There 232 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 7: was like, when you have to get one of these 233 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:38,840 Speaker 7: things passed, you have to have twenty four votes, and 234 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:40,960 Speaker 7: that's a lot. That's a lot. And if you listen 235 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 7: to what some of these coaches are saying, there are 236 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 7: some coaches who aren't against it. I mean their philosophy 237 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 7: is that if you don't want the Eagles to run it, 238 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:49,959 Speaker 7: don't let them get to fourth and two or fourth 239 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:53,040 Speaker 7: and one or third and one. That's that's what the 240 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:57,719 Speaker 7: opposition's viewpoint is. On the kickoff rule. You have the 241 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:00,160 Speaker 7: kickoff or the touch back. Moving from the thirty did 242 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 7: the thirty five. I understand that they're trying to make 243 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 7: more kickoff returns. At the same time, you're gonna get 244 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:10,199 Speaker 7: to a point where, like in fifteen to twenty yards, 245 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 7: people are gonna be in field goal range. And I 246 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 7: guess the NFL is one hundred percent not in they're 247 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:19,600 Speaker 7: not opposed to scoring. But at some point, like it's 248 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 7: like geez, like the logo is right there, and Damian 249 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:24,600 Speaker 7: you remember, and Michael you remember, and I'm sure Vanessa 250 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:26,600 Speaker 7: you do too, a time where the touchback was on 251 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:29,520 Speaker 7: the twenty, So now that it's thirty, it's on the 252 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 7: thirty five. Obviously, offenses are going to have a tremendous 253 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 7: advantage for that, and you're going to see a lot 254 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,079 Speaker 7: more kickoffs being returned or trying to be returned, because 255 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 7: no one wants to start on the thirty five. The 256 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:45,000 Speaker 7: replay assist, Yes, they shifted that again, but they're not 257 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 7: going to be doing They're not going to be throwing 258 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 7: flags from New York, which is a good thing. I 259 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 7: think that that would frustrate fans if a roughing the 260 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 7: passer wasn't called and all of a sudden you have 261 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 7: a flag being put down. It would just complicate the 262 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 7: game a bit, and I'm kind of glad that they 263 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:02,960 Speaker 7: didn't do that one. I think I hit on everything, 264 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 7: didn't I I want to the chain Gang. Yeah, yeah, 265 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,880 Speaker 7: the chain Gang. Yes, the NFL tested this during during 266 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:13,440 Speaker 7: the preseason last year. They ultimately decided to delay it. Now, 267 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 7: especially after that Josh Allen play in the AFC Championship game, 268 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 7: They're they're going away with the chain Gang. You know, 269 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 7: it's a little prehistoric, but I do think that, you know, 270 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:24,320 Speaker 7: the chain Gang is also going to be standing on 271 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 7: the sideline as a backup if the electronics system doesn't work. 272 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:30,880 Speaker 7: We're gonna find out how it all operates in the fall. 273 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:34,319 Speaker 8: Randall Williams our very own man, thank you so much 274 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 8: for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports. I 275 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,440 Speaker 8: love talking football, flag football, chain gang. 276 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 4: I'm telling you, I'm putting my I'm gonna try out 277 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 4: for one of these women's flag football teas before before 278 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 4: they have a college system built out, Like why not? 279 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:51,600 Speaker 7: I want you absolutely can. We'll put a whole Bloomberg 280 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 7: Chileer resquads exactly. Yes, thanks again. 281 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 8: Up next, we turn to the world of college sports 282 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:01,679 Speaker 8: and affirm looking to the future of college sports marketing 283 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:06,200 Speaker 8: for my colleagues Damian Sasaur and Vanessa Perdomo. I'm Michael Barr. 284 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 8: You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg 285 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:11,000 Speaker 8: Radio around the world. 286 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:18,600 Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. 287 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:22,480 Speaker 8: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore 288 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:25,080 Speaker 8: the big money issues in the world of sports. Michael Barr, 289 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:29,079 Speaker 8: along with my colleagues Damian Sasaur and Vanessa Perdomo. Still 290 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:33,440 Speaker 8: to come, we'll talk with longtime sports journalists and Ligori 291 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:36,760 Speaker 8: to preview the Masters next week, but first we wanted 292 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 8: to check in on the world of college sports as 293 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 8: we wrap up March Madness. Lear Field is a leading 294 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 8: sports marketing firm with a special focus on college sports. 295 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:50,720 Speaker 8: The landscape has changed a lot recently, with nil and more. 296 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:54,520 Speaker 8: Our own Vanessa Perdomo recently sat down with lear Field 297 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:58,760 Speaker 8: President and CEO Cole Gahagen. Let's take a listen to 298 00:13:58,800 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 8: that conversation. 299 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 4: Cool, give us a little rundown of what Learfield is. 300 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 4: You're you're a leader of commercial opportunities for college sports. 301 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 4: Tell me what that means and give us some background 302 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 4: on what it is you do for the college sports landscape. 303 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:14,319 Speaker 5: That descriptive phrase can mean a whole lot, so I'll 304 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:16,320 Speaker 5: try and add to it a bit that helps to 305 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 5: contextualize all that we do. The first thing that I'll 306 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:21,960 Speaker 5: tell you is that I often refer to lear Field 307 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 5: when people ask and aren't familiar with our industry. You 308 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,200 Speaker 5: aren't familiar with the company. I often refer to Learfield 309 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:30,280 Speaker 5: as the largest, most influential company in college athletics that. 310 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 2: You've never heard of. 311 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:34,920 Speaker 5: It's mostly because we do a good bit in the 312 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 5: commercial space in college sports, but we're very largely behind 313 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:40,520 Speaker 5: the scenes. We're not a consumer facing brand that most 314 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 5: people are aware of, and yet there's so much that 315 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:44,920 Speaker 5: we do and drive in and around college sports. We 316 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 5: have five operating business units. We have the largest licensing 317 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 5: agency in all of college athletics that oversees sort of 318 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 5: the licensing ecosystem. So every single time a hoodie or 319 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 5: a hat or a product that has a school's brand 320 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 5: on it sells in the market, whether that's at a 321 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,960 Speaker 5: retail or whether that's online, chances are that clc our 322 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 5: Collegiate Licensing Court licensing agency oversees the reconciliation of that product. 323 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:12,160 Speaker 5: Everybody making what they should make and the reporting being clear, 324 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 5: So we sort of oversee the licensing ecosystem in a 325 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,600 Speaker 5: big way. In college athletics, our business side arm oversees 326 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 5: the vast majority official athletics sites and mobile apps in 327 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 5: college sports. Pacule and our ticketing technology company powers the 328 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 5: vast majority of ticketing operations in college sports. And I 329 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:31,000 Speaker 5: think the business that we're most known for is our 330 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:35,440 Speaker 5: multimedia rights operation, which is the commercialization of athletics departments 331 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 5: are said differently, the majority of schools outsource the commercialization 332 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 5: of their athletics department to companies like lear Field, and 333 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 5: we happen to be the largest in the space, which 334 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:47,800 Speaker 5: means we work with brand partners and sponsors on their 335 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 5: behalf to help grow the revenues at the athletics department 336 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 5: through sponsorships, brand association, media and content that that we 337 00:15:55,200 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 5: create on behalf of our partners and our schools. That's 338 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 5: sort of the biggest business unit of the five that 339 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 5: we have. And the last one is our Amplify business 340 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 5: that oversees outsourced ticket sales and donor and development for 341 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 5: a lot of our school partners. So, as you can tell, 342 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 5: we do a good bit in college athletics. We have 343 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 5: a number of services we provide universities, and as a 344 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:21,920 Speaker 5: byproduct of that, we're sort of at the center of 345 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 5: most things that happened commercially in the business of college sports. 346 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 4: Yeah, there's a lot there. There is a lot there 347 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 4: which is really interesting. You know, you came into this 348 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 4: business being CEO in twenty twenty and then everything changes 349 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 4: about a year later, right where college athletics starts allowing 350 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 4: NIL deals, And I'm curious how that changed your business. 351 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 4: Obviously I'm assuming it helped and got a lot bigger, 352 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 4: But how was that for you guys, and how did 353 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:48,800 Speaker 4: it change everything? 354 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 5: Well, if you go back even further than just July 355 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:54,600 Speaker 5: first of twenty twenty one, which is when NIL went 356 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 5: into effect, to your point, we've in our company experienced 357 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:01,840 Speaker 5: nothing but pretty radical change the last four or five years. 358 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,359 Speaker 5: There's sort of three big seminal moments that represent those 359 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:07,880 Speaker 5: periods of change. One, of course, was a seminal moment 360 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:11,879 Speaker 5: for every single human on planet Earth, which was the pandemic. 361 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:14,480 Speaker 5: And when you're a sports media and technology company that 362 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:18,440 Speaker 5: operates in the rights world like we do, it was 363 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:20,920 Speaker 5: a pretty disruptive time During COVID. We had games that 364 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 5: didn't play, we had games that played without fans, we 365 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 5: had shortened seasons. So to your point about coming in 366 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:29,360 Speaker 5: at a pretty wild time of radical change, the first 367 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:31,200 Speaker 5: big chapter of that was certainly COVID. 368 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:32,920 Speaker 2: The second chapter, as you pointed out. 369 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:36,159 Speaker 5: Was in IL, going into effect on July one of 370 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:38,399 Speaker 5: twenty twenty one. Now what's interesting about that is that 371 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,679 Speaker 5: will be an evergreen chapter that will never change. The 372 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:44,360 Speaker 5: third chapter was is one that perhaps is not as 373 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:46,800 Speaker 5: well known, but in twenty twenty three, we went through 374 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:50,560 Speaker 5: a pretty sizable restructuring of our balance sheet, one of 375 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:53,600 Speaker 5: the largest out of court restructurings in history. Was a 376 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 5: hugely successful recapitalization for our company and has put us 377 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:00,359 Speaker 5: on a path of success since then. We really have 378 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,520 Speaker 5: had been as of these three big chapters of change 379 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,680 Speaker 5: over the last few years. And one of the things 380 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 5: that's interesting as you sort of look back on that 381 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 5: journey is that we had our own sort of self 382 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 5: driven episode of change while all of that was playing out, 383 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:21,480 Speaker 5: which was modernization of our business. My remit when I 384 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 5: came in and took over the company from our board 385 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,720 Speaker 5: at the time was very simple. It was integrate the business, which, 386 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 5: as many conglomerates find themselves in these types of situations, 387 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 5: we had sort of an incongruent operation with business units 388 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:38,560 Speaker 5: that weren't talking to each other and weren't working sort 389 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,199 Speaker 5: of hand in glove to drive enterprise value, and at 390 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 5: the same time we had to modernize the business. Second 391 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,879 Speaker 5: remit was to take a fifty year old operation, if 392 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 5: you will, particularly in that multimedia right space, and to 393 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 5: figure out how we evolve it to now power commercialization 394 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:57,800 Speaker 5: in college for the next fifty years. And that was 395 00:18:57,840 --> 00:18:59,919 Speaker 5: really my remit at the time. So we had started 396 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,720 Speaker 5: independent of those three sort of chapters that I mentioned, 397 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 5: we had already started this revolution of our business and 398 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:13,040 Speaker 5: that became data centric, and it became media and digital 399 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:16,680 Speaker 5: products centric, particularly for our multimedia rights business. And the 400 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,119 Speaker 5: reason that I share that with you is because it 401 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 5: really serves as the foundation for what we can go 402 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:26,520 Speaker 5: do now around INNIL. What I mean by that is, 403 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 5: when we started this journey of modernizing the business around 404 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:35,800 Speaker 5: data and media. 405 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 2: We knew two things. 406 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 5: We knew anything that we would do to create value 407 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,480 Speaker 5: for our school partners and for brands had to be 408 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 5: rooted in the principle of fan connectivity. We had to 409 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:47,359 Speaker 5: know who our fans were, we had to have an 410 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 5: ability to reach them, and we had to have an 411 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 5: ability to engage them once we were able to reach them, 412 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:53,960 Speaker 5: And that was what led to us building fan Base, 413 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 5: which is now the largest data platform in all of 414 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 5: college sports. We have one hundred and seven million known 415 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 5: fans collegiate fans, and we can now talk to those 416 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:04,560 Speaker 5: fans on a twenty four hour day, seven day, seven 417 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:08,440 Speaker 5: day a week basis. And then we built Learfield Studios, 418 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:12,640 Speaker 5: our digital media and content organization, and to put into 419 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,679 Speaker 5: context over the last several years, how quickly we've built that. 420 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,199 Speaker 5: In fiscal twenty four, our fiscal year twenty four that 421 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:24,639 Speaker 5: ended last June thirty, we had delivered one point to 422 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 5: billion impressions through Learfield Studios and our ability to connect 423 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:31,160 Speaker 5: with those fans. And so the reason I say all 424 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 5: of that is to say we were fortunate to start 425 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:37,679 Speaker 5: to build that foundation that has now served INIL in 426 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:41,400 Speaker 5: a big way before July one, twenty twenty one happened 427 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 5: so that when the NIL era came about, we had 428 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:48,840 Speaker 5: the infrastructure and the products in the market to now 429 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:52,800 Speaker 5: go deliver value for student athletes for brands and for 430 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:56,159 Speaker 5: universities because, as you know, or I'm guessing that you 431 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:58,199 Speaker 5: probably know and have may be seen, the bulk of 432 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:02,639 Speaker 5: what we're doing in commercialization of NIL these days is 433 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,159 Speaker 5: social media influencing and content that we create in partnership 434 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,120 Speaker 5: with student athletes and brands. 435 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:10,879 Speaker 2: So I felt it was. 436 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 5: Really important to kind of lay that context because that 437 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 5: foundation is what is really going to propel this continued 438 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:19,480 Speaker 5: exponential growth of NIL opportunities in the years ahead. 439 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 4: I think that's so interesting. I mean, yeah, it's like 440 00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:25,680 Speaker 4: you got ahead of the curve before even really knowing 441 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:27,760 Speaker 4: what this landscape was going to be. And I find 442 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:30,280 Speaker 4: that to be so so interesting. One of the things 443 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:34,080 Speaker 4: also there that you guys, you know that I'm thinking of, 444 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 4: you know, what you're doing in the in that space 445 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:39,680 Speaker 4: is a lot of these big schools that you work with, 446 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 4: and you know, they have their own you know, NIL managers, 447 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,200 Speaker 4: they have in l collectives and things like that. And 448 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:52,879 Speaker 4: how do you work with schools individually, programs individually, you know, 449 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 4: players individually, with all those different facets going on. 450 00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 5: Well, the first thing to of course keep in mind 451 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:00,879 Speaker 5: is while we do a whole heck of a lot 452 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:04,919 Speaker 5: around the business of college sports. Neither Learfield or any 453 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,080 Speaker 5: other company out there can do it all, and we 454 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 5: have not only accepted that, but we we operate with that. 455 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:12,760 Speaker 2: Mentality of our job is to stay. 456 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 5: Within the businesses that we run today and to optimize 457 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 5: those businesses and services for our school partners and to augment, 458 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 5: to your very point, to augment what they're doing. 459 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 2: So what does that mean in practical terms, Well, as you. 460 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:30,360 Speaker 5: Pointed out, most schools at this point, they have their 461 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:34,359 Speaker 5: own infrastructure and staffs that they've built since July one 462 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:38,719 Speaker 5: of twenty one now to help support their innil efforts 463 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:43,399 Speaker 5: with their student athletes and try and maximize opportunities for 464 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:45,919 Speaker 5: those athletes. So our job is to augment that as 465 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 5: best we can. And as I said, in practical terms, 466 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:50,440 Speaker 5: what that means is a couple of things. We are 467 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 5: in the business of creating deals and opportunities for athletes, 468 00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:58,880 Speaker 5: and we're in the business of helping in the licensing 469 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 5: space as well. Our platform, Compass, our proprietary technology is 470 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,959 Speaker 5: what's used by one Team partners and EA Sports and 471 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,920 Speaker 5: Fanatics when they onboard student athletes who want to opt 472 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:14,440 Speaker 5: into licensing programs. They do so via our Compass platform. 473 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 5: It's a mobile first product that allows student athletes to 474 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 5: opt into these licensing programs. We now have over forty 475 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:22,840 Speaker 5: thousand student athletes who have done just that so that 476 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:27,560 Speaker 5: they can participate in licensed products sales, particularly. 477 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:29,919 Speaker 2: With the video game, the Football video game, with THEA. 478 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:34,320 Speaker 5: Sports and Fanatics jersey and jersey t sales. So our 479 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 5: job is to augment what happens in the licensing world 480 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:40,080 Speaker 5: and very largely do that through Compass and partnerships that 481 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:42,119 Speaker 5: we have in place with one Team, EA and Fanatics. 482 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:44,960 Speaker 5: But our job is also with boots on the ground 483 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,879 Speaker 5: to assist our schools and our brand partners and our 484 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 5: student athletes with deal making to create more commercial brand 485 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 5: partnership opportunities for the athletes. And we've done that in 486 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:01,640 Speaker 5: a number of ways, but I would say the sort 487 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 5: of prevailing method for us has been taking the resources 488 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 5: and ESSA we have on the ground at over one 489 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:12,160 Speaker 5: hundred and sixty schools across the country and adding dedicated 490 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:17,920 Speaker 5: team members INNIL coordinators and managers and staff who help 491 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:22,119 Speaker 5: us coordinate the NIL initiatives we're putting into place, whether 492 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:26,119 Speaker 5: that's podcasting a student athlete might do on behalf of 493 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 5: a brand, or it's a spot that a student athlete 494 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,439 Speaker 5: might do, or it's a social influencing campaign and content 495 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:32,840 Speaker 5: that we're. 496 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 2: Going to create around it. 497 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 5: We've now installed at our staffs around the country INNIL 498 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,160 Speaker 5: dedicated resources who are there to facilitate those programs. 499 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 2: Sometimes they're there to help sell specifically for. 500 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:52,159 Speaker 5: INIL deals. Sometimes they're on site to help facilitate the 501 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 5: deals once they have been sold. And in some cases 502 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:59,280 Speaker 5: we have both resources on site. So really, through both 503 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:02,840 Speaker 5: tech and the resources that we are adding to the 504 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:05,880 Speaker 5: staffs that we already have on campuses all over the country, 505 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:09,720 Speaker 5: our job is to augment the infrastructure that the universities 506 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,159 Speaker 5: are building as well to help them maximize these an 507 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:14,120 Speaker 5: ile opportunities. 508 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 8: That's Deerfield President and CEO Cole Kahagen speaking with Olmer 509 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:21,080 Speaker 8: Vanessa Perdomo. Now, if you missed any of that conversation, 510 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:24,440 Speaker 8: find it now on demand on the Bloomberg Business of 511 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:28,400 Speaker 8: Sports podcast. Find that on Apple, Spotify and all your 512 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:32,879 Speaker 8: favorite podcast platforms. Straight ahead, we turned to golf and 513 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:37,400 Speaker 8: preview the Masters for my colleagues Namian Sasaur and Vanessa Perdomo. 514 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,720 Speaker 8: I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of 515 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:55,440 Speaker 8: Sports from Bloomberger Radio. Around the world. 516 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:03,720 Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. 517 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:06,879 Speaker 8: Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports, 518 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:08,919 Speaker 8: where we explore the big money issues in the world 519 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,480 Speaker 8: of sports. I'm Michael Barr and along with my colleagues 520 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 8: Damian Sasaur and Vanessa Perdomo. We've got some breaking news 521 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:19,920 Speaker 8: on Friday, with ESPN reporting that the PGA Tour has 522 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:24,639 Speaker 8: rejected the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund's most recent offer 523 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:29,919 Speaker 8: to invest one point five billion dollars into PGA Tour enterprises, 524 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 8: which came with the caveat that the rival Live Golf 525 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 8: League would remain intact. The PIF has funded Live Golf 526 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:42,560 Speaker 8: since its inception in twenty twenty two. Now, before that news, 527 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:45,600 Speaker 8: we got a chance to speak with sports journalists and Legory. 528 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 8: She covered dozens of pro golf championships and tournaments, including 529 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:53,080 Speaker 8: twenty six different Masters. She is the author of the 530 00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:56,560 Speaker 8: book Life on the Green, Lessons and Wisdom from Legends 531 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,159 Speaker 8: of Golf, and since the Masters is coming up in 532 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 8: a few days, we wanted to preview it and get 533 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,959 Speaker 8: a little pulse check on the world of golf and 534 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,240 Speaker 8: welcome back to the Bloomberg Business of sports. 535 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:10,479 Speaker 10: Hey, it's such a pleasure to be back. Thanks for 536 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:10,959 Speaker 10: having me. 537 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:15,600 Speaker 8: Well, I guess there's some tournament that's coming up that 538 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:19,560 Speaker 8: people love. Oh yeah, the Masters. Let me just start 539 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:23,000 Speaker 8: by the most inane statement. I missed the eyes in 540 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,600 Speaker 8: our tree. I know. Vanessa was like, what the hell 541 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 8: are you talking about? The eyes in our tree was 542 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,119 Speaker 8: big on the course at the Masters, and then the 543 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:35,360 Speaker 8: storms came along and took it out, and so I'm 544 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:36,320 Speaker 8: just showing my age. 545 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 10: So now I am no, no, no, it's you're right. 546 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:40,840 Speaker 10: I missed it too. 547 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:45,680 Speaker 6: And then you know, they had huge hurricane in the fall, 548 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:48,920 Speaker 6: and it'll be interesting to see just how many trees. 549 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:52,040 Speaker 10: They surely replanted a lot of them. 550 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:56,879 Speaker 6: But Ry McElroy, in some of his practice rounds there, said, yeah, 551 00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:58,879 Speaker 6: he can tell that there are still a lot of 552 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,840 Speaker 6: trees missing. So I'll walk around and see just how 553 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:05,479 Speaker 6: many more trees were out from the storm last fall. 554 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:09,359 Speaker 4: You mentioned Rory McRoy there, and obviously you know he's 555 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,359 Speaker 4: trying to come in and win, you know, and create 556 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 4: the career Grand Slam. But one thing that I saw 557 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:17,960 Speaker 4: recently that I was really struck by and I didn't 558 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,600 Speaker 4: notice was you know, it's been since twenty fourteen, and 559 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,479 Speaker 4: that gap that he hasn't won a Grand Slam is 560 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:28,400 Speaker 4: the same gap that it was when Tiger Woods kind 561 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 4: of went away from golf because of everything that was 562 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 4: going on and then came back and won the Masters 563 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:36,040 Speaker 4: in twenty nineteen. It's that same eleven year gap. So 564 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 4: what's that, you know, is there a lot of pressure 565 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:41,040 Speaker 4: for him, you know going into this round? Is this 566 00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:43,800 Speaker 4: is just a great storyline that people are paying attention to. 567 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,360 Speaker 6: That's a really great stat and great that you brought 568 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:50,720 Speaker 6: that up. Look, it's the first time Roy McElroy is 569 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:54,760 Speaker 6: actually coming into this Master's first time in a long time, 570 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:58,640 Speaker 6: what with two wins, and he went to Pebble Beach 571 00:28:59,040 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 6: a couple months ago. 572 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:01,000 Speaker 10: He wanted the players. 573 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:03,760 Speaker 6: Even though he was not his best off the tee 574 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:06,680 Speaker 6: last week at the Houston Open, he was tied for fifth, 575 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 6: So he's playing really, really well. So you know, it 576 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,240 Speaker 6: has been a long time since he's won a major title, 577 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:16,000 Speaker 6: and every year the Masters, I mean, this is the 578 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:19,360 Speaker 6: one major that he has not won, so he hopes 579 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:22,760 Speaker 6: to win it to complete the career Grand Slam. So yeah, 580 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 6: there's always pressure on Rory to win a Master's title, 581 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 6: but it just so happens that, you know, this is 582 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:32,440 Speaker 6: the best he's looked coming into the Masters in a 583 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:35,360 Speaker 6: long long time. So yeah, there's even more pressure on 584 00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:38,440 Speaker 6: him than so never stops the pressure. 585 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:40,760 Speaker 3: And I'd love to ask you about Augusta, but really, 586 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:42,800 Speaker 3: I mean, what's the point. I mean, now that Tiger's 587 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:44,680 Speaker 3: Tomorrow's Golf League is out there and you can just 588 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:47,400 Speaker 3: hit into screens, I mean, is there really any point 589 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:51,680 Speaker 3: in actually going or watching the Masters on television? 590 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 9: I mean, let's get how I'm kidding. 591 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:54,880 Speaker 3: But you know, let's talk about shot Scotty Shuffler, right, 592 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:57,280 Speaker 3: I mean it's his to lose. He's the clear cut favorite. 593 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:00,680 Speaker 9: What do you think Scotty's chances are this weekend? What 594 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:01,280 Speaker 9: are your thoughts? 595 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 10: Well, you know, he looks really solid. 596 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 6: I mean he came in last week at the Houston 597 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:11,000 Speaker 6: Open and he was just not one hundred percent himself. 598 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 10: You know, he had that weird accident. 599 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:16,320 Speaker 6: With his hand during the holidays where he needed stitches. 600 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 6: He cut himself with glass, and so he missed a 601 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 6: couple of tournaments early in the season. And then he 602 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:26,480 Speaker 6: came in and had Pebble Beach tied for ninth, Phoenix 603 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 6: Open tied for twenty fifth, Jennis Is tied for three, 604 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:33,000 Speaker 6: Arnold Palmer tied for eleventh, the players tied for twentieth. 605 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,880 Speaker 10: And he just wasn't the Scottie Scheffler that you know we. 606 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,080 Speaker 6: All have come to know and love right after last 607 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 6: year's incredible season. But I have to say last week 608 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:46,160 Speaker 6: he looked a lot more like the Scottie Scheffler that 609 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:49,440 Speaker 6: we're used to sing. He tied for second, and so yes, 610 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,800 Speaker 6: he's still the favorite to win this week at augustin 611 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:54,920 Speaker 6: Nshall and you know, we'll see if he can put 612 00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:57,120 Speaker 6: it all together. It would be great if he can 613 00:30:57,200 --> 00:31:00,000 Speaker 6: play like we all know that he's capable of playing. 614 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:02,280 Speaker 8: And you mentioned something to me and about Tiger Wood. 615 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:04,840 Speaker 8: He's not going to be there, and I know he 616 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:08,160 Speaker 8: pulled the old April Fool's Oki dok saying that he 617 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:10,719 Speaker 8: was going to play, and now it was an April 618 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:13,640 Speaker 8: Fools gag. But he's not there. He has a serious 619 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:17,040 Speaker 8: achilles injury. How much of an impact will it be 620 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:18,960 Speaker 8: just simply because Tiger Woods isn't there. 621 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 10: Yeah, that April Fool's got a lot of people. 622 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:26,200 Speaker 6: I saw some people like notable personalities, like responding to 623 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,400 Speaker 6: that April Fools joke that he would be playing by saying, oh, wow, 624 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:32,440 Speaker 6: it's always great to see you to ad Augusta. But 625 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:36,560 Speaker 6: now the fact that, look, there's so many stars in 626 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:41,120 Speaker 6: the game now and there's so much coverage on social media, 627 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 6: and the Masters, by the way, is doing so much 628 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:47,080 Speaker 6: social media coverage, you know, starting with this Augusta National 629 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 6: women Sam and previewing the Master's tournament that, yeah, everybody's 630 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:54,200 Speaker 6: going to miss Tiger, but look, there's so many great storylines, 631 00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 6: you know, with Scottie. 632 00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:56,920 Speaker 10: And Rory and. 633 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:02,920 Speaker 6: All the newcomers. Interviewed Rafael Campos, who's gonna make his 634 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:06,240 Speaker 6: Master's debut. He's from Puerto Rico and he's gonna have 635 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 6: all of Puerto Rico rooting for him. And talked to 636 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 6: Joe high Smith, who wanted the Cognizant and he's making 637 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:14,320 Speaker 6: his debut. 638 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:16,720 Speaker 10: So, I mean, there's just so many great stories. 639 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:20,320 Speaker 6: Ludwig Oberg, so yeah, the fact that Tiger won't be playing, 640 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 6: I mean, everybody wants to see Tiger play, but I 641 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 6: mean he hasn't played. He just hasn't played. He's had 642 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,760 Speaker 6: one thing after another. And you know, now he's dating 643 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:33,960 Speaker 6: Donald Trump Junior's ex wife, so I think he's busy. 644 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 4: Maybe that'll help. I don't know. 645 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:39,080 Speaker 9: Let's see. 646 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 4: So I know who I'm putting my money on Bourriqua Pride. 647 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:44,800 Speaker 4: Maybe let's go. So I'd love to talk a little 648 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:48,640 Speaker 4: bit about sports gabling here because obviously sports gabling is huge. 649 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:50,840 Speaker 4: It's helped a lot of sports, you know, engage younger fans, 650 00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:53,640 Speaker 4: engage other people. But with golf, it feels like it 651 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 4: might be a little bit harder. I mean, scottis Shuffler 652 00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:57,680 Speaker 4: is the favorite, but his odds are still plus three 653 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:01,600 Speaker 4: fifty Royal Macrary's at in and these plus six fifty 654 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 4: on DraftKings. 655 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: Is it good for golf that it's so wide. 656 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:08,960 Speaker 4: Open or is it actually really like frustrating because you 657 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:11,000 Speaker 4: can't Actually, it's really hard to pick a winner. 658 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:15,960 Speaker 10: I'm not a big you know sports better, but I. 659 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:17,560 Speaker 6: Did tell me I asked my brother to put some 660 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:20,840 Speaker 6: money on some of these newbies, you know, because then 661 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:22,400 Speaker 6: the odds are seemed. 662 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:22,880 Speaker 10: To be worthwhile. 663 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,800 Speaker 6: But you know, I honestly don't bet that much on golf, 664 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:31,959 Speaker 6: and I honestly can't believe that it has kind of 665 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:35,080 Speaker 6: gotten to the point where we all can bet on golf. 666 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:38,720 Speaker 6: But I know from a different century, and I know 667 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:42,640 Speaker 6: how adamant that you know, opposed to betting on golf. 668 00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:46,000 Speaker 6: They were for so many years. But it's just all 669 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:49,200 Speaker 6: now about the money, and you know, these players are 670 00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:51,680 Speaker 6: making so much money, the fans are getting into it. 671 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:54,600 Speaker 6: It's just become so popular and in so many ways 672 00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:58,280 Speaker 6: with social media now with gambling. So yeah, I mean 673 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:01,120 Speaker 6: I would think it's it's hard to pick a winner, 674 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,560 Speaker 6: for sure, but if you pick somebody with those crazy odds, 675 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:05,920 Speaker 6: you could really have a great payday. 676 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:07,440 Speaker 10: So I tend to go with the. 677 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:10,200 Speaker 6: Players that nobody expects to win. Then you're making some 678 00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:11,200 Speaker 6: serious cash. 679 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:14,080 Speaker 3: Well, I know one gambling super fan who's certainly got 680 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:15,959 Speaker 3: some money riding on FanDuel, and that's Jim Nance. 681 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:17,000 Speaker 9: Jim Nance who wrote. 682 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:18,520 Speaker 3: The forward for Life on the Green Lessons and was 683 00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:22,520 Speaker 3: them from Legends of Golf. He's a huge Houston Cougar's alum, 684 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:25,759 Speaker 3: huge booster there Houston's in the finals. I mean, he's 685 00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:27,520 Speaker 3: got to be rolling high. Talk to us a little 686 00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:32,480 Speaker 3: bit about mister Nance's latest words on retirements. I mean, 687 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,040 Speaker 3: and he's claiming that he's going to retire in twenty 688 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:35,640 Speaker 3: thirty six. 689 00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:39,239 Speaker 9: I mean, is he really looking at He told me that. 690 00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:42,640 Speaker 6: He told me that on my Talking Golf shown WFAN 691 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:45,919 Speaker 6: on Sunday mornings. He told me that like two years ago, 692 00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:48,120 Speaker 6: somebody picked it up. He must have been talking, I 693 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:50,160 Speaker 6: don't know, if being interviewed by somebody, and he said 694 00:34:50,160 --> 00:34:50,560 Speaker 6: it again. 695 00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:54,080 Speaker 10: So look, I feel bad that he's not doing the 696 00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:57,000 Speaker 10: SaaS anymore, but you know I get it. 697 00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:59,839 Speaker 6: I mean the travel schedule going from the Championship game 698 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 6: to Augusta National to do the Masters. I mean, he's 699 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:07,280 Speaker 6: been at it for so many years. So yeah, thank goodness, 700 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,520 Speaker 6: he'll still be around for many years to come. But 701 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:11,439 Speaker 6: I have to say one of my best memories every 702 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:16,560 Speaker 6: year at Augusta Nationals is standing next to Jim on 703 00:35:16,719 --> 00:35:20,399 Speaker 6: Thursday morning, very early when the honorary starters come out. 704 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:22,000 Speaker 10: There's like two lines. 705 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:24,640 Speaker 6: We all line up, and you know, Jack Nicholas and 706 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:28,839 Speaker 6: Gary Player and now Tom Watson, they walk right by 707 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:31,600 Speaker 6: us and Jim and I always have a great catch up. 708 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:32,360 Speaker 8: You know. 709 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:34,319 Speaker 6: He wrote the forward for my book Life on the Green, 710 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:36,600 Speaker 6: Lessons and Wisdom from Legends of Golf, and I'm so 711 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:40,000 Speaker 6: very grateful to Jim, I mean, such a legend himself 712 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:44,000 Speaker 6: to devote a couple pages about my career and my 713 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:47,759 Speaker 6: book as in the forwards. So Jim's the best, and 714 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,120 Speaker 6: he'll always be the Master's voice to me no matter 715 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:54,920 Speaker 6: how long he continues to do it, or and he 716 00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:57,319 Speaker 6: decides to stop. But yeah, it was interesting to see 717 00:35:57,320 --> 00:35:59,280 Speaker 6: that he put that out there publicly. 718 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:01,960 Speaker 8: I know, getting short on time, but I want to 719 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:04,279 Speaker 8: talk about Brooks Kopka for a second now. He is 720 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:08,040 Speaker 8: hinted that he wants to return to the PGA from Live. 721 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:12,560 Speaker 8: Two questions. One, I thought in the Masters that rule 722 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:16,919 Speaker 8: really didn't apply. But how can Kopka get back into 723 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:17,719 Speaker 8: the PGA. 724 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:19,640 Speaker 10: That's the loaded question right now. 725 00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:23,319 Speaker 6: He denies, saying that Freddy Couples is the one that 726 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:26,319 Speaker 6: really put that quote out that Freddie Couple said, I've 727 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:28,279 Speaker 6: been talking to Brooks Kopka and Brooks really wants to 728 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:30,840 Speaker 6: get back on the PGA tour. Brooks is under contract 729 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:34,640 Speaker 6: with Live, so Brooks can't really he's not in a 730 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:36,960 Speaker 6: position where he can really talk about getting back on 731 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:40,440 Speaker 6: the PGA Tour until his contract would Live is over 732 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:46,080 Speaker 6: right now, there is no reunification. There's no deal between 733 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:50,520 Speaker 6: PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund which owns Live. 734 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:54,520 Speaker 6: It seems to be at a standstill. It's been what 735 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:57,520 Speaker 6: a couple of years now that they've been negotiating, and 736 00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:01,880 Speaker 6: at the Players Championship, the PGA Tour Commission j Monahan said, Listen, 737 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:05,440 Speaker 6: we will not negotiate in public. But the little information 738 00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:09,879 Speaker 6: that they can divulges is that they want to see 739 00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:14,200 Speaker 6: golf reunified, meaning PJ Tour players and Live players playing together. 740 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:17,520 Speaker 6: But that's all he basically said. And it just seems 741 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:21,480 Speaker 6: to me like these talks are going nowhere. So the 742 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:25,800 Speaker 6: top players from Live can play at the Masters. It 743 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:28,719 Speaker 6: will be interesting to see if there'll be allowed to 744 00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,960 Speaker 6: rejoin the PJ Tour. Maybe they're waiting for Brooks Koepka's 745 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:36,719 Speaker 6: contract with Live to expire. But the PJ Tour and 746 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:39,600 Speaker 6: the Public Investment Fund have not come to any agreement, 747 00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:42,800 Speaker 6: so it's still up in the air as. 748 00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:43,560 Speaker 10: To what's going to happen. 749 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:46,920 Speaker 8: And Legury you mentioned Jim Nance had written befored for 750 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:50,160 Speaker 8: your book Life on the Green, Lessons and Wisdom from 751 00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:53,919 Speaker 8: Legends of Golf and by the way what a fabulous book. 752 00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:56,759 Speaker 8: To me, is one of the best golf books out 753 00:37:56,800 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 8: there in the sport ever, and you really kick believe 754 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:01,360 Speaker 8: with them. That's really cool. 755 00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:05,040 Speaker 6: I really appreciate that. You know, it's a very uplifting book. 756 00:38:05,239 --> 00:38:09,640 Speaker 6: It really transcends golf. I have these twelve legends, six men, 757 00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:13,600 Speaker 6: six women, everybody from Tom Watson and Jack Nicholas and 758 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:18,280 Speaker 6: Gary Player to Anica Sorenstem and Bernard Longer and Nancy 759 00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:22,239 Speaker 6: Lopez and Padre Carrington. They all talk about what they 760 00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:25,800 Speaker 6: bring from, you know, the golf course, from their iconic 761 00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:28,840 Speaker 6: golf careers to life, and so you can be a 762 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:32,440 Speaker 6: diehard golfer and really enjoy the stories in the book, 763 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:34,640 Speaker 6: or you don't even have to have an interest in 764 00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:37,520 Speaker 6: golf and still be inspired by the wisdom that they share. 765 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:41,200 Speaker 6: So I'm very proud of it. All twelve legends actually 766 00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:43,480 Speaker 6: thanked me for including them, which kind of shows you 767 00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:47,239 Speaker 6: what amazing people they are. I'm so thrilled that we're 768 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:51,040 Speaker 6: spreading some positive inspirational messages out there. 769 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:52,399 Speaker 10: So pretty proud of it. 770 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:54,920 Speaker 8: A shout out to you because you're also the founder 771 00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:57,600 Speaker 8: and president of the and Lagery Foundation. You raise money 772 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:00,680 Speaker 8: for cancer research and care through charity, go off events 773 00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:03,640 Speaker 8: and more, and that needs to be mentioned. Also, you 774 00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:07,040 Speaker 8: are first rate and thank you so much for joining 775 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:08,760 Speaker 8: us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports. 776 00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:12,319 Speaker 10: Ah it's a pleasure and enjoy the Masters. 777 00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:15,200 Speaker 8: And thank you for joining us. For my colleagues, Damien Sasaury, 778 00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:18,040 Speaker 8: Vanessa Pernomo, I'm Michael Barr. Tune in again next week 779 00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:20,280 Speaker 8: for the latest home of the stories moving big old 780 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:22,719 Speaker 8: money in the world of sports. You're listening to The 781 00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:26,320 Speaker 8: Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberger Radio around the world.