1
00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:09,200
Speaker 1: Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast in

2
00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:11,560
Speaker 1: which we talk with some of the brightest minds working

3
00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,760
Speaker 1: in media today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein with Variety. The new

4
00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,680
Speaker 1: NBA season gets underway October two, and while all the

5
00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:22,360
Speaker 1: attention will be on the games on TV, there's also

6
00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:25,320
Speaker 1: many other different ways to engage with the league across

7
00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:29,319
Speaker 1: other platforms, from social media to VR and how the

8
00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:33,200
Speaker 1: NBA innovates is the mandate for my next guest, Jeff Marsilio,

9
00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,640
Speaker 1: Senior VP of New Media to the League. Thanks for

10
00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:40,680
Speaker 1: coming in, Jeff, thanks for having me. Well, uh, I

11
00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:42,680
Speaker 1: think when you take that this is two of my

12
00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:45,240
Speaker 1: favorite things. Are gonna be talking about both the NBA

13
00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:47,519
Speaker 1: and media innovation. There's no way I'm not going to

14
00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,760
Speaker 1: enjoy this conversation, I hope. So I'm actually curious to

15
00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:54,680
Speaker 1: start with what the league thinks of what you do.

16
00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:56,880
Speaker 1: Is this something that it's sort of like, Okay, these

17
00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:01,160
Speaker 1: are a little experimental one offs. Let's hope everything works okay,

18
00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,960
Speaker 1: or is it no? This is crucial the future. Well,

19
00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:07,520
Speaker 1: maybe let me start with describing what I'm responsible for. Um,

20
00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:09,880
Speaker 1: I lead the New Media Group, as you said, which

21
00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,400
Speaker 1: is responsible for the digital licensing business of the NBA,

22
00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,360
Speaker 1: and it's pretty wide ranging. It includes, as you said,

23
00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,280
Speaker 1: it includes social media, it includes um making highlights available,

24
00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:23,160
Speaker 1: but it also includes making games available, UM in in

25
00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,399
Speaker 1: the digital space, and it includes more emerging technology. So

26
00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:29,479
Speaker 1: it's not just about innovation. Innovation is a huge part

27
00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:32,640
Speaker 1: of it, especially because it's a space that's constantly innovating

28
00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:34,840
Speaker 1: and we've got to keep up with it. But it's

29
00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:38,080
Speaker 1: also a pretty big business for us, So UM it's

30
00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,520
Speaker 1: look looked at as a whole. I think today it's

31
00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:45,240
Speaker 1: it's big business relative to more traditional linear media. It's

32
00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:47,560
Speaker 1: not it's not maybe that big, but it's it's really

33
00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,480
Speaker 1: rapidly growing, one of our fastest growing areas, and we

34
00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,000
Speaker 1: recognize given that growth, given the trajectory, that it's going

35
00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:56,320
Speaker 1: to be really really important for the future. So the

36
00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:58,280
Speaker 1: innovation that we are doing in this space is really

37
00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,080
Speaker 1: important for the long term health of the league. And

38
00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,440
Speaker 1: you were also innovating on the air. I mean, one

39
00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:06,600
Speaker 1: of the things that I think has been done that

40
00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,640
Speaker 1: was so interesting a number of different ways, uh in

41
00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:13,920
Speaker 1: this past season was the typical broadcast experience. You know,

42
00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,760
Speaker 1: you've got your play by play and your color guy,

43
00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:20,160
Speaker 1: and uh, you really shook that up a little. Was

44
00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,840
Speaker 1: that something that was a big priority. It's it's a continuing,

45
00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,960
Speaker 1: really big priority and one that has um come from

46
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:29,600
Speaker 1: an insight. I think that came from Adam and that

47
00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:35,000
Speaker 1: is that Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA. And

48
00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:42,720
Speaker 1: you know, we we've had um the relatively similar broadcast

49
00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,480
Speaker 1: for decades. Uh you know. Sure, of course, when uh

50
00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:49,000
Speaker 1: TVs went to color, we went to color, and when

51
00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:50,640
Speaker 1: they went to high definition, we went to we went

52
00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:54,840
Speaker 1: to high definition. But the the broadcast, the shape of

53
00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:59,079
Speaker 1: the broadcast, the format has stayed relatively consistent throughout that period.

54
00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,480
Speaker 1: Been a while, the technology around it and the fan

55
00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:09,200
Speaker 1: behavior around it has rapidly evolved. So we began taking

56
00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:11,799
Speaker 1: a fresh look at the presentation of the game and

57
00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:15,079
Speaker 1: realize that there's still there's a lot that we could do. Now.

58
00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:19,480
Speaker 1: We want to maintain some sense of that familiar broadcast,

59
00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:22,720
Speaker 1: but we think we can also introduce some some new

60
00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:25,680
Speaker 1: ideas that like, give me an example of one of

61
00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:29,000
Speaker 1: the things you did this past season. Well, you know what,

62
00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:31,800
Speaker 1: one of the areas that we've been focused on innovating

63
00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,320
Speaker 1: is the is the the audio, the commentary. And you know,

64
00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:39,520
Speaker 1: I I UM, I think if you've watched NBA games,

65
00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,960
Speaker 1: you've got this incredible commentary of these experts who are

66
00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,800
Speaker 1: providing play by playing color throughout every single game games

67
00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:51,240
Speaker 1: a season. But um, you know, not everybody wants to

68
00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:53,120
Speaker 1: engage with the game the same way. You might be,

69
00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:57,720
Speaker 1: for example, a really deep fantasy player or or somebody

70
00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,440
Speaker 1: who's really interested in analytics. Watching the typical broadcast, you

71
00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:07,200
Speaker 1: won't get a real deep analysis from that point of view. So, UM,

72
00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,680
Speaker 1: those kinds of things we've begun to experiment with providing

73
00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:15,920
Speaker 1: alternative audio um from a variety of different perspectives. And

74
00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,320
Speaker 1: I would imagine part of that is you want to

75
00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:24,000
Speaker 1: bring in new voices that bring in new viewers or

76
00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:28,159
Speaker 1: younger viewers. Isn't that really the challenge across all the

77
00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,159
Speaker 1: platforms you're working on. It's about how does a new

78
00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,839
Speaker 1: generation of NBA fan who didn't necessarily grow up on

79
00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:37,520
Speaker 1: TV stay engaged with the product. That's a big part

80
00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:41,400
Speaker 1: of it. Um. You know, one of the things I

81
00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:45,520
Speaker 1: think the fan base has come to expect is choice. Um.

82
00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:50,760
Speaker 1: You know, because they have so much choice in their entertainment. Um,

83
00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:53,280
Speaker 1: they have so many different platforms to choose from, which

84
00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:57,480
Speaker 1: have many different competitive advantages among them, so they come

85
00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,240
Speaker 1: to expect choice, and I think it's a mistake to

86
00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:03,360
Speaker 1: not provide that kind of choice. So choice whether it's

87
00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,520
Speaker 1: in the presentation of the game, the audio broadcast and

88
00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:08,560
Speaker 1: other things like that as we talked about, or in

89
00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:10,880
Speaker 1: the ways that they can be, the places they can

90
00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:12,400
Speaker 1: watch it, whether they can watch it on their phone

91
00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:14,000
Speaker 1: or they can watch it on their connected device so

92
00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:18,120
Speaker 1: they can watch it on linear television. And in the

93
00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:22,080
Speaker 1: the ways they transact with us. They a cable subscriber, great,

94
00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,919
Speaker 1: if they're not, then maybe they want to subscribe to

95
00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,120
Speaker 1: something like Leak Pass. And then within League Pass, we've

96
00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:33,240
Speaker 1: innovated um in in in choice around transacting with us

97
00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,960
Speaker 1: as well. So you've got now the ability to purchase

98
00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,520
Speaker 1: a single game, and you've have ability to purchase the

99
00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:44,599
Speaker 1: game by quarters. So choice has become a really important theme.

100
00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,200
Speaker 1: And uh it is for the purpose of reaching more

101
00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,719
Speaker 1: fans and giving fans more options so that they have

102
00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,039
Speaker 1: fewer reasons not to watch the game. And we should

103
00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:59,080
Speaker 1: explain League passes this digital get every game you possibly

104
00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:03,560
Speaker 1: could want, every day of the season feature that has

105
00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:05,440
Speaker 1: always been a little rich for my blood. But when

106
00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,560
Speaker 1: you start talking about this flexible pricing which you just

107
00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:11,560
Speaker 1: started with last year, what has been the results of

108
00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:16,120
Speaker 1: that early experimentation. Well, you know, last year we introduced

109
00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:19,440
Speaker 1: a whole new layer of choice, as you just said,

110
00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:24,320
Speaker 1: and especially those quarterly options. But we've been experimenting with

111
00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,599
Speaker 1: choice throughout the history of Leak Pass and it began

112
00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:31,400
Speaker 1: with uh, that kind of all you can eat, full, complete,

113
00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,919
Speaker 1: comprehensive option. But then we introduced things like a team option,

114
00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:38,159
Speaker 1: so you could choose to just follow your team. I

115
00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:42,880
Speaker 1: should say that in the United States, the local games

116
00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:46,279
Speaker 1: are blacked out. Those aren't available to watch if you're

117
00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:48,320
Speaker 1: if you're in l A, you're not going to get

118
00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,400
Speaker 1: um clip Clippers games. Uh. Within leak Past, you can

119
00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:54,599
Speaker 1: watch them on your on your local R S N.

120
00:06:55,279 --> 00:07:00,279
Speaker 1: But um, but we've over time we found that writing

121
00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:02,839
Speaker 1: more option was really only additive. There there's always a

122
00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:04,960
Speaker 1: question you have to ask, sort of a strategic question.

123
00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,360
Speaker 1: If we provide this optionality, are people are gonna fewer

124
00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:09,400
Speaker 1: people going to subscribe to the big package and just

125
00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:14,280
Speaker 1: start you know, uh, purchasing quarters And it doesn't end

126
00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,280
Speaker 1: up being that that's the case, that surprises me. Yeah,

127
00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:21,320
Speaker 1: it doesn't really. Um, it doesn't surprise me because it

128
00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:26,280
Speaker 1: has a totally different value proposition. And um, you know,

129
00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,520
Speaker 1: the the smaller packages like a quarter or an individual

130
00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:35,080
Speaker 1: game end up serving as great sampling opportunities. Uh. So

131
00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,160
Speaker 1: you know, somebody who might um just purchase a single

132
00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:40,680
Speaker 1: game ends up being a great candidate for us to

133
00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:46,200
Speaker 1: market the full package. So so optionality ends up being additive. Um,

134
00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,120
Speaker 1: we have to I think we have to ask ourselves

135
00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,200
Speaker 1: that question and look at that data every time. But

136
00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,160
Speaker 1: so far, so good on that front, it's been it's

137
00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:56,760
Speaker 1: been additive for us. And another thing that I think

138
00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:59,040
Speaker 1: there's been some experimentation on, I forget it was within

139
00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:04,120
Speaker 1: League past Or is different camera angles and allowing viewers

140
00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:06,880
Speaker 1: to control that. M Are we going to see more

141
00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,160
Speaker 1: of that in this coming season? Well? You know, one

142
00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:12,520
Speaker 1: of the I think, just to kind of provide a

143
00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:14,840
Speaker 1: specific example that I thought was really cool that goes

144
00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:17,920
Speaker 1: kind of even beyond just alternate camera angles with Summer

145
00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:22,680
Speaker 1: League this year, which is a a tournament that we

146
00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:26,400
Speaker 1: that is based in Los Angeles where in Las Vegas,

147
00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:28,760
Speaker 1: excuse me, las of Las Vegas. I'm in Los Angeles,

148
00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:33,640
Speaker 1: in Las Vegas where some of the newer, younger players compete,

149
00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:36,920
Speaker 1: and we do a lot of experimentation around Summer League

150
00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:42,360
Speaker 1: and UM together with our partner Turn Sports, we UM

151
00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:47,080
Speaker 1: shot a whole game live using phones and and five

152
00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:50,439
Speaker 1: g um. So it was and it was really cool perspective.

153
00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:53,680
Speaker 1: It was not only was it alternate camera angles, but

154
00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:55,960
Speaker 1: because of the nature of you know, shooting and watching

155
00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:58,320
Speaker 1: on a on a phone, it just kind of felt

156
00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:02,679
Speaker 1: like this guerrilla broadcast. UM. So we've been experimenting a

157
00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:06,680
Speaker 1: lot with alternate camera angles and and alternate ways to

158
00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,480
Speaker 1: provide that sense of access and immersion around the game.

159
00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:13,160
Speaker 1: I think that's going to continue that. I know that

160
00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:17,360
Speaker 1: will absolutely continue throughout throughout the season. UM nothing specific

161
00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:21,319
Speaker 1: to announce, but we're still in exploration and experimentation mode.

162
00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:25,239
Speaker 1: But with with our direct to consumer products, you'll absolutely

163
00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:30,000
Speaker 1: see more around the alternate audio and more around providing

164
00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:34,400
Speaker 1: interactive features like graphical overlays, and will continue to experiment

165
00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:36,960
Speaker 1: with things like alternate camera angles. Like like you said,

166
00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:38,960
Speaker 1: and there's a part of me that loves to experiment

167
00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:40,600
Speaker 1: that stuff. There's also a part of me that I

168
00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:42,360
Speaker 1: think I speak for a lot of people that are

169
00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:44,800
Speaker 1: kind of lazy and just want to have the whole

170
00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:48,120
Speaker 1: thing presented as opposed to making me sort of the

171
00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:50,000
Speaker 1: guy in the in the book, I don't think. Yeah,

172
00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,240
Speaker 1: I think in most cases it's great to have the

173
00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:56,040
Speaker 1: optionality for for those kind of super duper fans who

174
00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,319
Speaker 1: are not lazy and who want to engage and almost

175
00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:00,840
Speaker 1: provide their own production of of a live game. But

176
00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:03,480
Speaker 1: most people are like you and like me, want to

177
00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:07,839
Speaker 1: lean back and have that kind of experience. So um,

178
00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:12,280
Speaker 1: I think the foundational experience has to be this wonderfully produced,

179
00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:15,920
Speaker 1: delivered kind of experience, and that's that's what we'll be

180
00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:20,200
Speaker 1: focusing on. Optionality happens, and interactivity happens around around that,

181
00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:22,960
Speaker 1: and maybe that one person wants to interact with stats

182
00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:25,960
Speaker 1: and we'll try to have that feature, and then somebody

183
00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:28,640
Speaker 1: else wants to interact with getting more of those, um

184
00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:31,200
Speaker 1: those different kinds of camera angles, and maybe that just

185
00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:33,880
Speaker 1: having those options for different people bring them in and

186
00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:36,280
Speaker 1: they interact with the game in different ways. One of

187
00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:38,560
Speaker 1: the things that and then over time, by the way,

188
00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,320
Speaker 1: as we learn more about our fans and the way

189
00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:44,960
Speaker 1: they engage with it, it might be possible to provide

190
00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,120
Speaker 1: these more custom experiences on an automated basis. That's still

191
00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:49,520
Speaker 1: a little ways out, but it could be a more

192
00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:52,720
Speaker 1: personalized broadcast cast based on your preferences as we learned

193
00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:58,120
Speaker 1: about you. But one of the interesting balancing acts that

194
00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:00,760
Speaker 1: we have to perform is between mean, this idea of

195
00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:06,439
Speaker 1: customization and personalization that we're talking about and feeling like

196
00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,080
Speaker 1: what what is so important to two fans is feeling

197
00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,760
Speaker 1: like you have a shared experience, like we're watching the

198
00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:14,680
Speaker 1: same game. Uh, you know. It's one of the things

199
00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:17,920
Speaker 1: I think that makes sports so different is that, um,

200
00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:20,360
Speaker 1: whether you're watching it in the same room together, or

201
00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:23,520
Speaker 1: whether you're chatting with your friends on Twitter, or whether

202
00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:25,559
Speaker 1: you're just talking about it the next day around the

203
00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,440
Speaker 1: water cooler, there's a kind of network effect to the

204
00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:31,160
Speaker 1: fact that we're all fans together. We enjoy the game

205
00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:34,160
Speaker 1: more because we know people who are also enjoying the game,

206
00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:36,360
Speaker 1: and you can't disrupt that. You have to be careful

207
00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:39,360
Speaker 1: not to create an experience that's so personalized that when

208
00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:41,400
Speaker 1: you get when you get to the water cooler, you're

209
00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:43,760
Speaker 1: talking about two different experiences. You still want it to be,

210
00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:47,680
Speaker 1: at its at its foundation, a very social experience. It's

211
00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:51,520
Speaker 1: interesting to think about that sort of collective experience. Thinking

212
00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:58,040
Speaker 1: back to trying NBA virtual reality, which you think virtual reality, Oh,

213
00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,520
Speaker 1: you put the helmet on, it's isolating. But the interesting

214
00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:04,360
Speaker 1: thing about the applications that I tried was in some

215
00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:10,240
Speaker 1: instances you could communicate with fellow VR watchers down to

216
00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,440
Speaker 1: the point where it was rendered as avatars watching the

217
00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:16,840
Speaker 1: game together. First of all, First of all, I love

218
00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:19,120
Speaker 1: that you are super fun enough to have seen all

219
00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:24,400
Speaker 1: these different kinds of broadcast. Um, this is one of

220
00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:26,719
Speaker 1: my favorites. What you're what you're describing, it's and we'll

221
00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:30,319
Speaker 1: do it again this season on. We produce games in

222
00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,440
Speaker 1: virtual reality every week with next company called Next VR.

223
00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:37,000
Speaker 1: We also, together with Turner, produced games with Intel in

224
00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:39,800
Speaker 1: virtual reality, and they each bring a kind of a

225
00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:44,520
Speaker 1: different experience to the table, very immersive and conveying that

226
00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:49,200
Speaker 1: that what's happening inside the arena is one of the

227
00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,760
Speaker 1: other pillars of innovation for us. You know, the the

228
00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:55,760
Speaker 1: NBA experience is an immersive one. Right before there was

229
00:12:55,760 --> 00:13:01,160
Speaker 1: ever an immersive UH media company, we were creating immersive

230
00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:03,839
Speaker 1: media experiences in arena for those who could who could

231
00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:06,960
Speaker 1: get to arenas. But you've got fans all over the

232
00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,240
Speaker 1: world for with the NBA um WE broadcasts and over

233
00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,720
Speaker 1: two hundred countries who may never have the opportunity for

234
00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:17,880
Speaker 1: logistical reasons to go experience that unadulterated in arena experience.

235
00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:22,319
Speaker 1: So virtual reality has I think tremendous promise to deliver

236
00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:26,040
Speaker 1: more of that sensory information. But the more traditional to

237
00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,120
Speaker 1: even call it traditional and VR is funny, but the

238
00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:32,200
Speaker 1: more traditional VR broadcasts have felt more isolating. So we

239
00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:37,480
Speaker 1: brought the next VR produced immersive experience to something called

240
00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,760
Speaker 1: Oculus Venues. Oculus is one of the pre eminent VR

241
00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:45,560
Speaker 1: companies in space, owned by own by Facebook and with venues,

242
00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,040
Speaker 1: as you said, you you get to sit in a

243
00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:53,079
Speaker 1: in a virtual arena surrounded by avatars and it'll um

244
00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:56,160
Speaker 1: using the Facebook social graph. It'll sit you near your

245
00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,120
Speaker 1: friends if they're watching it at the same time, and

246
00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:01,360
Speaker 1: you can move around. You can you know, move between seats,

247
00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:02,600
Speaker 1: and you can look at each other, and you can

248
00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:06,079
Speaker 1: talk to each other, and you can gesticulate and um,

249
00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:08,600
Speaker 1: you don't it doesn't look like you're sitting next to

250
00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:11,880
Speaker 1: your friend, but emotionally it feels like you're sitting next

251
00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:14,080
Speaker 1: to your friend. I think that's the important thing. So

252
00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,840
Speaker 1: now we get to have the immersive experience being an arena.

253
00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:19,320
Speaker 1: We're not a hundred percent of the way there. I

254
00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:21,000
Speaker 1: don't even know we're sixty percent of the way there,

255
00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:24,560
Speaker 1: but we're making great progress on that and have that

256
00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:26,920
Speaker 1: social experience of being in the arena with your friends.

257
00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:30,360
Speaker 1: So um the early days, I think, but it's a

258
00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:32,760
Speaker 1: really compelling experience today and people are more and more

259
00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:34,880
Speaker 1: people are trying it and enjoying it, and I think

260
00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:38,680
Speaker 1: the future of the NBA broadcast will include something like this.

261
00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:42,400
Speaker 1: That's how so I mean when you say meaning back

262
00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,360
Speaker 1: on the traditional TV version, that it will have something

263
00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:48,040
Speaker 1: like that, or that VR becomes the trade I don't.

264
00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:51,760
Speaker 1: I don't know that VR becomes the traditional, uh, the

265
00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:54,760
Speaker 1: traditional way to view, but I think it'll be a

266
00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:58,520
Speaker 1: really important way to view in the future. I will

267
00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:02,280
Speaker 1: make this prediction, which is in the long term, I

268
00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:05,720
Speaker 1: definitely could see a time when when VR displays his

269
00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:09,920
Speaker 1: TV as the way to experience sports. Because another big

270
00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:14,880
Speaker 1: takeaway for me watching the NBA and VR was even

271
00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,000
Speaker 1: though the resolution is when I was watching on Oculus,

272
00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:20,160
Speaker 1: it's not good. It's not going to be there for

273
00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:24,960
Speaker 1: a while. When you're used to watching HD on. Nevertheless,

274
00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:29,360
Speaker 1: the angles and the three dimensionality of it, it blew

275
00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:32,680
Speaker 1: my mind and it's why I will not gonna watch.

276
00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,400
Speaker 1: I mean, not every game is available in VR, but

277
00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:37,640
Speaker 1: tim time to time I do make a point of

278
00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:41,320
Speaker 1: watching it just because, even though it's not quite achieved

279
00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:44,720
Speaker 1: its potential, it's far along enough where I'm kind of captive.

280
00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,200
Speaker 1: I I look, I completely agree, and I'm a I'm

281
00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:49,880
Speaker 1: a huge believer and a huge fan of immersive media.

282
00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:52,000
Speaker 1: I only hesitate to say that it will be the

283
00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:55,600
Speaker 1: traditional way to watch because I think that that optionality

284
00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:57,320
Speaker 1: we were talking about earlier is going to be even

285
00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,640
Speaker 1: more important in the future. And it may be that

286
00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:02,360
Speaker 1: you know, you don't want to necessarily immerse yourself, even

287
00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:04,280
Speaker 1: if you can access your phone in VR, or your

288
00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:06,640
Speaker 1: or your apps and VR, even if you can access

289
00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:08,360
Speaker 1: your friends. It maybe that you just don't want to

290
00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:11,320
Speaker 1: put a whole headset on wherever you are. You might be, uh,

291
00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:12,720
Speaker 1: you know, you might be in your living room with

292
00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:13,840
Speaker 1: your family and you want to just put it on

293
00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:15,960
Speaker 1: a big screen. You might you might be walking around

294
00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:17,680
Speaker 1: and want to have it on your mobile phone. I

295
00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:21,160
Speaker 1: think in the future, um, the broadcast will be incredibly

296
00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,480
Speaker 1: flexible and uh, you'll just have a variety of ways

297
00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:27,440
Speaker 1: to watch it from totally immersed, too much less immersed

298
00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:31,880
Speaker 1: but very mobile. Well, then there's a we've talked about VR.

299
00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,920
Speaker 1: Then there's a R or mixed reality or spatial computing

300
00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:41,000
Speaker 1: one at a time. My god, well, I was very curious. Uh.

301
00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:43,120
Speaker 1: I think it was about a year ago when NBA

302
00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:47,640
Speaker 1: started talking about Magic Leap in the partnership there. I've

303
00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:51,000
Speaker 1: not tried that. What can we expect from that? How

304
00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:55,520
Speaker 1: far along is that? Either? Well, the technology that magically

305
00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,920
Speaker 1: has is incredible, um, and I recommend you give it

306
00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,400
Speaker 1: a shot. But for those who haven't tried it, you

307
00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:04,760
Speaker 1: put a headset on it's it's it's lighter and less

308
00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:08,560
Speaker 1: intrusive than a full VR headset, and you still see

309
00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,160
Speaker 1: the real world outside of the glasses. It's like putting

310
00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:15,439
Speaker 1: on a pair of goggles. Um. But it using some

311
00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:19,800
Speaker 1: pretty pretty advanced technology, allows you to see digital information,

312
00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:22,720
Speaker 1: digital assets in the real world that aren't really there.

313
00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:26,320
Speaker 1: So what it means for basketball is that as it is,

314
00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:28,239
Speaker 1: there's a lot of things. Um, I think look at

315
00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:33,560
Speaker 1: the the ultimate version of that is something like virtual reality,

316
00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:36,240
Speaker 1: where part of the room that you're in is replaced

317
00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:39,720
Speaker 1: within immersive experience of watching the game. It might be

318
00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:43,960
Speaker 1: that um, the living room wall across from the couch

319
00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:50,160
Speaker 1: disappears and is replaced with courtside at the garden. UM

320
00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:53,560
Speaker 1: Another a little bit further, a little bit you know,

321
00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:57,840
Speaker 1: far out version UM is the tabletop experience of watching

322
00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:00,280
Speaker 1: the game. So imagine you're sitting on that caution in

323
00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:03,080
Speaker 1: your living room and on top of your coffee table

324
00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,640
Speaker 1: is a kind of a miniature arena that you're looking

325
00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:09,280
Speaker 1: into like you're a giant floating floating above it, like

326
00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,679
Speaker 1: a hologram exactly like you like you see in Star Wars.

327
00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:15,399
Speaker 1: And this is possible not only with the kind of

328
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:19,160
Speaker 1: technology that Magically was creating, but with a capture technology

329
00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:23,520
Speaker 1: called volumetric capture h This is where there's a variety

330
00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:25,280
Speaker 1: of ways to do it, but basically, there are camera

331
00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:29,240
Speaker 1: sensors position around the arena and they capture the volume

332
00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:31,919
Speaker 1: of the arena. They calculate where each pixel is in

333
00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:35,240
Speaker 1: three dimensional space, and and and they capture the volume

334
00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,400
Speaker 1: of the arena so that you can move a imagine

335
00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:41,000
Speaker 1: a virtual camera or a virtual perspective anywhere in that

336
00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:45,359
Speaker 1: volume and watch from anywhere. That means you could using VR,

337
00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:48,560
Speaker 1: you could attach a virtual camera to your favorite players eyes.

338
00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:51,440
Speaker 1: You said you're a Clippers fan, right, So imagine watching

339
00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:55,919
Speaker 1: the game play out from Kauai's point of view. Um

340
00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:57,680
Speaker 1: or you can do as I said and you can

341
00:18:57,680 --> 00:18:59,440
Speaker 1: move back and you can watch it like a hologram

342
00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:04,160
Speaker 1: on a table. Is advanced and sci fi, as this

343
00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:08,960
Speaker 1: technology sounds, uh, it's actually something that we're already experimenting with.

344
00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,840
Speaker 1: Intel has a version of this technology that is designed

345
00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:15,359
Speaker 1: specifically for arenas that we've begun installing in some of

346
00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:18,760
Speaker 1: the NBA arenas, and we can try we can do

347
00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:22,760
Speaker 1: this experience what we're talking about on a non live basis, Uh,

348
00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:26,199
Speaker 1: not yet at the super high definition resolution that we

349
00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:28,920
Speaker 1: would need, but we can see the path toward when

350
00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:31,440
Speaker 1: this is live and when this is HD. So that's

351
00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:36,200
Speaker 1: kind of where mixed reality, spatial reality, spatial computing things

352
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:40,000
Speaker 1: like magically I think end up going. But in the meantime,

353
00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:42,399
Speaker 1: it's the there's a lot of really cool things you

354
00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:45,520
Speaker 1: can do with it. With our current app, you can

355
00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:49,160
Speaker 1: put virtual screens as big as you want on any

356
00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:51,159
Speaker 1: of the walls in your room, multiple screens if you

357
00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:54,800
Speaker 1: like and watch the game or highlights UM play out

358
00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:59,879
Speaker 1: there with three dimensional UH stats visualizations jumping out at you.

359
00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:02,639
Speaker 1: And one of the cool things that we've we've played

360
00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,080
Speaker 1: with is a sort of a CG representation of a

361
00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:08,160
Speaker 1: player on the coffee table. UH. And in this case

362
00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:11,600
Speaker 1: last season it was it was Lebron uh just running

363
00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:14,239
Speaker 1: down the court and dunking the ball. But it was like,

364
00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:16,960
Speaker 1: this is what this is what the future of highlights

365
00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:18,600
Speaker 1: might look like. They'll be spatial and you'll be able

366
00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:20,720
Speaker 1: to look around them, UM as though they were a

367
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,080
Speaker 1: hologram in the room with you. And how cool would

368
00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:26,000
Speaker 1: it be if it would also be life size, because

369
00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:31,399
Speaker 1: I think that could be something where have the ability

370
00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:34,159
Speaker 1: to not just see them in three dimensions, but to

371
00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:38,439
Speaker 1: see them at their actual height. Is that that's even contemplated.

372
00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:40,200
Speaker 1: It just kind of occurred to me. Now it's like, well,

373
00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:42,960
Speaker 1: maybe why not. It's a great it's a great use case,

374
00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:47,400
Speaker 1: especially because our players are so physically imposing and impressive.

375
00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:51,199
Speaker 1: And it turns out it's actually no more difficult to

376
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,920
Speaker 1: do it large than it is to do it small. UM.

377
00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:58,080
Speaker 1: You don't with the field of view of the current systems,

378
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:00,600
Speaker 1: you wouldn't be able to take the full player in

379
00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,359
Speaker 1: from a close distance. You'd have to kind of start

380
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,120
Speaker 1: us at at his feet and go up and look

381
00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,199
Speaker 1: towards the ceiling to see his head um. But that

382
00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,160
Speaker 1: field of view is something that's going to improve as well.

383
00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:12,960
Speaker 1: And if you step back and you wanted to see

384
00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:14,840
Speaker 1: a life size player a little bit across the room,

385
00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:16,600
Speaker 1: that that fit in the field of view, you can

386
00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:18,920
Speaker 1: absolutely do that and it's no more difficult than than

387
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,000
Speaker 1: capturing them at a at a smaller scale, well a

388
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:26,280
Speaker 1: nearer term a R application. I had the pleasure because

389
00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,639
Speaker 1: I'm a Clipper fan of witnessing this past season. I

390
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,720
Speaker 1: don't know if you saw the Clippers court vision with

391
00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,399
Speaker 1: the company called Second Spectrum, right, I mean, just to

392
00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:39,119
Speaker 1: give people an idea, that's where you're watching the usual game,

393
00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:42,719
Speaker 1: perhaps on your phone, and there's an a R layer

394
00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:48,320
Speaker 1: of graphics and stats that are pretty seamless, pretty real

395
00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:52,600
Speaker 1: time in terms of data coming in. Is that something

396
00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:55,320
Speaker 1: we're going to see more of around the league? Yeah,

397
00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:58,600
Speaker 1: So that's that's something that the Clippers did in partnership

398
00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,600
Speaker 1: with a company called Seconds Spectrum, and they are one

399
00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:07,800
Speaker 1: of the um stats providers or information gatherers for the league,

400
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:12,080
Speaker 1: and they use UM technology that tracks the players on

401
00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:14,840
Speaker 1: the court. And there are lots of different ways that

402
00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:17,479
Speaker 1: you can use it. UM. We use it in some

403
00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:21,800
Speaker 1: ways to UM to understand player performance and things like that,

404
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,119
Speaker 1: but it can be used for consumer purposes to a

405
00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:28,520
Speaker 1: like like the one that you described. It's Uh, I

406
00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:30,800
Speaker 1: think it's really really neat. I think it's especially cool

407
00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:33,880
Speaker 1: UM for v O D just to understand a play

408
00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,639
Speaker 1: in a different way, to to rewatch a play and

409
00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:39,879
Speaker 1: see for example, UM one of the one of the

410
00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,720
Speaker 1: use cases that they have is it shows the percentage

411
00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:45,720
Speaker 1: likelihood of any given player from any given part of

412
00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:48,560
Speaker 1: the court to make a basket when they have the ball.

413
00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:51,639
Speaker 1: And uh, it's just a neat kind of like because

414
00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:54,480
Speaker 1: you understand the decisions that the players make as they're

415
00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:56,119
Speaker 1: making them from a different point of view. You understand

416
00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:57,920
Speaker 1: because they're making I think some of those calculations in

417
00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:01,240
Speaker 1: their head, Am I am I likely to hit the

418
00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:04,400
Speaker 1: shot from this point of view defended by this player. UM.

419
00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:06,200
Speaker 1: So you can kind of make those you can see

420
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,600
Speaker 1: that in in real time with these overlays, and UH

421
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,919
Speaker 1: so absolutely we're going to continue to experimental graphical overlays.

422
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:14,960
Speaker 1: We'll see a lot more of that this season. It's

423
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:16,879
Speaker 1: one of the neat things too. I think about the

424
00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:20,240
Speaker 1: way we're structured as a league that our our teams

425
00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:25,239
Speaker 1: can be laboratories for experimentation, likeli Clippers, who've been really

426
00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,840
Speaker 1: experimental in this area, and if something works, we can

427
00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:31,200
Speaker 1: then take that and try to apply it across the league.

428
00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:34,520
Speaker 1: It's just an example of innovation working from from teams

429
00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:36,920
Speaker 1: back to the league. Is on the flip side, though,

430
00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:39,439
Speaker 1: is there ever tension there where you know, a team

431
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:41,960
Speaker 1: can sort of take ownership of something in a way

432
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,800
Speaker 1: that the league can't, or they do their own thing.

433
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,440
Speaker 1: You know, I can't think of an example where, um,

434
00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,840
Speaker 1: a team took ownership of something and and it prevented

435
00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:54,760
Speaker 1: us from doing anything that we wanted to do. Um,

436
00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:58,679
Speaker 1: So I think it's usually something that's positive. There are,

437
00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:00,719
Speaker 1: you know, some some limits on what the teams can

438
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:04,320
Speaker 1: do relatives to what the league can do, but they're

439
00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:07,200
Speaker 1: pretty well delineated and so it doesn't it doesn't result

440
00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:10,919
Speaker 1: in too much tension that often. What what I find

441
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:15,000
Speaker 1: is the most sort of team centric experience across all

442
00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:18,080
Speaker 1: the different platforms that we're talking about is social media.

443
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,200
Speaker 1: I mean, it's so interesting to me following a number

444
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:23,360
Speaker 1: of teams on social media how they all have this

445
00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:31,080
Speaker 1: very built out video rich three sixty five um experience. Um.

446
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:35,040
Speaker 1: Does the NBA itself feel like it has its own

447
00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:38,520
Speaker 1: social identity or is it really about the teams and

448
00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,639
Speaker 1: the players doing their own thing? You know. One of

449
00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:46,600
Speaker 1: the unique things about a sports league within as compared

450
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:49,400
Speaker 1: to other entertainment, is the extent to which it's an

451
00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:53,760
Speaker 1: ecosystem that is bigger than anyone company, including bigger than

452
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:58,680
Speaker 1: the NBA itself as a company. UM. It goes to

453
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:01,600
Speaker 1: the thirty teams, but it goes to the you know,

454
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:05,399
Speaker 1: four hundred plus players, It goes to our many dozens

455
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:09,719
Speaker 1: of partners around the world, and uh many hundreds of

456
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:14,119
Speaker 1: companies that create and innovate content around NBA that we

457
00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:17,320
Speaker 1: don't necessarily have a direct contractual relationship, and then beyond

458
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:19,640
Speaker 1: that to the thousands and millions of fans who are

459
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:24,399
Speaker 1: creating and sharing content around the world. UM. By and large,

460
00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,280
Speaker 1: that makes us a much more i think robust business

461
00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:31,560
Speaker 1: and a more a more valuable ecosystem for any one

462
00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:33,920
Speaker 1: of us to be a part of. So it's generally

463
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,919
Speaker 1: it's great, but we have to UM understand where we

464
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:39,920
Speaker 1: can fit into that because we're not only are we

465
00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:43,960
Speaker 1: competing with other entertainment, but in a sense, we're competing

466
00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:48,119
Speaker 1: with other companies who are creating NBA basketball content just

467
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,679
Speaker 1: like we are. It's important, therefore, to have an identity,

468
00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:54,639
Speaker 1: and I think we've been successful in defining and defining

469
00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:57,439
Speaker 1: what that is. I think we're still honing that to

470
00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:00,760
Speaker 1: some extent, but we've been very successful on social media.

471
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:04,800
Speaker 1: The n b a UM official accounts that we control

472
00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:07,679
Speaker 1: are some of the top accounts on on every social

473
00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,760
Speaker 1: platform UM, and our our teams and players have been

474
00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:13,960
Speaker 1: Our players, for example, are some of the top individual accounts,

475
00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:16,320
Speaker 1: and our teams are some of the top accounts as well.

476
00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:20,719
Speaker 1: So it hasn't because their success has not prevented us

477
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,639
Speaker 1: from being successful. I think in many ways it's contributed.

478
00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,280
Speaker 1: We've all contributed to each other's success by by creating

479
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:31,000
Speaker 1: a bigger ecosystem. But thinking about our identity in the

480
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:34,080
Speaker 1: social space, it's like any business. You think about it

481
00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:36,159
Speaker 1: in terms of competitive advantage. What are the things that

482
00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:39,680
Speaker 1: we can do better than others can do? UM Immediately

483
00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:42,600
Speaker 1: you go to that we are the official, we have

484
00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:45,920
Speaker 1: the official voice, and in some in some context it's

485
00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:48,960
Speaker 1: really important and really valuable, and in gambling, for example,

486
00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:54,760
Speaker 1: having the official stats is extremely valuable. We're also probably

487
00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:57,080
Speaker 1: the most comprehensive because we have we're the only ones

488
00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:00,000
Speaker 1: who have the vault that has all NBA content UH

489
00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,359
Speaker 1: within it. And I think maybe most importantly in one

490
00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,320
Speaker 1: that we leverage a lot in in the social space

491
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,919
Speaker 1: is that we can be the most real time and

492
00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:14,160
Speaker 1: have the most access so um, you know, we're we're

493
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:16,720
Speaker 1: all over the building when it comes to a live

494
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,560
Speaker 1: game in arena, and we can make our fans who

495
00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:21,720
Speaker 1: follow us on social media feel like they have an

496
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,800
Speaker 1: all access credential, so that that becomes that kind of

497
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,080
Speaker 1: real time access um and those other things become the

498
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:31,399
Speaker 1: kind of uh foundation of our identity and social and

499
00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:33,919
Speaker 1: it's worked out really well for us. And also in

500
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:38,240
Speaker 1: terms of how you as the NBA relate to social

501
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:41,639
Speaker 1: it does seem in contrast to some other leagues. We

502
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:43,760
Speaker 1: won't mention that may have been a little too controlling,

503
00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:47,119
Speaker 1: that you guys have just sort of let the player,

504
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:53,840
Speaker 1: let fans players whoever have free reign with video out there,

505
00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:56,879
Speaker 1: whether it's gifts or whatnot. You know, a year or

506
00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:01,520
Speaker 1: two into that has that worked, there have been pitfalls

507
00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:06,480
Speaker 1: by giving perhaps too much freedom. Well, it's a it's

508
00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:10,880
Speaker 1: a conscientious decision and one that we made really from

509
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,119
Speaker 1: the beginning of social media. So it goes back. I

510
00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:17,440
Speaker 1: think we've embraced it more fully even and and gone

511
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:23,000
Speaker 1: beyond permitting and actually gone to empowering fans to create content.

512
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:26,000
Speaker 1: But from the beginning of social of our presence on

513
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:29,000
Speaker 1: social media, we made a decision. This is a decision

514
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:31,240
Speaker 1: that that Adam made and his role at the time

515
00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:36,520
Speaker 1: as head of NBA Entertainment to embrace uh fans creating content.

516
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:38,160
Speaker 1: I mean, the you know, from his point of view

517
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:42,520
Speaker 1: is why would we prevent people from creating free, free

518
00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:45,840
Speaker 1: marketing content, right? Um, you know, and if it's something,

519
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:48,240
Speaker 1: if they can create content that it becomes a substitute

520
00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:50,120
Speaker 1: for something that we could do, then we need to

521
00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:52,080
Speaker 1: be looking for other things that we could do that

522
00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:55,600
Speaker 1: others can't substitute. Um. But I think it goes even

523
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:59,400
Speaker 1: even more fundamentally to this idea of of an ecosystem

524
00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:03,120
Speaker 1: where the more participants in the ecosystem. It's really it's

525
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:05,920
Speaker 1: like network theory, right, every additional note that you have

526
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,480
Speaker 1: in the network, and the stronger the connections between the nodes,

527
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,160
Speaker 1: the more valuable the note is for every participant in

528
00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:15,000
Speaker 1: that network. So we're like a social network in that way,

529
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:18,200
Speaker 1: and um it, as long as we can figure out

530
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:22,480
Speaker 1: ways to contribute value that's unique and extract value at

531
00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:26,880
Speaker 1: the same time than having a bigger, more robust, more

532
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 1: valuable network by having by allowing fans and others to

533
00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:34,680
Speaker 1: participate directly by creating content is just a win win

534
00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:38,400
Speaker 1: for everybody. Speaking of social networks and curious about the

535
00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:43,040
Speaker 1: league's relationship with the Facebook snapchats of the world, I

536
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:45,800
Speaker 1: would imagine the TikTok deal must be in the thing

537
00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:49,680
Speaker 1: we've We've got one already. Cool. Well, but you know,

538
00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:53,320
Speaker 1: there's always been somewhat of a tension there in terms

539
00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:57,479
Speaker 1: of leverage um attention there in terms of how am

540
00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:00,520
Speaker 1: I making money? I know the platforms are, do you

541
00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:03,280
Speaker 1: guys have some sort of overall philosophy as you choose

542
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,400
Speaker 1: you know, how you might participate saying, you know, video

543
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:10,800
Speaker 1: for Facebook Watch or perhaps their their new subscription video platform.

544
00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:13,720
Speaker 1: I you know, I wouldn't describe it as attention and

545
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:17,000
Speaker 1: I would say that because we've been early with the

546
00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:20,160
Speaker 1: social media platforms and early UM and we continue to

547
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:23,640
Speaker 1: be early. So when when musically, when tiknok was musically

548
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:25,560
Speaker 1: and that was new, we were you know, we were

549
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:27,280
Speaker 1: there and we were I think the number one brand there.

550
00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:29,200
Speaker 1: I think we maybe still still are the number one

551
00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:34,160
Speaker 1: brand UM because we were early and because we evolved

552
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:37,400
Speaker 1: our presence on social media together with the evolution of

553
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,040
Speaker 1: the social media companies. I think we've got really great,

554
00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:46,160
Speaker 1: strong relationships and we've seen that they are look that

555
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:48,720
Speaker 1: it's it's in their interest to figure out how all

556
00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,800
Speaker 1: of this makes money for them. In the meantime, it's

557
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:53,840
Speaker 1: great for our fans, it's great for the reasons we

558
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:56,880
Speaker 1: talked about and creating a more valuable ecosystem, and it's

559
00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:00,840
Speaker 1: great for marketing and UM. We it seems like every

560
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:04,120
Speaker 1: year they're figuring out better and better ways to make

561
00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:07,480
Speaker 1: that turn that that value into monetary value that we

562
00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,840
Speaker 1: can participate in. So, you know, I think by being

563
00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:14,479
Speaker 1: early and being uh close partners with them, we've been

564
00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,840
Speaker 1: able to take that journey with them, and I think

565
00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:19,240
Speaker 1: we're all confident that we're trying to get to the

566
00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:22,880
Speaker 1: same place which is just great experiences for their users

567
00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:26,960
Speaker 1: and our fans, and ways to turn that into business

568
00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:31,680
Speaker 1: opportunities for us. Well. Speaking of business opportunities, one last question,

569
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,520
Speaker 1: what maybe the biggest opportunity of all you mentioned earlier?

570
00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:40,160
Speaker 1: Gambling supports legalization. Legalization of gambling is slowly starting to

571
00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:43,640
Speaker 1: become like maybe in a dozen or so states now legal.

572
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,320
Speaker 1: I see this as a tsunami that is eventually going

573
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:50,240
Speaker 1: to hit fifty states, and I think it's already somewhat

574
00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:55,080
Speaker 1: active internationally. Uh, that's got to be a game changer

575
00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:59,360
Speaker 1: for the NBA digital strategy. I would imagine, Well, look,

576
00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:02,800
Speaker 1: I think it's um. It's hard to predict the timing

577
00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:06,320
Speaker 1: of it, and and it may roll out slowly enough

578
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:09,600
Speaker 1: where it's it's really big before we realize that it's

579
00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:13,960
Speaker 1: really big, because we're in a pot of boiling water, right, UM.

580
00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:19,200
Speaker 1: But it's certainly um could be really impactful for UM

581
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:21,760
Speaker 1: the way people engage with our content on on digital

582
00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:24,760
Speaker 1: and the way that people watch our live games. So

583
00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:26,480
Speaker 1: it's something that we watch really closely. I think it's

584
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:28,640
Speaker 1: actually a really good example of what I think of

585
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:31,880
Speaker 1: as kind of twin pillars of of of Adam's focus

586
00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:35,560
Speaker 1: as he's led the NBA over the last last six

587
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:37,760
Speaker 1: years or so, five or five or six years, and

588
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,440
Speaker 1: and those are innovation, which where where we started with

589
00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:44,840
Speaker 1: this conversation, and integrity, which is making sure that um

590
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:48,680
Speaker 1: we are shepherd ng responsibly shepherding the sport and that

591
00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:52,440
Speaker 1: everybody feels like there's transparency around the rules and that

592
00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:54,800
Speaker 1: the competition is fair. That's just been a really really

593
00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:59,800
Speaker 1: strong theme throughout his his tenure as commissioner. And these

594
00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:01,880
Speaker 1: both of these issues come up in this space with

595
00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:04,800
Speaker 1: with gambling, and I think that's the balance that we've

596
00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:08,440
Speaker 1: been trying to strike. We want to embrace innovation in

597
00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:10,520
Speaker 1: this space, but we also want to make sure that

598
00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:14,360
Speaker 1: at all times we've protected we've protected the integrity of

599
00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:17,520
Speaker 1: the game. That's probably gonna be our role. Our role,

600
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 1: if we're gonna have a direct role in this as

601
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:22,840
Speaker 1: this rolls out, is to be the shepherds of the

602
00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:26,000
Speaker 1: integrity of it um as innovation takes place. But I

603
00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:28,719
Speaker 1: think that the benefits that we end up seeing as

604
00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:30,720
Speaker 1: there's just gonna be more reasons for people to watch

605
00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:34,680
Speaker 1: games more ways and for them to engage with our content, well,

606
00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:36,560
Speaker 1: it'll be just one of the many fronts. I'll be

607
00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,480
Speaker 1: watching as the new season on folds. Looking forward to

608
00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:42,360
Speaker 1: all the experimentation you're doing, and thanks for coming on

609
00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:46,400
Speaker 1: the podcast. Thanks for being a fanom This has been

610
00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:49,680
Speaker 1: another episode of Strictly Business. Tune in next week for

611
00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:53,800
Speaker 1: another helping a scintillating conversation with media movers and shakers,

612
00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:56,800
Speaker 1: and please make sure you subscribe to the podcast to

613
00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:00,800
Speaker 1: hear future episodes. Also leave a review in Apple Podcast

614
00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:07,640
Speaker 1: let us know how we're doing. M