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Speaker 1: We're back on Radio Row. This is the NFL Combine

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Speaker 1: the Colts Audio Network with JJ Stang event. So along,

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Speaker 1: I'm Matt Taylor. Thanks for staying with us as we

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Speaker 1: flood your timeline, if you will. On the podcast channel

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Speaker 1: here with a lot of draft talk, we're going to

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Speaker 1: steer away from that a little bit and talk up

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Speaker 1: how great the city of Indianapolis is, how great the

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Speaker 1: convention Center is? Joining us now. Chris gall Executive vice

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Speaker 1: president and chief marketing officer for Visit Indie, my good friend.

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Speaker 1: The last time I'll saw you, you were hacking up

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Speaker 1: the golf course. You were slicing them left and right.

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Speaker 1: That's right. I'm a subpar golfer, but not a subpar

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Speaker 1: Visit Indie spokespost. Thank you, I know that for sure.

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Speaker 1: I appreciate you and JJ having me on. It's fun

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Speaker 1: to be here inside the epicenter of the football universe

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Speaker 1: Combine YEP, and to think about all the activity that's happening,

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Speaker 1: all the decision making, all the nerves from these prospects,

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Speaker 1: and here we are Indie again, proud to host this

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Speaker 1: now for what the thirty six year in a row, correct,

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Speaker 1: safe and sound, you know, last time we talked about this,

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Speaker 1: we're at this event. Were uncertain if we were going

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Speaker 1: to keep this in Indy. Yep, we were successful and

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Speaker 1: last May we renewed for twenty three and twenty four.

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Speaker 1: That's as far as our contract goes with the NFL

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Speaker 1: to host this evay. So how's it going so far?

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Speaker 1: We're talking on Thursday, so the week's almost over. The

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Speaker 1: event goes until next Monday. How's it going so far?

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Speaker 1: We feel good. We know we're always on audition. We

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Speaker 1: know that the NFL is watching. We know the Commissioner

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Speaker 1: is slated to be through the building today. We know

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Speaker 1: that ownership is giving their their takeaways if you will.

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Speaker 1: We know also that there are four three or four

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Speaker 1: cities that are actually in our city, okay, kicking the

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Speaker 1: tires and thinking about how they're going to put in

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Speaker 1: a bid to host this past twenty twenty four, and

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Speaker 1: that that's always tough when you know that your competitors

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Speaker 1: here and they're watching you and taking notes. When you

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Speaker 1: when you think about last year, the conversation we had,

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Speaker 1: you talked about that uncertainty. The overwhelming response from the

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Speaker 1: NFL community was keep it here, don't move it. You know,

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Speaker 1: we had, we had you heard from I remember Mike

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Speaker 1: McCarthy last year, the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys,

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Speaker 1: talking about how much he loves having the Combine here

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Speaker 1: in Indie. And that was a guy who's city was

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Speaker 1: bidding on hosting the Combine. Which tells you a lot

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Speaker 1: of what you need to know when now that it's

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Speaker 1: it's set here for twenty three and twenty four, but

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Speaker 1: obviously there's still an uncertain future. When you go around

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Speaker 1: the halls here and you're talking to people around the NFL,

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Speaker 1: you're talking to media, what are you still hearing about

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Speaker 1: the desire to keep the Combine in Indie beyond twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty four. That's a great question. JJ media wanted here

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Speaker 1: if if, if you can get that piece down, that's

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Speaker 1: a big win. For the most part, the GMS, all

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Speaker 1: the all the crew behind the scenes, they want to

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Speaker 1: keep it here. What we continue to hear is that

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Speaker 1: when ownership comes through Indianapolis, Indiana and sees this and

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Speaker 1: how it's grown, NFL owners say, hey, the Pro Bowls

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Speaker 1: moving around, the Super Bowl moves around, the Draft moves around,

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Speaker 1: why in the world can't we have the Combine? And

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Speaker 1: so that continued pressure comes from the owners. We get it,

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Speaker 1: and at some point point may cause a break and

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Speaker 1: have this rotate. And so when that happens to be determined,

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Speaker 1: we just know that it's everyone but the owners kind

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Speaker 1: of wanted here, and the owners want it selfishly, and

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Speaker 1: we get it. What kind of pulse do you get

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Speaker 1: from the other cities and the other movers and shakers

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Speaker 1: that want the combine in terms of how they're going

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Speaker 1: to replicate what Indianapolis does and what you guys do

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Speaker 1: in terms of the medical all the hospitals in close

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Speaker 1: proximity to downtown Indianapolis. I talked to Jeff Foster. He's like,

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Speaker 1: we can move, we can move the combine. There's other

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Speaker 1: places that can accommodate the hotel space and the convention

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Speaker 1: space and certainly the stadium space. But it's the it's

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Speaker 1: EU Health, it's all the hospitals downtown. What are the

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Speaker 1: other committees proposing in order to kind of replicate what

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Speaker 1: Indianapolis does? That's the piece. It's nearly impossible to replicate

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Speaker 1: the ease in which these prospects go through a battery

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Speaker 1: of tests in a very short amount of period of time.

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Speaker 1: IU Health is the lynchpin for Indianapolis. Hanging onto this.

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Speaker 1: It has been and will be, and we put that

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Speaker 1: first and foremost when we go out to retain this

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Speaker 1: one point six miles. The prospects get picked up here,

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Speaker 1: they're five minutes down the road. They go through imaging,

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Speaker 1: they go through scans, they go through everything they need

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Speaker 1: to get done medically, and then they're back here within

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Speaker 1: an hour. Okay, you think about a Dallas. You know

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Speaker 1: where the stadium is, you know where their practice facilities are,

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Speaker 1: you know where the hotels are. Everything's disconnected and would

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Speaker 1: take you a long time to get those prospects moved.

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Speaker 1: Time is money. Money is decision making here. And so

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Speaker 1: if you've subscribe to the idea of why the combine exists,

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Speaker 1: which is to look at prospects and make and form

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Speaker 1: your decision for the draft, really that's what you need

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Speaker 1: to do, is you need to have as much time

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Speaker 1: in front of these prospects as possible, and we make

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Speaker 1: that easy and convenient. But that's why I think, like

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Speaker 1: the NFL knows that the Combine at the end of

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Speaker 1: the day, it's not a fan event. They're trying to

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Speaker 1: make it a fan event. To me, that's what you

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Speaker 1: just said should be a non starter in because it's

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Speaker 1: it's not a game, it's not an event, it's not

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Speaker 1: the draft. It's not a big congregating thing for fans.

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Speaker 1: It's about prospects and efficiency for the teams and the players. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: our bid to retain it last time, gentlemen, after I

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Speaker 1: met with you. We spend a lot of time. It's

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Speaker 1: under one roof. Yeah, this is the idea. And you

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Speaker 1: know this because you live here. It's media fans. Everyone

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Speaker 1: can check into hotels, climate control skywalks into the convention

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Speaker 1: center here, into the stadium. You're within steps. That's what

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Speaker 1: I mean. Like, if I'm the NFL, I don't even

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Speaker 1: know why I'm messing with talking to other people because

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Speaker 1: they can't replicate that. It's hard to replicate. And it's

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Speaker 1: also hard, I believe when you have owners saying why

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Speaker 1: can't we have this? Yeah? Do you think there's a

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Speaker 1: scenario where, okay it, you know, it does get moved

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Speaker 1: for our twenty twenty five, twenty six and the NFL realizes, man,

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Speaker 1: we just got to keep it an indie. I mean,

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Speaker 1: does it almost at this point with the critical mass

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Speaker 1: of pushing to get it, you know, why can't we

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Speaker 1: move it. Like you said, Chris, you think it almost

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Speaker 1: if it leaves, then it'll come back and it'll be permanent. Potentially.

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Speaker 1: I think there's a great likelihood in the next few

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Speaker 1: years that the NFL Combine gets rotated, not because we

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Speaker 1: don't want it, but because it's it's the desire of

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Speaker 1: the NFL in its ownership, and I think there's a

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Speaker 1: great likelihood that it rotates more permanently through Indianapolis, if

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Speaker 1: not each and every year on a pretty routine basis,

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Speaker 1: because of the medical and because of the efficiency, as

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Speaker 1: you say, Matt, to pull off the event that would

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Speaker 1: be where I'm at right now now. Didn't know we

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Speaker 1: were going to renew it for two years, so we

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Speaker 1: could be in a scenario where they give it to

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Speaker 1: us for another year to say, twenty twenty five, and

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Speaker 1: then the future host city comes in and has to

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Speaker 1: learn the medical and learn our playbook. We're really the

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Speaker 1: only city where we are the only city who has

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Speaker 1: the combine execution playbook. And when Jeff Foster and the

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Speaker 1: National Combine folks are officed here, they're in Indy. We

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Speaker 1: get the benefit of working with them year round, not

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Speaker 1: just this week, and so that continuity is also important

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Speaker 1: and why we win the talking about the efficiency of

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Speaker 1: the process. You know, the amount of personnel that come

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Speaker 1: here from NFL teams, coaches, executives, scouts, medical staff. The

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Speaker 1: efficiency of their time is so valuable when you're trying

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Speaker 1: to meet with how many prospects got invited three hundred

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Speaker 1: and fifty Ye, you're trying to meet with as many

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Speaker 1: of them as possible. If that efficiency decreases, does that

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Speaker 1: then potentially decrease the number of NFL personnel who believe

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Speaker 1: it's worth coming here. I think that's a valid point.

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Speaker 1: You've got strength conditioning, you've got those who are who

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Speaker 1: are doing psychological testing, more interview testing than the physical testing. Right.

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Speaker 1: So I do think if it's not as efficient, if

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Speaker 1: it's not as if the time to get to the

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Speaker 1: host city, to get around the host city, and then

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Speaker 1: to see the prospects in every aspect of the word,

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Speaker 1: if it's not as efficient, then I think you're right.

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Speaker 1: I think less personnel probably travel. There's an expense thing too, right,

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Speaker 1: So we're an affordable city. Okay, you can get here,

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Speaker 1: you can stay here, you can traverse here very affordably

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Speaker 1: and very efficiently. So if you're really trying to inform

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Speaker 1: your draft decision making, there is no better city. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I know I've asked you this before, but from an

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Speaker 1: Indianapolis standpoint, why does it mean so much to Indianapolis?

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Speaker 1: Why do you want it to come back here every year?

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Speaker 1: There's a stewardship we feel in this event. We have

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Speaker 1: seen so many of these NFL stars come through indian

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Speaker 1: have this first positive experience on their road to becoming drafted,

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Speaker 1: on their road to becoming an NFL making their dream happen.

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Speaker 1: Having the NFL brass here, having the league here, that

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Speaker 1: helps us position Indie. Let's say we want to go

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Speaker 1: for a draft. Let's say we want to go for

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Speaker 1: another super Bowl. There's there's an inherent benefit to having

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Speaker 1: the NFL here for a week to see our city

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Speaker 1: and our city growing. So that's a benefit. Of course

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Speaker 1: the media. The media love Indianapolis. They banter about Indianapolis,

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Speaker 1: and that is unbelievable marketing exposure to position us as

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Speaker 1: a sports minds free too free. I love it when

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Speaker 1: your bid last year, what changes did you have to make?

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Speaker 1: What tweaks did you have to make to the combine

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Speaker 1: experience in order to have that bid go over the

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Speaker 1: top great question, we had to have the outside Combine

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Speaker 1: experience piece. So on the south side of Lucas Oil Stadium,

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Speaker 1: in the shadow of the building, you can do pass

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Speaker 1: punt kick. There's food and beverage and live music and

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Speaker 1: so fans will be able to step outside for the

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Speaker 1: first time. And they picked up an exhibit from the

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Speaker 1: Super Bowl experience and they brought it over he at

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Speaker 1: Indy and it's outside Lucas Oil and then inside you

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Speaker 1: can go the inside look. You can sit in the

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Speaker 1: South Bowl really good seats and watch these prospects and

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Speaker 1: listen in to Reggie Wayne as he tells you what's

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Speaker 1: going on with your own headphones. So we had to

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Speaker 1: retool and make room for the outside portion of the

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Speaker 1: NFL Combine experience in addition to growing the inside look,

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Speaker 1: and that took a lot of time and effort and energy.

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Speaker 1: If the Combine does stay here, I mean, obviously it's

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Speaker 1: going to be here next year, but where do you

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Speaker 1: envision the Combine going as an event if you were

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Speaker 1: to keep it here in Indianapolis. The NFL has an

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Speaker 1: appetite for more fan facing activation. You see Noble here.

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Speaker 1: You see other major sponsors. They want to activate and

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Speaker 1: monetize every day, every hour, and you'll see that footprint

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Speaker 1: inside and outside the stadium being even more fan accessible,

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Speaker 1: even more loud and boisterous, even more personalities and legends

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Speaker 1: coming through the sign autographs and do chalk talks. That's

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Speaker 1: how they're wanting this to evolve over a four or

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Speaker 1: five day event. How much support do you and visit India.

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Speaker 1: How much support do you guys get from the local

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Speaker 1: government other civic leaders in your pursuit to keep the

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Speaker 1: combine here. I cannot articulate the value of our Indianapolis

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Speaker 1: cults from mister Erse, the entire Ersey family, Chris Ballard,

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Speaker 1: Pete Ward, their entire team prioritizes keeping the combine they

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Speaker 1: have and they've always been accessible and helpful behind the scenes,

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Speaker 1: very formally in front the mayor, the governor, engage. They

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Speaker 1: want to keep this. Our hotels, the Indiana Sports Corps,

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Speaker 1: the Indiana Convention Center in Lucas Oil Stadium. Team we

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Speaker 1: work year round to pull off this week and then

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Speaker 1: to keep this week. The reason why my voice sounds

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Speaker 1: a little bit hoarse right now is because I took

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Speaker 1: advantage of Combine week and I had a very nice

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Speaker 1: to innerd Ocean Air last night with some some old

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Speaker 1: friends and then made the poor great decision to go

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Speaker 1: out to Prime. Yeah, and then to go to High Velocity,

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Speaker 1: and uh boy, my voice is a little bit shot.

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Speaker 1: I think you sound better nah stuff or not? I

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Speaker 1: sound I sound worse because I was out the one

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Speaker 1: am well. But like that's the combine for me, for

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Speaker 1: me as a as a media member, the combine is

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Speaker 1: it's a convention where you know, you're I'm talking to

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Speaker 1: a Texans writer at Prime at midnight about what they're

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Speaker 1: gonna do at quarterback and getting some intel on that,

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Speaker 1: and then you go to you know, go across to

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Speaker 1: the JW and you go to High Velocity and you know,

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Speaker 1: I walked past Mike McDaniel at one o'clock in the morning,

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Speaker 1: and it's just so much fun to do that and

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Speaker 1: to have all these conversations that if the combine moved,

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Speaker 1: I think every media member you talk about that they'd

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Speaker 1: be so sad because there wouldn't be those congregating places.

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Speaker 1: It wouldn't be people. We're going to Saint Almos and

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Speaker 1: then we're going to Prime when they take all the

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Speaker 1: tables away and we're drinking light beer at Prime and

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Speaker 1: then we're going to you know, High Velocity. Just that

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Speaker 1: when you talk about the camaraderie of it, it's a

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Speaker 1: real thing among the media members, among I think probably

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Speaker 1: a lot of the staff that come here, the agents

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Speaker 1: that are here. It's a real special thing. It is,

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Speaker 1: and it's felt and it's camaraderie. It's the fact that

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Speaker 1: we are walkable city and so you bump into people,

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Speaker 1: you see people. Do you know how many Indianapolis residents

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Speaker 1: and visitors come and they stand right outside here and

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Speaker 1: they want to get autographed. Yeah, if you love football,

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Speaker 1: college or pro, you come to the episode of The

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Speaker 1: Football Universe and you can see all these superstaries. Isn't

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Speaker 1: that what Dan grossiout. We had Dan Grauziano from ESPN

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Speaker 1: on yesterday. He's like, if I want to be back

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Speaker 1: to my hotel room by eleven, let's say I have

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Speaker 1: to leave at ten, SAT almost by ten, because I

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Speaker 1: got a budget to three people. I'm gonna walk into,

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Speaker 1: you know, on the street or in the hotel lobby

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Speaker 1: to get up to my hotel room. Yeah right, yeah, yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's real. That's to replicate Yeah, it's hard to replicate.

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Speaker 1: I don't think you could replicate it in another setting

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Speaker 1: because Indianapolis is so everything's so centrally located here. You

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Speaker 1: mentioned the one roof philosophy where if you're staying at

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Speaker 1: the JW theoretically you don't have to you know, you

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Speaker 1: don't have to leave the hotel, the building, you don't

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Speaker 1: have to go walk outside. It's it's a great setup

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Speaker 1: because I know you gotta go, and we really appreciate

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Speaker 1: your time before I let you go. The NBA All

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Speaker 1: Star Game is coming next February. Talk it up if

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Speaker 1: you can shed some light on that and what you

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Speaker 1: guys have planned, don't without giving too much away. Well thanks, Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So a couple weeks ago, Indie delegation travel to Salt

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Speaker 1: Lake and we met with the NBA. We we looked

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Speaker 1: at the event. We've done this before, but now we're

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Speaker 1: on the clock. Right, so less than twelve months, you're

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Speaker 1: going to see a lot of public art and activation,

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Speaker 1: some of our empty storefronts coming alive with temporary places

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Speaker 1: to eat and die and hang out. It is in

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Speaker 1: an event we haven't hosted since nineteen eighty five. Right,

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Speaker 1: Jordan was a rookie. Yeah, this will be Lebron's NBA

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Speaker 1: All Star Games. We're doing some special things there. We've

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Speaker 1: engaged Oscar robertson, Wow, Larry Bird will be back, Reggie

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Speaker 1: of course again, the epicenter of the sports media world

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Speaker 1: will be an Indie. It's an international attended events. And

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Speaker 1: what we're working through is that Friday, Saturday is Sunday.

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Speaker 1: It's a it's a whole weekend, right, So you got

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Speaker 1: the celebrity game on Friday, You've got Slam Dunk three

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Speaker 1: point on Saturday, and then of course the actual NBA

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Speaker 1: All Star Game on Sunday. So we're going to do

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Speaker 1: a lot of programming for locals to get downtown even

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Speaker 1: if you don't have a game ticket, and inside this

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Speaker 1: building will be a fan experience where you can shoot

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Speaker 1: hoops and see legends and basketball is a big deal

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Speaker 1: in Indiana. So thanks for asking. We're on the clock.

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Speaker 1: The NBA feels confident where we're going. We're starting to

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Speaker 1: look at charities that we might want to engage in

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Speaker 1: other kind of give back legacy projects which have now

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Speaker 1: been in the making because we thought we were going

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Speaker 1: to host in twenty one. Bom what a blessing to

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Speaker 1: have it in twenty four, Gamebridge nearly four hundred million

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Speaker 1: dollars renovations spectaculars to show that place off. Yeah, the

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Speaker 1: Simon family talked about the use family. The Simon family

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Speaker 1: just gives, and they were there and they were engaged

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Speaker 1: and they're not letting go. This is gonna be a

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Speaker 1: really unique event next February. Can't wait for Georgia Street

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Speaker 1: gonna be rolling, just like it was for the Super

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Speaker 1: Bowl in two twelve. I love when those pictures pop up,

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Speaker 1: by the way, like you know, your rolodex of pictures

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Speaker 1: pop up in the memory bank and those that that

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Speaker 1: was just such a great time. And next February and

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty four is going to be right up there.

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Speaker 1: That's Chris Golf from visit Endy. Always a pleasure to

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Speaker 1: speak with you, sir. Thank you for all that you

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Speaker 1: do for the Colts, the city of Indianapolis, and here's

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Speaker 1: to another great successful combine. Thanks for having me on, guys,