1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,680
Speaker 1: Welcome everybody. My name is John Schmelt. Today's guests. We

2
00:00:02,759 --> 00:00:06,840
Speaker 1: welcome in the Giants Chief Commercial Officer Pete Gwilly Pete,

3
00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:08,920
Speaker 1: thanks so much for the time. How are you and

4
00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:11,680
Speaker 1: your family doing through this very unique time in our country.

5
00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,760
Speaker 1: We're you know, we're doing as well as can be expected. Johnson,

6
00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:17,400
Speaker 1: and you know, I'm done in Charlotte right now, you know,

7
00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:19,520
Speaker 1: anticipating kind of back in New Jersey in a few weeks.

8
00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:23,840
Speaker 1: It's been an interesting window and time, but everyone's doing well,

9
00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:26,319
Speaker 1: and I think that's the important thing. What has what

10
00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:28,640
Speaker 1: has it been like for you? What's your basic day

11
00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:31,720
Speaker 1: like working from home? Yeah, it's interesting. I didn't know

12
00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,040
Speaker 1: what to expect at first. Um I've always been an

13
00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:36,320
Speaker 1: office guy, probably like you know, a lot of people

14
00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:39,880
Speaker 1: just traditionally had been in the office and head that

15
00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:42,200
Speaker 1: as my base camp. Um, so I was a little

16
00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:46,080
Speaker 1: reluctant to even look at how things can work out remotely.

17
00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:48,919
Speaker 1: But I've been pleasantly surprised. I mean, it's it's been

18
00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,280
Speaker 1: a grind because you you wake up in your office

19
00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:52,919
Speaker 1: and you go to sleep in your office, so you're

20
00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:55,280
Speaker 1: putting in a lot of hours. But I've been really

21
00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:57,840
Speaker 1: amazed at how productive it's been, not just a mind

22
00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,959
Speaker 1: but everybody on my staff. They've they've got a lot

23
00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:03,680
Speaker 1: more done than I really thought was even possible. What

24
00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:06,280
Speaker 1: were some of the challenges, Pete, that you anticipated when

25
00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:08,240
Speaker 1: all this started, and what are some of the things

26
00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:10,240
Speaker 1: that maybe has surprised you a little bit? You know,

27
00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,040
Speaker 1: I was just really worried about communication being in the office,

28
00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:15,679
Speaker 1: um with the staff being able to walk out the

29
00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:17,760
Speaker 1: door and have a conversation with anybody any time, and

30
00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:20,800
Speaker 1: then you know, you know what, John, our businesses extremely fluid.

31
00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:22,840
Speaker 1: There's a lot going on at any one time. Things

32
00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,040
Speaker 1: can change out a dime, and you know, you need

33
00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:27,840
Speaker 1: to have a lot of conversations during the day to

34
00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,600
Speaker 1: potentially pivot, you know, in different directions. I was concerned

35
00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:34,280
Speaker 1: about that, but you know, it's really been the opposite.

36
00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:38,200
Speaker 1: With the technology available to us, and honestly, with people's

37
00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:42,160
Speaker 1: schedule and they're just being constantly available to you day, night, weekends.

38
00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:44,800
Speaker 1: You know, we've been able to bridge those communication gaps

39
00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:46,520
Speaker 1: and get as many things done. I think is we

40
00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,120
Speaker 1: need to get ready for the season. You know, we've

41
00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,040
Speaker 1: talked about some of the challenges, but with challenges sometimes

42
00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,080
Speaker 1: you have new opportunities and you see things that maybe

43
00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:58,120
Speaker 1: you could apply when things returned to normal. What are

44
00:01:58,120 --> 00:01:59,680
Speaker 1: some of the things, Pete that you've seen during this

45
00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:03,520
Speaker 1: pro says that might change the way the Giants business? Yeah,

46
00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:05,440
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's interesting in general. I think anytime

47
00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:07,720
Speaker 1: something like this takes place, it forces you to re

48
00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,960
Speaker 1: evaluate and rethink everything. So you know things are going

49
00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:12,960
Speaker 1: to change, and you know there are gonna be opportunities.

50
00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:16,440
Speaker 1: I think in in our case, it's solidified some some

51
00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:18,920
Speaker 1: things that we were looking at directionally. You know, we

52
00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:23,080
Speaker 1: were making this directed consumer pivot, right we were moving

53
00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:25,520
Speaker 1: in a digital direction as it was. We wanted to

54
00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:30,160
Speaker 1: really invest in content and grow our platforms and create

55
00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:32,320
Speaker 1: a directed consumer juggernaut. And I think all this has

56
00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,040
Speaker 1: proven to me is that that's really where we need

57
00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:37,880
Speaker 1: to be investing moving forward. So fortunately we had a

58
00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:40,240
Speaker 1: little bit of a jump on it, and people have

59
00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:42,200
Speaker 1: been able to be so effective remotely that we've been

60
00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,360
Speaker 1: able to activate around all these platforms, and um, you know,

61
00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,080
Speaker 1: if anything, I think it's gonna solidified the direction that

62
00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:49,920
Speaker 1: we wanted to go in, and we're more committed and

63
00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:52,040
Speaker 1: more resolute than ever about what we need to do

64
00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,480
Speaker 1: as an organization. With that in mind, what maybe are

65
00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:57,000
Speaker 1: some of the new things that you think might be

66
00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,000
Speaker 1: in store for the Giants moving forward. Well, it's probab

67
00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,000
Speaker 1: had a big surprise. I mean, you know, those brick

68
00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:03,919
Speaker 1: and mortar in person events are going to be a

69
00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:05,680
Speaker 1: little bit more challenging. You know, we've had something that

70
00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:07,560
Speaker 1: we just couldn't conduct like we have in the past.

71
00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:12,080
Speaker 1: So everything's moving to virtual formats. And you know, we

72
00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,080
Speaker 1: did that around the draft and we had a tremendous

73
00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,919
Speaker 1: amount of success. We're getting ready to move some other

74
00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,120
Speaker 1: events to virtual formats that you know, we think are

75
00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,440
Speaker 1: going to be successful, and we're in the process of

76
00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:24,440
Speaker 1: creating more. You know what what I found through this

77
00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,520
Speaker 1: processes you know, we we it's we're in person business

78
00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:30,200
Speaker 1: and nothing is better than a game day on a

79
00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:34,279
Speaker 1: Sunday with eighty thousand people in the stadium. But offseason,

80
00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:36,040
Speaker 1: you know, there's a lot of different events we've done

81
00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:38,920
Speaker 1: to engage customers. You can only get so many of

82
00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,920
Speaker 1: them there in person, but we can reach an unlimited

83
00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:46,119
Speaker 1: number or our constituents digitally. So you know, we've made

84
00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:48,440
Speaker 1: that transition, and I mean we found in some ways.

85
00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:49,840
Speaker 1: It's been good for us because there's a lot of

86
00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:52,480
Speaker 1: people that just physically can't make it places. Now we

87
00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:53,800
Speaker 1: can get to them no matter where they are in

88
00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:56,720
Speaker 1: the world. How have you found the engagement level of

89
00:03:56,760 --> 00:03:59,560
Speaker 1: the fans? Is it very high? Normal? Is it more

90
00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,440
Speaker 1: so than usual? You know, I found it to be higher.

91
00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:04,960
Speaker 1: You know, I think as we've kind of systematically gone

92
00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:08,240
Speaker 1: through the offseason and we started with free agency, and

93
00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:09,920
Speaker 1: then we moved into the draft, and then we had

94
00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:12,640
Speaker 1: a scheduled release and our numbers from a digital standpoint

95
00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:14,760
Speaker 1: are through the roof. You know, every single metric that

96
00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:17,320
Speaker 1: we measure our digital business by is up, and it's

97
00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:21,600
Speaker 1: up significantly. So the engagement level has been particularly high. Obviously,

98
00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:23,760
Speaker 1: it's been a big focus for us as well. But

99
00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:25,839
Speaker 1: you know, that's been kind of a pleasant surprise. Through

100
00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:29,640
Speaker 1: all those people are are hungry for content, they want distractions.

101
00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,400
Speaker 1: I think it's just, you know, striking the right tone

102
00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,600
Speaker 1: is really important. But we found that our our customers

103
00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,719
Speaker 1: have been more engaged than ever and p obviously, going

104
00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,600
Speaker 1: back to the big picture of perspective, New York and

105
00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,039
Speaker 1: New Jersey is at the epicenter of this pandemic. What

106
00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:49,520
Speaker 1: unique challenges. Do you think that that puts in front

107
00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,039
Speaker 1: of the Giants and other New York teams and maybe

108
00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:54,640
Speaker 1: teams and other regions don't have to deal with because

109
00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,479
Speaker 1: they haven't faced as many cases. Yeah, you know, I mean,

110
00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:00,520
Speaker 1: the scale of the National Football League is passive, but

111
00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,400
Speaker 1: the local markets are always critical to your business. And

112
00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:07,520
Speaker 1: in the Tristate area, we have the largest local market

113
00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,160
Speaker 1: of any team in the National Football League is somewhere

114
00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:14,000
Speaker 1: in the neighborhood of twenty six million people. Under normal circumstances,

115
00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,800
Speaker 1: that is a massive advantage for us. However, you know,

116
00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,720
Speaker 1: because it's so densely populated, with some of the challenges

117
00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:24,200
Speaker 1: that we've had, it's more difficult to activate than maybe

118
00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:26,960
Speaker 1: some other smaller markets might be right now. So that's

119
00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:29,479
Speaker 1: probably been the biggest difference. Something that's been a big

120
00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:31,720
Speaker 1: advantage for us, has been a little bit more of

121
00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,040
Speaker 1: a challenge. I think. Um that kind of lends itself

122
00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:36,240
Speaker 1: to the discussion we're having around digital, you know, and

123
00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:38,039
Speaker 1: making sure that we can still reach people that we

124
00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:41,880
Speaker 1: need to reach in a massively populated area even as

125
00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,400
Speaker 1: we're going through this transition and hopefully phasing out. You know,

126
00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,599
Speaker 1: some of these circumstances that we're currently in. But that's

127
00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:51,880
Speaker 1: that's what's been interesting to me, is trying to navigate

128
00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:56,240
Speaker 1: a person marketplace that usually has been um, you know,

129
00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:58,120
Speaker 1: extremely important to our business, but now we have to

130
00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:00,720
Speaker 1: look at it totally differently. Now, Pete, obviously there's a

131
00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:02,560
Speaker 1: lot of time here and a lot of unknowns, things

132
00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,320
Speaker 1: that we can never expect might happen between now and September.

133
00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:08,680
Speaker 1: But right now as we speak, what's your anticipation of

134
00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,800
Speaker 1: how this pandemic might affect the NFL season moving forward?

135
00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:13,680
Speaker 1: You and I don't think we know right now. John.

136
00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:15,040
Speaker 1: I think what we're trying to do is plan for

137
00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:18,120
Speaker 1: a number of scenarios. But most importantly, you know, as

138
00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,160
Speaker 1: you know, we're trying to check the box and everything

139
00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:22,159
Speaker 1: that we can control. And I think that's why the

140
00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:24,280
Speaker 1: league went ahead with free agency and obviously that went

141
00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:26,680
Speaker 1: off without a hitch. You know, the draft was incredibly

142
00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:28,599
Speaker 1: well executed, and we talked about the schedule at least,

143
00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:31,080
Speaker 1: you know, if you don't check those boxes, then there's

144
00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:33,159
Speaker 1: no way that you can have a season. So I

145
00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:35,520
Speaker 1: think making sure that we're getting the things done that

146
00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:38,200
Speaker 1: we can get done that are under our control right now.

147
00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:41,479
Speaker 1: To put ourselves in the absolute best position is what's

148
00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:43,920
Speaker 1: been really important. You know, we're obviously in lockstep with

149
00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,880
Speaker 1: the league and we're awaiting guidance from them realtive the season,

150
00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,160
Speaker 1: but right now, you know, we're well positioned and we're

151
00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:52,240
Speaker 1: trying to proceed with business as usual as much as

152
00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:55,599
Speaker 1: we can. How helpful is it, Pete to see leagues

153
00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:58,599
Speaker 1: like the NHL, like the NBA, Major League Baseball either

154
00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,560
Speaker 1: trying to begin their seasons or restart them to see

155
00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:03,560
Speaker 1: what works, what doesn't, and how can you use them

156
00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:06,520
Speaker 1: as an example as the NFL begins to plan their

157
00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:10,320
Speaker 1: strategy to start taking Yeah, and I think it's incredibly helpful.

158
00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:12,640
Speaker 1: It's nice to have some benchmarks, and we listen more

159
00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:14,760
Speaker 1: more so than I think. You know, we're getting ready

160
00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:18,120
Speaker 1: to open our facility on a limited basis over the

161
00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,960
Speaker 1: next couple of weeks, and the whole priority for us

162
00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,920
Speaker 1: has been the safety of our employees, of our players,

163
00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:26,800
Speaker 1: and the fans. And you know, we're building protocols to

164
00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:28,600
Speaker 1: make sure that we can bring every back and back

165
00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:32,000
Speaker 1: in the most productive, safe fashion that we possibly ken. Um.

166
00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:33,880
Speaker 1: But Yeah, to be able to kind of lean on

167
00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:37,560
Speaker 1: examples from other leagues and other sports and other teams

168
00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:40,480
Speaker 1: to help us create the right benchmarks has been is

169
00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,400
Speaker 1: very valuable and we're going to continue to learn. You know,

170
00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,640
Speaker 1: we've got some systems in place that we're comfortable with UM,

171
00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:49,000
Speaker 1: but we know as other organizations and other leagues start

172
00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:51,000
Speaker 1: to come back, we'll learn from everything that they're doing.

173
00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:53,840
Speaker 1: From a business perspective, Pete, how have you kept morale

174
00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,880
Speaker 1: up with partners, even with employees UM the players to

175
00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:00,080
Speaker 1: a certain extent, How have you just been trying to

176
00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,240
Speaker 1: keep everybody up and going forward despite the fact that

177
00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,640
Speaker 1: we haven't seen each other in person in over two months.

178
00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:07,840
Speaker 1: We haven't been in the office yet, we're all still

179
00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:10,040
Speaker 1: trying to keep the train moving down the tracks. Yes,

180
00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:12,720
Speaker 1: things just like this, John, It's really been all about communication.

181
00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,160
Speaker 1: You know, I've not deviated from my weekly meeting schedule.

182
00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:18,600
Speaker 1: You know, we're just doing them through the technology that's

183
00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:22,000
Speaker 1: available to us. Every couple of weeks, made sure that

184
00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,239
Speaker 1: I've spoken to literally every single person on our staff.

185
00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:28,360
Speaker 1: Set up calls each person to make sure that they

186
00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:30,680
Speaker 1: feel connected to what's going on, because I don't want

187
00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:32,120
Speaker 1: to I don't want anyone to feel like they're left

188
00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:35,480
Speaker 1: out and don't have are comfortable you know where we're

189
00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:38,480
Speaker 1: going directionally. Um. And then we've had group you know,

190
00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,679
Speaker 1: massive group calls, had one the other day for about

191
00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:43,800
Speaker 1: sixty of our employees all the same time and kind

192
00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,360
Speaker 1: of went through you know, some of our business planning,

193
00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:48,880
Speaker 1: where we're currently at and directionally where we're going. So,

194
00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,439
Speaker 1: more than anything else, is about communication internally. If you

195
00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:54,480
Speaker 1: can't get it internally, you can't there's no way to

196
00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,440
Speaker 1: get externally. And then from an external standpoint, um, you know,

197
00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:01,320
Speaker 1: we've been extremely proactive. You know, our customer service team

198
00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:06,040
Speaker 1: has literally made thousands upon thousands of calls to our customers,

199
00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:08,959
Speaker 1: to l holders and to sponsors again to make sure

200
00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,760
Speaker 1: that we're communicating with them, giving them the extra latest information,

201
00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:14,400
Speaker 1: finding out what's happening with them on their side, and

202
00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:16,560
Speaker 1: then making sure we're being proactive. So if there is

203
00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:18,520
Speaker 1: something that we can work on together, if there is

204
00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:20,440
Speaker 1: something we can help with, if there's something that we

205
00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:22,720
Speaker 1: can react to, we don't want to be prepared to

206
00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:24,560
Speaker 1: do it. You know, we made that decision from day

207
00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:27,920
Speaker 1: one that we're working high. Um, we're working again a rock.

208
00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,040
Speaker 1: We're going to be proactive. We're going to communicate with

209
00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:32,320
Speaker 1: our customers, and we're gonna be as transparent as we

210
00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,560
Speaker 1: possibly could so we can all prepare and all work

211
00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,920
Speaker 1: through this together. This was fantastic, great information. Thank you

212
00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:40,120
Speaker 1: so much for the time, and hopefully we'll see a

213
00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:43,000
Speaker 1: lot of Giant players on the field in September playing

214
00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,040
Speaker 1: the game everybody wants to watch. We're looking forward to it, John,

215
00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,560
Speaker 1: thanks for having me. Pete Gulli you can He's the

216
00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:51,440
Speaker 1: Giants Chief commercial officer and this interview was brought to

217
00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,320
Speaker 1: you by Investors Bank, the official consumer and business bank

218
00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,280
Speaker 1: of the New York Football Giants. Thanks for joining us.

219
00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:57,719
Speaker 1: Everybody stay safe out there.