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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News. Welcome to The Deal.

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Speaker 2: I'm your host, Jason Kelly here with my partner Alex Rodriguez. Alex,

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Speaker 2: we're going to get to our interview with Midge Purse.

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Speaker 2: She's a rock star. I'm so excited for this conversation

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Speaker 2: in just a few minutes. One of the reasons I

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Speaker 2: wanted to talk to her is she's going to be

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Speaker 2: on hand for the Power Players event that's happening maybe

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Speaker 2: the day that you're listening to this everybody, it's going

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Speaker 2: to be happening September fifth at Bloomberg Headquarters. We're super

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Speaker 2: excited you're going to be there. I'm going to be there.

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Speaker 2: This is your vibe, man like it is all of

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Speaker 2: our people in New York. On the occasion of the

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Speaker 2: US Open happening in New York. We're going to have

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Speaker 2: a lot of conversations. That day, you and I are

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Speaker 2: going to tape an episode of this show The Deal

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Speaker 2: with a special guest, so stay tuned for that.

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Speaker 1: But I'm so sited you're coming to New York for this.

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Speaker 3: Well, I'm so excited, Jason. It's always good to go

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Speaker 3: to New York and when you start seeing feeling the

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Speaker 3: US Open.

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Speaker 4: It meant two things.

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Speaker 3: Better weather as a player, yeah, and October baseball is

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Speaker 3: right around the corner. So as a Yankee, it's very exciting.

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Speaker 3: US Open. Fashion Week is around the corner and right

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Speaker 3: for me. But like Power Players is like a dream, right,

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Speaker 3: because is what the deal is all about, is how

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Speaker 3: we started the show, Jason, where it is the intersection

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Speaker 3: between sports, media, entertainment, and culture. And I'm always intrigued

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Speaker 3: to see different angles owners talking, players talking, and I

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Speaker 3: always feel a little bit richer and smarter when I

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Speaker 3: leave those conferences.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, and I'm psyched you're going to be there

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Speaker 2: and obviously not just be there, but be participating. I

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Speaker 2: know we're going to have a lot of side conversations where,

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Speaker 2: let's be honest, we're going to be recruiting for this show,

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Speaker 2: a lot of people that we wanted who are going

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Speaker 2: to be in that room, who someday will end up

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Speaker 2: on this show, some who already have been. I'm glad

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Speaker 2: you mentioned the culture piece because it is this funny

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Speaker 2: moment in New York and I think you'll agree with

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Speaker 2: this too. This is the week that New York gets

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Speaker 2: back to business, right, and it reminds everybody. It's like, Okay,

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Speaker 2: this is the fourth major tennis tournament. It's the one

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Speaker 2: everybody has circled on their calendar.

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Speaker 1: Is the most New York event that there is.

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Speaker 2: We are talking to Billy Jean King for an upcoming

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Speaker 2: episode of this show about how incredible the US Open

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Speaker 2: is in terms of like not just tennis, but the

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Speaker 2: New York of it all. But also, as you said,

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Speaker 2: fashion Week is happening, and everybody's like, come back from

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Speaker 2: the Hamptons or from Nantucket or from Martha's vineyard, and

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Speaker 2: they're sort of getting back to business. So it's a

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Speaker 2: nice moment to bring everybody together. Speaking of business, can

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Speaker 2: we talk a little bit about private equity recently approved

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Speaker 2: to come into the NFL. Yes, we knew it was coming,

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Speaker 2: but how important is this in your mind?

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Speaker 3: First of all, it had to happen, and anybody who

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Speaker 3: thought things opposite, they're just fighting logic and data. The

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Speaker 3: facts of the matter are is that these franchise values,

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Speaker 3: especially in the NFL, have balloon and rocket so quickly

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Speaker 3: to these enormous enterprise values. Last I read, the Cowboys

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Speaker 3: are almost any eleven billion dollar enterprise. Imagine having about

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Speaker 3: ten percent of that team, you would have to write

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Speaker 3: a check for a billion a billion one and there's

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Speaker 3: just not enough you know, people out there with these

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Speaker 3: type of balance sheets. So I think it's great they

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Speaker 3: picked really really respected private equity groups and NFL got

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Speaker 3: their cakes and eyed it too, as they deserve it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So, Alex, here the basics when it comes to

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Speaker 2: private equity provisionally approving eight funds. But what's interesting is

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Speaker 2: it's actually four groups, so there's a lot of math

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Speaker 2: involved here. But I think notably these are names that

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Speaker 2: we really know, Arctose, six Street Aries, those are all individuals.

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Speaker 2: And then there's a consortium that's comprising Dynasty Equity that's

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Speaker 2: Don Cornwell and Jonathan Nelson's firm Blackstone, and Carlisle obviously

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Speaker 2: very well known to us CVC Capital Partners. They've done

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Speaker 2: as much in sports anyone, and Loutis, which is actually

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Speaker 2: a platform founded by Hall of Fame running back Curtis Martin.

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Speaker 2: What I find so fascinating about this is there was

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Speaker 2: clearly a ton of interest here and the NFL is

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Speaker 2: definitely navigating how to bring different types of money into

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Speaker 2: the table.

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Speaker 3: Plus, yeah, Jason, your favorite team is the Falcons Atlanta

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Speaker 3: minus the Dolphins. You and I can maybe write a

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Speaker 3: check for two hundred and fifty thousand or five hundred,

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Speaker 3: depending on the limit, probably higher, but for all purposes,

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Speaker 3: you and I can own a little sliver of our

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Speaker 3: favorite teams. Which that retail market is really really broad

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Speaker 3: and wide, which means enterprise values for the NFL will

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Speaker 3: continue to rise.

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Speaker 4: There's another good reason for that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's funny.

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Speaker 2: I know you've been This is a shameless plug and

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Speaker 2: I'm going to use you like effortlessly here. You've been

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Speaker 2: reading a book that I wrote ten years ago now,

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Speaker 2: which I's sort of cheekily subtitled it's about private equity,

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Speaker 2: is called the new Tycoons inside the three trillion dollar

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Speaker 2: which is way lower than it is now. Private equity

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Speaker 2: industry that owns everything, but they really do like own

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Speaker 2: so much at this point. And to see them move

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Speaker 2: into sports in a very meaningful way says a couple

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Speaker 2: things to me. You know, One is they're hungry for deals.

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Speaker 2: The second is there's real value still on the upside,

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Speaker 2: which I think you certainly appreciate as a sports team owner,

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Speaker 2: because if institutions looked at this and said, Yeah, I'm

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Speaker 2: just not sure that there's real money to be made here.

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Speaker 2: They wouldn't be scrambling the way that they are to

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Speaker 2: get into these teams, and the franchise values are going

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Speaker 2: to continue to go up.

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Speaker 4: I absolutely love it.

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Speaker 3: And look the NFL, as they say, the power of

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Speaker 3: the shield, they have the luxury not only to go

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Speaker 3: last right from all the major other sports institutions, but

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Speaker 3: they get to set their exact terms that they want.

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Speaker 3: These are the eight funds that are going to be approved.

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Speaker 3: These are our terms. If you flinch, you're out. We'll

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Speaker 3: go to seven over replace you really quickly. Oh and

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Speaker 3: by the way, the reason and why I also love

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Speaker 3: this besides institution and opening up the retail market for

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Speaker 3: investors like you and I, but it's also not correlated

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Speaker 3: to the market, so it's a great investment. What I

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Speaker 3: mean by that is in two thousand and eight, when

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Speaker 3: the world was falling apart, NFL teams were just doing

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Speaker 3: just fine. Those TV money just kept coming in and

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Speaker 3: in COVID nothing happened, not even a flinch. NFL teams

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Speaker 3: continue to plow through. This is why investors like it

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Speaker 3: and family offices more and more. One to get into

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Speaker 3: sports because if Amazon's down or Netflix down, or SMP

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Speaker 3: five hundred is down, Nasdac's down, your NFL team usually

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Speaker 3: is going up and up and up.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it is. You're right. It's the power

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Speaker 1: of the shield.

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Speaker 2: And what's interesting, you know, sort of dovetailing with the

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Speaker 2: conversation that you're about to hear with Midge perse everyone,

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Speaker 2: is that the NWSL, as you know Alex was the

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Speaker 2: first US league to allow institutional owners as majority owners

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Speaker 2: in a league, and so Alan Waxman and his colleagues

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Speaker 2: at Sixth Street, they are the control owners of BAFC.

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Speaker 2: They're partners with our friend Brandy Chastain and several other

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Speaker 2: former players and other notables like Cheryl Sandberg, but they

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Speaker 2: are the control owner. We're a long way from that,

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Speaker 2: I think with the NFL. The NFL doesn't need institutional

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Speaker 2: money to be control owners. But you sort of play

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Speaker 2: it through the whole idea of institutional ownership in sports

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Speaker 2: redefines this as an asset class. And it's a theme

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Speaker 2: that we know we're going to hear a lot about

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Speaker 2: at Power Players, and it's something that we talked to

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Speaker 2: Midge person about. So without further Ado. Here's our interview

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Speaker 2: with soccer star Midge purst So joining US now. Midge

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Speaker 2: Perse She's a forward for the US women's national team.

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Speaker 2: She's on Gotham FC, she's a producer, a rock star.

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Speaker 2: I got a chance to meet her in La over

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Speaker 2: the summer, Alex and basically walked out of that conversation

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Speaker 2: was like, all right, we got to get her on

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Speaker 2: the show.

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Speaker 1: So here she is. Midge, really psyched you're here, Welcome.

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Speaker 5: Thank you for having me. What a great introduction.

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Speaker 2: All right, so tell us about you, Like I want

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Speaker 2: to talk about this new show that you have, which

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Speaker 2: you know there's so many superlatives around you, but like,

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Speaker 2: give us the thirty seconds on Midge, Like, how do

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Speaker 2: you describe yourself?

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Speaker 1: How do you introduce yourself?

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Speaker 6: I always lead with what I do, So I say

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Speaker 6: I'm a footballer. I play soccer, and that's usually typically

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Speaker 6: my intro. But if I had to keep going and

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Speaker 6: you forced more worth.

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Speaker 2: Out of me, yeah, keep going, I keep going.

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Speaker 6: If I'm like describing myself, I would just say that

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Speaker 6: I'm pretty driven and just goal oriented and also very

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Speaker 6: very fun loving would just be the word that happens.

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Speaker 5: I think, I like to think I'm.

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Speaker 2: A good time when you say footballer, Like, take us back,

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Speaker 2: did you start identifying as that when you were super young?

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Speaker 2: Like I mean, did you always know that you're a

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Speaker 2: gamer and you're gonna ball?

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Speaker 5: It's so funny.

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Speaker 6: I think when I was young, if you were one

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Speaker 6: of the girls who played sports, that's who you were,

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Speaker 6: and that's how you've known, and that's how you were

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Speaker 6: identified even by teachers and other parents.

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Speaker 5: And like all adults, not just your peers. So from

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Speaker 5: a very young age, I was a soccer player.

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Speaker 6: I think my email was like soccer sixteen major, like

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Speaker 6: it was.

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Speaker 5: Like everything that I was.

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Speaker 6: And as I got older, I think I started to realize, Hey,

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Speaker 6: you don't have to be everything central to soccer, and

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Speaker 6: you can still put in the same amount of time

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Speaker 6: and have the same amount of like drive and like

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Speaker 6: live and breathe it without it being your entire identity.

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Speaker 6: But I definitely grew up like wearing my soccer zip

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Speaker 6: up to school every day.

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Speaker 3: So Midge, I love the word when you say fun

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Speaker 3: I'm going to kind of just lean into that because

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Speaker 3: I'm fascinated by incredibly talented people like yourself that are,

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Speaker 3: you know, type a as I can imagine, but also

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Speaker 3: like to have fun. So when you say you like

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Speaker 3: to have fun, does that mean you like to have

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Speaker 3: it adventures, you're spontaneous, you like to mix it up

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Speaker 3: with your girlfriends, and I go to the beach. Talk

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Speaker 3: to me about because I wish I had more fun

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Speaker 3: in my career.

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Speaker 5: No, none of the above.

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Speaker 6: Actually, when I say fun, I think that I'm really

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Speaker 6: good at finding the joy and really like monotonous, rudimentary

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Speaker 6: things like everyday life. I think that at training, kind

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Speaker 6: of one thing my coaches know me for is just

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Speaker 6: like bringing this fun energy that kind of just like

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Speaker 6: livens up a training. And that's just kind of like

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Speaker 6: how I am, for better or for worse. I have

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Speaker 6: a very infectious temperament, and people tend like sometimes adopt,

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Speaker 6: Like if I'm irritated or annoyed, like it spreads pretty quickly,

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Speaker 6: and vice versa. When I'm like really excited and happy,

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Speaker 6: like sometimes that spreads as well, and so I try

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Speaker 6: to be the latter in the former.

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Speaker 2: Walk us through sort of the early stage of your career.

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Speaker 2: You go to Harvard, you make the choice to go

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Speaker 2: to school, You're playing all along the way. Tell us

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Speaker 2: about those sort of choices in terms of developing, not

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Speaker 2: just as a player, but also it feels like early

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Speaker 2: on you've got visions and ambitions in the world beyond sport.

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Speaker 1: Is that fair?

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Speaker 6: Yes, probably for reasons that you wouldn't assume, mostly because

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Speaker 6: I had to because back when I was playing soccer,

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Speaker 6: I wanted to be on the national team the moment

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Speaker 6: I learned about the national team.

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Speaker 5: But in terms of being.

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Speaker 6: A professional soccer player, that system, that infrastructure didn't exist,

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Speaker 6: and what did exist for it was really really poor.

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Speaker 6: It was a bad It was a poorly set up

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Speaker 6: league where you made no money. So I mean, I

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Speaker 6: remember telling my dad that I was going to go

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Speaker 6: pro and he was like, no, maybe that's the one advice.

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Speaker 6: He's an advice that he gave me that that wasn't good.

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Speaker 6: Like I wasn't going to go into the league. I

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Speaker 6: went and I entered the draft without telling my dad actually,

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Speaker 6: and then got drafted.

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Speaker 5: So yeah, that's how that happened.

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Speaker 2: I want to come back to that for a second

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Speaker 2: because I want to get to this show that you

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Speaker 2: created called The off Season. It's the first of it's

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Speaker 2: kind because it's a women's soccer reality series centered on

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Speaker 2: the lies of NWSL players during the key off season

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Speaker 2: training period. And this was a big moment. It's a

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Speaker 2: big moment for this show to come out. You came

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Speaker 2: up with this, you found a partner, you went and

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Speaker 2: you did it. Tell us the story of how the

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Speaker 2: show came about.

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Speaker 5: It came about from a very real need.

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Speaker 6: We spent some time with the MLB players down in Florida,

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Speaker 6: in like near Jupiter Palm Beach where they train at Kressey.

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Speaker 5: So I mean from the experience.

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Speaker 6: As well, it's this thing in the US where both

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Speaker 6: on the men's and women's side, there isn't really a

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Speaker 6: high level training environment with everything that you need, all

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Speaker 6: the amenities the training, like everything that you need in

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Speaker 6: one place.

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Speaker 1: For soccer you're talking about.

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Speaker 6: Honestly, it's kind of the same for most sports. I mean,

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Speaker 6: you can always go to your facilities and you can

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Speaker 6: stay there, and there are just options scattered around. I

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Speaker 6: know NHL goes somewhere in Canada and then Cressy was fine,

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Speaker 6: but I wouldn't say they had everything that one would

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Speaker 6: need to really like take care of your body, Like

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Speaker 6: it's just here and there. You have to set it

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Speaker 6: up yourself and I would say that those circumstances are

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Speaker 6: exacerbated when it comes to women's soccer. So in the

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Speaker 6: off season, like that's one of the most important times

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Speaker 6: for an athlete, Like your training is so important. There's

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Speaker 6: so much opportunity to level up. You're trying to prepare

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Speaker 6: for the next season. Whether or not you had a

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Speaker 6: bad season or a good season, you always want to

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Speaker 6: do better. And I just felt it was a really

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Speaker 6: really integral part of the professional athlete experience. And finding

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Speaker 6: someone an investor who can help make that possible and

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Speaker 6: like find those facilities and set that up was part

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Speaker 6: of what happened.

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Speaker 5: And then so what happened was I called on.

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Speaker 6: My friends and I was like, Hey, will you come

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Speaker 6: down here and train because I have this idea.

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Speaker 5: I think it'll be really cool.

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Speaker 6: And when I was down there, I was watching my

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Speaker 6: friends watching all these players who I think are absolutely phenomenal,

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Speaker 6: but people don't know them because they don't plan the

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Speaker 6: national team. And for whatever reason, the way the structure

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Speaker 6: is set up in media and in eyes in the US,

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Speaker 6: you only care about the US women's national team, but

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Speaker 6: you have all these legit stars in the league who

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Speaker 6: don't get the same type of attention or investment, and

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Speaker 6: I was like, it's only because people don't know them,

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Speaker 6: and it's a lack of investment in these storylines and

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Speaker 6: these narratives.

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Speaker 5: And that's where the idea came from.

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Speaker 6: The off season is just like one arm of a

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Speaker 6: larger strategy and reforming the way in which women are

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Speaker 6: marketed in sport.

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Speaker 1: The show. You made the show the offseason?

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Speaker 6: No, I don't, actually, so that's exactly what I mean.

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Speaker 6: Everyone's like the show, the show, the show, how amazing,

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Speaker 6: And that's kind of just like one of the most prominent,

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Speaker 6: like the biggest way that we're doing it now, But

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Speaker 6: we're working on so many other kind.

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Speaker 5: Of like sports media house ish.

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Speaker 6: Endeavors in the sense where it's like you have women's

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Speaker 6: basketball March Madness next year, we have the Men's World

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Speaker 6: Cup coming to the US. If that's not a moment

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Speaker 6: for women's soccer to grow for obvious reasons, like I

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Speaker 6: don't know what is so in terms of just like

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Speaker 6: creating a lot more media and marketing around it and

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Speaker 6: kind of also advising, we kind of been functioning in

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Speaker 6: many ways as also an ad agency in a sense

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Speaker 6: where we've been doing creative for a lot of companies

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Speaker 6: who are trying to do really really authentic partnerships with athletes.

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Speaker 5: And it's really easy.

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Speaker 6: For us because we know all these players so well

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Speaker 6: and we know their story so well that instead of

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Speaker 6: taking just a single, instead of being like, oh, I

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Speaker 6: want you to hold this product up and say it's great,

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Speaker 6: blah blah blah, we can tell you she actually used

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Speaker 6: this product five years ago.

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Speaker 5: This is how she used it.

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Speaker 6: This is a really authentic way that will be really

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Speaker 6: fun for people to see. It sits well with fans,

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Speaker 6: it sits well with the audience, and it makes you,

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Speaker 6: guys look good. We're going to write this creative for you.

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Speaker 6: So it's a much larger strategy. But the off season

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Speaker 6: has been like they for now.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Jase, I want to just follow up on this

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Speaker 3: because I'm really excited to see it, and I really am,

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Speaker 3: and I know that it comes out sometime in the fall.

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Speaker 4: My question to you is if this works.

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Speaker 3: It seems here like you have a potential franchise that

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Speaker 3: you can run through many sports. I know baseball is

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Speaker 3: one that needs more eyeballs that is starving to talk

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Speaker 3: about their great young players.

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Speaker 4: This might be a perfect tool for them.

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Speaker 6: Any thoughts there, Absolutely, we're already in the talks with

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Speaker 6: some leagues on formatting it. Right now, I think it works.

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Speaker 6: Everyone who has seen it, the crew who worked this,

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Speaker 6: they're huge soccer fans. Now, they like text me they go,

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Speaker 6: I can't believe she got traded. Or they see a

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Speaker 6: tackle and they're like, we know exactly why that tackle

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Speaker 6: happens because we saw what happened in the house between

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Speaker 6: these two players.

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Speaker 1: You see oh, no way, yeah, you see it.

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Speaker 6: Like It's kind of crazy to me that this model

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Speaker 6: hasn't been explored in sports because you go into unscripted

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Speaker 6: television and who's the most popular demographic as talent on

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Speaker 6: that women Like people will watch Real Housewives, which are

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Speaker 6: women who don't truly do anything, but you're.

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Speaker 5: Like obsessed and you like love not to say all

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Speaker 5: of them.

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Speaker 6: I am an avid Real Housewives like fan, but they're

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Speaker 6: not doing something that I kind of like sports, where

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Speaker 6: you really have like these stakes, these lows and these highs,

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Speaker 6: and like the trauma but then the triumph and you

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Speaker 6: put that in and you then see the interperson relationships

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Speaker 6: and the personalities, and then you can take all of

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Speaker 6: that and put that context onto the game when the

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Speaker 6: season actually happened.

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Speaker 5: Like, the model just really really makes sense for sports.

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Speaker 3: It's a model, ironically that's already proven right outside of sports.

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Speaker 3: Whether you want to call the Kardashians you mentioned housewives,

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Speaker 3: there's plenty of real estate shows. F one obviously has

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Speaker 3: exploded because the Netflix piece. I mean, I think selfishly,

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Speaker 3: because my first love was baseball and is baseball. I

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Speaker 3: think this has Baseball's name in all over it. You see,

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Speaker 3: Netflix has the starting five with the five NBA guys,

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Speaker 3: the Braun, Anthony Edwards and a few others. I'm wondering,

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Speaker 3: like baseball should be next. So I think this is

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Speaker 3: going to be the latest example of why this works.

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Speaker 4: And this all in your hands. What do you think

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Speaker 4: about that?

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Speaker 5: I completely agree. I love your support.

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Speaker 6: Listen, if you want to help executive produce the baseball version,

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Speaker 6: you let me know it.

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Speaker 1: Right, Deal's happening on the Deal. This is my favorite thing.

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Speaker 1: Deal's happening on the Deal.

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Speaker 4: I love it. I love it. I love it.

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Speaker 2: So, Mitch, I do want to dig into this show

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Speaker 2: concept though, because you'll oftentimes when something hasn't happened before,

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Speaker 2: people have their reasons or people have their misconceptions or whatever.

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Speaker 2: So tell us about because you link up with a

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Speaker 2: Lexus Ohanian at some point for this show, right, Like,

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Speaker 2: how does that happen? How does this become pun intended

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Speaker 2: a reality?

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Speaker 6: Gosh, it was honestly one of the most difficult things

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Speaker 6: I've ever done and really had I yes, it was.

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Speaker 6: And you think you have a good idea. I'm sure

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Speaker 6: this has happened to both of you. You think you

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Speaker 6: have a really good idea, and like, how could anyone

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Speaker 6: not see this?

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Speaker 5: And I'll tell you.

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Speaker 6: Alexis and I had so many meetings with networks because

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Speaker 6: we were going to sell the show before we produced it.

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Speaker 6: And I would have these meetings and I would explain

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Speaker 6: to them the premise of the show.

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Speaker 5: I'd say, this is what it's about.

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Speaker 6: And the feedback I would get back was so disheartening,

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Speaker 6: and not in the sense that they didn't believe in

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Speaker 6: the show. They really loved the idea of it, but

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Speaker 6: they loved their version of the idea. One executive said

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Speaker 6: to me, we love the idea of this show, but

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Speaker 6: there needs to be a reason for the women to

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Speaker 6: be in the house together.

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Speaker 5: And I said, what do you mean.

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Speaker 6: They're training for the season, like they're professional athletes, and

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Speaker 6: they go yeah, yeah, yeah, no, but they need like

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Speaker 6: an actual reason and they're like, well, what about friendship.

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Speaker 6: What if at the end they realized that it's more

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Speaker 6: important to be friends than it is like sport.

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Speaker 5: And I was like, you.

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Speaker 6: Don't get it, like you don't see it, and it's

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Speaker 6: just there is this pre conceived notion of how women

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Speaker 6: need to be marketed all the time, that we do

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Speaker 6: need some friendship emotional storyline and we can't just be

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Speaker 6: high level athletes.

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Speaker 5: There has to be.

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Speaker 6: An ulterior motive. It's not enough just to lean on

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Speaker 6: the sports narrative. And that was a really really difficult

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Speaker 6: pill for me to swallow. That basically in twenty twenty four,

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Speaker 6: there was still this misunderstanding, this gap in US athletes

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Speaker 6: and how we see ourselves and then how big media

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Speaker 6: still sees us. And that's ultimately why we decided to

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Speaker 6: self produce. We had a lot of people offer and

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Speaker 6: I said, I can already see now that they will

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Speaker 6: change what the show is meant to be and make

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Speaker 6: it something else.

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Speaker 3: You mentioned Alexis Ohanian, who is also married to Serena Williams.

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Speaker 3: How do you then navigate through that repackage, repurpose. But

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Speaker 3: you both are very specially you resolute about this idea

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Speaker 3: because it's so I've seen so many young entrepreneurs just

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Speaker 3: bend and bend to the big institutions. It seems like

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Speaker 3: you held your own. But walk Jason and I through

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Speaker 3: some of those conversations of how you guys had to

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Speaker 3: stay with your conviction.

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Speaker 6: I think I have to give I do have to

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Speaker 6: give him some credit there, I'll give him credit, not

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Speaker 6: some credit.

441
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:35,280
Speaker 1: Alexis is not.

442
00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:38,080
Speaker 2: Something he's like, seriously, bro, yeah, yeah.

443
00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:39,320
Speaker 5: He's fine. He's gets enough credit.

444
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,159
Speaker 6: There was a time or like a moment where I

445
00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:46,760
Speaker 6: was like, man, like, I have to be honest with

446
00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:49,560
Speaker 6: you if I can't produce it the way that I

447
00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:53,040
Speaker 6: see these women, because truth, these are my friends as well.

448
00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,159
Speaker 6: I'm not going to put them in a situation to

449
00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:58,160
Speaker 6: be misrepresented. I'm not going to put them in something

450
00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:01,000
Speaker 6: that turns out to just be manifest actual drama and

451
00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:03,280
Speaker 6: they look crazy for the sake of looking crazy and

452
00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:05,000
Speaker 6: sake television. I was like, I'm not going to do it,

453
00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:08,640
Speaker 6: and he was the one who was like no, no, no, no,

454
00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:13,800
Speaker 6: Like I have experience in seeing things that industry doesn't see,

455
00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,040
Speaker 6: and this is one of those things. So I give

456
00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:19,520
Speaker 6: him credit for that in terms of like ensuring that

457
00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,080
Speaker 6: the follow through happened in the way that I saw it.

458
00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:27,320
Speaker 2: Mitch put this in the context of this sport of

459
00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:31,840
Speaker 2: women's football right now, because you know, Alex and I

460
00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:34,760
Speaker 2: have looked at this from all different angles. You and

461
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,800
Speaker 2: I had a very lengthy conversation in Los Angeles about

462
00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,639
Speaker 2: sort of the ebbs and flows of professional soccer in

463
00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:43,960
Speaker 2: this country. We've recently seen, you know, the highest ever

464
00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:47,639
Speaker 2: valuation paid for a women's sporting franchise, two hundred and

465
00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:51,400
Speaker 2: fifty million dollars for Angel City by will O Bay

466
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,640
Speaker 2: and Bob Iger. Help us understand this moment in the

467
00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,919
Speaker 2: context of what you're seeing as a player, and also

468
00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,360
Speaker 2: as a player who has been far more active than

469
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:05,760
Speaker 2: most in helping shake this league.

470
00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:08,800
Speaker 6: The moment for me is, and I think even in

471
00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:11,480
Speaker 6: the greater landscape of just a boom and interest in

472
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:16,119
Speaker 6: women's sports in general, is that for the longest time,

473
00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,080
Speaker 6: the way in which women have been marketed in sport

474
00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:23,560
Speaker 6: has been completely derivative of the way men have been marketed,

475
00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:29,160
Speaker 6: and we have leaned into performance and statistics and been

476
00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:32,879
Speaker 6: like look at this, look at that, like it's just

477
00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:34,600
Speaker 6: this and that type of comparison.

478
00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:36,760
Speaker 5: And I use this example all the time.

479
00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,520
Speaker 6: I talk about how my dad he can watch baseball game,

480
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:41,600
Speaker 6: he can watch a Rod and he can listen to

481
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:43,320
Speaker 6: that game not even see it.

482
00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:44,240
Speaker 5: He'll listen to.

483
00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:47,000
Speaker 6: It and it will be like a Rod got on

484
00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:49,760
Speaker 6: base and he's like, yes, He's like this is amazing.

485
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,800
Speaker 5: But women, women need more of a storyline like who

486
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,160
Speaker 5: is a Rod? Like why do I care about him?

487
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,119
Speaker 5: Like like what is going on in his life?

488
00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:00,960
Speaker 1: Like what is he Like how you have because there's

489
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:01,439
Speaker 1: a lot.

490
00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,400
Speaker 6: Exactly but that and that's how you get that audience though,

491
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:08,800
Speaker 6: That's how you get women in sport. That's like, I mean,

492
00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:10,439
Speaker 6: you see the same thing with Tayler Swift and the

493
00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:13,560
Speaker 6: Travis Kelcey. It's like the theater kid and the sport

494
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:15,680
Speaker 6: Like there's a narrative to stirline apart from her being

495
00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:19,480
Speaker 6: like this huge pop star, and women I feel like

496
00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:23,120
Speaker 6: in sport have been missing that storytelling and that narrative

497
00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:27,880
Speaker 6: behind the fact the fact that these are incredible athletes,

498
00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:30,480
Speaker 6: that they are highly talented and highly capable.

499
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,040
Speaker 5: I just feel like the marketing hasn't been right.

500
00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,119
Speaker 6: And so this, this whole concept is a way to

501
00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:38,720
Speaker 6: kind of revolutionize or reform the way in which women

502
00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:39,879
Speaker 6: have been marketed in sport.

503
00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:45,159
Speaker 2: Talk to us more about what the NWSL needs to

504
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,960
Speaker 2: do next. There's a new collective Marketing and Agreement which

505
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:52,840
Speaker 2: is pretty radical in its you know, elimination.

506
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:53,040
Speaker 1: Of the draft.

507
00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:57,040
Speaker 2: You know, this is a league that feels like it's

508
00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:03,199
Speaker 2: willing to take some chances to ensure sustainability. That's what

509
00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:05,080
Speaker 2: it feels like from the outside, at least. What does

510
00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:07,679
Speaker 2: it feel like on the inside. Does it feel like, Okay,

511
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:12,199
Speaker 2: we're on the right track. Does it feel still a

512
00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:15,480
Speaker 2: little wobbly, Like you are a leading player in this league,

513
00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:18,199
Speaker 2: you're a leading voice in this league. Talk to us

514
00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:19,119
Speaker 2: about what you're seeing.

515
00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:21,879
Speaker 6: I don't think anything about the league feels wobbly. I

516
00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:25,399
Speaker 6: think it feels very solid. I think it's going to

517
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:28,200
Speaker 6: progress and only grow from here. I have to give

518
00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:32,240
Speaker 6: so much credit to the NBRACELPA and our president Tory

519
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:38,280
Speaker 6: Huster and Megan Burke who did an absolutely groundbreaking historical

520
00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:44,160
Speaker 6: job on that CBA, because in my opinion, that is.

521
00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:46,800
Speaker 5: The proof that this league is going to be stable.

522
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:48,280
Speaker 5: Like the changes that they've.

523
00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:51,520
Speaker 6: Made in that CBA are absolutely like it takes us

524
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:54,440
Speaker 6: out of this Also, I talk about being derivative and

525
00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:57,919
Speaker 6: media and marketing, but we've been derivative in infrastructure as well.

526
00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:00,639
Speaker 6: And the sport is very different than other sports. It's

527
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:03,040
Speaker 6: very different from Europe, it's very different from the MLS

528
00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:05,800
Speaker 6: and we can't just coffee and paste everything in order

529
00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:06,560
Speaker 6: for it to succeed.

530
00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:09,840
Speaker 5: So yeah, I think that it's only going to grow.

531
00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,240
Speaker 1: And what about for you you're injured it at the moment.

532
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:17,640
Speaker 2: Something Alex can relate to is two professional athletes. That's

533
00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:20,359
Speaker 2: the thing that I am not, never have been, and

534
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:22,560
Speaker 2: probably I'm going to go on a limp probably never

535
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,159
Speaker 2: will be. I think that dream is past. But like

536
00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:26,800
Speaker 2: what if you've been up to like, how do you

537
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,239
Speaker 2: deal with that? What do you do to sort of

538
00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:31,600
Speaker 2: make sure you're in it in the way you want

539
00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:31,800
Speaker 2: to be?

540
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:32,280
Speaker 1: I don't know.

541
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:33,800
Speaker 5: I mean I take it day by day.

542
00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,560
Speaker 6: I've definitely had some really really tough moments for sure.

543
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,159
Speaker 6: I mean, it's an Olympic year. I was not at

544
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,679
Speaker 6: the Olympics. That was that was difficult. But at the

545
00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:47,680
Speaker 6: same time, like I am extremely blessed, like not even

546
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:53,320
Speaker 6: just with my sports life and my professional pursuits, but

547
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,800
Speaker 6: with my family and the people who surround me. So

548
00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:00,680
Speaker 6: I think that makes it a lot easier. And I'm

549
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:02,840
Speaker 6: really good at playing the long game. I'm a good

550
00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:07,359
Speaker 6: chess player, So I think that the fact that I

551
00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:11,120
Speaker 6: have this whole year to prepare for next year, that's

552
00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:12,720
Speaker 6: really what I'm thinking about.

553
00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:13,880
Speaker 5: That I have like.

554
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:18,200
Speaker 6: Months to just sharpen and refine a bunch of skills

555
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,920
Speaker 6: that I've wanted to work on and dedicate even more

556
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:22,040
Speaker 6: time to getting back.

557
00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:23,880
Speaker 5: So yeah, but Alex, you tell.

558
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,320
Speaker 3: Me no, no, no, I totally agree with what you

559
00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:29,800
Speaker 3: just said and kind of the thesis of the way

560
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,160
Speaker 3: you're thinking about it. I think physically you're not present,

561
00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,560
Speaker 3: but emotionally you're there following your teammates. Emotionally you're there

562
00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:39,639
Speaker 3: with the US team. But what it does it re

563
00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:44,320
Speaker 3: energizes your gratitude. And when you're in the sidelines or

564
00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:47,480
Speaker 3: i say, the mezzanine looking down, you're able to see

565
00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:51,480
Speaker 3: things that you can't not see when you're playing because

566
00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:53,760
Speaker 3: you're in it so many days in a row. When

567
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,639
Speaker 3: you're above watching, I think when you come back, you're like,

568
00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:00,040
Speaker 3: oh my god, I'm better, I'm stronger, I'm healthier, and

569
00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:04,080
Speaker 3: I'm way smarter. I want to tap into time allocation

570
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,320
Speaker 3: because one of the things that was heartbreaking when you're

571
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:09,840
Speaker 3: injured and I had, you know, four or five surgeries

572
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:13,200
Speaker 3: in my career, I really thought about that time. Okay,

573
00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,760
Speaker 3: if I'm not playing, what can I do with my mind?

574
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,439
Speaker 3: What book can I read? How can I network?

575
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,880
Speaker 2: I do want to ask you sort of fundamental question

576
00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:26,240
Speaker 2: about your business, which is where does this drive come from?

577
00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:31,119
Speaker 2: Like I understand the athletic drive, you're a goal oriented person,

578
00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:34,480
Speaker 2: but at what moment did you realize Because I've watched

579
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:37,840
Speaker 2: this journey with Alex and heard a lot about it,

580
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:39,080
Speaker 2: and we talked to a lot of people in the

581
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:43,600
Speaker 2: show about this, not every athlete has the ambition to

582
00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:46,840
Speaker 2: do what you're doing, to you know, take leadership roles,

583
00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:53,480
Speaker 2: to take entrepreneurial risk, to invest literally and figuratively in

584
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:57,920
Speaker 2: not just yourself, but in these broader notions that you're

585
00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,000
Speaker 2: talking about with you know, telling women's sports stories, et cetera.

586
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:03,640
Speaker 2: If you had to distill it down, where does that

587
00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,320
Speaker 2: come from? When did you realize that was sort of

588
00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:08,280
Speaker 2: a key part of your own mission.

589
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:11,280
Speaker 5: I wish I had a better answer than this. I

590
00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:12,480
Speaker 5: like doing cool stuff.

591
00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,160
Speaker 6: It's baffling to me when I actually will have like

592
00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:17,320
Speaker 6: teammates or friends and I'm like, you don't want to

593
00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:20,200
Speaker 6: do that, that's so cool, or you have this idea.

594
00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:22,400
Speaker 6: Because I'm not the only one who has like good ideas.

595
00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:24,280
Speaker 6: I hear great ideas in my locker room all the

596
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:28,040
Speaker 6: time that people just have no interest in pursuing. I

597
00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:31,720
Speaker 6: just it's fun to do cool things. And that's all

598
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:32,440
Speaker 6: I can say.

599
00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:35,720
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, listen, but whatever it gets you, I

600
00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:37,400
Speaker 2: mean it, but it is. I mean, I'm going to

601
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:39,400
Speaker 2: press you on this a little bit only because like

602
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:43,040
Speaker 2: it takes an extra effort, it takes extra strategy, It

603
00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:47,479
Speaker 2: takes a certain willingness to put yourself out there that

604
00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:51,240
Speaker 2: is beyond what a normal athlete does. You know the

605
00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:53,480
Speaker 2: follow through. Alex talks about this all the time. You

606
00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:57,280
Speaker 2: know that learning from other athletes, like in Magic Johnson

607
00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,440
Speaker 2: for him, you know, to like make that app, to

608
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:03,840
Speaker 2: take that meeting, to go to you know, a big

609
00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,200
Speaker 2: investment house, to go to a media company, to make

610
00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,720
Speaker 2: the pitch. There has to be something there and maybe

611
00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,800
Speaker 2: it is just simple like you're chasing what's out there.

612
00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,440
Speaker 2: But I feel like maybe there's something a little more substantive.

613
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:17,680
Speaker 5: If we're talking.

614
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:21,719
Speaker 6: About execution, I think the biggest thing would be I

615
00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:23,560
Speaker 6: got this, And I think from the national team and

616
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,680
Speaker 6: my experience there and just being an athlete and we

617
00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:29,960
Speaker 6: just I mean all my life, I've had coaches ask

618
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,920
Speaker 6: me to do things and I'm like, well, how am

619
00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:35,640
Speaker 6: I supposed to do that? Like you want me to

620
00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:39,080
Speaker 6: go be here and there and do this person's job

621
00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:41,480
Speaker 6: and do mine. It's just like it's kind of the

622
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:44,200
Speaker 6: sports life, and one thing we say, no matter what

623
00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:47,840
Speaker 6: is you just find a way. And that is kind

624
00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:50,560
Speaker 6: of like the operating principle of the national team when

625
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,480
Speaker 6: you know you're tides or zero or you're down and

626
00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:55,320
Speaker 6: you have ten minutes left, but it's like, how are

627
00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:57,479
Speaker 6: we going to wit? You just find a way. And

628
00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:02,320
Speaker 6: I think in terms of execution and that that's definitely

629
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:04,680
Speaker 6: how I think about things that I do off the field.

630
00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,920
Speaker 6: It's like, there is no other option than finding the

631
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:08,520
Speaker 6: right option.

632
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:16,760
Speaker 2: I like him, all right, So we're gonna do a

633
00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,200
Speaker 2: quick lightning round. These are you know, quick answers. There

634
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:21,600
Speaker 2: are five of them, so you'd like, buckle up, it's

635
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:22,160
Speaker 2: gonna be good.

636
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:22,840
Speaker 4: All right.

637
00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:25,160
Speaker 2: I'll start, and then Alex and Al bounce back and forth.

638
00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:27,440
Speaker 2: What's the best deal you've ever made.

639
00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:28,800
Speaker 5: The off season?

640
00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:33,360
Speaker 3: What's the best piece of advice you've ever received about

641
00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:34,479
Speaker 3: deal making or business?

642
00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:37,440
Speaker 5: The most important thing is control.

643
00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:39,760
Speaker 1: What's the most nervous you've ever been?

644
00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:42,000
Speaker 5: First cap for the national team?

645
00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:45,200
Speaker 3: Okay, what's your hype song before you go into a

646
00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:46,880
Speaker 3: big negotiation or a big meeting?

647
00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,320
Speaker 5: Dreams and Nightmares by Meek mil Ah.

648
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:51,480
Speaker 1: That's a good one, all right.

649
00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:54,200
Speaker 2: So what's your advice for someone listening who wants to

650
00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,920
Speaker 2: be a next gen mitche first in this stay age?

651
00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:02,360
Speaker 6: I always tell people to run your own race because

652
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:04,960
Speaker 6: I think it's so easy to get caught up looking

653
00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:08,960
Speaker 6: at what other people are doing and comparing yourself to them,

654
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:13,080
Speaker 6: and that does not serve being original, It doesn't serve

655
00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:16,760
Speaker 6: the effectiveness of all your energy.

656
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:18,400
Speaker 5: So definitely run your own race.

657
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:20,680
Speaker 2: I like, I love it, I love it. Thank you,

658
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:23,120
Speaker 2: Midge Perce, You're the best. Thank you so much for

659
00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:24,480
Speaker 2: doing this. This was really fun.

660
00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:26,640
Speaker 5: You guys are phenomenal. Thank you so much for having

661
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Speaker 5: me all right.

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Speaker 1: Thanks Fitch, thank you.

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Speaker 2: The Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and me Jason Kelly.

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Speaker 2: This episode was made by Stacy Wong, Annamasarakus, Lizzie Phillip,

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Speaker 2: and Victor Eveez. Our theme music was made by Blake Maples.

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Speaker 2: Our executive producers are Kelly Laferrier, Ashley Honig, and Brendan Newnham.

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Speaker 2: Sage Bauman is the head of Bloomberg Podcasts, additional support

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Speaker 2: from Rachel Scaramzzino and Elena Los Angeles. Thanks for listening

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Speaker 2: to the Deal. If you have a minute, please subscribe, rate,

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Speaker 2: and review our show. It'll help other listeners find us.

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Speaker 2: And remember, if you're a Bloomberg subscriber, you can listen

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Speaker 2: to all of our episodes absolutely ad free on Apple Podcasts.

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Speaker 2: All you need to do is find the Bloomberg channel

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Speaker 2: and connect your Bloomberg account.

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Speaker 1: I'm Jason Kelly. See you next week.