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Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast,

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Speaker 1: where we explore the big money issues in the world

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Speaker 1: of sportside Michael Barnes and I'm Demian SaaS Hour and

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Speaker 1: you talk about big big, big, big, big, big, big

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Speaker 1: big when you get the chief executive office here of

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Speaker 1: the Cleveland Cavaliers, Nick Marlage, on the line talking with

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Speaker 1: us as the NBDA season is all going and all

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Speaker 1: the stuff and the basketballs are dribbling and everybody's like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: I'm feeling good. Mister Barlage, Nick, Welcome to the Bloomberg

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Speaker 1: Business of Sports. Hey, thank you so much for having me.

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Speaker 1: It's an honor and a collage to be on here

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Speaker 1: with both of you two and excited talk a little

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Speaker 1: bit about what we have going on, just a little

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Speaker 1: bit of what's going on in the industry in general. Yeah, well,

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Speaker 1: first of all, let's let's we got a lot of

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Speaker 1: love to give you here. First of all, before we

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Speaker 1: even get into the playoffs stuff. You have worked it

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Speaker 1: over hard and have done a great job as you

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Speaker 1: have been with your new facility of the and it's

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Speaker 1: just a brilliant one. Can you tell us more about

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Speaker 1: it and about all of the massive renovations for the

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Speaker 1: Calves Home Arena. Yeah, so you know, it's kind of

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Speaker 1: crazy to think about it, but September of twenty nineteen

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Speaker 1: is when we opened reopened a newly transformed Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

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Speaker 1: And as you think about it, in March of twenty twenty,

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Speaker 1: hit and the world kind of went hit pause. And

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Speaker 1: so between last season and this season, they've really been

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Speaker 1: kind of like exposing our fans and our region and

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Speaker 1: the people that come to events here to the facility

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Speaker 1: for the first time. So it's it's an incredible facility

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Speaker 1: of ours. We put in between different mechanisms of funding

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Speaker 1: and we put in one hundred and eighty five almost

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Speaker 1: one hundred and ninety million dollars and then another sixty

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Speaker 1: in major capital repairs. It was about a quarter of

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Speaker 1: a billion dollars that went into the building over that

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Speaker 1: kind of eighteen month period of time leading up to

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Speaker 1: September of twenty nineteen. And the great part about it,

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Speaker 1: the building's bone were so good, but we were able

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Speaker 1: to really invest majority of those dollars into the fan experience,

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Speaker 1: so new technology ways for us to reformat and reprogram

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Speaker 1: the building based on the event that's going on, and

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Speaker 1: then we added a forty five thousand square foot glass

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Speaker 1: atrium to the front of the building and about a

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Speaker 1: seven thousand square foot glass atrium to the on the

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Speaker 1: south side of the building, and it truly transformed the

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Speaker 1: way that people interface and engage with our facility. And

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Speaker 1: so definitely a proud moment in our in our franchise

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Speaker 1: and history, and something we have really have been a

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Speaker 1: hallmark moment for us as well. So Nick, you know,

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Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty million dollars sure sounds like a

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Speaker 1: lot of money, but you know, Michael and I know

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Speaker 1: that when compared to you know, our friends over at

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Speaker 1: Sofi Stadium or some of these other new builds that

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Speaker 1: we've seen another in other sports, Um, it's really nothing.

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Speaker 1: I mean, talk to us about that. I mean, this

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Speaker 1: is a fraction of that price. And you know we

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Speaker 1: have a lot of older venues such as Arrowhead Stadium

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Speaker 1: right which our need of a lot of work ahead

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Speaker 1: of the World Cup in four years. You know, how

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Speaker 1: should teams and owners approach these projects? What did you

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Speaker 1: learn and what would you have done differently? Yeah, you know,

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Speaker 1: your your spot on your spot off from the standpoint

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Speaker 1: of we were able to basically create a brand new

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Speaker 1: venue for a fraction of the cost of what a

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Speaker 1: new venue would be. And I think the first thing,

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Speaker 1: you like, the first thing we thought about was the

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Speaker 1: geography of our facility was right where we wanted. It's

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Speaker 1: right on the front door of downtown Cleveland. It's right

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Speaker 1: in the urban core and then within the business district

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Speaker 1: of Cleveland, Ohio, and really kind of at the center

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Speaker 1: and the heartbeat of Cuyahoga County. And so I think

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Speaker 1: that's first right. Its location is location where you'd like

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Speaker 1: to be, is location where you can really interface and

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Speaker 1: drive a lot of economic impact for your region and

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Speaker 1: for your city. And that was for us. It was yes,

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Speaker 1: absolutely like if we could rebuild this venue, we'd probably

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Speaker 1: do it exactly on this site in our in our city.

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Speaker 1: And so I think that's really important when people are

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Speaker 1: thinking about when to renovate or whether it's to build

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Speaker 1: new and you know, can't to other markets you mentioned

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Speaker 1: Kansas City or others, but the importance for us to

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Speaker 1: be in an urban core from our chairman Dan Gilbert's

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Speaker 1: kind of vision of really you know, renaissance in Detroit

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Speaker 1: and Cleveland, it was really important that we stayed part

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Speaker 1: of the heartbeat and part of the fabric of the

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Speaker 1: downtown footprint. And so from there it really became about, Okay,

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Speaker 1: how do we make this, how do we kind of

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Speaker 1: take this not just incorporate best practices we're seeing from

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Speaker 1: the industry, but next practices we're seeing in the industry

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Speaker 1: to make sure that our fan experience is incredible for

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Speaker 1: the next five, six, seven years. How do we future

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Speaker 1: proof our fan experience through a certain degree. And so

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Speaker 1: that's really where when you when you come into our

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Speaker 1: building you see a ton of digital signage. You see

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Speaker 1: we added over seven hundred forty four screens in our

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Speaker 1: facility on the concourse and club levels. We basically redid

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Speaker 1: all of our outdoor digital LED direct view LED signage

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Speaker 1: as well to make sure we had we were able

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Speaker 1: to really let people know what's going on in the building.

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Speaker 1: And then we added a fourteen almost a fifteen square

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Speaker 1: foot curtain wall architectural curtain wall that we can light

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Speaker 1: up in a multitude of different colors to let the

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Speaker 1: city know what event is going on here. Run it's

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Speaker 1: the Cavs game, a concert, a hockey game, whatever it

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Speaker 1: may be. And so we like I said, we really

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Speaker 1: tried to future proof the fan experience through the transformation. Boy,

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Speaker 1: thanks have changed. I remember the old Tiger Stadium. You

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Speaker 1: mentioned Detroit, and I'm a negative Detroit. I remember the

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Speaker 1: old Tiger Stadium and the only sign you hand out

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Speaker 1: there it looked more like we were at a gas

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Speaker 1: station where you take the plastic letters and you put

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Speaker 1: on is like Detroit against Cleveland, and that was it.

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Speaker 1: It's like, okay, we're playing at seven ten and now

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Speaker 1: you you have such state of the art technology. And

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Speaker 1: also with that, you know, we never even heard of

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Speaker 1: what Wi Fi was back in the day, and now

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Speaker 1: you can't have the stadium without it. Yeah, no, you're

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Speaker 1: you're spot on, And my god, love to hear some

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Speaker 1: of those stories because I'm sure I'm sure between you

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Speaker 1: and a few whether you've probably had some great stories

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Speaker 1: of original Pager Stadium. But um, your spot on. I mean,

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Speaker 1: technology has become such an important part of the fan experience,

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Speaker 1: whether it's the Wi Fi or the DAST systems that

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Speaker 1: get installed into these facilities. Now, to make sure that

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Speaker 1: you know, connectivity is incredibly important. We've actually partnered with

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Speaker 1: a company in DNA spaces and so we can Actually,

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Speaker 1: we're working through a process right now as we speak

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Speaker 1: of how do we use our access points in our

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Speaker 1: building to let our fans know that, hey, you know

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Speaker 1: what this concession stand is coming up. We're trying to

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Speaker 1: we we're in the process of building a three hundred

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Speaker 1: sixty degree profile of our fan via salesforce that whether

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Speaker 1: it's delivered viaur app, whether that's delivered via SMS, or

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Speaker 1: whether it's delivered via is just traditional email, depending on

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Speaker 1: their communication preference. We can let them know when they

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Speaker 1: cross the bells over on bar on the west side

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Speaker 1: of our facility, if we know that they purchased beer

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Speaker 1: at our facility in the past, we want to push

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Speaker 1: them an offer to let them know that they're coming

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Speaker 1: up on that bar. If if if we know that,

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Speaker 1: or a Darius Garland or a Donovan Mitchell fan, when

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Speaker 1: they cross one of our remote retail chiosks, we want

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Speaker 1: to push them an SMS method saying hey, swing in,

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Speaker 1: check out the latest gear. And so technology has become

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Speaker 1: such a way to make a creative, prescriptive experience for fans.

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Speaker 1: And I'm not even getting into you know ingress and

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Speaker 1: egress technology we're looking at with facial recognition and otherwise

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Speaker 1: there's some things we've got to work through legally there still,

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Speaker 1: but we really have tried to focus on how do

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Speaker 1: we make it, like I said earlier, more of an

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Speaker 1: immersive experience. We just added a ten thousand square foot

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Speaker 1: sports book on the west side of our building, and

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Speaker 1: we just literally are in the process of opening up

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Speaker 1: a brand new retail team shop called Center Court, which

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Speaker 1: has some of the latest and greatest technology in it

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Speaker 1: from a transaction perspective. So everywhere you turn, you know,

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Speaker 1: and we're kind of constantly, relentlessly investing in these things

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Speaker 1: because every day the technology gets new, it gets different,

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Speaker 1: and if we're not trying to learn what's coming and

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Speaker 1: innovate and stay focused on it, you know that the

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Speaker 1: fan experience is going to pass us by. And we

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Speaker 1: really pride ourselves in trying to curate a world class

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Speaker 1: experience for our fans right here in northeast Ohio. Well, Nick,

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Speaker 1: you mentioned technology. Yes, while it can be transformative, it

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Speaker 1: can also be quite disruptive. I mean, as you're well aware,

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Speaker 1: you know, the calves are carried locally by Ballet Sports

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Speaker 1: Ohio and their parent company, Diamond Sports, has just filed

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Speaker 1: for bankruptcy right because of cord cutting, because of the

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Speaker 1: onset of alternative ways in which to watch NBA games.

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Speaker 1: You know, after the season ends, what's the plan, I mean,

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Speaker 1: what's the plan to ensure your fan bases access to

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Speaker 1: Cavalier games. Yeah, look, it's a great question. They mean,

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Speaker 1: it's it's something we're working working hand in glove with

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Speaker 1: the league on every single day, uh and every single

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Speaker 1: week for sure. You know, I won't comment on the

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Speaker 1: bankruptcy per se, and know the lawyers and so on.

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Speaker 1: I think anytime, if you just think about this philosophically,

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Speaker 1: anytime there's there's this degree of disruption happening in the space,

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Speaker 1: you always you know, we've always met with innovation, and

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Speaker 1: we've always met it with um an approach of like

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Speaker 1: looking at it for the oppertunity it can create for

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Speaker 1: our businesses and not necessarily the challenge of presents and

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Speaker 1: so I think if you look at it from that lens,

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Speaker 1: but this doesn't matter if your Diamonds or Valies, or

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Speaker 1: if you're the Cavaliers or the NBA. What's going to

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Speaker 1: happen on the other side of this shift is going

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Speaker 1: to be a incredibly I think an incredibly sticky and

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Speaker 1: an incredibly salient media platform for our fans. We're spending

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Speaker 1: a lot of time on okay, how do we get

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Speaker 1: to know direct to our fans? If you think about it,

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Speaker 1: ninety nine point eight percent of our fans will never

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Speaker 1: step foot in Rocket Mortgage field house because they live

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Speaker 1: in the digital ecosystem. Where they live, they live, they live,

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Speaker 1: they live watching our games and to via a traditional broadcast,

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Speaker 1: they may not even live. I was just in Brazil

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Speaker 1: last week. We have a ton of fans and we

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Speaker 1: have one point eight million fans in Brazil based on

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Speaker 1: our social media following. They may not even live in

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Speaker 1: our country. And so what it's really made us focused

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Speaker 1: on and obsessed with is how do we get a

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Speaker 1: better relationship direct to our fans? And ultimately, I think

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Speaker 1: what you're going to see from that as teams are

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Speaker 1: going to become smarter, going to become they're going to

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Speaker 1: understand where their content needs to be um and what

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Speaker 1: makes it work ultimately, And you also think as you

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Speaker 1: look at consumption right as well, consumption levels are starting

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Speaker 1: to become even fragmented outside of just where people are

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Speaker 1: viewing things, but how long they're viewing it for and

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Speaker 1: so from from that perspective, I do think, yes, we're

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Speaker 1: going through a big shift. Will there be some bumps

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Speaker 1: in the road, will be there's some turbulence, no doubt.

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Speaker 1: But what on the other side of it is going

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Speaker 1: to be a model and a mouse trap that I

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Speaker 1: think is going to be so much more evolved and

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Speaker 1: so much more and involves so much more technology and

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Speaker 1: so much more thought that we're going to be that

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Speaker 1: much better and our fans are going to that much

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Speaker 1: more of a unique experience because of the work we're

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Speaker 1: putting into it right now to make it very customized

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Speaker 1: and make it very one to one. I don't know

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Speaker 1: if you had a chance to read the New York

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Speaker 1: Times article that came out and it was about the

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Speaker 1: NBA blaming the economy for hiring freezes and budget cuts,

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Speaker 1: and it rattled my cage because I'm thinking, Hey, we're

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Speaker 1: talking one of the four major food groups here when

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Speaker 1: we're talking about sports, and they sent out a memo

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Speaker 1: that you know, they're coming back on travel and entertainment.

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Speaker 1: But the thing of it is the previous year they

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Speaker 1: were doing okay and this fell off. Can you comment

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Speaker 1: on that and what this means as an impact for

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Speaker 1: the entire NBA. Look, the thing I will say is,

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Speaker 1: I think we're in really weird in economic times right now.

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Speaker 1: And when you think about you know, whether it's interest

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Speaker 1: rates or cost of capital, and and you think about

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Speaker 1: things that are six and eight percent that we're two

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Speaker 1: and three percent, you know, twelve months ago or fourteen

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Speaker 1: months ago or fifteen months ago, you're going to see

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Speaker 1: some turbulence in the economy. There's no doubt. There's one

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Speaker 1: thing I really prided myself about being a part of

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Speaker 1: the NBA and really being kind of under the leadership

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Speaker 1: of Adam Silver, our commissioner, and our Deputy Commissioner mar Tatum.

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Speaker 1: They've always taken a very proactive approach to things across

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Speaker 1: the board. Doesn't matter what it is finance finances doesn't matter,

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Speaker 1: if it's political issues, doesn't matter, if it's social justice issues,

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Speaker 1: doesn't matter, if it's if it's things like sports betting.

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Speaker 1: They've always been very proactive. And the thing that I

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Speaker 1: have the utmost confidence, you most trusted, is that Adam

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Speaker 1: and Mark and the entire team at the league office

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Speaker 1: are doing the right things ultimately to make sure that

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Speaker 1: they're being responsible for the business, and you know it

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Speaker 1: looks truth be told. Economic headwinds hit all of us,

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Speaker 1: no matter how big or how small we may seem

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Speaker 1: that we are. And so you know, like I said,

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Speaker 1: I can't comment on the details of it, but the

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Speaker 1: thing I will say is that there is an incredible

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Speaker 1: amount of confidence in the approach of the NBA takes

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Speaker 1: and the approach of Adam and Mark take and knowing

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Speaker 1: them well, they're they're really working to be proactive and

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Speaker 1: to be responsible at the end of the day, I

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Speaker 1: agree with you on that. And a shout out to

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Speaker 1: Adam Silver. I think he's one of the greatest out

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Speaker 1: there in terms of leading a huge body like that.

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Speaker 1: That's right, I'm giving some Silver love out there because

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Speaker 1: I think he's one of the best out there. I mean, here,

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Speaker 1: hear what you just said, Well, well, Nick, let me

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Speaker 1: let me let me cut in here. I mean, you

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Speaker 1: talk about global fan engagement, your time in Brazil. Look,

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Speaker 1: I haven't been to sell following quite some time, but

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Speaker 1: I did have the rare privilege of playing eighteen holes

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Speaker 1: this offseason with local Elmsford native Donovan Mitchell up at

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Speaker 1: Tamarck Country Club in Greenwich. Connecticuts. And this is before

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Speaker 1: mind you donno if you're out there listening, Lloyd and

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Speaker 1: I have your locker waiting. This is before he was

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Speaker 1: stolen from the New York Knicks, the fourth time All Star,

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Speaker 1: the likely first team All NBA shooting guard, only the

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Speaker 1: face the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.

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Speaker 1: Talk to us about this matchup. I mean it's going

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Speaker 1: to be a defensive matchup for sure. Now see, Nick,

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Speaker 1: this is why we can't have nice things because you

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Speaker 1: come shiny new objects. I'll be quiet, No, I mean

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Speaker 1: with teams, has got teams, has got the Knicks playing well,

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Speaker 1: But I mean the Cabs, man, they are defensive powerhouse.

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Speaker 1: What's gonna happen here? What do you thinking? Nick? Look,

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Speaker 1: I will say this first and foremost just about Donovan

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Speaker 1: U incredible, Like he's just He's an incredible person, the best,

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Speaker 1: first and foremost, and even just a better player, which

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Speaker 1: is just you know, you know, there's not many of

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Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchells in the world. I'll say that, like, he's

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Speaker 1: just and he's so thoughtful and so caring, and there's

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Speaker 1: so many examples I've seen this year have him stopping

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Speaker 1: and signing every autograph for him in hosting certain you

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Speaker 1: know people. I mean, he's just he's unbelievable. So we're very, very,

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Speaker 1: very fortunate to have him in. Our president of ASTA

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Speaker 1: Operations Kobe Altman and our general manager Might Ganty have

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Speaker 1: done an incredible job of building this group and building

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Speaker 1: this team, and our head coach TB. Bickerstaff has got

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Speaker 1: a culture in that locker room like we've never seen.

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Speaker 1: And I just there's a lot of really good things

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Speaker 1: we're excited about relatives a matchup. You know, look, I

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Speaker 1: will say this, it's gonna be it's gonna be excited.

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Speaker 1: I mean, to have their first two home games here

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Speaker 1: at Rocker Mortgage Fieldhouse and then to head over to

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Speaker 1: Madison Square Garden that Done would call the mecca of basketball.

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Speaker 1: It's gonna be an incredible experience for our fans and

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Speaker 1: for our players. To your point, I think it's you know,

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Speaker 1: when you got a coach like Tom Thibodeau, it's gonna

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Speaker 1: be a defensive battle than the we're one rank defense

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Speaker 1: in the league, and we know that those guys are

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Speaker 1: going and so it's exciting. I mean, there, you know,

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Speaker 1: and you look at two the matchups we match up

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Speaker 1: pretty well against each other, you know. I mean there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of kind of toe to toe type of matchups,

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Speaker 1: and so m's going to be exciting. I think it's

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Speaker 1: also going to be good for basketball, you know, it's

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Speaker 1: always good for basketball when teams like the Knicks are

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Speaker 1: involved in the Calves. We built quite a following over

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Speaker 1: the last two decades, and so we're we couldn't be

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Speaker 1: more excited to get it going, and we think there's

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Speaker 1: a lot for us to look forward to. The best

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Speaker 1: thing for us is the experience our guys are going

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Speaker 1: to go through in a playoff game and the heat

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Speaker 1: of the battle, learning and growing. People don't really realize

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Speaker 1: it's but our starting lineup average is twenty three years

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Speaker 1: old right now. Donovan's the elder statesman at twenty six,

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Speaker 1: and so we think we've got an incredible runway ahead

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Speaker 1: of us, and our best days are no doubt in

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Speaker 1: front of us every single day that goes by, and

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Speaker 1: so we're just excited to be a part of it

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Speaker 1: and get it going. You know, Nick, it's such a

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Speaker 1: great point, you know, I mean, most of our listeners

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Speaker 1: are probably thinking when they think of the Calves, they

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Speaker 1: think of the Lebron James, you know, carry Irving calves.

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Speaker 1: You know, I think of the Greg Elo you know,

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Speaker 1: the Larry NaN's calves, right, so it's pretty unbelievable. You know.

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Speaker 1: My last question for you is, you know, sports betting

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Speaker 1: has arrived in the state of Ohio right as of

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Speaker 1: this year, and you know, obviously one day later in

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Speaker 1: Rocket Market Fields House, you opened a Caesar sports book.

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Speaker 1: Talk to us a little bit about sports betting, how

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Speaker 1: you're embracing that, what that means for for the franchise,

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Speaker 1: for your audience, for the team at large. Yeah, it's

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Speaker 1: it's been you know one I think it's it's gonna

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Speaker 1: be a it's gonna be an engagement tool with our fans.

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Speaker 1: That's gonna make us that much more, you know, that

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Speaker 1: much more kind of we're's going to deepen our engagement

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Speaker 1: with our fans, is what I'd like to say. And

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Speaker 1: so what I mean by that is, you know, we

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Speaker 1: really want to embrace it. I think the best type

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Speaker 1: of situations are when situations are regulated, there's transparency, there's

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Speaker 1: understanding to what's going on, and then ultimately the community

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Speaker 1: benefits from it. You know, all the proceeds of the

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Speaker 1: tax revenue here in the state of Ohio. Those the

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Speaker 1: literacy and education programs, which I think is really important

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Speaker 1: piece and for us, you know, kind of more you

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Speaker 1: focused on our business, sports betting is a way for

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Speaker 1: us to offer another platform of engagement to our fans.

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Speaker 1: It's happening anyways, we might as well create an ecosystem

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Speaker 1: and realize the benefit of it for the communities we serve,

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Speaker 1: while also the fans we serve in the same breath.

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Speaker 1: And so our sports book is it's fantastic, ten thousand

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Speaker 1: square fee. It's a very open, airy, very very open

362
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Speaker 1: and airy setting. Seezers has been an incredible partner of

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Speaker 1: the thing I appreciated about them is they're very focused

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Speaker 1: on responsible gaming, and so we look at it as

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Speaker 1: a very much we're just in the very first stages

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Speaker 1: of this new frontier in regards to where we go.

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Speaker 1: But we've seen great early returns, we've seen great early engagement,

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Speaker 1: and really people are just looking for the opportunity to

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Speaker 1: be able to do it, like I said, it in

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Speaker 1: a regulated ecosystem. And so I think it's our story

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Speaker 1: is very much unwritten in this part of our business,

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Speaker 1: but one that is just continuing to Snowball in a

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Speaker 1: very positive way, and we're seeing a lot of great

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Speaker 1: earthly returns from it, both on an engagement side but

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Speaker 1: also on a handle volume perspective. And then, finally, which

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Speaker 1: I think is most important, on what fans are experiencing

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Speaker 1: when they come to Rock and Mortgage Field out. They're

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Speaker 1: getting a world class sports book experience with our partners

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Speaker 1: at Caesars, and that that's something we couldn't be happier about.

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Speaker 1: You guys touched off on it earlier in the interview,

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Speaker 1: But old Man Bar wants to get into his rocking chair.

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Speaker 1: And I remember when the Pistons games used to come

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Speaker 1: on and you know, you'd see the promo and Indie

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Speaker 1: get some Billy Preston bumper music that would come up.

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Speaker 1: The Pistons are playing today, you know, see the game on,

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Speaker 1: you know, d me fifty whatever man, And I was happy.

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Speaker 1: I was happy as a clam. And then I thought

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Speaker 1: when the RSNS came into play, I'm like, all right,

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Speaker 1: this is gonna be good. And then someone came in

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Speaker 1: and snatched the rocking chair from old Man Bar. And

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Speaker 1: now I don't know, I don't know what's going to

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Speaker 1: happen now with the regional sports networks and what it

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Speaker 1: means for watching NBA games. Can you give us a

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Speaker 1: lot like you know, look, like I said earlier, I

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Speaker 1: think one is, we're absolutely going to have our games

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Speaker 1: open for our fans. Two is, I think as you

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Speaker 1: look at the transition of just linear television and even

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Speaker 1: over the digital um it's become very, very very segmented, right,

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Speaker 1: and so it's become challenging for fans regionally defined our games.

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Speaker 1: I know we get a lot of that type of

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Speaker 1: feedback here. I do feel really confident that as we

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Speaker 1: all evolved and as we all grow together, there's going

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Speaker 1: to be more of a storefront opportunity for fans to

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Speaker 1: engage with our games on a game by game basis,

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Speaker 1: and like I said earlier, on a prescriptive on a

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Speaker 1: prescriptive level, what that looks like, what the business model is.

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Speaker 1: I think it's still very much being defined. I have

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Speaker 1: some thoughts on it, some personal thoughts on it, but

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Speaker 1: I'll say those because I think that there's there's still

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Speaker 1: a lot of things that need to be figured out.

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Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, I think what's

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Speaker 1: going to be the most important for the fan, which

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Speaker 1: is which is what matters in opinion, is that they're

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Speaker 1: going to have access to this content whenever they want to,

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Speaker 1: wherever they want to, and that's what's going to be

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Speaker 1: the most important pieces we go forward. If you think

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Speaker 1: about it, the consumption levels on phones and tablets, they're

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Speaker 1: just continuing to go one direction. And so for us,

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Speaker 1: we've got to be able to meet our fans where

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Speaker 1: they are and then ultimately be able to have you know, ecosystems,

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Speaker 1: financial ecosystems around those opportunities. But that's incumbent upon us.

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Speaker 1: And so as this technology evolves, you're going to see

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Speaker 1: less segmentation, I firmly believe, and you're actually going to

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Speaker 1: see more of a free wheelding opportunity for people to

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Speaker 1: be able to consume this content on a regular basis.

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Speaker 1: And I think at the end of the day, that's

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Speaker 1: going to be what benefits the fans. Over that I

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Speaker 1: can't see it on x y Z streaming service or

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Speaker 1: I can't see it on ABC streaming service, You're gonna

430
00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:53,480
Speaker 1: see it. It's gonna have the opportunity to really beat everywhere.

431
00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:55,680
Speaker 1: You know, Michael, It's it's interesting. You might not know this,

432
00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,120
Speaker 1: but and I found this very interesting, but Rock Entertainment,

433
00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:00,680
Speaker 1: you know, has the second mark this workforce in the

434
00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:02,920
Speaker 1: NBA after the New York Next. They have over five

435
00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:07,080
Speaker 1: hundred full time employees. Nick, I mean as CEO of

436
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,320
Speaker 1: Rock Entertainment Group. I mean, it's not just the calves,

437
00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:11,680
Speaker 1: it's the monsters, it's the charge, it's it's all of

438
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:14,560
Speaker 1: Dan Gilbert's you know, Cleveland Base, sport and entertainment properties.

439
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:16,960
Speaker 1: You know, what are the opportunities and challenges you face

440
00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,760
Speaker 1: today in this environment, in this economy of managing a

441
00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,680
Speaker 1: staff like that, of managing a franchise like this. Yeah,

442
00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:25,439
Speaker 1: so look, it's a great question. And then we're very

443
00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:29,040
Speaker 1: fortunate because Dan is he really cares about sports and entertainment.

444
00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:30,960
Speaker 1: You know, we have a PGA Tour event in Detroit,

445
00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:34,159
Speaker 1: the Rock and Mortgage Classic, we have we're working with

446
00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:36,320
Speaker 1: the USFL and camp in Detroit. And we have the

447
00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:38,560
Speaker 1: Tennis in the Land turn of a WTA to fifty

448
00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:41,240
Speaker 1: event here in Cleveland as well. So we've got we're

449
00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:45,160
Speaker 1: very lucky that he gives us the resources that we have. Look,

450
00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:47,000
Speaker 1: I think I think it's it's no different. Once again,

451
00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:49,240
Speaker 1: I think about it from the opportunities that it creates

452
00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:51,840
Speaker 1: and presents for us, not from the challenges that that

453
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:54,800
Speaker 1: maybe they come up, but for us, it really starts

454
00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,280
Speaker 1: and stops with our starts and stops with our team members,

455
00:21:57,400 --> 00:21:59,760
Speaker 1: you know, and today and day the workforce. It's really

456
00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,600
Speaker 1: portant that we have and it's established a culture that's

457
00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,360
Speaker 1: aligned with our chairman isms and all the different things

458
00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:07,680
Speaker 1: that we want to have, a holistic value proposition for

459
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:10,280
Speaker 1: our team members that keep them engaged. All these great

460
00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:12,960
Speaker 1: things we're talking about don't come to fruition unless we

461
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,240
Speaker 1: have a great group of people on and off the court.

462
00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:18,399
Speaker 1: And so for me, it really starts and stops every day.

463
00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,320
Speaker 1: If we're prioritizing investment, the first place we look is,

464
00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:24,000
Speaker 1: let's prioritize it within our team members. Second is it's

465
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,840
Speaker 1: prioritized within our culture. Third is let's prioritize it within

466
00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:29,040
Speaker 1: our business that's going to make an impact in the community.

467
00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:32,320
Speaker 1: And so I just think it's really important that we

468
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:36,040
Speaker 1: think about that as leaders because that prioritization of really

469
00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:40,720
Speaker 1: fortifying your four walls first helps you to accomplish all

470
00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,679
Speaker 1: the things you want to accomplish outside of your four walls.

471
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,199
Speaker 1: And so that's really been something that I give Dan

472
00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:48,640
Speaker 1: a lot of credit for because he's always prioritized people

473
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,760
Speaker 1: and culture, and it's something we try to live by

474
00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,000
Speaker 1: every single day as we're thinking about it, because it's

475
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,520
Speaker 1: all that I'll be honest, If you fails, we can't

476
00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,000
Speaker 1: accomplish any of the things we want to accomplish across

477
00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:01,760
Speaker 1: the myriad of businesses we have, and so we focus

478
00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:04,199
Speaker 1: and start there and then and then we we let

479
00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:06,480
Speaker 1: the work kind of steep print south. After that, I

480
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:08,640
Speaker 1: was trying to explain that to my eighteen year old

481
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:10,320
Speaker 1: son because I used to. I was talking about how

482
00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 1: I used to watch games, and it came on TV

483
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,399
Speaker 1: fifty on UHF, and my eighteen year old said, you

484
00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,240
Speaker 1: what it's like? Never mind, it's like, I can't I

485
00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,480
Speaker 1: you know, it's a different time, it's a different era,

486
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:27,320
Speaker 1: and I'm so glad that you guys are in the now,

487
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:30,919
Speaker 1: the twenty first century here, because I am. I am horrible.

488
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,840
Speaker 1: I'm like a crank on an old car man. By

489
00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,360
Speaker 1: the way, A shout out to you guys. Congratulations uh

490
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:41,040
Speaker 1: the NBA and the NBPA agreeing on a new seven

491
00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:44,880
Speaker 1: year deal no work stoppage. A shout out to you guys, Hey,

492
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:49,320
Speaker 1: I will say this, Rif Buchanan and Adam and Mark

493
00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:51,920
Speaker 1: and the whole group at the NBA Dan Rube, they

494
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,040
Speaker 1: really deserve the credit of the from they and the

495
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:56,960
Speaker 1: Players Union as well, and the players Associations. I should say,

496
00:23:57,240 --> 00:23:59,119
Speaker 1: I think everyone realized we've got a pretty good thing

497
00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:01,800
Speaker 1: going and let's keep this thing moving in the right direction.

498
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:03,879
Speaker 1: So much more on to them than it has anything

499
00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:07,280
Speaker 1: to do with the team all. Nick Barlage, chief executive

500
00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:11,120
Speaker 1: office here of the Cleveland Cavaliers, thank you so much,

501
00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:14,080
Speaker 1: sir for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports. Hey,

502
00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:15,720
Speaker 1: thank you both for having me. It's been an honor

503
00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:18,040
Speaker 1: and a privilege. And you every in Cleveland let us know.

504
00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,760
Speaker 1: We'd love we'd love to host there were coming. Here

505
00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,280
Speaker 1: we go, Here we go. This has been the Bloomberg

506
00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:25,879
Speaker 1: Business of Sports podcast. We explore some of the big

507
00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:28,480
Speaker 1: money issues in the world of sports. I'm Michael Barr.

508
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:30,240
Speaker 1: You can follow me on Twitter at Big Bar Sports.

509
00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:32,160
Speaker 1: And I'm Damian Sassar. We can follow me on Twitter

510
00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:35,720
Speaker 1: at Deep sassaur. Hey guess what. You can download this

511
00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:39,119
Speaker 1: show every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday because that's when we

512
00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:43,239
Speaker 1: put out our podcast. Download the show. Wherever you get

513
00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:43,880
Speaker 1: your podcasts,