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Speaker 1: This is the business of sports where in the situation

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Speaker 1: that we haven't dealt with in modern times, pandemic here

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Speaker 1: has really accelerated the investments that you've been advocating for

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Speaker 1: for years. From a macro standpoint, I think our sport

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Speaker 1: industry is really forced to look at the business a

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Speaker 1: little bit differently in depth conversations with the leaders in

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Speaker 1: the sports industry. Who wants to be the sacrificial lambs

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Speaker 1: that shows up at the first big major sporting event,

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Speaker 1: were part of something much bigger than the sport right

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Speaker 1: now and the health and dapetry of our stakeholders that

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Speaker 1: works much important every moment. I think we're all from

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Speaker 1: the business respective thinking about the impact that the virus

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Speaker 1: is having on across the country against Bloomberg Business of

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Speaker 1: Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Hello, Jason Kelly, and I'm Michael

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Speaker 1: Blaugh and I'm Mike Lynch, and we're here Monday's, Wednesdays

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Speaker 1: and Thursday's explorining the big money issues in the world

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Speaker 1: of sports, talking to some of the biggest players in

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Speaker 1: the industry. First of all, welcome back, Mr Barr. Really

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Speaker 1: good to have your voice on the line again. Nice

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Speaker 1: to bed gentleman all right, Well, we hope you had

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Speaker 1: some nice time off. Sports really kept rocking and rolling

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Speaker 1: while you were gone. I'm sure you're watching a lot

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Speaker 1: of it. Let's break down some of the things we've

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Speaker 1: been seeing. One of the things we've been seeing. We've

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Speaker 1: been seeing a lot of sports and college football. I

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Speaker 1: feel like I keep wanting to say, if you told

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Speaker 1: us X back in whenever. I think if you told

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Speaker 1: us we would have essentially college football more or less

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Speaker 1: either back up and running or about to be back

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Speaker 1: up and running. If you told us that in July,

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Speaker 1: none of us would have believed it. Right, Lynchi absolutely

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Speaker 1: correct that schools were just paranoid. University presidents were making decisions,

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Speaker 1: painful decisions, economic decisions, and it just didn't look like

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Speaker 1: I had any chance of happening. But here it is

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Speaker 1: now and a couple of the schools they're playing follow

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Speaker 1: the Leader. Yeah, what do you make of it? Are

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Speaker 1: you surprised? Bar Yes? And by the way, if if

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Speaker 1: you heard me screaming uh last over the weekend, uh as,

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Speaker 1: because I was checking out the Texas Texas Tech game.

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Speaker 1: That game it went into overtime, the final score sixty

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Speaker 1: three to fifty six, and it was exciting football, just

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Speaker 1: wild football on the college level. It was it was

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Speaker 1: something to see. I did not think we would see

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Speaker 1: anything like this, like you said back in June or July. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I I have to say, I'm really of a couple

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Speaker 1: of minds about it. On the one hand, I love

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Speaker 1: college football. I'm really happy to see them playing. I

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Speaker 1: certainly have been watching some of it. I am not

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Speaker 1: watching as much as I normally would be. I fully

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Speaker 1: can see that, and I don't know whether it's because

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Speaker 1: the game's a little bit different without all the fans,

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Speaker 1: you know, no college game day or not the college

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Speaker 1: game day that we're used to seeing. There's not that,

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Speaker 1: you know, Saturdays or for the boys kind of vibe

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Speaker 1: that we normally get. Certainly where I'm from down South,

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Speaker 1: there's excitement, obviously, but it's just not there in the

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Speaker 1: same way, at least for me. I do think part

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Speaker 1: of it is all the sports that are being played

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Speaker 1: right now. I've never had to be distracted by the

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Speaker 1: NBA Finals happening in September, you know, I mean, that's

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Speaker 1: sort of bananas to just get your arms start. We'll

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Speaker 1: talk about that in a second. But one of the

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Speaker 1: things that I did want to sort of raise to

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Speaker 1: you guys, was this notion that the Pack twelve, which

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Speaker 1: was the hold out, they finally came in and they said, listen,

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Speaker 1: this wasn't a discussion about money, which I am calling

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Speaker 1: as my dad would say, doubties, like, of course it's

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Speaker 1: about money. I mean, seriously, Lynchy, I mean, come on,

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Speaker 1: I know I read that the Oregon president said that

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Speaker 1: money was no factor at all, and I went, seriously, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean, I think each team in the Pact twelve.

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Speaker 1: I started to do a little math there. It gets

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Speaker 1: roughly thirty million I think for from their football contract.

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Speaker 1: They split up almost three million dollars, So money was

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Speaker 1: definitely a factor. Pressure was another factor too. They could

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Speaker 1: not be one of the Power five conferences not competing.

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Speaker 1: Uh to think it would do to recruiting, um competing,

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Speaker 1: intimacy of your football program, and they wouldn't be eligible

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Speaker 1: for the Bowl Championship playoff that it's going to come

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Speaker 1: in January. It also strikes me, bar that we have

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Speaker 1: seen in all of this decision making, real evidence that

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Speaker 1: at least when it comes to college football. And I

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Speaker 1: had a discussion about this in the last couple of weeks.

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Speaker 1: The n C Double A is kind of an afterthought.

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Speaker 1: It's really the conferences that are running the show. It's

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Speaker 1: the college presidents that are running the show, and the

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Speaker 1: n C Double A, at least when it comes to

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Speaker 1: college football, they're kind of taking a back seat to

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Speaker 1: to all of this. They have never been weaker when

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Speaker 1: it comes to college football than what we're seeing right now. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I want to answer that, but I just dowdies. Uh.

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Speaker 1: My father called it's something else, but we need a

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Speaker 1: seventh second to lay But but you're exactly right, and

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Speaker 1: and the control belongs to the conferences now. And I

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Speaker 1: think what really tipped the whole thing all over where

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Speaker 1: the final straws uh came and and fell uh, is

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Speaker 1: when the big ten came in. You said, look, we

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Speaker 1: we gotta we're missing out on a lot. So that

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Speaker 1: forced the back twelves and and uh, there you go.

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Speaker 1: But you're right, the conferences they're really controlling the show. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you've got the sun Belt is back in, the MAC

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Speaker 1: is back in, Conference USA is back in. And I

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Speaker 1: read something when I was doing a little research for this.

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Speaker 1: Of all the f I don't know FBS, they changed

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Speaker 1: that the the the abbreviations every single year. But anyway,

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Speaker 1: all the f FBS schools, only three are not playing

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Speaker 1: football Yukon Olderman in New Mexico State. Every other FBS

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Speaker 1: team in the country is now back playing football in

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Speaker 1: some form in a limited schedule. Yeah, so we'll see.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I think more than any other sport, probably

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Speaker 1: college football, there will be asterisks everywhere around this because

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Speaker 1: once we get to the playoffs, as you alluded to earlier, Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, the Bowl Championship series, you're gonna have some

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Speaker 1: teams that will play six games. You're gonna have other

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Speaker 1: teams that have played ten or twelve games. You know

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Speaker 1: the even just looking at the rankings every week, that's

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Speaker 1: a mess. So I just don't see. I mean, we

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Speaker 1: debate furiously sports fans out there in normal times, you

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Speaker 1: know how this team is ranked adad of that team,

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Speaker 1: and strength of schedule and things like that. A pandemic

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Speaker 1: just throws it all out the window. Um, they're not

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Speaker 1: playing in bubbles. We know that to be true. And

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Speaker 1: obviously testing will continue to be an issue and we'll

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Speaker 1: see about a second wave and college campuses and all that.

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Speaker 1: But meanwhile, the bubble experiment we've got a maximum of

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Speaker 1: seven games to go, maybe four or five if you

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Speaker 1: believe what Lakers fans are saying down in Orlando. The

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Speaker 1: NBA Finals are set and I'm sorry, Lynchy that the

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Speaker 1: Celtics didn't make it. That was that was tough to

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Speaker 1: watch over the weekend. I have to say, I know

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Speaker 1: that was you know, Friday night and the Celtics went

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Speaker 1: and then on Sunday night, the heat just kept coming

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Speaker 1: and coming. And actually, I I would be I would

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Speaker 1: be receiving receiving all kinds of abuse from both of

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Speaker 1: you guys if the Celtics were in another NBA Finals,

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Speaker 1: another Boston team in the championship game. So the HEAs

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Speaker 1: its silver lining there. But you know, we talked with

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Speaker 1: Steve Palauca last Thursday, but one of the Celtics owners,

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Speaker 1: about the Bubble and he we asked him what his

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Speaker 1: day was like down at the Bubble, and basically is

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Speaker 1: that they put him through a car wash before you

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Speaker 1: get into the uh didn't get into the arena and

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Speaker 1: was behind plexiglass. And basically it's almost like prison. You know,

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Speaker 1: you can have you can see the coach and tap

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Speaker 1: on the window, but you can't. You can't talk with them.

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Speaker 1: So the bubble theory has worked so far. Knock on wood,

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Speaker 1: and here we go. We've got an upcoming, upset minded team,

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Speaker 1: the Miami Heat, and you've got Lebron and the muddy

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Speaker 1: Lakers waiting for them. And you know, I didn't think

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Speaker 1: I'd be watching the NBA Finals when the time of

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Speaker 1: year when NBA training camps so usually up and starting.

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Speaker 1: But but you know, it's been good, and it's been

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Speaker 1: a good product too. I think I think it's been

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Speaker 1: a really good product. The ratings have been very good.

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Speaker 1: You know. Obviously the revenue is is I was gonna say,

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Speaker 1: a little bit different. It's a lot different, uh, without fans. Mean,

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Speaker 1: one of the things Paliuca told us bar was that,

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Speaker 1: you know, they are definitely hoping to have fans in

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Speaker 1: the stands by the time the next season starts. Obviously

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Speaker 1: the season is going to start later, probably not until

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Speaker 1: after the first of the year. I think there is

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Speaker 1: a real resistance to going back to the bubble, and

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Speaker 1: yet I just don't know where we're going to be

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Speaker 1: come the come to the turn of the year. I

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Speaker 1: think COVID has changed the landscape all over the place.

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Speaker 1: I mean, the way we go out to gatherings the

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Speaker 1: way we're gonna watch sports as fans. I I just

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Speaker 1: wonder how long it's going to take before you have

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Speaker 1: the old packed stadium or the pack the arena, uh

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Speaker 1: to watch a basketball game or or to watch a

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Speaker 1: football game. Uh. It's I just don't see that happening

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Speaker 1: soon now. Having said that, and I apologize if I'm

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Speaker 1: going out on a limb here, the governor of Florida

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Speaker 1: wants to have a packed stadium for the Super Bowl

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Speaker 1: in Tampa, in Tampa Bay, and I just don't know

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Speaker 1: how that's going to work out. Uh. But getting back

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Speaker 1: to basketball, we hope that maybe next year we can

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Speaker 1: have some fans in the stands. Right all right, So

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Speaker 1: before we move on to the topic, we really want

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Speaker 1: to talk with Michael Barr about That's NASCAR. Give me

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Speaker 1: your finals prediction, Lynchy, the Lakers will win in six,

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Speaker 1: bar Lakers in five. I'm going Lakers in five as well.

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Speaker 1: I think they're going to continue their streak of gentlemen's

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Speaker 1: sweeps um through the playoffs. They are really, really good.

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Speaker 1: And there's lots with your fellow Bostonia. I've been listen

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Speaker 1: to Bill Simmons talk a lot about what's been going on,

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Speaker 1: and obviously he's heartbroken, like you are, lynchy about the Celtics.

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Speaker 1: But what he has laid out, even statistically about Lebron

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Speaker 1: and a D, I think it's just insurmountable for any team.

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Speaker 1: And if you watch Lebron James in that game five,

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Speaker 1: I mean that was really something to behold on Saturday night. Well,

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Speaker 1: he's the Michael Jordan of this generation, um and he

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Speaker 1: can dominate a game from both ends of the court,

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Speaker 1: defensively and offensively. Enjoy this Miami Heat team. It's it's

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Speaker 1: a fun team to watch. They have about eight guys

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Speaker 1: who can contribute at any time. And how would Eric

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Speaker 1: Spoelstra they take his Big three away? He wins you know,

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Speaker 1: a couple of back to back NBA titles with the

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Speaker 1: with the three guys with with when Lebron was down

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Speaker 1: there and they completely ripped the team apart, and he's

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Speaker 1: still still kept his job. And now look what he's done.

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Speaker 1: He's back in the NBA Finals with a completely brand

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Speaker 1: new cast of characters. Yeah. Interesting, and you know pat Riley,

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Speaker 1: who knew, I mean unbelievable. So there are a lot

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Speaker 1: of good storylines will certainly be following them, and you

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Speaker 1: know not the least of which is, as you alluded to,

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Speaker 1: the goat debate will really kick up a notch if

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Speaker 1: if Lebron is able to get that fourth ring. All right, Uh,

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Speaker 1: speaking of the goat, Michael Jordan's this was huge news

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Speaker 1: and I was looking near and far for you, uh, Michael,

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Speaker 1: bar because I wanted your take on this. Bubba Wallace

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Speaker 1: is going to drive from Michael Jordan's and Denny Hamlin.

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Speaker 1: It's a new It's a whole new game in some ways.

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Speaker 1: This is a huge deal. Oh my goodness. My my son,

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Speaker 1: who is my oldest son and he's a NASCAR fanatic

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Speaker 1: just like I am. He called me up, Dad, did

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Speaker 1: you hear the news about Michael Jordan's. Oh wait, they

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Speaker 1: did it, and and I and I had now. It

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Speaker 1: was like I had to run and see you know

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Speaker 1: the whole story. I remember when Bubba Wallace was offered

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Speaker 1: a piece of the Richard Petty Motorsports team, and at

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Speaker 1: first I thought I was gonna go down, and then

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Speaker 1: he said, well, I want to weigh my options. And

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Speaker 1: I'm thinking, Bubba, wait, what a piece of a team is? Like,

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Speaker 1: You're weighing the options, and you get you have the

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Speaker 1: king there is what and all of a sudden you

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Speaker 1: see this. It's like, oh, I see what you did there,

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Speaker 1: wily Man, because I mean this had been in the

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Speaker 1: works apparently way back in two thousand six. Uh, and

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Speaker 1: this is uh when you would see Michael Jordan's he

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Speaker 1: would come to the racetrack sometimes and you know you

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Speaker 1: heard the chatter of this and that going on, and

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Speaker 1: but I did not see this coming about. And uh,

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Speaker 1: this is great. I think it's great for the sport.

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Speaker 1: I think you have a big crossover, just like there

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Speaker 1: was another crossover with Joe Gibbs Racing, who was huge

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Speaker 1: uh in you know obviously City Washington football lore about

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Speaker 1: you know, winning championships whatever. So now you have another

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Speaker 1: player from another sport coming into NASCAR, and quite frankly,

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Speaker 1: it will definitely help the exposure to have more African

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Speaker 1: Americans watch this sport because I'm sure now it said, wait,

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Speaker 1: Michael Jordan's in this thing, people are going to tune

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Speaker 1: in now to see NASCAR more. Hopefully the audience will

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Speaker 1: grow and hopefully we can put behind all the controversy

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Speaker 1: and stuff that's been going on and let's get down

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Speaker 1: to racing. It's a big deal, Lynchi, Absolutely, Uh. The

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Speaker 1: timing is perfect for obvious reasons. Um, Michael Jordan's isn't

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Speaker 1: just some nameless billionaire. It's Michael Jordan's coming in. Jordan

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Speaker 1: obviously obviously has an it's for attention that needs to

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Speaker 1: be scratched every now and then. But you know, good

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Speaker 1: for him, and you know he's a native of North Carolina,

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Speaker 1: which is basically the home of NASCAR, and this is

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Speaker 1: a gigantic step to make this sport more inclusive. And

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Speaker 1: the timing is just perfect. I love this story and

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Speaker 1: I'm a big NASCAR fan myself. I go up. I've

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Speaker 1: been up to Loudon into Hampshire a couple of times

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Speaker 1: and and I left there going wow, this is really something.

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Speaker 1: And if we can get more people, um, more diverse,

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Speaker 1: diverse audience, Uh, I say double thilmbs up for the story.

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Speaker 1: Love it. One of the things that strikes me as

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Speaker 1: as among the most interesting storylines here is that and

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Speaker 1: and clearly there were a number of catalysts. I think

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Speaker 1: what we have seen across the country when it comes

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Speaker 1: to a reckoning with racial injustice and and racial inequality

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Speaker 1: and the sports world really coming to the four. I

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Speaker 1: think you look at that. I think you look at

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Speaker 1: the last dance. In some ways, I think it has

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Speaker 1: pushed Michael Jordan's into the spotlight. In many ways, he

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Speaker 1: was instrumental as far as we can tell. And I

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Speaker 1: think this has been well reported in getting the players

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Speaker 1: back on the court on that fateful day, uh last

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Speaker 1: month or earlier this month when the Milwaukee let a

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Speaker 1: walk off and the entire NBA shut down in protest.

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Speaker 1: This is a new guy in many ways, and I

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Speaker 1: think we have seen the emergence of Michael Jordan's sort

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Speaker 1: of later in his career now as an incredibly powerful

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Speaker 1: corporate voice. In many ways, he's a dealmaker at this point,

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Speaker 1: and I don't think we necessarily expected to see that.

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Speaker 1: And I think, to your point, bar, if he can

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Speaker 1: end up really turning NASCAR into a much more widely digested,

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Speaker 1: widely viewed, and widely followed sports, I mean that's a

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Speaker 1: game changer in a way, and and really could cement

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Speaker 1: his his legacy in a much more multidimensional way. I think,

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Speaker 1: oh yeah, I I apologize if I I put this

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Speaker 1: in a in a in the wrong way. You can

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Speaker 1: go out and of course when you protest, you're trying

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Speaker 1: to say something and you're trying to get a point across.

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Speaker 1: You really want to change something. Do what Michael Jordan's

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Speaker 1: just did. He is now an owner in NASCAR. The

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Speaker 1: whole landscape is going to change. You. You you gotta

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Speaker 1: respect this guy. For for one, he's got a car,

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Speaker 1: and he's got Denny Hamlin Bubba Wallace, two known drivers

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Speaker 1: in this sport. And and he is going to bring

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Speaker 1: and this is the part a lot of people aren't

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Speaker 1: talking about. He's going to bring sponsorship to that team

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Speaker 1: and a lot of sponsors to other cars because there's

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Speaker 1: gonna be a lot of camera focus on the car

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Speaker 1: that Bubba Wallace is going to drive. So let me

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Speaker 1: ask you this, Michael will Will he the car Bee

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Speaker 1: car has got to be. It's got to be car.

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Speaker 1: Can you imagine? Can you imagine the merchant I sales

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Speaker 1: I'll be right there and right in the front row.

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Speaker 1: Is like heck, and I was thinking about it. It's like,

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Speaker 1: you know, he could get that number easy because I

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Speaker 1: mean twenty four. You can't because that's you know, that's

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Speaker 1: with the Hendrick team. Now NASCAR does Dole out the numbers,

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Speaker 1: but there's a gentleman's agreement. But the twenties three, he

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Speaker 1: could get that in a minute, that that number has

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Speaker 1: never been popular. Now now he has got this. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I can't wait to see it. And I think we

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Speaker 1: are as I said, this is this is the catalytic

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Speaker 1: moment for NASCAR, and I dare say a catalytic moment

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Speaker 1: for Michael Jordan's as a businessman. All Right, I'm so

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Speaker 1: glad we got to talk to you about that bar

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Speaker 1: because I was itching. I was itching to do it,

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Speaker 1: so glad we could catch up on that. All right.

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Speaker 1: You can catch our podcast right here every Monday, Wednesday

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Speaker 1: and Thursday. I'm Jason Kelly. Follow me on Twitter at

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Speaker 1: Jason Kelly News. Gentleman, start your engine. I'm Mike Lynch

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Speaker 1: and you can follow me at Lynch e w CVV, Mondays, Mondays,

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Speaker 1: and I'm Michael bar and Dick Bar Sports. You're listening

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Speaker 1: to Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.