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Speaker 1: This is the business of sports. Should Major League Baseball

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Speaker 1: shorten up the season? How do we present football to

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Speaker 1: the audience of the future. I don't think that most

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Speaker 1: players understand the power that they have. The future of

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Speaker 1: IndyCar racing is looking bright. Scott Sashnik. Very basic math here,

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Speaker 1: more bidders means more money. Evan Nobody Williams. The team

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Speaker 1: value has essentially quadruples, and the leaders in the sports

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Speaker 1: industry time to bring in our guest, al Stanbrunner, National

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Speaker 1: Hockey League Commissioner Gary Betman, Atlanta Braves president Derek Schiller,

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Speaker 1: Patriots President Jonathan Kraft. Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Hello,

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Speaker 1: I'm michaelmar I'm Evan, Novie Williams, and I'm Scott Sashnik.

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Speaker 1: Every week at this time plus Monday's, Wednesdays and Thursdays,

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Speaker 1: we explore the big money issues in the world of sports.

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Speaker 1: This week a conversation with Robert Smith, the former NFL

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Speaker 1: running back, talks about his time at Ohio State, walking

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Speaker 1: away from pro sports in the prime of his career,

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Speaker 1: and why players are sometimes reluctant to disclose outside interests

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Speaker 1: to their head coaches. People have areal type of what

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Speaker 1: athletes are, but in a locker room there it's it's

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Speaker 1: much more diverse. We will have more of our interview

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Speaker 1: with former NFL running back Robert Smith in a few minutes,

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Speaker 1: but first let's look at the top stories of the week.

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Speaker 1: Let's start with Tiger Woods and Discovery. What do you

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Speaker 1: think you're paying subscription fee to get some golf tips

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Speaker 1: from Tiger? Yeah? You are? How much? You really totally

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Speaker 1: surprised me. I wasn't ready for that. I mean I

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Speaker 1: would It's especially I guess, did I have a buddy

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Speaker 1: who I grew up with who is an avid golfer?

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Speaker 1: He would pay for this in a minute, I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I mean, this is Discovery. You know, they're paying a

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Speaker 1: lot of sports rights in Europe, but they're starting like

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Speaker 1: a Netflix like service for golf. So two billion dollar

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Speaker 1: deal with a p A. Yeah, I thought we already

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Speaker 1: had like, you know, Golf Channel, But now if you

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Speaker 1: want a Netflix like series, Tiger is going to have

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Speaker 1: his own content. He's going to get a slice of

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Speaker 1: the subscription revenue. So all plus for Tiger. You know,

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Speaker 1: I gotta record some tips. Whatever upside on Tiger, of course,

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Speaker 1: he's the biggest name in golf. You're gonna draw subscribers.

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Speaker 1: I'm totally speculating here, but I would imagine this is

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Speaker 1: not the final final golfer that that Discovery is going

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Speaker 1: to work with on there. This is Golf TV, as

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Speaker 1: you said, it's it's an over the top digital offering,

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Speaker 1: and you you know you need content for that, right

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Speaker 1: and and there's only so much golf that you can show.

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Speaker 1: You know that that goes out to other partners as well.

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Speaker 1: UM certainly instructional video, which is what this Tiger deal is,

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Speaker 1: is going to be a big thing inside the life

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Speaker 1: of Jordan's speed or Rory Mac They're gonna need They're

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Speaker 1: gonna need a lot of content to boost up Golf TV.

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Speaker 1: That it's like Michael Jordan's giving me tips on you know,

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Speaker 1: keep your elbow in it. I mean your Michael. I

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Speaker 1: would I would venture to say the golf instructional industry

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Speaker 1: is a much bigger industry than the basketball instruction course.

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Speaker 1: But I'm saying it's Tiger Woods. Like you know, there

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Speaker 1: are plenty of golf instructors who am I paying? Do

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Speaker 1: I want to see Tiger give me? Here's why, you know,

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Speaker 1: I want to see his father if we have the

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Speaker 1: old homemade videos of his dad giving him instruction, and

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Speaker 1: then I know it exactly. Remember a little little little

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Speaker 1: tiger walking up with a little bag with Bob Hope.

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Speaker 1: I love that. It was good anyway, people will pay

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Speaker 1: for that? How many people? I love? I love this guest,

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Speaker 1: the o t t No, but it's part this isn't

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Speaker 1: you're not paying for tigers? Well, I'm messing how many people?

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Speaker 1: How attractive is a Netflix like service for golf? If

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Speaker 1: you had the bowling channel when I was really good

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Speaker 1: at bowling, I would be on that for listeners who

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Speaker 1: maybe joined the show after we mentioned would you like

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Speaker 1: to tell the world of your high score? I had

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Speaker 1: shot at toe and it's the story of my life,

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Speaker 1: always missing, the always missing. That's it. By the way,

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Speaker 1: can we retire the Netflix of Moniker No, because I

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Speaker 1: know exactly what they need? Some podcast, Netflix of education,

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Speaker 1: Netflix of sports? Netflix, what would you like to do?

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Speaker 1: And I don't know, do you think about that? Next?

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Speaker 1: Top Onto Kauai Leonard Kauai not. I just told you

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Speaker 1: the topic that was planned. Yeah, well you know he

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Speaker 1: can't help it. It flows They used to when they

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Speaker 1: announced it all the time. New Balance, by the way,

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Speaker 1: doing very well as a brand new New Balance is

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Speaker 1: doing very well. Now they've signed Kawai Leonard. He's in Toronto,

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Speaker 1: you know, got his way out of San Antonio. I know, Evan,

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Speaker 1: your thoughts on Kauai moving the needle on a basketball shoot. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean we're I'm not sure he's not. He's obviously

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Speaker 1: not Lebron James, um. But you know, he's tremendously popular.

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Speaker 1: He's a he's a very good player. Um. And in

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Speaker 1: the past year, we've seen, you know, the world of basketball,

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Speaker 1: specifically endorsements is spreading out a bit. Puma got into

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Speaker 1: this game, you know, and and they poached some people.

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Speaker 1: Fila got back into this game. New Balance, not even

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Speaker 1: Kauai is not the first they've gone after. Right. The

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Speaker 1: the kid that that committed to Syracuse that that came

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Speaker 1: out basically is that his name. Um, he's doing that internship.

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Speaker 1: So there's we're seeing more and more shoe companies realizing

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Speaker 1: that hey, we might able to make a splash with

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Speaker 1: one or two guys, and they're not all going to

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Speaker 1: go to under Armour and Nike. There's gonna be there's

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Speaker 1: more to spread out. I think I underestimated Kawi's value.

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Speaker 1: I didn't think he'd really be that motivated in Toronto.

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Speaker 1: But there in first place right Toronto is rocket lights up. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: interesting it was. It was interesting, by the way, really

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Speaker 1: quickly that he came out for a media availability, came

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Speaker 1: out in socks and no shoes, speaking of a tease.

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Speaker 1: Heading into the next story. NBA star Steph Curry, now

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Speaker 1: God bless him. There was this little letter from this

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Speaker 1: little girl, and now we look like we're gonna have

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Speaker 1: let's say, uh for girls who want to play basketball ahead. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: under Armour messed up on this one. The Curry fives

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Speaker 1: Curry's newest shoe. If you went to the under Armour

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Speaker 1: website recently, it was marketed to under the men's and

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Speaker 1: the women's categories and the boys drop down category, but

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Speaker 1: not the girls drop down category. And this nine year

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Speaker 1: old in California, Riley Morrison, sent an open letter to

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Speaker 1: Steph and to Steph's Curry and took two steps credit.

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Speaker 1: You know. He quickly responded, Hey, I've been working with

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Speaker 1: under Armour on this. I'm gonna send you some free shoes.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna make sure that the website is fixed. Uh,

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Speaker 1: And and this girl and Steph have changed the way

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Speaker 1: that under Armour is marketing his shoes that we screwed up,

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Speaker 1: and and and Steph has not been afraid to criticize

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Speaker 1: his endorser, which is nice to see if he has

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Speaker 1: a difference of opinion from the company that he represents,

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Speaker 1: and he has not been shy about doing that. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: but yeah, he said he's gonna give the girl, give

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Speaker 1: a little girl this pair of shoes. He's gonna give

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Speaker 1: the little girl the next pair of shoes. And he said,

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Speaker 1: leave the date open because you're gonna you're going to

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Speaker 1: be coming to Golden State. So a mistake, but everybody

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Speaker 1: seems to have handled it properly. In the aftermat lemonade

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Speaker 1: from Lemons and give it off his step Curry, he

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Speaker 1: has had a rocky few days. He wrecked his Porsche.

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Speaker 1: Now let's get to this week's interview with Robert Smith,

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Speaker 1: former NFL running back for the Minnesota Vikings and Ohio

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Speaker 1: State alum who walked away from the game to pursue

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Speaker 1: a career in medicine. He's currently a part of the

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Speaker 1: Fan Health Network adventure backed by the NFL players Association's accelerator,

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Speaker 1: the one Team Collective. Robert, thank you so much for

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Speaker 1: taking the time to speak with us. Yeah, no problem now, Robert.

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Speaker 1: I know people say, oh, we're excited to have you

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Speaker 1: on the program and things like that, we have proof

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Speaker 1: we want to play for you are promo because co

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Speaker 1: host Michael Barr had no idea who this week's guest was,

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Speaker 1: and the and so, and here here's the setup from

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Speaker 1: Evan Nolvie Williams. Join us again at the end of

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Speaker 1: the week when we speak with former Pro Bowl running

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Speaker 1: back Robert Smith. We didn't tell you Robert Smith was

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Speaker 1: coming in tomorrow. Oh man, that's the Ohio state. Yes,

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Speaker 1: that's cool. How about that, Robert. Well, it's funny because

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Speaker 1: I thought that there might have been a mistake, like, uh,

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Speaker 1: you you obviously made the reference to football, So I

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Speaker 1: thought maybe somebody was excited that the lead the lead

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Speaker 1: singer the Cure was going to be out. We're gonna

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Speaker 1: get to your music, like you should see how excited

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Speaker 1: Michael Barr. You have made a huge fan of my wife.

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Speaker 1: She loves The Cure. Oh my man, you are the man.

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Speaker 1: That's all I got is I love this Now, this

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Speaker 1: is a sports business show, Robert, But I want to

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Speaker 1: give you a chance to start with the landing on

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Speaker 1: Mars because you I know you were watching and pump

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Speaker 1: pumped at that. Yeah, it was it was so cool.

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Speaker 1: I mean and obviously you know we've been sending probes,

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Speaker 1: but but every every landing and every UH success that

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Speaker 1: that NASA has, especially something you know that's so complicated

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Speaker 1: and so much work goes into. It's it's great to see.

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Speaker 1: And you know about this scene with the UH with

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Speaker 1: all the scientists celebrating, the handshakes and everything, it was

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Speaker 1: just it was fantastic. So you're a man of all

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Speaker 1: loves here. So we have astronomy, we have music, we

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Speaker 1: we have football. Is are you the exception or do

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Speaker 1: people have a stereotype in their head of what athletes are? Uh? Well,

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Speaker 1: I know that people have a stereotype of what athletes are. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, and I think everybody you have an office

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Speaker 1: with fifty plus people in it, Uh, you know, it

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Speaker 1: might be a little bit more homogeneous in an in

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Speaker 1: an office just because everybody is in the same industry

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Speaker 1: and that's that's just what they do and what they

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Speaker 1: went to school for. But in a locker room there.

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Speaker 1: It's it's much more diverse, uh, in the sense that

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Speaker 1: you know, people went to school for a lot of

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Speaker 1: different things, and you're a student athlete and you're you

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Speaker 1: have other interests and other things outside of football that

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Speaker 1: you do. So uh, there's there's definitely a stereotype that

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Speaker 1: that doesn't fit with reality. You know a lot of

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Speaker 1: guys that you know, we're engineering majors and things that

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Speaker 1: I remember with and talking to a length. So it's, uh,

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Speaker 1: it's fun to have so many different types of people

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Speaker 1: in one place. Do the players suppressed that. I remember,

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Speaker 1: let me say, ten fifteen years ago, a New York

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Speaker 1: Jet player told me he was going for his m

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Speaker 1: b A, but he asked me to keep it quiet

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Speaker 1: because he didn't want his coach and organization knowing that

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Speaker 1: he had outside interests. He wanted them to think that

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Speaker 1: he was on football of the time. I had a

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Speaker 1: former NFL also tell me that that he was hiding

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Speaker 1: books in his locker room because he didn't both the

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Speaker 1: coaches and his fellow players. He didn't want them to know. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's funny. I think that, you know, it depends on

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Speaker 1: you know this the level of security maybe job security

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Speaker 1: that a player has, but you know, maybe maybe the

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Speaker 1: degree of confidence that they have as well. You know,

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Speaker 1: Kenny Green was my coach the entire time Minnesota and

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Speaker 1: not only uh tolerated, embraced the differences between the but

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Speaker 1: really kind of celebrated it. Um. So it was never

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Speaker 1: an issue in our locker room. And there are a

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Speaker 1: lot of different a lot of different voices and a

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Speaker 1: lot of different interests, and it was never something that

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Speaker 1: was suppressed at all. Uh. As speaking as a native

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Speaker 1: detroitter and a guy who went to the University of Michigan, Congratulations,

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Speaker 1: you former Ohio State Buckeye player. You beat the living

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Speaker 1: snot out of us this past weekend. And I gotta

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Speaker 1: tell you, you guys look great. Do you remember what

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Speaker 1: it was like when you played in those rivalries, especially

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Speaker 1: the against the Wolverines. Yeah, and I mean for me.

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Speaker 1: And that's why when I hear people say congratulations on

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Speaker 1: beating Michigan, like, I never beat Michigan. I only played

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Speaker 1: in two of the games and we were all one

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Speaker 1: and one. Um. You know we lost on a no

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Speaker 1: time left field goal. Uh. When when I was a

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Speaker 1: when I was a freshman, I didn't play my sophomore

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Speaker 1: year and then the next year, um we tied. Um.

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Speaker 1: So I thought it was a great performance, surprising performance

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Speaker 1: based on what we had seen from both teams. But

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Speaker 1: I won't take credit for the win because I know

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Speaker 1: how big the rivalry is. Uh, and I know how

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Speaker 1: much it still stings me that I never had a

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Speaker 1: chance to win one of the games. While I had

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Speaker 1: a chance. You never did win the games. Obviously you played,

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Speaker 1: as you mentioned with the Minnesota Vikings, you played with

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Speaker 1: Ohio State. Which one was the more rewarding experience playing

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Speaker 1: college or playing pro? That's you know, that's an interesting question. Um.

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Speaker 1: And you know, maybe one that I'm that I'm overthinking. Uh.

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Speaker 1: You know, I only I only played two years in college. UM,

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Speaker 1: so you know, I that that part of it maybe

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Speaker 1: wasn't as rewarding because I didn't have an opportunity to

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Speaker 1: play in as many games, and uh didn't really have

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Speaker 1: the success, didn't beat Michigan, whereas in the pros, you know,

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Speaker 1: made it to the playoffs pretty much every year I

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Speaker 1: was in the league. Um, you know, but we never

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Speaker 1: won a Super Bowl. Uh. So there are you know,

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Speaker 1: there are there are things that I can look back

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Speaker 1: on and say that I wish that I had a

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Speaker 1: chance to accomplish, but you know, making it into the

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Speaker 1: NFL kind of uh, persevering through some some problems with

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Speaker 1: injuries earlier in my career and making it through being

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Speaker 1: able to come back and be successful, making some Pro

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Speaker 1: Bowls and things. I guess I guess that part of

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Speaker 1: it was more rewarding. We're speaking with former Pro Bowl

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Speaker 1: running back Robert Smith, and Robert I want to jump

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Speaker 1: to the to the end of your career. You retired

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Speaker 1: after the two thousand season, by almost all measures, the

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Speaker 1: best season of your career. Um, you were still pretty young. UM,

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Speaker 1: talk me through the decision to retire. I think there

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Speaker 1: might be some misconceptions out there about the reason. Why

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Speaker 1: did head injuries have anything to do with it? Or

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Speaker 1: was it more than the knee injuries that you were

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Speaker 1: you were suffering? Yeah, it was it was the knee injuries.

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Speaker 1: You know, my last season was the only season at

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Speaker 1: a missity games and I still needed to have knee

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Speaker 1: surgery after the year, and it was like, you know,

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Speaker 1: I was thinking to myself, I'm literally I'm gonna be

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Speaker 1: a forty five year old knee replacement guy. And here

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Speaker 1: I am at age forty six and haven't haven't had

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Speaker 1: a knee replacement yet. My knees feel pretty good. I've

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Speaker 1: got young children eight and six and can can run

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Speaker 1: around the soccer field or baseball field or uh, you know, uh,

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Speaker 1: run around outside in general and play with them. And

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Speaker 1: it's a it was the right decision to make, you

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Speaker 1: know you, Um, you hope you have a long life

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Speaker 1: after the game. Uh, and it makes more sense for

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Speaker 1: that to be a healthy one than than to be

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Speaker 1: one where you're struggling. I assume you were in line

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Speaker 1: at some point for a for a pretty hefty pay day.

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Speaker 1: But it sounds like you don't regret the decision given

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Speaker 1: what you know now about the head injuries. Certainly, you

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Speaker 1: know players that are playing now no more than and

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Speaker 1: those who were playing in the in the mid nineties. Um,

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Speaker 1: do you think about the decision any differently? You know?

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Speaker 1: Are you more thankful? Um? Kind of How do you

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Speaker 1: reconcile what we know now about about dangers not just

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Speaker 1: to the knees, but but to the head. Yeah, And

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Speaker 1: I kind of understanding just more about the issue, maybe

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Speaker 1: than than most people do. I serve in the NFL

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Speaker 1: pension and disability board. Uh No, I certainly wouldn't diminish

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Speaker 1: uh the possibility or certainly the significance of head injuries. Um,

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Speaker 1: but I wouldn't think about my decision just in those terms,

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Speaker 1: and like, wow, I'm really grateful because if I had

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Speaker 1: played another year that this definitely would have happened to

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Speaker 1: me anything along those lines. Um. You know, I'm thankful

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Speaker 1: that I made the decision because I know just kind

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Speaker 1: of how bodies deteriorate over time, and thinking about my

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Speaker 1: knee now, and you know it still swells up every

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Speaker 1: now and then. I've had a couple of surgeries since

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Speaker 1: I was done playing. I know that if I had

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Speaker 1: continued to play, it certainly would have been worse. So

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Speaker 1: I'm more thankful uh for my own uh specific injuries

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Speaker 1: kind of getting away from it and understanding at that

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Speaker 1: time just how much worse it could have gotten. Uh,

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Speaker 1: not necessarily thinking about what we've found out about head

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Speaker 1: injuries and health remains an important initiative for you. And

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Speaker 1: we can talk about what you're doing now in a second,

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Speaker 1: But do you think that you know we're going to

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Speaker 1: see more players may be making decisions like you did. Certainly,

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Speaker 1: Chris Borland, Patrick Willis, Jason Worlds. It seems as though, um,

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Speaker 1: retiring early might be something that is becoming a bit

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Speaker 1: more popular now than it was when you made the

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Speaker 1: decision in two thousands. Yeah, I think, you know, players

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Speaker 1: are much more aware of the issues now. Um. They're

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Speaker 1: also you know, even compared to what I played, making

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Speaker 1: you know, much more money, and um, you know, the

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Speaker 1: the benefits or fantas stick. Um you know, it's it's

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Speaker 1: another distortion that and that happens in the media. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you know, the um, the NFL retirement is better than

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Speaker 1: any of them, period Um, you know, for most players. Um.

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Speaker 1: So you know, I think when guys see that situation,

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Speaker 1: they make that decision much more readily, uh than they

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Speaker 1: did when I was a player. Let's say you had

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Speaker 1: played eight more years. How much money do you think

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Speaker 1: you could have made eight more years? Eight years? So

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Speaker 1: so okay, let's say let's say four more years, four

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Speaker 1: more years at the at the level you played in

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Speaker 1: the year you retired. Oh yeah, so I know it

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Speaker 1: would have been probably in the forty million range or when, yeah, exactly,

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Speaker 1: which basically would have doubled what I had made in

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Speaker 1: my career to that point. So, um, I know it

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Speaker 1: was a lot of money, but you know, for me

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Speaker 1: to think about, you know what, what amount of money

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Speaker 1: is really worth a very real possibility of your health

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Speaker 1: deteriorating significantly. And I think that's you know, that's the

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Speaker 1: way that I think about it. Um, you know, and

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Speaker 1: I don't and I don't believe that most people really

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Speaker 1: look at the equation that way. And it's just it's

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Speaker 1: just kind of the way people outside of sports think,

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Speaker 1: and especially outside of football, just because the chance of

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Speaker 1: injury is so much greater. We're talking with former Minnesota

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Speaker 1: Vikings running back Robert Smith and all of this that

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Speaker 1: has come about about learning more about the injuries involved

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Speaker 1: in the game. And I was one of those guys

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Speaker 1: where it's like, yeah, I make the season longer, Oh

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Speaker 1: my goodness, Well until you see it, there's gonna be

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Speaker 1: nobody left. And now, in fact, I'm the other way,

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Speaker 1: shortened up the season and maybe lop off an exhibition

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Speaker 1: game because guys get hurt, I mean, and and Alex

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Speaker 1: Smith is a classic example of that. Not only did

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Speaker 1: this poor man get his leg broken Joe fismanesque, he

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Speaker 1: may never play football again. Can you comment more about

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Speaker 1: maybe lengthening or shortening the NFL season. Yeah, I think,

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Speaker 1: you know, adding regular season games doesn't make any sense. Um.

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Speaker 1: But if it was to be done, it would have

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Speaker 1: to be done with the combination of eliminating the preseason

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Speaker 1: games or eliminating some sort of some number of those games. Um.

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Speaker 1: But as you know, the starters don't play the entire

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Speaker 1: game in a preseason game, and you know, maybe you know,

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Speaker 1: maybe a half and in a series would be the most,

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Speaker 1: you know, when you're talking about probably the third preseason game. Um.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean the toll from the game is extraordinary,

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Speaker 1: and you know, adding adding more games to it, you know,

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Speaker 1: people could say, well, you know, you're gonna get more salary,

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Speaker 1: but uh, you know, I think the chances, the chances

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Speaker 1: of getting injured and significantly impacting your future earning potential

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Speaker 1: are such that it's it's really not worth it for

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Speaker 1: the players, because a little bit more money in one year,

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Speaker 1: getting uh, getting more games, uh would increase the chances

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Speaker 1: so much significantly for a greater injury or for a

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Speaker 1: higher injury rate having that many more games in one

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Speaker 1: season that it just it just wouldn't it wouldn't justify

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Speaker 1: the cost Robin. I have spoken at the NBA Rookie Symposium,

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Speaker 1: and if ever asked to go to the NFL, I

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Speaker 1: would have this advice for guys. Make as much as

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Speaker 1: you can, as fast as you can, use your celebrity

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Speaker 1: on the field to go do something else and get

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Speaker 1: out while you're healthy. You're involved now in the Fan

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Speaker 1: Health Network. When it impresses me here is sort of

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Speaker 1: the elective thinking the NFL players union as a one

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Speaker 1: team collective. I mean, they're acting as venture capitalists. They're

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Speaker 1: the ones in part backing your venture. Everybody seems to

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Speaker 1: be thinking differently about how do we utilize our collective

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Speaker 1: celebrity of being pro athletes to do something else. That's

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Speaker 1: in essence what you're doing now. Yeah, and you know,

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Speaker 1: I couldn't be more excited about it because to me,

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Speaker 1: this is it's the fusion of my greatest passions. You know.

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Speaker 1: I went to Ohio State thinking that I was going

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Speaker 1: to go to medical school. I took all the biology, chemistry,

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Speaker 1: physics that would have been required to go to UH

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Speaker 1: to go to medical school. But I found out early

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Speaker 1: on that I didn't want to practice medicine. I wanted

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Speaker 1: to be around applied science and medicines really the best

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Speaker 1: way to do it. But now with STAN Health Network,

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's digital health, it's mobile technology, it's

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Speaker 1: social networking. UH, it's the power of celebrity. As you

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Speaker 1: mentioned the partnership with the NFL p a UH being

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Speaker 1: the exclusive company to use NFL players in corporate wellness.

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Speaker 1: Now we can bring all these concepts together and encourage

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Speaker 1: people to live healthier lives, drive up engagements in corporate

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Speaker 1: wellness programs, and hopefully drive down healthcare costs. I mean,

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Speaker 1: it's it's just it's so exciting to me because I've

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Speaker 1: seen so many of these problems and analyze them for

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Speaker 1: so long, and to be able to bring a solution

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Speaker 1: that we think UH is going to be very effective.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's just it's it's the coolest thing in

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Speaker 1: the world to me. Can you give me some metrics.

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Speaker 1: How's it going, how many people are signing up, what

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Speaker 1: does it cost? Things like that. Yeah. So we just

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Speaker 1: ran our first pilot at Ohio State, but now we're

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Speaker 1: talking to some national insurers and some big national employers

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Speaker 1: about getting people in. So we're really focused on on

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Speaker 1: B two B right now, although we will do some

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Speaker 1: some consumer challenges in the future, but we're really just

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Speaker 1: getting started. We had we had finalized the deal with

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Speaker 1: the NFL p A UH, then we ran that first

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Speaker 1: pilot that just ended a few weeks ago. I was

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Speaker 1: just actually in Columbus a couple of days after UH

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Speaker 1: the game against the team up north UH for the

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Speaker 1: some of the some of them doesn't even say the

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Speaker 1: name the winners of the first challenge, which is great,

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Speaker 1: and this is what we do. Like we get people

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Speaker 1: in these health challenges, they participate for six or eight weeks,

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Speaker 1: and then we give them some really cool experiences that

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Speaker 1: they don't get anywhere else. So, UM, two people did

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Speaker 1: get tickets to the game, so that was fun. They

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Speaker 1: got my tickets, UH. And then to two people are

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Speaker 1: going to go uh to UH to see Eddie George

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Speaker 1: perform in Chicago the musical UH. It's making It's rounds.

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Speaker 1: He did it and he did it on Broadway, but

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Speaker 1: he's going to be doing it UH touring up in Cleveland.

426
00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:58,200
Speaker 1: So some of the winners are going to go there.

427
00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:00,639
Speaker 1: But we're excited because we're getting ready to really start

428
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:05,200
Speaker 1: expanding these things through national networks of the insurers and

429
00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:09,679
Speaker 1: employers and ultimately like and you know, you talk about

430
00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,400
Speaker 1: it like make your money as fast as you can.

431
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,840
Speaker 1: Uh and and to me, make the biggest impact with

432
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,880
Speaker 1: the celebrity that you have. Like, celebrity by itself isn't

433
00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:24,440
Speaker 1: really worth a whole lot. But if you can actually

434
00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:28,320
Speaker 1: impact people's lives, if you can get people excited about

435
00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:30,520
Speaker 1: health and wellness, to get them thinking about it in

436
00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:34,320
Speaker 1: a different way to mentally and physically be living better

437
00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:39,560
Speaker 1: because they're encouraged by what they see from athletes, and

438
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:43,120
Speaker 1: you can actually help drive down healthcare costs. I mean,

439
00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:46,199
Speaker 1: you know, what a what a what a great way

440
00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:49,440
Speaker 1: I think to you know, kind of change your peace

441
00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:51,760
Speaker 1: of the world. From the business side of it, though

442
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:56,720
Speaker 1: most companies like this wouldn't have the money to have

443
00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:58,679
Speaker 1: a deal with the n f l P A. I

444
00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,040
Speaker 1: mean that would generally it's it's millions and millions of

445
00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:04,240
Speaker 1: dollars if you want to use players likenesses often times

446
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:06,359
Speaker 1: to give up equity. What's the deal between you and

447
00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,679
Speaker 1: the n f l P A. Uh. Well, I I

448
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,080
Speaker 1: can't give out specifics of the deal, but there was

449
00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:16,119
Speaker 1: an exchange for some equity for the exclusive part of it,

450
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:20,520
Speaker 1: and you know, the the the exclusivity deal is so

451
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,680
Speaker 1: important for us as we go out to the market because, uh,

452
00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:26,760
Speaker 1: you know a big problem they actually call it the

453
00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:31,199
Speaker 1: white whale in these population health programs. Population health is

454
00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:33,600
Speaker 1: you know, trying to get people proactive about their health

455
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:37,000
Speaker 1: to drive down healthcare costs, so you're not waiting until

456
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,199
Speaker 1: people get sick. You're keeping people from getting sick. But

457
00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:44,920
Speaker 1: they call engagement a big problem and the most difficult

458
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:48,359
Speaker 1: group to engage middle aged men. They're the most expensive

459
00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:51,160
Speaker 1: to these plans, but they also happen to be big

460
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,440
Speaker 1: sports fans. So if you can imagine a large national

461
00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,800
Speaker 1: insurer employer and saying, let's have the city of Cleveland

462
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:03,720
Speaker 1: employees versus this city of Pittsburgh, or Dallas versus basically anybody,

463
00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:09,920
Speaker 1: but seriously like Dallas versus Philadelphia, or Green Bay versus Minneapolis. Uh,

464
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:15,440
Speaker 1: you get these employees excited about getting involved in these

465
00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:19,920
Speaker 1: challenges by camping into the passion that they have for sports.

466
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:24,439
Speaker 1: And now, because we're we have the exclusive agreement to

467
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:27,679
Speaker 1: use the NFL players in that way, we don't have

468
00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:31,720
Speaker 1: to negotiate with a company that uh may have some

469
00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:35,640
Speaker 1: players in one market or another. We could go to

470
00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,879
Speaker 1: the large insurers and employers and say we're the only

471
00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,760
Speaker 1: company that can do this, and we can help you,

472
00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:46,719
Speaker 1: uh drive down your healthcare costs by getting more people

473
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:50,880
Speaker 1: involved in your corporate wellness programs. So we're really excited

474
00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:53,560
Speaker 1: about the model. And that's why the nfl p A

475
00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:58,600
Speaker 1: was so receptive to the idea of giving us exclusivity,

476
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:02,280
Speaker 1: which you know would have would have cost us a

477
00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:04,679
Speaker 1: great deal of money, because they can take some of

478
00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,560
Speaker 1: the company and then we can go out and promote

479
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:10,800
Speaker 1: this and execute it UM, you know, with the team

480
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,320
Speaker 1: that we have, and I've got you know, I'm so excited.

481
00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:18,480
Speaker 1: I was able to find the former CUH CFO from

482
00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:20,920
Speaker 1: all of web MD was the CFO overall of web

483
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,359
Speaker 1: M D was a president's CFO of LifeLock, ran a

484
00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:27,639
Speaker 1: bunch of companies in UM in the population health space.

485
00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:32,880
Speaker 1: So we understood the industry and the problem extremely well

486
00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:37,040
Speaker 1: and understood how our solution could be such a great

487
00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:39,760
Speaker 1: way for companies to address it. Robert, we gotta let

488
00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:41,040
Speaker 1: you go in a second, but I want to talk

489
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:44,040
Speaker 1: ask you one more question on the football field. I

490
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:46,920
Speaker 1: was looking through your football reference page. This jumped out

491
00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:49,679
Speaker 1: at me. You scored thirty two rushing touchdowns in your career.

492
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,320
Speaker 1: Do you know what the average length of those touchdowns was.

493
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:57,000
Speaker 1: I do. It's a seven point two that that is

494
00:27:57,040 --> 00:27:59,720
Speaker 1: amazing to me. I assume that the record that will

495
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:01,720
Speaker 1: never be broken. How did you do that? Did you

496
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:03,800
Speaker 1: never get goal line carries? What's the deal here? Yeah,

497
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:06,920
Speaker 1: that's it's so funny, like and this is this is

498
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,960
Speaker 1: all due to my Michigan friend le Roy Horde. Uh so,

499
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,800
Speaker 1: so Leroy was my backfield mate for a few years

500
00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:17,880
Speaker 1: up there in Minnesota, and every time I got inside

501
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:21,000
Speaker 1: the ten yard line, Leroy would come trot down and

502
00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:24,920
Speaker 1: I'd go trot not le Roy got all those glory

503
00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:28,720
Speaker 1: a touchdown ulture, right, That's that's okay, that's okay. I've

504
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:31,600
Speaker 1: got an untouchable record. As you said, I think I

505
00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:36,800
Speaker 1: think Barry Sanders is second all time, and he's like

506
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:40,880
Speaker 1: a sixteen or something like that. So it's a it's

507
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:43,120
Speaker 1: a record that won't be touched and it's it's it's

508
00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:48,360
Speaker 1: an obscure record that was a bit flukey because my

509
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,320
Speaker 1: man Leroy Horde got all the got all the short

510
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:55,360
Speaker 1: touchdown runs for like three seasons. So, uh it was

511
00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:58,000
Speaker 1: fun and Barry Sanders walked away early too, so maybe

512
00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:00,200
Speaker 1: there's the trend were saying, yeah, he did it, he

513
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:03,080
Speaker 1: did it before I did, and I certainly thought about, uh,

514
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:05,760
Speaker 1: you know, Barry and his decision when I when I

515
00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:09,520
Speaker 1: made mine. Robert Smith, the former running back for the

516
00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:12,600
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings, it really is nice to talk with you.

517
00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:15,239
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for taking the time and and

518
00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:17,760
Speaker 1: just chatting with us and just having a good old time.

519
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:20,520
Speaker 1: Well thanks for having me on, guys. One of the

520
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,959
Speaker 1: more interesting jocks we speak with all the time. Robert

521
00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:28,360
Speaker 1: Smith might take away from all of this is the

522
00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:31,720
Speaker 1: perspective that there was so much more and he knew.

523
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,160
Speaker 1: He knew there's medicine, there, there's music, that there's so

524
00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:38,440
Speaker 1: much more that many of these athletes do and they

525
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:40,520
Speaker 1: have to hide it. Even he was like, yes, coaches

526
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:44,080
Speaker 1: don't want too much more. But the fact that he

527
00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,160
Speaker 1: and I think more and more athletes today there's an

528
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:50,200
Speaker 1: illumination that and you see it with the more than

529
00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:54,200
Speaker 1: an athlete don't stick to sports. There's just this recognition

530
00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:56,720
Speaker 1: happening that they have a platform, they have a voice,

531
00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:58,600
Speaker 1: and they intend to use it. I was struck by

532
00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:00,800
Speaker 1: the kind of the full circle of his career. Here

533
00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,040
Speaker 1: he's a player rep playing in the NFL for the

534
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:08,240
Speaker 1: NFL p A. That's when the NFL PA's Players Inc. Started,

535
00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:12,600
Speaker 1: right the subsidiary marketing and licensing subsidiary. Flash forward five

536
00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:16,520
Speaker 1: plus years. You know, he's starting his own fan health initiative.

537
00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:18,960
Speaker 1: And who does he go with for seating and help.

538
00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:20,680
Speaker 1: You know, he goes back to the NFL p A

539
00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,160
Speaker 1: through their one team collective that they're acting as venture capitalists.

540
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:28,680
Speaker 1: It's essentially the modern day iteration of the NFL Players Inc.

541
00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,160
Speaker 1: Which started back when he was a player. And as

542
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:33,480
Speaker 1: he said, you know, being able to have access to

543
00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:38,040
Speaker 1: help from you know, NFL current and former players as

544
00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:40,440
Speaker 1: a tremendous boost to a to a young businessman he

545
00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:43,560
Speaker 1: could not have a Ford exactly. I just wanted to

546
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:45,760
Speaker 1: expand on that. That's similar what I was one of

547
00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:48,760
Speaker 1: the takeaway is that he walked away from the game,

548
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:51,600
Speaker 1: and like you said, Scott, I mean he he had

549
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:55,560
Speaker 1: at least a good four years to go, and he

550
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:58,640
Speaker 1: said there was a lot of money. That doesn't seem

551
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:03,959
Speaker 1: like he's bored on the couch, does it? No, No,

552
00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:05,880
Speaker 1: because it feels better to be a number one than

553
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:07,880
Speaker 1: number five. I'll wear a number because of Mike. We

554
00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:09,320
Speaker 1: have a chance to go for three in a row.

555
00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:11,320
Speaker 1: Good numbers are a good time. When I first started

556
00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:14,680
Speaker 1: wearing the number, I would just happy and bloomberg. Business

557
00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:18,320
Speaker 1: of sports, the number of the week. Time. Now for

558
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:23,400
Speaker 1: the number of the week. Here it is thirty two.

559
00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:26,080
Speaker 1: I was hoping we didn't think. I thought you were

560
00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:27,800
Speaker 1: gonna go two hundred million, which is like the number

561
00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:30,200
Speaker 1: of Fortnite subscribe I know this one actually, you know yeah,

562
00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:32,840
Speaker 1: number of NFL teams that have refused to sign Colin Kaepernick.

563
00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:41,920
Speaker 1: Oh man, that's another show that was pretty good. What

564
00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:46,320
Speaker 1: next guy driver wears thirty two? I'll give you a hit. Okay,

565
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:49,920
Speaker 1: we talked about it in the show, Sarry Sandras, what

566
00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:52,240
Speaker 1: are we talking about in the show with twot two?

567
00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:55,240
Speaker 1: I'll give you another hit, Colin? Help have been brought

568
00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:57,480
Speaker 1: it up? Oh? Is that has a number of touchdowns?

569
00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:01,360
Speaker 1: You got it? Mad? Okay, Man, he could have had

570
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,160
Speaker 1: a lot more. Sounds like he got touchdown vultured by

571
00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:06,360
Speaker 1: by that full pack. I'm now see. I'm okay with

572
00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:09,480
Speaker 1: the guy who's normally a battering ram getting some glory.

573
00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:12,880
Speaker 1: I mean, the fullbacks were like remember Robert Newhouse. Oh yeah,

574
00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:15,760
Speaker 1: it's a Robert Newhouse ran in front of the great

575
00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:19,600
Speaker 1: Cowboys running you know, the all the Cowboys, Emmon Smith, etcetera.

576
00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,080
Speaker 1: Was he Smith or before? But he might have he

577
00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:25,960
Speaker 1: might have been just before, but he's just and Darryl Johnston,

578
00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:28,520
Speaker 1: like these guys get beat up, just crashing in the

579
00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:30,800
Speaker 1: linebackers and the other guys scamper wide open into the

580
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:34,280
Speaker 1: end zone. Yeah, touchdown, Spike. You know, this guy's down

581
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:36,360
Speaker 1: on the ground, just got killed. Let the fullback get

582
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:39,040
Speaker 1: some glory. Imagine being this guy's fantasy owner. By the way,

583
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:40,880
Speaker 1: you know, one of the best running backs in the league.

584
00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:42,320
Speaker 1: Every time he gets in the tent, you're handing it

585
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:44,920
Speaker 1: off to somebody else. When I played fantasy back then, man,

586
00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:48,640
Speaker 1: he was superb. I'm sure you won back then. Anyhow,

587
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:53,520
Speaker 1: you've been listening. You've been listening to the Bloomberg Business

588
00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:55,760
Speaker 1: of Sports. We are here each and every week at

589
00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:59,120
Speaker 1: the same time, plus online as an Apple podcast, and

590
00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:01,760
Speaker 1: you can catch that one days, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I'm

591
00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:04,640
Speaker 1: Michael Barr on Twitter at Big Bar Sports. I'm Eben

592
00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:08,040
Speaker 1: Novie Williams on Twitter at Novi underscore. Williams. Sorry, the

593
00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:09,560
Speaker 1: only hiccup you had there was like the name of

594
00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:11,840
Speaker 1: the show. I mean it was a little pause there.

595
00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:15,840
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business Sport slap me down. Alright. Well I'm Scott.

596
00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:18,160
Speaker 1: You can follow me on Twitter at sash nick and

597
00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:20,440
Speaker 1: thanks for joining us. Please tune it next week when

598
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:24,280
Speaker 1: we speak with Oliver Luck of the x f L.

599
00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,480
Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio

600
00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:31,920
Speaker 1: around the world and online and as a podcast. We're

601
00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:32,000
Speaker 1: a