1
00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:09,560
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News. This is the Business

2
00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:10,360
Speaker 1: of Sports.

3
00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:13,800
Speaker 2: Sports are the greatest unscripted show owner.

4
00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:15,880
Speaker 3: The next generation of players who really grew up with

5
00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:17,239
Speaker 3: tech and believe in tech.

6
00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,640
Speaker 4: Your face is your ticket, your face is your wallet,

7
00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:21,479
Speaker 4: your face is your access to a club.

8
00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,280
Speaker 3: These are such iconic and important buildings for businesses.

9
00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:28,520
Speaker 5: For fans, COVID was one of the best things that ever.

10
00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:28,880
Speaker 6: Happened to go.

11
00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:31,200
Speaker 2: The NFL is a bulletproof business.

12
00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,000
Speaker 7: Raising is unique because there is absolutely no reason why

13
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,040
Speaker 7: we can't compete with the guys.

14
00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:37,400
Speaker 2: Well, it's pro kickleball. Real, Are people really going to

15
00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:38,600
Speaker 2: tune into this if.

16
00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:41,040
Speaker 8: You're playing moneyball with a huge bag of money, and

17
00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:42,199
Speaker 8: you're going to be really.

18
00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:42,440
Speaker 6: Really good.

19
00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:46,080
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

20
00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,920
Speaker 7: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore

21
00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:52,760
Speaker 7: the big money issues in the world of sports.

22
00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:55,640
Speaker 9: I'm Michael Barr, I'm Damian Snassauer, and I'm Vanessa Promo.

23
00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:58,480
Speaker 7: Coming up on the show, we'll hear from Gotham FC

24
00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,360
Speaker 7: lead owner and governor Carolyn Tish Blodgett.

25
00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,199
Speaker 10: Blodge is also CEO and founder of Next Three, which

26
00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,240
Speaker 10: her family the Tish family, the co owner of the Giants,

27
00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,319
Speaker 10: are using to get into more sports ownership.

28
00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,040
Speaker 7: All that and more straight ahead on the Bloomberg Business

29
00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:17,320
Speaker 7: of Sports. But we start with some of the big

30
00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:21,039
Speaker 7: headlines in the sports world, including one involving what could

31
00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:23,440
Speaker 7: be the most valuable NBA franchise.

32
00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:25,880
Speaker 9: That's right, Michael bar This past week news came out

33
00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,800
Speaker 9: that a minority steak in Golden State Group, the holding

34
00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,480
Speaker 9: company for the Warriors, very well could be up for sale,

35
00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:37,200
Speaker 9: and that steak values the franchise at approximately eleven billion dollars. Ooh.

36
00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:40,720
Speaker 7: Joining us now to discuss that and more is friend

37
00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:45,520
Speaker 7: of the show Bloomberg US sports business reporter Randall Williams. Randall,

38
00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:47,600
Speaker 7: Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

39
00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:49,680
Speaker 8: Thank you for having me, as always, Michael Parr.

40
00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:52,320
Speaker 7: So, look, I got a five dollar bill. We can

41
00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:54,760
Speaker 7: put some more fives together and maybe we can get

42
00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,680
Speaker 7: a minority steak in the Golden State the Group. And

43
00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:01,200
Speaker 7: this is something that surprised me, is that they're the

44
00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:05,000
Speaker 7: holding company, by the way, the NBA's Golden State Warriors

45
00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:08,160
Speaker 7: up for sale. I didn't know first of all that

46
00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:13,800
Speaker 7: they were supposedly the most valued NBA franchise.

47
00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:15,919
Speaker 8: Yes, I mean all of that is driven by of

48
00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,600
Speaker 8: course Steph Curry, Clay Thompson, Draymond Green and the run

49
00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:21,920
Speaker 8: that they went on that really revolutionized basketball and the

50
00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:23,320
Speaker 8: threes that went on, and of course you have the

51
00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:27,480
Speaker 8: infrastructure that Joe Laka built out there, and it's resulted

52
00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,640
Speaker 8: in probably one of the most valuable sports conglomerates in

53
00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:30,960
Speaker 8: the world.

54
00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:31,720
Speaker 2: And this is just a.

55
00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,600
Speaker 8: Five percent steak. But you do the math, and the

56
00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,160
Speaker 8: five percent stake of the Golden State group, which outside

57
00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,519
Speaker 8: of the Warriors, includes the Valkyries, it includes their home

58
00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:42,080
Speaker 8: to Chase Center, it includes the G League team, and

59
00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,320
Speaker 8: probably some other things as well. But a five percent

60
00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,600
Speaker 8: stak could very well go for over five hundred million dollars.

61
00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:48,360
Speaker 2: That's insane.

62
00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:51,200
Speaker 10: So that's the interesting thing there at Reynolds. Five hundred

63
00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,040
Speaker 10: million dollars. So they're already have a private equity firm invested.

64
00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:57,440
Speaker 10: So are they looking to get another one? Can you

65
00:02:57,480 --> 00:02:59,600
Speaker 10: have another one? Or are they looking to sell one

66
00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:01,200
Speaker 10: percent two percent at a time?

67
00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,800
Speaker 8: Interesting question. I'm not entirely sure. I mean, yes, ideally

68
00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:06,960
Speaker 8: they could bring in another private equity group, but this

69
00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,840
Speaker 8: stake comes with some special privileges that I'm not sure

70
00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:12,359
Speaker 8: a private equity group would be interested in. I think

71
00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:14,640
Speaker 8: that an individual would like to sit courtside and be

72
00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,480
Speaker 8: able to go into the ownership suite and have a

73
00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:19,400
Speaker 8: bunch of other luxuries that come with the stake on

74
00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:21,480
Speaker 8: a board seat on the Golden State Group as well,

75
00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,480
Speaker 8: And so private equity is not involved in the decision

76
00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:28,560
Speaker 8: making of these organizations. I think that whoever is selling this,

77
00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,080
Speaker 8: which is City Group, but the individual who is selling

78
00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:33,919
Speaker 8: this specifically, will probably be looking for another individual because

79
00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:35,920
Speaker 8: that's their straight route of cash.

80
00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:38,160
Speaker 9: Well, Brandon, we know that you know, team valuations is

81
00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,160
Speaker 9: squarely in your wheelhouse, and you know, I get it.

82
00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:42,080
Speaker 9: You know, the Warriors of the highest revenue team in

83
00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:43,720
Speaker 9: the NBA, so you know they're right to have a

84
00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:47,000
Speaker 9: valuation there. But you know, if you were to parse out,

85
00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,040
Speaker 9: you know their holdings, the WNBA holdings, you know, the

86
00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:54,000
Speaker 9: G League, everything that they the Chase Center. Do you

87
00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:58,160
Speaker 9: think the actual franchise value is still the most expensive

88
00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:00,240
Speaker 9: in the NBA and commands a premium over say the

89
00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:01,080
Speaker 9: Knicks and the Lakers.

90
00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:01,480
Speaker 7: I do.

91
00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:02,320
Speaker 2: I do.

92
00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,360
Speaker 8: I think the look if you put all three on

93
00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,320
Speaker 8: the market right now, I think the Knicks would probably

94
00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:12,280
Speaker 8: trade the highest, but as it stands right now in

95
00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:14,960
Speaker 8: the twenty twenty five twenty twenty six NBA season, I

96
00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,640
Speaker 8: think the Warriors just based on their success recently. The

97
00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,920
Speaker 8: Lakers won a championship in twenty twenty that was the pandemic.

98
00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:22,720
Speaker 8: A good portion of people don't really remember that. We

99
00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:25,200
Speaker 8: all remember Steph Curry in twenty twenty two, remember them

100
00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:28,240
Speaker 8: in fifteen and seventeen and eighteen, and so I think

101
00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,320
Speaker 8: that in combination with it being right next to Silicon

102
00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:35,000
Speaker 8: Valley and all of the tech infrastructure out there, will

103
00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:36,520
Speaker 8: make it the most valuable. And then of course there's

104
00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:38,920
Speaker 8: the Valkyries there and we can't forget about them and

105
00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,760
Speaker 8: what Joe legob has done there. I think Sportico valued

106
00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:46,040
Speaker 8: them as the most expensive and most valuable WNBA franchise,

107
00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:47,480
Speaker 8: and that goes a long way as well.

108
00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:49,839
Speaker 10: I think that's the interesting point there, Randall, is that

109
00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,800
Speaker 10: they are technically right the most valued franchise on its

110
00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:55,680
Speaker 10: own right. So that's more than the Lakers that were

111
00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,200
Speaker 10: sold last year for ten billion dollars. And then you

112
00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:01,080
Speaker 10: have the arena that the Laker didn't have, so they

113
00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:03,240
Speaker 10: have the arena which is one over a billion dollars,

114
00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:07,240
Speaker 10: and the Valkyries are five hundred million dollars, So are

115
00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:08,480
Speaker 10: they undervalued?

116
00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:08,880
Speaker 3: Actually?

117
00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:11,279
Speaker 8: So that is That's something that I've thought about a lot,

118
00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:13,600
Speaker 8: because if the Lakers are valued at ten, let's just

119
00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:15,960
Speaker 8: say the Warriors start at ten, and then you have,

120
00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:17,919
Speaker 8: of course, like you said, the Arena, then you have

121
00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,160
Speaker 8: the Valkyries there that very easily gets to twelve, very

122
00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:21,880
Speaker 8: very quickly.

123
00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:23,680
Speaker 2: But I'm not the person selling this.

124
00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:27,560
Speaker 8: So whoever is buying this will properly evaluate it. And

125
00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,080
Speaker 8: I think that the entire sports industry is looking at

126
00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:32,479
Speaker 8: the Lakers sales like that's the high benchmark, that's the

127
00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,040
Speaker 8: mark that no one wants to pass. And this being

128
00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:37,520
Speaker 8: a five percent steak, we'll see where it ends up

129
00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,919
Speaker 8: valued at. I can't see a five percent stake reaching

130
00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:43,880
Speaker 8: a billion dollar price tag at this current moment.

131
00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:44,000
Speaker 6: Now.

132
00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,440
Speaker 8: Maybe in a couple of years from now, if the

133
00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,760
Speaker 8: Warrior is able to continue to build post Steph Curry,

134
00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:50,560
Speaker 8: maybe it can reach that, But right now.

135
00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:52,600
Speaker 10: We'll have to see It feels like the Valkyries are

136
00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:56,040
Speaker 10: just still part of it, not really being valued on

137
00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:56,440
Speaker 10: their own.

138
00:05:56,839 --> 00:05:57,919
Speaker 2: I think so. I think so.

139
00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,680
Speaker 8: I mean WNBA is obviously in a completely different juncture

140
00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,720
Speaker 8: with CBA stuff, but they've done an incredible job of

141
00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:05,800
Speaker 8: building the business over there. Jess Smith, who we know

142
00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,680
Speaker 8: very very well, and I think that, you know, they're

143
00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,680
Speaker 8: just waiting for a superstar, and once that happens, if

144
00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,039
Speaker 8: they were to get a Juju Watkins, if they were

145
00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:19,360
Speaker 8: to get you know, one of these superstar college basketball players,

146
00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,600
Speaker 8: and I think that the Valkyries would go skyrocket as well.

147
00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:24,360
Speaker 9: Randon, I wonder if we could switch gears a bit

148
00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,800
Speaker 9: here and talk about the Chicago Bears. Obviously, you know,

149
00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,440
Speaker 9: there's been talks with Pritzker, you know, the governor of

150
00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,000
Speaker 9: Illinois for for it seems like years and years and

151
00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:33,920
Speaker 9: years about the potential for a new stadium, and it

152
00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:36,240
Speaker 9: seems like we may be getting a little closer to

153
00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:36,680
Speaker 9: something here.

154
00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:38,920
Speaker 2: What are your thoughts there. I don't know how close

155
00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:39,320
Speaker 2: we are.

156
00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:42,880
Speaker 8: I think that, look, this this saga has gone on,

157
00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:47,120
Speaker 8: as you said, for many years. It started downtown, it

158
00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:50,000
Speaker 8: went to Arlington Heights. There has been proposals from Naperville

159
00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:52,800
Speaker 8: in Indiana. Now they're talking about.

160
00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:53,120
Speaker 2: Going to Indiana.

161
00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:55,320
Speaker 8: And then, of course, the Chicago Tribune reported that Roger

162
00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:57,520
Speaker 8: Goodell was touring various sights over the weekend ahead of

163
00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,520
Speaker 8: the playoff game, and so with that in mind, I

164
00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:02,520
Speaker 8: don't know what the end result is.

165
00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:05,160
Speaker 2: I can't imagine that anyone would.

166
00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:08,560
Speaker 8: Be happy about the Chicago Bears playing in Northwest Indiana.

167
00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:09,920
Speaker 2: It just doesn't sound right.

168
00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,080
Speaker 8: And then there's pictures going viral on Twitter right now

169
00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,560
Speaker 8: about the Bears leaving Soldier Field, which of course is

170
00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:18,080
Speaker 8: the NFL small At Stadium, and that skyline over the

171
00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,400
Speaker 8: city of Chicago, I think does have some meaning, but

172
00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:22,520
Speaker 8: not to the billionaires if they're trying to build a

173
00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:24,400
Speaker 8: city and at the cheapest rates possible.

174
00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:26,960
Speaker 7: I bluntly thought this was a done deal for the

175
00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:31,920
Speaker 7: Chicago Bears leaving Soldier Field, but reading what's the latest,

176
00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:33,560
Speaker 7: it looks like this is far from over.

177
00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,600
Speaker 8: They had identified Arlington Heights earlier this year. The Bears

178
00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:40,720
Speaker 8: president Kevin Warren had come out and wrote a letter

179
00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:44,440
Speaker 8: to fans essentially and saying, hey, we're leaving Soldier Field,

180
00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:45,920
Speaker 8: We're going to build this thing in Chicago. And the

181
00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:47,720
Speaker 8: next thing you know, there's another statement that says we're

182
00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,120
Speaker 8: exploring things in Northwest Indiana because we can't get a

183
00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:53,240
Speaker 8: deal done now, what Pritzker has said is more optimistic

184
00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:57,440
Speaker 8: than what he's previously said. But I don't know based

185
00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,960
Speaker 8: on this political standpoint, what the Bears are doing and

186
00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,239
Speaker 8: what the governor is doing, and how they're positioning against

187
00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:03,840
Speaker 8: each other.

188
00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:05,560
Speaker 9: You know, Randall, I wonder how much of this has

189
00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:07,360
Speaker 9: to do with the fact that you know, Chicago, like

190
00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,200
Speaker 9: you know San Francisco and others, it's a gateway city,

191
00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:14,040
Speaker 9: right and office, I mean Class A office is probably

192
00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,680
Speaker 9: barely doing okay over there now, I mean, but certainly

193
00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:18,880
Speaker 9: Class B is off the charts. I mean, it's it's

194
00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,800
Speaker 9: distressed now. So you know, when you're building new stadiums,

195
00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:23,600
Speaker 9: you have to think about, you know, mixed use, you

196
00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,960
Speaker 9: have to think about, you know, office, about retail, about entertainment,

197
00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,120
Speaker 9: you know, and all that goes hand in hand with it.

198
00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:32,760
Speaker 9: Is Chicago just not a venue a destination that makes

199
00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:34,600
Speaker 9: sense from an investment standpoint.

200
00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:36,959
Speaker 8: There's an argument for it, but my argument against that

201
00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:38,720
Speaker 8: would be just look at what happened in Kansas City.

202
00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:41,560
Speaker 8: Kansas City just struck a deal for a dome stadium,

203
00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:44,040
Speaker 8: and ideally, anytime one of these teams wants to build

204
00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:45,960
Speaker 8: a dome, they're thinking about ways in which that they

205
00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,640
Speaker 8: can fill the arena in the non NFL season. And

206
00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:50,559
Speaker 8: for those listening, you have to remember that the NFL

207
00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:52,920
Speaker 8: season is only guaranteed eight or nine dates a year,

208
00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:55,559
Speaker 8: depending on and that alternates every other season.

209
00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,960
Speaker 2: Tax situation and right is quite different down south.

210
00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:01,679
Speaker 9: And so you know, we know that Illinois, especially Chicago,

211
00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:04,280
Speaker 9: they've been bankrupt before, so yeah, they obviously the tax

212
00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,199
Speaker 9: situation there's probably a little bit more prohibitive.

213
00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:09,240
Speaker 8: And so if you're in the Midwest and you're you

214
00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:11,960
Speaker 8: have an open air stadium, you can't book a Taylor Swift,

215
00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,360
Speaker 8: you can't book for Vanessa, a Jonas Brothers, Oh lord, no,

216
00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:18,720
Speaker 8: you can't book a Beyonce or a Kendrick Lamar and

217
00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:21,280
Speaker 8: Sizza because in the summertime but the only time those

218
00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:23,760
Speaker 8: shows can happen. But if you're a Sofi stadium, and

219
00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:26,640
Speaker 8: if you are a Mercedes Benz stadium, then in your

220
00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,080
Speaker 8: away games, you absolutely can sell out those tour dates.

221
00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:31,560
Speaker 8: And so with that in mind, the Bears and so

222
00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,800
Speaker 8: many other teams are beginning to think about dome stadiums

223
00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,360
Speaker 8: because they want to maximize their revenue and they're trying

224
00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:40,120
Speaker 8: to pitch these to local municipalities and saying, hey, this

225
00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:42,360
Speaker 8: is good for the city, this is good for our state.

226
00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:44,720
Speaker 8: We're going to create so many different jobs and so

227
00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:47,760
Speaker 8: many different opportunities. And Governor Prisker is looking at it

228
00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:50,600
Speaker 8: and he's like, look, I hear you, but the tax

229
00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:51,960
Speaker 8: bears they don't.

230
00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:56,000
Speaker 10: What do you think Randall is the most desirable job

231
00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:58,040
Speaker 10: right now, because there's a lot of openings.

232
00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:00,880
Speaker 8: The Baltimore Ravens, I think they are in Super Bowl

233
00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:04,959
Speaker 8: contending position with again another owner who's very, very stable,

234
00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:08,960
Speaker 8: And I think Baltimore and Pittsburgh sort of resemble each

235
00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:11,640
Speaker 8: other in some ways. They're like cousins and bitter rivals

236
00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:15,320
Speaker 8: because of the division rivalry there. But with that in mind,

237
00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:16,760
Speaker 8: like you have Lamar Jackson, and when you have an

238
00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:20,400
Speaker 8: MVP quarterback, then that's going to put you in position

239
00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:22,600
Speaker 8: to win. Now, of course, he's competing against some tough

240
00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,920
Speaker 8: talent there. I think Pittsburgh is always tough, and if

241
00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:28,840
Speaker 8: the Cincinnati Bengals can ever get anything together, then Joe

242
00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:30,800
Speaker 8: Burrow is a tough is a tall task to go

243
00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:33,600
Speaker 8: against twice a year as well. But you can't rule

244
00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:36,560
Speaker 8: out coaching Lamar Jackson. They've been to the AFC Championship Game.

245
00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:38,480
Speaker 8: Outside of this year, they've been in the playoffs every

246
00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:40,880
Speaker 8: single year, and so if I was on the coaching market,

247
00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:42,640
Speaker 8: then I would be raising my hand to go to Baltimore.

248
00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:44,800
Speaker 9: I get that that the Ravens are kind of positioned

249
00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:46,640
Speaker 9: to win now with Lamar Jackson and what have you,

250
00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:49,400
Speaker 9: But you know, upfront, their offensive defensive line look pretty

251
00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:51,280
Speaker 9: damnsed off this year, and the Giants are young in

252
00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:53,120
Speaker 9: an up and coming team. With your draft picks, so

253
00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,199
Speaker 9: you know, if you're a coach looking to plant your

254
00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:58,120
Speaker 9: and I think you know, if you're a Tomlin, you

255
00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:02,280
Speaker 9: can really command from certain franchises, control over you know,

256
00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:04,440
Speaker 9: everything from the draft on down.

257
00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:05,920
Speaker 2: So you know, I hear you.

258
00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:09,280
Speaker 8: But I also believe that in Jackson Dart is an

259
00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:11,120
Speaker 8: incredible talent. But at the same point in time, it's

260
00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,400
Speaker 8: everyone can have a really good rookie year. And we

261
00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:14,120
Speaker 8: look at what CJ.

262
00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:14,520
Speaker 2: Stroud.

263
00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:16,360
Speaker 8: Did you look at Jay and Daniels this year? Obviously

264
00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:18,800
Speaker 8: Jade got hurt, But with that in mind, John Harbaugh

265
00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:21,840
Speaker 8: I think would bring validity to an organization that has

266
00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,160
Speaker 8: lacked it for many years, and it would be great

267
00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:25,880
Speaker 8: for Jackson Dart. But what does Jackson Dart look like

268
00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:28,280
Speaker 8: year two? And what does the contract situation look like?

269
00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,080
Speaker 8: They did not fire their GM who seemingly started this

270
00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:34,600
Speaker 8: whole thing by signing Daniel Jones instead of Saquon, which

271
00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:37,480
Speaker 8: again sent the Giants into purgatory for a number of years.

272
00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,400
Speaker 8: And so John Harbaugh I think brings the CEO feel

273
00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,719
Speaker 8: to the Giants. But going up against the Cowboys and

274
00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:46,480
Speaker 8: Dak Prescott and Eagles and Jalen Hurts and so much

275
00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,440
Speaker 8: talent in these organizations, I wouldn't be raising my hand

276
00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:50,439
Speaker 8: to compete in the NFCS.

277
00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:51,960
Speaker 9: You know, there's a lot of other teams that are

278
00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:54,440
Speaker 9: basically I mean, you know, you know, like the Dolphins.

279
00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:56,560
Speaker 9: You know, like who some of these guys who are

280
00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:58,480
Speaker 9: left over? I mean, what is it gonna be Chrishula

281
00:11:58,600 --> 00:11:59,680
Speaker 9: coaching the Dolphins?

282
00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,960
Speaker 8: I mean maybe, Look, the Dolphins situation of particular is

283
00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:05,120
Speaker 8: fascinating to me because what is always said about the

284
00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:07,400
Speaker 8: Dolphins is that it is a resort football team, that

285
00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,720
Speaker 8: they have incredible facilities and you never want to leave

286
00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:13,360
Speaker 8: and all that. But the Dolphins also haven't had a

287
00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:16,120
Speaker 8: memorable season recently in a very long time. And Tua

288
00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:18,880
Speaker 8: is openly talking about leaving. He has a huge dead

289
00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:22,200
Speaker 8: cap pit. What is his trading value? Second third, fourth

290
00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,040
Speaker 8: round pick for a guy who went in the top

291
00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:26,320
Speaker 8: five a couple of years ago. That is a hard

292
00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:29,080
Speaker 8: situation to inherit. And I think Sean Payton went to

293
00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:31,640
Speaker 8: when he was hired at the Broncos inherited something similar

294
00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,960
Speaker 8: because Russell Wilson was there. But Sean Payton is probably

295
00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,200
Speaker 8: one of one, so finding another Sean Payton in Miami

296
00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:38,040
Speaker 8: is going to be difficult.

297
00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:40,839
Speaker 10: Our thanks to our friend Bloomberg US sports business reporter

298
00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:42,440
Speaker 10: Randall Williams for joining us up.

299
00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,400
Speaker 7: Next, we turned to the high stakes negotiations for a

300
00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:49,400
Speaker 7: new collective bargaining agreement in the WNBA for Damian sas

301
00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,960
Speaker 7: Hour and Vanessa Badomo. I'm Michael Barr. You are listening

302
00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,640
Speaker 7: to the Bloomberg Business of Sports for Bloomberg Radio around

303
00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:57,160
Speaker 7: the world.

304
00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:05,560
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

305
00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:09,640
Speaker 7: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explore

306
00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:11,640
Speaker 7: the big money issues and the world of sports.

307
00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,640
Speaker 9: Michael Barr, I'm Damian Saasauer and I'm Vanessa Perdamo.

308
00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,480
Speaker 7: We still do not have a deal between the WNBA

309
00:13:17,559 --> 00:13:21,440
Speaker 7: players and the WNBA on a new collective bargaining agreement,

310
00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:23,880
Speaker 7: putting the upcoming season at risk.

311
00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,000
Speaker 9: Here to break down the latest is not just anyone's friend.

312
00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:29,480
Speaker 9: It's Tom Friend. He's a basketball staff reporter for the

313
00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:30,960
Speaker 9: Sports Business Journal.

314
00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:33,640
Speaker 5: Tom, Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

315
00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:35,440
Speaker 6: Thanks for having me appreciate it.

316
00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:41,640
Speaker 7: WNBA deadline expired, no deal. What happens if there is

317
00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:46,280
Speaker 7: no deal as the season continues.

318
00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:48,920
Speaker 3: Well, you know, they have a little time. I don't

319
00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:52,280
Speaker 3: think the players are panicking yet. They're dug in. This

320
00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:55,200
Speaker 3: is their best opportunity ever to do a deal. I mean,

321
00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:58,559
Speaker 3: the league is at its highest peak with Caitlin Clark

322
00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:00,959
Speaker 3: and all the players around, Asil Wilson, all the players

323
00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,319
Speaker 3: who played great, the TV contracts, everything, So this is

324
00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,200
Speaker 3: their time that they're well aware of it. They've taken

325
00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:10,959
Speaker 3: deals in the past. To hear them talk, people in

326
00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:13,959
Speaker 3: the union talk. They've taken deals in the past because

327
00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,040
Speaker 3: they want to keep the league going. They want to

328
00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,400
Speaker 3: keep the league, you know, going. You know, they want

329
00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:20,800
Speaker 3: to do their best to help the league. But now

330
00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,720
Speaker 3: they want to help themselves and so dig in because

331
00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:25,000
Speaker 3: this is going to go a while. I think if

332
00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,760
Speaker 3: the players they want to get it done by February first,

333
00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:31,960
Speaker 3: but I don't know if that's realistic. Really it boils

334
00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,440
Speaker 3: down the very small. If you really boil it down,

335
00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:39,560
Speaker 3: it's revenue pie. You know, the players want thirty percent

336
00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:43,880
Speaker 3: of revenue. You know, they want revenue as a league grows.

337
00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:46,880
Speaker 3: They want that revenue as a league grows. The union's number,

338
00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:50,240
Speaker 3: even though it says set they're more at sev seventy

339
00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:53,760
Speaker 3: percent net revenue, it's really about fifteen percent gross revenue.

340
00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:56,560
Speaker 3: So you're talking about a fifteen percent difference. On the surface,

341
00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:58,280
Speaker 3: you could think, you know that that's something they could

342
00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:01,680
Speaker 3: bridge and get down, but they're dug in and I

343
00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:03,200
Speaker 3: don't think it's going to end anytime soon.

344
00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:04,840
Speaker 6: That's just my personal opinion. Tell them.

345
00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:06,920
Speaker 10: I mean, it's interesting that you say that, right, because

346
00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,600
Speaker 10: February first, the players probably say that thinking it feels

347
00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:13,040
Speaker 10: long a while away, and then every single time a

348
00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,400
Speaker 10: deadline or has passed they haven't had a deal, feels

349
00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:18,360
Speaker 10: like they're very far away on this right, Like you said,

350
00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:23,040
Speaker 10: how come in this instance they chose to operate in

351
00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,640
Speaker 10: good faith instead of calling for the strike that they

352
00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,240
Speaker 10: voted yes that they would do if they if they

353
00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:30,800
Speaker 10: felt like it needed to come to that. How come

354
00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,120
Speaker 10: they're operating in good faith right now instead of doing that?

355
00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:36,200
Speaker 3: Because they want to deal. They want to play basketball.

356
00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:38,800
Speaker 3: I think that's the one thing. And if you start striking,

357
00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,200
Speaker 3: it gets a more acrimonis than it already is. It

358
00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:43,800
Speaker 3: is kind of acrimonious if you If I've gotten the

359
00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:46,920
Speaker 3: back and forth, it's pretty bad. But the players are

360
00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:48,440
Speaker 3: going to strike more than the league is going to

361
00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:52,480
Speaker 3: lock them out. I don't think Adam Silver I know that.

362
00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:55,640
Speaker 3: I'm pretty certain that he does not want to draw

363
00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:59,080
Speaker 3: a hard line right now, and as he's taking it,

364
00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:01,720
Speaker 3: you know, just being hard on these women. I don't

365
00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:03,120
Speaker 3: just don't think he wants to do it. I think

366
00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:05,160
Speaker 3: he has good relationships with them. I don't think they

367
00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:07,600
Speaker 3: want to have a lockout. So it's gonna come down

368
00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:09,960
Speaker 3: to whether the players are gonna strike. I think you're right.

369
00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,560
Speaker 3: Why aren't they doing it now? They're going to if

370
00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:16,240
Speaker 3: this doesn't get done by I'd say March one, I

371
00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:19,520
Speaker 3: don't or mid February. I think that's probably more likely.

372
00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:23,200
Speaker 3: There's time the season doesn't start, you know, they don't

373
00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,920
Speaker 3: go to training camp until March or I think April.

374
00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,360
Speaker 3: Actually usually that the league wants to move it up

375
00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:31,440
Speaker 3: to March. But the season gonna start till May, so

376
00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:33,440
Speaker 3: there is a little time here. But I think the

377
00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:35,800
Speaker 3: union is bracing for the league to say, hey, if

378
00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:38,920
Speaker 3: you don't do a deal soon, the season is delayed,

379
00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:42,120
Speaker 3: they're gonna start. They expect they're gonna hear threats. The

380
00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:44,600
Speaker 3: other thing is you have two new expansion teams, the

381
00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:47,640
Speaker 3: Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo. You never heard of them, probably,

382
00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:49,840
Speaker 3: but they're coming. These are the next two teams that

383
00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:52,560
Speaker 3: are coming this year. There needs to be an expansion draft.

384
00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:54,760
Speaker 3: There are over one hundred players in this league that

385
00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:57,360
Speaker 3: are free agents, so you have free agency to do,

386
00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:00,840
Speaker 3: you have an expansion draft to do, You have teams

387
00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:03,440
Speaker 3: that are forming for the first time. This is there's

388
00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:05,800
Speaker 3: lots of business to be done, and there's a more

389
00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:08,800
Speaker 3: rim now. There'll be no free agency until this gets done.

390
00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:13,040
Speaker 3: So I don't know when when it's just starts wrapping

391
00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:14,680
Speaker 3: up here because there's a lot to do.

392
00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:17,320
Speaker 9: This is what's interesting to me, right because Kathy Engelbert,

393
00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:20,280
Speaker 9: she represents the w NBA, right, and she obviously you know,

394
00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,760
Speaker 9: I I guess what I'm saying is you have the

395
00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:24,440
Speaker 9: haves and you have to have nots, and so who

396
00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:26,480
Speaker 9: does she represent in these you know what I mean?

397
00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:28,439
Speaker 9: Like you probably have some of these smaller teams that

398
00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:32,119
Speaker 9: can't offset the losses from a lockout, and they probably gonna,

399
00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:34,119
Speaker 9: you know, be more inclined to do a deal along

400
00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:36,000
Speaker 9: the lines of what you're discussing with the thirty percent,

401
00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:38,399
Speaker 9: and then you have you're right, the you know, the

402
00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:41,880
Speaker 9: Valkyries and the Fever and teams that can basically weigh

403
00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:44,040
Speaker 9: them out right, I mean is that? I mean it

404
00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:46,880
Speaker 9: just seems so interesting, like what must be going on

405
00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:50,560
Speaker 9: inside you know, the WNBA, inside, you know, the war

406
00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:52,760
Speaker 9: room between Silver and Engelbert, Like where do they really

407
00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:55,080
Speaker 9: stand with this? It sounds to me like they're gonna

408
00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:55,640
Speaker 9: wake them out.

409
00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:58,160
Speaker 3: Yeah, you mentioned Silver and Angelbert. That's a really good

410
00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,160
Speaker 3: dynamic there because Angelbird has and not really much power.

411
00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:03,560
Speaker 3: I think the best thing that what happens to these

412
00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,200
Speaker 3: whole negotiations. And I don't want anybody to lose their job,

413
00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:10,199
Speaker 3: but if Kathy Engelbert was exited earlier, I think they

414
00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:12,520
Speaker 3: would help it. I think there's not a lot of

415
00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:16,200
Speaker 3: trust between the union and the league and it's nothing

416
00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:19,080
Speaker 3: to get you know, Kathy's a very strong leader. She's

417
00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:23,040
Speaker 3: built the business has gone scotgward since she's been the commissioner.

418
00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,399
Speaker 3: But the lack of trust, there's been a numbers. I'm

419
00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:26,960
Speaker 3: not going to go through them all, but there's been

420
00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,000
Speaker 3: a lack of trust there and so Adam is really.

421
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,280
Speaker 6: Pulling the strings behind the scenes, and it's just a

422
00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:32,800
Speaker 6: question of how far he wants to go.

423
00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:34,280
Speaker 5: Tom. I think that's an interesting point.

424
00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:37,119
Speaker 10: You brought it up earlier about Adam Silver having a

425
00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:40,119
Speaker 10: good relationship with the players and him not wanting to,

426
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:42,040
Speaker 10: you know, bar them out of this league. But at

427
00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:44,320
Speaker 10: the same time, if he does have to step in,

428
00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:45,879
Speaker 10: and the players have called for him to step in,

429
00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:48,520
Speaker 10: the reports are that he has stepped into these negotiations

430
00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:51,320
Speaker 10: because Kathy Engelbert couldn't get it done. So if he

431
00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:53,680
Speaker 10: does step in and they do eventually the two sides

432
00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,800
Speaker 10: come to a deal, but it is less seem less

433
00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:59,439
Speaker 10: favorable for the players. If the players do end up

434
00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:03,240
Speaker 10: kind of giving in to the league and does that

435
00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,520
Speaker 10: does that then you know, put any sort of smudge

436
00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:09,960
Speaker 10: on Adam Silver's reputation with the players. With the w

437
00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:13,600
Speaker 10: NBA in that way, if he negotiates a deal that

438
00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:15,040
Speaker 10: they feel isn't fair to them.

439
00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:18,800
Speaker 3: Well, you're right. Adam values his relationship with these players

440
00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:21,280
Speaker 3: very much. He values this relationship with all the NBA

441
00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:24,000
Speaker 3: players as well. He is that kind of owner where

442
00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:25,960
Speaker 3: you know he comes from to David Stern Mold where

443
00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:30,200
Speaker 3: he really wants that relationship, David Stearn's relationship with Michael Jordan,

444
00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:32,040
Speaker 3: Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Chris Paul.

445
00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:33,760
Speaker 6: You know, over the years, Adam has.

446
00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:35,280
Speaker 3: A great relationship with Chris Paul and these kind of

447
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:38,720
Speaker 3: players Andret Guodala. He's had a he's very values relationship.

448
00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:42,560
Speaker 3: So I think that's important to him. I don't think

449
00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:46,080
Speaker 3: they're gonna bury this season. I think eventually it will

450
00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:48,119
Speaker 3: get done. I think the players are not going to

451
00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,000
Speaker 3: give as easily as the as the league thinks. And

452
00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:53,120
Speaker 3: that's what I'm trying to say. I think that there

453
00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,000
Speaker 3: has to be an olive branch somewhere. I don't think

454
00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,840
Speaker 3: Adam's legacy or his his image with the players will change.

455
00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:02,240
Speaker 3: I think he will only step in if if he's

456
00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:04,240
Speaker 3: asked to. He's not really in the meetings right now,

457
00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:08,880
Speaker 3: but I just think that eventually that they'll get it done.

458
00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:11,800
Speaker 3: I just think that the players are gonna make it

459
00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:13,320
Speaker 3: hard on them. I don't think they're going to give

460
00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,639
Speaker 3: him this time. I think they have unrivaled which is

461
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:18,920
Speaker 3: this three on three league. There's fifty four players getting paid.

462
00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:19,240
Speaker 6: There.

463
00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:23,040
Speaker 3: You have Project B It's an international F one style

464
00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:25,160
Speaker 3: league that starting in November of twenty six. They already

465
00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,760
Speaker 3: announced their first tour stop in Japan and Tokyo in

466
00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:31,760
Speaker 3: March of twenty seven. I mean, these players are gonna

467
00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:33,919
Speaker 3: have options. They have a little leverage too. I mean

468
00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:35,639
Speaker 3: they don't have to go to the NBA wn A

469
00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,280
Speaker 3: and make money. There's there's leagues overseas, there's you know,

470
00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:41,120
Speaker 3: they can they can dig in and do this now

471
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,879
Speaker 3: from their brand standpoint, you know, Caitlin Clark will be fine,

472
00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:46,679
Speaker 3: but some of the other ones need it, need to

473
00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:50,000
Speaker 3: need the games to be played. So I just think

474
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:53,000
Speaker 3: that eventually that this will get wrapped up. But I

475
00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:55,800
Speaker 3: don't think Adam. I don't think he's gonna lock him out.

476
00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:57,600
Speaker 3: This is but like that he does care that much.

477
00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,040
Speaker 3: You know, you make a great point. He cares to

478
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:03,440
Speaker 3: the point that I don't think he wants that relationship toiled.

479
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:07,160
Speaker 7: We're talking with Tom Friend, basketball staff reporter for Sports

480
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,040
Speaker 7: Business Journal. And by the way, Sports Business Journal is

481
00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:14,359
Speaker 7: partner with Bloomberg through our new subscription bundle, which gives

482
00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:19,320
Speaker 7: readers access to both Bloomberg's business reporting and sbj's industry

483
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,719
Speaker 7: leading sports coverage. I don't mean to sound like gloom

484
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,360
Speaker 7: and doom, and I know we're running out of time unfortunately,

485
00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:29,520
Speaker 7: but if a strike comes, that is a killer to

486
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:31,840
Speaker 7: the w n b A. And I think back to

487
00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:35,800
Speaker 7: the strike years ago with Major League Baseball and it

488
00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:38,920
Speaker 7: took a while for them to get the momentum back.

489
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:40,560
Speaker 9: They're still really having covered from that.

490
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:46,159
Speaker 3: Yeah, I will say that the players will have the

491
00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:47,359
Speaker 3: public on their side.

492
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:48,240
Speaker 6: This is my opinion.

493
00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:53,280
Speaker 3: I think that these players have been underpaid, the league

494
00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:55,280
Speaker 3: hasn't been taken seriously and a lot of for a

495
00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:58,479
Speaker 3: lot of years now it is. It's amazing. I you know,

496
00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:00,600
Speaker 3: these games are appointment of viewing for me where they

497
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,359
Speaker 3: weren't before. I'm just speaking for myself and I'm a

498
00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:08,960
Speaker 3: big basketball fan, So I think that public sentiment's going

499
00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,480
Speaker 3: to be on the player's side. I think the league

500
00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:15,360
Speaker 3: probably knows that. I don't think they're being a reasonable unreasonable.

501
00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:17,120
Speaker 3: They're not asking for fifty percent of the revenue. They're

502
00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:20,560
Speaker 3: asking about thirty percent. There's some dynamics to that. The

503
00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:23,000
Speaker 3: other thing is that on the on the team side,

504
00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:26,400
Speaker 3: you know, the players, the league is saying they're gonna

505
00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:29,000
Speaker 3: lose seven hundred million if they accept this thirty percent revenue,

506
00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:33,240
Speaker 3: and the union says, well, you have expansion fees coming.

507
00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:35,719
Speaker 3: But these expansion fees are not as big as they

508
00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:37,680
Speaker 3: people think. They're not paid all at once, they're paid

509
00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:40,560
Speaker 3: over time, and they're not as big as the union

510
00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:44,600
Speaker 3: maybe think. So it's hard if you dissect it all. Yes,

511
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,240
Speaker 3: it's fair with the NBA is saying what WNBA is saying,

512
00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:50,360
Speaker 3: but when you boil it all down, public sentiment, sentiment's

513
00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:51,200
Speaker 3: going to be on the players.

514
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:53,000
Speaker 6: I think I'm right on that. Maybe you guys disagree

515
00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:54,280
Speaker 6: with me, but I think it is.

516
00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:56,680
Speaker 5: I definitely agree with you on that for sure.

517
00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:58,720
Speaker 3: And I think that when you look back at that

518
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:02,280
Speaker 3: baseball strike, were the villains, right? I mean they were

519
00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:04,760
Speaker 3: all villains. You know, everybody was everybody was villains.

520
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,840
Speaker 5: That was That was the millionaires versus billionaires argument.

521
00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,000
Speaker 10: This is not This is not that these players are

522
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:15,240
Speaker 10: not millionaires, only a handful. And that's not because of

523
00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:16,680
Speaker 10: their basketball in the court.

524
00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,560
Speaker 3: Right, it's their brand. And so I think that that's

525
00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:22,480
Speaker 3: going to change the way this goes. I don't think

526
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:23,720
Speaker 3: it's going to be a long term I think that

527
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:25,720
Speaker 3: I don't think it's gonna ruin the day. It's gonna

528
00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:26,119
Speaker 3: ruin it.

529
00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:26,439
Speaker 6: You're right.

530
00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:28,720
Speaker 3: I mean the w NBA, it's at its peak. Why

531
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:30,320
Speaker 3: would you mess with the momentum? And I think that

532
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:32,800
Speaker 3: the league has said that their statements they played out said,

533
00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:35,480
Speaker 3: you know, we didn't reach a deal, that this that's deadline.

534
00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:36,640
Speaker 6: We don't.

535
00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:38,560
Speaker 3: We want to capitalize in the momentum. And I think

536
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:40,520
Speaker 3: they all do, and I think that's why there's going

537
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:42,280
Speaker 3: to get a deal. There's gonna be a deal. They

538
00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:43,880
Speaker 3: don't want to ruin this. You make a great point.

539
00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:44,600
Speaker 3: I don't think they do.

540
00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:47,720
Speaker 7: I got I got to end on this because any

541
00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:51,720
Speaker 7: man who has written the book The Chicken Runs at Midnight,

542
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,439
Speaker 7: you know I love them. Tell me quickly about that book.

543
00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:57,840
Speaker 3: Well, The Chicken Runs and Midnight is a true story

544
00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:00,280
Speaker 3: about the Well, let me go through it. There was

545
00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:03,920
Speaker 3: a baseball coach then for the Pittsburgh Pirates who his

546
00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:07,920
Speaker 3: daughter was dying with a brain cancer, brain tumor, and

547
00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:09,920
Speaker 3: she saw him coach third base. He's cupping his hands

548
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:11,879
Speaker 3: talk to the runners at second base, Hey, get off,

549
00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:14,080
Speaker 3: Get off the base, and she has dad, what were

550
00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:16,000
Speaker 3: you saying to the runners? Because she couldn't see from

551
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:17,719
Speaker 3: the stands, she couldn't hear. She goes, Dad, what were

552
00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,439
Speaker 3: you saying? The chicken runs at midnight? And everybody laughed, like,

553
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:21,760
Speaker 3: why are you saying the chicken runs?

554
00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:22,240
Speaker 6: What is that?

555
00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:24,239
Speaker 3: And you know she no one knew what it meant.

556
00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:28,360
Speaker 3: It became a family mantra and she dies of brain cancer.

557
00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,480
Speaker 3: And then five years later he's the third base coach

558
00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:32,359
Speaker 3: for the Florida Marlins.

559
00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:33,359
Speaker 6: They're in the World Series.

560
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:36,520
Speaker 3: They had a second baseman named Craig Counsel, who you

561
00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:39,040
Speaker 3: may have heard of, who's the Cubs manager. And back

562
00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:41,960
Speaker 3: then he was a young player and he looked like

563
00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:45,040
Speaker 3: a chicken away he held his bat and the family

564
00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:47,359
Speaker 3: used to nickname him the chicken Man. And it just

565
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:49,720
Speaker 3: so happens in the Game seven the World Series against

566
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:51,919
Speaker 3: the Indians, he's on third base and he scores the

567
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,879
Speaker 3: winning run and the father, who never knew with the

568
00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:58,040
Speaker 3: chicken runs midnight and meant well, he scored the winning

569
00:24:58,080 --> 00:24:58,719
Speaker 3: run at midnight.

570
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:00,760
Speaker 6: And so it's a true story.

571
00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:03,160
Speaker 3: The kid who they nicknamed the Chicken scored the winning

572
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,520
Speaker 3: run at midnight, and five years later they found out

573
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:10,080
Speaker 3: to this dying daughter's premonition, the chicken runs at midnight.

574
00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:10,480
Speaker 7: Wow.

575
00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:12,080
Speaker 6: So that's the book that I wrote.

576
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,600
Speaker 3: It's a it's a faith based book, but you know

577
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,200
Speaker 3: it's on It's about baseball and spirit and family.

578
00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:19,280
Speaker 6: So that's what we wrote.

579
00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:22,320
Speaker 10: Our thanks to Sports Business Journal basketball staff reporter Tom

580
00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:25,280
Speaker 10: Friend for joining us. Sports Business Journal has partnered with

581
00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:28,719
Speaker 10: Bloomberg through our new subscription bundle, which gives readers access

582
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:32,439
Speaker 10: to Bloomberg's business reporting and sbj's industry leading sports coverage.

583
00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,159
Speaker 7: Up next, we stick with women's sports, and here a

584
00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:39,560
Speaker 7: special one on one conversation with our own Vanessa Perdomo

585
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:43,959
Speaker 7: and Carolyn Tish Blogett, lead owner and governor of Gotham

586
00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:47,959
Speaker 7: FC and founder and CEO of Next Three. For Damian

587
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,480
Speaker 7: zas Sour and Vanessa Perdomo, I'm Michael Barr. You are

588
00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,440
Speaker 7: listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports Bloomberger Radio round

589
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:56,000
Speaker 7: the world.

590
00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:04,879
Speaker 9: Bloomberg Radio is on Amazon Alexa get live business news

591
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:07,760
Speaker 9: twenty four hours a day. Anywhere you have an Alexa device,

592
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,320
Speaker 9: Just say Alexa play Bloomberg Radio.

593
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:15,560
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

594
00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:19,920
Speaker 7: Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports,

595
00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:22,760
Speaker 7: where we explore the big money issues in the world

596
00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:23,240
Speaker 7: of sports.

597
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:25,120
Speaker 5: I'm Michael Barr and I'm Vanessa Prodomo.

598
00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,320
Speaker 10: Earlier this week I had the pleasure of sitting down

599
00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:30,040
Speaker 10: with Carolyn Tish Blodgett. She's lead owner and governor of

600
00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:33,480
Speaker 10: Gotham FC and founder and CEO of Next three, a

601
00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:35,400
Speaker 10: sports focused venture capital firm.

602
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:38,719
Speaker 7: Let's hear a portion of that conversation. Now it's Vanessa

603
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:43,400
Speaker 7: Perdomo with Next three founder and CEO Carolyn Tish Blodgett.

604
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:45,920
Speaker 10: We're so I going to have you right off of

605
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 10: winning your second championship in three years.

606
00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:51,719
Speaker 5: We've talked about this.

607
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:53,800
Speaker 10: We had you on right after you won the first one.

608
00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,160
Speaker 10: Now it's the second one. How's it feels the second

609
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:56,639
Speaker 10: time around?

610
00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:58,399
Speaker 5: Honestly better.

611
00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:01,840
Speaker 4: I think the more time we spend with this team,

612
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,439
Speaker 4: I think the more we appreciate just how difficult it

613
00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,399
Speaker 4: is to win, you know, I think what our the

614
00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:10,840
Speaker 4: soccer side of our team has built our general manager, yeah,

615
00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 4: la Abrabush West, our coach, They've created, truly created a

616
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,280
Speaker 4: winning culture, a winning team, and I don't take lightly

617
00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:19,439
Speaker 4: how much goes into that.

618
00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:22,120
Speaker 10: Yeah, I mean it's right, you said it's it's hard

619
00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:23,800
Speaker 10: to win two times in three years.

620
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:25,360
Speaker 5: It just it doesn't really have very often.

621
00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,280
Speaker 10: So it's amazing to see, especially in such a such

622
00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:31,840
Speaker 10: a young league, to have two of those thirteen titles.

623
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,680
Speaker 10: I think it is I mean about that, Yeah, that's

624
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,639
Speaker 10: really incredible. So now the team, because you guys won,

625
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,400
Speaker 10: you're off to London very soon for.

626
00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:42,600
Speaker 5: A champions Cup. Tell us about that.

627
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:46,040
Speaker 4: Yeah, so we obviously, so what we won was the

628
00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:51,320
Speaker 4: National Women's Soccer League Championship Championship, so that's our league championship. Obviously,

629
00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:54,320
Speaker 4: soccer is a global sport, a global game. So we

630
00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:58,120
Speaker 4: are participating in the first ever Women's Champions Cup, which

631
00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:00,320
Speaker 4: is basically if you think about on the men side,

632
00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:02,879
Speaker 4: there's the Club World Cup. The best clubs around the

633
00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:05,119
Speaker 4: world all compete to be the best club in the world.

634
00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:09,800
Speaker 4: We are representing North America, Central America at CONKA CAF

635
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:12,560
Speaker 4: in that tournament, so we are competing to be the

636
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:13,560
Speaker 4: best team in the world.

637
00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:15,399
Speaker 5: I mean, what kind of title is that?

638
00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:17,359
Speaker 10: What kind of title is that when you if you

639
00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:18,679
Speaker 10: actually were able to capture it?

640
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,200
Speaker 5: What kind of meaning does this tournament have, do you think?

641
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:24,639
Speaker 4: So we talk a lot about wanting to be the

642
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:29,840
Speaker 4: first global women's sports brand that starts with the product

643
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:32,040
Speaker 4: on the field. You can't be a big global brand

644
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:34,879
Speaker 4: if your product isn't there, if you're not winning. So,

645
00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:38,080
Speaker 4: you know, I've joked with our general manager often of

646
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,520
Speaker 4: that was our intent. That was our vision was to

647
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:43,640
Speaker 4: be a big global, first ever global women's sports brand.

648
00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:46,000
Speaker 4: They really sped that up by winning so much. So,

649
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:48,640
Speaker 4: you know, I think it's really a first step on

650
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,920
Speaker 4: that journey, and it's really a moment to introduce our brand,

651
00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:55,040
Speaker 4: not you know, we've been very focused on introducing our brand,

652
00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:57,560
Speaker 4: our product to the New York area. This is our

653
00:28:57,640 --> 00:28:59,360
Speaker 4: chance to really introduce it to the world.

654
00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:01,480
Speaker 10: I think that that's an interesting point there, And obviously,

655
00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:03,320
Speaker 10: like you said, you want to be a global women's

656
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:07,560
Speaker 10: sports team and a huge brand globally, But how what

657
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:11,160
Speaker 10: else can you do to get onto other stages?

658
00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:12,400
Speaker 5: Is it other friendlies?

659
00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:15,080
Speaker 10: And you've played friendlies before, right in other places but

660
00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:18,320
Speaker 10: how do you grow the brand beyond just the US,

661
00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:20,280
Speaker 10: beyond just New York, New Jersey.

662
00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:23,160
Speaker 4: I think being being the best and being able to

663
00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:26,240
Speaker 4: be in these tournaments. So we were in the we

664
00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:30,600
Speaker 4: won the first ever CONCACAF Women's tournament last year. That's

665
00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:33,680
Speaker 4: what got us entry into this FIFA tournament. We will

666
00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:35,360
Speaker 4: be in that, We will be in the semi finals

667
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:38,440
Speaker 4: and hopefully championship of that in May. We will participate

668
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,480
Speaker 4: in that again in the fall. So because we've been

669
00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:44,080
Speaker 4: winning so much within our league, we have the opportunity

670
00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:45,960
Speaker 4: to participate on the global scale.

671
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:47,120
Speaker 5: And so what that.

672
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,800
Speaker 4: Does for us as a brand is to say when

673
00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 4: there are soccer fans all over the world saying, you know,

674
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:54,760
Speaker 4: I play soccer, you know as a kid, or I'm

675
00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:57,479
Speaker 4: just a casual fan of soccer when I'm looking for

676
00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:00,640
Speaker 4: a team to follow, you got them going to be

677
00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:02,640
Speaker 4: in the mix because of what we've been able to

678
00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:03,320
Speaker 4: do on the field.

679
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:07,520
Speaker 10: Now, there's obviously tons of other there are leagues in

680
00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:09,080
Speaker 10: these in these global markets.

681
00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:10,080
Speaker 5: Obviously that's who you're gonna be.

682
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:12,720
Speaker 10: Competing against, But how do you compete against them for

683
00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:14,480
Speaker 10: fans in their own markets.

684
00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:17,120
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a really good question. So when we think

685
00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,840
Speaker 4: about building fandom, a lot of it starts with players

686
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:25,040
Speaker 4: and telling storytelling around our players and their stories. I

687
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,600
Speaker 4: used to run marketing at Peloton and the model we

688
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,840
Speaker 4: had there was to really build the instructors into household names.

689
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:34,240
Speaker 4: We think about that with Gotham and we think about

690
00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:36,840
Speaker 4: how do we get You know, in the US, many

691
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:39,440
Speaker 4: people know who Rose Levelle is, but do people know

692
00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:41,800
Speaker 4: who she is globally? And we'll be playing in England.

693
00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:44,120
Speaker 4: Jess Carter is one of our players. She plays for

694
00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,400
Speaker 4: the English national team. Does everyone in England realize that

695
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,200
Speaker 4: Jess Carter, you know, a national hero for just one

696
00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:52,720
Speaker 4: in the Euros that she plays for Gotham and so

697
00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:55,880
Speaker 4: really spotlighting our players and helping to tell those stories

698
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:58,400
Speaker 4: and realize, wait, if I want to go watch Jess Carter,

699
00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:00,280
Speaker 4: I want to go watch and Katrine burg Or, who

700
00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:02,640
Speaker 4: plays for Germany help them win a bronze medal at

701
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,240
Speaker 4: the Olympics. I have to watch Gotham and become a

702
00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:06,560
Speaker 4: fan of Gotham because.

703
00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:08,560
Speaker 5: Of that A stare as well, right, I.

704
00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:11,680
Speaker 10: Mean, like I didn't talk about exactly, I can't imagine,

705
00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:14,080
Speaker 10: you know, like the global reagion Obviously you'll see that

706
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:16,440
Speaker 10: more as the tournament, you know, happens in the next

707
00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:17,120
Speaker 10: couple of weeks.

708
00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:20,400
Speaker 5: But the reach and the play the stars.

709
00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:21,880
Speaker 10: That you do have, you have the U s WiM's

710
00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:24,200
Speaker 10: national team stars, but like you had mentioned, you have Astaire,

711
00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,040
Speaker 10: who's one of the most globally recognized women's sports, women's

712
00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:28,080
Speaker 10: soccer players in the world.

713
00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:31,520
Speaker 5: What kind of fever you're gonna get from from that

714
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,960
Speaker 5: kind of an environment over there in Europe, We're really excited.

715
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:36,520
Speaker 5: I think we don't know what to expect.

716
00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:39,200
Speaker 4: Will We're playing in Arsenal's home stadium, so I assume

717
00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:40,960
Speaker 4: there's going to be a lot of Arsenal fans, But

718
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:44,840
Speaker 4: we know our players have these really strong fan bases

719
00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:46,840
Speaker 4: at home too, so I do hope there's a lot

720
00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:50,040
Speaker 4: of Spanish fans rooting for Estaire as well, same with Jess,

721
00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:52,560
Speaker 4: same with with and So I think we really will

722
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:54,760
Speaker 4: see a global fan base there showing up for Gotham.

723
00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:56,280
Speaker 5: Obviously, a lot.

724
00:31:56,280 --> 00:31:58,440
Speaker 10: In the last few months has been talked about about

725
00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:02,320
Speaker 10: players going oversea in competing for talent in these pools.

726
00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:05,360
Speaker 10: Now being in this tournament, how important do you think

727
00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:07,479
Speaker 10: it is? Do you are you putting any importance on winning,

728
00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,479
Speaker 10: being able to show that the ndwsell that Gotham is

729
00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:14,040
Speaker 10: the best, the best league in the world.

730
00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:17,280
Speaker 5: Do you feel any sort of pressure there, Yeah, very much.

731
00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:18,560
Speaker 3: So we want to win. Yeah.

732
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:20,320
Speaker 4: If the question is do you want to win, the

733
00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:23,120
Speaker 4: answer is yes, yes. I think you know, we often

734
00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:24,880
Speaker 4: we feel at the end of your cell that we're

735
00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:27,000
Speaker 4: the best league in the world, and we compete for

736
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:30,280
Speaker 4: global talent. This is an opportunity I think for Gotham

737
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:32,320
Speaker 4: to represent the end of your cell on the global

738
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:34,520
Speaker 4: stage and show what it means to be a part

739
00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:36,520
Speaker 4: of the end of your cell. Obviously, you know, if

740
00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:38,200
Speaker 4: we don't win, I don't think that means that, Like

741
00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:40,160
Speaker 4: the answer is, we're not the best league in the world.

742
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,800
Speaker 4: But I think we we are competing with the best

743
00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:45,720
Speaker 4: teams in the world in part of the best in

744
00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:47,320
Speaker 4: the best leagues in the world, and I think you'll

745
00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:49,160
Speaker 4: see that on display at this tournament.

746
00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:52,560
Speaker 10: One of the things that been put into place now

747
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:55,800
Speaker 10: because of everything that's going on with players salaries rising

748
00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:59,360
Speaker 10: and you know, just the global game rising, more people

749
00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:02,520
Speaker 10: investing overs and things like that, is the new high

750
00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:04,400
Speaker 10: impact player rule. Can you tell us a little bit

751
00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:07,080
Speaker 10: about that and how you feel like it can actually

752
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:08,120
Speaker 10: help the end of USL.

753
00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:09,000
Speaker 1: Yeah.

754
00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,000
Speaker 4: Absolutely, so the high impact player rules, so there is

755
00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:14,720
Speaker 4: the US are the end of your Cell has a

756
00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:18,120
Speaker 4: salary cap which is much more similar to other US

757
00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:20,960
Speaker 4: leagues but different than other soccer leagues.

758
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:23,320
Speaker 5: It's not new for US in the US.

759
00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:26,120
Speaker 10: It's not a foreign concept, but it is foreign concept

760
00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:27,280
Speaker 10: for football in general.

761
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,280
Speaker 4: Exactly exactly, And I think that's the balance for the

762
00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:34,040
Speaker 4: End of your Cell is we are a US based league,

763
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:37,000
Speaker 4: so things like salary cap makes sense. We are also

764
00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:41,160
Speaker 4: competing for global talent, so the high impact The idea

765
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:43,520
Speaker 4: of the high impact player rule is that certain players

766
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:47,520
Speaker 4: that are really globally recognized stars will you'll be able

767
00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:50,920
Speaker 4: to pay them beyond what is currently allocated in the

768
00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:54,080
Speaker 4: salary cap. The idea behind it is that again we

769
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,320
Speaker 4: are competing for global talent, so it is there is

770
00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,440
Speaker 4: a recognition that certain stars will come in and more

771
00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:03,840
Speaker 4: than our current salary caps can pay can afford, and

772
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:05,000
Speaker 4: we want to be the best league in the world.

773
00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:07,400
Speaker 4: We want to continue to have them, and the idea

774
00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:10,759
Speaker 4: is that we can continue to pull some of those

775
00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:14,640
Speaker 4: best stars here while also growing the business.

776
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:15,480
Speaker 5: Side of the league.

777
00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:18,319
Speaker 4: So you know, to back to what I said before

778
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:22,200
Speaker 4: around stars really driving talent, Stars drive viewership, and so

779
00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:24,640
Speaker 4: continue to have some of the best stars in the

780
00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:27,000
Speaker 4: world playing in this league, we think is a win

781
00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:29,920
Speaker 4: for our league competitively keeps the best stars here and

782
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,000
Speaker 4: also helps to continue to grow viewership.

783
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:32,520
Speaker 3: Yeah.

784
00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:36,360
Speaker 10: Can you that balance between growing the revenue, growing the

785
00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:39,560
Speaker 10: business and being able to play, to be able to

786
00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:42,680
Speaker 10: pay players what they deserve? How hard is that to

787
00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,520
Speaker 10: walk in such a new league.

788
00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:48,319
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's a really good question and a

789
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:52,280
Speaker 4: fair question in one we face every day at the league.

790
00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:56,560
Speaker 4: We want our players should be thrilled and excited to

791
00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:58,239
Speaker 4: show up and play in the end of our cell

792
00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:02,040
Speaker 4: every day. That takes a certain level of salary, and

793
00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:06,120
Speaker 4: we need this to be a viable business that investors

794
00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:09,680
Speaker 4: will continue to invest in. And so continuing to strike

795
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:13,080
Speaker 4: that balance of paying players what they deserve, what they

796
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:15,680
Speaker 4: what they want and what they could get elsewhere, and

797
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,279
Speaker 4: also making this a sustainable business is something we're very

798
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:19,799
Speaker 4: focused on.

799
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:25,000
Speaker 10: How do you capitalize on winning this championship, winning two

800
00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:27,200
Speaker 10: at a three years, How do you continue to grow

801
00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:29,800
Speaker 10: the business based on the success you've had on the field.

802
00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:31,000
Speaker 5: Yeah.

803
00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:31,200
Speaker 3: That.

804
00:35:31,680 --> 00:35:34,719
Speaker 4: So we we've talked about at our team, like you

805
00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:37,640
Speaker 4: always need to be championship ready, and I think our

806
00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:41,560
Speaker 4: business team embraced that fully this year. We started planning

807
00:35:41,719 --> 00:35:43,919
Speaker 4: our so in twenty twenty three, I think we talked

808
00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:46,640
Speaker 4: about this at the time the team won the championship

809
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,839
Speaker 4: and we didn't have a celebration, and you know, we.

810
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,360
Speaker 5: Haven't even touched on that yet. I can't believe we haven't.

811
00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:55,320
Speaker 5: The parade finally happened. I'm so excited.

812
00:35:55,440 --> 00:36:00,040
Speaker 10: Please continue, but I'm really excited that.

813
00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:01,359
Speaker 5: The team actually got their solebration the time. Thank you well.

814
00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:04,640
Speaker 4: Our team worked incredibly hard on that, so I appreciate

815
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:06,839
Speaker 4: you saying that. So twenty twenty three, the team did

816
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,760
Speaker 4: not have a celebration, and it was a real, honestly

817
00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:12,520
Speaker 4: failure on me, failure of the team that we just

818
00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:14,880
Speaker 4: we I think the team didn't think they were going

819
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:16,359
Speaker 4: to win and then one and was like, oh wait,

820
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:18,440
Speaker 4: how do you plan a celebration? Turns out you can't

821
00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:21,560
Speaker 4: plan a celebration in twenty four hours. So we started

822
00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:24,719
Speaker 4: planning in August before we made the playoffs, before we

823
00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:26,960
Speaker 4: knew anything of what was going to happen. In our postseason,

824
00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:29,840
Speaker 4: we said, we want to celebrate. We want this team

825
00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:32,640
Speaker 4: deserves to be celebrated, and it deserves to be celebrated

826
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:34,919
Speaker 4: in the exact same way that a men's team would

827
00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:37,600
Speaker 4: be celebrated. So we said, if we win, and we

828
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:40,040
Speaker 4: will do everything we can to support the team to win,

829
00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:43,600
Speaker 4: we are going to celebrate them like the New York Giants,

830
00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:45,760
Speaker 4: like the New York I don't know if the Jets

831
00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:50,000
Speaker 4: have ever wanted to, maybe they have. Anyway, well, the

832
00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:52,880
Speaker 4: next whoever else has won, the Yankees, we are going

833
00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:55,880
Speaker 4: to celebrate them with a Canyon of Heroes parade in

834
00:36:55,920 --> 00:36:57,839
Speaker 4: the at City Hall, the exact same way that all

835
00:36:57,880 --> 00:36:58,640
Speaker 4: the men's teams have.

836
00:36:58,800 --> 00:36:59,799
Speaker 5: So we have.

837
00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:04,280
Speaker 4: We were absolutely ready to go, and it's pretty amazing.

838
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:06,439
Speaker 4: We won the championship on Saturday night in San Jose.

839
00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:10,160
Speaker 4: We had thousands of people lined up to greet our

840
00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:12,719
Speaker 4: players and to be a part of our City Hall

841
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:13,920
Speaker 4: celebration Monday morning.

842
00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:17,279
Speaker 10: Amazing And it was hard though, right because it's Thanksgiving

843
00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:19,480
Speaker 10: Day week, right, So yeah, there was a little bit

844
00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:22,160
Speaker 10: of a challenge of trying to you can't do one

845
00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:23,920
Speaker 10: a parade necessarily exactly.

846
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:25,919
Speaker 4: I'm glad you said that yes, so I caught myself.

847
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:28,160
Speaker 4: I shouldn't have called it. Technically, it wasn't a parade.

848
00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:30,640
Speaker 4: It was a like walk down the Wall Street or

849
00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:33,160
Speaker 4: something like that, because yes, exactly, it's Thanksgiving week, so

850
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:36,200
Speaker 4: you're not a New York city doesn't allow any other

851
00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:39,520
Speaker 4: parades to happen that week. And not to get really

852
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:41,600
Speaker 4: in the weeds, but all of the play many of

853
00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:43,640
Speaker 4: our players play for their national teams, they all had

854
00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:46,440
Speaker 4: to leave for their national team duties that afternoon, so

855
00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:48,399
Speaker 4: we had about a two hour window to make something

856
00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:51,560
Speaker 4: work Monday morning, which we did and it was great.

857
00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:53,960
Speaker 4: And again the celebration that this team deserved and a

858
00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:56,919
Speaker 4: lesson I think for our business team has taken away

859
00:37:57,040 --> 00:37:59,439
Speaker 4: is like we will always be championship ready, no matter

860
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:00,800
Speaker 4: what is happening on the field.

861
00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:03,640
Speaker 10: That's a portion of my conversation with Carolyn Tish Blodgett.

862
00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:06,719
Speaker 10: She's lead owner and governor of GOTHAMAFC, as well as

863
00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:10,680
Speaker 10: NWSL board member and chair of the NWSL Executive Committee.

864
00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:14,319
Speaker 10: She's also founder and CEO of sports venture capital firm

865
00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:15,320
Speaker 10: Next three.

866
00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:17,879
Speaker 7: And just like that, that does it for this edition

867
00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:21,120
Speaker 7: of The Bloomberg Business of Sports. If you missed anything.

868
00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:25,520
Speaker 7: Check it out now on demand. It's available on Apple, Spotify,

869
00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:29,640
Speaker 7: the Bloomberg Business App, and all your favorite podcast platforms.

870
00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:34,040
Speaker 7: For my colleagues Damian Sasauer and Bnessa Berdomo, I'm Michael Barr.

871
00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:36,200
Speaker 10: Tune in again next week for the latest on the

872
00:38:36,239 --> 00:38:38,360
Speaker 10: stories moving big money in the world of sports.

873
00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:41,520
Speaker 7: You are listening to The Bloomberg Business of Sports from

874
00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:43,560
Speaker 7: Bloomberg Radio around the world.