WEBVTT - Bloomberg Power Players Summit 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:02.960 This is Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser and I'm 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:05.480 Jason Kelly. We're here every day bringing you the latest 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:09.840 news from the world's of business and finance, plus technology, politics, economics, 0:00:09.880 --> 0:00:13.480 all harnessing the power of Bloomberg Business Week reporters and editors, 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:16.759 not to mention our journalists and analysts more than a 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:19.520 hundred and twenty countries. You can download Bloomberg Business Week 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:22.439 on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Bloomberg dot Com. You can also 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:24.880 listen to our radio show weekdays at two pm Eastern 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:29.240 only on Bloomberg Radio. Jason Kelly Here in Miami. We're 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:34.120 here at SOHO Studios. It's the Bloomberg Power Players Summit, 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.760 an exciting afternoon leading up to the big Game. We're 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:41.159 talking all about the business of sports and coming up 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:43.040 in just a few minutes, we're gonna hear from my 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:45.280 co host, Carol Master. She's gonna be taking the stage 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:50.559 with a number of players, current and former across some sports. 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:53.200 We've got Jay Williams, used to play for the Chicago Bulls, 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:57.360 now a broadcaster. We've got Ovie Ma Haley. He is 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:00.200 a former All Pro fullback for the Atlanta Falcon. Let's 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.200 Go Falcons. And Paul Rabel, friend of this show. He 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:06.560 is currently playing in the league that he created, the 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:09.920 Premier Lacrosse League. And Nag Good he is a linebacker 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:13.440 for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Uh. They're talking about their business. 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:16.080 They're talking about the business of their leagues and of 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:19.040 their sports. And just to give you a sense of 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:21.000 where we are, we're in this sort of corner of 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:25.480 downtown Miami where a lot is happening. And obviously the 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:28.360 city is really bustling right now with the super Bowl. 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:30.920 But as you move around Miami, you do see this 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:35.640 city that is in transition to some extent. It's wildly diverse. Uh, 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:38.720 such an international city in many ways, You've got a 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:42.520 lot of people sort of gravitating towards this new downtown area. 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:45.360 We spent the last couple of days over on Miami 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:47.920 Beach at the Miami Convention Center. That of course, is 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:51.480 where all the media are gathered in anticipation, you know, 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:55.360 and in speaking with Brian Billick and others who were there. 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:57.840 Brian Billick, of course, the Super Bowl winning coach of 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:02.480 the Baltimore Ravens. Joe thisman, uh, winning quarterbacks, people, winning 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:04.680 quarterback you know, those are the sorts of folks that 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:07.560 are making their way around. Jerome Bettis, we spoke with 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:11.000 him as well about his business ventures as well as 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:12.800 the future of the league. We talked a lot about 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:17.440 diversity or lack thereof in hiring at the highest levels 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:20.280 of head coaching, and he had some ideas that he 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:23.600 said he's going to put to Roger Goodell. So those 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:26.200 are the sorts of folks who were here in Miami. 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:28.880 Uh And at our event, we're really focusing in on 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:32.840 the key issues related to the business and the business 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:35.800 of sports, not just football obviously, UH that is top 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:39.040 of mind uh here this weekend. But when you think 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:43.079 about the newly empowered athlete, you think about especially in 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:45.959 the NBA, and we talked about this on an earlier panel. 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:48.720 You think about Chris Paul, you think about Lebron James, 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:52.520 you think about the late Kobe Bryant and the power 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.920 that they had with their brands, their ability to go. 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:58.840 And Carol was saying this a few minutes ago, directly 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:04.200 to the consumer and directly to the fan. I'm going 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:07.799 to take you right over to Carol Masser. Now she 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:12.400 has a lineup of former and current players here we go. 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:18.120 So welcome, Welcome. UM, I've been excited about this panel. 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:21.400 All right, So we're talking about the athletes competitive edge 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:23.240 and I'm going to kind of go through each of 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:27.360 you and then we'll we'll kind of round tables and things. Um, Paul, 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:29.680 I want to start with you. We've spent a lot 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:33.560 of time with you at Bloomberg and starting a new 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:35.800 sports league. I think in the words you said to us, 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:39.200 it's a heavy lift, but it's incredible you had Ali 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:42.960 Baba Joe said backing you, UM, it's pretty incredible. You 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:45.680 co founded it with your brother Mike. Heavy lift. Why 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:49.120 did you do it? Um, I'm glad you brought that up. 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:52.600 Heavy lift. I wasn't as creative in my response as 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:55.920 as I. Uh, maybe what I've hoped to have been, 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:58.440 but heavy lift we could probably all identify with is 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:01.120 what we do, starting at least on the field and 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:04.480 on the core in the weight room. Uh. So that 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.840 I think work ethic translates into what a lot of 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:12.680 athletes do in the boardroom. And for me, different than 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:17.600 my peers here, I have been playing for the Lions. 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:20.359 Share of my athletic career sport that is outside of 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:23.800 the core four sports that are consumed in the marketplace, 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:28.039 and it was my passion just like their respective sports 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:31.040 are theirs. And when you get an opportunity to be 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:33.240 one of the best additive at whatever it is that 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:36.239 you do, and you continue to move from high school 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:39.359 to college and then in my case pro uh, it 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:44.239 became very apparent that uh, the professional opportunity and lacrosse 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:48.000 wasn't there yet. It could have been based on I 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:50.920 think what we're gonna talk about the subject matter today, 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:55.800 which is the advent of new technology, new media, UH, 0:04:56.040 --> 0:05:01.560 relative startup costs going down, opportunity and going up UH 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:06.600 and an educational um uh kind of swinging amongst athletes, 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:10.560 and and the opportunity to then uh leverage platform and 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:14.920 do something that is intellectually stimulating that can impact the 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:18.880 economy and impact your subset of of colleagues. And in 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:21.840 my case, it was, Hey, not only do I want 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:24.400 to do something that I think our support deserves in 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:27.880 lacrosse and leverage all those modern tools to get there, 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:34.480 but it can materially impact the professional career of my peers. UM. 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:37.159 It was a heavy lift because starting a leak from 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:42.720 scratch is almost unimaginable there are so many nuances from 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:45.960 you know, legal to marketing, to fundraising, to to brand 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:51.880 building too, player contracts to venue negotiations to sponsorship agreements 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:56.120 that all have to be in place for it to start. 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:59.479 And the last thing I'll say is different than you know, 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:03.200 building the sas company or any other product or service 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:07.760 from the ground up. You can delay your launch until 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:13.080 you're perfectly set to go to market. In a sports league, 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:16.839 we had to negotiate all those venues, build our player 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:20.320 of contracts, have our media rights deal with NBC, and 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:24.839 start on June one, So there was no delaying of that. 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:28.200 So we were literally our feet weren't against the fire. 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:31.200 We were in the fire building this thing. Right, you 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:33.440 gotta commit and go today. I want to bring you 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:38.200 in speaking of um heavy lift just in New York 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:41.000 Times a few years ago. And if you guys get 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:44.760 quiet down, because I want to I want to read this. Jason, 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:48.520 your high school All American, National Player of the Year, 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:52.159 national champion at duke, number two overall in the NBA 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:55.839 draft selection. It all came to an end in June 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:59.000 of two thousand three. You had a motorcycle accident. It 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:02.479 put you an intense of care for five weeks, you 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.760 watched on TV as your team, the Chicago Bulls. They 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:09.160 drafted your replacement. You're on your back for months at 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:10.920 a time. You don't even know if you were going 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:15.240 to walk again. I mean, this was unbelievable. Your leg 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:19.760 held together by a hundred staples, various metal, metal contraptions. 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:25.120 Your comeback took years, and yet you did. You've reinvented yourself. 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:28.960 You're having your second act. You're an ESPN analyst, you're 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:32.240 a co founder and a company. UM tell us about 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:36.040 what you learned as an athlete that helps you get 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:41.920 through all this and get here us. Thank you. I 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:43.880 hope that I can have a third, or fourth or 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:46.760 fifth in the sixth act. I think by the current 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:49.880 events that we've all experienced this past week, I think 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:52.480 we all have a there's a level of appreciation that 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:55.480 comes with the opportunity that we're provided. And I think 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:59.560 for me personally, we talked about risk mitigation with a 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:02.120 lot of things do when you're young and you're giving 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:05.400 a lot of money, and the thing that makes athletes 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:08.840 great is their competitive edge. For me, I came from 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:11.160 an environment in which we were very team oriented, but 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:13.920 the team I got drafted to was a bad team, 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.080 So you had a lot of individuals and a bad team. 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:19.120 And I had never been through that experience UM because 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.600 I used to be in collective UM as a unit 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:23.880 and that led me to writing Moorcycle that led me 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:25.680 to be in hospital. But I think the way I 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:28.000 was able to reinvent, and I think you see a 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:30.160 lot of companies that are able to do this as well, 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:33.520 is when you start owning your story. I think for 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:35.840 a long time I tried to stiff farm my story 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:37.439 and try to make it not a part of who 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:40.400 I was. But as I have a scar that runs 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:43.120 from my ankle all the way up to my high thigh, uh, 0:08:43.160 --> 0:08:44.959 for the first, you know, year of my life, I 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:47.520 would always complain about a scar until I realized that 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.079 I still have my damn leg and having my leg 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:52.839 is something to be appreciative about. And then I started 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:55.679 hearing other people's stories about whether you're starting a franchise 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:58.040 or whether you're starting a league, or whether you have 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:01.319 a data company, whatever it might be, the startup process 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:04.120 of it, and I recognize that there are troubles that 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:07.120 we all go through in that startup process of whatever industry. 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:09.839 That you're currently in. So I realized that other people 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:12.319 had accidents in other forms or fashions of their life, 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:14.439 and I was like, well, I think a way I 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:17.120 can connect myself to other people is talk openly about 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:20.160 my accident, about what I learned through my experiences, about 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:23.280 how I tried to reinvent myself. And that made the 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:26.160 connectivity so much easier for me to relate and people 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:28.439 to relate to me about my story. And I think 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:30.400 by doing that, I started to build out my personal 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:32.959 board about people that I think held themselves to higher 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:37.199 standards in different verticals business, being a dad, now being 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:40.200 a husband, and I started surrounding myself with people that 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:43.480 I thought could help me get to the aspirational places 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:47.000 that I want to be. I want to bring a nausey. Um. 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:49.400 You're balancing both kind of your first and second act. 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:52.800 You're still playing Paul, still playing Um. But what's it 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:56.640 like to balance that with creating a company and trying 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:58.400 to build that out as well? And talk to us 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:01.720 little bit about vbo. Um. Yes, So vbo is a 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:08.160 monetization technology. We monetize any digital software and through pictures 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:12.720 and video and for me personally, balancing into has not 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:15.840 been that difficult because of the behavior that we perform 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:18.840 in the company and what I do on the football field, UM, 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:21.040 similar to what we are able to provide for the 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:23.800 fans for a better fan experience is the same thing 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:26.840 that I see every day, UM, and that is reluctant 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:32.000 to trust, teamwork, and leadership, and in those three entities 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:34.800 with trust, just like in our business, you know, you 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:37.559 have trust in your teammates, you have teamwork and a 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:41.000 cohesion on the football field, and you have leadership and 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:44.880 with us working with existing content optimizing the fan experience 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:48.440 by allowing fans to directly connect to better stories, you know, 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:51.920 we are able to do those things seamlessly. And I'm 0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:54.320 able to perform at a high level every Sunday that 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:56.000 I get to approach the game, and it's allowed me 0:10:56.040 --> 0:10:58.240 to still play and build this company as well as 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:02.520 actually you know, prepare every um and over. I want 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:04.959 to bring you into because you played for the Ravens 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:07.080 or All Pro with the Falcons, you met Ted Turner 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:12.600 and his daughter and kind of your world changed and sustainability, 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:17.640 through a couple of different steps became really important to you. Absolutely, 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:23.320 UM truly honored to really check check check check, all right, 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:26.679 got you? So I say I was truly honored when 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:29.800 I got to the Falcons. I was, you know, I 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:32.360 was blessed to be the highest paid fullback in NFL 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:34.760 history at the time, and that was something that stuck 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:36.360 with me and people kind of knew me for that. 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:38.880 But I didn't want to just be the highest paid. 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:40.240 I wanted to be the best, and I wanted to 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:42.840 be the most influential with that platform. And one of 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:46.400 the things that um occurred around a similar time I 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:48.360 got chance to meet Ted Turner and his daughter, was 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:51.000 that our kids were me and my wife's kids were 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:54.720 born to really premature um. They couldn't leave the nick 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:57.760 You couldn't leave the hospital until the air quality Atlanta 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:01.560 got got better. And I wasn't big on air quality 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:04.800 or pollution or environment statability just wasn't my thing. But 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:07.280 when it affects your kids, when it has a chance 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:09.280 to you know, take out the people that you love 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:12.440 the most, it makes you, as a father, realized that 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:14.880 you've got to do more than just play ball, you know, 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:17.800 live life and keep it moving. So I started my 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:20.800 foundation where we you know, educate and inspired the next 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:23.680 generation of environmental leaders we do. Uh. We have a 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.640 comic book called Gridiron Green where we used the stainable 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:29.400 development goals that United Nations and Unit STEF have created. 0:12:29.640 --> 0:12:32.520 As a part of our curriculum. We also have a 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:35.760 green Tailgate Initiative where we teach sports fans, if you're 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:38.600 gonna tailgate, do so in the environmental responsible way. We 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:41.680 also have a speaker series where we teach um communities 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:44.320 of color about green jobs because the crazy thing is 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:48.000 that communities of color are disapportunately affected by the environmental 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:50.560 by climate crisis, but they're they don't have the opportunity 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:53.240 to to take part in the green economy. So sports 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:56.520 is that wonderful connector that has the ability to tell 0:12:56.559 --> 0:13:00.200 a story, to restate with people, and to really, you know, 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:02.760 give people the opportunity to make green by going green. 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.000 And it's something that we've been excited to do at 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:07.560 my foundation and something we're gonna keep on doing. You know, 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:08.800 what I'd love to do is throw it out to 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:10.760 all of you is what is it about what you've 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:14.680 learned either playing the game, um playing on the field. 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:17.840 What is it the traits that you got in doing 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:20.280 that that have really made a difference in going out 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:23.400 on your own, starting a business or creating a new league. 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:25.839 What is it that you see that kind of maybe 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.560 makes you different from other business people? What is it 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:30.960 that maybe gives you the advantage. I'm curious, OK, let's 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:33.199 start with you. I mean, well, well, what it is 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:36.520 is that you know, I'm a fullback. I don't know 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:39.079 if you have what fullbacks is are, but fullbacks we 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:42.040 blocked for our running backs and our and our quarterbacks. 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:44.719 And I've lived my whole life for the majority of 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:47.440 my football life as always you know in the background, 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:50.480 that's fine. We're blue callar workers. Like if I challenge 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:54.600 the audience to name like five fullbacks, I guarantee you 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:57.640 you guys can't name five fullbacks. And so we're we're 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.720 more of, you know, the glue that whole the team together. 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.560 And being able to be comfortable in your position to 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:06.839 know your role. That's something that has really allowed me 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:11.959 in my business career. My my dad is a position. 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:15.719 My parents not deering immigrants, and they really instilled in us, 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:18.640 uh that work ethic. Uh. My dad was like either 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:21.960 a doctor, lawyer, engineer. All immigrant families doctor lawyer, engineer. 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:25.120 Football wasn't even his think he wasn't too excited about football. 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:29.680 He's okay now, he's good now. But that that work 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:32.200 that he taught me in understanding how to play your 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.840 role has helped me my medical sales business and the 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:40.560 work of my foundation. Any thoughts or Yeah, Well, it's 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:44.280 it's a great question that we think about as athletes 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:48.000 pretty regularly, and I would say that it's highly bespoke 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:52.600 to any individual in any industry. I would I would 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:57.200 venture to guess that pro athletes, by and large, the 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:01.200 bulk of them have an incredib doable work ethic to 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:03.520 what you had said, and in the ability to go 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:08.080 to hell and back and that mindset that's cultivated at 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:11.480 an early age and during physical pain and a lot 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:16.040 of mental pain. UH, is unique to sport, but there 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:20.040 are plenty of executives and young analysts in all industries 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:23.680 that have incredible competitive spirit and work ethic too, So 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:27.440 it's not exclusive to athletes. That's just one trade. What 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:31.560 I found, though, is shared amongst a lot of other 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:34.760 athletes that I've seen a crossover in the business world. 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:37.880 Sometimes while playing and then in many cases when they're done, 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:42.400 is the ability to critically think. So they're critical thinkers. Uh. 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:48.080 The translation starts in practice. So the best athletes in 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:51.560 the world they understand at an early age that team 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:55.120 practice is only the starting block. And what they do 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:58.640 is they go to the backyard, they play basketball. They 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:03.160 imagine ten other people on the court. They're creative, and 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:05.840 they're thinking critically about ways that they can build their 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:10.840 skill so that they can outcompete their competitors. And that 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:14.720 skill translate and translated for me in business is to 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:16.960 be able to take everything that's in front of me, 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:22.080 not accept anything at face value, ask questions, think critically 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:25.280 around ways that we can innovate or improve that process, 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:28.080 and then apply it immediately. And I think that's the 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:31.280 last thing before I pass it over to Jay is 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:36.640 is the the ability to move very fast, come up 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:39.200 with an idea and implement it. Is part of what 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:42.400 we do in sports on a weekly basis. We play 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:45.360 a game every week, we assess whether we win or lose, 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:48.720 we look at the updated scatter report, and we change. 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:52.680 And in business, especially with very mature companies, that changing 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:56.120 cycle is sometimes six to eighteen months. In sports, it's 0:16:56.160 --> 0:16:58.320 every week. And that's why a lot of athletes get 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:02.360 into the startup space because they're used to that velocity. Yeah, 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:04.960 I would say, I think, um, being an athlete, you're 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:08.600 very solutions oriented, and being an athlete doesn't always translate 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:11.400 to business all the time. You know, I was only 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.880 an athlete in the NBA for one year. I've been 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:15.399 more in the corporate side than I have on the 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:17.320 athlete side. I mean my first four or five years 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:20.359 at ESPN, I made thirty five dollars, all right. So 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.760 I think the ability to communicate from being a point 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:26.840 guard or something that was critical because, just like Paul 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:29.080 alluded to, you have to be able to communicate in 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:33.080 real time two people understanding what their personality traits are 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:35.720 to get them to buy into something bigger than themselves 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:38.200 in order for the ultimate goal for the team, which 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:40.960 is to win. You know, we do a show with 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:43.040 Kevin durand Rich climb and called The Boar Room that 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:45.560 we license back to ESPN, and it's been amazing to 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:49.200 sit down with all these individual athletes to understand how 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:52.399 they go about themselves as a business. I think today 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:55.680 the landscape has changed drastically. First off, the money has changed. 0:17:56.040 --> 0:17:58.399 I would be curious to see what highest fullback is 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:00.720 paid in today's game. As a pair supposed to what 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:02.960 you got paid. But I think now even from a 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:06.400 risk mitigation perspective, I mean, you're thinking about yourself as 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:08.280 a business. It actually let me to become a partner 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:10.959 in an insurance company with Epic Insurance, because now you're 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:14.000 looking at all the different verticals of your business, from 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:17.720 yourself as a brand to the cyberspace you know it's 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:22.560 happening around this weekend. Even from the investment broad space, 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:24.639 you have to look at all the different aspects of 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:28.359 yourself because now you are an international brand that can 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:31.320 parlay into equity sticks and companies that can parlay into 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:34.600 brand endorsement deals or into creating your own brand itself. 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:40.119 I've got this incredible panel up here and it's really 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:42.800 hard to hear, So could I just ask you to 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:49.760 just simmer down a little bit? Thank you? Yeah, I 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:52.040 would like to add that. Um. One of the things 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:54.760 that's been unique in my career plan middle linebacker, UM, 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:57.280 you just signal caller. We get to speak directly to 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:01.160 the heads of everyone that involves the game and in business. 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:03.760 Something that we do uniquely with VPO is that we 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:06.280 get to speak to all of the size of business 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:08.679 from the front office perspective to the football side, to 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:11.600 the fans side, and provide the best band experience at 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:14.719 the optimal time, at the peak moment of interest. And 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:18.280 being a great leader and being a middle linebacker the defense, 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:21.080 playing on defenses, and you know, and thinking about what 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:23.880 goes on in the game. As a teammate and as 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:26.280 a leader, you into this flow during the game, just 0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:28.679 like you're doing business. You into this flow of exstasis 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:31.320 where you have to be a cohesive machine. And in 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:34.320 football there's eleven parts, and you know on lcross and 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:37.320 basketball there's five, and then you know you understand that 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:40.880 being a fullback, there's each Each person has a specific 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:44.000 job to do on each play to optimize the output 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:46.720 of it. And when you do that job the right way, 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:49.080 there's always something that you continue to tweak and you 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:51.840 continue to change and you continue to do better as 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:54.520 you progress through each entire play. And it's similar to 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:56.919 the cycles in business as you go through business and 0:19:56.960 --> 0:19:59.520 as we extend ourselves and as you look at content 0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:02.439 for us, but typically we like to find out different 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:05.960 peak moments of interest, and in my circumstances standpoint, I 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:08.520 actually get to see those while we're still playing while you, 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:10.560 you know, you get to identify the offense. You get 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:12.359 to see what fans, you get to see what vendors, 0:20:12.359 --> 0:20:14.280 you get to see what owners in front office people 0:20:14.280 --> 0:20:16.600 like to identify with. And they enter that flow of 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:18.639 vic stasis, and if you're able to pull them into 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:21.680 that and capitalize on it, that's what makes your business better. 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:26.280 One more thing to add to a great question, which 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:30.040 is in pro sports, the reason why we're all here, 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:34.680 the business of sports has enhanced. It's so dynamic, right, 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:39.000 there's gaming, there's e sports, there's a corporate sponsorship model. 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:43.320 What's evolved, media rights has taken over, dynamic ticketing pricing, 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:46.080 and so it's gotten very attractive and why we have 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:50.160 so many sophisticated business people entering sports. But think about 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:53.480 players as this, whether it's a five year, ten year, 0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:56.840 or twenty year career, you're an understudy to that business. 0:20:57.240 --> 0:21:01.600 We have exposure every day to the ownership groups, to 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:04.879 the gms, to the team presidents, and a lot of 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:08.680 athletes are very aware and smart about that and they're listening. 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:11.480 So whether they realize it at an early age or 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:14.439 when they start becoming a veteran, they're like, oh, I 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:16.960 I get it now, and so put it this way. 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:21.200 At at the core sport level, these athletes have exposure 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:25.160 to multibillion dollar businesses and how these businesses are functioning. 0:21:25.600 --> 0:21:28.520 So having oh no, no, go ahead, I will say 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:30.440 one thing that I think we all kind of touched 0:21:30.480 --> 0:21:33.280 all that's extremely important, especially in the business world, is 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:37.879 this that level of teamwork that's necessary because as we've 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:40.479 all played our roles, we have to be able to 0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:42.480