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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. This is the business

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Speaker 1: of sports.

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Speaker 2: The business of sports can be intimidating or hard for

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Speaker 2: a start to break into.

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Speaker 3: We really appreciate when our owners are actually there, you know,

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Speaker 3: with us through the journey.

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Speaker 4: Teams ours especially have been very intentional to diversify at

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Speaker 4: all levels of the company. I think we're in bolden

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Speaker 4: years for the NFL and college football. Our demographic reach

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Speaker 4: has continued to explode.

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Speaker 2: This is going to be really unlocking the streaming platform

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Speaker 2: for sports fans, sports evaluations arising.

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Speaker 4: We'll see you when they peak.

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Speaker 2: You don't have to be the best in your sport

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Speaker 2: to make a whole ton of money.

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

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Speaker 4: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore

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Speaker 4: all of the big money issues in the world of sports.

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Speaker 4: I'm Damian Sasauer. Michael barr is off this week and

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Speaker 4: joining me in his stead is Bloomberg Business a sports

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Speaker 4: reporter none other than Vanessa Perdomo. Hi, Vanessa, Heydamen.

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Speaker 5: Great to me in the studio.

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Speaker 4: Well, coming up, we talk a sport in your wheelhouse.

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Speaker 4: We are talking soccer, Major League soccer. In fact, it's

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Speaker 4: kicking off its thirtieth season this weekend by debuting their

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Speaker 4: thirtieth franchise, San Diego FC, and later this hour we

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Speaker 4: speak with Tom Penn, CEO of San Diego on their

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Speaker 4: process of putting together a major sports soccer franchise.

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Speaker 2: We come into a new stadium in the market with

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Speaker 2: excellent premium offerings. We added more premium on the pitch.

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Speaker 2: We innovated, and we put what we're calling pitch boxes,

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Speaker 2: these little eight seat race cars right down on the

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Speaker 2: field where your feet are on the grass. That's how

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Speaker 2: you generate the local revenue that makes you sustainable.

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Speaker 3: We also have some of my favorite conversations I had

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Speaker 3: with sports legends down in New Orleans when we were

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Speaker 3: there for the Super Bowl, including a tennis great and

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Speaker 3: one well known saint.

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Speaker 4: How all that and more is on the way on

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Speaker 4: the Bloomberg business of sports. But first, the Los Angeles

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Speaker 4: Olympics are right around the corner, and I'm just kidding

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Speaker 4: there a few years away, but it's never too early

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Speaker 4: to think about the business side of the Olympics and

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Speaker 4: Paralympic Games and its vision here.

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Speaker 5: To take us through that.

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Speaker 3: Sebastian co He's the President of World Athletics. He's also

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Speaker 3: a two time gold medalist winning distance runner, former chairman

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Speaker 3: of the London twenty twelve Games and a former member

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Speaker 3: of the UK Parliament. So actually it's Lord Sebastian Co

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Speaker 3: joining us as well as Bloomberg News reporter Hugo Miller.

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Speaker 3: Sebastian Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast.

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Speaker 6: Thank you very much, great to be on.

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Speaker 4: Well, let's crack into it. I mean we're looking ahead

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Speaker 4: to Los Angeles in twenty twenty eight, right, I mean,

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Speaker 4: it's a city you're very familiar with. And if we

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Speaker 4: look out just a month from now, if I'm not mistaken,

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Speaker 4: there's going to be a little bit of a vote

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Speaker 4: for the next president of the IOC, and that individual

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Speaker 4: is going to handle the LA Olympics. And from what

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Speaker 4: I hear, Lord Co, you are one of the front runners.

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Speaker 4: Tell us a little bit about the upcoming Olympics, the

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Speaker 4: up coming vote, and you know where you stand with

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Speaker 4: all that.

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Speaker 6: This is obviously a big moment and actually, when you

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Speaker 6: look at the nature of an election, it does provide

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Speaker 6: the organization the sector you're in, whether it's sport obviously politics,

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Speaker 6: and we've had a mega year of elections. It does

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Speaker 6: give the organization an opportunity and I'm going to mix

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Speaker 6: my sporting metaphysire to put their foot on the ball

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Speaker 6: and actually just think things through and have the global debate.

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Speaker 6: And I think that this has been an important process

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Speaker 6: because the Olympic Movement is a phenomenal movement. It has

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Speaker 6: achieved extraordinary things both on the field of play and

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Speaker 6: off the field of play. It's been at the epicenter.

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Speaker 6: It's been at the crossroads of all the big moral

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Speaker 6: and political decisions of the last century. And it has

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Speaker 6: to remain there. But it also has to modernize. It

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Speaker 6: has to recognize that the world, well we say the

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Speaker 6: world is changing. It in many respects has changed, and

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Speaker 6: it's vital that the movement keeps up its relentless recognition

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Speaker 6: that the holy grail is to maintain the excitement, the salience,

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Speaker 6: the relevance of what we're doing, particularly to young people.

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Speaker 6: So yes, it's a huge moment and Los Angeles twenty

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Speaker 6: twenty eight is an extraordinary glide path for the movement

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Speaker 6: because the American market is a hugely important market. Many

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Speaker 6: of our top sponsors come from there, many of our

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Speaker 6: broadcast rights that are really up for a discussion and

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Speaker 6: debate at the moment reside there and those changes both

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Speaker 6: in terms of the way we address commercial partnerships. We've

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Speaker 6: got to change them from being transactional sponsorships to collaborative partnerships.

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Speaker 6: And we've got to look at broadcast in not a

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Speaker 6: new way, but in the way that the world recognizes

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Speaker 6: that broadcast has fundamentally altered, and an audience first approach

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Speaker 6: here is going to be vital. So we've got to

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Speaker 6: listen to what the audience is telling us, what they want,

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Speaker 6: when they want it, and critically where they want it.

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Speaker 6: And that's why an audience first approach turbocharged by AI

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Speaker 6: will really unlock new and fresh markets and particularly help

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Speaker 6: in the leveling up process that I'm very keen to

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Speaker 6: establish between the large, well heeled, well structured national Olympic

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Speaker 6: committees and the smaller national Olympic committees that are also

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Speaker 6: trying to keep up and run abreast of these developments.

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Speaker 3: You know, Seb, you talked a lot a lot there,

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Speaker 3: and I think it really interesting. I think one of

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Speaker 3: the things, obviously, me and Hugo were together last year

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Speaker 3: in Paris for the Games, and it was really it

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Speaker 3: felt like it was back in that heyday, like you

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Speaker 3: were talking about a lot of great things happening. Everyone

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Speaker 3: was was locked in when you look at that. Obviously,

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Speaker 3: then also you headed the twenty twelve Olympics in London.

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Speaker 5: So when you're looking at everything you've been a part

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Speaker 5: of over.

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Speaker 3: The last you know, a few decades or so, how

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Speaker 3: does that influence you going into this election, what you

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Speaker 3: want to work on specifically and what you think you

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Speaker 3: can laser focus in on to you know, help the

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Speaker 3: games even even further.

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Speaker 6: Well, one slightly pedantry point if I may, I was

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Speaker 6: president of the organizing committee in London at the Olympics

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Speaker 6: and critically the Paralympic Games, and that was that was

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Speaker 6: a very very serious moment for me because the legacy

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Speaker 6: of the Paralympic Games, particularly in my own, a reimagining

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Speaker 6: of disability in the workplace, in families, in educational establishments.

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Speaker 6: It is something that I look back with great pride.

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Speaker 6: But more broadly, what do I recognize, Well, in a

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Speaker 6: way I guess the task that lies ahead of me

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Speaker 6: in a few weeks time, and my tilt to become

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Speaker 6: a leadership figure in the Olympic movement. It is something

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Speaker 6: that I've devoted in large part most of my life

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Speaker 6: to ever since I got my first pair of running

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Speaker 6: shoes and joined an athletics club at the age of eleven,

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Speaker 6: which then took me from my career into a political

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Speaker 6: career both domestically and internationally. I've chaired a national Olympic committee,

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Speaker 6: I've bid for a Games successfully and being part of

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Speaker 6: that leadership team that also successfully delivered the Games. And

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Speaker 6: of course the experience of being the president of a

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Speaker 6: central plank of the Olympic movement track and field as

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Speaker 6: you would describe it athletics for most of us, has,

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Speaker 6: I guess, been the type of CV and the type

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Speaker 6: of experiences that I probably wouldn't have recognized in a

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Speaker 6: way that were coming together. But they came together in

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Speaker 6: a way that I think leaves me very comfortable that

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Speaker 6: I can do this role. What did I learn from London?

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Speaker 6: I learned the importance of building teams, the importance of

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Speaker 6: maintaining political impartiality, particularly in those delivery phases, critically making

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Speaker 6: sure that your organization, in our case, the London Organizing

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Speaker 6: Committee looked like the world that we lived in and

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Speaker 6: live in, and that's critical because young people don't look

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Speaker 6: at your organization as being a political party or a

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Speaker 6: non governmental organization or the International Olympic Committee or World Athletics.

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Speaker 6: They look at you and ask and sometimes it's probably

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Speaker 6: a subconscious question, but they're asking themselves a fundamental question.

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Speaker 6: Do you look like the world we live in? Do

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Speaker 6: you believe in the things that we believe in? And

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Speaker 6: that is critical for the movement to re engage with

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Speaker 6: young people the next Generation In London, mantra was to

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Speaker 6: inspire a generation and to inspire a generation through sport,

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Speaker 6: but not necessarily and only in sport. So if you

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Speaker 6: have an organizing committee that is responsible for delivering a

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Speaker 6: big cultural piece of the Olympic movement, which is important,

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Speaker 6: then you really also want a legacy afterwards, so not

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Speaker 6: just people joining athletics clubs or swim clubs, but taking

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Speaker 6: up the violin wanting to be in the artistic and

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Speaker 6: cultural landscape. And I think we achieved that. And critical

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Speaker 6: to all that is, don't allow other people to define

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Speaker 6: your legacy for you. You really have to be in

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Speaker 6: control of that. And for me, very very critically, what

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Speaker 6: is it that I want the movement to reset around.

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Speaker 6: It's the extraordinary nature of sport, the catalytic impact that

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Speaker 6: that has, the transformational impact that has on young lives.

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Speaker 7: Can I see a quick question about you as a candidate.

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Speaker 7: I mean, what you've just described explains why you're such

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Speaker 7: a strong candidate. But at the same time, some people

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Speaker 7: have said you're you're a bit of an You're an

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Speaker 7: insider in the world of global sport and an outsider

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Speaker 7: to the IOC. And obviously your decision last year to

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Speaker 7: announce the award of cash prizes to track and field

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Speaker 7: gold medalists in Paris ruffled some IOC feathers. I struggled

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Speaker 7: to understand why that is given the amount of money

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Speaker 7: slashing around the Olympic sponsorship deals, broadcasting rights, and the

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Speaker 7: fact that so many athletes already when you're talking about

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Speaker 7: professional athletes like Novak Djokovic, to you know, world famous

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Speaker 7: gymnasts like Simon Wiles, they're already making tens of millions

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Speaker 7: from endorsements or prize money. Why do you feel the

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Speaker 7: IOC is so uncomfortable with this proposition you've brought and

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Speaker 7: has that given you any pause or do you really

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Speaker 7: much stand by.

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Speaker 3: By that decision.

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Speaker 6: Look, I'm not sure that the IOC per se or

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Speaker 6: the body politics is body politic, is that diametrically opposed

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Speaker 6: to prize money. And look, I published a speech that

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Speaker 6: I gave in nineteen eighty one. I was one of

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Speaker 6: the first athletes to address the International Olympic Committee to Congress.

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Speaker 6: It is extraordinary, even in nineteen eighty one that no

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Speaker 6: athlete had actually been invited to contribute to the movement.

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Speaker 6: And I spent four minutes talking about the welfare of

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Speaker 6: the athlete and the welfare of the athlete for me,

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Speaker 6: and I don't dissent from a word that I used

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Speaker 6: in nineteen eighty one, and I still think it's pertinent.

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Speaker 6: The welfare of the athlete for me is not just

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Speaker 6: their physical and mental welfare, critical as that is. I

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Speaker 6: think it is also the ability to provide where possible

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Speaker 6: and in a way that doesn't damage the values of

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Speaker 6: the movement, which we all hold deer, but where possible

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Speaker 6: gives some financial comfort. And I say that because the

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Speaker 6: world has changed. If you are a young competitor that graduates,

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Speaker 6: maybe in a scientific technical skill, then to then spend

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Speaker 6: twelve years dedicating your life to the furtherance of Olympic

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Speaker 6: sport and then to have to come back into the marketplace,

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Speaker 6: often ten years off the place means that a return

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Speaker 6: to hire or further education may well be necessary, that

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Speaker 6: financial welfare may be critical in doing that. That financial

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Speaker 6: welfare may also allow an athlete to remain in the

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Speaker 6: sport for another Olympic cycle. So I'm not the prize money.

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Speaker 6: In fact, understandably was the headline, but it's only a

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Speaker 6: very small part of what I mean when I say

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Speaker 6: we don't just want to listen to the athletes. We

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Speaker 6: need to share with them, and we need to make

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Speaker 6: them our commercial partners. And how do I mean that

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Speaker 6: we hold a lot of data. Giving athletes datas we

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Speaker 6: have actually done in World Athletics allows them to raise

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Speaker 6: their profile, maybe to be very much more specific about

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Speaker 6: how they pitch themselves to partners and sponsors, giving them

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Speaker 6: more flexibility around their content. I'll give you a really

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Speaker 6: good example.

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Speaker 7: So you want the IOC to monetize, I want the

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Speaker 7: hammer throwers, not just the sprinters.

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Speaker 6: I want the athletes in every Olympic sport to have

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Speaker 6: more flexibility, to be able to access their own data,

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Speaker 6: their own content. Let me give you a good concrete

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Speaker 6: example of that. Next year in twenty twenty six, we

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Speaker 6: have something called the World Athletics Ultimate Championships Unashamed. It's

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Speaker 6: a three night, three night championship aimed specifically at TV

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Speaker 6: three nights, three hours, sixteen of the top track app athletes,

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Speaker 6: eight of the top field of ent athletes. That's the format.

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Speaker 6: But critically, we've created a new model, particularly for the athletes.

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Speaker 6: So we're going to fly the athletes and their social

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Speaker 6: media teams. We will give them video content that allows

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Speaker 6: them to promote themselves and their own partners. We're making

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Speaker 6: it apparel neutral so that we're not freezing out an

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Speaker 6: athlete that doesn't want to be there because they're on

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Speaker 6: a night contract or a Puma contract or an added

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Speaker 6: ask contract, and we have to give them. We have

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Speaker 6: to give the athletes more flexibility in this space, and

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Speaker 6: we need to give them the opportunity to build their

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Speaker 6: profiles and actually tell their own stories, because they tell

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Speaker 6: their stories far better than we tell their stories on

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Speaker 6: their behalf. Those are the things that I've been talking

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Speaker 6: about in liberalizing the landscape for them so that they

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Speaker 6: are actually able to monetize away from the field of play,

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Speaker 6: which is as just as critical as it is when

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Speaker 6: we come to discuss prize money, and I wouldn't want

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Speaker 6: people to run away with the misconception here. The prize

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Speaker 6: money issue in athletics was to address a very specific

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Speaker 6: vulnerability that my executive board, my council, and my commissions,

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Speaker 6: and it was a unanimous view, a very specific vulnerability

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Speaker 6: that athletes and athletics faces. When I go to the

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Speaker 6: Caribbean Championships, the carrifta games which I would advise anybody

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Speaker 6: to go to because you see some of the most

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Speaker 6: extraordinarily talented young athletes. When I'm standing trackside watching it,

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Speaker 6: I'm surrounded by more recruiters and agents from NFL, basketball, baseball,

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Speaker 6: even netball in some parts of the world, and we

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Speaker 6: need to make sure that we retain that talent and

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Speaker 6: creating an opportunity for them to have that financial security

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Speaker 6: around prize money that we create within our own World

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Speaker 6: Championships and the opportunity that we provided with them for

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Speaker 6: prize money in Paris. But if I may, but if

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Speaker 6: this is a very important point, if I may finish it,

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Speaker 6: if I am successful in a few weeks time. It

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Speaker 6: isn't a one size fits all. Do not assume, nor

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Speaker 6: would I suddenly say well, we did it for athletics.

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Speaker 6: So it pertains to every international federation, large or small,

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Speaker 6: that I would have a completely different mandate, a completely

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Speaker 6: different remit. And at that point you have the discussion

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Speaker 6: which I would actively encourage. And there is absolutely this

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Speaker 6: is not a fat to comp because we did it

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Speaker 6: in athletics.

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Speaker 3: We do not.

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Speaker 6: I would simply not sit there and say, well we

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Speaker 6: did in an athletic except for we it's something we

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Speaker 6: will just force upon everybody. No, there would be a

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Speaker 6: collaborative discussion about it, and maybe we decide it isn't

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Speaker 6: the route to go.

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Speaker 4: Well, well, lord co I mean, the prize money is

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Speaker 4: obviously a very big, a very big point, but you

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Speaker 4: know there's also eight billion dollars of sponsorship and broadcast

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Speaker 4: deals that are going to be on tap for the

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Speaker 4: LA Olympics, you know, and as president of the IOC,

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Speaker 4: you know you're going to be able to control that narrative,

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Speaker 4: you know. And so you know, I have only two

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Speaker 4: words to kind of share with you, and they are

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Speaker 4: flag football. I mean, talk to me. I mean, we

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Speaker 4: have tennis, we have basketball, we have soccer, track and field, swimming, gymnastics,

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Speaker 4: but we're going to get flag football. We all know

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Speaker 4: the Super Bowl, the impact that has on marketing and

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Speaker 4: advertising and the like. I mean, what are your thoughts

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Speaker 4: on flag football at LA twenty eight.

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Speaker 6: Look, I'm not going to get in to the individual

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Speaker 6: discussions about a particular sport, a new addition to a

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Speaker 6: particular sport. We're all trying to make sure that we

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Speaker 6: appeal to new and younger and fresher audiences and to

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Speaker 6: really push the envelope there. I remember as president of

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Speaker 6: the organizing committee in London, I would love to have

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Speaker 6: had Rugby sentence in the stadium for the three or

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Speaker 6: three days after the opening ceremony. It would have set

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Speaker 6: the huge party apps. We created the party atmosphere anyway.

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Speaker 6: So look, every organizing committee has to have the flexibility

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Speaker 6: to be able to bring new and fresh ideas. I'm

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Speaker 6: discussing already with Los Angeles twenty eight our ability maybe

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Speaker 6: to take some of our offense out of the stadium.

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Speaker 6: We have an out of stadium policy strategy now World Athletics.

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Speaker 6: So I'm never going to be the one stifling innovation

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Speaker 6: and creativity here. The real challenge, of course, is to

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Speaker 6: harvest creative thinking but have executable delivery, and we've got

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Speaker 6: to make sure that we're not putting pressure, undue pressure

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Speaker 6: on National Olympic committees to introduce new sports that may

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Speaker 6: only survive a four year cycle. That puts them under

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Speaker 6: pressure in terms of investing in those sports selection processes

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Speaker 6: only for that sport maybe not to have a life

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Speaker 6: cycle beyond. So there is a balance here. But look,

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Speaker 6: we need to we need to be creative, We need

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Speaker 6: to be innovative. Above all, we need to really address

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Speaker 6: what our audiences want. You don't frame everything around it,

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Speaker 6: but you have to be data driven and understanding what

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Speaker 6: they're saying to you, what they want, where they wanted,

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Speaker 6: and critically when they wanted, and in formats stand. You know,

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Speaker 6: I look at some of the Olympic broadcast channel. It's

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Speaker 6: long format, it's expensive, and it's really only getting to

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Speaker 6: a small marketplace. We have the ability to be very

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Speaker 6: much more flexible and creative in how we create our

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Speaker 6: broadcast partnerships, particularly regionally, in a way that allows smaller

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Speaker 6: National Olympic committees to view at the critical moment the

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Speaker 6: work at an Olympic Games that they are involved in

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Speaker 6: for four years. Kenya is a really good example of this.

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Speaker 6: Go to Kenya and you will realize that running is

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Speaker 6: not just a passion, it's a religion. It's front page,

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Speaker 6: it's back page. It dominates broadcast broadcast time on virtually

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Speaker 6: any platform you choose to name. But when it gets

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Speaker 6: to the Olympic Games, those broadcast rights are very, very expensive,

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Speaker 6: and you've suddenly got National Olympic Committee who work four

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Speaker 6: years to help build the profile of their sport and

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Speaker 6: then are really struggling at that critical moment to have

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Speaker 6: a population that may love that Olympic sport that is

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Speaker 6: in some cases being priced out of it. And that's

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Speaker 6: why we need to be We really need to free

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Speaker 6: up what I describe as the brand equity around the

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Speaker 6: rings and give more people greater access to it. And

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Speaker 6: my fear at the moment is that it becomes more

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Speaker 6: of a policing exercise than it does an ability to

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Speaker 6: create accessibility to something that we are all passionate about

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Speaker 6: and moves global populations in the way that very few

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Speaker 6: other things do.

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Speaker 4: Our Thanks to Sebastian co President of World Athletics and

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Speaker 4: to Bloomberg News reporter Hugo Miller, up next Major League

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Speaker 4: Soccer season is officially upon US we welcome the CEO

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Speaker 4: of their newest expansion franchise, San Diego FC. I'm Damien

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Speaker 4: Sasauur along with Vanessa Perdomo. You're listening to the Bloomberg

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Speaker 4: Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.

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Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

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Speaker 4: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explore

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Speaker 4: the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm

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Speaker 4: Damien Sassauer along with Vanessa Perdomo. Michael Barr is off

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Speaker 4: this week.

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Speaker 3: The twenty twenty five MLS regular season kicks off this weekend,

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Speaker 3: having reached an impressive milestone it's thirtieth season, and to

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Speaker 3: celebrate this incredible and truthfully resilient feat, Major League Soccer

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Speaker 3: will debut their thirtieth franchise in league history in their

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Speaker 3: thirtieth season, San Diego FC.

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Speaker 4: But it really is no easy feat for the newest

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Speaker 4: expansion team, with their first game this Sunday against the

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Speaker 4: defending champs, the Los Angeles Galaxy. Here to discuss the

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Speaker 4: process of launching a nascent franchise in Major League Soccer

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Speaker 4: in a city like San Diego is the CEO of

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Speaker 4: San Diego FC, Tom Pen Tom, Welcome to the Bloomberg

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Speaker 4: Business of sports.

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Speaker 2: Amy and Vanessa happy to be here.

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Speaker 4: Talk to us a little bit about you know, not today,

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Speaker 4: but you know, go looking ahead, you know what's the future,

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Speaker 4: not just for you know SDFC, but you know San

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Speaker 4: Diego sports more broadly speaking, I mean, are you looking

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Speaker 4: at perhaps getting your own stadium? You know, new arena's,

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Speaker 4: new ballparks, that sort of thing. I mean, is the

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Speaker 4: sports buzz hopping in San Diego the way it is

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Speaker 4: in most other cities across the country.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we won't be building our own stadium because snap

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Speaker 2: Dragon is virtually brand new, and it's right sized for

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Speaker 2: the current MLS. It's upsized. You know, many of the

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Speaker 2: successful MLS markets with soccer specific stadiums are in the

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Speaker 2: low twenty thousands. We're in the upper low thirty thousands.

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Speaker 2: We're at thirty two, six hundred seats with some more

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Speaker 2: standing room. So it's a bigger building. In fact, it's

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Speaker 2: the biggest soccer specific venue if you take away the

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Speaker 2: NFL shared buildings. So we see this as a competitive

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Speaker 2: advantage when we fill the place up, because it's going

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Speaker 2: to first of all, be an economic engine because we've

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Speaker 2: got a lot of premium inventory we can sell at

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Speaker 2: higher prices, and then we've got all low inventory and

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Speaker 2: a lot of the masses or the lower price points.

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Speaker 2: So you put those two things together, you get thirty

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Speaker 2: plus thousand people on any given night, all whearing chrome

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Speaker 2: and azul Are colors, and all intensely engaged in the game.

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Speaker 2: It should be a competitive advantage. You know. The other

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Speaker 2: competitive advantage long term in San Diego is just the

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Speaker 2: quality of player in this region. Disproportionate amount of National

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Speaker 2: team players come from San Diego. There's always been just

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Speaker 2: this pipeline of talent. And then when you throw in

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Speaker 2: across the border in Mexico, which is also our territory.

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Speaker 2: With the way the rules work, we have this catchment

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Speaker 2: area of excellence and it's our job to developed that

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Speaker 2: excellence and over time that can feed our first team

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Speaker 2: and be a real competitive advantage along with the size

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Speaker 2: of the building. So back to your original question, things

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Speaker 2: are rolling in San Diego, all this opportunity for greatness,

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Speaker 2: and we're just really excited to get it going.

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Speaker 3: You know, Tom, you were talking there about playing in Snapdragon,

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Speaker 3: and I've actually been there, but I went there for

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Speaker 3: San Diego Wave game. How I'm curious, you know, how

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Speaker 3: has it been working with the San Diego Wave and

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Speaker 3: the NWSL, you know, to bring in another soccer team

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Speaker 3: there and you know, to grow the fever for soccer

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Speaker 3: in the city.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting. San Diego State University owns and operates

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Speaker 2: the building, so they're the landlord and that's who we've

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Speaker 2: dealt with mostly as it relates to Snapdragon Stadium. The

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Speaker 2: Wave and us are similar in that we're both tenants

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Speaker 2: in that building and we'll share that building and we're

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Speaker 2: really just getting started with figuring out how to do that.

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Speaker 2: We've done a good job with scheduling, for example, where

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Speaker 2: we find alternate weekends to play. But then we do

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Speaker 2: have some soccer weekends where they play Friday, we play Saturday,

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Speaker 2: you know, and there's a little bit of this back

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Speaker 2: to back. It's San Diego against the world. We're all together.

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Speaker 2: So we look forward to you know, rising tide lifts

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Speaker 2: all boats, just amplifying soccer, amplifying the love of football

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Speaker 2: in this community because football thrives here, you know, it's

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Speaker 2: in the DNA of this community. You know, we really

437
00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:35,879
Speaker 2: look forward then to winning, right, we both want to

438
00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:38,800
Speaker 2: win We especially want to win. We want to compete,

439
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:44,080
Speaker 2: we want to be immediately relevant competitive. We've signed some

440
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:48,960
Speaker 2: really significant players, including the best player in Mexico, Chucky Lozano.

441
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:53,280
Speaker 2: So I'm in this personal phase of we've been trying

442
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:56,320
Speaker 2: to sell what this is going to be and explain

443
00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:58,639
Speaker 2: what it's going to be, and we're about to express

444
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,399
Speaker 2: it for real. So then you pivot to sort of

445
00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,840
Speaker 2: selling what we are and that's the part that's going

446
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:06,400
Speaker 2: to be fun and dynamic.

447
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:09,400
Speaker 4: Well, Tom, you know, I mean the reason I ask

448
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:11,280
Speaker 4: about stadiums is this. You know, I live in New

449
00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:14,520
Speaker 4: York City. You know NYCFC they're playing in Yankee Stadium,

450
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:16,399
Speaker 4: but my goodness, they would love to be playing in

451
00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:19,120
Speaker 4: their own stadium. And then you look at Inter Miami

452
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:22,160
Speaker 4: they play in Chase what I think, LAFC they play

453
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,399
Speaker 4: at Bimo. I mean, talk to me a little bit.

454
00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:26,000
Speaker 4: I mean those are teams that are valued at over

455
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:29,280
Speaker 4: a billion dollars, right, and I believe the collective worth

456
00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:32,480
Speaker 4: of all MLS clubs is now approaching world It's over

457
00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:35,720
Speaker 4: twenty billions. So does having your own stadium, you know,

458
00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:38,840
Speaker 4: you know, obviously it must add to the valuation of

459
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:42,360
Speaker 4: your franchise. But just how much value does it add

460
00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:44,000
Speaker 4: is my real question here. I mean, where are you

461
00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:45,360
Speaker 4: getting the bulk your revenue from?

462
00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:45,960
Speaker 2: Is it?

463
00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:48,320
Speaker 4: Is it broadcast rights? Is it is it you know,

464
00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:48,720
Speaker 4: you know?

465
00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:49,120
Speaker 8: Is it?

466
00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:50,240
Speaker 2: Is it the games themselves.

467
00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:51,720
Speaker 4: I'm just curious to hear your thoughts on that.

468
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:56,600
Speaker 2: The bulk of our operational cut revenue comes local, right,

469
00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:01,080
Speaker 2: So your thing about stadiums is incredibly relevant local value.

470
00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:09,000
Speaker 2: Now broadcast rights have been consolidated, all local, national, international

471
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:11,520
Speaker 2: rights are part of this big Apple TV deal, this

472
00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:16,080
Speaker 2: historic deal with one place to go, high quality production,

473
00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:19,720
Speaker 2: consistency of product. Plus you're partnered with the biggest company

474
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:23,160
Speaker 2: on the planet that can take this literally all around

475
00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,840
Speaker 2: the world. So broadcast sits there. We're in charge of

476
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:32,440
Speaker 2: our own local business and that's local sponsorship, local ticket sales.

477
00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:34,560
Speaker 2: What do we do at game day with all those

478
00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:37,680
Speaker 2: ancillary sales? I mean those are the big three buckets.

479
00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:44,000
Speaker 2: Talk about the middle one ticket sales, premium sales. All

480
00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:48,800
Speaker 2: that comes from how your building is situated and what

481
00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:51,200
Speaker 2: you can drive in terms of revenues. So do you

482
00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:55,160
Speaker 2: have high quality premium areas? Do you have club seat

483
00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:58,840
Speaker 2: areas that warrant multi year deals, can you get a good,

484
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:03,440
Speaker 2: solid average ticket price overall? When New York City goes

485
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:06,480
Speaker 2: into their brand new stadium that they're building right near

486
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:10,840
Speaker 2: to the Mets near City Field, that building is going

487
00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:13,680
Speaker 2: to be an atm It's going to be a juggernaut

488
00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:17,200
Speaker 2: because it's got such great offerings. When you see their

489
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:21,040
Speaker 2: premium offerings, they're amazing. Same down in Miami, they're building

490
00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,720
Speaker 2: a brand new stadium out in Freedom Park. It will

491
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:28,080
Speaker 2: be a juggernaut. In our case, we come into a

492
00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:31,800
Speaker 2: new stadium in the market with excellent premium offerings. We

493
00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:35,000
Speaker 2: added more premium on the pitch. We innovated and we

494
00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:38,440
Speaker 2: put what we're calling pitch boxes, these little eight seat

495
00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:41,160
Speaker 2: race cars right down on the field where your feet

496
00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:44,440
Speaker 2: are on the grass, and those are the hottest product

497
00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:46,240
Speaker 2: we have. And then on the other side of the

498
00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:49,520
Speaker 2: field where we're putting pitch suites. Nobody's ever done it

499
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:52,720
Speaker 2: this way, where you take the suite experience, the luxury

500
00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:55,080
Speaker 2: suite experience and put it right down on the grass

501
00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,680
Speaker 2: and have your suite where you're walking around on the

502
00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:03,880
Speaker 2: actual pitch. Really cool premium offerings for our market. That's

503
00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:07,120
Speaker 2: how you generate the local revenue. That makes you sustainable.

504
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:08,440
Speaker 5: Absolutely.

505
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:10,240
Speaker 3: I think you know, one of the other things that's

506
00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:13,080
Speaker 3: really exciting for for San Diego. They're coming in as

507
00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,400
Speaker 3: the thirtieth team and the thirtieth season of the MLS.

508
00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:19,040
Speaker 3: You've worked now in the MLS for a while, but

509
00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:21,200
Speaker 3: also you worked in the NBA for a long time.

510
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,200
Speaker 3: As the MLS stands in its thirtieth season, where do

511
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:28,080
Speaker 3: you think it is compared to you know, obviously other

512
00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:30,360
Speaker 3: leagues that have been around longer, but like, as it

513
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:32,560
Speaker 3: stands in the thirtieth year, how do you think the

514
00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:34,440
Speaker 3: business of the league is doing?

515
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:46,720
Speaker 2: Clearly major league clearly in the major league category of NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS. Right,

516
00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:52,000
Speaker 2: there's five, the big five clearly on the rise. I

517
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:56,800
Speaker 2: mean the rise in valuations, the level of investors coming

518
00:31:56,840 --> 00:32:01,479
Speaker 2: into MLS. Our chairman are our lead investors, a multi

519
00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:05,560
Speaker 2: billionaire from Egypt, Sir Mohammad Mansour. He operates out of London.

520
00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:09,280
Speaker 2: He instead of buying a Premier League team, wanted to

521
00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:11,880
Speaker 2: buy an MLS team. He wanted to come into Major

522
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:16,080
Speaker 2: League soccer. So the world is seeing it. The quality

523
00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:19,640
Speaker 2: of the product is continuing to improve, and then you

524
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:24,320
Speaker 2: get this double booster. That's happening. Messi arriving in the

525
00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:28,760
Speaker 2: States is an amazing event. That's booster number one. The

526
00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,960
Speaker 2: World Cup coming in twenty twenty six booster number two.

527
00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:35,440
Speaker 2: You put those two together and the trajectory of where

528
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:39,800
Speaker 2: the league goes is clearly up into the right. We

529
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:42,640
Speaker 2: just don't know how far and how fast? Right. So

530
00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:45,720
Speaker 2: that's the fun part is what is this World Cup

531
00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:49,040
Speaker 2: going to mean to stack? On top of the fact

532
00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:51,600
Speaker 2: that the world's best player has come here and is

533
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:55,400
Speaker 2: expressing his talents in our league, others want to follow.

534
00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:58,560
Speaker 2: More will happen, But then how is this all going

535
00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:01,080
Speaker 2: to play out? And what is the MLS look like

536
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:03,920
Speaker 2: on the other side. That's what's exciting and intriguing.

537
00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:07,840
Speaker 4: Tom. I love that you brought up Leo Messi going

538
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:10,600
Speaker 4: into Miami, you know. And I love even more that

539
00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:13,960
Speaker 4: you brought up Sir Mohammad Mansur, who we're very familiar

540
00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:16,200
Speaker 4: with by the way over here at Bloomberg, And I

541
00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:18,320
Speaker 4: want to ask you this, what are the chances of

542
00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:21,840
Speaker 4: most Salah coming to San Diego by the time his

543
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:24,720
Speaker 4: career wraps up? I mean, come on, man, if anyone

544
00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:27,480
Speaker 4: can get him over there, it's got to be Mansor.

545
00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,520
Speaker 2: No, how cool would that'd be. He might be the

546
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:34,760
Speaker 2: best player in the world today, right, he'd be got

547
00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:37,920
Speaker 2: the best player of all time to come. But you know, look,

548
00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:42,240
Speaker 2: a player like Mossallah is something everybody would dream of, right.

549
00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:47,600
Speaker 2: He is a world class talent still producing at such

550
00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:51,680
Speaker 2: a high level and then high high character. What's interesting

551
00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:56,640
Speaker 2: with Moe is his trajectory, his path coming from Egypt

552
00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:00,960
Speaker 2: and kind of coming from nothing, and that resonates with

553
00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:05,320
Speaker 2: our enterprise. Right to Dream. Sir Mohammad Mansur is the

554
00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:08,719
Speaker 2: chairman of Right to Dream. Right to Dream is one

555
00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:13,840
Speaker 2: of the most unique and impressive soccer organizations on the planet.

556
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:17,880
Speaker 2: It's a family of youth academies that started in Ghana

557
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:22,800
Speaker 2: twenty five years ago and they provide opportunity to children

558
00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:25,960
Speaker 2: that never would have it otherwise. They go village to village,

559
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,960
Speaker 2: find the best talent in Sub Saharan Africa, give that

560
00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:33,640
Speaker 2: talent at age ten to eleven, a full scholarship to

561
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:37,600
Speaker 2: a school, a youth academy and a character development program.

562
00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:40,840
Speaker 2: And it's a residential facility that's in Ghana. Then it

563
00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:46,560
Speaker 2: went up to Scandinavia and expanded into Denmark. Mister Mansour

564
00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,760
Speaker 2: made his investment and built one of these in Egypt

565
00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:53,440
Speaker 2: and said take it to America. So we have four

566
00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:57,879
Speaker 2: youth academies all training the best young ten eleven, twelve

567
00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:01,800
Speaker 2: year old talent boys and girls. Put them all together.

568
00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:04,640
Speaker 2: They're going to feed into our clubs, or they feed

569
00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:08,319
Speaker 2: into the best prep schools and colleges in America. No

570
00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:12,680
Speaker 2: child's ever left behind as they develop. That's a remarkable thing.

571
00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:17,200
Speaker 2: So back to moss Law, he really had lived that trajectory, right.

572
00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:21,240
Speaker 2: So there's all this opportunity for us with right to dream,

573
00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:25,400
Speaker 2: to develop the future mosts laws of America and of Mexico.

574
00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:28,840
Speaker 2: Mexico is part of our territory because we're within fifty

575
00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:31,880
Speaker 2: kilometers of the border, so we can recruit the best

576
00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:35,359
Speaker 2: Mexican kids, the best American kids, and then give them

577
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:36,640
Speaker 2: all this opportunity.

578
00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:40,760
Speaker 3: That was San Diego FC CEO Tom penn Up next,

579
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:45,560
Speaker 3: Tennis legend icon Billy Jean King on encouraging more girls

580
00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:48,880
Speaker 3: to get involved in sports and New Orleans Saints' legendary

581
00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:51,799
Speaker 3: quarterback Drew Brees on the future of pickleball.

582
00:35:52,239 --> 00:35:55,120
Speaker 4: Ohoa, that's straight ahead. On the Bloomberg business of sports.

583
00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:59,160
Speaker 4: I'm Damian Sasaur along with Winnessa Prodomo. You're listening to

584
00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:02,680
Speaker 4: the Bloomberg Busy This of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around

585
00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:03,280
Speaker 4: the world.

586
00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:12,440
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

587
00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:15,800
Speaker 4: Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports,

588
00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:17,640
Speaker 4: where we explore the big money issues in the world

589
00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:21,000
Speaker 4: of sports. I am Damian sas Hour along with Vanessa Perdomo.

590
00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:24,400
Speaker 4: Michael Barr is off this week. Now that the confetti

591
00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:27,560
Speaker 4: has been swept off Broad Street in Philadelphia, the NFL

592
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:31,000
Speaker 4: off season officially commences, and this past week we got

593
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:33,560
Speaker 4: some big news. The San Francisco forty nine Ers are

594
00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:37,080
Speaker 4: reportedly exploring selling a ten percent stake at evaluation of

595
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:41,480
Speaker 4: more than nine billion dollars, potentially making it one of

596
00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:43,600
Speaker 4: the world's most expensive sports teams.

597
00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:45,600
Speaker 3: We should note it's unclear if the forty nine ers

598
00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:47,560
Speaker 3: will choose to seek a private equity firm to buy

599
00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:50,680
Speaker 3: the stake or other investors such as wealthy individuals or

600
00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:54,239
Speaker 3: family office. Deliberations are ongoing. For the latest go to

601
00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:55,280
Speaker 3: Bloomberg dot com.

602
00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:58,440
Speaker 4: For now, we pivot our attention to pre Super Bowl

603
00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:01,399
Speaker 4: as Vanessa down in New Orleans for Super Bowl fifty

604
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:03,680
Speaker 4: nine just a few weeks back, and had the opportunity

605
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:05,800
Speaker 4: to speak with some legendary athletes.

606
00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:08,839
Speaker 3: Yeah, and one of those was tennis legend Billy Jean King.

607
00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:12,040
Speaker 3: I mean speaking with her was truly a dream come true.

608
00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:15,040
Speaker 3: As a female athlete myself. It really felt like staring

609
00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:17,719
Speaker 3: into the eyes of the godmother who gave us women's sports.

610
00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:20,319
Speaker 3: So we spoke with the importance of empowering girls through

611
00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:21,719
Speaker 3: sports and what it takes to get there.

612
00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:23,799
Speaker 5: Take a listen, leadership.

613
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,000
Speaker 8: They've done so much research now that we know if

614
00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:29,719
Speaker 8: you put a girl in sports, she's got a much

615
00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:32,560
Speaker 8: better chance to be a leader. And also ninety four

616
00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:37,279
Speaker 8: percent of C suite women ninety four percent identify with.

617
00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:38,000
Speaker 4: Being an athlete.

618
00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:41,279
Speaker 8: Yeah, and so in half of those women played D one.

619
00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:44,520
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know what. People don't realize what sports did.

620
00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:46,640
Speaker 3: That's an interesting part of the stat that I haven't

621
00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:47,399
Speaker 3: actually heard before.

622
00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:49,440
Speaker 5: Fifty percent played D one. Oh, it's amazing.

623
00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:53,120
Speaker 8: They are athletes, and I know of when I'm hiring someone,

624
00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:55,640
Speaker 8: I asked them, have you ever And I don't care

625
00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:59,000
Speaker 8: how good they were, I asked, were you ever a captain?

626
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:00,720
Speaker 5: Captain?

627
00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:03,880
Speaker 8: Captain, you don't have to be You don't have to

628
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:07,520
Speaker 8: be the best player, our best athlete, but you want

629
00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:11,720
Speaker 8: to know their experiences and where they've kind of molded

630
00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:13,760
Speaker 8: their lives and how they believe in themselves.

631
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:16,120
Speaker 5: And I think that's something that's lost today in the

632
00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:16,720
Speaker 5: youth system.

633
00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:19,000
Speaker 3: Actually, you know, we talked about forty five percent of

634
00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:21,320
Speaker 3: girls kind of drop out of sports, but now actually

635
00:38:21,719 --> 00:38:23,360
Speaker 3: they're not playing as many sports.

636
00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:25,360
Speaker 5: You know, what do you think about the landscape of

637
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:26,320
Speaker 5: youth sports right now?

638
00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:27,880
Speaker 4: They have proven.

639
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:32,960
Speaker 8: The best of whatever they are usually played other sports.

640
00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:37,160
Speaker 8: I would have my children playing sports, and I don't

641
00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:39,040
Speaker 8: care how good they are, but different sports because you

642
00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:42,400
Speaker 8: learn different things in each sport. You've learned different techniques,

643
00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:45,040
Speaker 8: you learn how to maybe perceive things a little differently,

644
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:48,359
Speaker 8: so it helps your real life and that is real life.

645
00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:52,520
Speaker 8: I mean, I'm a jock, come on, give me the vault. Yeah,

646
00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:55,200
Speaker 8: but no, it teaches you so many things. Is and

647
00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:56,960
Speaker 8: if you want to be even the best in the

648
00:38:56,960 --> 00:38:59,759
Speaker 8: sport when they're young, you want to play. They've done

649
00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:03,440
Speaker 8: recent search the players who did many sports, are a

650
00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:06,320
Speaker 8: few sports at least, and then decided to be number

651
00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:09,440
Speaker 8: the best or professional in one sport. They did better

652
00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:11,680
Speaker 8: than the kids who always specialize in one sport when

653
00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:12,960
Speaker 8: they grew up. Because you want to.

654
00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:16,960
Speaker 4: Learn, like learn how to run, kick, throw.

655
00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:18,960
Speaker 5: Yeah, well you need.

656
00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:19,719
Speaker 4: All these different things.

657
00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:21,880
Speaker 5: There's so many different elements that work in different sports.

658
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:24,000
Speaker 8: Especially when a child's young. You want them to use

659
00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:27,320
Speaker 8: their big muscle groups more not they're fine muscle groups.

660
00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:29,799
Speaker 8: So you want them to kick, run, and throw, just

661
00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:32,759
Speaker 8: basic stuff. And those are the types of things you

662
00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:34,919
Speaker 8: want to do when a child young, and parents should

663
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:35,520
Speaker 8: think about that.

664
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:36,880
Speaker 5: Let them have fun.

665
00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:40,680
Speaker 8: Like my brother played twelve years of professional baseball. Randy

666
00:39:40,719 --> 00:39:45,359
Speaker 8: Moffat's our birth name, and he's five years younger, and

667
00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:47,760
Speaker 8: we played all sports together. We had so much fun.

668
00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:49,480
Speaker 8: I love my baby brothers.

669
00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:51,759
Speaker 3: Yes. One of the things that's interesting too about if

670
00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:54,000
Speaker 3: you specialize, say in something like tennis at a young age.

671
00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:55,960
Speaker 3: I was just recently talking with Sean White about this,

672
00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:58,400
Speaker 3: and he told me him starting his company and getting

673
00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:00,920
Speaker 3: things the newest thing for him in bus. It wasn't,

674
00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:03,040
Speaker 3: you know, learning the business side. It was actually being

675
00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:05,560
Speaker 3: part of a team, yes, because he wasn't he was

676
00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:06,760
Speaker 3: an individual athlete.

677
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:08,800
Speaker 8: No, But I was in team sports in my whole life.

678
00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:12,760
Speaker 8: I was in basketball, first I played shortstop. Susan Williams

679
00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:14,640
Speaker 8: in fifth grade said you want to play tennis, and

680
00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:17,480
Speaker 8: I said, what's tennis? And we went to her country

681
00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:20,000
Speaker 8: club to play and I said, well, I'm not playing

682
00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:23,959
Speaker 8: tennis because my dad's a firefighter and we're barely making

683
00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:26,600
Speaker 8: as as is. So but we also played on a

684
00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:30,680
Speaker 8: softball team and she said to the coach Val hollerin oh,

685
00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:33,560
Speaker 8: I took Billy to play tennis, and she says, oh,

686
00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:35,920
Speaker 8: we have free instruction here every.

687
00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:36,920
Speaker 2: Tuesday at Hopen Park.

688
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:38,080
Speaker 4: Okay, that's how.

689
00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:40,520
Speaker 8: That's why I became a tennis player. I went to

690
00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:43,680
Speaker 8: the public park, free coaching free, you know, if the

691
00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:46,719
Speaker 8: courts were free. And after the first day of tennis,

692
00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:49,400
Speaker 8: I realized that I want to be number one in tennis.

693
00:40:49,440 --> 00:40:51,319
Speaker 8: I found what I was going to do with my life. Yeah,

694
00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:54,480
Speaker 8: and I was about ten, just before I turned eleven,

695
00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:56,600
Speaker 8: and I knew that was it and I knew it

696
00:40:56,640 --> 00:41:00,160
Speaker 8: was global. I realized global. I read the history. I'm

697
00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:02,120
Speaker 8: big on history. The more you know about history, the

698
00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:05,200
Speaker 8: more you know about yourself. But most importantly, it helps

699
00:41:05,239 --> 00:41:06,320
Speaker 8: you shape the future.

700
00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:08,960
Speaker 3: How would that relate to you know, the landscape of

701
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:12,640
Speaker 3: women's sports today because now they're more you know, visible

702
00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:15,840
Speaker 3: than ever. Last year is an amazing year for women's sports.

703
00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:17,960
Speaker 3: But how would you categorize, you know, where we are

704
00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:19,319
Speaker 3: right now, how they have to.

705
00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:21,880
Speaker 8: We're the best place we've ever been. Yeah, but we

706
00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:25,000
Speaker 8: still have so long to go. But all these you know,

707
00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:28,040
Speaker 8: like Angel Rees and Caitlyn Clark getting into it, all

708
00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:30,640
Speaker 8: those things, it shows and how many people are showing

709
00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:32,880
Speaker 8: up and watching. And men do watch a lot of

710
00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:37,359
Speaker 8: women's sports. It's like eighty five percent watch women's sports.

711
00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:40,400
Speaker 8: People don't realize it's men and women who watch women's sports,

712
00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:44,520
Speaker 8: and men and women who watch pro sports. In men's

713
00:41:44,520 --> 00:41:49,040
Speaker 8: sports and football, we're here at the Super Bowl, yeah,

714
00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:51,359
Speaker 8: and we're going to start the flag football, which I'm

715
00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:55,560
Speaker 8: so into for the last four years. I was here

716
00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:58,200
Speaker 8: four years ago, did the coin toss. And I just

717
00:41:58,239 --> 00:41:59,600
Speaker 8: want them to have an association.

718
00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:01,800
Speaker 5: I don't play football. Association.

719
00:42:01,920 --> 00:42:04,080
Speaker 8: Oh absolutely, Yeah, have the men and women together maybe.

720
00:42:04,239 --> 00:42:06,479
Speaker 3: Maybe it's really interesting though, because it is a great

721
00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:10,120
Speaker 3: way for girls and women to start getting into football.

722
00:42:10,200 --> 00:42:11,680
Speaker 4: Oh it's great. Oh I played football.

723
00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:15,160
Speaker 8: I played flag when I was a kid. I played baseball, football, softball,

724
00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:17,960
Speaker 8: I played you know, volleyball, track and field. I love

725
00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:20,920
Speaker 8: I love them all. So I'm interested in everybody. But

726
00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:22,759
Speaker 8: I want people to find their sport, whatever it is,

727
00:42:22,880 --> 00:42:25,799
Speaker 8: love it. I think. Well, for me, I know that

728
00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:27,719
Speaker 8: a lot of kids don't know about tennis. They really

729
00:42:27,719 --> 00:42:30,120
Speaker 8: It's too bad because tennis is global.

730
00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:31,399
Speaker 5: Soccer's global. Yeah.

731
00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:33,560
Speaker 8: I went to the World Cup of Soccer in Australia

732
00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:34,920
Speaker 8: and met the Spanish players.

733
00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:36,960
Speaker 5: Yeah, so no, it's.

734
00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:38,560
Speaker 8: No.

735
00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:40,239
Speaker 4: I love sports. I love all of them.

736
00:42:40,239 --> 00:42:43,479
Speaker 8: And we went to the Women's World Cup of Cricket yeah,

737
00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:45,920
Speaker 8: you know, in Melbourne, Australia not too long ago. So

738
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:50,040
Speaker 8: that was an amazing experience where the Australians beat the

739
00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:53,640
Speaker 8: Indian women from India. But what was really wonderful is

740
00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:57,759
Speaker 8: the men told the Australian women, if you should win,

741
00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:00,319
Speaker 8: we will make you hold. We will get you as

742
00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:02,920
Speaker 8: much as we got. And that's where the men are

743
00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:06,680
Speaker 8: really really helpful. But people can help each other, you know,

744
00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:09,320
Speaker 8: and the men the fathers, like my dad was fantastic

745
00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:10,640
Speaker 8: on them. About your family, you said.

746
00:43:10,480 --> 00:43:12,160
Speaker 5: Your dad, Yeah, my dad is the one who trained me.

747
00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:18,880
Speaker 8: I think fathers are fathers don't realize how important they

748
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:23,480
Speaker 8: are to girls. And my dad was amazing, and my

749
00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:26,399
Speaker 8: dad believed in me as much as my brother, and

750
00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:28,960
Speaker 8: that set the tone for me to go for it.

751
00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:31,160
Speaker 8: And I just want to talk to all the fathers

752
00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:33,120
Speaker 8: out there. You have no idea how important you are

753
00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:35,799
Speaker 8: to your daughters, and I hope you'll step up if

754
00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:39,279
Speaker 8: you don't, if you haven't already, and just include them

755
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:41,600
Speaker 8: and believe in them and get them into sports, get

756
00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:45,440
Speaker 8: them into activities. Because girls are taught not to trust

757
00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:49,760
Speaker 8: our bodies. Sports teach you to trust your body. Sports

758
00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:53,040
Speaker 8: helped me so much to trust my body, to believe

759
00:43:53,080 --> 00:43:53,279
Speaker 8: in it.

760
00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:56,560
Speaker 3: And I think and believing yourself in all different parts

761
00:43:56,560 --> 00:43:58,239
Speaker 3: of your life. Because you've been in the business part

762
00:43:58,239 --> 00:44:01,080
Speaker 3: of it, you you recognize that early part of your careers.

763
00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:03,400
Speaker 8: I was in my twenties with my former husband and

764
00:44:03,400 --> 00:44:06,120
Speaker 8: I owned tournaments. And once you own something and you're

765
00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:08,799
Speaker 8: on the other side as well, then you understand the

766
00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:09,440
Speaker 8: whole picture.

767
00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:10,840
Speaker 5: Yeah, and it really helps.

768
00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:13,719
Speaker 3: That was my conversation with Tennis icon Billy Jean King

769
00:44:13,960 --> 00:44:16,160
Speaker 3: and Daman. Another conversation I had when I was down

770
00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:18,360
Speaker 3: in New Orleans was with a legend of the city.

771
00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:20,759
Speaker 3: He helped to bring them a Super Bowl championship back

772
00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:22,840
Speaker 3: in twenty ten and was inducted into their Hall of

773
00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:25,840
Speaker 3: Fame last year. I'm talking, of course about former Saints

774
00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:28,239
Speaker 3: quarterback Drew Brees, and we didn't just talk.

775
00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:30,920
Speaker 5: About the big game. We turned his attention to another sport.

776
00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:33,279
Speaker 3: He fell in love with pick a ball, which him

777
00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:36,879
Speaker 3: and I actually played together a couple of years ago.

778
00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:40,080
Speaker 3: Me and him played against Jason Kelly and Larry Fitzgerald

779
00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:43,480
Speaker 3: in our episode of Nexs and Sports. It was really amazing.

780
00:44:43,520 --> 00:44:45,239
Speaker 3: He remembered me, but I did let him down, so

781
00:44:45,239 --> 00:44:48,200
Speaker 3: that's upsetting. But he does hope that his investment in

782
00:44:48,200 --> 00:44:50,319
Speaker 3: the league will elevate viewership nationwide.

783
00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:53,000
Speaker 9: The big news about eighteen months ago was the merger

784
00:44:53,040 --> 00:44:56,839
Speaker 9: between the PPA, which was the Professional Pickaball Association, and

785
00:44:56,920 --> 00:44:59,800
Speaker 9: the MLP Major League Pickaball, which was the team concept.

786
00:45:00,200 --> 00:45:03,560
Speaker 9: So by combining the two, everybody rown in the same direction,

787
00:45:03,719 --> 00:45:06,640
Speaker 9: kind of joint sponsorships, and you start thinking about, you know,

788
00:45:06,680 --> 00:45:09,480
Speaker 9: broadcasting and network deals and just everyone you can now

789
00:45:09,520 --> 00:45:12,840
Speaker 9: bring to the sport again, bring a lot of continuity.

790
00:45:13,880 --> 00:45:16,680
Speaker 9: MLP is so much fun, like the professional pickball players

791
00:45:16,719 --> 00:45:18,640
Speaker 9: love being in the team concept. It's almost like this

792
00:45:18,760 --> 00:45:20,719
Speaker 9: Ryder Cup you know, and it's only you know, it's

793
00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:22,600
Speaker 9: men and women. You're playing right next to each other,

794
00:45:23,160 --> 00:45:25,360
Speaker 9: whether it's you know, you got your mixed doubles, you

795
00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:27,759
Speaker 9: got your men's men's doubles, women's doubles. And then we've

796
00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:30,719
Speaker 9: got this dream breaker concept that's like this one on

797
00:45:30,719 --> 00:45:33,480
Speaker 9: one where you could have women and men on the

798
00:45:33,560 --> 00:45:35,319
Speaker 9: on the court at the same time playing against each other.

799
00:45:35,360 --> 00:45:38,400
Speaker 5: Like it's and sometimes they avoid they avoid the women.

800
00:45:38,360 --> 00:45:40,319
Speaker 9: But it's the only kids are so good an water.

801
00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:44,360
Speaker 9: Nobody want to play Anie Wall, She's she's phenomenal. So

802
00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:46,440
Speaker 9: like that's what's so great about the Sport's the only

803
00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:47,160
Speaker 9: spore you can do that.

804
00:45:47,800 --> 00:45:50,160
Speaker 3: Do you think that because that's a new thing, right

805
00:45:50,239 --> 00:45:53,239
Speaker 3: because they when they were separated, they used to be

806
00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:56,120
Speaker 3: kind of every other thing. You didn't know exactly when

807
00:45:56,160 --> 00:45:58,200
Speaker 3: the MLP season was going to be. Which do you

808
00:45:58,239 --> 00:46:02,000
Speaker 3: think that's going to help garner new fandom for Professional Pickaball?

809
00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:04,080
Speaker 9: It absolutely does, because in the past there was you

810
00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:06,879
Speaker 9: were kind of competing for weekends, you know, PPA and MLP,

811
00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:09,919
Speaker 9: But now that we are, you know, really a joint

812
00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:14,200
Speaker 9: venture or together you the PPA has their season. MLP

813
00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:18,600
Speaker 9: is specifically scheduling their season around kind of home locations

814
00:46:18,719 --> 00:46:21,840
Speaker 9: and not disrupting PPA. Plus, honestly, it's a change up

815
00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:24,719
Speaker 9: for the professional players. Like they like knowing, hey, I've

816
00:46:24,719 --> 00:46:27,960
Speaker 9: got this season where I'm competing in singles, you know,

817
00:46:28,040 --> 00:46:30,120
Speaker 9: and then I've got my doubles partner. But then the

818
00:46:30,200 --> 00:46:32,120
Speaker 9: minute we get to the MLP season, it's like you

819
00:46:32,200 --> 00:46:33,160
Speaker 9: shift gears and it's.

820
00:46:33,040 --> 00:46:34,320
Speaker 2: Like, Okay, this is my squad.

821
00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:36,600
Speaker 9: Yeah, this is my team, and we're kind of making

822
00:46:36,640 --> 00:46:39,600
Speaker 9: these stops and you know, each stop kind of has

823
00:46:39,640 --> 00:46:41,640
Speaker 9: a little bit of like a home field advantage feel

824
00:46:41,680 --> 00:46:43,440
Speaker 9: to it, you know. Yeah, And I think that's what

825
00:46:43,520 --> 00:46:45,120
Speaker 9: we want in MLP is we want to start to

826
00:46:45,120 --> 00:46:47,720
Speaker 9: develop fan bases, right, Yeah, Like we want the pickaball

827
00:46:47,760 --> 00:46:51,640
Speaker 9: community in southern California to latch onto the Los Angeles

828
00:46:51,680 --> 00:46:54,560
Speaker 9: matt Drops Pickball Club and the Texas team. You know,

829
00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:56,720
Speaker 9: you got one in Austin, right, you got one in Nashville,

830
00:46:56,760 --> 00:46:58,759
Speaker 9: You've got one in Columbus, Ohio. Like, so we want

831
00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:01,640
Speaker 9: these home you know, pickaball communities to say, all right,

832
00:47:01,719 --> 00:47:02,879
Speaker 9: this is our team, this is who.

833
00:47:02,800 --> 00:47:03,839
Speaker 2: We're going to support. Yeah.

834
00:47:03,920 --> 00:47:06,400
Speaker 3: Absolutely, So you're invested in that, and so are there

835
00:47:06,480 --> 00:47:08,640
Speaker 3: any other leagues in sports that you're looking at that

836
00:47:08,680 --> 00:47:09,720
Speaker 3: you really want to get into.

837
00:47:11,160 --> 00:47:12,120
Speaker 5: Now next.

838
00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:12,719
Speaker 2: Yeah.

839
00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:18,280
Speaker 9: I love youth sports. I mean just from the perspective

840
00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:21,560
Speaker 9: of I think it's so positive that kids play sports,

841
00:47:21,640 --> 00:47:25,320
Speaker 9: have access to sports, be multi sport athletes. So I

842
00:47:25,400 --> 00:47:27,840
Speaker 9: am huge into the flag football space. We start our

843
00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:30,839
Speaker 9: own flag football league about eight years ago, but we're

844
00:47:30,880 --> 00:47:32,800
Speaker 9: kind of taking that to a whole another level, building

845
00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:36,080
Speaker 9: experiential tournaments and opportunities for kids, both.

846
00:47:35,960 --> 00:47:37,759
Speaker 2: At the rec level and at the more competitive level.

847
00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:40,279
Speaker 9: Flag football has been announced as an Olympic sport, yeah,

848
00:47:40,320 --> 00:47:42,800
Speaker 9: in twenty twenty eight LA Olympics. So that's going to

849
00:47:42,840 --> 00:47:45,760
Speaker 9: be huge, not just I think for the flag football community,

850
00:47:46,040 --> 00:47:50,759
Speaker 9: but also globally. Right as other countries start thinking about

851
00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:52,360
Speaker 9: how they can put together teams to compete.

852
00:47:52,400 --> 00:47:52,880
Speaker 4: That's gonna be a.

853
00:47:52,880 --> 00:47:53,919
Speaker 2: Five on five for Matt.

854
00:47:54,320 --> 00:47:57,480
Speaker 9: So I think flag football is just kind of like

855
00:47:57,560 --> 00:47:59,880
Speaker 9: getting kicked off as to where it can go, building

856
00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:03,799
Speaker 9: national teams, doing kind of select type tournaments, and we're

857
00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:05,120
Speaker 9: going to be right in the center of that.

858
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:07,560
Speaker 3: And it's a really huge way to get girls and

859
00:48:07,640 --> 00:48:09,920
Speaker 3: women involved in playing the game of football.

860
00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:12,200
Speaker 9: Right, that's exactly right in fact, flag football is now

861
00:48:12,239 --> 00:48:14,240
Speaker 9: a sanctioned sport for a lot of high school programs.

862
00:48:14,320 --> 00:48:16,480
Speaker 9: In fact, in the state of California was adopted two

863
00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:18,880
Speaker 9: years ago. So I actually helped coach our high school

864
00:48:19,200 --> 00:48:23,239
Speaker 9: inaugural flag football team for girls I was, which was

865
00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:24,280
Speaker 9: Oh dude, it was awesome.

866
00:48:24,719 --> 00:48:25,240
Speaker 2: Are you kidding?

867
00:48:25,560 --> 00:48:28,680
Speaker 9: Like the girls listen so much better than the guys do, right, So,

868
00:48:28,840 --> 00:48:30,680
Speaker 9: like I like coaching the girls better than I like

869
00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:31,520
Speaker 9: coaching the guys.

870
00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:34,920
Speaker 5: That was my conversation with New Orleans Saints legend.

871
00:48:34,719 --> 00:48:38,040
Speaker 4: Drew brees Well, Vanessa, thank you so much, and thank

872
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Speaker 4: you to our audience for joining us. Tune in again

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Speaker 4: next week for the latest on the stories moving big

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Speaker 4: money in the world of sports. You've been listening to

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Speaker 4: The Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.