1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:07,720 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. 2 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:09,800 Speaker 2: This is the business of sports. 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:12,720 Speaker 3: The business of sports can be intimidating or hard for 4 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 3: a starting to break into. 5 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 4: We really appreciate when our owners are actually there, you know, 6 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 4: with us through the journey. 7 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: Teams ours especially have been very intentional to diversify at 8 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: all levels of the company. 9 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 5: I think we're in bolden years for the NFL and 10 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 5: college football. 11 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 6: Our demographic reach has continued to explode. 12 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 7: This is going to be really unlocking the streaming platform 13 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 7: for sports fans. 14 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 3: Sports evaluations arising. We'll see when they peak. 15 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 6: You don't have to be the best in your sports 16 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 6: and make a whole ton of money. 17 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:45,200 Speaker 2: Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. 18 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 3: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where Whigs floor 19 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 3: the big money issues in the world of sports. Michael 20 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 3: Barr along with my colleagues Damian Sasaur and Bloomberg Original 21 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 3: Sports correspondent Vanessa Perdomo. We'll hear from Scarlett Food later 22 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 3: in the program. Coming up on the show, we take 23 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 3: a look back at some of our favorite conversations from 24 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:07,679 Speaker 3: twenty twenty four and look ahead at some of the 25 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,119 Speaker 3: storylines that will matter most in the new year, we 26 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 3: hear a conversation with the Claim Sports and journalists and 27 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 3: author John Feinstein. We spoke with him about his latest work, 28 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 3: The Ancient Eight, College Football's IVY League and the game 29 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 3: they play. 30 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 6: The one thing I know for sure is the IVY 31 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 6: League's not realigning. They will not The Ancient Eight will 32 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:29,400 Speaker 6: never be the Ancient ten, or the Ancient six or 33 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,319 Speaker 6: what it will always be the Ancient Eight. The same 34 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:34,759 Speaker 6: aid schools that formed the league in nineteen fifty four 35 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 6: are the same eight schools that are in the league. 36 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,960 Speaker 3: Today, and with private equities involvement in sports continuing to grow, 37 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 3: we'll look back at a conversation with Velocity Capital Management 38 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 3: founding partner David Abrams. All that and more is straight 39 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 3: ahead on a special edition of The Bloomberg Business of Sports. 40 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 3: But we start in Boston and a friend of the 41 00:01:56,120 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 3: show with Grossback and his wife Emilia Fazalari cart Damien 42 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 3: and I spoke with them about their venture in the 43 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 3: spirits industry with Sincoro Tequila and about the future of 44 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 3: the Celtics. 45 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 5: Let's listen in So it all started. It was one 46 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 5: summer night in twenty sixteen when now now partners, and 47 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,680 Speaker 5: I decided to get together for dinner. And my partners 48 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 5: are my husband, Wick Grossback, Michael Jordan, who owned the 49 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:29,799 Speaker 5: Charlotte Hornets at the time, Genie Buss, owner of the 50 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 5: Los Angeles Lakers, West s Eden's owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, 51 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 5: and so here we were representing four NBA teams got 52 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 5: together for dinner and something pretty magical happened that night. 53 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 5: We bonded as friends and it was all over tequila, 54 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 5: and we started talking about how much we all love tequila, 55 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 5: and we had this shared love for it, and we 56 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 5: started to talk about what we wanted in a tequila, 57 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 5: and we wanted something that was really delicious and it's 58 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:04,359 Speaker 5: it's not a word you use to describe tequila normally, 59 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 5: and we started talking about how great it would be 60 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 5: if there were was a tequila that was super smooth 61 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,359 Speaker 5: and had a long, beautiful finish, like a fine cognac 62 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 5: or a bourbon. And after that night we decided to 63 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 5: get together for dinner again. It was all around NBA 64 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 5: Board of Governor meetings that were taking place in New York, 65 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 5: and so after several more dinners and lots more tequila drinking, 66 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 5: we decided to create our own and that it was 67 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 5: going to be delicious and we weren't going to stop 68 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 5: until we created this incredible liquid. And so that's really 69 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 5: how it started, and it took us three years. That was, 70 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 5: like I said, the summer of twenty sixteen. We launched 71 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 5: the company in twenty nineteen, and it was because our 72 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 5: focus was creating this delicious liquid and we made a 73 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 5: thousand tequilas in that timeframe and then we launched. We 74 00:03:58,720 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 5: had it, We nailed it. 75 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: That's a pretty incredible story and just topped by the 76 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: fact that it's competitors getting together to do this together. 77 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit about how you plan 78 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: to leverage or what your original plan was to leverage 79 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: athletes and marketing this brand because athletes or celebrities and 80 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: spirits is something that you know, there's a lot of 81 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: competition in the space. 82 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 5: Yeah, so that's a great question, Scarlett, And for us, 83 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:32,160 Speaker 5: it was not about leveraging celebrity. But what's interesting is 84 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 5: the athlete mindset. And so you know, athletes work very 85 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 5: hard and always strive for greatness, and that is really 86 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 5: at the ethos of this brand. It was our approach. 87 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,359 Speaker 5: It was the sort of athlete mindset, if you will, 88 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 5: in the way we approached creating the liquid, creating the company, 89 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 5: and so you may hear about Cincoro because of the 90 00:04:56,040 --> 00:05:01,160 Speaker 5: incredible team that's involved Michael Jordan. We've Derek Jeters, Serena 91 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:07,719 Speaker 5: Williams and Michael Strahan, many people involved in you know, 92 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 5: part of the team. Now we've expanded it from the 93 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 5: five of us, and you may hear about the brand 94 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 5: because of a celebrity that's part of the team. But 95 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 5: you're going to buy your first bottle, your second bottle, 96 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 5: and hopefully cases thereafter because of the liquid and this 97 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 5: course bottle. 98 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 3: Weck. 99 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:27,720 Speaker 8: You've been awfully quiet over there, and you know, I'm 100 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 8: sitting here and I'm watching guys like Peyton Pritchard throwing 101 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 8: in twenty eight points, five rebounds and three assists. I mean, 102 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 8: this guy's a six man candidate of the year. I'm 103 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:37,600 Speaker 8: seeing Tatum, He's shooting fifty percent from three point range. 104 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 8: You guys are passing out championship brings at home in 105 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 8: front of the Knicks. 106 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 9: Talk to us. 107 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 8: About your defense of the championship, what comes next for 108 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 8: the Celtics. It's such an exciting time for you on 109 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:47,160 Speaker 8: the team. 110 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 3: Don't worry, he's snarky right now. 111 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 10: Thanks blood Daman. Well if the video we're working on 112 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:56,039 Speaker 10: this podcast to be able to see the ring right here. 113 00:05:56,279 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 10: But let's say we were very worried about the most 114 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 10: respectful of the next They are coming for us, for sure. 115 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 10: They're coming for the league. They have rebuilt and are 116 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:09,360 Speaker 10: added to their team which was very strong last year. 117 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 10: And I mean this very sincerely. And we knew they 118 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 10: were sitting in that locker room that cramped unpleasant sort 119 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 10: of sitting locker room like every NBA visiting locker room, 120 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:20,160 Speaker 10: and they were cooped up in there while we were 121 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 10: having this big banner and ring celebration, and then they 122 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 10: came out and they came out hard. So we got 123 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 10: them that night. But there's three more games to go 124 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 10: and then maybe the playoffs. Tom Thibodeau, by the way, 125 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 10: the head coach, was our assistant head coach in two 126 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:35,560 Speaker 10: thousand and eight. We want a ring team. Tims and 127 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:38,919 Speaker 10: I are neighbors out in the suburbs and have dinner 128 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 10: together occasionally, were friendly rivals, just like Sincoro. So it 129 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:43,160 Speaker 10: all works out in the end. 130 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,839 Speaker 3: See now, I don't want anybody calling this show with this, 131 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,280 Speaker 3: it's like you didn't ask them anything about the Boston 132 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,359 Speaker 3: Celtics and the sale because they can't talk about the 133 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:56,840 Speaker 3: sale right now. That's that's you. 134 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 1: Know, the talks are ongoing. 135 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:02,159 Speaker 3: Yeah, you don't discuss business at the dinner tape. Now 136 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 3: back to. 137 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:07,360 Speaker 10: Giving just the brief update on what's going on. Out 138 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 10: of respect to Bloomberg and out of respect to you guys. 139 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 10: So if you'd like, I can give you a short 140 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,239 Speaker 10: paragraph about hours. Yeah, I just want to be helpful 141 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 10: if I can. So the process is ongoing, and we 142 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 10: have hired a couple of great bankers banking firms. Mary 143 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 10: Urdos is the lead over at JP Morgan for US 144 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 10: and Greg lemcow O Red Bead and T two terrific, 145 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 10: well known people. They're very enthusiastic about helping the Celtics 146 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 10: find their next home. It's been twenty two years for me. 147 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,120 Speaker 10: I'm going to end up transitioning out after twenty five years, 148 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 10: is the plan. And so we're meeting people right now, 149 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 10: beginning the process, put a book together in a data 150 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 10: room and meeting buyers and there's been a lot of 151 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 10: interest actually from lots of lots of great people. So 152 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 10: We're just getting started, but the process. 153 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 3: Is underway and I'm not going to lie. That's in 154 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 3: coral tequila was good. That's a portion of our conversation 155 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 3: the Bolton Celtics lead owner with Grossbeck and his wife 156 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 3: and business partner, Emilia Vassalari. Sticking with basketball, we go 157 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 3: from today's reigning champions to one of the game's legends 158 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 3: and doctor Jay Julius Irving. He and National Thoroughbred League 159 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 3: co founder Randall Lane sat down with Scarlett fu and 160 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 3: our Bloomberg Television colleague Romain Bostik about his investment in 161 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 3: horse racing. Let's take a listen to a portion of 162 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 3: that conversation. 163 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: Doctor g I got to start with you because you're 164 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:35,960 Speaker 1: a legend in the NBA, of course, Philadelphia seventy six er, 165 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:38,840 Speaker 1: the King of slam Dunks. How did you first get 166 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: involved in horse racing and specifically the National Thoroughbred League. 167 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:45,200 Speaker 11: Well, you know, I've been out of basketball for a 168 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 11: long time and I've explored other activities, golf being one 169 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 11: of them and is probably my main post basketball activity. 170 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 11: But I have a history of going to the Kentucky 171 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 11: Derby on the invite of junior Bridgeman for about a 172 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,559 Speaker 11: dozen times, and they've even let me start the race, 173 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 11: so that's that's kind of a big deal. I grew 174 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 11: up in Long Island. You know, there's Belmont Park near there, 175 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,200 Speaker 11: and there are plenty of race trucks in and around 176 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 11: New York, so always heard about racing. And I actually 177 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 11: came from a community called Roosevelt, and there's a Roosevelt 178 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:32,320 Speaker 11: Raceway right there in Long Island as well. 179 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:34,959 Speaker 3: So this was probably my destiny. 180 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,960 Speaker 11: And when I had a conversation with Randall a couple 181 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,959 Speaker 11: of months ago, my son and I and a friend 182 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 11: of his, you know, all decided that we wanted in. 183 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 1: Got it. Well, it sounds like like you said that 184 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: this was destined to happen at some point. Randall, I 185 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 1: want to bring you into the conversation because NTL brings 186 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:58,679 Speaker 1: team competition to one of America's oldest sports, and the 187 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:01,840 Speaker 1: intention is to make cours more like track meets. What 188 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,120 Speaker 1: are the benefits of a team format? Because Doctor J 189 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: mentioned golf, I know golf is doing something similar with 190 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:10,680 Speaker 1: the TGL using a team format rather than individual players. 191 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,960 Speaker 12: Sure, well, it's really taking what's one of America's great 192 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,480 Speaker 12: not just one of great America's great sports, one of 193 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 12: America's great cultural institutions, and taking what works in modern sports, 194 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 12: which is right now, you go to a track you 195 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 12: don't even know unless you're betting on the horse. You 196 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 12: don't even you know, you don't even know the name 197 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 12: of the horse you're betting on. And what we want 198 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 12: to do is take what's working in every other sport 199 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:36,480 Speaker 12: and creating tremendous wealth in every other sport and bring 200 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 12: up the thurbd racing which is a great, amazing sport, 201 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:42,840 Speaker 12: but it needs teams to root for, it needs stars, 202 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:45,120 Speaker 12: and then we need more events, you know. I think 203 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 12: our parallel is Formula one, which is a circuit that's 204 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,079 Speaker 12: going around with teams racing against each other and you 205 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 12: root for the drivers and you root for the teams, 206 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 12: and you know who you're rooting for, but it has 207 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:56,560 Speaker 12: that similar spectacle. I mean, one hundred and fifty thousand 208 00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:59,080 Speaker 12: people go to Kentucky Derby. They're just not enough of 209 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 12: those right now. What we're bringing is that kind of 210 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:04,680 Speaker 12: mini Kentucky Derby's with teams that you root for, teams 211 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 12: that you know, and stars that come back and race 212 00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 12: time after time. Instead of going out to stud are. 213 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 13: There any parallels to kind of what we saw back 214 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 13: in the old basketball days. I mean, obviously we all 215 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 13: remember you from the Sixers, but you know, there are 216 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:20,679 Speaker 13: people of a certain generation that remember you from the ABA, 217 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,079 Speaker 13: and the ABA did things for basketball that have now 218 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 13: basically become the de facto standard. It was a more 219 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 13: exciting league, at least for those of us who are 220 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:31,400 Speaker 13: old enough to remember it. And I am curious about 221 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,079 Speaker 13: how sports leagues position themselves and saying true to I 222 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 13: guess there are traditions of that sport, but at the 223 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:40,560 Speaker 13: same time doing more creative things doc to drive people 224 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 13: into the stands or into TV viewership. 225 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 11: Well, you have a lot of people on the ownership 226 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 11: side and the employees of the owners who at the 227 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 11: end of each season they sit down and they do 228 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 11: an evaluation. What are we going to change? You know, 229 00:11:54,760 --> 00:12:00,200 Speaker 11: because sports is in a constant state of change. Some 230 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,560 Speaker 11: people like the changes, some people don't like the changes. 231 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:04,839 Speaker 11: But there's going to be change, and it's better if 232 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:07,840 Speaker 11: you have a say so. So, you know, I think 233 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:12,880 Speaker 11: fans should have always been verbal and vocal in terms of, 234 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 11: you know, the social media presence. They got an opinion 235 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 11: about different players and sometimes players fire back. So it's 236 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 11: it's moving forward, and this NTL is just a step 237 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 11: in moving horse racing forward, and not just in the US, 238 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 11: but globally. 239 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:37,840 Speaker 3: That's NBA legend Julia serving Doctor j along with National 240 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 3: Thoroughbred League co founder Randall Lane, speaking with Scarlett Foo 241 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,080 Speaker 3: and Romaine Bostik. Up next on this special edition of 242 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 3: the show, we tak college football and the Ancient eight 243 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:52,320 Speaker 3: with the claimed sports journalist John Feinstein. For my colleagues 244 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:56,040 Speaker 3: Scarlett Food, Damien Sassauer, and Vanessa Perdomo, I'm Michael Barr. 245 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:59,199 Speaker 3: You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberger 246 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 3: Radio the world. 247 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:08,400 Speaker 2: This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. 248 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 3: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explore 249 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:14,560 Speaker 3: the big money issues in the world of sports. Michael Barr. 250 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 3: It is a special edition of the show as we 251 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:20,520 Speaker 3: tie twenty twenty four up in a boat and look 252 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:22,559 Speaker 3: ahead to some of the big sports headlines for the 253 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 3: new year. Still ahead, we'll check in on the world 254 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 3: of private equity in sports with Velocity Capital's founding partner 255 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 3: David Abrams. But first twenty twenty four saw soccer continue 256 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:38,359 Speaker 3: to grow in the US. Not too long ago, Bloomberg 257 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 3: Original's Chief correspondent Jason Kelly, Bloomberg Original Sports correspondent Vanessa 258 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 3: Berdomo and Damien Sassaur spoke with the US Soccer President, 259 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:52,560 Speaker 3: Cindy Parlow Cone about soccer's growth, its future, and a 260 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 3: big investment from NWSL team owner Michelle Kang into the 261 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 3: national team. Let's take a listen to some of that conversation. 262 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:08,720 Speaker 7: Michelle is continuously breaking down barriers and setting new expectations, 263 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 7: and I think her gift does exactly this. 264 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 14: You know, my ninety nine World Cup teammates and I 265 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 14: we all thought the ninety nine World Cup happened and 266 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:23,160 Speaker 14: then it was going to be this massive explosion, but 267 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 14: it ended up being a moment, right. I think Michelle 268 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 14: and what she has done is she started a movement, 269 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 14: right and it has been sustained. You know, her donation 270 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 14: to us is going to be so impactful. So she's 271 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 14: contributing to three main areas. One is enabling us to 272 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 14: increase our number of youth national team camps. So we 273 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 14: have eight youth national teams, so we'll have more camps 274 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 14: with us, so more opportunities for young girls and women. 275 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 14: She's also putting money into expand improving our talent identification, 276 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 14: so regardless of where you live in play, you will 277 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 14: have the opportunity to be seen by our scouts. And 278 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:11,920 Speaker 14: then third, and I think this is really important, is 279 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 14: she's putting money towards fueling the professional development of the coaches, 280 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 14: the referees, and executives. We all know to develop the 281 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:23,760 Speaker 14: best players in the world, you have to develop everyone 282 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 14: around them too. For instance, right now we're looking with 283 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 14: this donation to double the number of female coaches and referees, 284 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 14: which would be significant. 285 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 3: That's my colleagues Jason Kelly, Vanessa Bernomo, and Damien sas 286 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 3: Hour speaking with US Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. Now 287 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 3: we turn to another space in the sports world that 288 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 3: we saw grow a lot in twenty twenty four, private equity. Jason, 289 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 3: Damien and I spoke with Velocity Capital Management founding partner 290 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:57,640 Speaker 3: David Abrams and Texas Permanent School Fund CEO and CIO 291 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 3: Bob Borden. We spoke just after it was announced that 292 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 3: Texas will be investing two hundred million dollars into Velocities 293 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 3: flagship opportunity fund let's take a listen to that conversation. 294 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:11,120 Speaker 8: David tell us a little bit about what's going on 295 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:13,520 Speaker 8: with X games, some of the you know, portfolio holdings, 296 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,239 Speaker 8: how the fund is structured, and you know what wise ahead. 297 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 4: Well, I think Elevate is a perfect example of this 298 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 4: partnership and why we're so excited. There was some news 299 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 4: out the other day about both Velocity and Texas Permanent 300 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:32,120 Speaker 4: School Fund and Levy putting significant capital on the balance sheet. 301 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 4: But I think one of the big differentiators of this 302 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 4: partnership is how Texas Permanent School Fund is not just 303 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 4: a typical asset allocator. And the reason they'll bring that 304 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:49,359 Speaker 4: up is we have the ability to provide holistic solutions 305 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 4: to various intellectual property rights holders. And if I think 306 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 4: about Elevate, you know, one of the big initiatives for 307 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 4: us as a company is what did the disruption is 308 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:05,640 Speaker 4: going to lead to in college athletics? And so there's 309 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:07,640 Speaker 4: lots of different ways to figure out how to work 310 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:10,680 Speaker 4: with the university. Whether it's the NIL space, whether it's 311 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:16,040 Speaker 4: helping build the stadium, whether it's helping monetize their ticketing inventory. 312 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:20,200 Speaker 4: Elevate can do a lot of different things but Texas 313 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 4: Permanent School Fund can provide capital that's private equity oriented, credit, 314 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 4: real estate. The name permanent is there for a reason 315 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 4: because it's permanent capital where you can hold an asset 316 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 4: for thirty years. There's very few examples of other investment 317 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 4: firms who had access to that capital, and that allows 318 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 4: us to solve problems for rights holders. 319 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:50,960 Speaker 15: Well, you know, I was mentioned earlier, what our peers do. 320 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:54,920 Speaker 15: We're the largest educational endowment in the country and actually 321 00:17:55,520 --> 00:18:02,119 Speaker 15: knocking on sixty billion today. The lessons that I learned 322 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:05,520 Speaker 15: over the years when you've got you know, good partners 323 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 15: and investment firms, and I think that you know, we're 324 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:11,840 Speaker 15: where my peers have you know, left a lot of 325 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:16,080 Speaker 15: meat on the bone. Is putting everything in boxes, you know, 326 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:20,200 Speaker 15: hiring talented firms to manage one, you know, very narrowly 327 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:23,919 Speaker 15: defined aspect of the fund, and you know, kind of 328 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,359 Speaker 15: report back on that. And I found that, you know, 329 00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 15: there's incredible talent at some of these firms, and they're 330 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:32,399 Speaker 15: doing a lot of interesting things, not just the little 331 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,840 Speaker 15: slice that you may have hired them for. And necessity 332 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,320 Speaker 15: being the mother of invention. In the mid two thousands, 333 00:18:38,359 --> 00:18:42,120 Speaker 15: I was tapped to run the South Carolina Investment Commission. 334 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:45,960 Speaker 15: It was thirty five billion dollars and I was hired 335 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,639 Speaker 15: and given an attorney and an admin and said build 336 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 15: a cutting edge endowment style pension solution. And I realized 337 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,440 Speaker 15: that we were going to have to really leverage partners 338 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 15: a lot more more than have traditionally been done, and 339 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 15: by providing more free form capital that can be put 340 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 15: to use, and not only in funds, but in co investments, 341 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:14,480 Speaker 15: direct investments, both in debt, inequity and real assets, seating platforms, 342 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:18,159 Speaker 15: et cetera. A much more fungible form of capital that 343 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 15: makes you a true partner with that group is a 344 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:27,919 Speaker 15: key to success there. It's a way to access a 345 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:32,200 Speaker 15: lot of opportunities. And using those lessons along with the 346 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 15: experience that I had with David, you know, I see 347 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 15: this space as ripe for development. Consolidation is almost you know, 348 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,800 Speaker 15: a late stage word. You know, this is still very 349 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:50,160 Speaker 15: nascent in some of the technologies and other services in 350 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 15: and around entertainment, just not only the hospitality, but you know, 351 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 15: the branding and naming rights and a lot of these things. 352 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:01,360 Speaker 15: And those who who figure it out out and can 353 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 15: do it at reasonable scale, you know will come out ahead. 354 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 1: So David, can you give us some more of an 355 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:13,840 Speaker 1: idea of what specific opportunities look like as we head 356 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:16,359 Speaker 1: into twenty twenty five. I think about the college space 357 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 1: because Velocity focuses on middle market companies. So we're not 358 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,719 Speaker 1: talking NFL teams, right, that's no longer middle market. But 359 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:27,879 Speaker 1: if you're talking about businesses or opportunities within college athletics, 360 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: obviously that space is growing by leaps and bounds. You 361 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 1: have Bill Belichick, who led the Patriots to multiple Super 362 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,720 Speaker 1: Bowl victories, now joining the United Excuse me, the University 363 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 1: of North Carolina's football team. College athletics is becoming more 364 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 1: and more professionalized. It's no longer going to just be 365 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 1: middle market anymore. 366 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 4: Well, I think the Belichick announcement is interesting, but it's 367 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:53,240 Speaker 4: a lot more than just hiring a football coach to 368 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:54,879 Speaker 4: build the football program. 369 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 1: You and C is, what do you see then, starting 370 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,639 Speaker 1: with Bill Belichick joining UNC and how what kind of 371 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:04,919 Speaker 1: opportunities does that open your eyes up to college athletics. 372 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 4: You can use the word professional sports, but they're entertainment 373 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,919 Speaker 4: and media businesses. It just so happens that the talent 374 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:14,680 Speaker 4: is also going to get a college education. At the 375 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:19,119 Speaker 4: same time, Bill Belichick is away for North Carolina to 376 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 4: build a global brand which will attract athletes, which drives 377 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 4: the revenue generation of the intellectual property rights of University 378 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:34,359 Speaker 4: of North Carolina. So when people want to come to 379 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 4: North Carolina now, it's I get access to one of 380 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:41,080 Speaker 4: the most successful NFL coaches of all time his network 381 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 4: of contacts around the world. So if I'm coming to play, 382 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 4: they have a fantastic women's soccer team, I'm going to 383 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,800 Speaker 4: get access to Bill Belichick. Maybe you can't build my 384 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 4: brand even and that is where college. 385 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:54,680 Speaker 3: Sports is going. 386 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:57,680 Speaker 4: You just saw the example of what happened at University 387 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:00,920 Speaker 4: of Michigan, where all the resources was Tom Brady and 388 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 4: Dave Portney were put into attracting talent for the university. 389 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:08,840 Speaker 4: It's the same exact reason why this happened at North 390 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:13,040 Speaker 4: Carolina because it's a way for them to present an 391 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 4: opportunity to talent that other universities can't match. 392 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:22,160 Speaker 3: That's Damien Jason Me speaking with Velocity Capital Management founding 393 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 3: partner David Abrams and Texas Permanent School Fund CEO and 394 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 3: CIO Bob Borden. You're listening to a special edition of 395 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,200 Speaker 3: The Bloomberg Business of Sports. As we go through some 396 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:36,280 Speaker 3: of our favorite conversations in twenty twenty four and look 397 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:38,639 Speaker 3: ahead at some of the stories that will matter in 398 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,800 Speaker 3: the new year. And now we turn to college football 399 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,840 Speaker 3: and the Ancient Eight. We spoke with John Feinstein. He 400 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:50,120 Speaker 3: has written nearly fifty books, and his latest, The Ancient Eight. 401 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,600 Speaker 3: College Football's Ivy League and the Game they played Today 402 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,960 Speaker 3: was the subject of our conversation. Let's take a listen 403 00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 3: to that conversation with Jason, Damien and Vanessa. 404 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:01,160 Speaker 8: To talk to us a little bit about the book, 405 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 8: the IVY League, talk to us a little bit about 406 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 8: you know what non scholarship offering schools are going to 407 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:08,080 Speaker 8: do in a world of NIL here. 408 00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:10,639 Speaker 6: Well, at for the moment, the IVY League has been 409 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:14,720 Speaker 6: largely unaffected because they never wanted to be part of nil's. 410 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:17,199 Speaker 6: They never wanted to be part of the transfer portal. 411 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 6: You do get an occasional transfer, you do get an 412 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:24,960 Speaker 6: occasional player with some NIL money, but that's the exception, 413 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:27,560 Speaker 6: not the rule. In fact, last season, when I was 414 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:31,960 Speaker 6: researching the book, Princeton had their first transfer since Jason 415 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,040 Speaker 6: Garrett in nineteen eighty eight. That's how rare transfers are 416 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:36,680 Speaker 6: generally across the IVY League. 417 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:39,760 Speaker 16: And what was it about the ache and eight and this, 418 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 16: you know, this IVY League system that you wanted to 419 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:43,360 Speaker 16: write a book about. 420 00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:45,240 Speaker 15: You know, when I was skimming. 421 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 16: Through your book, I I one of the things that 422 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,680 Speaker 16: struck me was how you said the age and eight 423 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,600 Speaker 16: is something that will never change. And because when you 424 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 16: look at the Big ten and the way that's expanded 425 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 16: and the way that Big twelve is retracted and all 426 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:01,560 Speaker 16: these things, those schools and conferences are so fluid, but 427 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:03,480 Speaker 16: this will always stay the same. So why was you know, 428 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 16: what was the inspiration behind this book? 429 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 6: Well, that was exactly it, Vanessa, To be honest with you, 430 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:11,679 Speaker 6: I grew up going IVY League football games in New 431 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 6: York City at Columbia. 432 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:14,720 Speaker 3: They were terrible, but. 433 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:18,000 Speaker 6: I enjoyed riding the subway to the tip of Manhattan 434 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,399 Speaker 6: and walking three blocks to Bakerfield. So I always followed 435 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 6: the IVY League. And as you mentioned realignment in college football, 436 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:28,840 Speaker 6: which seems to happen every fifteen minutes. The one thing 437 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 6: I know for sure is the IVY League's not realigning. 438 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:32,080 Speaker 3: They will not. 439 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:34,320 Speaker 6: The ancient eight will never be the ancient ten, or 440 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:37,159 Speaker 6: the ancient six, or what it will always be, the 441 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:39,680 Speaker 6: ancient eight. The same eight schools that formed the league 442 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 6: in nineteen fifty four are the same eight schools that 443 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,400 Speaker 6: are in the league today. They have rules that are 444 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,919 Speaker 6: different from the power schools. They only played ten games, 445 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 6: They played ten weeks in a row. There are no 446 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:53,919 Speaker 6: bye weeks, they're not the champions are not allowed to 447 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:57,560 Speaker 6: participate in postseason, which I disagree with. Every other IVY 448 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:01,880 Speaker 6: league sport sends its champion to postseason. You know, Princeton 449 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:04,720 Speaker 6: just two years ago was in the Sweet sixteen in basketball, 450 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,679 Speaker 6: So that's one thing I do disagree with. 451 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:08,360 Speaker 3: But for the. 452 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:10,800 Speaker 6: Rest of it, it's like a throwback to the old 453 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:13,280 Speaker 6: days when you played in the same league, you had 454 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 6: the same rivals, and you didn't play as many as 455 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:20,400 Speaker 6: sixteen or seventeen games as teams in the championship game 456 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 6: will play this year with the twelve team playoff. 457 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:26,280 Speaker 3: That was Jason, Damien and Vanessa speaking with acclaimed sports 458 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:30,399 Speaker 3: journalist John Feinstein. Up next, we look ahead to some 459 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,040 Speaker 3: of the big stories that we'll be tracking in twenty 460 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:36,240 Speaker 3: twenty five. I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg 461 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,800 Speaker 3: Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Around the borough. 462 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:58,280 Speaker 2: This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. 463 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,080 Speaker 3: Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports, 464 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,120 Speaker 3: where we explore the big money issues in the world 465 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,240 Speaker 3: of sports Michael Barr along with my colleagues Damian Sassauer 466 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:11,520 Speaker 3: and Bloomberg Original Sports correspondent Vanessa Bernomo. It is a 467 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:14,560 Speaker 3: special edition of the show where we wrap up some 468 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 3: of the big stories from twenty twenty four and look 469 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,359 Speaker 3: ahead at some of the storylines that might matter most 470 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:23,520 Speaker 3: heading into the new year. For a look ahead to 471 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,159 Speaker 3: what could be in store for twenty twenty five, we 472 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:29,919 Speaker 3: bring in friend of the show, Bloomberg News Global Business 473 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,600 Speaker 3: reporter Ira Budway. So I'm going to start first of all, 474 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:36,080 Speaker 3: I guess one of the big things that I see 475 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,800 Speaker 3: is that the NBA they kind of answered pre holiday 476 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:44,280 Speaker 3: worries with Lebron and Curry with the ratings and the splash. 477 00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:46,800 Speaker 17: Ira, Yeah, I mean there was a lot in the 478 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:50,679 Speaker 17: fall of handwringing about the decline in their ratings. You know, 479 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:53,160 Speaker 17: on ESPN they were down by like a quarter year 480 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 17: over year, down a little bit on TNT and there 481 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:58,040 Speaker 17: was a lot of talk, you know, is it too 482 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,679 Speaker 17: many three point shots? Are the big stars getting old? 483 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,159 Speaker 17: And the Christmas Day games on ESPN did great and 484 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:08,360 Speaker 17: brought them mostly back to level. I think there are 485 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:11,040 Speaker 17: still some long term issues they really do not have. 486 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:14,920 Speaker 17: I think airs to Curry and obvious ones to Curry 487 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:17,480 Speaker 17: and Lebron when they retire. And then you just got 488 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:21,760 Speaker 17: the attrition of cable TV. Right, there's just fewer households 489 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 17: carrying ESPN. But they are dealing with that in their 490 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:26,440 Speaker 17: new bucket of deals that starts this coming year. 491 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:28,320 Speaker 8: Well, all right, let's put some numbers around it, right, 492 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,080 Speaker 8: Lebron versus Steph Curry peaked at eight point three two 493 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:35,000 Speaker 8: million viewers at ten thirty pm Eastern Time, according to 494 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:37,320 Speaker 8: the league, And that makes it, if I'm not mistaken, 495 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:41,760 Speaker 8: the most viewed regular season NBA game in five years. So, 496 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,359 Speaker 8: I mean, what are we looking for? Are we looking 497 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:46,920 Speaker 8: for pre COVID comparisons here? Are we ever going to 498 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 8: get back to that level? Or I mean, like, I mean, 499 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:51,919 Speaker 8: how do you kind of evaluate the performance during this 500 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:52,600 Speaker 8: holiday season? 501 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:53,439 Speaker 9: It's tricky. 502 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:55,480 Speaker 17: That's a very good result for them, given that over 503 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,920 Speaker 17: those five years, the distribution's gone down pretty dramatically, right, 504 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,400 Speaker 17: So you're getting a bigger slice of a smaller pie. 505 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 17: So I think that's good news for the league that 506 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,560 Speaker 17: it's not a crisis, it's not an emergency. But you know, 507 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 17: you look at the way they structured their deal starting 508 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:12,439 Speaker 17: in the fall, they brought in Amazon, right, that's a 509 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:15,879 Speaker 17: move into the streaming future. They did a deal with 510 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:18,920 Speaker 17: NBC that means about half of the games that NBC 511 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:21,200 Speaker 17: is going to get about one hundred games, at least 512 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:24,479 Speaker 17: fifty of those have to go on NBC broadcast, meaning 513 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:26,800 Speaker 17: you know, the channel you can get for free over 514 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:30,159 Speaker 17: the air. And that's a move to deal with the 515 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:32,520 Speaker 17: fact that there's not as many house soulds getting cable. 516 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,359 Speaker 17: So they know that and they're working on it in 517 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:37,600 Speaker 17: the distribution side. But I think they also got to 518 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:39,280 Speaker 17: look at like the you know, they're trying to get 519 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 17: games of consequences. With Adam Silver's phrase, that's why he 520 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:46,040 Speaker 17: did this n season tournament thing. It's been a decent success, 521 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 17: the second year not as good as the first, but 522 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:50,640 Speaker 17: you know, they've got an issue where basically until Christmas, 523 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:53,840 Speaker 17: people don't really care. They're still watching all the fall sports. 524 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:58,000 Speaker 17: The games don't really matter when an eighty two game season, 525 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:00,480 Speaker 17: and they're not going to chop games off the schedule 526 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:02,920 Speaker 17: because that's fewer tickets and less ad sales. So they 527 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 17: got to figure out a way to make people tune 528 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:06,840 Speaker 17: in in October November. 529 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,800 Speaker 16: And do you know ara this year obviously being the 530 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:14,840 Speaker 16: first with the NFL Christmas games as well, and obviously 531 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 16: it didn't hurt them this year, but do you think 532 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 16: it could hurt them going forward where more people are 533 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 16: now going to get used to watching NFL games on 534 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,080 Speaker 16: Christmas and they'll actually be willing to watch them on 535 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 16: Netflix and things like that. 536 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:27,600 Speaker 17: Yeah, I mean Netflix did great, the NFL did great. 537 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:32,080 Speaker 17: It seems like there was enough to go around. You know, 538 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,959 Speaker 17: people basically just had the TV on all day one 539 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:36,640 Speaker 17: way or another, and they know where to find what 540 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:40,080 Speaker 17: they're looking for. But I think the NFL's encroachment on 541 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:42,480 Speaker 17: the holidays in general and on Christmas Day is not 542 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:44,880 Speaker 17: a welcome development for the NBA, and they are going 543 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 17: to be, you know, wishing for days of the week 544 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,200 Speaker 17: where the NFL can't do as much, you know, for 545 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:55,120 Speaker 17: christ to really depends where Christmas falls, so that will 546 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 17: that will help them a little bit, but I think 547 00:29:56,840 --> 00:30:00,360 Speaker 17: they look at Christmas Day for the NBA's based the 548 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 17: kickoff for the casuals, right, this is when a lot 549 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:07,959 Speaker 17: of fans come in and start watching. And as you know, 550 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,320 Speaker 17: for them to do this well for this first year 551 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:13,240 Speaker 17: with the NFL competing with them on Netflix, I think 552 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:16,640 Speaker 17: it's a sign that they're pretty They're resilient that way, 553 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:19,560 Speaker 17: and I think they'll do even better under the new 554 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:20,400 Speaker 17: media deals. 555 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:24,240 Speaker 3: There's another topic to talk about. This one. I don't 556 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:26,960 Speaker 3: know what to make of this Florida State basketball is 557 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:32,760 Speaker 3: they're suing the coach over unpaid NIL cash ira. Yeah. 558 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 17: I mean this is just a sign of where things 559 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 17: are right now with nil. It is an unregulated market 560 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:41,040 Speaker 17: and it is a proxy for pay to play, and 561 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:43,400 Speaker 17: so there's no limits on it. That's the good news 562 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:46,440 Speaker 17: for players. They can basically shop themselves as free agents 563 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:49,360 Speaker 17: every season and make a lot more money than they 564 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:51,880 Speaker 17: used to. The bad news is there's a lot of 565 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 17: broken promises and this is an example of that. A 566 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:58,040 Speaker 17: coach basically saying, hey, stick around, don't leave, and I'll 567 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 17: give each a quarter million dollars which didn't materialize. And 568 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:04,400 Speaker 17: there's a lot of that, and this is why the 569 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:08,760 Speaker 17: NCAA is trying to get control of NIL through these 570 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:11,640 Speaker 17: big settlements coming down the pipe in the house and 571 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:13,880 Speaker 17: the other class actions that are supposed to get finalized 572 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,960 Speaker 17: this coming year. And the trade off there is we'll 573 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:18,880 Speaker 17: start paying you directly. We're going to have the big 574 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:21,400 Speaker 17: power five schools to have a bucket of twenty million. 575 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 9: Dollars to pay out to their players. 576 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:26,520 Speaker 17: Directly, not NIL deals coming from collectives. But in return, 577 00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:29,440 Speaker 17: we want to get our hands around NIL. We want 578 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:31,360 Speaker 17: to make it fair market value. We want to have 579 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:33,440 Speaker 17: a registry no more wild West. 580 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:37,560 Speaker 3: And I should add coach Leonard Hamilton said he was 581 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:42,520 Speaker 3: going to pay them through his business partners and apparently 582 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:43,040 Speaker 3: it never. 583 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:45,840 Speaker 17: Materialized, right, because that's the way NIL has to work. 584 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:49,640 Speaker 17: It's this weird three party thing. You've got the school, 585 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:53,800 Speaker 17: the player, and somebody in between, some company, some collective, 586 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:56,840 Speaker 17: some business partner because it's not coming directly from the schools. 587 00:31:56,840 --> 00:31:59,719 Speaker 17: And that is just a recipe for you know, all 588 00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 17: kinds is a fraud and corruption. 589 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:02,960 Speaker 8: Well, let's kind of put some context around it. Six 590 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:06,360 Speaker 8: former FSU men's basketball players are claiming coach Leonard Hamilton 591 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 8: cheated them out of one point five million dollars in 592 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:11,160 Speaker 8: commitment sweeteners. Here's my question if this is really indeed 593 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:13,320 Speaker 8: the wild Wild West, Ira. You know, what's the legal 594 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:16,200 Speaker 8: premise that these players have to get any reclamation whatsoever? 595 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:17,200 Speaker 3: Right? 596 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:19,680 Speaker 17: I mean it's contract law, right right? Say where was 597 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:21,040 Speaker 17: this written down? Was it a handshake? 598 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:23,440 Speaker 8: So now you're trying to write you're trying to sue 599 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:25,720 Speaker 8: and say and prove that he actually said that. Right, 600 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:28,040 Speaker 8: So they were recording right, So we're at that point. 601 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:30,200 Speaker 8: It's it's like it's like it's like a TV show 602 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:31,760 Speaker 8: and they're going to trying to find. 603 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:33,640 Speaker 9: Out so many what it's incredible. 604 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:36,640 Speaker 3: I mean, this is crazy word against your word. 605 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:38,800 Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean, and you know this is big money 606 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,240 Speaker 8: we're talking about here, and the government really can't do 607 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:42,680 Speaker 8: anything about it, Canada, IRA. 608 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:43,000 Speaker 3: Right. 609 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:46,000 Speaker 17: So the NCAA knows that they can't come in and 610 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:48,760 Speaker 17: say this is how NIL has to work. They'll just 611 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:52,240 Speaker 17: lose lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit. So they are trying 612 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:54,560 Speaker 17: to get a hold of it through this clack Sashion settlement. 613 00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 17: They're going to say, look, we if you guys will 614 00:32:57,600 --> 00:32:59,959 Speaker 17: all agree to this two point eight billion dollar payout 615 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:03,080 Speaker 17: back damages and a new system where you get paid directly. 616 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:07,480 Speaker 17: Then we want to be allowed to clamp down on 617 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:09,640 Speaker 17: nil because it's just out of control. It's too much 618 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,320 Speaker 17: player movement, too much corruption, too much cost, and we 619 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:15,760 Speaker 17: just have no we have no way to control what 620 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:17,080 Speaker 17: happens in this marketplace. 621 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:19,080 Speaker 9: So they are going to try. 622 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:21,920 Speaker 17: I'm very curious to see how in the new year, 623 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:24,440 Speaker 17: if this gets finalized its supposed to happen in April, 624 00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:28,920 Speaker 17: this House settlement gets finalized, whether there will just be 625 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:31,720 Speaker 17: more legal challenges, whether they're able to make it work, 626 00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:34,000 Speaker 17: whether they can use a class action suit to do 627 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:37,880 Speaker 17: what mostly what professional leagues do through collective bargaining. So 628 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:39,720 Speaker 17: it's going to be very interesting to see how that 629 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:40,240 Speaker 17: plays out. 630 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:44,320 Speaker 16: Is there a world where this, you know, gets settled 631 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:47,040 Speaker 16: also in that class action lawso like, is there a 632 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:49,760 Speaker 16: world where that back pay then becomes this two hundred 633 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:52,160 Speaker 16: and fifty thousand dollars each for this play for these players, 634 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:54,440 Speaker 16: or is this just going to be completely separate these 635 00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:56,160 Speaker 16: players don't really No, that's. 636 00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:58,680 Speaker 17: The idea is direct to do just that, to basically 637 00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:02,040 Speaker 17: say we're going to pay there's a framework in the 638 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:06,800 Speaker 17: settlement to pay players directly. It comes out to twenty 639 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:10,799 Speaker 17: two percent of their athletic revenue essentially, and so in 640 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,400 Speaker 17: the coming season, if it happens, it'll be about twenty 641 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:15,520 Speaker 17: and a half million that they're allowed to pay up 642 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:20,280 Speaker 17: to that amount, split it across. They're athletes in various sports, 643 00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:22,320 Speaker 17: and most of that's going to go to men's football 644 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:23,280 Speaker 17: and basketball players. 645 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:25,360 Speaker 9: So that is the deal. 646 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:28,640 Speaker 17: They're saying, Hey, sign on for this, and then we 647 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:31,560 Speaker 17: will start saying that your nil deals have to be 648 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 17: real nil deals, meaning you're paid a fair market value 649 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,759 Speaker 17: for some kind of endorsement rather than you're paid to 650 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:40,920 Speaker 17: play here, and we call it an endorsement too. 651 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:43,000 Speaker 8: Ira, What if one of these players does have a 652 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:44,920 Speaker 8: smoking gun on coach Hamilton? What if they have a 653 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:47,480 Speaker 8: recording where he did indeed promise to pay this? 654 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 9: What next? 655 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:50,360 Speaker 8: I mean, will he have to go out of pocket? 656 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:53,200 Speaker 8: Will the school then have to pay? I mean, like again, 657 00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:55,200 Speaker 8: it's one thing to show that he was liable and 658 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:58,040 Speaker 8: that he was at fault. It's another thing entirely to 659 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:00,960 Speaker 8: figure out who's going to compensate these players for the damages? 660 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:01,640 Speaker 9: Right right? 661 00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:04,520 Speaker 17: And I think you know in most cases like this, 662 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:07,560 Speaker 17: you're not going to get that money because it never 663 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:08,520 Speaker 17: really existed. 664 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:08,799 Speaker 9: Right. 665 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:12,400 Speaker 17: You might that coach might be found liable, but he 666 00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:15,000 Speaker 17: probably doesn't have one point two five million sitting. 667 00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:18,480 Speaker 8: Around correct and personally liable because right time. 668 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:21,840 Speaker 17: So they are going to they'll get something probably in 669 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:23,960 Speaker 17: that scenario, right, but it won't be the amount they 670 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:26,800 Speaker 17: were promised, would be my guest, And so that's why 671 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:30,200 Speaker 17: you want to create something different, right, And I think 672 00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:33,359 Speaker 17: that's we'll see if if a class action settlement can 673 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,040 Speaker 17: do that. I'm skeptical myself. I think at some point 674 00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:38,200 Speaker 17: they're going to have to get to employment status and 675 00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:41,480 Speaker 17: that's going to be a battle n LRB, federal cases, 676 00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:45,600 Speaker 17: maybe federal legislation. I don't know, but I don't see 677 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:49,040 Speaker 17: how you square this circle without some kind of collective bargaining. 678 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:52,040 Speaker 16: When I was a college athlete, we had to sign 679 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:55,759 Speaker 16: letters of intent, right, and basically it said what our 680 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:58,600 Speaker 16: scholarship was, we were going to that school, blah blah blah. 681 00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:02,600 Speaker 16: This is before everything changed. Why, like, can there be 682 00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:06,279 Speaker 16: a world in which they do sign like these contracts 683 00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:08,919 Speaker 16: again and it does say what their nil money would 684 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:13,640 Speaker 16: be from that exact school or from the collectives or 685 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:16,480 Speaker 16: is that all just going to go away if this lawsuit. 686 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:19,000 Speaker 17: They will still do nil, but they will also have 687 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:21,360 Speaker 17: contracts with the schools that include money. 688 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:24,320 Speaker 9: That won't be nil money. It'll be money for playing. 689 00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:27,520 Speaker 16: So we'll be an actual contract. 690 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:27,640 Speaker 2: That they signed. 691 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:30,200 Speaker 17: They will have a contract with the school that says 692 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:32,240 Speaker 17: we're paying you X to play. 693 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:34,640 Speaker 9: You know, here's here's a million dollars. 694 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:38,040 Speaker 3: Speaking of money, any money, money, money, money, money money. 695 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:42,440 Speaker 3: I'm sure all the other Major League Baseball owners are 696 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:45,879 Speaker 3: looking at Steve Cohen saying, thanks man, thanks a lot. 697 00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:48,640 Speaker 3: Now you've saddled up one. So too. The deal, in 698 00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:52,240 Speaker 3: case you haven't heard, seven hundred and sixty five million 699 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:57,800 Speaker 3: dollars over fifteen years. This is huge money, which means 700 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:02,319 Speaker 3: at some point are the owners on the low end 701 00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:04,359 Speaker 3: going to have to like pay up. 702 00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:07,480 Speaker 17: Yeah, I mean this is a problem for baseball. It's 703 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:09,520 Speaker 17: a great deal for soda, one of the best deals 704 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:11,920 Speaker 17: any athlete ever got. Everything in it. You know, he 705 00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:14,320 Speaker 17: gets an opt out after five years, no trade clause, 706 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:16,840 Speaker 17: huge signing bonus, he gets as sweet at City Field, 707 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:18,960 Speaker 17: he gets his own suite when they travel, he's promised 708 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:21,359 Speaker 17: his number. I mean, they said yes to everything, and 709 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:23,920 Speaker 17: Coan was willing to do this because he's super rich 710 00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:26,719 Speaker 17: and he wants the Mets to win. And it's a 711 00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:28,839 Speaker 17: problem for baseball because even the Yankees in the end 712 00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:32,920 Speaker 17: couldn't really compete with that. And so they've already tried 713 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:35,960 Speaker 17: to restrict Cone through these luxury taxes. They added a 714 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:39,120 Speaker 17: special tier known as the Coen Tax, that if you 715 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:42,160 Speaker 17: go over this threshold by a certain amount, right you pay. 716 00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:44,240 Speaker 17: It's basically the only team doing it is the Mets. 717 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:46,799 Speaker 17: They add a surcharge to the existing tax. I mean, 718 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:48,280 Speaker 17: you can be paying as much as like one hundred 719 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:51,960 Speaker 17: and ten percent on a tax on the amount that 720 00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:52,480 Speaker 17: he goes. 721 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:54,440 Speaker 9: Over the salary threshold. 722 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:56,880 Speaker 17: That has not been enough to stop him, and so 723 00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:59,279 Speaker 17: I think what you're going to see is resurrection of 724 00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:02,120 Speaker 17: the idea of a hard cap, a salary cap in 725 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:04,920 Speaker 17: Major League Baseball, which of course would be a problem 726 00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:08,080 Speaker 17: for the players' union. So baseball's headed for, I think, 727 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:09,759 Speaker 17: for some real friction, and it's not going to be 728 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:11,759 Speaker 17: so much a war between players and owners as a 729 00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:13,440 Speaker 17: war between owners or. 730 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:16,880 Speaker 3: Thanks to Ira Bodway, he covers global business for Bloomberg News, 731 00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:20,160 Speaker 3: and most importantly, thank you for joining us on a 732 00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:23,520 Speaker 3: special edition of the Bloomberg Business of Sports. Check out 733 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:27,640 Speaker 3: our podcasts and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so 734 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:31,600 Speaker 3: you never miss an episode. For my colleagues, all of them, 735 00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:35,480 Speaker 3: Scarlett Boot, Damian Sas Salary, Jason Kelly, and Vanessa Pernomo, 736 00:38:35,719 --> 00:38:38,040 Speaker 3: I'm Michael Barr. Tune in again next week for the 737 00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:40,160 Speaker 3: latest on the stories moving big money in the world 738 00:38:40,239 --> 00:38:42,960 Speaker 3: of sports. You're listening to Bloomberg Business of Sports from 739 00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:45,000 Speaker 3: Bloomberg Radio around the world.