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Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business of Sports.

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Speaker 2: Sports is business, and whenever you are procuring town, you

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Speaker 2: must start with the criteria.

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Speaker 3: Being owners of this league and wanting our league to

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Speaker 3: be the best in the world.

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Speaker 4: How do we make it better?

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Speaker 5: The valuations are getting so high as the list of

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Speaker 5: people who could purchase a team that was getting really short.

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Speaker 6: We have eight strategic investment areas.

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Speaker 1: When you look at the world of.

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Speaker 7: Sports, NBA has already two countries around the world.

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Speaker 6: NFL is an amazing thing for the sports betting industry.

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Speaker 8: We have the World's upcoming in twenty twenty six in

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Speaker 8: North America.

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Speaker 1: Hey, if I get a million dollars, We're going to

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Speaker 1: a school. Trust me.

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Speaker 2: How'll be there? Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

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Speaker 2: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports show. Well, we

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Speaker 2: explored the big money issues in the world of sports.

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Speaker 9: Michael Barr, I'm Scarlett Foo, and I'm Memian sas hour.

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Speaker 2: Coming up on the show today, we'll get you ready

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Speaker 2: for the NBA All Star Break in Indianapolis with Mel Rains,

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Speaker 2: President and COEO of the Indiana Pacers.

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Speaker 3: We've got active DJs downtown, We've got artistic lighting we're

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Speaker 3: activating some spaces with local, diverse food offerings, and so

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Speaker 3: we have free bus rides downtown for the weekend, so

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Speaker 3: everyone in our community can come downtown. If you don't

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Speaker 3: have a ticket to the game, you can still come

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Speaker 3: down down and be a part of the weekend, which

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Speaker 3: is really important to us.

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Speaker 2: We'll also hear about some big money moves in the

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Speaker 2: world of golf, including Tiger Woods's new deal with Tailor

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Speaker 2: Made Golf. All that and more straight ahead on the

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Speaker 2: Bloomberg Business of Sports. But first, the biggest sports story

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Speaker 2: heading into the week, of course, was the Big Game.

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Speaker 2: The Kansas City Chiefs are repeat Super Bowl champion.

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Speaker 10: For the first time in six thousand, nine hundred and

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Speaker 10: forty four days. There is a back to back Super

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Speaker 10: Bowl champion, and it is the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Speaker 2: Over one hundred and twenty three million viewers in the

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Speaker 2: US tuned in the CBS to see the Chiefs win,

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Speaker 2: making it the most watch program in US TV history,

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Speaker 2: that record setting him out of viewers also saw all

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Speaker 2: those Super Bowl commercials, which reportedly cost about seven million

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Speaker 2: dollars per ad. For a look at some of the

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Speaker 2: most impactful ads, Bloomberg Radio hosts Alex Steele and Paul

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Speaker 2: Sweeney spoke with Kevin Krim. He's the CEO of EDEO

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Speaker 2: affirm that measures the immediate impact of advertising across streaming

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Speaker 2: and traditional TV. He talked about some of the spots

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Speaker 2: he thought worked best.

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Speaker 1: Let's talk about real quick. The top five. Number one

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Speaker 1: was Deadpool three number two.

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Speaker 6: I have thoughts on that because I'm a huge dead

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Speaker 6: Pool person. Love it, but then again, he could come on,

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Speaker 6: Ryan Renis could come on and say hello, and I'd

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Speaker 6: be like, that was brilliant, That was amazing.

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Speaker 11: It was a fun spot and the teas of having

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Speaker 11: Wolverine joining him is very satisfying for any Marvel fit.

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Speaker 1: Number two is the film that adaptation of Wicked.

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Speaker 11: Another interesting teaser Ariana Grande in one of the starring

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Speaker 11: roles there, So that's going to pick up a lot

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Speaker 11: of attention. And then number three was the Volkswagen ad

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Speaker 11: that you know, harkened back to their heritage of bringing

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Speaker 11: the Beatle to UH to America, and then it teased

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Speaker 11: their new all electric UH bus, so the VW bus

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Speaker 11: returning to America after a long, long gap. Number four

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Speaker 11: was tem or Temu. As we all learned was how

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Speaker 11: to pronounce it? Last yesterday they ran six spots between pregame,

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Speaker 11: in game, and postgame. Six spots. That's a huge investment.

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Speaker 11: But this is an interesting one. A lot of people's

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Speaker 11: opinion of that kind of spot would say that it

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Speaker 11: was one of the worst.

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Speaker 1: And you know, actually, it doesn't even resonate with me.

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Speaker 1: What what what is it company? It's a it's a

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Speaker 1: mobile shopping app and uh.

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Speaker 11: They they started their first real kind of advertising in

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Speaker 11: the US was last year's Super Bowl.

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Speaker 1: That kicked it off.

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Speaker 11: They were one of the most downloaded apps in the

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Speaker 11: Google App Store and the Apple App Store all of

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Speaker 11: last year. They followed up with a bigger bet this year.

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Speaker 2: That's e ed Oh CEO Kevin Crims making with hosts

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Speaker 2: Paul Sweeney and Alex Steel on Bloomberg Radio. Earlier this week,

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Speaker 2: the Super Bowl was also in Las Vegas for the

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Speaker 2: first time. Scarlett Damien and I caught up with Anna Sainsbury,

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Speaker 2: co founder and CEO of Geocomply, a data collection and

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Speaker 2: cybersecurity firm. We spoke about the growth of sports betting

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Speaker 2: and broke down the numbers from the Super Bowl. Here's

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Speaker 2: a portion of that conversation.

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Speaker 6: I mean, I think it's important to keep it into

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Speaker 6: context that only fifty percent of Americans have access to

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Speaker 6: legal online sports betting options at the moment, so we

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Speaker 6: are still seeing a tremendous growth. Like you said, twenty

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Speaker 6: two percent is quite tremendous. One of the sort of

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Speaker 6: bigger stats I guess that we're also looking at is

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Speaker 6: that there's been a twenty eight percent increase in net

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Speaker 6: new accounts from last year, So that's thirteen point seven

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Speaker 6: million new accounts, which I think speaks a lot to

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Speaker 6: the fact that people are obviously very engaged in the

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Speaker 6: NFL and wanting to set up accounts with these licensed,

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Speaker 6: legal companies that they are now seeing pop up in

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Speaker 6: their states.

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Speaker 12: Do you have a sense of where these new accounts

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Speaker 12: are opening. Are they in California? Are they in the

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Speaker 12: Kansas City market?

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Speaker 6: Well, unfortunately it's not legal. California has been an ongoing

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Speaker 6: licensing legalization discussion, but it is in a lot of

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Speaker 6: the key states. East Coast Corridor has primarily legalized. Obviously,

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Speaker 6: online sports betting is legal in Nevada as well, so

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Speaker 6: we have seen tremendous growth, but we are still without

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Speaker 6: legal gaming options in big states like California as well

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Speaker 6: as Texas.

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Speaker 12: Can you tell us how much of the accounts we're

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Speaker 12: in Nevada then, because it's an easy drive if you're

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Speaker 12: in certain parts of California to get across the border.

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Speaker 6: It is actually, I think for a lot of the

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Speaker 6: betting that we're seeing in the growth, Nevada has been

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Speaker 6: like an existing large market. Many much of the growth

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Speaker 6: that we've seen, some of it has been within Nevada,

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Speaker 6: but still primarily people are praising their sports wagers within

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Speaker 6: the sports books on property in casinos, and so for

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Speaker 6: Las Vegas and the super Bowl being in Las Vegas,

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Speaker 6: the growth within that market is still primarily within the

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Speaker 6: land based casinos.

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Speaker 9: And minutes before the Super Bowl, I mean some people

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Speaker 9: like myself were watching post Malone seeing America the beautiful,

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Speaker 9: But minutes before kickoff, GEO Complies saw a massive spike

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Speaker 9: in traffic. Can you tell us a little bit about that.

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Speaker 9: I mean, apparently was the highest transaction per second recording

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Speaker 9: ever on your systems, nearly doubling last year's peak. I'm

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Speaker 9: just curious to hear what that means.

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Speaker 6: Number One, it's of course because new states are opening up.

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Speaker 6: Two people that we're betting with these offshore illegal sites

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Speaker 6: that don't have the measurements of giving tax revenue to

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Speaker 6: states responsible game and control age and ID restrictions. They

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Speaker 6: are now setting up accounts with these legally licensed companies

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Speaker 6: that they are building and trust with, and so we

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Speaker 6: have we have seen that that growth across the market.

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Speaker 2: There's the simple thing that you guys do, when I

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Speaker 2: say simple, is this has to comply. You guys are

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Speaker 2: making sure that whoever is going to make the bet

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Speaker 2: is in the state legally where they're going to make

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Speaker 2: the bet, and you guys have what more than eight

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Speaker 2: hundred data points to make sure that that's the case.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, of course, I think one thing that

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Speaker 6: is always true is fraudsters are constantly innovating, keeping us

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Speaker 6: on our toes. A lot of conversations have been happening

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Speaker 6: about AI and its impact on the digital economy, and

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Speaker 6: so for us, that means we're having to work very

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Speaker 6: hard to constantly stay ahead of those fraudsters to make

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Speaker 6: sure that we can with a high degree of certainty,

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Speaker 6: guarantee that we know exactly where that user is. In addition,

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Speaker 6: working with our customers to make sure that those that

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Speaker 6: are placing bets are within the state, but also of

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Speaker 6: legal gaming age.

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Speaker 12: Yeah, definitely concern and this is why your firm is

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Speaker 12: engaged in all of this. Can you give us a

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Speaker 12: sense of the concern and the actions the steps taken

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Speaker 12: to fend off potential cyber attacks, you know, before a

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Speaker 12: busy weekend like the Super Bowl weekend, given that there's

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Speaker 12: going to be lots of fraudsters taking a look at

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Speaker 12: how this might be the perfect time to overwhelm systems

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Speaker 12: with fraudulent activity and hacks.

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Speaker 6: Sure, well, do you compliance technology? In terms of the

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Speaker 6: cybersecurity side, we really focus on the spoofing that would

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Speaker 6: happen at a player level, so not so much the

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Speaker 6: massive cyber attacks that you've heard about more recently on

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Speaker 6: sites coming down, but to make sure on a per

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Speaker 6: transaction basis that that user's device and location can be trusted.

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Speaker 6: So we would be looking for things like account takeover,

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Speaker 6: those that are manipulating their location, potentially being from a

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Speaker 6: sanctioned jurisdiction like Russia, to make sure that they're actually

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Speaker 6: within the state of Nevada or in the state of

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Speaker 6: New York, and that they are controlling that device and

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Speaker 6: of legal age.

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Speaker 2: That's Anna Sainsbury. She's the co founder and CEO of

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Speaker 2: data collection and cybersecurity firm Geocomply. Now we can't mention

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Speaker 2: the super Bowl without mentioning what happened this past week

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Speaker 2: in Kansas City. More than twenty people were wounded and

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Speaker 2: at least one person killed by gunshots during the Chief

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Speaker 2: Super Bowl celebration near Union Station and Entertainment Center in Missouri.

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Speaker 2: Our hearts go out to all those victimized in Kansas City.

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Speaker 2: There's no easy way to transition from there, but we

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Speaker 2: now turn to something a whole lot brighter, A big

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Speaker 2: star investing in women's sports. Tennis superstar Naomi Osakas spoke

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Speaker 2: to Bloomberg's Paul Wallace about her future in the sport

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Speaker 2: and her investments. Here's a portion of that conversation.

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Speaker 5: When you look at your average athlete, they sort of

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Speaker 5: do a few indorstments here there. But you've done a

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Speaker 5: lot beyond your endorstments. You've invested in women's football in

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Speaker 5: the US, You've invested in pickleball, You've got the production

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Speaker 5: company Hanakuma, and you've also got involved the sports management company.

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Speaker 5: What was the reason for going into all those things

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Speaker 5: and what's next what's your next big investment.

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Speaker 4: I mean, I think for me, I always feel like

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Speaker 4: I go towards things I believe in or not even

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Speaker 4: things companies and brands, and just investing in women's sport

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Speaker 4: has a has been a really big thing for me.

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Speaker 4: Starting a production company, my dad's always had cameras around,

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Speaker 4: so storytelling was kind of natural, and just having that

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Speaker 4: opportunity and knowing that no other female athlete has started

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Speaker 4: a production company was shocking news. And I don't know,

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Speaker 4: just trying to do things that people haven't done before

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Speaker 4: and learning along the way even if we stumble. I

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Speaker 4: think that's always been my biggest mantra.

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Speaker 5: And in particular when it comes to women's football and pickaball.

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Speaker 5: Why those two things. Is that something you think is just,

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Speaker 5: you know, an investment that's going to be a really

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Speaker 5: good one over the next you know, ten years or so.

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Speaker 4: Well, I mean, for me, watching how big female sports

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Speaker 4: has become over the years, and knowing how much it

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Speaker 4: takes to be an athlete, investing in North Carolina it

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Speaker 4: wasn't that much of a difficult decision. And I also

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Speaker 4: just really loved watching soccer, and especially during the World Cup,

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Speaker 4: it's really fun, but pickleball was kind of the unknown

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Speaker 4: for me. I think it's a sport that obviously it's

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Speaker 4: been around, but it feels like it just blew up.

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Speaker 4: And learning about it and seeing I Guess Lebron and

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Speaker 4: Math invest in it was something that kind of leaned

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Speaker 4: me more towards thinking it was a good idea.

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Speaker 2: That's tennis star Naomi Osaka speaking with Bloomberg's Paul Wallace

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Speaker 2: and Abu Dhabi. Be on the lookout for that full

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Speaker 2: conversation on a special edition of the Bloomberg Business of

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Speaker 2: Sports podcast. Find that on Apple, Spotify, and anywhere else

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Speaker 2: you get your podcasts. Coming up, Tiger Woods has a

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Speaker 2: new partner after his split from Nike. We break down

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Speaker 2: the new deal next on The Bloomberg Business of Sports

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Speaker 2: from Bloomberg Radio. Around the Burg, You're listening to Bloomberg

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Speaker 2: Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. This is the Bloomberg

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Speaker 2: Business of Sports show where we explore the big money

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Speaker 2: issues in the world of sports. I have Michael Barr

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Speaker 2: along with Scarlett Fu and Damian Sassaur and we got

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Speaker 2: some big money again as usual. Tiger Woods he has

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Speaker 2: launched his brand with Taylor Made after he split with

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Speaker 2: Nike and with us who wrote a brilliant article about that.

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Speaker 2: Max Adler, our own Bloomberg's Max Adler, Welcome to the

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Speaker 2: Bloomberg Business of Sports.

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Speaker 8: Thank you guys for having me.

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Speaker 2: Well, this is a gentleman forty eight years old golf legend.

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Speaker 2: It doesn't make a difference whether he wins another tournament

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Speaker 2: or not. That name alone is going to sell a

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Speaker 2: lot of tailor made golf.

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Speaker 8: Oh one hundred percent. I mean, this guy has totally

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Speaker 8: cemented his legacy on the sport. He's got fifteen major championships,

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Speaker 8: eighty two PGA Tour wins, and he still has a

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Speaker 8: giant fan base throughout the sport. All the young guys

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Speaker 8: that come up through the sport idolize this man, a

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Speaker 8: lot of them in our nerve him would wear his

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Speaker 8: tradition of red on Sundays, and that leads us to

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Speaker 8: his new brand with Taylor Maid, which is actually named

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Speaker 8: Sunday Red for Tiger's tradition of always wearing a red

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Speaker 8: shirt on the final day of tournaments.

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Speaker 12: Right, and that's tied to his mother telling him that

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Speaker 12: power red is his power color. But I'm curious, Max,

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Speaker 12: why would he go to Taylor made from Nike. He

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Speaker 12: basically put Nike on a map when it comes to

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Speaker 12: golf because Nike did not have a golf division division

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Speaker 12: before Tiger Woods, and now he's going to something that

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Speaker 12: specific to golf with Tailor Made Golf. I mean, it

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Speaker 12: feels like he's going from big to small.

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Speaker 8: Well, it seems like Nike didn't come through with the

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Speaker 8: money that he was asking for. They knew that this

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Speaker 8: was coming for quite some time. They knew that the

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Speaker 8: contract was going to end at the end of twenty

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Speaker 8: twenty three, and they weren't able to put anything together.

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Speaker 8: Tiger definitely brought that brand and a lot of money

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Speaker 8: over the years. When he first started with Nike, they

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Speaker 8: had a fledgling golf business and now they're one of

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Speaker 8: the leading manufacturers of both golf clubs and golf equipment.

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Speaker 8: But I don't think that Nike was going to give

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Speaker 8: him the terms that he wanted, and it seems like

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Speaker 8: Taylor Bay gave him the autonomy that he was really

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Speaker 8: looking for, similar to what Michael Jordan has with the

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Speaker 8: Jordan brand over at Nike.

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Speaker 9: Well, Max, are you're taking me right down the you

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Speaker 9: know kind of path I want to go?

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Speaker 2: To here.

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Speaker 9: I mean, let's think about you know who Taelmate Golf is.

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Speaker 9: I mean, it's a company that was formed in nineteen

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Speaker 9: seventy nine by the son of pro golfer Gary Adams.

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Speaker 9: It's got a kind of market cap estimated for a

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Speaker 9: private company of one point seven billion dollars. I think

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Speaker 9: it was sold to a South Korean you know, investor

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Speaker 9: not long ago. But here's what I'm thinking, is he

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Speaker 9: getting equity in this company because I mean, how can

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Speaker 9: they possibly compete to do for his services against Nike.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, so they did not disclose the financial detail to

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Speaker 8: this agreement, but it's safe to assume that he got

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Speaker 8: a pretty hefty signing bonus, and I do believe that

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Speaker 8: he has an equity stake in the brand that he

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Speaker 8: will benefit based off of the success of this brand.

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Speaker 2: Remember back in the day when Nike first signed Tiger

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Speaker 2: Woods and it was you know, at the time, it

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Speaker 2: was like for several million dollars and people were thinking, like, Nike,

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Speaker 2: are you crazy? Well, that turned out to be one

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Speaker 2: of the best things Nike ever did, and it turned

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Speaker 2: out to be cheap.

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Speaker 9: Yeah, six hundred million dollars cheap.

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Speaker 2: Michael Billion dollars. My goodness, man, wow, it just definitely

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Speaker 2: Max the you know, everybody benefited from this.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, No, definitely was a mutually beneficial relationship. I mean,

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Speaker 8: like Nike helped some mythologize. Tiger Woods's legend was starting

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Speaker 8: with his pro debut in nineteen ninety six. He stepped

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Speaker 8: onto the tee at the Greater Milwaukee Open, and Nike

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Speaker 8: two days later, two days later launches its Hello World

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Speaker 8: campaign ad, which was a riff off of comments that

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Speaker 8: he made during a press conference with where the tournament started,

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Speaker 8: and that was like his introduction to the world. And

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Speaker 8: for the next twenty seven years, him and Nike had

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Speaker 8: several very important advertising campaigns that both helped Tiger Woods

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Speaker 8: to become the media darling that he was for quite

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Speaker 8: some time. And then also it drove a lot of

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Speaker 8: revenue to Nike. I mean, they became one of the

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Speaker 8: biggest names in the sport their accountless other Nike golfers

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Speaker 8: right now that are carrying the torch, although there is

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Speaker 8: no name that has ever come close to being as

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Speaker 8: big as Tiger Woods in that sport. So it does

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Speaker 8: seem like they're going to have some ground to make

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Speaker 8: up now.

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Speaker 12: So one thing. I mean, we knew that Tiger Woods

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Speaker 12: and Nike were parting ways because we had heard about

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Speaker 12: that in advance, and we just didn't know who Tiger

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Speaker 12: Woods was going to sign with next. When it comes

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Speaker 12: to his apparel deal, we know that Tiger Woods's son,

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Speaker 12: Charlie Woods, seems to be wearing a lot of Grace

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Speaker 12: and apparel, and I believe he has some kind of

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Speaker 12: partnership or some kind of deal with that company. There

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Speaker 12: was a lot of speculation that Tiger Woods would be

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Speaker 12: joining his son Charlie in working with Grace and Clothier.

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Speaker 12: Do we know anything about how that might have developed

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Speaker 12: or whether that was even actually a possibility.

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Speaker 8: It seems like Taylor Made and Tiger have been in

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Speaker 8: discussions about this for quite some time. So Taylor Made

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Speaker 8: and Tiger had a relationship for I believe about five

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Speaker 8: or six years. At this point, Tiger has been using

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Speaker 8: Tailor Made clubs and he has his own line of

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Speaker 8: clubs with Taylor Made. I know that there was some

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Speaker 8: speculation about that when Charlie and Tiger played in a

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Speaker 8: tournament recently together and they were both seen not in

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Speaker 8: Nike apparel, and that definitely led to some speculation, But

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Speaker 8: I do think that this Tailor Made. The discussions with

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Speaker 8: Taylor Made have been in the talks for quite some

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Speaker 8: time at this point.

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Speaker 9: So Michael Barr, take me through this. Right, Since nineteen

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Speaker 9: ninety six, Tiger Woods earned more than six hundred million

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Speaker 9: dollars with Nike, Right we just announced that. No, let's

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Speaker 9: take a stab at it. You know, Teleormade's market cap

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Speaker 9: is something on the order of one point seventy five

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Speaker 9: to say, two billion US. I'm looking at companies like

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Speaker 9: foot Joy and Titleist at three point five to four

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Speaker 9: I'm looking at Callaway at four point five billion. I mean,

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Speaker 9: we don't know obviously what the breakdown is in terms

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Speaker 9: of what equity he might get out of this, but

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Speaker 9: even if it was ten to fifteen percent, and with

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Speaker 9: that type of upside and growth to become just another Calaway,

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Speaker 9: I mean, you can almost understand why this makes sense

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Speaker 9: for him.

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Speaker 8: No, oh yes, I mean definitely it does. Seemed like

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Speaker 8: there's a lot of upside right now and he's trying

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Speaker 8: to do something more than I think that what Callaway's doing. Like,

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Speaker 8: I would say that Callaway and Tower Made right now,

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Speaker 8: their brands are focused on functionality and it seems like

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Speaker 8: Tiger's brand is trying to focus on both functionality and

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Speaker 8: fashion to compete with yes brand like Malbond that are

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Speaker 8: becoming very popular. Malbon just did a pretty sexyartnership, if

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Speaker 8: I may say so myself, with Adidas, So I think

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Speaker 8: the potential for this brand is pretty high. And yeah,

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Speaker 8: I mean like if they grew their market cap as

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Speaker 8: they doubled it to match a brand like Hallaway, I

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Speaker 8: think that Tiger would come away with a lot of

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Speaker 8: money from that.

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Speaker 2: We brought up earlier about his son, Charlie Woods, and

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Speaker 2: there's no question that Charlie Woods is going to benefit

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Speaker 2: from this deal.

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Speaker 1: Oh definitely.

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Speaker 8: Not only is there a lot of hype surrounding him

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Speaker 8: just because he's Tiger's son, but he does seem to

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Speaker 8: be a good golfer. He's going to have some star power,

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Speaker 8: and I think that it will be mutually beneficial for

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Speaker 8: both him and Taylor Made.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean he you know his son can play.

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Speaker 2: I mean obviously Tiger Woods taught his son very well.

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Speaker 2: We don't have a Mike Douglas episode man that he

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Speaker 2: could go on. Now if you don't know the story,

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Speaker 2: by the way, I need to explain it. Tiger Woods

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Speaker 2: when he was very little went on the Mic Douglas

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Speaker 2: Show and Bob Hope was also a guest on the show,

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Speaker 2: and he showed off his skills, uh and just charmed

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Speaker 2: the crowd. So right now, I like to be Tiger Woods.

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Speaker 2: And his father, Earlwood, flashed forward to today. My god,

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Speaker 2: that was he's forty eight. That means he oh my,

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Speaker 2: that was forty five. I saw that episode. Okay, you

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Speaker 2: know what, I'm done talking. Goat, go ahead. I'm just

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Speaker 2: I just cave maxwell.

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Speaker 9: You know, it's funny because some of the brands are

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Speaker 9: mentioning here. You know, I actually do golf, and you

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Speaker 9: know I I so I know who Melbourn has a

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Speaker 9: lot of people, don't you know. I think if you

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Speaker 9: like look at you know, GQ or any of these magazines,

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Speaker 9: it's kind of why they regardless as quote unquote the

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Speaker 9: most air quotes by the way I'm air quoting now,

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Speaker 9: most stylish golf brand. What's interesting is Nike was always

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Speaker 9: kind of thought of as I don't know, the most

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Speaker 9: affordable golf brand, right so I wonder how he adapts

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Speaker 9: to this. I mean, is he going to be you know,

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Speaker 9: more active on social is he going to be wearing,

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Speaker 9: you know, the hoodies and as opposed to the college shirts.

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Speaker 9: I mean, what license store for the style for men's

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Speaker 9: golf and that this kind of that comes off the

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Speaker 9: back of this, I wonder.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, so I don't know the price point of this item,

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Speaker 8: but Tiger was very excited about the Kashmir Sunday red hoodies.

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Speaker 9: Oh there we go, that's what we need.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, so it's going to be both ends of the spectrum.

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Speaker 10: You know.

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Speaker 8: They also had some like you know, traditional looking golf

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Speaker 8: polos that look to be like that athletic wicking type

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Speaker 8: of material. So I think it's going to be on

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Speaker 8: both ends of the spectrum. But yeah, no, this brand

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Speaker 8: will definitely try to appeal to some clientele with the

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Speaker 8: higher some more spending power.

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Speaker 12: And Taylor Made by the Way is owned by a

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Speaker 12: South Korean private equity firm, Centroid Investment Partners. That happened

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Speaker 12: in twenty twenty one, so I'm guessing also there's gonna

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Speaker 12: be a lot of investment in the Asian market, South Korea, China,

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Speaker 12: Japan being sources a lot of golf talent as well,

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Speaker 12: So I'm guessing that they're going to be marketing to

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Speaker 12: women to kids.

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Speaker 8: Yes, definitely. Like they're first starting off with a men

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Speaker 8: find of apparel that they are going to then start

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Speaker 8: dropping kids and women's lines, and they're also going to

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Speaker 8: expand into footwear eventually. First they're starting off by launching

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Speaker 8: strictly in North America, but they also have plans to

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Speaker 8: expand globally. You're right, like there, Asia right now is

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Speaker 8: a prime market to grow that sport. And you're seeing

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Speaker 8: a lot of other US professional sports leagues that are

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Speaker 8: trying to go after the Asian market right now in

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Speaker 8: a similar way that the NBA was able to do

439
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,120
Speaker 8: so over the last couple of years. You see Major

440
00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:43,000
Speaker 8: League Baseball it's about to kick off their season in

441
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,840
Speaker 8: Seul Korea. So I think you're very right that that

442
00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,200
Speaker 8: is a very important market there.

443
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,040
Speaker 9: And MAT's you just and you're right. I mean, I mean,

444
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:53,080
Speaker 9: we just had live golf in Singapore, right And you

445
00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:55,399
Speaker 9: know that brings up another interesting point, right because it

446
00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:57,479
Speaker 9: seems to me that the PGA, I mean, don't get

447
00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:00,879
Speaker 9: me wrong, the PGA is it is the standard bearer,

448
00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:04,360
Speaker 9: but I mean from an international perspective, it is not right.

449
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:07,240
Speaker 9: I mean, so I mean in many respects doing what

450
00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:09,760
Speaker 9: he's doing, doing it and focusing on Asia perhaps and

451
00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:13,280
Speaker 9: taking advantage of sort of that that market might be

452
00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:15,640
Speaker 9: another motivating factor for this. But that is a very

453
00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:17,440
Speaker 9: excellent point, Scarlett fil.

454
00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:19,560
Speaker 12: Every once in a while, every once in a blue moon.

455
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:25,199
Speaker 2: Max I love Tiger Woods line. When he unveiled the

456
00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:30,080
Speaker 2: in California, it says, it won't help you hit it further,

457
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:33,000
Speaker 2: but you'll look better than you do right.

458
00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:34,600
Speaker 7: Now, Red Casher hoodie.

459
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:35,280
Speaker 12: That's a lot to say.

460
00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:37,439
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's going to take a lot for me to

461
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,200
Speaker 2: like look better. But anyway, Max Adler, our very own

462
00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:45,320
Speaker 2: Bloomberg an excellent article about this and Tiger Woods. Thank

463
00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:47,280
Speaker 2: you so much, ser for joining us on the Bloomberg

464
00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:48,080
Speaker 2: Business of Sports.

465
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:49,679
Speaker 8: Thank you so much for having me.

466
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:54,160
Speaker 2: That's Bloomberg's Maxwell Adler Special. Thanks to him for joining

467
00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:57,320
Speaker 2: us on the show. Coming up, it's NBA All Star

468
00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,760
Speaker 2: weekend time and we're checking in on the host city

469
00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:04,920
Speaker 2: with Indiana Pacers President and COO Mail Reigns.

470
00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:07,840
Speaker 3: We moved All Star Saturday night with the league to

471
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,280
Speaker 3: Lucas Oil Stadium so thirty five thousand members of our

472
00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,600
Speaker 3: community and fans could attend that event and They're doing

473
00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:17,359
Speaker 3: it on an led court for the first time, which

474
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:19,000
Speaker 3: is going to be I think it's just going to

475
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,359
Speaker 3: be a super cool experience for everybody who can come.

476
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:23,560
Speaker 3: And then of course the All Star Game itself in

477
00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:27,680
Speaker 3: Gambridge Field House Sunday night. There's over one hundred and

478
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:32,280
Speaker 3: fifty thousand ticketed opportunities for the weekend between the concerts

479
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:34,520
Speaker 3: and Crossover and all these other events, which is more

480
00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:35,720
Speaker 3: than the league has ever had.

481
00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,919
Speaker 2: You're listening to The Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg

482
00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:48,160
Speaker 2: Radio around the world. Hello, welcome to the Bloomberg Business

483
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:50,560
Speaker 2: of Sports. We explores some of the big money and

484
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:52,919
Speaker 2: I'm talking about big old money in the world of sports.

485
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:55,400
Speaker 9: I'm Michael Barr, I'm Scarlett Fox and time he means

486
00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:55,880
Speaker 9: sas hour.

487
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:58,639
Speaker 2: How would you like to meet the President and chief

488
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:04,320
Speaker 2: operating offices of the Pacers Sports Entertainment Well, tada, here

489
00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:08,359
Speaker 2: we are Mel Rains. I'm so happy to talk with you.

490
00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:11,160
Speaker 2: First of all, welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

491
00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:13,639
Speaker 7: Well, thanks so much for having me on. I'm excited

492
00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:14,080
Speaker 7: to be here.

493
00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:18,000
Speaker 2: You are on a small list of women running NBA arenas.

494
00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:22,120
Speaker 2: The Pacer Home Arena Home to the twenty twenty four

495
00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:28,800
Speaker 2: NBA All Star Weekend and what an honor. First of all, congratulations.

496
00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:31,879
Speaker 3: Thanks, we've been this has been several years in the making,

497
00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:34,720
Speaker 3: so we're very excited that the weekend is finally here.

498
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,639
Speaker 2: Can you can you take us through because you're in,

499
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,680
Speaker 2: you know, very slim company. Needs to be more of

500
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:47,199
Speaker 2: you guys in this world here of women in the

501
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:51,160
Speaker 2: high offices of the NBA. Why haven't there been more

502
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:52,800
Speaker 2: women in the NBA high offices?

503
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:57,040
Speaker 3: Well, you know, that's a good question. I'm new to sports.

504
00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,840
Speaker 3: I made a career transition about ten years ago. I

505
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,040
Speaker 3: started here with the Pacers nine years ago, and I

506
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:07,560
Speaker 3: worked in politics for twenty years before that. But I

507
00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:10,360
Speaker 3: would say that a lot of the teams, ours especially,

508
00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,400
Speaker 3: have been very intentional in the last you know, ten years,

509
00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:18,760
Speaker 3: certainly five, especially to diversify at all levels of the company.

510
00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:21,879
Speaker 3: I think where I started with the company, over the

511
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:26,119
Speaker 3: our facility operations is certainly an area that needs improvement,

512
00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:29,080
Speaker 3: and I think a lot of teams are again being

513
00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:32,000
Speaker 3: intentional and who they're grooming. You know, it takes time

514
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:35,120
Speaker 3: if you're hiring a diverse staff at a younger age.

515
00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:36,480
Speaker 7: I didn't get this.

516
00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:38,960
Speaker 3: Job when I was twenty five, so you know, it

517
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:40,960
Speaker 3: takes a little time to groom people into it. But

518
00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,320
Speaker 3: I think I think the NBA, amongst all of the

519
00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:46,720
Speaker 3: major sports leagues, is one of the better ones in

520
00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:48,359
Speaker 3: terms of diversity across the board.

521
00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:51,560
Speaker 7: And certainly proud to be on a team in this league.

522
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:54,159
Speaker 12: You had mentioned your career in politics. You worked in

523
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:58,720
Speaker 12: various roles on six Republican National conventions, including serving as

524
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:02,359
Speaker 12: COO for the two thousand Nate RNC senior advisor for

525
00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,680
Speaker 12: the twenty twelve and twenty sixteen conventions. Can you talk

526
00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:09,760
Speaker 12: a little bit about the common threads between organizing those events,

527
00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:13,320
Speaker 12: overseeing those events, and also being one of the principal

528
00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:16,359
Speaker 12: architects of the twenty twelve Super Bowl and what's to come,

529
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:19,200
Speaker 12: which is of course the twenty twenty four NB All

530
00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:21,920
Speaker 12: Star Weekend. How are they similar?

531
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:23,600
Speaker 7: There's a lot of similar threads.

532
00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:27,160
Speaker 3: The city's certainly been on, you know, the whether it's

533
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:31,040
Speaker 3: a political convention or an All Star game because of

534
00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:34,639
Speaker 3: the economic impact and so those are significant, you know,

535
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:39,120
Speaker 3: heads and beds and restaurants and bars, and there's just

536
00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,800
Speaker 3: so many things related to these events that help a

537
00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:46,320
Speaker 3: local economy for a short period of time. What's very

538
00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:49,280
Speaker 3: different about them is that whether it's the Super Bowl

539
00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:51,600
Speaker 3: or the NBA All Star Game or you know, other

540
00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:54,880
Speaker 3: All Star Games or Pro Bowls, is there's an economic

541
00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,000
Speaker 3: piece for the league or the event owner. And with

542
00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:01,840
Speaker 3: the Republican and Democrat National Conventions, they're not making money

543
00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,800
Speaker 3: off of those events. Those are you know, basically a

544
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:08,200
Speaker 3: chance to have earned media and own own TV for

545
00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:11,440
Speaker 3: five to six days, and there's a huge impact to that,

546
00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,680
Speaker 3: just like it is for these other events. But they're

547
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,240
Speaker 3: not selling tickets to that event, if that makes sense,

548
00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:19,360
Speaker 3: And so it's a little bit different in that regard.

549
00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:22,040
Speaker 3: But I think it's a chance for any city that's

550
00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:25,080
Speaker 3: hosting to really shine on a world stage for the

551
00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:28,360
Speaker 3: week that they're hosting. And that's why Indianapolis has been

552
00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,720
Speaker 3: on so many of these sporting events and hopefully exceeded

553
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:35,520
Speaker 3: the expectations of all the attendees and fans and the NFL.

554
00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:38,360
Speaker 7: And we're hoping to exceed the NBA's this weekend.

555
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:40,400
Speaker 9: And Mel this is nothing new for you, right, I mean,

556
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:42,560
Speaker 9: you worked on the twenty twelve Super Bowl, and you

557
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:44,760
Speaker 9: know you've probably involved in a number of different sports

558
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:47,600
Speaker 9: throughout the Indy area. You know, the All Star Game,

559
00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:49,480
Speaker 9: the Indy five hundred. I think this year you also

560
00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:51,960
Speaker 9: have the US Olympics Swimming and Diving trials right at

561
00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,200
Speaker 9: Lucas Oil. But you know, let's talk about the Gamebridge

562
00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,920
Speaker 9: Field House, and let's talk about you know, when we

563
00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:59,280
Speaker 9: talk about the Indiana Pacers, but let's talk about some

564
00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:01,160
Speaker 9: of the other events you you have there, right, I mean,

565
00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,080
Speaker 9: and I just happen to be, you know, looking at

566
00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,080
Speaker 9: the agenda for the next few months, and I see

567
00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:08,960
Speaker 9: the boys and girls high school state basketball finals, and

568
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,800
Speaker 9: I think about the Hickory Huskers. I think about Jimmy Chitwood,

569
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:15,200
Speaker 9: I think about but the University's Hinklefield House. Talk to

570
00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:17,760
Speaker 9: us a little bit about Indiana sports, about basketball, what

571
00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:20,080
Speaker 9: it means to the community, and how you're taking advantage

572
00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:20,560
Speaker 9: of that may.

573
00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:22,200
Speaker 2: All least Ryan over year. I'm looking at it.

574
00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:24,800
Speaker 7: Yeah, Well, Gamebridge Field House.

575
00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:27,800
Speaker 3: We just finished a four hundred million dollar renovation and

576
00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:31,280
Speaker 3: we added a bi centennial unity plaza and a new

577
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:36,720
Speaker 3: restaurant entertainment complex next door. So it's really best in

578
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,560
Speaker 3: world class facility. And I think we probably do more

579
00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:44,840
Speaker 3: basketball games than any other and arena in the country.

580
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,440
Speaker 3: We certainly, I think are the best place to see

581
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:50,520
Speaker 3: a basketball game. We were purpose built for basketball. We

582
00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:54,520
Speaker 3: don't we have an offset hockey configuration, which means it's

583
00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:56,360
Speaker 3: not the best place in the world to watch a

584
00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,320
Speaker 3: hockey game, although we can host one, and because of

585
00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:02,120
Speaker 3: that we do the high school finals. We have often

586
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:04,400
Speaker 3: held the Big Ten men's and women's tournaments. We have

587
00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,600
Speaker 3: the NCAA first and second round this year, the Pacers,

588
00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:11,320
Speaker 3: the Fever, and we also, I think it was just

589
00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:13,720
Speaker 3: a few years ago, we had fifty four basketball games

590
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:16,720
Speaker 3: in forty nine days in February and March, in addition

591
00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,160
Speaker 3: to some concerts. So I think we have as much

592
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:24,480
Speaker 3: basketball as anyone got. Indiana's basketball crazy Who's your historia

593
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:27,440
Speaker 3: is alive and well in our city and our state,

594
00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:30,640
Speaker 3: and we just take a lot of pride in being

595
00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:33,000
Speaker 3: able to host all these various levels, and they're all

596
00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:36,160
Speaker 3: unique in terms of having the high school finals. We

597
00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:38,520
Speaker 3: usually do Pacers on Friday night and the high school

598
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,520
Speaker 3: first game is at ten am or something on Saturday,

599
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:43,040
Speaker 3: and it's just such a.

600
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:45,400
Speaker 7: Different feel but equally fun.

601
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:47,920
Speaker 3: We get eleven or twelve thousand people for the high

602
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:51,320
Speaker 3: school State Boys and Girls Finals, and it's just really

603
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:52,120
Speaker 3: fun events.

604
00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:55,960
Speaker 2: You're taking over as the Pacers CEO in June, when

605
00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:59,680
Speaker 2: the current CEO, Rick Fuse and retires. Can you take

606
00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:03,600
Speaker 2: us about what it's like when you see somebody like

607
00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:06,400
Speaker 2: Ric Fusion, what it's like to work with him and

608
00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:07,800
Speaker 2: the experiences involved.

609
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:08,280
Speaker 7: Yeah.

610
00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:11,320
Speaker 3: Me, he's been a phenomenal leader in our company for

611
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:14,360
Speaker 3: forty He's about to have his fortieth anniversary. He started

612
00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:17,720
Speaker 3: in nineteen eighty four. He was hired to lead the

613
00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:20,720
Speaker 3: nineteen eighty five NBA All Star Game for the company,

614
00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:23,120
Speaker 3: which is the last time we hosted the All Star Game.

615
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:28,480
Speaker 3: So he's bookending his career around this special event. And

616
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:30,880
Speaker 3: you know, it's hard to take over for someone who's

617
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:33,720
Speaker 3: got forty years of knowledge in their brain. But he's

618
00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,600
Speaker 3: done a really nice job of mentoring me over the

619
00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:39,400
Speaker 3: last few years. And while we're transitioning for the next

620
00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:43,040
Speaker 3: few months, he's staying on as a senior advisor for

621
00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:46,560
Speaker 3: herb Simon and for me, so I can call him

622
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:49,800
Speaker 3: whenever I need to and he'll be available, which is

623
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:50,720
Speaker 3: also nice.

624
00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:52,200
Speaker 7: But he's a good teacher.

625
00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,400
Speaker 3: He's naturally a teacher, So every day since I've been here,

626
00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:58,320
Speaker 3: he's been teaching me something. I learned something new almost

627
00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:01,840
Speaker 3: every day and this job, so I'm really grateful for

628
00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:04,040
Speaker 3: what he's done to help me get to this place.

629
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:06,960
Speaker 12: Can you talk a little bit about the conversations you

630
00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:10,720
Speaker 12: have with other CEOs or presidents and soon to be

631
00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:15,400
Speaker 12: CEOs when you take on that role of other franchises,

632
00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:18,080
Speaker 12: because obviously there's a lot of best practices, there's a

633
00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 12: lot of sharing of what works and what doesn't work.

634
00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:23,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, what I love about the NBA is it's very

635
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,400
Speaker 3: everybody is very good about sharing those ideas. You're not

636
00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:29,160
Speaker 3: either going to a Houston Rockets game or an Indiana

637
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,760
Speaker 3: Pacers game on a given night, and so whether it's

638
00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:36,120
Speaker 3: Gretchen shere who's the president and for the Rockets, or

639
00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:38,560
Speaker 3: Gillian Zucker with the Clippers, both of whom are friends

640
00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:42,880
Speaker 3: of mine. Other team presidents around the league are really

641
00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:45,560
Speaker 3: good about when you call or you ask for help

642
00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:48,760
Speaker 3: for something, they pretty quickly respond, as do we. We're

643
00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:50,880
Speaker 3: hosting a lot of them are coming into town for

644
00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:54,400
Speaker 3: All Star Weekend. The Warriors are hosting next year, and

645
00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:57,560
Speaker 3: the Clippers are the year after that, and other teams

646
00:33:57,560 --> 00:33:59,440
Speaker 3: who are looking to bid will be in town, and

647
00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,720
Speaker 3: we are a pretty open book about how we've executed

648
00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:06,040
Speaker 3: the event, what our plans were. We were originally supposed

649
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:09,480
Speaker 3: to Hope host in twenty one and Cleveland hosted in

650
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,759
Speaker 3: twenty two, and before the pandemic, we were actively talking

651
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:15,640
Speaker 3: to Cleveland about how we were organizing our host committee

652
00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:17,879
Speaker 3: and how we could help them make their All Star

653
00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:20,520
Speaker 3: Game the best it could be. So, whether it's food

654
00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:25,759
Speaker 3: and beverage or technology or game operations, the league has

655
00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:30,040
Speaker 3: some really great best practices. Jonathan Tillman, who heads Team

656
00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,560
Speaker 3: Marketing and Business Operations now to call teambo at the

657
00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:35,719
Speaker 3: league is great about pulling us all together. We just

658
00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:37,799
Speaker 3: had a meeting in Miami a month ago, and so

659
00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:40,800
Speaker 3: I think that's one of the best parts about the NBA.

660
00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:43,839
Speaker 3: Adam Silver such a great leader, is you know we're

661
00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:46,040
Speaker 3: in this together and the teams really do share a

662
00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:47,600
Speaker 3: lot of best business practices.

663
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:49,960
Speaker 9: Yeah, mel we had Gillian on that long ago, and Wow,

664
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:51,520
Speaker 9: the Clippers are having a hell of a year. I mean,

665
00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:54,480
Speaker 9: let's talk a little bit about what fans can expect

666
00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:56,719
Speaker 9: at All Star Game weekend this weekend. I mean, I'm

667
00:34:56,960 --> 00:35:00,520
Speaker 9: looking here about this NBA crossover experience. The then you

668
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:03,000
Speaker 9: format with the Dunk Contest and the three point Shootout.

669
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:04,920
Speaker 9: Talk to us a little bit about you know, what

670
00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:06,239
Speaker 9: the audience can expect this year.

671
00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:09,240
Speaker 7: This weekend is so fun. There's so many different events.

672
00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:12,319
Speaker 3: It's unlike we've hosted and we hosted the entire March

673
00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:16,000
Speaker 3: Madness tournament in twenty twenty one in Indianapolis, which was fantastic.

674
00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:18,640
Speaker 3: This is just such a different weekend. There's the Rising

675
00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:21,680
Speaker 3: Stars Game and the Celebrity Game and Open practice and

676
00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:26,080
Speaker 3: Crossover fan event, and we moved All Star Saturday Night

677
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:28,759
Speaker 3: with the league to Lucas Oil Stadium, so thirty five

678
00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:32,160
Speaker 3: thousand members of our community and fans could attend that

679
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:34,960
Speaker 3: event and they're doing it on an led court for

680
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:37,400
Speaker 3: the first time, which is going to be I think

681
00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:39,279
Speaker 3: it's just going to be a super cool experience for

682
00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:41,399
Speaker 3: everybody who can come. And then of course the All

683
00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:45,000
Speaker 3: Star Game itself in Gamebridge Field House Sunday night. There's

684
00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:49,799
Speaker 3: over one hundred and fifty thousand ticketed opportunities for the

685
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:53,000
Speaker 3: weekend between the concerts and Crossover and all these other events,

686
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:55,279
Speaker 3: which is more than the league has ever had. So

687
00:35:55,360 --> 00:36:01,560
Speaker 3: if you love basketball or NBA fashion culture, music, food,

688
00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,000
Speaker 3: This is the weekend for you. There's plenty of opportunities.

689
00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:08,480
Speaker 3: And then we're dressing up downtown. We call India is

690
00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:10,319
Speaker 3: the home court and the fan is the All Star.

691
00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:15,560
Speaker 3: So we've got active DJs downtown, We've got some artistic lighting,

692
00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:20,520
Speaker 3: We're activating some spaces with local, diverse food offerings, and

693
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:24,400
Speaker 3: so we have free bus rides downtown for the weekend,

694
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:26,920
Speaker 3: so everyone in our community can come downtown. If you

695
00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:28,959
Speaker 3: don't have a ticket to the game, you can still

696
00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:30,520
Speaker 3: come down down and be a part of the weekend,

697
00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:31,839
Speaker 3: which is really important to us.

698
00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:34,279
Speaker 12: I'm so glad you bring that up, because hosting big

699
00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:36,839
Speaker 12: events like the All Star Game or weekend in this case,

700
00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:39,480
Speaker 12: or the Super Bowl means are limited to the arena capacity,

701
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:43,480
Speaker 12: which I believe is eighteen thousand for Gamebridge Field House.

702
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:46,040
Speaker 12: So when you talk about these plans to make the

703
00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:49,279
Speaker 12: city inviting and accessible to folks who just want to

704
00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:51,920
Speaker 12: be there but can't get into the game itself, the

705
00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:55,040
Speaker 12: arena itself, how involved is the NBING coming up with

706
00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:58,759
Speaker 12: these alternative entertainment options or is it something that kind

707
00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:01,400
Speaker 12: of crops up on its own. What's the dialogue, like

708
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:03,799
Speaker 12: the conversation like with the small business owners and the

709
00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:04,399
Speaker 12: rest of the city.

710
00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:07,839
Speaker 3: They So the NBA Reports Program is one thing that

711
00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:10,680
Speaker 3: the league started back I think in Chicago in twenty twenty,

712
00:37:10,719 --> 00:37:13,800
Speaker 3: which is an opportunity for local businesses to be a

713
00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:16,920
Speaker 3: part of the event. Fans check in through a QR

714
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:20,440
Speaker 3: code and accumulate points and they can actually if they

715
00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:23,919
Speaker 3: go to enough businesses go to the NBA All Star

716
00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:27,440
Speaker 3: Game for free, they earn tickets and other swag and things,

717
00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:30,160
Speaker 3: and so that's yeah, it's we have over three hundred,

718
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:32,760
Speaker 3: close to four hundred businesses throughout the state of Indiana

719
00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:36,840
Speaker 3: that are registered in that program. And in general, I

720
00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:40,080
Speaker 3: think the league has been incredibly collaborative with us and

721
00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:42,920
Speaker 3: the vision that Herb Simon and who's our team owner

722
00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:46,480
Speaker 3: and the Simon family had to make this a community event.

723
00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:50,160
Speaker 3: So whether that's We've done twenty seven, sorry, twenty four

724
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,200
Speaker 3: legacy projects throughout the state of Indiana as part of

725
00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:57,200
Speaker 3: our host committee, fifty thousand dollars brick and mortar projects

726
00:37:57,560 --> 00:38:00,760
Speaker 3: throughout the state, everything from basketball courts to stem labs.

727
00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:04,879
Speaker 3: We're packing a million meals for Hoo's your families over

728
00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:08,520
Speaker 3: twenty four hours starting Thursday, afternoon into Friday afternoon, and

729
00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:11,200
Speaker 3: the last shift of packing will include some of the

730
00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:14,360
Speaker 3: All Stars and Adam Silver and a lot of the

731
00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:18,200
Speaker 3: other NBA VIPs coming into town. So they've been when

732
00:38:18,239 --> 00:38:20,239
Speaker 3: we've had ideas like this, which I think they thought

733
00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:22,400
Speaker 3: might be a little crazy in the beginning, they've jumped

734
00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:26,280
Speaker 3: on board and have supported them one hundred percent, including

735
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:28,600
Speaker 3: All Star Saturday Night. That was a bit of a

736
00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:31,040
Speaker 3: leap to say we think we can sell thirty five

737
00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:33,520
Speaker 3: thousand tickets to this event. To your point, that would

738
00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:35,840
Speaker 3: have been less than half that number of people in

739
00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:39,319
Speaker 3: Gamebridge Fieldhouse. And for us to say we're okay not

740
00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:42,080
Speaker 3: hosting that premier event in our building because it's better

741
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:44,319
Speaker 3: for the league and our community to host it at

742
00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:47,799
Speaker 3: the football stadium. They jumped right on board with that

743
00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:52,040
Speaker 3: idea and priced to the upper tickets at twenty four dollars.

744
00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:55,480
Speaker 3: So I think the last year the lowest price ticket

745
00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:58,759
Speaker 3: for that event was five hundred dollars. And so they've

746
00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:02,120
Speaker 3: really just helped just embrace what we wanted this to

747
00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:05,800
Speaker 3: be from the very beginning, and the very beginning was

748
00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:08,759
Speaker 3: in twenty seventeen when we bid on this, and then

749
00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:11,680
Speaker 3: it pushed so literally, this is seven years in the making,

750
00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:14,640
Speaker 3: and I think it's going to be a really fun weekend.

751
00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:15,120
Speaker 8: Mell.

752
00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:17,880
Speaker 9: You speak so glowingly of Adam Silver and the NBA

753
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:20,120
Speaker 9: and your relationship with them, and you know, it just

754
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:22,239
Speaker 9: takes me back. I'm looking, you know, at your background here.

755
00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:24,920
Speaker 9: I mean, forget about the Republican National Conventions and the

756
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:27,120
Speaker 9: Committee and everything you did there. I mean, I'm looking

757
00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:29,120
Speaker 9: at you know, serving as an assistant at one point

758
00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:31,840
Speaker 9: to Vice President Tic Cheney. Began your career on Capitol

759
00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:35,279
Speaker 9: Hill with former US Senator Dan Coates of Indiana. Talk

760
00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:38,680
Speaker 9: to us about the different, you know, environment of working

761
00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:43,279
Speaker 9: with the NBA today and working in Washington back then,

762
00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:45,560
Speaker 9: and how it prepared you obviously.

763
00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:48,839
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I'm very grateful I worked in Washington back

764
00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:53,000
Speaker 3: then and not today, I can tell you that. And

765
00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:55,840
Speaker 3: I was lucky to work for some really great elected

766
00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:59,080
Speaker 3: officials who I think, you know, we're in it for

767
00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:02,160
Speaker 3: the right reasons, and I'm very proud of the people

768
00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:04,320
Speaker 3: I've been able to serve. What I would say about

769
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:07,480
Speaker 3: the transition into working for an NBA team and working

770
00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:11,440
Speaker 3: with the league is that when you work for an

771
00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:14,040
Speaker 3: elected official, you work for them and their family often,

772
00:40:14,719 --> 00:40:17,480
Speaker 3: and I work for Herb Simon and Steve Simon, his son,

773
00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:21,680
Speaker 3: and the Simon family there. It's a small family business

774
00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:24,880
Speaker 3: and a lot of respects, and we are a model franchise.

775
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:27,520
Speaker 3: We have one of the only teams that has an

776
00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:30,800
Speaker 3: NBA team, a w NBA team, a G League team,

777
00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:34,160
Speaker 3: a two K team, and we run our building, which

778
00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:37,200
Speaker 3: we take. We take a lot of pride and we're

779
00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:39,520
Speaker 3: all in on what the NBA is doing. And Herb

780
00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:42,839
Speaker 3: Simon and Adam Silver have a very close relationship, and

781
00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:47,279
Speaker 3: it's it feels very similar to politics in a lot

782
00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:52,640
Speaker 3: of ways, although it's a business certainly, but my background

783
00:40:52,680 --> 00:40:55,200
Speaker 3: was more on the operational side of politics and the

784
00:40:55,239 --> 00:40:59,120
Speaker 3: political side. And we were a small town here in Indianapolis,

785
00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:01,520
Speaker 3: and we're a state cap little too, so I get

786
00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:05,200
Speaker 3: to flex my political muscle a little bit, but also

787
00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:08,439
Speaker 3: my operational and my business side, and so it's really

788
00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:09,000
Speaker 3: it's for me.

789
00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:09,960
Speaker 7: It's a really good fit.

790
00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:12,640
Speaker 3: I don't do well in sort of large companies that

791
00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:16,719
Speaker 3: are pretty plotting. I'm better in small, chaotic environments, whether

792
00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:19,400
Speaker 3: that's on US Senate. In nineteen ninety one, during the

793
00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:25,040
Speaker 3: Clarence Thomas nomination hearings, answering the phones or dr you know,

794
00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:27,120
Speaker 3: the All Star Game in twenty twenty four. It's it

795
00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:29,719
Speaker 3: all feels pretty similar. And I've been very lucky in

796
00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:32,400
Speaker 3: my career to work for some great people and have

797
00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:34,360
Speaker 3: been given some really great opportunities.

798
00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:38,200
Speaker 12: I really like the way you described that small chaotic environments.

799
00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:43,239
Speaker 9: Melan, Yeah, that's my life basically chaotic environment. Now, if

800
00:41:43,239 --> 00:41:44,920
Speaker 9: you would just let Rick Carlisle know to give will

801
00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:47,000
Speaker 9: be top in a few more minutes there, that'd be great. Also,

802
00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:47,920
Speaker 9: I don't know.

803
00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:52,040
Speaker 3: You know, I have a really good relationship with coach Carlisle,

804
00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:54,440
Speaker 3: and it's partially because I don't give him any advice

805
00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:57,200
Speaker 3: in his job, and he is very nice to me.

806
00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:00,279
Speaker 3: When he needs something, we do it quickly. He's he's

807
00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:03,799
Speaker 3: a he's a great colleague. I feel really lucky that

808
00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:06,280
Speaker 3: he's our coach at this time with such a special

809
00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:07,600
Speaker 3: team that we have on the floor.

810
00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:09,880
Speaker 12: I want to go back to something you had mentioned

811
00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:12,480
Speaker 12: about the All Star Game and the fans who attend.

812
00:42:12,719 --> 00:42:15,120
Speaker 12: Is there any data on what kind of fan attends

813
00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:17,080
Speaker 12: All Star games? Is it the same group of people

814
00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:19,239
Speaker 12: year after year, or the first timers from the host

815
00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:24,000
Speaker 12: city what's the breakdown, because that obviously has implications in

816
00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:28,000
Speaker 12: terms of how you make each weekend, each annual weekend distinct,

817
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:29,719
Speaker 12: so that it's not like you've gone to one, you've

818
00:42:29,719 --> 00:42:30,239
Speaker 12: seen them all.

819
00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:32,279
Speaker 7: It does it does end the league. I think you

820
00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:33,080
Speaker 7: all know.

821
00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:35,880
Speaker 3: The NBA doesn't sort of sit and let everything be

822
00:42:35,960 --> 00:42:38,040
Speaker 3: the same year after year in any regard. That was

823
00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:40,640
Speaker 3: the case with the n Season Tournament this year. The

824
00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:42,920
Speaker 3: play in tournament started a couple of years ago, so

825
00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:45,600
Speaker 3: even if you do go every year, I think it

826
00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:49,239
Speaker 3: is slightly different. So what we understand is of the

827
00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:51,719
Speaker 3: fans we expect coming downtown, about one hundred and twenty

828
00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:55,359
Speaker 3: five thousand. One in three will be from outside of

829
00:42:55,600 --> 00:42:59,080
Speaker 3: Central Indiana. So there's probably, you know what, good I

830
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:02,399
Speaker 3: would say, thirty thousand people that regularly go to these

831
00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:06,000
Speaker 3: whether they're sponsors or fans, super fans who like to

832
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:07,840
Speaker 3: come to this every year and see the best players

833
00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:11,040
Speaker 3: in the world. But there's a lot of people that

834
00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:14,120
Speaker 3: will do this once in their lifetime, and so we're

835
00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:16,319
Speaker 3: trying to make sure this is special for both ends

836
00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:17,040
Speaker 3: of that equation.

837
00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:20,799
Speaker 2: Mel Rain's president and chief operating office here of the

838
00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:26,240
Speaker 2: Pacers Sports Entertainment and soon to be CEO of the Pacers'

839
00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:30,279
Speaker 2: Sports as of June of this year. Thank you so much,

840
00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:32,840
Speaker 2: Mel for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

841
00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:33,560
Speaker 2: We appreciate it.

842
00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:34,000
Speaker 8: Well.

843
00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:35,040
Speaker 7: Thank you all for having me.

844
00:43:35,120 --> 00:43:37,879
Speaker 3: I really it was fun and hopefully you all watch

845
00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:39,680
Speaker 3: this Sunday night on TNT.

846
00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:43,840
Speaker 2: We're special thanks to Mel Rain. She's president and COO

847
00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:48,240
Speaker 2: and soon to be CEO of the NBA's Indiana Pacers.

848
00:43:48,520 --> 00:43:51,399
Speaker 2: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports show. We are

849
00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:54,120
Speaker 2: here each and every week at the same time for

850
00:43:54,239 --> 00:43:58,200
Speaker 2: my colleagues Scarlett Fu and Damian Sasaur. I'm Michael Barr.

851
00:43:58,400 --> 00:44:00,960
Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us in again next week for

852
00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:03,600
Speaker 2: the latest on the stories moving big old money in

853
00:44:03,640 --> 00:44:06,560
Speaker 2: the world of sports. You're listening the Bloomberg Business of

854
00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:09,960
Speaker 2: Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.