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Speaker 1: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports show, where we

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Speaker 1: explore the big money issues in the world of sports.

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Speaker 2: I'm Michael barn I'm Scarlett Food, and I'm Nemian Sas hour.

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Speaker 1: Coming up on the show, we take a look at

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Speaker 1: the changing media rights environment with Horizon Sports and Experiences

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Speaker 1: founder and co CEO David Leevy.

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Speaker 3: The NBA doesn't control the marketplace. The marketplace controls itself.

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Speaker 3: We know that it's all about supply and demand, and

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Speaker 3: I would say that the NBA is probably, if not

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Speaker 3: the top number two in the most desired product out there.

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Speaker 2: Levy's company is also getting ready to hold its second

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Speaker 2: big Pickaball tournament live on ESPN. We'll get his thoughts

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Speaker 2: on that.

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Speaker 1: Talking about the pickle ball. All that and more coming

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Speaker 1: straight ahead on The Bloomberg Business of Sports. But first,

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Speaker 1: it's the end of an era in New England.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, because after over twenty years and let's face it,

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Speaker 4: a lot of winning, Bill Belichick is officially out as

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Speaker 4: head coach of the New England Patriots. Was a ten

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Speaker 4: that saw him become one of the sport's greatest winners

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Speaker 4: and saw him earn over two hundred million dollars.

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Speaker 1: Here's Bill Belichick saying goodbye to New England at least

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Speaker 1: for now.

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Speaker 5: That's with just so many fond memories and thoughts that

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Speaker 5: I you know, think about the Patriots and I always

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Speaker 5: be a Patriot. I'll look ford to coming back here.

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Speaker 5: But at this time, uh, you know, we're gonna move on.

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Speaker 1: The Paths wasted no time entering the new era post Belichick,

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Speaker 1: the team announced it is hiring former player to Roden

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Speaker 1: Mayl as head coach. To help us recap a busy

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Speaker 1: week of NFL coaching news and more, we welcome back Bloomberg.

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Speaker 1: US sports business reporter Randall Williams. I don't know what

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Speaker 1: football now is going to look like without Bill Belichick.

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Speaker 6: You're not going anywhere. He's just not going to be

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Speaker 6: in New England.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's true, But I mean I've always thought of

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Speaker 1: him with.

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Speaker 2: Is that true?

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Speaker 3: Though?

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Speaker 2: I mean, like, well, here's my question. Do you think

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Speaker 2: a New England Patriots fan do you think they're happier?

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Speaker 1: Said?

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Speaker 7: I mean, when you win as much as they do

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Speaker 7: and then you lose as dramatically as they have, they

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Speaker 7: probably it's a bittersweet because you had so many championship parades,

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Speaker 7: so many wonderful moments. But I mean, even if he

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Speaker 7: stayed in the coaching job based on how they played

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Speaker 7: on the field this year, I don't know where they

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Speaker 7: go from here that he is going to build a

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Speaker 7: quarterback up just because even if they select someone in

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Speaker 7: this year's draft based on how he's handled Mac Jones.

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Speaker 1: See now, I'm gonna just say it, and I'm sorry

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Speaker 1: Patriots fans, y'all will spoil because I'm a Detroit Lions fan.

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Speaker 1: We're losing our damn minds now Man, this is the

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Speaker 1: in thirty years, we are hosting a playoff game and

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Speaker 1: here we are. And what's sad is I covered that

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Speaker 1: thirty years ago when we hosted the other playoff game,

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Speaker 1: back when I had jet black hair and you know,

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Speaker 1: and looked as good as Randall. But now it's like,

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Speaker 1: you know, now I'm limping all over the place. My

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Speaker 1: point is a team is going to EBB and flow.

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Speaker 1: And after a man has won as a coach, head coach,

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Speaker 1: six Super Bowls and now he's out the door after

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Speaker 1: twenty four years.

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Speaker 6: He is not going anywhere into coaching carousel.

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Speaker 7: I think when ESPN Adam Schefter reported that you know

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Speaker 7: he's highly sought after by the Falcons, and there's eight

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Speaker 7: head coaching openings now someone is.

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Speaker 4: Going to hire, so one of the openings is in Seattle.

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Speaker 4: But the way that Seattle's handling the departure of Pete

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Speaker 4: Carroll is a little different than what's happening with the

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Speaker 4: Patriots organization and Belichick. Pete Carroll is out as head coach,

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Speaker 4: but he's not really leaving the organization.

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Speaker 7: Is he That's what they're saying. I think it remains

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Speaker 7: to be seen. He could stay on in an advisor

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Speaker 7: role or something to that that. Something to that effect.

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Speaker 7: Brad Stevens for the Boston Celtics, he was coaching them

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Speaker 7: for a number of years and then he took a

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Speaker 7: front office position. I think Pete Carroll could do something similar.

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Speaker 7: I think the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach did something as well,

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Speaker 7: Bruce Arians after they won the Super Bowl. He was

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Speaker 7: on the sidelines doing god knows what, telling people what

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Speaker 7: to do and ordering Mike Evans to go defend Tomes.

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Speaker 8: So this is like an I'm a golobull break up.

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Speaker 7: Carrol did not want it, As far as everything I've read,

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Speaker 7: he did not want to leave that position, but just

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Speaker 7: based on how the Seahawks season went, I believe there

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Speaker 7: are one point six and three and to finish nine

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Speaker 7: and eight or eight to nine one of the two

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Speaker 7: and missed the playoffs. It's disappointing because when the Seahawks

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Speaker 7: play their division rivals, those games just get very, very

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Speaker 7: tough for them. I mean, you're expecting these division rival

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Speaker 7: games to be a little closer, and every time they've

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Speaker 7: played the forty nine ers it hasn't been pretty. And

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Speaker 7: so when you're looking at when I'm sure when the

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Speaker 7: owner is looking at the future of the franchise and

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Speaker 7: what they want to do, they just wanted to make

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Speaker 7: a change.

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Speaker 2: Speaking of coaching, Jim Harbles, do you think Jim winds up.

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Speaker 7: He has a bunch of options. He can head to

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Speaker 7: Los Angeles, which everyone wants to be in Los Angeles.

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Speaker 7: He can head to Vegas. Mark Davis would I'm sure

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Speaker 7: would welcome him in open arms. So there are for

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Speaker 7: the high profile coaches out there, Jim Harborough at Bill Belichick.

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Speaker 7: I don't know if you can throw Vrabel in there,

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Speaker 7: but he's a very good There's a lot of options.

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Speaker 7: There's going to be some people that are going to

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Speaker 7: be left out. But the thing that is most interesting

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Speaker 7: to me is with twenty five percent of the league

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Speaker 7: firing their head coaches. The NFL has long had a

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Speaker 7: saga with the Rooney rule, will they hire people of color?

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Speaker 7: And with eight head coaching openings there Eric the Enemy

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Speaker 7: is another candidate who was given this commander's job. Obviously,

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Speaker 7: the commander's season didn't go the way that they wanted

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Speaker 7: it to, but there's a number of people of color

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Speaker 7: who are going to be interested in these jobs as well.

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Speaker 7: Or is it are they just going to hire these

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Speaker 7: legacy coaching acts to come in and you know, do

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Speaker 7: things their way.

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Speaker 1: Now again, let's keep in mind too, we're talking about

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Speaker 1: coaches who are done with the regular season, right, I'm

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Speaker 1: expecting something that happen with coaches who are heading into

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Speaker 1: the playoffs and then maybe get knocked out in round one.

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Speaker 1: That's true too, and then they get the acts and

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Speaker 1: now they're out on the market.

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Speaker 7: I mean, you you look at the Cowboys. Jerry Jones

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Speaker 7: did not say that Mike McCarthy's job was safe. He said,

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Speaker 7: we'll see after the playoffs, which means, I think championship

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Speaker 7: or bust. You can't go out to the forty nine ers. Again,

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Speaker 7: there's also the Eagles. The Eagles were ten to one,

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Speaker 7: they finished eleven and six. I think it would be

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Speaker 7: the biggest shock yet if the Eagles fired Nick Siriania

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Speaker 7: less than a year after he made the Super Bowl.

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Speaker 7: But crazier things have happened. They fired a Super Bowl

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Speaker 7: coach a couple of years ago, so we'll see.

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Speaker 1: Let's talk about the article that you wrote about Tiger

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Speaker 1: Woods again, Golf. I think you know I'm hip because

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Speaker 1: you know, I know the Tiger Woods is with Nike,

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Speaker 1: and he's been there, Oh.

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Speaker 6: My god, for like, you know, two longer than I've

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Speaker 6: been alive.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and now all of a sudden, that's it about

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Speaker 1: twenty seven years with Nike. And I remember when he

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Speaker 1: first signed, it was like somebody like what forty million

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Speaker 1: dollars and people were like forty million dollars. And now

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Speaker 1: today that's like jump changed. That's one of the greatest

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Speaker 1: marriages I can think of any sports figure with any

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Speaker 1: type of product.

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Speaker 7: I thought that he would show he would have a uh,

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Speaker 7: he would have a lifetime deal because when you spend

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Speaker 7: that much time with the brand, very rarely do you

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Speaker 7: break up in that way.

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Speaker 8: And was this a nasty breakup?

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Speaker 7: No, I think Tiger chose to leave, and so I

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Speaker 7: think he has something planned. Yeah, for sure. I mean

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Speaker 7: it's Tiger. He has the world as his oyster. And

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Speaker 7: the large part of that is because of Nike. I mean,

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Speaker 7: Nike was doing golf advertisements that were bigger and better

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Speaker 7: than everyone else, and so.

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Speaker 8: Didn't Spike Lee direct some of those commercials?

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Speaker 7: I believe So, yeah, I believe so. And so for

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Speaker 7: Tiger he can go and do anything he wants. But

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Speaker 7: I was surprised that Nike didn't say, like, here is

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Speaker 7: a deal similar to Michael Jordan and Lebron James and

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Speaker 7: Kevin Durant, and now Tiger can go and invest and

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Speaker 7: do whatever else he wants.

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Speaker 2: Next, well, what's interesting is his son, Charlie, who's actually

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Speaker 2: an up and comer.

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Speaker 8: Actually, you know how old is Charlie now?

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Speaker 6: Yea fourteen?

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Speaker 1: Yeah?

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Speaker 8: Yeh, he's very kind.

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Speaker 2: But I mean, so it was Tiger, So, I mean

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Speaker 2: I think he was wearing grease. Now I have a

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Speaker 2: lot of great grease and polls in my closet.

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Speaker 6: I probably maybe he should be an investador.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I mean, or that's exactly where I'm going

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Speaker 2: with this. Random, I'm glad you realized. Where do we

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Speaker 2: think Tiger Woods is gonna go to you next? I mean,

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Speaker 2: I'm thinking out loud there about the big brands on

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Speaker 2: for example, who went to Uniclow I can't remember.

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Speaker 8: Sorry, I can't get over that, Roger Federer.

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna keep talking through this while they laughing. Random,

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Speaker 2: I mean, do you think Tiger could be going He's

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Speaker 2: ever gonna see a deal and the money he saw

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Speaker 2: from Nike before, potentially.

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Speaker 7: I mean, there's there's a lot of brands out there

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Speaker 7: who can cut him a check that would be in equity.

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Speaker 7: When you're as big as him, you can throw a

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Speaker 7: dart at the wall or throw a dart at a

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Speaker 7: spinning globe and it's gonna make money just because it's like,

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Speaker 7: oh my gosh, this Tiger. There's a new Tiger Woods product.

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Speaker 7: So the world is his oyster. I don't even want

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Speaker 7: to guess where he could go, because I'm sure he's

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Speaker 7: just taking meeting after meeting, or maybe he's just sitting

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Speaker 7: at whatever golf course and having a cocktail.

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Speaker 4: I mean, like, let me, he could do different things, right,

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Speaker 4: He could sign with the Uniclobe because that's apparel. Then

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Speaker 4: he could sign with On Holdings, which makes those sneakers

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Speaker 4: that everyone wears.

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Speaker 8: I mean, he could take it up into different piece,

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Speaker 8: for sure.

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Speaker 7: He could have an a but the thing is everyone

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Speaker 7: wants to have him as a whole.

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Speaker 8: Of course he could.

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Speaker 7: He could definitely split it up, but it just gets

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Speaker 7: complicated like that. Then the brand you have to get

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Speaker 7: all the brands to work together, and it becomes a

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Speaker 7: little weird. If you are wearing one brand on the top,

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Speaker 7: one brand on your pants, and then a different brand.

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Speaker 8: It look like a soccer team from Europe.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, in some ways, for sure.

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Speaker 2: I mean the navy blue, the Madison Navy blue doesn't

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Speaker 2: match the royal navy blue from Nantucky Navy. No, but

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Speaker 2: I mean truthfully, I mean, you would think kind of

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Speaker 2: the way Lebron is doing with his son that that

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Speaker 2: that matters. That matters at this point in Tiger's life.

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Speaker 2: You know what is you know, Charlie going to be doing.

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Speaker 2: He wants to be involved with him.

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Speaker 7: I'm sure I thought the exact same thing, because what

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Speaker 7: what I think could happen with Nike and Lebron is

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Speaker 7: that Lebron said something interesting about Luka Doncics when he

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Speaker 7: was coming out of the draft and he said he

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Speaker 7: wanted to sign him as the first Lebron brand sponsor. Well,

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Speaker 7: if Luca, who is incredible, is not going to be him,

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Speaker 7: then who could be him? I don't think it's going

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Speaker 7: to be Wemby because Wenby's already with Nike. It's probably

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Speaker 7: going to be Brownie and Bryce right after. So why

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Speaker 7: didn't a similar thing happen with Tiger Woods and Nike?

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Speaker 1: You, Bloomberg US sports business reporter Random Williams, you are

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Speaker 1: the man.

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Speaker 6: Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for

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Speaker 6: having me us all this up.

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Speaker 1: Next on the show, we zero in on one NFL

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Speaker 1: owner who made big changes coming out of the season

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Speaker 1: and how his lack of success on the field might

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Speaker 1: be impacting his bottom line at is straight Ahead on

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

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Sports show, but we explore the big

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Speaker 1: bunny issues in the world of sports on Michael bar

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Speaker 1: for Scarlett Food and Damian Sasauer. David Tepper is founder

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Speaker 1: of Applelousa Management, a seventeen billion dollar hedge fund.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, but for our purposes He's also the owner of

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Speaker 4: the NFL's Carolina Panthers, who, let's face it, have not

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Speaker 4: been doing too well lately.

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Speaker 6: That's right, Scarl.

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Speaker 2: The Panthers just finished up their sixth straight losing season.

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Speaker 2: That that's even after picking their quarterback of the future

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Speaker 2: last year in Bryce Young.

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Speaker 1: And now the losing on the field and some of

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Speaker 1: Tepper's reactions to it could be costing Tepper money off

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Speaker 1: the field. To take us through all that, we welcome

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg News editor Tom Maloney, Tom, welcome to the Bloomberg

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Speaker 1: Business of Sports.

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Speaker 9: Thank you very much.

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Speaker 1: Let's just say David Tepper is a passionate man, and

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Speaker 1: maybe he shouldn't have had a drink this particular day

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Speaker 1: when video showed him apparently and I'm couching the words,

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Speaker 1: throwing a drink towards fans. And now the league says

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Speaker 1: that's going to cost you at least three hundred thousand dollars.

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Speaker 9: Three hundred thousand dollars sounds like a lot of money,

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Speaker 9: but I think we need to put that in context

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Speaker 9: for somebody who was worth the equivalent of that, for

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Speaker 9: somebody worth half a million dollars, would be a fine

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Speaker 9: of about eight dollars and fifty six cents, so it

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Speaker 9: is it is pocket change for David Tepper.

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Speaker 2: Well, Mike with think we have to clarify that he

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Speaker 2: threw a drink on Jacksonville Jaguar fans and he's the

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Speaker 2: owner of the Carolina Panthers, because I think if he

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Speaker 2: threw it on a Panthers fan, maybe this wouldn't be

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Speaker 2: such a big deal. You know, Tom over to you.

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Speaker 2: I mean, let's be really clear here. Who is David Tepper?

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Speaker 9: Yeah, sure, so he is the founder of Appleloosa Management,

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Speaker 9: which a hedge fund which has about seventeen billion dollars

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Speaker 9: under management at all. It's been around for a long time.

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Speaker 9: He started the hedge fund in nineteen ninety three, so

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Speaker 9: it's one of the oldest hedge funds that's out there.

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Speaker 9: At this point, it's mostly just managing tep his own money.

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Speaker 9: He's you know, around ninety percent of it is inside

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Speaker 9: of money, so there's not a lot of external investors anymore.

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Speaker 9: It's a lot of money, but it's a relatively small operation,

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Speaker 9: has about twenty three employees, so it's not like it's

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Speaker 9: not a citadel. It's not a point seventy two it's

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Speaker 9: one of the smaller hedge funds that's out there.

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Speaker 8: It's one of the smaller hedge funds out there. But

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Speaker 8: he's been doing really well.

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Speaker 4: He's made some really really good investment decisions lately.

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Speaker 9: That's right. This year the fund was up twenty percent.

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Speaker 9: One of the bets that we know about from public

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Speaker 9: filings is he went big into tech stocks around the

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Speaker 9: middle of the year. And as we know, they had

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Speaker 9: a great year on the back of all of this

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Speaker 9: momentum around AI, on the back of falling interest rates

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Speaker 9: as well, So he was early to that bet. And

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Speaker 9: you know he as I said, the fund is up

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Speaker 9: around twenty percent, so financially a great year for him,

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Speaker 9: and he made about two billion dollars.

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Speaker 2: Personally, well, he's had his ups and downs in terms

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Speaker 2: of performance, right, I mean, he is not the most

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Speaker 2: I guess. I guess they've they've had a volatile return stream.

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Speaker 2: What can you say?

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Speaker 1: But let's go back.

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Speaker 2: Let's go back to the nineties. I mean, David Tepper

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Speaker 2: started at Goldman Sacks. I think he left to start

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Speaker 2: his own head from the ninety three. You know, I

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Speaker 2: joined Goldman in nineteen ninety seven, so I just missed

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Speaker 2: my window there unfortunately. But you know, Apple Lousa has

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Speaker 2: been around for since forever, right, and so you know,

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Speaker 2: this is a guy I think, you know, famously used

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Speaker 2: to have, you know, an interesting piece of equipment on

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Speaker 2: his desk. You know, he used to be a very

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Speaker 2: intimidating fellow, and it seems like that intimidation doesn't seem

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Speaker 2: to be working here in the NFL. I wonder if

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Speaker 2: you could take us through a little bit about what

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Speaker 2: has been brandied about him in terms of his ownership

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Speaker 2: and his involvement in the team.

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Speaker 9: Well, look, I think you can look at his record

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Speaker 9: and and kind of speaks for itself a little bit.

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Speaker 9: You know, he's on they're on the sixth head coach

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Speaker 9: at the Panthers, so he's been churning through coaches, three

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Speaker 9: of them five mid season, you know, and I think

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Speaker 9: he's just not necessarily the most patient of people. They've

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Speaker 9: just gotten rid of their general manager as well. So

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Speaker 9: one thing you could say about him is is he

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Speaker 9: puts his money where his mouth is. They made a

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Speaker 9: big bet at the start of this season to get

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Speaker 9: Bryce Young. They traded away a bunch of draft picks

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Speaker 9: as well as one of their best players. That didn't

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Speaker 9: work out at all. You know, whether it's young is

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Speaker 9: not going to be their quarterback or whether he just

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Speaker 9: didn't have the pieces in place to support him. That

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Speaker 9: trade has been a bust, but it was a gutsy

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Speaker 9: a gutsy trade, and a lot of people kind of

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Speaker 9: applauded it, applauded him for it at the time, but

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Speaker 9: it just certainly hasn't worked out.

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Speaker 1: Put it in perspective historically, yes, teams ebb and flow,

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Speaker 1: and yes, this is not a good period for the Panthers.

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Speaker 1: But I'm going to bring up some history. I'm going

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Speaker 1: to bring up the nineteen seventy six seventy seven Tampa

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Speaker 1: Bay Buccaneers. Oh and they didn't win boo of I

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Speaker 1: mean not boo of a game. They're head coach John McKay,

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Speaker 1: to me, had the best line ever said in football.

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Speaker 1: When they asked them, the reporters said, well, what do

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Speaker 1: you think about your team's execution? And McKay comes back, yes,

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Speaker 1: I'm all for it. I mean they were that bad.

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Speaker 1: So this is the same thing that's happening with the Panthers.

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Speaker 1: One day they could change it. And Temper seems the

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Speaker 1: kind of guy where hey, I want to put some

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Speaker 1: money into it and make a heck of a team.

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Speaker 2: Well, Michael also, I mean this mold, the David Tepper mold,

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Speaker 2: is akin to what we're seeing with former finance types

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Speaker 2: like Harris Stevie Cohen with the Mets. You know, very involved,

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Speaker 2: very passionate. You know, there's one owner I can think

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Speaker 2: of who I think is trying to sell the Dallas Mavericks,

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Speaker 2: you know. So, I mean there's a lot of very

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Speaker 2: passionate owners out there. I mean, Scarlett take your point.

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Speaker 2: I mean, you know, what's to expect If this is

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Speaker 2: the future and people don't have really the staying power

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Speaker 2: they really want to kind of enforce their will on

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Speaker 2: a team, what does it mean for the future of

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Speaker 2: the league?

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Speaker 6: I don't know.

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Speaker 4: It's a good question that you have these investor types,

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Speaker 4: billionaires who kind of approach owning a sports team in

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Speaker 4: the same way that they approach how they might manage

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Speaker 4: their team in the finance world. What do we know

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Speaker 4: about the interaction that David Tepper has with the management

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Speaker 4: of the Panthers. How involved is he and what does

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Speaker 4: that say about his management style overall?

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Speaker 8: In the finance world.

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Speaker 9: Well, I think there was a really good some great

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Speaker 9: reporting that came out of the Athletic earlier this year

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Speaker 9: that spoke about some of those interactions, so you know

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Speaker 9: there was It was to the level where he was

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Speaker 9: calling Frank Reiki's coach before he fired him mid season

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Speaker 9: and saying, look, you got to fix the quarterbacks footwork

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Speaker 9: and stuff like that, so very involved. There was a

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Speaker 9: lot of politicking, you know, assistant coaches texting Tepper, trying

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Speaker 9: to cover their own backs. So it doesn't sound like

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Speaker 9: a fantastic environment.

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Speaker 8: Not a fantastic environment. But does he have the experience that.

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Speaker 4: Other owners might have managing a large, sprawling organization with

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Speaker 4: different levels of staff. I mean, Appolusa, as you mentioned,

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Speaker 4: mainly manages his money. So it's not a huge operation,

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Speaker 4: is it.

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Speaker 9: That's right. It's only about twenty three people, and Steve Cohen,

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Speaker 9: you know he's a hedge fund manager as well, but

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Speaker 9: points seventy two more than a thousand employees. So it's

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Speaker 9: a very different type of operation. And when you come

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Speaker 9: into an NFL team, it's not just the fifty three

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Speaker 9: man roster. You've got, you know, hundreds of employees. You've

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Speaker 9: got scores of coaches, so it's a very big and

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Speaker 9: complicated operation and business to run.

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Speaker 1: Well, I'm sorry, I was going to say, to give

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Speaker 1: you an idea about up and his mindset. He told

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Speaker 1: somebody the first thing I think about is winning. The

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Speaker 1: second thing I think about is winning.

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Speaker 10: Yeah.

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Speaker 9: Look, one thing hedge fund managers are known for is

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Speaker 9: getting in and out of positions quickly. You know, if

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Speaker 9: something isn't working out, you dump it. And that's not

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Speaker 9: necessarily the way that you want to employ people run

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Speaker 9: a football team. Sometimes you got to share patients, and

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Speaker 9: that's not something that we've seen at the Panthers so far.

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Speaker 2: Well, Michael, I mean, one last thing we also haven't

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Speaker 2: really had a chance to get to is his interactions

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Speaker 2: with rock Hill, with the community in Carolina. You know,

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Speaker 2: he had agreed to do a real estate I think

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Speaker 2: some sort of development deal there and he's backed out

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Speaker 2: of it since for whatever reason. And you know, it's

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Speaker 2: off to bad taste in a lot of locals mouths obviously,

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Speaker 2: and fans are getting frustrated. I mean, if you've watched

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Speaker 2: some of those Carolina Panthers games, admittedly they have a

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Speaker 2: very good team. I mean I don't remember I mean

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Speaker 2: ever seeing a stadium look that empty. I'm not even

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Speaker 2: kidding you. It was really poor. So you know he's

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Speaker 2: got his working out for him. I'm sure, right, Michael, Oh.

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Speaker 1: My goodness, And you're right. I was looking at one

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Speaker 1: game and there was pretty much not anybody. There were

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Speaker 1: a lot of seats disguised as fans in several lit those.

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Speaker 8: Games, the opposing teams fans.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, David Tepper, I'm hoping that you know, you turn

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Speaker 1: it around. I am root for an owner, sir. Thank

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Speaker 1: you so much, Tom Maloney, our Bloomberg News editor, and

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Speaker 1: you are very kind to come in and join us.

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Speaker 6: Thanks again, my pleasure.

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Speaker 1: Up next on the show, we talked with Horizon Sports

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Speaker 1: and Experiences founder and co CEO David Levy. You're listening

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Speaker 1: to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around

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Speaker 1: the world. Thank you for joining us on the Bloomberg

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Speaker 1: Business of Sports show. But we explored the big money

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Speaker 1: issues in the world of sports. I'm Michael Barr, along

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Speaker 1: with Scarlett Fu and Damian Sasaur. One thread we've been

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Speaker 1: following here on the Bloomberg Business of Sports is how

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Speaker 1: much the media landscape is growing and changing. One firm

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Speaker 1: that's looking to the future of sports and media is

437
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:07,840
Speaker 1: Horizon Sports and Experience.

438
00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:10,960
Speaker 2: That's right, Michael. Horizon is a sports marketing and consulting

439
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,560
Speaker 2: firm led by David Levy. He's founder and co CEO,

440
00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,480
Speaker 2: and he's also the former president of Turner Sports.

441
00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:19,919
Speaker 1: Damian and I we got the chance to talk with

442
00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,679
Speaker 1: him about the changing sports media landscape plus what his

443
00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:26,040
Speaker 1: company is up to. Let's take a listen to that conversation.

444
00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:29,480
Speaker 2: So, David and you are the co CEO of Horizon

445
00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:31,879
Speaker 2: Sports and Experiences. But prior to that, obviously you were

446
00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:34,840
Speaker 2: president Turner. You were elected to the Broadcasting and Cable

447
00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:39,240
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame, your Sports Business Journal most influential executives.

448
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,000
Speaker 1: See is emmy there in the shops.

449
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:44,000
Speaker 2: And the question you know we have is a big story.

450
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,880
Speaker 2: He's been running on Bloomberg this week about the NBA

451
00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:49,800
Speaker 2: rights that are going to go on the block this year.

452
00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:52,720
Speaker 2: I think the number, if I'm not mistaken, was twenty

453
00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,720
Speaker 2: four billion dollars with Walt Disney and Warner Brothers Discovery

454
00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:59,720
Speaker 2: two deals about ten years ago. Talk to us about.

455
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:01,120
Speaker 10: What that ago seven years ago?

456
00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:03,800
Speaker 3: I did that deal to talk to us, what are

457
00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:06,879
Speaker 3: we expecting this time around listen. You know, you know,

458
00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:11,560
Speaker 3: the NBA doesn't control the marketplace. The marketplace controls itself.

459
00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,160
Speaker 3: We know that it's it's all about supply and demand.

460
00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:19,920
Speaker 3: And I would say that the NBA is probably, if

461
00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,680
Speaker 3: not the top number two in the most desired product

462
00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:29,800
Speaker 3: out there, meaning from a demand standpoint, younger audiences, high ratings.

463
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:34,119
Speaker 3: You know, big brand names as far as team brands

464
00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:39,640
Speaker 3: as well as individual athlete brands, global in nature. I mean,

465
00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:45,160
Speaker 3: the NBA is probably the other than soccer, the largest

466
00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:50,600
Speaker 3: global sport on our planet, so or basketball, I should say,

467
00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:54,600
Speaker 3: on our planet and our and those brands traveled into

468
00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:58,960
Speaker 3: market by market. So I would say that this property

469
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:01,359
Speaker 3: is going to be pursued in a very very big way.

470
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:08,000
Speaker 3: I think the incumbents will somehow maintain some relationship with

471
00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:12,800
Speaker 3: the NBA, meaning I think both Warner Brothers or Warder Brothers,

472
00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:16,320
Speaker 3: Discovery UH and ESPN will have the n B a

473
00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:20,080
Speaker 3: a uh not just on their cable channels, but I

474
00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:23,600
Speaker 3: also think they'll have extended into their streaming services, both

475
00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,680
Speaker 3: on ESPN Plus and and Max. And then I think

476
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:31,680
Speaker 3: there will be incremental partners, meaning additional and I think

477
00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:34,240
Speaker 3: that's you know, the jury's out on who that may be.

478
00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:35,840
Speaker 10: Is it going to be one? Is going to be two?

479
00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,240
Speaker 10: You know, I think we've all heard. You know, Amazon

480
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:42,040
Speaker 10: certainly has been alphabet.

481
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:43,280
Speaker 6: I mean they're all circling.

482
00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:45,520
Speaker 10: No, you know, they're all circling the hoop.

483
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:46,119
Speaker 5: Uh.

484
00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:48,919
Speaker 3: You know, I think, you know, our friends over at

485
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,920
Speaker 3: Comcast NBC have a lot of interest as well. Why

486
00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:56,639
Speaker 3: wouldn't you, Why wouldn't you have interest in in in

487
00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,320
Speaker 3: in one of the most global, if not the global

488
00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,679
Speaker 3: sport other than soccer in the world, and the brand

489
00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:04,919
Speaker 3: names and pop culture and what it means in the

490
00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:09,480
Speaker 3: audience and so forth. So I think it's gonna be

491
00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:12,760
Speaker 3: highly pursued. I think I think it's gonna be a

492
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:16,679
Speaker 3: lot of money. And I think the NBA has done

493
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:19,240
Speaker 3: a terrific job. I think they're in season tournament. By

494
00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,119
Speaker 3: the way, UH is going to be carved out and

495
00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:23,840
Speaker 3: probably sold as a separate.

496
00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:24,280
Speaker 10: Package as well.

497
00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:25,200
Speaker 6: Yeah it makes sense.

498
00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, And I think what Adam did, to be

499
00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:30,240
Speaker 3: honest with you, and I'm sure that's a bunch of

500
00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:31,920
Speaker 3: other people other than Atom within the NBA.

501
00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:33,240
Speaker 10: They came up with all these ideas.

502
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,479
Speaker 3: But you know, I loved You may not like the

503
00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,040
Speaker 3: court as far as what it looked like when they

504
00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:44,199
Speaker 3: had those inner in season tournament games. But from a

505
00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,080
Speaker 3: television perspective and a fan perspective, you knew it was

506
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:50,080
Speaker 3: a different game. You knew that game was, Oh, that's

507
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:53,440
Speaker 3: an in season tournament game. So it stood out.

508
00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:55,199
Speaker 10: And yes, I.

509
00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,399
Speaker 3: Think the players had some arguments about it. Maybe the

510
00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,200
Speaker 3: fans didn't love it, so maybe you continue to to

511
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:02,840
Speaker 3: change it a little bit. But having a different court,

512
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:07,000
Speaker 3: having a different uniform, knowing that that game means something else,

513
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 3: having an early in season tournament. You know what, people

514
00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:15,359
Speaker 3: watch the Lakers Wineah, people care, And I think that's

515
00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:19,240
Speaker 3: I think the players, you know, you know Lebron, you know, okay,

516
00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:24,040
Speaker 3: he makes a lot of money, but you know the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleven,

517
00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:25,560
Speaker 3: twelfth man on the bench.

518
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:26,600
Speaker 10: That's a lot of money to them.

519
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:29,359
Speaker 3: And and I think, you know, when you play on

520
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 3: a team, you want to make sure you support everyone

521
00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:35,080
Speaker 3: on your team. And so I saw everybody play hard

522
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:39,240
Speaker 3: for these games. So you know, I'm excited for I'm

523
00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,960
Speaker 3: excited to see how the out this this plays out.

524
00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:45,439
Speaker 3: I think that starts playing out in April, May and

525
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,479
Speaker 3: June of this coming year, and I think you're going

526
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,160
Speaker 3: to be I think you're going to see some real

527
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:55,080
Speaker 3: increases of what the existing packages were.

528
00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:56,800
Speaker 2: Well, it's nice to see the Lakers can win something

529
00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,680
Speaker 2: a Michael, Oh see.

530
00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:01,760
Speaker 1: You know what I'm gonna I'm just gonna come out

531
00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:05,800
Speaker 1: and say it. I thought when pickleball first came out, Oh,

532
00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,320
Speaker 1: this is cute, this would be a little fat, this

533
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:11,320
Speaker 1: is that, and this is no. This thing has grown

534
00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,600
Speaker 1: big time, and now it's like I might have to

535
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:16,800
Speaker 1: learn how to play pickleball.

536
00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:17,080
Speaker 3: It might.

537
00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:19,840
Speaker 10: Yes, come on, it's happening.

538
00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:22,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, tell me about it. It's like, I'm going to

539
00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:26,800
Speaker 1: start it with the generic question how the popularity has

540
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:30,480
Speaker 1: grown before we get into how you guys are connected

541
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:31,800
Speaker 1: with the upcoming tournament.

542
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,359
Speaker 10: Yeah, well, the popularity has been growing like a weed.

543
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:40,360
Speaker 3: It's probably and it's been already stated and documented. It's

544
00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:44,239
Speaker 3: the fastest growing sport right now in the US. You know,

545
00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:48,560
Speaker 3: there's close to forty million people playing this this sport.

546
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,080
Speaker 3: And you know, we at HSNE was trying to figure

547
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:54,800
Speaker 3: out a way how to get in. You know, we

548
00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:57,840
Speaker 3: we don't represent a league and we don't have any

549
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:02,359
Speaker 3: pickleball athletes. So what was our entry way and to

550
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,440
Speaker 3: get into this fastest growing sport. And we figured out

551
00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,239
Speaker 3: how to do that by taking I don't know the

552
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,840
Speaker 3: best names in racket sports today and putting them in

553
00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:15,080
Speaker 3: the fastest growing sport and putting a million dollar person

554
00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:17,320
Speaker 3: on it. And that's what the Slam one was, and

555
00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:20,560
Speaker 3: that's what Slam two is coming up on February fourth.

556
00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:22,240
Speaker 2: David, for audience, we have to pull a feather out

557
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,560
Speaker 2: of your turner broadcasting days the match, right, I mean,

558
00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,000
Speaker 2: that's really where the branch out for this came from, right,

559
00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:31,080
Speaker 2: Tiger Woods against Phil Nicholson. And then last year obviously

560
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:34,000
Speaker 2: you had the doubles match with Agacy Chang and and.

561
00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:36,640
Speaker 8: What do we have this year?

562
00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:38,199
Speaker 2: A little bit of a change in format.

563
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:42,160
Speaker 3: No, yeah, a little bit of change, but you're absolutely

564
00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:45,520
Speaker 3: right about the match. And that was the simple idea

565
00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:49,080
Speaker 3: of basically taking the biggest names in golf and putting

566
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:50,920
Speaker 3: them head to head for a.

567
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,960
Speaker 10: Nine million dollar person. That was the original match.

568
00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:57,359
Speaker 3: The later matches, where when I was an at turner,

569
00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,480
Speaker 3: became a little bit more charity drink been in a

570
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:05,359
Speaker 3: little more celebrity focused, and I like to stick with

571
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:10,960
Speaker 3: authenticity and focus on real money, real names and real matches,

572
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,760
Speaker 3: and so we, uh, the first one was McEnroe and

573
00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:17,920
Speaker 3: Chang against Agassy and rod Again, that's right, Adyssy and

574
00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:22,680
Speaker 3: Roddick actually won on the final point of the tournament,

575
00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:24,000
Speaker 3: which was kind of exciting.

576
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:26,040
Speaker 10: So it went all the way down to the last point.

577
00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:30,200
Speaker 3: And so Agassy is sort of defending now with his wife,

578
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:34,160
Speaker 3: Stephanie Graff. So Agassy and Stephanie are now playing against

579
00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:36,240
Speaker 3: McEnroe and Sharapova.

580
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:38,040
Speaker 10: Well, let's talk about that.

581
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:40,160
Speaker 2: I mean, I mean, sorry, David, talk to us about

582
00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:44,399
Speaker 2: that initial matchup, because I mean, the just beyond our

583
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:48,040
Speaker 2: wildest dreams, two hundred and thirty seven thousand viewers under

584
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:50,679
Speaker 2: fifty years of age, is that right? And and if

585
00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,280
Speaker 2: I'm not mistaken, it performed better than most Major League

586
00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:56,280
Speaker 2: Baseball and NBA games for the week. So you know,

587
00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:58,800
Speaker 2: talk to us about your expectations for this matchup.

588
00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:03,160
Speaker 3: Well, you know, as you know, programming and making sure

589
00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:06,280
Speaker 3: you find the right slot for these types of events

590
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,199
Speaker 3: are very really, really really important the match. When we

591
00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:11,520
Speaker 3: did the first match on Turner, we did that on

592
00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:14,919
Speaker 3: Friday before the NFL decided that that might be a

593
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:17,919
Speaker 3: good spot for TV audiences. We did it on the

594
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:21,440
Speaker 3: Friday of Thanksgiving when there wasn't a lot of competition.

595
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:24,119
Speaker 10: The first match was actually.

596
00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:27,360
Speaker 3: Done between the semi finals and finals of March Madness,

597
00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:29,600
Speaker 3: and we were actually the lead in to the women's

598
00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:34,399
Speaker 3: finals of the NCAA tournament. So finding the rot slot

599
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,399
Speaker 3: and having that kind of rating, I think was a

600
00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:39,720
Speaker 3: combination of the you know where the slot was and

601
00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:42,520
Speaker 3: at the time that was at daytime of Sunday at

602
00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:43,160
Speaker 3: twelve noon.

603
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:44,800
Speaker 10: This is going to be in primetime.

604
00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:46,880
Speaker 3: Wow, this is going to be the Sunday the week

605
00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 3: before the Super Bowl. Our lead we're the lead out

606
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,840
Speaker 3: now of the pick a Ball Slam excuse me, of

607
00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:57,560
Speaker 3: the of the Pro Bowl and an NBA game. So

608
00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:00,680
Speaker 3: the Pro Bowl is going to run on Sunday on ESPN,

609
00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:02,360
Speaker 3: and then they have an NBA game and then the

610
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:03,720
Speaker 3: pick Aball Slam comes on.

611
00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:06,720
Speaker 10: Slam two comes on at eight thirty that night.

612
00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:12,240
Speaker 3: So obviously the success of Slam one, you know, had

613
00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:15,120
Speaker 3: ESPN figure maybe we ought to put this thing in primetime.

614
00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:19,720
Speaker 1: That's former Turner Sports president and founder and CEO of

615
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:24,240
Speaker 1: Horizon Sports and Experiences, David Levy coming up more of

616
00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:27,320
Speaker 1: that conversation. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports

617
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:37,280
Speaker 1: from Bloomberg Radio around the world. This is the Bloomberg

618
00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:39,560
Speaker 1: Business of Sports show, but we explored the big money

619
00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:42,040
Speaker 1: issues in the world of sports. I'm Michael Barr along

620
00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,360
Speaker 1: with Scarlett Fu and Damian Sasaur. We're listening to a

621
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:49,239
Speaker 1: conversation Damien and I had with David Levy. He is

622
00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:53,880
Speaker 1: the founder and co CEO of Horizon Sports and Experiences

623
00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:58,000
Speaker 1: and former Turner Sports President. Let's dive back into that conversation.

624
00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 1: You're talking about star in tennis that have moved over

625
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:08,320
Speaker 1: to a brand new racket sport, that are endured and

626
00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,520
Speaker 1: loved by a lot of people out there, and I

627
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:13,360
Speaker 1: think you're gonna get one heck of an audience.

628
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, I do too, and I think ESPN does as well.

629
00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:21,960
Speaker 3: I mean, here here was What's really exciting. We sold

630
00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:25,400
Speaker 3: out Slam one from a ticket perspective, so just you know,

631
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:30,080
Speaker 3: having people attend is pretty exciting. And I think, you know,

632
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:35,320
Speaker 3: these legends of racket sports and they love they love

633
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 3: the fans and when the fans are cheering, and it

634
00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:39,920
Speaker 3: was I mean, this was a competitive Slam one.

635
00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:41,920
Speaker 10: You know, you kind of I didn't know. I didn't

636
00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:42,080
Speaker 10: know what.

637
00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:44,360
Speaker 3: These guys were going to play as hard as they

638
00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:47,520
Speaker 3: did and wanted as badly as they did. But the

639
00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,560
Speaker 3: crowd got into it and they got into it. And

640
00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,280
Speaker 3: I think that's what attracted the audience as well on TV,

641
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:55,320
Speaker 3: is that they saw the competitiveness.

642
00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:56,800
Speaker 10: You know, these guys are all competitors.

643
00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,479
Speaker 3: They didn't win Slams because they did the half assed

644
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:00,960
Speaker 3: They did it because they.

645
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:04,480
Speaker 10: Won't win, and uh.

646
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:05,800
Speaker 3: That's what I'm seeing right now. We know that all

647
00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:08,440
Speaker 3: of them have been practicing. We actually one of the

648
00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:10,800
Speaker 3: new twists this year is that we actually brought in

649
00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:15,080
Speaker 3: some coaches. We actually have two uh what I would

650
00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:18,760
Speaker 3: call playing coaches. Jack Sock, who's an ex tennis who

651
00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:22,800
Speaker 3: just joined the Major League pick a Ball. He's now

652
00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:25,680
Speaker 3: going to become a professional pick a ball player, UH

653
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:32,360
Speaker 3: is teaming up with He's on the uh Agacy Steph side.

654
00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,600
Speaker 3: And James Blake, who actually owns a pick a ball team,

655
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:37,920
Speaker 3: is going to be playing on the Mace and Roe

656
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:44,800
Speaker 3: uh Shripov aside. So a little added twist this year

657
00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:48,760
Speaker 3: and a little coaching because I think these people really

658
00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:52,040
Speaker 3: want to win and we're bringing a little element of

659
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:55,320
Speaker 3: of of the professional pick a ball side into this

660
00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:55,760
Speaker 3: as well.

661
00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:58,520
Speaker 1: Guys, you know why, I am a huge fan of

662
00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:01,280
Speaker 1: Stephanie Graft and you all remember this. At this moment,

663
00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:05,640
Speaker 1: she's playing in a tournament and as she's preparing to

664
00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:08,600
Speaker 1: get ready for the serf, someone shouts out from the crowd,

665
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:12,600
Speaker 1: marry me, and then Steffi Graft shouts back, how much

666
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:17,600
Speaker 1: money do you add she won me over right there?

667
00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:20,080
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I'll say this, Michael Barron, David, you know,

668
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,280
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, let's take a step back here,

669
00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:25,280
Speaker 2: because it's more than just you know, obviously the marketing

670
00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:28,520
Speaker 2: and the sponsorship, consulting and everything that you bring to

671
00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:30,600
Speaker 2: Horizon Sports and Entertainment, which is a company that you

672
00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:33,040
Speaker 2: created just less than two years ago. I want to

673
00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:35,720
Speaker 2: talk about the experience of this event. You know, the

674
00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:38,920
Speaker 2: experiential activation or so to speak, is one of your

675
00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:42,120
Speaker 2: pillars there. Talk to us about what somebody in attendance

676
00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:44,760
Speaker 2: can expect. They're at the hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida,

677
00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,320
Speaker 2: they walk in, what's that experience going to be like?

678
00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:51,520
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, this is a weekend experience kind

679
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:53,800
Speaker 3: of like you know, you want to create not just

680
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:56,480
Speaker 3: experience for one two and a half hour event.

681
00:32:56,560 --> 00:32:58,680
Speaker 10: You want to kind of create experience for the weekend.

682
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:02,840
Speaker 3: So we start off with an amateur event that we're

683
00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:06,600
Speaker 3: hosting on Friday and Saturday with a twenty five thousand

684
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,880
Speaker 3: dollars perse. But what's unique and different, because there's tons

685
00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:14,360
Speaker 3: of amateur pickball events, right, what makes this different is

686
00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:18,240
Speaker 3: not only does the amateur win a substantial amount of money,

687
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:22,400
Speaker 3: but they also get a chance to play against the stars.

688
00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:26,480
Speaker 3: So each of the two winners of the amateur event

689
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:31,400
Speaker 3: actually get to play against Agacy and Stephie and McEnroe

690
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:34,800
Speaker 3: and cool At sharipovin.

691
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:36,160
Speaker 10: So that's unique.

692
00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,000
Speaker 3: And what's cool about that is it's you know, it's

693
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:39,600
Speaker 3: on a street.

694
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:40,840
Speaker 10: We're doing today.

695
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:46,000
Speaker 3: We actually returned over a public parking lot and are

696
00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:50,680
Speaker 3: going to lay down fifteen pickaball courts.

697
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:52,080
Speaker 10: In the Miami area.

698
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:57,719
Speaker 3: And then this, this, this match against the stars is

699
00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:01,120
Speaker 3: like having you know, what's the park up in New

700
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:02,840
Speaker 3: York where the basketball players.

701
00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:03,840
Speaker 10: Kind of just show up some time.

702
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:09,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, Rutgers Park. Right, This is the same kind

703
00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:11,600
Speaker 3: of experience. I mean, these guys are going to be

704
00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:13,719
Speaker 3: sitting and you know, playing in a pick a ball

705
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:18,040
Speaker 3: match in a public you know, parking lot. So you

706
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,560
Speaker 3: know last year we did it in a park you know,

707
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:23,960
Speaker 3: had thousands of people show up to watch the Saturday

708
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:26,880
Speaker 3: finals against you know them to play against the Legend.

709
00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:30,799
Speaker 3: So that's that's Friday and Saturday. Then on Saturday night

710
00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:34,520
Speaker 3: there's a uh a what I would call an interview

711
00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:37,880
Speaker 3: with the stars, kind of like a panel discussion of

712
00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:40,759
Speaker 3: you know, their their history and why they're here and

713
00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:43,640
Speaker 3: sob and so on, and then it leads into a

714
00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:48,400
Speaker 3: blackjack event at the hard Rock on Saturday night with

715
00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:52,200
Speaker 3: all the VIPs, and then on Sunday is the actual

716
00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:55,439
Speaker 3: event Sunday night, and that's where it kicks off. And

717
00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:57,600
Speaker 3: uh excited to have that kind.

718
00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:01,760
Speaker 10: Of whole weekend. So it's it's going to be at.

719
00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:06,960
Speaker 3: The hard Rock Live Auditorium, which holds about forty five

720
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:10,680
Speaker 3: hundred people in the auditorium, and here we are you

721
00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:13,719
Speaker 3: going to have it live on ESPN eight thirty on

722
00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:14,960
Speaker 3: Sunday night, Feb fourth.

723
00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:18,440
Speaker 1: You said blackjack tournament, and my ears perked up like

724
00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:22,240
Speaker 1: a German shepherd. Can you describe more about this tournament?

725
00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:23,320
Speaker 1: This blackjack tournament.

726
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:27,319
Speaker 3: So it's not really a tournament it's it's really a

727
00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:31,160
Speaker 3: way for VIPs and sponsors. You know, we we have

728
00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:35,239
Speaker 3: tremendous sponsors, you know that have come into to the event,

729
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:40,120
Speaker 3: State Farm, and Bright House and and Franklin and I'm

730
00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:43,640
Speaker 3: sure I'm missing a bunch of of great advertisers, but

731
00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:46,200
Speaker 3: they're all bringing down some of their key sponsors and

732
00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:49,000
Speaker 3: cmos and it's a way for them to interact with

733
00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:49,759
Speaker 3: the stars.

734
00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:52,680
Speaker 10: Roddick is actually going to be one of.

735
00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:57,160
Speaker 3: The announcers for the event, so him and there is

736
00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:01,560
Speaker 3: so so it's a way to basically play a little blackjack,

737
00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:05,640
Speaker 3: have a little fun, get to meet the talent kind

738
00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:06,080
Speaker 3: of event.

739
00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:09,239
Speaker 2: Well for sponsors, talk to us a little bit about

740
00:36:09,239 --> 00:36:11,680
Speaker 2: Pickaball because I know, you know, there's a Pickaball league

741
00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:13,319
Speaker 2: that's up and coming. I know there's been a lot

742
00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:16,040
Speaker 2: of talk about Lebron James getting the rights to the

743
00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:18,920
Speaker 2: New York pick a Ball team and all this crazy stuff.

744
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:21,920
Speaker 2: I mean, how does this kind of interplay with that?

745
00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:24,319
Speaker 2: You know, are you involved in all with that Pickaball league?

746
00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:27,440
Speaker 2: Is this something that in the future perhaps you see

747
00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:30,040
Speaker 2: you know, you know, your company doing more on the

748
00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:32,279
Speaker 2: pickaball front with I mean, I'm just curious to hear

749
00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:35,120
Speaker 2: your thoughts about the sport itself and what the future lies.

750
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:38,719
Speaker 3: And hold, yeah, well, it's also a great questions. I

751
00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:41,239
Speaker 3: don't know where our company may or may not fit.

752
00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:44,480
Speaker 3: I I've somehow become the pick a ball king just

753
00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:47,480
Speaker 3: because of this event and seem to people think I'm

754
00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:52,440
Speaker 3: an expert in pickle ball, which I'm not. What I

755
00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:55,000
Speaker 3: am an expert in trying to figure out is is

756
00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:58,279
Speaker 3: working with the fastest growing sport and trying to find

757
00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:02,160
Speaker 3: an event that has authenticity, which is, you know, uh,

758
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:04,680
Speaker 3: the opportunity to actually win a million dollars, play for

759
00:37:04,719 --> 00:37:07,920
Speaker 3: a million dollars and put the best names in racket

760
00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:09,879
Speaker 3: sports in the fastest growing sport.

761
00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:10,680
Speaker 10: Pick a ball.

762
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:15,080
Speaker 3: Listen, there's no doubt it's growing. There's no doubt the participation,

763
00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:17,960
Speaker 3: there's no doubt the love of people that do play it.

764
00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:19,640
Speaker 10: Whether it's a.

765
00:37:19,719 --> 00:37:23,200
Speaker 3: Television event, whether it could actually be a league, you know,

766
00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:27,480
Speaker 3: still to be determined, right, but you certainly have you

767
00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:30,040
Speaker 3: certainly have brand names who are on the cap tables

768
00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:32,520
Speaker 3: on a lot of these franchises. You know, you have

769
00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:36,480
Speaker 3: the Gary Vaynerchuks, you have, you know, the Mark Cubans

770
00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:37,000
Speaker 3: of the world.

771
00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:39,760
Speaker 10: You have a lot of big, big.

772
00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:41,600
Speaker 3: Names that seem to be wanting to get a part

773
00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:45,719
Speaker 3: of this because it is growing so fast, and I

774
00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:48,160
Speaker 3: do believe it's here to stay. I don't think anybody

775
00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:50,840
Speaker 3: is going to give up on it. You know. Padell

776
00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:54,399
Speaker 3: is another sport that's growing. It's very very popular over

777
00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:57,760
Speaker 3: in Europe and Spain and in Latin America. It hasn't

778
00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:01,880
Speaker 3: really hit the States yet, but it's also going to

779
00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:05,719
Speaker 3: be I think, a very strong growing sport. It's a

780
00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:08,040
Speaker 3: little bit more expensive to put a padel cord in

781
00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:11,680
Speaker 3: uh than a than a pick a ball court, but

782
00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:15,879
Speaker 3: I do believe that's also growing. So racket sports in general. Listen,

783
00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:19,560
Speaker 3: everybody's getting healthier. Doctors are doctors are loving the sport

784
00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:21,400
Speaker 3: because I'm hearing a lot of injuries.

785
00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:24,040
Speaker 10: Are a lot old, a lot.

786
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,240
Speaker 3: Of old men are twisting these things of that nature,

787
00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:28,319
Speaker 3: but in hamstrings and things.

788
00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:34,840
Speaker 10: But yeah, I do believe it's here to stay.

789
00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:37,640
Speaker 3: I do believe professional pickle ball is going to have

790
00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:42,400
Speaker 3: a role somewhere because the the sport is growing, and

791
00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:46,359
Speaker 3: it is athletic and there is competition. The reason why

792
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:49,800
Speaker 3: I think it's growing so fast in the public space

793
00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:53,400
Speaker 3: is because it's easy to pick up. You know, if

794
00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:56,360
Speaker 3: you have hand eye coordination, you could have a pretty

795
00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:59,799
Speaker 3: competitive game with somebody that's really maybe not a great

796
00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:02,640
Speaker 3: pick ketball player, if he has hand good hand high coordination.

797
00:39:03,239 --> 00:39:05,320
Speaker 10: You know, you can't do that in tennis.

798
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:07,520
Speaker 3: Like if you're a bad tennis player and you're a

799
00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:09,279
Speaker 3: really good tennis player, you're not gonna have a very

800
00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:10,040
Speaker 3: good experience.

801
00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:11,480
Speaker 10: But you know, if you're.

802
00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:13,359
Speaker 3: An average pickball player and a good picker, you could

803
00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:17,279
Speaker 3: have at least a fun experience. It's also very commutative,

804
00:39:17,719 --> 00:39:21,000
Speaker 3: meaning you know, there's a lot of opportunity to have

805
00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:23,959
Speaker 3: a lot of socializing. You're you're close to each other,

806
00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:27,719
Speaker 3: where tennis you're much more far apart. So there's a

807
00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:31,719
Speaker 3: social aspect, a competitive aspect, and I think that's why

808
00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:36,600
Speaker 3: you're seeing such such high growth in this And you

809
00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:39,880
Speaker 3: know what this event is is, you know, everybody loves

810
00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:40,720
Speaker 3: these brand names.

811
00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:42,760
Speaker 10: Everybody wants to see them back on the court.

812
00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:47,600
Speaker 3: McEnroe, as you saw in Slam one, you know, was angry,

813
00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:50,279
Speaker 3: you know, as Michael said, you know he saw him

814
00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:53,040
Speaker 3: being angry and missing shots or maybe Darren you said

815
00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:53,520
Speaker 3: that whatever.

816
00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:57,120
Speaker 10: Dame excuse me. You know, so, I think this is going.

817
00:39:57,080 --> 00:40:04,280
Speaker 3: To be a very well, hopefully watched event and hopefully

818
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:06,600
Speaker 3: we'll see great numbers as we did in Slam one.

819
00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:09,160
Speaker 1: I know we're running out of time, but you mentioned

820
00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:12,720
Speaker 1: something when we were talking about the Blackjack Tournament about

821
00:40:12,719 --> 00:40:15,719
Speaker 1: sponsors coming in, and you guys are picking up more

822
00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:21,240
Speaker 1: sponsors with this, this tournament for the pickleball tournament. Uh,

823
00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:24,360
Speaker 1: and it's growing and growing. Where do you see the

824
00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:25,640
Speaker 1: sponsorship growing from this?

825
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:29,919
Speaker 10: Oh? I think just just up.

826
00:40:30,120 --> 00:40:32,359
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, everything starts at some place, right,

827
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:34,520
Speaker 3: and then it has to grow from there. I think

828
00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:37,000
Speaker 3: you're going to see I bet you, and let's let's

829
00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:39,480
Speaker 3: find out if I'm right. I bet you you're going

830
00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:42,320
Speaker 3: to see ads in the Super Bowl that have pickle

831
00:40:42,320 --> 00:40:42,920
Speaker 3: ball in it.

832
00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:45,239
Speaker 10: I don't know who, I don't know what. No one

833
00:40:45,239 --> 00:40:47,440
Speaker 10: knows the Super Bowl ads. They're all kind of secretive.

834
00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:50,080
Speaker 3: But you know, if you start watching TV right now

835
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:53,479
Speaker 3: and you're seeing some of the major brands. I see

836
00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:56,239
Speaker 3: car companies using pickleball in their ads, and I see

837
00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:59,640
Speaker 3: insurance companies using pickleball. It's it's going to be part

838
00:40:59,640 --> 00:41:01,560
Speaker 3: of pop culture and it's going to be part of

839
00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:05,359
Speaker 3: you know, ads in the future. So I think advertisers

840
00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:09,360
Speaker 3: are starting to understand there's a large audience and I

841
00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:12,560
Speaker 3: think it's an easy way to get yourself into a

842
00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:13,319
Speaker 3: new fan base.

843
00:41:13,680 --> 00:41:16,600
Speaker 1: David Levy, you are the man founder in co CEO

844
00:41:16,719 --> 00:41:21,880
Speaker 1: Horizon Sports and Experiences behind Slam Too, and it is

845
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:24,200
Speaker 1: probably going to be one of the most talked about

846
00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:28,400
Speaker 1: pickleball tournaments of the year. Thank you so much for

847
00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:30,600
Speaker 1: joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports. We really

848
00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:31,279
Speaker 1: do appreciate it.

849
00:41:32,520 --> 00:41:33,880
Speaker 10: Thank you both appreciate it.

850
00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:36,799
Speaker 1: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports show, and we

851
00:41:36,840 --> 00:41:38,719
Speaker 1: are here each and every week at the same time.

852
00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:42,720
Speaker 1: I'm Michael Barr for Scarlett Foo and Damien Sasaur. Tune

853
00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:45,000
Speaker 1: in again next week for the latest on the stories

854
00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:47,879
Speaker 1: moving big old money in the world of sports. You're

855
00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:51,200
Speaker 1: listening to The Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio

856
00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:52,440
Speaker 1: around the world.