Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: I want to jump in right to our next two
Speaker 2: guests because they just are at a panel the Legacy
Speaker 2: play how global sports shapes cities, economies and culture. And
Speaker 2: we think about so many things that bring communities together,
Speaker 2: and sports is certainly one. So delighted to have.
Speaker 3: Two stars.
Speaker 2: Brizzie Johnson, US Olympic Old Medicine World champion of course skiing.
Speaker 2: We all know who she is. Yeah, just got in here.
Speaker 3: Right, yeah, just last night, just last night.
Speaker 2: Okay, Jesus, you're awake.
Speaker 3: We're not.
Speaker 4: I don't know about us.
Speaker 2: Joshah Worthington is with US chief Revenue and philanthrop Officer
Speaker 2: at US Ski and Snowboard. Thank you guys for being
Speaker 2: with us. Where to begin? You come to milkin? Joe
Speaker 2: and I keep talking about sports. There's a ton of
Speaker 2: money in sports. A lot of pressure though, on every
Speaker 2: sport to make sure that they are generating revenue. Tricia,
Speaker 2: let me start with you. Tell us what you guys
Speaker 2: are doing, how easy it is, how hard you're all
Speaker 2: competing with dollars for dollars.
Speaker 1: I should say absolutely, Yeah. We have two main revenue
Speaker 1: avenues of revenue at USK and Snowboard, and that is
Speaker 1: primarily private giving as well as corporate partnership, and both
Speaker 1: are really equally supporting these athletes. Everything we raised through
Speaker 1: those two avenues, support their training, their traveling, they're coaching
Speaker 1: everything they need to get to the level that Breezy
Speaker 1: did in Italy.
Speaker 4: Well, it's incredible to have you here and wonderful to
Speaker 4: meet you. You're a hero for a lot of folks
Speaker 4: who watched you in action, and I'm wondering what kind
Speaker 4: of a reception you're getting here today because you're a
Speaker 4: draw and you help, you're an ambassador for this message,
Speaker 4: right what kind of reaction are you hearing from those
Speaker 4: who are holding the dollars at Milkin.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's really such an honor to be here.
Speaker 3: I think, you know, I would say I'm not one
Speaker 3: of the most well known athletes right now, But you know,
Speaker 3: once the gold starts shining around, then except.
Speaker 4: Johnson, that starts a conversation in itself, doesn't it exactly exactly?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think, you know, winning an Olympic gold medal,
Speaker 3: I don't think I really even could comprehend the value
Speaker 3: of it to the American public. I think we as athletes,
Speaker 3: we work our whole lives for it. But I think,
Speaker 3: you know, there's a lot of pieces that need to
Speaker 3: come together. Ski racing in particular is very much you know,
Speaker 3: it's I think more similar to a Formula one operation
Speaker 3: than like what most people would expect from an Olympic operation,
Speaker 3: and we're trying to do that on a very small budget.
Speaker 3: So you know, for everything to come together at the
Speaker 3: right time once every four years is definitely a challenge.
Speaker 2: Mean and mean can make you extreme, Like I totally
Speaker 2: see a play out pas He talked to us about
Speaker 2: after winning the medal, Like, what does that mean in
Speaker 2: terms of sponsorships, do all of a sudden is the
Speaker 2: phone ringing like crazy? Give us an idea of how
Speaker 2: that changes things?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it definitely changes things, although it's slow. Right. So,
Speaker 3: as athletes, I would say most of our income comes
Speaker 3: from four main revenue. So Or says, for alpine athletes,
Speaker 3: you have your helmet sponsor, your kind of title sponsor.
Speaker 3: We're lucky enough to work with Stefel on the USKE
Speaker 3: team and they work with me personally. They're a great or,
Speaker 3: they're a great you know, company, and they work they're
Speaker 3: super invested in skiing and also expanding our appearance globally,
Speaker 3: which is super important for sponsorships. Then you have your
Speaker 3: sort of nil deals, your Instagram deals, things like that.
Speaker 3: That's it's a small piece of the pie, and I
Speaker 3: feel like it's somewhat getting smaller as the market gets
Speaker 3: larger with NCAA athletes, et cetera. Then you have your
Speaker 3: endemic sponsors, your equipment sponsors, things like that. That's sort
Speaker 3: of holding pretty steady, I would say, but with inflation,
Speaker 3: I would say, somewhat decreasing. And then you have your
Speaker 3: appearance fees, your you know, conferences that you speak at,
Speaker 3: your you know, keynote speeches that you do, so that
Speaker 3: obviously has grown a lot. Some of the deals you
Speaker 3: know that I've had are definitely growing. And then obviously
Speaker 3: you make more from your endemic sponsors through bonuses and
Speaker 3: things like that around the Olympics. But I would say, yeah,
Speaker 3: it's an ever changing landscape for sure, and especially with
Speaker 3: you know, nc double A and those pieces, it's definitely evolving.
Speaker 4: So, Tricia, how do you grow a sport that for
Speaker 4: many people is not accessible and is known at least
Speaker 4: for having a high barrier of entry? How do you
Speaker 4: make this successible some more Americans.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think doing a good job on the corporate
Speaker 1: sponsorship side and having those corporate partners help us raise
Speaker 1: awareness for the athletes because we are such a small sport,
Speaker 1: so we work with big brands like Stifo that Breezy mentioned,
Speaker 1: but also Visa, Toyota j Crew, all exposing us to
Speaker 1: audiences that aren't endemic necessarily to the sport, so that
Speaker 1: that would be a key part of that.
Speaker 2: I feel like the last couple of years, you know, hallelujah.
Speaker 2: You know, women and sports are getting some recognition, They're
Speaker 2: getting the broadcast audience. I do feel like there is
Speaker 2: a shift going on in a big way. Investors want
Speaker 2: to invest not just in men's teams, they want to
Speaker 2: invest in women's teams. Tell me about let me start
Speaker 2: with you. You know what you are seeing specifically.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, our women are killing it right now,
Speaker 1: you know Breezy Lindsay for but the strongest women's moguls
Speaker 1: team in the world. And so because there's so much
Speaker 1: hype around women's sports, it is attracting corporate partners to
Speaker 1: the team, and so you know, it's definitely helping us
Speaker 1: grow that area. Of our support to a much bigger,
Speaker 1: you know size, and it has been traditionally.
Speaker 2: I want to ask you, I just want to ask
Speaker 2: Breeze the same question, like how because you started doing
Speaker 2: this when you were how old and what you've seen
Speaker 2: your trajectory of how kind of the acceptance of women
Speaker 2: in sports? The success of women?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I would say that in many ways,
Speaker 3: I think social media has changed the landscape because in
Speaker 3: the ability for everybody to tell their story, I think
Speaker 3: people have realized that women have just as compelling of
Speaker 3: stories as men do, and I think that has you know,
Speaker 3: exploded online the ability for women to market themselves. I mean,
Speaker 3: you know, I think in terms of marketing, you often
Speaker 3: are talking about a form of investment, right and I
Speaker 3: think people are now seeing that investing in women's sports
Speaker 3: through marketing is you know, that is an undervalued asset
Speaker 3: right now, and so to invest in it is you know,
Speaker 3: a much better return, whereas I think with men's sports,
Speaker 3: yes there's great return on it, but also you know
Speaker 3: people already have it's not undervalued in the same way
Speaker 3: that women's sports is really interesting.
Speaker 4: Just lastly, then, what would be your advice to a
Speaker 4: young person living in the middle of the country without
Speaker 4: a lot of disposable income, who wants to do what
Speaker 4: you did?
Speaker 3: I mean, I think, to me, sports, you know, is
Speaker 3: such a broad category, and I personally like I love skiing,
Speaker 3: and I think that they're for one. You see stories
Speaker 3: of skiers from like Buck Hill, small ski hills, and
Speaker 3: I think we're working through you know, organizations like Shaer
Speaker 3: Winter and things like that, to try to expand the
Speaker 3: sport to a broader socioeconomic background. And then as far
Speaker 3: as like sports in general, I do think that there
Speaker 3: is a sport for everyone. I think that, yes, there
Speaker 3: are different kind of genetic advantages to different sports, but
Speaker 3: I think that everybody sort of has something for one
Speaker 3: of them, whether it's you know, the eyesight you need
Speaker 3: for skiing or the fast switch muscles for sprinting. And
Speaker 3: so I think just trying a lot of different sports
Speaker 3: is what I would recommend to a lot.
Speaker 4: Of fascinating Well, you've inspired so many Americans and we
Speaker 4: thank you for being here. It's wonderful to meet you
Speaker 4: in person, and thanks for doing everything that you're doing.
Speaker 4: Thank you absolutely.
Speaker 2: Yeah, really wonderful staff.
Speaker 4: So Christy Johnson and Trisha Worthington with us here live
Speaker 4: at the Milk and Global Conference in Beverly Hills,