1
00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,760
Speaker 1: This is the business of sports. Should Major League Baseball

2
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,840
Speaker 1: shorten up the season? How do we present football to

3
00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:08,920
Speaker 1: the audience of the future. I don't think that most

4
00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:11,640
Speaker 1: players understand the power that they have. Michael Barr. The

5
00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:15,520
Speaker 1: future of IndyCar racing is looking bright. Scott Sashnak very

6
00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:18,959
Speaker 1: basic math here, more bidders means more money. Evan Nobody Williams.

7
00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,079
Speaker 1: The team value has essentially quadruples. And the leaders in

8
00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:25,480
Speaker 1: the sports industry time to bring in our guest, al Stiebrunner,

9
00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,320
Speaker 1: National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Betman, Atlanta Braves president Derek Schiller,

10
00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:34,600
Speaker 1: Patriots President Jonathan Kraft. Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Hello,

11
00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:39,199
Speaker 1: I'm Evan Noby Williams and Michael Barr. Sans Scott. We

12
00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:41,640
Speaker 1: miss you, buddy. He's flying all the day though. This

13
00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:47,479
Speaker 1: is the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast where we I

14
00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,680
Speaker 1: love it exploded. Big money issues in the world of sports.

15
00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,760
Speaker 1: Man Scott's gonna be jealous because we're saying we now, uh,

16
00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:56,920
Speaker 1: We've got a lot of topics to talk about. Yeah,

17
00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:00,400
Speaker 1: what a busy what a busy weekend? Oh my goodness, races,

18
00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:02,320
Speaker 1: I don't know where to begin. Let's I'll tell you.

19
00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,840
Speaker 1: Let's start with Kawai Leonard and there's so many avenues

20
00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:08,559
Speaker 1: to go with this Friday news dump of the Center

21
00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:13,560
Speaker 1: Sports perspective. I mean, first of all, Leonards says, you know,

22
00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:17,680
Speaker 1: all about the rumors that there was no way he

23
00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,200
Speaker 1: was going to join Lebron and Anthony Davis as rumors.

24
00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,280
Speaker 1: We'll see where this plays out. But then there's the

25
00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:27,839
Speaker 1: one that, uh, that we were both talking about. Uh,

26
00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:30,440
Speaker 1: let's put it this way. At one point, he was

27
00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:32,840
Speaker 1: kind of acting like a GM. Yeah. I think this

28
00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,360
Speaker 1: is the most interesting part of this, and we've seen

29
00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:37,640
Speaker 1: it over the past ten years in the NBA, where

30
00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:39,880
Speaker 1: you know, stars have so much power, and when you're

31
00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:42,720
Speaker 1: a free agent and you're as good as Kawhi Leonard is, UM,

32
00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:45,920
Speaker 1: you essentially have your your pick of of a handful

33
00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:48,480
Speaker 1: of teams that you can go to. UM. But he

34
00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,600
Speaker 1: really was a g M here, right. I mean, he

35
00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:53,800
Speaker 1: there are rumors that he talked to Kevin Durant and

36
00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,560
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving about possibly teaming up even after uh, the

37
00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:00,800
Speaker 1: announcement was that they intended to sign in Brooklyn. You know,

38
00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:05,680
Speaker 1: he got the Clippers to make a monster monster deal

39
00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:08,919
Speaker 1: with the Oklahoma City Thunder to get Paul George, who

40
00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,840
Speaker 1: was an m VP candidate last year. He was essentially

41
00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:15,519
Speaker 1: pulling the strings here in a way that you typically

42
00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:17,760
Speaker 1: see on the team side. Right. This is a this

43
00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:21,280
Speaker 1: is a GM's job right to make a pitch to

44
00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:23,840
Speaker 1: a player, to think about what else you can do.

45
00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:26,160
Speaker 1: Maybe try to lure two players who are agreeing to

46
00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:29,120
Speaker 1: sign together if you can get them both to uh

47
00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,240
Speaker 1: k Kawhi Leonard, who is you know, notoriously close to

48
00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,800
Speaker 1: the vest managed to do all this himself in an offseason,

49
00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,120
Speaker 1: and and I don't think this is this should be overlooked.

50
00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,400
Speaker 1: Did it without the media getting wind of it? Right?

51
00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,280
Speaker 1: There was people, I mean, there's so many sources saying

52
00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:45,800
Speaker 1: that he was going to stay in Toronto or he

53
00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:48,560
Speaker 1: was definitely going to l a UM. There was really

54
00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:52,600
Speaker 1: nobody really addressing that the idea that he was planning

55
00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:54,799
Speaker 1: for a while to be and be with the Clippers,

56
00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,400
Speaker 1: and not only that, was working on other teams to

57
00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:00,560
Speaker 1: try to get a deal done. I think the big

58
00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,120
Speaker 1: news stories, like you said earlier, the first time I

59
00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,920
Speaker 1: heard about this was this morning when I read about it.

60
00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:10,200
Speaker 1: Because we heard nothing about this even through the most

61
00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:12,120
Speaker 1: of the weekend, we didn't hear anything. Yeah, I mean

62
00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:13,920
Speaker 1: I think that the general thought, I mean, he's a

63
00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,320
Speaker 1: he's from l A right that there was certainly talk

64
00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,000
Speaker 1: of him going to the Clippers a while ago, but

65
00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:21,760
Speaker 1: so much of the conversation in the past week really

66
00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:25,400
Speaker 1: centered around two options, right, returning to Toronto where he

67
00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:29,400
Speaker 1: just wanted to an NBA title, or teaming up with

68
00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:31,720
Speaker 1: the Lakers. You know, which would be you know, with

69
00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:35,120
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard and Lebron James would probably be

70
00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:38,600
Speaker 1: the three most talented, the team with the most talented

71
00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,280
Speaker 1: three players in NBA history. Um, he decided not to

72
00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:46,920
Speaker 1: do that. Uh. In one's fell swoop, you know, Lord

73
00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,480
Speaker 1: Paul George from the Clipper or from the Oklahoma City

74
00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:54,240
Speaker 1: thunder spurned the Lakers, blew the NBA kind of wide

75
00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,000
Speaker 1: open in terms of who the favorite is, who the

76
00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:00,480
Speaker 1: team is to watch. Um, you know, there's so many

77
00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:02,720
Speaker 1: different folds to this. A few others that I think

78
00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,400
Speaker 1: are really worth discussing. One, you know, there was a

79
00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:07,560
Speaker 1: lot of talk when Lebron went out West last year

80
00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,440
Speaker 1: that you know, the NBA was losing a lot of

81
00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:12,840
Speaker 1: stars on the East coast um and that that has

82
00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,320
Speaker 1: an effect on TV ratings, which were down this year.

83
00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:17,200
Speaker 1: And one of the reasons was that, you know, a

84
00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:19,440
Speaker 1: guy who's been in the East Coast for his entire

85
00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:23,120
Speaker 1: career was suddenly moving out west. Um. This move by

86
00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,280
Speaker 1: Kauai doesn't help that all that much. Right, he leaves

87
00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:28,640
Speaker 1: Toronto and goes to the West coast. He takes Paul

88
00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:32,680
Speaker 1: George from Oklahoma City, also goes to the West coast. Uh.

89
00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:34,480
Speaker 1: You can argue that the Nets got a bit more

90
00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:38,039
Speaker 1: interesting and free agent luring Kevin Durant from the West

91
00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:40,680
Speaker 1: Coast back east, but he won't play next year. And

92
00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:42,840
Speaker 1: I do wonder if there's a part of the league

93
00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:47,279
Speaker 1: office right now that's thinking, man, all these really interesting teams.

94
00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,480
Speaker 1: Be at the Warriors still with Steph Curry, Clay Thompson,

95
00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:53,719
Speaker 1: Draymond Green, whether it's the Clippers now with Kawuhi Leonard

96
00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:56,240
Speaker 1: and Paul George, if it's the Lakers now with Anthony

97
00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:58,920
Speaker 1: Davis and Lebron James. Most of these games are gonna

98
00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,400
Speaker 1: be starting at ten PM the East coast, right. That's

99
00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:03,840
Speaker 1: going to have an effect on at least the TV

100
00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,880
Speaker 1: ratings and also some advertising money going going to the

101
00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:09,200
Speaker 1: NBA and its partners. I'll tell you one team, since

102
00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:12,120
Speaker 1: Durant is not playing next season in the East, that

103
00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:14,760
Speaker 1: I got my eye on that I think could do

104
00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:20,400
Speaker 1: very well, uh filling because if Durant's not playing, because

105
00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:22,760
Speaker 1: the seventies six years for the most part, kept all

106
00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,760
Speaker 1: their components together, and I could see them making a

107
00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,800
Speaker 1: deep run, if not possibly going all the way. Sure. Yeah.

108
00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,760
Speaker 1: And and another thing that I think is also worth mentioning, Um,

109
00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,240
Speaker 1: the NBA obviously tremendously popular right now, and it has

110
00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:40,880
Speaker 1: it occupies the space right now in kind of the

111
00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:44,000
Speaker 1: social fabric of America and social media that I think

112
00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,960
Speaker 1: other leagues kind of failed to do. Um. The league

113
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,800
Speaker 1: has structured itself in a way where it seems like

114
00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:55,000
Speaker 1: the entire league turns over every two, three, four years, right,

115
00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,960
Speaker 1: which I think is really good for you know, conversations

116
00:05:57,960 --> 00:05:59,920
Speaker 1: and weeks like this. Right this, you could argue that

117
00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,320
Speaker 1: his last his last seven days were possibly, outside of

118
00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:07,880
Speaker 1: actual basketball being played, the most exciting week in NBA history.

119
00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:09,560
Speaker 1: I was looking at this the other day, the two

120
00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,440
Speaker 1: thousand seventeen NBA All Star Game, Right, so two years ago,

121
00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,920
Speaker 1: of the ten starters only two of them are still

122
00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:17,920
Speaker 1: on the same team they were on two years ago. Right,

123
00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,919
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving changed teams, Demard Rose And changed teams. Lebron

124
00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,520
Speaker 1: James changed teams, Jimmy Butler changed teams, Janna Santa Tacoumpo

125
00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,360
Speaker 1: same team. And then in the West, Steph Curry same team,

126
00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:30,640
Speaker 1: James Harden, different team, Kevin Durant different team, Kawhi Leonard

127
00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,200
Speaker 1: different team, Anthony Davis different team. You know that the

128
00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,240
Speaker 1: league is structured in this way now and players have

129
00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,839
Speaker 1: so much power where there is so much interest in

130
00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,640
Speaker 1: free agency, and really the best teams in the league

131
00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:46,120
Speaker 1: switched their teams almost probably every every three to four

132
00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:48,680
Speaker 1: years now. Um. Kerry Irving, you know, is on this

133
00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:51,240
Speaker 1: list as well. He you know, he's been involved in

134
00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:55,239
Speaker 1: three blockbuster free agency or trades in the past four years.

135
00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,360
Speaker 1: It seems like, right, um, and that keeps interest high.

136
00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:00,560
Speaker 1: And it's different from any other sport. This does not

137
00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:04,120
Speaker 1: happen in the NFL, h It does not happen in

138
00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,040
Speaker 1: the NHL. It doesn't happen in baseball to the same degree.

139
00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,280
Speaker 1: By the way, can we calm some talk down about

140
00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:12,960
Speaker 1: the Warriors. I'm hearing now because of all this free

141
00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:16,440
Speaker 1: agency that has happened, that that's it. The Warriors, They're

142
00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,400
Speaker 1: not even gonna make the playoffs. Calm down, they're gonna

143
00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,480
Speaker 1: make the playoffs. I don't know how deep they're gonna go,

144
00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:26,400
Speaker 1: but they're gonna make the playoffs. Yeah, No, you're right. Um.

145
00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,640
Speaker 1: And I do wonder, you know, as as teams shift

146
00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:32,720
Speaker 1: so much, UM, I do wonder if if if fandom

147
00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:36,600
Speaker 1: in the NBA is going to eventually occupy a different type.

148
00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:40,200
Speaker 1: You know, the NFL fans obviously are so you know,

149
00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:43,040
Speaker 1: addicted to their own teams. It's so tribal. I do

150
00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,000
Speaker 1: wonder if if the NBA, as it continues, you know,

151
00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:48,680
Speaker 1: have off seasons that are almost like reality TV shows.

152
00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:51,160
Speaker 1: If you if you start to as an NBA fan,

153
00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:53,760
Speaker 1: and the future of fandom in the NBA might less

154
00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:57,600
Speaker 1: be tethered directly to you know, your local team and

155
00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:00,720
Speaker 1: maybe more tied one to a player or two two

156
00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:02,880
Speaker 1: and ethos. Right like the there are people out there

157
00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:05,680
Speaker 1: who are gonna love the Clippers and the Lakers right

158
00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:07,640
Speaker 1: now because they're super teams and stars are on them.

159
00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:09,280
Speaker 1: I think there are people out there who are also

160
00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:11,760
Speaker 1: gonna love what's happening down in New Orleans. You know

161
00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,400
Speaker 1: with Zion Williamson, you know who got overlooked his his

162
00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:17,560
Speaker 1: summer league debut. I think got overlooked within all this,

163
00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:24,200
Speaker 1: you know, the free agency and trade periods, what could

164
00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,440
Speaker 1: go down as a as a banner moment in in

165
00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,040
Speaker 1: NBA history, you know, his summer league debut. Um, yeah,

166
00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:31,680
Speaker 1: I think there are people out there who will say, look,

167
00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,200
Speaker 1: I like what they're doing down and down in New Orleans.

168
00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,280
Speaker 1: That's a different kind of exciting team, right one that's

169
00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:40,760
Speaker 1: built on youth and exciting and through the draft, which

170
00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:41,920
Speaker 1: is not the way that a lot of these other

171
00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:44,280
Speaker 1: teams are built. Um. So yeah, there's I think there's

172
00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:46,760
Speaker 1: a lot of different Uh. I wonder if fandom may

173
00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:50,200
Speaker 1: be changing a bit in the NBA because of the

174
00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:52,880
Speaker 1: fact that, you know, teams don't hold onto players anymore,

175
00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:55,520
Speaker 1: and players have so much power and so much you know,

176
00:08:55,559 --> 00:08:57,880
Speaker 1: so much command over fans right now that you know,

177
00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:00,000
Speaker 1: as they change teams. I wonder if allegiance has change

178
00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:03,440
Speaker 1: with them. Next topic, you know, you all know, you

179
00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:05,600
Speaker 1: all know what we're going to talk about, because we

180
00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,880
Speaker 1: have to give us some congratulations to the US women's

181
00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:12,839
Speaker 1: National soccer team. They're celebrating their fourth World Cup championship,

182
00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:16,800
Speaker 1: beating the Netherlands to nil. Now on Wednesday, New York

183
00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,120
Speaker 1: City will throw a parade for the team. But what

184
00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,200
Speaker 1: is more important that we're talking about. They're hoping for

185
00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:26,760
Speaker 1: another victory. Uh. Back in March twenty, members of the

186
00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:31,040
Speaker 1: team sue the US Soccer Federation for allegedly discriminating by

187
00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:36,199
Speaker 1: paying the women less than members of the men's national team.

188
00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:41,360
Speaker 1: And UH hopefully for the women as they're saying that

189
00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,679
Speaker 1: this win is going to help them in that fight. Yeah,

190
00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:46,160
Speaker 1: I would think that it would. Did you see the

191
00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:53,520
Speaker 1: fans in France after the win? I like that? Um? Yeah,

192
00:09:53,559 --> 00:09:55,720
Speaker 1: I think there's no question that this, you know, winning

193
00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:59,440
Speaker 1: another back to back World Cups will certainly in the

194
00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,120
Speaker 1: court of public opinion. I think has bolstered the women's

195
00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:06,840
Speaker 1: argument significantly from a legal standpoint. I mean, who knows

196
00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:09,560
Speaker 1: how much you know that affects the way these things go.

197
00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:12,640
Speaker 1: I believe the US Soccer recently agreed to UH to

198
00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:16,359
Speaker 1: mediation as a way to try to resolve this suit. Um,

199
00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:19,240
Speaker 1: but you know it can't hurt right that the women

200
00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:21,400
Speaker 1: get I think tw hundred and fifty thou dollars each

201
00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:24,520
Speaker 1: as their as their bonus for winning the World Cup. Um,

202
00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:26,520
Speaker 1: if it were the men, you know that each man

203
00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:28,240
Speaker 1: on the US team would get over a million from

204
00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:31,240
Speaker 1: what I if I remember the pool, right, it's the

205
00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:34,440
Speaker 1: total fief of pool is thirty million for the women,

206
00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,079
Speaker 1: but four million for the men. Yeah, those are those

207
00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,439
Speaker 1: are those are a bit different numbers. Yeah, and and

208
00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:44,120
Speaker 1: and you know, so much of the argument this, the

209
00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:48,920
Speaker 1: argument that US Soccer makes um against equal pay for

210
00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,440
Speaker 1: the men's and the women's team. Um. Part of it

211
00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:53,400
Speaker 1: is that you know, they're they're different jobs with a

212
00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,760
Speaker 1: different C B A. The other part of it is

213
00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:59,000
Speaker 1: that the men make more money. Right, and we're starting

214
00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:02,160
Speaker 1: to see that line blur a little bit. Right, we

215
00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:04,719
Speaker 1: don't have the ratings yet. It's Monday morning here in

216
00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:06,560
Speaker 1: New York. We don't have the ratings yet. I would

217
00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,000
Speaker 1: imagine that this women's game comes close to or beats

218
00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:12,720
Speaker 1: the twenty five million that watched the women's final four

219
00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:14,920
Speaker 1: years ago. And as you know, that was the most

220
00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:17,760
Speaker 1: watched soccer game, men's or women's ever in English language

221
00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,840
Speaker 1: television in the US. Right, the women played on Fox

222
00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:24,480
Speaker 1: on Sunday, The men played in the Gold Cup Final

223
00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:28,240
Speaker 1: on Fox Sports One on Sunday night. Uh, those are

224
00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:30,640
Speaker 1: two different networks. Obviously the Fox is always going to

225
00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:32,600
Speaker 1: get a bigger draw, but I'd imagine the difference in

226
00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:35,320
Speaker 1: those ratings is going to be very stark. So from

227
00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:38,679
Speaker 1: a rating standpoint, the Women's World Cup is doing very well.

228
00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:40,800
Speaker 1: And considering the US men didn't even make the World

229
00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:43,840
Speaker 1: Cup four years ago, it's it's a tough or last year,

230
00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,240
Speaker 1: it's a tough comparison to make. Their merchandizing is another one. Right.

231
00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:50,160
Speaker 1: We heard Mark Parker, the CEO of Nike, say on

232
00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:53,160
Speaker 1: their earnings call last week, the US women's jersey was

233
00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,560
Speaker 1: the best selling soccer jersey they'd ever had. Right and

234
00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:58,640
Speaker 1: now Fanatics, which is the dominant force in in licensed

235
00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:01,599
Speaker 1: sports apparel, there's saying that this year's women's team is

236
00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:04,920
Speaker 1: the best selling soccer team national soccer team they've ever had.

237
00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,640
Speaker 1: Right So, so there there's a tremendous amount of commerce

238
00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,880
Speaker 1: existing around this women's team. And as you know, more

239
00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:13,760
Speaker 1: and more shirts get sold, and as more and more

240
00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:16,960
Speaker 1: people watch their games. The argument between you know, the

241
00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:18,880
Speaker 1: men's team makes so much more money than the women's team.

242
00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:21,120
Speaker 1: Maybe the line there starts to blur a bit. I

243
00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:24,200
Speaker 1: think it comes down to it, and it's just like anything,

244
00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:27,280
Speaker 1: but whether it's for the women, for the men, whether

245
00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,760
Speaker 1: any sport, you're talking about how much of demand is

246
00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:33,040
Speaker 1: out there, And that's what it really is going to

247
00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:35,959
Speaker 1: come down to. Uh, I don't care if you put

248
00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:40,040
Speaker 1: the best Major League Baseball team on television. If there's

249
00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:42,680
Speaker 1: no demand for it, who's going to watch? And and

250
00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:46,200
Speaker 1: the National Women's Soccer League is another, you know, part

251
00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:49,559
Speaker 1: of this discussion, not necessarily the equal pay discussion, but

252
00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:51,680
Speaker 1: you know four years ago when the women beat Japan

253
00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:56,000
Speaker 1: in that in that really exciting blowout final, the National

254
00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,439
Speaker 1: Women's Soccer League, the professional league here in the US,

255
00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,520
Speaker 1: so a tremendous boost for the first you know, first

256
00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,520
Speaker 1: couple of months back, right, I remember Carly Lloyd playing

257
00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:06,640
Speaker 1: in that first game back in Houston. You know, there

258
00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:08,440
Speaker 1: was a boost in tickets, there was a boost in

259
00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:11,719
Speaker 1: people watching. Um. Christine Lily told us a couple of

260
00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:13,600
Speaker 1: weeks ago the same thing. She expects there to be

261
00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,880
Speaker 1: a big business halo around the World Cup victory. Right,

262
00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:21,400
Speaker 1: There's gonna be a tour for the U S national team.

263
00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:23,040
Speaker 1: Those women are also going to go back to the

264
00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:25,480
Speaker 1: n ws L and start playing in that league. There

265
00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:27,560
Speaker 1: will be more people going to those games in the

266
00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,199
Speaker 1: next couple of months. The big question is can they

267
00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:32,280
Speaker 1: sustain that right exactly? Yeah, that that's what I was

268
00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:34,440
Speaker 1: getting at you. I want to add, yes, there is

269
00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:38,600
Speaker 1: definitely a demand to watch the US women's soccer team.

270
00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,080
Speaker 1: The question now is, like you said, you have to

271
00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:44,080
Speaker 1: sustain it absolutely yeah, and and you know you see

272
00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:46,360
Speaker 1: people saying it already. But you know, if you want

273
00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,920
Speaker 1: to support women's soccer in the US, right, the way

274
00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:51,959
Speaker 1: you do that is with your wallet, right, and if

275
00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:55,280
Speaker 1: you live somewhere close to the nine teams in the NWSL, right,

276
00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:57,600
Speaker 1: going to games is a way that that you do that, right,

277
00:13:57,960 --> 00:13:59,920
Speaker 1: or turning into the you know, they just signed a

278
00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:03,240
Speaker 1: big deal with ESPN, a broadcast deal tuning into the

279
00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:07,760
Speaker 1: NWSL on ESPN News or ESPN two wherever ESPN chooses

280
00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:10,280
Speaker 1: to put those games. That's another way that you can

281
00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:12,839
Speaker 1: you can show the support like that. Um so yeah,

282
00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:16,280
Speaker 1: the women's soccer is trying to avoid this Olympic curse

283
00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,600
Speaker 1: like gymnastics has, like figure skating has, where it's tremendously

284
00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,720
Speaker 1: popular every four years and then in the interim four years.

285
00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:27,760
Speaker 1: You know, nobody really cares that much about it. The

286
00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:33,160
Speaker 1: feel good story out of Wimbledon is Coco Golf bless

287
00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:37,880
Speaker 1: her fifteen years old. Uh, she has had a great

288
00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:42,640
Speaker 1: run at Wimbledon, but it's unfortunately over y. She she

289
00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,840
Speaker 1: was eliminated by Simona Hallip on Monday morning. Um, but yeah,

290
00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:49,160
Speaker 1: I mean, what a what a run there. You got

291
00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,080
Speaker 1: to the round of sixteen as a fifteen year old,

292
00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:55,760
Speaker 1: which is I mean almost unfathomable, especially now as tennis

293
00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:57,640
Speaker 1: seems to be getting older and older in terms of

294
00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:01,120
Speaker 1: who finds success. You know, the act that she at

295
00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:05,120
Speaker 1: fifteen in you know, one of the first w t

296
00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:09,120
Speaker 1: A Tour tournaments of her career, one of the first

297
00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:11,800
Speaker 1: times she's played on grass I think was the qualifying here.

298
00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,120
Speaker 1: You know that there's so much, so so much that's

299
00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:17,240
Speaker 1: really impressive about what she's doing. You know, she had

300
00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,080
Speaker 1: a hell of a runch. He went in as Corey

301
00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:22,920
Speaker 1: and then came out as you pick up the nickname

302
00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:26,240
Speaker 1: and there you go. Man. It's great And unfortunately though,

303
00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,040
Speaker 1: and something you mentioned because of her ages we were

304
00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:32,600
Speaker 1: talking about this off air. Because of her age, she's

305
00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:35,360
Speaker 1: limited to the number of tournaments that she can get in. Yeah,

306
00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:38,360
Speaker 1: I'm wondering how if she's going to have an argument

307
00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,440
Speaker 1: to push this. So so back in the w t

308
00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,240
Speaker 1: A put in age restrictions, you know, and it was

309
00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,840
Speaker 1: kind of a response to if you remember, Jennifer Capriotti

310
00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:50,680
Speaker 1: when she burst onto the scene was fourteen, I think

311
00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,480
Speaker 1: when she first started. But yeah, she Um, I believe

312
00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:58,600
Speaker 1: that Coco Golf was the when the furthest the fifteen

313
00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:01,040
Speaker 1: year old had ever gone in the major since Jennifer

314
00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:06,200
Speaker 1: Capriotti back in ye early Um. So, you know, Caprioti

315
00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:08,320
Speaker 1: went through some burnout, you know, and I think the

316
00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:10,560
Speaker 1: w t A thought, you know what, maybe we should

317
00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,520
Speaker 1: do some things to to restrict the amount that people

318
00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:15,400
Speaker 1: are playing when they're that young. So the way it

319
00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:17,280
Speaker 1: is right now, if you're a thirteen year old, you

320
00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:19,640
Speaker 1: can't play in any w t A tournaments, and then

321
00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:22,920
Speaker 1: from fourteen to seventeen, there's a restricted amount that you

322
00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:24,280
Speaker 1: can play, and you know, it gets a little bit

323
00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:26,480
Speaker 1: bigger and bigger every year, and then once you hit eighteen,

324
00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:29,200
Speaker 1: no restrictions, you can become a full time w t

325
00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:32,440
Speaker 1: A player. Um. What gets interesting is when you have

326
00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:36,280
Speaker 1: someone like Coco Golf, who might be good enough to

327
00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:38,920
Speaker 1: to do a full w T A slate right now

328
00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:42,040
Speaker 1: at fifteen. Right and and if that's true, you know

329
00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,400
Speaker 1: she's having potential, you know, big earnings, you know, and

330
00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,560
Speaker 1: that's not just on court winnings, that's sponsorships as well.

331
00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,520
Speaker 1: She's losing out on opportunities as a fifteen year old, um,

332
00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,120
Speaker 1: just because of her age. Um. So we'll see. I mean,

333
00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:58,280
Speaker 1: I imagine I don't know exactly how many tournaments she's played, her,

334
00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:00,560
Speaker 1: how many she's allowed. I would think we may see

335
00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:03,160
Speaker 1: her in qualifying and then possibly in the U S Open.

336
00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:05,600
Speaker 1: You know, if if I'm a tournament, I would love

337
00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:07,159
Speaker 1: to have her. You know, I think she's gonna be

338
00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:10,760
Speaker 1: gonna become a draw. She's burst onto the scene for

339
00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:14,600
Speaker 1: for for casual tennis fans in the past week or so. UM.

340
00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,800
Speaker 1: But I do wonder if you know she is eventually

341
00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:20,720
Speaker 1: going to change. I mean, she's three years away from

342
00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:23,920
Speaker 1: being unrestricted in terms of the in terms of tournaments

343
00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:26,240
Speaker 1: that she can play, which if she is this good,

344
00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:29,119
Speaker 1: and I would caution because you know, we've seen plenty

345
00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:31,600
Speaker 1: of players, you know, have one or two great majors

346
00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:34,240
Speaker 1: and then you never hear their name again. Um, it

347
00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:36,679
Speaker 1: does seem like she is, you know, from a pedigree standpoint,

348
00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:39,160
Speaker 1: maybe a little bit more talented than some of those

349
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,480
Speaker 1: other names. But it does make me wonder if she

350
00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,679
Speaker 1: may challenge to get some of those age restrictions changed,

351
00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:48,199
Speaker 1: if she is indeed this good, this early. Did you

352
00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:51,359
Speaker 1: hear the story about the way before this latest match

353
00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:55,199
Speaker 1: she is homeschooled and her mom is a teacher, so

354
00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:57,560
Speaker 1: her mom says, all right, you gotta take your science

355
00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,040
Speaker 1: test before you go into this, Matt. I know that

356
00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:03,399
Speaker 1: was that was kind of cool. Yeah, that kind of

357
00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:05,680
Speaker 1: puts things in perspective. You know, most of the most

358
00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:07,359
Speaker 1: of the people on the tour are not worrying about

359
00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:09,760
Speaker 1: the test they have to take before and after they're

360
00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:13,280
Speaker 1: they're winning on center court at Wimbledon. Um. By the way,

361
00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:15,560
Speaker 1: that we didn't talk about it last week, but her

362
00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:18,960
Speaker 1: her first round match against Venus Williams, when she upset

363
00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,040
Speaker 1: Venus I thought was very touching. You know, she was

364
00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:24,919
Speaker 1: clearly very emotional afterwards when they when they met at

365
00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:27,680
Speaker 1: the Venus Everything she had done for the sport and

366
00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,960
Speaker 1: specifically I think for women of color within tennis. Um

367
00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,480
Speaker 1: so a nice moment there, um, and yeah, congratulations to

368
00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:36,679
Speaker 1: Coco for a for a good tournament. And I actually

369
00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:38,920
Speaker 1: look forward to seeing what she can do maybe later

370
00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:40,480
Speaker 1: in the year on on the w t A Tour.

371
00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:44,119
Speaker 1: She's gonna be a force. I can, I mean I can.

372
00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:47,119
Speaker 1: I can see it. I mean, she is God bless

373
00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:50,520
Speaker 1: and I can see her, especially if she decides to

374
00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:53,880
Speaker 1: do the US Open here in New York City. Man,

375
00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:56,920
Speaker 1: it's going to be something to watch. And she has

376
00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:00,280
Speaker 1: you know we mentioned sponsorships, she has a few partners already.

377
00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:02,159
Speaker 1: You know. New Balance is the big one, Um, and

378
00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,199
Speaker 1: what what a year New Balance is having, right, I

379
00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,920
Speaker 1: mean they signed Kauhi Leonard and he wins an NBA

380
00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,760
Speaker 1: title and then bounces over to the second biggest media

381
00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:13,840
Speaker 1: market in the country. New Balance signed Sydney McLaughlin, who's

382
00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:18,480
Speaker 1: who's a big name in in tennis, in track and field. Sorry, Um,

383
00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,199
Speaker 1: they signed Darius Basley, you know, who was one of

384
00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,200
Speaker 1: the top rated high school basketball players who's skipped out

385
00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:26,240
Speaker 1: on going to Syracuse to play in the G League

386
00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,720
Speaker 1: and he's now an intern at New Balance. In the process, Um,

387
00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:32,879
Speaker 1: Cocoa Golf could pay off tremendously for New Balance as well.

388
00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:36,840
Speaker 1: So yeah, she has some sponsors New Balance, Barilla Head,

389
00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:39,680
Speaker 1: the Tennis Company. UM. But you know, it does make

390
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,040
Speaker 1: you wonder how how much bigger those opportunities might be

391
00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:45,040
Speaker 1: if she was able to compete full time on the tour. Oh.

392
00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,679
Speaker 1: This has been the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast. We

393
00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:53,440
Speaker 1: get together here every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday to talk

394
00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:56,200
Speaker 1: to you about the biggest sports stories and about the

395
00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:58,359
Speaker 1: biggest names in sports. Yeah, join us again at the

396
00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,439
Speaker 1: end of the week, Scott, will you back. Congratulations to

397
00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,800
Speaker 1: the Connecticut Jail Rangers, by the way, winning the Brick

398
00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:08,560
Speaker 1: Tournament up in up in Edmonton. Uh. Scott will be

399
00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:12,159
Speaker 1: back in studio on Wednesday and we will be speaking

400
00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:14,320
Speaker 1: with the biggest and brightest in the sports business industry.

401
00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:17,879
Speaker 1: You've been listening to Bloomberg Business or Sports on Bloomberg

402
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:22,360
Speaker 1: Radio around the world and online wherever you get your podcasts.