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Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business of Sports. The world changing and

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Speaker 1: what are things we can do to transform our business

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Speaker 1: and engage our fans globally in different ways. People are

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Speaker 1: using their name and likeness to create more opportunities, more

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Speaker 1: states and companies. In order to turn the organization around,

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Speaker 1: we had to turn it around not only just on

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Speaker 1: the baseball operations side, but other business operations side well,

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Speaker 1: and any other sport is very difficult, but I like

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Speaker 1: to blug my horizons and be able to expand. Sports

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Speaker 1: need to be consumed a lot and not to big

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Speaker 1: competitive advantage for in autual property holders of sports content

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Speaker 1: in the media landscape. Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

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Speaker 1: Hi everyone, I'm Jason Kelly, and I'm Mike Lynch and

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Speaker 1: I'm Michael bar Over the next hour, we will explore

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Speaker 1: the big money issues in the world of sports and

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Speaker 1: talk to some of the biggest players in the industry. So, guys,

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Speaker 1: we've got a really interesting show coming up. We're gonna

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Speaker 1: hear from John Abamonti. He is the CEO of BSc Global.

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Speaker 1: But first, let's talk about some of the things going

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Speaker 1: on in the world of sports that really may have

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Speaker 1: a profound impact on sports across the globe. I want

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Speaker 1: to start with Naomi Osaka, of course, champion tennis player

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Speaker 1: withdrawing from the French Open, sighting some mental health concerns,

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Speaker 1: and it all goes back to her unwillingness and her

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Speaker 1: decision to participate in some media availabilities. Let's listen to

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Speaker 1: part of a press conference from back at the Australian

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Speaker 1: Open where you start to get a sense of what

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Speaker 1: she's talking about. I'm so nervous when she was the

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Speaker 1: one in her first Grand Slam final. I don't know

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Speaker 1: ask my nerves, Um, Why was I so nervous? I think,

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Speaker 1: you know, you want to win a Grand Slam, you

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Speaker 1: know what I mean? Like, you don't go into a

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Speaker 1: final wanting to be the runner up. For me, I

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Speaker 1: feel like every opportunity that I play a Slam is

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Speaker 1: an opportunity to win a Slam. So I think maybe

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Speaker 1: I put that pressure on myself, um too much. But

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Speaker 1: it's honestly, it's working out in my favor right now.

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Speaker 1: So and so, guys, when you hear that, you do

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Speaker 1: start to get a feel for what these athletes encounter.

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Speaker 1: And yet this is a really complicated issue in many ways.

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Speaker 1: This is something, at least from my perspective, this is

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Speaker 1: something where you have young athletes who are dealing with

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Speaker 1: incredible amounts of pressure. They've got people asking them questions

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Speaker 1: literally minutes after they come off the court. And yet

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Speaker 1: you have people arguing, you know, loudly and pretty vociferously lynchy.

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Speaker 1: And you've been in I would dare say, thousands of

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Speaker 1: press conferences over the course of your career. This is

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Speaker 1: part of the job in in some ways, that's the

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Speaker 1: argument you hear from the other side. So what do

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Speaker 1: you make of it? Well, until you've walked in her shoes,

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Speaker 1: you really can't identify with with what she's going through.

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Speaker 1: She said that ever since two thou eighteen at the

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Speaker 1: US Open, she went through huge, huge waves of anxiety

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Speaker 1: before she went out for her mandatory press conferences. And

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Speaker 1: if you're playing a Grand Slam and you go all

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Speaker 1: the way, I think you have to have eight or

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Speaker 1: nine of those before you go. And so you know,

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Speaker 1: I feel bad. As a dad of three daughters, I

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Speaker 1: want to put my arm around her and console her

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Speaker 1: and comfort her. Part, what do you make this is

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Speaker 1: turned into something way more than the game of tennis,

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Speaker 1: And and it has brought mental health to the forefront.

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Speaker 1: And what I think about is, at least Naomi Osaka

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Speaker 1: has the means to say, hey, you know what, I

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Speaker 1: need to step back and and work on me. I

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Speaker 1: worry about the people that don't have the means and

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Speaker 1: and have to keep going and going and going. Uh,

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Speaker 1: they need help too. So I I just say a

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Speaker 1: prayer for Naomi Osaka and I see her prayer for

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Speaker 1: all those other people out there. I'll tell you another

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Speaker 1: thoughtful athlete who I've gotten to know pretty well as

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Speaker 1: Paul rabel Um. He is the co founder of the

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Speaker 1: Premier Lacrosse League along with his brother Mike rabel I

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Speaker 1: got together with them earlier this week to discuss a

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Speaker 1: new round of investment, including from a name very familiar

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Speaker 1: to you, Lynch, the Craft family coming in to the

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Speaker 1: Premier Lacrosse League investment crew. Here's what Paul had to

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Speaker 1: say about what that money will be used for and

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Speaker 1: why they took this investment. Now, we've been really selective

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Speaker 1: and we've been fortunate to be in a position where

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Speaker 1: we can add new investors like Arts and the Crafts

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Speaker 1: based on improving the big areas of of what it

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Speaker 1: takes to build a professional sports league. You look at media, sponsorship, tickets, merchandise, youth,

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Speaker 1: and then underneath all of it, they all plug in

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Speaker 1: the product. So product improvement is something that all of

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Speaker 1: our investors trust us as lacrosse natives to really like

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Speaker 1: continue to improve and focus on and where they add

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Speaker 1: value or each of those kind of five buckets that

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Speaker 1: I had mentioned. So when you have someone like Joe

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Speaker 1: to I, who grew up playing lacrosse, who has one

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Speaker 1: of the strongest pulses in international business through Ali Baba

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Speaker 1: and then his ownership with the Brooklyn Nets on the

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Speaker 1: NBA side, he's a really unique investor and he's on

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Speaker 1: our board. Then you have folks like HBSc. You have

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Speaker 1: the Craft, you have Rain, you have Churning, and there

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Speaker 1: are groups that have not only ownership positioned in pro

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Speaker 1: sports leagues that are outside of Big four, but they

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Speaker 1: specialize in new media. And so if you can get

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Speaker 1: distribution and media down, which has become pronged out beyond

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Speaker 1: just linear, that's where we really learned. Something that I

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Speaker 1: continue to learn from Mike Record Release is how often

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Speaker 1: we tap into our ownership group for introductions, for advice,

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Speaker 1: for strategy and interesting to note Lynjay that not only

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Speaker 1: are the crafts on board, but re upping is someone

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Speaker 1: we're going to talk about later on in this show.

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Speaker 1: Joe's side the owner of the Brooklyn Nets. He is

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Speaker 1: a former college la crosse player himself. He understands the

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Speaker 1: game and is you know, literally putting his money where

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Speaker 1: his mouth is. Uh, lacrosse man, I know. Well, it's

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Speaker 1: a juggernaut, I mean, and certainly worth watching as a

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Speaker 1: very fast growing business. Well, let's I had a direct

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Speaker 1: effect on baseball players, especially young players in junior, high

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Speaker 1: school and high school. A lot of them are going

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Speaker 1: for lacrosse right now. But as we've come to learn

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Speaker 1: over the years, TV contracts really dominate how successful leaks

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Speaker 1: are going to be and how players are going to

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Speaker 1: be paid well. And and Bar it's interesting, I know

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Speaker 1: you spent some time with Paul Rabel over the years

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Speaker 1: as well. I mean, this is something that they have

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Speaker 1: just methodically put together. They've now consolidated with Major League Lacrosse,

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Speaker 1: and so you have a a top tier professional league

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Speaker 1: really for the first time for this sport. They have

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Speaker 1: Olympic ambitions to bring it back to the Olympics and Uh,

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Speaker 1: the sky's the limited in any ways for these guys.

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Speaker 1: I love the Rabel brothers. You can bring up the

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Speaker 1: topic of carpet lent and they will make it interesting.

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Speaker 1: They are great to listen who I respect and admire them.

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Speaker 1: And like you said, they are putting lacrosse on the

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Speaker 1: map and and every day. Uh just because one of

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Speaker 1: the affiliation with Rabels, but two more and more. I'm

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Speaker 1: just like, Okay, let me see what's happening into lacrosse

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Speaker 1: today and salute to them. And it's just going to

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Speaker 1: grow and grow. Yeah. So opening weekend is this weekend

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Speaker 1: at Gillette Stadium. So they got the landlord to come

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Speaker 1: on board as an investor, and so a lot of

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Speaker 1: really exciting things happening there, that's for sure. All right.

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Speaker 1: So here's your throwback story of the week, courtesy of

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Speaker 1: our friends over at Sportico. Wait for it, Lynchy, the

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Speaker 1: us FL. It's coming back. You know, history, uh maybe

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Speaker 1: does repeat itself sometimes. We saw the XFL try and

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Speaker 1: come back unsuccessfully and now the USFL. Remember the USFL,

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Speaker 1: so I remember it. It It played a big part in

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Speaker 1: our coverage chair because Doug Flutie was signed to a

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Speaker 1: personal services contract by Donald Trump of the the New

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Speaker 1: New Jersey. What were the generals? Generals at herschel Walker

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Speaker 1: in the backfield there. They had some great players in

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Speaker 1: that league. They had Steve Young, they had Reggie White,

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Speaker 1: they had Jim Kelly, they had Mike Rosier. They didn't

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Speaker 1: last too long, but they sure were fun to watch,

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Speaker 1: and it gave people something to if people just want

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Speaker 1: football twelve months a year. I think of all the

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Speaker 1: of the XFL and all these products that have been

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Speaker 1: thrown out and have not survived, the USFL, I think

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Speaker 1: was the most entertaining of them all. Well, it's fascinating

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Speaker 1: bar to think about this because and I think I

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Speaker 1: mentioned this on this show maybe last week or the

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Speaker 1: week before. I just happened to be reading Steve Young's

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Speaker 1: autobiography right now, which was co written with our buddy

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Speaker 1: Jeff Benedict, who wrote that terrific book about the Patriots

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Speaker 1: and the Crafts called The Dynasty. He wrote this book

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Speaker 1: called QB with Steve Young, and he goes in depth

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Speaker 1: about that time. Because Steve Young, who was the number

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Speaker 1: one draft pick in the NFL, was also the number

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Speaker 1: one draft pick in the USFL. He opted for the

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Speaker 1: USFL initially he went to play in Los Angeles and

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Speaker 1: it was a debacle in many ways the way he

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Speaker 1: describes it, and he talks about, in fact, working through

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Speaker 1: the contract with last week's guest Lee Steinberg, and you know,

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Speaker 1: just the crazy ownership, and I mean it just it

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Speaker 1: ended in tears and lawsuits and a lot of lost revenue.

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Speaker 1: But here we are again, Well here comes Geezer bar

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Speaker 1: and uh and Lynchy. We we both covered it. I

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Speaker 1: remember the Panthers where we're a team that we had.

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Speaker 1: They played at the old Silver Nome and I was

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Speaker 1: a young man and I was holding the parabolic mike

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Speaker 1: and here comes a sweep and it sounded like a

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Speaker 1: thunderous horse herd coming at me, and the guy in

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Speaker 1: the booth, the producer, just says, whatever you do, don't

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Speaker 1: wreck the mic. I'm like, thank you. But I remember

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Speaker 1: those times, and it's it's sad that it folded up,

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Speaker 1: but uh, you know, it's we're gonna see what's gonna

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Speaker 1: happen again. I hope maybe they can take another stab

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Speaker 1: at it and maybe have some high talent like we

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Speaker 1: had in the past. Well that I mean, as we

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Speaker 1: take the lessons from from history and these are all

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Speaker 1: these topics we're talking about are intertwined in many ways, Lynchi,

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Speaker 1: and I think you know this well. It all comes

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Speaker 1: down to the talent on the field and whether you

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Speaker 1: can get the best players in the game. That's what's

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Speaker 1: held back in many ways the growth of Major League

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Speaker 1: Soccer MLS does not draw the best players in the world.

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Speaker 1: The best American players even tend to go to Europe.

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Speaker 1: You know, you had Politic playing in playing for Chelsea

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Speaker 1: and winning the Champions League. That was a big deal.

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Speaker 1: That's the pinnacle of the sport. Can the USFL do

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Speaker 1: what it at least initially did, which has drawed the

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Speaker 1: very best players out of college. The way they were

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Speaker 1: able to do it with Steve Young, if you recall

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Speaker 1: and Herschel Walker and Reggie White was they were paying

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Speaker 1: them a lot more money than they could make in

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Speaker 1: the NFL at the time. So that to me, I

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Speaker 1: don't know about you, That to me is the big

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Speaker 1: question mark is like can they pay up for the

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Speaker 1: best talent? Well, there's there are slots now in the

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Speaker 1: National Football League of what what rookies can make and

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Speaker 1: there for a year depending where you are drafted in

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Speaker 1: the first round. So they're gonna have to talk that.

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Speaker 1: We'll see. We'll see the rating going on like we

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Speaker 1: saw in the nineteen eighties teams with getting players to

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Speaker 1: come out of college and go to the USFL. It's

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Speaker 1: the TV contract. Fox Sports has the contract right now,

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Speaker 1: and as Leif Steinberg says, everything is dictated by the

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Speaker 1: television contract. I don't think they'll be as successful as

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Speaker 1: the American Football League in the sixties, which was so

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Speaker 1: strong and forced to merge with the National Football League.

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Speaker 1: But you've got to have stars. You can't tune in

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Speaker 1: to just see, you know, Michael Barr, Mike Lynch and

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Speaker 1: Jase and Kelly in the backfield for the New Jersey

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Speaker 1: Generals on Sunday afternoon in March. You need some big names.

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Speaker 1: Today we're talking about the New York team that is

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Speaker 1: advancing in the NBA Playoffs, talking about your Brooklyn Nets,

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Speaker 1: who knocked off Lynch. He's buston Celtics just to you know,

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Speaker 1: bring you up to speed. Durant with four Kyrie Irving

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Speaker 1: and that's it. It's the end of the line for

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Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics, as the Brooklyn Nets will advance to

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Speaker 1: Round two. So we're happy to be speaking with Brooklyn

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Speaker 1: Sports and Entertainment Global. You might know it as BSc Global.

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Speaker 1: The CEO, John ABAMONDI, John, really good to have you

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Speaker 1: with us. What a week the NBA playoffs, There's nothing

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Speaker 1: like it. What's your life like right now? Like, what

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Speaker 1: is your day to day? Well, thanks for having me on, guys,

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Speaker 1: and hey Lynch, sorry about that, man, but you're breaking

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Speaker 1: up John again. Yeah, it's been a pretty crazy the

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Speaker 1: year for for everybody, if uh, that's for sure, you know,

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Speaker 1: I mean it's been I think that the team on

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Speaker 1: the court, uh, you know, the team looks impressive right

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Speaker 1: now and we have a long way to go, but

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Speaker 1: we're pleased that everybody that most of our players are

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Speaker 1: healthy and that folks are jelling at the right time. So, uh,

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Speaker 1: just trying to stay humblest they focused and take it

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Speaker 1: one game at a time. Um, you know. On the

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Speaker 1: business side of things, I think the big news obviously

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Speaker 1: has been what's happened in the last month with the

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Speaker 1: dramatic improvements in this fight against COVID, the relaxation you know,

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Speaker 1: started by the CDC and various guidelines. The State of

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Speaker 1: New York has implemented those as well. And and our

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Speaker 1: fans who were largely locked out of Barkley Center this

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Speaker 1: year are back in full force since hearing this team

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Speaker 1: on and having a great time on this ride for

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Speaker 1: as long as it goes. And kudos to b SC.

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Speaker 1: And I'm not trying to blow smoke. No, the Barclay

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Speaker 1: Center is just a magnificent facility. What revenue sources do

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Speaker 1: you see in the future down the road now that

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Speaker 1: COVID restrictions are easy, Well, I mean the biggest one

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Speaker 1: is obviously having fans back in the building. I mean,

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Speaker 1: that's just so essential to me. It sounds redundant to

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Speaker 1: even say it, right, but having fans and the building

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Speaker 1: is so essential to the experience of live sports. Uh.

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Speaker 1: You know, we we ran a television show for a

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Speaker 1: year basically, and uh started having some fans back in

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Speaker 1: the building earlier this year, but now that they're back,

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Speaker 1: that's so crucial to our business. It's what we do.

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Speaker 1: We bring people together and entertain them. And you know,

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Speaker 1: we do that and music too, obviously, but our bread

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Speaker 1: and butter is live sports, live basketball, And there's just

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Speaker 1: nothing like being an arena high fiving a stranger, you know.

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Speaker 1: And and uh, Washington Washington next play live. Hey John,

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Speaker 1: it's a lynchy up here in Boston. I will forgive

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Speaker 1: you for eliminating my Boston Celtics and talk about the

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Speaker 1: the the impact coming off pandemic season ticket holders, how

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Speaker 1: many you retain, how many a lost advertisers, etcetera. I

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Speaker 1: know we talked to Randy Levine about six months ago,

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Speaker 1: and you know, the Mighty Yankees even had lost a

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Speaker 1: lot of long time um uh sponsors and advertisers. How

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Speaker 1: did you have, folks fair? Yeah, you know, it's interesting

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Speaker 1: and I think, um the timing of each sports season

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Speaker 1: really really sort of impact how you experience things, right,

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Speaker 1: so um with us, you know, I wouldn't say that

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Speaker 1: we lost season ticket holders. We know where to find them,

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Speaker 1: they know where to find us. But you know, we

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Speaker 1: had thousands and thousands of season ticket holders last year

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Speaker 1: who we had to go out to in December I

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Speaker 1: think it was shortly before the start of the season

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Speaker 1: and just say, hey, we're really sorry, We're just not

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Speaker 1: gonna be able to offer season tickets this year. And

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Speaker 1: you recall we played December and January without any fans

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Speaker 1: in the building, and then and then the State of

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Speaker 1: New York relaxed a little bit and we were able

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Speaker 1: to go to ten percent, which for us is a

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Speaker 1: little under two thousand people. Um So, so most of

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Speaker 1: our season ticket holders have come back for next year.

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Speaker 1: We've got a lot of new ones too that are

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Speaker 1: jumping jumping aboard. Um So, it's just a strange year

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Speaker 1: in the sense that we kind of didn't have season

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Speaker 1: to get holders for for like basically a year. John,

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Speaker 1: You know, one of the things that you guys seem

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Speaker 1: to have worked on is something that everybody who you

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Speaker 1: know lived through the pandemic can probably associate with. We're

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Speaker 1: spending a lot of time in our homes and looking

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Speaker 1: around being like, well, we could fix this up. We

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Speaker 1: can fix that up. It canna be spending more time here.

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Speaker 1: People are going to be coming back. You guys did

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Speaker 1: the same thing with with Barkley Center. Tell us about

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Speaker 1: some of the capex that you put to work and

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Speaker 1: some of the improvements you did there at home. Per

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Speaker 1: minute there, I thought you were going to get on

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Speaker 1: me for not making more progress on on the list

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Speaker 1: of projects around the house. My wife. You're like, Wow,

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Speaker 1: you guys really go deep on this show. Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: promised I'm gonna get that thing painted. We've uh yeah,

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Speaker 1: we did like lot of places. I mean, but we

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Speaker 1: really felt that listen, we we wanted to use this

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Speaker 1: time when we weren't able to host as many fans, um,

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Speaker 1: you know, sort of go on offense rather than defense,

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Speaker 1: and and think about, you know, how how can we

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Speaker 1: invest in the building and the experience so that when

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Speaker 1: we do bring fans back, um, that the experience is

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Speaker 1: even greater than it was. I'll be honest with you,

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Speaker 1: we got caught a little bit by surprise. We've got

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Speaker 1: a full building faster than I would have thought, right

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Speaker 1: if you would ask me a few months ago. But

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Speaker 1: that's great. Uh. So the bands are coming to the

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Speaker 1: arena for the playoff today, they're getting to see some

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Speaker 1: of those changes already because they're they're already done. But

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Speaker 1: we've got even more coming for the fall. So in

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Speaker 1: terms of the stuff that we've invested in, uh, and

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Speaker 1: that's open now. We we we just opened a new

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Speaker 1: Team store on Flatbush. Um. It's we think it's really slick.

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Speaker 1: It's a got to wipe the size of our old

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Speaker 1: Team store, and the fans are really responded well to it.

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Speaker 1: So I'm fourished, folks. To come by and and uh

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Speaker 1: check it out and pick up some some cool nets gear. Uh.

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Speaker 1: We've also built new entrances to the building to sort

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Speaker 1: of relieve some of that congestion that that we like

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Speaker 1: a lot of buildings get with with later arriving crowds. Uh.

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Speaker 1: So those will be open against hopefully we'll make a

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Speaker 1: difference and to make people experience a little more smooth

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Speaker 1: and seamless. We opened a new UM storinges and John

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Speaker 1: some of our partner Amicx that's on the main concourse.

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Speaker 1: That's really really um innovative technology that allows you to

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Speaker 1: simply tap your Amex card as you walk into the store.

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Speaker 1: You can pick up whatever items you want and then

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Speaker 1: there's no checkout. You just you just cruise right out

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Speaker 1: with your sodas and your snacks whatever else you picked up. Uh,

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Speaker 1: there's no checkout. And so it really helps the fan,

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Speaker 1: you know, he just wants to run up there and

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Speaker 1: grab a drink and get back to the seat as

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Speaker 1: quickly as possible. Helps them not miss any of the action.

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Speaker 1: And then in the fall, we have a bunch of

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Speaker 1: more stuff coming to and probably the biggest one, which

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Speaker 1: we've already announced, is our our new court Side Club,

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Speaker 1: which we're calling the Crown Club. And we've partnered with

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Speaker 1: a wonderful designer named Kent Folk and Major Food Groups,

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Speaker 1: which is the group behind the Grille, Carbone, Dirty French,

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Speaker 1: or a lot of really famous restaurants here in New

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Speaker 1: York City. And so we think that and you know,

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Speaker 1: this tells you that what we're aiming for at least

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Speaker 1: we think it's going to be the best reviewed restaurant

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Speaker 1: opening in New York this year. Um, and so really

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Speaker 1: trying to raise a bar for what a dying experience

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Speaker 1: in a sporting arena is like. So, John, I want

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Speaker 1: to talk about the broader bs the empire in a second,

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Speaker 1: but let's stick with the nets if we can, just

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Speaker 1: just for one more minute. I mean shaping this brand.

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Speaker 1: This is a brand that has really evolved and grown

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Speaker 1: and and really come into its own, it feels like,

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Speaker 1: in the past few years. Talk about that process if

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Speaker 1: you can. This is a massive media market. It's a

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Speaker 1: massively populated market, very passionate sports fans across all sports.

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Speaker 1: As you know, how do you differentiate, how do you

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Speaker 1: find that right message? It's such a great question, so

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Speaker 1: thank you for asking it. Look, I think it starts

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Speaker 1: with two things. The first thing, obviously is the product

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Speaker 1: on the court. You know, we want to bring world

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Speaker 1: class basketball to Brooklyn. That was our mission from the beginning,

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Speaker 1: and you know, as we as we interpret that today

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Speaker 1: right as we're trying to win a championship. So you know,

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Speaker 1: it all starts there. But I think beyond that, we

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Speaker 1: do spend a lot of time thinking about what makes

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Speaker 1: Brooklyn unique. And I don't mean the Brooklyn Nets, but Brooklyn,

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Speaker 1: the borough. Um. Brooklyn has become this global icon of

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Speaker 1: fashion and sports and art and culture and music, and

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Speaker 1: it's just this uh diverse melting pot of all of that,

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Speaker 1: and so we try to represent that and reflect that

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Speaker 1: back into the world. And you know, I think one

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Speaker 1: great example is the City Edition uniform that we launched

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Speaker 1: this year, which was done in partnership with the estate

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Speaker 1: of John Michelle Bastiatt, obviously famous Brooklyn artist, really an

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Speaker 1: icon of the of the modern art world. And I think,

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Speaker 1: I said to humbly, but I think that that uniform

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Speaker 1: is something that only the Brooklyn Nets could have done,

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Speaker 1: um and I think it's really authentic to the brand

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Speaker 1: that we're trying to to build, uh and how we

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Speaker 1: want to present ourselves to the world and hopefully a

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Speaker 1: fans degree. It certainly seems that they responded to that uniform.

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Speaker 1: So John, let's talk about sort of the business of

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Speaker 1: the NBA for a second if we can. I mean,

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Speaker 1: and you alluded to this earlier. Each pro sport is different.

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Speaker 1: You've worked across a number of them, and in each

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Speaker 1: pro sport was different across the course of the last year.

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Speaker 1: How would you characterize sort of the business of pro

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Speaker 1: basketball at this moment? Given everything that we've seen, not

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Speaker 1: just from a global pandemic perspective, but from an activism perspective,

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Speaker 1: from a fan engagement, from a player empowerment perspective. You know,

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Speaker 1: all these things sort of mixing together. What has that

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Speaker 1: ultimately done for the business of basketball? You know, I

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Speaker 1: think this has been a really um. This pandemic has

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Speaker 1: been so hard on so many people, and I don't

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Speaker 1: want to coops over the human element, right, Um. A

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Speaker 1: lot of people lost loved ones. So this is not

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Speaker 1: just about business, but from a business perspective, I think

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Speaker 1: a lot of people, a lot of sports organizations were

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Speaker 1: really tested by this. And I think that what the

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Speaker 1: NBA has shown is that you know, when put to

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Speaker 1: the test, our business model stood up pretty well. The

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Speaker 1: interest in this league is high, and and the fact

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Speaker 1: that our players care about the issues of the day,

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Speaker 1: the fact that they're active and opinionated and speaking out

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Speaker 1: on social justice matters. I think it's I think is

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Speaker 1: um it's a good thing. It's a good thing for

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Speaker 1: our society because these folks are leaders. But I also

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Speaker 1: think it's good for the league because it helps us

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Speaker 1: stay relevant in people's lives beyond the court. Um. And

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Speaker 1: so when you look at our players and you realize that,

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Speaker 1: you know, an NBA star is likely to be on

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Speaker 1: the cover of g Q as they are to be

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Speaker 1: on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Um, you realize that

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Speaker 1: that that we have really become part of the fabric

429
00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:10,760
Speaker 1: of society. And I'm super bullish on the NBA as

430
00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:13,640
Speaker 1: a league going forward. And I really think that we've

431
00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:16,480
Speaker 1: only begun to see the potential of this league globally. John,

432
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:18,639
Speaker 1: We've read you talked a little bit about the Crown

433
00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:21,800
Speaker 1: Club and of course the American Express store that's coming

434
00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,159
Speaker 1: in there. What about the gals and guys that are

435
00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:26,840
Speaker 1: sitting in the upper deck, you know, buying, Uh, the

436
00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:29,320
Speaker 1: lack of a better term, the nosebleed section of the

437
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,920
Speaker 1: cheap seats. So what's what's new for them? Um, well,

438
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,560
Speaker 1: I'm gonna correct you slightly. We do have an expected

439
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:37,640
Speaker 1: but we don't have any We don't have any bad one.

440
00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:43,000
Speaker 1: So you know, it's a very intimate arena. Um, you know,

441
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:47,240
Speaker 1: a couple of thousand people, smaller than than say the

442
00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:49,760
Speaker 1: one up in Boston. But so we think there's no

443
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,280
Speaker 1: bad seats. So um, but we have lots of we

444
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:54,720
Speaker 1: have lots of stuff coming to them to One of

445
00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:56,960
Speaker 1: the things that folks have been to our arena will

446
00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:00,280
Speaker 1: know is about ten years ago when the building open,

447
00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:03,359
Speaker 1: we we we pioneered this concept called Brooklyn Taste where

448
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:05,320
Speaker 1: they mentioned earlier. We try to bring in a lot

449
00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:09,840
Speaker 1: of local flavors, local brands, things like Junior Cheesecake for example,

450
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:12,760
Speaker 1: to try to really be an authentic representation of Brooklyn.

451
00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,040
Speaker 1: So that whole program is getting a big lift this year,

452
00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:18,320
Speaker 1: or a refresh, if you will. And so wherever you

453
00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:20,560
Speaker 1: sit in the building, um, you're gonna be able to

454
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,560
Speaker 1: enjoy some of your favorite local brands from across the

455
00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:27,199
Speaker 1: borough as well as a new program we're calling Brooklyn Toast,

456
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:29,680
Speaker 1: which will bring in some of the best craft cocktail

457
00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:34,240
Speaker 1: makers uh from around the borough. And you know, those

458
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:36,480
Speaker 1: of you who enjoy a cocktail, you typically know when

459
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,000
Speaker 1: you go to an arena, it's like, you know, vodka

460
00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:41,800
Speaker 1: soda from a gun, uh and not very inspiring. And

461
00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:43,600
Speaker 1: so what we really wanted to do was find a

462
00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:47,679
Speaker 1: way to bring some of these great craft cocktail folks

463
00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:51,480
Speaker 1: who are doing amazing work throughout the borough and bring

464
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:53,919
Speaker 1: them to life with an arena too, so you can

465
00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,440
Speaker 1: look forward to that and for Debt. So John, let's

466
00:24:56,440 --> 00:25:00,879
Speaker 1: talk about this sports empire that you guys are growing. Um,

467
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:05,040
Speaker 1: what's the what's the underlying strategy, what's the ethos here

468
00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:09,080
Speaker 1: that you and Joe have set out in terms of

469
00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:16,320
Speaker 1: how you pick the properties and how they fit together? Yeah? Thanks,

470
00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:19,200
Speaker 1: You know, empire may be too strong as a word,

471
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:26,440
Speaker 1: but portfolio, it's a portfolio for sure, for sure. I mean, look,

472
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:31,320
Speaker 1: we we um we try to think about it about

473
00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:34,920
Speaker 1: being authentic to being really local and also being global,

474
00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:37,760
Speaker 1: right and and and so that's an interesting bound. We

475
00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:40,159
Speaker 1: we want to be really local with with both the

476
00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:42,919
Speaker 1: nets and the Liberty as well as the Long Island

477
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,640
Speaker 1: Nets and in our two K League team, uh nets GC.

478
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,400
Speaker 1: We really want to represent Brooklyn and be authentic in Brooklyn.

479
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,560
Speaker 1: We're not the We're not the New York Nets, were

480
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,679
Speaker 1: the Brooklyn Nets, and and there's a difference. But at

481
00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:58,720
Speaker 1: the same time, we want to be global, right, and

482
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,200
Speaker 1: so we want to be a brand that is followed

483
00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:05,480
Speaker 1: around the world and and is recognized wherever people love

484
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,679
Speaker 1: and appreciate great basketball. UM. So that's sort of like

485
00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:12,320
Speaker 1: the overarching team UM, and that really influences everything that

486
00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:14,720
Speaker 1: we try to do. John, this this team store of

487
00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:19,160
Speaker 1: Brooklyn style. Uh, what do you envisioned that? Well foot

488
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,400
Speaker 1: traffic once you get up and running as the team

489
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:27,320
Speaker 1: continues to play, well foot traffic and online purchases. Yeah,

490
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,840
Speaker 1: we we've um, we've already seen it in game. Uh

491
00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:35,199
Speaker 1: that our sales have more than double from from the

492
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,159
Speaker 1: prior year. Some of that obviously is exciting around this

493
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:41,480
Speaker 1: team specifically, and people haven't been in, been out and

494
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:44,000
Speaker 1: shopping as much over the last year. But there's no

495
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:47,520
Speaker 1: doubt that that that, you know, folks are responding to

496
00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,800
Speaker 1: the store and it's just a really clean, bright, well

497
00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:54,159
Speaker 1: lit environment and uh, our fans love it. So I

498
00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,679
Speaker 1: encourage you to come on out, get a custom jersey

499
00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:00,959
Speaker 1: and uh represent the next Know John is as you

500
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:03,840
Speaker 1: think over the course of your career, I mean, you're

501
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:07,200
Speaker 1: a guy who has spent time at the highest levels

502
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,760
Speaker 1: of a number of professional sports, um, you know, including

503
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,679
Speaker 1: Major League Baseball. You worked at the Cardinals, worked with

504
00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,679
Speaker 1: the Cardinals as an assistant GM. You know, so you

505
00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:22,520
Speaker 1: understand the evolution of the business and the business of

506
00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:27,359
Speaker 1: playing these professional sports. And and what a fascinating experiment

507
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:30,520
Speaker 1: you guys are in the midst of conducting in many

508
00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:33,600
Speaker 1: ways of building this team that you know. Just this

509
00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,040
Speaker 1: week the New York Times in a profile, Kevin Durant

510
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:38,280
Speaker 1: said you could be one of the greatest teams ever

511
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:42,000
Speaker 1: to take the court. I mean, teams are put together

512
00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:44,280
Speaker 1: in a different way. And I know you have a

513
00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:47,760
Speaker 1: whole team working on sort of the the basketball side

514
00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:49,919
Speaker 1: of things. But as you look at it from a

515
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:55,159
Speaker 1: business person's perspective, what sort of allowed for this evolution

516
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:58,119
Speaker 1: to happen in terms of the way teams are put together,

517
00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:03,879
Speaker 1: you know, with regards to us specifically, um, you know,

518
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,440
Speaker 1: I'd say it starts with with two people and and

519
00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:12,560
Speaker 1: that's Joe Sigh or owner who's shown a not only

520
00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:15,600
Speaker 1: a real passion for sports and for basketball in particular

521
00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:20,120
Speaker 1: that it's impossible to fake, UM, but also a willingness

522
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:25,920
Speaker 1: to invest resources into bringing championship caliber basketball the Brooklyn. So,

523
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:29,920
Speaker 1: you know, I think Joe gets a ton of credit there,

524
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:32,760
Speaker 1: and I think our fans recognized that that we're fortunate

525
00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,399
Speaker 1: to have him, you know, at the top of the organization.

526
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,720
Speaker 1: But the other guy, you know, no surprise here either

527
00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,560
Speaker 1: is is Shawn Marks. And it's just incredible what he's

528
00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:45,600
Speaker 1: done when you think about, um, the franchise that he

529
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:50,120
Speaker 1: inherited when he came here five years ago, and you know,

530
00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:52,520
Speaker 1: this was a job that it was sort of viewed

531
00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:54,720
Speaker 1: as like who who who want to take that job? Right?

532
00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:57,880
Speaker 1: They had their trafft picks, they had their talent um

533
00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:02,120
Speaker 1: and and he's he's run his plays to perfection and

534
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:05,280
Speaker 1: and and so John has been a great partner for

535
00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,160
Speaker 1: me personally, UM. But I think every sports fan can

536
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:10,560
Speaker 1: look at what he's done and really admire the way

537
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,840
Speaker 1: that he's he's built this team well because part of it,

538
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:17,440
Speaker 1: if I may, I mean, part of the decision making

539
00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:21,760
Speaker 1: has been, you know, something of an appetite, not just

540
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,840
Speaker 1: to spend money. But but you know, take some take

541
00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:27,560
Speaker 1: some shots, take some risk in some ways. You think

542
00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:30,440
Speaker 1: about the head coaching decision, you know, hiring your first

543
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,600
Speaker 1: time a head coach, and you know all these things

544
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,920
Speaker 1: that that presumably do make you sort of stand out

545
00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 1: as an organization. And I wonder if from a cultural perspective,

546
00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:44,200
Speaker 1: is that something that sort of baked in with you

547
00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:48,080
Speaker 1: and Joe and Sean, like, how what sort of underneath

548
00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:55,760
Speaker 1: the hood there? Yeah, it's look, this is a this

549
00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:58,920
Speaker 1: is a salary cap league, right, so and and and

550
00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:01,600
Speaker 1: not only is there a team wide salary captin there's

551
00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 1: also limits, as you guys know, on on what individual

552
00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:07,760
Speaker 1: players can get paid, right and so, uh, you know

553
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:10,640
Speaker 1: when you're building a team, and you know, Shawn's the

554
00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:13,600
Speaker 1: expert here, and I don't want to speak for him,

555
00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 1: but I think when you're building a team, you know,

556
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,200
Speaker 1: when you have those constraints in place, like money doesn't

557
00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:21,560
Speaker 1: solve every problem, and so you really need to be

558
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:25,520
Speaker 1: a place where talented employees want to come work, right.

559
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:27,520
Speaker 1: And that's true on the business side, and it's true

560
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:31,440
Speaker 1: on the player's side. And so you know John's employees

561
00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,480
Speaker 1: are are players obviously, and and he's managed to create

562
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:38,280
Speaker 1: a kind of culture where the best players in the

563
00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:41,160
Speaker 1: world want to be here. Um And I think you

564
00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:44,080
Speaker 1: saw that with with with James, and prior to that,

565
00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,719
Speaker 1: you saw that with with Kevin and Kyrie, and you've

566
00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:48,160
Speaker 1: seen it with you know, up and down a roster

567
00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:51,280
Speaker 1: so uh then and you saw it uh with with

568
00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:53,920
Speaker 1: Steve as well. So you know, I think that's it.

569
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:56,680
Speaker 1: I mean, we we spent a lot of time thinking about,

570
00:30:57,160 --> 00:30:58,720
Speaker 1: you know, how do we kind of try to be

571
00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:02,760
Speaker 1: the kind of organization where whether you're you know, somebody

572
00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:06,320
Speaker 1: working in ticket sales or your power forward, this is

573
00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:09,400
Speaker 1: the place you want to be um And I think

574
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:11,080
Speaker 1: you know, as I said at the beginning, money is

575
00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:14,360
Speaker 1: is not the only answer there. A lot of it

576
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:16,240
Speaker 1: is culture. John. I want to go back to the

577
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:19,880
Speaker 1: how you created that culture to make the nets, which

578
00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,520
Speaker 1: was not really a destination a lot of players wanted

579
00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:26,239
Speaker 1: to to land, uh made it a destination now as

580
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:30,240
Speaker 1: opposed to a jumping off point not too many years past.

581
00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:33,360
Speaker 1: You know, I think that's the I hate to duk

582
00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:35,040
Speaker 1: your question, but I think it's probably a question best

583
00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:37,040
Speaker 1: put to Sean. I've been here less than a year, right,

584
00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:39,240
Speaker 1: Sean has been at this for five years, and so

585
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:41,920
Speaker 1: you know, I don't want to speak for how he

586
00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:44,720
Speaker 1: did his work, but you know, I will say this,

587
00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:48,600
Speaker 1: we talk a lot and and and we try to

588
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:50,760
Speaker 1: emulate each other. And you know, one of the things

589
00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:54,160
Speaker 1: that we we want to emulate each other, I mean

590
00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:57,080
Speaker 1: in terms of the cultural touchstones of the broader organization.

591
00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:00,040
Speaker 1: We don't want an organization where the basketball depart and

592
00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:02,520
Speaker 1: is run one way and the business side is run

593
00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:04,760
Speaker 1: another way. And so one of those touchdowns that we

594
00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,520
Speaker 1: talk about a lot is disagree and commit right. And

595
00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,040
Speaker 1: so what does that mean. It means, you know, when

596
00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:13,480
Speaker 1: when you're in a meeting, whether it's you know, you're

597
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:17,280
Speaker 1: reviewing film on the basketball side or you're in some

598
00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:19,760
Speaker 1: kind of a marketing strategy meeting on the business side,

599
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,640
Speaker 1: people are gonna have different opinions, um, And we want

600
00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:25,080
Speaker 1: to create a kind of environment where people feel comfortable

601
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:29,440
Speaker 1: sharing those opinions, challenging each other, debating. Uh. We don't

602
00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:32,080
Speaker 1: want a bunch of yes people. Um. But then the

603
00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:34,760
Speaker 1: other part of that sentence is then commit right. So

604
00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:37,320
Speaker 1: after the debate is over, after we've chosen on a

605
00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:40,600
Speaker 1: course of action, like we're all committed to it. It's

606
00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:44,680
Speaker 1: not you know, this person's idea one and that person's

607
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,000
Speaker 1: idea loss. It's the groups with the group shows this

608
00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:49,480
Speaker 1: course of action, and we're all committed to it, and

609
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:54,080
Speaker 1: we're even if you initially disagreed, Uh, you're rooting for

610
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:56,800
Speaker 1: that to succeed. Um. And so I think that's one

611
00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:02,480
Speaker 1: example of how it carries over between both sides the organization. So, John,

612
00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:04,800
Speaker 1: as we wrap up here, I mean I do want

613
00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:06,680
Speaker 1: to ask you, as you say, you know your tenure

614
00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:11,520
Speaker 1: has been um relatively brief thus far, look ahead for us,

615
00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:13,480
Speaker 1: look around the corner. You know, what are your big

616
00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:17,680
Speaker 1: kind of business objectives for this, for this franchise or

617
00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:21,280
Speaker 1: this sort of series, this portfolio of franchises. You know,

618
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:25,160
Speaker 1: as you get your team together, Um, you know, obviously

619
00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:27,560
Speaker 1: as you say, the product has got to be great

620
00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,480
Speaker 1: on the court, you want to win a championship. You guys,

621
00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:32,960
Speaker 1: you know, by all accounts will likely make a pretty

622
00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:35,400
Speaker 1: deep run this year, and you've got a good team

623
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:39,920
Speaker 1: going forward. But building this brand, building this company, Um,

624
00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:42,480
Speaker 1: you know what do you look around the corner and sing?

625
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:47,560
Speaker 1: You know? I think, Um, it's a great question because

626
00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:51,240
Speaker 1: answering it or sort of tackling that challenge requires a

627
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:55,040
Speaker 1: mix of you know, patients and urgency. UM. And so

628
00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:58,680
Speaker 1: that's another pet phrase of ours that we use all

629
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:02,160
Speaker 1: the time, patients and urge see. And so you know,

630
00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:08,200
Speaker 1: we we know that windows of opportunity are are you know, fleading,

631
00:34:08,360 --> 00:34:11,520
Speaker 1: they're narrow right, these these uh, these players are in

632
00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:13,600
Speaker 1: their prime and they're performing at a high level right now.

633
00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:16,520
Speaker 1: And and you know, but but things change over time,

634
00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:19,759
Speaker 1: People get hurt, people get older. UM, and we really

635
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:23,400
Speaker 1: want to maximize this opportunity to you know, win vans

636
00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:27,680
Speaker 1: and for us that means mostly here in Brooklyn, it

637
00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:30,320
Speaker 1: means winning the next generation of fans. And one of

638
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:32,719
Speaker 1: the things that our research shows us is when you

639
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,680
Speaker 1: look at young people in the borough, kids eight, nine, ten,

640
00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:40,560
Speaker 1: twelve years old, UM, they're overwhelmingly next dance and and

641
00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:44,040
Speaker 1: that's a really good sign for us now. UM. Our

642
00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:46,640
Speaker 1: research also shows that it takes about twenty years for

643
00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:48,920
Speaker 1: a twelve year old to become a thirty two year old.

644
00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:51,160
Speaker 1: So UM, that's the part we have to be a

645
00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:54,160
Speaker 1: little patient. UM. But we think that if we can

646
00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:57,359
Speaker 1: make a deep run uh and give those kids something

647
00:34:57,680 --> 00:35:01,680
Speaker 1: to remember this summer, uh, that there'll be Nets fans

648
00:35:01,719 --> 00:35:06,239
Speaker 1: for life and and we hope you'd be worthy of that. Well,

649
00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:08,360
Speaker 1: John has been really really good spending some time with you.

650
00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:11,400
Speaker 1: Thank you so much it obviously, uh is such an

651
00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:15,879
Speaker 1: exciting time for your fan base, for your organization, and uh,

652
00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:19,080
Speaker 1: I mean really over the course of this season. Uh,

653
00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:21,120
Speaker 1: you guys really would from like, hey, this is a

654
00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:23,440
Speaker 1: really interesting team to like, wait, hold on a second,

655
00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:26,800
Speaker 1: like this is this this could be something historic that

656
00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:29,319
Speaker 1: that we're witnessing. So a lot of a lot of heat,

657
00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:32,560
Speaker 1: as they say, around this franchise. So congratulations on that

658
00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:35,239
Speaker 1: and and best of luck. We appreciate the time. Thank you, guys,

659
00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:37,960
Speaker 1: really appreciate it. So guys interesting to to get some

660
00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:42,440
Speaker 1: time with John Abamandi over at BSc Global. Obviously, the

661
00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:45,200
Speaker 1: Nets are are the big story, uh in New York

662
00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:47,880
Speaker 1: sports right now. To be honest, Nicks are out and

663
00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:52,520
Speaker 1: the Nets are in, and this is an exciting franchise.

664
00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:57,600
Speaker 1: You arguably have a generational combination the likes of which

665
00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:00,840
Speaker 1: we haven't seen, um since that tree down in Miami

666
00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:05,640
Speaker 1: in terms of just high profile, incredible, exciting players. And

667
00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:09,080
Speaker 1: at the same time, Lynchy, as we talked about with John,

668
00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:13,640
Speaker 1: it ain't easy to differentiate yourself in a crowded media market.

669
00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:16,360
Speaker 1: No one, They've done a great job. I mean a

670
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:18,799
Speaker 1: lot of teams have had what they called the Big Three.

671
00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:22,120
Speaker 1: Miami had it, the Celtics had it, and the Lakers

672
00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:24,480
Speaker 1: have had it. And now Brooklyn has it, and they

673
00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:26,279
Speaker 1: may have three of the best five players in the

674
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:29,040
Speaker 1: NBA and they're starting lineup all the time. And it

675
00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:32,200
Speaker 1: has become a destination as I asked him, and rather

676
00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:34,040
Speaker 1: than a jumping off point which it had been in

677
00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:37,480
Speaker 1: years past. And I love this little slogan of disagree

678
00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:40,399
Speaker 1: and commit, get together disagree. I don't want a bunch

679
00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:43,360
Speaker 1: of yes people. Once we have our our point, my

680
00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:45,719
Speaker 1: point made in our direction, or our compass is set,

681
00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:50,000
Speaker 1: just commit. I love it. That's a great, great business formula. Well,

682
00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:51,960
Speaker 1: and Michael Barr a lot of credit obviously has to

683
00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:55,200
Speaker 1: go to his boss, Josiah, who is the owner who

684
00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:58,520
Speaker 1: you know, has been transformative in many ways, obviously a

685
00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:01,360
Speaker 1: global thinker as the vice chairman and co founder of

686
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:07,200
Speaker 1: Ali Baba, but has been you know, instrumental in helping

687
00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:11,040
Speaker 1: this franchise take some risks and and really put themselves

688
00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:14,439
Speaker 1: in a position to win. But Ultimately, as John said,

689
00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:17,160
Speaker 1: you gotta get fans in the door, and you gotta,

690
00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:20,160
Speaker 1: you know, have that committed fan base. Remember when Joe

691
00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:24,719
Speaker 1: Sis bought that team from from msg U, bought the

692
00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:28,719
Speaker 1: Liberty in and then all of a sudden we hit

693
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:33,760
Speaker 1: the pandemic. But I thought, you know, with Joe Seis mentality,

694
00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:36,319
Speaker 1: he's not going to worry about that because things are

695
00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:39,359
Speaker 1: gonna even out on the back end. Uh, and we're

696
00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:42,160
Speaker 1: gonna see it happen soon enough. And I got two

697
00:37:42,239 --> 00:37:46,560
Speaker 1: takeaways from this one. Lynchy, You're the man because you

698
00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:51,239
Speaker 1: kept composed because once the Nets took the Celtics out,

699
00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:54,800
Speaker 1: there was a big front office change with the Celtics

700
00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:59,080
Speaker 1: and then there was the big thing about Kyrie stepping

701
00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:02,759
Speaker 1: on Lucky and you kept your composure. Man, I'm proud

702
00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:05,680
Speaker 1: of you. It was that was good. The second thing

703
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:10,160
Speaker 1: is that I'm that placed Barclay Center, and I was

704
00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:13,520
Speaker 1: saying that earlier is a great place, a great facility,

705
00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:16,960
Speaker 1: because again the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It

706
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:20,239
Speaker 1: just reminded me, man, when the concerts start coming back,

707
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:23,760
Speaker 1: that place is going to rock. And I'm just glad

708
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,279
Speaker 1: to see it. And I'm glad we're approaching the back

709
00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:31,360
Speaker 1: end of COVID. Alright, Well, lots more basketball to to

710
00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:34,200
Speaker 1: talk about and lots more to watch. It's an exciting postseason,

711
00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:37,759
Speaker 1: so interesting to see, you know, how deep the nets go.

712
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:43,600
Speaker 1: The expectations certainly are high. Rock I'm not in gym

713
00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:45,640
Speaker 1: using kids. Feels better to be than the one, than

714
00:38:45,719 --> 00:38:47,600
Speaker 1: number five. I'll wear a number because of Mike. We

715
00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:49,040
Speaker 1: have a chance to go for three and a row.

716
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:51,040
Speaker 1: Good numbers are a good time. When I first started

717
00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:53,680
Speaker 1: wearing the number, I would just have been proud Bloomberg

718
00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:59,520
Speaker 1: Business of Sports, the number of the week. You know,

719
00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:03,160
Speaker 1: I was gonna go another way, and then I I

720
00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:08,600
Speaker 1: took the cheap route out. So here is the question. Uh,

721
00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:13,040
Speaker 1: as you know the Babe Ruth rookie card. It is

722
00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:18,200
Speaker 1: from the nineteen Baltimore News Babe Ruth card. It's sold

723
00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:24,840
Speaker 1: uh during an auction by collectible. Uh. Now, I'm not

724
00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:27,560
Speaker 1: gonna I'm not gonna give you what the the evaluation is,

725
00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:30,080
Speaker 1: as the question, because it's six million dollars and then

726
00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:33,200
Speaker 1: the auction they broke that. What I want to know

727
00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:38,880
Speaker 1: is what was the card previously before that and how

728
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:41,759
Speaker 1: much was the value? I guess that's what I want

729
00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:45,239
Speaker 1: to know what record did it break? It broke? It

730
00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:47,480
Speaker 1: broke the record. The person, by the way that bought

731
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:51,719
Speaker 1: that card anonymously did not reveal the price, but it

732
00:39:51,800 --> 00:39:55,680
Speaker 1: was over six million dollars. But the record card that

733
00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:57,920
Speaker 1: was before that, I'll tell you right now, it was

734
00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:02,880
Speaker 1: a Mickey mental card. What was the valuation of that card?

735
00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:07,520
Speaker 1: I mean the record that there's been a lot of

736
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:13,120
Speaker 1: records of late, because wasn't there also there was a

737
00:40:13,239 --> 00:40:18,879
Speaker 1: lebron rookie card. I believe that also was was up there.

738
00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:23,440
Speaker 1: This is the Mickey Mantel card though that sold in

739
00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:31,360
Speaker 1: a private transaction in January. Okay, uh, I'm gonna go

740
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:36,360
Speaker 1: five million. You know, I remember this story, and I

741
00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:38,520
Speaker 1: thought there was a little symmetry to the year it

742
00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:42,520
Speaker 1: came out and the value of the card and wasteen

743
00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:48,960
Speaker 1: fifty two. So I'm gonna go five point two. Just

744
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:51,720
Speaker 1: a little stupid things sticking stick in my mind. Sometimes

745
00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:56,560
Speaker 1: we're going to Vegas, baby, We're going to Vegas. That's

746
00:40:56,640 --> 00:41:00,959
Speaker 1: what it is. Five point two million, man, I thought

747
00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:03,480
Speaker 1: maybe I had a chance because six million for the

748
00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:07,560
Speaker 1: rookie cards. To Lynch, you're a man, there's nothing I

749
00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:11,200
Speaker 1: can say you you have been super duperman is now

750
00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:13,319
Speaker 1: now I'm wondering if that card was in the little

751
00:41:13,400 --> 00:41:18,640
Speaker 1: shoe box and there we go. You know, I didn't

752
00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:21,120
Speaker 1: think about it and we brought the cards up. I'm sorry, man,

753
00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:29,200
Speaker 1: It's gonna be too soon, forever, forever. All right, you've

754
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:31,520
Speaker 1: been listening to the Bloomberg Businesses Sports. We're here each

755
00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:34,000
Speaker 1: and every week at the same time, plus online wherever

756
00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:36,920
Speaker 1: you get your podcast. Catch those Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

757
00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:40,160
Speaker 1: I'm Jason Kelly on Twitter at Jason Kelly News. I'm

758
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:43,719
Speaker 1: gonna be watching a lot more playoff basketball. I know

759
00:41:44,719 --> 00:41:46,839
Speaker 1: that we a lot of us in the New York

760
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:50,000
Speaker 1: area are gonna be, you know, keyed up about the

761
00:41:50,080 --> 00:41:53,640
Speaker 1: Nets going forward. They are taking on the Milwaukee Bucks

762
00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:56,640
Speaker 1: in in round two. Lynchi, and uh, it's gonna be exciting.

763
00:41:56,760 --> 00:41:59,960
Speaker 1: Sorry about your Celtics. Yeah, we're gonna probably watched the

764
00:42:00,040 --> 00:42:02,279
Speaker 1: other series and root against the Nets for a little while.

765
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:05,120
Speaker 1: But that there's a heck of a basketball team. Um.

766
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:08,000
Speaker 1: I'm Mike Lynch. You can follow me at Lynch a WTVB.

767
00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:10,319
Speaker 1: Look at the bright side, Lynch, at least you made

768
00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:15,080
Speaker 1: the playoffs. Pistons fans, Hey man, we're crying. I'm Michael

769
00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:17,719
Speaker 1: Barr on Twitter and Big Barr Sports. You're listening to

770
00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:21,320
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world,

771
00:42:22,680 --> 00:42:24,600
Speaker 1: spreading out Bloomberg