WEBVTT - Live from the US Open: Day One 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:10.760 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. This is Bloomberg Business Week, 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:14.680 Daily reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:18.799 ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:23.760 today's complex economy. Plus global business finance and tech news 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:27.760 as it happens. The Bloomberg Business Week Daily Podcast with 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:31.760 Carol Masser and Tim Stenebeck on Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:35.839 It is Bloomberg Business Week on this Thursday, August twenty eight, 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:38.000 twenty twenty five. We are not live from the Bloomberg 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:40.960 Interactive Brokers studio today. We are on site at the 0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:44.680 US Open right outside of Arthur Ash Stadium here at 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:47.159 the twenty twenty five US Open. I'm Tim Steneveek. That 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:50.680 is Molly Smith. She's not just a Bloomberg News economics enter, 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:54.040 she's also tennis expert, in house tennis expert at Bloomberg. Well, 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:56.440 our next guest needs no introduction. You know him from 0:00:56.440 --> 0:00:59.120 the Tennis Channel as a correspondent for sixty minutes, from 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:01.840 his many books and leading Glory Days, the Summer of 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:04.640 nineteen eighty four and the ninety Days that changed sports 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:07.600 in culture forever. He also joins US pretty much each 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:09.920 year at the US Open. We've got John Worth. I'm 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:10.200 with us. 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:11.920 How are you good? Good to be here. 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:13.679 How are you guys? We're doing pretty well. How's the 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:14.640 tennis this year for you? 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:16.000 Good? 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:19.480 It's like a three week event now, so it's it's Thursday, 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:22.839 and it feels like February now because of Fan Week. Yeah, 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:25.040 I mean Fan Week really has gone from sort of 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:29.160 this fun novelty for hardcore connoisseurs to this is a 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:31.640 three week event and they handed out trophies in week 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:33.959 one for mixed doubles and hundreds of thousands of fans 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:36.680 came through the gates and it's really great for tennis. 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.679 For those of us working, it's you know, it can 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:41.680 be a bit of a slug, but no, it's great. 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:43.440 This is where we feel like we're like at the 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:47.040 halfway point, even though we're only a few hours into 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:47.600 round two. 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:50.600 So as one of these hardcore connoisseurs, I'm gonna start 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:52.559 using that one. I like that word, thank you so much, 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:56.880 so I will self proclaimed hardcore connoisseur. I gotta hear 0:01:56.920 --> 0:01:58.680 from you, John, what did you think of the mixed 0:01:58.720 --> 0:01:59.760 doubles format this year? 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:05.320 Well, I'm interested to hear you're from where I stand. 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:09.120 Twelve out of ten big success. I mean, we sort 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:12.720 of had this irony where an actual to the defending champion. 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:15.680 So a real committed mixed doubles team won the title 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:19.000 over these sort of shotgun marriages of singles players. But uh, 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:22.120 you know, they filled the stadium. There was great interest 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:25.000 mixed doubles is it sounds great in theory. It's sort 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:26.880 of one of tennis's great virtues. As the men and 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:28.960 women compete at the same time, a mixed doubles has 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:32.200 kind of become a bit of a side show. And uh, 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:35.920 this tournament figured out how to make it newsworthy and noteworthy, 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:36.720 and it was. 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:37.200 It was great. 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:38.880 Do you think we'll see that from other tournaments because 0:02:38.919 --> 0:02:39.679 of the success here? 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:42.160 It's a great I mean this is this is tennis 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.280 in a nutshell, like uh, you know, the sincerest form 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:45.919 of flattery. 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:50.400 I don't think Wimbledon because of the grass, it's a 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:51.880 variable you would get destroyed. 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:54.240 Your addition to I think. 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:58.960 Australian, I think Australia is looking very closely. I mean, 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:01.400 you know, getting the player on site for three weeks 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:03.560 as opposed to two is a bit of a challenge. 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:06.960 But yeah, if Australia doesn't have something similar, I would 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:07.440 be shocked. 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:10.600 Well, let's talk about the scheduling challenge. It was particularly 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:13.960 a nightmare this year. We had the tournaments in Canada 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:18.119 and Cincinnati coming into this a really bizarre scheduling where 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:21.000 those finals were played on a Thursday and a Monday, respectively. 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:23.040 Didn't know if they were going to get here on 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:25.239 time for the mixed doubles. Can you tell us a 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:28.320 little bit about how packed this tennis calendar is and 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:32.560 why this summer in particular was really very jubled up 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:33.880 coming into this US Open. 0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:36.320 It's like I'm dating myself. Do you remember Tetris? 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:36.760 Oh? 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:37.160 Yeah? 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:40.640 The tennis calendar is just this sort of its NonStop 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:44.920 combinations and permutations, and the players say there are too 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:47.440 many events and these tournaments keep popping up. But it's 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:50.080 a global sport, so you're I mean, it's the great 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:53.400 riddle of tennis, and it has been ever since I 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:54.400 started covering the sport. 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:55.400 It has not been solved. 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:59.040 I'm not sure overlapping events in Canada and Cincinnati is 0:03:59.080 --> 0:03:59.320 the end. 0:03:59.320 --> 0:03:59.840 No, you're right. 0:03:59.880 --> 0:04:04.280 We had a final in Cincinnati on Monday and then 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:08.920 this event started Tuesday, and thankfully the Pennsylvania Turnpike was 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:12.600 not crowded. No, I mean, even flying private and getting 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:15.120 here as quick as you can, it's still logistically it's 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:16.000 it's a bit of a challenge. 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:17.760 Unfortunately, a lot of those players have deals now with 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:19.000 these private jack companies. 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:21.520 Exactly. 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:24.760 The Egos fiancee's singles final was played at Believe six 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:26.560 pm in Cincinnati Monday night. 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:29.320 She had a match here in ash the. 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:31.520 Next day Pennsylvania Turnpike. 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:33.840 They got to figure something out, exactly, you got to 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:35.880 figure it out. What kind of toll does that take 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:38.480 on the players. I mean, I think people romanticize the 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:40.720 life of pro athletes a lot. But if you if 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:44.880 you look at this schedule and you understand these people, 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:46.680 and I was going to say, in some cases, kids 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:50.040 are literally living on the road, out of hotel rooms 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:53.080 for much of their formative years, Like that takes a toll. 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:54.320 It makes me think of Amanda. 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:58.760 Yeah, I'm who you reference a player who who just 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:02.440 basically needed a mental health sabbatical just basically said, you know, 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:04.479 I'm gonna take a break. Maybe I'll come back, maybe 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.160 I won't. We're seeing that more and more don't you know. 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:09.400 I'm sure your listeners can relate to this. You can 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:11.920 stay at the nicest hotel and they can put a 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:13.920 little orchid in the room service, and you know what, 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.920 it's still not your bed, and it's still not your sheets, 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:21.600 and it's just there's something that's disruptive that you're you're dislocated. 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.880 And you can have all the amenities and drivers and 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:28.440 people fetching you water, it's still not home. And I 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:31.400 think that's something that people, you know, we all know. 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:33.839 In sports right now, we're seeing how sleep in the 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:36.320 study of sleep is getting a lot more emphasis. Does 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:38.719 not do great things for your sleep to change time 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:43.280 zones and change hotels in different pillows and at some level, yeah, 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:45.360 this is an international tour. This is what you sign 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:47.720 up for if you're your Taylor Swift plays all over 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:49.720 the world. Like, you can't have it both ways. But 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:53.120 the flip side is it's a real challenge. I don't 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:56.279 think we talk about it enough. Even with the nicest amenities, 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:58.919 it still takes something out of you to be on 0:05:58.960 --> 0:05:59.840 the road as much as these. 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:02.320 It takes a lot of money to do that too. 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:04.680 You know, only people at the top are the ones 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:06.599 earning enough to actually like make a living too. 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:08.559 And this is where I wanted to come back actually 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:11.599 to this mixed doubles tournament because I think what I 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:13.159 would personally love to see and what I want to 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:14.880 hear your opinion on this going forward? 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:16.880 Maybe this is the way to get mixed. 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:19.440 Doubles onto the map by having all the singles players 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:23.039 doing it as this glorified exhibition, so to speak. But 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:27.200 I think sustainably going forward, we want to see the 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:29.159 doubles players. I mean, that was really the beauty of 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:32.880 Irani and Fava story winning. And would you want to 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:35.800 I personally, again, I know I'm the connoisseur here, I 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:38.080 would love to see the mixed double the player the 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:42.640 doubles players playing doubles. Is this Does this format maybe 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:44.479 set the stage to get them back in and get 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:46.119 a chance at that bigger prize money. 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:47.720 They're the ones that are needing. 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:49.320 No, it's it's a good point. 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:51.359 I think it's a fundamental question of tennis really, of 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:54.480 any workplace, right, what is the right sizing, what is 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:56.280 the right number of tennis players, what is the right 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:59.080 distribution of prize money? And I think getting these singles 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:01.360 players to play mixed. It was a great coup, but 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:04.440 what did it entail. It meant they had shortened sets, 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.599 They had only sixteen players in the draw, and it 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:09.960 spanned two days. And I think if they opened the 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:12.320 draw up and suddenly it's three days and suddenly it's 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:15.040 thirty two teams, the top stars are just going to say, 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:17.000 you know what, I'm trying to win the big trophy here, 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:19.240 I'm trying to win the singles trophy. It was fun 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:21.120 when it was you know, I knew it wasn't going 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:23.520 to take much out of me. But I'm not playing 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:25.880 three days of mixed doubles before I try and defend 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:26.440 my real. 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:27.160 Title, of course. 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:28.920 So that's where the challenge has been to the mixed 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:30.800 doubles is that it was played at the end of 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:33.760 the tournament and the singles players kept advancing, and we're like, oh, 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:35.760 we're not word to pull out now, We're focused on 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:37.520 the singles. I want to hear from you this last 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:39.720 one here, John. We talked to a lot of fans 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:42.480 about how you know, a lot of people obviously this 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:43.840 is such a marque New York event. 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:45.840 They love coming to the US Open. But a lot 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:46.720 of people have grown. 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:49.920 Very frustrated about how crowded, how expensive it's become. You 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:52.760 talked to so many of the players. What's their experience 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.000 like being here from a play. 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:56.520 I mean it's an interesting you're you're right, we've sort 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:57.040 of hit on this. 0:07:57.320 --> 0:07:59.840 So's what's the ogi barrism that's so crowded? 0:07:59.880 --> 0:08:00.760 No and goes there anymore? 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:02.040 I mean it's I said that. 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:07.160 Friends here exactly, you know, I mean at some level 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:10.920 like this is great. This is what all entertainment events want, right, 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:12.880 You want to high demand, you want ticket prices to 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:16.280 go crazy. Something would be really wrong if you know 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:18.000 they were begging people to come. 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:21.760 The players, I think, first of all, they. 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:24.760 Like the prize money five million to the winner, one 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:26.680 hundred and ten thousand dollars if you lose in the 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:30.000 first round. And as you say, this is an expensive sport. 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:31.920 And we see the high end, and we see the 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:35.640 Carlos Alcarez and fifty million dollar endorsements, there is a 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:38.240 whole cohort of players that are on the other side 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:40.720 of the net from Carlos Alcarez that you know, are 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:43.640 taking extra bananas out of the players lounge so they 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:44.760 don't have to pay for breakfast. 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:46.640 It's really not evenly distributed. 0:08:46.640 --> 0:08:48.960 But I think the players are really they see the 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:52.400 investment here, They see this is a great showcase. I 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:56.040 mean not every event on a Thursday afternoon, pick your 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:59.600 random tournament spot. They don't resemble this. They're not you know, 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:01.640 mark bands and tens of thousands of fans. 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:04.000 What about from the perspective of fans, because I've noticed 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:06.040 in just this is my fourth I've been to what 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:08.720 more than a half dozen US opens? Molly, you've been 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:10.880 doing the twenty you think, I think twenty. 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:13.040 Yeah, my first was in nineteen ninety six. 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:13.920 Yeah, so you were too. 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:16.800 Yeah, we're coming up on my thirtieth anniversary. 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:18.800 So you've seen it change a lot just in the 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:20.880 last three years. I remember getting a ticket a grounds 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:23.319 pass for my wife for one hundred and fifteen dollars 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:26.160 day of oncon you know, ticket Master, what have you? 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:27.480 I mean, if I look at the prices right now, 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:29.000 which I did right before because I'm trying to get 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:30.679 her at grounds pass for tomorrow, but a rund four 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:36.120 hundred bucks, Yeah, well that's prohibitively expensive. And I went 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:38.280 by the box office and they don't have it. 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:40.280 You know, they've they've done a great job of washing 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:42.520 their hands with this whole discussion and saying, hey, listen, 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:44.800 you know this is the market is speaking more. 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:46.760 So than any of the year. When colleagues came up 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:48.559 to me, when friends or even people I had never 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:50.520 met who realized I was going to the US Open, 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:53.079 they asked me the same question this year, since the 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:55.800 pre sale, what is going on with tickets? 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:00.920 Supply meets demand at a very extreme I mean. 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:03.160 I start to do an economics editor here, Yeah, I can. 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:06.959 I can give you my my spiel as my riff, 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:10.080 which is, you know, it's fine, right, we have luxury goods, 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:12.040 we have not not everyone gets a rolex at some 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:14.520 level like this is what you want, right, you want 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:17.480 the supply curve to look like it does here. 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:20.400 I do kind of think that you can't have it 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:20.880 both ways. 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:24.040 And there's a lot of talk here about inclusion, and 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:27.600 you have various you know, tributes and kids, and you 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:29.839 come here and it's like, wait, Chicken McNuggets are twenty 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:32.640 six dollars, My grounds pass is four hundred dollars. It 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:35.000 seems to me you can't have it both ways either. 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:37.160 You are those populist event that takes place in a 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:40.000 public park and we want everyone to feel welcome or 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:42.800 you are this commercial and this transactional, which is fine, 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:45.160 you know, I get it. We're running a business here, 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:48.400 not a philanthropy. But I think it's a little bit 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:50.640 strange that they sort of try to they try to 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:51.439 play it both ways. 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:53.440 I mean, I guess that would be their answer to 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:55.520 that is Fan Week of course, that this is this 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:57.319 you know, a couple of days where you can come 0:10:57.320 --> 0:10:59.640 in and watch for free, but now that has also 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:00.959 become increasingly a. 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:03.600 Ticketed event as well. That you know that, yeah, it 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:04.559 is free to come in here. 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:07.360 You can watch the qualifying tournament, you can watch them 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:08.880 players practice, you can watch. 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:11.800 A lot of DJ sets, that's for sure, but like 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:15.320 you not ultimately watch a lot of really what people 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:15.880 want to see. 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:18.840 Why so Wimbledon does not have DJ sets, but wimbled 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:20.560 it has a lot of this this this sort of 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:22.840 high end and you know, you've got the private jet 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:25.000 set that that's come in. But they also there are 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:28.640 ten thousand seats that are set aside for the cures people. 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:30.120 I mean, you know, you got to spend the night 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:32.000 in a field to get these tickets. There are ten 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:34.920 thousand fans that come through the gates Wimbledon, this sort 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:37.840 of bucket list location, and the tickets are like thirty 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:41.320 bucks strawberries and cream, you know the signature dish, it's 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:44.760 like two pounds fifty, it's like three dollars yea. And 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:47.160 so they've really done a nice job of Yes, you've 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:49.840 you've got your high end and you've got your debenture 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.319 group and your club seating, and you can spend thousand. 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:54.240 You can also spend thirty bucks and have a great day. 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:56.760 That's so interesting because it looks from the outside like 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:59.000 such an exclusive event and it's so much more formal 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:02.040 and buttoned up. John, We always love hanging out with you. 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:03.760 You are a busy guy. Thank you so much for 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:05.520 spending so much time with us and being janious with 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:08.160 your time, John Worth. I'm even from the Tennis Channel 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:10.960 correspondent for sixty minutes. He's got more than ten books 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:13.280 that he's authored and co authored, including Glory Days, The 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:15.199 Summer of nineteen eighty four and The ninety Days That 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:19.040 Changed Sports in Culture Forever. This is Bloomberg Business Week Daily. 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:22.880 Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Business Week Daily coming 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:23.920 up after this. 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:31.680 You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week Daily podcast. Catch 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:34.440 US live weekday afternoons from two to five e's during 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:38.600 Listen on Applecarplay and Android Otto with the Bloomberg Business app, 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:42.360 or watch US live on YouTube. 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:45.840 Tim Stentevik and Molly Smith live at the US Open 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:49.000 here in New York City. We're in Queen's right now 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:50.959 at Flushing Meadows. It's still a windy one. 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:51.240 Molly. 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:53.760 Oh yeah, Oh my gosh, I just got distracted. 0:12:53.880 --> 0:12:54.080 Sorry. 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:56.280 Andre Rufelov is walking by in front of us. I 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:57.440 am distracted everywhere. 0:12:57.520 --> 0:12:57.959 That's okay. 0:12:58.080 --> 0:12:58.480 That's the part. 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:02.040 That's the part of being here. Scripts that's what makes 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:05.200 the US Open magical, that you're just sitting. I mean, granted, 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:07.040 we're in the media area, so we're close to the players. 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:09.160 But the way that Andra got here was he walked 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:12.000 through the entire crowd. Yes, he was flanked by some security, 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:13.680 but if you're out there, you can get pretty close 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:15.920 to these players, which is pretty cool about the US Open. 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:18.319 I mean, our seat is really, i would say, the 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:21.160 most accessible to the players from where we are. 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:24.040 You got to stay here. You can't get up and 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:25.640 go and talk to the players, just so you know. 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:27.439 I'm good. I mean, we've had a great guest here 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:28.040 to stick with. 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:31.760 Let's talk a little media here, because last week ESPN, 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:34.040 which is the largest sports media company in the world, 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:36.280 did something that just a few years ago, I think 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:39.680 many observers thought, who would never do? They undercut the 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:43.600 traditional PATV business, which generates billions of dollars in profits 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:47.280 for its owner, Walt Disney. Yet it was time to 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:50.520 just go straight over the top. We've got Tim Bunnell 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:53.240 with US, senior vice president of Programming for Esgenny joins 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:55.559 us here on site at the US Open and Flushing, 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:56.120 New York. 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:57.559 So in my. 0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:01.319 Early earlier career, I covered media and streaming and one 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:03.360 thing that analysts told me over and over again was 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:08.040 Live Sports holds the bundle together. And in a few 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.240 very short years that narrative has seemed to shift, and 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:14.600 I think this is a sea change moment for ESPN 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:17.439 to say, you know what, in order to watch everything, 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.240 you don't need to pay a PATV provider. What's thinking here? 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:21.800 Yeah, look, I think it's. 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:24.760 I would agree that sports holding the bundle together is 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:28.080 an accurate description, but I think what we're seeing now 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:31.360 is as you aggregate services, whether it's you know, whether 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:33.920 it's Peacock or whether it's Paramount Plus or whether it's 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:36.880 the ESPN direct to consumer offering. You know, we're starting 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:39.280 to see, you know, kind of aggregation in a different way. 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:42.720 But I think where we feel, you know, we've done 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:46.480 well is kind of manage that transition that you referenced from, 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:50.000 you know, from a kind of a five hundred channel 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:53.280 in universe is when direct to consumer offerings first were 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:54.920 sort of a thing and the leagues were doing their 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:57.440 own services. I think that the feeling at the time was, 0:14:57.440 --> 0:14:59.760 why does an ESPN go out and they should just 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:02.840 be the Netflix of sports. There's a very good reason 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:04.560 we didn't do that right away, and you cited it, 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:06.840 Tim that that you know that we were walking away 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:09.280 from billions of dollars of revenue and you have to 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:14.360 kind of manage your existing golden goose business with the future. 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:17.480 Well, you also had those negotiations that in those long 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:21.040 term rights agreements that you'd made with leagues that sort 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:22.600 of kept things together too, right. 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:25.200 Yeah, I mean, you know, those deals typically typically for 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:26.800 the US sports least, we try to do as long 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:28.920 term deals as we can, and I think the understanding 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:30.720 going into them, is the world's going to Given the 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:32.760 pace of change and the media business, the world's going 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:35.000 to change, it's going to look very different by the 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:37.400 time these deals, you know, expire, and so we've had 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:39.400 to kind of, you know, whether it was the launch 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:42.320 of ESPN Plus or our direct to consumer service you know, 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:44.440 more recently, you had to. 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:46.720 Kind of manage that transition within deal terms. 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:50.160 And that's what these partnerships and these league relationships. 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:50.200 Are all about. 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:52.560 Let's come back to that, just for our listeners who 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:56.120 maybe don't know the difference between what is the ESPN 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:58.680 Direct to Consumer app now and ESPN Plus. 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:01.160 Yeah, so actually one contains the others the way to 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:04.200 think of it. So the ESPN Direct to Consumer app, 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:07.120 simply enough, is all of our video services available in 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:09.840 one place direct to the consumer. That includes all of 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:14.000 our linear networks. It includes ESPN and ABC and ES. 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:17.120 What we know today is ESPN Plus and so when 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:19.560 we launched the Plus service a number of years ago, 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:22.080 it was didn't include any of the linear networks. It 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:25.520 was just incremental programming that we anchored by UFC and 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:28.200 a bunch of other big properties. But the direct to 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:33.400 consumer product takes ESPN Plus and all of the networks 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:35.280 and available content we have and puts them in one 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:38.760 place that's called the ESPN Unlimited. You can also still 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:43.360 subscribe to just ESPN Plus called the ESPN Select Package. 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:46.640 So if you're only you know, we would prefer that 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:48.840 people not do that. We'd actually like them, you know, 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:50.680 to go for the full package. 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:53.880 But if you're only interested in making it up Bundesliga 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:56.600 or something that's your passion for sports, we have all 0:16:56.600 --> 0:16:59.120 the matches on ESPN Plus and you could do just 0:16:59.160 --> 0:16:59.720 that as well. 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.640 Know when pre covid, when retailers were trying to figure 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:05.720 out how to respond to the rise of online shopping, 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:09.320 there was this sort of thing that people said, which is, okay, 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:11.920