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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. This is the Business

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Speaker 1: of Sports.

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Speaker 2: Our aim is always to leverage the global appeal of football.

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Speaker 2: Having representation in college sports is even more important than.

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Speaker 3: Pro Ten percent of Americans now claimed sock up to

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Speaker 3: be their favorite sport.

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Speaker 1: We estimate the US sports audience has three trillion dollars

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Speaker 1: in spending power.

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Speaker 2: The nature of baseball is, it is worldwide, and it

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Speaker 2: is flower I'm.

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Speaker 3: Very happy for the WMBA and how the NBA has

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Speaker 3: embraced them.

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Speaker 4: Sportsbooks are not going anywhere, and sports betting is only growing.

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Speaker 5: We have a super team running this league, and this

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Speaker 5: league is here and it's here to stay.

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

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Speaker 5: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore

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Speaker 5: the big money issues in the world of sports.

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Speaker 4: I'm Vanessa Prodomo.

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Speaker 6: Maglione, I'm Randa Williams.

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Speaker 4: Michael barr is out this week.

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Speaker 5: Coming up today, well, we obviously have to talk about

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Speaker 5: the historic NBA Finals that the Knicks closed out in

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Speaker 5: San Antonio last week.

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Speaker 6: We'll also be speaking with the Panini America CEO about

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Speaker 6: the iconic World Cup sticker book and talking to Olympics

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Speaker 6: gold medalist Sean Johnson East about the work she is

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Speaker 6: doing with the Special Olympics.

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Speaker 5: That's straight ahead on the Bloomberg Business of Sports, But

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Speaker 5: first let's talk about the New York and Knickerbockers. Joining

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Speaker 5: Randall and Ies, our colleague on the Business of Sports

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Speaker 5: team and friend of the show Business of Sports reporter

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Speaker 5: Ira Budewey.

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Speaker 4: Iira, welcome back to the Bloomberg Business of Sports. AIRA.

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Speaker 5: Was this the most significant NBA Finals we've seen in

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Speaker 5: such a.

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Speaker 4: Long time or does it feel like that just because

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Speaker 4: we're in New York.

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Speaker 2: I think both the Knicks are a signature franchise, one

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Speaker 2: of the most important in the league, one of the

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Speaker 2: most valuable in the league. But also I think, even

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Speaker 2: to my surprise being in the city as it was unfolding,

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Speaker 2: is the degree to which this team unites the city.

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Speaker 2: I mean, a lot of people have remarked on it,

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Speaker 2: but it's really the one team where everybody almost can

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Speaker 2: get behind them. You don't have the split you do

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Speaker 2: with the Yankees and the Mets, or the Jets and

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Speaker 2: the Giants, and so it really was I think just

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Speaker 2: a great moment for the city.

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Speaker 6: And so I do wonder where were you when the

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Speaker 6: Knicks won the championship? Were you in the city, were

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Speaker 6: you at home? Did your children react, did your wife react?

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Speaker 6: Tell us about where you were.

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Speaker 2: It's not a very exciting story, but I was so

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Speaker 2: my daughter was playing in the lacrosse tournament. Surprise, surprise,

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Speaker 2: youth sports figures in this story. But I so, I

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Speaker 2: was in a hotel room as she was asleep, and

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Speaker 2: I was watching it basically alone. But there were a

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Speaker 2: lot of parents down there in the same boat, and

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Speaker 2: a lot of them, I discovered later, were in the

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Speaker 2: lobby celebration.

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Speaker 4: I was gonna say, why would you go to the

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Speaker 4: hotel lobby bars?

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Speaker 2: I know, I didn't want to leave my kid alone,

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Speaker 2: but I probably should have. We did watch the beginning altogether,

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Speaker 2: you know, so that was fun, but yeah, for the

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Speaker 2: very end, I had to do it parent style.

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Speaker 6: So I do wonder, from your perspective, why do you

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Speaker 6: think there is as much noise around this finals as

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Speaker 6: there has been? Is it because the games are good?

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Speaker 6: Are you looking at this under the microscope and saying like, well,

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Speaker 6: this was unique and this is the one time thing

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Speaker 6: in which ratings are good and a conversation about the

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Speaker 6: NBA is very healthy or do you think that this

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Speaker 6: is going to continue into next season.

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Speaker 2: I think it's mostly a kind of a unique or

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Speaker 2: unusual moment. I think anytime you have these long droughts,

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Speaker 2: that drives interest, Right, it's just to pent up demand.

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Speaker 2: Fifty plus years of waiting, fifty plus years of waiting

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Speaker 2: in a major market, right. We saw this with the

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Speaker 2: Red Sox in four. You saw it with the Cubs

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Speaker 2: when they finally broke the curse. Across sports, these things

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Speaker 2: just are incredibly compelling. And then I think also you

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Speaker 2: had the fact that this matchup was basically what everybody

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Speaker 2: kind of looks at as a dynasty in waiting. You know,

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Speaker 2: the San Antonio Spurs have the future star in Victor

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Speaker 2: win Banyama. They are a young team. I think everyone's

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Speaker 2: a little surprised that they got this far this soon,

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Speaker 2: But they are also a compelling story in their own right,

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Speaker 2: and so it was just kind of a perfect storm

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Speaker 2: for the league. So, but I think there is a

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Speaker 2: sort of carryover from that, Right, A lot of people

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Speaker 2: who maybe were casual fans got re engaged or got

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Speaker 2: pulled in by this story. And so maybe next year

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Speaker 2: they start out with a little more interest than maybe

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Speaker 2: they have in the past, so it can be bad

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Speaker 2: for the league.

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Speaker 5: I want to, you know, pose this question to Randall

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Speaker 5: also because you know we're all colleagues here.

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Speaker 4: We're just chatting away.

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Speaker 5: Randal Ira had mentioned there the curse breaking of it all,

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Speaker 5: and you recently wrote a story about how fanatics. You

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Speaker 5: know how the Knicks became the top selling championship Jersey team.

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Speaker 5: There Is it because of the drought? Do you think

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Speaker 5: is it because of these these big long moments.

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Speaker 6: I think it was because of the drought and because

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Speaker 6: of the team. This is the first time the Knicks

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Speaker 6: have not been the villains, Like if you are watching

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Speaker 6: from I'm not from New York, but I live here now,

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Speaker 6: but it's very easy to root for them. Like Jalen

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Speaker 6: Brnson is a likable star, Karl Anthony Towns is a

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Speaker 6: likable star. They're supporting cast. They don't really have a

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Speaker 6: villain the same way that previous iterations and Knicks potential

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Speaker 6: championship teams did. Like you think about what happened with

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Speaker 6: the Jalen Brnson. I believe it was in Game three

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Speaker 6: when Wenby shoved him. There was nobody did anything about it,

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Speaker 6: and I'm not sure that they would have happened on

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Speaker 6: Patrick Ewing's team, and so I think that's part of it.

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Speaker 6: And then another part of it is the fact that

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Speaker 6: they just got their get back on the court. Like

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Speaker 6: some of the flagrant fouls that were happening, they just

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Speaker 6: ended up winning the games, Like they lost Game three

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Speaker 6: and then came back from twenty nine in Game four

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Speaker 6: and then came back I believe it was down from

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Speaker 6: fifteen in Game five, and so sometimes they're fighting back

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Speaker 6: was just on the court. And I think Knicks fans,

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Speaker 6: because of the fact that the drought was so long,

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Speaker 6: it resonated in a way that I don't think I've

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Speaker 6: seen a championship resonate with a market in since Lebron

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Speaker 6: and Cleveland.

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Speaker 5: That's really interesting, Ira, I'd love to get your take

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Speaker 5: on that as well, because obviously a lot of the

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Speaker 5: times we talk about stars and faces and the league

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Speaker 5: needing things like that, but can stars be positive? I mean,

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Speaker 5: like there's the thing of do you need a villain

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Speaker 5: to make it compelling as well?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think what's interesting about this Knicks team, obviously Brunson,

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Speaker 2: if anybody is the face is the face of the team,

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Speaker 2: but it's really was both on and off the court

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Speaker 2: kind of a collective, right. I think you can see

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Speaker 2: Karl Anthony Towns as a pretty high profile himself, and

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Speaker 2: just in terms of you know, og was the hero

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Speaker 2: in the comeback, so you just had it spread around

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Speaker 2: both in sort of the contributions that they bring and

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Speaker 2: in sort of the profile of the team. And I

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Speaker 2: think that's unusual. I probably haven't seen it quite like

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Speaker 2: that sense Detroit back in the odds. But and I

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Speaker 2: think given that it's New York City, that works right.

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Speaker 2: And I think Brunson has enough star power, but he's

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Speaker 2: also like a kind of a quiet, like workmanlike personality

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Speaker 2: which fits with this team and the city. But I

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Speaker 2: wouldn't put him as like, you know, an international superstar

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Speaker 2: yet maybe this is when he becomes that. So it

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Speaker 2: just was I think, you know, different than a team

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Speaker 2: with like a Michael Jordan, you know, where there's the guy,

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Speaker 2: And I think that is not always a recipe for

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Speaker 2: fans to get engaged, but in this case it really was.

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Speaker 5: Well that's exactly when I asked Randall Ken Jalen Brunson

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Speaker 5: take this and now become the face of the league

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Speaker 5: or is this really just King of New York.

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Speaker 6: I think he becomes the King of New York. I

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Speaker 6: think it's very, very difficult for American stars to become

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Speaker 6: international stars. Like basketball players generally are more popular in

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Speaker 6: terms of the number of stars, but less popular in

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Speaker 6: terms of peak popularity. You think about Michael Jordan and

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Speaker 6: the Dream Team and even when Kobe was around, in

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Speaker 6: Lebron and Katie and Steph, their popularity is at an

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Speaker 6: all time high. And I think that there's a couple

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Speaker 6: things to attribute that to. Number one is that there's

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Speaker 6: no dynasties. There is no dominant team right now. There

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Speaker 6: have been eight different champions in eight years, and so

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Speaker 6: what does the next true superstar, global superstar look like.

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Speaker 6: I do think that it looks like an international player,

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Speaker 6: whether that be Victor Wembinyama or whether that be Luka Doncis.

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Speaker 6: We are going to throw the Joker's name out of

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Speaker 6: this because of the fact that he does not participate

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Speaker 6: it and he doesn't want it. He does not participate

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Speaker 6: in the conversation. So I think that value to Jalen

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Speaker 6: Brunson being the King of New York is bigger than

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Speaker 6: anything that he could possibly ask for. And there's the

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Speaker 6: age part of it. If he was doing this at

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Speaker 6: twenty three, I think that the ceiling is a little

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Speaker 6: bit higher. But at twenty eight or twenty nine, whatever,

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Speaker 6: however old he is and going to be turning the

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Speaker 6: corner on whatever, the rest of his career is going

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Speaker 6: to look like. I think being the King of New

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Speaker 6: York is about as much as you can ask for.

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Speaker 4: It's a pretty good time.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, either way, Yeah, it's not a bad spot. And

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Speaker 2: I think just to piggyback on that too, you look

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Speaker 2: at Steph Curry. He had a thing, right, he changed

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Speaker 2: the game with the three point shot and launching from

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Speaker 2: twenty eight feet before that was a thing, and that

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Speaker 2: was very exciting to casual fans all around the world.

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Speaker 2: And he was like this, you know, little slim guard

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Speaker 2: who took over the league. I think Brunson's game is amazing,

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Speaker 2: but it doesn't necessarily lend itself to highlight reels in

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Speaker 2: the same way. It doesn't necessarily have that signature element.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 2: He's all about shifty, getting people off balance, you know,

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Speaker 2: working in the mid range, reading the floor. If you're

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Speaker 2: a basketball purist, it's a delight to watch, but it

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Speaker 2: doesn't necessarily make for, you know, an amazing highlight reel.

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Speaker 6: He's a classic New York City, New Jersey, New York

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Speaker 6: point guard in that he's gritty, he's likable, quiet, he

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Speaker 6: has an edge to him, but that means a lot here.

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Speaker 6: I think that if you think about the global names

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Speaker 6: of Michael Jordan and Kobe and so many other players,

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Speaker 6: like what are the what their moments are often personality driven,

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Speaker 6: and I don't think that you know, I'm not criticizing

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Speaker 6: Jalen Brunsan's personality here, but I don't think that that

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Speaker 6: is what you took away from this finals. It's just like,

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Speaker 6: my god, he's a dog and that's enough for New

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Speaker 6: York right for sure.

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Speaker 5: I would just like to point out there that Ira

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Speaker 5: said he's amazing, but that conversation around our desk clump

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Speaker 5: the other week proved very different.

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Speaker 4: Conversation for you.

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Speaker 5: You're saying, I don't know what makes him so good,

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Speaker 5: but you did say he's well, I.

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Speaker 1: Do it is.

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Speaker 2: I've started to figure it out, right, But like if

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Speaker 2: you watch him, he's not he's not the most explosive.

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Speaker 2: He's not dunking on people. He's not the rangiest shooter.

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Speaker 2: He's not even the quickest guy first step, right, none

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Speaker 2: of those things that you would associate with the guy

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Speaker 2: who's the one A on a championship team. He's not

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Speaker 2: the biggest, and yet he gets it done. I think

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Speaker 2: that's what's amazing about him, right, is just it's I

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Speaker 2: think what it is is next level knowledge and reading

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Speaker 2: of the game, and next level footwork and just really

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Speaker 2: great touch and obviously the nerve. Right, you put those

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Speaker 2: things together, and that's that's kind of the recipe for him.

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Speaker 2: But it's it's you know, I think for a lot

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Speaker 2: of people, in myself included, it's not readily obvious, right.

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Speaker 2: You kind of got to study it to figure out

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Speaker 2: how is he getting this done.

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Speaker 6: Thanks to our good friend and colleague, Business of Sports

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Speaker 6: reporter Ara Budeway, up next, we are talking about the

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Speaker 6: other big sporting event that is taking over New York

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Speaker 6: and across the continent, the FIFA World Cup.

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Speaker 5: That's straight ahead on the Bloomberg Business of Sports for

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Speaker 5: Randa Williams. I'm Vanessa Pudomo Maglione. You're listening to the

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Speaker 5: Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the World.

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

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Speaker 4: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

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Speaker 5: We re explore the big money issues in the world

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Speaker 5: of sports. I'm Vanessa Prodomo.

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Speaker 6: Maglione and I'm Randa Williams.

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Speaker 4: Michael barr is off this week randall Right.

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Speaker 5: Before the kickoff of the World Cup, I caught up

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Speaker 5: with Panini America CEO Mark Warsup about their iconic sticker

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Speaker 5: album that they've been distributing since nineteen seventy.

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Speaker 6: And this is one of the last cycles that they

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Speaker 6: will distribute it because of the fact that Fanatics will

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Speaker 6: become the official distributor with FIFA starting in twenty thirty one.

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Speaker 5: We talked about that and how Panini is planning for

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Speaker 5: these to be really special and what their plan is

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Speaker 5: moving forward.

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Speaker 6: Let's take a listen to Vanessa's conversation with Panini America

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Speaker 6: CEO Mark Warsup.

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Speaker 5: Mark, thanks so much for joining the Bloomberg Business of Soccer.

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Speaker 5: It's so great to have you here.

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Speaker 4: You know, the World Cup is upon us.

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Speaker 5: It's crazy that it feels like here in the US

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Speaker 5: we've been waiting for and waiting for it, and now

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Speaker 5: it's here. I mean, how is it for you now

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Speaker 5: that you know everyone everyone's talking about the sticker books

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Speaker 5: every it's time. It's time for that every four years.

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Speaker 5: Tell me about preparing for this World Cup?

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Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean for Panini, we've been doing the FIFA

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Speaker 7: World Cup since nineteen seventy and the preparation never stops.

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Speaker 7: I mean, you know, the moment the previous World Cup finishes,

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Speaker 7: we start planning for the next because you know, we're

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Speaker 7: buying rights to national teams, player rights, obviously, working with FIFA,

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Speaker 7: analyzing how the previous tournament performed, how we can improve it,

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Speaker 7: what marked intactic. So for us, it's an ongoing thing.

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Speaker 7: But now it's finally here. Obviously the excitement is, you know,

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Speaker 7: off the chain, I would say, And you know our

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Speaker 7: task now is just to execute and keep up with

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Speaker 7: the demand.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Absolutely.

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Speaker 5: So when let's go back, you know a little bit

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Speaker 5: to the history, Like you said, it was started in

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Speaker 5: nineteen seventy. For people who don't know kind of the

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Speaker 5: history of the sticker book, can you can you give

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Speaker 5: us a little bit about that.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, So the first official FIFA World Cup was for Peranini,

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Speaker 7: was nineteen seventy. The Panini business was founded in Italy

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Speaker 7: by Panini brothers. It originated as a newspaper distribution business.

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Speaker 7: They'd placed some collectible images of soccer players into the

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Speaker 7: newspapers to sell more newspapers. Unseen that the images of

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Speaker 7: the football players was more popular than the newspapers, so

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Speaker 7: the business transformed to doing sticker albums and collectibles without

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Speaker 7: the newspaper and the newspaper distribution. So the very first

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Speaker 7: collection that Panini launched was in nineteen sixty one, which

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Speaker 7: is a collection simply called coucy Tory, which in Italian

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Speaker 7: means players, and it was an Italian soccer collection. And

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Speaker 7: then since then, you know, branched into Europe. Obviously, it

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Speaker 7: became a global phenomenon. The first FEEFA World cut was

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Speaker 7: in nineteen seventy followed the very similar pattern to what

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Speaker 7: it is today. You buy the album, you buy the

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Speaker 7: sticker packets, you peel the sticker back off and you

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Speaker 7: would use the adhesive paper to stick the images in

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Speaker 7: to the book. Obviously, in nineteen seventy, all the images

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Speaker 7: and photos were in black and white, so we actually

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Speaker 7: ham painted each of those stickers to add color to

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Speaker 7: the sticker so that they weren't black and white photos,

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Speaker 7: you know, but the concept has remained the same because

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Speaker 7: it's such as sound winning formula with you know, collectors

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Speaker 7: and fans of soccer around the world that you know,

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Speaker 7: the concepts remained the same. Obviously, the images have become sharper,

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Speaker 7: there's more information in the album now there's digital aspects

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Speaker 7: to the collection, but the backbone has remained the same.

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Speaker 5: So yeah, I mean, if it remains the same, how

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Speaker 5: do you do but you still evolve it every year?

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Speaker 5: Would you say every iteration? Do you still evolve somehow?

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Speaker 5: How is this you know, when you go into different markets,

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Speaker 5: is it specific to that market or because it's a

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Speaker 5: global product do you kind of keep it the same everywhere.

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Speaker 7: So that the general concept is the same, But we

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Speaker 7: do do varying different formats of the collection around the world.

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Speaker 7: So for exams ample, one way we've evolved for the

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Speaker 7: US market specifically is that you know, the base collection

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Speaker 7: is the same, but we've injected some color parallels of

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Speaker 7: some of the stickers that have become a chase element,

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Speaker 7: so to to kind of take the sticker collection to

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Speaker 7: the next level, similar to the US train card collection.

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Speaker 7: So there's blue parallels, red parallels, purple parallels, orange parallels,

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Speaker 7: a black one of one. So you know someone is

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Speaker 7: going to find the one of one of each of

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Speaker 7: the individual stickers that are in the collection. You know,

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Speaker 7: if you're lucky enough to find the black one of

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Speaker 7: one of Mbatpe or mess A or an outero ormail

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Speaker 7: or purely sick, you know, those stickers could be worth

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Speaker 7: you know, a significant amount of money.

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Speaker 4: Like, so don't peel them.

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Speaker 7: Well, you know, even a lot of trading card suppliers

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Speaker 7: within the marketplace have adapted to the sticker collection market

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Speaker 7: and have formed some of the plastic top holders that

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Speaker 7: you can put the stick is then to keep them

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Speaker 7: pristine and in mint condition. But yes, I would say

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Speaker 7: if you find a black one of one, perhaps not

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Speaker 7: stick it into your album, put it in a plastic

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Speaker 7: top holder. They could be worth a lot of money.

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Speaker 7: We know that the black one of one from four

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Speaker 7: years ago, for example, of Massay sold for over one

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Speaker 7: hundred thousand dollars. So wow, be sure to put it

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Speaker 7: into something that keeps it in good condition.

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Speaker 5: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Absolutely.

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Speaker 5: So, as we're talking about, like how it's evolved since

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Speaker 5: nineteen seventy was the collectible market the same minute it

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Speaker 5: is now, or has it evolved with it or has

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Speaker 5: it always been so closely tied to trading card collectibles.

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Speaker 7: I mean it's always been a mass market collection.

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Speaker 3: I would say.

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Speaker 7: The one thing that has evolved from a collector standpoint,

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Speaker 7: not necessarily the collection itself, is that you know, those

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Speaker 7: children that collected in nineteen seventy are probably still collecting today.

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Speaker 7: So it's evolved in as much as it's no longer

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Speaker 7: a children's activity. You know, grandparents and parents who remember

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Speaker 7: collecting when they were a child, their World Cup album

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Speaker 7: then or now collectors there's people in offices who are

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Speaker 7: trying to fill albums together. So it's become a much

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Speaker 7: wider audience. And you know, the collection itself, obviously, the

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Speaker 7: images are sharper now. We try and change the design

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Speaker 7: every four years, the way that the stickers lurk, the

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Speaker 7: information that's on there, So the collector base has evolved

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Speaker 7: and we've evolved with it in terms of our offering.

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Speaker 7: For example, you know there's now digital versions of the

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Speaker 7: collection that you can collect online. It's housed on the

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Speaker 7: FIFA website. You can get codes within the sticker collection

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Speaker 7: itself and also through buying coca cola product. There's codes

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Speaker 7: that you can use to enhance and collect the digital collection.

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Speaker 5: So tell me a little bit about you know, how

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Speaker 5: the US market is, you know, adapting to this. I mean,

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Speaker 5: we're not really seen as a soccer market, right, so

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Speaker 5: how has demand been here for the stickers?

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Speaker 7: So the very first FIFA collection we launch, i would

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Speaker 7: say on a large scale in the US was when

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Speaker 7: we opened our office here. We opened our office in

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Speaker 7: the US in two thousand and nine in Dallas Fort Worth,

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Speaker 7: and the twenty ten collection was the first like large

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Speaker 7: scale launch that we're done for a fee for product.

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Speaker 7: By large scale, I mean you know, good solid distribution,

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Speaker 7: good marketing effort behind it, and we've seen growth every

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Speaker 7: year since. I mean obviously soccer in the US has

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Speaker 7: grown phenomenally just in itself as a sport in that timeframe.

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Speaker 7: But even this World Cup, it's a last World Cup,

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Speaker 7: and we would consider the US a large market. Now,

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Speaker 7: even within the group of markets that launch they stick

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Speaker 7: a collection, we've already distributed twice the volume of what

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Speaker 7: we did previous World Cup into the US market and

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Speaker 7: the tournament hasn't even started yet. So you know the

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Speaker 7: fact that the tournament has been staged here as you know,

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Speaker 7: open people's eyes. And I think the other big thing

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Speaker 7: that will see different this year the vis a v

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Speaker 7: previous World Cups, is that you know, when the tournament starts,

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Speaker 7: I think we'll see an uptick in sales and penetration

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Speaker 7: of the collection. Whereas in previous tournaments, you know, most

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Speaker 7: people try and fill the book before the tournament starts.

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Speaker 7: But you know, when the tournament starts and the eyes

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Speaker 7: that are on it will bring new collectors, I think,

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Speaker 7: to collecting stickers that haven't collected before.

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Speaker 4: Why do you think that is?

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Speaker 5: Like do you see data that's you know, behind that

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Speaker 5: trend that you see that people?

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Speaker 7: Yeah, I just think that, you know, because soccer is

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Speaker 7: still growing in the US, and you know it's not

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Speaker 7: primarily the number one sport in America. When the tournament

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Speaker 7: starts and it's all over TV and the games are

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Speaker 7: being staged in the US, I think people who would

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Speaker 7: not necessarily be focused on a World Cup that might

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Speaker 7: be in Brazil or Russia or wherever it may be staged,

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Speaker 7: will you know it will open their eyes to the tournament.

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Speaker 7: There'll be more fan for people are ten games that

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Speaker 7: perhaps never attended a soccer game before and I think

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Speaker 7: it will translate to collecting the Sticker collection.

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Speaker 5: One of the big things about the Sticker collection is

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Speaker 5: the community aspect behind it. There's meetups, you know, people

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Speaker 5: are trading to get you know, to fill out their books.

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Speaker 5: Tell me more about that, and was that always kind

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Speaker 5: of the ethos behind the sticker book.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, it is, because you know, when we do it,

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Speaker 7: unlike the US hobby market where there's super super rare

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Speaker 7: ones and it's you know, it's impossible to get a

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Speaker 7: complete set. You know, although we have these color parallels,

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Speaker 7: all the base set is printing equal quantities. And the

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Speaker 7: aim here even for us, is that everyone fills their book.

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Speaker 7: We want everyone to fill their book. They'll have a

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Speaker 7: World Cup keepsake and then obviously you come back four

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Speaker 7: years knowing that it's achievable to fill it. So part

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Speaker 7: of that is this community aspect. And you know, we

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Speaker 7: always view the start of the World Cup when we

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Speaker 7: launch our collection because it builds the excitement in the

438
00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:01,119
Speaker 7: lead up towards the tournament and this swap events taking

439
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:04,439
Speaker 7: place all over the country and there's various different types

440
00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:07,920
Speaker 7: of events. Some of them are you know, just local

441
00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,359
Speaker 7: people posting and getting together and creating their own event.

442
00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:16,399
Speaker 7: Other events are organized retail events where everyone will go

443
00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:19,640
Speaker 7: to Walgreens on a Saturday, for example, and they'll swap outside.

444
00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:24,000
Speaker 7: And then there's events that Panini ourselves are organizing and promoting.

445
00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:26,760
Speaker 7: If you go to our website, we have a soccer hub.

446
00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,159
Speaker 7: You can put your zip code in and where your

447
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:31,000
Speaker 7: addresses in it and it will tell you where the

448
00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:34,400
Speaker 7: closest swap event is. So you know, we encourage it

449
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:38,399
Speaker 7: because we want people to fill the book. So and

450
00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,600
Speaker 7: it's all about community, all about community. And when you

451
00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:44,320
Speaker 7: go to one of these swap events, you'll see that,

452
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:48,840
Speaker 7: you know, the diversity of soccer fan and you know,

453
00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,600
Speaker 7: the diversity in age as well, from little kids all

454
00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:54,359
Speaker 7: the way to you know, grandparents collecting together.

455
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:58,040
Speaker 5: Do you think you know obviously, one of my colleagues

456
00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,920
Speaker 5: had told me that he's been able to find one

457
00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:03,000
Speaker 5: for his son right now, and we're in the New Jersey,

458
00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,720
Speaker 5: New York market. Is that market specific or do you

459
00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:08,760
Speaker 5: think you know our people still going to be able

460
00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:11,160
Speaker 5: to get a new book, you know as the tournament

461
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:11,520
Speaker 5: goes on.

462
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,119
Speaker 7: Yeah, absolutely, I mean we're continually delivering on a daily basis,

463
00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,359
Speaker 7: we're working, you know, to keep up with demand. It

464
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:22,520
Speaker 7: should should be universally available in Walmart, Target, on Amazon,

465
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:26,679
Speaker 7: on the Pininia website, Wilgreen, CBS, even hardware stores like

466
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:32,600
Speaker 7: ACE and home depots, so it's widely spread the volumes

467
00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:34,920
Speaker 7: and the demand was significant, so it took a little

468
00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,639
Speaker 7: while for us to catch up, particularly for this event.

469
00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:40,560
Speaker 7: And as much is that it's the first time it's

470
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:44,480
Speaker 7: been a forty eighteen format, which meant that the last

471
00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,679
Speaker 7: six teams didn't qualify until the end of March. Sure,

472
00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,840
Speaker 7: so it was a manufacturing marvel for us to then

473
00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:54,760
Speaker 7: jump on and get the product to retail as quickly

474
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,320
Speaker 7: as we did. But yeah, we're delivering on a daily basis.

475
00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:01,680
Speaker 7: We've also given away in the US as many as

476
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:05,000
Speaker 7: eight million albums, so you know they're being given away

477
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:10,160
Speaker 7: at Stadia soccer events, you know, across many, many different platforms.

478
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,679
Speaker 7: So yeah, I would say keep licking and the stalks

479
00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:14,600
Speaker 7: on a daily flow.

480
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,520
Speaker 4: That was Panini America's CEO Mark Warsup Up.

481
00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:21,760
Speaker 5: Next, we speak to a legend of USA gymnastic, Shawn

482
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,640
Speaker 5: Johnson East about how she's getting back in touch with the.

483
00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:27,520
Speaker 6: Sport that's straight ahead on the Bloomberg Business of Sports

484
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:31,000
Speaker 6: for Vanessa Perdomo Magleon. I'm Randa Williams. You're listening to

485
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:35,200
Speaker 6: the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.

486
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:44,320
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

487
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,000
Speaker 5: Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports,

488
00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:50,120
Speaker 5: where we explore the big money issues in the world

489
00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:50,640
Speaker 5: of sports.

490
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:52,320
Speaker 4: I'm Vanessa Prodomo Magleone.

491
00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:53,400
Speaker 6: I'm Randa Williams.

492
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:55,119
Speaker 4: Michael Barr is off this week.

493
00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,400
Speaker 5: However, before he headed out to a fabulous vacation, him

494
00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,600
Speaker 5: and I sat down with Olympic Golden medalist Sean Johnson East.

495
00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 5: At the time, Randal, you were off doing something basic, like,

496
00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:06,800
Speaker 5: you know, covering Game one of the NBA Finals.

497
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:09,080
Speaker 6: Yeah, it wasn't a big deal at all, and I'm

498
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:12,399
Speaker 6: so sorry to have missed Sean. She served as an

499
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,280
Speaker 6: ambassador for the Special Olympics to help get a few

500
00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:18,520
Speaker 6: athletes ready to compete in the gymnastics events, which was

501
00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,000
Speaker 6: documented in the YouTube documentary Soaring.

502
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:23,359
Speaker 5: If you want to cry and be inspired, then go

503
00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:26,359
Speaker 5: check out the documentary. The athletes have so much heart.

504
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:28,959
Speaker 5: I loved chatting with Sean about that and how coaching

505
00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:31,080
Speaker 5: them helped her find her love for the sport again.

506
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:35,159
Speaker 6: Here's Vanessa and Michael's conversation with former Olympian and Special

507
00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:37,480
Speaker 6: Olympics Ambassador Sean Johnson East.

508
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,120
Speaker 3: You have a new documentary coming up called Soaring and

509
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,320
Speaker 3: it looks very interesting and I really want to see

510
00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,080
Speaker 3: this when I get a chance to catch it on TV.

511
00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:52,520
Speaker 4: Tell us all about Yes, well, thank you.

512
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:54,920
Speaker 8: It was such a gift and such an honor to

513
00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 8: be a part of this documentary. It follows three girls, Page,

514
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,680
Speaker 8: Liz and Jenny and their journey to the Special Olympics

515
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:06,439
Speaker 8: USA Games as gymnasts, and it's it's the most beautiful

516
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:11,960
Speaker 8: documentary about resilience and community and hardship and challenges, but

517
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,679
Speaker 8: shown through the story of three women who truly have

518
00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:18,760
Speaker 8: a joy and a love for their sport, unlike anything

519
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:19,560
Speaker 8: I have ever seen.

520
00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:22,040
Speaker 5: Sean. One of the things, you know, I had gotten

521
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,159
Speaker 5: a chance to see, you know, a little bit of it,

522
00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:27,240
Speaker 5: and one of the things that struck me was how

523
00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:29,880
Speaker 5: you know some of the some of the athletes, they

524
00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:32,520
Speaker 5: have all of these medals from like different sports that

525
00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:35,040
Speaker 5: they've been able to compete in across Special Olympics it's

526
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:38,120
Speaker 5: not just you know, gymnastics, but then they're so good

527
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:40,240
Speaker 5: and they're competing at such a high level of gymnastics

528
00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:42,840
Speaker 5: in Special Olympics. What was something when you were working

529
00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:45,639
Speaker 5: with them that surprised you about working with Special Olympics.

530
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 8: Honestly, I have said before like it was it was

531
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:51,679
Speaker 8: a gift to work with them, but I think the

532
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,200
Speaker 8: gift they gave me was even greater. In my career.

533
00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:57,240
Speaker 8: I fell in love with gymnastics at the age of three,

534
00:26:57,359 --> 00:26:59,280
Speaker 8: and it was that love that took me, you know,

535
00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:01,160
Speaker 8: all the way to the top. And it was at

536
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:04,439
Speaker 8: the top that things started getting more confusing and messy,

537
00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,640
Speaker 8: with the world narrative being the pressure behind winning medals

538
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:11,720
Speaker 8: and gaining titles and earning money, the competition got a

539
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:15,119
Speaker 8: little more confusing, and being back in the gym with

540
00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:20,080
Speaker 8: these girls and seeing sport embodied in the purest form

541
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:23,119
Speaker 8: was something that I really needed, and I think I

542
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,159
Speaker 8: refell in love with gymnastics just being around these girls.

543
00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:31,119
Speaker 3: I like it from many points, but it's about the

544
00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:36,040
Speaker 3: perseverance of the people that you had a chat with,

545
00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:40,840
Speaker 3: and I think, you know, it will give everybody a

546
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:44,320
Speaker 3: life lesson, is what I'm trying to say it really will.

547
00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:47,399
Speaker 8: It's such a powerful message and I think when the

548
00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:49,760
Speaker 8: world really really needs right now.

549
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,200
Speaker 5: So you said you've refell in love with gymnastics almost,

550
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:57,720
Speaker 5: So what was your relationship like with gymnastics since you've retired.

551
00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:02,440
Speaker 8: My relationship with gymnastics since I retired has been great.

552
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:04,880
Speaker 8: It's just I didn't really have any interest in going back.

553
00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:08,280
Speaker 8: I think because it got a little bit messier there

554
00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:11,520
Speaker 8: towards the end, and I lost that passion for my sport.

555
00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:13,960
Speaker 8: I didn't feel the need to go back. But then

556
00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:18,439
Speaker 8: going back for these women and seeing their joy, I

557
00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:20,440
Speaker 8: fell in love with it again. I was like, this

558
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:22,840
Speaker 8: is the coolest sport in the entire world, just like

559
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:24,760
Speaker 8: I remember feeling that when I was a little kid.

560
00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:29,320
Speaker 3: Well, I bless you because when I saw you perform

561
00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:33,840
Speaker 3: in the Olympics. And by the way, folks, Sean Johnson East,

562
00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 3: which now that you're a married person now because you

563
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:44,120
Speaker 3: were married to former NFL player Andrew East, I think

564
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:48,520
Speaker 3: watching you, you know, and you've won four times the

565
00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:53,880
Speaker 3: Olympic medal medalist and things like walking on the beam,

566
00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:57,800
Speaker 3: you know, and the balance. I mean, I can't even

567
00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:02,600
Speaker 3: fly a kite and you are doing all of these things,

568
00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:05,680
Speaker 3: and like you said, you started at three years old,

569
00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:09,800
Speaker 3: And can you give a message to anybody from any

570
00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,400
Speaker 3: young child who were like, Hey, I want to do

571
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:14,040
Speaker 3: the same thing that Sean did.

572
00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:17,680
Speaker 8: Yeah, I honestly think it's the same message that these

573
00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:22,280
Speaker 8: girls would say, which is just find something and fall

574
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,680
Speaker 8: in love with it. I think because I loved gymnastics

575
00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:30,720
Speaker 8: so much, it helped me get to the top by

576
00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,400
Speaker 8: enduring things that were hard and challenging. But it's that

577
00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,400
Speaker 8: passion that got me through, and I think being able

578
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:38,920
Speaker 8: to see that same thing in these girls is really special.

579
00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:41,440
Speaker 8: So if you're lucky enough to find something you love

580
00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:43,360
Speaker 8: protected at all costs.

581
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:46,120
Speaker 5: It's interesting the words you use there, because you also

582
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:47,840
Speaker 5: just you and your husband recently came out with a

583
00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:50,560
Speaker 5: book called The Courage to Commit. Can you tell us

584
00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:54,000
Speaker 5: a little bit about that and why you guys wrote

585
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:55,840
Speaker 5: this book and what it's about. I feel like people

586
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:58,560
Speaker 5: are really going to be able to relate to it

587
00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:01,480
Speaker 5: in that way of person Like you said, I mean, obviously,

588
00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:04,680
Speaker 5: you guys got to a level that not a lot

589
00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:07,240
Speaker 5: of people will get to in their lives in sports

590
00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:07,720
Speaker 5: and competing.

591
00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,200
Speaker 4: But what do you think other people be able to

592
00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:11,040
Speaker 4: relate to.

593
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:14,960
Speaker 8: For the book, well, thank you. Honestly, we wrote it

594
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,080
Speaker 8: because I feel like the world is so noisy right now,

595
00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:20,800
Speaker 8: there's so many options, and people are feeling less connected

596
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:25,680
Speaker 8: and more anxious and less purposeful. And it just reiterates

597
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,000
Speaker 8: this idea and this message that got us into the

598
00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:32,200
Speaker 8: highest levels of our careers, which is find something, choose something,

599
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,800
Speaker 8: and protect it with everything that you have. And the

600
00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:38,840
Speaker 8: more you invest into one thing, the deeper meaning that

601
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:42,040
Speaker 8: you find from it, and truly it just becomes fruitful.

602
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:44,160
Speaker 3: Well, speaking of your husband, I want to give a

603
00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,560
Speaker 3: shout out. You guys have a media network and production company.

604
00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,640
Speaker 3: It's called Family Made. Tell us more about that.

605
00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:52,320
Speaker 7: We do.

606
00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:55,720
Speaker 8: We have found ourselves in the middle of this social

607
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,480
Speaker 8: media world creating a lot of really fun content and

608
00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 8: through this journey we have developed the most beautiful team

609
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:08,240
Speaker 8: who's very good at production. And we created this production

610
00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:12,200
Speaker 8: company to give others basically the beautiful team that we've

611
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,479
Speaker 8: created and to outsource to Yeah, just to share all

612
00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:16,560
Speaker 8: of our people.

613
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:21,160
Speaker 5: We're speaking with Sean Johnson, East Olympic champion gymnast Sean,

614
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:23,440
Speaker 5: you know I come across your guys videos all the time,

615
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:26,240
Speaker 5: and I think, like I, they on, they go viral,

616
00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:29,200
Speaker 5: you know quite a bit. What was you know, your

617
00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:32,440
Speaker 5: guys's you know what made you start doing that and

618
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:35,640
Speaker 5: start sharing your life in that way, especially you know,

619
00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,640
Speaker 5: being retired for so long and then coming back into

620
00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:40,320
Speaker 5: the spotlight the way you have with social media.

621
00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:45,760
Speaker 8: Well, it's it's a it's an interesting relationship because I

622
00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:47,760
Speaker 8: don't know if we love sharing our life, but we

623
00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 8: have found ourselves with this platform and want to make

624
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,480
Speaker 8: sure that we steward it well. And for us my husband,

625
00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:55,600
Speaker 8: I just like to have fun. We like to showcase

626
00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:00,400
Speaker 8: heartwarming content that features family and marriage and and a

627
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:04,800
Speaker 8: good light that's not polarizing or provocative or controversial, just

628
00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:07,640
Speaker 8: something to make someone smile on any given day.

629
00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:12,880
Speaker 3: Well, again, you are so many things that you guys

630
00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:16,360
Speaker 3: are connected with. You guys are also an investor in

631
00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:22,160
Speaker 3: Angel City in the National Women's Soccer League, and you

632
00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:26,040
Speaker 3: talk about something that is growing like a weed, that

633
00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:30,200
Speaker 3: is the sport look out because that there's no a

634
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:31,640
Speaker 3: nice way for me to say you can make a

635
00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:34,040
Speaker 3: lot of money out of this, because and I want

636
00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:36,240
Speaker 3: to say you can do it. Can you expand more

637
00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:36,520
Speaker 3: on that?

638
00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:39,480
Speaker 8: Yeah, we My husband and I have actually invested in

639
00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,600
Speaker 8: quite a few sports teams lately. A lot of them

640
00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:47,400
Speaker 8: are female based, and it's because we had a daughter

641
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:49,680
Speaker 8: and we felt so inclined to invest back into the

642
00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:53,000
Speaker 8: athletics of the next generation. And especially with Angel City,

643
00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:56,000
Speaker 8: there was a movement around that team that was unlike

644
00:32:56,040 --> 00:33:00,440
Speaker 8: anything we had seen. It was truly empowering women's athletics

645
00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,560
Speaker 8: and women's sports, and for our daughter, we felt like

646
00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:07,200
Speaker 8: we were helping her and her future, but also now

647
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,120
Speaker 8: spreading it across multiple teams, both male and female. It's

648
00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,080
Speaker 8: been really really powerful to just kind of like this

649
00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:16,480
Speaker 8: invest into athletics. It meant so much to us, it's

650
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:17,560
Speaker 8: the least we can do now.

651
00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:21,320
Speaker 5: So do you see it from sort of a standpoint

652
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:25,000
Speaker 5: of you're going into these teams to you know, almost

653
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:28,880
Speaker 5: you know, lend your guys' platform and lend your reach

654
00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:31,640
Speaker 5: and then also give back. Or do you also see

655
00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:34,200
Speaker 5: it as you know, a business case and when you're

656
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,720
Speaker 5: looking at certain teams or different sports to invest in,

657
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:39,680
Speaker 5: you're really taking the time to learn about the business

658
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:40,000
Speaker 5: as well.

659
00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:44,160
Speaker 8: All of the above, I think each one probably has

660
00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:46,480
Speaker 8: a unique case by case basis to it. Whether it's

661
00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:50,520
Speaker 8: the business strategic side or more the promotional I do

662
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:53,960
Speaker 8: think every team we have associated ourselves with and invested

663
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:58,080
Speaker 8: in we are seeing it as a leverage to extend

664
00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:01,600
Speaker 8: our marketing platforms and say hey, we would love to

665
00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:03,920
Speaker 8: help you promote it. We love what you stand for

666
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:08,360
Speaker 8: it And if the business side is also beneficial and pays.

667
00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:09,560
Speaker 4: Back, that's just a perk.

668
00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:13,800
Speaker 8: But for us, we have such a strong passion towards

669
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:16,680
Speaker 8: athletics and athletes and kind of uplifting them that the

670
00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,879
Speaker 8: investment side is for us just to be a part

671
00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:20,120
Speaker 8: of it.

672
00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:23,520
Speaker 5: Did you know working with the Special Olympics, you know

673
00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:26,040
Speaker 5: in this way with the soaring documentary, did it make

674
00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:29,960
Speaker 5: you want to work directly with young athletes more and

675
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:31,160
Speaker 5: coaching a little bit more?

676
00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:34,520
Speaker 2: Absolutely?

677
00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:37,320
Speaker 8: I mean I think in this capacity it's my favorite.

678
00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:40,200
Speaker 8: So being able to share people's voices and their stories

679
00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:44,480
Speaker 8: I love. I remember after retiring from gymnastics, I knew

680
00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:46,839
Speaker 8: I'd never wanted to just be a part of gymnastics

681
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:49,600
Speaker 8: after retirement, I wanted to be a part of all

682
00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:52,799
Speaker 8: sports and all athletes stories. So being a part of

683
00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:56,440
Speaker 8: something like the Special Olympics and crossing multiple platforms and

684
00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:58,560
Speaker 8: multiple sports has been really exciting for me.

685
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:03,440
Speaker 3: We're talking with on Johnson East and you know that

686
00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,319
Speaker 3: she's an Olympic champion gymnast and I want to give

687
00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:09,000
Speaker 3: a shout out to you and something else. You are

688
00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:12,840
Speaker 3: on the board of trustees for the Children's Miracle Network,

689
00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:16,279
Speaker 3: something brilliant. Tell us more about that, please, I am.

690
00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:19,440
Speaker 8: I feel like it was my first big girl jobs.

691
00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:22,719
Speaker 8: I sit on the board of the CMN Network and

692
00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:26,640
Speaker 8: it's been incredibly beneficial. I remember when I was sixteen

693
00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:30,560
Speaker 8: being on tour after the Olympics, I got to visit

694
00:35:30,719 --> 00:35:33,719
Speaker 8: a bunch of CMN hospitals and meet a lot of

695
00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:37,000
Speaker 8: these patients and children first, like up close and personal,

696
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:40,600
Speaker 8: and remember thinking at the age of sixteen, if there's

697
00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:43,560
Speaker 8: anything I can do to help these families and these kids,

698
00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:46,799
Speaker 8: it was what I wanted to do. And now being

699
00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:49,080
Speaker 8: able to serve on that board and oversee a lot

700
00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:54,360
Speaker 8: of their just everything you know, financials to marketing decisions

701
00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:56,160
Speaker 8: to how they're actually giving back to the families, I

702
00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:58,600
Speaker 8: think is really powerful and it's been one of my

703
00:35:58,600 --> 00:35:59,919
Speaker 8: favorite things that I've ever done.

704
00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:03,239
Speaker 5: It's definitely a different job, you know than some of

705
00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:06,360
Speaker 5: the other things you've done. That the way you described it, Sean,

706
00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:10,440
Speaker 5: Before you go, we have to ask about LA twenty

707
00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:13,440
Speaker 5: twenty eight Olympics. You know, having a home Olympics here,

708
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:15,560
Speaker 5: Can you tell us a little bit about, you know,

709
00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:17,600
Speaker 5: the impact you think it's going to have, you know,

710
00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:19,520
Speaker 5: having Olympics on US soil.

711
00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:25,279
Speaker 8: I think the Olympics are incredibly special in uniting and

712
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:30,080
Speaker 8: unifying the world. I think we live in an interesting

713
00:36:30,200 --> 00:36:35,080
Speaker 8: time in today's culture where things seem very polarizing and

714
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:39,240
Speaker 8: politically driven, and I think something really special about having

715
00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:42,920
Speaker 8: and hosting an Olympics on US soil is our chance

716
00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:47,080
Speaker 8: to reunify everyone. And I think if we can look

717
00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:49,879
Speaker 8: past politics and say, you know what, this is one

718
00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:52,600
Speaker 8: moment in time where the world's colliding on our soil

719
00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:55,200
Speaker 8: and our stage, I think it's going to be a really,

720
00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:56,600
Speaker 8: really special experience.

721
00:36:57,160 --> 00:36:59,440
Speaker 6: That was Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson East.

722
00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:02,279
Speaker 5: That's it for today. Thanks for joining us. Tune in

723
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:04,760
Speaker 5: again next week for the latest on the stories moving

724
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:06,920
Speaker 5: big money in the world of sports, and.

725
00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:10,200
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