WEBVTT - Power Players Descend on NYC for Bloomberg Summit 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:07.040 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:11.680 You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:15.920 Tim Stenoveek on Bloomberg Radio. We've got an incredible duo 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:19.079 with us right now, Ted leonsa scoder, chairman, managing partner 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:22.160 and CEO of Monumental Sports and Entertainment. Here's a little 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:23.840 bit of what they have. Home to the Wizards, the 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:27.240 Washington Capitals, the Washington Mystics, Capital one Arena, eight teams, 0:00:27.520 --> 0:00:31.200 five venues, one media platform, and more. Once again, Monumental 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:33.680 Sports and Entertainment ted with us along with Gary Bedman, 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:37.400 longtime Commissioner of the NHL, former longtime General Council for 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:40.839 the NBA. Both join us here on set at Power Players, 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:42.199 New York. Welcome to both of you. 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:43.440 Great to be with you. 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:46.479 Well, we got a little bit of the panel earlier. 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:48.960 We were able to take some of it and broadcast 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:53.240 it to our audience across YouTube, radio and Bloomberg Originals. 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:55.840 You're up there with Scarlett Food talking about the new 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:57.880 fan experience. You've both been involved in the world of 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:01.160 sports for a long time. A lot has changed streaming, sports, betting, 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:05.080 Nil Carol, which I think is like the backdrop to 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:08.319 everything that's happening here, the role of tech alone. What 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:10.360 is this moment that we're living in right now? 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:15.480 Well, I think AI is really the next big thing 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:16.600 with sports. 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:17.520 Oh yes, totally. 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:21.720 How well, right now we're redoing our building and all 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:24.240 we're talking about is physical AI. 0:01:24.800 --> 0:01:26.199 How do we collect data? 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:29.240 How do we with three million people to come into 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:33.039 our building? Where are they coming from? How old are they, 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:36.240 who are they married to? How long have they had 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:39.160 the tickets? What are they like when they eat? What 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:43.039 do we what can we do to be anticipatory with 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:47.000 our building? It's not just smart buildings anymore. It's build 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:50.680 the intelligence and the data right into that experience. 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:51.960 You know, I just want to ask you, Ted, because 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:53.880 you were at AOL in the early days. I mean 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:56.600 this is before you were in sports, you were in technology, 0:01:56.640 --> 0:01:58.760 so you understand the space is. Are we in a 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:02.040 moment now that is is like when AOL brought us 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:02.840 the World Wide Web? 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:07.120 Well, I think the league's it seems like it's been 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:09.920 a long time, but it's been a quick pivot to 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:16.119 go from analog and bricks and mortar and linear distribution 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:23.480 and local to be a global digital power plant if 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:27.480 you will that we look at our teams. Obviously they 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.960 have high fan avidity, but it's IP and how do 0:02:31.040 --> 0:02:35.000 we digitize everything that we're doing from the start and 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:37.240 distributed over our own channels. 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.240 That's why we bought our RSN. 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:43.320 Everyone was running out of the burning house. We said, 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:47.040 let's run in. It'll never be a better time to 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:51.520 buy and reinvent the distribution model than there is right now. 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:53.880 Gary wants you to come in on the role of technology. 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:55.959 I think all of us were watching sports. I love it, 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:59.240 whether it's tennis, whether it's golf, whether it's baseball, the 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:02.840 statistics that hockey. Sorry, sorry, I was getting there. 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:03.440 I was getting there. 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:06.560 Sorry, Sorry, Well that's what I wanted to get to, though, 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:08.560 like you know, how fast the puck is going or 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:11.440 something like how much fans love that engagement. 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:13.520 I'm going to respond to that, but I want to 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:14.800 add on to what head says. 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:16.840 So you know I have four brothers and growing up 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:18.560 being an ice skating pond that they dug out of 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:20.440 the woods in the back and would play hockey. 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:23.920 I knew I liked you and your family, but you 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:29.920 grew up with it. Sports tends to focus people at 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:32.800 an instant, at a moment in time, the score of 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:36.040 the game, what's the result. I don't think we're at 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:38.560 a moment of time. I think we're on a journey, 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:42.360 and we've been on a journey for decades. And the 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:46.520 speed limits change on the road, road conditions change, there 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:49.840 are curves, there are hills. But at the end of 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:53.840 the day, it starts with the authenticity of sports and 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:57.160 how important sports are in people's lives, and how it 0:03:57.240 --> 0:04:01.720 brings people in communities together, and take has enabled us 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:05.840 to connect better with our fans. So AI we're like 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:08.080 any other consumer business. It's going to help us do 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:12.720 business better, but also it's going to help us make 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:17.360 sure that our games stay true to themselves. It's I 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:21.880 always tell particularly my tech and strategy guys, we're not 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.760 going to change the game to make it more tech 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:31.160 savvy or a tech you know favorable. What we're going 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:35.599 to do is use technology to make the game more consumable, 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:39.800 more connected, and so pucking player tracking at hl edge 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:42.839 is a function of that. We're gathering millions of data 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:46.400 points a minute, but it's enabling us to take people 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:49.400 inside the game, maybe even people who don't know the 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:52.520 game and understand it and let them say, wow, that 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:56.560 pup you know, traveled fourteen miles with averaged eighty eight 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:59.680 miles an hour. This player can skate as fast as 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.960 thirty five miles an hour, and he's already skated six 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:06.760 miles in this game. This gets people to understand and 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:10.560 feel more connected, and it's going to let us give 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:13.280 them the game on their terms, because with all the 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:15.280 streaming platforms, you're going to be able to sit at 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:18.359 home and decide how you want to watch the game, 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:22.080 not the way we've done it from a linear standpoint 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:25.120 since I was a little kid, and people my age 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:27.000 are used to sitting on the couch and doing it. 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:28.120 But we used to get in. 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:30.280 Front of my dad and be like, you know, get down, 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:31.560 get down, because good rewinded. 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:34.040 But if you're a gen Z or a Jena and 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:36.359 you want to focus on a particular player and you 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.920 want Dana simultaneously and you want to place a bet, 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:41.880 you're going to be able to do all that and 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:44.960 buy a jersey all at the same time. In addition, 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:48.680 what fucking player tracking has enabled us to do is 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:53.400 use the metaverse. We use animated versions of our game 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:57.120 in real time. We were the first sports league to 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:00.760 do that, and it works really well and it engages 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:02.720 young people and their parents. 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:06.440 You know, I'm thinking about this all this, and I'm 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:09.280 thinking about the technology and thinking about the investment that's 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:11.800 being made, and it reminds me of the way that 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:14.880 we've seen sports turn into this premium experience now in 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:17.400 the premiumization, this idea of it being a luxury good, 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:19.440 And I'm wondering how you think about that, Ted, and 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:21.039 how you know it's not like you go to the 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:23.680 ball ball Well, I guess ball games are still affordable. 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:26.760 But apart from that, I mean, some tickets just end 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:29.160 up being so expensive. How do you think about that 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:30.440 for your customers. 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:34.840 Many of us have run big public tech companies, and. 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:37.880 When you come into sports, you say, oh, the model 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:43.040 is like a software company. We have nothing but blue 0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:51.680 chip clients, naming rights, sweet sales, big sponsorships, media deals 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:58.279 with the biggest companies in the world, Amazon and NBC, 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:04.120 Comcast and ESPN, and they pay us over ten years 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:10.040 or longer with escalator. So the model looks just like Salesforce, 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:14.040 dot Com or Oracle. Those are very valuable companies. It's 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:18.360 why they're valued and a multiple of revenues, not a 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:22.400 multiple of ebita. Okay, so that's what's happened. 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:23.000 To sports teams. 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:27.880 It's this where six times eight times, ten times twelve 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:28.920 times revenues. 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:29.200 Right. 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:32.560 But for those of us who came in from public 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:35.480 companies and tech companies that go, we don't have an 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:38.760 R and D budget, think about that. 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:40.880 We didn't have a CTO. 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:43.320 We were one of the first teams that I mean, 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:44.600 we made a major high. 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:48.600 We have software developers. There's like those software. 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:52.200 Developers in these teams. That's a big part of the pivot. Right, 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:55.680 If you're going to be digitized or die, if you're 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:59.960 going to try to get your products and services out, 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:04.400 build brand and build audience on a global basis, it 0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:09.080 all starts with, you know, taking a a pixel and 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:12.800 digitizing it. And we're now you know, I've owned the 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:16.400 team twenty six years. But there's now a lot of 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:21.400 the big markets and more innovative companies that have said, yeah, 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.440 we are we're not We're not just a hockey team. 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:28.240 You've got to have the hockey team as the ethos, 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:30.920 you know, for the competition for the fans. But as 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:33.400 a business, these have become big businesses. We're going to 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:36.959 be doing two years from now billion dollars in revenue. 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.040 You were valued at about four billion dollars back in 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.079 twenty twenty three with the Victoris. 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:44.360 Meant we've been valued now close to seven. 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:46.439 It's big growth in three years. 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:48.000 Good business, it's good bus. 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:50.720 But we're doing seven and fifty million dollars in revenue. 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:54.720 But the landscape, and it relates to everything that's going 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:58.439 on with the distribution of content. No matter what platform 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:03.520 you're talking about, sports is the most compelling, most valuable 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:08.360 content and that's what's driving a great values that you're seeing, right. 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:10.000 Because there's so much stuff out there, But you're right, 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:11.840 people tune in can be something. 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:13.920 It's it's reality TV. 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:18.000 I mean it really is, right, But I think one 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:22.400 thing that people miss to the world's in chaos and 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:25.800 it's not going to get more calm. But there's something 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:31.439 about you. You go to a game and you know 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:34.640 it's the puck's going to drop at seven oh six. 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:38.000 You know where the game is going to be televised, 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:42.480 you know where your seats are. The players know if 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:46.920 you make the wrong pass, it's you know it goes 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:50.120 over the blue line. They know what penalties are, there's 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:55.680 referees and while there's people will boom guardrail. 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:59.640 I'm saying that that there's there's structure, right. Yeah. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.920 I was amazed that at the World Cup you have 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:07.280 countries fighting each other, at war with each other, yet 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:10.320 they get on the pitch and it's I know this 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:13.000 line is out of bounds, that this is a boundary. 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:17.600 I think we crave that we want a level playing field, 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:20.560 and you want meritocracy and you want to see how 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:21.959 people can compete. 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:25.920 And yet politics, geopolitics have played gotten their way into sports. 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:27.600 And I think about the NHL being kind of the 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:31.280 most international and Canadian of all US pro sports, and 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:36.120 yet geopolitics coming from the White House, weather it was 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:37.640 ever trading terror policies. 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:41.480 We saw that play out, certainly it did during the 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:45.280 Four Nations in February. Canada was playing the US in 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:49.640 two games, including the final game. But what's great about 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:54.960 sports and it transcends geopolitics because sports brings out people's 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:59.120 passion and it brings people together, even if their rivals, 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:02.360 their interest in seeing the game in the outcome, and 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:06.079 even within a particular country. You know, no matter how 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:09.200 diverse a country is on whatever basis, you're figuring out 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:13.360 what the diversity is. People come together, It brings communities together. 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:18.720 And when you have assets franchises like TED has in Washington, 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:23.040 they make a difference in people's lives, their outreach in 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:28.000 the community, their youth programs using sports to teach young 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:32.320 people life lessons. That's as important as anything else that 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:35.280 we can do in sports, and I think monumental of 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:39.080 what Ted does in Washington is a great example of 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:42.480 being outward facing in the community and making a difference. 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:46.040 So we helped the White House have the inaugural at 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:50.520 our arena recalled the world's most important arena, and that 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:54.960 same week there was a study out on who is 0:11:55.120 --> 0:12:01.440 the most popular and best athlete in Washington sports history 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:05.079 and it's a Russian alex Ovechkin. Right, he broke Wayne 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:10.320 Gretzky's record last year and he is beloved in Washington, 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:15.320 d C. Yesterday we announced the naming rights deal with Coupon, 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:21.559 No South Korean company e commerce company. We're we're global, right, 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:26.240 we are exporting our ip around the world. We have 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:31.240 these icons, these great global brands. Advertisers want to reach 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:35.880 those fans and so you know, it's just ironic. 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:37.520 Here we are in Washington, d C. 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:40.640 As I said, I could see the White House, and 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:47.679 while they're churning on on things, sports is the great United. 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:50.400 And then that poll will also say that you were 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:54.360 the most popular owner. 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:58.400 Let the record show ten did not answer the question. 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:05.480 To be bother, it's good to hear that. It's good 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:08.240 to hear that that sports really kind of brings people together. 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:10.280 We do see that over and over, gentlemen, Thank you 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:10.640 so much. 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:11.640 Thanks for harding. 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:15.080 Ted Ley Ownes's founder, chairman Managing Partners ATUO of Monumental 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:18.480 Sports and Entertainment. Gary Bettman, Commissioner of the NHL. 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:21.560 Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Business Week Daily coming 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:23.280 up after this. 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:27.160 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:29.400 Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio. 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:32.280 College is under a lot of pressure right now. Just 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:36.200 this afternoon, Northwestern University president and Michael Schill resigned after 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:40.000 a three year tenure marked by controversy over protests on campus, 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:43.280 conflict with the Trump administration over research funding, and a 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:47.520 hazing scandal in its football program. College athletics not immune 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:50.000 to all this pressure either, fair to say, Nil also 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:53.880 known as name image and likeness has completely changed college athletics. 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:57.240 There have also been labor challenges that have come along with. 0:13:57.120 --> 0:14:01.280 This makes it interesting on college campuses. View from one campus, 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:04.280 we have my charity with us Haldeman Family Director of 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:07.280 Athletics and Recreation over at Dartmouth College. Also with us 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:11.000 A Bloomberg News Higher Education finance reporter Janet Lauren, both 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:13.319 here at Power Players, New York, and they were both 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:17.960 up on stage, weren't you. College athletics going through a lot. 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:20.760 We were just talking about the ability for college players 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:23.360 to move around and kind of, you know, find the 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:25.600 best deal. Tell us what it's like to be an 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:28.960 athletic director in today's environment. And you're also a lot 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:32.520 of colleges and administrations, I mean a lot of academic 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:37.440 administrations are also catching the attention of the White House. 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:39.480 So what's it like to do your job? 0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:42.560 YEA, just a few things going on, Just a few things. 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:45.080 First of all, thank you for having me honor to 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:47.640 be here. You know, at Dartmouth and in the IVY League. 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:50.800 We're really distinct as it relates to everything going on 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:54.520 nationally in terms of the House settlement with revenue sharing, name, 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:58.720 image and likeness we have real nil as it was 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.600 originally intended. That means an athlete can can you know, 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:04.080 have a sports camp using their name, or be an 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:06.560 entrepreneur and start their own business. But any kind of 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:08.880 pay for play, that's that is not something that we 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:11.920 that's you know, aligned with our values and our presidents 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:13.680 have made it clear in the IVY League that that 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:15.720 is not something that we're going to do. 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:18.520 So that's an IVY League rule or a art myth rule. 0:15:18.520 --> 0:15:20.920 That's an IVY League role, okay, yep, and voted on 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:22.720 by all the presidents in the IVY League and certainly 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:25.800 supported by the athletic directors. So but having said all that, 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:29.160 you know, we're still very competitive nationally. The Learfield Director's Cup, 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:33.240 which measures postseason success in NCAA Championships, there's a power four. 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:35.800 Those are the top four conferences when you measure that, 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:38.000 we're the fifth. When there was a power five, we 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:41.440 were six. So competing at the national level, and you know, 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:44.680 the sport sports across the across the board has been 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:48.440 a really really shows that we can have the primacy 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:52.080 of academics and also you know, pursue excellence and athletics 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:53.520 and those things are not mutually exclusive. 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:55.760 Does it make our harder to recruit though athletes? 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:58.240 I think it actually makes it easier in today's world, 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:00.920 and that our value prop is has always been different. 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:03.080 In the IVY League, we do not give athletic scholarships. 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.240 It's always been need based financial aid. That has not changed. 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:09.120 So that was a differentiator between scholarships and that, and 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:11.840 now we can we're doubling down on our distinctions. And 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:17.840 what we're finding is as powerful institutions are emphasizing certain sports, 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:23.160 primarily football, basketball, maybe one beyond that, the Olympic sports 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:27.280 are being de emphasized, reduction and scholarships, reduction, opportunities compete 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:30.960 and we're sitting right there to benefit from that, and 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:33.080 we already our coaches are telling me that we already are. 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:34.000 So that's really exciting. 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:38.360 So take us back to what happened last year with 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:41.480 the men's basketball team. There was a vote of thirteen 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:44.520 to two. I believe it was to unionize and then 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:46.800 they pulled back earlier this year. What was that like 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:48.600 being in the athletic director's chair. 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:51.240 Yeah, there's no playbook for it. You know. When I 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:53.400 took the job and start in July of twenty twenty two. 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:55.320 If you would have told me that Dartmouth men's basketball 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:58.400 was the first union in college athletics history, I would 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:00.920 have called you crazy, but a lot. Dartmouth has a 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:04.439 long history of supporting unions, including student worker unions. We 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:08.679 just fundamentally believe that student athletes are not employees for 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:11.399 many reasons, one of which is one of which is 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:14.720 the athletic endeavor itself we view as an extension of 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:18.359 the educational core mission of Dartmouth, and so our presidency 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:21.320 on Bilock, a phenomenal leader, was public and saying that 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:23.320 we would appeal that all the way up to the 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:27.399 Supreme Court. They did withdraw their their unionization effort right 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:30.720 around New Year's Eve, and I'll note that the team 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:33.359 went on to have the best on court season and 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:34.640 twenty five years after that. 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:35.879 Pretty impressive. 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:39.440 Well, so, what is the greatest challenge for you today 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:42.440 when it comes to college sports? 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:42.920 Yeah? 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:45.320 For us, you know, we're always thinking about how do 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:48.639 we best deliver on the promise that we make to 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:51.760 the recruits who come to our institution. You know, Dartmous 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:57.080 mission is to attract the whitest swath of really motivated 0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:00.280 you know, students and send them off into the world 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:03.360 as responsible leaders, and we play a key role in that. 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:06.760 So we have thirty five varsity sports, we have over 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:09.800 nine hundred varsity athletes. They're roughly twenty two percent of 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:12.800 the undergraduate enrollment at Dartmouth. So I wake up every 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:16.040 day thinking about how do we better support them to 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:20.120 strive for their aspirations and help support their holistic development 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:22.600 as students, as people, as athletes. And I know that 0:18:22.600 --> 0:18:26.800 sounds really lofty, but everything we do from driving revenue philanthropy. 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:29.239 We landed the biggest gift in dart athletics history from 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:31.560 the Lewinstein family two years ago. All that goes back 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:34.080 into supporting their health, wellness and overall development. 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:37.120 So earlier in the conference today, we were talking with 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:40.720 some athletic directors who are writing very big checks to 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:44.000 their students. Could you talk a little bit about the 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:47.600 difference in what's going on on your end where you 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:51.800 have to approve or you have to attest to nils 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:53.200 that are two thousand dollars short. 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:57.280 And I just want to clarify for everyone, Janet Jenet, 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:00.760 what you're saying is these the school they're actually the 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:01.919 ones that are funding these. 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:04.239 Athletes, right, they have to pony up. 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:06.920 Okay, if you're at a power for a conference twenty 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:09.040 point five million dollars a year. 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:15.480 Two athletes, Okay, sorry, go ahead, We do not. But 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:18.840 what I'll say is we have a variety of rules 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:21.320 that ensure that the presidential direct the president's are a 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:23.720 presidents have directed that there is no pay for play. 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:27.520 So with that, yes, every deal two thousand dollars and above, 0:19:27.560 --> 0:19:30.840 I review personally to evaluate that. And also we attest 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:33.520 as athletic directors that we are not in any way 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:38.040 directly or indirectly, you know, asking a donor alum to 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:40.560 give money to somebody as a recruited inducement or if 0:19:40.600 --> 0:19:42.080 they want to go in the transfer portal, as a 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:44.960 retention inducement. So so we're and it's really the spirit 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:47.760 of it that that we as ads have all really 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:52.680 committed to in our conversations because I believe our distinction 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:55.639 is a strength in today's world women's sports. 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:57.240 Yeah, what's changed? 0:19:58.200 --> 0:19:59.960 I mean, we feel like there's been such an explode, 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:03.399 getting a lot more attention. Yeah, the media rites a viewership, 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:06.119 certainly on a professional level, but for you guys, in 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:07.440 terms of college sports. 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:10.679 It's exciting. It's so exciting. Mean though, well, I'll tell 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:12.680 you I was at Notre Dame when when women's basketball 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:15.280 won a national championship, and I saw how it mobilized 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:17.040 that community in a way that I hadn't seen before 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:20.080 in my then twenty years in college athletics. It's amazing. 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:24.560 Here what I'm mostly concerned about, Yes, that is all true. 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:28.600 And also as the power for the revenue sharing happens, 0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:31.280 there will be the emphasis on Olympic sports, which would 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:35.240 include both men's and women's sports. But so when you're 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:37.560 focused on football, maybe men's and women's basketball to be 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:39.720 de emphasis on the swimmings, the tennis is, the golfs, 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:41.960 the you know and so on. So that's an advantage. 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:45.879 It isn't being committed that coming in for those Olympic sports. 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:47.879 And I think you know a lot of presidents in 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:50.879 athletic orcus have been public about sharing that that's a 0:20:50.920 --> 0:20:53.600 reality of that they're they need to pay you know, 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:56.800 some sec an sec Schoo announced, for example, eighty five 0:20:56.840 --> 0:20:59.080 percent of their twenty point five million was going to football. 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:02.400 The other fifteen percent was split amongst basketballs and maybe 0:21:02.440 --> 0:21:05.119 one other sports. So the opportunity for us in a 0:21:05.119 --> 0:21:07.160 broad based program in the IVY League, which we believe 0:21:07.160 --> 0:21:09.760 strongly in, is that we'll always have those opportunities for them. 0:21:09.760 --> 0:21:12.960 We're not cutting sports. We're we're very committed to the 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:16.280 broad based program and that includes women's sports. As a 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:18.280 as a father of two daughters fifteen and twelve, who 0:21:18.280 --> 0:21:20.920 were gymnasts and soccer players, it's really exciting. 0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:24.600 I just can't believe it's so different at the IVY 0:21:24.640 --> 0:21:27.440 League versus I know, and we still compete at national level, 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:29.960 don't forget that. Yeah, we're still lining up and winning. 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:32.440