Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.
Speaker 2: All Right, we're already talking, we're already going because we're
Speaker 2: excited about this. I almost feel like we should just
Speaker 2: jump in. Let's do that. Bloomberg News sports reporter Vanessa
Speaker 2: Perdomo is with She joins us along with Carolyn Tish Blodget.
Speaker 2: She is governor and lead owner of Gotham FC football club,
Speaker 2: the National Women's Soccer League and WSL team, and she's
Speaker 2: founder and CEO of Next three Ventures, is an investment
Speaker 2: firm in sports, media and entertainment. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome. I
Speaker 2: was going to start it off because Vanessa, you and
Speaker 2: the sports crew, they put out a great story about
Speaker 2: like trends to watch in twenty twenty six, and one
Speaker 2: of it is kind of labor battles in women's sports
Speaker 2: and talking about it getting messy, especially as you see
Speaker 2: escalating salaries and you see more stars leaving for Europe.
Speaker 2: So I kind of Carolyn, want to start that with you.
Speaker 2: I mean, are you concerned about kind of losing players
Speaker 2: to Europe and tea as we've seen salaries escalade and
Speaker 2: welcome and die here.
Speaker 1: Here, let's die right in.
Speaker 3: So I'm a firm believer that rising tides lifts all boats.
Speaker 3: We are If you think about where women's sports was
Speaker 3: when we came in as new owners two years ago,
Speaker 3: they were not being talked about on Bloomberg. They were
Speaker 3: not no one was investing in it. And when we
Speaker 3: came in, ninety nine percent of investments in sports went
Speaker 3: to the men's went to men's teams, and so you
Speaker 3: were starting to see that shift. You know, we came
Speaker 3: in twenty twenty three. There have been several new owners
Speaker 3: that have come into the National Women's Soccer League that
Speaker 3: we're in, as well as the WNBA and others. So
Speaker 3: you're starting to see a real shift. And with that
Speaker 3: comes challenges and you start to see you know, it
Speaker 3: wouldn't I don't think our league would be as successful
Speaker 3: as we have been if there weren't other leagues that
Speaker 3: were competing for talent. This is good, So yeah, I
Speaker 3: think competition is good.
Speaker 2: But are you afraid of losing some key players? Yes?
Speaker 3: I mean obviously there has been news of players leaving
Speaker 3: for Europe. I think you'll continue to see that. You'll
Speaker 3: also see players coming back. With Lindsay Horan, Lindsay Heaps
Speaker 3: just signed with Denver, We've had players go play in
Speaker 3: Europe and then come back.
Speaker 1: So part of it, I think when you zoom.
Speaker 3: In, I think it feels like, oh my god, this
Speaker 3: guy is telling everybody's leaving for Europe. If we pull
Speaker 3: back and say this is actually the we're competing for
Speaker 3: global talent in a global game, this is kind of
Speaker 3: the natural evolution of this.
Speaker 1: So let me ask the question in a different way,
Speaker 1: and it's about a strategy for making sure those players
Speaker 1: don't leave.
Speaker 2: It's a strategy for keeping those players on your team.
Speaker 1: How do you do it without breaking the bank?
Speaker 3: So that is something we talk about on a daily basis.
Speaker 3: Our general manager ya Elle averbush West has put together
Speaker 3: an incredible roster over the last year. So we've won
Speaker 3: two championships in the last three years. And when we
Speaker 3: think about why would a player want a question we
Speaker 3: ask ourselves daily is why would a player who could play.
Speaker 1: Anywhere want to come play for Gotham.
Speaker 3: Part of that, you know, I think what they have
Speaker 3: in Europe is obviously these brand legacies that it's hard
Speaker 3: to compete with. Chelsea's been around forever. If you want
Speaker 3: to go, if your dream has been to play for Chelsea,
Speaker 3: that's hard to compete with. What we have is I
Speaker 3: think some of the best coaching staff in the business.
Speaker 3: We have We've been very much at the forefront in
Speaker 3: terms of investing in medical so we probably have arguably
Speaker 3: the best medical director in women's soccer, if not you
Speaker 3: know women's sports today. We've invested in mental health, We've
Speaker 3: invested in a performance coach. So we're kind of investing.
Speaker 3: And if you want you if you're sitting here today
Speaker 3: as a player and you say where can I get better?
Speaker 3: I would arguably say Gotham is the.
Speaker 1: Best place to go.
Speaker 3: And so we're really thinking about what is our competitive
Speaker 3: advantage and where can we compete and let's go invest there.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 4: I think the interesting thing is, obviously Gotham had made
Speaker 4: this really big effort to sign these huge stars the
Speaker 4: US men's the national team.
Speaker 1: That there's four or five stars.
Speaker 4: You have Jane Show who just came in last year
Speaker 4: at Midge Perse, Emily Sune Rose Levelle NWSL twenty twenty
Speaker 4: five MVP, you know for the championship game. You have
Speaker 4: these massive stars, and it was it was felt like
Speaker 4: a concerted effort to do that to make sure you
Speaker 4: have these big stars and the lead used to rely
Speaker 4: solely on the USO International team stars. Tell me about
Speaker 4: where that's gone. Why is it still important to the
Speaker 4: business to have stars like that? But how much it's
Speaker 4: grown over the last couple of years. So yeah, I
Speaker 4: think it's a really good question.
Speaker 3: So I'm a big believer that stars dry viewership, and
Speaker 3: stars drive particularly a casual fandom. I built my career
Speaker 3: in marketing. I used to run marketing at Peloton, and
Speaker 3: that was really our model was help these instructors turn
Speaker 3: into stars. That is something we've brought to Gotham, and
Speaker 3: we've taken not just the stars that we inherit like
Speaker 3: we brought in like a Rose and a Sonnet, but
Speaker 3: also helped someone like a Jalen Howell kind of find
Speaker 3: her voice and become more of a star.
Speaker 1: Robin I was thinking I was Robin Arzon.
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, Robin and I worked very close together, killer right,
Speaker 3: But we helped her and she really knows how to
Speaker 3: build her own brand. So I don't want to take
Speaker 3: we get any credit of that, but we helped these
Speaker 3: instructors really turn into the house.
Speaker 2: But you guys appreciate it certainly as part of the Piloton.
Speaker 1: Brand exactly, and that's what we're helping to do.
Speaker 3: I think for a lot of our stars at Gotham,
Speaker 3: I think that really again that drives viewership. That brings
Speaker 3: at the US woman's national team is or is an opportunity.
Speaker 1: To bring a casual fan in.
Speaker 3: If you think about how many people watched the Olympics
Speaker 3: last year the US team win a gold medal, I
Speaker 3: think it was like nine million people. We have an
Speaker 3: opportunity at Gotham. Six of those players played for Gotham
Speaker 3: at the time. We can help bring those people and
Speaker 3: bridge that gap from US fandom to Gotham nuts.
Speaker 4: I mean, six people is amazing to have that kind
Speaker 4: of power. I mean, let's talk a little bit more
Speaker 4: about the overall business of the NDWASEL.
Speaker 1: You had mentioned it before.
Speaker 4: You the new owners coming in and one of them
Speaker 4: is a colleague from the NFL or if they're blank,
Speaker 4: played one hundred and sixty five million dollars to bring
Speaker 4: an end of asale team to Atlanta.
Speaker 1: How big this business has.
Speaker 4: Got from twenty nineteen from a two million dollar expansion.
Speaker 1: Of to one hundred and sixty five million. What's the
Speaker 1: next step? But how does that keep going and how
Speaker 1: do you make sure.
Speaker 4: That it doesn't plateau after such a big year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we write there's been so much news in the
Speaker 3: End of Yourself we haven't.
Speaker 1: Even talked about the Blanks hugging it.
Speaker 3: Yes, we're so happy that Arthur and his son Josh
Speaker 3: have have joined us in the league. I think one
Speaker 3: of the one of the real bright spots of the league,
Speaker 3: I think is the boardroom and is the compilation of owners.
Speaker 1: In this room.
Speaker 3: You have owners like the Wilfs from the NFL, the
Speaker 3: Blanks now and obviously our family. You have owners from
Speaker 3: the NBA, from MLS, from European league.
Speaker 1: So you really have a and they believe in it.
Speaker 1: They believe in the End of your Self product.
Speaker 4: Right, these long term sports owners, you very much feel
Speaker 4: that there.
Speaker 3: Is The conversations at the board are about how are
Speaker 3: we going to grow sustainably?
Speaker 1: How are we going to reach the next level?
Speaker 3: As you asked, it is not about like how can
Speaker 3: I make a quick dollar and turn around and sell it.
Speaker 3: This is a group of owners that want to be
Speaker 3: there and want it, you know, in invest in its.
Speaker 2: Future, building out their portfolio.
Speaker 1: Yeah, big way and deeply care.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you talk about investing in the future. Before we
Speaker 2: got going, I talked about growing up watching the Giants seasons.
Speaker 2: Tickets my dad had and we all kind of went
Speaker 2: to games. They've had some highs and lows. They need
Speaker 2: a new head coach. Any update, and I'm just curious
Speaker 2: Jason Harbaugh, like, is are you guys talking to him?
Speaker 2: John Harbaugh? Sorry? Are you guys talking to him?
Speaker 1: I definitely cannot be the one to break any news here.
Speaker 1: We did not time this interview with the.
Speaker 3: Coaching sir, So nothing to say, but excited obviously for
Speaker 3: the Giant's future.
Speaker 2: But there'll be a new coach soon.
Speaker 1: Well, obviously there will be a coach. Just help me
Speaker 1: naming who it is? Do you have one? I cannot know.
Speaker 3: Hey, listens, nothing, I've just been in my office all day.
Speaker 2: It's John calling. No, no, no, hey, Just quickly twenty seconds.
Speaker 2: You got you have invested in volleyball, You invested in
Speaker 2: sale GP, which is something we've covered here. Anything else
Speaker 2: you're looking at for your portfolio? Just got about twenty seconds.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, nothing to announce today.
Speaker 3: But we're continue to look at emerging leagues, look at
Speaker 3: emerging sports, and we're very focused on youth sports and
Speaker 3: who are the leagues that are really building up the
Speaker 3: kind of grassroots sports from the ground up.
Speaker 2: Okay, will you come and tell us when you've got
Speaker 2: a Nico run right over? Thank you, Thank you, Vanessa, also, Carolyn,
Speaker 2: thank you so much, really appreciate it. Carolyn Tish Blodger,
Speaker 2: lead owner of Gotham Football Club, and of course our
Speaker 2: Vanessa Prodoma, she's Bloomberg New Sports reporter. Thank you. Thank
Speaker 2: If you missed any of it, check it out on
Speaker 2: our podcast feed.