1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News. 2 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 2: All Right, we're headed to Boston the MIT Sloan Sports 3 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,319 Speaker 2: Analytics Conference. The guest this time is going to be 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 2: none other than David Blitzer. 5 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 3: I'm so excited about David. 6 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 4: First of all, he's been at Blastow since nineteen ninety one, 7 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:26,080 Speaker 4: and on top of that, he probably owns equity on 8 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 4: more teams and more leagues than any human alive. 9 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 2: There are some big questions that come out of that, 10 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 2: which is, what do you learn from all of that? 11 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 3: How do you apply it? 12 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 2: Because he's backing some of the most important sports franchises 13 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 2: across the world. 14 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 3: How do you feel about being back in Boston? A 15 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:46,240 Speaker 3: not so good. It's gonna be great. 16 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 2: All right, Thank you so much. Thank you guys for 17 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 2: having us. It's good to be in Boston. 18 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 3: It was funny. 19 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 2: We were reminiscing, you know, on the on the way in, 20 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 2: and Alex was giving me what it's like to play 21 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 2: at Fenway. You and I probably watched games at Fenway, 22 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 2: but a little bit of a different experience. 23 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:14,200 Speaker 3: It's awesome. 24 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:17,320 Speaker 4: It's my probably my favorite park to play other than 25 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 4: Old Yankee Stadium. 26 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 3: It's it's classic. 27 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 5: Yeah, it's not the easiest place to be a visiting fan. 28 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:23,400 Speaker 3: That's true. 29 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 5: I've had some tough moments. 30 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 2: It's safe to be Yeah, yeah, TD gardened. Yeah, exactly exactly. 31 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 2: I mean, this is going to be hopefully a very 32 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 2: fun conversation. You know, Alex and I host this podcast 33 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 2: called The Deal, where you know, we talked to folks 34 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 2: at this intersection of business, sports and culture, and there 35 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 2: are very few people who are in it as deep 36 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 2: as our guest today, David Blitzer. Blitz is someone who 37 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 2: when we created this show was at the top of 38 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 2: our list as someone that we really wanted to chop 39 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 2: it up with. 40 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 3: So we're really excited Blitz that you're here with us. 41 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 2: I guess I would start by asking you, and I'm 42 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 2: going to go back to my own roots a little bit. 43 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 2: You and I met when I covered private equity at Bloomberg, 44 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 2: and you are a very successful guy at a little 45 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:18,079 Speaker 2: firm called Blackstone, and somewhere along the way you became 46 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 2: one of the most influential investors in sports. 47 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:20,919 Speaker 3: How did that happen? 48 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 6: Well, A thank you for having me. I've known Jason 49 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 6: for a long time. I've known Alex for a long time, 50 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 6: so it's really nice to be all here together. And 51 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 6: I do think we also need to do a shout 52 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 6: out for Jessica Gellman, so we don't have the jersey, 53 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 6: we blew that with Jessica, Happy, Happy fiftieth birthday. Yeh, 54 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,359 Speaker 6: you do an amazing job with this conference, and we're 55 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 6: all really happy to be here and. 56 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 5: To celebrate with you. 57 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 6: So yeah, Private Equity for you know, now, at this 58 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 6: point in time is my thirty fourth year in the business. 59 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 6: In about I guess it was twenty and ten was 60 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 6: when my journey started on the sports side of the equation. 61 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,800 Speaker 6: So unlike Alex one of the greatest athletes of all time, 62 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 6: I was, like many probably in this room, a failed athlete, which, 63 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 6: like I thought I was good when I was, you know, 64 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 6: like a teenager. Then I realized by high school that 65 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 6: I was adequate at best and certainly was not playing 66 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:19,639 Speaker 6: past high school. So instead of failed, maybe we say 67 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 6: always aspire, always aspire. I'm still aspiring just new sports. 68 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 6: But I basically I'm clearly a massive fan of sports 69 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 6: in general, and obviously I think a lot about business 70 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 6: and investing in companies and and you know, what are 71 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 6: trends that are out there that you can get behind. 72 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 6: Really like we talk about good neighborhoods or mega trends. 73 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 6: But I hadn't really thought about investing in a sports 74 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 6: team until somebody came to see me. I was living 75 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 6: in London for about a decade, and towards the end 76 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 6: of that decade in London, a friend of mine came 77 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 6: to see me and basically said he was involved in 78 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 6: the NBA. He was like an assistant GM somewhere and 79 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 6: he basically said, Hey, I think you sho should really 80 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 6: think about investing in a basketball franchise. There's like six 81 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 6: or seven that are for sale right now, are looking 82 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 6: for capital. And it was a very it was a 83 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 6: real inflection point for the NBA for those who want 84 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:16,160 Speaker 6: to go back and remember this was twenty ten when 85 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 6: this conversation first took place, and it was pretty clear 86 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:21,680 Speaker 6: that there was going to be a lock app okay, 87 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 6: there was going to be a new media rights agreement 88 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 6: and basically something like twenty three, twenty four, twenty five 89 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 6: of the teams are actually losing losing money at the time, 90 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 6: which is why you were seeing a lot of things potentially, 91 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:39,880 Speaker 6: you know, go up for sale leading into that change. Anyway, 92 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,480 Speaker 6: long story short, I was really interested in the concept, 93 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:45,480 Speaker 6: but I was living in London. When I was home 94 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 6: over that December break of twenty ten, I went to 95 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 6: see a friend of mine who I'd gotten to know 96 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 6: quite well when he lived in London as well a 97 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 6: couple of years earlier. 98 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 5: It was this a guy named. 99 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 6: Josh Harris at Apollo, and I said, hey, Josh, he 100 00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:59,040 Speaker 6: and I had gone to a pub one night when 101 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 6: we were both living in London, and I don't know 102 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 6: how this subject came up, but I just it's stuck 103 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 6: in the back of my head that he was interested 104 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 6: in investing in sports. And so when this call came 105 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 6: and I thought it was really interesting and wanted to 106 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 6: like really dig in. Sitting there in London, and I 107 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 6: went to see Josh and said, hey, why don't we 108 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,359 Speaker 6: look at the Philadelphia seventy six ers, Because amongst the 109 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 6: teams that were saled, they were actually officially for sale, 110 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:21,919 Speaker 6: you know, with a banker and the process, and you know, 111 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:23,400 Speaker 6: some of the others were more you know, sort of 112 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 6: whisper campaigns. And you guys had both we had both 113 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 6: gone to school at University of Pennsylvania. We both had 114 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 6: other roots from family members in Pennsylvania and in Philadelphia, 115 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 6: and it's an iconic brand, and our view was, yeah, 116 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 6: let's go try to do that. So we agreed to 117 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 6: sort of partner together and try to ultimately go by 118 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 6: or invest in the Philadelphia seventy six ers, which was 119 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 6: a transaction that signed in the summer of twenty eleven, 120 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:50,840 Speaker 6: and sure enough, there was a lockout that fall. Because 121 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 6: I still remember my first ever NBA board meeting was 122 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:56,160 Speaker 6: not the easiest meeting in the world because it was 123 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 6: in the middle of the lockout trying to figure out 124 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 6: both the dynamics between obviously players in the league and 125 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 6: the CBA, but also even amongst the various owners in 126 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 6: the group. And you know, I will just say again 127 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:10,480 Speaker 6: for those fans out there, it was kind of wild. 128 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,360 Speaker 6: I went into my first ever NBA board meeting and 129 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 6: I've got literally Larry Bird sitting on one side of me, 130 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 6: Michael Jordan sitting about four seats down, and again the fan. 131 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 5: Part like kicked in a little bit. I was like, 132 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 5: oh my god, this is kind of wild. But that 133 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:24,719 Speaker 5: was the start of the journey. 134 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 6: The reality was we treated it very much like a 135 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 6: very business oriented investment, like does this make sense not 136 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 6: just from an emotional standpoint, but you know, from a 137 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 6: business standpoint. And I think you know, given what Josh 138 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 6: and I had done for our careers in terms of 139 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 6: investing in business and buying you know, divisions out of 140 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:45,480 Speaker 6: you know, larger corporations, et cetera, this was a purchase 141 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 6: of a small business inside of a large corporation, being 142 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,279 Speaker 6: Comcast Corporation, And we had a lot of experience in 143 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 6: corporate carve outs. We had a lot of experience in 144 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 6: bringing in new management teams and thinking about incentive structures 145 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,479 Speaker 6: in ways that I don't really think sports had had 146 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,279 Speaker 6: really done. Franchise had done that in the past. So 147 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:06,280 Speaker 6: any case, all that said, it's still isn't easy, as 148 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:08,479 Speaker 6: we all know, and Alex is on all sides of 149 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 6: this equation. But being an investor in any of these 150 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 6: teams and leagues is fun, it's rewarding, it's challenging, it's 151 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 6: really difficult. Everybody always thinks about it as like the 152 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 6: fun part, but it's tough. 153 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 4: So in twenty ten, that's a long time ago. What 154 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 4: do you know now that you didn't know then? And 155 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,400 Speaker 4: how accurate was your thesis on investing in sports? 156 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 5: Yeah, well I put that in two buckets. 157 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 6: The first thing is I get a lot of people 158 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 6: who come to me over the last whatever number of 159 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 6: years that are thinking of investing in a sports franchise 160 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 6: or a league, etc. And they always ask me, you know, 161 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 6: for lots of advice, and I kind of bloil it 162 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 6: down to like one piece of advice that hopefully they 163 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 6: will listen to me on, which is, don't do anything 164 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 6: in your first season, like literally, don't just learn. Just 165 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 6: go around and meet everyone in the organization, watch what 166 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 6: they do, how they do it. Do not come in 167 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 6: and do big things in your first season. By the way, 168 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 6: no one has taking that advice. I was gonna say, 169 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 6: I don't think so for those of you know, no 170 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 6: one listens toiece advice, and it is the best piece 171 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 6: of advice. Take your time to really learn what's going on, 172 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 6: and don't just jump in and want to make a splash. 173 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 6: You know, this isn't fantasy sports, right, And so what 174 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 6: I've learned number one is take your time, really know 175 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 6: what you don't know. Okay, even though we've been investing 176 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 6: in businesses our whole careers, the reality is, you know, 177 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 6: sports team investments are very different than owning a consumer 178 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 6: products company or investing in a data center or a 179 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 6: you know, metal bender, et cetera, and the nature of 180 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,400 Speaker 6: those businesses and the fact that what you really are 181 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 6: is you really are a steward of a community business like, 182 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,840 Speaker 6: let's not kid ourselves, that's what we are, and getting 183 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 6: used to that, versus just investing in a kind of 184 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 6: more normal industry. I guess I would say, I don't 185 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 6: know if normal it's the right word, but. 186 00:08:57,559 --> 00:08:58,560 Speaker 5: You know, et cetera. 187 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,839 Speaker 6: Traditional, traditional is something I think it takes a lot 188 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 6: to learn. But the thesis Alex at the time, to 189 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 6: be honest with you, wasn't that complicated. And it's still 190 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 6: to me a thesis that I have today on this sector, 191 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 6: which is fundamental laws of supply and demand. It's the 192 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 6: easiest thing I ever learned in school, which is just 193 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 6: the basic, you know, law of supply and demand. And 194 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 6: they're not making any more of these major teams, and 195 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 6: the demand for them is going up dramatically. The demand 196 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 6: is going up partly because you know, you have I 197 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:32,960 Speaker 6: think there's something like five times the number of billionaires 198 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 6: in the world today that there was, you know, less 199 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 6: than twenty years ago. Frankly, if you took that threshold 200 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:42,360 Speaker 6: up even more to like ten billion or more, it's 201 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 6: even more stark in terms of the growth. So you've 202 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:47,320 Speaker 6: got this massive demand side on high net worth. And 203 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 6: then obviously, as I'm sure we'll talk a little bit about, 204 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 6: but you now have institutional investors coming into the space. 205 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 6: And having kind of watched that movie with my Blackstone 206 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 6: lens over the years, when institutional money starts to come 207 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 6: into a new area, set class, et cetera, obviously capital 208 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 6: formation is can be quite dramatic, and prices tend to 209 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 6: move in an. 210 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 5: Upward sloping direction. 211 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,200 Speaker 6: So you've got the ultra high network dynamics, you've got 212 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:18,200 Speaker 6: the institutional capital dynamics, and you don't have more supplying Okay, 213 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 6: So that curve is unbelievable when you just think about 214 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 6: that supply demand curve. And then secondly, and I know 215 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 6: everybody here knows this, but these are just these are 216 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 6: content and media businesses and they have some of the 217 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 6: best ip in the world. And frankly, in today's world, 218 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 6: when you think about live content, there's probably nothing more valuable. 219 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 6: There is nothing more valuable than sports content because other 220 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 6: streamers and broadcasters and media companies have done amazing job 221 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 6: of basically delivering us whatever we want, literally whenever we. 222 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:55,640 Speaker 5: Want other than sports. 223 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,319 Speaker 6: Yeah, okay, So the combination of the growth in the 224 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 6: value of the IP and the broadcast rights, and I 225 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 6: would say, what do you say, broadcast I'd say METI 226 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 6: rights more broadly coupled with this supply and demand was 227 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:09,320 Speaker 6: our thesis back in twenty ten and would still be 228 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 6: my thesis to the. 229 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:26,080 Speaker 5: And so you go. 230 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 3: From being one of a few. 231 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:32,040 Speaker 2: You know, as Alex knows very well, these are pretty 232 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:35,400 Speaker 2: small clubs in terms of ownership across the major leagues. 233 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:38,200 Speaker 2: But now, and I think Alex you would agree with this. 234 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:41,679 Speaker 2: Now you're one of one because you have equity stakes, 235 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:47,600 Speaker 2: some majority, some minority across literally every major sports league 236 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:51,679 Speaker 2: in North America. Then you tack on the EPL and 237 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:56,760 Speaker 2: other European soccer leagues, plus things like League One volleyball. 238 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 2: I had a press release come across my desk just 239 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,880 Speaker 2: this week. There was like Table Tennis League David Blitzer, 240 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 2: and I was like, this guy, help us understand that 241 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:13,440 Speaker 2: like broad portfolio approach that you have taken. 242 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 6: All right, let me try to put it into two 243 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 6: different buckets. The first is on the major sports. Okay, 244 00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:22,559 Speaker 6: so let's call it soccer. I'm sitting here in America. 245 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:24,200 Speaker 6: If I was in London, day would be very angry 246 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 6: at me. So soccer slash football, American Football, NBA, NHL, and 247 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:33,840 Speaker 6: MLBA in those sort of areas. To me, the real 248 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 6: value in the equation of being across that piece is 249 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:41,959 Speaker 6: both from the business side of the equation. Okay, what 250 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,440 Speaker 6: we can get as a synergy across having all those 251 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 6: multiple sports is amazing. So both on the efficiency side 252 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:50,880 Speaker 6: of the equation, we can have sales reps and branding 253 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 6: partners and sponsorship folks that go across the teams. Not 254 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:57,599 Speaker 6: everyone goes across the entire organization, right, but significant numbers do. 255 00:12:57,760 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 6: So we can do a deal that we did earlier 256 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 6: this year that I thought was really innovative is we 257 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 6: did a deal with Campbell's across a number of their 258 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:08,839 Speaker 6: consumer products and across four of our properties. It was 259 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,959 Speaker 6: across the Commanders, the Sixers, the Devils, and Joe Gibbs Racing. 260 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:15,040 Speaker 6: If you only had one team, you have whatever your 261 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:18,120 Speaker 6: inventory is, that's what you can offer a sponsor, particularly 262 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 6: in today's kind of global world that we have our 263 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:22,680 Speaker 6: ability to look at some of the you know, the 264 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 6: greatest companies in the world that are looking for those 265 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 6: kinds of exposures and being able to offer to them 266 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,319 Speaker 6: both across geographies and of course across US markets and 267 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 6: different sports I think is quite compelling. So that's sort 268 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 6: of on that synergy side of the equation. And then 269 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,280 Speaker 6: if you just think about also where the world is 270 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:42,120 Speaker 6: going from a sports science perspective, from a technology perspective, 271 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 6: from an AI and data analytics perspective, et cetera, our 272 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 6: ability to invest in these areas and amortize that across 273 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:53,200 Speaker 6: four or five or more different organizations allows us to 274 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 6: make investments that you just wouldn't make necessarily or couldn't 275 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 6: make of that scale if you just had one particular 276 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 6: little property, you know. And I think about the lot 277 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 6: with my Blackstone hat on, which is our ability to 278 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:07,960 Speaker 6: invest in many things that are going to drive you know, 279 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:11,719 Speaker 6: significant growth in the future. We can do because we're 280 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 6: across all of these alternative investment products, whereas if we 281 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:17,560 Speaker 6: were just a private equity firm or just a private 282 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:19,880 Speaker 6: credit firm, you wouldn't be able to make those types 283 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 6: of investments. 284 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,160 Speaker 4: So, speaking of Blackstone, you were into pen and then 285 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:27,880 Speaker 4: nineteen ninety one you land as a young lad in Blackstone. 286 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 3: What lessons virtues. 287 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 4: Have you taken from there in your thirty three years 288 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:33,800 Speaker 4: and applied it to your sports portfolio? 289 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 5: Yeah? 290 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 6: Well, I think, you know, the first part of that 291 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 6: would have been the sort of the art of the deal. 292 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:42,440 Speaker 6: You know, basically there's a level of pattern recognition when 293 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 6: one is investing in something, just from the standpoint of 294 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 6: dealing with the counter parties, understanding the key items on 295 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 6: our due diligence in order to be able to, you know, 296 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 6: decide what we think something is worth. Being able to 297 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 6: actually execute these deals are immensely complicated. 298 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 5: I know that's that's obvious, et cetera. 299 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,240 Speaker 6: But again, having done that your whole career, those types 300 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 6: of financings, both equity and debt, and those carve outs 301 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 6: of corporations and incentivizing the management teams in very different 302 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 6: ways and really aligning interests across the organizations. I think 303 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 6: a lot of that, you know, clearly came from my 304 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 6: background at Blackstone. But the other thing I would say 305 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:25,080 Speaker 6: again is is this mega trend question. You know, why 306 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 6: am I still doing this? Meaning in this sports media 307 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:30,880 Speaker 6: and entertainment space. It really stems from a mega trend. 308 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 6: And you know what, I and many others at Blackstone 309 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 6: spend a ton of time on are thinking about what 310 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 6: those longer term trends are and let's get behind them early, okay. 311 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 6: And so if you take like digital infrastructure as an example, 312 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 6: everybody in the world wants to invest in digital infrastructure 313 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 6: right now, right, but we've been doing it for fifteen 314 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:50,200 Speaker 6: plus years, all along the way, different journeys, okay, and 315 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 6: different ways, and we Blackstone, okay, many wes data. 316 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:56,240 Speaker 5: We have to define our wis. 317 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 6: So when you think about constantly looking for those mega trends, 318 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 6: powered recognition, being able to bring that to this what 319 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 6: I call my night job in sports media entertainment sector, 320 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:08,320 Speaker 6: I think has been really important. 321 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 2: And so in terms of the data of it all, 322 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 2: that is very of keen interest to this audience, especially 323 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 2: how do you approach the data side. You know, you 324 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 2: talked about sponsorship opportunities and things like that. I would 325 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 2: imagine there's also a massive amount of data and analytics 326 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 2: possibilities when you look across both the professional portfolio, the 327 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 2: sort of big cap as you were talking about, as 328 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 2: well as more of the startup level as well. How 329 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 2: do you pick and choose and distill down the data 330 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 2: side of it. 331 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 6: Yeah, Well, the good news again for somebody in my 332 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:48,080 Speaker 6: seat is I get to just ask a lot of 333 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 6: questions and hire amazing people like I am, by no 334 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 6: means any expert in data and analytics. However, I've been 335 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 6: dealing in data analytics my whole career, both you know, 336 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 6: from a Blackstone perspective and a sports perspective. So that 337 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:03,720 Speaker 6: allows me to go in and a higher amazing people 338 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:06,359 Speaker 6: both on the sporting side of the equation and on 339 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 6: the business analytics side of the equation. Because as you mentioned, 340 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,920 Speaker 6: like these are in many cases two totally different worlds, right, 341 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 6: and so obviously I think many of you in this 342 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 6: room would obviously be familiar with you know, Darryl moriy Right. 343 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 6: So of course the Philadelphia seventy six ers are going 344 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 6: to have an amazing data and analytics department and where 345 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:27,400 Speaker 6: we're getting a ton of help on the business analytics 346 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:29,960 Speaker 6: side of the equation as well as a course who 347 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 6: we have on our existing teams and staffs right now. 348 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:37,320 Speaker 6: But again, the multi property aspect of it allows us 349 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 6: to really invest behind it, and I would say, what 350 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:42,879 Speaker 6: really is AI? I always ask people now because I 351 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 6: don't know the answer. Like, we've all been using data 352 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:48,400 Speaker 6: analytics our whole careers to some degree, but obviously it's 353 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 6: gone exponential, particularly in the last couple of years, right, 354 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 6: And we're still on this large language model frontier, and 355 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:56,679 Speaker 6: we're going to hit another frontier pretty soon, which is 356 00:17:56,680 --> 00:17:58,439 Speaker 6: really going to be all the application layer side of 357 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 6: the equation. But at its core, you need good data. 358 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:04,199 Speaker 6: All these tools in the world are sort of, you know, 359 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 6: not that relevant if you don't actually have great underlying data. 360 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 6: And each one of these sports and teams to some 361 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,159 Speaker 6: degree have different data sets, right okay, And so like 362 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,920 Speaker 6: the baseball data is incredible because it's single event. There's 363 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,159 Speaker 6: a pitch and a swaying over and over again, and 364 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 6: these games have been filmed at that level for a 365 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:24,720 Speaker 6: really long time. Basketball then got cameras into the arenas 366 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,920 Speaker 6: pretty early. Okay, So basketball data excellent. 367 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 5: In the pros. 368 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 6: College is you know, moving but certainly behind where the 369 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 6: NBA is. Hockey doing a great job right now, but again, 370 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,160 Speaker 6: day didn't get cameras, and we're able to capture certain 371 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:41,080 Speaker 6: types of data sets that we all captured today. I 372 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:43,159 Speaker 6: can't go back twenty years. I can't look at some 373 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:44,879 Speaker 6: of the things Wayne Gretzky was doing and what that 374 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:48,639 Speaker 6: means in today's NHL and then soccer, and you know, 375 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,679 Speaker 6: motion based also is quite different than single event based. 376 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 6: And so it's a long way of saying, the data 377 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 6: is getting better and better, the models are obviously getting 378 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 6: better and better, and ultimately the insights will get better 379 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 6: and better, both on the sporting side of the equation 380 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:05,680 Speaker 6: and on the business side. And I think that we're 381 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 6: testing a lot of different things. You know, I was 382 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 6: literally talking to Diryl about it earlier today and talking 383 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 6: with our teams about it, and you know, we're trialing 384 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:16,359 Speaker 6: lots of stuff. So on the ones hand, sure we 385 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 6: can get coding done much more efficiently, okay, But in 386 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:23,600 Speaker 6: terms of outcomes, okay, like will we be able to 387 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,640 Speaker 6: scout better, will we be able to automate player tagging 388 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 6: or or pick and roll tagging as an example, versus 389 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 6: just having somebody sit there and watch one hundred hours 390 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:36,040 Speaker 6: of film, right you just crank it into the computer, Okay, 391 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,440 Speaker 6: So those types of efficiencies and then ultimately, again as 392 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,880 Speaker 6: all of this is getting smarter and the data sets 393 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 6: are getting better, et cetera. How far will it go 394 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 6: in terms of will you still where will your scouting department? 395 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:50,720 Speaker 6: It's sort of an interest question. I have no idea 396 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:52,639 Speaker 6: what the answer to that is other than we try 397 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 6: a lot of different things and we see and we're 398 00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 6: in the super early innings. Similarly, on the business side, 399 00:19:57,400 --> 00:19:59,960 Speaker 6: you know where everybody wants to get to is they 400 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:03,639 Speaker 6: want to actually know their fan base incredibly well. And 401 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 6: most teams think they know their fan base as well, 402 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 6: they don't actually number one, they're getting better at it, 403 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:12,399 Speaker 6: and number two, they don't really know what they're doing 404 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 6: very often outside of the arena. So yes, we're all 405 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:18,160 Speaker 6: capturing concession data, and you know there's plenty of good 406 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 6: ticketing type data out there these days. But when you 407 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:24,399 Speaker 6: start going further and further and wanting a more and 408 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:29,679 Speaker 6: more personal experience again between a brand and the consumer, 409 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:32,080 Speaker 6: we're like in the first or second inning of that 410 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:34,680 Speaker 6: entire game, and AI is going to pay a huge 411 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:36,919 Speaker 6: role in that equation to where you know you're going 412 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:40,800 Speaker 6: to be getting offers from your team, okay to a 413 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 6: fan that's literally personalized to that one individual. 414 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:45,119 Speaker 3: Wow. 415 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:48,160 Speaker 6: And so all of that is super early in things, 416 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 6: But I would basically just say, while we all are 417 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:52,520 Speaker 6: doing plenty on the data and analytics side, I think 418 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 6: we're really really early, both sporting wise and business wise 419 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 6: in terms of how we can get closer to that 420 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:02,160 Speaker 6: customer and fan and monetize it over time in very 421 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:03,119 Speaker 6: very different ways. 422 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:05,440 Speaker 2: So when you say person line splitz, are you you're 423 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,000 Speaker 2: talking about, I'm going to get I'm going to get 424 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 2: an email or a text message it says, Hey, come 425 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 2: to this game. We know you like to sit in 426 00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 2: this particular spot, this is what you like to eat, 427 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:17,159 Speaker 2: this is I'm going to know where you go. 428 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 6: On your way home from the game. I'm going to 429 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:21,439 Speaker 6: know that your favorite player is Tyree s Maxi, and 430 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:24,080 Speaker 6: I'm going to send you a personalized Tyree Maxi X 431 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 6: Y or Z. I might then, depending on your level 432 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 6: of spend with the organization, serve you up for an 433 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:31,880 Speaker 6: experience with Tyree s Maxey after the game on Thursday night. 434 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:33,560 Speaker 5: If you can make it. I mean it's going to 435 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:36,120 Speaker 5: be that level wow of detail and more. 436 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:38,160 Speaker 3: You talked about baseball a little bit. 437 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:42,080 Speaker 4: You have your investment with the Cleveland Guardians, your paths 438 00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 4: control Baseball's had extraordinary a couple of years with the 439 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:47,800 Speaker 4: rout changes. Rob Manford's really on top of it. Our 440 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,800 Speaker 4: numbers at Fox were amazing. We did over twenty million 441 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:53,679 Speaker 4: people because we had the great matchups of the Dodgers 442 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 4: versus the Yankees. 443 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:57,240 Speaker 3: My question, you're making a lot of friends here. 444 00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:59,920 Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well we lost, so it did really 445 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:02,240 Speaker 4: work out for us since two thousand and nine. 446 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:04,320 Speaker 3: But my question to you is, David. 447 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:05,760 Speaker 5: But we're not talking about two thousand and four. 448 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:10,240 Speaker 4: No, no, no, definitely not, definitely not if you were 449 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:13,199 Speaker 4: whispering in Rob Manford, the commissioner Baseball's ear, or if 450 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,760 Speaker 4: you're the commissioner for a day or a week, what 451 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:18,119 Speaker 4: are some of the things you would continue to improve 452 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:19,960 Speaker 4: in the game to make the game a little bit 453 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 4: more dynamic and more really popular for the younger friend. 454 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:24,880 Speaker 5: You know, it's really interesting question. 455 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,000 Speaker 6: I mean, what baseball did two years ago in terms 456 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:30,880 Speaker 6: of the size of the bases and what that did 457 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:33,119 Speaker 6: on a stolen base, that what they did on the 458 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 6: you know, on the shift and you know you can't 459 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 6: have two guys on the other side of second base. 460 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:39,560 Speaker 6: What they did on the pitch clock, and a few 461 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:43,160 Speaker 6: other smaller things. I mean, that's pretty dramatic in general 462 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,240 Speaker 6: for any league, Okay, and Baseball I find to be 463 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,600 Speaker 6: the one that more than any other sport, everyone says, well, 464 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:51,560 Speaker 6: we can't do that, because that's the way it's always 465 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,240 Speaker 6: been done. In baseball, there's just more pureists, I guess, 466 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 6: I would say, in the overall fan base and the ecosystem. 467 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:01,239 Speaker 6: So the fact that Commissioner Manfred, working with you know, 468 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:03,639 Speaker 6: some wonderful executives, were able to come up with things that, 469 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,359 Speaker 6: by the way, the players didn't want to do that first, 470 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 6: and there were plenty of folks out in the analyst 471 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:10,400 Speaker 6: community and media, etc. 472 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:11,600 Speaker 5: Who thought this was just. 473 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 6: Like crazy baseball camp do this, and again you're not 474 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,439 Speaker 6: gonna have one hundred zero type you know, approval for it. 475 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:21,920 Speaker 6: But I think massive positive reaction to the fan base. 476 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,680 Speaker 6: So as a couple examples, you know, number one, as 477 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:26,440 Speaker 6: you well know, the games are about twenty four to 478 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:29,840 Speaker 6: twenty five minutes faster, and that is a huge difference 479 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 6: to the fan base out there. You've had the average 480 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 6: age of a viewer of Major League Baseball go down 481 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,920 Speaker 6: about four years over the last couple of years. You've 482 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:40,879 Speaker 6: had the average age of a new account on MLB 483 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:45,359 Speaker 6: dot com is down something like six years, okay in age. 484 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 6: And if you looked at the viewership numbers and both 485 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,920 Speaker 6: the attendance people in a seat and people watching on TV, 486 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:54,200 Speaker 6: the average as again has come down in and around 487 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 6: five years. So from a demographic perspective, if you're Fox 488 00:23:57,640 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 6: and some of the other you know, kind of broadcasters, 489 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 6: that's that's amazing. Let alone, the interest is up. You 490 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 6: pointed out the numbers on you know, kind of the 491 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 6: World series. But the reality is also if you think 492 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:09,679 Speaker 6: about it from a global perspective, the interest going on 493 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 6: right now more globally, and obviously a lot of that 494 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,439 Speaker 6: is Otani all right, and so what else? You know, Look, 495 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:17,920 Speaker 6: it's kind of funny. I don't really have the answers. 496 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 6: I think Rob is continuing with his team. Commissioner Manfred 497 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:23,480 Speaker 6: is continue with his team to look at ways that 498 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:27,160 Speaker 6: we can increase the attractiveness and continue that push from 499 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:30,040 Speaker 6: a demographic perspective to lower the average age. I will 500 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,760 Speaker 6: say one other thing, having been involved in the youth 501 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 6: sports business, and particularly in baseball, you know people all 502 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 6: say kids aren't. 503 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 5: Playing baseball anymore, not like they used to. It's just wrong. 504 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:42,360 Speaker 5: It's just not true more than ever. 505 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:44,960 Speaker 6: So first off, little League World Series, go take a 506 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:46,600 Speaker 6: look at the ratings on a Little League World Series. 507 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:48,880 Speaker 6: But going to participation once, I think is more relevant. 508 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,119 Speaker 6: Youth participation was at a ten year high this past 509 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 6: year and has been growing at a keger of about 510 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,639 Speaker 6: seven percent okay on youth baseball participation, So depending how 511 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:01,639 Speaker 6: you define and cause you to find it, grassroots is 512 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,320 Speaker 6: about nine million, okay, And that's baseball, by the way, softball, 513 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:08,560 Speaker 6: which is amazing and finally getting more exposure like many 514 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 6: of the women's sports. You know, I think youth participation 515 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:14,200 Speaker 6: in softball is like eight million kids across the country. 516 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 6: And again both those numbers are significantly up over the 517 00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:19,359 Speaker 6: last decade, not down, So we are getting people in 518 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:21,040 Speaker 6: the ecosystem. One of the problems with baseball is a 519 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 6: lot of kids play baseball and they stop after that 520 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,000 Speaker 6: you thirteen year unless they're on a track for a 521 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,000 Speaker 6: scholarship or they're you know, a complete and utter unicorn 522 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:32,159 Speaker 6: like my friend over here. But the reality is is 523 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 6: so a lot of kids age out at you thirteen. 524 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:36,199 Speaker 6: So what I've talked to Major League Baseball a lot 525 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,359 Speaker 6: about is like, how do we open that funnel further 526 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,199 Speaker 6: from a participation perspective, But how do we not have 527 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 6: that funnel close so much at that you thirteen level? 528 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,560 Speaker 6: How do we create more and more pathways for kids 529 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:50,960 Speaker 6: continuing to play that aren't necessarily looking for that scholarship 530 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 6: or that you know, minor a major league baseball career. 531 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:54,199 Speaker 3: What would you do? 532 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:57,320 Speaker 4: Well, that's a great question. I've thought a lot about this. 533 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:00,239 Speaker 4: I think I would open up the floodgates. I mean, 534 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:03,160 Speaker 4: in a world where content is king, then certainly baseball 535 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:05,040 Speaker 4: should be king. Right. You have two hundred games and 536 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:08,800 Speaker 4: about two hundred and thirty two days including spring training playoffs. 537 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:10,880 Speaker 4: You guys went really deep into the playoffs last year. Blitz, 538 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:13,359 Speaker 4: congrats on that. But look, if we're all at a 539 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:16,200 Speaker 4: desk when you're at Blackstone, when you're in Bloomberg, there 540 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:18,480 Speaker 4: should be your phone or your iPad where you just 541 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,440 Speaker 4: should be able to see all thirty teams in real time. 542 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 4: Batting cage is open. I want to see Aaron Judge. 543 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:25,879 Speaker 4: I want to see Otani, but not in uniform. I 544 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:28,040 Speaker 4: want to see him in shorts. Behind the scenes, what 545 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:29,639 Speaker 4: is he working on? What can I share with my 546 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:33,320 Speaker 4: son or daughter? Of Otani's mechanic because I'm also hearing them. 547 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:36,280 Speaker 4: I'm also seeing weight rooms and bullpens. That's one thing 548 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,639 Speaker 4: I would do a lot more microphone, I think one 549 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 4: of the greatest things. We have some of the best 550 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:42,880 Speaker 4: athletes in our game today, but we have no idea 551 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:45,399 Speaker 4: who the hell they are. I mean, I barely know 552 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 4: enough about Aaron Judge. I know him because I've known 553 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,159 Speaker 4: him since he was a kid. But Aaron Judge is 554 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:52,800 Speaker 4: an incredible story. We stole him from football and he 555 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,560 Speaker 4: decided to go to smaller college and play baseball. Well 556 00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:58,000 Speaker 4: that's a benefit to us. So Blitz to your point, 557 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:00,159 Speaker 4: at the age of thirteen, how do we gap at 558 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:02,919 Speaker 4: thirteen to age seventeen when I got drafted, and we 559 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:05,720 Speaker 4: hopefully can create a lot more Aaron Judges. So I 560 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:09,200 Speaker 4: will say I think entertainment first. Baseball's just your mote, 561 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:13,480 Speaker 4: but I think media entertainment. And you have to take 562 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:16,360 Speaker 4: the straight jacket of a history away and be able 563 00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:19,600 Speaker 4: to try new things. Not everything's gonna work, but the 564 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:21,880 Speaker 4: more chance you try, the more you fail, the better 565 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:22,199 Speaker 4: it is. 566 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:23,360 Speaker 5: You're totally right. 567 00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:25,360 Speaker 6: And interestingly, again, maybe it goes back to a little 568 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 6: bit of this purest concept. Maybe it doesn't, but the 569 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 6: superstars haven't been marketed as clearly as they have in 570 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:37,320 Speaker 6: other sports. The teams have been. But that's different than 571 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 6: the total superstars, right. And when you talk about like 572 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:42,920 Speaker 6: having the ability to watch Aaron Judge at batting cage, 573 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:45,199 Speaker 6: or watch schemes throw one hundred and whatever miles an 574 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:47,720 Speaker 6: how or however many times in a row, like back 575 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:51,960 Speaker 6: to that's amazing content. And the next generation is consuming 576 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:54,480 Speaker 6: content and completely different ways. We could spend hours talking 577 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 6: about that, but that's the type of content that that 578 00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 6: next generation and that younger demographic wants versus you know, 579 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:02,800 Speaker 6: watching an entire game of anything, for you, just baseball. 580 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:05,640 Speaker 5: My kids are huge sports fans. It is rare for a. 581 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 6: Regular season game for them to watch any of the 582 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:09,680 Speaker 6: major sports all the way through. 583 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:22,960 Speaker 3: Blitz. 584 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,200 Speaker 4: When you were nineteen ninety one, when you entered Blackstone, 585 00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:27,400 Speaker 4: I was drafted in ninety three. 586 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:29,880 Speaker 3: I mean that's not that long ago. That's three decades ago. 587 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 4: Baseball was number one by far, and I think the 588 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:36,640 Speaker 4: way to get back there is we've given the other 589 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 4: league's almost ten strokes on a golf course, and we 590 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 4: can't do that anymore. And you can't play with one 591 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,120 Speaker 4: hand tie behind your back. The greatest content in the 592 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,200 Speaker 4: world is like we have it hidden in the library. 593 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 4: I mean to watch Aaron Judge and o'tani and some 594 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:51,880 Speaker 4: of these guys through their side work, Kershaw talk about 595 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:53,880 Speaker 4: what is he working on with a technique if you're 596 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:56,880 Speaker 4: a lefty pitcher or your lefty pitcher who's a softball. 597 00:28:57,240 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 4: There's so much content out there, there's so much value 598 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,120 Speaker 4: saying if we unlock that, it could be really. 599 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,240 Speaker 5: Agree and so blitz building on that. 600 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:08,720 Speaker 2: I mean with a lot of the investments you have 601 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 2: in some of these you know, not really challenging league, 602 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 2: sort of startup leagues. You know, even I know you 603 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:19,000 Speaker 2: are deeply engaged in the NWSL for instance, which is 604 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 2: I think by definition less purest because it's a new league, 605 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 2: it's only been around for about a decade. It's the 606 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:30,080 Speaker 2: third try at you know, professional women's soccer in this country. 607 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 2: What are you learning there that you sort of apply 608 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:34,560 Speaker 2: or vice versa. 609 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:37,920 Speaker 6: Well, look again, I put these in some slightly different buckets. 610 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,320 Speaker 6: I go back to this sort of thematic view that 611 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:44,120 Speaker 6: I have around a variety of things. So let's hit 612 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 6: women's sports really quickly. So women's sports is, from my perspective, 613 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 6: a mega trend, a mega theme that one should get 614 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:57,360 Speaker 6: behind from an either a well from every perspective, from 615 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:00,800 Speaker 6: a fan perspective, from an engagement perspective, from an invent perspective, 616 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:02,160 Speaker 6: it's probably. 617 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:03,920 Speaker 3: For this audience like a great place to go. 618 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:04,160 Speaker 5: Yeah. 619 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 6: And by the way, aside from the fact that these 620 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:09,240 Speaker 6: athletes are absolutely incredible and in my opinion, haven't been 621 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:12,400 Speaker 6: marketed particularly well over the years. So I look at 622 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:16,280 Speaker 6: even you know, Caitlin Clark and Angel Race, okay, absolutely 623 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:21,400 Speaker 6: amazing Okay, and when they started getting marketed differently in college, 624 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:23,800 Speaker 6: take a look at those college ratings. 625 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:25,960 Speaker 5: So the NCAA Women's. 626 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:30,320 Speaker 6: Final last year had I believe, eighteen million eighteen point 627 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 6: something million people watch the women's final. The men's final 628 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:35,960 Speaker 6: got something like high fourteens. 629 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:36,200 Speaker 3: Yeah. 630 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:38,880 Speaker 6: And I remember sitting with Jimmy Pataro when he was like, 631 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:42,480 Speaker 6: the women out drew the men of ESPN, okay, and 632 00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 6: he was following it all the way through because it 633 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:46,680 Speaker 6: wasn't just that one game. By the way, as well, 634 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:50,720 Speaker 6: my point is there have been amazing women basketball players 635 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,760 Speaker 6: for pick your period, fifty years, eighty years, whatever, since 636 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:57,040 Speaker 6: they invented the game, Okay, why now? Why did it 637 00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:02,160 Speaker 6: suddenly explode from immediate perspect in popularity? And some of 638 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 6: that was the same storytelling, okay, and content delivery that 639 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:08,280 Speaker 6: you described. Some of it was just plain marketing. I 640 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 6: feel like ZBS and ESPN really got behind women's basketball 641 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:14,840 Speaker 6: and did an amazing job and once people watched. Because 642 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,840 Speaker 6: I always talk about the funnel when I talk about fans. 643 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:20,560 Speaker 6: What you want to get is somebody who's not a 644 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:23,600 Speaker 6: fan to be a casual fan of a sport, and 645 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:25,800 Speaker 6: then you want to drive a journey of the casual 646 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:28,959 Speaker 6: fan to become an avid fan of the sport. Okay, 647 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 6: So we have to start with the funnel, and I 648 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:36,120 Speaker 6: find when people watched. I remember taking my own daughters 649 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:39,520 Speaker 6: to a WNBA game and to a women's hockey game 650 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:41,840 Speaker 6: and said like, let's just watch this game for what 651 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:47,160 Speaker 6: it is, meaning amazing athletes and performance, and they were hooked. 652 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:50,800 Speaker 6: But they had to be taken right in a sense, 653 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 6: or at least in my case. And that's why I 654 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:54,920 Speaker 6: always say to people, like about hockey. So many of 655 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:56,520 Speaker 6: my friends have never been to a live hockey game, 656 00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 6: and I'm like, why don't you come to a hockey 657 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:00,360 Speaker 6: game and they all go to a live hockey and 658 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:02,520 Speaker 6: they were like, oh my god, that was absolutely incredible. 659 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:04,320 Speaker 6: So now I have a casual fan. So back to 660 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:05,959 Speaker 6: women's sports. I think the trends are there. I mean 661 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:07,760 Speaker 6: just really big picture. I mean, if you think about 662 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:11,040 Speaker 6: the WNBA right now, aside from where the prices of 663 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:13,240 Speaker 6: these franchises seem to be going. 664 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:16,040 Speaker 5: Look at the viewership numbers. They're absolutely incredible. 665 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:18,160 Speaker 6: So it's not like it's just I mean, I think 666 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 6: it's something like thirty percent of when an NBA game 667 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:23,719 Speaker 6: on average about is the WNBA. But they're getting two 668 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,200 Speaker 6: percent of the media rights money. So what do you 669 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:29,080 Speaker 6: think is going to happen the WNBA media writes overtime 670 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:31,080 Speaker 6: like they're going to go up back to my sort 671 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 6: of content. 672 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:35,960 Speaker 5: Ip, etc. So I'm bullish on all of the women's sports. 673 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:36,240 Speaker 5: You're right. 674 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:39,320 Speaker 6: I spent a ton of time on soccer. I'm extremely 675 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:43,120 Speaker 6: bullish on volleyball. I think hockey's doing an amazing job, 676 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:44,840 Speaker 6: which was a reboot because you used to have separate 677 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,600 Speaker 6: American and Canadian leagues and they finally merged. You can 678 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:49,760 Speaker 6: actually have the best players in the world all playing together. 679 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:52,480 Speaker 6: And then you mentioned startup leagues, which, to be honest, 680 00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:57,480 Speaker 6: you know there's there's startup leagues in the sense of 681 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 6: like venture capital, right, and then there's some others that 682 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:04,600 Speaker 6: are maybe a different format. Okay, So like if you 683 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:07,360 Speaker 6: think about TGL, which I think is getting an Innovation 684 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:10,840 Speaker 6: Award today, that was a different format that you know, 685 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:15,040 Speaker 6: Mike McCauley and some colleagues realize that, you know, hey, 686 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:19,320 Speaker 6: we should think about golf competitive golf in a different way, right, 687 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 6: And again, I'm sure some of you have seen it, 688 00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:23,320 Speaker 6: others might not have. I think TGL has done an 689 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:24,000 Speaker 6: amazing job. 690 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:27,200 Speaker 3: Huge content play too, I mean, that's what that's. 691 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:30,640 Speaker 6: And again, demographic very very different from who's watching on 692 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:33,040 Speaker 6: Saturday or Sunday afternoon on a PGA tour, and of 693 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,760 Speaker 6: course there's crossover, but they're bringing a new demographic into 694 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:38,200 Speaker 6: the sport. So that's kind of like, hey, let's go 695 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:40,440 Speaker 6: try to do something different. Then, like you said, you've 696 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 6: got you know, major League table tennis, right, you know, 697 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:46,880 Speaker 6: we'll see. But on these I'm bullish because again, on 698 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 6: these niche sports, we all underestimate the audience numbers and 699 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:54,200 Speaker 6: we're all used to hearing these broadcast numbers. But what 700 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:56,520 Speaker 6: we're not probably is it tuned too or that some 701 00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:58,920 Speaker 6: of the people in this room might be is the 702 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 6: YouTube numbers right, is the Instagram numbers? Is that you know, 703 00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:08,280 Speaker 6: all of these different ways that younger folks are consuming 704 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:10,480 Speaker 6: and not just younger folks. But I just point to, 705 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:12,640 Speaker 6: I don't know again in the habit of like looking 706 00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:14,200 Speaker 6: at what my kids are doing and why and their 707 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:17,720 Speaker 6: friends and so as an example. 708 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:23,200 Speaker 5: You know, you've got the you've got the slaps, Dana White, genius. 709 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:26,120 Speaker 6: Okay, if I told you five years ago there was 710 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:27,960 Speaker 6: going to be this situation when we sat across the 711 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:29,640 Speaker 6: table for you as I was going to slap you 712 00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:32,840 Speaker 6: as hard as humanly possible, okay, and then if you 713 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:34,200 Speaker 6: were able to get up, you were able to do 714 00:34:34,239 --> 00:34:36,279 Speaker 6: it back to me. And that was going to be 715 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:39,360 Speaker 6: a sport that people were watching and turning into a league. 716 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:41,640 Speaker 6: I don't know that you would have thought that that 717 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:44,640 Speaker 6: was a very good idea, and they're unbelievable, but I 718 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:47,520 Speaker 6: mean you're just using like an example of people are 719 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:50,560 Speaker 6: consuming that content in incredibly different ways. The number of 720 00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:53,719 Speaker 6: views on YouTube for some of these slap matches is, 721 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:56,279 Speaker 6: like you know, sort of stunning. So again it comes 722 00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:58,120 Speaker 6: a little bit back to Alex you mentioned it before, 723 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:00,719 Speaker 6: like where do I think there can be great storytelling? 724 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:03,000 Speaker 6: And maybe it's in places that you didn't even think about. 725 00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:05,880 Speaker 6: I mean, we all know about Drive to Survive, Okay, 726 00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:07,960 Speaker 6: Like what Netflix did to Drive to Survive and what 727 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:11,759 Speaker 6: that did for Formula one is you know, unbelievable. But 728 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:14,040 Speaker 6: like I think about some others too. I think about 729 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,719 Speaker 6: like Queen's Gambit, yeah, okay, and what Queen's Gambit did 730 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:20,879 Speaker 6: the chess. I mean, it's beyond dramatic in terms of there. 731 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:23,359 Speaker 6: And if you look at Welcome the Rexham or Ted 732 00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:27,719 Speaker 6: Lasso okay, or you look at you know, quarterbacks, So 733 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:30,080 Speaker 6: that storytelling goes back a lot to what you're saying. 734 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:35,399 Speaker 6: Let's bring these amazing athletes and sports closer to us 735 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:38,640 Speaker 6: in ways that we didn't consume it before, and let's 736 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:41,520 Speaker 6: watch that continued growth out there in the marketplace. 737 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:43,440 Speaker 2: All Right, we'd be remiss if we didn't talk a 738 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:45,760 Speaker 2: little bit about youth sports. And one of the ways 739 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:47,960 Speaker 2: that I would love for you to get into it, 740 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:52,520 Speaker 2: Blitz is you mentioned volleyball and Caitlin galhoo Ce Young 741 00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:55,760 Speaker 2: co founder of League one Volleyball, was on this stage earlier. 742 00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:57,280 Speaker 3: You're an investor there. 743 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:00,560 Speaker 2: I remember you and I talking about this years ago, 744 00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:04,040 Speaker 2: and you were talking about how compelling it was, mostly 745 00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:07,200 Speaker 2: because it's youth to pro which we don't see a 746 00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:10,040 Speaker 2: lot of talk to us about the opportunity in youth sports. 747 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:14,799 Speaker 2: Let's the through line for youth sports from an investment perspective. 748 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:18,759 Speaker 6: So from an investment perspective, it goes back to something 749 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:22,239 Speaker 6: we were talking a little bit about before. It's massively fragmented, right, 750 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:24,680 Speaker 6: so the demand is there. I think the people again 751 00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:27,760 Speaker 6: calculated differently. I calculate the youth sports business at about 752 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:30,440 Speaker 6: forty billion dollars growing it, you know, high single digits 753 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:32,560 Speaker 6: a year. Our own business is growing much faster than that. 754 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:35,600 Speaker 6: But it's if you think about it, most people who 755 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:39,719 Speaker 6: run a youth sports business is a relatively small, mom 756 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:43,240 Speaker 6: and pop oriented business. Where they got into that business, 757 00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:46,040 Speaker 6: I'd like to think in the vast, vast majority of 758 00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:49,360 Speaker 6: cases for the right reasons. Okay, they wanted to help kids, 759 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:52,440 Speaker 6: they wanted to get them active on fields. Okay, that's 760 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:54,839 Speaker 6: even become more prevalent in today's world, where the kids 761 00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:56,760 Speaker 6: are on screens way more than like when. 762 00:36:56,640 --> 00:36:57,120 Speaker 3: We grew up. 763 00:36:57,320 --> 00:36:59,520 Speaker 6: So I think people got into these businesses to do 764 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:03,520 Speaker 6: really good things with kids with youth, but they don't 765 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:07,640 Speaker 6: want to deal with accounts, payable and insurance and you know, 766 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:11,960 Speaker 6: legal and complain. You know, they just want to program, 767 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:16,000 Speaker 6: whether it's leagues or tournaments or I don't know, Alex, 768 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:18,400 Speaker 6: if you ever went through baseball factory, but as an example, 769 00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:21,880 Speaker 6: Baseball Factory, you know, takes kids through their baseball journeys 770 00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:24,320 Speaker 6: in terms of instruction at higher and higher levels along 771 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:26,960 Speaker 6: the way. So you have all these different areas of 772 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:30,279 Speaker 6: youth sports, but at its core a I think, just 773 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,120 Speaker 6: again big picture, it's great to have kids enrolled and 774 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:36,480 Speaker 6: engaged in as many sports as possible, and actually they 775 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:39,000 Speaker 6: spread it across. I think there's too much specialization. As 776 00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:41,400 Speaker 6: one of my other big things, kids are specializing way 777 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:43,839 Speaker 6: too early. You talk to any professional athlete, they will 778 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:47,080 Speaker 6: tell you that they either did or wish they had 779 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:51,680 Speaker 6: played more sports for long enew okay, So the ability 780 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:55,520 Speaker 6: to actually show up with capital now okay, then show 781 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:58,920 Speaker 6: up with great brands. So as an example, cal Ripkin 782 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:03,120 Speaker 6: was somebody who is like my idol as a player, 783 00:38:03,239 --> 00:38:07,720 Speaker 6: but more relevantly post his playing career. Cal basically wanted 784 00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:09,759 Speaker 6: to help kids. He wanted to teach them to play 785 00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:12,600 Speaker 6: baseball the right way in a safe environment, and he 786 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,560 Speaker 6: and his brother Bill started Ripkin Baseball and they have 787 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:18,520 Speaker 6: the best youth baseball business in the country in my opinion. 788 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:20,680 Speaker 6: And once we got into youth sports, I had been 789 00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:22,680 Speaker 6: talking to Cal for years about trying to partner with 790 00:38:22,719 --> 00:38:25,239 Speaker 6: him in some way, shape or form, And once our 791 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:28,839 Speaker 6: business started to grow, etc. Went back to Cal and said, hey, 792 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:30,920 Speaker 6: maybe we should merge our businesses. 793 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:31,160 Speaker 5: Here. 794 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:33,799 Speaker 6: You've got the best brand in the world and you 795 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:36,480 Speaker 6: and Bill are still involved, which is amazing, and we'd 796 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:37,839 Speaker 6: love to keep all of that the same way. 797 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:38,520 Speaker 5: We're just going to give you. 798 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:40,399 Speaker 6: A bigger platform, so you're gonna be able to help 799 00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:44,880 Speaker 6: more kids in more markets, etc. So again that ability 800 00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:47,080 Speaker 6: to bring capital the equations, so we have better fields, 801 00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:52,080 Speaker 6: we have safer environments, we have better instructors, we have 802 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:54,520 Speaker 6: better facilities overall, because a lot of them are now 803 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:58,239 Speaker 6: starting to turn into these sports vacations right where you're 804 00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:00,440 Speaker 6: going with your parents and your siblings, and maybe it's 805 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:02,719 Speaker 6: three days, it's a long weekend. In some cases, we 806 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:05,279 Speaker 6: have one of our baseball facilities in Cooperstown, New York, 807 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:07,439 Speaker 6: is basically a week, So you go with your whole 808 00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:09,759 Speaker 6: family for an entire week. And we keep upgrading all 809 00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:13,560 Speaker 6: of these facilities, and so it's sort of this fragmented 810 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:18,320 Speaker 6: industry that we think we're both doing something that's really 811 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:20,840 Speaker 6: good for society, for lack of a better term, for 812 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:23,200 Speaker 6: the kids and their families. But we also think that 813 00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:24,400 Speaker 6: they're good business in us. 814 00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:39,480 Speaker 2: All right, So we like to end every episode with 815 00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:44,360 Speaker 2: little rapid fire, So good luck to you. We'll bounce 816 00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:47,279 Speaker 2: it back and forth a little bit, you know, keep 817 00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:49,279 Speaker 2: it tight, and we're excited to hear what you bring 818 00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:51,600 Speaker 2: to the table here. But let's all right, what's one 819 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:53,960 Speaker 2: word to describe your deal making style? 820 00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:58,000 Speaker 5: One word to describe my deal making style? Direct? 821 00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:01,160 Speaker 4: What's more important to you your gut or data? 822 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:07,800 Speaker 2: Keep in mind you are at the MIT Sloan Sports 823 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:09,200 Speaker 2: Analytics Conference. 824 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:11,920 Speaker 5: Blackstone Data Sports Gut. 825 00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:14,759 Speaker 3: Okay ooh okay, split the metal. Who is your dream 826 00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:15,760 Speaker 3: deal making partner? 827 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:20,279 Speaker 5: My dream deal making partner? Well, I hope one day 828 00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:20,960 Speaker 5: it's my kids. 829 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:22,720 Speaker 3: Oh okay, good answer. 830 00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:25,520 Speaker 4: What's the best piece of advice you received on deal 831 00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:27,360 Speaker 4: making or business. 832 00:40:27,719 --> 00:40:31,759 Speaker 6: Well, I think it was somebody told me early on 833 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:34,879 Speaker 6: in my career, clearly because I wasn't doing it very well. 834 00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:37,120 Speaker 6: But it's actually it sounds simple, but it's the best 835 00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:40,279 Speaker 6: advice I ever got, which is, David, you talk too much, 836 00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:44,440 Speaker 6: listen a lot more. So you don't need to be 837 00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:46,080 Speaker 6: the loudest voice in the room. You don't need to 838 00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:48,239 Speaker 6: be the person who spent the most time talking in 839 00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:50,560 Speaker 6: the middle of a meeting. Doesn't mean don't say anything, 840 00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:53,000 Speaker 6: just means listen a lot more. Why it might not 841 00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:55,200 Speaker 6: feel that way. I'm actually a pretty good listener. 842 00:40:57,200 --> 00:40:59,280 Speaker 3: What's the worst advice you've ever been given? 843 00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:05,600 Speaker 5: The worst off given, worst advice I've ever been given. 844 00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:06,760 Speaker 4: Don't buy the Sixers. 845 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:10,440 Speaker 6: Yeah, it was actually not the Sixers. It was don't 846 00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:14,440 Speaker 6: invest in hockey. Really it was terrible advice, meaning because 847 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:16,960 Speaker 6: I didn't take the advice. Yeah, but I had people 848 00:41:17,239 --> 00:41:19,640 Speaker 6: warning me that, you know, they didn't have national TV 849 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:21,920 Speaker 6: deals that were great and it was really a local 850 00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:23,879 Speaker 6: business and don't do that. 851 00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:25,040 Speaker 5: And I didn't listen. 852 00:41:25,400 --> 00:41:27,439 Speaker 4: All right, So what's your hype song before a big 853 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:29,120 Speaker 4: meeting or big negotiation? 854 00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:31,879 Speaker 5: Hype songs? 855 00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:34,080 Speaker 6: It's on my phone, I think it's like Bob Marley, 856 00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:36,680 Speaker 6: it's not so hyped up. 857 00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:39,320 Speaker 5: Three little birds. 858 00:41:40,239 --> 00:41:43,719 Speaker 2: If you have to pick the top three teams from 859 00:41:43,719 --> 00:41:45,239 Speaker 2: your portfolio, what are they? 860 00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:46,680 Speaker 5: I can't answer it. 861 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:48,719 Speaker 6: My answer anytime any of that body asked me about 862 00:41:48,719 --> 00:41:51,879 Speaker 6: your my favorite team is, let's be clear, it's who's 863 00:41:51,920 --> 00:41:54,839 Speaker 6: your favorite kid, which, by the way, so I'll answer 864 00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:55,360 Speaker 6: it differently. 865 00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:58,000 Speaker 5: I do have a favorite kid sometimes. 866 00:41:57,640 --> 00:41:59,920 Speaker 6: But it's a different favorite kid depending on what's going 867 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:02,640 Speaker 6: going on that week or that year or whatever. So 868 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:07,120 Speaker 6: I definitely don't have a favorite team over a long 869 00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:12,520 Speaker 6: period of time, but like right now, it's probably the command. 870 00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:17,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's a pretty good answer, David, No favorite blitz. 871 00:42:17,880 --> 00:42:20,080 Speaker 4: You can only watch one sport for the rest of 872 00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:21,840 Speaker 4: your life. Which one is it? 873 00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:27,520 Speaker 6: That's really brutal? One sport for the rest of my life? 874 00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:34,520 Speaker 6: Hockey if it's live. Okay, okay, so live. My answer 875 00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:35,200 Speaker 6: is hockey. 876 00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:35,600 Speaker 3: All right. 877 00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:38,400 Speaker 2: This is funny because it's sort of it's sort of 878 00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:41,120 Speaker 2: a retread of the earlier, earlier question, but I'm gonna 879 00:42:41,120 --> 00:42:41,880 Speaker 2: ask it anyway. 880 00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:44,440 Speaker 3: What team do you want to see win a championship more. 881 00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:49,040 Speaker 2: Than any that's your favorite kid question? So can I 882 00:42:49,080 --> 00:42:51,000 Speaker 2: give you a cheat on this one. We asked the 883 00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:53,400 Speaker 2: same question of Melody Hobson, and you know what her 884 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:53,960 Speaker 2: answer was? 885 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:54,840 Speaker 3: What mine? 886 00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:59,000 Speaker 5: Yeah, so that's that's that's a pretty good answer for sure. 887 00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:00,680 Speaker 5: It'd be nice to have one. We don't have it. 888 00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:02,080 Speaker 5: We don't have a championship yet. 889 00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:05,799 Speaker 4: Blitzer, you have a fun fact about yourself that will 890 00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:08,400 Speaker 4: surprise all of us, but mainly your colleagues. 891 00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:15,040 Speaker 6: Maybe that I we talk about Jusic a lot, and 892 00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:17,640 Speaker 6: maybe it's how much I absolutely love a lot us 893 00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:21,640 Speaker 6: more set. They would look at me like, really a 894 00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:23,400 Speaker 6: lot of more set because everyone thinks I'm just like 895 00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:24,399 Speaker 6: a big Springstea fan. 896 00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:28,560 Speaker 2: But all right, Blitzer being a big a lotus more 897 00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:31,560 Speaker 2: set fan. I mean, that's my takeaway from from this entime. 898 00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:34,799 Speaker 2: From the brilliant insights you've given us about business, that's 899 00:43:34,840 --> 00:43:36,560 Speaker 2: something I'm not gonna soon forget. 900 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:38,400 Speaker 3: That was a curveball. That was a curveball. 901 00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:39,799 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm trying to think if I have something better 902 00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:41,680 Speaker 2: for you. No, that's pretty good. I think I think 903 00:43:41,719 --> 00:43:44,600 Speaker 2: we got ended there. Uh David Blitzer, what a treat 904 00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:47,759 Speaker 2: to spend some time with you. Alex always fun. Uh m, 905 00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:49,799 Speaker 2: I t sloan you guys are the best. Thank you 906 00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:51,279 Speaker 2: so much for having us really appreciate it. 907 00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:51,719 Speaker 5: Thank you. 908 00:43:58,840 --> 00:44:03,000 Speaker 1: The Deal is a production from Bloomberg Podcasts and Bloomberg Originals. 909 00:44:03,600 --> 00:44:06,760 Speaker 1: The Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly. 910 00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:10,799 Speaker 1: This show was produced by Anna Maazarakis, Lizzie Phillip, and 911 00:44:10,920 --> 00:44:14,840 Speaker 1: Stacy Wong. Original music and engineering by Blake Maples. 912 00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:15,759 Speaker 3: David E. 913 00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:20,400 Speaker 1: Ravella is our managing editor. Our executive producers are Jason Kelly, 914 00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:26,719 Speaker 1: Brendan Francis, Neonham, Jordan Opplinger, Trey Shallowhorn, Andrew Barden, Kelly Leferrier, 915 00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:31,000 Speaker 1: and Ashley Hoenig. Sage Bauman is our Head of Podcasts. 916 00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:36,080 Speaker 1: Special thanks to Rachel Carnivali, Elena sos Angeles, Nick Silva, 917 00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:39,680 Speaker 1: and the team at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. 918 00:44:40,520 --> 00:44:44,239 Speaker 1: Rubob Shakir is our creative director. Art direction is from 919 00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:49,120 Speaker 1: Jacqueline Kessler. Joshua Devaux is our director of photography. Camera 920 00:44:49,160 --> 00:44:54,759 Speaker 1: operation by David Degner. Listen to The Deal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, 921 00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:58,239 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also tune 922 00:44:58,239 --> 00:45:01,759 Speaker 1: into the video Companion on Bloomberg Originals and on Bloomberg TV. 923 00:45:02,360 --> 00:45:03,160 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening,