Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Deal. I'm your host Jason Kelly,
Speaker 2: alongside my co host and partner Alex Rodriguez. He's back
Speaker 2: in Miami, coming up on the Deal reporter in sports
Speaker 2: broadcaster Laura Rutledge. But first, all right, Alex, you're in Miami.
Speaker 2: I'm in London. We're coming off of All Star Weekend.
Speaker 2: I want to get your thoughts on that, and then
Speaker 2: I can tell you, like, what the heck I'm doing
Speaker 2: across the pond. But All Star Weekend really fun, new format,
Speaker 2: like new. Look what you make of it?
Speaker 3: I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 4: Look, I still think that Saturday is the most fun
Speaker 4: and the most engaging day. That's when you have a
Speaker 4: skills three point contest and obviously the Slam contest. You
Speaker 4: know the Slam Contest winner. He's won three years in
Speaker 4: a row. And for me, the highlight was him jumping
Speaker 4: over the car. That was incredible.
Speaker 2: Mac mcclunk, he said, be he's an absolutely.
Speaker 4: Incredible and he never misses a dunk, so he must
Speaker 4: watch TV. The other part is I know that the
Speaker 4: NBA got a lot of flak. Some people love this,
Speaker 4: Some people like this, and people didn't like it, but
Speaker 4: you got to give the NBA a lot of credit
Speaker 4: for continue to pivot and continue to find better ways
Speaker 4: to do things.
Speaker 3: And I enjoyed it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. It was super, super fun to watch.
Speaker 2: And then I immediately jumped on a plane.
Speaker 3: Plane Where whe where are you these days?
Speaker 2: So I'm in London. I'm seeing some of our old
Speaker 2: friends and someone who's been a guest on this show,
Speaker 2: George Pine, could be hanging out with him. So excited
Speaker 2: to report back some of the folks that he's pulling
Speaker 2: together here in London. You know, one of the things
Speaker 2: that we delved into and highly recommend people go back
Speaker 2: and listen to and watch the George Pine episode of
Speaker 2: the Deal. I have to say we've gotten tremendous feedback
Speaker 2: for that one, in part because this is a guy
Speaker 2: who very quietly has become one of the most influential
Speaker 2: people in the business of sports, investing in the entire
Speaker 2: sports ecosystem. And I think it's interesting thing about seeing
Speaker 2: him in London is very much a global approach that
Speaker 2: he's taking. So I'm excited to do that. Speaking of
Speaker 2: global the other thing, and I'm excited and I take
Speaker 2: like just a little bit.
Speaker 3: Of criss a flex. Here comes AUP flex.
Speaker 2: He's here's the flex just on you, which is I
Speaker 2: think you're becoming an F one fan, and I like
Speaker 2: to think I have a little bit to do it.
Speaker 2: Like you're getting into.
Speaker 4: It, right, I'm getting into it. I'm getting into it. Yes,
Speaker 4: I went to the one in Vegas. I really really
Speaker 4: enjoyed it. Yes, I know where you're going. Are a
Speaker 4: good friend, Zach Brown, who's a great, great leader. He's
Speaker 4: the one that's kind of making me feel really excited
Speaker 4: about it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's your guy. I mean, you saw him in
Speaker 2: Vegas and so I remember we talked afterwards and You're like,
Speaker 2: you know, this F one thing is huge. I'm like,
Speaker 2: are you kidding me right now? All right? Yeah, But
Speaker 2: one of the reasons I'm in London this week is
Speaker 2: F one Media Day is this week here in London.
Speaker 2: They're doing it for the first time, all the teams
Speaker 2: together at the O two Arena, you know, which is
Speaker 2: this massive place, a bunch of fans and journalists and
Speaker 2: all coming together to really kick off the season. Seventy
Speaker 2: fifth season. As you said, Miami is probably the next
Speaker 2: time will really be together looking at F one, and
Speaker 2: it's interesting. Miami has become a must attend Grand Prix
Speaker 2: on the calendar. It's its fourth year now. I think
Speaker 2: you've seen up close and personal just what it does
Speaker 2: to this city, right.
Speaker 4: Yes, And I recently went to the one in Vegas,
Speaker 4: and I'm telling you, like I've been to Vegas for
Speaker 4: the last thirty plus years, I've never seen Vegas transform
Speaker 4: the way it has. And I got to tell you, like,
Speaker 4: if you watch the Netflix special, if you watch on
Speaker 4: TV whatever, in person, it's a whole different sport.
Speaker 3: I've never seen cars move like this.
Speaker 4: The amount of wealth and influential people that are around
Speaker 4: the hoop, it's like nothing I've ever seen before. And
Speaker 4: of course F one in Miami also kind of merges
Speaker 4: with the Man Dolphins ecosystem. We know Joe Cy and
Speaker 4: others have bought into the Dolphins, which means they're buying
Speaker 4: into the whole real estate. So F one is like
Speaker 4: in Maine and Maine every conversation when it comes to media,
Speaker 4: sports and culture totally.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a great point. So that's you know, Steven Ross,
Speaker 2: Tom Garfinkel, they have put together this empire that is
Speaker 2: as you say, it's the Dolphins, which is obviously the
Speaker 2: cornerstone of all that, the Grand Prix. They also have
Speaker 2: the Miami Open. We're actually to be talking to Tom
Speaker 2: Garfinkel on this program coming up in a few weeks
Speaker 2: ahead of the Miami Open. So we're excited to do
Speaker 2: that because they really had built something very special and
Speaker 2: as you say, they were one of two teams or
Speaker 2: really two NFL franchises so far that have sold a
Speaker 2: minority stake to outside investors. Aries is one of the
Speaker 2: investors that went into the Dolphins, and of course Arctose
Speaker 2: led the round going into the Buffalo Bills. So a
Speaker 2: lot to get into when we talked to Tom Garfinkel
Speaker 2: in a few weeks. Coming up today, we're going to
Speaker 2: talk to Laura Rutledge, and you know, we feel like
Speaker 2: we know her from TV. You have another personal connection
Speaker 2: to her, which is her husband played Major League Baseball
Speaker 2: with the josh It like you know him like from
Speaker 2: the field.
Speaker 3: Yeah, sure did.
Speaker 4: And you know, I never knew that these two worlds
Speaker 4: were collide, you know, because josh I played against him.
Speaker 3: He was a good ball player.
Speaker 4: He played for the Red Sox and a few other
Speaker 4: teams and He was very, very solid, and it was
Speaker 4: really nice to come full circle interview his very talented wife,
Speaker 4: and she was really fascinating. I learned so much and
Speaker 4: I'm so excited for our listeners to hear what she
Speaker 4: had to say.
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, she's amazing and really has transformed the world
Speaker 2: of broadcasting, especially when it comes to football, and we
Speaker 2: talk a lot about what has essentially what feels like
Speaker 2: the merger of the college game, at least on the
Speaker 2: highest level. She went to University of Florida. She knows
Speaker 2: the SEC inside and out. She has seen the transformation
Speaker 2: of that conference and what the real power conferences in
Speaker 2: football have done in college football have done as they
Speaker 2: become more and more I dare say NFL Junior. So
Speaker 2: we'll get into all that coming up with the deal.
Speaker 2: Reporter and sports broadcaster Laura Rutledge. All right, we're so
Speaker 2: excited to have Laura Rutledge here with us. You see
Speaker 2: her everywhere. She's on NFL Live all year round. She's
Speaker 2: a host of SEC Nation, she's covering golf. Now we're
Speaker 2: definitely going to get into that. Laura, so happy to
Speaker 2: have you here on the deal.
Speaker 1: I'm so happy to be with you guys, just a
Speaker 1: huge fan of what you do in general, and especially
Speaker 1: on this podcast.
Speaker 5: Just so appreciative that you'd have me on.
Speaker 4: So, Laura, when I was doing a little research about you,
Speaker 4: it was interesting to me. One little nugget that I found.
Speaker 4: My daughter is a sophomore the University of Michigan and
Speaker 4: she studies musical theater. And I saw that when you
Speaker 4: were sixteen and somehow you convince your parents who go
Speaker 4: to China to be a dancer or ballet A is
Speaker 4: that true? And b how did you pivot from that
Speaker 4: to where you are today?
Speaker 3: It was pretty awesome.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's funny.
Speaker 1: Anybody who knew me back then, they're like, wait, what
Speaker 1: you do sports broadcasting?
Speaker 5: Like you were always into the.
Speaker 1: Arts and all that in Ballet was truly my favorite
Speaker 1: thing in the world, my passion. I convinced my parents
Speaker 1: let me go to Shanghai. Actually studied at the Shanghai
Speaker 1: Theater Academy when I was sixteen and then turned seventeen
Speaker 1: while I was there. So my ballet teacher in Orlando, Florida,
Speaker 1: was going back to China to prepare for the Beijing Olympics.
Speaker 5: She was part of the opening and closing.
Speaker 1: Ceremony, so she said, I'll just take you with me, which,
Speaker 1: now that I think about it, having kids of my own,
Speaker 1: now I'm like, golly, I.
Speaker 5: Don't think I could send my kids over there like that,
Speaker 5: you know.
Speaker 1: But it really was incredibly difficult, But it was incredible
Speaker 1: time of hard work that I think laid the groundwork
Speaker 1: of discipline that ended up being really necessary in this
Speaker 1: career too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that totally makes sense. So let's jump into it
Speaker 2: and talk about your journey and your way into this business.
Speaker 2: When you're at University of Florida. I mean, is this
Speaker 2: what you imagined you wanted to be like from the
Speaker 2: get go, or like what's the quick path for you?
Speaker 5: Yeah? I never could have imagined this.
Speaker 1: In fact, when I was at Florida, I thought my
Speaker 1: dream job would be the radio reporter for Florida football broadcast.
Speaker 1: If I could just do that, I will have made it.
Speaker 1: And I actually still think that's a really great job.
Speaker 1: But I could have never in a million years imagine this.
Speaker 1: I only did radio when I was in college, and
Speaker 1: it was a way to get a ton of reps
Speaker 1: early on, and then you know, from there I got
Speaker 1: my opportunity in baseball, which came the spring of my
Speaker 1: senior year, so I was driving back and forth between
Speaker 1: Gainesville and Tampa Bay basically to do raise home games,
Speaker 1: and did that, you know, for a couple of years,
Speaker 1: and got an opportunity with the Padres after that.
Speaker 5: I bring up that side of it because I don't
Speaker 5: know if you.
Speaker 1: Guys have ever read Malcolm Gladwell's book The Outliers, but
Speaker 1: I subscribe to his ten thousand hours of reps or
Speaker 1: whatever it may be, are needed to become an expert
Speaker 1: in something. And I kind of accidentally got my ten
Speaker 1: thousand hours because I knew I needed a lot of improvement.
Speaker 5: At this job.
Speaker 1: And I feel like every day I'm still trying to
Speaker 1: get better because you just can never predict what's happening
Speaker 1: in live TV.
Speaker 5: But that was how I got my start.
Speaker 1: And then after that I beat down everybody's door here
Speaker 1: at ESPN trying to get him to hire me at
Speaker 1: SEC Network, and thank goodness, they probably did think I
Speaker 1: was a little crazy, but they did give me a chance,
Speaker 1: and you.
Speaker 2: Know, to the sort of reps of it all. It
Speaker 2: also strikes me that when you get to University of Florida,
Speaker 2: you know, Alex and I talk all the time, and
Speaker 2: maybe you've talked about it on the show, this intersection
Speaker 2: of business, sports and culture. I grew up down South.
Speaker 2: I was in more of an ACC kid than an
Speaker 2: SEC kid. But have you know so many friends and
Speaker 2: family who went to SEC schools. It's a way of life.
Speaker 2: And I do wonder you know how you saw and
Speaker 2: how you see this nexus that you're right at the
Speaker 2: white hot center of when it comes to how much football,
Speaker 2: specifically in college football, manifested in the broader culture.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it is. I think that's becoming more and more
Speaker 5: prevalent too. And we've even seen it.
Speaker 1: Let's say Alabama, for example, as they've won championships, their
Speaker 1: enrollment has become so difficult to even get in there,
Speaker 1: and their enrollment is massive, and there's so many kids
Speaker 1: from across the country that are wanting to go to
Speaker 1: school at Alabama and wanting to go to Tuscaloosa. And
Speaker 1: it's because of the success that they've had as a
Speaker 1: broader football brand. And people know Alabama football, people know Texas,
Speaker 1: people know Michigan, people know USC. I mean some of
Speaker 1: these brand names, but I think college football, and especially
Speaker 1: with the expansion of the college football playoff. It's just
Speaker 1: become a larger part of the conversation throughout a season,
Speaker 1: throughout a year. It's not as you this minute time
Speaker 1: that sort of gets diminished by other sports. It's becoming
Speaker 1: more of a centerpiece. And then to your point, the
Speaker 1: culture of it, all the tailgating and what comes with it.
Speaker 1: You can almost like feel it and taste it when
Speaker 1: you think about it, you know, And there's not that
Speaker 1: many other things like that, especially in sports.
Speaker 5: So I think college football is on a rocket ship.
Speaker 1: People love it, it's nostalgic, but I think it's going
Speaker 1: to continue to grow as we've seen the playoff expand,
Speaker 1: and as we see NIL and some of the business
Speaker 1: side of it change and grow too.
Speaker 4: Yeah, when it comes to the college part, which you mentioned,
Speaker 4: I think we almost have to take the amateur part
Speaker 4: are because now their professionals are getting paid. How do
Speaker 4: you see the relationship between the NCAA and the NFL.
Speaker 4: I mean, in baseball we have TRIPAA and basketball we
Speaker 4: have the G League At some point is it an
Speaker 4: extension of the NFL?
Speaker 3: Is it a feeding ground? How do you see that?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it's becoming more and more like that.
Speaker 1: And you know, the NFL is so unique in the
Speaker 1: way that they're basically saying we're going to pick and
Speaker 1: choose whoever we want from college.
Speaker 5: And they're going to have no other choice.
Speaker 1: I mean, everybody's lifeline in college is about trying to
Speaker 1: advance to that next level and being part of the NFL.
Speaker 1: But I do think that, you know, the NFL is
Speaker 1: going to see how college football changes me we go
Speaker 1: to these two power conferences, or maybe there is more
Speaker 1: regulation when it comes to how it's all divided out.
Speaker 1: We have some version of like the Big Ten and
Speaker 1: the SEC that converges together and they play each other,
Speaker 1: and that's one league.
Speaker 5: And then you've got the secondary.
Speaker 1: Leagues that could be some of these Group of five
Speaker 1: type schools.
Speaker 5: That just can't compete with.
Speaker 1: The nil caliber that some of these big brand names have.
Speaker 1: And then maybe that you know, elevated league is a
Speaker 1: closer step to the NFL. But I think the interesting
Speaker 1: thing from the NFL side, and I wouldn't want to
Speaker 1: speak for Roger Goodell here, but what I've seen in
Speaker 1: covering both regularly is the NFL doesn't have a ton
Speaker 1: of interest in being that associated with college football until
Speaker 1: the combine comes around.
Speaker 5: You even see it when these schedule.
Speaker 1: Games, they're like, oh, the college fellow playoffs on. We
Speaker 1: don't care, like we're going to have some of our
Speaker 1: playoff games. They know, Oh, the NFL knows that it's king.
Speaker 1: And while they need college football, when it comes to
Speaker 1: how are they going to get their players, how are
Speaker 1: they gonna you know, create their own stars, I think
Speaker 1: they would continue to stay interested in it being very separated.
Speaker 1: And some of that, too has to do with the
Speaker 1: lack of regulation in college football in general, college sports
Speaker 1: in general. So until some of that changes, I don't
Speaker 1: know that we'll see, you know, like a triple A
Speaker 1: version of college football yet, although I do think there
Speaker 1: would be a lot of players that would benefit from that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And so let's talk about the players in this
Speaker 2: sense of from the player's perspective, and let's talk a
Speaker 2: specific example Carson Beck. You know, so, so you have
Speaker 2: this situation where he is going pro. You know, he's
Speaker 2: he's sort of like following the very traditional path of
Speaker 2: like I was good in college, now I'm going to
Speaker 2: you know, try and be a professional athlete, like Alex Tredriguez,
Speaker 2: like your husband, Like I'm going to play at the
Speaker 2: highest level of my sport, and then the school right
Speaker 2: down the street from Alex calls him up and it's like,
Speaker 2: but what if you didn't do that and we're going
Speaker 2: to pay you four million dollars to play at University
Speaker 2: of Miami. I mean that almost I got to tell you,
Speaker 2: as a longtime college football fan again growing up down south,
Speaker 2: that like broke my brain. So, like, what's your reaction
Speaker 2: to sort of this moment of the push and pull
Speaker 2: and the tug between the NFL and college when it
Speaker 2: comes to the players.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just fascinating because if you're talking about the
Speaker 1: Carson Becks of the world, the Quinn Viewers of the world,
Speaker 1: for instance, they're making more money in college than they
Speaker 1: may even ever make in the NFL.
Speaker 5: I mean, we'll see how those guys end up panning out.
Speaker 1: But in Carson's situation specifically, it made sense I thought
Speaker 1: for him to stay in college because he wasn't going
Speaker 1: to have a super high draft grade after what happened
Speaker 1: this past season, and he was dealing with an injury
Speaker 1: that you know, we wouldn't have been able to see
Speaker 1: him throw at the combine. All these sort of benchmarks
Speaker 1: that the NFL wants to see and that teams would
Speaker 1: have been interested in. He wasn't going to be able
Speaker 1: to hit those and I think that was part of it, right,
Speaker 1: I think the injury piece weighed in. But yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: how you looking in four million plus? I actually think
Speaker 1: it'll end up being a little bit more. How are
Speaker 1: you looking that in the eye and saying, yeah, I
Speaker 1: think I'm going to just go ahead and sort of
Speaker 1: roll the dice. On the NFL side, this is going
Speaker 1: to be fascinating to watch. I mean, you guys have
Speaker 1: seen the recent ruling where you're going to see a
Speaker 1: little bit more revenue sharing from these universities where they're
Speaker 1: actually direct to the student athletes. We're still calling them
Speaker 1: student athletes. NCAA is very specific about that. And then
Speaker 1: along the way, you know, all of these lawyers are
Speaker 1: lining up to sue the NCAAA once again because there's
Speaker 1: zero regulation here as that continues. And the reason why
Speaker 1: I think it's important to bring up is it relates
Speaker 1: to a Carson Beck in the situation, is because if
Speaker 1: there's no regulation, these guys are going to continue to
Speaker 1: just stick around and continue to take as much money
Speaker 1: as they can from the collectives and from other interested parties,
Speaker 1: and it's just the wild wild West.
Speaker 5: I mean, it makes it incredibly.
Speaker 1: Difficult, and I think there are so many ripple effects.
Speaker 1: And we could talk about this all day, which we
Speaker 1: will in a way, but coaches are getting really disinterested
Speaker 1: in all this. You're gonna see a lot of the best,
Speaker 1: the biggest names.
Speaker 5: We've already saw Nick Saban step away. You're gonna see
Speaker 5: a lot of these guys say this just isn't for
Speaker 5: me anymore. This isn't coaching anymore. And while yes, we all.
Speaker 1: Agree that players should be compensated, that is first and foremost,
Speaker 1: and I should have led with that. That's key, right,
Speaker 1: But this needs to be regulated in some way, shape
Speaker 1: or form, and I think we're a long way away
Speaker 1: from that. So there's gonna be a lot of these
Speaker 1: guys that do decide just to stay in school for
Speaker 1: longer than they would have otherwise.
Speaker 4: So, Laura, you've seen it a little bit with NCUBLA basketball, right,
Speaker 4: Coach k has left, Duke Jay Wright has left Villanova.
Speaker 4: You mentioned Nick Saban. I'm interested to know what are
Speaker 4: your thoughts with Bill Belichick.
Speaker 5: Now.
Speaker 4: The last time I saw an iconic coach like that,
Speaker 4: go from the NFL to the NC DOUBLEA was a
Speaker 4: long time ago. Steve Walsh from the forty nine ers
Speaker 4: to Stamp good one. Yeah, and I'm dating myself a
Speaker 4: little bit here, but tell me a little bit about
Speaker 4: your thoughts. Mid seventies, iconic, maybe the greatest coach of
Speaker 4: all time?
Speaker 3: How does he land in North Carolina?
Speaker 1: I mean, you guys, when we started hearing that this
Speaker 1: was potentially happening, We're like, that can't be real.
Speaker 5: What is Belichick doing? You know, it didn't make sense.
Speaker 1: And I thought, man, somebody's just got this wrong. And
Speaker 1: I actually knew somebody else, another coaching candidate who was
Speaker 1: interviewing for that job and really did well in the interviews.
Speaker 1: You know, thought he had a nice inside track there.
Speaker 1: And then here comes Bill Belichick.
Speaker 5: Rolling in, and he's like, well, shoot, I can't compete
Speaker 5: with that guy. You know, come on.
Speaker 1: Some of us have wondered, Okay, is he setting this
Speaker 1: up for his son and all that? But by all accounts, Belichick,
Speaker 1: you know, he's all in. He's taking this very seriously.
Speaker 1: And I think what's unique here, at least as it
Speaker 1: relates to this current version of college football you are
Speaker 1: more of a GM, you are more of a manager
Speaker 1: of sorts.
Speaker 5: I'll be interested to.
Speaker 1: See how nitty gritty is he when it comes to
Speaker 1: the coaching side, because that's his core, right, He loves ball,
Speaker 1: he wants to be coaching. He is the greatest coach
Speaker 1: of all time, you know when it comes to the
Speaker 1: NFL level, and maybe ever right, depending on how you
Speaker 1: look at it, We're seeing these GM types be hired
Speaker 1: for all of these schools to manage all this. But
Speaker 1: I mean, shoot, to answer your question, I was shocked,
Speaker 1: and I would say too, I don't think we're going
Speaker 1: to see a lot of this happening. And what I'll
Speaker 1: be interest is as much as he says, oh, I'm
Speaker 1: in it, you know, for the long haul, like I
Speaker 1: want to be there and I'm going to stay there,
Speaker 1: It's going to be really interesting to see if he
Speaker 1: actually does and how it goes. And what I would
Speaker 1: say too is that you know this can be humbling.
Speaker 1: I mean we saw Ole Miss for instance, as symbol
Speaker 1: an all star team of portal guys paying so much
Speaker 1: money for all of these transfers, and you know, lang
Speaker 1: Kiffin approaching this in a way where you felt like
Speaker 1: they were stacked, and you know, Ohio State certainly paid
Speaker 1: a price. They want a championship. It wasn't without some
Speaker 1: bumps along the road, Michigan having.
Speaker 5: A nice play in that. But they want it all right.
Speaker 1: So sometimes the money is rewarded and then sometimes you
Speaker 1: look back and say, what do we have to show
Speaker 1: for it?
Speaker 5: This is a humbling sport at.
Speaker 1: This point in that way, because you can pay all
Speaker 1: this money, you can get all these donors, and you
Speaker 1: can you know, build your collective, and then you still
Speaker 1: may not even make it to the playoff.
Speaker 5: And that's where I think.
Speaker 1: We're going to see a lot of coaches discouraged and
Speaker 1: maybe the Bill Belichick types say no, I'm good.
Speaker 5: So Laura, you.
Speaker 2: Know, knowing this as well as you do. You know
Speaker 2: you talked about how you know, we're going to see
Speaker 2: how this all plays out. We're going to put you
Speaker 2: in charge for however long you want. How would you
Speaker 2: fix it? As someone who again you know it inside
Speaker 2: out and you know the pro level as well. What
Speaker 2: is the model of college football as it should be
Speaker 2: or could be?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not easy right to figure it out, But
Speaker 1: I think what's key is that you know there has
Speaker 1: to be some sort of collective bargaining element.
Speaker 5: To all this, and it has.
Speaker 1: To be that players can come to the table and
Speaker 1: negotiate for themselves.
Speaker 5: And even right.
Speaker 1: Now with what's been you know, the latest development in
Speaker 1: all this, it's like, okay, so so these universities are
Speaker 1: going to be paying some form of payment to these players.
Speaker 5: But they don't have any control over it.
Speaker 1: The players need to be able to negotiate for themselves,
Speaker 1: and I believe they can't.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: The issue there is if I were in charge, I
Speaker 1: would say that means, you know, truly the players are negotiating.
Speaker 5: We're not having all this outside noise and these agents
Speaker 5: and people.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just very murky right now with all
Speaker 1: of the people, I would say, cut the fat. Make
Speaker 1: sure that these players are getting the best advice possible
Speaker 1: and so that they really can make decisions for themselves,
Speaker 1: be advised in a way that would.
Speaker 5: Benefit them long term.
Speaker 1: You know, you hate to see anything mismanaged or people
Speaker 1: taking advantage of them or anything like that. And I
Speaker 1: do think the reality is they are young, so that's
Speaker 1: part of it, But how can they set themselves up
Speaker 1: for success long term? I think that's kind of the
Speaker 1: main thing and then doing everything possible to make it
Speaker 1: equal in a way, as equal as we can. And
Speaker 1: that's where I do think the suggestion of like a
Speaker 1: super conference that is a step of a bus. Right,
Speaker 1: Let that happen, but then also let these other universities
Speaker 1: have a fair playing field against each other to allow
Speaker 1: for further opportunity.
Speaker 5: Right.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's so many people that you look at
Speaker 1: who have great success in life because they were a
Speaker 1: legend at wherever it may be, let's call it Houston
Speaker 1: or something. They were a great player at University of Houston.
Speaker 1: They go on to have a law firm there because
Speaker 1: they're well known, you know, for anybody who was a
Speaker 1: fan of the school. How do we continue to keep
Speaker 1: that going where they're still prominent enough? And then there
Speaker 1: are plenty of players if I use the Houston example,
Speaker 1: at Oliver who goes on to be an excellent NFL
Speaker 1: player at the highest level, a high draft pick. There
Speaker 1: are so many examples of this where I think that's
Speaker 1: important to continue.
Speaker 5: But regulate it, and it has to be regulated.
Speaker 1: And listen, maybe we should all partner together to do
Speaker 1: this because Nick Saban doesn't want to do it as
Speaker 1: much as people are like, let's let him control college football,
Speaker 1: He's like, I'm good, I'm not interested. But yeah, that's
Speaker 1: the main key, giving the players a voice to actually
Speaker 1: negotiate for themselves, and then also regulation that is in
Speaker 1: their benefit and with their well being in mind.
Speaker 4: I'm really excited because there's so many players to go,
Speaker 4: but I want to push you a little bit on
Speaker 4: a specific take Carson Back. We've talked about him. Four
Speaker 4: million dollars the largest payout. I feel there's a bit
Speaker 4: of a blind spot when I've signed a professional contract
Speaker 4: in baseball, you get a certain amount of payment, and
Speaker 4: for that there's a commitment, whether there's a five year
Speaker 4: commitment a ten year commitment, there's a.
Speaker 3: Loyalty that's practiced.
Speaker 4: I'm a little bit confused, like, Okay, the player gets
Speaker 4: four million, but what is the commitment the player gets
Speaker 4: back to the university. I don't like the idea that
Speaker 4: you can be a free agent every year, or you
Speaker 4: can take the money and then run the other way.
Speaker 3: How do you fix that? And do you think that's
Speaker 3: a problem.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So it's interesting because I agree with you the
Speaker 1: pushback that we've seen there from players themselves and just
Speaker 1: from fans even is that we'll look at the coaches.
Speaker 5: They make all this money and they can leave whenever.
Speaker 1: They want, and basically their contracts, I mean, the universities
Speaker 1: buy them out.
Speaker 5: How many times have we seen I mean, jeez, Miniez.
Speaker 1: You think about Jimbo Fisher for example at Texas A
Speaker 1: and M one hundred million dollars didn't work out. Now
Speaker 1: they tried for a while and they finally said, we're
Speaker 1: cleaning our hands of this. Now they get a lot
Speaker 1: of money there. But I think that's where people have
Speaker 1: been resistant, like if coaches can do this, why can't players.
Speaker 1: But what I would say is if I'm somebody who
Speaker 1: wants more investors, if I'm a fan of a university, Right,
Speaker 1: so let's say we're Miami fans Carson Beck, we have
Speaker 1: him for a year, let's say, and he's making four million,
Speaker 1: and he's going to stick around. Well, who's the next
Speaker 1: Carson Beck? And you're only getting more money if these
Speaker 1: investors feel like their investment's paying off. If these donors
Speaker 1: feel like their investment's paying off. So to your point,
Speaker 1: if I'm putting money on something like I want to know, Okay,
Speaker 1: how are you filling your end of the bargain here,
Speaker 1: and I do think that and that's where maybe, you know.
Speaker 5: If players do have a voice, there's a.
Speaker 1: Little bit more of a hey, look, well, if you're
Speaker 1: going to give us this, here's what we offer on
Speaker 1: our side, and here's our commitment. Because you're right, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's risky, like every single time these universities are
Speaker 1: paying this big cash to get these guys, and you
Speaker 1: know this is so relatively new, right, it's only been
Speaker 1: going for four seasons or whatever it is, you're wondering if.
Speaker 5: It's going to pan out.
Speaker 1: I feel like I can think of more times when
Speaker 1: it hasn't than when it has. And that's where a
Speaker 1: lot of schools are running into trouble, you know, having
Speaker 1: the amount of cash that they need, right, And here's
Speaker 1: nothing I would add. I've been talking to some people
Speaker 1: recently who are either very connected to donors at top
Speaker 1: universities or our donors themselves, and they don't have a
Speaker 1: big appetite to.
Speaker 5: Donate because of what we're talking about.
Speaker 1: Another thing that's interesting is there are a lot of
Speaker 1: people that say, well, I think we need to make
Speaker 1: a coaching change. So until we do that I'm holding
Speaker 1: on to my money. Now, if we make a coaching
Speaker 1: change and I like the coach, I'm going to spend
Speaker 1: all my money and I'm gonna immediately add.
Speaker 5: To the collective.
Speaker 1: So that's another thing too, Like I wonder could you
Speaker 1: add some regulation where you're bringing in more of a
Speaker 1: steady stream of.
Speaker 5: Ca so that if a player is available in the.
Speaker 1: Portal who's a game changing player can get you to
Speaker 1: championship level, which you know Miami's hoping that's what happens here,
Speaker 1: that you're prepared for that and you're ready.
Speaker 2: I really like where you're going, Lauren, in terms of
Speaker 2: saying you have this like more regulated, highly profitable, high
Speaker 2: octane business of you know, a super conference where you
Speaker 2: really can manage that as ANFL junior. Whether the NFL
Speaker 2: wants that association or not is almost irrelevant. Doesn't like kid,
Speaker 2: it doesn't matter. It's NFL junior. Although it's funny to
Speaker 2: call people who play that level of college football junior
Speaker 2: or anything. But anyway, but I do think you know,
Speaker 2: one of the things that we don't want to lose.
Speaker 2: And I say this from a personal perspective, as Alex knows,
Speaker 2: I have a son, who plays Division three lacrosse, And
Speaker 2: the fact of the matter is is that, like I
Speaker 2: look at him and his teammates, and obviously I'm very
Speaker 2: biased towards my son, but it's like he is going
Speaker 2: to be so well prepared to work in the business world,
Speaker 2: you know, Like there is something about like, if you're
Speaker 2: a high level athlete at the college level, certainly at
Speaker 2: the professional level, you are trained in a way that
Speaker 2: is extremely attractive to employers. And I've said this about
Speaker 2: Alex in front of him as well. It's like, you
Speaker 2: know what this guy is, and I'm pointing to Alex
Speaker 2: right now, incredibly coachable. He takes feedback really well, you know,
Speaker 2: and it's like there is such high value in that
Speaker 2: that I really don't want us to lose because money
Speaker 2: just overwhelms this sport. And so I think you're right
Speaker 2: that there has to be some sort of bifurcation so
Speaker 2: that we don't essentially destroy college athletics in the pursuit
Speaker 2: of like these bigger and bigger profits. So, like, I'll
Speaker 2: step off my soapbox now, but like I think about
Speaker 2: that all the time.
Speaker 1: Now, that's such a great anecdotal example, because I do
Speaker 1: think that gets lost in it all sometimes. And you know,
Speaker 1: the other thing that I would throw out there is
Speaker 1: just a.
Speaker 5: Fan of the sport.
Speaker 1: I'm even over here pitching this super conference thing because
Speaker 1: I actually think it creates more opportunity for maybe the
Speaker 1: schools and the athletes that aren't getting as much attention
Speaker 1: because they would have a little bit more of an
Speaker 1: equal footing. But you don't want to lose traditions. That's
Speaker 1: the other thing too, Like how do we say, all right,
Speaker 1: we're creating this whole thing, and you still want these
Speaker 1: great matchups, right, like the out of conference big time,
Speaker 1: the you know, the Michigan versus Alabama, like that whole thing.
Speaker 1: You want that, and I think that's that'd be totally
Speaker 1: doable in this model. But you also want to still
Speaker 1: hold on to the traditions that are so iconic with
Speaker 1: college football and college basketball too.
Speaker 5: Right. And then the other piece.
Speaker 1: Of this, which shouldn't be thought of as a secondary piece,
Speaker 1: is the opportunity for women because so many times, you know,
Speaker 1: we've got Title nine and all that, but when it
Speaker 1: comes to professional opportunities, women don't have as many. It's
Speaker 1: really women's basketball. Maybe there's more coming in the softball world,
Speaker 1: where you're seeing more of these women have an opportunity
Speaker 1: to advance in softball, but when it comes to gymnastics,
Speaker 1: for instance, or something else, this is their chance to
Speaker 1: make their money and to make their connections and to
Speaker 1: build their brand that ultimately allows them to have success
Speaker 1: in life. And that's where I'm hoping. However, the conferences
Speaker 1: get worked out or whatever happens with NIL, those opportunities
Speaker 1: need to still be there for women, and we've seen
Speaker 1: many of them take advantage of it. I've talked to
Speaker 1: so many female athletes too, who say, yeah, I'm going
Speaker 1: to stick around and use as much of my ability
Speaker 1: eligibility as possible because this is how I'm.
Speaker 5: Going to make money.
Speaker 1: I'm making way more money doing this than I would be,
Speaker 1: you know if I went into the workforce.
Speaker 4: Well, Laura, I'm super interested in this because I always
Speaker 4: love kind of the art of preparation, right, and my
Speaker 4: mentors always told me you want to be really prepared,
Speaker 4: and that's really one of the biggest advantages you can
Speaker 4: have on television or presentation in business. My question to
Speaker 4: you is I struggle sometimes as a bilingual child. My
Speaker 4: parents at both Dominican, I was born in New York,
Speaker 4: but I was raised, you know, talking Spanish at home,
Speaker 4: and when I go back from Spanish to English and
Speaker 4: back and forth sometimes to struggle, or if I'm talking
Speaker 4: baseball for the whole month, doing the playoffs in the
Speaker 4: World Series, and then I transition to basketball, sometimes I
Speaker 4: get now you you're doing NCAA, NFL Live, and now
Speaker 4: you've added golf to your portfolio. How do you think
Speaker 4: about your preparation and sometimes does it get confusing for.
Speaker 3: You at all?
Speaker 1: Yes, I'm always like, oh my goodness, what am I
Speaker 1: talking about today? Because it's just not possible to be
Speaker 1: as invested as I want to be. And what I
Speaker 1: would say, just being completely honest here, that's been a
Speaker 1: really hard adjustment for me because I like to be
Speaker 1: over prepared for everything, and I'm very much like, Okay,
Speaker 1: let me control what I can control, and that's what
Speaker 1: I can control.
Speaker 5: I can be as prepared as possible.
Speaker 1: I've had to let go of some of that a
Speaker 1: little bit, just because there's too much that I'm trying
Speaker 1: to handle all the time. But what I found is
Speaker 1: that sometimes giving up that control can be freeing in
Speaker 1: a way, and it's made me better at times because
Speaker 1: I say, all right, now, I'm just kind of being
Speaker 1: a fan and a human being, and I'm reacting to
Speaker 1: things with curiosity. I'm admitting when I don't know something,
Speaker 1: and I'm being very honest about that and saying, Okay,
Speaker 1: I need to research that, and I want to present
Speaker 1: and come across as credible and knowledgeable but not beating
Speaker 1: myself up as badly as I have in the past.
Speaker 2: So, Laura, you mentioned Jayden Daniels and the Commanders, and
Speaker 2: I want to spend a few minutes if we can't
Speaker 2: talk about the NFL. This is a season full of storylines.
Speaker 2: You covered all of them. One of the things Alex
Speaker 2: and I were joking about this before we came on.
Speaker 2: You have a daily show in the NFL. Because the
Speaker 2: NFL and professional football is twenty four to seven, three
Speaker 2: hundred and sixty five days a year. I'm one of
Speaker 2: the most brilliant sort of like business evolutions and explosions
Speaker 2: I think we've seen. As you think about like the
Speaker 2: business storylines of this past season and going into new season,
Speaker 2: like what are the two or three that are top
Speaker 2: of mind for you?
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's so interesting.
Speaker 1: People are always like, oh, the super Bowl's over, it
Speaker 1: must be time off.
Speaker 5: I'm like, well kind of.
Speaker 1: But you know, like before you know it, it's the
Speaker 1: combine and free agency and then the draft and they
Speaker 1: just keep going. So as far as storylines, you know,
Speaker 1: I think the interesting thing is going to be what
Speaker 1: are the Chiefs do because they're not going to be
Speaker 1: satisfied with losing, you know, they just don't do that.
Speaker 1: And we saw this, you know, the last time that
Speaker 1: they lost in a Super Bowl against the Bucks, they
Speaker 1: went out and they spend a bunch of money on
Speaker 1: their own line.
Speaker 5: So I think you'll see them try to spend there.
Speaker 1: And then you know, there's so many of these teams
Speaker 1: that are going to be in free.
Speaker 5: Agency able to help themselves. And this is a really.
Speaker 1: Unique year because the quarterback draft is not super strong
Speaker 1: whereas last year it was. And we've seen that play
Speaker 1: out right with these guys showing so much potential Jayden
Speaker 1: and Daniels especially, But you get to see teams say
Speaker 1: I'm not reaching for a quarterback and they're going to
Speaker 1: try to grab a guy like a Kirk Cousins in
Speaker 1: free agency and can you revive his career, which I
Speaker 1: think potentially will happen. That's where I think the cap
Speaker 1: structure and the way that teams spend is going to
Speaker 1: be really interesting to watch. I think a lot of
Speaker 1: money spent to create rosters that can make it all
Speaker 1: the way and then you know, you hope it works.
Speaker 1: And then what you'll also see as teams being a
Speaker 1: little bit more conservative than they would have been otherwise
Speaker 1: when it comes to the draft and when it comes
Speaker 1: to big time trades because they may feel like there's
Speaker 1: not a quarterback in this draft that really screams to
Speaker 1: them like this is our franchise.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 4: Staying in the business of NFL. I think one of
Speaker 4: the main storylines this year was Tom Brady, and both
Speaker 4: Jason and I are huge Tom Brady fans. Yeah, my
Speaker 4: question to you is a guy like Tom in his
Speaker 4: first year with the limitations of not being able to
Speaker 4: have access to both locker rooms production meetings, how difficult,
Speaker 4: how challenging is it for Tom? And what was your
Speaker 4: over impression on his performance this year in the Super Bowl?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Well, Alex, you know, like just the prep of being
Speaker 1: able to talk to people who you're going to be
Speaker 1: talking about is crucial, and when you're not in the room,
Speaker 1: it's hard to really get the information the way that
Speaker 1: you want to get it. And so I feel like,
Speaker 1: I mean, listen, Tom has been so successful and he's
Speaker 1: done so many things so well that it's not something
Speaker 1: where we're feeling like, oh my goodness, he didn't live
Speaker 1: up to the hype or he didn't do as well.
Speaker 1: He just didn't have the same advantages that you know,
Speaker 1: normally you would and that's his own doing, right.
Speaker 5: He would be the first to.
Speaker 1: Admit that because he has been such a smart businessman
Speaker 1: with everything that he's dealing with. I think people were
Speaker 1: overcritical for sure, But it is difficult, and it happens fast.
Speaker 1: And when you're calling a game, everything's going on and
Speaker 1: you've got people in your ear saying, okay, what look
Speaker 1: do you want now, they're not telling you what to say.
Speaker 5: There's a lot going on.
Speaker 1: So I think he will be really good, like if
Speaker 1: he wants to continue, and I think he was already good.
Speaker 5: He just needs more reps.
Speaker 1: It's like we were talking talking about from the beginning,
Speaker 1: and you know, people who want to write him off
Speaker 1: and be haters, they're just being haters, you know, because
Speaker 1: it's just not easy to do and I think a
Speaker 1: lot of us got experience, you know, honing our craft
Speaker 1: where maybe not that many people saw, or maybe it
Speaker 1: was in Triple A or maybe.
Speaker 5: You know, the miners or whatever it was.
Speaker 1: He comes out and he's going to call super Bowl
Speaker 1: his first season.
Speaker 5: That's crazy the eyeballs on that, and just to try
Speaker 5: to manage the nerves.
Speaker 1: I just sympathize with whatever Tom, you know, has felt.
Speaker 5: He's a perfectionist.
Speaker 1: He wants to be the best at his craft, and
Speaker 1: it's definitely possible, you know, with more reps. And I
Speaker 1: think people need to be a lot kinder about.
Speaker 5: How they speak about everybody.
Speaker 2: I mean, Alex, I'm guessing you had that experience. I mean,
Speaker 2: like you and I've talked before about how those early
Speaker 2: days when when you were going on air was not easy.
Speaker 2: We talked about that with Kevin Burkhart.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Laura's exactly right.
Speaker 4: I mean, what she's talking about is to open and
Speaker 4: I did something I baseball for a few years Laura
Speaker 4: for ESPN.
Speaker 3: Great, thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 4: But I was so nervous for those first two minutes
Speaker 4: and you're on TV and you're talking in the mic
Speaker 4: and literally once the camera goes off, you will go
Speaker 4: and then you can take your jacket off and like
Speaker 4: the game can start now, right, But like it's just
Speaker 4: you would think two minutes is nothing, but when you're
Speaker 4: in novice, it was a big deal for me, and
Speaker 4: I'm sure it's a big deal for Tom.
Speaker 5: Well.
Speaker 1: You can't replicate the red light turning on, right, like
Speaker 1: you can practice.
Speaker 5: You can think it in your mind and.
Speaker 1: Then it happens and you're like, oh man, you know, okay,
Speaker 1: now now it's real, you know, and you're thinking a
Speaker 1: million miles a minute.
Speaker 2: It is amazing. I mean, just to put a button
Speaker 2: on this. I mean, having worked in TV and radio
Speaker 2: over the last you know, many years, I've had the
Speaker 2: chance to interview so many like hyper hyper powerful, successful
Speaker 2: multi billionaires over the years. You know, they've negotiated the
Speaker 2: toughest deals in history, you know, made the biggest decisions.
Speaker 2: And you put them on the bright lights, you put
Speaker 2: a camera on them, that red light goes on. They're
Speaker 2: literally shaking, Like I mean, I've come off set with them,
Speaker 2: and inevitably they're like, was that okay? How did I do?
Speaker 3: Jason?
Speaker 4: Let me add one thing to what you're saying, because
Speaker 4: I think you're dead on. I heard Oprah one say
Speaker 4: that she's interviewed everyone, and she may have said, like,
Speaker 4: I've interviewed seven or eight presidents, prime minister's, every actor,
Speaker 4: you name it. The one common denominator of the thousands
Speaker 4: of interviews she's done over the last thirty or forty
Speaker 4: years has been how do I do?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: At the end, how'd I do? Right? And that's amazing.
Speaker 4: So it tells you, no matter how big you are,
Speaker 4: how popular, how wealthy, how smart, everyone still has that
Speaker 4: insecurity that Laura's talking about. When that red light goes on,
Speaker 4: it's different.
Speaker 2: Yeah, how'd I do? Was was that okay? Yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean it's.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's and you're like, you're Barack Obama.
Speaker 3: Of course.
Speaker 2: It's good. It was good moving.
Speaker 5: Does anybody ever say no, it wasn't okay?
Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, can you imagine saying it's like it
Speaker 2: could have been better? Yeah, keep trying, maybe come back tomorrow.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it's fine, it's fine, all right. So let's
Speaker 2: do our lightning round here, Partner, five questions you can,
Speaker 2: you know, just answer him, Ty Laurie. You're a great broadcaster.
Speaker 2: You know how to do it. So I'll start and
Speaker 2: then Alex he'll pick up. All right, what's the best
Speaker 2: piece of advice you've received on deal making or business?
Speaker 5: Don't sell yourself short?
Speaker 3: Who is your dream deal making partner?
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say my dad. He's a great businessman. Graduate
Speaker 1: of Harvard Business School. He has created all kinds of
Speaker 1: different companies over his years.
Speaker 5: Some have succeeded, some have failed.
Speaker 1: He actually recently sold his company, and I'm really happy
Speaker 1: for him. He's finally retired, but I feel like he
Speaker 1: still has that itch, so we'd be good making deals together.
Speaker 3: My little Laura flex there, go ahead.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's good. What's the most nervous you've ever been?
Speaker 5: Ooh, that is such a good one.
Speaker 1: I would actually say it was my very first broadcast
Speaker 1: for the Rays. This would have been twenty eleven, Spring
Speaker 1: of twenty eleven, and I had never done live television before,
Speaker 1: so I have no idea why they thought I could
Speaker 1: do this.
Speaker 5: But I was able to kind of tread water through
Speaker 5: it and get past it. But I was so nervous.
Speaker 1: I was sweat and so bad that I sweat through
Speaker 1: my whole shirt. And I was like, from then on,
Speaker 1: I'm only wearing black.
Speaker 5: Because this is bad.
Speaker 4: What is your hype song before a big meeting or negotiation.
Speaker 1: I have a few, but I'm going to go with
Speaker 1: this is so corny, but it's good Rachel Platten fight song.
Speaker 1: If you hear it and it doesn't get stuck in
Speaker 1: your head, there's something wrong with you.
Speaker 2: Now it's going to be in my head for the
Speaker 2: rest of the day. Thank you. It's good. That's good,
Speaker 2: I know, I know, all right. Last question, what's your
Speaker 2: advice for someone listening who wants a career like yours.
Speaker 1: I steal this one from Eleanor Roosevelt. No one can
Speaker 1: make you feel inferior without your consent, and I think
Speaker 1: that's really key in this business because there's a lot
Speaker 1: of comparison, there's a lot of criticism, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of things like that. If you can overcome that and
Speaker 1: not let it completely control your life and your career,
Speaker 1: you can have success in this business.
Speaker 2: All right, Laura Rutledge, you're the best. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: We really enjoyed it. Best of luck, you know, through football,
Speaker 2: through golf, through everything else, we will certainly be tuning in.
Speaker 2: We really appreciate your time.
Speaker 5: I love it.
Speaker 1: I appreciate y'all, this is so much fun and Lauras
Speaker 1: and Josh my best I will thank you guys.
Speaker 2: The Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and me Jason Kelly.
Speaker 2: This episode was made by Anamazarakis, Stacy Wong, and Lizzie Phillip.
Speaker 2: The music is made by Blake Maples. Our executive producers
Speaker 2: are Kelly Laferrier, Ashley Honig, and Brendan Newnham. Sage Bauman
Speaker 2: is the head of Bloomberg Podcast. Additional support from Rachel
Speaker 2: Carnivali and Elena Los Angeles. Thanks for listening to the Deal.
Speaker 2: If you have a minute, subscribe, rate and review our show.
Speaker 2: It'll help other listeners find us. I'm Jason Kelly. See
Speaker 2: you next week.