1
00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,360
Speaker 1: This is the business of sports. Let's talk Super Bowl

2
00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:06,600
Speaker 1: and Fox Sports every single thing that occurs. I want

3
00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:08,880
Speaker 1: people to remember, this is a business. Guaranteed. Money isn't

4
00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:13,000
Speaker 1: necessarily guaranteed. Michael Ball, how high can these valuations go?

5
00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:17,640
Speaker 1: Scotts do? Everybody loves rooting against him? Right? Evan Noy Williams.

6
00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:19,720
Speaker 1: Off the field, the NBA has never been buzzier. And

7
00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,840
Speaker 1: the leaders in the sports industry, Major League Baseball Commissioner

8
00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:25,920
Speaker 1: Rob man Prints, CEO of Oracle, Mark Bert here A Smith,

9
00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,120
Speaker 1: President of Ticketmasters, Manby Race car and driver alel Castro,

10
00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:33,240
Speaker 1: and Evis Bloomberg. Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Hello,

11
00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:35,880
Speaker 1: I'm Michael Black, I'm Evan Nobe Williams, and I'm Scott

12
00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:38,879
Speaker 1: Every week at this time plus Mondays and Wednesdays, we

13
00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,440
Speaker 1: explore the big money issues in the world of sports today.

14
00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,040
Speaker 1: Stay tuned for a conversation with one of the most

15
00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:48,239
Speaker 1: tech savvy and entrepreneurial athletes today. That's right, we will

16
00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,479
Speaker 1: speak with pro athlete and co founder of the Premier

17
00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,199
Speaker 1: Lacrosse League Paul Rabel on the first year of his

18
00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,800
Speaker 1: new venture and what's ahead for the pl that is

19
00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,120
Speaker 1: coming up. Later on the program. But first let's look

20
00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:02,200
Speaker 1: at one of about our top stories this week involving

21
00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,520
Speaker 1: this long suffering New York franchise. So I gotta drive

22
00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:14,480
Speaker 1: well hit right field. Bactos Artega put the Dob Smith

23
00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,520
Speaker 1: with a pitch head Hall Road, which the season finale

24
00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,800
Speaker 1: for the Mets. That may have been how the season

25
00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,920
Speaker 1: ended for the Mets, but overall, it was a disappointing

26
00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,360
Speaker 1: year for the team, which found itself out of the

27
00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,959
Speaker 1: postseason once again. Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon summed it

28
00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,160
Speaker 1: up like this, I feel unfulfilled. I feel we left

29
00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:37,920
Speaker 1: some games on the field that we should have won

30
00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,960
Speaker 1: um and we didn't fulfill what we really had as

31
00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:45,119
Speaker 1: a goal, which was get to the postseason. Well, now

32
00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,200
Speaker 1: let's look at their quest for a playoff Berth. It

33
00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:52,240
Speaker 1: could be happening under new ownership. Scott, you broke this

34
00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:56,880
Speaker 1: story this week Bloomberg Sports Scott Sashnik exclusive the New

35
00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,960
Speaker 1: York Mets and talks to sell of the team to build.

36
00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,360
Speaker 1: There is Steve Cohen. Huddle up around the set, everyone

37
00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,440
Speaker 1: because Uncle Scotty's about to lay some knowledge. Yeah, well,

38
00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:08,079
Speaker 1: before I lay some knowledge on this one, bar, I

39
00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:09,679
Speaker 1: want to say how much I enjoy how He Rose?

40
00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,880
Speaker 1: On the radio calls the TV Mets get so much attention.

41
00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:15,680
Speaker 1: Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, Kith, Hernandez like the best booth

42
00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,280
Speaker 1: in baseball? How great is how He Rose? I love

43
00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,000
Speaker 1: how He Rose? But now onto the business of the day. Yeah,

44
00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,320
Speaker 1: I mean big news in the baseball world. Not only

45
00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:26,520
Speaker 1: because it's a New York franchise and it's the Mets,

46
00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:30,959
Speaker 1: and most people didn't see the Wilpons selling. But Steve

47
00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:33,519
Speaker 1: Cohen net worth ten billion dollars, He's been in the

48
00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,399
Speaker 1: hunt for for a baseball franchise for a long time.

49
00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,560
Speaker 1: He was among the bidders for the Dodgers back in twelve.

50
00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:42,400
Speaker 1: He teamed up with Patrick soon Sean, the the owner

51
00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,440
Speaker 1: of the l A Times, on that bid. Of course,

52
00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:48,360
Speaker 1: the team ultimately went to the group, the group of

53
00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:52,000
Speaker 1: Googenheim executives and Magic Johnson and stand Casting for about

54
00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,480
Speaker 1: two point one five billion dollars. This is a big

55
00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:56,920
Speaker 1: price tag two point six billion, a record for a

56
00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:01,280
Speaker 1: baseball team. Um, the question now is what happens and

57
00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,920
Speaker 1: the evan between. Okay, we have this deal. We have

58
00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:08,760
Speaker 1: this guy waiting in the wings. He's gonna have a

59
00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:13,359
Speaker 1: majority control of the team. Whether it's or that's that's

60
00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:15,720
Speaker 1: the sky. It doesn't matter. If you've got control, you've

61
00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:19,760
Speaker 1: got control. But when will the changes be seen on

62
00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:21,960
Speaker 1: the field and in the front office? Yeah? So, I mean,

63
00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,520
Speaker 1: as you reported, it's gonna take five years from from

64
00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:26,359
Speaker 1: what it sounds like the way the deal is structured

65
00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,680
Speaker 1: right now as they're negotiating. You know, Jeff Wilpon, who

66
00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:32,120
Speaker 1: is Fred wilpons son, will be the chief operating officer

67
00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:34,720
Speaker 1: of the team at least for the next five years. Um.

68
00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:36,680
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, the big question if you're a Mets fan,

69
00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,840
Speaker 1: you know, the Wilpons over the past decade, you know,

70
00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,160
Speaker 1: involved with made off, loss of money, struggle to finance

71
00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,160
Speaker 1: or I think pay four salaries in the way that

72
00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,080
Speaker 1: a lot of Mets fans are New York Baseball fans

73
00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:49,840
Speaker 1: were expecting. So I think the big question that they

74
00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,600
Speaker 1: have is, Uh, does Steve Cohen, who's worth ten billion dollars,

75
00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:55,839
Speaker 1: does him taking over the reins of this team mean

76
00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,080
Speaker 1: that we're going to be spending more commensurately with you know,

77
00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,320
Speaker 1: our big rival, the Yankees. Uh? And does that mean

78
00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:04,800
Speaker 1: that the team on the field, ball improof now. Coen

79
00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:08,400
Speaker 1: Sureley has his detractors, but there are those who think

80
00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:10,760
Speaker 1: that he'll really shine in this role. And here's what

81
00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,280
Speaker 1: Leo Hendry, chairman and CEO of Try and Acquisition, had

82
00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:16,880
Speaker 1: to say about it. Steve Cohen will do a stunning

83
00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:20,560
Speaker 1: job with the Mets. Uh. There were stories about the

84
00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:25,280
Speaker 1: Yankees and the Yes Network working in partnership with Amazon

85
00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,880
Speaker 1: to start streaming some of their baseball games. It's important

86
00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:31,719
Speaker 1: that the Mets have an owner capable to do the

87
00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,920
Speaker 1: same to stay competitive in this marketplace with the Yankees.

88
00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,919
Speaker 1: And Steve Cohen is a brilliant business person. He's a

89
00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,360
Speaker 1: passionate New Yorker, he's a passionate Mets fan, and he's

90
00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:45,919
Speaker 1: wanted to own and control a baseball team for a

91
00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,039
Speaker 1: very long time. And it's no surprise that he took

92
00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,920
Speaker 1: the Mets, his hometown team. I wrote a column years ago.

93
00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:54,280
Speaker 1: Let me know what you think of this idea. I said,

94
00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:56,760
Speaker 1: before anybody can be allowed to own a team, they

95
00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:59,200
Speaker 1: have to be a season ticket holder first season. First,

96
00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:03,159
Speaker 1: they have to sit out and not in the box

97
00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:04,960
Speaker 1: by the way you have to do with the Robert

98
00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,320
Speaker 1: Craft way. You have to sit out on the metal

99
00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:11,359
Speaker 1: benches in January to prove that the new want to

100
00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,000
Speaker 1: know what the fans are going through. Well in Stevie Cohen,

101
00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,719
Speaker 1: a guy from Great Neck. He went to the polo grounds.

102
00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:19,880
Speaker 1: He'll know who Eddie crane Pool was. He'll know Don

103
00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:22,599
Speaker 1: Zimmer was in that team picture for the nineteen sixty

104
00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:25,000
Speaker 1: two Mets, the worst team in the history of baseball.

105
00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,599
Speaker 1: He will know these things. Does that make him a

106
00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:32,359
Speaker 1: better owner? Yes, because you understand the product. I'm sorry

107
00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:34,880
Speaker 1: to put it like that, but yes you do. It's

108
00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,760
Speaker 1: like if the fans are out there and and I'm

109
00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,279
Speaker 1: sure that you know they get upset with the team too.

110
00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:44,040
Speaker 1: That's why I want to start a feud. But sometimes

111
00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,479
Speaker 1: with the Knicks, you know, to get upset at some

112
00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,680
Speaker 1: of the fans when they say sell the team, Uh,

113
00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:56,080
Speaker 1: you know, get upset, they just deject. I mean it's

114
00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,120
Speaker 1: you know, this is his passion, that's why. And you

115
00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,880
Speaker 1: said it the best if you don't have the passion

116
00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:04,200
Speaker 1: forgetting like you used the word passion. And by the way,

117
00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,359
Speaker 1: we also got a peek at the note that Steve

118
00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,440
Speaker 1: Cohen sent out to his hedge fund investors, and I'm

119
00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:12,440
Speaker 1: glad you use the word passion bar because that's the

120
00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:16,600
Speaker 1: word he used in the note. But he said, don't

121
00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:20,320
Speaker 1: worry everybody. You're seeing these these stories about me and

122
00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,599
Speaker 1: the Mets. He said, it will never supplant even my

123
00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,360
Speaker 1: dream of owning a major league team, the team I

124
00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:30,080
Speaker 1: grew up rooting for, will never supplant my number one

125
00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:37,919
Speaker 1: passion investing. So it wasn't baseball. He's reassuring everybody because

126
00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:40,240
Speaker 1: it's easy to get distracted. You know, once you become

127
00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:43,640
Speaker 1: the face of a pro sports team, especially in this town,

128
00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,719
Speaker 1: you're gonna be distracted. You better devote some time and energy.

129
00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,279
Speaker 1: And Steve said that his his family office will run

130
00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:53,680
Speaker 1: his stake in the team. You know how that works. Though,

131
00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:55,920
Speaker 1: it's gonna come back to you if it doesn't go well,

132
00:06:56,200 --> 00:07:00,440
Speaker 1: people are gonna want answers from the owner. He probably

133
00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:02,400
Speaker 1: doesn't want people to worry that it's going to take

134
00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:06,280
Speaker 1: away from point seventy two asset management. Now, let's look

135
00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:08,720
Speaker 1: at some of our other top stories of the week

136
00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:12,800
Speaker 1: on top of the Mets, Beginning with Jacksonville University surprising athletes,

137
00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:17,120
Speaker 1: alumni and fans sad News, announcing that it will discontinue

138
00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:20,240
Speaker 1: its Division One football team, Yeah, I've been fascinated by

139
00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,960
Speaker 1: the finances of of college football when you get below

140
00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:27,040
Speaker 1: the tier of teams that is the money printers like Alabama,

141
00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,600
Speaker 1: l S, U, Ohio State, etcetera. UM and Jacksonville, as

142
00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:32,640
Speaker 1: you said, you know, announced this week they had spent

143
00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,880
Speaker 1: twelve to fifteen months reviewing the finances of their football team,

144
00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:38,720
Speaker 1: how much they were spending, what they were getting back,

145
00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:43,520
Speaker 1: not just in money, but also in national recognition, in donations,

146
00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:47,600
Speaker 1: in you know, former and current student engagement, etcetera. And decided,

147
00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:49,960
Speaker 1: you know, this is this is not worth it, you know. Uh.

148
00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:51,960
Speaker 1: And I'm surprised that there are not To be honest,

149
00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,920
Speaker 1: I'm surprised there are not more teams that make this decision.

150
00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:57,600
Speaker 1: At the lower levels of college football. There is There

151
00:07:57,680 --> 00:07:59,160
Speaker 1: is not a lot of revenue. There's not a lot

152
00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:01,520
Speaker 1: of ticket sales. You don't get a lot of donations,

153
00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,360
Speaker 1: there's no media money. UM. And yet sounds like and

154
00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:10,640
Speaker 1: yet teams and schools continually pump money into it over

155
00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,480
Speaker 1: the past decade. There's there's more teams going up than

156
00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:16,360
Speaker 1: there are going down or or stopping. Uh. And I

157
00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:18,000
Speaker 1: feel like at some point there's going to be a

158
00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:19,960
Speaker 1: critical mass of this, and we certainly haven't hit it

159
00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,000
Speaker 1: any time yet. A correction. We're gonna see a correction

160
00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,840
Speaker 1: where enough universities realized, hey, wait a minute, that the

161
00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,400
Speaker 1: ledger doesn't make sense, the red and the black. Yeah, so,

162
00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:30,600
Speaker 1: FCS is the level they plan, which is the lower

163
00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,240
Speaker 1: of the two Division two tiers in Division one college

164
00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,920
Speaker 1: football microsco when you need and and and the schools

165
00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:39,280
Speaker 1: in the FBS almost none of them make money on football.

166
00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:42,120
Speaker 1: On average, they lose at least two and a half

167
00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,920
Speaker 1: million dollars. Attendance is down eleven over the last decade.

168
00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,120
Speaker 1: All the trend lines seem to be example, some other schools,

169
00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:51,160
Speaker 1: just so people can get a gauge. What are some

170
00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:53,320
Speaker 1: of the other schools because I I don't really follow

171
00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:56,080
Speaker 1: it in Yeah, so the IVY League is in there,

172
00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,880
Speaker 1: so Princeton, Harvard, Gale, etcetera. Bucknell, fordam out on the

173
00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,440
Speaker 1: west coast, Portland, Portland State, Eastern Washington down South sam

174
00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:06,160
Speaker 1: Houston State, North Dakota State is the is the giant

175
00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:09,959
Speaker 1: in that world? Saturday Afternoon on ABC. No, You're not

176
00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:12,679
Speaker 1: exactly so, And that's part of the problem right there.

177
00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:15,920
Speaker 1: There's no there's no massive media rites money, which is

178
00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,280
Speaker 1: you know, the thing that drives a lot of these schools. Uh,

179
00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:20,640
Speaker 1: you're not selling out a hundred thousand seats like Michigan

180
00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:23,360
Speaker 1: is every day that the money coming in is is

181
00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,280
Speaker 1: almost nonexistent. Um. And you know, Jacksonville looked at all

182
00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:28,959
Speaker 1: the numbers and said, we don't need to do this anymore. Uh.

183
00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:31,120
Speaker 1: And the myth out there that I think a lot

184
00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:34,000
Speaker 1: of schools, you know, a spouses that you you need

185
00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:36,920
Speaker 1: to have a football team or a competitive football team

186
00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:41,240
Speaker 1: to be recognizable to people around the country. And I think, yeah,

187
00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:44,280
Speaker 1: when you reach a certain level, a lola enough level

188
00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,280
Speaker 1: in in college football, that's just not true. And you're

189
00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:49,560
Speaker 1: just chasing something that that is not at Wasn't there

190
00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:53,200
Speaker 1: a university not long ago that made this decision? But

191
00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:56,800
Speaker 1: then there was like massive outcry and they reversed the decision. Yeah,

192
00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,360
Speaker 1: so you ab Alabama Birmingham, they were at the top

193
00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:01,840
Speaker 1: about that. About that. I didn't know it was you ab,

194
00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:03,880
Speaker 1: but how about that? I was impressed. Thank you. They

195
00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:06,360
Speaker 1: announced that they were gonna suspend their football team, and

196
00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,800
Speaker 1: then the outpouring of you know, support and financial support

197
00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:12,400
Speaker 1: specifically before Yeah, I came back and the team actually

198
00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:14,400
Speaker 1: had a pretty good year this year, so they're back

199
00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:16,920
Speaker 1: and active. Um. I would imagine this is probably a

200
00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:19,480
Speaker 1: more final decision if you're Jacksonville University than than you

201
00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,800
Speaker 1: a B. The Dolphins. But we'll see dolphins. By the way,

202
00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:25,680
Speaker 1: the Jacksonville Dolphins. That that alone is reason to shut

203
00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:29,920
Speaker 1: the program. Terrible name. Uh. Next, it looks like the

204
00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:34,080
Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper is on the verge of

205
00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,520
Speaker 1: being approved for a new Major League Soccer team. Guess

206
00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:39,560
Speaker 1: how much bar what do you think he's paying. I

207
00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:42,400
Speaker 1: bet you it's going to be dirt cheap compared to

208
00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:44,760
Speaker 1: other two I'm glad you well, compared to other teams

209
00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:47,920
Speaker 1: you mean another sport. Yes, okay, three million dollars, see

210
00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:50,440
Speaker 1: that that is cheap. But we're seeing Meg Whitman buying

211
00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:53,400
Speaker 1: in to the FC Cincinnati at a five hundred million

212
00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:57,079
Speaker 1: dollar valuation. There are some other teams selling stakes at

213
00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:02,000
Speaker 1: higher valuations than that. We're we're seeing MLS join some

214
00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,640
Speaker 1: serious number club here, and you're gonna start needing owners

215
00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:07,960
Speaker 1: like David Tepper who can cut the check if they

216
00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,760
Speaker 1: want the franchise. This is not ten million dollars anymore,

217
00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:13,000
Speaker 1: By the way, when does the Pocatello MLS team start.

218
00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:15,840
Speaker 1: I feel like we are we are, We're adding cities

219
00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:17,599
Speaker 1: left and right here right this this would be the

220
00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:22,280
Speaker 1: thirty MLS franchise. They were fourteen I think five or

221
00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:25,840
Speaker 1: six years ago. Um that the expansion there is is huge,

222
00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:28,760
Speaker 1: and the expansion number when they bring together LEGA MX,

223
00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:30,800
Speaker 1: how many teams are going to be in this super league?

224
00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:34,600
Speaker 1: Remember we've we've talked about this on the show before

225
00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:36,760
Speaker 1: back in two thousand seven when Toronto joined the league.

226
00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:39,160
Speaker 1: Ten million dollars was the expansion v I just want

227
00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,760
Speaker 1: to say l A f C was was a hundred

228
00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:43,920
Speaker 1: and ten million dollars, which felt massive at the time

229
00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:47,559
Speaker 1: then as well. Um, certainly a lot of buzz around

230
00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:50,000
Speaker 1: MLS and and valuation. By the way, when you're driving

231
00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:52,520
Speaker 1: sort of along the Lake Shore Drive there in Toronto.

232
00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:55,679
Speaker 1: Notice how I said it properly Toronto, not Toronto Toronto.

233
00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:00,640
Speaker 1: It's a beautiful stadium, but it's a beautiful stadium that

234
00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:02,839
Speaker 1: they have. It's it reminds me of the stadium in

235
00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:06,439
Speaker 1: Philadelphia along the water under the bridge. I mean, these

236
00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:09,280
Speaker 1: are these are nice assets. Yeah, Temper for for those

237
00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,160
Speaker 1: who don't remember you know, owner of the Carolina Panthers,

238
00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:14,160
Speaker 1: paid two point two billion, an NFL record for that

239
00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,520
Speaker 1: franchise about a year and a half ago. Um just

240
00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:19,360
Speaker 1: sold his stake in the in the Steelers as we

241
00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:21,440
Speaker 1: talked about a couple of weeks ago as well. I

242
00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:23,360
Speaker 1: would imagine there may be more in his in his

243
00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:27,000
Speaker 1: sports in the future. Right in the off time, Chester

244
00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,920
Speaker 1: Christian McAffrey can playing little midfield. But you know what

245
00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,840
Speaker 1: people would watch, People would watch oh Man. Anyway, Finally,

246
00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:43,360
Speaker 1: on the racing circuit NASCAR, Evan and I are shutting

247
00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:47,160
Speaker 1: off the microphone. They got some big sponsors to be

248
00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:50,640
Speaker 1: in the Premier Partners as they're calling it, Bush Beer,

249
00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:54,240
Speaker 1: Coca Cola, Gnico, ex Afinity. It's what's seen as a

250
00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,840
Speaker 1: big change in NASCAR's traditional sponsorship model. Now people are

251
00:12:57,880 --> 00:12:59,840
Speaker 1: going to say, in NASCAR, well, what's the big deal

252
00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:05,839
Speaker 1: Coca Cola has been a sponsor in It's uh, the well,

253
00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:08,000
Speaker 1: it depends if you do the July race. It's the

254
00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:11,000
Speaker 1: four hundred and Bush bond naming rights to two brothers, right,

255
00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:17,640
Speaker 1: It's yeah, that's right, Yeah, very good. Terrible man. I

256
00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,760
Speaker 1: think he actually thought, yeah, that's the extent of my

257
00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:25,719
Speaker 1: NASCAR knowledge. But this here's what's different. Those four sponsors

258
00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:28,920
Speaker 1: are now part of the is going to be called

259
00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:34,440
Speaker 1: the NASCAR Cup Series, and those four partners are going

260
00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:37,240
Speaker 1: to be what's involved. But it is indicative that they're

261
00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:40,480
Speaker 1: having trouble getting sort of the overarching naming rights sponsor.

262
00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:42,360
Speaker 1: Like Monster Energy was there for a couple of spring.

263
00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:47,439
Speaker 1: Don't make me go back to Winston. I mean, I'll

264
00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:50,160
Speaker 1: do it if you make thank you very much. But

265
00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:52,920
Speaker 1: that's when the whole thing started, you know, back with Winstead.

266
00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:56,720
Speaker 1: So we're saying instead of selling one Monster Cup Series

267
00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:59,560
Speaker 1: naming rights partners, so inside of the Monster Energy Cup,

268
00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:03,040
Speaker 1: now Scar maybe getting more money or maybe more palatable

269
00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,200
Speaker 1: for for sponsors to instead by a premium thing that

270
00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:11,080
Speaker 1: is probably a little less expensive. But there's four of them. Exclusivity. Yeah. Now,

271
00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:15,480
Speaker 1: now here's where it gets sticky. Let's say, for instance,

272
00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:18,760
Speaker 1: all right, this is where the rubber meets the road.

273
00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:22,120
Speaker 1: Coca Cola now it is going to be one of

274
00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:27,480
Speaker 1: the premier partners. And I'm a driver for PEPSI Now,

275
00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:32,520
Speaker 1: we we've been through this mess before where literally it's

276
00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:34,320
Speaker 1: you know, it's like hey, you know, you see the

277
00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:41,840
Speaker 1: drivers they're drinking, a coach smoking Marlborough exact exactly, So

278
00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:44,200
Speaker 1: there's some sticky points that's gonna happen. I like the

279
00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:47,320
Speaker 1: way you're putting that together. But but they changed the

280
00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,640
Speaker 1: model and by the way, Bush Beer uh. They returned

281
00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,560
Speaker 1: as the official partners in NASCAR last year because they

282
00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:57,120
Speaker 1: had been out for a while. So now let's get

283
00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,920
Speaker 1: to this week's interview with Friends of the show. Paul Rabel.

284
00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:03,040
Speaker 1: He is a pro lacrosse athlete and entrepreneur who found

285
00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:06,480
Speaker 1: it the Premier Lacrosse League, which just finished up its

286
00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:09,560
Speaker 1: first season. He also plays in the league for the

287
00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:12,280
Speaker 1: Atlas Lacrosse Club, which did not make the playoffs. I

288
00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:15,560
Speaker 1: gotta get my gotta get my dick. He's a former

289
00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:19,920
Speaker 1: first overall draft pick in Major League Lacrosse, where he

290
00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:22,440
Speaker 1: played for teams in Boston and New York, and he

291
00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:27,480
Speaker 1: is also a former recipient multiple m VP and Offensive

292
00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:30,720
Speaker 1: Player of the Year awards. Paul, thanks for coming back

293
00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:33,560
Speaker 1: on Bloomberg Business of Sports. It's wonderful to be back.

294
00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:38,720
Speaker 1: You missed the snow so it's nice I missed you guys. Yeah,

295
00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:42,240
Speaker 1: there's a bit nostalgic here because we broke the news

296
00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:45,440
Speaker 1: over a year you ago here, yeah, Bloomberg. Yeah, that's right. Well,

297
00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:47,960
Speaker 1: but the big news now is your vegan. Yes, and

298
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:50,520
Speaker 1: I'm on and and I'm on TikTok. I actually just

299
00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:55,160
Speaker 1: posted this morning. All right. I don't know how congratulating

300
00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,960
Speaker 1: our pol TikTok account has gone really well. Actually, I

301
00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:01,320
Speaker 1: imagine you guys do very well. We do well, and

302
00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,960
Speaker 1: we were to our standards late to the TikTok game,

303
00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,280
Speaker 1: so to speak. But our first video got two and

304
00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,200
Speaker 1: a half million views because the algorithm on TikTok is

305
00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:14,560
Speaker 1: so unique, it's it's a It reaches virality just based

306
00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:19,600
Speaker 1: on um sharing videos without amassing any type of following.

307
00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:22,880
Speaker 1: So Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, you're you're, you have your cap

308
00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:25,760
Speaker 1: based on your audience size, and TikTok just shares based

309
00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:29,760
Speaker 1: off of their own algorithm that they create based on

310
00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:32,000
Speaker 1: interests and likes. In that first video that we pushed

311
00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,680
Speaker 1: went viral and now it's our second largest platform behind Instagram.

312
00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:38,000
Speaker 1: So everybody knows the sports leagues are pushing content on

313
00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,600
Speaker 1: social YEA, that's great. What do you tell people about

314
00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:44,640
Speaker 1: how they can monetize, how they can capitalize. It's nice

315
00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:48,520
Speaker 1: to be there, but who's watching and how do we

316
00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:51,480
Speaker 1: get them to give us their money. We're we're getting

317
00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:59,000
Speaker 1: to a place where the most important factor in Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube,

318
00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:02,760
Speaker 1: TikTok is your engagement. And your engagement is much different

319
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,720
Speaker 1: than the impressions that you can garner. And uh, it

320
00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,960
Speaker 1: really goes back to the same quality over quantity. And

321
00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:11,840
Speaker 1: certainly I can sit here and try to pull out

322
00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:14,800
Speaker 1: my partiality around being a co founder of the poll

323
00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:17,080
Speaker 1: and say, hey, yeah, we don't have millions of followers

324
00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:20,359
Speaker 1: like the Yankees do on our account, but we amass

325
00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:23,400
Speaker 1: more interactions than the Yankees did. And sorry to pick

326
00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:27,120
Speaker 1: on the Yankees during June September. So what that means

327
00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:29,800
Speaker 1: is our engagement rate is the highest in sports. It's

328
00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:33,600
Speaker 1: seven percent. Engagement is likes and comments on a post.

329
00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,439
Speaker 1: So when Scott asked me, how do you monetize? You

330
00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:41,239
Speaker 1: can go out and publish anything and have it in

331
00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:45,879
Speaker 1: front of ostensibly millions of people, but just like a

332
00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:48,439
Speaker 1: person walking into a store, if they're not interacting with

333
00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,320
Speaker 1: the product, your conversion rate is going to be really low.

334
00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,480
Speaker 1: So we look at conversion rate to purchase as interaction rate.

335
00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,119
Speaker 1: So mostly exaverage one to two percent. We're at seven percent.

336
00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:00,399
Speaker 1: What that meant in my reference to the Ankees is

337
00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,200
Speaker 1: that we ended up amassing over ten million likes and comments.

338
00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:05,439
Speaker 1: They were just shy of ten million from that June

339
00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:08,080
Speaker 1: through September marker. And the reason I reference that is

340
00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:10,320
Speaker 1: there in season and we're in season in the summer.

341
00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:11,880
Speaker 1: What are they buying? What are you pushing? Your pushing merch,

342
00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:15,200
Speaker 1: you're pushing tickets? What are they converting to? So they

343
00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,560
Speaker 1: convert to interest? So the conversion can be through tickets,

344
00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,199
Speaker 1: can be to watch time, it can be UH to viewership,

345
00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:25,120
Speaker 1: it can be to um you know our pl academy

346
00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:28,959
Speaker 1: registration a promo code with the brand and that's an

347
00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:31,399
Speaker 1: actual link click. So that's another conversion. But when we

348
00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:35,520
Speaker 1: talk about uh your lead into it's it's are they commenting?

349
00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:37,159
Speaker 1: Are they liking your posts? And there are a lot

350
00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,399
Speaker 1: of tactics to it. So the most common pushback that

351
00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:42,719
Speaker 1: I get, even from social media agencies A is well,

352
00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:45,360
Speaker 1: you have fewer followers, so naturally your engagement rate's gonna

353
00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:47,640
Speaker 1: be up. But I say tell that to Bleacher. Bleacher's

354
00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:49,840
Speaker 1: got millions and they've kept six percent engagement rate. Because

355
00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:54,400
Speaker 1: it's tactics. So asking questions in your copy, having your

356
00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:58,159
Speaker 1: your athletes comment, and when someone hops into a comment section,

357
00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:01,159
Speaker 1: especially a verified as fleet, they're going to get a

358
00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:03,920
Speaker 1: bunch of engagements underneath them. So it's it's actually being

359
00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,600
Speaker 1: thoughtful with the way that you publish your content. It's also,

360
00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,800
Speaker 1: you know, the ability to have good regardless of what

361
00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:11,760
Speaker 1: you're how you're framing it. It's having good content. Right.

362
00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:13,240
Speaker 1: One of the things you guys did, which I think

363
00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:16,280
Speaker 1: was pretty awesome this year making up players live during

364
00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:18,879
Speaker 1: games to you know, and I you know, I followed

365
00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:20,760
Speaker 1: P L L and I apologize. I'm not sure I

366
00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:22,639
Speaker 1: can tell you which team won the championship this year

367
00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:26,120
Speaker 1: follow us. I remember it wasn't I remember you guys

368
00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:30,800
Speaker 1: trying to figure out Scott Rogers six months ago. But

369
00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:35,199
Speaker 1: I remember Trevor Baptiste. That's three five second clip of

370
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:38,320
Speaker 1: him live on said, hey guys, I gotta go wins

371
00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:40,280
Speaker 1: the face off, runs down the field, scores in two seconds.

372
00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:42,800
Speaker 1: They asked him about it live on the air, same set,

373
00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:45,439
Speaker 1: and he's like that speedboy. I remember that, you know.

374
00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,119
Speaker 1: And so you're you're creating those smaller pieces of content

375
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:50,280
Speaker 1: that might even be more resonant, you know, there's social

376
00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:52,200
Speaker 1: team failed pressure he had in around the world of sist.

377
00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:57,080
Speaker 1: You know, keep putting that one out. I remember that.

378
00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:00,239
Speaker 1: I'll say that, Evan, this is I appreciate what you're

379
00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,199
Speaker 1: saying that. So the whip snakes one, but you go

380
00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:07,320
Speaker 1: into a larger point of which we've built this tour

381
00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:11,159
Speaker 1: based model kind of understanding the stickiness of social media

382
00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:15,160
Speaker 1: as the predominantly used media platform with billions of daily

383
00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,840
Speaker 1: actors across all of them, but sports fans on a

384
00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:23,080
Speaker 1: four times rate basis follow players over teams. And that

385
00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:24,560
Speaker 1: moment with sur about Tis, I mean, you know his

386
00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,920
Speaker 1: first and last name. He's a second year pro coming

387
00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:31,119
Speaker 1: out of Denver, but he had this really awesome moment.

388
00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,199
Speaker 1: We captured it on the broadcast. We use that audio

389
00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:37,200
Speaker 1: technology where we had a conversation between our talent and

390
00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:39,200
Speaker 1: the booth and Brendan Burke and Ryan Boyle whichever about

391
00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,040
Speaker 1: tiss on the field was one of those perfect storms.

392
00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:44,400
Speaker 1: He scored a goal, looked right into camera. I didn't

393
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,040
Speaker 1: know how he had that wherewith all to do so,

394
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,560
Speaker 1: but um yeah, I mean we we we think about

395
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:53,719
Speaker 1: social and concert with our players as well. So our

396
00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:56,639
Speaker 1: players post on our behalf and sometimes call action to

397
00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:59,399
Speaker 1: tickets and viewership when games are on network television, our

398
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:03,000
Speaker 1: partners NB see, but we also give them content and

399
00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:05,040
Speaker 1: there are studies and and kind of to be fair

400
00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:06,840
Speaker 1: to Major League Baseball, as I spent some time with

401
00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,680
Speaker 1: them in Portland's this October is they did a good

402
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,280
Speaker 1: job with Pete Alonzo when they announced him being Rookie

403
00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,840
Speaker 1: of the Year. Pete published content at the same time

404
00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,240
Speaker 1: as the Mets is same times a Major League Baseball did,

405
00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:21,080
Speaker 1: And I hopped on crowd tangle. Pete's audience screw by

406
00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:23,199
Speaker 1: four and a half percent, the met screw by four

407
00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:25,399
Speaker 1: and a half percent, and Major League Baseball got an

408
00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:28,439
Speaker 1: uptick because you're sharing audiences. One of the other, you know,

409
00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:30,399
Speaker 1: great miked up moments in sports I can think of

410
00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:32,920
Speaker 1: in the past couple of months was Sam Donald, the

411
00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,000
Speaker 1: quarterback of the Jets, sitting there kind of staring off

412
00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:41,119
Speaker 1: in the distance. Yeah, but that was also controversial. I

413
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:44,240
Speaker 1: think the NFL Players Association was not thrilled, and I

414
00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:46,080
Speaker 1: think maybe some folks even at the network, we're not

415
00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:48,400
Speaker 1: thrilled that that ended up making it on air. How

416
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:50,080
Speaker 1: do you kind of work with players, how do you

417
00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:52,439
Speaker 1: get there buy in to make sure that you're not

418
00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,040
Speaker 1: or or is that a piece of content that you

419
00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:56,880
Speaker 1: would love to post? Even if Trevor Baptiste was saying,

420
00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:59,880
Speaker 1: Paul kind of embarrassed that I said that. Who were like, hey, Paul,

421
00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:02,960
Speaker 1: you just blew the game. No, I think we lean

422
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:06,800
Speaker 1: into both a part of the transparency and going to

423
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:09,000
Speaker 1: another comment on social media that you have to count

424
00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,080
Speaker 1: on and bet on is is both the good and

425
00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:15,159
Speaker 1: the bad. I totally understand where d Smith and the

426
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,480
Speaker 1: p A and Sam Donald his camp are coming from

427
00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:21,760
Speaker 1: because they're dealing with, you know, multimillion dollar contracts and

428
00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:26,359
Speaker 1: potentially and in a very vulnerable position at quarterback, you

429
00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:28,199
Speaker 1: say something wrong that can be used against you in

430
00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:32,520
Speaker 1: future negotiations. But at the same time, sports are about

431
00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:37,120
Speaker 1: entertainment and distribution and authenticity, and he was in that

432
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,880
Speaker 1: moment he felt like saying that it was a lopsided

433
00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:42,040
Speaker 1: game and it was great and so if you're able

434
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:45,800
Speaker 1: to zoom out and pull the person out of it,

435
00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,040
Speaker 1: it was a great moment and a top two per

436
00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:50,119
Speaker 1: per what you said. But we train our athletes, so

437
00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:53,080
Speaker 1: we have conversations with them, but we also let them

438
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:55,840
Speaker 1: know and and Sam probably knew and others know too

439
00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,920
Speaker 1: when they're miked up. I think Russell Wilson had a

440
00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:02,680
Speaker 1: bit that went viral this past weekend where I mean

441
00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:05,200
Speaker 1: he was a consummate leader on field and so good.

442
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,520
Speaker 1: He kind of remind me of Corey Booker, where he's

443
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:09,920
Speaker 1: just such a great speaker. You're like this guy renal

444
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,199
Speaker 1: the tele prompter. But there there's you know, you capture

445
00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:15,240
Speaker 1: good moments, you capture bad moments. You gotta have both.

446
00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:18,280
Speaker 1: We're speaking with the co founder of the Premier Lacrosse League,

447
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:23,560
Speaker 1: Paul Rabel. One year ago, you debut the whole thing.

448
00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:27,080
Speaker 1: Where do you see it going a year from now? Yeah,

449
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:30,120
Speaker 1: So we, uh, we were really humbled to be here

450
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,840
Speaker 1: when we made our announcement and we had six lacrosse clubs.

451
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,639
Speaker 1: Then it was a mouthful because we had to explain

452
00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:39,879
Speaker 1: essentially recreating the professional sports model team sports model, and

453
00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:43,800
Speaker 1: we went tour based. So we were sitting here talking

454
00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:46,240
Speaker 1: about how all six of our clubs, over the course

455
00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,800
Speaker 1: of a ten regular season game schedule, all star breaking playoffs,

456
00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:53,240
Speaker 1: travel to one location eats each weekend. They each play

457
00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:55,439
Speaker 1: a game and they win or lose, and they have

458
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:57,920
Speaker 1: their win loss record take them through to the playoffs

459
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,280
Speaker 1: and potentially a championship. So it's a different way of

460
00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:04,040
Speaker 1: thinking about sports. Luckily, as as we've grown and through

461
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,440
Speaker 1: our partnerships with NBC and a lot of our corporate partners,

462
00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:10,880
Speaker 1: we've been able to uh convey that message and we've

463
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:15,919
Speaker 1: built fandom based on teams with no city affiliation so

464
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,439
Speaker 1: much that we've decided and we announced at the end

465
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:19,840
Speaker 1: of the season that we're going to expand to a

466
00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,600
Speaker 1: seventh lacrosse club. And then the question is, well, well,

467
00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:24,960
Speaker 1: how do you manage an odd number of teams? So

468
00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,359
Speaker 1: what we found was interesting in the tour based model

469
00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:30,959
Speaker 1: is that we all had league buys, so that's how

470
00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:33,080
Speaker 1: we manage the bi systems. With a seventh club will

471
00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:36,000
Speaker 1: have natural buys now, so we'll still have three games

472
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,480
Speaker 1: every weekend. There will be two weekends this year, as

473
00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:41,359
Speaker 1: we've bumped it from fourteen total weekends to fifteen. There

474
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,400
Speaker 1: will be two weekends where we're gonna pilot all seven

475
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:47,400
Speaker 1: clubs in market and there will be four games, so

476
00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:49,560
Speaker 1: two teams will play twice, so we're gonna understand if

477
00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:52,320
Speaker 1: there's product market fit for four games over weekend, and

478
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:54,560
Speaker 1: that will determine this tour based future if we want

479
00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,840
Speaker 1: to go to eight and potentially is that too many games?

480
00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:00,920
Speaker 1: Are you able to sell more tickets? Um, So there's

481
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:02,439
Speaker 1: a lot of learning. So when I think about the

482
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,880
Speaker 1: future of of the POL we're onto something. And uh,

483
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,280
Speaker 1: We've spent a lot of time with other sports league

484
00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,399
Speaker 1: commissioners and other nascent stage sports leagues and understanding the

485
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:15,040
Speaker 1: tour based model, um and and the future of consumption

486
00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:18,520
Speaker 1: around millennials and gen z's, particularly around social but we're

487
00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:21,960
Speaker 1: also seeing even an uptick in viewership on television. The

488
00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,840
Speaker 1: NBA may not agree with that, but television is still, uh,

489
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,920
Speaker 1: you know, the most prominent source of of live game

490
00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:31,440
Speaker 1: feed and product. Adam would probably agree that television is

491
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,680
Speaker 1: still the predominant deleague. He calls it the Holy Grail

492
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:37,280
Speaker 1: and uh, and we do as well. But so the

493
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,640
Speaker 1: future for us, as we've told before, it could lead

494
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,560
Speaker 1: to a place where this league turns into a city

495
00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:46,679
Speaker 1: franchise based model, or the tour model could progress and

496
00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:50,160
Speaker 1: we could host multiple games in different markets each weekend.

497
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,480
Speaker 1: And I think we're we're learning as we go. We're

498
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:55,760
Speaker 1: we're communicating transparently with our audience, with you guys and

499
00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,359
Speaker 1: um and certainly our investors are are excited about the

500
00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:01,840
Speaker 1: prospect of of either. This is where we find out

501
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,280
Speaker 1: if Colin Neville listens to the show, because we you know,

502
00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:06,680
Speaker 1: we name him and then you say, Colin, you better

503
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:08,800
Speaker 1: let us know that you listen to the show. Rain Group,

504
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:11,120
Speaker 1: one of the investors to tie owner the Brooklyn Nets

505
00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:14,280
Speaker 1: correct one of the investors, what's their response and we're

506
00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:16,960
Speaker 1: talking about the premier lacrosse league to PLLO, what has

507
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:20,840
Speaker 1: been their response because obviously nobody expects profitability in one

508
00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:22,680
Speaker 1: year in the new league, right, what does the path

509
00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:25,480
Speaker 1: look like? And what do your investors say? Yeah, so

510
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:28,560
Speaker 1: we built our business in a true single larity form

511
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,120
Speaker 1: and we raise venture capital. And when you have venture

512
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 1: capital come to the table, they certainly are making a

513
00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:35,440
Speaker 1: bet because they believe in the business model, they believe

514
00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:37,640
Speaker 1: in the proform, and they believe the long term returns.

515
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,159
Speaker 1: And so it's different than going public, which is cheaper

516
00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:45,520
Speaker 1: capital capital so to speak, and more reasonable returns. Uh.

517
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:48,399
Speaker 1: So they are long term capital, so that it's like

518
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,399
Speaker 1: a ten year plunge into seeing this thing grow from

519
00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:53,480
Speaker 1: where we are in year one to where we will

520
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:57,159
Speaker 1: be towards Michael's question. And and so why that's important

521
00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,280
Speaker 1: is that when you build a business at this stage,

522
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:03,240
Speaker 1: especially in sports and media, is that you've got to

523
00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,119
Speaker 1: keep pouring capital in and and make a bet to

524
00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:09,359
Speaker 1: drive to that ten to twenty x return that a

525
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:12,959
Speaker 1: that a venture capital sports investor may want. Um, So

526
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:16,399
Speaker 1: right now are our revenue comes from primarily five categories.

527
00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 1: It's media and you can look at your media right

528
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,280
Speaker 1: steal with our partner with NBC to R O T

529
00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:24,280
Speaker 1: T platform. It's a dual approach with them, and we

530
00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:26,880
Speaker 1: have a JV in place there. And then you're you're

531
00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:29,320
Speaker 1: the way that you can monetize social and digital, which

532
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:31,080
Speaker 1: I think we're at the forefront and sports from So

533
00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,399
Speaker 1: that's bucket one. Then you have your sponsors, which we

534
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:35,960
Speaker 1: came out of the gates hot and we were pretty

535
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,560
Speaker 1: lucky with Adidas, Gatorade, Capital one. We had Corny Guerrilla

536
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:43,600
Speaker 1: Glass Vine, your vines which dominated our Black Friday and

537
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:47,080
Speaker 1: Cyber Monday deals. Um. You know. One one phrase that

538
00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:49,640
Speaker 1: an advisor uses to us as the CEO of Barstool

539
00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:53,199
Speaker 1: and Eric and Nardini as our merchandise caps off is

540
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,720
Speaker 1: she calls it content to commerce and and the per

541
00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,159
Speaker 1: cap numbers that we have that they have on site,

542
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:02,399
Speaker 1: it was over twelve box this season. Our conversion rate

543
00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:05,240
Speaker 1: on website was over ten percent, unheard of in merchandise,

544
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:08,880
Speaker 1: and that that reports back to your content style. So

545
00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:11,400
Speaker 1: that would be bucket two on your sponsors, and then

546
00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,080
Speaker 1: three is our tickets. So we're resourcing that department more

547
00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:18,240
Speaker 1: than ever. Uh this year. We're excited about where we

548
00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:21,399
Speaker 1: landed last year, over ten thousand per weekends sold. But

549
00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,720
Speaker 1: our venues. You had big venues in some cases, did

550
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,280
Speaker 1: you what would you learn when you played in Baltimore?

551
00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:31,280
Speaker 1: Smaller venue, full house? Yeah? So what will change, if anything,

552
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:34,359
Speaker 1: for next year? Honestly, the interesting thing about sports and

553
00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:37,040
Speaker 1: and we're going under the hood here is that tickets

554
00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:39,880
Speaker 1: used to be the primary driver for revenue in sports leagues,

555
00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:43,520
Speaker 1: going back to the Major League Baseball, local community driving tickets.

556
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:46,160
Speaker 1: Then media rights came in. Last year media flipped. It

557
00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:48,760
Speaker 1: was the first media flip. Sponsors come in, and even

558
00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:51,080
Speaker 1: if you go over to the EPL or other soccer

559
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:54,680
Speaker 1: leagues overseas, merchandise jumps in front of tickets because you're

560
00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:57,560
Speaker 1: not playing that many home games. And that's why you

561
00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:00,920
Speaker 1: have Adidas and Nike spending hundred million dollars on kit

562
00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,600
Speaker 1: deals because there's real retail value, so tickets in some

563
00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:08,880
Speaker 1: cases moving to the fourth most important bucket, that said,

564
00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:13,640
Speaker 1: the optical value that it brings is is exponential. So

565
00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:16,520
Speaker 1: in other words, if you can put ten thousand people

566
00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:20,920
Speaker 1: in a venue, if you go to twenty thousand, that

567
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:24,280
Speaker 1: feeling isn't a two x, it's a four x. And

568
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,760
Speaker 1: UH sponsors care about that, fans care about that, and

569
00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:30,360
Speaker 1: as a result, your media rights will care about that.

570
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,800
Speaker 1: So we would argue that now learning that the experience

571
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:35,880
Speaker 1: of an MLS venue was fantastic for us, and we're

572
00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:37,920
Speaker 1: gonna be at more than half of them in year

573
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,719
Speaker 1: two because you have that premium h experience and our

574
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:44,520
Speaker 1: MPs score was a seventy two, and that's critical that

575
00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:47,160
Speaker 1: the fans are getting a premium experience. Someone who might

576
00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:49,160
Speaker 1: not know whether that's So it's a net promoter score

577
00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:53,160
Speaker 1: and so every UH, every world class business uses it

578
00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:56,280
Speaker 1: to UH as a metric internally to figure out how

579
00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:58,720
Speaker 1: well they're performing. And and it's really one question. It's

580
00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:00,920
Speaker 1: how likely are you to recommend and this to a

581
00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,680
Speaker 1: friend or family member, And the scale is different than

582
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,200
Speaker 1: a zero one hundred in school, it's negative one hundred

583
00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:08,760
Speaker 1: to one hundred. That's where New Jersey Transit hangs out.

584
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,840
Speaker 1: Yeah on the negocide, Yeah, I pick on him whenever

585
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,680
Speaker 1: I can. So, what's considered world class is a seventy

586
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,160
Speaker 1: or above. Apple and Amazon live in that range. The

587
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:20,880
Speaker 1: NBA is slightly above slightly below fifty. But the n

588
00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:23,560
Speaker 1: B A is from my perspective, sets the bar in

589
00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:25,720
Speaker 1: this they've they've been around for longer, and as the

590
00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:29,040
Speaker 1: higher the bar, the more expectation you have from your fans.

591
00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:32,680
Speaker 1: So we're certainly benefiting from the year one UM. So,

592
00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:35,200
Speaker 1: so that's tickets we're resourcing that. But the net of

593
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:38,520
Speaker 1: it is that UM from a viewership standpoint, if you

594
00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,360
Speaker 1: could pack a house, even if it's twenty five hundred seats,

595
00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:44,040
Speaker 1: it'll feel like twenty five thousand, Versus if you have

596
00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,880
Speaker 1: twenty five thousand, say, and at eighty tho NFL venue,

597
00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:49,160
Speaker 1: you're running in some issues. So we're we're figuring that

598
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:52,200
Speaker 1: one out UM and then the fourth and fifth one

599
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:54,400
Speaker 1: for us as merchandise. I mentioned that, and then the

600
00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:56,560
Speaker 1: last one is our academy approach. So what we're doing

601
00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:59,600
Speaker 1: in youth sports and that the two things I wanted

602
00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:01,520
Speaker 1: to share with you guys is that we've developed that

603
00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:04,120
Speaker 1: using our players all over the country doing camps and

604
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,080
Speaker 1: clinics led by them, into a seven figure top line

605
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:09,360
Speaker 1: business that we paid out our players over three K

606
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:11,280
Speaker 1: and that's an addition to their wages. So when you

607
00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:14,280
Speaker 1: think about, you know, ten year plan whatever, how do

608
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:16,560
Speaker 1: those five I assume those were in orders that right,

609
00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,480
Speaker 1: media all the way down. Okay, how do you think

610
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:23,600
Speaker 1: about the percentage is changing as things grow from year one? Yeah,

611
00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:26,320
Speaker 1: so you know, tickets are going to follow number of games.

612
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,240
Speaker 1: So we're at fifteen weekends now, um and we have

613
00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:33,360
Speaker 1: seven lacrosse clubs. So as we increase our our number

614
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,600
Speaker 1: of participants and thereby number of games, we'll see our

615
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:39,400
Speaker 1: tickets grow, especially as we resource them. And we're doing

616
00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:42,240
Speaker 1: some tactical adjustments this year. We're partnering with youth lacrosse

617
00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:44,880
Speaker 1: tournaments over the summer. And there's a reason why it's

618
00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:47,719
Speaker 1: just US Major League Baseball and really MLS that are

619
00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:50,240
Speaker 1: playing in the summers. It's a vacation time for families,

620
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:53,800
Speaker 1: it's high sports activity time. So we're going in partnership there.

621
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:56,600
Speaker 1: We didn't do that in year one, but tickets I

622
00:31:56,640 --> 00:32:00,360
Speaker 1: think remains constant. We can bump merchandise from a revenue

623
00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:04,880
Speaker 1: standpoint ahead of tickets. I believe, actually think youth sports

624
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:06,640
Speaker 1: is I mean, I know it's a huge business. It's

625
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:09,520
Speaker 1: spend rationally on two things, their kids and their pets.

626
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:11,720
Speaker 1: There you go. If you can capture that money, you're

627
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:15,000
Speaker 1: doing all right. Well, quickly shifting on that we're working

628
00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:17,880
Speaker 1: so much on pets. I'll give you guys. I'm I'm

629
00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:20,840
Speaker 1: a crazy star person, but when when a dog is

630
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:23,719
Speaker 1: included on an Instagram post, your your post engagement goes

631
00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:27,320
Speaker 1: up two percent on average, so much that our seventh

632
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:30,640
Speaker 1: lacrosse club, I'm I'm pushing our subcommittees to design a

633
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:35,160
Speaker 1: design a dog in the logo Georgetown. Yeah. Yeah, well,

634
00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:37,680
Speaker 1: there are very few dog mascots that I think get

635
00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:40,080
Speaker 1: it right and and if you look at the virality

636
00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:42,959
Speaker 1: of dogs anyway, we can digress, but that that be

637
00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:46,360
Speaker 1: a thought process of what's going into maybe a team name.

638
00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:49,360
Speaker 1: I've seen your fans have sent in some design logos,

639
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:54,080
Speaker 1: and then also the logo and the research that goes

640
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:57,280
Speaker 1: into what might drive engagement. I think people find this

641
00:32:57,440 --> 00:32:59,080
Speaker 1: who would think, I just think of a cool name

642
00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,479
Speaker 1: and draws the thing. I actually want to dive in

643
00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:02,960
Speaker 1: real quick on this because we we talked a bit

644
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:04,720
Speaker 1: about this when you were on the podcast a number

645
00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:07,360
Speaker 1: of months ago, I think before the season started. Um,

646
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:10,360
Speaker 1: all the other traditional leagues have been around a hundred years.

647
00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:13,840
Speaker 1: You know, they have the benefit of teams that have identities. Right,

648
00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:16,600
Speaker 1: people either love or hate the Cowboys. They want they

649
00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:18,640
Speaker 1: watch because they want to see them winner lose. Teams

650
00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:19,920
Speaker 1: have a lot of money, not a lot of money.

651
00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:22,640
Speaker 1: They have owners that are eccentric, their lovable losers. They

652
00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:26,000
Speaker 1: do really well on social they do nothing social. Yeah,

653
00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:30,280
Speaker 1: just just every sport has teams that have different identities,

654
00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:33,640
Speaker 1: and there's a there's certainly an equity in having, you know,

655
00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:36,680
Speaker 1: people understanding what each team stands for and represents. I

656
00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:38,560
Speaker 1: would imagine one of the hardest things for you is,

657
00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:41,880
Speaker 1: you know, you built six, now seven teams totally from scratch.

658
00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:44,240
Speaker 1: The ownership is not all that different. They're all trying

659
00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:45,920
Speaker 1: to do kind of creative things on social. How do

660
00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:48,360
Speaker 1: you differentiate how do you make someone a fan of

661
00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:51,760
Speaker 1: the Redwoods versus the Atlas versus you know, the website

662
00:33:53,320 --> 00:34:00,320
Speaker 1: there you go, that's year when released her and would

663
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:04,160
Speaker 1: sold the most inventory over Black Friday Cyber Monday. So

664
00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:08,640
Speaker 1: we we have this conversation all the time around okay,

665
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:12,520
Speaker 1: understanding and we actually have been. We look at merchandise

666
00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,920
Speaker 1: as a primary indicator and we were very database so

667
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:19,239
Speaker 1: we understand which players are moving their name and number tise,

668
00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:23,879
Speaker 1: which players moving their jerseys, which team only UH sweatshirts

669
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:26,120
Speaker 1: and T shirts are going off the shelves as an

670
00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:29,640
Speaker 1: indicator of fan allegiance. So a few things coming to play.

671
00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:32,160
Speaker 1: So Atlas what we haven't talked about yet as the

672
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:34,200
Speaker 1: club that I play for, and I appreciate you bringing

673
00:34:34,239 --> 00:34:36,319
Speaker 1: it up as we make the playoffs, actually had one

674
00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:40,040
Speaker 1: of my worst seasons from a performance standpoint and might

675
00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:41,840
Speaker 1: have had something to do with operating the league. But

676
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:46,680
Speaker 1: I but I will be coming out of again. Yeah,

677
00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:50,680
Speaker 1: we're behind the curtain, um. But but Atlas has a

678
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:53,239
Speaker 1: number of the top personalities in the league and we

679
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:54,920
Speaker 1: want to design that like kind of the Patriots of

680
00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:57,560
Speaker 1: the Cowboys to your point, and we remain the number

681
00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:02,719
Speaker 1: one selling UM club in in our league from a

682
00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:06,279
Speaker 1: merchandise standpoint because the players are driving it. But but

683
00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:08,840
Speaker 1: second is the Redwoods who didn't win. Third is the

684
00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:10,600
Speaker 1: Whip Snakes, who I think has some of the if

685
00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:12,719
Speaker 1: you look at numbers on social of one of the

686
00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:16,080
Speaker 1: lowest following total audiences, but they bop bumped up because

687
00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:19,919
Speaker 1: they watched the lastest Chrome who finished last place. So

688
00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:23,080
Speaker 1: we look at players, we look at club design. The

689
00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:24,560
Speaker 1: red Woods are a big one. That's why we're paying

690
00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:26,279
Speaker 1: a lot of attention to the design of our seventh club,

691
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:28,880
Speaker 1: which we're gonna announce soon. And then it's win loss.

692
00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:31,480
Speaker 1: But you know, being objective about it's going to take

693
00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:36,840
Speaker 1: time to develop that that that lineage around your favorite club,

694
00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:39,200
Speaker 1: and we may shift into a city model, but I

695
00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:41,560
Speaker 1: do think we have it there quickly, do uh. To

696
00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,360
Speaker 1: answer your question, which I was kind of teetering around earlier,

697
00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:47,279
Speaker 1: as I view the future of our business from a

698
00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:51,000
Speaker 1: revenue standpoint, has one and two being media and sponsor,

699
00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:54,840
Speaker 1: three being potentially merchandise and then tickets and depending on

700
00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:57,759
Speaker 1: hearing smaller venues, which is what we're hearing in all

701
00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:00,319
Speaker 1: of If I was building even the NBA, I was

702
00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:03,799
Speaker 1: building an NBA building right now. Hell, Steve Bomber, take

703
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:07,640
Speaker 1: my advice or leave it. Twelve thousand premium experience I

704
00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:11,319
Speaker 1: don't need in eight doesn't matter. Yeah, whatever, how many

705
00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:12,920
Speaker 1: times bar how many times have you heard me say it?

706
00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:16,440
Speaker 1: The future is scale. I've got a certain number of tickets,

707
00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:18,960
Speaker 1: certain number of games, that's a finite number. If I

708
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:22,000
Speaker 1: can scale media a lot more money to you, field

709
00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:28,000
Speaker 1: advantage for your team. Yeah, twelve twelve and get rowdy.

710
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:32,960
Speaker 1: I mean we saw Jackson like five hundred person standing only.

711
00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:38,239
Speaker 1: And well, I'll say that this is an exercise that

712
00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:40,200
Speaker 1: we often know. I'll share two of them, so we

713
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:43,000
Speaker 1: try to every quarter Mike and I, uh, your brother Mike,

714
00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:45,920
Speaker 1: my brother, founder, co founder and ce football player Dartmouth.

715
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:48,560
Speaker 1: That's right. We try to do these, uh kind of

716
00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:50,880
Speaker 1: really abstract, out of the box exercises. And two things

717
00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:52,880
Speaker 1: I'll share with you. One is on the sports front,

718
00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:57,040
Speaker 1: which we've seen a massive, massive growth over the last

719
00:36:57,120 --> 00:36:59,440
Speaker 1: five years and so much capital going over and then

720
00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:02,360
Speaker 1: we've seen movement and Your Guys podcast was great around

721
00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:05,880
Speaker 1: Ninja moving from one platform the next. The analogy that

722
00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:08,280
Speaker 1: I was thinking about was Howard Stern going from Terrestrial

723
00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:11,080
Speaker 1: is serious and bringing subscribers with him. Who will we

724
00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:13,640
Speaker 1: look at that and like Mike Francesessa and and Chris

725
00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:16,239
Speaker 1: Russo exactly. They started, Mike throw some shade at Chris

726
00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:18,600
Speaker 1: the other day. Well, we haven't heard a lot from him. Yeah,

727
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:21,120
Speaker 1: but if you think about the sports outside of the

728
00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:23,520
Speaker 1: events that they host, that tickets isn't a big part

729
00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:27,160
Speaker 1: of that. And everything is about paying up or pain

730
00:37:27,239 --> 00:37:29,440
Speaker 1: for tokens or paining for merchandise on site. So we

731
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:31,399
Speaker 1: think about the future of pro sports, will ever get

732
00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:33,200
Speaker 1: to a place where you don't have to pay for

733
00:37:33,239 --> 00:37:36,360
Speaker 1: your seat and you're paying for upgrades, you're paying for

734
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:40,080
Speaker 1: access to players, you're paying for um, you know, merchandise

735
00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:43,440
Speaker 1: or concessions on your phone. Because the per cap numbers

736
00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:46,399
Speaker 1: are only growing if the experience gets better and then

737
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:50,160
Speaker 1: maybe sweets are paid for. But as tickets become more

738
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,799
Speaker 1: diminimous in the total total sphere, especially the NFL, you're

739
00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:56,160
Speaker 1: talking about eight home games, it's not really that in

740
00:37:56,239 --> 00:37:58,799
Speaker 1: pleasant matter to the brand scheme of the NFL. That's

741
00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:00,680
Speaker 1: one thing. The other thing we talk about, and this

742
00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:03,400
Speaker 1: is being critical over our business and one of the

743
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:08,880
Speaker 1: I think one of the probably most u extrinsic outlandish

744
00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:11,120
Speaker 1: commissioners or presidents in sports is Dana White. We can

745
00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:14,160
Speaker 1: all agree on that. It's a fantastic promoter. And Mike

746
00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:17,000
Speaker 1: did people who don't know Miken, I did this exercises

747
00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:18,880
Speaker 1: What if we brought over Dana White to be our president,

748
00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:21,000
Speaker 1: what we do? And I think the first thing he

749
00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:23,919
Speaker 1: would do is look at our players and he would say,

750
00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:28,520
Speaker 1: no one is is standing out enough and picking fights

751
00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:32,080
Speaker 1: and we're not building fierce rivalries yet. So to to

752
00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:36,160
Speaker 1: Evans point, even around where do the Cowboys and Patriots

753
00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:39,360
Speaker 1: get their luster from? I think it's sometimes it's the

754
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:42,040
Speaker 1: Cowboys having all of the bravado and we're the best,

755
00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:43,960
Speaker 1: and even if we don't win a Super Bowl, you

756
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:46,040
Speaker 1: know we're still going to be the most valued franchise

757
00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:47,960
Speaker 1: in the NFL. And love us or hate us, they

758
00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:50,480
Speaker 1: lean into that. And the UFC gets it because these

759
00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:52,920
Speaker 1: guys grab the microphone from Joe Rogan, they demand a

760
00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:56,000
Speaker 1: title fight, They talk, you know, trash to their opponents,

761
00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:58,880
Speaker 1: and that's exciting and you need that in sports, and

762
00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:01,839
Speaker 1: so better be find it, better be authentic. But you'll

763
00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:06,000
Speaker 1: see us, I think in the future even more encourage

764
00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:09,640
Speaker 1: and and open up the microphones who are players because

765
00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:11,960
Speaker 1: that is authentic. And I think in team sports a

766
00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:15,840
Speaker 1: lot of times players are nervous about sharing their actual

767
00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:18,160
Speaker 1: emotions and feelings. We're seeing the NBA do it more,

768
00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:20,359
Speaker 1: and we're seeing press conferences now going to the locker

769
00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:24,280
Speaker 1: room to get a better vibe than a press conference room.

770
00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:27,399
Speaker 1: Um So, anyway, those are some things that we talked about, Bar.

771
00:39:27,480 --> 00:39:28,920
Speaker 1: Before you wrap it up, I just want to say

772
00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:32,439
Speaker 1: I believe he's the first guest to ever say dimnimus. Yes,

773
00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:37,960
Speaker 1: I can't recall another Dominimus extrins. That was good. But

774
00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:40,120
Speaker 1: we gotta wrap it up. But I do remember that

775
00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:44,160
Speaker 1: you were talking earlier about content two commerce and I

776
00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:46,440
Speaker 1: think of an old term that used to be a Nascar.

777
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:50,240
Speaker 1: Oh here he goes man on Sunday, sell on Monday,

778
00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:52,960
Speaker 1: And that's exactly what it is. And I's appreciate you

779
00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:54,880
Speaker 1: should see him. What is it a Mark Martin jacket?

780
00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:58,000
Speaker 1: I do? I got to see Martin Martin. It's too

781
00:39:58,040 --> 00:39:59,880
Speaker 1: cold now the where the wind breaker? But yeah, I

782
00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:02,080
Speaker 1: but Mark Martin duck, no doubt. And that is the

783
00:40:02,239 --> 00:40:05,240
Speaker 1: that is the core authenticity in sports, is that you'll

784
00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:09,120
Speaker 1: always be successful if you win right and and like

785
00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:11,920
Speaker 1: the franchise is gonna move more tickets are gonna sell

786
00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:15,399
Speaker 1: more merchandise a player when when they're doing their brain

787
00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:18,239
Speaker 1: discovery across social it's put your sport for us, put

788
00:40:18,239 --> 00:40:21,080
Speaker 1: your performance first. If you're not winning on field, on

789
00:40:21,160 --> 00:40:23,719
Speaker 1: quarter and poor on the track, you're not going to

790
00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:27,280
Speaker 1: reach your ultimate upside in total following. So like success

791
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:30,040
Speaker 1: stems from winning and then creativity. But I would also say, yeah,

792
00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:31,279
Speaker 1: if I was going to own a team, what I

793
00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:34,720
Speaker 1: would tell my fans in day one? I cannot promise victories.

794
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,240
Speaker 1: We're gonna try, We're gonna spend, We're gonna chase victories.

795
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:39,640
Speaker 1: But I cannot promise. What I can promise and deliver

796
00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:44,440
Speaker 1: every week is a great experience. Co founder of the

797
00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:47,319
Speaker 1: premier Lacrosse League, man a friend of the show, and

798
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:49,120
Speaker 1: we're so glad to have you in. Thank you, sir.

799
00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:52,920
Speaker 1: I love being here. Thanks guys. Something that caught me

800
00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:56,640
Speaker 1: with Mr Paul Rabel's visit here is something folks I

801
00:40:56,680 --> 00:40:58,759
Speaker 1: want to share with you that did not make the

802
00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:00,960
Speaker 1: show is when the mics were off and we were

803
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:04,880
Speaker 1: talking afterwards, and he was talking about how it's tough

804
00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:08,400
Speaker 1: for a startup to begin, and we were talking about

805
00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:11,719
Speaker 1: the A A F and how it's hard for a

806
00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:15,640
Speaker 1: startup to begin and he really didn't want his league

807
00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:18,439
Speaker 1: to be compared with the a F because people will

808
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:20,720
Speaker 1: get the wrong impression. Yeah. Well, I'm just struck always

809
00:41:20,719 --> 00:41:24,480
Speaker 1: with Paul by how much data they dig into. Nothing

810
00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:30,760
Speaker 1: is done arbitrarily. These are well thought out decisions, based

811
00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:35,399
Speaker 1: on analytics, based on data, based on real stuff. It's

812
00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:37,560
Speaker 1: not well, I got a feeling, you know, he'll know,

813
00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:42,000
Speaker 1: as he told us, which athlete in the league gets

814
00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:44,480
Speaker 1: the most impressions, gets the most likes, gets the most

815
00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:47,960
Speaker 1: reach weets, follows like the whole thing, which which athletes

816
00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:51,600
Speaker 1: are driving engagement, Then how do you utilize that athlete

817
00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:55,800
Speaker 1: to not only buoy the league but also the fellow athletes.

818
00:41:56,200 --> 00:41:58,160
Speaker 1: I mean, it really is an impressive model that you

819
00:41:58,239 --> 00:42:02,520
Speaker 1: can be sure other sports leagues are taking notice of.

820
00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:05,359
Speaker 1: To that point, you know, he mentioned briefly in there

821
00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:07,399
Speaker 1: that that statistic. I don't have the number in front

822
00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:09,680
Speaker 1: of me, but but how much better social media posts

823
00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:13,000
Speaker 1: do when there's a pet involved, specifically a puppy um

824
00:42:13,200 --> 00:42:15,880
Speaker 1: And he said that in the context of talking about

825
00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:17,520
Speaker 1: this seventh team that has yet to be named that

826
00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:20,000
Speaker 1: they're adding, and how you may see you may see

827
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:23,480
Speaker 1: that team named after a dog because it does better

828
00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:26,160
Speaker 1: on on social media. That's a great example. We saw

829
00:42:26,560 --> 00:42:28,480
Speaker 1: there was an NBA owner recently that named the Bobcats

830
00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:31,880
Speaker 1: after himself. Right, just just hearing the way that Paul

831
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:34,800
Speaker 1: is thinking about something as simple or maybe as innocuous

832
00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:37,200
Speaker 1: as what are we going to name this new team,

833
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:39,759
Speaker 1: and thinking about it through the lens of social engagement

834
00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:42,520
Speaker 1: and and new media. I think that's a really interesting look.

835
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:44,560
Speaker 1: That would have been Bob Johnson by the Johnson and

836
00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:49,680
Speaker 1: the Bobcats. It feels better to be number one than

837
00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:51,640
Speaker 1: number five. I'll wear a number because of Mike. We

838
00:42:51,680 --> 00:42:53,120
Speaker 1: have a chance to go for three in a row.

839
00:42:53,160 --> 00:42:55,080
Speaker 1: Good numbers at a good time. When I first started

840
00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:58,440
Speaker 1: wearing the number, how would just have the Bloomberg business

841
00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:01,840
Speaker 1: of sports? The number of the week? Time now for

842
00:43:01,920 --> 00:43:05,680
Speaker 1: the number of the week? Number? Yes, I do. The

843
00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:08,720
Speaker 1: number is three and a half and I couldn't believe

844
00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:12,080
Speaker 1: it when I saw it. Three and a half? Is

845
00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:20,560
Speaker 1: it one half? Is it point five? What? What? What?

846
00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:29,200
Speaker 1: Where does you come? What? Probably she probably does, But

847
00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:34,960
Speaker 1: it does involve steps. You are you do? You were

848
00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:38,120
Speaker 1: in the right place there? The amount of steps it takes. Uh.

849
00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:40,960
Speaker 1: Janice onto to compo to get from one free throw

850
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:44,760
Speaker 1: line to now you know what you are. You're close.

851
00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:47,920
Speaker 1: That's not it, but your clothes. How many steps? Lebron James,

852
00:43:47,920 --> 00:43:52,960
Speaker 1: looking that video there was I couldn't believe it. I'm

853
00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:55,200
Speaker 1: looking at this and it's like, at least taking you

854
00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:58,440
Speaker 1: guys got there, that's good. He takes three. Apparently he

855
00:43:58,520 --> 00:44:01,799
Speaker 1: got distracted. I guess something was happening at the under

856
00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:05,399
Speaker 1: the basket between two players, and I guess he said

857
00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:08,880
Speaker 1: he had a brain freeze. I forgot the dribble, and

858
00:44:08,920 --> 00:44:12,640
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the opponent in this like his hands

859
00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:14,560
Speaker 1: around like it's hard enough to guard when he has

860
00:44:14,600 --> 00:44:16,920
Speaker 1: to bounce the ball. Don't make me guard. He doesn't

861
00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:23,239
Speaker 1: even Lebron said, scout. That was bad. All right, Thank

862
00:44:23,239 --> 00:44:25,640
Speaker 1: you folks. You've been listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

863
00:44:25,840 --> 00:44:28,279
Speaker 1: We are here each and every week at the same time,

864
00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:31,120
Speaker 1: plus online wherever you get your podcast. You can catch

865
00:44:31,120 --> 00:44:34,279
Speaker 1: those Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I have Michael bar on

866
00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:38,640
Speaker 1: Twitter at Big Bar Sports, I'm Scotti at Sasnik, and

867
00:44:38,680 --> 00:44:40,840
Speaker 1: I'm Evan Novie Williams. You can follow me at no

868
00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:43,520
Speaker 1: V Underscore Williams. Thanks for joining us. Please tune in

869
00:44:43,520 --> 00:44:46,359
Speaker 1: Next week we're speaking with Zeon Armstrong. He's head of

870
00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:50,400
Speaker 1: Adidas's US business. You're listening to Bloomberg Business of Sports

871
00:44:50,400 --> 00:45:04,600
Speaker 1: from Bloomberg Radio around the world.