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Speaker 1: This is the Business of Sports.

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Speaker 2: Sports are the greatest unscripted show owner.

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Speaker 3: The next generation of players who really grew up with

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Speaker 3: tech and believe in tech.

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Speaker 4: Your face is your ticket, your face is your wallet,

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Speaker 4: Your face is your access to a club.

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Speaker 5: These are such iconic and important buildings for businesses.

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Speaker 6: For fans, COVID was one of the best things that

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Speaker 6: ever happened to go.

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Speaker 7: The NFL is a bulletproof business.

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Speaker 8: Racing is unique because there is absolutely no reason why

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Speaker 8: we can't compete with the guys' wall.

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Speaker 7: It's pro pickleball real Are people really going to tune

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Speaker 7: into this? If you're playing moneyball with a huge bag

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Speaker 7: of money, you're going to be really, really good.

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

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Speaker 8: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore

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Speaker 8: the big money issues in the world of sports. Michael

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Speaker 8: Barr along with my colleagues Damien Sassauer and Vanessa Perdomo.

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Speaker 8: Coming up on the show, we'll celebrate the newest NBA

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Speaker 8: champions the Oklahoma City Thunder. We'll talk about what the

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Speaker 8: big win means for the city with Oklahoma City Mayor

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Speaker 8: David Holt.

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Speaker 6: In a championship city is an attainment of sports immortality.

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Speaker 6: It's just it's such a game changer for our city.

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Speaker 8: We've got that and more on the way on the

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Speaker 8: Bloomberg Business of Sports, and we start with Bloomberg US

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Speaker 8: sports business reporter Randall Williams, who is here to take

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Speaker 8: us through those finals and some of the other big

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Speaker 8: headlines lately in basketball, including that big, big, big, big, big,

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Speaker 8: big big announcement from last week about the Lakers sale

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Speaker 8: and more.

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Speaker 7: Hi, Randall Williams, it just sounded like a teacher when

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Speaker 7: you get in trouble or get caught doing something. But

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Speaker 7: good to see you too, mister b and thank you

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Speaker 7: for having me.

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Speaker 9: Man.

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Speaker 8: There's a lot of stuff that is jumping off, especially recently.

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Speaker 8: There's so many ways to go in the NBA here,

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Speaker 8: but let's talk about one of the biggest stories in

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Speaker 8: the NBA that has happened in the past several days.

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Speaker 8: The Lakers. Now this used to be a bus family

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Speaker 8: production and now this is about the change. Know us

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Speaker 8: about it.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, Mark Walter has bought a majority stake in the

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Speaker 7: Lakers to be valued at ten billion dollars. It is

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Speaker 7: high mode that I don't see anybody passing for a

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Speaker 7: very long time, very long, being maybe five to ten years.

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Speaker 8: Wow.

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Speaker 7: Mark Walters is obviously the owner of the Dodgers. If

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Speaker 7: you are an LA native, if you're a Lakers fan,

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Speaker 7: this is a great sign.

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Speaker 2: So wait a second, I just have to go back.

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Speaker 10: You don't think that every team like the Dallas Cowboys

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Speaker 10: were valued at ten point one billion as of last

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Speaker 10: year by Sportico, that all those valuations don't explode to

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Speaker 10: the upside off the back of it.

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Speaker 7: So I do think the Day will be valued in more.

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Speaker 7: But I think as far as a control sale, this

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Speaker 7: is going to be the high mark for a bit interesting.

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Speaker 7: I think like if the Seahawks were put up for

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Speaker 7: sale tomorrow, I don't know that Day would go for ten.

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Speaker 7: I think they might go for seven or eight. But

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Speaker 7: ten is high.

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Speaker 11: Ten's high, And the question is how do you get

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Speaker 11: to ten after Mark Walter's invested into the team four

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Speaker 11: years ago for evaluation of five billion? They have they

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Speaker 11: didn't they don't own their arena, they didn't win a

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Speaker 11: new championship. How do you double your valuation four years? Then?

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Speaker 7: I think it's all in brand value in media of course,

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Speaker 7: like they have a new media deal that hasn't kicked

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Speaker 7: in yet. It'll kick in next year. But the Lakers

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Speaker 7: are one of the biggest brands in the world period

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Speaker 7: and in sports, Like they're a top three sports brand,

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Speaker 7: and there are some people who say they're the number

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Speaker 7: one sports brand, ahead of both the Yankees and the Cowboys.

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Speaker 7: Now I don't know about that, but and I'll leave

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Speaker 7: that up to debate, but the Lakers are top three.

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Speaker 7: And with that in mind, like you think about how

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Speaker 7: many sports franchises have been relevant for fifty years. And

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Speaker 7: I'm not talking about like, oh, yeah, they won back

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Speaker 7: in the day and I remember those good old days,

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Speaker 7: like the Celtics are sort of like that, Like the

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Speaker 7: Celtics won a gazillion championships sixty years ago and then

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Speaker 7: they've won two in the last twenty five years. The

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Speaker 7: Lakers have won championships in every single decade over the

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Speaker 7: past fifty years, I believe, all the way back to

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Speaker 7: the eighties, nineties, and then of course the two thousands

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Speaker 7: and twenty tens as well. And so when you're thinking

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Speaker 7: about that, as well as the amount of superstars they've had,

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Speaker 7: Like if you ever played NBA two cap and you

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Speaker 7: look at the all time Lakers team. It's magic, Kobe, James, Worthy,

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Speaker 7: Shaq and Kareem. That doesn't even include Lebron and now

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Speaker 7: Luca and so many other stellar players who just pack

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Speaker 7: out arenas. And there aren't that many franchises in the

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Speaker 7: NBA or in the NFL or in the MLB who

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Speaker 7: can say, no matter who's here, we're going to sell out.

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Speaker 8: Now, by the way, we got to talk about something else.

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Speaker 8: The ratings for Game seven of this past NBA Finals.

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Speaker 8: ESPN was happy with Game seven, about sixteen point four

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Speaker 8: million viewers, according to Nielsen Data, watched the thunder in

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Speaker 8: Game seven go on to win. Now, the games before

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Speaker 8: that a little shaky, And I think part of that historically, Yeah,

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Speaker 8: I think part of it is as you thought we were.

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Speaker 8: That they thought okay see was gonna win hands down.

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Speaker 7: Why do you all think ratings are low?

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Speaker 2: I'm interested.

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Speaker 8: People thought okay c was going to run away with it.

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Speaker 8: You know, nobody expected any drama from the Indiana Pacers,

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Speaker 8: and all of a sudden, here we go and it's

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Speaker 8: like people are thinking, man, I should have been watching

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Speaker 8: game viving games.

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Speaker 10: Well, I did hear that the game one was like

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Speaker 10: nine million, and that was like the lowest since like

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Speaker 10: the eighties or something like that.

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Speaker 2: I don't know if that's true or not. I mean, Randall,

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Speaker 2: it's been.

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Speaker 7: It's been the Game one and two ratings were low.

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Speaker 7: But I would say this to the ratings conversation is that, yes,

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Speaker 7: ratings are low. I think that there's blame to place everywhere.

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Speaker 7: If I ask you where Tyrese Haliburton went to school,

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Speaker 7: do you know, No, I don't, Okay, you went to

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Speaker 7: Iowa State. That's something that if you watch the games,

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Speaker 7: and I don't know whether you did it or didn't,

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Speaker 7: but that's something that should be talked about all throughout

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Speaker 7: these playoffs is the journey that these players go through,

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Speaker 7: and that's not discussed as much on the broadcast anymore.

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Speaker 7: We have trades happening in the middle of the NBA Finals,

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Speaker 7: and Kevin Durant is a marvelous player, but that never

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Speaker 7: happened a decade ago where trades were happening in the

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Speaker 7: middle of this thing, and it takes away of the attention.

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Speaker 7: And also there's blame to place on media as well.

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Speaker 7: ESPN did not treat the NBA Finals like the NBA Finals.

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Speaker 7: I think, from top to bottom, the broadcast was average.

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Speaker 7: Stephen A is an incredible talent, but a lot of

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Speaker 7: times who he's paired with and the conversation they're having

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Speaker 7: does not make you excited for the game. When someone

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Speaker 7: says I'm not excited about going to Oklahoma City to

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Speaker 7: watch this game, and you're a fan listening to that,

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Speaker 7: of course you don't want to come. And so I

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Speaker 7: think it's two things. It's storytelling around the league. How

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Speaker 7: do you uplift these superstars? So if you take away

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Speaker 7: the storytelling, it's also from the brand perspective. How many

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Speaker 7: Converse advertisements did you see for Shay Gildes, Alexander or

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Speaker 7: Tyre's Halliburn who debuted his new signature Shoot, you didn't

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Speaker 7: see any but a decade ago. If this was Lebron,

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Speaker 7: if this was KD, if this was Kobe, Nike would

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Speaker 7: have for sure had signature sneaker commercials. My favorite commercials

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Speaker 7: are all time are the Lebron and Kobe puppets.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, but no, we don't.

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Speaker 7: See that branding anymore, and so you don't see the branding.

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Speaker 7: If you're a kid watching this, what makes you want

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Speaker 7: to continue to tune into this? When the broadcasters act

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Speaker 7: like they don't want to be there when you don't

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Speaker 7: know anything about the players and the brands aren't promoting it.

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Speaker 2: I don't think it's so I guess. I mean, I mean,

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Speaker 2: it's the point fingers.

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Speaker 10: But it's ESPN's fault then, right, I mean, let's be

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Speaker 10: clear and look, I mean, you must be really upset

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Speaker 10: the ESPN just bought the pl The premiere was ust

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Speaker 10: league because look, I didn't think it was there was

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Speaker 10: something that much wrong with with the broadcast. I just think,

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Speaker 10: quite honestly, it was a hangover after after some of

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Speaker 10: the semi final and quarterfinal matches.

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Speaker 2: I think the next yeah, I did.

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Speaker 4: I to differ.

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Speaker 7: I think this was a really good finals that if

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Speaker 7: Halliburton doesn't tear his achilles or roughter his achilles, who

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Speaker 7: knows how that game goes. He came off firing. But again,

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Speaker 7: if you don't, if both the NBA and its media

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Speaker 7: partners partners plural and corporate partners do not act like

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Speaker 7: the Finals are the most magnificent event in the world,

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Speaker 7: then people won't If the Super Bowl this year features

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Speaker 7: the Buffalo Bills and the Green Bay Packers to small

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Speaker 7: market teams, I guarantee you the NFL is going to

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Speaker 7: be storytelling around this as if this is the greatest

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Speaker 7: Super Bowl of all time and it could be a

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Speaker 7: thirteen to three game. We've seen things like that happen,

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Speaker 7: But again, if you don't act like it, then people

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Speaker 7: don't believe it. And that's what's happening right now.

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Speaker 8: By the way, I should add, the entire series, it

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Speaker 8: averaged ten point three million viewers per game. That's the

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Speaker 8: least since twenty twenty one.

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Speaker 11: That goes to the face of the NBA conversation, and

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Speaker 11: that's really where it goes back to you. And I

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Speaker 11: feel like one of the things that we're seeing in

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Speaker 11: the draft and we're seeing all these the MVP conversations,

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Speaker 11: all that is the conversations around international players and should

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Speaker 11: they be the face of the NBA and people feel

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Speaker 11: like they shouldn't be. Why does that matter? And do

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Speaker 11: people really need to put that aside?

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Speaker 7: First of all, it doesn't matter. I think that people

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Speaker 7: love good basketball regardless, but having an international face is

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Speaker 7: so new for the league. I mean, you think about

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Speaker 7: the most popular players in the last three finals have

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Speaker 7: all been international stars. Joker most popular, Luca is more

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Speaker 7: popular than both Tatum and Brown, and then this.

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Speaker 2: Year, of course you have SDA.

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Speaker 7: However, if you don't again, if you don't market it

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Speaker 7: like that, if you're not ready to embrace it, and

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Speaker 7: if the Americans aren't succeeding, we were reminded that America

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Speaker 7: is still dominating in the basketball forum. Of course, with

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Speaker 7: the twenty twenty four Olympics, there's no guarantee that that's

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Speaker 7: going to happen in twenty twenty eight in LA. I

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Speaker 7: would argue that I wouldn't be surprised if they lost

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Speaker 7: in twenty twenty eight in LA because of the fact

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Speaker 7: that the old guard will be gone. We've watched Lebron

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Speaker 7: and KD Carrey team USA for a decade and a

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Speaker 7: half now, but again, this new guard is coming up.

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Speaker 7: People don't know that much about them.

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Speaker 2: But if you've.

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Speaker 7: Watched the NBA, I mean, the last seven MVPs have

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Speaker 7: all been international players. You now have an international championship

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Speaker 7: in some aspect with Shay winning. It had one two

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Speaker 7: years ago with Jokers. So this is a reoccurring theme

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Speaker 7: and I think the NBA is going to get better

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Speaker 7: at this. They're going to have to challenge ESPN to

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Speaker 7: stop defecating on their game.

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Speaker 8: But you know, I'm.

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Speaker 7: Serious if you watch, if you watch the NFL coverage

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Speaker 7: versus the NBA coverage, the NFL coverage is so much

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Speaker 7: more in depth, and the games are different. I'm not

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Speaker 7: saying that they're not different. If you watch NFL live,

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Speaker 7: you watch NBA today. And also this is due to

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Speaker 7: the fact that the seasons are different. The NFL game

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Speaker 7: is much more condensed, and so ESPN's coverage naturally and

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Speaker 7: basketball coverage naturally leans into the drama. But when it's

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Speaker 7: playoff time, the drama is over. The drama has to

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Speaker 7: be on the court because, as we've seen over the

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Speaker 7: past decade, drama is going to happen in June and July,

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Speaker 7: regardless whether you're talking about it in May or April

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Speaker 7: or even January. But if you're talking about it in

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Speaker 7: the midst of your playoffs, people are looking to be like, yeah,

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Speaker 7: the playoffs, but oh boy, I can't wait for free

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Speaker 7: agency to happen.

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Speaker 8: Speaking of drama now, by the way, be a draft

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Speaker 8: first round Cooper Flag Dallas Mavericks. Yeah, surprise, now crazy,

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Speaker 8: But the one that caught me for drama Danny Wolf.

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Speaker 8: He was picked twenty seventh overall by the Brooklyn Nets,

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Speaker 8: and then you see the shot of his mother crying,

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Speaker 8: and then you see the shot of him crying, and

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Speaker 8: then there's a shot of me crying. Because I thought

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Speaker 8: that was one of the most touching things when you're

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Speaker 8: talking about sports.

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Speaker 7: I think that this NBA drafting and watching it, I

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Speaker 7: saw more tears and just more emotional moments than I've

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Speaker 7: seen in a long time, and that was beautiful to see.

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Speaker 7: Not a lot of drama. I think the Mavericks part

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Speaker 7: of it is incredibly fascinating. Just the last twelve months

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Speaker 7: of the Mavericks I'd say eighteen months, even with Cuban

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Speaker 7: selling to the Addison family. It's going to need a

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Speaker 7: documentary someday. Just it doesn't matter if they win or lose,

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Speaker 7: but just the fact that a team sold, They traded

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Speaker 7: the the biggest superstar arguably in the franchise history. I

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Speaker 7: think Luca is a bit more popular than Dirk. And

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Speaker 7: then you draft a number one pick again like just

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Speaker 7: the chances of that are crazy. But again, NBA draft,

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Speaker 7: very emotional night. I thought it was a great and

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Speaker 7: fun thing to watch.

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Speaker 8: Randall Williams, I love you, man, Thank you for coming

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Speaker 8: and joining us on the Bloomberg Business. Apreciate you for

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Speaker 8: having me as always, thanks to Randa Williams for joining us.

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Speaker 8: He's Bloomberg You has sports Business Reporter Up. Next, we

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Speaker 8: take a break from basketball and turn to the grid iron.

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Speaker 8: We'll talk with someone who is working on bringing the

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Speaker 8: latest tech and AI to Jellette Stadium, colleagues Damian Tasaur

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Speaker 8: and Vanessa Bernomo. I'm Michael Barr. You are listening to

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Speaker 8: the Bloomberg Business of Sports Bloomberg Radio around the world.

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Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

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Speaker 8: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports. Have we explore

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Speaker 8: the big money issues in the world of sports? Michael

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Speaker 8: Barr along with Damian Sassaur. The Craft Group is going

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Speaker 8: all in on AI across their businesses and that includes

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Speaker 8: the New England Patriots and their home venue, Gillette Stadium.

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Speaker 8: In April, the Craft Group announced a new partnership with NWN,

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Speaker 8: North America's largest AI power technology solutions provider. And here

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Speaker 8: to talk to us about the partnership and other tech

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Speaker 8: innovations that could come to Gillette is Michael Israel. He's

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Speaker 8: chief Information and Technology Officer for the Craft Group. Michael

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Speaker 8: Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

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Speaker 12: Thank you for having me.

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Speaker 8: One thing you guys are dabbling in it involves AI

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Speaker 8: power technology solutions and you guys are working with it.

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Speaker 8: Can you tell us about that and the impact that's

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Speaker 8: having on the sport, on sports in general?

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Speaker 12: Yea, in general. So from a we started with AI

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Speaker 12: based technology at the stadium a couple of years ago.

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Speaker 12: Really where we started with is video anomaly detection and

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Speaker 12: using standard security camera footage, intercepting that footage and detecting

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Speaker 12: real time what's happening in the stadium. So if someone

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Speaker 12: leaves a bag behind, if a concession line is long,

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Speaker 12: if a garbage cans overflowing, detecting that and creating action

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Speaker 12: associated with that. So if a concession line is long,

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Speaker 12: do I need more cashiers, if a garbage can's overflowing,

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Speaker 12: automatically dispatching custodial staff. So using video that would normally

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Speaker 12: just go unused to create actionary items and enhance our

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Speaker 12: guest experiences as they're coming in. Moving forward, we're looking

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Speaker 12: at things like facial recognition for entry for concession purchasing,

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Speaker 12: where it's tied to a digital wallet. So if you

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Speaker 12: walk up and you opt in. If you walk up

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Speaker 12: to a eight entry line, it will see your face,

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Speaker 12: shred your ticket. You walk up to a concession stand,

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Speaker 12: I want a cheeseburger, a B or a fries. It

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Speaker 12: checks your ID, hits your credit card, hits our loyalty system,

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Speaker 12: and you're often going so looking at speed of transaction,

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Speaker 12: enhance customer service, really new ways to make your experience

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Speaker 12: at the stadium better.

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Speaker 2: Mike, let's talk about the razor.

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Speaker 10: I mean, as a New York Jets fan, that's one

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Speaker 10: of my least favorite places to be Foxborough, New England.

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Speaker 10: But nevertheless, I have to ask you about how your

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Speaker 10: technology is going to change the fan experience at the Blade.

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Speaker 10: I mean I am hearing some wonderful things about what

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Speaker 10: you're doing. You're overhauling the entire IT infrastructure. I mean,

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Speaker 10: talk to us about what's going on up there.

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Speaker 12: Well, we're essentially taking you know, our stadium is now

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Speaker 12: a little over twenty years old and technology was stagnant.

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Speaker 12: Really refreshing the entire technology stack across the stadium with

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Speaker 12: the folks over at NWN, helping us rebuild our staff,

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Speaker 12: but again create more engaging experiences. So IPTV putting unique

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Speaker 12: video content into our suites, into our concourses. So that's

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Speaker 12: based on where you are. You may be seeing different things,

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Speaker 12: but really enhanced experiences so that it's better than being

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Speaker 12: at home.

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Speaker 8: You're also involved with I guess training facilities and applying

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Speaker 8: the applications to help keep players informed and engaged. Tell

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Speaker 8: us about that, correct.

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Speaker 12: Our new training facility is being built as we speak,

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Speaker 12: will be coming live next April. We'll have new draft rooms,

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Speaker 12: We'll have new content spaces, so WebEx platforms in all

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Speaker 12: of our meeting rooms, locations, within weight rooms, training facilities,

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Speaker 12: where folks can go, what's my schedule for the day,

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Speaker 12: what specific plans do I have? When's our next meal time?

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Speaker 12: But in our conference rooms, having the ability to control

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Speaker 12: everything from the lights, from blinds, from the content on

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Speaker 12: the screens, right from our common Cisco touch pads.

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Speaker 10: So Michael, you know we have a pretty sophisticated audience

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Speaker 10: here at the Bloomberg Business of Sports, and you know

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Speaker 10: it's not just about sports. I mean the Craft Group

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Speaker 10: is the holding company for one hundred different portfolio companies

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Speaker 10: like Venture Pe, Direct Investments, you name it. I mean

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Speaker 10: the Rand Whitney Container Company, I mean all of that stuff.

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Speaker 10: Talk to us about how these different verticals, what you're

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Speaker 10: doing with them, how AI, how your technology is enhancing

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Speaker 10: the productivity across the board.

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Speaker 12: Sure, so we're we have right now in excess of

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Speaker 12: seventy five different AI based use cases that are being evaluated.

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Speaker 12: So it could be something as simple in sports as

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Speaker 12: automatically transcribing press conferences as they happen, or going into

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Speaker 12: our manufacturing facilities, looking at a tractor trailer as it

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Speaker 12: comes into our facility and monitoring when it enters, how

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Speaker 12: long is it in a docking, how long does it

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Speaker 12: take to unload that tractor and when does it leave

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Speaker 12: our facility and comparing that to our invoices as they

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Speaker 12: come in and saying, hey, that truck wasn't here an

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Speaker 12: hour and a half. We have it documented of only

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Speaker 12: thirty eight minutes for an unload. That's resulting in a

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Speaker 12: decrease in our expenses. Monitoring how raw materials are getting

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Speaker 12: loaded onto our conveyor belts to make sure they're being

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Speaker 12: loaded in a sequential order, Or looking at our manufacturing

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Speaker 12: facility in Worcestern, Massachusetts, what's the proper sequencing of box

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Speaker 12: manufacturing orders? So that we have the least amount of

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Speaker 12: waste coming out of that machine, so that we can

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Speaker 12: get the most out of a roll of paper. All

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Speaker 12: of these pieces are looking at how we do business

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Speaker 12: historically and how can we use AI to change that

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Speaker 12: in the future, enhance our operations, reduce costs, reduce complexity.

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Speaker 10: You know, Michael, the impact of technology on sports really

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Speaker 10: just I mean today, I mean, just for example, I

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Speaker 10: mean the fact that Amazon, Apple and Netflix are now

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Speaker 10: airing you know, you know, NFL games as opposed to

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Speaker 10: you know, Disney and Morner Brothers and things like that.

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Speaker 10: You know, but it extends beyond that, right, It extends

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Speaker 10: to you know, esports for example. It extends to sports betting,

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Speaker 10: and you know, I just want to ask you about,

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Speaker 10: you know, some of the features you're going to be

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Speaker 10: implementing within you know, Jillette Stadium. You know, how do

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Speaker 10: they take advantage of the one hundred billion dollars in

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Speaker 10: revenue that the sports betting globally, the sports global sports

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Speaker 10: betting market is generated in twenty twenty four alone. I mean,

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Speaker 10: are there are there designs to sort of capture a

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Speaker 10: bit of that.

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Speaker 8: There's gambling going on.

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Speaker 12: I'm shocked, Well, there's there's no official gambling going on

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Speaker 12: from our perspective. We have some sponsors who are there,

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Speaker 12: but when folks are here at the stadium, I have

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Speaker 12: to make sure I have enough bandwidth to support whatever

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Speaker 12: they're looking to do fair and we will look at

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Speaker 12: you know, on a typical game day, we have sixty

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Speaker 12: thousand people in the in the stadium, we will have

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Speaker 12: in access of forty five to fifty thousand unique clients

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Speaker 12: on our Wi Fi network, and we monitor the applications

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Speaker 12: that they're using. And yes, it's the Yahoo and the

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Speaker 12: Instagrams and those types of pieces, but the sports betting

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Speaker 12: apps are gaining and gaining, so we have to make

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Speaker 12: sure we have enough bandwidth to support whatever they're doing

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Speaker 12: in real time. If they want to make a bet

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Speaker 12: on the fourth quarter and what's going to happen, they

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Speaker 12: don't want to wait, they don't want to see an hourglass.

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Speaker 12: They want real responsive networks, and we have that and

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Speaker 12: we continue to evolve and make it faster, make it better.

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Speaker 10: You know, in the fan experience, it's not just about football, right,

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Speaker 10: I mean, it's also about you know, concerts, it's about

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Speaker 10: you know, all the other stuff that goes on, you know,

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Speaker 10: it's let's stadium. Talk to us a little bit about

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Speaker 10: you know, what you're doing there, how you're capturing you know,

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Speaker 10: a greater I guess percentage of the fan engagement experience

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Speaker 10: as it were. I mean, talk to us about, you know,

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Speaker 10: how you make going to a fish concert, for example,

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Speaker 10: even more enjoyable than it already is.

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Speaker 12: Well, it's you know, the challenge goes from concert to concert.

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Speaker 12: When you see like, for example, several years ago we

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Speaker 12: had Taylor Swift. We had two hundred and fifteen thousand

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Speaker 12: guests in this over three days. When we're sitting when

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Speaker 12: I'm sitting walking in the stadium and there's sixty thousand

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Speaker 12: guests in. But I hear on my radio that there's

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Speaker 12: seventy thousand unique people on Wi Fi. How can that be? Well,

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Speaker 12: you have a TikTok challenge in your parking lot. Ten

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Speaker 12: thousand sands that are in your parking lot. That's something

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Speaker 12: you don't plan for. So what we do is look

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Speaker 12: and saying, hey, we need to make sure we're prepared

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Speaker 12: for what comes tomorrow. We have FIFA World Cup coming

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Speaker 12: to our stadium next summer. We're preparing now for that

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Speaker 12: influx of seven matches and the amount of bandwidth that

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Speaker 12: we're going to need, the amount of stand up, pop

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Speaker 12: up retail and concession locations, enhancing our TVs, enhancing our

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Speaker 12: IPTV frameworks. This is all stuff that is not stagnant.

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Speaker 12: It doesn't sit still. We have to make sure we

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Speaker 12: are a step ahead of what our fans are expecting

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Speaker 12: and what my business is asking of us.

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Speaker 8: Our thanks to Michael Israel for joining us. He's chief

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Speaker 8: information and Technology officer for the group. Sticking with Football

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Speaker 8: the latest episode of the Deal with Alex Rodriguez and

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Speaker 8: Jason Kelly, featuring a conversation with two Titans legendary coach

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Speaker 8: Bill Belichick and Bridgewater founder Ray Dallyo. Those two know

436
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,680
Speaker 8: a lot about winning and success. Let's take a listen

437
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:20,119
Speaker 8: to a portion of that conversation.

438
00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:24,640
Speaker 13: Bill, You've played for multiple owners. No need to mention names,

439
00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:28,240
Speaker 13: that's not important. What is important is from your experience

440
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:31,199
Speaker 13: and your lens. What makes a good owner, good management

441
00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,480
Speaker 13: team to support what you do on the field.

442
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:35,720
Speaker 3: Well, again, I think it starts with what Ray just

443
00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:38,560
Speaker 3: said is what are your goals? What are your goals?

444
00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,760
Speaker 3: Is it the bottom line? Is it financial? Is it championships?

445
00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:46,120
Speaker 3: You know, and you've been a player, and I'm sure

446
00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:48,600
Speaker 3: that you felt like, as a player, you wanted a

447
00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,399
Speaker 3: path to a championship, and once something got in the

448
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,720
Speaker 3: way of that path, you wanted it removed. Yeah, whatever

449
00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,919
Speaker 3: it happened to be, whether it's travel or you know,

450
00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:04,360
Speaker 3: personnel or the way something was handled, that it affected

451
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,400
Speaker 3: your performance as a player. And I would say those

452
00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 3: two don't necessarily align, you know, financial success and on

453
00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:15,000
Speaker 3: the field success, that there could be a trade off

454
00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:16,840
Speaker 3: there that I think as an owner you have to

455
00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:21,160
Speaker 3: make a decision as to you know what you probably

456
00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:23,840
Speaker 3: want the best of both, but ultimately which one is

457
00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:28,399
Speaker 3: the driving force? And that's probably like that in a

458
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 3: lot of businesses. You know, what are your goals and

459
00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:34,760
Speaker 3: if goals are you know, truly winning. You know as

460
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,000
Speaker 3: a player that you want to remove every obstacle that

461
00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:39,960
Speaker 3: could be in the way of a manager or a

462
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:44,440
Speaker 3: player of achieving his winning goals. Financially, that could be expensive.

463
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,159
Speaker 4: So Ray, it's interesting, you know, over the years of

464
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:50,000
Speaker 4: you know, covering Wall Street and investing for Bloomberg, I

465
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:52,880
Speaker 4: got to watch you build this firm, and part of

466
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:57,280
Speaker 4: one of the underlying principles I believe is this notion

467
00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:01,760
Speaker 4: of innovation and always sort of changing and evolving and

468
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,679
Speaker 4: both of you and we'll get to coach in a second,

469
00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:07,280
Speaker 4: have you know, sort of pushed into new markets? How

470
00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:09,520
Speaker 4: how do you think about that? How do you think

471
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,200
Speaker 4: about innovation? What's your What are the principles underlying how

472
00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:15,520
Speaker 4: you go on and build into something new?

473
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,280
Speaker 5: I don't know if it's much thinking about it as

474
00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:20,600
Speaker 5: much as feeling it. You know, you feel the excitement,

475
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:24,399
Speaker 5: you feel the poll. You know, one of the principles

476
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,919
Speaker 5: that I that he's praised so well. And I also

477
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:31,040
Speaker 5: is being comfortable being uncomfortable?

478
00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 8: Okay?

479
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:37,280
Speaker 5: Or I might say also the reverse, I'm sometimes uncomfortable

480
00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:39,800
Speaker 5: if I'm comfortable, Okay, Okay.

481
00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:42,560
Speaker 8: That's just a little taste A little sample of the

482
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:46,159
Speaker 8: latest episode of the Deal with Alex Rodvegas and Jason Kelly,

483
00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:50,840
Speaker 8: featuring Bridgewater founder Ray dally O and legendary NFL coach

484
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:55,080
Speaker 8: and now UNC football coach Bill Belichick. Go to Bloomberg

485
00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,879
Speaker 8: dot com to learn more and catch the full episode

486
00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:02,840
Speaker 8: of Next Back Basketball. We celebrate the Oklahoma City Thunders

487
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:07,760
Speaker 8: NBA Finals win with Okay, Ce Mayor, David Holt, Michael Barr.

488
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,480
Speaker 8: You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg

489
00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:11,840
Speaker 8: Radio around the world.

490
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:19,919
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

491
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:23,639
Speaker 8: Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

492
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,240
Speaker 8: We explore the big money issues in the world of sports.

493
00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:29,800
Speaker 8: Michael Barr, along with the Damian Sasaur and Vanessa Bernomo

494
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:33,919
Speaker 8: the Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions and superstar Shae

495
00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:38,320
Speaker 8: Gillias Alexander at it final MVP to his resume in

496
00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:41,240
Speaker 8: the same season. It's one of the most impressive single

497
00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:45,119
Speaker 8: seasons for an NBA player in history. Here he is

498
00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:46,520
Speaker 8: just after the win.

499
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:50,160
Speaker 9: It's hard to believe that I'm part of that group.

500
00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,200
Speaker 9: It's hard to even fathom that I'm that type of

501
00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:57,680
Speaker 9: basketball player. Sometimes as a kid, you dream, and every

502
00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:00,440
Speaker 9: kid dreams, but you don't never really know if it's

503
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,600
Speaker 9: gonna come true. And I'm just glad and happy that

504
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,720
Speaker 9: my dreams have been able to come true. And that's

505
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:08,320
Speaker 9: a thank you to everyone that's been in my corner.

506
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:09,959
Speaker 9: That's how me get here. I wouldn't be able done

507
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,240
Speaker 9: without them. They know exactly who they are, So yeah,

508
00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:13,200
Speaker 9: it's a win for the family.

509
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,960
Speaker 8: That's SGA speaking to reporters after the thunder. One big

510
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,400
Speaker 8: for Oklahoma City. Joining us now is the mayor the

511
00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:26,040
Speaker 8: winning town, OKC Mayor David Holt. David, congratulations and welcome

512
00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:27,560
Speaker 8: to the Bloomberg Business of sports.

513
00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,040
Speaker 6: Yeah, thank you for having me business and sports man.

514
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:32,160
Speaker 6: That's the business we've been in lately.

515
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:37,280
Speaker 8: And Okay, yeah, you just had the parade, you man,

516
00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:42,879
Speaker 8: you guys were having some fun. Ok see, bless your hearts.

517
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,560
Speaker 8: This is the last time. Only two years ago you

518
00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:49,200
Speaker 8: didn't even have a five hundred season and now look

519
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,600
Speaker 8: at you, guys.

520
00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:54,240
Speaker 6: It's been an amazing week. It's all happened so fast.

521
00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:58,359
Speaker 6: I mean, Sunday night was Game seven. Tuesday morning was

522
00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:02,000
Speaker 6: a half a billion people in inten Oklahoma City, an

523
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,399
Speaker 6: event unlike anything we've ever had.

524
00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:06,720
Speaker 11: And yeah, it's hard to keep track event.

525
00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:09,879
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's been a whirlwind for sure. And I'll and

526
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:11,919
Speaker 6: I guess I'll sleep when I'm dead because it's it's

527
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:12,800
Speaker 6: been that kind of weird.

528
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,240
Speaker 11: I feel like, right because it feels like you won't

529
00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:18,679
Speaker 11: be able to really relax for a while because something

530
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 11: you did at the parade was announced a celebration day

531
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:27,240
Speaker 11: for every single player on the team over the next month.

532
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:30,080
Speaker 11: What what are they those days going to look like?

533
00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:33,080
Speaker 11: And how do you celebrate every single person on over

534
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:33,840
Speaker 11: the next month.

535
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:40,000
Speaker 6: Yes, well, yeah, so I proclaimed there's eighteen people on

536
00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:42,040
Speaker 6: the roster, and by the way, the Thunder, you know,

537
00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:45,240
Speaker 6: it's part of their culture is to really extend that

538
00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:48,320
Speaker 6: as far as possible. So that eighteen, of course is

539
00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:50,560
Speaker 6: I think higher than like the official roster, right, but

540
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:52,920
Speaker 6: that includes three people that were two way players who

541
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:55,960
Speaker 6: you know, were playing ineligible at the end of the

542
00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:58,159
Speaker 6: regular season but kind of carried through as members of

543
00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,480
Speaker 6: the team in as far as the Thunder we're concerned.

544
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:06,840
Speaker 6: So there's eighteen days I proclaimed, starting after July fourth

545
00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:10,480
Speaker 6: and going all the way till July thirtieth. And you know,

546
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:12,520
Speaker 6: I don't think we'll have half a million people show

547
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,200
Speaker 6: up for each of those days. I think we will,

548
00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:17,199
Speaker 6: you know, I will issue a proclamation. It may be

549
00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:20,200
Speaker 6: more of a social media event than a in real

550
00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:24,639
Speaker 6: life event, but it definitely felt appropriate and it definitely

551
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:28,560
Speaker 6: felt good and proper to sort of carry this forward.

552
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,600
Speaker 6: I don't think anyone in Oklahoma City is done celebrating

553
00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:36,640
Speaker 6: this championship. I suspect on some level we'll be kind

554
00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:39,920
Speaker 6: of in celebration mode all the way till the regular

555
00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:41,400
Speaker 6: season tips off in October.

556
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:42,640
Speaker 8: And there's nothing wrong with that.

557
00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:45,320
Speaker 10: Well, mister Mayor, Michael bar brings up a really really

558
00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,120
Speaker 10: interesting point. In the twenty twenty two to twenty three season,

559
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:49,920
Speaker 10: the Thunder were below five hundred and it was in

560
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:52,720
Speaker 10: September of twenty three. If I'm not mistaken that you

561
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:55,600
Speaker 10: were the one who announced that proposal to publicly fund

562
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,880
Speaker 10: a new arena in Oklahoma City, and part of the

563
00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:01,560
Speaker 10: deal was to get the Thunder to stay in Oklahoma

564
00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:03,920
Speaker 10: City beyond twenty fifty and you know you did it,

565
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,240
Speaker 10: and you got it with seventy one percent voting for

566
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:09,040
Speaker 10: the new arena. I mean, and look at where we

567
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,800
Speaker 10: are now. So this is really just an unbelievable whirlwind

568
00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:13,720
Speaker 10: of a few years.

569
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:13,880
Speaker 2: For you know.

570
00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:18,520
Speaker 6: Yeah, and by the way, we inked the deal to

571
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:21,200
Speaker 6: like in writing, to keep the team here till twenty

572
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:24,880
Speaker 6: fifty three. Last week we our council passed it between

573
00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:27,560
Speaker 6: Games five and six of the NBA Finals. I mean, yeah,

574
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,800
Speaker 6: so it's been a lot of developments lately. But to

575
00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:33,280
Speaker 6: your point, and let me back up just a little

576
00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:36,440
Speaker 6: bit to say, you know, the relationship between this team

577
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,560
Speaker 6: and this city I think is very unique. You know,

578
00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:42,600
Speaker 6: this was our first major league professional sports team. It

579
00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:46,000
Speaker 6: really redefined our city when it came here in two

580
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,240
Speaker 6: thousand and eight. I often say that the you know,

581
00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:51,720
Speaker 6: the closest thing America has to a blue ribbon that

582
00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 6: it bestows upon its top tier cities is is major

583
00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:57,560
Speaker 6: league professional sports team, especially in the NFL, the MLB,

584
00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:02,200
Speaker 6: and the NBA, and and so we value that. We recognize,

585
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:04,240
Speaker 6: we can see with our own eyes how life was

586
00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:06,560
Speaker 6: different but before two thousand and eight and after two

587
00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:09,800
Speaker 6: thousand and eight in ways that extend far beyond basketball.

588
00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:13,160
Speaker 6: And so their original fifteen year lease was expiring in

589
00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:17,040
Speaker 6: twenty twenty three. Our arena is it's like the second

590
00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:19,360
Speaker 6: cheapest in the league. It's the smallest in the league

591
00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:23,480
Speaker 6: by square footage, it's over twenty years old. It was

592
00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:25,560
Speaker 6: obvious that we were not going to be able to

593
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:29,360
Speaker 6: secure long term contract with this team or any team

594
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:32,920
Speaker 6: with that arena. And we built it before the team came,

595
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,080
Speaker 6: so it's not even really an NBA arena, you know,

596
00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:39,600
Speaker 6: it's actually built with the NHL in mind. So we

597
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:41,920
Speaker 6: we went through a community conversation and as you said.

598
00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,240
Speaker 6: In late twenty three, seventy one percent of voters approved

599
00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:47,320
Speaker 6: a six year one cent sales tax to build a

600
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:50,040
Speaker 6: new billion dollar arena. And I don't have to tell

601
00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,920
Speaker 6: you cities don't pass these things, like most cities have

602
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:57,000
Speaker 6: stopped trying. Exactly around the time we voted on this,

603
00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:01,000
Speaker 6: Kansas City defeated theirs. But that's You're for us twenty

604
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:03,760
Speaker 6: five year commitment in the new arena, basically like thirty

605
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:08,360
Speaker 6: years in total, and you know, our thunder for another generation.

606
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:11,600
Speaker 6: And then obviously after that, the team you know on

607
00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:15,840
Speaker 6: the court has gone to another level. They are now champions.

608
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:18,280
Speaker 6: We inked the deal finally after a year and a

609
00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:21,440
Speaker 6: half of negotiating the lease, just last week in the

610
00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,240
Speaker 6: midst of the NBA Finals. And actually next month we'll

611
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:26,600
Speaker 6: be able to release the renderings of the new arena.

612
00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:29,880
Speaker 6: So yeah, it is an exciting time. And okay, see

613
00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:32,040
Speaker 6: relative to the thunder on every level.

614
00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:34,320
Speaker 10: Well, mister Mayor, Michael Barr reminds me that this journey

615
00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:37,040
Speaker 10: for you began all the way back in two thousand

616
00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:38,800
Speaker 10: and eight when you were part of you know, if

617
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:41,440
Speaker 10: I'm not mistaken, the former mayor or to convince the

618
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:46,040
Speaker 10: Seattle superhnucts to come to Oklahoma City. So congratulations, I mean,

619
00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:47,880
Speaker 10: this is unbelievable. And look, I mean you've got the

620
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:50,040
Speaker 10: Summer Olympics coming up in twenty twenty eight, right, I

621
00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:53,120
Speaker 10: mean isn't Oklahoma City slated to host a few events there?

622
00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:54,160
Speaker 8: Yeah?

623
00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:56,400
Speaker 6: You know as and yes, I was chief of staff

624
00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:59,120
Speaker 6: to my predecessor when the thunder came in two thousand

625
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:02,280
Speaker 6: and eight. So yeah, I've been there at every step

626
00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,760
Speaker 6: of this journey. And for an OKC kid who grew

627
00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:07,600
Speaker 6: up in a city that didn't have pro sports and

628
00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:10,680
Speaker 6: never could have imagined having pro sports, it's pretty special.

629
00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:12,640
Speaker 10: On many posters and mantle on your wall growing up,

630
00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:14,800
Speaker 10: I imagine.

631
00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:19,200
Speaker 6: So but yeah, to your point, you know, we have

632
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:21,400
Speaker 6: and it's sort of been organic in the end. I mean,

633
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:24,600
Speaker 6: obviously we strategically pursued different initiatives, but the way that

634
00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:27,520
Speaker 6: they've all come together feels a little organic. But we

635
00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:31,840
Speaker 6: have definitely leveraged sports in our community as a way

636
00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:34,840
Speaker 6: to build and so you reference the Olympics, you know,

637
00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:37,120
Speaker 6: but it all kind of starts obviously with the NBA.

638
00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:41,160
Speaker 6: We of course have made major investments in softball, which

639
00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:42,960
Speaker 6: made us the softball capital of the world and the

640
00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:45,400
Speaker 6: home of the College Women's College World Series, which is

641
00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:47,720
Speaker 6: one of the great events in American sport now. And

642
00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:50,720
Speaker 6: then of course we invested in whitewater rafting of all things,

643
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:53,480
Speaker 6: you know, and have the only whitewater facility west of

644
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:56,080
Speaker 6: the Mississippi, and that allowed us to attract a lot

645
00:32:56,080 --> 00:33:00,360
Speaker 6: of international events. And then you know, this opportunity came

646
00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,880
Speaker 6: along where Los Angeles was really looking to have us

647
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,959
Speaker 6: sustainable games and didn't want to build facilities that they

648
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,960
Speaker 6: didn't have. And here in Oklahoma City, of all places,

649
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:13,320
Speaker 6: we have, as I said, the only whitewater facility west

650
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,400
Speaker 6: of the Mississippi, the biggest softball stadium in the world

651
00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:19,160
Speaker 6: by two and a half times. And so we began

652
00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:24,880
Speaker 6: a conversation sort of confidentially seven years ago, first started

653
00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,800
Speaker 6: between my friend, the former mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti,

654
00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:31,800
Speaker 6: and then of course Casey Wasserman joined that conversation and

655
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:34,640
Speaker 6: we worked through this over the last several years until

656
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,320
Speaker 6: it finally became public about a year ago. And now

657
00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:39,640
Speaker 6: we are going to have those two sports, softball and

658
00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:43,440
Speaker 6: canoe slalom. That's the Olympic work phrase for what whitewater

659
00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:44,720
Speaker 6: canoe kayak is.

660
00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:45,920
Speaker 12: And we're going to have.

661
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:49,080
Speaker 6: Those two sports seven total events here in Oklahoma City

662
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,640
Speaker 6: in twenty twenty eight. And we're the only city outside

663
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:54,360
Speaker 6: of Southern California that's hosting an entire sport, much less

664
00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:56,960
Speaker 6: two And that means there's going to be events every

665
00:33:57,040 --> 00:33:59,640
Speaker 6: day of the Summer Olympics here in OKC. Which, again,

666
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:02,960
Speaker 6: as an okay See kid, if I could, if I

667
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,160
Speaker 6: would find it hard to comprehend that we're the home

668
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,879
Speaker 6: of the NBA champions. It's even more beyond my comprehension

669
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:12,200
Speaker 6: to imagine that people will have gold medals put around

670
00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:14,600
Speaker 6: their necks here in Oklahoma City in twenty twenty eight.

671
00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:17,280
Speaker 10: Well you've done it, mister Mayor, Me and Michael Barr Vanessa,

672
00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:19,080
Speaker 10: We're coming down to the Big Friendly. We're gonna visit

673
00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:21,200
Speaker 10: count Them and Steakhouse. We're gonna go to Stockyard City.

674
00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:23,759
Speaker 10: We're gonna go to Nickey Mantles, We're gonna We're gonna

675
00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:26,400
Speaker 10: do it. We're gonna go to Arino Franienburgers at Michael.

676
00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:27,239
Speaker 2: Barr oh Man.

677
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:32,239
Speaker 8: You know what, years ago, many years ago, I was

678
00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:35,279
Speaker 8: in okay See because I think that the ABC had

679
00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:37,520
Speaker 8: a bowling tournament there, and I used to be a

680
00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:40,680
Speaker 8: big bowler and I used to I loved it. I

681
00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:42,120
Speaker 8: had a good time in Oklahoma City.

682
00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:43,960
Speaker 2: I can hear mister Mayor yawning on the other end of.

683
00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:49,400
Speaker 6: I'm gonna guess that the city has grown and changed

684
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:51,399
Speaker 6: a lot since then. I would love to show you

685
00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:53,280
Speaker 6: the modern version of Oklahoma City.

686
00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:55,920
Speaker 8: You know what? And you're let me tell you. I

687
00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:58,839
Speaker 8: know time is short, but were I was talking about

688
00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:01,480
Speaker 8: this before you how much of a geezer I am,

689
00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:06,279
Speaker 8: mister Mayor? Uh the year you were born. I just

690
00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:10,680
Speaker 8: got my permit to drive a car. That's how old

691
00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:16,600
Speaker 8: I am. I am geezered. Don't it's bad, Michael.

692
00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:19,000
Speaker 11: It's called wisdom, actually.

693
00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:19,080
Speaker 2: You know.

694
00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:22,360
Speaker 8: Okay, well that's what we'll go with that.

695
00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:24,560
Speaker 11: Mister Mayer. I'm curious, you know, you're you're saying how

696
00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:26,279
Speaker 11: much the city has changed the sense, So how much

697
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:28,960
Speaker 11: does the city now change after being NBA champions?

698
00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:30,319
Speaker 12: What else does.

699
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,520
Speaker 6: Because I really feel it is a significant change. I mean,

700
00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:39,040
Speaker 6: so if you think about how getting a team provided

701
00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:42,440
Speaker 6: this sort of credibility that suddenly changed the way we

702
00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:45,640
Speaker 6: see ourselves and the way others see us. Being a

703
00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:50,160
Speaker 6: championship city is an attainment of sports immortality. Right. That

704
00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:57,000
Speaker 6: also changes the conversation. Yet again, I know that, of

705
00:35:57,040 --> 00:35:59,759
Speaker 6: course I'm selling my city all the time, right, And

706
00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:02,319
Speaker 6: I know that any conversation I have, for as long

707
00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:05,680
Speaker 6: as I'm mayor beyond the borders of my city limits,

708
00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:08,200
Speaker 6: that conversation will start with this.

709
00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:08,640
Speaker 8: Right.

710
00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:12,520
Speaker 6: This is a conversation starter. It's a credibility builder.

711
00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:12,719
Speaker 9: Right.

712
00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:15,960
Speaker 6: People who are thinking about creating jobs in our city,

713
00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:18,239
Speaker 6: investing in our city, you know, bringing some restaurant we

714
00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:21,680
Speaker 6: don't have, bringing some retail we don't have. Right, They'll

715
00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:25,680
Speaker 6: say they'll begin their thought process by saying, well, gosh,

716
00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:29,080
Speaker 6: if they have an NBA championship, they must be they

717
00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:31,600
Speaker 6: must be important enough for me to do businesses. And

718
00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:34,920
Speaker 6: that feels silly, but it's real. I mean, it's just

719
00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:37,080
Speaker 6: and I'm a mayor. I live in reality. And the

720
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:41,120
Speaker 6: reality of this is that a championship changes you forever.

721
00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:44,600
Speaker 6: And that's why I think of this moment as probably

722
00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:47,920
Speaker 6: one of the five most significant events in the history

723
00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:50,440
Speaker 6: of the city. Positive events in the history of the city,

724
00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:52,560
Speaker 6: like you know, the discovery of oil and gas, the

725
00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:55,440
Speaker 6: arrival of an air force, base we have here called

726
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:58,759
Speaker 6: Tinker Air Force Base that employs thirty thousand people. The

727
00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:02,279
Speaker 6: arrival of the team, the attainment of a championship. I

728
00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:05,040
Speaker 6: mean that's like, that's some of the top five events

729
00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:07,520
Speaker 6: I think in one hundred and thirty plus years of history.

730
00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:11,560
Speaker 6: It's not significant, and yeah it will. It changes our

731
00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:14,640
Speaker 6: city forever and obviously in a very positive way, and

732
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:15,600
Speaker 6: we're excited about that.

733
00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:18,759
Speaker 8: Our thanks to Oklahoma City Mayor David Hold for joining us.

734
00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:21,600
Speaker 8: And that does it for the Bloomberg Business of Sports

735
00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:23,960
Speaker 8: And have you missed any part of it? Check it

736
00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:27,280
Speaker 8: out on demand on the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast.

737
00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:31,120
Speaker 8: Find that on Apple, Spotify and all your favorite platforms.

738
00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:34,800
Speaker 8: For my colleagues, Damian Sasaur and Vanessa Berdomo, I'm Michael Barr.

739
00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:36,799
Speaker 8: Tune in again next week for the latest home the

740
00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:40,480
Speaker 8: stories moving big money in the world of sports. You're

741
00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:44,120
Speaker 8: listening to The Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio

742
00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:47,320
Speaker 8: around the world, and don't forget to catch our podcast