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Speaker 1: Hello, I'm Scott Soft, I'm Evan Nobe Williams, and I'm

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Speaker 1: Michael Barr. And this is the Bloomberg Business of Sports

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Speaker 1: podcast where we explore the big money issues in the

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Speaker 1: world of sports. Let's start with the Yankees and they

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Speaker 1: can buy back the Yes network. Well, let's say at

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Speaker 1: least get back their controlling share. Yeah yeah, yeah. But

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Speaker 1: before we get to any of that, you were out ill.

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Speaker 1: How are you feeling? I am bless you. I have

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Speaker 1: sound good better. It was a moment man where the

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Speaker 1: vocal cords just said, you know what, I'm done with you?

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Speaker 1: You know? And so you had plenty of time at

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Speaker 1: home in your recovery. Did you listen to last week's

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Speaker 1: show even though you were not a part of last week?

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Speaker 1: I always because it's a wee, it's a week say

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Speaker 1: we all right, this could be a shovel here. So

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Speaker 1: Michael Barr, just so you should know what my next

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Speaker 1: question is, which is what was the word of the week.

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Speaker 1: I didn't hear that part? Oh you didn't he know that?

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Speaker 1: We heard we planted in there t fly alright, you

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Speaker 1: do listen. Medina told you. Medina is in your ear

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Speaker 1: right now. She told you the way you said it, Medina,

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Speaker 1: come on, we were gonna have some. You didn't listen

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Speaker 1: to the show I did. There is no more, no more,

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Speaker 1: no more emphasis on the week. There's us and there's you.

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Speaker 1: Subterfuge by the producer Medina. I snuck you the TETs

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Speaker 1: fly in your ears. I didn't explain yourself. To explain yourself.

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Speaker 1: He knew the word. I knew nothing. In the show,

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Speaker 1: we said, let's see if Barr listens. Let's back up here. Now, okay,

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Speaker 1: back up to the line. Let's back up right before

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Speaker 1: the line. For the first half of the show. I

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Speaker 1: did not hear you. Gotta tell me what fly was

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Speaker 1: all about. The word the word of the week was

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Speaker 1: let's see if Bar listens. Michael, if you're listening, we said,

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Speaker 1: the word of the week is tats fly. So when

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Speaker 1: we ask you, you will find out if you listen

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Speaker 1: to the show and you didn't listen. That wasn't code.

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Speaker 1: It was a test and failed. All right, Well here's

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Speaker 1: the word of this week, Yankees network. Well we all

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Speaker 1: know let's get to the business because Evan and I

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Speaker 1: will scold you off air, but we know that Fox

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Speaker 1: is selling a bunch of its assets, and Disney is

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Speaker 1: making a bid, and Comcast is making a bid. The

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Speaker 1: Yankees way back when twelve, when they sold their share

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Speaker 1: or part of the share of Yes Network to Fox,

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Speaker 1: put a clause in there. And this is like playing chess,

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Speaker 1: what other people are playing checkers. They put a clause

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Speaker 1: in there that said, if you ever sell these assets,

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Speaker 1: we have the first right of refusal to buy it back.

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Speaker 1: So the Yankees probably don't want to be in business

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Speaker 1: with Comcast. Maybe Disney if they wind up getting the assets,

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Speaker 1: we'll see. But the Yankees, and I would imagine a

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Speaker 1: bunch of investors at least have the option to take

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Speaker 1: the Yes Network back price. I mean they sold that.

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Speaker 1: The valuation was about three point eight two twelve when

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Speaker 1: they seated about half to Fox, and now it's certainly

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Speaker 1: more than that. What are you expecting, Yes Network? It

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Speaker 1: says in the deal fair market value. My guess, And

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Speaker 1: this is not inside knowledge, and obviously we broke the

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Speaker 1: story here, so we know some stuff. But my guests

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Speaker 1: would be the valuation on Yes Network now would be

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Speaker 1: around three four to three six, somewhere in that area.

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Speaker 1: The question is, if you're the Yankees, it's a very

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Speaker 1: risky business now to go it alone, to have this

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Speaker 1: RS and this regional sports network without any big time

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Speaker 1: muscle behind you, like a Fox, like a Disney in

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Speaker 1: talks with Carrier, it essentially puts you back where you were.

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Speaker 1: The reason why they because they wanted that kind of

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Speaker 1: partners Well, they also wanted to take some money off

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Speaker 1: the taple what they wanted to cash. I doubt it's

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Speaker 1: gonna happen. But what if you get a visit a

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Speaker 1: bidding war between Disney and Comcast. What happens? Well, I

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Speaker 1: mean that's happening now for the Fox assets. But the

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Speaker 1: question be the yank doesn't affect Yankees. I mean that

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Speaker 1: they just have to decide do we want to buy

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Speaker 1: this asset back and exclude it as part of that

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Speaker 1: sale or do we want to leave it in That's

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Speaker 1: what they have to do. Well, but I'm but I'm

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Speaker 1: saying though, is like if Disney to Science, Hey, we're

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Speaker 1: going to come over the top, and now all of

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Speaker 1: a sudden, like you said about the valuation of the assets,

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Speaker 1: it grows. Sure they would love for this thing to

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Speaker 1: get better. I mean, now they're on the bike side,

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Speaker 1: they probably wouldn't. But whatever valuation is probably not tied

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Speaker 1: to the to the total assets, because there's so many

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Speaker 1: things as part of this that it's not like one

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Speaker 1: of those the rising title bring everything up. There's a

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Speaker 1: stand aloonade and value to Yes, right now, what is it?

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Speaker 1: What's that fair market value? Whether or not they have

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Speaker 1: to get one or two people to agree to it,

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Speaker 1: whether or not there's a hint of in specific language

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Speaker 1: in the contract, I do not know. But the bigger

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Speaker 1: point is the Yankees can take control back. And as

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Speaker 1: far as I know, no other owner of R S

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Speaker 1: N S that has sold to any any big time company.

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Speaker 1: Nobody else had this clause. So this is this is

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Speaker 1: some serious planning ahead of time and saying what is

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Speaker 1: our business if we cannot control who we're working with,

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Speaker 1: whether it be Comcast or Disney. So kudos to the

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Speaker 1: Yankees for at least giving themselves the option. What are

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Speaker 1: your thoughts on what the Yankees feel about Disney? I mean,

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Speaker 1: it's it's clear that if Comcast buys these assets. Yes,

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Speaker 1: network has had a history with Comcasting, and uh, that

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Speaker 1: seems like a nonstarter. Uh Is Disney a more lucrative

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Speaker 1: or a more enticing proposition? Do you think or is

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Speaker 1: that also a buyback forget about what I think. Is

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Speaker 1: one really smart person that I talked to who focuses

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Speaker 1: on R S N S He said, if it's Disney,

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Speaker 1: he said, okay, so we'll have to see what else goes. Well,

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Speaker 1: I should not reign on the parade for the S

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Speaker 1: Network and the Yankees, but I have to go now

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Speaker 1: to what MLB commission at Rob Menfrens as we're talking

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Speaker 1: about baseball, what he said at the end of the

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Speaker 1: owners meetings in New York. He signaled new concerns guarding

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Speaker 1: league attendance, which remains down by seven percent from last year. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and this is a concern because it's now been a while.

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Speaker 1: This is not the early couple of weeks where the

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Speaker 1: weather is bad around the country. This is now a

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Speaker 1: thing where Rob Manfred is sitting up and taking notice,

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Speaker 1: whether it's a bunch of strikeouts or not home run,

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Speaker 1: whatever it is. Rob wants to get to the bottom

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Speaker 1: of it, because a seven percent dip in attendance at

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Speaker 1: this stage ain't a good thing for these owners. That

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Speaker 1: would be the biggest drop in baseball attendance, which is

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Speaker 1: the year after the players strike, which kind of this

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Speaker 1: whole upheaval in the world of baseball. Um. I agree

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Speaker 1: with Scott the fact that Manfred is coming out and

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Speaker 1: publicly saying we're concerned, we're worried that this is about

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Speaker 1: more than the weather. Uh certainly. You know, look at

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Speaker 1: teams like the Toronto Blue Jays who play in the

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Speaker 1: stadium with a retractable roof. Their attendance is down. You

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Speaker 1: know that that is not a weather thing. You know,

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Speaker 1: Tampa Bay's attendance down also not a weather thing. You

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Speaker 1: know that there are there's a lot that's going on

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Speaker 1: beyond just the fact that there have been a lot

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Speaker 1: of rainde lays, a lot of cancelations, et cetera in

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Speaker 1: the early part of this year. Um. And it goes

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Speaker 1: back to the conversations we've had before about baseball's aging

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Speaker 1: demographics and what the sport can do and should do

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Speaker 1: to possibly change some things to make it more enticing

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Speaker 1: to younger fans and to put butts and seats well. Now,

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Speaker 1: and we just hit a point where there is so

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Speaker 1: much of divving ing up the pie concerning people trying

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Speaker 1: to get their attention. I mean, there's so many things now.

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Speaker 1: Back in the day, my day, you could go to

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Speaker 1: a Yankees game. Thank you Medina. Oh Mr tz Flying No,

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Speaker 1: I mean what, maybe it's gone to that point. Maybe

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Speaker 1: there's is too much, you know, for one year, year

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Speaker 1: over year, tough to be down seven percent and say well,

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Speaker 1: all of a sudden, there's just too many things out

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Speaker 1: there for people to do. Yeah, they got to get

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Speaker 1: to the bottom of it. I mean, it's it's a problem.

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure what it is is a length of game.

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Speaker 1: They were working on pace of play because young kids

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Speaker 1: don't want four and a half five hour games. I

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Speaker 1: go the other way. Great, I'll sit if I want

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Speaker 1: to leave a leap, but I'll sit there for five

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Speaker 1: hours and watch the Yankees and the Red Sox lug

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Speaker 1: it out. And we should know that this is not

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Speaker 1: a uniquely baseball problem. You know, across a lot of

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Speaker 1: different sports. College football is having a major problem at

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Speaker 1: different levels with attendance, the value student sections, the value

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Speaker 1: proposition of going to a game. Given the way that

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Speaker 1: the TV landscape is and and how much people love

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Speaker 1: to be next to their phones and be on a

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Speaker 1: second screen, the value proposition of being live at a

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Speaker 1: game is changing dramatic. We talked about this when we

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Speaker 1: talked the Vegas Golden Knights that you have got to

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Speaker 1: make the in arena, in stadium experience so different and

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Speaker 1: so compelling that sitting at home shouldn't be an option

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Speaker 1: that people enough people, whether it's eighteen thousand, twenty thousand,

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Speaker 1: eighty thousand in football, that you should be able to

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Speaker 1: draw enough people who want to take part in that

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Speaker 1: experience that sitting at home doesn't com hair. And right now,

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Speaker 1: there's enough negatives, whether it's bathroom lines, prices of food.

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Speaker 1: In Atlanta took that away, and we see what's going

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Speaker 1: on there with the soccer. You've got to give them

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Speaker 1: reason to fill those seats. And that's an interesting point

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Speaker 1: because a lot of sports executives still don't see that.

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Speaker 1: We talked to a lot of people who come in

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Speaker 1: here and they're talking about their stadium and they're talking

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Speaker 1: about how they want to make it look more like

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Speaker 1: the home experience. You know, they're doing the screens at

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Speaker 1: the seats, et cetera. They're trying to mimic the home experience.

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Speaker 1: And then you have people like the Golden Knights, like

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Speaker 1: the Nashville Predators, as Scott said, who are going the opposite.

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Speaker 1: You know, they're saying, we don't want to make this

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Speaker 1: more like sitting at home in your couch. We want

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Speaker 1: to create an experience that you can't get no matter

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Speaker 1: how connected you are sitting on your couch. And the

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Speaker 1: example I always give is the Duke University students section

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Speaker 1: at Cameron Indoor that there is no more tech savvy

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Speaker 1: and tech friendly group than that col edge age kid

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Speaker 1: who's there but for two hours. Keep your eyes on

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Speaker 1: the student section when Duke is playing. They're jumping up

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Speaker 1: and down. They are not on their phones looking to

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Speaker 1: put something on Instagram. They are focusing on having fun

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Speaker 1: in the arena. That's the atmosphere that the pros have

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Speaker 1: to try and conquer. Speaking of pros, well, a former

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Speaker 1: pro Mr Boris Becker, I love this, he is saying,

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Speaker 1: now that he has been appointed by the Central African

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Speaker 1: Republic as is attach A for Sports and Humanitarian Cultural Affairs. Hey,

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Speaker 1: I'm immune to any legal tifts. The only thing comes

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Speaker 1: to my right away is, uh, what's the what's the

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Speaker 1: movie with Martin Riggs? You know they're the main character,

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Speaker 1: Little mel Gibson and Danny Glover with a weapon. Do

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Speaker 1: you remember remember when the guy just says, diplom magic immunit.

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Speaker 1: Take that's that's what that's what goes through this crazy mine. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and then again that was good. I gotta warm up again.

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Speaker 1: I was ready for it once. But he looked. He

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Speaker 1: looks at at Riggs and Rix's has the gun on.

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Speaker 1: He goes diplomatic immunita in a South African accent. I mean,

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Speaker 1: and I think you know what he Riggs shoots him

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Speaker 1: and says, just been revoked. But I don't want to

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Speaker 1: throw I don't know, but just on the on the

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Speaker 1: face of things, it just seems absurd that he's using

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Speaker 1: this as a way to get out from these was

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Speaker 1: a bankruptcy. Yeah, so he's claiming that as as the

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Speaker 1: diplomatic and the sports diplomat to the Central African Republic,

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Speaker 1: that it that he is clear of all bankruty proceedings,

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Speaker 1: can't have legal action brought against him. I see a

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Speaker 1: Telegraph story from this morning that says the Central African

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Speaker 1: Republic has denied that he has any kind of diplomatic

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Speaker 1: status within the country. Uh, this is again, this is

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Speaker 1: what did you get a card? Do you get? Like?

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Speaker 1: What do you get that you can show? Yes? I do. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: The apparently the president never signed any documents giving him

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Speaker 1: diplomatic community. Uh, and this is one of the poorest

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Speaker 1: countries in the world to worry about. Yeah, it's a

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Speaker 1: bad look if you're one of the most famous tennis

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Speaker 1: players of all time trying to hide behind you know,

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Speaker 1: work you were doing for a for for a war

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Speaker 1: torn and an incredibly poor country, to try to avoid

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Speaker 1: legal ramification in your home country. We're running out of time,

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Speaker 1: but I gotta bring this up. Phil Michelson's meltdown. By

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Speaker 1: the way, his wife said that he's a good man

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Speaker 1: who had a bad moment. Now, in case you guys

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Speaker 1: don't know that what happened saturday because the Greens were

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Speaker 1: just fast and they lost the course, and so Michelson

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Speaker 1: made a putt. It went way past where he wanted

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Speaker 1: it to go. But here's the problem. As the ball

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Speaker 1: was moving, he putted it back. Now here's the question.

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Speaker 1: I thought the rule was if you intentionally hit a

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Speaker 1: moving ball, that that's a d Q. But according to Michelson,

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Speaker 1: it was just a two stroke penalty. There's there's two rules,

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Speaker 1: and there's a way to read the rule book in

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Speaker 1: which you're right, you hit a moving ball. You're disqualified.

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Speaker 1: And there's also intentional exactly, and there's a different part

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Speaker 1: of the rule book that assesses a two stroke penalty

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Speaker 1: for what he did. Uh. The uproar was vociferous. You know,

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Speaker 1: there are a lot of people that are very upset

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Speaker 1: with this is where people sit at home and colin

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Speaker 1: rules violations. So yeah, you know this seems in Gulf,

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Speaker 1: this would seem to be a major felony in fraction clearly,

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Speaker 1: and players are among those that are that are vocally upset.

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Speaker 1: You know, you see some of these other pros on

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Speaker 1: Twitter saying that he should have been d Q, etcetera.

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Speaker 1: It makes you wonder if if his sponsors, whether it's

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Speaker 1: KPMG or x on Mobile, Callaway Rolex, isn't the main

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Speaker 1: if any of them year rolling And by the way,

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Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen, was not looking at a piece of

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Speaker 1: paper and not in front of me. It makes you

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Speaker 1: wonder if they care if one of their principal endorsers

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Speaker 1: is out there. I didn't see this, but Charlie Voldmer

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Speaker 1: told me one of our one of our guys here

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Speaker 1: at Bloomberg Radio, that Nicholson came out and said it

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Speaker 1: was strategy yeah, I was intentional that it was going

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Speaker 1: to go too far, and he had done the calculus

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Speaker 1: before the put that I'd rather just take the two

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Speaker 1: strokes because I knew I was going to be next

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Speaker 1: to the hole on the comeback. I'm gonna put it

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Speaker 1: in a very non golfway. That ain't cole. But this

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Speaker 1: happens in sports all the time, right, I mean you

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Speaker 1: you you don't run out your groundball. You know you're

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Speaker 1: you're upset with different This is strategizing, like you're not

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Speaker 1: allowed to intentionally hit a moving ball. But his his

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Speaker 1: whole strategy was if I put it too far past

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Speaker 1: the whole, I'm going to hit the moving ball because

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Speaker 1: I'd rather take the two stroke penalty. But see that's

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Speaker 1: the point. He intentionally hit the moving ball. So why

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Speaker 1: weren't you d q R. I mean, he wasn't. He's

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Speaker 1: not in contention. He his day was over what he

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Speaker 1: would He said that he would rather hit the hit

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Speaker 1: the thing, and get on with the hole than to

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Speaker 1: have to go back and do the whole thing over again.

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Speaker 1: This isn't It's not like he was vying for any

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Speaker 1: kind of prize at all, etcetera. I'm sure he makes

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Speaker 1: more money finishing in thirty five that he does if

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Speaker 1: he finish well. He didn't finish it either, But you

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Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. To hire you finished, the more

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Speaker 1: you get paid. I know, we got to wrap this up.

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Speaker 1: But in fairness, now, the officials at Shinnecock had said, listen,

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Speaker 1: we apologize for what happened to the course on Saturday.

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Speaker 1: Because it's one thing. If you hit a bad that's

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Speaker 1: what the US Open is about. If you hit a

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Speaker 1: bad shot. Yes, you should pay a penalty for hitting

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Speaker 1: a bad shot, but you weren't rewarded as a golfer

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Speaker 1: if you hit a good shot. And if you lie

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Speaker 1: to your co host, you also have to pay a

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Speaker 1: penalty just saying you and you know what. During the

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Speaker 1: pot later on the weekend the Pott, we really have

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Speaker 1: to discuss this landon Donovan the the ad telling people

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Speaker 1: you will frog away, tell him to root from Mexico

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Speaker 1: outside like all the US the former US players are

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Speaker 1: up in arms and we'll talk about it on the

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Speaker 1: pod later in the week. But this is a good

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Speaker 1: fun sports business story now as you got my mouth water.

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Speaker 1: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast on Michael

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Speaker 1: bar along with Scott Sashnik and Evan Nobi Williams. We

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Speaker 1: are here each and every Monday and Friday, exploring the

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Speaker 1: world of money and sports. Join us again at the

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Speaker 1: end of the week when we speak with the biggest

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Speaker 1: and brightest in the sports business world. You're listening to

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Sports on Bloomberg Radio around the world

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Speaker 1: and online as an Apple Podcast on iTunes,