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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Deal.

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Speaker 1: I'm Jason Kelly alongside Alex Rodriguez and Alex. There you are.

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Speaker 1: The walls are blank. You're not in a witness protection program.

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Speaker 1: You're just in your new office in Minneapolis. It's all happening, man,

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Speaker 1: like you are mister Minneapolis these days.

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Speaker 2: I have to ask you. I'm talking to you.

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Speaker 1: A couple of days after Game one of the playoffs

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Speaker 1: Links versus Valkyries.

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Speaker 2: Listen. I watched it on TV. It looked electric. What

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Speaker 2: was it like in there?

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Speaker 3: It really was, Jason, it was a sold out crowd.

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Speaker 3: One seed where the one seed Joe Lacub's team is,

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Speaker 3: you know, the eighth seed.

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Speaker 4: He came down. We spent some time together. He's such

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Speaker 4: a great guy.

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Speaker 1: So Joe Lacub, just to remind people, so, you know,

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Speaker 1: the majority owner of the Golden State Warriors and now

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Speaker 1: the Valkyries, which is the brand new WNBA team. This's

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Speaker 1: the first time an expansion team has made the playoffs

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Speaker 1: in their first year. They've been so exciting to watch. Like,

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Speaker 1: what's he saying about the d is he excited?

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Speaker 4: It was more me.

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Speaker 3: Saying to him and congratulating him, and I mean Joe

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Speaker 3: lacub He's could write a masterclass, just like Jerry Jones

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Speaker 3: and others.

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Speaker 4: I mean the way he creates value.

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Speaker 3: He basically sold out every ticket for every game of

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Speaker 3: the season, sponsorship record breaking for year one, and the

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Speaker 3: fact that they have a really good team and they're

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Speaker 3: in the playoffs just tells you what a great operator

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Speaker 3: he is.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so what are you feeling as you're watching this

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Speaker 1: because you're the governor of the most successful WNBA team

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Speaker 1: in history in the links four championships, you know, going

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Speaker 1: for a fifth. We're in the in the final last

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Speaker 1: year and lost to the Liberty. What's the vibe from

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Speaker 1: where you said?

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Speaker 3: Well, first of all, yes, four titles, and I had

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Speaker 3: nothing to do with any of them. But as my

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Speaker 3: first year as GUVN, as you mentioned, Jason, I was

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Speaker 3: very nervous, very excited. You know, there's two things about

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Speaker 3: sports that make you really scared of these short series

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Speaker 3: three five games and this is the best of three. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: it doesn't matter who's better. I mean, one ball, one

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Speaker 3: call can go the other way and you're done. So

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Speaker 3: good for showing the fan base was awesome. There is

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Speaker 3: a very very sticky, very passionate, very smart fan base.

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Speaker 3: And because we have such great continuity, the fans and

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Speaker 3: the team is almost like one. I mean they do

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Speaker 3: all this dancing. They do this postgame celebration where they dance.

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Speaker 3: No one leaves until that dance.

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Speaker 4: Is over, including me.

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Speaker 3: By the way, the WNBA product is just so so good.

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Speaker 3: And if you look at the numbers, the viewership numbers,

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Speaker 3: they're actually comparable to baseball, you know, Someday night baseball.

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Speaker 4: It's really exciting time.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it is really cool to watch. I mean obviously

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Speaker 1: this the team too, is just so fun to watch.

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Speaker 1: I mean within the FISA, Colli, you're especially leading it,

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Speaker 1: you know, a leading candidate for MVP. So I'm excited.

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Speaker 1: I got to get out. I want to come to

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Speaker 1: a game with you.

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Speaker 3: Please please all right, and when you're here, please help

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Speaker 3: me decorate my office because it looks like I'm in

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Speaker 3: the Witness Protective Yeah program.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really time.

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Speaker 1: You need to get But you know, you got a

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Speaker 1: new CEO, like everything's everything's getting underway. And it also

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Speaker 1: speaking of you being you know, mister Minnesota and mister Minneapolis,

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Speaker 1: do I also understand you went to a baseball game

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Speaker 1: there with so Twins yanked.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so my afternoon they walking every inch of our arena,

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Speaker 3: target looking for opportunities to improve the fan experience at seats, luxuries,

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Speaker 3: the VIP experiences, which was fun.

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Speaker 4: And then I.

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Speaker 3: Walked across literally the hallway over here where there's a

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Speaker 3: bridge that takes you from our arena to Target Field,

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Speaker 3: and my Yankees were there. So I went to see

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Speaker 3: Michael Kay and I went to see Susan Waldman, went

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Speaker 3: to see some of the players, and it's always good. Unfortunately,

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Speaker 3: the Twins beat us down pretty good yesterday. I think

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Speaker 3: we lost seven zero, but uh, it was always great.

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Speaker 4: To see the Yankees.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and so how are you feeling about the Yankees

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Speaker 1: right now? That loss notwithstanding, how are you feeling?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think they're they're playing better. I think there's

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Speaker 3: a bit of a gift and curse. They've had a

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Speaker 3: bit of an inconsistent year, but they're playing much better

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Speaker 3: as of late. And if there's one year where you

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Speaker 3: can kind of sneak into the World Series, is this one.

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Speaker 3: Because there's no real alpha in the American League. It's

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Speaker 3: literally wide open. Every team is there's no perfect team

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Speaker 3: and there are two pitchers, you know, Max Freed and

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Speaker 3: the others can join. They got some great young pitching too.

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Speaker 3: I think they have a shot.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it'll be interesting to see, you know, what these

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Speaker 1: playoffs look like. You know, we talk a little bit

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Speaker 1: later in this episode. Coming up, we've got Katie Gregg.

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Speaker 1: She's the president of Baltimore Orioles. Obviously, they're not threatening

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Speaker 1: the Yankees right now. It's been a bit of a

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Speaker 1: tough ride for them, but fascinating to hear what she's

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Speaker 1: up to. Their massive business opportunity in a really good market.

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Speaker 1: You know, you and I know a number of people

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Speaker 1: in the ownership there, David Rubinstein, are sort of colleague

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Speaker 1: of sorts here at Bloom. He hosts to show peer

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Speaker 1: to peer conversations as well as some other shows here.

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Speaker 1: Michael Araghetti, the CEO of Aries, is the number two

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Speaker 1: partner there at the Orioles and some other folks cal Ripken,

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Speaker 1: your childhood idol. He's part of the ownership group now.

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Speaker 1: So there's a lot to be excited about on the field,

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Speaker 1: but certainly off the field. So I really enjoyed catching

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Speaker 1: up with her and hearing her vision for it. She

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Speaker 1: started out, you know or she worked at one point

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Speaker 1: in Seattle, just like you did.

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Speaker 3: If I can just make one little bet, I'm buying

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Speaker 3: some stock and I'm buying some property for the Baltimore

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Speaker 3: Orioles for the next five years, because I think the

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Speaker 3: stock is low, but I think it's going to the

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Speaker 3: moon under this ownership. Obviously, the management team and the

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Speaker 3: young players they have, they can retain them. I think

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Speaker 3: they have a shot to do really special things.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, as a Yankees fan, you're probably a

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Speaker 1: little worried about about them coming up when they really

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Speaker 1: get it together. I mean, the Al East is certainly

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Speaker 1: some of the best real estate in all of baseball,

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Speaker 1: and when all of those teams get going, it's really

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Speaker 1: really good for the game. All right, coming up, Kittie

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Speaker 1: Gregg's from the Orioles. Welcome back to the deal. I'm

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Speaker 1: Jason Kelly alongside Alex Rodriguez. So excited to have with

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Speaker 1: us Katie greg She's the president of business Operations for

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Speaker 1: the Baltimore Orioles. Someone we've been circling around because we

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Speaker 1: have a lot of friends in your organization, Katie, but

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Speaker 1: we wanted to talk to the boss, the person who

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Speaker 1: actually like runs this ship day to day. Thank you

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Speaker 1: for joining us, Thanks for having me. So let's start

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Speaker 1: with the state of baseball. How would you characterize it?

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Speaker 1: You know, you've been in baseball for some time now,

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Speaker 1: what's the business of baseball.

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Speaker 2: Here in twenty twenty five? In a few words, I.

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Speaker 5: Think the business of baseball is strong. We still play

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Speaker 5: a really unique role in the sports ecosystem. We have

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Speaker 5: a lot of games, and I think it's one of

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Speaker 5: the things that makes us special. We have the opportunity

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Speaker 5: to bring people together and create those spaces where people

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Speaker 5: are coming together over shared passions versus perhaps being in

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Speaker 5: situations where they either don't interact or torn apart by differences,

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Speaker 5: you know, And I think do you need more of

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Speaker 5: those spaces? And we're seeing fans going and spending time

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Speaker 5: at ballparks. Attendance remained strong, TV viewership remained strong, and

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Speaker 5: I do think that the introduction at the pitch clock

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Speaker 5: and shortening the game time is something that does have

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Speaker 5: a role to play in that.

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Speaker 1: And I'm glad you went to this sort of the

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Speaker 1: real changes and what we've seen over the last couple

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Speaker 1: of years. How do you see it from a business perspective,

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Speaker 1: like how did it play through to either, you know,

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Speaker 1: fan engagement, fans in seeds, merch concessions, Like, did you

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Speaker 1: see a real change as these rules sort of came

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Speaker 1: in to the top line and bottom line of your business.

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Speaker 5: Well, I think there's a lot of questions leading up

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Speaker 5: to it about what was that impact going to be.

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Speaker 5: My guiding light has been and remains that if you

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Speaker 5: do the right thing for your fans, it's good for

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Speaker 5: your business. I think that holds true in this case.

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Speaker 5: You know, we've heard for a long time that the

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Speaker 5: game was long, and we know that we're in a

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Speaker 5: world of shortened attention spans. You know, we talk a

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Speaker 5: lot about share of watch versus share of wallet, and

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Speaker 5: the reality is this is something that's brand new. This

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Speaker 5: is simply taking game times back to what they were

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Speaker 5: a decade or two ago. So it's not changing the game.

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Speaker 5: It's not fundamentally altering it. And I think what you

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Speaker 5: saw last year in year one was I think economics

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Speaker 5: were pretty similar in terms of those in game economics.

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Speaker 5: You know, some teams saw growth, some teams saw minor decreases.

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Speaker 5: That's something that's pretty common year over year and didn't

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Speaker 5: seem to be materially impacted by it. But again, we've

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Speaker 5: seen strong attendance in the league. We've seen strong viewership

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Speaker 5: in the league over the last few years, and I think,

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Speaker 5: you know, it's certainly not too difficult to surmise that

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Speaker 5: that's a part of it.

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Speaker 3: So, Katie, when you zoom out and you look at

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Speaker 3: the major four major sports in American sports, right that's MOB, NBA, NFL, NHL.

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Speaker 3: NHL has had the best growth the last four or

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Speaker 3: five years. NBA and NFL have been pretty similar both,

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Speaker 3: you know, high double digits, nh O over twenty percent,

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Speaker 3: but baseball's midst single digits.

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Speaker 4: What do you attribute this to?

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Speaker 3: And the word on the street is that, you know,

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Speaker 3: the best buy right now from the four sports is baseball,

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Speaker 3: and the multiples are quite quite attractive. How do you

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Speaker 3: make baseball more attractive from an enterprise point of view?

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Speaker 3: And where's the growth in baseball?

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Speaker 5: I think the growth in baseball is recognizing what's always

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Speaker 5: been there and making sure we're creating environments where all

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Speaker 5: fans feel not only welcome but wanted. Now, when you

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Speaker 5: look at the diversity of our athletes on the field,

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Speaker 5: it's no secret it's changed over time. When you look

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Speaker 5: at the ways in which teams have shifted from more

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Speaker 5: urban center ballpark locations out to suburbs, that does carry

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Speaker 5: with it it's more difficult to get there, you have

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Speaker 5: less public transit. And I think the reality is, when

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Speaker 5: you have one hundred and sixty two games each season,

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Speaker 5: it's incumbent upon us to create one hundred and sixty

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Speaker 5: two opportunities or at least eighty one at home and

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Speaker 5: hopefully more to attract fans and create a spot where

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Speaker 5: everyone feels welcome. And so, as someone who has a

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Speaker 5: privilege of working for a club in a really diverse city,

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Speaker 5: I don't know that historically we can look ourselves in

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Speaker 5: the eye and say we've done all that we could

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Speaker 5: or should to make sure that everyone feels welcome, everyone

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Speaker 5: feels wanted, and we've created a space that really does

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Speaker 5: serve the needs of our entire community.

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Speaker 3: And Katie, a follow up on that, like, if you

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Speaker 3: were to be a commissioner for one day, is there

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Speaker 3: two or three things you would try to implement? And

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Speaker 3: by the way, Rob Bamford, who's the commissioner now, has

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Speaker 3: done a fantastic job. As you mentioned, some of the

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Speaker 3: rules already changed but how would you add to that.

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Speaker 5: I think, look, there are a lot of really great

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Speaker 5: things that are already underway, and so from my standpoint,

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Speaker 5: I think we are moving in the right direction. One

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Speaker 5: of the things that I know that there's been an

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Speaker 5: emphasis on that I would continue building on is the

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Speaker 5: connection that fans have to athletes. The increased focus on

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Speaker 5: storytelling not only about the incredible athletic feats that are

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Speaker 5: happening on the field of play every single day and

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Speaker 5: every single evening, but also about who these athletes are.

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Speaker 5: I mean, we have incredible men playing the sport throughout

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Speaker 5: the league, throughout each and every team, and the more

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Speaker 5: that we focus on solely their athletic exploits. You know,

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Speaker 5: not all of us can be big league players. Most

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Speaker 5: of us can't, but we can all relate to the

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Speaker 5: characteristics that each and every one of these people brings

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Speaker 5: to the sport, to the game, and to themselves. And

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Speaker 5: I think helping people find those connections, helping people see

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Speaker 5: themselves in these athletes, whether it's someone where it's reminds

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Speaker 5: me of my brother, he reminds me of my uncle,

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Speaker 5: reminds me of a buddy of mine. The more effectively

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Speaker 5: we're able to showcase the players themselves, which is something

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Speaker 5: that I would argue the NBA in particular has done

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Speaker 5: a very good job at I think the more successful

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Speaker 5: will be.

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Speaker 1: Does it feel like the players are up for that.

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Speaker 1: I would imagine that players would look at the baseball

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Speaker 1: players would look at the NBA and be like, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: those guys are making more money off the court because

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Speaker 1: of all of those things. How much convincing do you

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Speaker 1: have to do as a smart business person to these players,

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Speaker 1: who presumably are increasingly smart business people in their own right.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I think there'd be tremendous humorous and putting myself

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Speaker 5: inside the head of a professional being league player. So

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Speaker 5: I might turn that one into Alex. But you know,

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Speaker 5: from my standpoint, we are at a phase where when

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Speaker 5: you look at the age of a lot of the

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Speaker 5: players of the game, like, this is a social media generation.

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Speaker 5: This is a generation that grew up with the Internet

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Speaker 5: and social media being part of their everyday lives and

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Speaker 5: telling their stories and how they connect their friends and

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Speaker 5: each other. You know. So, I think from a willingness

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Speaker 5: and an understanding and an appetite, it's there. The question

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Speaker 5: isn't always remains in a sport like baseball, when there

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Speaker 5: are so many games and so many demands placed upon

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Speaker 5: these athletes, how do you do this in a way

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Speaker 5: that's organic, How do you do this in a way

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Speaker 5: that's authentic, And how do you do this in a

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Speaker 5: way that is meaningful and natural and comfortable for each

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Speaker 5: one of them? And building that system where they know

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Speaker 5: they're set up for success here? Right? This is something

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Speaker 5: there is in that gotcha moment. This is about how

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Speaker 5: do we celebrate them as people? And every single person

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Speaker 5: is unique. But I'd be curious on alex thoughts on it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Alex, what do you think is it starting to resonate?

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Speaker 4: I think so.

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Speaker 3: In the numbers suggest so as well. I mean, Baseball's

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Speaker 3: had a twenty four month one here that is as

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Speaker 3: good as I've seen it on quite a long time.

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Speaker 4: I think it's an interesting thing about narrative, right.

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Speaker 3: I Mean, we always thought when I came in nineteen

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Speaker 3: eighty four that baseball was the most attractive sport for

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Speaker 3: TV because we had so much content, and we grew

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Speaker 3: up in an era where they said more contents better.

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Speaker 3: Somehow they flip that on his head and are saying

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Speaker 3: they're holding that against this right because it's not as scarce.

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Speaker 4: But I don't see it that way.

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Speaker 3: I think we have to be able to turn that

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Speaker 3: narrative like the Titanic and say we have a better

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Speaker 3: offering because we can be on one hundred and sixty

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Speaker 3: two games, which is like a soap opera at home

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Speaker 3: every night. So I think there's some work to do there.

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Speaker 3: I also think there's some low hanging fruit. I mean,

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Speaker 3: if you think about Thanksgiving this year, you have the

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Speaker 3: Dallas Cowboys going up against Kansas City in the second

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Speaker 3: slot on CBS, and I heard Jim Nance talking about

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Speaker 3: it that he thinks is going to be the largest

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Speaker 3: TV audience ever for a regular season game. So how

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Speaker 3: do we take July fourth as the American Day and

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Speaker 3: take America's pastime and have both Fox and ESPN the

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Speaker 3: media partners, on location and have the best four games

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Speaker 3: from the time that is twelve to midnight, and it

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Speaker 3: should be all baseball every day. I don't want to see.

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Speaker 4: The hot Dogs.

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Speaker 3: The hot Dogs are great on ESPN, but it should

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Speaker 3: be America's pastime. And then I think, to Katie's point,

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Speaker 3: You've never had better young players than you have today

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Speaker 3: since I've been around the game for the last thirty

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Speaker 3: or forty years, and you know, how do we take

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Speaker 3: the helmet off of the gunner Henderson's, the Aaron Judge Jotani's,

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Speaker 3: But then there's the second layers of that, right then,

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Speaker 3: who's the next Bryce Harper? And a lot of play

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Speaker 3: on Katie seemed the Baltimorials. So I think we have

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Speaker 3: to be able to do a better job of storytelling.

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Speaker 3: Whether is that some reality TV where we follow him

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Speaker 3: around in the off season to find out who they

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Speaker 3: are so we can be invested, Especially like my mom

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Speaker 3: and my sister, they care more about the person, not

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Speaker 3: just the stats. And I think we can appeal to

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Speaker 3: women a lot better than we are right now.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting, Katie. I mean to think about your

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Speaker 1: franchise in particular. You know, I came along at a

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Speaker 1: time and I've been a baseball fan all my life.

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Speaker 1: You and I shared a little common history as Southerners,

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Speaker 1: and I know you worked in Atlanta for a time

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Speaker 1: for the soccer club down there. I believe you know

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Speaker 1: I've been a Braves fan all my life. We could

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Speaker 1: talk about the Braves. It's painful in their current iteration,

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Speaker 1: but you know, one of the greatest storylines in the

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Speaker 1: history of baseball was Cal Ripken. You know Cal Riken

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Speaker 1: j I mean, you know, an unbelievable thing. Now he's

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Speaker 1: obviously I know he's you know, back more involved with

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Speaker 1: the club. He's a minority owner. You know, I've spent

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Speaker 1: some time with him. I know he's a hero of Alex's.

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Speaker 1: How do you marry this? You know kind of youth

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Speaker 1: movement and all this stuff we're talking about with this

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Speaker 1: like rich heritage you have as a club.

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Speaker 5: I think that's a huge strength in an asset. So

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Speaker 5: to your point on Cal, we had the opportunity to

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Speaker 5: celebrate him recently in the thirtieth anniversary of his twenty

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Speaker 5: one thirty one feet which I don't know how that

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Speaker 5: ever gets broken at this point. But I think one

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Speaker 5: of the things that does make baseball so special is

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Speaker 5: the true connection and tie that it has. It is

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Speaker 5: that sense of tradition, It is that sense of history.

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Speaker 5: You know, whenever I'm at a game, I'm still struck.

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Speaker 5: In the seventh thinning, you have the seventh thinning stretch.

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Speaker 5: Everyone in the ballpark knows the song. Yeah, those moments

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Speaker 5: don't happen elsewhere. Right, have different teams, different leagues, everyone

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Speaker 5: has special things that make them unique. So this isn't

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Speaker 5: a better than but I do think it's something that's

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Speaker 5: different than is. We have the opportunity to celebrate the history.

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Speaker 5: We have the opportunity to celebrate all of our all

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Speaker 5: time great So you have a lot of really incredible records,

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Speaker 5: many of which still stand. You still talk about the

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Speaker 5: athletes who played one hundred years ago as if they

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Speaker 5: were stars today, and that's something you simply don't see.

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Speaker 5: And so I think there's a really unique opportunity to

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Speaker 5: showcase not only all of the incredible things that are

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Speaker 5: happening now and will be happening in the future, but

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Speaker 5: also tie them back to what makes us great, what

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Speaker 5: makes this sport great, and particularly in communities, what makes

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Speaker 5: these communities great. There's so many special moments, using Baltimore

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Speaker 5: as an example, whether they're here at Camden Yards or

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Speaker 5: at Memorial Stadium, where this team means something to this community, right,

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Speaker 5: And it means something this community because it's something that

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Speaker 5: you've been a part of. Whether you're a young adult

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Speaker 5: and you're listening to your mom, dad, aunt, uncle, grandparents,

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Speaker 5: what have you like? This is a club that means

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Speaker 5: something to this city, and I think being able to

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Speaker 5: reflect on that history while also celebrating the president and

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Speaker 5: future is a really unique strength and asset to baseball.

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Speaker 5: That's somewhat unique, Katie.

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Speaker 3: Speaking of community and assets, one of the greatest assets

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Speaker 3: that you have, in my opinion from playing there for

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Speaker 3: almost twenty five years, is Camden Yards. It's truly one

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Speaker 3: of the the great landmarks in America, and not just

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Speaker 3: Baltimore area. When you think about your job and whether

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Speaker 3: that's cutting expenses, adding different levers to add revenue, that

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Speaker 3: will affect tremendously. Because you do play in the ivy

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Speaker 3: League of Baseball, the American League East, and it's been

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Speaker 3: there for a very long time. How do you compete

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Speaker 3: against the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees and

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Speaker 3: so on and so forth.

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Speaker 4: Very tough competition. How do you think about that?

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Speaker 5: I mean, I won't speak to in depth from the

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Speaker 5: baseball side, because again I don't want to get out

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Speaker 5: of her my skis, But I think the reality is

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Speaker 5: we compete by being ourselves. We compete by leaning into

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Speaker 5: the things that make us special. We compete to leaning

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Speaker 5: into the fact that we have incredible community, an amazing ballpark,

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Speaker 5: and a lot of things. We're just a mentality ethos

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Speaker 5: of this place is we're going to do it differently,

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Speaker 5: like great, you've got the money, Great you've got this,

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Speaker 5: Great you've got that. That's fine, We're just going to

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Speaker 5: outwork you, right, We're going to show up. It's I

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Speaker 5: think Cal is the perfect example of what exemplifies Baltimore

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Speaker 5: and the Baltimore ethos. I mean, he's a guy who

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Speaker 5: showed up every single day, right, no off days. You

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Speaker 5: come up, you show up, you work hard, and you

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Speaker 5: come back again and do it again tomorrow. I think

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Speaker 5: there are certain things about this team and this community

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Speaker 5: that are just incredibly special and incredibly unique. And that's

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Speaker 5: not to say that you don't have great things about

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Speaker 5: all of the other clubs. Every club has things that

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Speaker 5: make them special and unique. But I think what's going

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Speaker 5: to help Baltimore win is by being Baltimore and not

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Speaker 5: trying to pretend that they're the Yankees, not trying to

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Speaker 5: pretend that we're the Red Sox because we're not, and

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Speaker 5: that doesn't make us weaker, it just makes us different.

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Speaker 1: So I'm glad Alex brought up Camp New Yards, because

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Speaker 1: I remember going there, you know, when I was going

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Speaker 1: to college nearby and just being sort of blown away

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Speaker 1: was so different back then. There are a lot of

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Speaker 1: ballparks in the intervening, you know, couple decades, several decades

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Speaker 1: that have have copied a lot of a lot of

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Speaker 1: the playbook. I know Alex is thinking a lot about

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Speaker 1: this as an owner in a different league. Now, how

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Speaker 1: do you think about the physical plant, how do you

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Speaker 1: think about the area around the stadium? I know that's

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Speaker 1: is this is something that ownership has talked about, But

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Speaker 1: how do you think about the opportunities to create even

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Speaker 1: more of an ecosystem around Camden Yards.

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Speaker 5: Well, I think one of the things that makes it

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Speaker 5: special that we touched on earlier is the fact that

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Speaker 5: we are in the heart of the city, right We're

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Speaker 5: walking distance to the harbor. We're somewhere where there's public

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Speaker 5: trends that you have the ability for different fans to

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Speaker 5: get here, whether they're fans who are here in Baltimore

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Speaker 5: City or fans throughout the sort of mid Atlantic region

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Speaker 5: that I believe is a unique strength. And to your point,

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Speaker 5: Camden Yards is a cathedral like it is such a

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Speaker 5: special ballpark and we are so fortunate to have statewide

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Speaker 5: support to actually continue to invest it in and make sure

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Speaker 5: that it is as great for fans looking ahead as

435
00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:42,639
Speaker 5: it has been for fans to date. And so for us,

436
00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:45,680
Speaker 5: it really is about doubling down on the fan experience here,

437
00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,600
Speaker 5: making sure that we're creating spaces and experiences that resonate

438
00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:51,480
Speaker 5: with different fans and recognize different people want different things

439
00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,399
Speaker 5: at different times, and that's okay, right. This is no

440
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:56,959
Speaker 5: longer about telling people how they should watch a baseball game.

441
00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:00,080
Speaker 5: It's creating the opportunity for fans to consume a baseball

442
00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:01,359
Speaker 5: came and take part of it in a way that

443
00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:03,320
Speaker 5: actually makes sense for them and feels right for them.

444
00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:05,840
Speaker 5: So I think inside the ballpark, we're very committed to that.

445
00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:07,719
Speaker 5: We've got a lot of construction that'll be going on

446
00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,080
Speaker 5: this off scene in the part of that project, and

447
00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:12,760
Speaker 5: then looking around the ballpark, look, one of the counterpoints

448
00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:15,000
Speaker 5: of a urban center ballpark is it is in the

449
00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:18,240
Speaker 5: urban center. And so for us, ensuring that we're collaborating

450
00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:20,439
Speaker 5: with public and private sector to make sure that this

451
00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:23,520
Speaker 5: is a safe, comfortable, and part of town where our

452
00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:25,720
Speaker 5: fans want to be, where our fans feel safe, where

453
00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,600
Speaker 5: our fans feel welcome. That always is top of mind.

454
00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:31,840
Speaker 1: And so do you look at something, do you drive

455
00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:34,080
Speaker 1: going back to the Braves for a second again on

456
00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:37,040
Speaker 1: my own worst enemy in this regard, not talking about

457
00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:38,879
Speaker 1: on the field, but talking about off the field. You know,

458
00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:41,359
Speaker 1: Alex every time he goes down and sees tru As

459
00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:44,880
Speaker 1: he raves about the battery and everything that they've done

460
00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:47,440
Speaker 1: around there. As you look around the league and maybe

461
00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:51,280
Speaker 1: tapping into your experience in Seattle where Alex started his career,

462
00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:51,920
Speaker 1: you know.

463
00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:54,680
Speaker 2: What do you see that you like? What are the things.

464
00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:57,520
Speaker 1: Where you know you call your counterpart, you know, at

465
00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:00,320
Speaker 1: another club and say, how'd you do that? What are

466
00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:04,000
Speaker 1: the things that you have sort of presidential envy over?

467
00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:07,399
Speaker 5: I think there are a lot of different things to

468
00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:09,720
Speaker 5: your point. Looking down in Atlanta, I had the privilege

469
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,240
Speaker 5: of being down there as they were building and building

470
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:14,280
Speaker 5: out Torurist Park and the Battery. I think they did

471
00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:17,120
Speaker 5: an incredible job. I think it's very different than our situation.

472
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,240
Speaker 5: You know, there there at the intersection of two major

473
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,800
Speaker 5: highways where they had a lot of real estate because

474
00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:23,639
Speaker 5: it's not in the urban core, so they had the

475
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:27,080
Speaker 5: ability to build out this really amazing environment around the

476
00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,760
Speaker 5: ballpark that I think works great for them. I don't

477
00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,800
Speaker 5: think that approach would necessarily be appropriate in the middle

478
00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:34,720
Speaker 5: of Baltimore, but I do think that there are other

479
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:37,679
Speaker 5: teams that are doing interesting things. You've seen a lot

480
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:39,840
Speaker 5: of development around Fenway and Wrigley, You've seen a lot

481
00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:43,320
Speaker 5: of development around the Cardinal Stadium and down in Colorado.

482
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:45,280
Speaker 5: So there are a number of different teams who are

483
00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:48,440
Speaker 5: in more similar locations to us, who have been thinking

484
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,680
Speaker 5: strategically and creatively about how do they make sure that

485
00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:56,040
Speaker 5: the space around their ballpark is space that fans want

486
00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:58,000
Speaker 5: to be, It's space that the community wants to be,

487
00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:00,040
Speaker 5: not only on game days, but for all of the

488
00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:02,199
Speaker 5: other days throughout the course of the year. And so

489
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:04,360
Speaker 5: it's something that as we continue to look forward, we're

490
00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,359
Speaker 5: very much having conversation with posts, We're very much learning

491
00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:10,760
Speaker 5: because ultimately our desire is to make sure that Camden

492
00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:13,840
Speaker 5: Yards the Baltimore Ools, but more broadly, that Baltimore is

493
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:17,040
Speaker 5: a place that fans want to be and where our

494
00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:19,480
Speaker 5: community members and our players want to be, and where

495
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:23,160
Speaker 5: everyone feels safe and welcome and it's generally thriving environment.

496
00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:24,640
Speaker 5: And so we think that we do play a role

497
00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,080
Speaker 5: in that, and so we're having a lot of those conversations.

498
00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:28,679
Speaker 4: Katie shifting a little bit.

499
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:31,200
Speaker 3: I would love your advice here and pick your brain,

500
00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:33,800
Speaker 3: even though I hate that term pick your brain.

501
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:35,400
Speaker 4: Maybe we just get your advice.

502
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,840
Speaker 3: As Jason said, I played in Seattle. You worked in Seattle,

503
00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:42,080
Speaker 3: and now you're working in Baltimore. You work for Mike

504
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,600
Speaker 3: Arraghetti and David Rubinstein, who are you know, two of

505
00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,960
Speaker 3: the giants of private equity and very respected Mark and

506
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,920
Speaker 3: I my partner, Mark LOORI. We just hired a wonderful CEO,

507
00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:57,200
Speaker 3: Matthew Caldwell, who came from the Florida Panthers. And I'm

508
00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,679
Speaker 3: wondering what's been the best cadence for you to talk ownership,

509
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:02,919
Speaker 3: what works best for you and what advice can you

510
00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,560
Speaker 3: give Mark and I to maximize Matthew talent.

511
00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:09,000
Speaker 5: I think it depends on the people, and it depends

512
00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:12,399
Speaker 5: on what's going on right in a period of significant change.

513
00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:15,520
Speaker 5: In my experience, more conversations better. Right as you're trying

514
00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:17,960
Speaker 5: to get to know someone and learn how you work

515
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,640
Speaker 5: and how he works, figuring that on taking the time

516
00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:23,960
Speaker 5: to build that relationship upfront I think pays dividends in

517
00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,040
Speaker 5: terms of allowing both people and both parties or in

518
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:30,040
Speaker 5: your case, all three parties, the opportunity to free up

519
00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:32,240
Speaker 5: time down the road because you know how the other

520
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,119
Speaker 5: people are thinking about things. You know the types of

521
00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:36,840
Speaker 5: things where you're going to want more information. He knows

522
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:38,600
Speaker 5: when to go to you, and vice versas, so you're

523
00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:40,919
Speaker 5: not sort of yeah, yeah, yeah, that's not something I

524
00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:42,800
Speaker 5: need to know, or oh gosh, I really wish I

525
00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:45,639
Speaker 5: knew about that before this went that far. So I

526
00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:48,040
Speaker 5: think in that upfront period it's important to take the

527
00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:50,880
Speaker 5: time to get to know each other. And then ultimately, again,

528
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:52,399
Speaker 5: it sort of depends on what's going on in the

529
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:54,800
Speaker 5: state of the business, what's going on with sort of

530
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,639
Speaker 5: the extent to which this is a operate steady state

531
00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,320
Speaker 5: versus say, hey, it's time to roll up our leaves

532
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:02,520
Speaker 5: and make some changes. But it really does depend, in

533
00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:05,080
Speaker 5: my experience, on the people and on sort of where

534
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:07,080
Speaker 5: you're at at the stage of business. But given where

535
00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:10,160
Speaker 5: you're at, I think communicating on a regular basis, whatever

536
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:12,840
Speaker 5: that may mean for the three of you, is probably healthy.

537
00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:15,760
Speaker 2: Alex and I both mentioned the ownership group.

538
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,760
Speaker 1: It's a really interesting one, you know beyond you know

539
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,160
Speaker 1: David and then Mike, and you know you have some

540
00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:24,399
Speaker 1: you know, some smaller stake owners like cal Roken junior

541
00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:28,239
Speaker 1: David Marchik, who's a former partner and senior executive at

542
00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,239
Speaker 1: Carlisle worked with David there. What was the pitch that

543
00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:34,720
Speaker 1: they gave you about why'd you end up at Baltimore?

544
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:37,120
Speaker 1: What was appealing to you about this opportunity?

545
00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:41,720
Speaker 5: It's Camden Yards, It's Baltimore Orioles. Come on now, look,

546
00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,880
Speaker 5: I think you know I had an incredible experience in Seattle. Seattle,

547
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,560
Speaker 5: the city was good to me, all of the ownership

548
00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:50,280
Speaker 5: at Seattle and my team, like, there's zero complaints. It

549
00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:53,760
Speaker 5: certainly is not an example of running from But Alex noted,

550
00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:56,520
Speaker 5: this is the Al East, this is Camden Yards. This

551
00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:00,440
Speaker 5: is a young team that I expect to be really coetive,

552
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,480
Speaker 5: not just season, but many seasons looking forward. And I

553
00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:07,439
Speaker 5: enjoy being surrounded by people who are smarter than I

554
00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:09,280
Speaker 5: am and push me to be my very best version

555
00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:12,199
Speaker 5: of myself. And Mike Garraghetti and David Rubinstein are two

556
00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:14,240
Speaker 5: of the very best, and having the opportunity to work

557
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:19,320
Speaker 5: alongside and learn from them was also something that was appealing.

558
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:35,879
Speaker 3: So Katie, I'm curious about you go to home school,

559
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:38,960
Speaker 3: you start college at fourteen, that's insane, and then you

560
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,720
Speaker 3: get your masters and undergrad both from Dartmouth. I guess

561
00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:45,720
Speaker 3: my question with your resume, you can literally work anywhere.

562
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:46,880
Speaker 4: Why sports?

563
00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:49,959
Speaker 5: I love what sports does for communities. I've always been

564
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,560
Speaker 5: interested in what makes people tick, how do you influence behavior?

565
00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:54,240
Speaker 5: And I think sports is one of the very unique

566
00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:56,240
Speaker 5: things where it's an intrinsic motivator.

567
00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:56,640
Speaker 2: Right.

568
00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:59,120
Speaker 5: It has the power to move entire communities. It has

569
00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,359
Speaker 5: the entire to bring people joy. There are so few

570
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,680
Speaker 5: places where you can say that or like again, at

571
00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:07,439
Speaker 5: our best, you know we've had We've had a lot

572
00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:08,960
Speaker 5: of walk offs lately, and I assure you at the

573
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:10,560
Speaker 5: every at the end of every single one of those,

574
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:12,760
Speaker 5: looking around the ballpark, you see a lot of happy faces.

575
00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,480
Speaker 5: When we had the opportunity to celebrate Cal and his

576
00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:17,520
Speaker 5: family on the twenty one thirty one celebration, we had

577
00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,199
Speaker 5: a packed ballpark and then got to walk off on

578
00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:22,120
Speaker 5: top of it, and you saw a lot of happy faces.

579
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,359
Speaker 5: Being able to play a role in bringing communities together,

580
00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:30,560
Speaker 5: creating that sense of place and bringing people joy. It's

581
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:31,560
Speaker 5: pretty special.

582
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:36,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, And so you know to that point about you know,

583
00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:37,719
Speaker 1: sports within a community.

584
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:40,000
Speaker 2: You know, one of the interesting things you did.

585
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,840
Speaker 1: Just going back to Seattle for a second, is it

586
00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:46,640
Speaker 1: felt like and I have I was tipped off to this,

587
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,000
Speaker 1: so I sort of know why I'm asking this question.

588
00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:52,160
Speaker 1: You know, you developed really strong relationships with other ownership

589
00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,280
Speaker 1: groups in that city, and specifically Samantha Holloway, you know,

590
00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:57,960
Speaker 1: who leads the crack in there and has made it

591
00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:00,679
Speaker 1: clear that she wants to be an NBA own as well.

592
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:04,639
Speaker 1: You know, you have the Seattle Storm out there in

593
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:08,160
Speaker 1: the w as well. You guys hosted an NHL game

594
00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:10,919
Speaker 1: I believe at T Mobile. How did those sorts of

595
00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,360
Speaker 1: deals come about? And is it about the existing relationships?

596
00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:18,360
Speaker 1: Is it about reaching out to the NHL? Like tell

597
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,520
Speaker 1: us that story, because I find that fascinating.

598
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:22,840
Speaker 5: I mean, look, when you're looking at those types of events,

599
00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 5: those are league wide events, right. So, needless to say,

600
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:27,639
Speaker 5: having the support of in this case, the Kraken is

601
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:29,800
Speaker 5: hugely important. I don't know that it would have worked

602
00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:33,480
Speaker 5: without that. Ultimately, these are league decisions where our job

603
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:35,359
Speaker 5: is to put forth. This is why you should come

604
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:36,840
Speaker 5: to our venue. This is why you should come to

605
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:38,800
Speaker 5: our city. This is why we believe it'll be great

606
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:41,320
Speaker 5: for you, your athlete, it's your fans in the sport.

607
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:44,639
Speaker 5: And so for us, it's no different than many things.

608
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:48,879
Speaker 5: It's looking understanding what someone's looking for, understanding if you

609
00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:51,560
Speaker 5: can deliver it successfully and deliver it better than others,

610
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:54,080
Speaker 5: and then making that pitch. And we've were very fortunate

611
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,840
Speaker 5: in Seattle that between the MLB All Star Game and

612
00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:59,600
Speaker 5: twenty twenty three and the NHL Winter Classic and January

613
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:03,159
Speaker 5: twenty four New Year's Day, to be a specific, we

614
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:05,720
Speaker 5: had the opportunity to bring two very very special league

615
00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:08,119
Speaker 5: wide events to the city of Seattle and put on

616
00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:10,720
Speaker 5: a fantastic show both times. And so it really is

617
00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:14,440
Speaker 5: about relationships are always critical, but ultimately it's about the

618
00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:16,640
Speaker 5: work and demonstrating that this is something that is going

619
00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:18,679
Speaker 5: to be best for the fans, and that's what we

620
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:19,440
Speaker 5: all hope to deliver.

621
00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:23,040
Speaker 1: And so as you think about you know, sort of

622
00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:27,280
Speaker 1: similar you know, outreach, it's a very different region that

623
00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:29,840
Speaker 1: you're in the Pacific Northwest, it's its own thing.

624
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:33,080
Speaker 2: Baltimore also mid Atlantic also its own thing.

625
00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,560
Speaker 1: How do you leverage some of what this region that

626
00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:40,120
Speaker 1: you're in now has to offer to continue to build

627
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:41,320
Speaker 1: sort of the brand.

628
00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:41,680
Speaker 2: Of the Orioles.

629
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 1: Obviously a very good brand, but you know, as you say,

630
00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:48,800
Speaker 1: you know you're fighting for just share of attention these days.

631
00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:51,880
Speaker 5: No, I think, Look, we've got a lot of tremendous

632
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,280
Speaker 5: assets here like Baltimore. One of the things that I

633
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:56,400
Speaker 5: do love about it is how accessible it is. It's

634
00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:58,720
Speaker 5: not just a city that obviously is in the mid Atlantic.

635
00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:01,400
Speaker 5: It's right night to DC. It's an easy train ride

636
00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:03,480
Speaker 5: from affiliate, it's an easy train ride from New York.

637
00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:05,760
Speaker 5: You know, we have fans who are going up to

638
00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:08,480
Speaker 5: which you're on the O's when we're playing in other venues. Conversely,

639
00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:10,200
Speaker 5: we have fans who are coming down to check out

640
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:12,160
Speaker 5: Camden Yards because they've heard how incredible it is. Our

641
00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:14,440
Speaker 5: job is to make sure we deliver against that promise.

642
00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:16,959
Speaker 5: That's something where I mentioned we have the privilege of

643
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:19,720
Speaker 5: having state funding to help ensure that we're continuing to

644
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:22,120
Speaker 5: make this ballpark the best it possibly can be, and

645
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,480
Speaker 5: we're going to be working through a lot of that

646
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:26,920
Speaker 5: this offseason and making sure that we're continuing to deliver

647
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:30,560
Speaker 5: against that promise. But Ultimately, this is a special ballpark,

648
00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:33,600
Speaker 5: this is a special team, this is a special community.

649
00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 5: And then, as Alex knows better than anyone, ultimately what

650
00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,160
Speaker 5: comes next is we've got to win, right, That's something

651
00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:41,040
Speaker 5: that always matters. We know what fans care about. That

652
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:42,600
Speaker 5: is something that fans care about, and we need to

653
00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:43,440
Speaker 5: deliver against that too.

654
00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:47,160
Speaker 3: Yeah, and fans want hope, and there's no other team

655
00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:50,120
Speaker 3: that's better positioned than the Baltimorials with hope, with the

656
00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:53,360
Speaker 3: young players, new ownership, you ky ripkin.

657
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:55,400
Speaker 4: I mean, you guys are in a great place.

658
00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:59,320
Speaker 3: But as you're speaking, Katie, I'm wondering playing personally in

659
00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,440
Speaker 3: Seattle for parts of seven years and Baltimore and you

660
00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 3: talked about the assets and how easy it is to

661
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:08,040
Speaker 3: commute to other communities, you know, when I was there,

662
00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:12,680
Speaker 3: I do remember, you know, amazing attendance. I remember merchandise sales,

663
00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:15,280
Speaker 3: you know, off the chain with Ken Griffith, Juniors are

664
00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:20,120
Speaker 3: Michael Jordan and the TV ratings, you know, incredible ratings

665
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:22,360
Speaker 3: because you basically have a monopoly of the Northwest. As

666
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:26,440
Speaker 3: Jason referred from a business point of view, where's the

667
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:29,360
Speaker 3: bigger business opportunity in Seattle? That runs a very healthy

668
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,160
Speaker 3: business in Baltimore that you're trying to get it to

669
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:33,320
Speaker 3: where you wanted to go.

670
00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,560
Speaker 5: I think, just on like paper, Seattle is a bigger DMA, right,

671
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:39,800
Speaker 5: and so that is that is just the reality. That's

672
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:41,760
Speaker 5: a statement of fact. But I don't know that that

673
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:45,200
Speaker 5: makes it better from a business opportunity standpoint. I think

674
00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:47,600
Speaker 5: it has. It has a lot of fortune five hundred

675
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:50,440
Speaker 5: who are headquartered right there. It has a to your point,

676
00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,040
Speaker 5: it has a tremendous history and an amazing ballpark in Seattle.

677
00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:55,160
Speaker 5: So I think there's a lot of really wonderful things

678
00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:57,560
Speaker 5: that you know, when I was in Seattle, we had

679
00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:01,720
Speaker 5: to offer that helped us running really strong business. I

680
00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:05,680
Speaker 5: think we have a different set of circumstances here in Baltimore,

681
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,520
Speaker 5: but I don't think it's actually worse. It's interesting if

682
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:11,440
Speaker 5: you look at Washington, DC. Needless to say, until nineteen

683
00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:14,800
Speaker 5: ninety three, that was O's territory, right for my sister

684
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,480
Speaker 5: in law grew up down in Georgetown and as a kid,

685
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:19,840
Speaker 5: her team was the O's. Again, not because the Nats

686
00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:22,520
Speaker 5: aren't great, but because the Nuts weren't there. And so

687
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:25,600
Speaker 5: we do have a really strong connection to this region

688
00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:28,920
Speaker 5: that extends beyond simply the Baltimore DMA. But the other

689
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,800
Speaker 5: thing that's interesting about Baltimore is this community loves this team.

690
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:32,320
Speaker 4: Right.

691
00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:34,080
Speaker 5: This is a community where this team has been here,

692
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:36,080
Speaker 5: whether it's a memorial stadium, whether it's here at Camden

693
00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:38,480
Speaker 5: Yards for a very long time. It's part of the

694
00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:41,400
Speaker 5: lifeblood of Baltimore. There's a lot of pride about being

695
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:43,600
Speaker 5: from Baltimore, and this team is associated with a lot

696
00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:45,600
Speaker 5: of it. So again, I think when you look about

697
00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,440
Speaker 5: the strength of community, this is a community that cares

698
00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:50,760
Speaker 5: about its baseball team, and so for us, it's making

699
00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:53,480
Speaker 5: sure that, to your point, we're giving them reason to

700
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:55,360
Speaker 5: hope and then we're delivering against that promise.

701
00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:57,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is interesting.

702
00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:00,240
Speaker 1: I mean, you saw it with the ownership change and

703
00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:02,960
Speaker 1: the types of people who came together, and that feels

704
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:06,120
Speaker 1: like a good time to mention in full disclosure that

705
00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:08,480
Speaker 1: one of the minority owners of the Baltimore Orioles is

706
00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:11,480
Speaker 1: in fact Mike Bloomberg, who is the founder majority owner

707
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,960
Speaker 1: of Bloomberg News, which obviously publishes this podcast. So disclaimer

708
00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:20,200
Speaker 1: given on that front, you know, So, Katie, as we

709
00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:22,200
Speaker 1: start to wrap up, I mean, one thing that also

710
00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:26,600
Speaker 1: strikes me as I look across your experience both in sports,

711
00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:30,280
Speaker 1: it also includes media, and media is such a fascinating

712
00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:34,520
Speaker 1: part of the baseball equation right now. Alex obviously knows

713
00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,800
Speaker 1: it very well from a lot of different perspectives. How

714
00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:40,880
Speaker 1: do you see sort of the media side evolving because baseball,

715
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:45,520
Speaker 1: as a lot of listeners of this podcast know, it's

716
00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:47,160
Speaker 1: one of the trickiest when it comes to the big

717
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,200
Speaker 1: four sports in terms of sort of figuring out national

718
00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:53,200
Speaker 1: versus regional and the number of games.

719
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:54,160
Speaker 2: Which you've talked about.

720
00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:57,560
Speaker 1: How do you see that moving forward and what are

721
00:32:57,600 --> 00:32:59,560
Speaker 1: some of the decisions that need to be made to

722
00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:03,560
Speaker 1: ensure that baseball gets the media sort of packaging and

723
00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:04,920
Speaker 1: strategy that it needs.

724
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:07,640
Speaker 5: Well. I know this is an area that the commissioner

725
00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:09,400
Speaker 5: and the team up at MLB is spending a lot

726
00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:11,920
Speaker 5: of time thinking about. But I don't think I would

727
00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:13,760
Speaker 5: be speaking out of turn to say that we all

728
00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:16,080
Speaker 5: know that our job is to get our content in

729
00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:19,240
Speaker 5: front of many fans, current and future as possible, and

730
00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:22,239
Speaker 5: that right now there are some challenges in doing that.

731
00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:26,080
Speaker 5: I think with the increasing prevalence of direct to consumer offerings.

732
00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:28,400
Speaker 5: From a local media standpoint, I think that does help,

733
00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:31,840
Speaker 5: but it's challenging to know where the game is playing,

734
00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:33,800
Speaker 5: when the game is going to be, where I should

735
00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,120
Speaker 5: be tuning in to watch it. The easier you can

736
00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:38,840
Speaker 5: make that, I think, the better. And so from my standpoint,

737
00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:40,960
Speaker 5: I think a lot of what I would hope to

738
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:43,400
Speaker 5: see as they continue to think through what those opportunities are.

739
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:45,880
Speaker 5: What are ways in which we can start presenting our

740
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:47,560
Speaker 5: content to fans, and the way in which our fans

741
00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:50,120
Speaker 5: are thinking about it, which is not I am in Baltimore,

742
00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:52,720
Speaker 5: i am in the United States States, or I'm traveling

743
00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:54,760
Speaker 5: in London. It's I love the O's and I want

744
00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:57,160
Speaker 5: to watch my team. What is the easiest way for

745
00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:58,800
Speaker 5: me to do that? So I think there's an opportunity

746
00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:00,680
Speaker 5: to start moving in that direction, and I'm hopeful that

747
00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:04,960
Speaker 5: we'll do so. But it is a very complicated environment,

748
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:07,480
Speaker 5: and it's also one that's hugely important to the health

749
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,120
Speaker 5: and well being of our league, both where we are

750
00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:12,320
Speaker 5: now and going forward. So it's no simple task.

751
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:15,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, and presuming I would imagine, you know, you are

752
00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:18,600
Speaker 1: to Turner Broadcasting and that was a sort of revolutionary

753
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:21,160
Speaker 1: I mean Ted Turner again, having grown up in Atlanta.

754
00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:23,879
Speaker 1: I watched all that you know in front of my eyes.

755
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:27,680
Speaker 1: I saw the power that TBS had for making you know,

756
00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:30,759
Speaker 1: the braves that America's team back in the day. You know,

757
00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:33,960
Speaker 1: now we're dealing in a streaming world. It must make

758
00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:36,759
Speaker 1: it that much more challenging to your point of like

759
00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:40,839
Speaker 1: even finding the games, but also knowing.

760
00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:42,920
Speaker 2: Where to put them so that people can see them.

761
00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:43,479
Speaker 2: Is that fair?

762
00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:46,520
Speaker 5: I mean, I think, look, it is. It is a challenge.

763
00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,600
Speaker 5: Like the beauty of choice is also the challenge. It

764
00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:51,520
Speaker 5: gets much more complicated and you have to pay a

765
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:53,960
Speaker 5: little bit more attention, and so you know, there are

766
00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:56,520
Speaker 5: a lot of opportunities for all of us. I think again,

767
00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:58,799
Speaker 5: our focus here at the Orioles is how do we

768
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:00,879
Speaker 5: ensure that we're getting as many of our games as

769
00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:03,320
Speaker 5: possible in front of as many of our fans as possible.

770
00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:06,439
Speaker 5: And that's something that is our north star. Needless to say,

771
00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:08,760
Speaker 5: we can only control what we have from a local

772
00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:11,080
Speaker 5: rights standpoint, but I know that Major League Baseball is

773
00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:13,960
Speaker 5: also dedicated to the same premise. I'm looking at it

774
00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:18,200
Speaker 5: more nationally and internationally. So again, it's complicated. It is

775
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:20,960
Speaker 5: certainly not something that I want to brush over and

776
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:23,560
Speaker 5: make look like an easy challenge to be fixed. But

777
00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:25,399
Speaker 5: I'm really hopeful there are a lot of really smart

778
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:26,640
Speaker 5: folks in New York. There are a lot of really

779
00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:28,719
Speaker 5: smart folks at the clubs, and I'm really hopeful that

780
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:30,520
Speaker 5: between all of us, we can come up with something

781
00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:33,080
Speaker 5: that continues to be as good for fans going forward

782
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:34,400
Speaker 5: as it has been previously.

783
00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:47,759
Speaker 1: All right, let's do the lightning around real quick. It's

784
00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:50,120
Speaker 1: five questions, Katie. We're going to bunce it back and forth.

785
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:53,040
Speaker 1: First thing that comes to your mind. What's the best

786
00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:55,960
Speaker 1: piece of advice you've ever received on deal making or business?

787
00:35:57,040 --> 00:36:01,400
Speaker 4: Be honest, who's your dream deal making partner?

788
00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:06,560
Speaker 5: Someone who looks at things totally differently than I do?

789
00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:08,799
Speaker 5: So depend on the deal.

790
00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:12,239
Speaker 1: All right, So this is the dumbest question we could

791
00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:14,239
Speaker 1: probably ask you, But I'm gonna ask you. Anybody, which

792
00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:16,120
Speaker 1: team do you want to see win a championship more

793
00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:20,920
Speaker 1: than any The Baltimore Oriols very good? If you had,

794
00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:22,520
Speaker 1: I get I guess we have to ask you because

795
00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:25,319
Speaker 1: if you didn't say the Oriels, then that would be

796
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:26,719
Speaker 1: a whole different podcast.

797
00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:29,360
Speaker 5: This has been a great conversation. Yeah, I speak with

798
00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:29,759
Speaker 5: you again.

799
00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:35,200
Speaker 4: I'm sorry, Dan calling right now and I'm looking for

800
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:35,600
Speaker 4: a new job.

801
00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:41,520
Speaker 3: Headhunter anyone, what's your hype song before big meeting or negotiation?

802
00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:44,920
Speaker 5: Oh, for a long time, As as Jason mentioned, I

803
00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:46,520
Speaker 5: was down in Georgia for a long time, so I

804
00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:48,920
Speaker 5: was double went down to Georgia. Now I've got a

805
00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:51,800
Speaker 5: h I've got a variety that, depending on the mood,

806
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:53,640
Speaker 5: gets me in the right mood. So I have a

807
00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:56,760
Speaker 5: nine year old son at home. He is my personal DJ.

808
00:36:56,960 --> 00:36:58,680
Speaker 5: So it's whatever James would pick, We'll go with that.

809
00:36:59,000 --> 00:36:59,960
Speaker 2: There you go, all right?

810
00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:02,920
Speaker 1: What's your advice for someone listening who wants a career

811
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:03,480
Speaker 1: like yours?

812
00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:07,000
Speaker 5: Don't get in your own way right, work hard, be kind,

813
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:09,640
Speaker 5: build relationships. You never know the person who's gonna be

814
00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:11,480
Speaker 5: able to open a door. Also, you never know the

815
00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:13,759
Speaker 5: person will be able to keep it closed. So if

816
00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:17,399
Speaker 5: you care about something, go at it, have the conversations,

817
00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:20,160
Speaker 5: be willing to work hard, and when an opportunity shows up,

818
00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:21,200
Speaker 5: be willing to lean in.

819
00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:25,520
Speaker 1: Great answer, Katie Greggs, what a pleasure we've really enjoyed

820
00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:27,440
Speaker 1: getting you to know you a little bit. Thank you

821
00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:30,560
Speaker 1: for being so generous with your time and your insights

822
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:34,040
Speaker 1: and excited to see what you do down there in Baltimore.

823
00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:36,680
Speaker 5: Sincerely appreciate it. It's wonderful speaking with you both.

824
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:37,840
Speaker 4: Thank you, Katie.

825
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:45,560
Speaker 1: The Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and me Jason Kelly.

826
00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:50,160
Speaker 1: This episode was made by Anamazarakus, Stacy Wong, and Lizzie Phillip.

827
00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:53,440
Speaker 1: Amy Keen is our editor and Will Connelly is our

828
00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:56,719
Speaker 1: video editor. Our theme music is made by Blake Maples.

829
00:37:57,080 --> 00:38:01,520
Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Kelly Leferrier Ashley and Brenda neonham

830
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:05,240
Speaker 1: Sage Bauman is the head of Bloomberg Podcast. Additional support

831
00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,719
Speaker 1: from Rachel Carnivale and Elena Los Angeles. Thanks so much

832
00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:11,080
Speaker 1: for listening to the Deal. If you have a minute, subscribe,

833
00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:14,160
Speaker 1: rate and review our show. It'll help other listeners find us.

834
00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:16,200
Speaker 1: I'm Jason Kelly. See you next week.