1
00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:07,840
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.

2
00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:14,600
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Deal. I'm your host, Jason Kelly,

3
00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:17,640
Speaker 2: alongside my partner Alex Rodriguez. Coming up on the show,

4
00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,200
Speaker 2: we have Laura Carenti, she's the founder and CEO of

5
00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:23,320
Speaker 2: Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment, talking all about the business

6
00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,560
Speaker 2: of women's sports. But before we get to that, Alex,

7
00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:31,120
Speaker 2: were rolling into Labor Day weekend. We're going to get

8
00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:33,040
Speaker 2: some rest because it's going to be busy next week.

9
00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:35,200
Speaker 2: We'll get to that in a second. It also puts

10
00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,000
Speaker 2: me in the mindset of college football. As you know,

11
00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:40,159
Speaker 2: you've got to know me pretty well with the last

12
00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,239
Speaker 2: couple of years. I love college football. I just I

13
00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,040
Speaker 2: can't get enough of it, and I'm so excited for

14
00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:50,040
Speaker 2: this season. You're probably pretty excited, not just because University

15
00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:51,920
Speaker 2: of Miami I think is going to be pretty good,

16
00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,320
Speaker 2: but your Daughta goes to University of Michigan. They have

17
00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:58,600
Speaker 2: a quarterback that they are paying, wait for it, twelve

18
00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,360
Speaker 2: and a half million dollars. What is going on? I mean,

19
00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,920
Speaker 2: when you see something like that, what's your reaction?

20
00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:08,200
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, I have a follow up question,

21
00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:10,199
Speaker 3: is that for one year or for all four years.

22
00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:12,120
Speaker 2: It's for four years. It's spread across.

23
00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:16,119
Speaker 3: Yeah, Jason, if you told me this five years ago,

24
00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:17,959
Speaker 3: I would have called BS.

25
00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:18,479
Speaker 2: Like, there's no way.

26
00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:20,200
Speaker 3: I mean, some of these guys are going to take

27
00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:22,640
Speaker 3: pay cuts when they go into the NFL. If they

28
00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:26,640
Speaker 3: get into the NFL. It's just remarkable the amount of interest.

29
00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:29,319
Speaker 3: And just like you and I love college, so do

30
00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:31,600
Speaker 3: a lot of wealthy people that want to, you know,

31
00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,280
Speaker 3: follow up under Alma Mato exactly.

32
00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,320
Speaker 2: So that is largely funded by Larry Ellison and his family.

33
00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,679
Speaker 2: His wife went to University of Michigan. And what's so

34
00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,280
Speaker 2: interesting about this story to me as well is, as

35
00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,800
Speaker 2: you very well know, Michigan obviously stalwart of the Big Ten.

36
00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:51,800
Speaker 2: This is a quarterback, Bryce Underwood, who was originally going

37
00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,280
Speaker 2: to LSU. Brian Kelly obviously the coach they are well

38
00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,000
Speaker 2: known from coaching Notre Dame LSU, you know, a stalwart

39
00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:01,520
Speaker 2: in its own right of the SEC. Michigan comes in

40
00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,080
Speaker 2: and basically says, oh, you're gonna pay him like a million,

41
00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,200
Speaker 2: million and a half. That's adorable. We're gonna up the

42
00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,760
Speaker 2: ante and we're gonna pay him a total package of

43
00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:11,880
Speaker 2: twelve and a half million dollars. Now, I can't imagine

44
00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:13,880
Speaker 2: he's gonna be there for four years, so we'll see

45
00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:16,200
Speaker 2: what that net payout means to be. But that's sort

46
00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:18,440
Speaker 2: of a baseline of what he's gonna get paid because

47
00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,399
Speaker 2: he's probably got other other deals coming in. NIL has

48
00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:27,440
Speaker 2: completely changed everything and a nice segue. That's my job

49
00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:29,959
Speaker 2: is to find these connections between these things. We're gonna

50
00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:31,959
Speaker 2: be really busy next week because here in New York,

51
00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:35,240
Speaker 2: you're gonna be here. We're taping several episodes of the

52
00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:37,200
Speaker 2: deal that you'll see later the season, but we're gonna

53
00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,280
Speaker 2: be live on stage at Power Players. This is an

54
00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:42,799
Speaker 2: annual event that we host here at Bloomberg Headquarters in

55
00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:45,640
Speaker 2: New York. NIL in college Sports is going to be

56
00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:47,639
Speaker 2: one of the things we're going to talk about. We're

57
00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:51,480
Speaker 2: gonna have the athletic directors of UCLA, Duke, and Ohio

58
00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:53,959
Speaker 2: State all on stage together talking about the business of

59
00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,520
Speaker 2: college sports. So you're gonna be interested in that, if

60
00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,360
Speaker 2: only to see what Ohio State has to say for

61
00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,840
Speaker 2: your but your no beloved Wolverines. But I'm so excited

62
00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:04,239
Speaker 2: to see you. It's gonna be a baller day.

63
00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:06,360
Speaker 3: It's gonna be awesome, and the fact that we're going

64
00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:08,800
Speaker 3: to do three shows back to back to back is awesome.

65
00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:13,079
Speaker 3: And Bloomberg always attracts the best of the best audience,

66
00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:15,720
Speaker 3: and I cannot wait not only for who's going to

67
00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,600
Speaker 3: be on the panels, but who's actually there watching, which

68
00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:20,400
Speaker 3: is always a stellar, stellar crew.

69
00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a very deal deal friendly crew that's going

70
00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:26,400
Speaker 2: to be there. A lot of leaders in business and sports.

71
00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:28,120
Speaker 2: And just to go through some of the folks that

72
00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:30,760
Speaker 2: we're going to see throughout the course of the day,

73
00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,480
Speaker 2: some familiar faces from the Deal Cinematic universe, starting off

74
00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,280
Speaker 2: with Maria Sharapova. She was our first guest on this show.

75
00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:40,400
Speaker 2: She was the premiere episode. She's going to be in

76
00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,200
Speaker 2: conversation with our colleague of sorts and your fellow sports

77
00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,200
Speaker 2: owner David Rubinstein. I'm gonna sit down with Tom Garfinkel,

78
00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:50,760
Speaker 2: the CEO of the Dolphins in the Miami F One

79
00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,920
Speaker 2: Grand Prix, alongside Mike Arraghetti, someone you know well, obviously

80
00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:57,960
Speaker 2: the CEO of Aries. They were one of the first

81
00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:02,880
Speaker 2: private equity investors to go into the NFL. There's going

82
00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,640
Speaker 2: to be lots of other conversations Gary Bettman and a

83
00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:10,400
Speaker 2: NHL commissioner. Another familiar deal guest, ted leonsis he's going

84
00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,760
Speaker 2: to be joining us as well. And do you want

85
00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,120
Speaker 2: to reveal who are our deal guest is going to be?

86
00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:18,680
Speaker 2: It is a fellow New York champion who I know

87
00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:20,200
Speaker 2: you're very excited to see.

88
00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:23,720
Speaker 3: Yes, Justin tuk and I'm so excited to talk to him.

89
00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:26,839
Speaker 3: I mean, he's had a phenomenal career. He's only forty two.

90
00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,120
Speaker 3: And guess what some of his places he's been at

91
00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:33,799
Speaker 3: Notre Dame were in business school, the Giants and gold

92
00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,280
Speaker 3: Mis Sachs. We cannot wait to unpack a lot of

93
00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:37,240
Speaker 3: great conversations.

94
00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:40,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not sure people know this. I mean, if

95
00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:43,080
Speaker 2: you know, you know kind of thing here Justin tuckson,

96
00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,080
Speaker 2: managing director at Coleman Sachs. I mean, which is wild.

97
00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:48,640
Speaker 2: As you say, you love to talk about blue chip names.

98
00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,080
Speaker 2: He is blue chip across the board. You know. Obviously,

99
00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,440
Speaker 2: as you said, played at one of the pre eminent

100
00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:57,800
Speaker 2: institutions in college football, the only truly like independent champion

101
00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,080
Speaker 2: college football program out there, the Irish. They are one

102
00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:03,680
Speaker 2: of one when it comes to that. And obviously the

103
00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:05,800
Speaker 2: lineage of the players who came out of there, but

104
00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:07,840
Speaker 2: the idea that he went to work on Wall Street.

105
00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:10,320
Speaker 2: Coming out of that, he's invested in companies like Roan

106
00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,080
Speaker 2: and just so much to talk to Hm about. Also,

107
00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:16,120
Speaker 2: you know this and I know this because we both

108
00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:18,520
Speaker 2: know he's also such a good dude. Like I'm just

109
00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,000
Speaker 2: excited to share a stage, and I have to say,

110
00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:22,800
Speaker 2: people are going to lose it when he comes in.

111
00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:24,240
Speaker 2: He won two Super Bowls in New York.

112
00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:25,480
Speaker 3: Well, that's what I was going to say.

113
00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:26,480
Speaker 2: I mean, you beat me to it.

114
00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:28,640
Speaker 3: But when you say one of one, so is justin talk.

115
00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:30,919
Speaker 3: I mean, in fact, he's a two time world champion

116
00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:33,880
Speaker 3: in New York City. The first forty two years have

117
00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,200
Speaker 3: been phenomenal. I'm more interested in what happens in the

118
00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:38,159
Speaker 3: next forty two years. And we will ask him that.

119
00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, so so much going on next week. If you're

120
00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:43,360
Speaker 2: in New York, you know, see if you can join

121
00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,280
Speaker 2: us live or you know, watch on Bloomberg TV. It'll

122
00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:48,719
Speaker 2: be on Bloomberg Radio. You and I will be making

123
00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:50,760
Speaker 2: the rounds. Lots of fun people who are going to

124
00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,520
Speaker 2: be here in the building with us, on stage, backstage,

125
00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:57,160
Speaker 2: in the audience. As you say, so power players. We

126
00:05:57,279 --> 00:05:59,719
Speaker 2: always do it to tie it into the US Open,

127
00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,840
Speaker 2: and really excited to be with you. And as you say,

128
00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:06,320
Speaker 2: we've got a couple other episodes that'll be coming down

129
00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:08,720
Speaker 2: the pike that we'll be taping here when you're here

130
00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:12,359
Speaker 2: back home in New York. All right, coming up Laura Karrenti.

131
00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,600
Speaker 2: She is the founder and CEO of Deep Blue Sports

132
00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:29,960
Speaker 2: and Entertainment. Next on the Deal. Welcome back to the Deal.

133
00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:32,400
Speaker 2: I'm Jason Kelly along aside Alex Rodriguez here in New York.

134
00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:35,599
Speaker 2: We're so excited to have with us Laura Krenty, of course,

135
00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:40,400
Speaker 2: the CEO and founder of Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. Elsie,

136
00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:44,839
Speaker 2: great to see you. You're a podcaster yourself, So you

137
00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:45,760
Speaker 2: come ready to play?

138
00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,720
Speaker 4: I know, always ready to play, boss. Do you stay ready?

139
00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:49,279
Speaker 4: You don't have to.

140
00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:52,560
Speaker 2: Get ready exactly exactly. So, you and I have known

141
00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:55,640
Speaker 2: each other for a few years as I got deeper

142
00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:58,599
Speaker 2: and deeper into the sports world and the intersection of business,

143
00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:01,839
Speaker 2: sports and culture. And you've gone all in on women's sports,

144
00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,440
Speaker 2: you know, Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You've got a

145
00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:08,720
Speaker 2: roster of incredible partners, sponsors, etc. I want to jump

146
00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,160
Speaker 2: right in. What was the moment that you decided to

147
00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:12,440
Speaker 2: go all in on women's sports.

148
00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:15,400
Speaker 1: Sure, well, I think just for backstory and context, because

149
00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,600
Speaker 1: this wasn't a bandwagon fans situation. Really, there was a

150
00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:22,160
Speaker 1: pinnacle moment in twenty nineteen when the US women's national

151
00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,920
Speaker 1: team won their fourth World Cup in France, and at

152
00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:28,200
Speaker 1: the very end of that game, when they're hoisting the trophy,

153
00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,640
Speaker 1: the crowd breaks out and a chance of equal pay

154
00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:35,080
Speaker 1: instead of USA. And that was the same year that

155
00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:37,800
Speaker 1: a number of players from the national team had sued

156
00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:41,240
Speaker 1: their employer in US Soccer and one in achieving that

157
00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:45,120
Speaker 1: equal pay status. And I remember very vividly sitting at

158
00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:48,360
Speaker 1: the Jersey shore as one does, watching this match and

159
00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:51,760
Speaker 1: seeing all the commentators and broadcasters and even the social

160
00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:54,320
Speaker 1: media started to light up, saying, we haven't seen this

161
00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:56,440
Speaker 1: kind of momentum since ninety nine, So now you're talking

162
00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,280
Speaker 1: twenty years forward in terms of this level of excitement,

163
00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:01,600
Speaker 1: enthusiasm and support for this team.

164
00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:02,880
Speaker 4: But it was really larger than the team.

165
00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:06,160
Speaker 1: It was for the women's sports ecosystem at large.

166
00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:08,560
Speaker 4: And in that moment, Jason, I go.

167
00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:10,800
Speaker 1: To the NWSL website and if you scroll to the

168
00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:13,280
Speaker 1: very bottom of that website, in twenty nineteen, which I

169
00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:16,480
Speaker 1: did on that day, which was July seventh. There were

170
00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:18,560
Speaker 1: four partners to the league at that point, so Nike

171
00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,400
Speaker 1: had the Kits lifetime, The Women's Cable Network was the

172
00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:24,920
Speaker 1: media rights distributor at that point, thor In, the supplement's company,

173
00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,320
Speaker 1: and A Long Care Service was the fourth. And as

174
00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:29,760
Speaker 1: somebody who had grown up in the advertising industry predominantly

175
00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:32,040
Speaker 1: as a media buyer, you know very well what makes

176
00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:34,360
Speaker 1: this industry go round, right, And that's not just the

177
00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,200
Speaker 1: media rights, it's also the advertisers who support it. And

178
00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:41,000
Speaker 1: I knew in that moment, while appreciative of those advertisers

179
00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:44,440
Speaker 1: and partners knowing critical to just have a league in play,

180
00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,400
Speaker 1: it was certainly not going to be enough to meet

181
00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:49,760
Speaker 1: this moment, and so I started to dig in and

182
00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,400
Speaker 1: it really was a multi year journey to realize that.

183
00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,240
Speaker 1: Fast forward into twenty twenty three when I decided to

184
00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,080
Speaker 1: go full throttle. This wasn't a product issue that team

185
00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,040
Speaker 1: in particular had been dominant for decades.

186
00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:03,000
Speaker 4: This wasn't for lack of storytelling.

187
00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:05,560
Speaker 1: These athletes were so multi dimensional and haven't had the

188
00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:08,400
Speaker 1: opportunity to tell their stories on the field, let alone

189
00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:10,319
Speaker 1: off of it, and it said again, as somebody who

190
00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,160
Speaker 1: had been a buyer, I recognized in that moment, just

191
00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,160
Speaker 1: as a microcosmic example, you know, women's sports, to get

192
00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:19,080
Speaker 1: nerdy with it for a second, were being sold on

193
00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:23,040
Speaker 1: the same currency and measured on the same metrics that

194
00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,160
Speaker 1: men's sports were, and that was largely based on reach.

195
00:09:25,679 --> 00:09:27,840
Speaker 1: And even in twenty twenty three, outside of these current

196
00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:31,040
Speaker 1: broadcast deals that have just been negotiated METEA Wites deals,

197
00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:35,160
Speaker 1: women's sports hadn't been mainstream, let alone put into an

198
00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,320
Speaker 1: appointment viewing position, primetime positioning, et cetera, and so forth

199
00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:42,000
Speaker 1: in order to be sold, let alone transacted and measured

200
00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:44,880
Speaker 1: on that same metric. And so you start to realize

201
00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:48,280
Speaker 1: this is a system's issue, and leveraging twenty plus years

202
00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:50,760
Speaker 1: in the ad business, coupled with having played through the

203
00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:53,800
Speaker 1: collegiate level, paired these two skill sets and said we're

204
00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:55,360
Speaker 1: off to the racis yeah.

205
00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:57,720
Speaker 2: And it's funny too, because you do. Fast forward to

206
00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:00,640
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five and I'm sitting here in New York

207
00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:04,720
Speaker 2: City alongside the owner and governor of the Minnesota Lynx,

208
00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:08,600
Speaker 2: who I think it's fair to say, Alex, you have

209
00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:13,840
Speaker 2: very quickly gotten religion around the economic power of women's sports.

210
00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:16,480
Speaker 2: So tell me, like how you come to it and

211
00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:18,040
Speaker 2: sort of how you come to this conversation.

212
00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:21,920
Speaker 3: Well, I come from Laura, from a very humble and

213
00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:25,640
Speaker 3: trying to really educate myself into space because it's like none.

214
00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:27,760
Speaker 2: That I've ever studied or seen.

215
00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,240
Speaker 3: And just to give an example, when you look at

216
00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,800
Speaker 3: the Timboleves and the Lynx, the crossover is single digits.

217
00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:35,680
Speaker 3: It's somewhere on eight or nine percent on our fan base,

218
00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:39,840
Speaker 3: which to me was like extraordinarily surprising. I would have

219
00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:42,800
Speaker 3: probably handicapped it like probably forty or fifty percent, but

220
00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:45,600
Speaker 3: it's not. It's it's on eight or nine percent. But

221
00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:47,880
Speaker 3: I guess, Laura, my question for you as I kind

222
00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:50,720
Speaker 3: of I'm in my education early in my education journey

223
00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:53,320
Speaker 3: with a WNBA, and I'm so excited about it with

224
00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:57,080
Speaker 3: my partner Mark LORII. What should we be thinking about

225
00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:00,480
Speaker 3: and what are the people like Clara's a great example

226
00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:04,520
Speaker 3: from the Liberty Clara was high yeahs, who's really the goat?

227
00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:07,760
Speaker 3: I mean, she's really done in incredible. What should we

228
00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:10,200
Speaker 3: be thinking about? What are great owners that Clara doing?

229
00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:12,320
Speaker 2: Full disclosure, You're a huge Liberty fan.

230
00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:16,320
Speaker 1: I'm a women's sports fan, but as a Jersey girl,

231
00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:18,840
Speaker 1: I support all of the local teams. So yes, I

232
00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:20,920
Speaker 1: am a huge Liberty fan. But in order to see

233
00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:23,800
Speaker 1: the industry succeed, the whole pie has to. And just

234
00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:25,960
Speaker 1: to answer your question, Alex, I think when you look

235
00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:28,079
Speaker 1: at what a team like the Liberty has been able

236
00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,000
Speaker 1: to achieve off the back of and sorry to say this,

237
00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:34,080
Speaker 1: their last championship where they defeated the Links and the

238
00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,040
Speaker 1: trajectory of advertisers and net new revenue. They've been able

239
00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:39,080
Speaker 1: to bring in not just from ticket sales and merchandise

240
00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:42,520
Speaker 1: which are double triple digit LYFT, but also just sponsorship deals.

241
00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:44,400
Speaker 4: It's been fascinating to see.

242
00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:47,520
Speaker 1: When I started the business in twenty twenty three, fast

243
00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:49,280
Speaker 1: forward twenty twenty five. I mean we're not even two

244
00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:53,120
Speaker 1: full years in yet. At Deep Blue, the initial conversations

245
00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,360
Speaker 1: were all just about recognition of the space. Now we're

246
00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:59,000
Speaker 1: in an instance where or a situation in chapter where

247
00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:01,160
Speaker 1: we need to write side the business case, and so

248
00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:02,480
Speaker 1: I'll give you an example and I'll take us out

249
00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:04,640
Speaker 1: of the w but I think it's a pertinent one.

250
00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:09,720
Speaker 1: Some data just came out around the NWSL's commercial sponsorship

251
00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,440
Speaker 1: revenue in twenty twenty four, which achieved seventy five million

252
00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:16,920
Speaker 1: dollars and AD revenue that is up sixteen percent from

253
00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,440
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, so growing, not exponentially in the ways

254
00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:21,600
Speaker 1: we've seen some other numbers, but.

255
00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:22,679
Speaker 4: Still double digit lift.

256
00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:25,400
Speaker 1: Yet when you look at those numbers, there is a

257
00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:29,880
Speaker 1: glaring issue with respect to the annual average value of

258
00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:33,720
Speaker 1: those partnerships. So seventy five million dollars came in across

259
00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:36,720
Speaker 1: four hundred and forty one partners. The reason I told

260
00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:38,600
Speaker 1: you that story about when I looked into the league

261
00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:41,400
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen, we're up from four partners to four

262
00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,559
Speaker 1: hundred and forty one partners in that span. But if

263
00:12:44,559 --> 00:12:48,000
Speaker 1: you divide those numbers, you're talking an average net value

264
00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:52,560
Speaker 1: of one hundred and seventy thousand dollars. This is where

265
00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:54,160
Speaker 1: I see the gap in terms of how do you

266
00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:56,200
Speaker 1: start right sizing it? And so then you dig in

267
00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,880
Speaker 1: and you start saying, Okay, of that seventy five million,

268
00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:03,760
Speaker 1: three clubs generated forty six percent of that Angel City

269
00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:06,240
Speaker 1: the current in Kansas City and San Diego. So then

270
00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:08,680
Speaker 1: you're like, okay, the average probably at the bottom half

271
00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:11,120
Speaker 1: of that table what are we really talking about five

272
00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:13,400
Speaker 1: figure deals? How do you grow at the rate in

273
00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:15,520
Speaker 1: which the market is demanding? And so these are where

274
00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:17,600
Speaker 1: we start talking about right sizing and to do that,

275
00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:20,040
Speaker 1: you know, we've been really working on. Okay, start making

276
00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:22,439
Speaker 1: the business case in apples to Apple scenarios and when

277
00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:25,040
Speaker 1: you start comparing it to men's so you'll appreciate this,

278
00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:27,280
Speaker 1: I think particularly Alex A thirty second spot in the

279
00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,199
Speaker 1: MLB World Series over the last few years has averaged

280
00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:32,240
Speaker 1: four hundred and fifty to five hundred and fifty thousand

281
00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,720
Speaker 1: dollars per thirty second advertising spot. That means that one

282
00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,920
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy thousand dollars I can acquire the rights

283
00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:42,079
Speaker 1: to work with a team for an eight month plus

284
00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:44,800
Speaker 1: season at the same rate I can buy at a

285
00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:47,200
Speaker 1: quarter and eighth in some instances what I'm buying a

286
00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:49,000
Speaker 1: thirty second spot in the World Series.

287
00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:50,960
Speaker 2: So you start to put.

288
00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,160
Speaker 1: Those comparisons together, I mean, and then you get into

289
00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:56,200
Speaker 1: things like, Okay, a Super Bowl spot you know last

290
00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,640
Speaker 1: year alone was seven to eight million. You come in

291
00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:01,760
Speaker 1: into a league with a seven to eight million dollar check,

292
00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:04,240
Speaker 1: you could own the whole damn pie. So these are

293
00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:06,960
Speaker 1: the sort of rois and comparisons, and we've been talking

294
00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,120
Speaker 1: about getting in now, but I think this expression of

295
00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:12,880
Speaker 1: focusing on how cheap it is, and I hate to

296
00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:15,560
Speaker 1: use that word, but the entry point as opposed to

297
00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:18,160
Speaker 1: the ROI and what you can actually achieve in value

298
00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:20,800
Speaker 1: at this stage of growth is something that I think

299
00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:21,720
Speaker 1: the market is missing.

300
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:25,000
Speaker 2: And so tell us about some of the brands that

301
00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,520
Speaker 2: are coming in. You know, there are some household names

302
00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:31,880
Speaker 2: that you've worked with, you know, whether it's ally financial, mass,

303
00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,120
Speaker 2: mutual others. But I'm sure you look around the target center,

304
00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:38,480
Speaker 2: Alex and you know, I watch these games on TV

305
00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:42,920
Speaker 2: and you are starting to see really big names come in.

306
00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,960
Speaker 2: What's the case as you're sort of cutting these deals

307
00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:50,800
Speaker 2: because you were in a very trusted intermediary between all

308
00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:53,920
Speaker 2: of this and you're making these deals happen. What's the

309
00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:57,119
Speaker 2: case you're making that resonates the most to the potential sponsors.

310
00:14:57,400 --> 00:14:59,160
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just what we talked about, the value

311
00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:01,400
Speaker 1: exchange and the return you're going to get for the

312
00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:03,600
Speaker 1: investment that you're putting in. And when you start again

313
00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:06,680
Speaker 1: right sizing in comparison to where these media buyers on

314
00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:09,880
Speaker 1: behalf of brands or the brands themselves are investing their

315
00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,240
Speaker 1: media and sponsorship dollars. You'd be hard pressed to make

316
00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:15,080
Speaker 1: a case where the WNBA, for example, last year in

317
00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,920
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, so an average of thirteen x on

318
00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:20,840
Speaker 1: the investments brands made as league officials.

319
00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:22,240
Speaker 4: I don't have to tell you.

320
00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:24,440
Speaker 1: Guys at Bloomberg that type of return and an investment

321
00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:25,080
Speaker 1: in one year.

322
00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:26,320
Speaker 4: It's significant.

323
00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:28,840
Speaker 1: And so you know when you talk about an Ally Financial,

324
00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:30,960
Speaker 1: you know ALLI Financial is a first mover in the space.

325
00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,240
Speaker 1: They came out into the market a couple years ago.

326
00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:34,760
Speaker 1: What I think they don't get enough credit for but

327
00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,400
Speaker 1: a very bold, audacious, perhaps ahead of its time, but

328
00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:40,280
Speaker 1: certainly a catalyst commitment, which was saying, you know, we're

329
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,960
Speaker 1: going to initiate this fifty to fifty pledge for every

330
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,280
Speaker 1: dollar we spend in men's sports, we're going to put

331
00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:47,920
Speaker 1: into women's sports within a certain period of time, a real, tangible,

332
00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,720
Speaker 1: measurable goal. Well, they get into the space and they

333
00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:55,280
Speaker 1: recognize there's not enough inventory to actually even meet their

334
00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,600
Speaker 1: own goals. So now you start recognizing your role as

335
00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:01,880
Speaker 1: an advertiser is not just to invest in the market.

336
00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:03,920
Speaker 1: We actually have to create the market. We need to

337
00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:06,280
Speaker 1: invest in, and so I think Ally has done an

338
00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:09,440
Speaker 1: incredible job of showing up in places like not just

339
00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,680
Speaker 1: becoming league officials for the NWSL and the PA. There

340
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,680
Speaker 1: now a league official for the WNBA, showing up in

341
00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:19,320
Speaker 1: places like unrivaled, investing in niche media properties like Tobinheath

342
00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:23,480
Speaker 1: and Kristen Press's reinc investing into the whole ecosystem so

343
00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:26,320
Speaker 1: that there is enough for advertisers who need to achieve

344
00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:30,480
Speaker 1: scale in many instances to justify the media investments they're making,

345
00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:32,680
Speaker 1: to able to come back and say, Okay, I could

346
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:35,640
Speaker 1: put X in with X return, because many of them say,

347
00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,320
Speaker 1: this isn't charity. They're not doing this as a check

348
00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,520
Speaker 1: the box anymore. This is a really viable market. But

349
00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:45,400
Speaker 1: the media ecosystem, coupled with the team league athlete ecosystem

350
00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:49,080
Speaker 1: has to mature in terms of its accessibility and availability

351
00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:52,160
Speaker 1: of inventory for these advertisers to make the business case.

352
00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,200
Speaker 3: Laura, I'm want to just take it like one step deeper.

353
00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:57,520
Speaker 3: We talked a little bit about the links. Take someone

354
00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:00,960
Speaker 3: like Nafisia Collier, who is a historic player who could

355
00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:03,640
Speaker 3: very well be the MVP this year. She's a great

356
00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:07,680
Speaker 3: business entrepreneur. How should we be thinking about positioning her

357
00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:11,800
Speaker 3: in the market, and do you position her parallel to

358
00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:13,320
Speaker 3: the links or completely separate?

359
00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:15,919
Speaker 1: That's a yes, And I think the value obviously she

360
00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,080
Speaker 1: brings to your organization is like none other, you know,

361
00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:22,520
Speaker 1: as you said, a legacy player who stands on her own.

362
00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:24,960
Speaker 1: And at the same time, I think she demonstrates what

363
00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:27,000
Speaker 1: is the best of women's sports, which probably has been

364
00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:29,360
Speaker 1: one of the most undervalued, which she's a multi hyphenate.

365
00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:32,000
Speaker 1: This is a woman who's an entrepreneur and starting Unrivaled,

366
00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:35,000
Speaker 1: had the ambition and went out and created it, stood

367
00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:36,600
Speaker 1: it up, proved the business model.

368
00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:37,880
Speaker 4: You know. I just was reading the.

369
00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:41,199
Speaker 1: Other day how they're expected to give increases to the

370
00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,920
Speaker 1: players in Unrivaled in just year two for their salaries

371
00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:48,480
Speaker 1: because they overachieved or hit every single metric that they

372
00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:50,199
Speaker 1: set out to do in year one, which is not

373
00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,680
Speaker 1: easy to do in sports, as we know. I love

374
00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:55,200
Speaker 1: seeing the ads that she's in right now with care

375
00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:58,320
Speaker 1: dot Com, emphasizing her role as a parent and a

376
00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:01,520
Speaker 1: mom and bringing that dimension to the space. And so

377
00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:03,560
Speaker 1: when I look at some of the stars of the

378
00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:07,080
Speaker 1: w I think, yes, we owe them more coverage. With

379
00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:09,159
Speaker 1: respect to their stats and score lines and all the

380
00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:11,920
Speaker 1: incredible things they're doing on the court. But we also

381
00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:13,920
Speaker 1: know there's a casual fan base out there that we've

382
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,720
Speaker 1: yet to even scratch the surface on that isn't just

383
00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:20,520
Speaker 1: coming to watch the w for the on court competition.

384
00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:23,440
Speaker 1: They're coming because these are moms, these are fashion icons,

385
00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,880
Speaker 1: these are entrepreneurs, they're recording artists. I mean, you could

386
00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:29,800
Speaker 1: go down the list of all of the and ones

387
00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:33,280
Speaker 1: that these athletes are and have had to do, largely

388
00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:35,760
Speaker 1: because prior to the moment we're in, they didn't have

389
00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:38,320
Speaker 1: a choice, right, many of them had to be able

390
00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:41,359
Speaker 1: to make ends meet, whether playing overseas or starting businesses,

391
00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:44,200
Speaker 1: just to be able to justify the means of being

392
00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:45,200
Speaker 1: professional athletes.

393
00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:48,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, so let's talk about that multi hyphen aspect, because

394
00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,760
Speaker 2: you know, I'm sitting next to one here, and part

395
00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:55,080
Speaker 2: of the reason this show exists is because of Alex's

396
00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:58,880
Speaker 2: own ambition, and the three of us all know that

397
00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:01,360
Speaker 2: that's not a given for every athlete, like it takes

398
00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:04,320
Speaker 2: a special athlete to take that extra step or those

399
00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:07,840
Speaker 2: multiple extra steps. We've had several people, several of those

400
00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:11,440
Speaker 2: multi hyphenates who've been on this show recently Alison Felix,

401
00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:13,399
Speaker 2: who I know is a recent business partner of yours,

402
00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:15,879
Speaker 2: super Bird, who's a longtime business partner of hers. So

403
00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:19,560
Speaker 2: help us understand that and maybe start with Sue because

404
00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:22,080
Speaker 2: I know you've been working with her for a long time. Again,

405
00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:24,320
Speaker 2: she sat on set with us and sort of walked

406
00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,439
Speaker 2: us through her journey. How did you guys get together

407
00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:30,679
Speaker 2: and what is it about her and your partnership that

408
00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:31,600
Speaker 2: you can describe?

409
00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:34,960
Speaker 1: Sure, it was a very serendipitous opportunity for us to connect,

410
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,480
Speaker 1: which was around an industry event prior to launching Deep Blue,

411
00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:42,080
Speaker 1: and as I was getting into the operational side of

412
00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:44,560
Speaker 1: how we were going to make the business case to advertisers.

413
00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:46,719
Speaker 1: You know, I can come all day with the receipts

414
00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:48,480
Speaker 1: of the things I've been able to develop in my

415
00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:53,400
Speaker 1: career as a brand builder, an ad buyer, activation creator, etc.

416
00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:56,199
Speaker 1: But there was a key piece that was missing and

417
00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:58,240
Speaker 1: I was noticing in every room I was going into,

418
00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:02,160
Speaker 1: was that first person athlete person effective? Now in men's sports,

419
00:20:02,359 --> 00:20:06,200
Speaker 1: it's relatively known because we have documentaries, we've heard the stories,

420
00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:08,440
Speaker 1: we have the first person point of view, and ongoing

421
00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,000
Speaker 1: press conferences pregame shows, postgame coverage, et cetera.

422
00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:12,560
Speaker 4: Women's sports not the case.

423
00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:14,639
Speaker 1: And so what I found to be interesting was when,

424
00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,120
Speaker 1: you know, you would talk to advertisers and in some

425
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:19,760
Speaker 1: instances agencies in the year plus of you know, research

426
00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:22,280
Speaker 1: and diligence we were doing prior to deciding to go

427
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,840
Speaker 1: all in, and I started recognizing, for example, you'd walk

428
00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:30,439
Speaker 1: into meet with a brand whose creative agency was developing

429
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,240
Speaker 1: the brief, the strategy all the way through to execution

430
00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:35,359
Speaker 1: of an ad campaign for example, that was meant to

431
00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,160
Speaker 1: either feature and or run in and around women's sports.

432
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:42,720
Speaker 1: The creators behind those ads more often than not had

433
00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,840
Speaker 1: never watched a women's sports let alone been to a

434
00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:50,359
Speaker 1: women's sports game, experience, whatever the case may be. So

435
00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:54,040
Speaker 1: how can you authentically connect with an audience, let alone

436
00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:57,840
Speaker 1: tell a story if you haven't had that experience. And

437
00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:01,879
Speaker 1: so this perspective was what that was missing, And serendipitously

438
00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:04,600
Speaker 1: got connected with Sue. This was just on the heels

439
00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:09,159
Speaker 1: of her retirement, obviously an illustrious goat certified career, but

440
00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,479
Speaker 1: also this was not at the time when basketball had

441
00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,399
Speaker 1: taken off yet, it was this in between period, and

442
00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:15,200
Speaker 1: we started talking about the work that she was doing,

443
00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:17,879
Speaker 1: and I think it really piqued her curiosity to know

444
00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:20,639
Speaker 1: not just the level of storytelling that goes out, but

445
00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:24,240
Speaker 1: more importantly, if nobody sees the story, there's no promotion

446
00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:26,119
Speaker 1: or tune into the story, which was a side of

447
00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:29,240
Speaker 1: the coin I was playing on. That story you're telling

448
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:31,240
Speaker 1: is a moot point. So this ability to have a

449
00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,280
Speaker 1: hand and put her fingerprints, I think, on end to

450
00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:36,600
Speaker 1: end was appealing. I will tell you when we decided

451
00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:39,439
Speaker 1: to link up. I announced the company in December of

452
00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:41,720
Speaker 1: twenty three. I have great text receipts for a book.

453
00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:44,560
Speaker 1: Someday people tell me it was absolutely out of my mind, Lauren,

454
00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:46,359
Speaker 1: nobody cares about women's sports. I mean a lot of

455
00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:49,840
Speaker 1: expletives in between. I announced Sue in January twenty four.

456
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:52,399
Speaker 1: Now the sudden people stand up a little straight or

457
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:54,520
Speaker 1: wait a minute, we haven't seen this on the women's

458
00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:56,480
Speaker 1: side the same way we've seen you know, Alex, you

459
00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:00,080
Speaker 1: and your peers linking up with entrepreneurs business executives to

460
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:04,560
Speaker 1: launch and build companies. It was relatively not done. And

461
00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:09,160
Speaker 1: fast forward April of twenty four, Caitlin Clark meets Angel

462
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,399
Speaker 1: Reese in that Final four and the rest was history.

463
00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,120
Speaker 1: Not only did Sue's time become very limited, she became

464
00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:16,920
Speaker 1: very busy because obviously lightning in a bottle moment for her,

465
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,200
Speaker 1: which I'm so excited for and glad to see that

466
00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:22,800
Speaker 1: she's gotten opportunities to weigh in on, but ever so

467
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,200
Speaker 1: more important to have her perspective as well as other

468
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,879
Speaker 1: athletes we work with at the table talking to advertisers

469
00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:32,280
Speaker 1: in a way that there's no amount of field research

470
00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:34,399
Speaker 1: you can do when you want to put out an

471
00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:37,880
Speaker 1: Olympic campaign spot focused around team USA women's basketball and

472
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:39,239
Speaker 1: not have super Bird's opinion at the day.

473
00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:40,400
Speaker 4: You can't compare these things.

474
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,280
Speaker 2: I mean, her five gold medals, yeah.

475
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,120
Speaker 4: Not one, so I know you keep counting them, so yeah.

476
00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:48,680
Speaker 1: I mean, it's been a tremendous competitive advantage for Deep Blue,

477
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,240
Speaker 1: but also a tremendous competitive advantage for the market to

478
00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,440
Speaker 1: have athletes like Sue Bird and others who are assuming

479
00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:57,080
Speaker 1: business positions and able to inform and just make the

480
00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:07,679
Speaker 1: whole industry smarter about the true experience of what they've lived.

481
00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:17,880
Speaker 3: Laura, I love the space that you're navigating in as

482
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,639
Speaker 3: a father to two teenage daughters. It really excites me

483
00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:24,360
Speaker 3: that people like you that are so capable are really

484
00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:28,520
Speaker 3: expanding the footprint of women's sports. A question about Deep Blue.

485
00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:30,960
Speaker 3: You found it two years ago. Have you thought about

486
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,600
Speaker 3: your five year plan and inside that five year plan

487
00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,399
Speaker 3: can you see Deep Blue being NLP or a GP

488
00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:40,200
Speaker 3: owner to a sports franchise.

489
00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:41,400
Speaker 4: So it's so funny, Alex.

490
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:43,159
Speaker 1: When we started the company, we had a five year

491
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:46,120
Speaker 1: plan which went from twenty three to LA twenty eight.

492
00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:48,199
Speaker 1: We were going to look at that five year window

493
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,400
Speaker 1: up until the Olympics in the US. I think within

494
00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:53,479
Speaker 1: the first six months I probably ripped that plan up

495
00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:56,960
Speaker 1: two or three times because the market was just electric

496
00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:00,399
Speaker 1: and the opportunities that were presenting itself were coming at

497
00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:02,720
Speaker 1: a rate where like no plan on paper made sense

498
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:04,919
Speaker 1: because you're just constantly having to hit the edit butt in.

499
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,639
Speaker 1: But the true nature of it two years in is

500
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,600
Speaker 1: recognizing that, first of all, sports is not the output

501
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,200
Speaker 1: for me, it's the vehicle and how do you thread

502
00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,040
Speaker 1: and take this deep subject matter expertise at the intersection

503
00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:19,560
Speaker 1: of media, marketing, advertising and women's sports to move horizontally,

504
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,919
Speaker 1: not just vertically. So agency services, so to speak, was

505
00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,280
Speaker 1: our trojan horse in our primary customer was to work

506
00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,080
Speaker 1: with brands to make them smarter, help them understand the

507
00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:31,240
Speaker 1: space right, size the investments that they were making, and

508
00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:35,520
Speaker 1: help extrapolate incremental value. We've done that, as Jason alluded to,

509
00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,399
Speaker 1: for some world class blue chip brands who are early

510
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:40,720
Speaker 1: and then some who have been new. For example, I

511
00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:42,879
Speaker 1: just brokeer to deal just within the last few months

512
00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:46,240
Speaker 1: between Vagicil and the New York Liberty talking about body confidence.

513
00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:48,600
Speaker 1: They had never invested in the world of women's sports before.

514
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:51,440
Speaker 1: So a lot of netnew comers as well. But as

515
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:53,879
Speaker 1: you pick your head up, I'd be remiss not to say, like,

516
00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:56,919
Speaker 1: that's just the entry point things like IP development. This

517
00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,840
Speaker 1: is something we're very excited about. We saw an opening

518
00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:02,040
Speaker 1: for the lack of content creation. You know, less than

519
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:05,280
Speaker 1: fifteen percent of coverage today still in the world of

520
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,240
Speaker 1: sports goes to women's sports, and that's where you start

521
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,399
Speaker 1: to sacrifice the storytelling that is missing, and so we

522
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:15,000
Speaker 1: decided to go all in with iHeart to develop iHeart

523
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:18,080
Speaker 1: Women's Sports, which in less than two years has over

524
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:20,960
Speaker 1: sixteen original pods in the space, covering a variety of

525
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:25,040
Speaker 1: sports from both former athletes, broadcasters, talent, et cetera. It's

526
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:29,040
Speaker 1: still to this day containing the only official women's daily

527
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:32,000
Speaker 1: podcast called Good Game with Sarah Spain with a former

528
00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:36,520
Speaker 1: ESPN broadcaster slash journalist. And so we started looking at

529
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:38,800
Speaker 1: the IP creation. Okay, what comes off of this? You

530
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,040
Speaker 1: start thinking about the world of commerce, you know, you

531
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:43,879
Speaker 1: start thinking about live events. For three years running now

532
00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:46,280
Speaker 1: we've hosted the Business Women's Sports Summer in New York

533
00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:49,639
Speaker 1: City in the spring, and an initiative that first started

534
00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:52,040
Speaker 1: as like if they build it, will they come. But

535
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:55,399
Speaker 1: it is a convening ground where it is the only

536
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,320
Speaker 1: space in the world as far as we're aware, where

537
00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:00,760
Speaker 1: the intersection of business and women's ports or comes together.

538
00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:03,400
Speaker 1: So you start creating all of these products and assets.

539
00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,840
Speaker 1: So IPE live events definitely interesting to us. Getting in

540
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,479
Speaker 1: and around the world of commerce interesting to us. And

541
00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:11,919
Speaker 1: then the last frontier is a venture we are learning

542
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,800
Speaker 1: so much in real time. I see a world where

543
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,120
Speaker 1: Deep Blue owns teams. I see a world where Deep

544
00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:21,080
Speaker 1: Blue starts collecting assets and ultimately being the grounding center

545
00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:23,480
Speaker 1: all through the lens of that subject matter expertise.

546
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:27,280
Speaker 2: I want to go a little deeper on this ownership piece, Laura,

547
00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:32,119
Speaker 2: because obviously very interesting to my partner here this notion

548
00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:36,400
Speaker 2: of ownership, and I do wonder how you see that developing,

549
00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:40,720
Speaker 2: not just from the deep blue perspective, but in these

550
00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:45,040
Speaker 2: conversations that you have with partners like super Bird because

551
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,240
Speaker 2: ownership and again I'm sitting beside an example of it,

552
00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:53,720
Speaker 2: that the athlete to owner transition is becoming much better

553
00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:56,760
Speaker 2: trid for lack of a better term. How do you

554
00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,520
Speaker 2: see that developing and how does that play into your

555
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:00,399
Speaker 2: business model?

556
00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:04,000
Speaker 1: Sure, I mean I think again it goes to a yes,

557
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:07,399
Speaker 1: and the strategic value of an Alex Rodriguez or a

558
00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:10,240
Speaker 1: superd sitting in an ownership position to be able to

559
00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:13,560
Speaker 1: provide a point of view that reflects the players that

560
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:18,040
Speaker 1: you know, reflects the training facilities resource needs to develop.

561
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:21,639
Speaker 1: On field excellence is paramount, There's no doubt about it.

562
00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,400
Speaker 1: And I don't know how you can actually replicate that

563
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:27,439
Speaker 1: if you hadn't played it at that level. And also

564
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:29,720
Speaker 1: one of the things that I'm seeing, especially in the

565
00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:31,960
Speaker 1: world of women's sports, is it is a gold rush

566
00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:35,600
Speaker 1: and there are a number of you know, investors of

567
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:38,240
Speaker 1: all kinds, family offices all the way through to pev

568
00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:41,199
Speaker 1: you know, venture et cetera coming in and around the space.

569
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:45,119
Speaker 1: We cannot apply the men's playbook to women's sports full stop.

570
00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:48,119
Speaker 1: And I think there is and Alex, I appreciate you

571
00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:51,320
Speaker 1: saying this a real need for education on who the

572
00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:55,520
Speaker 1: audience is really understanding the fan experience. Alex, I don't

573
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:57,159
Speaker 1: know if you've had a chance to go see a

574
00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:58,120
Speaker 1: New York Liberty game.

575
00:27:58,160 --> 00:27:59,800
Speaker 4: I haven't been to see the Links live.

576
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,000
Speaker 1: You've seen them in Liberty, But this game day experience

577
00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,199
Speaker 1: and the audience that it is super serving, there is

578
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,119
Speaker 1: nothing like it in sports period.

579
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:09,080
Speaker 4: And if you can't.

580
00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,000
Speaker 1: Understand the distinctions around that, I think you really handicap

581
00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:16,320
Speaker 1: growth a small microcosm and thinking about facilities and stadium development,

582
00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:18,639
Speaker 1: and this is an area I'm fascinated by. I was

583
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:22,320
Speaker 1: at a Washington Spirit match against Gotham in Washington, d C.

584
00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:25,120
Speaker 1: At Audyfield and actually took a picture of this moment.

585
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,840
Speaker 1: I was going up the escalator and there was a

586
00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:32,159
Speaker 1: whole section of strollers stroller parking. It wasn't a formal

587
00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:34,199
Speaker 1: official place. Now there was a third party vendor that

588
00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:37,280
Speaker 1: was supporting that, you know, sort of parking and go.

589
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,480
Speaker 1: But when you start thinking about you know, mother rooms

590
00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,240
Speaker 1: having espresso martiniz on tap. I mean, I could go

591
00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:45,520
Speaker 1: down the list of things that when you start really

592
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:49,520
Speaker 1: thinking about the nuances and experience, how owners can get

593
00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:53,960
Speaker 1: in and around the world of branding, media, marketing, influencers, creators,

594
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:58,320
Speaker 1: game day experience through experiential activation. We're no longer talking

595
00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:00,400
Speaker 1: about a playbook we all know and grew up on.

596
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,760
Speaker 1: This is developing for a modern audience and a modern experience.

597
00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,120
Speaker 1: And so I would encourage owners coming into this space

598
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,240
Speaker 1: to not be presumptive and really get in and under

599
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,560
Speaker 1: the hood, because I think the ability to derive incremental

600
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,160
Speaker 1: value by getting outside of the box of the thing

601
00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:18,480
Speaker 1: we all know and love is only going to increase

602
00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:19,160
Speaker 1: the evaluations.

603
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:22,040
Speaker 3: Lord, this reminds me a little bit when you think

604
00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,080
Speaker 3: about Deep Blue, it reminds me a little bit of

605
00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:28,000
Speaker 3: you know, Baine consulting in Mitt Robney, and Mitt was

606
00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:29,960
Speaker 3: going to leave to start his own private equity group.

607
00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:32,560
Speaker 3: And what they realized was, wait a minute, we're consulting,

608
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:34,760
Speaker 3: We have all the data, we bring, all the value,

609
00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,160
Speaker 3: we understand where the puck is going. Why are we

610
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,680
Speaker 3: going to let such a great talent mid Rodney go?

611
00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,680
Speaker 3: Why not start being capital and then the birth of

612
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:46,200
Speaker 3: basically being private equity started. I mean, you're collecting all

613
00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:49,520
Speaker 3: the data. You're really in a position of strength. I

614
00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:52,880
Speaker 3: can't think of anyone who could be a dial or

615
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:56,120
Speaker 3: an Arctos, and you're well positioned in women's sports to

616
00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:57,920
Speaker 3: bring tremendous amount of value.

617
00:29:58,040 --> 00:29:58,960
Speaker 4: Thank you appreciate.

618
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:01,360
Speaker 1: I actually was reading about your new venture and Jump

619
00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:04,120
Speaker 1: and the amount of capital that you've obviously raised.

620
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:05,000
Speaker 4: Our congratulations.

621
00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:08,160
Speaker 1: And you know what I'm so enamored by is this

622
00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:10,800
Speaker 1: full three sixty where you own the data. This is

623
00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,160
Speaker 1: another area when you get into the world of women's

624
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:16,120
Speaker 1: sports that has been such an impediment to growth. So

625
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:19,080
Speaker 1: just as a microcosmic example, you look at im a

626
00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:23,000
Speaker 1: Gotham season ticket holder. Now outside of the Kansas City current,

627
00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:27,760
Speaker 1: every women's sports team in the United States, regardless of sport,

628
00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:31,120
Speaker 1: is renting or leasing their facility from a men's team

629
00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:32,200
Speaker 1: or some other provider.

630
00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:33,600
Speaker 4: Right they do not own the space.

631
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:35,840
Speaker 1: And I always think about it going through the turnstiles

632
00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:39,000
Speaker 1: at Red Bull Arena and now Sports Illustrated Arena. How

633
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:42,840
Speaker 1: the trickle effect and what delays that can create for

634
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:45,640
Speaker 1: an organization when you don't have real time, access to

635
00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:48,800
Speaker 1: who's coming through the turnstyle, what they're buying at concessions,

636
00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:52,120
Speaker 1: what the merchandise flow is, and not having that as

637
00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:54,440
Speaker 1: a collective to then turn around Alex you're talking about

638
00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:57,840
Speaker 1: as an owner and going out to advertisers. Advertisers want

639
00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,480
Speaker 1: the data, and they don't want yesterday's they want days.

640
00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:02,960
Speaker 1: They want to be able to have real time informed

641
00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:06,400
Speaker 1: decision making. And so by creating a platform like Jump,

642
00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:08,760
Speaker 1: from my understanding, it will have everything from ticket sales

643
00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:11,840
Speaker 1: all the way through merchandising in one platform. This will

644
00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,440
Speaker 1: help in my opinions and not only expedite deal flow,

645
00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,920
Speaker 1: but also increase it. And I think that's something again

646
00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:19,120
Speaker 1: as a media buyer for twenty years, I look at

647
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:22,200
Speaker 1: clients want data, brand marketers want data.

648
00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:22,959
Speaker 4: I want to say clients.

649
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:26,640
Speaker 1: The women's sports industry largely has not had it, and

650
00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:30,200
Speaker 1: I think that has been a tremendous discservice and why

651
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:33,040
Speaker 1: we're seeing one hundred and seventy thousand dollars deals because

652
00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:35,960
Speaker 1: you really have nothing to bet on and everybody reports

653
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:37,520
Speaker 1: to somebody, right, and so at the end of the

654
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,520
Speaker 1: day to make these decisions, you have to be able

655
00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:42,200
Speaker 1: to justify this and like I said, we're not in

656
00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:43,480
Speaker 1: the checkbox era anymore.

657
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:44,960
Speaker 4: We need real tangible results.

658
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:47,520
Speaker 2: You know, what are the areas Laura that you know

659
00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:49,000
Speaker 2: you and I have talked about this. I think we

660
00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:51,560
Speaker 2: actually talked about it on our panel that the Business

661
00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:56,120
Speaker 2: Women's Sports Summit, the media deal side, you know, media rights,

662
00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:59,080
Speaker 2: et cetera. I know you've looked at this intensely and

663
00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:02,840
Speaker 2: obviously a lot of that plays directly into what your

664
00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:06,600
Speaker 2: clients want and expect and what the leagues want, what

665
00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:09,600
Speaker 2: the teams want. It plays into valuations. As alex Well

666
00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,480
Speaker 2: knows what happens next when it comes to media rights

667
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:13,480
Speaker 2: for the big women's.

668
00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:14,840
Speaker 4: Sports, this will be a hot take.

669
00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 1: I care less about the total number, more about the

670
00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:21,080
Speaker 1: experience today, and what I mean by that is seeing

671
00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:24,880
Speaker 1: a number of leagues chase very, very high numbers, which

672
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:27,960
Speaker 1: again I understand the reason the business case sport of directors,

673
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,120
Speaker 1: you know, needs for the leagues, etc. But in doing so,

674
00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:36,880
Speaker 1: and often cases, we're fragmenting games across four or five

675
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:41,080
Speaker 1: plus networks, and you're taking audiences that are already nascent

676
00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:43,760
Speaker 1: and still in their formative years. And I'm talking, you know,

677
00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:46,760
Speaker 1: high six figures, low seven at best, and now you're

678
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:49,640
Speaker 1: splintering them across five networks. Women's sports offers from two

679
00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:51,680
Speaker 1: main issues. They're hard to find and they're hard to buy.

680
00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:54,040
Speaker 1: We talked about the buying piece, I'll talk about the

681
00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:58,960
Speaker 1: finding piece. It's been fascinating to see this moment play

682
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,680
Speaker 1: out because everybody so excited by the multiples, but people

683
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:06,840
Speaker 1: not recognizing you're disrupting the audience experience. People don't know

684
00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:08,440
Speaker 1: where to find half of these games. I mean, you

685
00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:10,800
Speaker 1: need a master calendar that would stretch my dining room

686
00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:13,920
Speaker 1: table just to understand what to do this weekend. I

687
00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:16,520
Speaker 1: don't think that's a good service model for your fans.

688
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:18,960
Speaker 1: They're frustrated. You see them take it out in real

689
00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:21,240
Speaker 1: time on social media. They're often helping each other figure

690
00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:24,000
Speaker 1: out how to find it. And two, if you really

691
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:26,200
Speaker 1: think about it, in some instances, there are leagues with

692
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:29,960
Speaker 1: five distribution partners, which means you're creating five different rate

693
00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:35,120
Speaker 1: cards for advertising, five different commercial products, five different game

694
00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:38,760
Speaker 1: day experiences, and you're going to the same five advertisers

695
00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:41,040
Speaker 1: asking them for the same five deals.

696
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:42,720
Speaker 4: It doesn't work.

697
00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:45,280
Speaker 1: And so this is a part where you know, I

698
00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,800
Speaker 1: can understand why the MLB, the NFL. They have the luxury, right,

699
00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:51,240
Speaker 1: You're talking tens of millions of people tuning in over

700
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:52,560
Speaker 1: how many decades.

701
00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:54,440
Speaker 4: It's a fine tune machine.

702
00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:56,880
Speaker 1: Women's sports is not there yet, and so when I

703
00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:59,600
Speaker 1: look at those deals, I'm like, how do we streamline

704
00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:01,880
Speaker 1: both the efficacy of finding it, but then you have

705
00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:05,160
Speaker 1: to think about making it more efficient for advertisers to

706
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:06,120
Speaker 1: participate in it.

707
00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:09,040
Speaker 3: Laura, this is not a struggle or a challenge that

708
00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:13,560
Speaker 3: is exclusively for WNBA or women's sports. I recently got

709
00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,160
Speaker 3: a call from my mother who's eighty nine. Okay, that's

710
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:19,239
Speaker 3: a different demographic, but she still watches the Yankees game

711
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:21,440
Speaker 3: every night. I mean that kind of I loves her

712
00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:23,719
Speaker 3: bad and she loves she loves her Yankees.

713
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:26,040
Speaker 2: She's very frustrated right now. They're hard to love right now.

714
00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:28,000
Speaker 3: She wants to to answer all the questions that my mom.

715
00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:30,680
Speaker 3: I don't have other I'm not watching as closely as

716
00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:32,480
Speaker 3: I have the timbos and the links. I'm sorry, but

717
00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:35,920
Speaker 3: in one week, Laura, there was a six different telecast.

718
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,840
Speaker 3: We had a Yes Network, we had Apple TV, we

719
00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:41,799
Speaker 3: had Gotham, we had Fox, we had Ruku, and then

720
00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:44,279
Speaker 3: we had ESPN Sunday Night Baseball and Fox of course

721
00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,480
Speaker 3: was Saturday. And my Mom's like, where in the world

722
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:49,640
Speaker 3: do I find these apps? Can we go back to

723
00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:51,520
Speaker 3: the old days and just turn on the Yes Network?

724
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:53,840
Speaker 3: And I said, no, Mom, those days are over. But

725
00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:56,000
Speaker 3: that just gives you a little example of it's hard

726
00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:57,560
Speaker 3: to find and hard to buy, right.

727
00:34:57,880 --> 00:34:58,880
Speaker 4: And you know it's interesting.

728
00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:01,320
Speaker 1: I just saw literally a work that came out around

729
00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:03,919
Speaker 1: if you want to be an NFL fan this year

730
00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:07,399
Speaker 1: and watch the entire season. I forget how many there were.

731
00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:09,960
Speaker 1: I believe it was something like a thousand to eleven

732
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:12,279
Speaker 1: hundred dollars worth of subscriptions just to be able to

733
00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:14,000
Speaker 1: watch the full season as a fan.

734
00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:14,800
Speaker 2: Wow.

735
00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:17,439
Speaker 4: Right now, I love football, but I'm a Jets fan.

736
00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:19,680
Speaker 1: So that's a big commitment when you've been on the

737
00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:21,839
Speaker 1: losing side, Like you're alone.

738
00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:24,240
Speaker 2: I hate yourself. If you're a Jets fan.

739
00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:26,760
Speaker 3: You Jets and Mets? Is that usually how it works?

740
00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:29,280
Speaker 4: Jets Yankees? This is unconventional.

741
00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:31,600
Speaker 1: I know, I know, I know, I blame my husband,

742
00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:34,160
Speaker 1: but I confer to me it's the Jets lawyer for you.

743
00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:34,279
Speaker 3: No.

744
00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:36,520
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, New Yorker fans are right or die,

745
00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:39,640
Speaker 1: But you know, when you start talking about for you know,

746
00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:43,040
Speaker 1: the average consumer eleven hundred dollars worth of subscriptions come

747
00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:45,600
Speaker 1: on and you know then and then you look at

748
00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:47,799
Speaker 1: the women's sports space, it's not much far behind in

749
00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:49,719
Speaker 1: terms of the amount of you know, if you want

750
00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:52,120
Speaker 1: to be a w fan and an NWSL fan, I mean,

751
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:54,759
Speaker 1: how many platforms do you need? And so I think

752
00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:57,160
Speaker 1: this is where we're at at a very interesting inflection

753
00:35:57,239 --> 00:36:00,160
Speaker 1: point in media. The streamers are running up the or

754
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:03,000
Speaker 1: board in terms of price and having the disposable cash

755
00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:04,920
Speaker 1: to be able to put up these types of deals.

756
00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:08,040
Speaker 1: But at some point there has to be a convening

757
00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:11,000
Speaker 1: of the powers that be that recognize you are fragmenting

758
00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:12,760
Speaker 1: and diluting the value of your league.

759
00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:15,680
Speaker 2: I did mention something earlier that I wanted to sort

760
00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:17,759
Speaker 2: of circle back on, which is the deal that you

761
00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:21,839
Speaker 2: did with Always Alpha and Alison Felix, Always Alpha being

762
00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:25,680
Speaker 2: the talent management company that she started. Help us understand

763
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:28,400
Speaker 2: sort of what you're doing there, because this notion of

764
00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:32,360
Speaker 2: managing talent is a fascinating one. It's one you have

765
00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:34,680
Speaker 2: a lot of windows into. It goes back to something

766
00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:36,319
Speaker 2: you know you've been talking about when it comes to

767
00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,480
Speaker 2: you know, athletes like Alex, like Sue and others who

768
00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:42,359
Speaker 2: just have so much to offer, tell us about that

769
00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:44,400
Speaker 2: deal and sort of how it came about it and

770
00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:45,439
Speaker 2: what the vision is there.

771
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:50,200
Speaker 1: Very vividly remember one of my colleagues calling me saying

772
00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:53,200
Speaker 1: that they had heard some rumblings that another women's sports

773
00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:55,280
Speaker 1: firm was coming into the space. Now, at this point

774
00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:57,880
Speaker 1: in the early twenty twenty four, we were still the

775
00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:00,160
Speaker 1: only I mean now, obviously the big talent agencies had

776
00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:02,719
Speaker 1: women's sports services, but in terms of dedicated no, and

777
00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:05,520
Speaker 1: it was going to focus on talent. And there was

778
00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:09,400
Speaker 1: this immediate rush of those inside the women's sports business bubble,

779
00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:13,040
Speaker 1: which wasn't still relatively niche, who immediately want to pit

780
00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:13,839
Speaker 1: you against each other.

781
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:15,359
Speaker 4: Right, They're like, there could only be one.

782
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:17,600
Speaker 1: But what was interesting was the skill set that we

783
00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:21,200
Speaker 1: had and the business model we were running was complimentary

784
00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:23,920
Speaker 1: to what Allison and her business partners Cassette and West,

785
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:26,320
Speaker 1: were after in that they were going to focus hyper

786
00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:30,239
Speaker 1: focus on managing the careers of female athletes exclusively. I

787
00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:32,759
Speaker 1: was not in the business of managing anyone. We were

788
00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:35,200
Speaker 1: in the business of managing deal flow, and so when

789
00:37:35,239 --> 00:37:37,320
Speaker 1: you looked at the opportunity. You know, there are a

790
00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:39,720
Speaker 1: couple of things that I started thinking about. You control

791
00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:42,880
Speaker 1: the money, you control the market, You have input and

792
00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:46,279
Speaker 1: partnership with the athletes, You have the influence. So this

793
00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:49,399
Speaker 1: became a really interesting proposition to me to say, hey,

794
00:37:49,719 --> 00:37:52,840
Speaker 1: wait a minute, we already have a great vantage point

795
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:55,239
Speaker 1: into where all the money is flowing. But if we

796
00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:58,680
Speaker 1: can now bolt on the influence and the incremental earned

797
00:37:58,719 --> 00:38:00,880
Speaker 1: value of what these athletes can generate and how they

798
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:04,399
Speaker 1: are dictating the marketplace, you've cornered the market lights out.

799
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:09,160
Speaker 1: And a series of conversations and meetings ensued and got

800
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,160
Speaker 1: to talking about the unique nature of bringing these two

801
00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:15,040
Speaker 1: and at that point only focused companies in the world

802
00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:16,000
Speaker 1: of women's sports.

803
00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:18,799
Speaker 4: And it was as simple as a handshake and the.

804
00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:21,720
Speaker 1: Value exchange there in the joint venture that we created

805
00:38:21,719 --> 00:38:24,680
Speaker 1: between Deep Blue and Always Alpha was Always Alpha was

806
00:38:24,719 --> 00:38:26,360
Speaker 1: going to manage the talent all the ways that you

807
00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:30,200
Speaker 1: would anticipate talent management firm supporting its clients, and we

808
00:38:30,239 --> 00:38:33,600
Speaker 1: were going to bring this added layer of strategic expertise

809
00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:37,880
Speaker 1: and industry knowledge to help shape an athlete's platform. To

810
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:39,960
Speaker 1: think about brand strategy, you can't just I mean, Alex,

811
00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:41,880
Speaker 1: I'd be curious to get your perspective on this. Like

812
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:43,800
Speaker 1: we are no longer in the day of just playing

813
00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:45,680
Speaker 1: the sport. I mean there's very few people you talking

814
00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:47,480
Speaker 1: about just playing the sport. You have to be able

815
00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:50,920
Speaker 1: to dimensionalize this female athletes times ten, and so to

816
00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:54,520
Speaker 1: be able to provide that level of insight, knowledge, expertise

817
00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:57,440
Speaker 1: what we were seeing in the market while also developing

818
00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:00,520
Speaker 1: that as athletes, as ip, all of a sudden, you

819
00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:03,880
Speaker 1: have a tremendous competitive vantage because it's not about transaction anymore.

820
00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:05,080
Speaker 4: It's about transformation yea.

821
00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:07,640
Speaker 1: And we were very focused on working with the athletes

822
00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:10,800
Speaker 1: to say, this moment that you're in in your playing career,

823
00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:13,120
Speaker 1: because they're predominantly working with a lot of active athletes,

824
00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:15,480
Speaker 1: let this be the vehicle.

825
00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:16,960
Speaker 4: This is not the endgame.

826
00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:20,120
Speaker 1: And so as early as we can start getting in

827
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:22,840
Speaker 1: and thinking about, yes, you may be a peloton instructor

828
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:26,160
Speaker 1: crushing the leader board or you know, world class runner

829
00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:28,839
Speaker 1: who's out there breaking records. How are we using this

830
00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:32,000
Speaker 1: moment and this platform both the world and what it's

831
00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:34,839
Speaker 1: providing us and coverage also your social channels, how you're

832
00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:37,520
Speaker 1: showing up in the market, et cetera, to start to

833
00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:40,560
Speaker 1: build the tentacles and what will become your multi hyphen business.

834
00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:44,520
Speaker 1: So that added component helps to supercharge and I think

835
00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:46,759
Speaker 1: pay off on you know what you even asked earlier

836
00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:49,040
Speaker 1: on what owners can do it. It's bringing that level

837
00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:53,040
Speaker 1: of strategy well beyond the transactional nature of it.

838
00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:55,400
Speaker 2: It is funny, Alex to think about this idea that

839
00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:59,680
Speaker 2: you were following in the footsteps of like Magic Johnson,

840
00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:03,120
Speaker 2: but there weren't a lot of people that emulated. Now,

841
00:40:03,440 --> 00:40:06,279
Speaker 2: it feels like, especially in the age of nil and

842
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,160
Speaker 2: everything else, if you're not thinking about your brand, if

843
00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:11,680
Speaker 2: you're not thinking about yourself as a multi hyphen it,

844
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:15,200
Speaker 2: you're actually the outlier versus when it was when you

845
00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:16,520
Speaker 2: were coming up. Do you think that's true?

846
00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:18,640
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I mean, look, just twenty five years ago,

847
00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:21,839
Speaker 3: I signed at that point the largest contract in the

848
00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:24,080
Speaker 3: history of sports for ten years, two hundred and fifty

849
00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:28,280
Speaker 3: two million dollars Tom Hickstonner the Text Rangers, and before

850
00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:29,960
Speaker 3: that I had been in the league for six years.

851
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:31,680
Speaker 3: I was twenty four years old. That entered as an

852
00:40:31,719 --> 00:40:37,000
Speaker 3: eighteen year old teenager, and I became immediately public enemy

853
00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:40,040
Speaker 3: Number one because of that contract. And when you fast

854
00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:42,879
Speaker 3: forward twenty five years and you see Shoheo Tania seven

855
00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:46,399
Speaker 3: hundred and he becomes literally a hero and an icon.

856
00:40:46,719 --> 00:40:49,319
Speaker 3: That brings a smile to my face because there's an

857
00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:52,680
Speaker 3: amazing shift that's gone on. At that point in twenty

858
00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:55,520
Speaker 3: twenty one, the team had all the power. They controlled

859
00:40:55,520 --> 00:40:58,480
Speaker 3: the media, they controlled the narrative. We didn't have social thousand,

860
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:01,799
Speaker 3: two thousand and one, sorry twenty four years ago. And

861
00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:05,080
Speaker 3: today that's shifted. Whether you talk about Nficia Collier or

862
00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:08,080
Speaker 3: you're talking about Anthony Edwards or Aaron Judge or Shohio Tani,

863
00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:11,600
Speaker 3: the player has much influence as the team, and they

864
00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:15,319
Speaker 3: have become truly our partners, and we work very well

865
00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:17,640
Speaker 3: with them together. It's my hope and dream that Major

866
00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:20,560
Speaker 3: League Baseball gets direct together and they can work more

867
00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:22,080
Speaker 3: collectively as a unit.

868
00:41:22,239 --> 00:41:22,880
Speaker 4: If not more.

869
00:41:23,320 --> 00:41:25,120
Speaker 1: If not more, I mean, we're a big believer in

870
00:41:25,239 --> 00:41:28,320
Speaker 1: individuals over institutions, and this is not unique to sport.

871
00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:31,160
Speaker 1: This is just the way modern media is moving. And

872
00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:33,040
Speaker 1: so I think, Alex you asked the question earlier about

873
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:36,560
Speaker 1: NAFISA as a standalone versus NFISA as a bolt on

874
00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:38,520
Speaker 1: and I think the answer is yes. You know, I

875
00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:41,240
Speaker 1: think allowing her to develop that platform and also figuring

876
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:43,680
Speaker 1: out how it develops the brand that is the links.

877
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:47,600
Speaker 1: These two things in tandem are the superpower. Not to

878
00:41:47,719 --> 00:41:49,960
Speaker 1: take over your show, No, but I actually I do.

879
00:41:50,080 --> 00:41:53,000
Speaker 1: I have a question and a final thought, Alex. A question,

880
00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:56,640
Speaker 1: as somebody who signed the largest deal in the history

881
00:41:56,640 --> 00:41:59,520
Speaker 1: of baseball in your prime, when you look at the

882
00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:02,680
Speaker 1: world of win in sports today, what has been the

883
00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:05,240
Speaker 1: absolute head scratcher and how are you thinking about things

884
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:07,600
Speaker 1: differently from that person you were in that deal twenty

885
00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:10,759
Speaker 1: five years ago to now applying those principles to a

886
00:42:10,880 --> 00:42:14,480
Speaker 1: market that, yes, fifty plus years old, but still relatively

887
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:16,400
Speaker 1: junior with you know, it's professionalization.

888
00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:20,719
Speaker 3: Wow, that's a great question. I'd love some time to

889
00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:23,200
Speaker 3: think on that a little bit more. I'm a novice

890
00:42:23,239 --> 00:42:26,200
Speaker 3: in the space and I'm really enjoying it and I'm

891
00:42:26,239 --> 00:42:28,239
Speaker 3: really collecting a lot of data and talking to a

892
00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:33,000
Speaker 3: lot of smart people. But I do think that the opportunity.

893
00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:34,600
Speaker 1: Is endless, totally, And I'd love to just leave you

894
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:36,960
Speaker 1: with the final thought because you did allude to your daughters,

895
00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:39,399
Speaker 1: and I think you know it's easy to get caught

896
00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:41,920
Speaker 1: up in the short term ism of the moment that

897
00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:43,680
Speaker 1: we're living in a women's sports Although I like to

898
00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:46,320
Speaker 1: play the long game, I'm not just in this because

899
00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:48,239
Speaker 1: it's fun, it's exciting, it's all of those things, and

900
00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:50,640
Speaker 1: it's a net new industry to chase. What I really

901
00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:52,520
Speaker 1: want to leave your listeners with are the stakes of

902
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:55,480
Speaker 1: what we're talking about. Forty five percent of girls are

903
00:42:55,560 --> 00:42:57,320
Speaker 1: dropping out of sport in the United States by the

904
00:42:57,360 --> 00:43:00,200
Speaker 1: age of fourteen, nearly one out of two, largely to

905
00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:05,240
Speaker 1: body confidence issues. What influences body confidence issues the media, marketing,

906
00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:08,640
Speaker 1: and advertising industries of which I'm a part of. And

907
00:43:08,719 --> 00:43:11,320
Speaker 1: so when you start to think about girls who play

908
00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:13,560
Speaker 1: becoming women who lead, ninety four percent of women in

909
00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:15,839
Speaker 1: the C suite have played sports at some point at

910
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:17,719
Speaker 1: any point in their lives, and over fifty percent of

911
00:43:17,719 --> 00:43:21,840
Speaker 1: those collegiately. When you think about that drop off nearly

912
00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:25,600
Speaker 1: one out of two, and the social economic impact of

913
00:43:25,640 --> 00:43:28,719
Speaker 1: what is lost and potentially what could be gained as

914
00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:31,319
Speaker 1: a result of keeping girls in sport and what it

915
00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:32,960
Speaker 1: does for their development.

916
00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:34,400
Speaker 4: That is why we're in this game.

917
00:43:34,840 --> 00:43:36,360
Speaker 1: And I think one of the things that I am

918
00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:39,000
Speaker 1: so impressed by and continue to be inspired by on

919
00:43:39,040 --> 00:43:41,360
Speaker 1: a daily basis is to leave it better than we

920
00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:43,920
Speaker 1: found it. Mentality of the entire women's sports community, and

921
00:43:43,960 --> 00:43:46,879
Speaker 1: I think that that is something that cannot be lost. Yes,

922
00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:49,800
Speaker 1: the numbers will prove themselves out. Yes, there will be

923
00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:51,319
Speaker 1: a lot of people who make a lot of money

924
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:53,880
Speaker 1: in this industry. But when you really think about the

925
00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:57,239
Speaker 1: long tail impact of what we're talking about, we're talking GDPs,

926
00:43:57,600 --> 00:44:00,399
Speaker 1: it's far greater than the short term valuation some media

927
00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:07,520
Speaker 1: orite steals we're seeing today.

928
00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:14,520
Speaker 2: All Right, we're gonna do a lightning round and then

929
00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:17,120
Speaker 2: we'll let you get on with the rest of your day. Laura,

930
00:44:17,160 --> 00:44:18,919
Speaker 2: you've been very generous with your time. All right, five

931
00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:21,319
Speaker 2: questions will bounce it back and forth. First thing that

932
00:44:21,360 --> 00:44:22,839
Speaker 2: comes to your mind, you ready.

933
00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:24,000
Speaker 4: Go for it?

934
00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:26,680
Speaker 2: All right? What's the best piece of advice you've received

935
00:44:26,680 --> 00:44:28,120
Speaker 2: on deal making or business?

936
00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:30,880
Speaker 1: If you see a better way, you have an obligation

937
00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:34,120
Speaker 1: to do it. And that advice came from former General

938
00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:37,120
Speaker 1: Electric vice chair Beth Coomstock, who is a longtime client

939
00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:37,879
Speaker 1: and mentor of mine.

940
00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:40,600
Speaker 3: Who's your dream deal making partner?

941
00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:41,160
Speaker 1: You?

942
00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:45,279
Speaker 2: Oh? Wow, deals happening on the deal My favorite thing.

943
00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:48,360
Speaker 2: Which team do you want to see win a championship

944
00:44:48,400 --> 00:44:49,960
Speaker 2: more than any I.

945
00:44:49,920 --> 00:44:52,080
Speaker 4: Mean, I'd love to see the Liberty go back to back.

946
00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:53,480
Speaker 2: Come on boy. Wow.

947
00:44:54,160 --> 00:44:56,440
Speaker 4: One great answer, one not so great answer.

948
00:44:56,520 --> 00:44:57,160
Speaker 1: This is the deal.

949
00:44:57,280 --> 00:44:57,799
Speaker 2: Here we go.

950
00:44:58,360 --> 00:45:00,920
Speaker 3: What is your hype song before you go into a

951
00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:02,759
Speaker 3: big meeting or negotiation?

952
00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:04,160
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh.

953
00:45:04,160 --> 00:45:07,239
Speaker 1: This probably won't surprise anyone who knows me as the

954
00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:10,880
Speaker 1: Jersey girl, but anything from Bruce Springsteen gets me, like,

955
00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:14,239
Speaker 1: you know, there's something about you know, baby, we were

956
00:45:14,239 --> 00:45:14,839
Speaker 1: born to run.

957
00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:17,560
Speaker 2: You're on the move there, Yeah, all right, love, get

958
00:45:17,640 --> 00:45:20,040
Speaker 2: it all right. What's your advice for someone listening who

959
00:45:20,080 --> 00:45:21,400
Speaker 2: wants a career like yours?

960
00:45:21,880 --> 00:45:22,480
Speaker 4: Do the work.

961
00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:23,279
Speaker 2: You know.

962
00:45:23,360 --> 00:45:26,560
Speaker 1: I think it's easy to pull up chat at GPT

963
00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:30,560
Speaker 1: and you know, streamline the information, but I think truly

964
00:45:30,600 --> 00:45:33,719
Speaker 1: getting in the mix and cutting your teeth are what

965
00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:36,759
Speaker 1: developed some of the most competitive players I've worked with.

966
00:45:36,800 --> 00:45:38,800
Speaker 1: And I think until you've lived it and you've experienced,

967
00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:42,120
Speaker 1: it's really hard to be able to navigate this industry.

968
00:45:42,200 --> 00:45:42,919
Speaker 4: So do the work.

969
00:45:43,120 --> 00:45:43,960
Speaker 2: Thank you for your time.

970
00:45:44,200 --> 00:45:44,600
Speaker 4: Thank you.

971
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:53,120
Speaker 2: The Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and me Jason Kelly.

972
00:45:53,600 --> 00:45:57,760
Speaker 2: This episode was made by Anamazarakus, Stacey Wong, and Lizzie Phillip.

973
00:45:58,239 --> 00:46:01,000
Speaker 2: Amy Keen is our editor and Will Connolly is our

974
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:04,320
Speaker 2: video editor. Our theme music is made by Blake Maples.

975
00:46:04,640 --> 00:46:08,800
Speaker 2: Our executive producers are Kelly Leferrier, Ashley Hoenig, and Brenda Newnham.

976
00:46:09,360 --> 00:46:12,800
Speaker 2: Sage Fouman is the head of Bloomberg Podcast. Additional support

977
00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:16,319
Speaker 2: from Rachel Carnivale and Elena Los Angeles. Thanks so much

978
00:46:16,320 --> 00:46:18,680
Speaker 2: for listening to the deal. If you have a minute, subscribe,

979
00:46:18,719 --> 00:46:21,719
Speaker 2: rate and review our show. It'll help other listeners find us.

980
00:46:21,960 --> 00:46:23,799
Speaker 2: I'm Jason Kelly. See you next week.