1
00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:18,840
Speaker 1: Welcome back to our special two part series here on

2
00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:22,360
Speaker 1: the Athletic podcast Network. I Am Mike Smeltz. In episode one,

3
00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,279
Speaker 1: we looked at how the fan experience will change in

4
00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,440
Speaker 1: the near future. Now, going to the games, watching the games,

5
00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:31,160
Speaker 1: and taking a piece of the game's home are shifting

6
00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,360
Speaker 1: in the digital age. Today, we're looking at what is

7
00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,240
Speaker 1: evolving from the player, team, league perspective.

8
00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:37,639
Speaker 2: Now.

9
00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,199
Speaker 1: Baseball is a sport that straddles both the cutting edge

10
00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,440
Speaker 1: of innovation and a dedication to its roots. One element

11
00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,600
Speaker 1: of the game that has spanned the decades is players

12
00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:48,880
Speaker 1: and teams dedication to cheating.

13
00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:53,360
Speaker 3: It's a big salvo in the war over the stealing signs.

14
00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:56,200
Speaker 3: You know, there's everyone's always trying to steal each other

15
00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:57,280
Speaker 3: science they still are.

16
00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,560
Speaker 1: That is Eno Serus, a baseball writer at The Athletic

17
00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,360
Speaker 1: who often writes about the confluence of analytics and gameplay

18
00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,240
Speaker 1: in the sport. Sarah's is talking about a new piece

19
00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:11,280
Speaker 1: of equipment in baseball called PitchCom that, yes, is an

20
00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,640
Speaker 1: advancement in the game, but looks like something from thirty

21
00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:15,240
Speaker 1: years ago.

22
00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:21,160
Speaker 3: So this year they've introduced PitchCom device and it just

23
00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,520
Speaker 3: looks like an old school I don't know, almost like

24
00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:27,120
Speaker 3: a pager or something with the big fat buttons on it.

25
00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:29,040
Speaker 3: It's got these big fat buttons on it. It's on

26
00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:31,520
Speaker 3: the it's on the wrist of the catcher and they

27
00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:35,480
Speaker 3: can press a couple buttons and then it just basically

28
00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,520
Speaker 3: I think it's bluetooth technology and it goes to the

29
00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:44,280
Speaker 3: hat of the pitcher and it'll actually say slider. And

30
00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,480
Speaker 3: the funny thing about it is you can record whoever

31
00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:49,560
Speaker 3: whatever voice you want. Because they wanted to be able

32
00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:52,640
Speaker 3: to make it Spanish, you know, they wanted to be

33
00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,360
Speaker 3: able to make it any language. They wanted to make

34
00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,720
Speaker 3: it the pitching coach or the manager or you know,

35
00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:02,160
Speaker 3: Morgan Freeman had the voice of God telling you Slider

36
00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:03,200
Speaker 3: down it away.

37
00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,280
Speaker 1: But sometimes even the voice of God isn't enough for

38
00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:08,480
Speaker 1: flawless communication.

39
00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:11,280
Speaker 3: We've already seen pictures. There was a picture in Washington

40
00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:13,840
Speaker 3: who took the hat off and was putting it the

41
00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:16,239
Speaker 3: hat on his ear as if it was like some

42
00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:18,480
Speaker 3: sort of speakerphone and he had to like get the

43
00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:20,600
Speaker 3: thing closer to his ear to hear it. So you

44
00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,160
Speaker 3: see people that are having trouble hearing it. And now

45
00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:28,280
Speaker 3: I think October and everybody, it's rocking and it's the

46
00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:31,280
Speaker 3: eighth inning, and your relievers just I can't, I can't

47
00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:32,239
Speaker 3: hear you, dude.

48
00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,200
Speaker 1: According to Sarah's, one flaw in relying on PitchCom is

49
00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,639
Speaker 1: that if it doesn't work, it puts the early adopters

50
00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:41,480
Speaker 1: at a disadvantage.

51
00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:42,160
Speaker 3: And then they have to go back to signs they

52
00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,639
Speaker 3: did in practice, or they don't do as like right now,

53
00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:47,720
Speaker 3: when you do when you are doing signs, it's like

54
00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:50,040
Speaker 3: three or four pages. They've got pages that they look

55
00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:51,520
Speaker 3: at on their thing and they're like, okay, we're on

56
00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:55,079
Speaker 3: third page. Four set of signs, you know, and then

57
00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:58,040
Speaker 3: the picture as they're looking at his hat and they go, okay, third, okay,

58
00:02:58,080 --> 00:02:58,880
Speaker 3: four set of signs.

59
00:02:58,919 --> 00:02:59,160
Speaker 2: Okay.

60
00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:01,799
Speaker 3: That's what he means. If they're not practiced in doing

61
00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:03,960
Speaker 3: that and they have to, there's still gonna be some

62
00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,800
Speaker 3: games that baseball teams are gonna play with this, you know,

63
00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:10,720
Speaker 3: like it's not gonna be the last thing that ever happens.

64
00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:15,800
Speaker 1: In Science, stealing Bitchcob was introduced to thwart cheaters. Sarah says,

65
00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:19,160
Speaker 1: if sports history shows us anything, there will be some clever,

66
00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:21,799
Speaker 1: bad actors that will figure out a way to manipulate

67
00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:23,600
Speaker 1: pitchcomp to their advantage.

68
00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,320
Speaker 3: You know, now you've got this bluetooth thing, and you know,

69
00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:28,680
Speaker 3: could that not be hacked. They have a similar thing

70
00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:30,359
Speaker 3: in football where you have, you know, kind of a

71
00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,040
Speaker 3: bluetooth thing and it goes from the head coach to

72
00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:36,400
Speaker 3: the to the quarterback and they can communicate with the

73
00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:38,760
Speaker 3: quarterback on the field instead of doing the signs. The

74
00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,040
Speaker 3: same idea, but there's this old story out here on

75
00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,640
Speaker 3: the West Coast that Bill Walsh used to actually turf those,

76
00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,320
Speaker 3: used to do something to throttle those so they wouldn't work.

77
00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,080
Speaker 3: And Bill Walsh used to plan his first twenty plays

78
00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,200
Speaker 3: along with this with this quarterback, so then the quarterback

79
00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,480
Speaker 3: would know what the twenty plays were. And once the

80
00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,040
Speaker 3: things didn't work and you couldn't hear, then both teams

81
00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,080
Speaker 3: had to stop using it. So it became a competitive

82
00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:03,600
Speaker 3: vantage for Bill Walsh because they knew what their first

83
00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:05,800
Speaker 3: twenty players were going to be and he could throttle

84
00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:07,480
Speaker 3: it so that it wouldn't work for the other twenty

85
00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:09,000
Speaker 3: two days and the other team would have to either

86
00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,760
Speaker 3: use these signs or would be basically on their heels.

87
00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:16,040
Speaker 3: So I wonder if the next sign stealing scandal in

88
00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:18,840
Speaker 3: baseball is going to be someone hacking into the bluetooth

89
00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:21,920
Speaker 3: and hearing it, you know, or throttling it so then

90
00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:23,560
Speaker 3: that people have to go to signs they're not used

91
00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:24,360
Speaker 3: to using anymore.

92
00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,400
Speaker 1: As slow to react as the MLB can be at times,

93
00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,800
Speaker 1: that carefulness to put it politely is a good lesson

94
00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:37,440
Speaker 1: for business. Implementing major changes takes time. Relying on so

95
00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:41,280
Speaker 1: called robot umps instead of your Joe West types is

96
00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:42,440
Speaker 1: the biggest of changes.

97
00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:45,800
Speaker 3: I think the way that any technology goes in baseball,

98
00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:50,359
Speaker 3: and we've seen this with robo umps and with wearable

99
00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,400
Speaker 3: technology that they use to become better players, or the

100
00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:59,360
Speaker 3: data that they get, the rap sotos, the technology they

101
00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:02,680
Speaker 3: pitch in front of you know, all this all this technology,

102
00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:05,840
Speaker 3: if you're comfortable, if you've seen it on your way up,

103
00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:07,760
Speaker 3: then you're comfortable with it, you know. And I think

104
00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,880
Speaker 3: that's why if you look at the roboumps that are

105
00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:13,560
Speaker 3: gonna that are I think are coming to baseball, you

106
00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,800
Speaker 3: see that they went to the Arizona Fall League, and

107
00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:18,600
Speaker 3: then they went to High A, and then they went

108
00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:20,279
Speaker 3: to to Low A, and then went to High A,

109
00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,120
Speaker 3: then went to Double A. So they're basically coming up

110
00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,159
Speaker 3: with these young prospects as they come up, so that

111
00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:29,239
Speaker 3: the younger players when they get to the big leagues

112
00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:31,440
Speaker 3: and there's a there's a robomp, will be totally used

113
00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,240
Speaker 3: to it, and the older players will complain about it.

114
00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,039
Speaker 3: And I think that's the same process you've seen basically

115
00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:39,760
Speaker 3: with his PitchCom is. It's been around in the minor leagues,

116
00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:43,080
Speaker 3: it's been around in certain leagues, it's been around certain

117
00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,400
Speaker 3: clubhouses for like, you know, i'd say three to four years,

118
00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:50,240
Speaker 3: So some of the younger players are more used to it,

119
00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:52,280
Speaker 3: maybe the ones that are going to be the first adopters,

120
00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:54,120
Speaker 3: and some of the older players are just going to

121
00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:55,800
Speaker 3: be like, we haven't done it this way. I'm not

122
00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,080
Speaker 3: used to it, and I don't want to do it.

123
00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,279
Speaker 1: The technology behind robot ups is it new. Sports like

124
00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,480
Speaker 1: tennis have used tracker systems that can quickly spit out

125
00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,240
Speaker 1: whether a ball was in or out, But in baseball

126
00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:09,839
Speaker 1: there are different dynamics at play where the strike zone

127
00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,880
Speaker 1: is wildly different for players like five foot six inch

128
00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,600
Speaker 1: Jose Altuve and the six foot seven inch Aaron Judge, And.

129
00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,960
Speaker 3: So there's been almost philosophical questions about what the strike

130
00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,680
Speaker 3: zone should be, so the strike zone move as they move.

131
00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:26,440
Speaker 3: If they's crouched really low, so the strike zone go

132
00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:28,960
Speaker 3: with them as they crouch really low. Would the hit

133
00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,960
Speaker 3: or be able to manipulate the electronic strike zone by

134
00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:36,080
Speaker 3: changing the way he's standing? Just could he theoretically get

135
00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:38,359
Speaker 3: his shoulders really close to his knees and create a

136
00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:39,440
Speaker 3: tiny strike zone?

137
00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:39,719
Speaker 2: You know?

138
00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:42,719
Speaker 3: Like, how responsive do we want it to be? Do

139
00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:45,160
Speaker 3: we want to set it to their general height or

140
00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:48,240
Speaker 3: their specific height in the box? And then how responsible

141
00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,440
Speaker 3: we want to be to changes in their stance when

142
00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,159
Speaker 3: they're moving as the ball's coming in and the ball

143
00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:55,640
Speaker 3: is also moving in a three D space? Do we

144
00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:57,839
Speaker 3: want it to continue to be a three D strike zone?

145
00:06:57,960 --> 00:06:59,960
Speaker 3: We've been calling it more as a two D strike zone,

146
00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:02,560
Speaker 3: But once we start doing the robots are we're gonna

147
00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:04,920
Speaker 3: make it three D And so then there's gonna be

148
00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,200
Speaker 3: pitches that become strikes later in the strike zone. And

149
00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:10,360
Speaker 3: so there's a lot of sort of questions. And that's

150
00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:12,240
Speaker 3: why I really like the way they're doing it, because

151
00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:14,960
Speaker 3: they're doing it many many years, and you might even

152
00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,280
Speaker 3: begin to see second and third order effects where we

153
00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:19,640
Speaker 3: start to see pitchers try to take advantage of the

154
00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,720
Speaker 3: electronic strike zone, start to do little trick pitches and

155
00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:25,200
Speaker 3: try to do the Sergio Romo slider where they just

156
00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:26,880
Speaker 3: catch a little bit of it, or the rich Hill

157
00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,000
Speaker 3: curveball where they catch a little bit of the strike

158
00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:31,400
Speaker 3: zone and hit the plate. And so if you can

159
00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:34,040
Speaker 3: see the second and third order, you know, things that'll

160
00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:36,080
Speaker 3: happen out of what you do, then you can sort

161
00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:38,560
Speaker 3: of adjust on the way and hopefully come to the

162
00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:40,000
Speaker 3: big leagues with the best situation.

163
00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,200
Speaker 1: And beyond those philosophical issues, as Sarah says, there is

164
00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,160
Speaker 1: an issue with the technology itself. One would think that

165
00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,720
Speaker 1: robot ops should get the call right every time. I mean,

166
00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,800
Speaker 1: they are robots. But as Sarah's points out already, the

167
00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:58,120
Speaker 1: information spit out by the machines right now changes multiple

168
00:07:58,120 --> 00:07:59,920
Speaker 1: times over a twenty four hour period.

169
00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,280
Speaker 3: There's another part of the technological problem, which is the

170
00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:06,600
Speaker 3: real time problem, which is and you see this sometimes

171
00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:09,160
Speaker 3: the accuracy of the zone as you see it on

172
00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,040
Speaker 3: TV is not amazing. And you know, I work with

173
00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:14,760
Speaker 3: the pitch data a lot as part of my job

174
00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:18,960
Speaker 3: at the Athletic and there's what there's data that you

175
00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,400
Speaker 3: get from the game itself, like as the game's happening,

176
00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:25,200
Speaker 3: then there's the data you get at about six am

177
00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:28,720
Speaker 3: the next day, so there's a washing. We call it

178
00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:31,080
Speaker 3: a wash, but it's like a cleaning up. Oh that's

179
00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:33,439
Speaker 3: not actually that pitch didn't go thirty feet up in

180
00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:35,920
Speaker 3: the air or whatever, you know that actually happens. So

181
00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:38,320
Speaker 3: you kind of clean up the data and then there's

182
00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:42,120
Speaker 3: another release at eight am that's been corrected again. So

183
00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:45,240
Speaker 3: at eight am the next day, you know a lot

184
00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,240
Speaker 3: better if the ball is a strike or not. However,

185
00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:51,439
Speaker 3: for robos that doesn't help you know a lot of

186
00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:57,640
Speaker 3: call strikes tomorrow. Yeah, let's wait a couple hours to

187
00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:00,240
Speaker 3: clean this data up. So that's been part of it too,

188
00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:02,720
Speaker 3: is perfecting that real time technology.

189
00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:06,800
Speaker 1: Innovation in one sector Kenning Knight innovation in another. The

190
00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:10,520
Speaker 1: use of motion capture technology and developing video games led

191
00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:11,480
Speaker 1: over into baseball.

192
00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:16,240
Speaker 3: Baseball took note when they started making baseball games video

193
00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:18,400
Speaker 3: games they had to put these balls on themselves, and

194
00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:22,360
Speaker 3: they had to do the motion capture. And then baseball said, whoa, hey,

195
00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:24,960
Speaker 3: we should do that except trying to use it to

196
00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:27,240
Speaker 3: try to make baseball players better. So what you do

197
00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:29,800
Speaker 3: is I got down to my underwear up in Kent,

198
00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,240
Speaker 3: Washington and had to throw a baseball in my underwear

199
00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,720
Speaker 3: in front of major league players and coaches, and it

200
00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,079
Speaker 3: was very embarrassing. It was also embarrassing because I only

201
00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:42,720
Speaker 3: threw fifty nine miles an hour. I guess when the

202
00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,040
Speaker 3: pros do it, they're doing a better job. But it

203
00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,600
Speaker 3: was what it allowed them to tell me about myself.

204
00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:50,440
Speaker 3: And I had a lot of flaws not being a

205
00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,560
Speaker 3: pro baseball player myself, but it allowed them to tell

206
00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:57,560
Speaker 3: me how my different aspects of my body were moving.

207
00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:01,880
Speaker 1: Now, access to bio mechanical technology is extremely limited. It

208
00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,240
Speaker 1: is expensive. Only select places have the tech, but some

209
00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:07,920
Speaker 1: of the data learn through the testing in these isolated

210
00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,440
Speaker 1: labs can proliferate out to all parts of the world.

211
00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:14,400
Speaker 3: What they can also do is now they can test

212
00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:17,280
Speaker 3: all the drills that coaches have been doing for years.

213
00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:19,839
Speaker 3: And you know, in the past, you do a drill

214
00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:21,880
Speaker 3: and for some guys at work, some guys it doesn't.

215
00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,760
Speaker 3: It's kind of haphazard. Now you can say, okay, we

216
00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,439
Speaker 3: did an assessment and then we did this one drill,

217
00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:30,240
Speaker 3: and then after we did another assessment and it changed

218
00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,000
Speaker 3: your hip, shoulder, separation, so that drill is a good one.

219
00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:35,280
Speaker 3: We did an assessment. We did these other drills, they

220
00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:37,920
Speaker 3: didn't work. Let's stop doing those drills, you know, so

221
00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:41,440
Speaker 3: you can actually test all the different drills that you

222
00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,480
Speaker 3: do with players and that makes you That makes coaches

223
00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:47,720
Speaker 3: more efficient and better at their at their at their job.

224
00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:51,600
Speaker 1: Coming up, we'll learn what it means to be a

225
00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,360
Speaker 1: startup in sports and how that impacts the leage's priorities.

226
00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:02,319
Speaker 1: Paul Rabel is an impressive dude. He is both one

227
00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,120
Speaker 1: of the greatest players in lacrosse history and is the

228
00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:06,840
Speaker 1: sport's greatest entrepreneur.

229
00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:09,960
Speaker 2: All of it is UGC. It's his usually generated content

230
00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:12,959
Speaker 2: that's created by us on the platform, and the engagement

231
00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:16,800
Speaker 2: is higher than all of metaw or Facebook and Instagram Combine.

232
00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,360
Speaker 1: The size of an NFL linebacker but the mind of

233
00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:22,560
Speaker 1: an Ivy League business school grad, Rabel, along with his

234
00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:26,079
Speaker 1: brother Mike, started the PLL, the Premier Lacrosse League.

235
00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:28,760
Speaker 2: We are on pace and want to become the next

236
00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,560
Speaker 2: billion dollar sports league. We think we can do what

237
00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:34,640
Speaker 2: it's taken a lot of the sports league's twenty years

238
00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:36,960
Speaker 2: to do in five to ten.

239
00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:40,960
Speaker 1: The instant success of the PLL has almost no comparable

240
00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:44,240
Speaker 1: in professional sports history. The league started playing games just

241
00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,920
Speaker 1: three years ago and it already swallowed the previous top

242
00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:49,800
Speaker 1: level pro league, the MLL.

243
00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,439
Speaker 2: And there were some challenges with MLL at the time.

244
00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:56,480
Speaker 2: Their achilles heel was that they would sign players to

245
00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:01,040
Speaker 2: one year deals to protect potential, you know, call it closure,

246
00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:04,280
Speaker 2: and that opened up the window for us to start

247
00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,840
Speaker 2: the POLL from scratch the next day, which we did,

248
00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:11,920
Speaker 2: and two years later we're ending up acquiring MLL.

249
00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,079
Speaker 1: So in a short period of time, the PLL went

250
00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,240
Speaker 1: from the little fish taking on the big fish that

251
00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:22,200
Speaker 1: was the MLL, and quickly the PLL eight the entire MLL.

252
00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:27,200
Speaker 1: Rabel Succeeds group identified a key factor in acquiring the MLL.

253
00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,800
Speaker 2: As part of that acquisition was also, you know it

254
00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:35,599
Speaker 2: and history and sports are so much about history and

255
00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:38,560
Speaker 2: the way that we colorize them and talk about them.

256
00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:41,040
Speaker 2: And I think it's it's worth calling that out because

257
00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:43,680
Speaker 2: we'll probably spend the book of our time talking about

258
00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:47,079
Speaker 2: the futures pro sports. But you can't engage an audience

259
00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:51,120
Speaker 2: without context, and you get context through historicals, and so

260
00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:54,000
Speaker 2: that's really exciting about the poll we're entering our four

261
00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:57,559
Speaker 2: season with twenty four years of history at the professional.

262
00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:00,360
Speaker 1: Level, the PLL is unique as a pro sports league

263
00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:02,839
Speaker 1: in a number of ways. One, the players in the

264
00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:05,800
Speaker 1: league earn equity over time, and two, instead of having

265
00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,160
Speaker 1: teams based in different cities, the entire league goes from

266
00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:13,439
Speaker 1: city to city each weekend, barnstorming a callback from sports

267
00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:16,800
Speaker 1: pass that was both a product of circumstance and recognizing

268
00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:18,600
Speaker 1: what consumers are familiar with.

269
00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:21,920
Speaker 2: You think about every year. Traditionally, the biggest event is

270
00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:25,560
Speaker 2: the Final Four, which would take the top four teams.

271
00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:29,160
Speaker 2: As we all know in college, we descend upon a

272
00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:31,240
Speaker 2: major market city. I did this for four years at

273
00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:33,520
Speaker 2: John Hopkins and we were able to get anywhere from

274
00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:37,000
Speaker 2: fifty to sixty thousand fans at Chillette Stadium for the

275
00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:42,520
Speaker 2: semis and Championship. And that idea that, oh, if you

276
00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,320
Speaker 2: create some supply demand around best in class, let's create

277
00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:47,640
Speaker 2: a Final Four each weekend.

278
00:13:47,679 --> 00:13:49,600
Speaker 4: But the thread at all throughout.

279
00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,520
Speaker 2: The season where Game Week one this season is going

280
00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:54,079
Speaker 2: to be in Albany, and then you go down game

281
00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:56,280
Speaker 2: week two, three, four, and we're to say, hey, I

282
00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:58,320
Speaker 2: think the Final Four done. This is still once a year.

283
00:13:58,480 --> 00:13:59,560
Speaker 2: So that was the idea.

284
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,520
Speaker 1: If the NFL was a league that exploded because of television,

285
00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:06,360
Speaker 1: how that game looked on TV and how was broadcasted

286
00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,400
Speaker 1: on TV, then the PLL is attempting to use modern

287
00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:14,200
Speaker 1: social media TikTok, Instagram, Twitter as its catalyst for exploding interest.

288
00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:18,000
Speaker 1: Of course, that isn't revolutionary to say a startup business

289
00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:21,480
Speaker 1: one involved in entertainment is going to use social media.

290
00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:24,480
Speaker 1: But hearing Rabel talking is much more than just a

291
00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:27,480
Speaker 1: bullet point on a PowerPoint. This year, the PLL signed

292
00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:30,400
Speaker 1: a landmark deal with ESPN. Their games will reach a

293
00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,600
Speaker 1: potentially massive audience when ABC ESPN's networks and ESPN Plus.

294
00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:38,320
Speaker 1: But for Rabel, he is looking beyond television and streaming.

295
00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,200
Speaker 1: To him. One of the best aspects of partnering with

296
00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:45,400
Speaker 1: ESPN is having the company's hugely followed social media platforms

297
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,240
Speaker 1: pushing out PLL content. Twenty four to seven, I.

298
00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:51,800
Speaker 2: Think ESPN social, and it's backed by the size of

299
00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,240
Speaker 2: the audience. They've figured out social better than any of

300
00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:57,640
Speaker 2: their network competitors. They have twenty five million plus followers

301
00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:02,160
Speaker 2: across ESPN and Sports Center accounts across all the different

302
00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:06,320
Speaker 2: social platforms, and that is an invaluable promotional tool and

303
00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:10,320
Speaker 2: unlimited inventory. Unlimited inventory compared to broadcasts. Right, you have

304
00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:12,840
Speaker 2: twenty four hours in a day, and those slots, which

305
00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:15,120
Speaker 2: are anywhere from an hour to two hour blocks, are

306
00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:18,040
Speaker 2: booked twenty four to thirty six months in advance, and

307
00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,480
Speaker 2: you run out of inventory in social within access to

308
00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:26,280
Speaker 2: twenty five million fans per platform, per handle, and you

309
00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:28,920
Speaker 2: can talk about the PLL after a tweet where you

310
00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:32,240
Speaker 2: talked about the NFL, the NHL playoffs, the NBA playoffs.

311
00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:37,400
Speaker 2: That is really powerful. So social media best marketing tool.

312
00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:41,360
Speaker 1: The PLL's dedication to flooding social media goes deeper than

313
00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:44,520
Speaker 1: most leagues are willing to go. Other pro sports leagues

314
00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:48,480
Speaker 1: like the NFL and MLB actively discourage their athletes and

315
00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:52,480
Speaker 1: fans from sharing game footage online. The PLL has a

316
00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:56,520
Speaker 1: content farm that distributes the best bits to its league members,

317
00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:57,960
Speaker 1: including its players.

318
00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:02,440
Speaker 2: Instead of us turning one of the cheats, we just said, hey,

319
00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:08,400
Speaker 2: let's just create a highlights, distribute them to our players

320
00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,840
Speaker 2: to live organically through their social distribute them to our

321
00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:15,600
Speaker 2: sponsors and our partners. Distribute them to other media companies

322
00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:18,320
Speaker 2: that would otherwise maybe be on the fence. Because they

323
00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:20,520
Speaker 2: don't want to pay a licensing fee. Let's just get

324
00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:24,520
Speaker 2: it out there legally as often and natively as possible.

325
00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:27,080
Speaker 2: We create I know that we create our content. I

326
00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:32,680
Speaker 2: speak about natively four platforms that distribute it in a

327
00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:37,280
Speaker 2: certain way. TikTok's nine x sixteen. It's vertical, its bite size,

328
00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:41,480
Speaker 2: it's more bts. Twitter you can go sixteen by nine,

329
00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:44,120
Speaker 2: so horizontal, and it's more conversational and second screen and

330
00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:47,880
Speaker 2: understand the Instagram and Facebook. We'll create custom content for

331
00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,120
Speaker 2: our players. We won't upload it, they'll upload it. In

332
00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,400
Speaker 2: some case, we'll upload it for them, and then you

333
00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:54,040
Speaker 2: learn from it.

334
00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:57,600
Speaker 4: You through our business intelligence team, we pull all those

335
00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:00,960
Speaker 4: metrics and impressions and engagements and we're constant surveying a

336
00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:05,320
Speaker 4: very quickly evolving an algorithmic environment and social so we

337
00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:06,359
Speaker 4: can get in the forefront of it.

338
00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,440
Speaker 1: Because of how young the PLL is, both in the

339
00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:11,600
Speaker 1: age of the league and the age of the people

340
00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:14,639
Speaker 1: running the league, there's a clear dedication to making the

341
00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:17,640
Speaker 1: PLL more than just a bundle of games that show

342
00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:18,480
Speaker 1: up on a streamer.

343
00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:20,800
Speaker 2: You know, there's a lot of conversation and it's a

344
00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:24,120
Speaker 2: beautiful series. Every year and Drive to Survive on Netflix.

345
00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:28,560
Speaker 2: They's done a fantastic job of driving value to the

346
00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:32,360
Speaker 2: US consumer base of an international competition like F one.

347
00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,080
Speaker 2: But before Drive to Survive, there was Hard Knocks. Before

348
00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:39,200
Speaker 2: Hard Knocks, there was The Ultimate Fighter. Before the Ultimate Fighter,

349
00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:42,520
Speaker 2: there were things like Mighty Ducks and Rudy. So this

350
00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:48,360
Speaker 2: is all scripted film unscripted, which is reality or documentary

351
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:55,520
Speaker 2: series or documentary films that drive humanization and conversation around

352
00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:58,679
Speaker 2: the people in sport, and that's what ultimately leads to

353
00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:01,600
Speaker 2: more tune in on the live broadcast, which is tied

354
00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:05,480
Speaker 2: to these leagues revenue. So we are we're diving deeply

355
00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:09,720
Speaker 2: into scripted unscripted and telling more stories around across away

356
00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:10,560
Speaker 2: from the live games.

357
00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:17,760
Speaker 1: The lessons from the PL are clear games aren't enough anymore.

358
00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:22,080
Speaker 1: There is so much competition for audience. The PL finds

359
00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,600
Speaker 1: consistent and proven ways to interact with its customers through

360
00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:28,600
Speaker 1: that steady drip of social media that go far beyond

361
00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:30,760
Speaker 1: the a lot of time of a lacrosse game. So

362
00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:33,640
Speaker 1: for sports fans, the future of sports means they'll get

363
00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:37,600
Speaker 1: more of it, just not necessarily those games we're talking about.

364
00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:41,880
Speaker 1: Behind the scenes videos documentaries, podcasts, social media, and FT's

365
00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:46,280
Speaker 1: alternative broadcasts. As in episode one, all of this comes

366
00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,639
Speaker 1: down to choice, and leagues are doing everything they can

367
00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:53,639
Speaker 1: to guarantee fans choose their sport to invest their time into.

368
00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:57,600
Speaker 1: I have Mike Smelts from The Athletic thank you for

369
00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:02,040
Speaker 1: listening in the f