1
00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,400
Speaker 1: This is the business of sports. Let's talk Super Bowl

2
00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:06,600
Speaker 1: and Fox Sports, every single thing that occurs. I want

3
00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:08,880
Speaker 1: people to remember, this is a business. Guaranteed. Money isn't

4
00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:13,520
Speaker 1: necessarily guaranteed. Michael, how high can these valuations go? Scott,

5
00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,920
Speaker 1: everybody loves rooting against him, right, Evan, nobody Williams Off

6
00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:19,840
Speaker 1: the field, the NBA has never been buzzier. And the

7
00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:24,160
Speaker 1: leaders in the sports industry Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, MIKEA. Riscoe,

8
00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,000
Speaker 1: He's the commissioner of the American Athletic Confest. Here In Smith,

9
00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,160
Speaker 1: president of Ticketmasters in the Race card driver, Elio Castro,

10
00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:34,360
Speaker 1: and Evans Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Hello,

11
00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,440
Speaker 1: I'm Scott So, I'm Evan, Novie Williams, and this is

12
00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:40,599
Speaker 1: the Bloomberg Business and Sports podcast. We we say we

13
00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,840
Speaker 1: discussed the biggest issues in sports business. Michael Barr still

14
00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:48,200
Speaker 1: on vacation. Never see the guy anymore. Ye think he's listening,

15
00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,440
Speaker 1: Miss Bar. If you're listening, tweet at us that you

16
00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,120
Speaker 1: are listening. I like this first one. Gronk close to

17
00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,160
Speaker 1: a deal with the w w E. Who is this

18
00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,360
Speaker 1: better for Gronk or the w w E. Because they

19
00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:01,800
Speaker 1: need a little sizzle, right. I think it's I mean,

20
00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,319
Speaker 1: it's probably good for both of them at least surprising

21
00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:07,040
Speaker 1: signing news that I can think of in in sports.

22
00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,039
Speaker 1: If you asked me any retired athletes any sport that

23
00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,080
Speaker 1: may joined the w w E. I mean, he's showed

24
00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,080
Speaker 1: up before, right, I would think that his the demographic

25
00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:15,720
Speaker 1: of people that love Gronk and the people that love

26
00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,480
Speaker 1: w w E are pretty are pretty solidly overlapped. And

27
00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:20,080
Speaker 1: he's done this before, right. A couple of years ago

28
00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:25,200
Speaker 1: he joined in some some ww exactly which one. I

29
00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:27,319
Speaker 1: think he's talked about it, you know, in the past

30
00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:30,360
Speaker 1: as well. He retired, you know, before thirtieth birthday. Um,

31
00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:32,920
Speaker 1: I think everybody knew we were not seeing the end

32
00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:35,640
Speaker 1: of Gronk from an entertainment. But here's my question. Here's

33
00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:37,200
Speaker 1: my question. Do you really think he's gonna be like

34
00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:39,920
Speaker 1: top roping and slamming or being slammed. The guys had

35
00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,400
Speaker 1: some serious injuries from football. I wouldn't think his back

36
00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,520
Speaker 1: his neck are up for body slams even I have

37
00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:47,680
Speaker 1: no idea. And to be honest, I'm not even sure

38
00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,480
Speaker 1: how much of how dangerous those things like the wrestling

39
00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,840
Speaker 1: world to me, you know, from a sports slash entertainment standpoint,

40
00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,040
Speaker 1: I don't know enough about it to know how is

41
00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:59,440
Speaker 1: our concussions an issue and wrestling? I'm not sure about that.

42
00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:01,160
Speaker 1: I think you're right that you know, no question, he

43
00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,320
Speaker 1: will be probably a little bit more conservative about what

44
00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,240
Speaker 1: he's doing. You're too young. But do you remember the

45
00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,720
Speaker 1: Mouth of the South, So you don't remember, Okay, so

46
00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:11,239
Speaker 1: there was a manager called the Mouth of the South.

47
00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:13,000
Speaker 1: That was his thing. He was great, Like that would

48
00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:14,840
Speaker 1: be Gronk. He should just be mouthing off on the sideway.

49
00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:16,440
Speaker 1: I think I's beat each other up. Yeah. I mean

50
00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,400
Speaker 1: I view an athlete who has done in his primary

51
00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:21,440
Speaker 1: sport or her primary sport and then moving to w

52
00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,359
Speaker 1: w E, not unlike I think of athletes who want

53
00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:26,200
Speaker 1: to get into acting, you know, or maybe get into

54
00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:28,720
Speaker 1: a music career later on. It's just another form of entertainment.

55
00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:31,160
Speaker 1: And they are popular enough that you know they have

56
00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,239
Speaker 1: crossover appeal. So I certainly get it. For w w E.

57
00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,079
Speaker 1: Gronk has been doing studio work for Fox as well.

58
00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:39,760
Speaker 1: Fox has a billion dollar deal with with w w

59
00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,040
Speaker 1: E as well. I wonder if there's any tie in

60
00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,320
Speaker 1: or any kind of cross promotion and stuff there as well.

61
00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:47,160
Speaker 1: But you know, he he joins a long list, right,

62
00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:51,200
Speaker 1: Adam Pacman, Jones, Lawrence Taylor, Tyson, Fury, Floyd Mayweather, Rohnda Rowsy.

63
00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:53,640
Speaker 1: You know there's tons of athletes who have made a

64
00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,200
Speaker 1: lot of money in in in one sport and then decided,

65
00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:58,880
Speaker 1: you know, there's there's there's money for me, uh and

66
00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:01,600
Speaker 1: and more fans for me also in continuing, you know,

67
00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:04,000
Speaker 1: to be in the spotlight through WW. Speaking of there's

68
00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,239
Speaker 1: money for me, stock price dip w w E. We're

69
00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:11,400
Speaker 1: talking about perhaps putting w w E events on other

70
00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:15,320
Speaker 1: O T T s or they need something. Yeah, and

71
00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,520
Speaker 1: I certainly unclear if if Gronk moves the needle in

72
00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:20,960
Speaker 1: a way that really affects the business, the bottom line

73
00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:22,840
Speaker 1: of the business in in that way. But don't you

74
00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:27,359
Speaker 1: agree it's the star driven business. You need stars they

75
00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:29,239
Speaker 1: I mean, somebody comes in the ring and please the

76
00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,920
Speaker 1: place goes bonkers. Absolutely, And if and if getting a

77
00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:36,000
Speaker 1: guy like Gronk brings new people, maybe fans who Patriots

78
00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:38,480
Speaker 1: fans or football fans who haven't really tuned in to WW,

79
00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:40,360
Speaker 1: but they like Gronk and they think he's funny and

80
00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:42,560
Speaker 1: they like him as a as a showman. You know,

81
00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,080
Speaker 1: if it brings new fans in that that maybe wouldn't

82
00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:47,120
Speaker 1: come in if you just had you know, someone who's

83
00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,200
Speaker 1: more endemic to to the to the wrestling world. Great.

84
00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:52,640
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's a seems low risk. I

85
00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:54,560
Speaker 1: don't know what they're gonna pay him, probably a decent amount,

86
00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:56,880
Speaker 1: but it seems low risk and and you know, potentially,

87
00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:58,360
Speaker 1: you know, high rewards. So did you grow up with

88
00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:02,160
Speaker 1: your biggest stars? I was Sergeant, Slaughterer, Hulk, Hogan, Iron, Chic.

89
00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,160
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm not sure the Undertaker. I'm not even Undertaker.

90
00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:10,560
Speaker 1: I can't even name you three wrestlers really popular still

91
00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:16,880
Speaker 1: ste Aston certainly up there, um Undertaker and Stumbling on

92
00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,440
Speaker 1: a the guy with the more the kiss makeup, Ultimate

93
00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,280
Speaker 1: thank you, Nick we Go, the Ultimate Warrior. I'm like,

94
00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:26,400
Speaker 1: you're stumbling, You're like a guy that more that. I

95
00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:28,640
Speaker 1: didn't know that. All right, let's move on n C

96
00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:31,279
Speaker 1: A tournament. Who knows if fans will be there, who

97
00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:33,200
Speaker 1: knows what sites will be used, But one thing we

98
00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:35,960
Speaker 1: do know is that it's gonna be on TV. If

99
00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,240
Speaker 1: it's stage, it'll be on TV. On CBS because they

100
00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:41,400
Speaker 1: paid too many billions of dollars not to and there

101
00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:45,160
Speaker 1: will be no betting data on the screen, even though

102
00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:47,039
Speaker 1: the n c A has a deal with William Hill.

103
00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:51,279
Speaker 1: Even though we're moving toward a world where people who

104
00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,400
Speaker 1: bet on these events in markets like New Jersey and

105
00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:58,680
Speaker 1: Pennsylvania certainly might want to wager during the game and

106
00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,800
Speaker 1: would enjoy it. By for now, the n c A

107
00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,720
Speaker 1: doesn't think that's in the best interest of its student. Yeah,

108
00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:08,280
Speaker 1: if you kind of look at the spectrum of the

109
00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:10,200
Speaker 1: major US sports leagues, and I put the n c

110
00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:12,560
Speaker 1: a A in that category as well, kind of the

111
00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:15,240
Speaker 1: way that they have embraced or not embraced sports gambling.

112
00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:17,360
Speaker 1: No question that the n c a A is way

113
00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,560
Speaker 1: on the end of trying to pretend like it is

114
00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:22,440
Speaker 1: not a legal thing. Don't want to be involved in

115
00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:24,200
Speaker 1: it at all. And as a result, you know, the

116
00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,359
Speaker 1: partners that they have for their biggest property, which is

117
00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,320
Speaker 1: the the n c A Tournament, the men's basketball tournament,

118
00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,719
Speaker 1: um are going to kind of adhere to that as well.

119
00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:34,200
Speaker 1: You know. So the n c A does not want

120
00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,360
Speaker 1: odds on the screen. It's not the XFL. They don't

121
00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,560
Speaker 1: want to discussed by announcers and as a result, CBS

122
00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:41,600
Speaker 1: is not going to do that quite yet. I believe

123
00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:44,160
Speaker 1: this is the first tournament that we're going to have

124
00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:47,440
Speaker 1: games played in legal sports jurisdictions. You know, there's there's

125
00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:50,880
Speaker 1: regionals in both Indianapolis and New York, and both of

126
00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,240
Speaker 1: those are are states that have legal sports gambling. So

127
00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:56,680
Speaker 1: it's coming. You know, the obviously understands that one that's

128
00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:00,440
Speaker 1: happening to they're probably making ancillary money on the side

129
00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,800
Speaker 1: about it, just from fan engagement, et cetera, but they're

130
00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:06,320
Speaker 1: not yet ready to to to dive in here. You

131
00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,279
Speaker 1: mentioned the CBS William Hill deal. Um, you know, the

132
00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:11,520
Speaker 1: one of the big questions when they signed that deal

133
00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,960
Speaker 1: was it gonna be more like the Fox Stars deal, right,

134
00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:17,400
Speaker 1: which had its own betting app and as has really

135
00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:19,640
Speaker 1: integrated its way into Fox, or if it was going

136
00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:21,960
Speaker 1: to be more like the ESPN Caesar's deal, which I

137
00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:26,599
Speaker 1: think even your your your standard you know, often ESPN

138
00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,640
Speaker 1: watcher doesn't really you know, doesn't really see the Caesar's

139
00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:31,880
Speaker 1: brand or even see the Caesar's odds all that much.

140
00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:33,480
Speaker 1: And it certainly seems as though, at least in the

141
00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,640
Speaker 1: early stages cbs Is and William Hill are more going

142
00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:39,680
Speaker 1: kind of the subtle ESPN Caesar's route than than they

143
00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:44,440
Speaker 1: are the Fox Stars route. Would you say there's any

144
00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,679
Speaker 1: group of athletes who I would think would be more

145
00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:54,680
Speaker 1: inclined to throw a game? I'm serious. I mean they

146
00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:59,680
Speaker 1: don't get paid. There's so much money involved that I

147
00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,840
Speaker 1: would think that's the type of setup that is right

148
00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:07,040
Speaker 1: for You're right, it's the The n C tournament might

149
00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,040
Speaker 1: be the perfect nexus of those two things. One a

150
00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:12,680
Speaker 1: tremendous amount of liquidity because everyone's betting on this isn't

151
00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:15,760
Speaker 1: like Kuala Lumpur eighteen year old tennis matches right where

152
00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,960
Speaker 1: someone bets ten thousand dollars and someone sitting somewhere. What

153
00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:21,960
Speaker 1: does that mean? You know, there's a lot of liquidity

154
00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,840
Speaker 1: in this market, and too, you know you have in

155
00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,480
Speaker 1: this tournament specifically a lot of kids who you know

156
00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:29,800
Speaker 1: aren't getting compensated, They don't have a lot of money

157
00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:32,480
Speaker 1: and often and play a very small schools, you know,

158
00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:34,400
Speaker 1: where they're not in the Big ten or the A

159
00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:38,200
Speaker 1: C C or the SEC spotlight on on a weekly basis,

160
00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:40,040
Speaker 1: you know, for four or five months a year. And

161
00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:42,280
Speaker 1: those schools also don't have the same oversight and the

162
00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,240
Speaker 1: same you know, compliance capabilities that a school like Ohio

163
00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:48,280
Speaker 1: State or Duke or UNC might have. So yes, I

164
00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:50,040
Speaker 1: mean I think that that is and I think this

165
00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:52,240
Speaker 1: is one of the reasons why you're seeing the n

166
00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:54,160
Speaker 1: c A a kind of drag its feet more than

167
00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,480
Speaker 1: most is that, you know, because the players are not

168
00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:00,920
Speaker 1: compensated in in any way similar to the way professionals

169
00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:04,400
Speaker 1: are are compensated. But you know, liquidity and betting on

170
00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,440
Speaker 1: their games is often just as popular, if not more popular.

171
00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:10,440
Speaker 1: Then A feels that tension, you know, And I've talked

172
00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:12,280
Speaker 1: to a number of athletic directors who are kind of

173
00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:14,480
Speaker 1: trying to to tow this line right now. And you

174
00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,480
Speaker 1: can bet you know every compliance department in North America

175
00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:20,640
Speaker 1: right now it's reminding its athletes you can't bet on

176
00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,240
Speaker 1: college basketball, you can't be in a bracket pool that

177
00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:24,960
Speaker 1: pays money, all those things. Kids are going to do

178
00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,800
Speaker 1: it anyway, of course, but you know, you and I

179
00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:29,600
Speaker 1: have both said on the show, we're not that far

180
00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:33,920
Speaker 1: away I think from a major sports betting scandal happening

181
00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:35,679
Speaker 1: in the US, and I would put my money on

182
00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:38,560
Speaker 1: no pun intended that it happens in college and our

183
00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,000
Speaker 1: pals at Genius Sports a lot, Chris Dugan, they have

184
00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:43,319
Speaker 1: a deal with the n c A as well for

185
00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,520
Speaker 1: data and as an integrity component of it. And you

186
00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:51,040
Speaker 1: but you better watch for the dollars being bet to

187
00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,000
Speaker 1: see if there's any irregular stuff happening. Have you watched

188
00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:57,360
Speaker 1: XFL games at all a sample? Yeah? Did you find

189
00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:01,199
Speaker 1: did you notice or even find the betting porsche? I

190
00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:03,680
Speaker 1: mean Jeff Pollock when he was on the podcast here

191
00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:05,800
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, said they were embracing the

192
00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,439
Speaker 1: spread in every way possible. Have you found it has

193
00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:11,880
Speaker 1: enhanced changed at all your kind of viewing experience seeing

194
00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:15,000
Speaker 1: it on the Chiron or I'm just used to graphics

195
00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:17,000
Speaker 1: at this point, like I'm used to stuff on the screen.

196
00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,400
Speaker 1: It doesn't it doesn't bother me. Um to watch it

197
00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:24,600
Speaker 1: to go full embrace. To me, it would be sort

198
00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:26,840
Speaker 1: of the the digital experience. You know, if I if

199
00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:28,720
Speaker 1: I don't watch it on my TV, you're watching everything

200
00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:31,839
Speaker 1: digitally and you know, maybe separate screen, and but that

201
00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:33,680
Speaker 1: that to me would be full embraced. And I'm not

202
00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:35,560
Speaker 1: there yet, and I know my son will watch it

203
00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:37,960
Speaker 1: all that way. But but not. Yeah, And I don't

204
00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:40,680
Speaker 1: think to my knowledge, there's anybody who has done kind

205
00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:44,480
Speaker 1: of a real big sports gambling type telecast. And this

206
00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:46,240
Speaker 1: is obviously not for everybody, and I think a lot

207
00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:47,840
Speaker 1: of people at home would be upset if if they

208
00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:50,240
Speaker 1: went this far. But for the gamblers out there, you know,

209
00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:53,240
Speaker 1: being able to say, you know, all the live options

210
00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,080
Speaker 1: right now, that touchdown suddenly flipped the spread from minus

211
00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,240
Speaker 1: six to minus one whatever. Absolutely, I think there is

212
00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:01,960
Speaker 1: a market for those things. But you know, I don't

213
00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,480
Speaker 1: think it's ever going to happen on the general telecasts. Yea,

214
00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:07,840
Speaker 1: the linear TV primetime that is something that like you

215
00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:09,640
Speaker 1: can opt into and maybe you have your own separate

216
00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:11,800
Speaker 1: gambling threat and you go deep there. But even a

217
00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:14,240
Speaker 1: sport like the XFL, which is you know, again embracing

218
00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:17,120
Speaker 1: this to the fullest extent or so they say, Um,

219
00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:19,440
Speaker 1: it's not really it's not changing the telecast in any

220
00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:21,160
Speaker 1: in any reasonable way. And and and I don't think

221
00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,200
Speaker 1: it should either. You know, what is changing things the

222
00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:27,560
Speaker 1: coronavirus where that so you knew in the new segue, right, Uh,

223
00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:30,280
Speaker 1: it changes by the minute. So it's hard to discuss

224
00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:34,440
Speaker 1: on this show because we have let's see, uh, San

225
00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:39,040
Speaker 1: Francisco pondering a band of large gatherings. That would be

226
00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:43,920
Speaker 1: the Warriors, that that would be the Sharks. Also there

227
00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:48,080
Speaker 1: for Instanta, Clara Sharks, and yeah, Bill Daly told us

228
00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:50,840
Speaker 1: there are four options here. You can play the games

229
00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:54,480
Speaker 1: with no crowd. You could play at the visiting teams

230
00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:57,360
Speaker 1: Arena's supposed to be the visiting Teams arena. You could

231
00:10:57,360 --> 00:10:59,600
Speaker 1: go to a neutral site, or you could postpone. Yeah,

232
00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,760
Speaker 1: the options and where crowds of more than a thousand.

233
00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,319
Speaker 1: In essence, that's gonna be everybody's option. We're hearing MLB

234
00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,600
Speaker 1: is looking at playing at neutral sites, maybe Arizona, maybe Florida.

235
00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:13,320
Speaker 1: Those are the options I would think right now, you

236
00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:15,040
Speaker 1: have to see where things are going. If we're following

237
00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:17,280
Speaker 1: the data trend of Europe, we still have a few

238
00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:21,040
Speaker 1: weeks to go at least. Um, perhaps just sucking it

239
00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:23,079
Speaker 1: up and playing games in the arena with with no

240
00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:27,400
Speaker 1: crowd is the most palatable. It's it just seems the

241
00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:30,120
Speaker 1: least intrusive. And yeah, there'll be a revenue dip. But

242
00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:34,400
Speaker 1: as we have uh I found out that you know,

243
00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:38,440
Speaker 1: most teams have insurance for such things. Um, your thoughts

244
00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:42,000
Speaker 1: on which way the leagues and teams will likely go. Yeah,

245
00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:44,640
Speaker 1: I mean, it certainly seems clear that the leagues and

246
00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:48,600
Speaker 1: teams are dragging their feet on making these decisions right.

247
00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,319
Speaker 1: The municipalities are clearly stating this, you know, and as

248
00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:55,600
Speaker 1: we record this, on Wednesday morning, yesterday, the governor of

249
00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:59,120
Speaker 1: Ohio essentially asked that no indoor sporting events take place

250
00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:02,760
Speaker 1: with fans, and a few hours later, both the Columbus

251
00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:06,480
Speaker 1: Blue Jackets and the Cleveland Cavaliers said we're gonna invite

252
00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,679
Speaker 1: fans to come if they want to, and tournament picks

253
00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:12,319
Speaker 1: off in Dayton in a week in a week's time.

254
00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:14,000
Speaker 1: But how about the statement? I was like, well, we

255
00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:17,520
Speaker 1: have great air filtration. A that's insane. It's about somebody

256
00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:19,520
Speaker 1: sneezing on the seat or the person next to you,

257
00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,080
Speaker 1: you're touching a concession counter. It's not about the air filtration.

258
00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:24,520
Speaker 1: I think that they are two concerns happening at the

259
00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:27,560
Speaker 1: you know, at the executive level. One, the team that

260
00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,040
Speaker 1: says fans you can't come anymore is going to face

261
00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:33,320
Speaker 1: a lot of backlash, whether it's the right decision to

262
00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:36,320
Speaker 1: make or not. The IVY League canceled it's basketball tournament

263
00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,720
Speaker 1: yesterday on Tuesday, and there were people who were living

264
00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:41,960
Speaker 1: on Twitter that they that they would do it um

265
00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:44,160
Speaker 1: and it's going to be bad. The question are they

266
00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:47,160
Speaker 1: are they lived because they canceled the tournament or they

267
00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:51,480
Speaker 1: lived because teams like Harvard lost a chance to go

268
00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:53,400
Speaker 1: to the n c A tournament. Well, I think it's

269
00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:55,160
Speaker 1: it's all part of that. I think it's I mean,

270
00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:58,920
Speaker 1: fans are gonna find reason to be upset about any

271
00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:00,920
Speaker 1: of it, right so I think I think teams are

272
00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:02,600
Speaker 1: sensitive of that. The second thing I would say is

273
00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:05,400
Speaker 1: that you know, if you go from having fans to

274
00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:09,040
Speaker 1: not having fans, it's very hard to come back from that,

275
00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:11,839
Speaker 1: right Like, once you take that step, and things are

276
00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:14,080
Speaker 1: you know, if you believe any of the science, things

277
00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:16,200
Speaker 1: are going to get worse in the US before it

278
00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:20,679
Speaker 1: gets better coronavirus wise. Once you say you know, this Sunday,

279
00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:22,920
Speaker 1: we're not gonna have fans, it becomes very hard to

280
00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:24,640
Speaker 1: let fans back in the I don't think you're going

281
00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:26,199
Speaker 1: this Sunday. I think you're saying for three weeks, for

282
00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:29,560
Speaker 1: four weeks through a certain day, and then in three

283
00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,480
Speaker 1: weeks like then you're in the playoffs, And you know,

284
00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:34,800
Speaker 1: I think teams are are very wary of making a

285
00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:38,360
Speaker 1: decision that you know, suddenly they can't change and it

286
00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,920
Speaker 1: could be months before things are better here than they are.

287
00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:43,600
Speaker 1: But here's the stat that got us both by the way,

288
00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,720
Speaker 1: one team executive told me that the senior leadership of

289
00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:52,680
Speaker 1: the franchise was spending eight of its time on virus

290
00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:58,600
Speaker 1: related and but right and just running through different financial modeling,

291
00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,240
Speaker 1: um stacking the insurance policy, what's cape but what are

292
00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,199
Speaker 1: the capabilities? What? What can we do? What are contingency plans?

293
00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,000
Speaker 1: Not even because nothing really happened yet. And that's with

294
00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:11,160
Speaker 1: teams in Major League Baseball ready to start their season,

295
00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,040
Speaker 1: with teams in hockey and basketball either on the bubble

296
00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:16,240
Speaker 1: of making the playoffs or planning for what the playoffs,

297
00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,360
Speaker 1: like the most important part of taking of executive time

298
00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:21,720
Speaker 1: is crazy. I'm curious. You know, you've been reporting on

299
00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,000
Speaker 1: sports for a long time. Have you ever gonna and

300
00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:28,880
Speaker 1: decided not? But longer than I have, is there another

301
00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:32,120
Speaker 1: story that that you felt like, essentially like all consumed

302
00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:34,520
Speaker 1: literally every sport at the same time and where news

303
00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,280
Speaker 1: was happening. So I feel like when we published this podcast,

304
00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:39,000
Speaker 1: that's already gonna be out of date. There's gonna be

305
00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:43,160
Speaker 1: some main depends on how no pressure the ultimate Warrior

306
00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:45,240
Speaker 1: back there. Uh No. The only thing that I can

307
00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,800
Speaker 1: remember that really was just all consuming, at least around

308
00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:51,360
Speaker 1: these parts was lin Sanity. But obviously that was a positive,

309
00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:54,040
Speaker 1: good for sports story. But it's all anybody in New

310
00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,840
Speaker 1: York anyway was talking about, like I could not write,

311
00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:01,400
Speaker 1: talk about produce enough stuff concerning your and that was

312
00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:04,360
Speaker 1: essentially just a basketball story more or less. Yeah, that

313
00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:06,400
Speaker 1: when when the major leagues kind of all got together

314
00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:08,920
Speaker 1: an issue that edict earlier this week or last week

315
00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,040
Speaker 1: about you know, closing the locker rooms for journalists. I

316
00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:16,359
Speaker 1: can't think of the last time that Major League Baseball, NBA, MLS,

317
00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:19,560
Speaker 1: we're all involved, maybe opposing sports gambling, was the last

318
00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,440
Speaker 1: time that they kind of united to provide a unified

319
00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:25,320
Speaker 1: front like that. So it does certainly feel like we

320
00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:27,600
Speaker 1: are in some kind of unchartered territory in terms of

321
00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:30,640
Speaker 1: a story so big from a business and also just

322
00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,280
Speaker 1: from a health and at a sports standpoint, that it's

323
00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,240
Speaker 1: affecting everybody in the same boat. My name is Evanovie Williams.

324
00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:38,880
Speaker 1: You can follow me on Twitter at NOVI Underscore Williams.

325
00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:41,880
Speaker 1: I'm Scott Snick. You can follow me on Twitter at Sasnick.

326
00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:46,080
Speaker 1: We are here every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday bringing you

327
00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,080
Speaker 1: the biggest in sports business. We should talk about our

328
00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,320
Speaker 1: guest for for later in the week, Hank Ratner, longtime

329
00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:59,880
Speaker 1: sports executive ran founder Ventures. We'll talk to him about

330
00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:05,080
Speaker 1: um coronavirus and media and tech and no better brain

331
00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:07,280
Speaker 1: to pick on sports because it's not as thank it

332
00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:09,400
Speaker 1: sounds good. A right, you are listening to The Bloomberg's

333
00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:12,680
Speaker 1: Business Sports. Catch our Apple podcast wherever you do your

334
00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:13,120
Speaker 1: download