May 15, 2025 • 24 mins
In this episode of The Deal, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly sit down with Georgia Tech Athletics Director J Batt to discuss the current upheaval in college athletics. In their conversation, taped in front of a live audience during March Madness, Batt explains how his athletics department is helping students navigate new rules around “name, image and likeness,” the transfer portal and potential revenue-sharing opportunities.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
All Right, Alex, we spent a lot of time in Miami,
but now you're in my hometown, the atl at a
place that's really special to me, Georgia Tech.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
My dad went here.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
This was the first team that I was a fan of.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
This is such a special place, and being here on campus,
I'm in awe. I mean, just the size of it,
the fact that it sits right in the middle of
this great corporate market in Atlanta, great academic institution, great athletic.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Jabatt is leaning into all of that because he's going
to be a primary architect of what college sports looks
like going forward.
Speaker 5 (00:44):
He's got the goods.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
I mean, he played soccer at the University of North Carolina,
he worked with Nick Saban at the University of Alabama,
and he is a prolific fundraiser.
Speaker 5 (00:53):
Can't wait.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Welcome everyone, Welcome Jay Batt, thank you.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Welcome to Atlanta, ay Ron.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I know your hometown, baby.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
My hometown.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
I love it and you know, probably a more welcoming
audience than you would get at maybe Truest Park.
Speaker 5 (01:19):
Maybe not as bad as fan Way.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah that's true. Okay, it's all relative it's all relative.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I like the Braves, So welcome everyone to this live
recording of the Deal. We are very, very excited to
be here. And it's an interesting process when we think
about this show because we're trying to dive into this
intersection of business, sports, and culture. In fact, I was
told earlier that I too often refer to it as
the white hot center of sports, business and culture. But
(01:47):
it was interesting to think about, all right, who do
we want to talk to in Atlanta? Who do we
don't want to talk to about college sports? And no
one is at that aforementioned white hot center more than you,
God bless you. There's a lot going on. We're going
to get into all of that. Also, something that happens
a lot in our show is I go through the
normal process, you know, we work through representatives and it's like,
(02:10):
all right, who do I know who knows Jay Batt?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
All right, let's get to him, Let's let's get the ask.
And then this guy it's like, oh, yeah, I have.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
A teammate from the two thousand and nine World Series
team who went to Georgia Tech.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
I'm just gonna text him.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
And so you did, Mark to Shera and that's how
you guys get connected.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
So tell me about that.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Yeah, well, Mark tix Shera who went to Georgia Tech
recently got his degree, which I'm so proud of him.
One of my favorite teammates of all time. And he
introduced us and we had a nice conversation. But you know,
when you think about Mark tx Shara, when you think
about value proposition about Georgia Tech, my question Jay, is
is he the prototypical athlete that you have now competitive
advantage in this landscape?
Speaker 5 (02:48):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Absolutely, I think you know, part of what makes Georgia
Tech so special is it's this unique opportunity to go
pro and whatever sport you want to be in. But
also after that, the value of Georgia Tech degree, the
connection to alumni, the ability to be here in Atlanta
is huge and you mentioned Mark. Mark to share is
the perfect example of that. Right as we're going through
(03:10):
this changing landscape, somebody with a pro background like Mark
is an incredible advocate for us on campus as we're
dealing with our administration other things that we're working through.
Mark's been a tremendous friend and ally for us.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
All right, So one of our favorite topics to talk
about and I will take this moment up top to
shout out my parents or in the in the audience
that is Nevia Kelly.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
Who also went to Georgia Tech.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
That's right, my dad went to Georgia Tech.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
So I like took Alex all around Tech campus today
like Dragon around.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
We went on the field at Bobby Dodd lifelong dream accomplished.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
But my dad and I talk all the time about
the state of college sports. I mean, like every phone
conversation we have, there's some new development.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
You're hyper aware of those. How do you.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Even begin to understand and where to go next? Like
what's the thought process for you?
Speaker 5 (04:04):
Yeah, so that's a fairly loaded question.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I would say that you've got to start with what's
still the same, right, and then I'll talk about what's changing.
But what's still the same is we still have great kids,
we have great coaches. We're still attached to really, really
incredible academic institutions. And I can speak firsthand at Georgia Tech.
Our kids still go to class and get degrees, and
they're doing the same degrees that you got, and they
still we say graduate now not got out. The student
(04:30):
athletes that we deal with, they're still student athletes. What's
changing is this sort of overlay of the changing business
of college athletics. And I think it's important that we
talk about whether it's arranging our staff right where we
were one of the first folks to go out and
hire what amounts to a general manager. We've got the
proliferation of agents, right, our student athletes, many of them
(04:54):
have agents. Well, there needs to be a person to
deal with that. Right, we're going to have these rev
share paym to be paid the student athletes. You've got
to have a business operation right on your internal side
to handle that. And Cherz heck, you've got to have
a whole bunch of legal help to manage that. So
organizing your athletic department for that, and then I think
just the talent you have to surround yourself with. Right,
(05:14):
it's not the same as it was ten or fifteen
years ago. Whether it's the athletic director chair needing more
business acumen and more ability to manage a larger budget.
All that's really important still anchored in the fact that
college athletics is essential to the fabric of higher education.
It's essential to what it means, not for student athletes only,
(05:35):
but for every student. I think you know that there's
such value to the overall student experience to what college
athletics springs.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
So Rick Patino recently said, I don't know if some
of you folks saw. I was shocked. He said, we're
not going to look at one high school student or
recruit this year. Now they get the money, right, but
they're not going to have with you had in North
Carolina where you had a Georgetown, the mae, the growth.
I mean, you guys, remember when you were in college
it was four years Today, you show up there as
(06:06):
a free agent when you're twenty three, twenty four, How
do you ad defend against that? And how do you
play office being an institution with an academic background like
Georgia Tech.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Yeah, so I would say, you know, as we move
into the next era of intercoclegian athletics, this revenue share
of post house settlement.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
This is that just a reminder, right, I mean, this
is the House settlement that is that is going to
dictate that colleges have to share revenue with their athletes?
Speaker 5 (06:29):
Right?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Is that the simplest way, how would you put it
most simply?
Speaker 5 (06:32):
I think it's the simplest way to explain it.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
There's two tranches, right, There's a two point eight billion
dollar settlement for back damages for student athletes, and then
there's the forward facing, which is, you know, the ability
to create some structure and stability for revenue sharing.
Speaker 5 (06:44):
And moving forward.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Yeah, but as those two things kind of move forward,
I think there's going to be less and less separation
across the overall landscape as far as you know what
one student athlete a certain profile might be from given
institution to the other. As there's a new revenue sharing number,
that's you know, kind of ubiquitous across all of the institutions.
(07:06):
And I think a high academic institution like Georgia Tech
in a thriving major metro like Atlanta, where real third
party in IL deals will be highly valued and available
with an alumni network that will make a difference when
you finish, that's going to go back to being important. Right.
We spend all kinds of time recruiting great coaches, right
(07:27):
surrounding our student athletes with great call them life skills
for a long time total person program, but those sort
of support mechanisms and then great coaches and good facilities
that makes a difference. You know if there was a
time there where maybe that didn't factor as much. You
saw institutions pause facility projects, right, You saw folks say, hey,
we're not going to go and hire some new coach,
(07:48):
We're going to make an investment in NIL. As we
move into the next era, some of that spread's going
to kind of tighten up. And I think what you
will see is we're going to go back to place
that an opportunity to come to George too graduate.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
With that degree.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
That's going to matter more than maybe it has in
the past three four five years.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
So it sounds a little bit like you're going to
have your ncaa collective bargaining agreement that we have in
the pros to just bring some structure around it.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
It will be that the house settlement will be the
opportunity to create a stable way in which we can
provide even more to the student athletes. Frankly, I think
it's really important that we say that this house settlement,
but it also creates stability, It creates fairness, it creates
the ability to manage for long term stability for the
student athletes.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
As we look forward, one of your additional responsibilities, as
it were, is you're going to be one of ten
athletic directors I believe across the entire country who post
house settlement is really going to be charged with architecting
this new landscape. How do you ensure that the Georgia
Tech model is successful? But that also other colleges who
(09:10):
may not have this academic profile or who don't have
the benefit of being in a city like Atlanta, Like,
how did they win as well?
Speaker 5 (09:17):
You know?
Speaker 1 (09:17):
I think that's what makes college athletics great is that
it's institutions all across the country with a bunch of
different profiles. We have a bunch of really smart people
in that room. We have a bunch of really committed
people in that room who've been working really, really hard.
Not today, not tomorrow, We've been working for months to
lay out the groundwork. And I think the desired outcome
of that is, let's have something that's stable, Let's have
(09:41):
something that's clear, Let's have something that we can operate
within going forward. That will provide us that clarity instability
for student athletes to gain more. At the end of
the day, there's never been a better time to be.
Speaker 5 (09:55):
A student athlete.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I can say that from firsthand experience. Right, there's never
been a better time. At the end of the day,
they'll be you know, we'll have this repshare pool. We'll
have the ability for student athletes in an organized system
to earn third party nil deals.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
There'll be more scholarships, right.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
You see headlines all the time of athletic departments adding
huge amounts of scholarships and opportunities.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
Right.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
And we'll continue to offer all the benefits that we
always have, right, whether it's the medical coverage, whether it's
the academic support, all those parts and pieces that go
with it. They're just gonna be on top of all
those things that we've already been doing.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
And so I think.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
That's probably the biggest takeaway, right, is we're building that system.
And listen, like, it's a bunch to figure out and
a bunch to sort through, but I think we're building
something that is sustainable.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
All Right, We're gonna do some role playing, okay, because
I took Alex over to Tech and he walked around.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
This guy's eyes were his biggest saucers.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
We go into the baseball field, of course, you know,
we're taking photos, we're talking to the coach, we're doing
all that I'm telling you right now, if you approach
this guy and like, hey, you want to come play
baseball at Georgia Techi, got some eligibility, I.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
Would have to pay him. Yeah, let's go.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
So let's do it.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Like, what are you going to say to him to
get him to come to Tech over Miami?
Speaker 1 (11:09):
You know, I think it goes back to what exactly
what we talked about of Listen, I think no one
needs to be naive enough to think that in the
future revenue sharing is going to play part of that. Right,
So that's certainly part of the discussion. But the most
important part about that is going to be about fit.
It's going to be about future. It's going to be
about what we're going to do to help you achieve
your dreams and grow. And then I think the end,
(11:30):
you know, we talk a lot about it Georgia Tech.
This isn't a four year proposition. Certainly in the transfer
portal era maybe it's not. But you are going to
finish and get that degree, and that's a forty year win.
At the end of the day, that above and beyond
part that's going to be the differentiator.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
And so I'm looking at March Madness right now, and
then we're sort of convening around this idea. And the
transfer portal has radically changed the talent flow among teams.
And you know, we talk a lot in the show
about talent. How do you keep those students? And is
that as much of a challenge as it seems like
from the outside, it's.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
A fair question.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
I think retention of your roster is an all the
time thing. And you know, whether it's the transfer portals
open or not, you've got to be proactive. You've got
to find different ways to add value, and you've got
to be in the game. And I think that's something
on the Georgia tech front we have been really active in.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
I think anytime you look at any sort of business,
zoom out from college athletics right, you go through a
period of massive change. Two things are important. You're well
capitalized and you've got really smart people You've invested in
that talent to negotiate for whatever that marginal increases you
can bring. And so we brought an individual from the
Chicago Bears on board back in December to help us
(12:46):
manage through the football portal and oversee our revenue sharing enterprise.
We're in the process of bringing on an individual to
help on the basketball fronts one for men and for women,
by the way, because I think they're both really important,
and particularly the women's game cantinues to grow at leaps
and bounds. You've got to find really intentional ways to
retain that talent.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
One of the things you have to do is recruit
and raise capital. For sure, what are some of the
things that you've done and continue to do that you
can share with our group and our listeners that they
can take home, Because everyone at some point has to
raise capital or recruit great talent, and you've done both.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Well, that's kind of you to say.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
I think the most important thing is the and everybody
has their own different way about it, right, but I
think the most important thing is to value and constantly
work on genuine relationships. I think it's often forgotten that
my value prop or my business plan is so good
that of course someone's going to buy this or invest
(13:43):
in this, or give us money because my goodness, we're
winning games or we want to win games, or whatever
it might be. People give to people, People invest in people,
and so being available being part of that investing in
those relationships so that when the time comes for that ask.
It's not the thing you've heard of him, right, Like,
it's it's important to be there so that that genuine
(14:03):
relationship I've found to be huge.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
So talk a little bit on that point of fundraising.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Jay, Any good college president is going to tell you
that one of the best and easiest ways to find
a donor's heart is through sports. Yeah, and yet that
doesn't see it's not universally shared. It sounds like, and
I was talking to Coach Key about this this morning,
he and you and the president of Georgia Tech are
(14:31):
totally aligned. How do you make sure that it stays
that way? And what happens if it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Alignment institutionally is the most important thing that you can
have in an athletic department. So the kind of vision
and the emphasis from your institution's president is the most
important thing. President hel Cabrera here at Georgia Tech, he's
one of the most pragmatic, visionary leaders you could you
could ever want as an athletic director. But that athletic director,
(14:57):
you know, working with the president, you're governing board down
to your coaches. That alignment's huge and it's not just
your president, right it's the overall academic kind of the
entire community. Part of it is it has to be
valuable to every student, not just to your student athletes.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
The role of college athletics has to be a part
of the overall institution. And you know, I've talked a
lot about that. Relationships are built on shared experiences, right,
And so part of the role I think college athletics
plays an institutional life cycle is think about all those
memories you had from college, Right, I remember when I
(15:35):
can't tell you how many fundraising conversations start with I
remember the miracle on Techwood when Georgia Tech beat Florida
State and we blocked the punt, and we you know
that shared experience ties together alums to the institution, right,
And a lot of times that engagement doesn't just necessarily
end on the athletics front.
Speaker 5 (15:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
We think I've raised I can, I don't know how
much over my career, but a lot of them those
gifts are often starting points to what that scholarship that
you give in the school of Business where you graduated from,
becomes and to your point about creating value. That's the
way you create values. Those donor relationships that go beyond.
And then the other part is the most important market
(16:16):
Georgia text being done in our labs, in our classrooms,
our researchers gt R. I that's the most important work, right.
But at the end of the day, the way that
we were able to share that publicly is through the
athletic story that we tell. Whether it's the simple spot
that's in the game. You know, we won awesome aer
Lingus Classic right in the summer, we're in Ireland, we
(16:37):
go to Dublin, Florida State, last second kick, win the game.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
It's awesome Week zero Week zero essentially the only game
in town. Right.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Interestingly, right, there's I don't know three or four million
people that watched that game, which was awesome, but there
were We had two billion on social media within one day.
Speaker 5 (16:55):
Two billion. There is nothing that we can do.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
There's no investment on the institutional front that can tell
our story better than that. And I think you know
President Caberra, he fully embraces that, invests in that, and
that's what's got his positions so well right to move
forward into this new era.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
And so when you think about a lot of that change, Jay,
you know, one of the things that is just front
and center. Is this whole notion of conference realignment. Sure
you have experienced it firsthand with some maybe unexpected new
members of your conference who are nowhere near the Atlantic coast.
I'm thinking about, you know, SMU, I'm thinking about Stanford
(17:46):
and cal Where do we go on that and what happens?
Speaker 3 (17:50):
What's the right thing to happen from your perspective.
Speaker 5 (17:53):
That's a great question. First and foremost.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
We've got to keep the kids in mind, right, and
so whereever we go with that, we have to be
sure that we're supporting them through all that. Rich And
I'll tell you, I think the ACC did a really
good job recruiting members that made sense from a institutional
profile commitment to athletics.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Those are long plane flights. I did one to LA
and back last week to watch our women compete at UCLA.
But we're taking those steps to support them through it.
As far as the conference realignment landscape, listen, I can
only speak about the AEC because that's what we're in.
We've recently been really innovative, right, We've gone to unequal
revenue distribution based on on field success and TV viewership,
(18:34):
and so part of what you can do, Jason, is
you can be intentional about how you organize and arrange
different things. Right, We'll play our Georgia game for football
on a Friday afternoon.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Last year we played that game on a Friday evening
in Athens, eight overtimes. It's not painful or anything. At
the end of that we had nine million people watch
that game.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Part of why that happened is that we intentionally organize
work with our partners in Athens to say, hey, we
should do that game on a Friday night. ABC picks
it up.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
Part of that is.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Being intentional about how do you organize that schedule? What
are you doing on that front to create value?
Speaker 4 (19:13):
Yeah, Jack, it's incredible. I mean, this's my head is
spinning because I don't know. I mean, this is not
what I grew up with. I remember, back in the day,
you had a guy like herschel Walkerm dating myself a
little bit. But he went to Georgia and you knew
what high school came from. He's going to be there
for at least three years. You know who the coach
was going to be, you know which conference, you know what.
Now you don't know anything. I guess my question is
and this is something that I'm struggling with. I'm a
(19:34):
parent of two daughters and one is a software at Michigan.
One of the junior in high school. And I'm thinking,
if if someone like you showed up at my house,
I love that they get to share in the economics,
that's always great.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
What I don't love.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
Is no commitment, no loyalty, and option education. How do
we give them the resources or make them earn the resources,
but also give them the chores that make this country great,
like the fact that you got to work for it.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Well, I think you know, part of what will be
great as we move into this next era of college
athletics is student athletes are going to have more and
more opportunity to earn that third party nil Right, There'll
be financial gain and benefit that go with that, and
so that part will be enhanced outs. I think it's important.
But you know, part of that, I think what makes
(20:19):
higher education college athletics great is you do still get
even if the window gets compressed, Right, even if the
window gets compressed and maybe somebody transfers, you still get
all those intrinsic values of resiliency. Right, you fail on
a stage in front of thousands of people. You know
that way better than I do. Right, You have the
(20:40):
ability to be a great teammate, teamwork, all those parts
and pieces that go with what does college athletics do?
Speaker 5 (20:47):
Even if it gets microwaved right at times.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
But as many stories as there are of student athletes
that leave, there's just as many as the ones that
stick it out right, And so it's our job in
college athletics to build those environments that's port the kids
to make those good decisions, to see the value in
the higher education part of the equation. Listen, again, not
going to be naive enough to not say there's part
of it that's going to come down to what's the
(21:11):
rev share and all the other parts.
Speaker 5 (21:12):
That work with it.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
But that's our job, and that's when when I come
to see you guys. You know, we'll send the coaches first,
but at the end of the day, I think it's
important we talk as much about that as anything.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
All Right, you ready forrapping?
Speaker 5 (21:37):
Ready?
Speaker 3 (21:37):
All right, let's do it?
Speaker 5 (21:38):
All right?
Speaker 2 (21:39):
So the only rule is keep it tight. Okay, I'll
start and then I'll still thick up. What's one word
to describe your deal making style?
Speaker 5 (21:48):
Direct? What's more important to your gut or data both.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Who's your dream deal making partner?
Speaker 5 (22:00):
Nick Saban? Oh, good one.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
What's the best piece of advice you ever received on
deal making or business?
Speaker 5 (22:06):
Always be honest.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
What's the worst advice you've been given?
Speaker 5 (22:09):
Do the rapid fire question thing?
Speaker 4 (22:14):
You can only watch one sport for the rest of
your life? Which one is it?
Speaker 5 (22:18):
A football? Guy? American football? American football? All right?
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Good, it's a global show. And to clarify it, yeah,
and you played talker.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
What team do you want to see win a championship
more than any Well?
Speaker 3 (22:33):
I mean.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
That's the best question. Yeah, yeah, all right.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
What's your advice someone listening who wants to have a career.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
Just like yours.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
You gotta do it for the right reason, right, You
gotta love the enterprise. Don't do it to end up
in one of these chairs. Do it because you love
the enterprise. You love helping student athletes.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
All right, Well, this has been a huge, huge amount
of fun. I've been waiting for a long time for
us to come to Atlanta together, and you've.
Speaker 5 (23:05):
Never been happier.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
By the way, I know your parents, Georgia, maybe mom
cook for your little southern.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
I had a great day.
Speaker 5 (23:12):
Have you never seen a smile much? Now?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
I had a great day, and I'm so happy to
be here with both of you. And it's great to
be able to say on stage on our on our
podcast to Hell with Georgia, thank you.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
I love it, thank you, Thank you guys so much.
We really appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (23:35):
The Deal is a production from Bloomberg Podcasts and Bloomberg Originals.
The Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly.
The show was produced by Anamazarakus, Lizzie Phillip, and Stacey Wong.
Original music and engineering by Blake Maples. David E. Ravella
is our managing editor. Our executive producers are Jason Kelly,
(23:57):
Brendan Francis, Newnham, Jordan Oppland, Trey Shallowhorn, Andrew Barden, Kelly Leferrier,
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Special thanks to Rachel Carnivali, Elena Los Angeles, Nick Silva,
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(24:19):
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Speaker 2 (00:12):
All Right, Alex, we spent a lot of time in Miami,
but now you're in my hometown, the atl at a
place that's really special to me, Georgia Tech.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
My dad went here.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
This was the first team that I was a fan of.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
This is such a special place, and being here on campus,
I'm in awe. I mean, just the size of it,
the fact that it sits right in the middle of
this great corporate market in Atlanta, great academic institution, great athletic.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Jabatt is leaning into all of that because he's going
to be a primary architect of what college sports looks
like going forward.
Speaker 5 (00:44):
He's got the goods.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
I mean, he played soccer at the University of North Carolina,
he worked with Nick Saban at the University of Alabama,
and he is a prolific fundraiser.
Speaker 5 (00:53):
Can't wait.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Welcome everyone, Welcome Jay Batt, thank you.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Welcome to Atlanta, ay Ron.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I know your hometown, baby.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
My hometown.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
I love it and you know, probably a more welcoming
audience than you would get at maybe Truest Park.
Speaker 5 (01:19):
Maybe not as bad as fan Way.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah that's true. Okay, it's all relative it's all relative.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I like the Braves, So welcome everyone to this live
recording of the Deal. We are very, very excited to
be here. And it's an interesting process when we think
about this show because we're trying to dive into this
intersection of business, sports, and culture. In fact, I was
told earlier that I too often refer to it as
the white hot center of sports, business and culture. But
(01:47):
it was interesting to think about, all right, who do
we want to talk to in Atlanta? Who do we
don't want to talk to about college sports? And no
one is at that aforementioned white hot center more than you,
God bless you. There's a lot going on. We're going
to get into all of that. Also, something that happens
a lot in our show is I go through the
normal process, you know, we work through representatives and it's like,
(02:10):
all right, who do I know who knows Jay Batt?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
All right, let's get to him, Let's let's get the ask.
And then this guy it's like, oh, yeah, I have.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
A teammate from the two thousand and nine World Series
team who went to Georgia Tech.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
I'm just gonna text him.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
And so you did, Mark to Shera and that's how
you guys get connected.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
So tell me about that.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Yeah, well, Mark tix Shera who went to Georgia Tech
recently got his degree, which I'm so proud of him.
One of my favorite teammates of all time. And he
introduced us and we had a nice conversation. But you know,
when you think about Mark tx Shara, when you think
about value proposition about Georgia Tech, my question Jay, is
is he the prototypical athlete that you have now competitive
advantage in this landscape?
Speaker 5 (02:48):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Absolutely, I think you know, part of what makes Georgia
Tech so special is it's this unique opportunity to go
pro and whatever sport you want to be in. But
also after that, the value of Georgia Tech degree, the
connection to alumni, the ability to be here in Atlanta
is huge and you mentioned Mark. Mark to share is
the perfect example of that. Right as we're going through
(03:10):
this changing landscape, somebody with a pro background like Mark
is an incredible advocate for us on campus as we're
dealing with our administration other things that we're working through.
Mark's been a tremendous friend and ally for us.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
All right, So one of our favorite topics to talk
about and I will take this moment up top to
shout out my parents or in the in the audience
that is Nevia Kelly.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
Who also went to Georgia Tech.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
That's right, my dad went to Georgia Tech.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
So I like took Alex all around Tech campus today
like Dragon around.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
We went on the field at Bobby Dodd lifelong dream accomplished.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
But my dad and I talk all the time about
the state of college sports. I mean, like every phone
conversation we have, there's some new development.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
You're hyper aware of those. How do you.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Even begin to understand and where to go next? Like
what's the thought process for you?
Speaker 5 (04:04):
Yeah, so that's a fairly loaded question.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I would say that you've got to start with what's
still the same, right, and then I'll talk about what's changing.
But what's still the same is we still have great kids,
we have great coaches. We're still attached to really, really
incredible academic institutions. And I can speak firsthand at Georgia Tech.
Our kids still go to class and get degrees, and
they're doing the same degrees that you got, and they
still we say graduate now not got out. The student
(04:30):
athletes that we deal with, they're still student athletes. What's
changing is this sort of overlay of the changing business
of college athletics. And I think it's important that we
talk about whether it's arranging our staff right where we
were one of the first folks to go out and
hire what amounts to a general manager. We've got the
proliferation of agents, right, our student athletes, many of them
(04:54):
have agents. Well, there needs to be a person to
deal with that. Right, we're going to have these rev
share paym to be paid the student athletes. You've got
to have a business operation right on your internal side
to handle that. And Cherz heck, you've got to have
a whole bunch of legal help to manage that. So
organizing your athletic department for that, and then I think
just the talent you have to surround yourself with. Right,
(05:14):
it's not the same as it was ten or fifteen
years ago. Whether it's the athletic director chair needing more
business acumen and more ability to manage a larger budget.
All that's really important still anchored in the fact that
college athletics is essential to the fabric of higher education.
It's essential to what it means, not for student athletes only,
(05:35):
but for every student. I think you know that there's
such value to the overall student experience to what college
athletics springs.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
So Rick Patino recently said, I don't know if some
of you folks saw. I was shocked. He said, we're
not going to look at one high school student or
recruit this year. Now they get the money, right, but
they're not going to have with you had in North
Carolina where you had a Georgetown, the mae, the growth.
I mean, you guys, remember when you were in college
it was four years Today, you show up there as
(06:06):
a free agent when you're twenty three, twenty four, How
do you ad defend against that? And how do you
play office being an institution with an academic background like
Georgia Tech.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Yeah, so I would say, you know, as we move
into the next era of intercoclegian athletics, this revenue share
of post house settlement.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
This is that just a reminder, right, I mean, this
is the House settlement that is that is going to
dictate that colleges have to share revenue with their athletes?
Speaker 5 (06:29):
Right?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Is that the simplest way, how would you put it
most simply?
Speaker 5 (06:32):
I think it's the simplest way to explain it.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
There's two tranches, right, There's a two point eight billion
dollar settlement for back damages for student athletes, and then
there's the forward facing, which is, you know, the ability
to create some structure and stability for revenue sharing.
Speaker 5 (06:44):
And moving forward.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Yeah, but as those two things kind of move forward,
I think there's going to be less and less separation
across the overall landscape as far as you know what
one student athlete a certain profile might be from given
institution to the other. As there's a new revenue sharing number,
that's you know, kind of ubiquitous across all of the institutions.
(07:06):
And I think a high academic institution like Georgia Tech
in a thriving major metro like Atlanta, where real third
party in IL deals will be highly valued and available
with an alumni network that will make a difference when
you finish, that's going to go back to being important. Right.
We spend all kinds of time recruiting great coaches, right
(07:27):
surrounding our student athletes with great call them life skills
for a long time total person program, but those sort
of support mechanisms and then great coaches and good facilities
that makes a difference. You know if there was a
time there where maybe that didn't factor as much. You
saw institutions pause facility projects, right, You saw folks say, hey,
we're not going to go and hire some new coach,
(07:48):
We're going to make an investment in NIL. As we
move into the next era, some of that spread's going
to kind of tighten up. And I think what you
will see is we're going to go back to place
that an opportunity to come to George too graduate.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
With that degree.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
That's going to matter more than maybe it has in
the past three four five years.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
So it sounds a little bit like you're going to
have your ncaa collective bargaining agreement that we have in
the pros to just bring some structure around it.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
It will be that the house settlement will be the
opportunity to create a stable way in which we can
provide even more to the student athletes. Frankly, I think
it's really important that we say that this house settlement,
but it also creates stability, It creates fairness, it creates
the ability to manage for long term stability for the
student athletes.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
As we look forward, one of your additional responsibilities, as
it were, is you're going to be one of ten
athletic directors I believe across the entire country who post
house settlement is really going to be charged with architecting
this new landscape. How do you ensure that the Georgia
Tech model is successful? But that also other colleges who
(09:10):
may not have this academic profile or who don't have
the benefit of being in a city like Atlanta, Like,
how did they win as well?
Speaker 5 (09:17):
You know?
Speaker 1 (09:17):
I think that's what makes college athletics great is that
it's institutions all across the country with a bunch of
different profiles. We have a bunch of really smart people
in that room. We have a bunch of really committed
people in that room who've been working really, really hard.
Not today, not tomorrow, We've been working for months to
lay out the groundwork. And I think the desired outcome
of that is, let's have something that's stable, Let's have
(09:41):
something that's clear, Let's have something that we can operate
within going forward. That will provide us that clarity instability
for student athletes to gain more. At the end of
the day, there's never been a better time to be.
Speaker 5 (09:55):
A student athlete.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I can say that from firsthand experience. Right, there's never
been a better time. At the end of the day,
they'll be you know, we'll have this repshare pool. We'll
have the ability for student athletes in an organized system
to earn third party nil deals.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
There'll be more scholarships, right.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
You see headlines all the time of athletic departments adding
huge amounts of scholarships and opportunities.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
Right.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
And we'll continue to offer all the benefits that we
always have, right, whether it's the medical coverage, whether it's
the academic support, all those parts and pieces that go
with it. They're just gonna be on top of all
those things that we've already been doing.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
And so I think.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
That's probably the biggest takeaway, right, is we're building that system.
And listen, like, it's a bunch to figure out and
a bunch to sort through, but I think we're building
something that is sustainable.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
All Right, We're gonna do some role playing, okay, because
I took Alex over to Tech and he walked around.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
This guy's eyes were his biggest saucers.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
We go into the baseball field, of course, you know,
we're taking photos, we're talking to the coach, we're doing
all that I'm telling you right now, if you approach
this guy and like, hey, you want to come play
baseball at Georgia Techi, got some eligibility, I.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
Would have to pay him. Yeah, let's go.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
So let's do it.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Like, what are you going to say to him to
get him to come to Tech over Miami?
Speaker 1 (11:09):
You know, I think it goes back to what exactly
what we talked about of Listen, I think no one
needs to be naive enough to think that in the
future revenue sharing is going to play part of that. Right,
So that's certainly part of the discussion. But the most
important part about that is going to be about fit.
It's going to be about future. It's going to be
about what we're going to do to help you achieve
your dreams and grow. And then I think the end,
(11:30):
you know, we talk a lot about it Georgia Tech.
This isn't a four year proposition. Certainly in the transfer
portal era maybe it's not. But you are going to
finish and get that degree, and that's a forty year win.
At the end of the day, that above and beyond
part that's going to be the differentiator.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
And so I'm looking at March Madness right now, and
then we're sort of convening around this idea. And the
transfer portal has radically changed the talent flow among teams.
And you know, we talk a lot in the show
about talent. How do you keep those students? And is
that as much of a challenge as it seems like
from the outside, it's.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
A fair question.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
I think retention of your roster is an all the
time thing. And you know, whether it's the transfer portals
open or not, you've got to be proactive. You've got
to find different ways to add value, and you've got
to be in the game. And I think that's something
on the Georgia tech front we have been really active in.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
I think anytime you look at any sort of business,
zoom out from college athletics right, you go through a
period of massive change. Two things are important. You're well
capitalized and you've got really smart people You've invested in
that talent to negotiate for whatever that marginal increases you
can bring. And so we brought an individual from the
Chicago Bears on board back in December to help us
(12:46):
manage through the football portal and oversee our revenue sharing enterprise.
We're in the process of bringing on an individual to
help on the basketball fronts one for men and for women,
by the way, because I think they're both really important,
and particularly the women's game cantinues to grow at leaps
and bounds. You've got to find really intentional ways to
retain that talent.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
One of the things you have to do is recruit
and raise capital. For sure, what are some of the
things that you've done and continue to do that you
can share with our group and our listeners that they
can take home, Because everyone at some point has to
raise capital or recruit great talent, and you've done both.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Well, that's kind of you to say.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
I think the most important thing is the and everybody
has their own different way about it, right, but I
think the most important thing is to value and constantly
work on genuine relationships. I think it's often forgotten that
my value prop or my business plan is so good
that of course someone's going to buy this or invest
(13:43):
in this, or give us money because my goodness, we're
winning games or we want to win games, or whatever
it might be. People give to people, People invest in people,
and so being available being part of that investing in
those relationships so that when the time comes for that ask.
It's not the thing you've heard of him, right, Like,
it's it's important to be there so that that genuine
(14:03):
relationship I've found to be huge.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
So talk a little bit on that point of fundraising.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Jay, Any good college president is going to tell you
that one of the best and easiest ways to find
a donor's heart is through sports. Yeah, and yet that
doesn't see it's not universally shared. It sounds like, and
I was talking to Coach Key about this this morning,
he and you and the president of Georgia Tech are
(14:31):
totally aligned. How do you make sure that it stays
that way? And what happens if it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Alignment institutionally is the most important thing that you can
have in an athletic department. So the kind of vision
and the emphasis from your institution's president is the most
important thing. President hel Cabrera here at Georgia Tech, he's
one of the most pragmatic, visionary leaders you could you
could ever want as an athletic director. But that athletic director,
(14:57):
you know, working with the president, you're governing board down
to your coaches. That alignment's huge and it's not just
your president, right it's the overall academic kind of the
entire community. Part of it is it has to be
valuable to every student, not just to your student athletes.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
The role of college athletics has to be a part
of the overall institution. And you know, I've talked a
lot about that. Relationships are built on shared experiences, right,
And so part of the role I think college athletics
plays an institutional life cycle is think about all those
memories you had from college, Right, I remember when I
(15:35):
can't tell you how many fundraising conversations start with I
remember the miracle on Techwood when Georgia Tech beat Florida
State and we blocked the punt, and we you know
that shared experience ties together alums to the institution, right,
And a lot of times that engagement doesn't just necessarily
end on the athletics front.
Speaker 5 (15:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
We think I've raised I can, I don't know how
much over my career, but a lot of them those
gifts are often starting points to what that scholarship that
you give in the school of Business where you graduated from,
becomes and to your point about creating value. That's the
way you create values. Those donor relationships that go beyond.
And then the other part is the most important market
(16:16):
Georgia text being done in our labs, in our classrooms,
our researchers gt R. I that's the most important work, right.
But at the end of the day, the way that
we were able to share that publicly is through the
athletic story that we tell. Whether it's the simple spot
that's in the game. You know, we won awesome aer
Lingus Classic right in the summer, we're in Ireland, we
(16:37):
go to Dublin, Florida State, last second kick, win the game.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
It's awesome Week zero Week zero essentially the only game
in town. Right.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Interestingly, right, there's I don't know three or four million
people that watched that game, which was awesome, but there
were We had two billion on social media within one day.
Speaker 5 (16:55):
Two billion. There is nothing that we can do.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
There's no investment on the institutional front that can tell
our story better than that. And I think you know
President Caberra, he fully embraces that, invests in that, and
that's what's got his positions so well right to move
forward into this new era.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
And so when you think about a lot of that change, Jay,
you know, one of the things that is just front
and center. Is this whole notion of conference realignment. Sure
you have experienced it firsthand with some maybe unexpected new
members of your conference who are nowhere near the Atlantic coast.
I'm thinking about, you know, SMU, I'm thinking about Stanford
(17:46):
and cal Where do we go on that and what happens?
Speaker 3 (17:50):
What's the right thing to happen from your perspective.
Speaker 5 (17:53):
That's a great question. First and foremost.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
We've got to keep the kids in mind, right, and
so whereever we go with that, we have to be
sure that we're supporting them through all that. Rich And
I'll tell you, I think the ACC did a really
good job recruiting members that made sense from a institutional
profile commitment to athletics.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Those are long plane flights. I did one to LA
and back last week to watch our women compete at UCLA.
But we're taking those steps to support them through it.
As far as the conference realignment landscape, listen, I can
only speak about the AEC because that's what we're in.
We've recently been really innovative, right, We've gone to unequal
revenue distribution based on on field success and TV viewership,
(18:34):
and so part of what you can do, Jason, is
you can be intentional about how you organize and arrange
different things. Right, We'll play our Georgia game for football
on a Friday afternoon.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Last year we played that game on a Friday evening
in Athens, eight overtimes. It's not painful or anything. At
the end of that we had nine million people watch
that game.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Part of why that happened is that we intentionally organize
work with our partners in Athens to say, hey, we
should do that game on a Friday night. ABC picks
it up.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
Part of that is.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Being intentional about how do you organize that schedule? What
are you doing on that front to create value?
Speaker 4 (19:13):
Yeah, Jack, it's incredible. I mean, this's my head is
spinning because I don't know. I mean, this is not
what I grew up with. I remember, back in the day,
you had a guy like herschel Walkerm dating myself a
little bit. But he went to Georgia and you knew
what high school came from. He's going to be there
for at least three years. You know who the coach
was going to be, you know which conference, you know what.
Now you don't know anything. I guess my question is
and this is something that I'm struggling with. I'm a
(19:34):
parent of two daughters and one is a software at Michigan.
One of the junior in high school. And I'm thinking,
if if someone like you showed up at my house,
I love that they get to share in the economics,
that's always great.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
What I don't love.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
Is no commitment, no loyalty, and option education. How do
we give them the resources or make them earn the resources,
but also give them the chores that make this country great,
like the fact that you got to work for it.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Well, I think you know, part of what will be
great as we move into this next era of college
athletics is student athletes are going to have more and
more opportunity to earn that third party nil Right, There'll
be financial gain and benefit that go with that, and
so that part will be enhanced outs. I think it's important.
But you know, part of that, I think what makes
(20:19):
higher education college athletics great is you do still get
even if the window gets compressed, Right, even if the
window gets compressed and maybe somebody transfers, you still get
all those intrinsic values of resiliency. Right, you fail on
a stage in front of thousands of people. You know
that way better than I do. Right, You have the
(20:40):
ability to be a great teammate, teamwork, all those parts
and pieces that go with what does college athletics do?
Speaker 5 (20:47):
Even if it gets microwaved right at times.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
But as many stories as there are of student athletes
that leave, there's just as many as the ones that
stick it out right, And so it's our job in
college athletics to build those environments that's port the kids
to make those good decisions, to see the value in
the higher education part of the equation. Listen, again, not
going to be naive enough to not say there's part
of it that's going to come down to what's the
(21:11):
rev share and all the other parts.
Speaker 5 (21:12):
That work with it.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
But that's our job, and that's when when I come
to see you guys. You know, we'll send the coaches first,
but at the end of the day, I think it's
important we talk as much about that as anything.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
All Right, you ready forrapping?
Speaker 5 (21:37):
Ready?
Speaker 3 (21:37):
All right, let's do it?
Speaker 5 (21:38):
All right?
Speaker 2 (21:39):
So the only rule is keep it tight. Okay, I'll
start and then I'll still thick up. What's one word
to describe your deal making style?
Speaker 5 (21:48):
Direct? What's more important to your gut or data both.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Who's your dream deal making partner?
Speaker 5 (22:00):
Nick Saban? Oh, good one.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
What's the best piece of advice you ever received on
deal making or business?
Speaker 5 (22:06):
Always be honest.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
What's the worst advice you've been given?
Speaker 5 (22:09):
Do the rapid fire question thing?
Speaker 4 (22:14):
You can only watch one sport for the rest of
your life? Which one is it?
Speaker 5 (22:18):
A football? Guy? American football? American football? All right?
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Good, it's a global show. And to clarify it, yeah,
and you played talker.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
What team do you want to see win a championship
more than any Well?
Speaker 3 (22:33):
I mean.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
That's the best question. Yeah, yeah, all right.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
What's your advice someone listening who wants to have a career.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
Just like yours.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
You gotta do it for the right reason, right, You
gotta love the enterprise. Don't do it to end up
in one of these chairs. Do it because you love
the enterprise. You love helping student athletes.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
All right, Well, this has been a huge, huge amount
of fun. I've been waiting for a long time for
us to come to Atlanta together, and you've.
Speaker 5 (23:05):
Never been happier.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
By the way, I know your parents, Georgia, maybe mom
cook for your little southern.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
I had a great day.
Speaker 5 (23:12):
Have you never seen a smile much? Now?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
I had a great day, and I'm so happy to
be here with both of you. And it's great to
be able to say on stage on our on our
podcast to Hell with Georgia, thank you.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
I love it, thank you, Thank you guys so much.
We really appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (23:35):
The Deal is a production from Bloomberg Podcasts and Bloomberg Originals.
The Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly.
The show was produced by Anamazarakus, Lizzie Phillip, and Stacey Wong.
Original music and engineering by Blake Maples. David E. Ravella
is our managing editor. Our executive producers are Jason Kelly,
(23:57):
Brendan Francis, Newnham, Jordan Oppland, Trey Shallowhorn, Andrew Barden, Kelly Leferrier,
and Ashley Hoenig. Sage Bauman is our Head of Podcasts
Special thanks to Rachel Carnivali, Elena Los Angeles, Nick Silva,
Zach Aberman and Allied Productions. Rubob Shakir is our creative director.
(24:19):
Art direction is from Jacqueline Kessler. Joshua Devaux is our
director of Photography Camera Operation by Joel Adrian. Listen to
the Deal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get
your podcasts. You can also tune into the video Companion
on Bloomberg Originals and on Bloomberg TV. Thanks for listening.
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