Business Focus: Super Bowl, Hasbro's Move, Free Jacks, Kerry Connolly's Venture, and YardRink

On today’s program, Suffolk University school of business professor Skip Perham discusses the business of the Super Bowl. Greg Ryan senior reporter for the Boston Business Journal shares his story about Hasbro possibly relocating from Rhode Island to Boston’s Seaport. Alex Magleby of the Quincy based Major League Rugby team, the Free Jacks, looks forward to the upcoming season. Kerry Connolly, former WBZ TV news anchor talks about her new business and finally Brian Packard, CEO of the backyard ice rink installer, YardRink, talks about his business.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the New England Business Report with Joe Shortsleeve
and Kim Carrigan, a weekly roundup and discussion of the
top business news impacting our New England economy.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good morning, Welcome to the New England Business Report. On
this Sunday morning, February the ninth, Joe shorts lived with
you here along with Kim Carrigan, and of course it
is a Super Bowl Sunday. Kim, I think it's well,
who do you got? Who do you got? A were
going with Case, we going with Philly? What do you think?

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Well, you know, I know there's a lot of people
here in New England who don't care so much about
this game, but I do because remember I'm from Missouri,
right right, so this if the Patriots aren't playing, then
the Chiefs are the team that I want to see play.
So obviously I have the Chiefs. And I know a
lot of people have Chief fatigue. We're going to talk
more about that a little bit later.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:47):
One of the things I find so funny, Joe, is
that people have Chief fatigue, but they've forgotten that there
was an entire decade that it was only the Patriots.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, yeah, a little bit like that. For me with
Mahomes at this point, I think. But the Super Bowl,
of course, is all about the ads, right, the TV ads,
I mean, come on, And I think the one that's
getting a lot of hype at this point is the
Meg Ryan Billy Crystal Mayonnaise ad. I mean the remake
from the movie when Harry met Sally and she does

(01:19):
all the moaning and the cafe. Finally some woman says,
I'll have what she's having. Interesting because in nineteen eighty two,
Meg Ryan was doing a soap opera in New York
City and I was doing a talk show in Fairfield County, Connecticut,
and we had around had around as a guest. Yeah,
she angled for a date and didn't get one.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
I remember you telling you. I'll just say I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
That's about sorry. I'm sorry. Maybe not all right. So
we're gonna be talking with the Skip perm the business
of sports, talk about the Super Bowl and all the
dollars that are being spent and twirled around out there.
And we're also going to be joined by Greg Ryan,
and he's going to talk to us a little bit
about well Hasbro They of course have been a long

(02:08):
time based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. But they've been sneaking around.
And last scene in the seaport looking at some space
down there is the toy manufacturer coming to the seaport. Well,
we'll be talking with the senior reporter from the BBJ,
Greg Ryan about that.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
By the way, just in case you were wondering, it's
National Pizza Day. Just happens to coincide with the Super
Bowl today, Isn't that crazy? So if you if you
need a pizza, folks, order it right this very second,
because you're not going to get one.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Later on a Sunday Morning's right, get an order right now.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
All right, second half of the show. You know what,
we're kind of going to continue to look at businesses specifically,
and we've got three different kinds of business owners in
this half hour. I'm excited about this. First off, we're
going to have the CEO of the professional rugby team
here in New England. Yes, there is a professional rugby team.
They're called the New England Free Jacks. He's going to

(03:00):
join us. He's a former professional rugby union coach. He's
a former United States national team player and captain, and
he's going to be here to talk to us about
the new season that's just about to come up here
February the fifteenth, they start, and you know, Joe, for
people who don't know anything about them, they're two time champs,

(03:20):
So this is a very.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Kim did you know about the fret? I'm not going
to I'm not going to tell that, same here, same here.
I'm reading this going really yeah, I.

Speaker 4 (03:30):
Know.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
So hopefully we're going to get them a little more
fan base. The two of us included, we're also going
to be joined by a former WBZ news anchor. There's
going to be a third one in the house, Joey
Sure and her name microphone on Gary Connley. You and
I had the great pleasure of working with her and
she made that transition from being a television news anchor

(03:51):
to an entrepreneur, a business owner. She owns a business
called Row and Ride. It's in Hanover. It's an exercise studio.
It's done so well well that she's about to open
another one. So we're very excited to talk to her.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
She's one of those people who walked into a room
and the whole place just lights up.

Speaker 5 (04:07):
You know.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yeah, she's a wonderful lady and look forward to that conversation.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
Absolutely, and then we're also going to talk to another
business owner that this is really interested. You found this
story and Brian Packard is the CEO and founder of
yard Rink. Yeah, and if you're wondering what that is,
it's exactly what it sounds like. It's ice skating rinks
in your backyard. This is all the rage, you know,

(04:34):
Joe The first thing that popped in my mind when
you pointed this out was the idea that during COVID
everybody wanted a swimming pool and maybe now everybody wants
an ice skating rink.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
I didn't find it. The Grant Welker at the BDJ
found it, and I just happened to read his article
and said, hey, that's a great story. So I called
up Brian Packard, the CEO, and he agreed to come
on the program. And you know, this is no ranking
dank operation. They work nationally that they're in Canada. They
have been working with Wayne Gretzky and the NHL has

(05:05):
granted them licensing rights. So this is the real deal.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
Rinky Dink. I saw what you did there. But first,
as we mentioned, Joey, it's Super Bowl Sunday, and that means,
of course, chicken wings, not Joe's, a few adult beverages
for some folks, a whole lot of TV hats, and
as we mentioned, you know, maybe a little fatigue when
it comes to the Chiefs, which, as I said to you,
being a big Chiefs fan, it's a little hard for

(05:29):
me to take because.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
I remember the Rafts have to be so tired of
cheering for the Chiefs too, you know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (05:35):
So thank goodness my parents aren't on the line right now, Joe,
because that would not go over big. Let me tell you, hey,
let's talk the business of the Super Bowl though with
our good friend Skip Perm he's director of the sports
management program over there at Suffolk University. Skip, good morning.

Speaker 5 (05:54):
Good morning, Happy super Bowl Sunday.

Speaker 3 (05:57):
Thanks very much. It is it really is a holiday,
isn't it. You know, so many people think that tomorrow
should be like the official Super Bowl holiday? Do you
agree with that? Skip? You think that tomorrow should be
a day off?

Speaker 5 (06:08):
Well, I think if we looked at it, if we
look down the road here, the NFL wants to expand
to eighteen games, and that's going to probably push it
out another week, and they're going to end up on
the holiday, and I'm spacing the holiday in February, but
it probably may end up that way anyway.

Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah, you're talking about President's Day. I'm guessing, but.

Speaker 5 (06:28):
Yeah, yes, of course President's Day.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
Well, you know what, they should play the super Bowl
on Saturday night. I mean, you know what I mean.
They shouldn't play it on Sunday night anyway. I mean,
I'm going to avoid that whole problem, right, I mean, anyway.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
Joe, that would be Super Bowl Saturday. Then that would
be a very different skip. You you always come to
us with some really great stats, and I want to
talk a little bit about that, and we have to
talk first about broadcast. Here we go again for Fox,
you know. And what really makes this interesting for those
of us who are New England fans is that this

(07:03):
is going to be Tom Brady's first Super Bowl in
the booth.

Speaker 5 (07:07):
Yeah. Maybe first and last. I'll make that prediction. But
there certainly are lots of talk about whether Brady is
you know, long term two inside the booth. But you know,
I think the reviews have been a little bit mixed
on season one. But he's a rookie, so if we
know anything about his track record, he will improve as
the years go along, so it'll be interesting to see

(07:28):
him on the biggest stage as he's been at a player,
but now in the booth.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
Where are you on that? I mean, I mean, I
don't know. I'm torn. I mean, I think that he
got better, and I think that you know, at some level,
he you know. I think it's a ten year deal
that he has, so I guess I would be surprised
if if he walked away from it. Where are you?

Speaker 5 (07:49):
I don't think he'll walk away from a ten year
deal with Fox. I don't think his long term future
is in the Booth. I do think there's a lot
that tom Brady could do for Fox as an organization,
a lot of additional content, pregame, post game stuff. I
think that he may be better suited for that. But
I think he's going to give the Booth at least
a couple more years before he walks away, because I

(08:11):
think anything else would sort of look like a failure.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
I think one of the big problems with Tom Brady
may be the fact that he has so much interest
in the Raiders correct well, that is.

Speaker 5 (08:20):
A problem for him. I mean, I guess it's more
of a problem for the league than him and Roger Goodell.
The commissioner has mentioned that they may tweak the so
called Brady rules again this year. But look, if he
wants to play a bigger part of the Raiders, I
think that makes being in the booth and criticizing other
teams more problematic for him. He's going to pick a path.
He has to pick a path. I think.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
All right, we're talking with Skip perm of course the
business of sports. He is a sports and management program
director there at Suffolk University Sawyer School of Business. Let's
talk a little bit about Fox and their financial commitment
and what's on the line for Fox and how do
they make it back.

Speaker 5 (09:00):
Well, they're paying over two billion dollars a year to
carry NFL games, and I think they've got I think
it's eleven year deals that are simultaneous to everything out there.
So they're paying a lot. You can't make it all
back with one super Bowl, and this is their second
Super Bowl in three years. But this is your most

(09:22):
valuable asset. You are spent. You're selling spots for as
much as eight million dollars per thirty so you're going
to make a lot on this event. But you've got
to have a lot of pre and post game shows
sort of add tonnage and sell more advertising to recoup
that investment that you're making, which is massive.

Speaker 3 (09:40):
Yeah, and you know they've they've played this game before.
They the Chiefs in the Phillies in the Philadelphia Eagles
played back in twenty three on Fox and ratings were down,
So that could be a real problem for them this year,
especially related to as we've mentioned, Chiefs fatigue.

Speaker 5 (09:57):
Yeah, that might be out there, but last year's game
with the Chiefs did one hundred and twenty three and
a half million. The previous Philly did one hundred and
fifteen million. You know, Nielsen and Joe, you're both TV guys,
TV people, you know how you know, sports are measured
in all TV content, but Nielsen is made tweaked to

(10:17):
measure so called out of home viewing and the viewing
on non platforms. So I think everyone expects that they're
going to draw more than one hundred and twenty three
and a half million, despite whatever Chief's.

Speaker 2 (10:29):
Fatigue there might be, Yeah, that's for sure, you know,
and Kim has mentioned it that you know there's Chiefs fatigue,
But I mean, I think we all dealt with that
with Tom Brady and the Patriots. We certainly felt that
as well. But I want to come back to this
piece of information that you shared with us, and you
just mentioned it that NFL ratings are down year over
year double digits. And yet you know, I was listening

(10:51):
to Roger Goodell talk about this international expansion, you know,
to go around the globe at this point and the
eighteen games the NFL, is there a problem?

Speaker 5 (10:59):
I don't think so. Look, I've said for a long time,
or I thought for a long time that in terms
of the media rights perspective, the leagues are going to
get to a point where the media outlet so the
media entities can't pay more. That's really never happened. And
now you've got Amazon paying for Thursday night football now
for a number of years. Now, you've got Netflix bringing

(11:21):
Saturday night games. If the league was to add an
eighteenth game and say, play every single one of those
games internationally, they'd sell it to another media outlet and
sort of grow their pool of revenue there. So no,
I don't think they have a problem. The playoffs ratings
aren't down year over year, But I don't have a
good answer as to why maybe that's sort of the

(11:44):
Chiefs fatigue, but I would say it's probably more of
a blip than a trend.

Speaker 3 (11:49):
So we've talked about these enormous numbers that Fox needs
to make up, and part of the way they plan
to do that, obviously, is through Super Bowl ads. It's
so funny. I can remember when I first started covering
the Super Bowl many many many moons ago, and you know,
they were paying a million bucks for a thirty second ad,
and we were all like, oh my gosh, who in

(12:10):
the world could do that? And why would you ever
do it? How could you recoup it? We're talking this
year of eight million dollars for a thirty second spot.

Speaker 5 (12:19):
Yeah, it sounds obscene, and you can do you know,
you can calculate that and compare it to everything else
you can buy on television. And this is one thing
I say to students all the time. It's one hundred
and twenty five million people, and if you think your
target consumer is there and watching, then there might be
value to advertising in the Super Bowl. I think the

(12:40):
way the game is played today is it's more than
just the thirty it's everything else you could do. Activation,
social media, et cetera. To really get people talking and
buzzing about your creative. That's where I think the real
value is, and you can sort of maximize the spend
that is eight million dollars.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
Think of the eighteen games. You think that's you think
that's a good plan for the for the NFL to
do that, or or are we getting to a saturation point?

Speaker 5 (13:07):
I think it's bad for the players and the player's health,
So if we put people first, it's not necessarily good.
It's good for business, and I think you really reach
the maximum there. You can't go beyond eighteen games. I
don't think from a human health standpoint, but for a
business perspective it's good. From a player perspective, I don't

(13:30):
think it's good.

Speaker 3 (13:31):
Do you anticipate the players union will allow that to
even happen.

Speaker 5 (13:35):
If they're going to get a larger cut of the
money or the pool of money that they're getting gets larger.
I think money talks.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
A big number here revolving around the Super Bowl is
a sports betting number. Yeah. Taking a look at a
Globe article here said in twenty twenty four, sixty eight
million Americans were expected to bet twenty three billion dollars
on the game, according to the American Aiming Association, And truthfully.

Speaker 5 (14:02):
I haven't seen any projections. I've been looking for them.
I haven't seen any projections on you know, the what
they expect the betting handle will be. But it's only
growing larger. And actually there's some recent reports this week
about the futures market getting into it and perhaps even

(14:22):
stealing some money from the sports books because there there
there are futures bets that you can make through you know,
the traditional sort of vehicles that one might invest.

Speaker 2 (14:34):
To explain that to me, what what would be the
futures market?

Speaker 5 (14:36):
You know, I got to be honest with you, I
am not. I'm not an expert into finance. But just
as you can bet on the future prices of whatever
commodity it might be oranges, there's some kind of futures
bet on the super Bowl, that's you know, on Wall Street,
you can you can make an official I guess investment

(14:58):
would be about the right term. Again, I'm strugg going
there a little bit because finance is in my bag.
But I did see some stories earlier this week about,
you know, the possibility that the futures market could steal
some of the handle from traditional sports books.

Speaker 3 (15:14):
Wow wow, Wow, Skip, it just keeps coming. I'll tell
you you say, NFL, that just equals money. It seems
to me. All right, Skip, great insight like always and
may the best team win today. And I hope that's
the Chiefs.

Speaker 2 (15:30):
I knew that was going all right.

Speaker 3 (15:32):
When we come back on the Business Journal, Senior reporter
Greg Bryant is going to be our guest. He's talking
about Hasbro.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
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Speaker 2 (18:00):
And welcome back to the New Englan Business Support. On
this Sunday morning, February the ninth, Joe Schwartze here with
Kim Kerrigan. A couple of headlines making news and business
circles this week. People going hmm, that's interesting, and we're
talking about Hasbro. Hasbro of course, they have been based
in Tucket, Rhode Island forever and they've been sniffing around
Boston for I guess over a year now. And the

(18:23):
most recent news, of course, dug up by the senior
reporter at the Boston Business Journal, Greg Ryan, is that
they're looking at a spot in our seaport. Greg, go,
welcome to the program. Tell us what is Hasbro up to?

Speaker 5 (18:36):
Yeah, so it appears this search is nearing its end.

Speaker 4 (18:40):
The company asked landlords in Boston's or the finalists in
this search, to give them their best and final offers
a few weeks ago, and it looks like the shongest
contender right now is this lab building of all things,
a lab building in the Seaport district. It's least to
the company Foundation Medicine, but Foundation has determined does not

(19:00):
need all this space. It's almost six hundred thousand square feet.
So it's put out to the market that is looking
to sublease the space, and apparently it's peaked Hasbro's interest.

Speaker 3 (19:09):
Boy, that's indicative of what's happening with lab space in
the city, right.

Speaker 5 (19:13):
Right, it really is. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (19:14):
I mean to think, you know, even two years ago
that a toy company would be taking you know, something
close to half the space and a big new lab
tower would have been unthinkable. But there's so much empty
lab space. There are so many new lab buildings coming
online that are opening empty that you know, there's room
for something like this to happen now.

Speaker 2 (19:36):
And Greg, it's not just about office space or Hasbro.
They want a ground floor retail presence where they can
sell mister Potato Head.

Speaker 5 (19:43):
Right, that's right. Yeah, that's been a key condition of
their talks.

Speaker 4 (19:48):
From what I've been told by my sources in the
real estate industry, So.

Speaker 5 (19:53):
You know, a seaport location.

Speaker 4 (19:54):
Obviously seaport is a huge retail destination, So that makes
a lot of sense, I should say.

Speaker 5 (20:00):
You know, it appears they have not made a decision yet.

Speaker 4 (20:03):
They've also been looking at at least a couple of
buildings in the financial district on Summer Street, including one
right in downtown crossing where the primary store is so
but those.

Speaker 5 (20:14):
Two, you know, they've been looking at potentially.

Speaker 4 (20:16):
Opening retail space in those buildings downtown as well.

Speaker 5 (20:19):
Greg.

Speaker 3 (20:19):
You know, in all of these situations, there's always a
winner and a loser. And the if they would come
to Boston, certainly we would benefit from this. The loser
in all of this is going to be Patucket if
they leave there, and I know that they have worked
really hard to try to woo them to stay. This
is going to be a second really major loss for
that Rhode Island community.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
It would be yes, yes, And you know it's as
I said that, you know, all indications are they have not.

Speaker 5 (20:44):
Made a decision yet.

Speaker 4 (20:45):
They could decide, hey, actually you know what we want
to We want to stay in Rhode Island.

Speaker 5 (20:48):
I know the.

Speaker 4 (20:49):
CEO of Hasbro recently met with with the Governor of
Rhode Island, as my colleague maariu Series reported so, but yeah,
it has.

Speaker 5 (21:00):
Looked for a good part of this search like they
were that they have been leaning toward Boston.

Speaker 4 (21:04):
And Hasbro is one of the biggest employers in Rhode Island.

Speaker 5 (21:07):
I mean, the Hasbro name is on.

Speaker 4 (21:09):
The children's hospital down there. It's been you know, it's
it's been associating.

Speaker 5 (21:13):
With the state for so long. It would be a
big loss if they decided to move.

Speaker 2 (21:16):
Talking with the senior reporter for the Boston Business Journal,
Greg Ryan, about his story about Hasbro possibly locating in
Boston's in Boston and possibly the seaport, Greg, you know,
and I'm reading your story and the BBJ, I'm looking
at this deal that you know, Kim is referencing here
that the State of Rhode Island put forth. I mean,
that's a hard that's hard to say no to. Last fall,

(21:37):
Rhode Islands I one ninety five Redevelopment District Commission offered
has with the price of a one dollar exclusive rights
to a prime undeveloped parcel and Providence Innovation District. How
do they say no to that?

Speaker 4 (21:49):
It's true, I mean, yes, since the news of this
search became public last fall. I mean, Rhode Island officials
have really been, you know, throwing the kitchen sink.

Speaker 5 (21:58):
To try to get Hasro to stay. That one dollar
deal is one thing.

Speaker 4 (22:01):
I think there have been some, you know, other other
perks offered, including tax incentives, so you know that that's.

Speaker 5 (22:08):
Certainly going to give you know, I think that.

Speaker 4 (22:11):
That would certainly gives Hasro pause. I mean, I think
the reason they initially started looking in Boston is because
you know, they want access to the talent here. You know,
the university's mit Harvard, et cetera. Hasbro has really been
adopting gaming. You know, you think Hasbro, you think.

Speaker 5 (22:29):
Of g I, Joe, Figureinees, but they've been really getting into.

Speaker 4 (22:32):
More of the digital space, especially under their new CEO.

Speaker 5 (22:35):
So the workforce.

Speaker 4 (22:37):
Here may outweigh you know, some of the real estate.

Speaker 5 (22:42):
Deals being offered in Rhode Island.

Speaker 3 (22:44):
Well, so Greg, let's talk about that a little bit,
because you've mentioned, you know, it's the biggest employer in
the state of Rhode Island. So what would it mean
to Boston. Short of the fact that obviously they'd be
renting a big space, they're possibly in the seaport or
in the financial district. What would this mean to the
city of Boston if they would move up here.

Speaker 4 (23:04):
Yeah, so there is as you mentioned that the basic
you know, this does fill uh, you know, a big
hole in the seaport that isn't being used right now.
So so there's that in terms of the real estate market.
But beyond that, you know, it's would it's politically speaking,
it would be a win for the mayor, you know, mayor,
we would be a win for governor healely, I mean certainly.
You know we saw this week Josh Kraft lunch of
a campaign for mayor of Boston.

Speaker 5 (23:27):
You know, this is something that may or we could
point to and say, you know, you know, I've gotten
a lot of.

Speaker 4 (23:31):
Flat from the business community, but look, we attracted this
major employer to the city.

Speaker 5 (23:36):
You know, the governor too, saying you.

Speaker 4 (23:37):
Know this, this is a big economic development win for us,
even though there's all this conversation about how competitive is
Massachusetts economically.

Speaker 5 (23:45):
So I think it could be a boom for them
as well. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:48):
So Greg, if Rhode Island is saying okay, you can
stay here forever and we love you for a buck, well,
what's Boston or Massachusetts doing for Housbrough.

Speaker 5 (23:57):
Yeah, that that's.

Speaker 4 (23:57):
Something I you know, I have not heard about in
my reporting.

Speaker 5 (24:01):
You know.

Speaker 4 (24:01):
I know I reported last year that as far ago
as last spring that the Healy administration and Hasbro have
been meeting and talking about a move.

Speaker 5 (24:11):
I know that the state has you know, sort of.

Speaker 4 (24:15):
I said, you know, there are tax incentive programs available
to you, but I have not heard anything about any
specific tax breaks offered to Hasbro to make the move.

Speaker 3 (24:24):
One final question from me, Greg, and that's what are
the numbers when you talk about Hasbro. You said that
you know it's the largest employer down there in Rhode Island.
Do you have any idea how many people who would
employ here?

Speaker 5 (24:35):
Yeah, well, I should say it's one of the largest,
and I'm not sure if I don't think it's the largest.

Speaker 4 (24:41):
You know, they're they're pretty tight lipped about their exact account.

Speaker 5 (24:44):
I know they recently announced some layoffs.

Speaker 4 (24:47):
But I think it would be roughly in the neighborhood
of a thousand employees, So you know that that could be.

Speaker 5 (24:53):
Coming to the base state.

Speaker 1 (24:55):
Sure.

Speaker 2 (24:55):
All right, he's Greg Ryan. He is the senior reporter
for the Boston Business Journal. We do appreciate him taking
time on this Sunday morning to tell us what's going
on with Hasbro, and I'm sure that we'll be learning
more in the weeks and months ahead about that final decision,
which we expect is coming in. Kim, I think you
arranged this coming up after the break, we're going to
be talking with one Carrie Connolly. Both you and I

(25:18):
worked with her at WBC TV. Wonderful lady who was
you know. I know she was involved in I know
she's got this ride and row business right now, right,
but I also think that she was involved heavily in
real estate too. After leaving WBC anyway, I.

Speaker 3 (25:34):
Realize, Yeah, that's fantastic. I just knew her as being
quite the athlete.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
All right. So up next we'll be talking with well
former WBZ TV anchor Carry Connolly.

Speaker 1 (25:48):
Kim and Joe will explore more business news that impacts
our New England economy when they return.

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Fy Hi everybody, it's Kimcare or get along with Bill
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been hearing a lot about your windows being the same
windows installed at the top of Mount Washington and that
these windows are only sold by high Tech.

Speaker 11 (27:07):
That's right, Kim. Our Summit Series windows are designed to
keep your house warm in the window and cool in
the summer and can withstand the harsh New England weather
better than any other window on the market.

Speaker 3 (27:17):
That sounds great, But what about the cost, Bill? Because
things have been pretty tight for people these days.

Speaker 11 (27:22):
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and right now we are offering by one window, get
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But call us now.

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Of the year.

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It sounds terrific. So the best prices and the best quality.
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(27:57):
Kim Kerrigan and.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
I'm Joe Shortsley. If you want to be part of
the New England Business Report, sponsorships are still available.

Speaker 3 (28:04):
You can email us at any Business Radio at gmail
dot com.

Speaker 2 (28:09):
That's Any Business Radio all one word at gmail dot
com and we'll get your business on the show too.

Speaker 3 (28:22):
Welcome back, every one of the New England Business Report.
Good to have you with us on this Sunday morning,
Super Bowl Sunday. I hope that everybody's got some really
great plans for the remainder of the day. I'm still
coming your way here. In this half hour we're going
to be talking with a number of individual business owners
and in people who run businesses. So we're looking forward

(28:43):
to that in this half hour. But before we do,
we always like to take a look at some headlines
maybe you might have missed. And you know, just a
short time ago, we were talking with Greg Ryan from
the Boston Business Journal about the fact that has Bro
may be moving its headquarters to Boston. Well, this could
be another big win for Boston, and that's a Gillette
hunting for new headquarters. Now we all know that they

(29:06):
have been here for years and they're closing down those
world headquarters that they've had in South Boston. They're moving
their razor production up to end Over, but they want
to keep their headquarters apparently in Boston, just not in
the location where it's been so Joe, they are on
the hunt looking for a place to call home.

Speaker 2 (29:27):
Yeah, well, maybe Gillette and Hasbro should get together. I mean,
if you know, Gillette wants out, has Thro wants in.
It is a beautiful location right up there, exactly. I read,
of course, that story was written in the Globe by
that That's where I saw it was Katherine Carlock. And
Katherine Carlock is a gifted reporter and she was somebody

(29:49):
who we had on our program many times when we
hosted over at Bloomberg Radio. So yeah, no, that's big news.
Gillette World Shaving headquarters looking to relocate.

Speaker 3 (30:00):
Yeah, absolutely, that's good. It sounds like to me, Joe,
if both of those happened, those are two big wins
for the city of Boston.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
And as Kim's been telling you, we were going to
be talking about all kinds of businesses in this final
half hour of the program today. How about this, folks,
did you know? Did you know that there was a
national professional rugby team right here, just outside Boston and Quincy?
All right, I honestly didn't know that. Okay. The New

(30:28):
England Free Jacks are Greater Boston's first professional rugby team,
representing all the greatness of the six New England states
on and off the field. The Free Jacks were named
as an expansion franchise of Major League Rugby in September
of twenty eighteen. And the CEO is joining us right now,
Alex Meglebee. He's the founder of the New England Free Jacks. Alex,

(30:52):
welcome to the program. Tell us about the Free Jacks.

Speaker 5 (30:55):
Too, Kim, thanks for having me on.

Speaker 4 (30:56):
It's great to connect today. Yeah, I mean, we're ugby
is booming. You know, it's the global contact game and
it's been happening in the United States forever.

Speaker 5 (31:06):
You know, started first in Massachusetts.

Speaker 4 (31:09):
Now in Massachusetts, the state that has it in boys
and girls high school rugby as a state sanction.

Speaker 2 (31:14):
What do you made It started first in Massachusetts.

Speaker 5 (31:16):
Yeah, and the first.

Speaker 4 (31:17):
Game in North America was in Massachusetts. Yeah, Harvard hosted McGill.
The Men's World Cup is the third largest sporting event
in the world. So that's all building up to this
wonderful moment where we get to bring rugby to the
masses in the United States. Late eighteen eighties, Walter Campa
Yale codified it and you know, changed the scrum that
we have in rugby, flattened it out.

Speaker 5 (31:38):
To the scrimmage line that we have in American football.

Speaker 4 (31:41):
And of course, later on, during President Roosevelt's time, the
forward pass was introduced because they.

Speaker 5 (31:47):
Could wind wide in the field.

Speaker 4 (31:48):
Because of the width of a newly built Harvard Stadium.
And so that's when the games really diverged. Rugby continued
to evolve in its own way to become the world's
contact game, and it's you know, played the world over
including here in the United States.

Speaker 2 (32:04):
Alex Megleby is our guest founder and CEO of the
New England Free Jacks of the Major League Rugby. Okay, Alex,
we're a business program. Give me, give me the business
of the Free Jacks. How are you folks making money?
I assume that it's ticket sales and so on and
so forth to.

Speaker 4 (32:24):
Create a world class, community centric entertainment program predicated primarily
on live events and bringing it's a very welcoming sport.

Speaker 5 (32:32):
And what we are very good at is.

Speaker 4 (32:35):
Providing a game day festival where there's kids programming throughout
the day. You can bring your old college buddies. There's beerfest,
there's music, there's community rugby. We're engaged with, you know,
our nonprofit charity partners. Throughout the day, there's light shows,
there's fireworks, and then this awesome intimate game on the
field happens.

Speaker 5 (32:54):
Where you could see their faces.

Speaker 4 (32:56):
We understand tackling here in the United States, throwing the
ball around that after we open up the seald, everybody
comes on and shake hands with the players. So we're
then covered locally by NBC Sports Boston, and our ratings
continue to skyrocket and then nationally. We have coverage as
well through soon to be announced partner tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (33:14):
In fact, well, let's back up just a little bit
and tell our listeners who maybe have not been huge
rugby fans in the past, but I feel confident will
be in the future, that you guys have won back
to back championships.

Speaker 4 (33:28):
It's great to bring on Collabs, the well known VC
Incubator from Cambridge, you know, who's done a lot for
helping to grow businesses and innovators. And we have an
awesome hospitality experience where we have a lot of people
from the Batotech tech space involves in our match day
experience where they can bring their clients and introduce this amazing,

(33:48):
entertaining game to new people and co sees that and
it's a great opportunity for us to continue to share
rugby with the masses.

Speaker 2 (33:57):
Give us an idea of the rules of rugby. Okay,
how different are they than football? Obviously quite different, but
give us an idea of how we go down the.

Speaker 4 (34:05):
Field seconds right, Rugby it's continuous play basically for eighty minutes,
Unlike you know, when a tackle happens and football play stops,
then rugby when a tackle happens, it's still a contest
for possession.

Speaker 5 (34:19):
You tackle me.

Speaker 4 (34:20):
Now your teammates are trying to get the ball. My
teammates are trying to get the ball. And like football,
where we can throw the ball forward, and rugby we
can throw that, we can.

Speaker 5 (34:26):
Later it or throw it backwards. We can kick the
ball forward.

Speaker 4 (34:30):
So it has some of the great elements that we
appreciate about American football and the contact, the tackling, the
amazing movement.

Speaker 5 (34:39):
But you know, basketball came from rugby.

Speaker 4 (34:41):
Naysmith was a was a Canadian, he was a rugby coach,
and some parts of rugby, and that's the give and
go that we really appreciate in basketball.

Speaker 5 (34:48):
You see that a lot in rugby. And then the
kicking that we see in soccer that we.

Speaker 4 (34:52):
Really appreciate, or the you know, move moving the puck
down the ice that we really like, and the give
and goes that.

Speaker 5 (34:58):
Also happens at Rugby has this really interesting mix of
a lot of the great sports here in the United States,
which is awesome. And then it's eighty minutes, so two forty.

Speaker 4 (35:06):
Minute has and then the game's over, and then this
great tradition and rugby.

Speaker 5 (35:11):
That's existed forever.

Speaker 4 (35:13):
After the opponent and the home team they sit to
get down together and have a meal together, which is
just doesn't exist anymore in the American sports complex. And
that's a really important part of the value systems of
this great game is that you still, after really awesome competition,
very physical competition for.

Speaker 5 (35:31):
Eighty minutes, sit down and get to know your opponent,
which is very very cool.

Speaker 4 (35:36):
Only a lot of hitting and you have to be strong.
But it's a game that's growing in tremendous popularity in
girls and the collegiate game which is now in NCAA sport.
It's an Olympic game now. It hadn't been an Olympics
in nineteen twenty four until the Rio Games. And so
you get a lot of contact, but it's the way

(35:57):
the rules are written.

Speaker 5 (35:59):
If I pack you have to put my arms around you,
I can't have put you to the ground safely. If
I take you off the ground, and you don't see
a lot of the.

Speaker 4 (36:08):
Severe head injuries and other things and repeated head trauma
that you see in some other sports. Unfortunately, that's an
awesome game. That's why it continues to grow so rapidly across.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
The world, Alex, when's your first game?

Speaker 4 (36:20):
So our season is structured week after Super Bowl as
a season opener.

Speaker 5 (36:24):
We're in La.

Speaker 4 (36:25):
Our first home opener is always seen Patty's Weekend, so
it'll be March fifteenth, that Saturday playoffs start Father's Day
and we wrap up before Fourth of July festivities.

Speaker 2 (36:35):
He's Alex Magilbee. He's the founder and CEO of the
national rugby team in New England. Free Jacks, Kim.

Speaker 3 (36:42):
Well, everybody, we are very excited to welcome our next guest. Now,
Joe and I were former co ankers. Not co ankers,
we were former anchors at WBZ TV. Joe was there.

Speaker 2 (36:52):
We anchored together once, didn't we think, Yeah, a couple
of times.

Speaker 3 (36:57):
Absolutely. But we have another former WBZTV anchor in the house.
Carrie Conley is with us today and she has made
that transition from television into the world of fitness. She
owns a fantastically successful exercise boutique studio. It's located in Hanover.

(37:18):
It's called Row and Ride, and it's so great to
have Carrie with us today. Carrie, Welcome, I Kim, Hi Joe.

Speaker 12 (37:25):
It is such a pleasure to be on your show.

Speaker 10 (37:27):
Thank you for thinking of me.

Speaker 3 (37:28):
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
Yeah, wonderful Carrie. Wonderful to hear you, wonderful to reconnect
with you.

Speaker 10 (37:34):
A long time. I think you and I might have
done a show together.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
To Joe, I think we did tell us about Row
and Ride.

Speaker 12 (37:43):
Well, Row and Ride came about, believe it or not,
when I was sitting on the anchor desk in the
morning and I was getting to the point where I thought,
you know, it was getting tough getting up at two
thirty in the morning. I think you guys know that
at times as well, and my kids are little, and
I thought, you know, I'm going to do something else.
I always had an entrepreneurial spirit and curiosity, and so

(38:07):
I said, you know, if I'm going to do anything,
I wanted to be in fitness. I was always an athlete,
and so I thought, how do I do this?

Speaker 10 (38:14):
So I would I.

Speaker 12 (38:17):
Can say this now because I can't get fired, but
I would sit. I would bring my crayons on the
anchor desk. In between commercials. I would be drawing the
Row and Ride logo, and David Wade, who I was
working with at the time, would chime in and say,
I don't know, Carrie, maybe you should do ride and
row And I'm saying, nah, I think I like row
and ride better. And my floor director would chime in

(38:39):
and say, you know, you really have to do this
or that and what about a wave? And so it's
really really quite funny how it came about.

Speaker 10 (38:45):
It was almost a.

Speaker 12 (38:46):
Team effort with my busy morning crew, which was so
much fun.

Speaker 3 (38:51):
So you started the business in twenty fourteen. Tell us
what it took to get to get it up and running.

Speaker 12 (38:58):
Well, it's funny, Kim, when you when you're a news anchor.

Speaker 10 (39:01):
As you guys know, taking a.

Speaker 12 (39:02):
Transition into business is a little bit I went into
it a little bit blind, but I knew that I
had I had a love for business, and I thought,
I'm just going to dive in.

Speaker 5 (39:13):
My husband.

Speaker 12 (39:14):
I sat down and we talked about it and it
was something I always wanted to do, and we said,
you know what, let's just go for it. So we
came up with the model, the logo. What was the
fitness going to be with the rowing and the riding.
I mean, I always did spinning when I lived Metro West,
I did. I went to a spinning studio for a

(39:34):
long time and I loved it and it was one
of my floor directors said to me, Kerry, you should
do rowing as well as spinning. So I thought, you know,
I want to come up with a concept that is
low impact, so anybody of any age fitness.

Speaker 10 (39:48):
Level could do it.

Speaker 12 (39:51):
So first was coming up with the model and the plan.
Then it was searching for space and learning all about
how you open a business.

Speaker 10 (39:59):
And to be honest, it was it was learned as
you go.

Speaker 12 (40:03):
But being that I loved it and I had a curiosity,
it was just so much fun. I mean, learning is
so much fun anyway. So we found our space, we practiced,
I had to hire people, train people. But you know,
we're at our ten year mark, and to be totally honest,
it's taken that long to really perfect the model. You know,

(40:23):
you have to make mistakes, You have to learn about
human behavior, what do people like, what don't they like?

Speaker 10 (40:29):
Teams and culture and starting a business is quite a task.

Speaker 12 (40:33):
It definitely wasn't an easy task, but it's a fun
journey for sure.

Speaker 2 (40:37):
All Right, So where how many row and ride studios
are there? Or where is the one? And give us
a you know, the idea, we're a business program.

Speaker 12 (40:46):
How's business how do you say that, Joe, Because we
just have the one in hand over and we are
our goal. A lot of people come in and they're like, Wow,
this place is so cool. Is this a franchise? And
so that's our long term plan. So we're right now,
we're in the process working on our second location, and
then after we open a couple more, then we hope
to move into franchising.

Speaker 10 (41:06):
But again it believe it or not, I mean time flies.

Speaker 12 (41:10):
I mean ten years went quickly, but we learned a
lot and we perfected the brand. We actually learned that
and I don't even need to tell you. Everybody knows
that you've got to eat well as well. So during
COVID we opened our plant based smoothie bar and we
do all plant based items there, and so we've kind

(41:31):
of changed the brand to be more of a wellness brand.
So now we help with nutrition, we help with exercise,
We try to do a lot of things motivational for
mental health.

Speaker 10 (41:41):
So we've kind of realized that over.

Speaker 12 (41:43):
Time, it's not just about exercise, it's the whole package
if you want to feel happy and healthy. So it's
taken a while to get there, but now we're so
excited because we have this great community, we have our
processes in place, and we're just ready to go.

Speaker 3 (41:56):
Now, Carrie, it's a very competitive space, so talk about
what you've done over the course of that ten years
to make your studio and your approach to wellness standout.

Speaker 12 (42:08):
Yeah, that's a really really good point, Kim. It's very competitive.
There are so many different ways you can go about
with your fitness. We just really believed in the rowing
and riding again for the low impact, but we also
introduced weight training as well because weight training is also
so important. So our model is row ride reps. Results

(42:30):
with all four of those. We really also with including
the nutrition. That was a really big part of it
because not everybody. We're lucky, we have nice space here,
so not everybody has the space to be able to
open a smoothie.

Speaker 10 (42:42):
Bar as well, so we were very lucky to do that.
But yeah, we really.

Speaker 12 (42:47):
I mean over COVID, while everybody was struggling, we actually
was one of the best times for us, believe it
or not.

Speaker 10 (42:54):
We really pivoted.

Speaker 12 (42:55):
We moved all over equipment to this warehouse across the
street from us where they had open garage doors and
we were actually very crowded during COVID because everybody.

Speaker 10 (43:06):
Came at their masks.

Speaker 12 (43:07):
Everybody needed that that time together, so we really bonded
over COVID, believe or not. And while we were over
there is when we opened our plant based smoothie bar.

Speaker 10 (43:17):
We started the construction on that and in.

Speaker 12 (43:20):
The studio where we moved the bikes, we actually did
online schooling, so we put a bunch of desks out
and we had parents drop their kids off so they
could do their schooling here. So we kept quite busy
and really pivoted during COVID and I think, believe it
or not, that really helped us get to the next level.

Speaker 2 (43:36):
I'm guessing Carrie that if you're going to make money
in this field, it's in the membership. So what does
a membership cost? What comes with it?

Speaker 12 (43:43):
So when you're in it, so we're when you do
these kind of boutique brands, Joe, you do. It's class based,
so it's not like a gym where you come in
and you go, so you sign up for your classes.
So there's two ways to go. You can either become
a member, which is month to month, to do a
six month membership. Our most popular believe it or not.

(44:03):
Is our twelve month membership, which is one hundred and
thirty nine dollars a month and you just get charged
every month just there's no upfront money or anything, and
you are committed for twelve months.

Speaker 10 (44:15):
Believe it or not. Most people do that, and we
love it because.

Speaker 12 (44:20):
Of course, the recurring revenue is great for us because
I could sleep at night and know the bills are paid.

Speaker 10 (44:25):
But it's also great for.

Speaker 12 (44:26):
The members because they can come as often as they
want and it becomes more of a community. It's not
a coming go kind of thing. They really want to
be here and it's created quite the family that we
have here at Rowan Ride. So you do that, but
you can also you don't want to do a membership,
you can do passes.

Speaker 10 (44:42):
So if you've never come, you can.

Speaker 12 (44:44):
Buy a three pass three passes for twenty five dollars
and come check it out.

Speaker 3 (44:48):
You know, Joe and I have said this so many
times because we own this radio show and so we've
had to look at it as business owners. And there's
parts of the business when you work in television that
you don't get involved in. When you're somebody who's maybe
an on air personality, was it a big shift to
try to get into the business part of it.

Speaker 10 (45:09):
So that's that's so true. It's a different world.

Speaker 12 (45:12):
Right when you're doing the news, it's completely different. A
lot of news people like us move into public relations
where they're writing and your transfer.

Speaker 10 (45:21):
But I don't know.

Speaker 12 (45:22):
I think yes, I mean there's a lot to learn.
You guys know that know this business is very different.
But I think I think it's a it's a personality driven.
I think anything in life is who you are as
a person and what you can.

Speaker 10 (45:35):
Give to others. And I think that you.

Speaker 12 (45:38):
Know, everything is about human behavior and relationships.

Speaker 10 (45:41):
And I think being a news.

Speaker 12 (45:43):
Anchor, we were involved with so many different kinds of
people with so many different They come from so many
different stories and backgrounds, so we can relate to all
the different types of personalities out there. And that adaptability
is one of the biggest things when you have a
business and different people, and I think I think think
that transfers, and I personally, I think that's the number
one thing.

Speaker 10 (46:03):
It all comes down to.

Speaker 3 (46:03):
People, thank you so much for being a part of
the show. Is great to get a chance to catch up,
all right, still come in your way, another business owner
is going to share his secret to success. Our guest
will be Brian Packard of Yard Rank.

Speaker 1 (46:18):
You are listening to the New England Business Report on
the Voice of Boston w RKO six 't eighty. Joe
and Kim will be right back.

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Speaker 3 (48:31):
Hi everybody, I'm Kim Kerrigan and I'm Joe Shortsley.

Speaker 2 (48:35):
If you want to be part of the New England
Business Report, sponsorships are still available.

Speaker 3 (48:40):
You can email us at any Business Radio at gmail
dot com.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
That's any Business Radio all one word at gmail dot
com and we'll get your business on the show too.

Speaker 1 (48:57):
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Speaker 2 (49:13):
All right, welcome back to the New England Business Report
on this Sunday morning, Super Bowl Sunday. Okay, time to
talk a little bit about Backyard Ice Rink. I mean,
certainly we've had the winter for it, right, I mean,
it seems like it has been bitter cold and perfect
for this business that we want to share with you.

Speaker 10 (49:30):
Next.

Speaker 2 (49:31):
The name of the business is Yard Rink. The CEO
of the company is Brian Packards North Andover Company, and
apparently business is well, very good these days. Welcome to
the program. Brian Packard, tell us about yard rink and
what is it you do?

Speaker 13 (49:49):
Thank you, Joe, thank you for having me. Yes, it's
been a fantastic winter. As you mentioned, it's been the
coldest winter in years, and we make a backyard hockey
rink kit for kids and their parents to skate in
their own backyards.

Speaker 7 (50:02):
Easy to assemble.

Speaker 13 (50:04):
And get their own private patch of ice, get them
off their screens and outside with their parents and friends
and have a nice community time outside the rink, the
winter equivalent of a pool party, as I like to say.

Speaker 3 (50:18):
So, Brian, talk to us about where this idea came
from and why you think it's so popular.

Speaker 7 (50:24):
Sure, Kim So, I grew.

Speaker 13 (50:25):
Up all over the country and was completely unaware that
people would build hockey rinks in their back or front yards.
We moved to Massachusetts twenty five years or so ago,
and I have four kids, and we were invited to
many a backyard ice skating party and I just couldn't
believe how much fun it was and just really got

(50:47):
enthusiastic about the joy I saw where parents were kicking
their feet up on a fire pit watching their kids
skate for hours in the backyard, and knowing that ice
time is such a premium for little hockey players, I
thought there must be an opportunity here, especially when I
noticed that the rinks were in many cases these Frankenstein

(51:08):
looking things behind you know, million dollar homes, and thought
that there must be a better.

Speaker 7 (51:13):
Way to come up with.

Speaker 13 (51:14):
A easy to build, affordable rink that played more like
a professional rink that you would see in arenas around town.

Speaker 2 (51:22):
Hi, okay, Brian, if you could tell us a little
bit about cost. What is the cost of a backyard
rink at this point and who's buying them?

Speaker 13 (51:31):
Yeah? So the buyers are typically parents of younger kids,
typically with two or three little hockey players in their family,
and the cost of a rink is completely dependent upon
the size, so we offer over three hundred sizes to
fit the size and shape of your yard. We always
tell parents to make sure you go out and measure

(51:53):
the slope of your yard. Most people don't realize that
they have more slope than they think.

Speaker 7 (51:58):
Most ranks need.

Speaker 13 (51:59):
A relative flat yard, and we sell rinked from little
ones from seventeen by twenty feet all the way up
to fifty by one hundred feet. Our most popular ten
to be in the twenty by thirty or forty by
sixty foot range, and you can expect to pay somewhere
in the two to four thousand dollars range and a

(52:21):
little bit of shipping as well.

Speaker 3 (52:23):
Now, is this something that you assemble yourself, Brian, it is.

Speaker 13 (52:26):
We designed this rink to be very easy to assemble.
You just put the tarp down first, that's a unique
attribute to the yartering system, and then you build the
rink on top of it. You connect the panels with
one screw each, and then you pull the tarp up
and around the outside and connect it to the panels.
You then fill the panels with water and so the

(52:48):
panels freeze together and create a really solid, robust wall
to play the pucks off of.

Speaker 5 (52:54):
And it was.

Speaker 7 (52:55):
Designed to really be kind of idiot proof.

Speaker 13 (52:57):
We wanted to make sure that this wasn't just for
the wealthy, or the or the engineers of the world.
We designed this to be able to be set up
by regular parents in.

Speaker 7 (53:06):
An hour or two.

Speaker 2 (53:07):
Talking with Brian Packard, CEO of Yard Rink, Okay, let's
talk about Wayne Gretzky. What's what's Wayne Gretzky's role in
all of this and the NHL licensing as well. Talk
to us about those two elements.

Speaker 13 (53:20):
Sure, sure, So we are an official licensed product of
the NHL, and we use that relationship to reach out
to the great One. Many people know Wayne Gretzky's backstory.
He grew up on a backyard rink in Brantford in
Canada and attributes both his skill and love of.

Speaker 7 (53:39):
The game of hockey to playing on his dad's rink.

Speaker 13 (53:42):
And we thought it was just really a natural connection
for him to become a brand ambassador, a spokesperson for
Yard Rink, And after a bit of legwork and months
of outreach, we were able to meet in person and
he just really fell in love with the idea. He
is very much about getting kids on ice and sticks

(54:04):
in hands and growing the game of hockeying and seeing
the joy in the game that comes along with unstructured
ice time. So kids spend a lot of time in
structured practices and oftentimes don't have enough time to just
horse around, and that's what this company is all about,
just bringing a little bit of joy to the sport.

(54:27):
And he really bought into that notion. The NHL deal
has been terrific for us. It allows consumers to buy
a rink that can be customized with the logos.

Speaker 7 (54:38):
And decals of their home team.

Speaker 13 (54:40):
So here in Boston we customize a lot of our
rinks with of course Boston Bruins and the old Hartford
Whalers on decals.

Speaker 7 (54:48):
And we're very excited about the NHL relationship.

Speaker 13 (54:51):
We're actually going to be at the Four Nations face
off which is next weekend at the Government Center, the
fan village outside that game with one of our street
hockey rinks. So the NHL relationship has really lent a
lot of credibility to our name, as as of course.

Speaker 3 (55:08):
Queen Gretzky, which is really terrific. So Brian talked to
us about you know, you're talking about doing it here
in New England. But this is a company that is
obviously has spread its wings well beyond New England.

Speaker 13 (55:19):
Most of our business the Upper Midwest and New England,
but twenty five to thirty percent of our rinks shift
to Canada. We sell to the Rocky Mountain Western Plain
States as well, and winters like this I think remind
people that despite global warming, we do have really cold
winters and even when we have winters like we did

(55:41):
the last two years in the Upper Midwest and New England,
people got weeks of ice in their backyards and that's
that's enough really to make them feel the joy. It's
a lot like having a swimming pool in New England.
You might not use it for three months in a row,
but if you get a couple of.

Speaker 7 (55:58):
Great quality weeks, it's definitely worth it.

Speaker 13 (56:02):
So we're expanding beyond ice into street hockey, which of
course allows us to sell into all fifty states overall
twelve months. Street hockey's played in sneakers and it doesn't
require ice, so it's a big expansion play for us.

Speaker 3 (56:17):
And the next.

Speaker 2 (56:19):
So do I play the street hockey on the rink
that I've built already that or do I put that
away in the street hockey somewhere else.

Speaker 5 (56:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 13 (56:27):
The only difference between our street and our ice hockey
rinks is the tarp and the equipment that is used
to connect the tarp to the rink. Of course, you
don't need a tarp for street hockey, which is typically
played on a sport court or asphalt sometimes gym floors,
and we.

Speaker 7 (56:42):
Provide the containment system. The walls that mimic a professional rank.

Speaker 2 (56:47):
All right, it sounds like you're busy. You are busy there,
Brian Packard, and he's a CEO of Yard Rank and
they are based right up there in North andover.

Speaker 13 (57:00):
All.

Speaker 3 (57:00):
Right, Joe, that's going to do it for this Sunday
morning for the New England Business Report. We hope everybody
has a great day. Remember my tip off at the
top of the show, Joe, order your pizza now so
that you don't miss your opportunity on the Super Bowl
Sunday and National Pizza Day. He just a quick reminder
that coming up next week, we are going to have

(57:21):
the newly named mayoral candidate Josh Kraft joining us to
talk about his plans for the business community if he
would be elected mayor. That's coming up next Sunday at
eight am right here on WRKO, The Voice of Boston
AM sixt eighty ye