January 17, 2025 • 38 mins
Join special guest hosts Bloomberg Originals chief correspondent Jason Kelly and Bloomberg Originals sports correspondent Vanessa Perdomo for a look at some of the latest headlines and stories in the business of sports.
It’s one the biggest weekends for football fans. The NFL Divisional round features marquee matchups, highlighted by the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson and the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen facing off. Then, college football will crown a new champion on Monday night in Atlanta when the Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Dan Corso, president of the Atlanta Sports Council joins to talk about how Atlanta made preparations to host the game, and the future of sports in the city.
For a look at the broader football landscape, Jason and Vanessa speak to Chafie Fields. He’s executive vice president for team sports at Wasserman and represents several pro and college players including Ohio State’s star freshman wideout Jeremiah Smith. They discuss how NIL is impacting the college experience for players and how it could impact their thinking on heading to the NFL.
Plus, we hear from Kavitha Davidson. She’s a longtime sports journalist and host of Sportly, a dynamic podcast covering the narratives that underpin the games we adore.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. This is the business
of sports.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
The business of sports can be intimidating or hard for
a start to break into. We really appreciate when our
owners are actually there, you know, with us through the journey.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Teams ours especially have been very intentional to diversify at
all levels of the company. I think we're in bolden
years for the NFL and college football.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Our demographic reach has continued to explode.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
This is going to be really unlocking the streaming platform
for sports fans.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Sports evaluations arising. We'll see when they peak. You don't
have to be the best in your sports and make
a whole ton of money. Bloomberg Business of Sports from
Bloomberg Radio. Hi, and welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports,
where we explore the big money issues in the world
of sports. I'm Jason Kelly and I'm going as a pronomo. Yep,
(00:54):
you're hearing it right. The regular crew, Michael Barr, Scarlett
Fu and Damien Sasaur they're not here. We're taking over.
Speaker 5 (01:01):
We took your show.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
They're going to be back next week. Anyway, coming up
on the show, we'll get you ready for the national
championship game between Notre Dame and Ohio State down in Atlanta.
We're gonna chat with Dan Corso. He's the president of
the Atlanta Sports Council.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
The state capitol and all the legislators are all excited
about it. They're a little bummed that Uga the Bulldogs
are not in understandably, but they see the value in
the impact that having a matchup like Ohio State and
Notre Dame is going to have not just on city
of Atlanta in the region, but the entire state.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
We'll also talk with Shoffee Fields. He's executive vice president
for Team Sports at Wasserman, a sports marketing and talent
management firm.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
He was an amazing college football player. He has some
big thoughts on the college game the pro game and
how they're basically the same thing.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
No, you have some individuals in this year's draft class
that have been in three colleges, four colleges, so they
don't even still a part of anything. It's just, you know,
I'm a hired hit and I'm going to go to
whoever's going to pay me the most money.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Anyway, all that is on the way on the Bloomberg
Business of Sports show, we wanted to start with a
special conversation Join Now by Kavitha Davidson, our former colleague
and someone that Vanessa and I have both done some
work with over the years. She's an Emmy winning journalist
host of the Sportly podcast, which I have to say,
you got to jump on this. It's so good, so
(02:21):
rich in detail and reporting and voice. Kavitha, really really
good to have you back with us.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
So good to be with you guys again. And yeah,
it's been a couple of years. But you know you're
always part of the Bloomberg family, aren't you.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Oh, you never never leave. Come on, you know better.
So let's talk about the pod a little bit. Sportly
I did a deep dive on it. Listen to a
bunch of episodes. It's pickleball, it's ping pong, it's Formula one,
and I think very close to Vanessa. Vanessa's in my
heart the WNBA, a lot of women's sports stuff, which
(02:55):
we know you've covered closely. Give us the logline like,
what are you trying to accomplish with this pod? Yeah,
so this is.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Really a project that I'm extremely passionate about because you know,
I'm a kid from New York City. My parents are immigrants,
so I'm a first gen kid, and I never really
realized how much that impacted my sports fandom. Like I
just grew up a Nicks and Rangers and Yankees fan
in the northern part of Manhattan. But when I started
(03:24):
doing this professionally, you know, I as a columnist with
you guys more than ten years ago now, geez, I
started to realize that, yeah, like I kind of see
sports slightly differently, and then there are ways that I
just see sports as a New Yorker, right, but that
my background does impact some of the things, Like my
parents are not American sports fans. They are now that
(03:45):
I do this for a living, but you know that's
not where I got my fandom from. And you know,
my connection to my city and my classmates and things
like that. So I think what we're trying to do
with Sportly is tell some of those stories, right, both
from the per perspective of third culture kids and you know,
kids of immigrants and also immigrants themselves, and also you know,
(04:07):
just talk about sports as they are today in America
from that perspective.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
And you know, we're part of this.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Our parent company is immigrantly Media and Immigrantly is you know,
they've got a few podcasts, I think five right now,
and the point is that, you know, we've got like
seventy million first and second generation immigrants in America and
we're only ever really called on to talk about politics
or like what's happening at the border. And obviously that's
(04:35):
important and we should be talking about that, but we
also want to talk about food and culture and sports,
and I think that's what we're really trying to do
with this pod from both the current and a historical perspective.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
All right, let's talk about women's sports, because one of
the best episodes I think that you did is about
the WNBA. You did it on the heels of the
Liberty finally winning the championship. You are av Old, die
hard Liberty. I was at the parade.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
It was one of the best days to go to
the Canyon of Heroes.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
But it was amazing. I mean, the Clara wou Saie
of it, all, the Elle of it, all the fans
in the stands. I mean, it really was a pretty
incredible moment. And I think notable that the last two
championships that the City of New York has celebrated have
been in women's soccer and women's basketball in consecutive years,
Gotham and then of course the Liberty. You raise a
(05:30):
question at the end of that episode that I would
love to get into with you, which is what happens next?
What needs to happen in order for all these gains
to be locked in and sustainable. What do you think?
I mean, you put your Bloomberg experience to work here.
What has to happen for this business to be real
(05:52):
and to keep growing?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah, so this is obviously something that I've thought about
for a while, you know, not to toot my own horn,
but I think what we're seeing now with this incredible
growth of the W is that there are a lot
of new people and new reporters who haven't covered these
games or this league coming in. And that's great, but
it also means that there's a little bit of a
loss of the understanding of the history and the understanding
(06:14):
of how the business has changed in the last ten
to twenty years, right like I was writing W columns
for Bloomberg back in twenty thirteen, you know what I mean.
But so obviously the most glaring thing right now is
is the is upcoming CBA negotiations. The union has opted
out of that, and there's this giant influx of money
with the new NBA WNBA TV deal that will hopefully
(06:38):
lead to, you know, a restructuring of player salaries, rookie minimums,
salary minimums, rookie minimums were really in the conversation when obviously,
with all of this hype around Kitlyn Clark, you know,
the average fan realized how little rookies make. And it's
not about Caitlyn Clark, you know, obviously deserving to make
more money than she does, but that's just how the
(07:00):
rookie minimum is set in the W and that's a
function of basketball related income, as it is with every CBA. Right,
So I think that those negotiations are going to be
really interesting to see.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
You've seen Kathy.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Engelbert kind of keeping her Deloitte mindset, which is were
as a league in a growth mentality, So this is.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
The labor part of it.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
WNBA commissioner just to WNBA commissioner, yes, who has a
Deloitte background and came from there, and she has very
much run the W like like a business like that,
and it's obviously been wildly successful. She's had some really
innovative sponsorship deals and the way that you know, she's
thought about marketing this league in particular, have been really
(07:40):
impactful for the league. But there's going to be some
contention between the player side, between the union and the
league about how much growth is is too much too quickly, right,
And this often happens with leagues. You know, if you
look at the major men's American sports leagues in the
first fifty years, you know, there were strikes and labor
(08:02):
stoppages and everything like that. And I think the hope
is that there's no labor stoppage here. And I think
both sides would like would would like to continue this
momentum because that would really kill a lot of what
we've seen in the last five years. But there is
a question about fair compensation given the popularity of this
league and these players now, given their marketability with social
(08:25):
media and given things like unrivaled and athletes unlimited, and
the fact that you know, Brittany Griner being in Russia
really highlighted the fact that even at the top of
their game, Diana Tarassi and Britney Griner and Breonna Stewart
can't really afford not to play abroad or to play
during the off season, right, So those are going to
(08:46):
be huge conversations that we're going to be having leading
up to those negotiations, and then beyond that, it's just
how we can continue this very steady growth because obviously
we've seen an immense amount of of popularity boom from
Caitlin Clark. Like the Caitlin Clark effect is real, and
we can't get ourselves to say that it's not, but
it It did also happen at the right time. It
(09:09):
happened at a time of sustained growth in ratings and
viewership and ticket sales and sponsorship deals in the last
five years, and I think the question is about continuing
that and making sure that people understand just how good
this product is. Like you're all talking about declining ratings
in the NBA and whether the style of basketball has
(09:29):
something to do with that, and if that is the
reason that you are not watching the NBA, go watch
fundamental physical basketball in the w because it's happening there.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
And some logo threes that are just you know, breathtaking. Yeah,
And one of the things that I think is so notable,
and I really commend that WNBA episode to everybody if
you want to understand the history, because as you say, KeVita,
there is a real lack of understanding about the long
history of it. And you also, you know, take head
on this idea of you know, let's say the quiet
(09:59):
part out loud. One of the reasons Kaitlyn Clark blew
up is because she's a white girl from the Midwest,
and you know, one of the reasons that this has
been sidelined as a product. And I'm quoting here you
said quote there's also you know, sexism, and so these
are real things that sort of factor into into all this. Vanessa.
Speaker 5 (10:18):
Yeah, absolutely, And I think it's interesting, you know, when
we're going ahead into the next chapter of women's sports,
like you're saying, do we finally get past that with
those questions that were really really prominent last year? If
last year was you know, twenty twenty four, I feel
like we'll probably be going down in history as the
year of women's sports. So what will twenty twenty five
(10:41):
really be do you think be.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
The Yeah, I mean, obviously twenty twenty four, between the
w and all of the amazing moments in the Olympics
and everything that we saw with investment. You know, we're
seeing Silicon Valley really get into investing in women's sports,
one because they see the growth potential and two because
really to buy into a major men's team right now
(11:04):
as an owner, you know, there are very few people
in the country, let alone in the world who who
have that kind of net worth. But it's it's going
to be interesting to see how some of these you know,
less established and let's say smaller sports do benefit from that,
right And I think if you talk to a lot
of analysts, women's volleyball is on the docket. Alexis o'hannian
(11:25):
held a women's track and field tournament in New York
City right after the Olympics, trying to you know, for
years we've been talking about how we can take the
excitement around certain women's sports that get generated by the
Olympics and sustain that throughout the year instead of just
having it happen every four years. And I think we're
going to start seeing more of that because, frankly, and
this was the point that I made in almost every
(11:47):
column I wrote for Bloomberg about women's sports, there is
so much money to be made, and money has just
been left on the table because of either small sea
conservatism and not wanting to invest in product or not
thinking that women's sports is sustainable. But I think and
I hope that we're past that moment where this is
clearly not a fad.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yeah, that's great. That's a great note to end on,
and we really really enjoyed catching up with you. Kavita Davidson,
Emmy winning journalist, host of the Sportly podcast You Gotta
Follow It. It is a must listen every week because
you get the historical perspective, the current perspective, and also,
as you just heard from Kavita, some really nice forward
looking elements as well. So congratulations on all your success
(12:31):
and look forward to talking to you again soon. Thanksgiviva,
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
This is great.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Up next, we turn to football, with the NFL playoffs
in full swing and college Football's National Championship game coming
up on Monday. For Venessa Perdomo, I'm Jason Kelly. You're
listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio
around the world. This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg.
(13:01):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm
Jason Kelly, alongside Vanessa Perdomo, Michael Barr, Scarlettfood, and Damian
Sassaur will be back next week. We're joined now by
Shafie Fields. He's the executive vice president for Team Sports
at Wasserman, one of the best known sports agencies out there. Shafi,
(13:21):
really good to be with you. We have so much
to get into here. You played college ball, you played
pro ball, and we're joking before we game on the air.
There's nothing happening in football right now. It's such an
exciting time. What do you make of how it's going
so far in the college and NFL ranks at this moment?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Interesting? Interesting, man. I think it's very exciting at this point, man,
both in college and professional football. I mean, he's starting
with college in the first year for the playoffs system,
and just seeing how it's played out, it's been very
exciting and it's good to see finally that you allow
(13:59):
it to play out on the field, you know, versus
just naming someone a national champion or just picking a
couple of teams allowing them to play it out. Man,
I think it's better to allow these teams to play
it out earn the opportunity to play in a national
championship and earn a right to win and be decided
(14:20):
on the field, and so I think it's really exciting.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
And so, you know, one of the things I wanted
to dig into with you was I think it's fair
to say they are really blurred lines between the business
of college football and the business of pro football at
this point. Again, you played at both levels and you
represent players on both sides. Take us through the business
of college football at this moment. What is the most
meaningful thing that's happened in terms of how players get paid,
(14:47):
where they decide to play. What are the conversations you're
having with your clients around that.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Truly not that big of a difference at this point, really,
So I think that with the nil to transfer a portal,
college football has almost become professional football. You know, the
transfer a portal is like free agency. You know, these
young men have the opportunity to make a decision at
(15:14):
the end of every season if they're going to stay,
if they're going to go, and they do so the
majority of them based upon who's going to compensate them
the greatest. And so I don't personally feel like that's
the best decision in all cases. I think that at
the end of the day, for the majority of these
young men, the end goal is still to get the
opportunity to play professional football, and so sometimes chasing a
(15:38):
dollar amount doesn't necessarily put you in the best case
scenario for your future. And so I think a lot
of these young men are making terrible decisions just basing
those decisions off of monetary value versus what team and
what school and what university gives them the best opportunity
to reach their full potential and ultimately play professional football. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
I think that's such an interesting point that you're speaking
about there, and I one of the things I was
going to ask you and I was really interested about
was almost, like you said, it's free agency almost at
the end of every year, So it almost seems like
they're the same. But almost do College players have more
of a control over their career than people in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
College players absolutely have more control. I mean, think of
it this way. Every college coach has to now not
just recruit high school players and try to convince individuals
out of the portal to come their school, but they
have to re recruit the players on their team to stay.
You know, it creates a real issue. But then it's
(16:44):
also for example, for me, I played college football at
Penn State and under the amazing iconic coach Joe Paterno,
and coach Joe Paterno was such a mainstay that if
you played at Penn State in the fifties, sixty seventies, eighties,
if you came back in the nineties or two thousands,
(17:05):
you were welcome like it was your home right. It
was a tradition, it was an understanding, it was a standard.
It was a culture that will ever never exist again.
It came. You know, you have some individuals in this
year's draft class that have been in three colleges, four colleges,
so they don't even feel a part of anything. It's just,
you know, I'm a hired hit and I'm going to
(17:27):
go to whoever's going to pay me the most money
to play. And it's terrible for college and it's also
not necessarily very good for these young men either. That
doesn't mean that I'm against the players being compensated. I
think there has to be a better way to do it.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So what is the better right, Because that you went
right where we wanted to go Shafi, which is, how
would you fix the system or how would you change
it so that the players get paid the you know,
everybody continues to make the money that they want to make,
and yet there is that consistency, you know, truly and
for the schools and ken Ley like, for the students
(18:03):
and the alumni of those schools, like, what would you
do to change it?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
I'll take it back to my experience in college, right
when I wasn't playing college football, if you transferred, you
would have to sit out a full season, right. If
you transferred in conference, you would have to sit out
two full seasons, right, And so it wasn't going to
be a situation where you were just going to jump
every year and jump into the portal, because there was
(18:27):
consequences and you couldn't just leave the team high and
drive and vice versa. Now I think two years is extreme,
But if there was some type of circumstances or consequences
that if you went into the portal were not for
a valid reason just because you want to go get
more money, then there should be some type of consequence
to you leaving, right. But currently, as it stands, you
(18:52):
can just leave because you want to leave. I don't
feel like this team is going to give me this
much money. They're gonna give me more, So I'm leaving.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Right or the coach hurt my feelings, you know, like
I mean, you know, or I don't like this guy
that I'm playing with.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Not the coach hurt my feelings. I just showed up
yesterday and I'm on a second team. That's not fair
to leave, right, And do you feel.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
Like it's gonna set that sort of mindset would then
set up, you know, college players for an unsuccessful professional
career if that's you know, what they're used to feeling.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Like, not only does it set you up for an
unsuccessful professional career, it sets you up for unsuccessful life
because you think that everything is just going to go
your way. You don't have to work for, you don't
have to put any time, and you don't have to
make any sacrifices. You just get what you want and
you get it right now.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
And so sha Field like, talk to us about the
conversations you're then having with these players, because you're having
to have these hard business conversations that are that are
about their careers, about their incomes, Like what's the advice
that you're giving them when they when they come to
work with you or they come.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
To work with For me, again, it's not just about
college football or basketball. It's about life, right, and how
every decision that you make today affects your life tomorrow.
And so for me, a lot of times and a
lot of parents today they if you, if you think
(20:23):
these young men think about the dollars and cents, you
should see some of the parents. You know, it's gotten,
it's gotten really bad. And so a lot of times
those families that want was best for their children, they
understand and they and they want to do it the
right way. But then you have the alternative where they
(20:47):
don't care, you know, because a lot of the time
these young men are now taking care of their families.
They're the main bread winners in their family, right, and
so the family just wants more. They want to get
as much as they can, and it's not necessarily again,
the best decision for the young man. Right. So do
you feel always work out in my friend?
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
You know, I'm trying to like, does that make it
your job almost even harder? I mean, like we Jason
and I have talked to a lot of athletes who
are now in the business sector and they have this
unique experience, and you would think that obviously that makes
your job easier because you can connect with them better.
But then at the same time, you're kind of laying
it down a little harsh for them, trying to, you know,
(21:28):
get them to understand life, not just the sports and
money of it. So does that make your job a
little bit harder?
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Absolutely does. However, for me, more importantly, I want to
be able to sleep well at night right And so
while a lot of others, I won't say most, I'll
just say a lot a lot of others tend to
simply sell and tell these young men and their families
what they want to hear. I want to tell you
(21:57):
and educate you what you need to hear. And whether
you accept it or not, I know I'm doing the
right thing. I know I'm trying to help you. And
so whether you decide to go in another direction because
you're hearing something different or better, at the moment, I
know I can sleep well at night because I did
right by you guys and your family, and so it's
(22:17):
easier for me to discontinue to do it the right way.
And again, it doesn't always work out in my favor,
but eight times out of ten they always circle back.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Yeah, and so Shafi, But before we let you go,
I mean, we'd love to understand what the what the
impact is then on the NFL. I mean, we have
a recent example of Carson Beck, you know, playing for
the University of Georgia, declares for the draft, then basically says, actually,
never mind, I'm going to go play another year in college.
That would have been unheard of obviously in your era.
(22:47):
So what happens then at the NFL level with players
maybe staying longer in college making more money in college.
Does that fundamentally and how does it if it does
fund mentally change the business of pro football?
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Yes and no? Right, so, and let's use Carson as
an example here. Carson would be able to make significantly
more money in college than he would have if he
were to enter the draft this year.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
And so from a business perspective for him, it made
sense because if I stay, I'll probably make two to
three times more than I would make if I went
to the NFL. And here's the thing. If every position,
in every situation and circumstance is different, right, and as
a quarterback. As a quarterback in particular, you, it behooves
(23:43):
you to get drafted as high as possible so that
you can get the opportunity to play right. Right, If
you're not a first round pick as a quarterback, chances
are you know you're going to have to sit and
wait for an opportunity to present itself, which a lot
of times doesn't happen. And so for him, if he's
not going to be an early first round pick, then
(24:04):
it just makes sense for him and go back to
school and get compensated handsomely. He's a professional football player.
He'll be a pro without a doubt.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Yeah. Interesting, all right, Well, last note for you. You
don't have a rooting interest I think directly in the
game on Monday, but I believe you have. You have
a client playing so all OSU for you.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
So let me say this. Let me say this about
this client. This client that you speak of is Jeremiah Smith, who,
in my opinion, is the best college football player in
the country at this point. Wow, and he's a freshman. Rights,
He's the most dynamic wide receiver that I've ever seen
(24:51):
at this age. I've never seen a young man at
this stage and this age dynamic of this kid. He's
so different. Man. He's just fun to watch and a
joy to work with because he's so focused. With all
that being said, I'm gonna have to pull and it's
hard for me to say it as a Penn State guy.
(25:12):
It's so hard for me to say it, but I'm
gonna go with Ohios.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
I was gonna say that. That's a tough one. That's
a tough one. All right. Well, it's been a pleasure
catching up with you. Thank you so much. Shoffee Fields
is executive vice president Team Sports for Washman, former standout
at Penn State University and yet he's rooting for Ohio State.
Really good to spend some time with you.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Thanks shoving absolutely, Thank God.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Up next, we head to Atlanta, host site of Monday's
college football championship game. We're gonna talk with Dan Corso,
president of the Atlanta Sports Council. For Vanessa Prodomo. I'm
Jason Kelly. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports
from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Thanks so much for joining us here on the Bloomberg
Business of Sports. Where we explore the big money issues
in the world of sports. I'm Jason Kelly, alongside Vanessa Perdomo,
your usual host, Michael Barr, Scarlett Foo, Damien sas Hour.
They will be back next week.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Well.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
The first ever twelve team college football Playoff wraps up
on Monday at Mercedes Benz Stadium in my hometown of Atlanta.
Notre Dame fighting Irish versus the Ohio State Buckeyes. Here
to talk about how Atlanta is prepping for the big game.
We welcome Dan Corso. He is the president of the
Atlanta Sports Council. He has put together an unbelievable tapestry.
(26:44):
I should say, I think, Vanessa, of folks who are
putting on together. I mean, it's the equivalent of a
Super Bowl. If you're in college football, you care about
college football. This is the super Bowl, the national Championship,
the first ever of the twelve game Playoff. No small feet, Dan,
Really good to have you with us. You're at the
state capitol. You've been, you know, making the rounds, hanging
(27:06):
out with the governor and all the top brass in
the Georgia state government. People pretty excited about this because
there's a lot of money coming into Georgia over this, right.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
Yeah, Jason Vanessa, thanks for having me on. And we're
really excited. You know. I was just mentioning the before
we started the state Capitol and all the legislators are
all excited about it. They're a little bumm that uga
that the Bulldogs are not in understandably, but they see
the value in the impact that having a matchup like
Ohio State and Notre Dame is going to have not
(27:37):
just on city of Atlanta in the region, but the
entire state. I mean, this is going to be a
statewide economic impact for sure, and just having two great
brands like that coming to our state matching off in
the in the championship game here in Atlanta, and quite honestly,
we're really proud in the fact that we're the first
repeat city of this great event. Yeah, to see if
you have a lot of options to go for twenty
(27:59):
twenty five, and they called us and we made it workout.
So we're excited to host them again.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Well, I wanted to we want to talk to you
about sort of how it all worked out, because this
is a different beast. But before we get to that, I mean,
the reality from an economic perspective, I believe and keep
us honest here, is that this is actually a better
matchup economically, because you got a lot of people who
need to stay in hotel rooms versus if it's Georgia Alabama,
where it's a much more sort of endemic fan base. Right.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Yeah, it's a good point. I mean, in twenty eighteen,
our first hosting, we did have Georgia versus Alabama, and
those two teams are you know, obviously huge fan bases
here in the Southeast, but they also matched up that
particular year in the SEC Football Champion, right, so they
were coming back a second time. But to have a
(28:46):
non regional game, if you will, in that regard and
having two national teams come in, you're opening up new
fan bases, right, and new alumni across the country that
have perhaps not been to Atlanta quite some time, or
perhaps ever. And so it's an opportunity for us to
showcase this community to a whole new audience and a
much broader audience. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:07):
Absolutely, I want to get into that a little bit
about you know, you said you're the first repeat host city,
and you know you're awarded the you know, the game
in twenty twenty two, and then they expand into the
twelve team playoffs. Can you tell us a little bit
about how this one's different than the first one, if
the expansion has anything more of an impact, and how
(29:29):
you pivoted from what you were originally planned.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Yeah, Vanessa, it's a good question. I'll give you the
exact months. August of twenty twenty two, we are officially
announced as the host city for the event for twenty
twenty five. That game date was supposed to be January sixth, Monday.
Then in December, to your point, the playoff expanded. It
officially announced has an expansion to twelve teams from four teams,
and because of that expansion, the playoff obviously was extended
(29:56):
longer on the calendar, which then pushed our game date
back two weeks. So a lot of work went into that.
You know, not only are we a great city for
hosting big sporting events, were one of the best out
there in the country, but we're also a top four
convention city. So the conventions use the same things that
(30:16):
the big sporting events use, and that's hotel rooms. So
we had to quickly get into the idea of okay,
if we're shifting back two weeks, how does the hotel
capacity look, How does the convention center space look from
a perhaps a convention standpoint, because that venue, which is
right next door to Mercedes Benz Stadium, will be used
for a lot of the fan events during the event
weekend coming up. Thankfully, we were clear moved a few
(30:40):
things around, but nothing too problematic, and we were able
to accommodate the new date. But believe me, we were
going to find a way to make it happen anyway.
So the idea that it expanded from four teams to
twelve teams, I think added what we said at the
very beginning, potential new markets coming in that we might
not have seen obviously increased by three three times to
get to some new teams in the mix.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (31:01):
And the idea that you know, the Chick fil A
Peach Bowl served as a quarterfinal. They're in this expanded playoff.
Back on January first, we had Texas versus Arizona State.
So now we've got really two big parts of the tournament,
if you will, calling Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Home, yeah, I mean, and that was probably the best
game of the of the entire playoff, you know, maybe
leading up to the semi finals and obviously expecting a
good game in the finals coming up on Monday. You know, Dan,
I do, and and you know, full disclosure, I'm an
Atlanta guy. As you know when you're going to bring
that up. I was waiting for you to bring it up.
(31:37):
So spent a lot of my growing up years there.
My parents still live there. And one thing I know,
and you know as well as anyone, in part because
it's part of your family business. Obviously, we all know
your legendary dad, or we feel like we know him.
College football is probably the number one sport in the
(31:58):
city of Atlanta. I mean, I'm a big Falcons fan,
I'm a big Hawks fan, I'm a big Braves fan.
And yet I think if you ask a lot of people,
what's the number one team in the city of Atlanta,
it's probably the Georgia Bulldogs, much to the chagrin of
my Georgia Tech yellowjacket dad. But why is that and
what are the economics of college football and why have
(32:19):
they blossomed so much, and especially there in Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
I think if you were to take a sport and
a city and try to find the best combination that
you could out there it would be college football in Atlanta.
It is just something that's historically within and you know
this Jason growing up here and you referenced it historically
within our DNA. It's part of our culture here. We've
got a great lifestyle, a great quality of life, music, food, entertainment,
(32:47):
a great region and city and state to do business in.
It's a great quality of life from an educational standpoint.
But part of that quality of life and it involves
sports and the recreation, and college football is just part
of it. You're born and raised following college football and
as you said, either George or Georgia Tech for the
most part. But we're also a transient city, right, so
(33:09):
we've got expansion of people coming in from all over
the nation moving in here as a top ten popular
heated city, and as college football grows across the country,
those fans are bringing. Those folks moving here are bringing
their affinity for college football.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
With them here.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
So it just continues to grow upon itself, both you know,
endemically to the residents here then also the visitors that
relocate here. So it's an important part of it. I mean,
you know, we're a big sports event town. We're a
big sports town. We've got a lot of teams, both
collegiately and professionally, but college football just seems to resonate.
(33:46):
And we've got a lot of games here with the
Chick fil A Peach Bowl, the Celebration Bowl, the SEC Championship,
which is like a playoff every year that calls Atlanta home.
And you know, we have those three great sporting events
in college football each and a year.
Speaker 5 (34:00):
Yeah, I'm curious. You know when you talk about that
and you talk about how important it is to host
these big, major events and how good you guys are
at it and things like that, what makes Atlanta such
a good host city and how important is it to
the local economy that you continue to host these major events.
Speaker 4 (34:18):
Well, we look at it as a hosting not just
city or downtown Atlanta where you know, that's where the
competitions are held, and that's where the bulk of our
twenty one thousand hotel rooms in this case that are
booked for the CFP weekend are located. That's quite a
big number. But we look at this as a regional
in a state white hosting, So we engage with the
(34:38):
state of Georgia and the tourism Department to promote Savannah,
make and Columbus Augusta other really cool parts of this
state to the visitors that are coming in because you know,
the visitation is multiple days, and so while there are
fan events happening over the weekend, there's other things to
do while you've got some downtime, and we try to
push tourism to the other parts of the state. The
(35:00):
reason I think we're successful in the effort to get
these events to come here and our hosting is because
we've got, you know, great venues, starting with Mercedes Benz
Stadium right one of the top in the world. And
I know you've been there, surrounded by fourteen thousand hotel
rooms that are all all in walking distance to the stadium.
So you know better than anybody. When you travel to
(35:21):
an event, whether it's sports or cultural or anything else,
you fly into the airport, you get your ride share
to your hotel, and you hope just to be able
to not get another vehicle until you go back to
the air That's the case here and again that's how
that's how are set up here is in Atlanta, it's
very user friendly, and that user friendliness for the fans
becomes very friendly for the organizers as well CFP, fIF NFL, NCAA,
(35:47):
whatever the case may be. So I think the connection
of all of how compact our footprint is, of the
venues and the hospitality areas, the restaurants, the bars, the
attractions surrounded by fourteen thousand hotel rooms and the world's
business sedest airport to get everyone here, that combination is
really tough to be.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
So, Dan, before we let you go, I mean, I
want to go a little offscript here and just talk about,
like what a fascinating job you have, because like you're
not only dealing with college football, Like you've got the
All Star Game MLB coming up, You've got the you know,
FIFA World Club Cup coming up this summer, obviously, the
(36:27):
World Cup coming up in twenty twenty six, You're gonna
have a Super Bowl, et cetera. How does that work? Like,
I mean, do you just sort of are you just
constantly like kind of parallel tracking all these different sports?
Like how do you pull all this together?
Speaker 4 (36:42):
Well, we do it with really good partnerships, and you know,
I do run the Atlanta Sports Council. It's my twenty
fifth year with the organization. It's been a great run.
I consider this an honor in a position. It's a
it's not a job, you know, it's there's only one
of its kind here in the city, and I take
it very seriously and I'm a real or to have it.
We've got a great staff, were lean and mean as
(37:02):
a nonprofit, but we have an extension to our small
staff of five by partnering with the stadium, the city,
the ACVB which is our hospitality community, and other partners
and utilize their staffs to come in and help us
organize these big sporting events. And I think that model
creates a sense of real engagement and collaboration. All the
(37:26):
stakeholders are involved, all of their full time staffers are involved.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Well, Dan, it's been really really good talking to you.
Last question before we go, I have to ask you.
You know, as you look at to this national jam,
as you said, two blue Bloods, we know a certain
very famous sportscaster is either gonna, you know, don his
Leprechaun outfit or put his buckeye had on. Do you
have a prediction?
Speaker 4 (37:49):
Well, I know his prediction and I'm not going to
share it with you. And only one cours gets paid
to make predictions leave it.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
Well, that's great. Well we'll look forward to that. Thanks
so much. Dan Corso, President of the Atlanta Sports Council,
the busiest man around, getting ready to host a whole
host of big events this coming week and on and
on and on for the city of Atlanta. Really good
to spend some time with you. Thank you for having me, guys,
and thank you for joining us. For Vanessa Perdomo, I'm
(38:18):
Jason Kelly. Don't forget to catch our podcast. Subscribe now
on Apple, Spotify or anywhere else to catch podcasts. Tune
in again next week when Michael Scarlett and Damien they're
bringing it back and they'll take you through the latest
on the stories moving big money in the world of sports.
You're listening to Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio
(38:38):
around the world.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. This is the business
of sports.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
The business of sports can be intimidating or hard for
a start to break into. We really appreciate when our
owners are actually there, you know, with us through the journey.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Teams ours especially have been very intentional to diversify at
all levels of the company. I think we're in bolden
years for the NFL and college football.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Our demographic reach has continued to explode.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
This is going to be really unlocking the streaming platform
for sports fans.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Sports evaluations arising. We'll see when they peak. You don't
have to be the best in your sports and make
a whole ton of money. Bloomberg Business of Sports from
Bloomberg Radio. Hi, and welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports,
where we explore the big money issues in the world
of sports. I'm Jason Kelly and I'm going as a pronomo. Yep,
(00:54):
you're hearing it right. The regular crew, Michael Barr, Scarlett
Fu and Damien Sasaur they're not here. We're taking over.
Speaker 5 (01:01):
We took your show.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
They're going to be back next week. Anyway, coming up
on the show, we'll get you ready for the national
championship game between Notre Dame and Ohio State down in Atlanta.
We're gonna chat with Dan Corso. He's the president of
the Atlanta Sports Council.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
The state capitol and all the legislators are all excited
about it. They're a little bummed that Uga the Bulldogs
are not in understandably, but they see the value in
the impact that having a matchup like Ohio State and
Notre Dame is going to have not just on city
of Atlanta in the region, but the entire state.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
We'll also talk with Shoffee Fields. He's executive vice president
for Team Sports at Wasserman, a sports marketing and talent
management firm.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
He was an amazing college football player. He has some
big thoughts on the college game the pro game and
how they're basically the same thing.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
No, you have some individuals in this year's draft class
that have been in three colleges, four colleges, so they
don't even still a part of anything. It's just, you know,
I'm a hired hit and I'm going to go to
whoever's going to pay me the most money.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Anyway, all that is on the way on the Bloomberg
Business of Sports show, we wanted to start with a
special conversation Join Now by Kavitha Davidson, our former colleague
and someone that Vanessa and I have both done some
work with over the years. She's an Emmy winning journalist
host of the Sportly podcast, which I have to say,
you got to jump on this. It's so good, so
(02:21):
rich in detail and reporting and voice. Kavitha, really really
good to have you back with us.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
So good to be with you guys again. And yeah,
it's been a couple of years. But you know you're
always part of the Bloomberg family, aren't you.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Oh, you never never leave. Come on, you know better.
So let's talk about the pod a little bit. Sportly
I did a deep dive on it. Listen to a
bunch of episodes. It's pickleball, it's ping pong, it's Formula one,
and I think very close to Vanessa. Vanessa's in my
heart the WNBA, a lot of women's sports stuff, which
(02:55):
we know you've covered closely. Give us the logline like,
what are you trying to accomplish with this pod? Yeah,
so this is.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Really a project that I'm extremely passionate about because you know,
I'm a kid from New York City. My parents are immigrants,
so I'm a first gen kid, and I never really
realized how much that impacted my sports fandom. Like I
just grew up a Nicks and Rangers and Yankees fan
in the northern part of Manhattan. But when I started
(03:24):
doing this professionally, you know, I as a columnist with
you guys more than ten years ago now, geez, I
started to realize that, yeah, like I kind of see
sports slightly differently, and then there are ways that I
just see sports as a New Yorker, right, but that
my background does impact some of the things, Like my
parents are not American sports fans. They are now that
(03:45):
I do this for a living, but you know that's
not where I got my fandom from. And you know,
my connection to my city and my classmates and things
like that. So I think what we're trying to do
with Sportly is tell some of those stories, right, both
from the per perspective of third culture kids and you know,
kids of immigrants and also immigrants themselves, and also you know,
(04:07):
just talk about sports as they are today in America
from that perspective.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
And you know, we're part of this.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Our parent company is immigrantly Media and Immigrantly is you know,
they've got a few podcasts, I think five right now,
and the point is that, you know, we've got like
seventy million first and second generation immigrants in America and
we're only ever really called on to talk about politics
or like what's happening at the border. And obviously that's
(04:35):
important and we should be talking about that, but we
also want to talk about food and culture and sports,
and I think that's what we're really trying to do
with this pod from both the current and a historical perspective.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
All right, let's talk about women's sports, because one of
the best episodes I think that you did is about
the WNBA. You did it on the heels of the
Liberty finally winning the championship. You are av Old, die
hard Liberty. I was at the parade.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
It was one of the best days to go to
the Canyon of Heroes.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
But it was amazing. I mean, the Clara wou Saie
of it, all, the Elle of it, all the fans
in the stands. I mean, it really was a pretty
incredible moment. And I think notable that the last two
championships that the City of New York has celebrated have
been in women's soccer and women's basketball in consecutive years,
Gotham and then of course the Liberty. You raise a
(05:30):
question at the end of that episode that I would
love to get into with you, which is what happens next?
What needs to happen in order for all these gains
to be locked in and sustainable. What do you think?
I mean, you put your Bloomberg experience to work here.
What has to happen for this business to be real
(05:52):
and to keep growing?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah, so this is obviously something that I've thought about
for a while, you know, not to toot my own horn,
but I think what we're seeing now with this incredible
growth of the W is that there are a lot
of new people and new reporters who haven't covered these
games or this league coming in. And that's great, but
it also means that there's a little bit of a
loss of the understanding of the history and the understanding
(06:14):
of how the business has changed in the last ten
to twenty years, right like I was writing W columns
for Bloomberg back in twenty thirteen, you know what I mean.
But so obviously the most glaring thing right now is
is the is upcoming CBA negotiations. The union has opted
out of that, and there's this giant influx of money
with the new NBA WNBA TV deal that will hopefully
(06:38):
lead to, you know, a restructuring of player salaries, rookie minimums,
salary minimums, rookie minimums were really in the conversation when obviously,
with all of this hype around Kitlyn Clark, you know,
the average fan realized how little rookies make. And it's
not about Caitlyn Clark, you know, obviously deserving to make
more money than she does, but that's just how the
(07:00):
rookie minimum is set in the W and that's a
function of basketball related income, as it is with every CBA. Right,
So I think that those negotiations are going to be
really interesting to see.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
You've seen Kathy.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Engelbert kind of keeping her Deloitte mindset, which is were
as a league in a growth mentality, So this is.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
The labor part of it.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
WNBA commissioner just to WNBA commissioner, yes, who has a
Deloitte background and came from there, and she has very
much run the W like like a business like that,
and it's obviously been wildly successful. She's had some really
innovative sponsorship deals and the way that you know, she's
thought about marketing this league in particular, have been really
(07:40):
impactful for the league. But there's going to be some
contention between the player side, between the union and the
league about how much growth is is too much too quickly, right,
And this often happens with leagues. You know, if you
look at the major men's American sports leagues in the
first fifty years, you know, there were strikes and labor
(08:02):
stoppages and everything like that. And I think the hope
is that there's no labor stoppage here. And I think
both sides would like would would like to continue this
momentum because that would really kill a lot of what
we've seen in the last five years. But there is
a question about fair compensation given the popularity of this
league and these players now, given their marketability with social
(08:25):
media and given things like unrivaled and athletes unlimited, and
the fact that you know, Brittany Griner being in Russia
really highlighted the fact that even at the top of
their game, Diana Tarassi and Britney Griner and Breonna Stewart
can't really afford not to play abroad or to play
during the off season, right, So those are going to
(08:46):
be huge conversations that we're going to be having leading
up to those negotiations, and then beyond that, it's just
how we can continue this very steady growth because obviously
we've seen an immense amount of of popularity boom from
Caitlin Clark. Like the Caitlin Clark effect is real, and
we can't get ourselves to say that it's not, but
it It did also happen at the right time. It
(09:09):
happened at a time of sustained growth in ratings and
viewership and ticket sales and sponsorship deals in the last
five years, and I think the question is about continuing
that and making sure that people understand just how good
this product is. Like you're all talking about declining ratings
in the NBA and whether the style of basketball has
(09:29):
something to do with that, and if that is the
reason that you are not watching the NBA, go watch
fundamental physical basketball in the w because it's happening there.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
And some logo threes that are just you know, breathtaking. Yeah,
And one of the things that I think is so notable,
and I really commend that WNBA episode to everybody if
you want to understand the history, because as you say, KeVita,
there is a real lack of understanding about the long
history of it. And you also, you know, take head
on this idea of you know, let's say the quiet
(09:59):
part out loud. One of the reasons Kaitlyn Clark blew
up is because she's a white girl from the Midwest,
and you know, one of the reasons that this has
been sidelined as a product. And I'm quoting here you
said quote there's also you know, sexism, and so these
are real things that sort of factor into into all this. Vanessa.
Speaker 5 (10:18):
Yeah, absolutely, And I think it's interesting, you know, when
we're going ahead into the next chapter of women's sports,
like you're saying, do we finally get past that with
those questions that were really really prominent last year? If
last year was you know, twenty twenty four, I feel
like we'll probably be going down in history as the
year of women's sports. So what will twenty twenty five
(10:41):
really be do you think be.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
The Yeah, I mean, obviously twenty twenty four, between the
w and all of the amazing moments in the Olympics
and everything that we saw with investment. You know, we're
seeing Silicon Valley really get into investing in women's sports,
one because they see the growth potential and two because
really to buy into a major men's team right now
(11:04):
as an owner, you know, there are very few people
in the country, let alone in the world who who
have that kind of net worth. But it's it's going
to be interesting to see how some of these you know,
less established and let's say smaller sports do benefit from that,
right And I think if you talk to a lot
of analysts, women's volleyball is on the docket. Alexis o'hannian
(11:25):
held a women's track and field tournament in New York
City right after the Olympics, trying to you know, for
years we've been talking about how we can take the
excitement around certain women's sports that get generated by the
Olympics and sustain that throughout the year instead of just
having it happen every four years. And I think we're
going to start seeing more of that because, frankly, and
this was the point that I made in almost every
(11:47):
column I wrote for Bloomberg about women's sports, there is
so much money to be made, and money has just
been left on the table because of either small sea
conservatism and not wanting to invest in product or not
thinking that women's sports is sustainable. But I think and
I hope that we're past that moment where this is
clearly not a fad.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yeah, that's great. That's a great note to end on,
and we really really enjoyed catching up with you. Kavita Davidson,
Emmy winning journalist, host of the Sportly podcast You Gotta
Follow It. It is a must listen every week because
you get the historical perspective, the current perspective, and also,
as you just heard from Kavita, some really nice forward
looking elements as well. So congratulations on all your success
(12:31):
and look forward to talking to you again soon. Thanksgiviva,
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
This is great.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Up next, we turn to football, with the NFL playoffs
in full swing and college Football's National Championship game coming
up on Monday. For Venessa Perdomo, I'm Jason Kelly. You're
listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio
around the world. This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg.
(13:01):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm
Jason Kelly, alongside Vanessa Perdomo, Michael Barr, Scarlettfood, and Damian
Sassaur will be back next week. We're joined now by
Shafie Fields. He's the executive vice president for Team Sports
at Wasserman, one of the best known sports agencies out there. Shafi,
(13:21):
really good to be with you. We have so much
to get into here. You played college ball, you played
pro ball, and we're joking before we game on the air.
There's nothing happening in football right now. It's such an
exciting time. What do you make of how it's going
so far in the college and NFL ranks at this moment?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Interesting? Interesting, man. I think it's very exciting at this point, man,
both in college and professional football. I mean, he's starting
with college in the first year for the playoffs system,
and just seeing how it's played out, it's been very
exciting and it's good to see finally that you allow
(13:59):
it to play out on the field, you know, versus
just naming someone a national champion or just picking a
couple of teams allowing them to play it out. Man,
I think it's better to allow these teams to play
it out earn the opportunity to play in a national
championship and earn a right to win and be decided
(14:20):
on the field, and so I think it's really exciting.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
And so, you know, one of the things I wanted
to dig into with you was I think it's fair
to say they are really blurred lines between the business
of college football and the business of pro football at
this point. Again, you played at both levels and you
represent players on both sides. Take us through the business
of college football at this moment. What is the most
meaningful thing that's happened in terms of how players get paid,
(14:47):
where they decide to play. What are the conversations you're
having with your clients around that.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Truly not that big of a difference at this point, really,
So I think that with the nil to transfer a portal,
college football has almost become professional football. You know, the
transfer a portal is like free agency. You know, these
young men have the opportunity to make a decision at
(15:14):
the end of every season if they're going to stay,
if they're going to go, and they do so the
majority of them based upon who's going to compensate them
the greatest. And so I don't personally feel like that's
the best decision in all cases. I think that at
the end of the day, for the majority of these
young men, the end goal is still to get the
opportunity to play professional football, and so sometimes chasing a
(15:38):
dollar amount doesn't necessarily put you in the best case
scenario for your future. And so I think a lot
of these young men are making terrible decisions just basing
those decisions off of monetary value versus what team and
what school and what university gives them the best opportunity
to reach their full potential and ultimately play professional football. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
I think that's such an interesting point that you're speaking
about there, and I one of the things I was
going to ask you and I was really interested about
was almost, like you said, it's free agency almost at
the end of every year, So it almost seems like
they're the same. But almost do College players have more
of a control over their career than people in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
College players absolutely have more control. I mean, think of
it this way. Every college coach has to now not
just recruit high school players and try to convince individuals
out of the portal to come their school, but they
have to re recruit the players on their team to stay.
You know, it creates a real issue. But then it's
(16:44):
also for example, for me, I played college football at
Penn State and under the amazing iconic coach Joe Paterno,
and coach Joe Paterno was such a mainstay that if
you played at Penn State in the fifties, sixty seventies, eighties,
if you came back in the nineties or two thousands,
(17:05):
you were welcome like it was your home right. It
was a tradition, it was an understanding, it was a standard.
It was a culture that will ever never exist again.
It came. You know, you have some individuals in this
year's draft class that have been in three colleges, four colleges,
so they don't even feel a part of anything. It's just,
you know, I'm a hired hit and I'm going to
(17:27):
go to whoever's going to pay me the most money
to play. And it's terrible for college and it's also
not necessarily very good for these young men either. That
doesn't mean that I'm against the players being compensated. I
think there has to be a better way to do it.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So what is the better right, Because that you went
right where we wanted to go Shafi, which is, how
would you fix the system or how would you change
it so that the players get paid the you know,
everybody continues to make the money that they want to make,
and yet there is that consistency, you know, truly and
for the schools and ken Ley like, for the students
(18:03):
and the alumni of those schools, like, what would you
do to change it?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
I'll take it back to my experience in college, right
when I wasn't playing college football, if you transferred, you
would have to sit out a full season, right. If
you transferred in conference, you would have to sit out
two full seasons, right, And so it wasn't going to
be a situation where you were just going to jump
every year and jump into the portal, because there was
(18:27):
consequences and you couldn't just leave the team high and
drive and vice versa. Now I think two years is extreme,
But if there was some type of circumstances or consequences
that if you went into the portal were not for
a valid reason just because you want to go get
more money, then there should be some type of consequence
to you leaving, right. But currently, as it stands, you
(18:52):
can just leave because you want to leave. I don't
feel like this team is going to give me this
much money. They're gonna give me more, So I'm leaving.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Right or the coach hurt my feelings, you know, like
I mean, you know, or I don't like this guy
that I'm playing with.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Not the coach hurt my feelings. I just showed up
yesterday and I'm on a second team. That's not fair
to leave, right, And do you feel.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
Like it's gonna set that sort of mindset would then
set up, you know, college players for an unsuccessful professional
career if that's you know, what they're used to feeling.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Like, not only does it set you up for an
unsuccessful professional career, it sets you up for unsuccessful life
because you think that everything is just going to go
your way. You don't have to work for, you don't
have to put any time, and you don't have to
make any sacrifices. You just get what you want and
you get it right now.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
And so sha Field like, talk to us about the
conversations you're then having with these players, because you're having
to have these hard business conversations that are that are
about their careers, about their incomes, Like what's the advice
that you're giving them when they when they come to
work with you or they come.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
To work with For me, again, it's not just about
college football or basketball. It's about life, right, and how
every decision that you make today affects your life tomorrow.
And so for me, a lot of times and a
lot of parents today they if you, if you think
(20:23):
these young men think about the dollars and cents, you
should see some of the parents. You know, it's gotten,
it's gotten really bad. And so a lot of times
those families that want was best for their children, they
understand and they and they want to do it the
right way. But then you have the alternative where they
(20:47):
don't care, you know, because a lot of the time
these young men are now taking care of their families.
They're the main bread winners in their family, right, and
so the family just wants more. They want to get
as much as they can, and it's not necessarily again,
the best decision for the young man. Right. So do
you feel always work out in my friend?
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
You know, I'm trying to like, does that make it
your job almost even harder? I mean, like we Jason
and I have talked to a lot of athletes who
are now in the business sector and they have this
unique experience, and you would think that obviously that makes
your job easier because you can connect with them better.
But then at the same time, you're kind of laying
it down a little harsh for them, trying to, you know,
(21:28):
get them to understand life, not just the sports and
money of it. So does that make your job a
little bit harder?
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Absolutely does. However, for me, more importantly, I want to
be able to sleep well at night right And so
while a lot of others, I won't say most, I'll
just say a lot a lot of others tend to
simply sell and tell these young men and their families
what they want to hear. I want to tell you
(21:57):
and educate you what you need to hear. And whether
you accept it or not, I know I'm doing the
right thing. I know I'm trying to help you. And
so whether you decide to go in another direction because
you're hearing something different or better, at the moment, I
know I can sleep well at night because I did
right by you guys and your family, and so it's
(22:17):
easier for me to discontinue to do it the right way.
And again, it doesn't always work out in my favor,
but eight times out of ten they always circle back.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Yeah, and so Shafi, But before we let you go,
I mean, we'd love to understand what the what the
impact is then on the NFL. I mean, we have
a recent example of Carson Beck, you know, playing for
the University of Georgia, declares for the draft, then basically says, actually,
never mind, I'm going to go play another year in college.
That would have been unheard of obviously in your era.
(22:47):
So what happens then at the NFL level with players
maybe staying longer in college making more money in college.
Does that fundamentally and how does it if it does
fund mentally change the business of pro football?
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Yes and no? Right, so, and let's use Carson as
an example here. Carson would be able to make significantly
more money in college than he would have if he
were to enter the draft this year.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
And so from a business perspective for him, it made
sense because if I stay, I'll probably make two to
three times more than I would make if I went
to the NFL. And here's the thing. If every position,
in every situation and circumstance is different, right, and as
a quarterback. As a quarterback in particular, you, it behooves
(23:43):
you to get drafted as high as possible so that
you can get the opportunity to play right. Right, If
you're not a first round pick as a quarterback, chances
are you know you're going to have to sit and
wait for an opportunity to present itself, which a lot
of times doesn't happen. And so for him, if he's
not going to be an early first round pick, then
(24:04):
it just makes sense for him and go back to
school and get compensated handsomely. He's a professional football player.
He'll be a pro without a doubt.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Yeah. Interesting, all right, Well, last note for you. You
don't have a rooting interest I think directly in the
game on Monday, but I believe you have. You have
a client playing so all OSU for you.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
So let me say this. Let me say this about
this client. This client that you speak of is Jeremiah Smith, who,
in my opinion, is the best college football player in
the country at this point. Wow, and he's a freshman. Rights,
He's the most dynamic wide receiver that I've ever seen
(24:51):
at this age. I've never seen a young man at
this stage and this age dynamic of this kid. He's
so different. Man. He's just fun to watch and a
joy to work with because he's so focused. With all
that being said, I'm gonna have to pull and it's
hard for me to say it as a Penn State guy.
(25:12):
It's so hard for me to say it, but I'm
gonna go with Ohios.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
I was gonna say that. That's a tough one. That's
a tough one. All right. Well, it's been a pleasure
catching up with you. Thank you so much. Shoffee Fields
is executive vice president Team Sports for Washman, former standout
at Penn State University and yet he's rooting for Ohio State.
Really good to spend some time with you.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Thanks shoving absolutely, Thank God.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Up next, we head to Atlanta, host site of Monday's
college football championship game. We're gonna talk with Dan Corso,
president of the Atlanta Sports Council. For Vanessa Prodomo. I'm
Jason Kelly. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports
from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Thanks so much for joining us here on the Bloomberg
Business of Sports. Where we explore the big money issues
in the world of sports. I'm Jason Kelly, alongside Vanessa Perdomo,
your usual host, Michael Barr, Scarlett Foo, Damien sas Hour.
They will be back next week.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Well.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
The first ever twelve team college football Playoff wraps up
on Monday at Mercedes Benz Stadium in my hometown of Atlanta.
Notre Dame fighting Irish versus the Ohio State Buckeyes. Here
to talk about how Atlanta is prepping for the big game.
We welcome Dan Corso. He is the president of the
Atlanta Sports Council. He has put together an unbelievable tapestry.
(26:44):
I should say, I think, Vanessa, of folks who are
putting on together. I mean, it's the equivalent of a
Super Bowl. If you're in college football, you care about
college football. This is the super Bowl, the national Championship,
the first ever of the twelve game Playoff. No small feet, Dan,
Really good to have you with us. You're at the
state capitol. You've been, you know, making the rounds, hanging
(27:06):
out with the governor and all the top brass in
the Georgia state government. People pretty excited about this because
there's a lot of money coming into Georgia over this, right.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
Yeah, Jason Vanessa, thanks for having me on. And we're
really excited. You know. I was just mentioning the before
we started the state Capitol and all the legislators are
all excited about it. They're a little bumm that uga
that the Bulldogs are not in understandably, but they see
the value in the impact that having a matchup like
Ohio State and Notre Dame is going to have not
(27:37):
just on city of Atlanta in the region, but the
entire state. I mean, this is going to be a
statewide economic impact for sure, and just having two great
brands like that coming to our state matching off in
the in the championship game here in Atlanta, and quite honestly,
we're really proud in the fact that we're the first
repeat city of this great event. Yeah, to see if
you have a lot of options to go for twenty
(27:59):
twenty five, and they called us and we made it workout.
So we're excited to host them again.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Well, I wanted to we want to talk to you
about sort of how it all worked out, because this
is a different beast. But before we get to that, I mean,
the reality from an economic perspective, I believe and keep
us honest here, is that this is actually a better
matchup economically, because you got a lot of people who
need to stay in hotel rooms versus if it's Georgia Alabama,
where it's a much more sort of endemic fan base. Right.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Yeah, it's a good point. I mean, in twenty eighteen,
our first hosting, we did have Georgia versus Alabama, and
those two teams are you know, obviously huge fan bases
here in the Southeast, but they also matched up that
particular year in the SEC Football Champion, right, so they
were coming back a second time. But to have a
(28:46):
non regional game, if you will, in that regard and
having two national teams come in, you're opening up new
fan bases, right, and new alumni across the country that
have perhaps not been to Atlanta quite some time, or
perhaps ever. And so it's an opportunity for us to
showcase this community to a whole new audience and a
much broader audience. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:07):
Absolutely, I want to get into that a little bit
about you know, you said you're the first repeat host city,
and you know you're awarded the you know, the game
in twenty twenty two, and then they expand into the
twelve team playoffs. Can you tell us a little bit
about how this one's different than the first one, if
the expansion has anything more of an impact, and how
(29:29):
you pivoted from what you were originally planned.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Yeah, Vanessa, it's a good question. I'll give you the
exact months. August of twenty twenty two, we are officially
announced as the host city for the event for twenty
twenty five. That game date was supposed to be January sixth, Monday.
Then in December, to your point, the playoff expanded. It
officially announced has an expansion to twelve teams from four teams,
and because of that expansion, the playoff obviously was extended
(29:56):
longer on the calendar, which then pushed our game date
back two weeks. So a lot of work went into that.
You know, not only are we a great city for
hosting big sporting events, were one of the best out
there in the country, but we're also a top four
convention city. So the conventions use the same things that
(30:16):
the big sporting events use, and that's hotel rooms. So
we had to quickly get into the idea of okay,
if we're shifting back two weeks, how does the hotel
capacity look, How does the convention center space look from
a perhaps a convention standpoint, because that venue, which is
right next door to Mercedes Benz Stadium, will be used
for a lot of the fan events during the event
weekend coming up. Thankfully, we were clear moved a few
(30:40):
things around, but nothing too problematic, and we were able
to accommodate the new date. But believe me, we were
going to find a way to make it happen anyway.
So the idea that it expanded from four teams to
twelve teams, I think added what we said at the
very beginning, potential new markets coming in that we might
not have seen obviously increased by three three times to
get to some new teams in the mix.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (31:01):
And the idea that you know, the Chick fil A
Peach Bowl served as a quarterfinal. They're in this expanded playoff.
Back on January first, we had Texas versus Arizona State.
So now we've got really two big parts of the tournament,
if you will, calling Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Home, yeah, I mean, and that was probably the best
game of the of the entire playoff, you know, maybe
leading up to the semi finals and obviously expecting a
good game in the finals coming up on Monday. You know, Dan,
I do, and and you know, full disclosure, I'm an
Atlanta guy. As you know when you're going to bring
that up. I was waiting for you to bring it up.
(31:37):
So spent a lot of my growing up years there.
My parents still live there. And one thing I know,
and you know as well as anyone, in part because
it's part of your family business. Obviously, we all know
your legendary dad, or we feel like we know him.
College football is probably the number one sport in the
(31:58):
city of Atlanta. I mean, I'm a big Falcons fan,
I'm a big Hawks fan, I'm a big Braves fan.
And yet I think if you ask a lot of people,
what's the number one team in the city of Atlanta,
it's probably the Georgia Bulldogs, much to the chagrin of
my Georgia Tech yellowjacket dad. But why is that and
what are the economics of college football and why have
(32:19):
they blossomed so much, and especially there in Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
I think if you were to take a sport and
a city and try to find the best combination that
you could out there it would be college football in Atlanta.
It is just something that's historically within and you know
this Jason growing up here and you referenced it historically
within our DNA. It's part of our culture here. We've
got a great lifestyle, a great quality of life, music, food, entertainment,
(32:47):
a great region and city and state to do business in.
It's a great quality of life from an educational standpoint.
But part of that quality of life and it involves
sports and the recreation, and college football is just part
of it. You're born and raised following college football and
as you said, either George or Georgia Tech for the
most part. But we're also a transient city, right, so
(33:09):
we've got expansion of people coming in from all over
the nation moving in here as a top ten popular
heated city, and as college football grows across the country,
those fans are bringing. Those folks moving here are bringing
their affinity for college football.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
With them here.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
So it just continues to grow upon itself, both you know,
endemically to the residents here then also the visitors that
relocate here. So it's an important part of it. I mean,
you know, we're a big sports event town. We're a
big sports town. We've got a lot of teams, both
collegiately and professionally, but college football just seems to resonate.
(33:46):
And we've got a lot of games here with the
Chick fil A Peach Bowl, the Celebration Bowl, the SEC Championship,
which is like a playoff every year that calls Atlanta home.
And you know, we have those three great sporting events
in college football each and a year.
Speaker 5 (34:00):
Yeah, I'm curious. You know when you talk about that
and you talk about how important it is to host
these big, major events and how good you guys are
at it and things like that, what makes Atlanta such
a good host city and how important is it to
the local economy that you continue to host these major events.
Speaker 4 (34:18):
Well, we look at it as a hosting not just
city or downtown Atlanta where you know, that's where the
competitions are held, and that's where the bulk of our
twenty one thousand hotel rooms in this case that are
booked for the CFP weekend are located. That's quite a
big number. But we look at this as a regional
in a state white hosting, So we engage with the
(34:38):
state of Georgia and the tourism Department to promote Savannah,
make and Columbus Augusta other really cool parts of this
state to the visitors that are coming in because you know,
the visitation is multiple days, and so while there are
fan events happening over the weekend, there's other things to
do while you've got some downtime, and we try to
push tourism to the other parts of the state. The
(35:00):
reason I think we're successful in the effort to get
these events to come here and our hosting is because
we've got, you know, great venues, starting with Mercedes Benz
Stadium right one of the top in the world. And
I know you've been there, surrounded by fourteen thousand hotel
rooms that are all all in walking distance to the stadium.
So you know better than anybody. When you travel to
(35:21):
an event, whether it's sports or cultural or anything else,
you fly into the airport, you get your ride share
to your hotel, and you hope just to be able
to not get another vehicle until you go back to
the air That's the case here and again that's how
that's how are set up here is in Atlanta, it's
very user friendly, and that user friendliness for the fans
becomes very friendly for the organizers as well CFP, fIF NFL, NCAA,
(35:47):
whatever the case may be. So I think the connection
of all of how compact our footprint is, of the
venues and the hospitality areas, the restaurants, the bars, the
attractions surrounded by fourteen thousand hotel rooms and the world's
business sedest airport to get everyone here, that combination is
really tough to be.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
So, Dan, before we let you go, I mean, I
want to go a little offscript here and just talk about,
like what a fascinating job you have, because like you're
not only dealing with college football, Like you've got the
All Star Game MLB coming up, You've got the you know,
FIFA World Club Cup coming up this summer, obviously, the
(36:27):
World Cup coming up in twenty twenty six, You're gonna
have a Super Bowl, et cetera. How does that work? Like,
I mean, do you just sort of are you just
constantly like kind of parallel tracking all these different sports?
Like how do you pull all this together?
Speaker 4 (36:42):
Well, we do it with really good partnerships, and you know,
I do run the Atlanta Sports Council. It's my twenty
fifth year with the organization. It's been a great run.
I consider this an honor in a position. It's a
it's not a job, you know, it's there's only one
of its kind here in the city, and I take
it very seriously and I'm a real or to have it.
We've got a great staff, were lean and mean as
(37:02):
a nonprofit, but we have an extension to our small
staff of five by partnering with the stadium, the city,
the ACVB which is our hospitality community, and other partners
and utilize their staffs to come in and help us
organize these big sporting events. And I think that model
creates a sense of real engagement and collaboration. All the
(37:26):
stakeholders are involved, all of their full time staffers are involved.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Well, Dan, it's been really really good talking to you.
Last question before we go, I have to ask you.
You know, as you look at to this national jam,
as you said, two blue Bloods, we know a certain
very famous sportscaster is either gonna, you know, don his
Leprechaun outfit or put his buckeye had on. Do you
have a prediction?
Speaker 4 (37:49):
Well, I know his prediction and I'm not going to
share it with you. And only one cours gets paid
to make predictions leave it.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
Well, that's great. Well we'll look forward to that. Thanks
so much. Dan Corso, President of the Atlanta Sports Council,
the busiest man around, getting ready to host a whole
host of big events this coming week and on and
on and on for the city of Atlanta. Really good
to spend some time with you. Thank you for having me, guys,
and thank you for joining us. For Vanessa Perdomo, I'm
(38:18):
Jason Kelly. Don't forget to catch our podcast. Subscribe now
on Apple, Spotify or anywhere else to catch podcasts. Tune
in again next week when Michael Scarlett and Damien they're
bringing it back and they'll take you through the latest
on the stories moving big money in the world of sports.
You're listening to Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio
(38:38):
around the world.
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