March 21, 2025 • 37 mins
Join hosts Michael Barr, Damian Sassower and guest host Vanessa Perdomo for a look at some of the latest headlines and stories in the business of sports.
Bloomberg News global business of sports reporter Randall Williams details the sale of the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics to a consortium led by Bill Chisholm, co-founder of California-based private equity firm STG Partners. The $6.1 billion purchase is not only the biggest NBA deal ever, but also the largest ever sports takeover.
Then, Bloomberg News global business of sports reporter Ira Boudway discusses his story on the flawed plan to gain control of college athletes’ pay. The NCAA is expected to approve a settlement that would pay $2.8 billion in damages to former athletes and establish a framework for schools to compensate current players, and establish a clearinghouse for player sponsorship deals. However, the implementation of the clearinghouse faces potential issues including athletes not disclosing their deals, boosters and collectives trying to funnel NIL money through non-associated entities, and legal challenges to the clearinghouse's authority.
Plus, as March Madness gets into full swing, BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt examines the growing sports betting landscape in the United States and the significant spike in business generated by the NCAA basketball tournament. The popular mobile betting platform is offering new ways to wager on both the men's and women's tournaments as it seeks to build on recent gains in a crowded market.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. This is the business
of Sports.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
The business of sports can be intimidating or hard for
a starting to break into.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
We really appreciate when our owners are actually there, you know,
with us through the journey.
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Teams ours especially have been very intentional to diversify at
all levels of the company.
Speaker 5 (00:23):
I think we're in bolden years for the NFL and
college football.
Speaker 6 (00:26):
Our demographic reach has continued to explode.
Speaker 7 (00:30):
This is going to be really unlocking the streaming platform
for sports fans.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Sports evaluations arising. We'll see when they peak.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
You don't have to be the best in your sports
to make a whole ton of money.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports. A week before
the big money issues the world sports. I'm Michael Lawn
along with McCall leagues, Damian Sasauer, and Vanessa Berdomo. Scarlet
Woo would join us later in the show. Coming up,
we talk college basketball. March Madness is here and we'll
talk with bettmgm CEO Adam Greenblatt about some of the
biggest betting trends for the tournament this year.
Speaker 8 (01:10):
We've seen a thirty percent year on your increase in
betts on women's college basketball, and this is going to
blow your mind. Over the past two years, we've experienced
more than seven hundred and fifty percent increase in bets
on the on the women's college game.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
We'll also talk the latest in a legal battle between
the NCAA and former players. A crucial court date is
set for early April, and that could pay out nearly
three billion dollars in damages to former athletes and build
out plans for future compensation for college players. All of
that and more is straight ahead on the Bloomberg Business
(01:50):
and Sports. But first the Boston Celtics. They have ANUE owner.
A group of buyers including STG Partners co founder Bill Chisholm,
reached a deal so late this week to buy the
NBA's Boston Celtics, and a deal totaling just over six
billion dollars. Here now to take us through what we
know about the deal and what could be next, is
(02:12):
Bloomberg News Sports business reporter Randa Williams Randall. Welcome to
the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Gee, something happened with the Boston Celtics. Looks like they're sold.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Six point one billion dollars to build Chisholm.
Speaker 9 (02:30):
Now that's more than Josh Howard's paid for the Commanders, right.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah, it is a little bit the most, yes, the
most expensive sports deal ever.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Wow, which people.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Were wondering if this would happen, if they would surpass
that six billion dollar mark. They barely got over it.
Speaker 10 (02:43):
Wow, that's awesome.
Speaker 9 (02:44):
I mean so six point one billion, yeah, I mean
Wick Rosspick's got to be uh doing cartwheels in his
living room right about now, would you say.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
I mean, the Celtics don't own their stadium, and that
was a big caveat to this deal because you know,
this is setting the table for NBA expansion and if
you're an expansion bidder and you're watching this, want you
don't want to pay more than the Celtics. Obviously, because
the Celtics are one of the oldest franchises, they don't
own their stadium, and so when you're looking at this,
it's like, Okay, let's set the mark and let's see
(03:13):
what we don't want to pay. And this doesn't include
a stadium. So six billion dollars without a stadium is
a lot of money. You think about Vegas, Vegas is
a big market. You think about Seattle. Seattle already has
their stadium built, so I don't think Seattle will surpass this,
But who knows what the price could go up to.
I think Vegas very well could depending on who's buying, but.
Speaker 11 (03:31):
They would get it as an expansion fee. As that
that high of an.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Expansion fee, I don't think so. The expansion fee bankers
and people around have told me that they expected to
be between four and five billion. Now if without a stadium,
four and five billion so just to fee straight up
paid out to the NBA owners. But with a stadium,
if you don't have a stadium, then you have to
build one that could be anywhere from one and a
half billion to two and a half billion dollars more.
(03:54):
You add that on top of the four to five billion,
and that's anywhere from you know, five and a half
to seven and a half. I don't think that you know,
an NBA expansion team is going to sell for seven
and a half billion. But there are some pretty prideful
people out there, pretty prideful billionaires out there who want
into this NBA business and who knows what's going to happen.
Speaker 11 (04:15):
Now, what we saw with this was that he was
just more willing to spend the money than anyone else.
Or why why did they get chosen.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Still be determined.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I mean, I think Bill had a good group, and
when you have a private equity firm that comes with
a billion dollars, that helps out tremendously. I don't know
the specific details of what the other bidders had, but
they had the best deal. And the Boston Basketball Partners
will be moving out at the end of twenty twenty eight, so.
Speaker 9 (04:40):
Let's falo back here. I mean, what GROSSPEC bought the
team in two thousand and two for three hundred and
sixty million, six point six point one billion. I mean,
Michael Barr has seventeen X in twenty three years. And
right now you caught me because I'm looking up in
video stock right and I'm trying to figure out when
you had to buy Nvidia to get a seventeen times
(05:00):
how many assets out there? And by the way, we're
not talking about a doll I mean you have to
invest three hundred and sixty to get seventeen X on
that number is just frighteningly.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
And you have to think about like Steve Pagliuca who's
also an owner. He ran twenty percent stake and he
was bidding for this as well, So like he's technically
not a loser when you think about him owning twenty
percent and his team being sold like the other groups
out there, I think, are you know, you could argue
our bigger losers. But for Steve, who is a big
Celtics fan, you know, it's not the worst thing in
(05:30):
the world. You already own a piece of the team.
You're being paid out even more than you know what
he got in the first place. So there's no losers
in this deal except for the people who aren't owning
the team.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Well now, in the Groupspec family, they wanted it. And
I want to go back to what you were saying earlier,
in two phases exactly, and so can you explain that.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
So they said that they were going to sell this
in two phases fifty forty nine percent. With this first
piece being sold. Now Bill chisum he's going to purchase
the rest of the team at a later date. So
he is going to be the outright owner of this team.
He and his ownership group.
Speaker 9 (06:03):
So so I'm looking at the chart here on video stock.
You know, if you butt in video at the depths
of the coronavirus, the COVID crisis, right, I'm talking March twenty,
March twenty twenty, you could have got it at seven
dollars a share. It's trading at one twenty. So okay,
you know it's been done before. I'm just you let
everybody know here. I mean, we could have butt in
video and twenty twenty would be you know, wouldn't be
here right now, Michael Barr, You and I'd be on
(06:23):
a beach.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
How can I? I can't do that? Why why can't
I do that? Why? Randall? Why can't that? You can?
So why can't I do this?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Well, I mean technically you can. You just have to
choose a smaller league. So, whether you want to get
into the NWSL, the WNBA, there are other sports investments
out there for us everyday people. It's just about being
able to raise the Can you, Michael Barr, raise two
hundred fifty million. It's not six and a half billion,
you know, it's a smaller number, but that might get
you a WNBA team, It might get you an NWSL team,
(06:52):
But two hundred fifty million isn't even going to get
you two percent of an NFL team.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Oh yeah, that's a boy. That's it. It shows you
now need private equity to do these exactly.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
You're going to see more of that in the future.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Can the Celtics as a team, And I agree with
what you're saying earlier six point one, that's only going
to be out there for so long because somebody's going
to come along, maybe because this is any team now,
any pro team, and one day come along and they say, hey,
Jerry Jones, listen, are you're.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Talking to Jerry Jones? I don't know about that, but
keep going.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, if the price is right, why not?
Speaker 3 (07:34):
I think it does. There will be a team that
eventually surpasses us. Now, the team to do it will
have to be a iconic franchise. They're in a big market.
Speaker 9 (07:44):
I mean, let's right. I mean it's only paid what
for the suns? I mean that's not a game. Yeah,
you can't compare that exactly.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Now, if I had to guess, it's easy to say
for the MLB to surpass this, it would have to
be another one of their iconic franchises. For the NFL,
I think it's the next one.
Speaker 9 (07:58):
Yeah, right, In the NFL.
Speaker 11 (08:01):
It has to be just the next one and it'll
keep growing on. So right, because like in this idea
of the NFL revenue, no one can come close to it.
That's why this was almost surprising or was it just
because it was a story franchise.
Speaker 10 (08:14):
It's both.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
I think it's surprising that they got just a tad
bit over. But for the NFL, I mean you have
to think about the last couple purchases from the NFL.
When the Panters were sold, I believe that was around
two point two. Then you had the Broncos, which is
four point six, and then you have the Commanders at
six billion. Who knows what the next one.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Could sell that.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
But if the Celtics are you know, just to pass
that by fifty million dollars to get the six and
then the champs and they're the defending chair and they
have their present, they locked up and they're young. Yeah,
I mean, you know, I agree with you exactly. So
who you know, you look at some of these succession
plans that are out there. We know that the Seahawks
have to be sold, We know that the Saints have
to be sold, There's going to be somebody out there
who's looking at the NFL's business and it's like, these
(08:52):
teams don't lose money. I am going to control my stadium.
I'm gonna make a whole lot more cash even after
investing this. My I think it's inevitably going to be passed,
and my bet would be on an NFL franchise at
some point.
Speaker 9 (09:04):
Well, Randall, you know I got to ask you. I mean,
the Lakers look good man, talk to us a little
bit about after this trade. You know, what do the
Lakers look like to you?
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Right?
Speaker 9 (09:13):
Are they a real contenditor? But more importantly, what does
this leave Dallas? I mean, my god, I mean.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
You never seen it. I'll say I've never seen a
franchise torn apart in a year the way that we
have seen this franchise.
Speaker 10 (09:26):
I mean, like.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Dallas lost the finals, Luca goes out with the injury,
you trade him in the darkness of the night, and
then Kyrie gets hurt, Anthony Davis gets hurt. And I
mean this I'm naming the top players. There are other
players who have also been hurt. In regards to the Lakers,
the Lakers can contend like it has drastically they got
They got Luka Doncas for Anthony Davis and a couple
(09:49):
other pieces, but they didn't lose their soul when they
traded for him, which if you're trading for Luka Doncics,
you're expected to lose your soul. And so with that
in mind, you think about how much that supercharges the
NBA as a league. With Lebron and Luca playing together.
Speaker 10 (10:02):
Here him the Lakers into the French court.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
At the ball in a one point lead, Reeves top
of the keek, goes.
Speaker 6 (10:07):
To Luca right side, dribbling one on one against Walker Kesler.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Three pointer over Tesler.
Speaker 6 (10:13):
That's gone Lucas first three is the Laker and the
place coach nuts.
Speaker 10 (10:20):
Lebron with Marcus Smart on it.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Lebron dribbles right Lebron down the middle.
Speaker 8 (10:26):
They forgot to stop the ball.
Speaker 6 (10:28):
Slam dunk by Lebron.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
What does it look like? Think about these matchups for
the Lakers. If they play the Celtics, you have the
oldest rivalry in basketball going at it again.
Speaker 6 (10:39):
Jalen Brown against Luka Dotci. She's thinking about pulling up
to the three instead. A couple of dribble shock locked
out of six, Jalen backs it out, he's near half court.
Jalen pull up on Lucas straight away.
Speaker 7 (10:50):
Three.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Got it.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
If they play the Calves, it's Lebron returning to Cleveland. Like,
there's a lot of different stories and granted, and even
in the matchup the okay see, I mean they're the
only we're not worried about. Okay, see Golden State. Like
you think about the Western Conference finals. Now you have
Lebron versus Steph.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
Butler right way gets to the curry curls, fires up threes,
not to down. He's now got twenty five thousand points
plus in his career, the twenty six player INNA history
to reach that plateau.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Again, So there's a lot out there, see.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
And you're right because the LA against Boston And okay,
old man bar is going to talk again. Nineteen seventy
back in the NBA Game of the Week when on ABC, Yeah,
we had color back man and TV and Dennis Michael.
Speaker 9 (11:37):
Did you see where Randall just went there? He went
right to the playoffs. And you know, we're talking about
a six point one billion dollar valuation to take it
back to the Celtics. It's all about getting to the
playoffs and getting and more playoff games, more home playoff games.
And now now aren't the Lakers the two seeds? So
Elie's got it's showtime.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
They're around there. I mean, so much of this is fluctuating,
because though I think the seeds between three and eight
are just so to one another, but if Lebron and
Luca are playing and they don't make at least the
Western Conference finals, it would be a tremendous discipline.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Keep your eye, by the way on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
They're the real deal. They're the real deal.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
They don't get talked about enough because Lebron's not there anymore,
but they're a serious threat.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Spider Mitchell Cross sober three ball a fifty.
Speaker 6 (12:24):
A fifty piece here in the first quarter for the Cavaliers.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Randall Williams, my man, thank you again for joining us
on the Bloomberg Business of Sports. Always a pleasure, always
dropping knowledge on this. Thank you again, Thank you for
having me as always Up. Next, we dive in on
March Madness for my colleagues. Damien sas Salary, Vanessa Predomo.
I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of
Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm
Michael Barr, along with my colleagues Scarlett fu and Damian Sassauer.
The NCAA tournament is here, but before we go all
in on March Madness, we want to touch on another
big story in college sports which could have a huge impact.
The NCAA is expected to approve a settlement that would
(13:29):
pay out nearly three billion dollars in damages to former
athletes and establish a framework for player compensation. Bloomberg News
Global Business of Sports reporter Ira Budwe has done a
lot of reporting on this and he is here now
to take us through the latest. Ira, Welcome back to
the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 10 (13:48):
How's it going?
Speaker 2 (13:49):
The flawed plan to gain control of college athletes pay now,
As my father would say, how in the hell are
you going to do that?
Speaker 10 (14:00):
It's interesting.
Speaker 7 (14:00):
I mean, I think people who follow college sports are
aware of this settlement and the class action suit that
were brought by former athletes over the fact that they
weren't allowed to earn money off the field for years
and years, and then the NCAA changed that.
Speaker 10 (14:15):
Rule back in twenty twenty.
Speaker 7 (14:17):
One, and now we all know this term NIL, Name
Image Likeness deals, and that class action suit is supposed
to be finalized in April, actually the same day as
the men's NCAA Basketball Championship final, and it has in
it these provisions right that schools will now be able
to pay players directly up to twenty two percent of
their athletic revenue. And everyone's sort of focused on that
(14:41):
this pay and this cap that are included in there,
But there's also a provision in there that says that
outside deals, third party deals for NIL, which basically are
what now drive the market, what athletes are getting millions
of dollars for, are going to be subject to a
fair market review you by this outside entity that's going
(15:02):
to be run by Deloitte. Basically, what they're trying to
do is ensure that NIL deals are no longer used
as pay to play, which is what's happening now. ANIL
is supposed to be like I lend my name to
your advertising campaign, you give me some money for that.
But what it's become is I come to your school
and play quarterback and you give me some money for that, right,
(15:24):
And they want that to end.
Speaker 10 (15:26):
They want the pay to be capped and.
Speaker 7 (15:28):
To come through the schools and to be under their
control and for them to have full visibility into the marketplace.
But I think it's going to be really hard to enforce.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
Yeah, how do you do that? I mean, how do
you wrangle all this together? This all kind of developed
organically and there's no real regulatory body overseeing any of this.
Speaker 10 (15:45):
Yeah, it's very tricky. I mean, this world exists in
pro sports.
Speaker 7 (15:50):
So athletes who do endorsement deals in professional sports are
supposed to are bound by rules in their collective bargaining
agreements that basically say the owner can't come and make
a deal with you on the side with his other
company or whatever it may be, and pay you basically
salary off the books. And teams have tried to break
(16:11):
these rules, So there are these fair market reviews. They
exist in sports, but they usually are part of a
collective bargaining agree right, And that's how this works normally.
But college obviously is a special case.
Speaker 10 (16:25):
There is no CBA.
Speaker 7 (16:26):
There doesn't seem to be any movement toward one, it
would require all this work about declaring athletes employees, forming
unions or some kind of representation. And so they're trying
to figure out a way to do this through this
settlement and through this Deloitte clearinghouse, which is basically going
to say, if you have a deal of more than
six hundred dollars, you have to bring it to the clearinghouse.
(16:46):
And the clearing house is going to look at the
deal and they're going to say, is this deal with
somebody who we call basically a booster, like somebody who
wants the school you're going to to win. Like Phil Knight,
very famously co founder of Nike, supports the organ University
of Oregon. He gives lots of money to their athletes
and nil deals. He would be one of these people
on the list right who he's giving this money because
(17:08):
he wants Oregon to win, not because he's trying to promote.
Speaker 10 (17:11):
His new company.
Speaker 7 (17:12):
And so if you're on that list, then Deloitte is
going to take that deal and say, is this what
people are paying for the work you say you're going
to do for the name, image and likeness of a
person like you who plays is a sophomore and plays
in this position in this market with this many social
media followers. It's just the right amount of money or
is this actually just the money that they're trying to
(17:33):
pay you to come play for their school. If they
think it's too much, they're going to throw it out
and then the athlete will either have to appeal that
to an arbitrator or renegotiate or just abandon it.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Those Deloitte guys will be really popular.
Speaker 7 (17:45):
Well, yeah, so that's one issue, right, Their authority is
going to get tested in court and otherwise. And then
they also then have to have this separate to the
Deloitte clearinghouse, this enforcement entity that they're going to build.
Assuming this gets finalized gets finalized in April, this would
all go into effect in July, so they've got a
little bit of time to build it. But it's a
real challenge because then they have to have a group
(18:06):
of people who basically figure out if you have unreported deals. Right,
A lot of times these deals at this point athletes
are supposed to disclose their nil deals to their schools.
A lot of them do not, and so you're going
to be back in the same situation that they've been
in for a long time, which is athlete rolls up
to school in a luxury car. You don't know where
that money came from. It doesn't seem to make sense.
(18:28):
You have to open some kind of investigation. Or you know,
guy at Alabama tells on guy at Clemson because he
wants to get Clemson in trouble, and he knows that
guy at Clemson made a deal without disclosing, and now
you've got to chase down that tip. Or guy makes
a deal with a car dealership in town, you know
who's a booster for Kentucky.
Speaker 10 (18:49):
Let's say, and the deal is, we'll give you.
Speaker 7 (18:52):
One hundred thousand dollars, but you got to show up
to twenty twenty events that we're going to hold during
the course of the next year. Deloitte looks at that says,
all right, I think that passes muster. That's in the
range of the reasonable. But guy no shows right, goes
to one event, skips the other nineteen You've got to
follow up on all of that. So it's going I
think it's going to be a real trick.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
By the way, I want to case anybody not familiar
with the settlement part. The NC double A, if approved,
would pay two point eight billion dollars in damages to
former athletes and establish a framework for schools to compensate
current players. Now, which brings me to the next question.
The NC DOUBLEA has just finally said, you know what,
the heck with it? There's nothing we can do. Yes,
(19:33):
the amateurism stuff, okay, it's over all right, fine, Now
you got to clean this stuff up. I guess the
first step is taking the third party out of it.
Speaker 7 (19:44):
That's kind of the goal here. I mean, I think
what they want to do is have these boosters give
that money to the athletic department, donate it, and we
will use it as part of our revenue because we're
allowed to now pay twenty two percent of our revenue
to players. So that'll boost our the overall average that
these schools are getting, right, it's a pegged by it
(20:05):
to an average. Give us the money and we'll pay.
So this coming season, theoretically the schools are going to
have about twenty one million in the schools that are
part of this settlement to pay players directly, and so
they want to say, look, that's the money, that money
we don't have to put into any kind of fair
market value assessment. We can just give as much as
we want as we see fit, and we will spread
(20:26):
it out among different programs, different athletes, and we'll figure
it out.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Right.
Speaker 7 (20:30):
It's basically like we're going to have payroll and salary
cap management and gms who are going to have to
do that job. But don't go outside of that, because
the main thing they're worried about is competitive balance. When
Phil Knight is willing to spend as much as he's
willing to spend to support the University of Oregon, that's
a problem for a school that doesn't have a billionaire
patron right, And so they're trying to make it a
(20:52):
relatively level playing field, which is the whole point of
salary caps and salary structures and professional sports in general.
But again, those are all part of collective bargain agreements,
which gives them legal standing. And I think this, you know, basically,
the argument is this is anti trust right behavior, Like
you're being a monopolist if you tell people they can't
(21:13):
sign a deal, Like, how does the NCAA have the
authority to tell two parties that they can't make a
deal for as much money as they feel like, the
answer is, in the case of the sport of professional leagues, well,
we have a collectively bargained agreement, so everyone's signed on
to it, and collectively bargain agreements generally have an anti
trust exemption, so we're allowed to restrain these kind of behavior.
(21:35):
NCAA is hoping that they can use a class action
settlement to accomplish the same thing, but there really is
no real precedent for that.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
Do you feel like from where you sit that cbs
are inevitable in college sports?
Speaker 7 (21:46):
I mean, it's interesting. I don't know where you go
from here, because getting two cbas is its own challenge,
and they've spent so long resisting that right, and there
is no current framework really for it.
Speaker 10 (21:57):
And you've got the problem of like.
Speaker 7 (21:58):
The rules for public schools will be different than the
rules for private schools. At what level would players be represented,
who would they who would be representing them at the table,
and who would they be negotiating with. None of these
questions are answered. However, the CBA as a structure is
obviously the solution to all of these problems, right, It's
a solved problem. How do you pay athletes in an
(22:19):
equitable way that is legal, and that allows for competitive
balance between teams.
Speaker 10 (22:24):
You do a collective lead bar and.
Speaker 7 (22:25):
Degree and it's all there and we know how it works.
It's a solved problem. Baseball did it decades ago. Other
leagues have adopted. It works. But how you port that
to college sports is no one's figured out yet.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
I think a lot of people, a lot of college
athletes are forgetting. And you brought it up about name,
image and likeness. Well, you've got to build a name
first to cash in on that, which means you got
to play the dog one game. And if you don't
play the game, you don't build a name.
Speaker 8 (23:00):
Right.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
That was good which came first? The chicken or the
egg is like, hey, guys, you want to build the name.
Caitlin Clark's a classic example. She built the name on
the court and now she made a boatload of money
from endorsements. And I guess I'm trying to pass that on.
Maybe that's something that needs to be schooled into a
(23:22):
lot of the college athletes.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
You got to put the horse before the cart.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Exactly, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 10 (23:27):
Yeah, I think that's true.
Speaker 7 (23:28):
I think the account argument is like, look, leagues and
conferences and schools are making a lot of cash off
of our work. Right, people are tuning in to watch
us play, and so we should get a piece of that, right,
And that's what this revenue sharing part of the agreement
is really about.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Right.
Speaker 7 (23:45):
But what is that money for. It's for the performance
on the field and on the court, And no one
can quite admit that because that means you're an employee, right,
And so they've tried every other way, you.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Know, and I just changed it completely.
Speaker 7 (24:01):
Even in this settlement, they're not exactly saying schools are
going to pay directly to players is for their play.
They're basically saying it's revenue sharing money. And it's still
nil because the players will be giving over some of
their name, image and likeness rights to the schools. They
don't want to open that kettle of fish.
Speaker 10 (24:18):
But it's like it's.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
Open, right, so practices it's there.
Speaker 10 (24:22):
And everyone knows what this is about.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Well yeah, I mean it's like, think about it. Before
all of this came about, and I'm going to openly admit,
before all of this happened, with the can of worms
of nil, I was like, that's right, college athletes, you
make that money. You get what you can and then
somebody didn't think it through and this is what we got.
I mean, think about it. Schools make used to make
(24:47):
money off of the athletes jerseys and you know, and
of course the college athlete has like got a free
lunch and that was about it, you know, in terms
in the cafeteria.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
No, he got the degree, remember that scholarship.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yeah, okay, yes, very much so. And by the way,
you can't go to class because you got to be
out on the football. IRA. If we all just had
a beer, we could settle the solid Ira budwe our
very own Bloomberg A great article, folks, the flawed planned
gain control of college athletes. Pay Thank you again, man,
thank you. Up next, we stick with college basketball and
(25:22):
bring in bet mgm CEO Adam green Blot to talk
about some of the latest betting trends for the NCAA
tournament this year for my colleague Scarlett Foo and Damian Sasaur.
I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of
Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
We explore the big money issues in the world of sports.
I'm Michael Barr along with my colleagues Damian Sassauer and
Vanessa Perdomo. The NCAA Basketball tournament is underway, and that
means it is a big time for sports betters. MGM
is already for March Madness, and this year it's trying
(26:17):
out something new, including a free to play game. Here
now to talk to us about the sports betting landscape
for March Madness this year and more is bet MGM
CEO Adam Greenblatt. Adam, welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 12 (26:33):
Well, thank you for having me. It's always great to
be back.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
I was just talking about this just before you hopped
on the line that I was going to make an
individual bet in the I know brackets are big, but
I'm looking at the individual games in making the bets.
Which where do you make more money from individual bets
in this time of the year or people just trying to, like,
(26:57):
you know, do their bracketology.
Speaker 8 (26:59):
The first thing to say is we have we have
something for everybody. We've got free to play games, we've
got bracket challenges, we've got singles bets you can parlay
up things across games. You can put things together in
the same game. You can bet on individual players. You
can even bet whether teams are going to score in
the four first minute, or even whether how many dunks
(27:22):
they're going to be in a game. You know, So
there really is something for everyone, and it's an exciting
part time of the year for us Adam.
Speaker 11 (27:32):
You know, it's interesting because the Super Bowl is obviously
the biggest concentrated you know, betting day of the year,
but due to sheer volume of the games of you know,
the fact that there's a men's and women's tournament going
on at the same exact time, does that does this
come close to the super Bowl or like, is this
almost is it the second biggest betting you know market
(27:53):
of the year.
Speaker 8 (27:54):
It's an incredibly important time of the year for the industry,
and as you rightly in a call out where the
super Bowl is the biggest individual event, the American Gaming
Association has just come out and said that Americans will
legally wager three point one billion dollars on the men's
(28:16):
and women's college tournaments, and that's up from two point
seven billion dollars last year.
Speaker 12 (28:21):
So we expect this to be.
Speaker 8 (28:23):
The most bet tournament in bet MGM's history, and it's
just that there are so many games as the men's
and women's tournament, and the the women's tournament this year.
Speaker 12 (28:33):
And frankly since last year, actually.
Speaker 8 (28:37):
Is really gaining momentum gaming scheme and is a meaningful
contributor to participation and bet volume. And in fact, there
are just so many good storylines to follow, you know,
player level storylines, team level storylines. We've got some history
with Saint Peter's a couple of years ago in North Carolina.
(28:57):
You know that what we see differently in this tournament
from frankly the regular season in.
Speaker 12 (29:03):
Any other event, is the public being captivated.
Speaker 8 (29:08):
By those Cinderella stories and really investing behind them.
Speaker 9 (29:12):
Adam, I'd like to know from your perspective. I mean,
we've seen continued growth in the women's game, but we've
seen that growth translate into the amount of money wagered
on the women's game. I mean, I know you're teaming
up with the gist. Tell us a little bit about
what you're doing this year that's different than last.
Speaker 8 (29:28):
Last year was really the breakout here for the women's game,
and that was really.
Speaker 12 (29:32):
Driven by how Caitlin Clark captured the.
Speaker 8 (29:36):
Imagination of the public and the betting public, but that
story isn't over, and what we're excited to see is
a new slati of stars like you know, Juju Watkins,
Paige Becker's that really continued to captivate. So this year,
we've seen a thirty percent year on your increase in
(29:57):
bets on women's college basketball, and this is going to
blow your mind. Over the past two years, we've experienced
more than seven hundred and fifty percent increase in bets
on the on the women's college game, and you know,
I think that's probably our highest growth in that period
of any sport. And so as a business, you know,
(30:19):
you look at where your growth is and you invest
behind it. So this year we're going to offer more
markets than ever before for the women's tournament. We're expanding
our player props so better able to bet on the
performances of individual players, and we're expanding that player prop
offering to more players because what we're seeing is there
(30:40):
is more players have resonance with the with the betting public.
And we're also offering things like halftime markets in earlier
rounds this year and you name checked the just as well.
This is we're really excited about this our partnership which
is a new one.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
With the Just.
Speaker 12 (30:58):
It's a woman's led sports media brand, and.
Speaker 8 (31:02):
Where we've partnered for that for the Just to provide
social media content during the women's tournament. And one data point,
why did we choose the gist seventy one percent? Now,
this is the overlap between the general interest and betting interest.
Seventy one percent of the Gist's readership has expressed interest
(31:22):
in sports betting. Another interesting point, so we've seen tremendous
interests in the college game during the regular season, and
one of the themes this year versus last is the
growth in the same game parlay adoption. So players have
really embraced out the ability to bet a few things
(31:44):
in the same game that from betmgm's perspective, has increased,
has doubled on you. Now, your question was about do
we see something different during the tournament than the regular season,
and the answer is we do, and what we the
tournament in facts the widest possible audience in following obviously
the college game, and with the wider audience that introduces
(32:09):
more recreational we call them recreational betters, less frequent betters
to enjoy the enthusiasm and the excitement of the tournament. Now,
less regular betters are less familiar with the product and
the so what of that is we see about a
twenty percent increase in the proportion of pregame bets.
Speaker 12 (32:34):
So non live bets, players who.
Speaker 8 (32:37):
Are less familiar with the product will come and go, oh,
the game's going to start, I must get my bet on,
and those betters will be less familiar with the fact that, oh,
when the games on, there's a myriad of things that
I can I can bet on as well. So that's
the key point. Twenty percent more pregame betting. Because the
(32:57):
audience is much much wider, we have more higher concentration
of less regular vetters.
Speaker 9 (33:02):
But Adam, in all seriousness, I mean the tournament, it's
a special time a season for you obviously, But you know,
I joke because you and I talk about you know,
South Africa, it's not rugby season. But talk to me
a little bit about international sports, you know, talk to
us about you know, Premier League, talk to us about soccer.
I mean, globally speaking, sports gambling has obviously been you know,
Europe and the rest of the world was before the US.
(33:23):
But you know, what does the world look like to
you now, and what does the world look like to
bet MGM.
Speaker 8 (33:28):
First point is to make is that Bett MGM, the
joint venture between MGM Resort and in Tame, my two shareholders,
the joint venture's sole focus, my sole focus on our
business is sole focus is in North America. So we
are the We are a leading operator in North America,
which includes all of our North American regulated states, US
(33:53):
regulated states plus Ontario. We are the number one by
market share operator in Ontario, and we're looking forward to
the Province of Alberta regulating online sports betting and I
gaming probably the beginning of twenty twenty six. More broadly, however,
international sports, we're seeing strong and increasing interest in what
(34:18):
the Europeans call.
Speaker 12 (34:20):
Football, what we call soccer.
Speaker 8 (34:23):
And you know, as we look to next year where
we'll be hosting with in the US will be hosting
the Soccer World Cup, the Football World Cup, we are
anticipating that being a catalyst for soccer really taking off
as a one of the bread and butter betting sports
in the US. At the moment, of course, it's you know,
(34:44):
we've got the big three by volume, we've got football, basketball,
and baseball, with hockey's somewhat of a distant fourth alongside
it's hockey, tennis, soccer. I think post the World Cup
next year, we're going to see much deeper penetration of
(35:04):
soccer as a betting sport, which it is frankly everywhere
apart from the US. Soccer is the number one best
sport outside the US, excusely by some margin, and I
expect that we will see accelerated growth come next year's
World Cup.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
I know we're running out of time, but since you
brought up Ontario and you're in a very strong market there,
the tariffs are not really affecting you, are they of
what's going on because it's yes, it's a physical product,
but it's not you're not bringing steel or aluminum or
anything like that. What has there been any impact from
(35:45):
the tariffs for you guys?
Speaker 8 (35:49):
So we haven't seen direct impact from the tariffs from
a US perspective, we have of course seen a move
a decline in the exchange rate. The US dollars is
our is bet m GM's reporting currency. So obviously as
you as the Canadian dollar loss value, the value of
(36:12):
our in US terms, the value of our Canadian earnings.
It just converts at a lower rate, so that would
be the most direct impact we are seeing. But stepping
back on from a more macro perspective, we're not really
seeing any any indication of a slowdown. Our betters are
(36:34):
turning up as frequently as they have in the past.
Bet count you know how many bets our players are making.
It remains strong and the value per bet remains in line,
So we're not really seeing any impact of either the
tariffs or macro slow down in the US or Canadian economies.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
Adam, we're better as we're a die hard bunch. We'll
we'll come, and we'll bet it. Adam Greenblad, Thank you,
sir for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 12 (37:08):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Our Thanks to bet MGM CEO Adam Greenblatt for joining us,
and thank you for my colleagues Damien Sassauer, Vanessa Perdomo
and Scarlett Fu. I'm Michael Barr. Tune in again next
week for the latest on the stories moving big money
in the world of sports. You're listening to The Bloomberg
Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world,
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. This is the business
of Sports.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
The business of sports can be intimidating or hard for
a starting to break into.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
We really appreciate when our owners are actually there, you know,
with us through the journey.
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Teams ours especially have been very intentional to diversify at
all levels of the company.
Speaker 5 (00:23):
I think we're in bolden years for the NFL and
college football.
Speaker 6 (00:26):
Our demographic reach has continued to explode.
Speaker 7 (00:30):
This is going to be really unlocking the streaming platform
for sports fans.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Sports evaluations arising. We'll see when they peak.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
You don't have to be the best in your sports
to make a whole ton of money.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports. A week before
the big money issues the world sports. I'm Michael Lawn
along with McCall leagues, Damian Sasauer, and Vanessa Berdomo. Scarlet
Woo would join us later in the show. Coming up,
we talk college basketball. March Madness is here and we'll
talk with bettmgm CEO Adam Greenblatt about some of the
biggest betting trends for the tournament this year.
Speaker 8 (01:10):
We've seen a thirty percent year on your increase in
betts on women's college basketball, and this is going to
blow your mind. Over the past two years, we've experienced
more than seven hundred and fifty percent increase in bets
on the on the women's college game.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
We'll also talk the latest in a legal battle between
the NCAA and former players. A crucial court date is
set for early April, and that could pay out nearly
three billion dollars in damages to former athletes and build
out plans for future compensation for college players. All of
that and more is straight ahead on the Bloomberg Business
(01:50):
and Sports. But first the Boston Celtics. They have ANUE owner.
A group of buyers including STG Partners co founder Bill Chisholm,
reached a deal so late this week to buy the
NBA's Boston Celtics, and a deal totaling just over six
billion dollars. Here now to take us through what we
know about the deal and what could be next, is
(02:12):
Bloomberg News Sports business reporter Randa Williams Randall. Welcome to
the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Gee, something happened with the Boston Celtics. Looks like they're sold.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Six point one billion dollars to build Chisholm.
Speaker 9 (02:30):
Now that's more than Josh Howard's paid for the Commanders, right.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah, it is a little bit the most, yes, the
most expensive sports deal ever.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Wow, which people.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Were wondering if this would happen, if they would surpass
that six billion dollar mark. They barely got over it.
Speaker 10 (02:43):
Wow, that's awesome.
Speaker 9 (02:44):
I mean so six point one billion, yeah, I mean
Wick Rosspick's got to be uh doing cartwheels in his
living room right about now, would you say.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
I mean, the Celtics don't own their stadium, and that
was a big caveat to this deal because you know,
this is setting the table for NBA expansion and if
you're an expansion bidder and you're watching this, want you
don't want to pay more than the Celtics. Obviously, because
the Celtics are one of the oldest franchises, they don't
own their stadium, and so when you're looking at this,
it's like, Okay, let's set the mark and let's see
(03:13):
what we don't want to pay. And this doesn't include
a stadium. So six billion dollars without a stadium is
a lot of money. You think about Vegas, Vegas is
a big market. You think about Seattle. Seattle already has
their stadium built, so I don't think Seattle will surpass this,
But who knows what the price could go up to.
I think Vegas very well could depending on who's buying, but.
Speaker 11 (03:31):
They would get it as an expansion fee. As that
that high of an.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Expansion fee, I don't think so. The expansion fee bankers
and people around have told me that they expected to
be between four and five billion. Now if without a stadium,
four and five billion so just to fee straight up
paid out to the NBA owners. But with a stadium,
if you don't have a stadium, then you have to
build one that could be anywhere from one and a
half billion to two and a half billion dollars more.
(03:54):
You add that on top of the four to five billion,
and that's anywhere from you know, five and a half
to seven and a half. I don't think that you know,
an NBA expansion team is going to sell for seven
and a half billion. But there are some pretty prideful
people out there, pretty prideful billionaires out there who want
into this NBA business and who knows what's going to happen.
Speaker 11 (04:15):
Now, what we saw with this was that he was
just more willing to spend the money than anyone else.
Or why why did they get chosen.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Still be determined.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I mean, I think Bill had a good group, and
when you have a private equity firm that comes with
a billion dollars, that helps out tremendously. I don't know
the specific details of what the other bidders had, but
they had the best deal. And the Boston Basketball Partners
will be moving out at the end of twenty twenty eight, so.
Speaker 9 (04:40):
Let's falo back here. I mean, what GROSSPEC bought the
team in two thousand and two for three hundred and
sixty million, six point six point one billion. I mean,
Michael Barr has seventeen X in twenty three years. And
right now you caught me because I'm looking up in
video stock right and I'm trying to figure out when
you had to buy Nvidia to get a seventeen times
(05:00):
how many assets out there? And by the way, we're
not talking about a doll I mean you have to
invest three hundred and sixty to get seventeen X on
that number is just frighteningly.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
And you have to think about like Steve Pagliuca who's
also an owner. He ran twenty percent stake and he
was bidding for this as well, So like he's technically
not a loser when you think about him owning twenty
percent and his team being sold like the other groups
out there, I think, are you know, you could argue
our bigger losers. But for Steve, who is a big
Celtics fan, you know, it's not the worst thing in
(05:30):
the world. You already own a piece of the team.
You're being paid out even more than you know what
he got in the first place. So there's no losers
in this deal except for the people who aren't owning
the team.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Well now, in the Groupspec family, they wanted it. And
I want to go back to what you were saying earlier,
in two phases exactly, and so can you explain that.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
So they said that they were going to sell this
in two phases fifty forty nine percent. With this first
piece being sold. Now Bill chisum he's going to purchase
the rest of the team at a later date. So
he is going to be the outright owner of this team.
He and his ownership group.
Speaker 9 (06:03):
So so I'm looking at the chart here on video stock.
You know, if you butt in video at the depths
of the coronavirus, the COVID crisis, right, I'm talking March twenty,
March twenty twenty, you could have got it at seven
dollars a share. It's trading at one twenty. So okay,
you know it's been done before. I'm just you let
everybody know here. I mean, we could have butt in
video and twenty twenty would be you know, wouldn't be
here right now, Michael Barr, You and I'd be on
(06:23):
a beach.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
How can I? I can't do that? Why why can't
I do that? Why? Randall? Why can't that? You can?
So why can't I do this?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Well, I mean technically you can. You just have to
choose a smaller league. So, whether you want to get
into the NWSL, the WNBA, there are other sports investments
out there for us everyday people. It's just about being
able to raise the Can you, Michael Barr, raise two
hundred fifty million. It's not six and a half billion,
you know, it's a smaller number, but that might get
you a WNBA team, It might get you an NWSL team,
(06:52):
But two hundred fifty million isn't even going to get
you two percent of an NFL team.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Oh yeah, that's a boy. That's it. It shows you
now need private equity to do these exactly.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
You're going to see more of that in the future.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Can the Celtics as a team, And I agree with
what you're saying earlier six point one, that's only going
to be out there for so long because somebody's going
to come along, maybe because this is any team now,
any pro team, and one day come along and they say, hey,
Jerry Jones, listen, are you're.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Talking to Jerry Jones? I don't know about that, but
keep going.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, if the price is right, why not?
Speaker 3 (07:34):
I think it does. There will be a team that
eventually surpasses us. Now, the team to do it will
have to be a iconic franchise. They're in a big market.
Speaker 9 (07:44):
I mean, let's right. I mean it's only paid what
for the suns? I mean that's not a game. Yeah,
you can't compare that exactly.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Now, if I had to guess, it's easy to say
for the MLB to surpass this, it would have to
be another one of their iconic franchises. For the NFL,
I think it's the next one.
Speaker 9 (07:58):
Yeah, right, In the NFL.
Speaker 11 (08:01):
It has to be just the next one and it'll
keep growing on. So right, because like in this idea
of the NFL revenue, no one can come close to it.
That's why this was almost surprising or was it just
because it was a story franchise.
Speaker 10 (08:14):
It's both.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
I think it's surprising that they got just a tad
bit over. But for the NFL, I mean you have
to think about the last couple purchases from the NFL.
When the Panters were sold, I believe that was around
two point two. Then you had the Broncos, which is
four point six, and then you have the Commanders at
six billion. Who knows what the next one.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Could sell that.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
But if the Celtics are you know, just to pass
that by fifty million dollars to get the six and
then the champs and they're the defending chair and they
have their present, they locked up and they're young. Yeah,
I mean, you know, I agree with you exactly. So
who you know, you look at some of these succession
plans that are out there. We know that the Seahawks
have to be sold, We know that the Saints have
to be sold, There's going to be somebody out there
who's looking at the NFL's business and it's like, these
(08:52):
teams don't lose money. I am going to control my stadium.
I'm gonna make a whole lot more cash even after
investing this. My I think it's inevitably going to be passed,
and my bet would be on an NFL franchise at
some point.
Speaker 9 (09:04):
Well, Randall, you know I got to ask you. I mean,
the Lakers look good man, talk to us a little
bit about after this trade. You know, what do the
Lakers look like to you?
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Right?
Speaker 9 (09:13):
Are they a real contenditor? But more importantly, what does
this leave Dallas? I mean, my god, I mean.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
You never seen it. I'll say I've never seen a
franchise torn apart in a year the way that we
have seen this franchise.
Speaker 10 (09:26):
I mean, like.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Dallas lost the finals, Luca goes out with the injury,
you trade him in the darkness of the night, and
then Kyrie gets hurt, Anthony Davis gets hurt. And I
mean this I'm naming the top players. There are other
players who have also been hurt. In regards to the Lakers,
the Lakers can contend like it has drastically they got
They got Luka Doncas for Anthony Davis and a couple
(09:49):
other pieces, but they didn't lose their soul when they
traded for him, which if you're trading for Luka Doncics,
you're expected to lose your soul. And so with that
in mind, you think about how much that supercharges the
NBA as a league. With Lebron and Luca playing together.
Speaker 10 (10:02):
Here him the Lakers into the French court.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
At the ball in a one point lead, Reeves top
of the keek, goes.
Speaker 6 (10:07):
To Luca right side, dribbling one on one against Walker Kesler.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Three pointer over Tesler.
Speaker 6 (10:13):
That's gone Lucas first three is the Laker and the
place coach nuts.
Speaker 10 (10:20):
Lebron with Marcus Smart on it.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Lebron dribbles right Lebron down the middle.
Speaker 8 (10:26):
They forgot to stop the ball.
Speaker 6 (10:28):
Slam dunk by Lebron.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
What does it look like? Think about these matchups for
the Lakers. If they play the Celtics, you have the
oldest rivalry in basketball going at it again.
Speaker 6 (10:39):
Jalen Brown against Luka Dotci. She's thinking about pulling up
to the three instead. A couple of dribble shock locked
out of six, Jalen backs it out, he's near half court.
Jalen pull up on Lucas straight away.
Speaker 7 (10:50):
Three.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Got it.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
If they play the Calves, it's Lebron returning to Cleveland. Like,
there's a lot of different stories and granted, and even
in the matchup the okay see, I mean they're the
only we're not worried about. Okay, see Golden State. Like
you think about the Western Conference finals. Now you have
Lebron versus Steph.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
Butler right way gets to the curry curls, fires up threes,
not to down. He's now got twenty five thousand points
plus in his career, the twenty six player INNA history
to reach that plateau.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Again, So there's a lot out there, see.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
And you're right because the LA against Boston And okay,
old man bar is going to talk again. Nineteen seventy
back in the NBA Game of the Week when on ABC, Yeah,
we had color back man and TV and Dennis Michael.
Speaker 9 (11:37):
Did you see where Randall just went there? He went
right to the playoffs. And you know, we're talking about
a six point one billion dollar valuation to take it
back to the Celtics. It's all about getting to the
playoffs and getting and more playoff games, more home playoff games.
And now now aren't the Lakers the two seeds? So
Elie's got it's showtime.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
They're around there. I mean, so much of this is fluctuating,
because though I think the seeds between three and eight
are just so to one another, but if Lebron and
Luca are playing and they don't make at least the
Western Conference finals, it would be a tremendous discipline.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Keep your eye, by the way on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
They're the real deal. They're the real deal.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
They don't get talked about enough because Lebron's not there anymore,
but they're a serious threat.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Spider Mitchell Cross sober three ball a fifty.
Speaker 6 (12:24):
A fifty piece here in the first quarter for the Cavaliers.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Randall Williams, my man, thank you again for joining us
on the Bloomberg Business of Sports. Always a pleasure, always
dropping knowledge on this. Thank you again, Thank you for
having me as always Up. Next, we dive in on
March Madness for my colleagues. Damien sas Salary, Vanessa Predomo.
I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of
Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm
Michael Barr, along with my colleagues Scarlett fu and Damian Sassauer.
The NCAA tournament is here, but before we go all
in on March Madness, we want to touch on another
big story in college sports which could have a huge impact.
The NCAA is expected to approve a settlement that would
(13:29):
pay out nearly three billion dollars in damages to former
athletes and establish a framework for player compensation. Bloomberg News
Global Business of Sports reporter Ira Budwe has done a
lot of reporting on this and he is here now
to take us through the latest. Ira, Welcome back to
the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 10 (13:48):
How's it going?
Speaker 2 (13:49):
The flawed plan to gain control of college athletes pay now,
As my father would say, how in the hell are
you going to do that?
Speaker 10 (14:00):
It's interesting.
Speaker 7 (14:00):
I mean, I think people who follow college sports are
aware of this settlement and the class action suit that
were brought by former athletes over the fact that they
weren't allowed to earn money off the field for years
and years, and then the NCAA changed that.
Speaker 10 (14:15):
Rule back in twenty twenty.
Speaker 7 (14:17):
One, and now we all know this term NIL, Name
Image Likeness deals, and that class action suit is supposed
to be finalized in April, actually the same day as
the men's NCAA Basketball Championship final, and it has in
it these provisions right that schools will now be able
to pay players directly up to twenty two percent of
their athletic revenue. And everyone's sort of focused on that
(14:41):
this pay and this cap that are included in there,
But there's also a provision in there that says that
outside deals, third party deals for NIL, which basically are
what now drive the market, what athletes are getting millions
of dollars for, are going to be subject to a
fair market review you by this outside entity that's going
(15:02):
to be run by Deloitte. Basically, what they're trying to
do is ensure that NIL deals are no longer used
as pay to play, which is what's happening now. ANIL
is supposed to be like I lend my name to
your advertising campaign, you give me some money for that.
But what it's become is I come to your school
and play quarterback and you give me some money for that, right,
(15:24):
And they want that to end.
Speaker 10 (15:26):
They want the pay to be capped and.
Speaker 7 (15:28):
To come through the schools and to be under their
control and for them to have full visibility into the marketplace.
But I think it's going to be really hard to enforce.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
Yeah, how do you do that? I mean, how do
you wrangle all this together? This all kind of developed
organically and there's no real regulatory body overseeing any of this.
Speaker 10 (15:45):
Yeah, it's very tricky. I mean, this world exists in
pro sports.
Speaker 7 (15:50):
So athletes who do endorsement deals in professional sports are
supposed to are bound by rules in their collective bargaining
agreements that basically say the owner can't come and make
a deal with you on the side with his other
company or whatever it may be, and pay you basically
salary off the books. And teams have tried to break
(16:11):
these rules, So there are these fair market reviews. They
exist in sports, but they usually are part of a
collective bargaining agree right, And that's how this works normally.
But college obviously is a special case.
Speaker 10 (16:25):
There is no CBA.
Speaker 7 (16:26):
There doesn't seem to be any movement toward one, it
would require all this work about declaring athletes employees, forming
unions or some kind of representation. And so they're trying
to figure out a way to do this through this
settlement and through this Deloitte clearinghouse, which is basically going
to say, if you have a deal of more than
six hundred dollars, you have to bring it to the clearinghouse.
(16:46):
And the clearing house is going to look at the
deal and they're going to say, is this deal with
somebody who we call basically a booster, like somebody who
wants the school you're going to to win. Like Phil Knight,
very famously co founder of Nike, supports the organ University
of Oregon. He gives lots of money to their athletes
and nil deals. He would be one of these people
on the list right who he's giving this money because
(17:08):
he wants Oregon to win, not because he's trying to promote.
Speaker 10 (17:11):
His new company.
Speaker 7 (17:12):
And so if you're on that list, then Deloitte is
going to take that deal and say, is this what
people are paying for the work you say you're going
to do for the name, image and likeness of a
person like you who plays is a sophomore and plays
in this position in this market with this many social
media followers. It's just the right amount of money or
is this actually just the money that they're trying to
(17:33):
pay you to come play for their school. If they
think it's too much, they're going to throw it out
and then the athlete will either have to appeal that
to an arbitrator or renegotiate or just abandon it.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Those Deloitte guys will be really popular.
Speaker 7 (17:45):
Well, yeah, so that's one issue, right, Their authority is
going to get tested in court and otherwise. And then
they also then have to have this separate to the
Deloitte clearinghouse, this enforcement entity that they're going to build.
Assuming this gets finalized gets finalized in April, this would
all go into effect in July, so they've got a
little bit of time to build it. But it's a
real challenge because then they have to have a group
(18:06):
of people who basically figure out if you have unreported deals. Right,
A lot of times these deals at this point athletes
are supposed to disclose their nil deals to their schools.
A lot of them do not, and so you're going
to be back in the same situation that they've been
in for a long time, which is athlete rolls up
to school in a luxury car. You don't know where
that money came from. It doesn't seem to make sense.
(18:28):
You have to open some kind of investigation. Or you know,
guy at Alabama tells on guy at Clemson because he
wants to get Clemson in trouble, and he knows that
guy at Clemson made a deal without disclosing, and now
you've got to chase down that tip. Or guy makes
a deal with a car dealership in town, you know
who's a booster for Kentucky.
Speaker 10 (18:49):
Let's say, and the deal is, we'll give you.
Speaker 7 (18:52):
One hundred thousand dollars, but you got to show up
to twenty twenty events that we're going to hold during
the course of the next year. Deloitte looks at that says,
all right, I think that passes muster. That's in the
range of the reasonable. But guy no shows right, goes
to one event, skips the other nineteen You've got to
follow up on all of that. So it's going I
think it's going to be a real trick.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
By the way, I want to case anybody not familiar
with the settlement part. The NC double A, if approved,
would pay two point eight billion dollars in damages to
former athletes and establish a framework for schools to compensate
current players. Now, which brings me to the next question.
The NC DOUBLEA has just finally said, you know what,
the heck with it? There's nothing we can do. Yes,
(19:33):
the amateurism stuff, okay, it's over all right, fine, Now
you got to clean this stuff up. I guess the
first step is taking the third party out of it.
Speaker 7 (19:44):
That's kind of the goal here. I mean, I think
what they want to do is have these boosters give
that money to the athletic department, donate it, and we
will use it as part of our revenue because we're
allowed to now pay twenty two percent of our revenue
to players. So that'll boost our the overall average that
these schools are getting, right, it's a pegged by it
(20:05):
to an average. Give us the money and we'll pay.
So this coming season, theoretically the schools are going to
have about twenty one million in the schools that are
part of this settlement to pay players directly, and so
they want to say, look, that's the money, that money
we don't have to put into any kind of fair
market value assessment. We can just give as much as
we want as we see fit, and we will spread
(20:26):
it out among different programs, different athletes, and we'll figure
it out.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Right.
Speaker 7 (20:30):
It's basically like we're going to have payroll and salary
cap management and gms who are going to have to
do that job. But don't go outside of that, because
the main thing they're worried about is competitive balance. When
Phil Knight is willing to spend as much as he's
willing to spend to support the University of Oregon, that's
a problem for a school that doesn't have a billionaire
patron right, And so they're trying to make it a
(20:52):
relatively level playing field, which is the whole point of
salary caps and salary structures and professional sports in general.
But again, those are all part of collective bargain agreements,
which gives them legal standing. And I think this, you know, basically,
the argument is this is anti trust right behavior, Like
you're being a monopolist if you tell people they can't
(21:13):
sign a deal, Like, how does the NCAA have the
authority to tell two parties that they can't make a
deal for as much money as they feel like, the
answer is, in the case of the sport of professional leagues, well,
we have a collectively bargained agreement, so everyone's signed on
to it, and collectively bargain agreements generally have an anti
trust exemption, so we're allowed to restrain these kind of behavior.
(21:35):
NCAA is hoping that they can use a class action
settlement to accomplish the same thing, but there really is
no real precedent for that.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
Do you feel like from where you sit that cbs
are inevitable in college sports?
Speaker 7 (21:46):
I mean, it's interesting. I don't know where you go
from here, because getting two cbas is its own challenge,
and they've spent so long resisting that right, and there
is no current framework really for it.
Speaker 10 (21:57):
And you've got the problem of like.
Speaker 7 (21:58):
The rules for public schools will be different than the
rules for private schools. At what level would players be represented,
who would they who would be representing them at the table,
and who would they be negotiating with. None of these
questions are answered. However, the CBA as a structure is
obviously the solution to all of these problems, right, It's
a solved problem. How do you pay athletes in an
(22:19):
equitable way that is legal, and that allows for competitive
balance between teams.
Speaker 10 (22:24):
You do a collective lead bar and.
Speaker 7 (22:25):
Degree and it's all there and we know how it works.
It's a solved problem. Baseball did it decades ago. Other
leagues have adopted. It works. But how you port that
to college sports is no one's figured out yet.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
I think a lot of people, a lot of college
athletes are forgetting. And you brought it up about name,
image and likeness. Well, you've got to build a name
first to cash in on that, which means you got
to play the dog one game. And if you don't
play the game, you don't build a name.
Speaker 8 (23:00):
Right.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
That was good which came first? The chicken or the
egg is like, hey, guys, you want to build the name.
Caitlin Clark's a classic example. She built the name on
the court and now she made a boatload of money
from endorsements. And I guess I'm trying to pass that on.
Maybe that's something that needs to be schooled into a
(23:22):
lot of the college athletes.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
You got to put the horse before the cart.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Exactly, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 10 (23:27):
Yeah, I think that's true.
Speaker 7 (23:28):
I think the account argument is like, look, leagues and
conferences and schools are making a lot of cash off
of our work. Right, people are tuning in to watch
us play, and so we should get a piece of that, right,
And that's what this revenue sharing part of the agreement
is really about.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Right.
Speaker 7 (23:45):
But what is that money for. It's for the performance
on the field and on the court, And no one
can quite admit that because that means you're an employee, right,
And so they've tried every other way, you.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Know, and I just changed it completely.
Speaker 7 (24:01):
Even in this settlement, they're not exactly saying schools are
going to pay directly to players is for their play.
They're basically saying it's revenue sharing money. And it's still
nil because the players will be giving over some of
their name, image and likeness rights to the schools. They
don't want to open that kettle of fish.
Speaker 10 (24:18):
But it's like it's.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
Open, right, so practices it's there.
Speaker 10 (24:22):
And everyone knows what this is about.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Well yeah, I mean it's like, think about it. Before
all of this came about, and I'm going to openly admit,
before all of this happened, with the can of worms
of nil, I was like, that's right, college athletes, you
make that money. You get what you can and then
somebody didn't think it through and this is what we got.
I mean, think about it. Schools make used to make
(24:47):
money off of the athletes jerseys and you know, and
of course the college athlete has like got a free
lunch and that was about it, you know, in terms
in the cafeteria.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
No, he got the degree, remember that scholarship.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yeah, okay, yes, very much so. And by the way,
you can't go to class because you got to be
out on the football. IRA. If we all just had
a beer, we could settle the solid Ira budwe our
very own Bloomberg A great article, folks, the flawed planned
gain control of college athletes. Pay Thank you again, man,
thank you. Up next, we stick with college basketball and
(25:22):
bring in bet mgm CEO Adam green Blot to talk
about some of the latest betting trends for the NCAA
tournament this year for my colleague Scarlett Foo and Damian Sasaur.
I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of
Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
We explore the big money issues in the world of sports.
I'm Michael Barr along with my colleagues Damian Sassauer and
Vanessa Perdomo. The NCAA Basketball tournament is underway, and that
means it is a big time for sports betters. MGM
is already for March Madness, and this year it's trying
(26:17):
out something new, including a free to play game. Here
now to talk to us about the sports betting landscape
for March Madness this year and more is bet MGM
CEO Adam Greenblatt. Adam, welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 12 (26:33):
Well, thank you for having me. It's always great to
be back.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
I was just talking about this just before you hopped
on the line that I was going to make an
individual bet in the I know brackets are big, but
I'm looking at the individual games in making the bets.
Which where do you make more money from individual bets
in this time of the year or people just trying to, like,
(26:57):
you know, do their bracketology.
Speaker 8 (26:59):
The first thing to say is we have we have
something for everybody. We've got free to play games, we've
got bracket challenges, we've got singles bets you can parlay
up things across games. You can put things together in
the same game. You can bet on individual players. You
can even bet whether teams are going to score in
the four first minute, or even whether how many dunks
(27:22):
they're going to be in a game. You know, So
there really is something for everyone, and it's an exciting
part time of the year for us Adam.
Speaker 11 (27:32):
You know, it's interesting because the Super Bowl is obviously
the biggest concentrated you know, betting day of the year,
but due to sheer volume of the games of you know,
the fact that there's a men's and women's tournament going
on at the same exact time, does that does this
come close to the super Bowl or like, is this
almost is it the second biggest betting you know market
(27:53):
of the year.
Speaker 8 (27:54):
It's an incredibly important time of the year for the industry,
and as you rightly in a call out where the
super Bowl is the biggest individual event, the American Gaming
Association has just come out and said that Americans will
legally wager three point one billion dollars on the men's
(28:16):
and women's college tournaments, and that's up from two point
seven billion dollars last year.
Speaker 12 (28:21):
So we expect this to be.
Speaker 8 (28:23):
The most bet tournament in bet MGM's history, and it's
just that there are so many games as the men's
and women's tournament, and the the women's tournament this year.
Speaker 12 (28:33):
And frankly since last year, actually.
Speaker 8 (28:37):
Is really gaining momentum gaming scheme and is a meaningful
contributor to participation and bet volume. And in fact, there
are just so many good storylines to follow, you know,
player level storylines, team level storylines. We've got some history
with Saint Peter's a couple of years ago in North Carolina.
(28:57):
You know that what we see differently in this tournament
from frankly the regular season in.
Speaker 12 (29:03):
Any other event, is the public being captivated.
Speaker 8 (29:08):
By those Cinderella stories and really investing behind them.
Speaker 9 (29:12):
Adam, I'd like to know from your perspective. I mean,
we've seen continued growth in the women's game, but we've
seen that growth translate into the amount of money wagered
on the women's game. I mean, I know you're teaming
up with the gist. Tell us a little bit about
what you're doing this year that's different than last.
Speaker 8 (29:28):
Last year was really the breakout here for the women's game,
and that was really.
Speaker 12 (29:32):
Driven by how Caitlin Clark captured the.
Speaker 8 (29:36):
Imagination of the public and the betting public, but that
story isn't over, and what we're excited to see is
a new slati of stars like you know, Juju Watkins,
Paige Becker's that really continued to captivate. So this year,
we've seen a thirty percent year on your increase in
(29:57):
bets on women's college basketball, and this is going to
blow your mind. Over the past two years, we've experienced
more than seven hundred and fifty percent increase in bets
on the on the women's college game, and you know,
I think that's probably our highest growth in that period
of any sport. And so as a business, you know,
(30:19):
you look at where your growth is and you invest
behind it. So this year we're going to offer more
markets than ever before for the women's tournament. We're expanding
our player props so better able to bet on the
performances of individual players, and we're expanding that player prop
offering to more players because what we're seeing is there
(30:40):
is more players have resonance with the with the betting public.
And we're also offering things like halftime markets in earlier
rounds this year and you name checked the just as well.
This is we're really excited about this our partnership which
is a new one.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
With the Just.
Speaker 12 (30:58):
It's a woman's led sports media brand, and.
Speaker 8 (31:02):
Where we've partnered for that for the Just to provide
social media content during the women's tournament. And one data point,
why did we choose the gist seventy one percent? Now,
this is the overlap between the general interest and betting interest.
Seventy one percent of the Gist's readership has expressed interest
(31:22):
in sports betting. Another interesting point, so we've seen tremendous
interests in the college game during the regular season, and
one of the themes this year versus last is the
growth in the same game parlay adoption. So players have
really embraced out the ability to bet a few things
(31:44):
in the same game that from betmgm's perspective, has increased,
has doubled on you. Now, your question was about do
we see something different during the tournament than the regular season,
and the answer is we do, and what we the
tournament in facts the widest possible audience in following obviously
the college game, and with the wider audience that introduces
(32:09):
more recreational we call them recreational betters, less frequent betters
to enjoy the enthusiasm and the excitement of the tournament. Now,
less regular betters are less familiar with the product and
the so what of that is we see about a
twenty percent increase in the proportion of pregame bets.
Speaker 12 (32:34):
So non live bets, players who.
Speaker 8 (32:37):
Are less familiar with the product will come and go, oh,
the game's going to start, I must get my bet on,
and those betters will be less familiar with the fact that, oh,
when the games on, there's a myriad of things that
I can I can bet on as well. So that's
the key point. Twenty percent more pregame betting. Because the
(32:57):
audience is much much wider, we have more higher concentration
of less regular vetters.
Speaker 9 (33:02):
But Adam, in all seriousness, I mean the tournament, it's
a special time a season for you obviously, But you know,
I joke because you and I talk about you know,
South Africa, it's not rugby season. But talk to me
a little bit about international sports, you know, talk to
us about you know, Premier League, talk to us about soccer.
I mean, globally speaking, sports gambling has obviously been you know,
Europe and the rest of the world was before the US.
(33:23):
But you know, what does the world look like to
you now, and what does the world look like to
bet MGM.
Speaker 8 (33:28):
First point is to make is that Bett MGM, the
joint venture between MGM Resort and in Tame, my two shareholders,
the joint venture's sole focus, my sole focus on our
business is sole focus is in North America. So we
are the We are a leading operator in North America,
which includes all of our North American regulated states, US
(33:53):
regulated states plus Ontario. We are the number one by
market share operator in Ontario, and we're looking forward to
the Province of Alberta regulating online sports betting and I
gaming probably the beginning of twenty twenty six. More broadly, however,
international sports, we're seeing strong and increasing interest in what
(34:18):
the Europeans call.
Speaker 12 (34:20):
Football, what we call soccer.
Speaker 8 (34:23):
And you know, as we look to next year where
we'll be hosting with in the US will be hosting
the Soccer World Cup, the Football World Cup, we are
anticipating that being a catalyst for soccer really taking off
as a one of the bread and butter betting sports
in the US. At the moment, of course, it's you know,
(34:44):
we've got the big three by volume, we've got football, basketball,
and baseball, with hockey's somewhat of a distant fourth alongside
it's hockey, tennis, soccer. I think post the World Cup
next year, we're going to see much deeper penetration of
(35:04):
soccer as a betting sport, which it is frankly everywhere
apart from the US. Soccer is the number one best
sport outside the US, excusely by some margin, and I
expect that we will see accelerated growth come next year's
World Cup.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
I know we're running out of time, but since you
brought up Ontario and you're in a very strong market there,
the tariffs are not really affecting you, are they of
what's going on because it's yes, it's a physical product,
but it's not you're not bringing steel or aluminum or
anything like that. What has there been any impact from
(35:45):
the tariffs for you guys?
Speaker 8 (35:49):
So we haven't seen direct impact from the tariffs from
a US perspective, we have of course seen a move
a decline in the exchange rate. The US dollars is
our is bet m GM's reporting currency. So obviously as
you as the Canadian dollar loss value, the value of
(36:12):
our in US terms, the value of our Canadian earnings.
It just converts at a lower rate, so that would
be the most direct impact we are seeing. But stepping
back on from a more macro perspective, we're not really
seeing any any indication of a slowdown. Our betters are
(36:34):
turning up as frequently as they have in the past.
Bet count you know how many bets our players are making.
It remains strong and the value per bet remains in line,
So we're not really seeing any impact of either the
tariffs or macro slow down in the US or Canadian economies.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
Adam, we're better as we're a die hard bunch. We'll
we'll come, and we'll bet it. Adam Greenblad, Thank you,
sir for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 12 (37:08):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Our Thanks to bet MGM CEO Adam Greenblatt for joining us,
and thank you for my colleagues Damien Sassauer, Vanessa Perdomo
and Scarlett Fu. I'm Michael Barr. Tune in again next
week for the latest on the stories moving big money
in the world of sports. You're listening to The Bloomberg
Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world,
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!