March 7, 2025 • 38 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.
Dallas Mavericks fans are not happy after the team traded young superstar and fan favorite Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Compounding issues is a series of awful injuries, including to remaining star Kyrie Irving. Adding insult to those injuries, the team announced they are raising season ticket prices. Bloomberg News Dallas bureau chief Julie Fine joins to discuss the city's outpouring of anger and how it's serving as an early test for the family of casino billionaire Miriam Adelson, which bought control of the Mavericks from Mark Cuban in 2023.
Bloomberg News reporter Jennah Haque joins to discuss her story, co-written with Vanesa Perdomo, on the WNBA and women's sports has grown - and how players are hoping the uptick in interest and revenue for leagues and teams can finally start to translate to bigger pay days for athletes.
Plus, Atlantic 10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade joins to talk about the conference's success and the college sports landscape ahead of this year's NCAA tournament.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the business of sports.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
The business of sports can be intimidating or hard for
a start to break into.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
We really appreciate when our owners are actually there, you know,
with us through the journey. Teams ours especially have been
very intentional to diversify at all levels of the company.
Speaker 4 (00:15):
I think we're in the bolden years for the NFL
and college football.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Our demographic reach has continued to explode. This is going
to be really unlocking the streaming platform for sports.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Fans, 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.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports on
Michael Barr along with my colleagues Damian Sasaur and Vanessa Berdomo.
Scarlet fu Is on assignment. Coming up on the show,
we talk college basketball with Atlantic ten Commissioner Bernadette McGlade
ahead of March Madness.
Speaker 5 (00:58):
The timing is right for the student athletes to be
able to monetize their name, image and likeness, and I'm
happy that it's finally here. It's certainly is going to
change the landscape of Division one college athletics, but I
think it's going to change it for the better.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Plus, we talked to reporting from our very own Vanessa
Prodoma along with Bloomberg News reporter Jenna Hawk, on the
growth of women's sports and the hope that players can
start to finally cash in.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
All that and more is on the way on the
Bloomberg Business of Sports, But first we have to check
in on Dallas Mavericks fans.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Michael Barr. Fans are not happy with the team after
they traded away superstar Luka Doncic, but that isn't all.
Now they've lost Kyrie Irving for the season due to
a torn acl and it looks like, my goodness, Anthony Davis,
who they traded for, might very well be out for
the season. It is the Spencer Dinwidi Show in Dallas,
Michael Barr.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
And the top and off season ticket prices are slated
to go up almost nine percent. Joining us to discuss
the state of affairs with the Mavericks. Bloomberg Dallas Bureau
Chief Julie Fine. Julie, Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
Thanks for having me back.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Man, the Dallas Mavericks. You talk about something rough going
and we're gonna get more into it in a second.
But right now, the Maverick fans are being hit with
an eight point six percent price hike after trading Luka
Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Can you please tell
us the pain that people in Dallas are going through.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
It's not a good situation, I mean, especially for them.
When the Mavericks basically came out and said, you know,
as you look at what they said about it, they
said it basically had to do a little bit with
fan engagement. So obviously this is the if you look
at the exact quote, it's ongoing investments in the team
and fan engagement. That really was the explanation for this
(02:53):
price hike. So it's just been a rough road. I
mean for fans that come and as you know, I
mean basketball fans here, there a loyal bunch to the team,
very upset. Luka Doncik was really well liked here. I mean,
he was extremely well liked in the community. Obviously there
were questions about the team was saying, the questions about
his fitness whatnot. But in the community. He was really
(03:15):
well liked and he is a global star, so fans
here the anger is not subsiding. Really.
Speaker 6 (03:23):
The interesting thing for me there is how can they possibly,
you know, justify saying that it's because of fan engagement
that they're able to raise the prices. But right now,
seemingly all of the fan engagement is really negative and
a lot of people ended up canceling their season tickets
after Luca was trated.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Yeah, I mean that's I'm sure when fans saw that
quote that we all had, it was even more frustrating.
It has been one frustration after another for MAVs fans.
First Lucas gone, then you get Anthony Davis, then he
gets injured. Then then you see Luca go to LA
and Dirk Novitski went there as well, to Cheerman no
(04:04):
jerk of course, obviously saying he's a MAVs fan for life.
But I mean, just for MAVs fans, it's just been
heartbreaking now to have to deal with spending more money
to see a team that's disappointing them. It'll be very
interesting to see how this affects the bottom line for
them when it comes to season tickets.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Well, Julie, let's just crystallize it for our audience here, please.
I mean, the Lakers aren't second place in the West, Okay,
by comparison, the MAVs are intent and fighting for their
playoff live. But you know what really caught my attention
was the quote by Adelson's son in law, Patrick Dumont.
You know, when he announced the ticket increase, he says,
quote ongoing investments in the team and fan engagement, that's
(04:42):
the reason that they're raising the price. I mean, they
just moving the team to Las Vegas. I mean, Julie,
what is going on here? I mean, how do you
throw that in your fans face after the record and
you know the blowbacks since Luca, I mean, is there
any truth to that rumor?
Speaker 7 (04:57):
Well, they've been saying that all along, But I sat
down with patrickm when he was here, I mean months ago, obviously,
not recently, and they said they are committed to Dallas
and they are committed to being here.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
So you know, they're saying all along that they're committed
to being here. But of course fans are curious about that.
Of course they're wondering about it. So they can say
it until they're blue in the face. But again, this
is just another thing that fans are dealing with. Now again,
I'm going to get into a little Texas politics here.
I mean, as you know, online gambling, casino gambling that
(05:29):
is not legal here and it is not making major
headway in the legislature. So in terms of a destination
resort I don't see that happening in Texas for some
time now. But again, they have said over and over
that they are committed to Dallas and they're committed to
the fans. The person who I think has a lot
to wonder about right now is Nico, the general manager.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I mean, I mean, look, we could talk about Nico
all we want. I mean, they're calling for his head there.
But let's just talk the numbers here. The Mavericks are valued,
I think, according to Forbes at four point seven billion dollars, right,
so you know that's up from you know, just you know,
two and a half billion in twenty twenty. So it's
not like the team hasn't doubled pretty much almost its
market value in just the last five years, right So
you know, I mean, what is moving to Las Vegas
(06:15):
really going to get you an incremental value? I mean,
what am I missing here is I mean, can you
I mean, where does that argument, I guess hold any ground.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Julie, Well, I think what you're missing here is the
same thing that people have continued to be curious about.
You know, what is the point of moving them? But
again they say over and over they are not interested
in moving the team. But I see, you know, I'm
buying what you're selling there. There's a major question about that.
But again, like they're doing well here financially, this is
(06:45):
a city that loves its sports. It really does. I mean,
people say, oh, we're not necessarily one of the biggest
sports towns now. I tend to disagree with that, but again,
I happen to live here in Dallas. But each of
the teams here has very, very very cleo fan bases
that continue to follow them, even the Stars, I mean
the Stars. Look, they're doing great, they're heading into the playoffs.
(07:06):
So in terms of why move them, that's an open question.
But they continue to say over and over that that
is not what their interest is now.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
And I know Damien and everybody, you know, when you
think of the Dallas Mavericks, the first thing that comes
to mind is Mark Cuban. But let's let's bring up
some history here. The casino billionaire, the family of Miriam Aedelson.
They bought control of the Mavericks from Cuban. That was
what in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Yeah, so that's it's kind of fueling the fire. I guess.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yeah, that's another thing that's fueling it. So and in
case you forgot NBA fans, the Mavericks were in the
NBA Finals last year. So, Julie, I guess this is
another reason why people are ticked off at the Mavericks.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Well, and I think you have to remember though, Mark
Cuban is no longer running the Mavericks. Sure he still
owns a big piece of it, but he is not
running the metabracks. So this is not a Mark Cuban decision.
You know. With Luca now how he feels about it,
I mean, he has not come out and said Mark
is an excellent businessman, businessman as you all know, but
(08:14):
he is not. I mean, miss Patrick Dumon is on
the board of governors. I mean, this is the this
is his team, Juliet.
Speaker 6 (08:19):
One of the things you know, obviously that Mark Cuban
said when he sold the team was that the way
that the NBA is moving towards real estate and things
like that. He felt like that wasn't, you know, his
area of expertise. I mean, that was that was the
reason he gave, right, that was the public facing reason
and felt that, you know, the Addamson's were going to
be able to secure a new arena. Can you tell
(08:42):
us about that and what's going on? And there's there's
even some movement moving the team to Irvine. Is that correct?
Let me know about that.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
Well, I mean, they've discussed moving the team out of downtown.
But it's interesting because in downtown they're in an area
called Victory Park and literally right across the Thruway there
is where they practice. Irving is where the Dallas Cowboys
used to play before they moved to Frisco. But there's
plenty of space there. Irving also probably has more space
for some sort of destination resort if they wanted to
do that. But then again, you get back to the
(09:11):
gambling aspect of it's which is a totally different ballgame
here in the state of Texas, and that may have
to go on the bellot even if they make any
type of progress with that in the legislature. But irming
by the way, is like twenty minutes outside the city.
It's not very far so. But at this point, like
nobody's broken ground on anything. There hasn't been any of that.
(09:32):
I think right now they're just sort of, you know,
catching their breath from this period of time that they're
going through.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
You know, Julie, I mean you mentioned Nico Harrison, and
you know, we kind of all don't want to talk
about it because it's just so bad. But you know,
I wonder, you know, you're on the ground there. I mean,
talk to me about what's the word coming out of
Jason Kidds camp. I mean, has he commented it all
since the Luca trade.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Yeah, I haven't heard much from Jason Kidna. I'm not
following all that pressers every day, so let me be
the first on that. But I haven't heard much from
his camp. Yeah, I haven't heard much from his camp.
I mean, Jason Kidd also works for Nico Harrison, so
I mean he's you know, he spoke very honestly. I
mean listen, you all saw the day they spoke about
the trade, and then you all saw what uh Luca's
(10:19):
reaction was when he was in Los Angeles, when he
was introduced. I mean, the whole thing was just mind boggling.
It's still in a way, it's very mind boggling. I mean,
you got SMU is obviously one of our colleges here
and at a basketball game there fans at a basketball
game there, we're screaming fire Nico. I mean, this is
not like things have gotten easier for Nico Harrison. But again,
(10:42):
you know, he really thinks this is what is going
to help this team in the long run. Well, look
where they are. They're almost in the playoffs. So now again,
I do want to add though, the maps have been
just destroyed by injuries of late, and you know that's
certainly not helping the situation either. Like it's really the
worst of all worlds for this team. But real it will,
(11:03):
you know, it'll it'll be interesting to see what happens
with Nico. I mean, I don't think you know, you're
going to see anything in the next couple of months.
And clearly the Dumonts like him to trust him or
they want to let this happen.
Speaker 6 (11:13):
Julie. One of the things I'm interested in is, obviously,
like you were saying before, Dallas is actually kind of
a really incredible sports town. Does the downtick in the
Mavericks right now change that as a whole? Do you
think it has any effect on the town itself.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
Well, I mean I think they're gonna you know, I
think we all know from our fan bases. You get
frustrated with your fan bases at times like Listen, I'm
from Buffalo, I remember when we were two and fourteen.
I'm still a Bill's fan. You know, you kind of
get through it, you push through. So I think it's
a frustrating time. But there's again, with a city like
Dallas too, there are so many sports here. I think
(11:49):
we get overlooked in that respect. You know, there's so
many different sports here. We have WMBA. I mean, we
have so much going on that I think while people
are frustrated with the Mavericks event, they'll stick it out
and there's still plenty of great sports for people here.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (12:04):
I think what the Wings are supposed to get the
number one draft picked, is that right?
Speaker 4 (12:10):
Yeah, they're supposed to get the number one, the new Caitlin,
the new Caitlin Clark. So that's always exciting. And you know,
seeing as now we can say that this was brought
to you by the Dallas Chamber of Commerce. I can
again say we really are a great sports town.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Our thanks to Bloomberg Dallas Bureau chief Julie Fine for
joining us up. Next, we're marking International Women's Day this
weekend with a conversation on the rise of women's sports
and whether leagues can capitalize on recent momentum and start
paying players there do. That is straight ahead on the
Bloomberg Business of Sports from my colleagues Damien Sasaur and
(12:47):
Vanessa Perdomo. I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg
Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
This is Bloomberg Business Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
This is the.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore the big money
issues in the world of sports. Michael Barr, along with
Damian Sasaur and Vanessa Perdomo. Scarlet Foo is on assignment.
The WNBA is coming off a great season, powered in
part by the rise of superstar Caitlin Clark.
Speaker 6 (13:20):
Clark the Steel Mitchell, the Knockaway Clark Street.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
It's part of a larger rise in popularity for women's
sports across the board, but the players still earn a
lot less than their male counterparts.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Our very own Vanessa Perdomo and Bloomberg News reporter Jenna
Hawk did some reporting on how players are seeking a
bigger cut of the billions of dollars now flowing into
women's sports, and Jenna joins us now to discuss thanks
for having me. What you know, I get frustrated because
I get tired that has taken this long for this
(13:57):
to take place? Why so blasted law?
Speaker 6 (14:01):
Well, the short answer there is sexism. I wo you know,
so that's really the short answer there, Michael. But I
think the reason why, you know, we we've decided to
write this piece was because of everything that happened last year.
So we really have this thesis of twenty twenty four
was the year of women's sports, but they still didn't
(14:22):
get the chunk of the money that was, you know
what we were seeing with the investment coming in, So
we wanted to look at what's at stake for them
to really get that money this year.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Now, now you guys got to correct this one for
me because I didn't know the statistic, is that right?
That of the men's and the women's NBA regular season
that was consumed in twenty twenty four, it was sixty
percent men's forty percent women's. Is that right, So in
terms of the revenue generated, it's sixty forty split. Yet
you guys point out that part of the revenue sharing
for the players, it's only three percent to the women.
(14:57):
Is that right?
Speaker 6 (14:57):
Yeah, Jenna, can you get into that because there was
like more, there was so much more about that revenue
showing that we weren't really able to get into into
the piece. It's really in the weeds, Jennet, Can you
explain that totally?
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (15:09):
So, basically, the NBA and WNBA have recently inked this
new media rights deal that's considered historic for both both leagues. Unfortunately,
it's not equal or historic in terms of equal pay.
So you're exactly right that the WNBA, over this entire
last season has and compared with the NBA, the WNBA
(15:32):
has captured around forty percent of the ratings. In terms
of money that they're actually getting to pay players and
to actually fund the league, that's only around three percent
of the money. So there's still this even with these
kind of historic media rights deals that they say are
some of the best kind of deals for women's sports.
It's still not at all equal or even close to equal.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
There are so many women that are out there that
are kicking button taking the but in twenty twenty four,
there's one name that just kerpow. We are now at hello,
we are arriving Jenna, and it's Caitlin Clark.
Speaker 8 (16:11):
Oh yes, mss Clark.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Can you explain to the audience her impact and what
she has meant, not just obviously to the WNBA, but
to women's sports in general.
Speaker 8 (16:25):
Totally. So, Kitlyn Clark obviously had a historic record career
in college basketball, and so then when she arrived to
the WNBA, she was able to convert so many college
basketball fans to the w which then brought in a
flu of corporate sponsorships, extra media partnerships, all these other deals.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
But also it.
Speaker 8 (16:50):
Shed a light again on this pay inequity. So Kitlyn Clark,
when she arrived into the WNBA, she only took home
seventy six thousand in her first season, the number one
draft pick for the NBA. So basically the exact same
male counterpart for the NBA, Victor wimbin Yama, earned more
than one hundred times that salary in his first season.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
I mean I'm not listening. You make seventy six thousand
dollars and you're out there and you know you're trying
to do a job. That's that's one thing. But compared
to what you just said to Victor Ruminyama, I mean
that's ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (17:26):
Yeah, people were comparing her salary to a entry level accountant,
which I think is very funny.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Michael Bart, I mean, you haven't even scratched the surface.
Listen to the statistic that that Jenna Vanessa pull out
of this article. Volleyball Okay, professional volleyball player, right, and volleyballs,
you know, come on the scene. You know, we've had
John Patrick hof John Soros on this very show talking
about athletes unlimited, but Pro Volleyball Federation and League One
Volleyball pay on average a minimum salary to their players
(17:55):
of something like sixty thousand dollars. Yet that's just six
thousand dollars below the minimum salary paid to a w
NBA professional basketball player. That is, if I'm getting this right,
correct me if I'm wrong, girls, I think it's right.
Speaker 6 (18:09):
No, it's sixteen thousand less than Kaitlin Corks.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
But with.
Speaker 6 (18:13):
Minimum the minimum salaries, we're about there, which is is
exactly that. So the point in that we were bringing
across there and that we why brought in volleyball into
the conversations because it's this next sport, this next women's sport,
that people are pouring a lot of money into. Now
there's going to be four professional leagues in the US
for women's professional volleyball, with one hundred million dollars pouring
(18:35):
into each league. So the reason why they're able to
have this sixty thousand dollars minimum is because there's only
about six to eight teams in each of those leagues, so.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
The players more capital to go around. Totally get but
it's their first year. This is volleyball first year. Yeah,
that's exactly my point. I mean, you can't even it's
apples and oranges. It's just a different constellation entirely. And
yet only six minimum that is just anyway. So that
is obviously, and Jenna correct me if I'm wrong. Why
you have these new leagues like Unrivaled that are coming
(19:05):
on the scene where you know, women players are getting paid.
Talk to us a little bit about Unrivaled. What's their
business strategy that they're able to pay so much more
to your average player, And do you think there's a
real possibility that that league could even unsea and take
some of the talent away from the WNBA totally.
Speaker 8 (19:23):
So Unrivaled started actually as a spinoff created by a
couple of current WNBA some of the biggest stars in
the league, Shanna Stewart and the Visa Collier, and their
whole ethos was that players shouldn't be going overseas in
the offseason. They need to keep being seen by an
American audience. They need to keep being able to improve
(19:43):
on their game while also having access to new media opportunities,
to new corporate sponsorships. So let's give them a platform
to pay. And you know, they were able to shore
up a ton of investments, They raised a ton of
capital and they're guaranteeing all their players will make way
more than they make in the w for about a
third of the season.
Speaker 6 (20:03):
And also Nafisa Collier, who's one of the co founders
of the league. They ended up doing this really fun
in the middle of the season. You know, one on
one tournament she won it. She won two hundred thousand
dollars and she said, in thirty minutes of play, I
won the equivalent of my wnba' shwer I mean that
is crazy.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Well, remember now, this is kind of what got Britney
Griner in trouble because she had to go over to
Russia to play and then well we all know the
story what happened, but the point is she had to
go to Russia to go make more money than she
would have been at the time in the WNBA.
Speaker 8 (20:39):
Absolutely, so many players were traveling to Russia, to Turkey,
to China, to Spain, to South Korea and they were
making essentially like three to four times their income in
a WNBA season alone.
Speaker 6 (20:53):
Yeah mind you like about seven figures, Brianna Stewart, I mean,
Britney Grinder was making overseas in Russia and that's why
there was that you know, inkling to go there. Diana
Trossi one time got paid by them to not play
in the WNBA, you know so, and it still hasn't
gotten to that level. But that's where this new CBA
is coming into play this year, which is a lot
of the reporting that me and Jenna did this, you know,
(21:15):
did this on this article. Was this new CBA for
the WNBA is.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Really me make or break?
Speaker 3 (21:20):
In this conversation, well, that's exactly where I want to go.
I mean, when do we see that CBA negotiation take place?
What comes next? What's the lead up look like into that,
you know, into that actual decision? I mean, I mean
I haven't heard much about it. I mean, who's who's
in the room, you know, who's making these decisions.
Speaker 8 (21:36):
So last October the union opted out of continuing the
existing collective bargaining agreement.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Which is with the men, right or.
Speaker 8 (21:47):
It's different, Okay, So they opted out of their own
collective bargaining agreement last October and are basically taking all
of this entire year to negotiate with the league to
strike a better contract. And from the union side, the
executive director Terry Jackson kind of told us it's like
(22:07):
preparing for battle. They have hired tons of great lawyers.
They hired a Nobel Prize winning economist, Claudia Golden. They've
hired communications people, media people to basically just staff up
and be able to say, here are the financial documents.
Are we being undervalued? What do we need to be
asking for? Here are meetings with the players, Here's what
(22:29):
they want to prioritize. How do we make this work
so that we can strike a contract that's good for everyone.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
I want to give a shout out since we're talking
about the WNBA to Serena Williams. He just invested in
the new team in Toronto that will hit the league
in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 6 (22:45):
Yeah, and that's and it's amazing to see, you know,
Serena come in to the league in that way, especially
because I've actually had conversations with her husband, Alexis o'hannian,
because he obviously invests a lot in women's sports. He's
invested into the NWSL and track and golf, but you know,
he said he wasn't sure if he would get into
the WNBA. So now Serena stepping into that market, which
is incredible and I think even more impactful to have
(23:08):
someone like her come into the league, come into a
new team and say, you know, I want to be
a part of this, And obviously it just brings in
more eyes and building a new organization, new expansion. I mean,
there's so many more expansion teams that are coming into
the league in the next couple of years. So it's exciting.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
So Jenna, just so, they renegotiated in October of last
year and now they're gonna spend all this year and
talks in a new contract, which is expected to take effect.
I guess next.
Speaker 8 (23:36):
Year January of twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Fe Okay, So we'll probably hear by Q three or
something as we get into there. I don't know. I mean,
is there any expectation on when we're going to hear
that they've been making progress, that their clothes on something? Probably?
I mean, is it going to be right up until
I don't know, December thirty first, I mean, what are
your thoughts there?
Speaker 8 (23:54):
Yeah, I think it really depends on how much each
side is willing to compromise. We know that they've met
a couple times already, and from the W side, they
have announced that they've had productive meetings with members of
the union, with advisors, players, et cetera. It's definitely still
early right now, but things are hopefully looking good. When again,
(24:17):
when we spoke to the executive director, she had this
tone of hopefulness, and she was like, I feel really
excited and I'm I'm ready to do this big challenge
and I'm ready to stand with these players. And yeah,
there was just an aura of hopefulness around her.
Speaker 6 (24:32):
The reality is too for the w They want it
to be the best deal that they.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Which means they want to do it as late in
the year as possible. I'm speculating here because this is
where I'm going. I mean, you've got Caitlyn Clark. It's
gonna be year two of Caitlin Clark. It's going to
be another big year, you would think. So if I'm
the owners and I'm thinking about my wallet, I'm thinking,
let's get something done sooner rather than later before they
said the numbers start to come in. But maybe I'm
just speculating, But that's kind of right. I mean, that's
got to be what you're thinking right now if you're
(24:57):
on both sides of the you know, of the of
the playing field they get. So I mean, yeah, it's
it's amazing.
Speaker 6 (25:02):
Well yeah, and that's exactly why the w n B
A p A won't won't let that happen too early.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
We were just chatting here like we were having four beers.
Speaker 6 (25:10):
It was great, and that's how you need to talk
about women's sports. We need those debates. We want we
want to base you know, bringing both sides.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
It's great.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Thank you all for joining us on the Bloomberg businesses. Well,
you were here. You were here too. Our thanks to
Bloomberg's Jenna Hawk for joining us. You can read her
reporting along with Vanessa Perdomo on the terminal and online
at Bloomberg dot com. Up next, we talk college basketball
(25:39):
with Atlantic Ten Commissioner Bernadette McGlade from my colleagues Damien
Sassaur and Vanessa Bernomo. I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to
the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg rat.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Thank you, thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business
of Sports, where we explored the big money issues in
the world of sports. Michael Barr along with the Damian
Sasaur and Vanessa Berdomo. Scarlet Fu is on assignment. March
Madness is right around the corner, so we wanted to
check in on the college basketball landscape. Joining us now
(26:20):
is Bernette McGlade. She's Atlantic Ten Conference Commissioner. Bernadette. Welcome
to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 5 (26:28):
Oh, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
See I want to step out of the way for
a second because somebody in this room has a serious
connection to Duquane and Vanessa. You got to explain what
it is.
Speaker 6 (26:42):
Yeah, Bernette, we were just talking before that. I didn't
even remember. I want, I mean, I remember that I
won the ATEN championship, right, but I didn't remember you
were the one who handed me my trophies when I
won a tens women's soccer championship in twenty fifteen, forever ago, right.
Speaker 5 (27:00):
Owners.
Speaker 6 (27:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
You know.
Speaker 6 (27:03):
One of the things that's so interesting to me about
the A ten and an Hour Conference I can still
call it that, I think is obviously we are really
basketball centric conference, you know, so we're really famously known
for these Cinderella stories, the lower seeds in the march
madness making it really far. I'm thinking of my Duqune
Dukes who were bracketbusters last year for the first round.
(27:25):
So when you were looking at basketball centric contracts the
conferences like that, how much you know revenue does that
bring in for the school and how important is is
those storylines? Are those storylines for the year for the conference?
Speaker 5 (27:40):
Oh, They're tremendously important. On selection Sunday, when any institution's
name goes up on the board, there's an immediate surge
as far as you know, the fans, support the alumni,
support their development efforts, et cetera. And it doesn't only
last for a year like what Duquine did last year.
(28:00):
It's gonna have be paying dividends for them literally for
the next five, six, seven years. And it's just, you know,
the iconic nature of what March Madness is is a
is a tremendous economic engine.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
You know, Bernadette, I'm just basically wondering how many conference
commissioners are former players, and not just any former player,
a former player who holds the all time rebounding record
at UNC for both men and women, and you know,
in today's age of nil. You know, I'm just curious,
as a former player what your thoughts are of it
and how it's impacting the conference.
Speaker 5 (28:36):
Well, my thoughts are now that you reference my playing days,
I sure wish I was still playing during the days
of nil.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
I could be killing it right now, and Vanessa could
be killing it in her soccer championship as well. But
I think that, you know, the timing is right for
the student athletes to be able to monetize their name,
image and likeness, and I'm happy that it's finally here.
It's certainly is going to change the landscape of Division
(29:05):
I college athletics, but I think it's going to change
it for the better. And at the end of the day,
the real beneficiaries are going to be all the student athletes.
And some individuals think it's just going to be solely
safe Division one football players at the FBS level, but
across the board we're seeing it and a lot of
the Olympic sport and many many of our female student
(29:27):
athletes are having a chance to benefit from it.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Well, Bernadette, I mean, I think everyone here agrees with you,
but the problem is getting there is half the battle,
and it is the wild West out there, and we're
hearing these awful stories of students committing to schools, not
getting paid, leaving their careers are ruined prematurely. I mean,
what can we do to fix the problem here?
Speaker 5 (29:47):
Well, I think it's underway right now. I think, you know,
depending on the final approval for the House settlement, which
is slated for April seventh, there are a lot of
working groups nationally right now that are putting together guardrails
to really to be able to monitor what's going on
(30:08):
and try to get out of this as you termed
it the Wild West, and you know some of this unscrupulist,
you know, decisions that are being made and student athletes
being taken advantage of. There'll be a third party clearing house.
There'll be much more accountability, and I think it will
be certainly beneficial to the student athletes and their families
who are looking to participate at a very high level
(30:31):
with these sponsorship deals.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
And now gang time for a history lesson. Let's go
back to nineteen seventy five seventy six. That's when the
Atlantic ten Conference was founded. And if I'm right, there
were only eight teams back then in the Atlantic ten.
It was called the Eastern Eight. Now today there are
fifteen teams in the Atlantic ten, which brings up my question, Man,
(31:00):
college sports has changed with realignment, hasn't it.
Speaker 5 (31:04):
It really has changed. With realignment. The Atlantic ten has
benefited greatly. We're really strengthened our footprint. Obviously when we
extend it further west and we brought in Chicago, Loyola
of Chicago, we have Saint Louis, and we have Dayton
in that western Midwest area. And then when we have
stretched our footprint further south with Davidson when they joined
(31:28):
the league. Again, all heavily basketball centric institutions with great
academic reputations profile fit really well with our mission and
our values within the Atlantic ten and realignment is something
as a commissioner myself as well as all of my
other colleagues, you know, we have to watch our membership
(31:48):
and pay attention to realignment every single year, every meeting
that we go to because it's really it's an unstable
environment right now and making sure that you not only
you know, keep your members, but you want to always
be ready if you have the opportunity to bring new
members into your league.
Speaker 4 (32:10):
You know.
Speaker 6 (32:10):
One of the things that's interesting to me about the
landscape right now for college athletics and what we're seeing
in NL and what we're potentially going to see from
the NCAA house settlement is how it could possibly affect
Olympic style, you know, sports. Can you talk a little
bit about that because you know there will be this
big payout, but a lot of it will go to
football basketball programs.
Speaker 5 (32:34):
Yeah, I think the Olympic sports that you're referencing obviously
are not going to benefit to a great level with
what is termed the back damages that are being paid
to student athletes who compete it from two sixteen on
to right now the present. But I do think going forward,
the Olympic athletes will really have a great opportunity because
(32:57):
they'll be able to not only take advantage of enhance
NIL deals, but they're member institutions. If they're going to
be increasing their financial support for their student athletes in
the sport of football and men's basketball, there'll be some
Title nine compliance that will be coming down the pike
and they'll be having to also provide those financial benefits
(33:19):
to their Olympic Sports student athletes. So I do think
that there will be a domino type effect on the
campus as we go forward.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
Brendette, you've been commissioner since two thousand and eight, and
you know, most recently we've seen some really big changes
in the sense of the PAC twelve being disbanded. I mean,
we've seen the collapse of the Big East. Talk to
us a little bit about how you thrived in this environment.
How I mean, talk to us about this media rights
package that you just renegotiated with ESPN. I mean, did
that have anything to do about it? I mean, clearly
(33:50):
you're this diamond among the rough, and you know, conditions
have just been really, really, really challenging.
Speaker 5 (33:56):
Yeah, we have a great partnership with ESPN, but one
of the eight benefits that we've been able to do
and I give a lot of credit to our President's
Council who really supported me in these negotiations, not only
in the most recent negotiation, but four years earlier in
the previous negotiation. And we have outstanding partnerships with not
(34:16):
only ESPN, but with CBS Sports, with CBS Network, and
with NBC. So the fact that we have three national
partners that are international, you know, the best of the
best in media out there, really puts our student athletes,
our teams, and our events in the homes of you know,
(34:38):
everyone across to America. I mean, in all honesty, I
can't tell you the number of times people say to
me every time I turned the TV on, I'm seeing
an A ten team play. So that has really helped
solidify our membership. And obviously we've been able to not
only benefit it from the distribution and the brand exposure,
but financially as well.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Now let's talk about gambling, because March madness is upon us,
and I got to give it up for Ducaine because
they played a game March first against George Mason and
then the Duke scored fifty points in the second half
to win eighty five sixty eight over George Mason. And Okay,
(35:25):
I'm not the kind of person to say, hey, this
team could go all the way, but part of dead
I like the Dukes.
Speaker 5 (35:33):
There you go, Yeah, they absolutely were unbelievable. And I
mean coach den Brock the way he had that team
playing at the end of the year, and they simply
weren't going to be denied. And you know, I think
the most important thing, and we've been stressing this with
the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee, is I believe that Dukine
(35:54):
was the fifth seed coming into the bracket for the
six seed for last year's championship, and not only did
they get the AQ and so they earn their way
into the NCAA, but then they advance to the round
of thirty two, and it just shows the depth of
the Atlantic Ten and the strength of the conference. And
at the end of the day, you know, you really
(36:16):
just have to you have to get in the bracket
to be able to then win the championship.
Speaker 4 (36:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (36:21):
Absolutely. And one of the things on the other side
of March Madness this year is the women are being paid,
you know, revenue sharing units for the first time for
this March Madness. Can you tell me about that? Tell
me what it's going to do for them, not only
from like an equality standpoint, but from what it can
do for women's programs to then retain the talent that
we were talking about in you know, when negotiating nil
(36:43):
and all those things. What can it do for for
the conference and the programs.
Speaker 5 (36:47):
Yeah, I think it's going to obviously enhance that. It's
going to give institutions a chance to really retain their
student athletes. But the most important thing that I think
it's going to do is now that there's a financial
unit it's earned with not only getting into the NCAA bracket,
but also as you advanced through the bracket, very similar
to the men's unit. Basically, the women's programs are going
(37:11):
to have a seat at the table at their individual institutions,
which I think undoubtedly is going to reflect on increased
commitment from member institutions because there's a very tangible returnal
and investment when you see this unit that's going to
start to be distributed this very current year, so it'll
(37:33):
benefit the individual programs coaches with their student athletes, but
it's also going to benefit the, so to speak, the
good of the game on the women's side, with I
believe increased commitments on every campus across the country.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Atlantic Ten Conference Commissioner Bernadette McGlade, thank you so much
for joining us on the Bloomberg Business and Sports.
Speaker 5 (37:53):
Thank you. It's been a pleasure, and have a great
March madness.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Thanks to Atlantic Ten Commissioner at McGlade for joining us. Now,
have you missed any part of that conversation or any
part of the show. Listen on demand with the Bloomberg
Business of Sports podcast. Find that and subscribe on your
favorite podcast platform. And thank you for joining us. For
my colleagues, Damien Sassauer and Vanessa Perdomo, I'm Michael Barr.
(38:18):
Tune in again next week for the latest on the
stories moving big old money in the world of sports.
You're listening to The Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg
Radio around the world.
This is the business of sports.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
The business of sports can be intimidating or hard for
a start to break into.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
We really appreciate when our owners are actually there, you know,
with us through the journey. Teams ours especially have been
very intentional to diversify at all levels of the company.
Speaker 4 (00:15):
I think we're in the bolden years for the NFL
and college football.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Our demographic reach has continued to explode. This is going
to be really unlocking the streaming platform for sports.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Fans, 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.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports on
Michael Barr along with my colleagues Damian Sasaur and Vanessa Berdomo.
Scarlet fu Is on assignment. Coming up on the show,
we talk college basketball with Atlantic ten Commissioner Bernadette McGlade
ahead of March Madness.
Speaker 5 (00:58):
The timing is right for the student athletes to be
able to monetize their name, image and likeness, and I'm
happy that it's finally here. It's certainly is going to
change the landscape of Division one college athletics, but I
think it's going to change it for the better.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Plus, we talked to reporting from our very own Vanessa
Prodoma along with Bloomberg News reporter Jenna Hawk, on the
growth of women's sports and the hope that players can
start to finally cash in.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
All that and more is on the way on the
Bloomberg Business of Sports, But first we have to check
in on Dallas Mavericks fans.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Michael Barr. Fans are not happy with the team after
they traded away superstar Luka Doncic, but that isn't all.
Now they've lost Kyrie Irving for the season due to
a torn acl and it looks like, my goodness, Anthony Davis,
who they traded for, might very well be out for
the season. It is the Spencer Dinwidi Show in Dallas,
Michael Barr.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
And the top and off season ticket prices are slated
to go up almost nine percent. Joining us to discuss
the state of affairs with the Mavericks. Bloomberg Dallas Bureau
Chief Julie Fine. Julie, Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
Thanks for having me back.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Man, the Dallas Mavericks. You talk about something rough going
and we're gonna get more into it in a second.
But right now, the Maverick fans are being hit with
an eight point six percent price hike after trading Luka
Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Can you please tell
us the pain that people in Dallas are going through.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
It's not a good situation, I mean, especially for them.
When the Mavericks basically came out and said, you know,
as you look at what they said about it, they
said it basically had to do a little bit with
fan engagement. So obviously this is the if you look
at the exact quote, it's ongoing investments in the team
and fan engagement. That really was the explanation for this
(02:53):
price hike. So it's just been a rough road. I
mean for fans that come and as you know, I
mean basketball fans here, there a loyal bunch to the team,
very upset. Luka Doncik was really well liked here. I mean,
he was extremely well liked in the community. Obviously there
were questions about the team was saying, the questions about
his fitness whatnot. But in the community. He was really
(03:15):
well liked and he is a global star, so fans
here the anger is not subsiding. Really.
Speaker 6 (03:23):
The interesting thing for me there is how can they possibly,
you know, justify saying that it's because of fan engagement
that they're able to raise the prices. But right now,
seemingly all of the fan engagement is really negative and
a lot of people ended up canceling their season tickets
after Luca was trated.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Yeah, I mean that's I'm sure when fans saw that
quote that we all had, it was even more frustrating.
It has been one frustration after another for MAVs fans.
First Lucas gone, then you get Anthony Davis, then he
gets injured. Then then you see Luca go to LA
and Dirk Novitski went there as well, to Cheerman no
(04:04):
jerk of course, obviously saying he's a MAVs fan for life.
But I mean, just for MAVs fans, it's just been
heartbreaking now to have to deal with spending more money
to see a team that's disappointing them. It'll be very
interesting to see how this affects the bottom line for
them when it comes to season tickets.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Well, Julie, let's just crystallize it for our audience here, please.
I mean, the Lakers aren't second place in the West, Okay,
by comparison, the MAVs are intent and fighting for their
playoff live. But you know what really caught my attention
was the quote by Adelson's son in law, Patrick Dumont.
You know, when he announced the ticket increase, he says,
quote ongoing investments in the team and fan engagement, that's
(04:42):
the reason that they're raising the price. I mean, they
just moving the team to Las Vegas. I mean, Julie,
what is going on here? I mean, how do you
throw that in your fans face after the record and
you know the blowbacks since Luca, I mean, is there
any truth to that rumor?
Speaker 7 (04:57):
Well, they've been saying that all along, But I sat
down with patrickm when he was here, I mean months ago, obviously,
not recently, and they said they are committed to Dallas
and they are committed to being here.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
So you know, they're saying all along that they're committed
to being here. But of course fans are curious about that.
Of course they're wondering about it. So they can say
it until they're blue in the face. But again, this
is just another thing that fans are dealing with. Now again,
I'm going to get into a little Texas politics here.
I mean, as you know, online gambling, casino gambling that
(05:29):
is not legal here and it is not making major
headway in the legislature. So in terms of a destination
resort I don't see that happening in Texas for some
time now. But again, they have said over and over
that they are committed to Dallas and they're committed to
the fans. The person who I think has a lot
to wonder about right now is Nico, the general manager.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I mean, I mean, look, we could talk about Nico
all we want. I mean, they're calling for his head there.
But let's just talk the numbers here. The Mavericks are valued,
I think, according to Forbes at four point seven billion dollars, right,
so you know that's up from you know, just you know,
two and a half billion in twenty twenty. So it's
not like the team hasn't doubled pretty much almost its
market value in just the last five years, right So
you know, I mean, what is moving to Las Vegas
(06:15):
really going to get you an incremental value? I mean,
what am I missing here is I mean, can you
I mean, where does that argument, I guess hold any ground.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Julie, Well, I think what you're missing here is the
same thing that people have continued to be curious about.
You know, what is the point of moving them? But
again they say over and over they are not interested
in moving the team. But I see, you know, I'm
buying what you're selling there. There's a major question about that.
But again, like they're doing well here financially, this is
(06:45):
a city that loves its sports. It really does. I mean,
people say, oh, we're not necessarily one of the biggest
sports towns now. I tend to disagree with that, but again,
I happen to live here in Dallas. But each of
the teams here has very, very very cleo fan bases
that continue to follow them, even the Stars, I mean
the Stars. Look, they're doing great, they're heading into the playoffs.
(07:06):
So in terms of why move them, that's an open question.
But they continue to say over and over that that
is not what their interest is now.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
And I know Damien and everybody, you know, when you
think of the Dallas Mavericks, the first thing that comes
to mind is Mark Cuban. But let's let's bring up
some history here. The casino billionaire, the family of Miriam Aedelson.
They bought control of the Mavericks from Cuban. That was
what in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Yeah, so that's it's kind of fueling the fire. I guess.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yeah, that's another thing that's fueling it. So and in
case you forgot NBA fans, the Mavericks were in the
NBA Finals last year. So, Julie, I guess this is
another reason why people are ticked off at the Mavericks.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Well, and I think you have to remember though, Mark
Cuban is no longer running the Mavericks. Sure he still
owns a big piece of it, but he is not
running the metabracks. So this is not a Mark Cuban decision.
You know. With Luca now how he feels about it,
I mean, he has not come out and said Mark
is an excellent businessman, businessman as you all know, but
(08:14):
he is not. I mean, miss Patrick Dumon is on
the board of governors. I mean, this is the this
is his team, Juliet.
Speaker 6 (08:19):
One of the things you know, obviously that Mark Cuban
said when he sold the team was that the way
that the NBA is moving towards real estate and things
like that. He felt like that wasn't, you know, his
area of expertise. I mean, that was that was the
reason he gave, right, that was the public facing reason
and felt that, you know, the Addamson's were going to
be able to secure a new arena. Can you tell
(08:42):
us about that and what's going on? And there's there's
even some movement moving the team to Irvine. Is that correct?
Let me know about that.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
Well, I mean, they've discussed moving the team out of downtown.
But it's interesting because in downtown they're in an area
called Victory Park and literally right across the Thruway there
is where they practice. Irving is where the Dallas Cowboys
used to play before they moved to Frisco. But there's
plenty of space there. Irving also probably has more space
for some sort of destination resort if they wanted to
do that. But then again, you get back to the
(09:11):
gambling aspect of it's which is a totally different ballgame
here in the state of Texas, and that may have
to go on the bellot even if they make any
type of progress with that in the legislature. But irming
by the way, is like twenty minutes outside the city.
It's not very far so. But at this point, like
nobody's broken ground on anything. There hasn't been any of that.
(09:32):
I think right now they're just sort of, you know,
catching their breath from this period of time that they're
going through.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
You know, Julie, I mean you mentioned Nico Harrison, and
you know, we kind of all don't want to talk
about it because it's just so bad. But you know,
I wonder, you know, you're on the ground there. I mean,
talk to me about what's the word coming out of
Jason Kidds camp. I mean, has he commented it all
since the Luca trade.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Yeah, I haven't heard much from Jason Kidna. I'm not
following all that pressers every day, so let me be
the first on that. But I haven't heard much from
his camp. Yeah, I haven't heard much from his camp.
I mean, Jason Kidd also works for Nico Harrison, so
I mean he's you know, he spoke very honestly. I
mean listen, you all saw the day they spoke about
the trade, and then you all saw what uh Luca's
(10:19):
reaction was when he was in Los Angeles, when he
was introduced. I mean, the whole thing was just mind boggling.
It's still in a way, it's very mind boggling. I mean,
you got SMU is obviously one of our colleges here
and at a basketball game there fans at a basketball
game there, we're screaming fire Nico. I mean, this is
not like things have gotten easier for Nico Harrison. But again,
(10:42):
you know, he really thinks this is what is going
to help this team in the long run. Well, look
where they are. They're almost in the playoffs. So now again,
I do want to add though, the maps have been
just destroyed by injuries of late, and you know that's
certainly not helping the situation either. Like it's really the
worst of all worlds for this team. But real it will,
(11:03):
you know, it'll it'll be interesting to see what happens
with Nico. I mean, I don't think you know, you're
going to see anything in the next couple of months.
And clearly the Dumonts like him to trust him or
they want to let this happen.
Speaker 6 (11:13):
Julie. One of the things I'm interested in is, obviously,
like you were saying before, Dallas is actually kind of
a really incredible sports town. Does the downtick in the
Mavericks right now change that as a whole? Do you
think it has any effect on the town itself.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
Well, I mean I think they're gonna you know, I
think we all know from our fan bases. You get
frustrated with your fan bases at times like Listen, I'm
from Buffalo, I remember when we were two and fourteen.
I'm still a Bill's fan. You know, you kind of
get through it, you push through. So I think it's
a frustrating time. But there's again, with a city like
Dallas too, there are so many sports here. I think
(11:49):
we get overlooked in that respect. You know, there's so
many different sports here. We have WMBA. I mean, we
have so much going on that I think while people
are frustrated with the Mavericks event, they'll stick it out
and there's still plenty of great sports for people here.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (12:04):
I think what the Wings are supposed to get the
number one draft picked, is that right?
Speaker 4 (12:10):
Yeah, they're supposed to get the number one, the new Caitlin,
the new Caitlin Clark. So that's always exciting. And you know,
seeing as now we can say that this was brought
to you by the Dallas Chamber of Commerce. I can
again say we really are a great sports town.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Our thanks to Bloomberg Dallas Bureau chief Julie Fine for
joining us up. Next, we're marking International Women's Day this
weekend with a conversation on the rise of women's sports
and whether leagues can capitalize on recent momentum and start
paying players there do. That is straight ahead on the
Bloomberg Business of Sports from my colleagues Damien Sasaur and
(12:47):
Vanessa Perdomo. I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg
Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
This is Bloomberg Business Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
This is the.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore the big money
issues in the world of sports. Michael Barr, along with
Damian Sasaur and Vanessa Perdomo. Scarlet Foo is on assignment.
The WNBA is coming off a great season, powered in
part by the rise of superstar Caitlin Clark.
Speaker 6 (13:20):
Clark the Steel Mitchell, the Knockaway Clark Street.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
It's part of a larger rise in popularity for women's
sports across the board, but the players still earn a
lot less than their male counterparts.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Our very own Vanessa Perdomo and Bloomberg News reporter Jenna
Hawk did some reporting on how players are seeking a
bigger cut of the billions of dollars now flowing into
women's sports, and Jenna joins us now to discuss thanks
for having me. What you know, I get frustrated because
I get tired that has taken this long for this
(13:57):
to take place? Why so blasted law?
Speaker 6 (14:01):
Well, the short answer there is sexism. I wo you know,
so that's really the short answer there, Michael. But I
think the reason why, you know, we we've decided to
write this piece was because of everything that happened last year.
So we really have this thesis of twenty twenty four
was the year of women's sports, but they still didn't
(14:22):
get the chunk of the money that was, you know
what we were seeing with the investment coming in, So
we wanted to look at what's at stake for them
to really get that money this year.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Now, now you guys got to correct this one for
me because I didn't know the statistic, is that right?
That of the men's and the women's NBA regular season
that was consumed in twenty twenty four, it was sixty
percent men's forty percent women's. Is that right, So in
terms of the revenue generated, it's sixty forty split. Yet
you guys point out that part of the revenue sharing
for the players, it's only three percent to the women.
(14:57):
Is that right?
Speaker 6 (14:57):
Yeah, Jenna, can you get into that because there was
like more, there was so much more about that revenue
showing that we weren't really able to get into into
the piece. It's really in the weeds, Jennet, Can you
explain that totally?
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (15:09):
So, basically, the NBA and WNBA have recently inked this
new media rights deal that's considered historic for both both leagues. Unfortunately,
it's not equal or historic in terms of equal pay.
So you're exactly right that the WNBA, over this entire
last season has and compared with the NBA, the WNBA
(15:32):
has captured around forty percent of the ratings. In terms
of money that they're actually getting to pay players and
to actually fund the league, that's only around three percent
of the money. So there's still this even with these
kind of historic media rights deals that they say are
some of the best kind of deals for women's sports.
It's still not at all equal or even close to equal.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
There are so many women that are out there that
are kicking button taking the but in twenty twenty four,
there's one name that just kerpow. We are now at hello,
we are arriving Jenna, and it's Caitlin Clark.
Speaker 8 (16:11):
Oh yes, mss Clark.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Can you explain to the audience her impact and what
she has meant, not just obviously to the WNBA, but
to women's sports in general.
Speaker 8 (16:25):
Totally. So, Kitlyn Clark obviously had a historic record career
in college basketball, and so then when she arrived to
the WNBA, she was able to convert so many college
basketball fans to the w which then brought in a
flu of corporate sponsorships, extra media partnerships, all these other deals.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
But also it.
Speaker 8 (16:50):
Shed a light again on this pay inequity. So Kitlyn Clark,
when she arrived into the WNBA, she only took home
seventy six thousand in her first season, the number one
draft pick for the NBA. So basically the exact same
male counterpart for the NBA, Victor wimbin Yama, earned more
than one hundred times that salary in his first season.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
I mean I'm not listening. You make seventy six thousand
dollars and you're out there and you know you're trying
to do a job. That's that's one thing. But compared
to what you just said to Victor Ruminyama, I mean
that's ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (17:26):
Yeah, people were comparing her salary to a entry level accountant,
which I think is very funny.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Michael Bart, I mean, you haven't even scratched the surface.
Listen to the statistic that that Jenna Vanessa pull out
of this article. Volleyball Okay, professional volleyball player, right, and volleyballs,
you know, come on the scene. You know, we've had
John Patrick hof John Soros on this very show talking
about athletes unlimited, but Pro Volleyball Federation and League One
Volleyball pay on average a minimum salary to their players
(17:55):
of something like sixty thousand dollars. Yet that's just six
thousand dollars below the minimum salary paid to a w
NBA professional basketball player. That is, if I'm getting this right,
correct me if I'm wrong, girls, I think it's right.
Speaker 6 (18:09):
No, it's sixteen thousand less than Kaitlin Corks.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
But with.
Speaker 6 (18:13):
Minimum the minimum salaries, we're about there, which is is
exactly that. So the point in that we were bringing
across there and that we why brought in volleyball into
the conversations because it's this next sport, this next women's sport,
that people are pouring a lot of money into. Now
there's going to be four professional leagues in the US
for women's professional volleyball, with one hundred million dollars pouring
(18:35):
into each league. So the reason why they're able to
have this sixty thousand dollars minimum is because there's only
about six to eight teams in each of those leagues, so.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
The players more capital to go around. Totally get but
it's their first year. This is volleyball first year. Yeah,
that's exactly my point. I mean, you can't even it's
apples and oranges. It's just a different constellation entirely. And
yet only six minimum that is just anyway. So that
is obviously, and Jenna correct me if I'm wrong. Why
you have these new leagues like Unrivaled that are coming
(19:05):
on the scene where you know, women players are getting paid.
Talk to us a little bit about Unrivaled. What's their
business strategy that they're able to pay so much more
to your average player, And do you think there's a
real possibility that that league could even unsea and take
some of the talent away from the WNBA totally.
Speaker 8 (19:23):
So Unrivaled started actually as a spinoff created by a
couple of current WNBA some of the biggest stars in
the league, Shanna Stewart and the Visa Collier, and their
whole ethos was that players shouldn't be going overseas in
the offseason. They need to keep being seen by an
American audience. They need to keep being able to improve
(19:43):
on their game while also having access to new media opportunities,
to new corporate sponsorships. So let's give them a platform
to pay. And you know, they were able to shore
up a ton of investments, They raised a ton of
capital and they're guaranteeing all their players will make way
more than they make in the w for about a
third of the season.
Speaker 6 (20:03):
And also Nafisa Collier, who's one of the co founders
of the league. They ended up doing this really fun
in the middle of the season. You know, one on
one tournament she won it. She won two hundred thousand
dollars and she said, in thirty minutes of play, I
won the equivalent of my wnba' shwer I mean that
is crazy.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Well, remember now, this is kind of what got Britney
Griner in trouble because she had to go over to
Russia to play and then well we all know the
story what happened, but the point is she had to
go to Russia to go make more money than she
would have been at the time in the WNBA.
Speaker 8 (20:39):
Absolutely, so many players were traveling to Russia, to Turkey,
to China, to Spain, to South Korea and they were
making essentially like three to four times their income in
a WNBA season alone.
Speaker 6 (20:53):
Yeah mind you like about seven figures, Brianna Stewart, I mean,
Britney Grinder was making overseas in Russia and that's why
there was that you know, inkling to go there. Diana
Trossi one time got paid by them to not play
in the WNBA, you know so, and it still hasn't
gotten to that level. But that's where this new CBA
is coming into play this year, which is a lot
of the reporting that me and Jenna did this, you know,
(21:15):
did this on this article. Was this new CBA for
the WNBA is.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Really me make or break?
Speaker 3 (21:20):
In this conversation, well, that's exactly where I want to go.
I mean, when do we see that CBA negotiation take place?
What comes next? What's the lead up look like into that,
you know, into that actual decision? I mean, I mean
I haven't heard much about it. I mean, who's who's
in the room, you know, who's making these decisions.
Speaker 8 (21:36):
So last October the union opted out of continuing the
existing collective bargaining agreement.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Which is with the men, right or.
Speaker 8 (21:47):
It's different, Okay, So they opted out of their own
collective bargaining agreement last October and are basically taking all
of this entire year to negotiate with the league to
strike a better contract. And from the union side, the
executive director Terry Jackson kind of told us it's like
(22:07):
preparing for battle. They have hired tons of great lawyers.
They hired a Nobel Prize winning economist, Claudia Golden. They've
hired communications people, media people to basically just staff up
and be able to say, here are the financial documents.
Are we being undervalued? What do we need to be
asking for? Here are meetings with the players, Here's what
(22:29):
they want to prioritize. How do we make this work
so that we can strike a contract that's good for everyone.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
I want to give a shout out since we're talking
about the WNBA to Serena Williams. He just invested in
the new team in Toronto that will hit the league
in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 6 (22:45):
Yeah, and that's and it's amazing to see, you know,
Serena come in to the league in that way, especially
because I've actually had conversations with her husband, Alexis o'hannian,
because he obviously invests a lot in women's sports. He's
invested into the NWSL and track and golf, but you know,
he said he wasn't sure if he would get into
the WNBA. So now Serena stepping into that market, which
is incredible and I think even more impactful to have
(23:08):
someone like her come into the league, come into a
new team and say, you know, I want to be
a part of this, And obviously it just brings in
more eyes and building a new organization, new expansion. I mean,
there's so many more expansion teams that are coming into
the league in the next couple of years. So it's exciting.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
So Jenna, just so, they renegotiated in October of last
year and now they're gonna spend all this year and
talks in a new contract, which is expected to take effect.
I guess next.
Speaker 8 (23:36):
Year January of twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Fe Okay, So we'll probably hear by Q three or
something as we get into there. I don't know. I mean,
is there any expectation on when we're going to hear
that they've been making progress, that their clothes on something? Probably?
I mean, is it going to be right up until
I don't know, December thirty first, I mean, what are
your thoughts there?
Speaker 8 (23:54):
Yeah, I think it really depends on how much each
side is willing to compromise. We know that they've met
a couple times already, and from the W side, they
have announced that they've had productive meetings with members of
the union, with advisors, players, et cetera. It's definitely still
early right now, but things are hopefully looking good. When again,
(24:17):
when we spoke to the executive director, she had this
tone of hopefulness, and she was like, I feel really
excited and I'm I'm ready to do this big challenge
and I'm ready to stand with these players. And yeah,
there was just an aura of hopefulness around her.
Speaker 6 (24:32):
The reality is too for the w They want it
to be the best deal that they.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Which means they want to do it as late in
the year as possible. I'm speculating here because this is
where I'm going. I mean, you've got Caitlyn Clark. It's
gonna be year two of Caitlin Clark. It's going to
be another big year, you would think. So if I'm
the owners and I'm thinking about my wallet, I'm thinking,
let's get something done sooner rather than later before they
said the numbers start to come in. But maybe I'm
just speculating, But that's kind of right. I mean, that's
got to be what you're thinking right now if you're
(24:57):
on both sides of the you know, of the of
the playing field they get. So I mean, yeah, it's
it's amazing.
Speaker 6 (25:02):
Well yeah, and that's exactly why the w n B
A p A won't won't let that happen too early.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
We were just chatting here like we were having four beers.
Speaker 6 (25:10):
It was great, and that's how you need to talk
about women's sports. We need those debates. We want we
want to base you know, bringing both sides.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
It's great.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Thank you all for joining us on the Bloomberg businesses. Well,
you were here. You were here too. Our thanks to
Bloomberg's Jenna Hawk for joining us. You can read her
reporting along with Vanessa Perdomo on the terminal and online
at Bloomberg dot com. Up next, we talk college basketball
(25:39):
with Atlantic Ten Commissioner Bernadette McGlade from my colleagues Damien
Sassaur and Vanessa Bernomo. I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to
the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg rat.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Thank you, thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business
of Sports, where we explored the big money issues in
the world of sports. Michael Barr along with the Damian
Sasaur and Vanessa Berdomo. Scarlet Fu is on assignment. March
Madness is right around the corner, so we wanted to
check in on the college basketball landscape. Joining us now
(26:20):
is Bernette McGlade. She's Atlantic Ten Conference Commissioner. Bernadette. Welcome
to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 5 (26:28):
Oh, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
See I want to step out of the way for
a second because somebody in this room has a serious
connection to Duquane and Vanessa. You got to explain what
it is.
Speaker 6 (26:42):
Yeah, Bernette, we were just talking before that. I didn't
even remember. I want, I mean, I remember that I
won the ATEN championship, right, but I didn't remember you
were the one who handed me my trophies when I
won a tens women's soccer championship in twenty fifteen, forever ago, right.
Speaker 5 (27:00):
Owners.
Speaker 6 (27:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
You know.
Speaker 6 (27:03):
One of the things that's so interesting to me about
the A ten and an Hour Conference I can still
call it that, I think is obviously we are really
basketball centric conference, you know, so we're really famously known
for these Cinderella stories, the lower seeds in the march
madness making it really far. I'm thinking of my Duqune
Dukes who were bracketbusters last year for the first round.
(27:25):
So when you were looking at basketball centric contracts the
conferences like that, how much you know revenue does that
bring in for the school and how important is is
those storylines? Are those storylines for the year for the conference?
Speaker 5 (27:40):
Oh, They're tremendously important. On selection Sunday, when any institution's
name goes up on the board, there's an immediate surge
as far as you know, the fans, support the alumni,
support their development efforts, et cetera. And it doesn't only
last for a year like what Duquine did last year.
(28:00):
It's gonna have be paying dividends for them literally for
the next five, six, seven years. And it's just, you know,
the iconic nature of what March Madness is is a
is a tremendous economic engine.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
You know, Bernadette, I'm just basically wondering how many conference
commissioners are former players, and not just any former player,
a former player who holds the all time rebounding record
at UNC for both men and women, and you know,
in today's age of nil. You know, I'm just curious,
as a former player what your thoughts are of it
and how it's impacting the conference.
Speaker 5 (28:36):
Well, my thoughts are now that you reference my playing days,
I sure wish I was still playing during the days
of nil.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
I could be killing it right now, and Vanessa could
be killing it in her soccer championship as well. But
I think that, you know, the timing is right for
the student athletes to be able to monetize their name,
image and likeness, and I'm happy that it's finally here.
It's certainly is going to change the landscape of Division
(29:05):
I college athletics, but I think it's going to change
it for the better. And at the end of the day,
the real beneficiaries are going to be all the student athletes.
And some individuals think it's just going to be solely
safe Division one football players at the FBS level, but
across the board we're seeing it and a lot of
the Olympic sport and many many of our female student
(29:27):
athletes are having a chance to benefit from it.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Well, Bernadette, I mean, I think everyone here agrees with you,
but the problem is getting there is half the battle,
and it is the wild West out there, and we're
hearing these awful stories of students committing to schools, not
getting paid, leaving their careers are ruined prematurely. I mean,
what can we do to fix the problem here?
Speaker 5 (29:47):
Well, I think it's underway right now. I think, you know,
depending on the final approval for the House settlement, which
is slated for April seventh, there are a lot of
working groups nationally right now that are putting together guardrails
to really to be able to monitor what's going on
(30:08):
and try to get out of this as you termed
it the Wild West, and you know some of this unscrupulist,
you know, decisions that are being made and student athletes
being taken advantage of. There'll be a third party clearing house.
There'll be much more accountability, and I think it will
be certainly beneficial to the student athletes and their families
who are looking to participate at a very high level
(30:31):
with these sponsorship deals.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
And now gang time for a history lesson. Let's go
back to nineteen seventy five seventy six. That's when the
Atlantic ten Conference was founded. And if I'm right, there
were only eight teams back then in the Atlantic ten.
It was called the Eastern Eight. Now today there are
fifteen teams in the Atlantic ten, which brings up my question, Man,
(31:00):
college sports has changed with realignment, hasn't it.
Speaker 5 (31:04):
It really has changed. With realignment. The Atlantic ten has
benefited greatly. We're really strengthened our footprint. Obviously when we
extend it further west and we brought in Chicago, Loyola
of Chicago, we have Saint Louis, and we have Dayton
in that western Midwest area. And then when we have
stretched our footprint further south with Davidson when they joined
(31:28):
the league. Again, all heavily basketball centric institutions with great
academic reputations profile fit really well with our mission and
our values within the Atlantic ten and realignment is something
as a commissioner myself as well as all of my
other colleagues, you know, we have to watch our membership
(31:48):
and pay attention to realignment every single year, every meeting
that we go to because it's really it's an unstable
environment right now and making sure that you not only
you know, keep your members, but you want to always
be ready if you have the opportunity to bring new
members into your league.
Speaker 4 (32:10):
You know.
Speaker 6 (32:10):
One of the things that's interesting to me about the
landscape right now for college athletics and what we're seeing
in NL and what we're potentially going to see from
the NCAA house settlement is how it could possibly affect
Olympic style, you know, sports. Can you talk a little
bit about that because you know there will be this
big payout, but a lot of it will go to
football basketball programs.
Speaker 5 (32:34):
Yeah, I think the Olympic sports that you're referencing obviously
are not going to benefit to a great level with
what is termed the back damages that are being paid
to student athletes who compete it from two sixteen on
to right now the present. But I do think going forward,
the Olympic athletes will really have a great opportunity because
(32:57):
they'll be able to not only take advantage of enhance
NIL deals, but they're member institutions. If they're going to
be increasing their financial support for their student athletes in
the sport of football and men's basketball, there'll be some
Title nine compliance that will be coming down the pike
and they'll be having to also provide those financial benefits
(33:19):
to their Olympic Sports student athletes. So I do think
that there will be a domino type effect on the
campus as we go forward.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
Brendette, you've been commissioner since two thousand and eight, and
you know, most recently we've seen some really big changes
in the sense of the PAC twelve being disbanded. I mean,
we've seen the collapse of the Big East. Talk to
us a little bit about how you thrived in this environment.
How I mean, talk to us about this media rights
package that you just renegotiated with ESPN. I mean, did
that have anything to do about it? I mean, clearly
(33:50):
you're this diamond among the rough, and you know, conditions
have just been really, really, really challenging.
Speaker 5 (33:56):
Yeah, we have a great partnership with ESPN, but one
of the eight benefits that we've been able to do
and I give a lot of credit to our President's
Council who really supported me in these negotiations, not only
in the most recent negotiation, but four years earlier in
the previous negotiation. And we have outstanding partnerships with not
(34:16):
only ESPN, but with CBS Sports, with CBS Network, and
with NBC. So the fact that we have three national
partners that are international, you know, the best of the
best in media out there, really puts our student athletes,
our teams, and our events in the homes of you know,
(34:38):
everyone across to America. I mean, in all honesty, I
can't tell you the number of times people say to
me every time I turned the TV on, I'm seeing
an A ten team play. So that has really helped
solidify our membership. And obviously we've been able to not
only benefit it from the distribution and the brand exposure,
but financially as well.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Now let's talk about gambling, because March madness is upon us,
and I got to give it up for Ducaine because
they played a game March first against George Mason and
then the Duke scored fifty points in the second half
to win eighty five sixty eight over George Mason. And Okay,
(35:25):
I'm not the kind of person to say, hey, this
team could go all the way, but part of dead
I like the Dukes.
Speaker 5 (35:33):
There you go, Yeah, they absolutely were unbelievable. And I
mean coach den Brock the way he had that team
playing at the end of the year, and they simply
weren't going to be denied. And you know, I think
the most important thing, and we've been stressing this with
the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee, is I believe that Dukine
(35:54):
was the fifth seed coming into the bracket for the
six seed for last year's championship, and not only did
they get the AQ and so they earn their way
into the NCAA, but then they advance to the round
of thirty two, and it just shows the depth of
the Atlantic Ten and the strength of the conference. And
at the end of the day, you know, you really
(36:16):
just have to you have to get in the bracket
to be able to then win the championship.
Speaker 4 (36:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (36:21):
Absolutely. And one of the things on the other side
of March Madness this year is the women are being paid,
you know, revenue sharing units for the first time for
this March Madness. Can you tell me about that? Tell
me what it's going to do for them, not only
from like an equality standpoint, but from what it can
do for women's programs to then retain the talent that
we were talking about in you know, when negotiating nil
(36:43):
and all those things. What can it do for for
the conference and the programs.
Speaker 5 (36:47):
Yeah, I think it's going to obviously enhance that. It's
going to give institutions a chance to really retain their
student athletes. But the most important thing that I think
it's going to do is now that there's a financial
unit it's earned with not only getting into the NCAA bracket,
but also as you advanced through the bracket, very similar
to the men's unit. Basically, the women's programs are going
(37:11):
to have a seat at the table at their individual institutions,
which I think undoubtedly is going to reflect on increased
commitment from member institutions because there's a very tangible returnal
and investment when you see this unit that's going to
start to be distributed this very current year, so it'll
(37:33):
benefit the individual programs coaches with their student athletes, but
it's also going to benefit the, so to speak, the
good of the game on the women's side, with I
believe increased commitments on every campus across the country.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Atlantic Ten Conference Commissioner Bernadette McGlade, thank you so much
for joining us on the Bloomberg Business and Sports.
Speaker 5 (37:53):
Thank you. It's been a pleasure, and have a great
March madness.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Thanks to Atlantic Ten Commissioner at McGlade for joining us. Now,
have you missed any part of that conversation or any
part of the show. Listen on demand with the Bloomberg
Business of Sports podcast. Find that and subscribe on your
favorite podcast platform. And thank you for joining us. For
my colleagues, Damien Sassauer and Vanessa Perdomo, I'm Michael Barr.
(38:18):
Tune in again next week for the latest on the
stories moving big old 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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