May 23, 2025 • 38 mins
Join hosts Michael Barr, Damian Sassower and Vanessa Perdomo for a look at some of the latest headlines and stories in the business of sports.
Amazon is betting big on sports for Prime Video and its excited for this year's slate of Thursday Night Football games on the platform. Bloomberg News media reporter Hannah Miller joins the team to talk about Prime Video's growing sports programming stable with Jay Marine, Amazon's VP and global head of Prime Video Sports.
Then, it's all about racing. Vanessa Perdomo sits down with NASCAR racer Katherine Legge to talk about her career and diversity in racing.
And we get ready for Sunday's Indianapolis 500 with IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles.
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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.
Speaker 4 (00:10):
Teams ours especially have been very intentional to diversify at
all levels.
Speaker 5 (00:15):
Of the company.
Speaker 6 (00:15):
I think we're in the bolden years for the NFL
and college football.
Speaker 7 (00:18):
Our demographic reach has continued to explode.
Speaker 8 (00:21):
This is going to be really unlocking the streaming platform
for sports fans.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Sports evaluations are rising. We'll see when they peak.
Speaker 6 (00:29):
You don't have to be the best in your sport
to make a whole ton of money.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports. Michael
Barr along with Damian Sassauer and Vanessa Perdomo. Scarlett fou
is on assignment. Coming up. We are all about racing. Yes,
the Indianapolis five hundred is this weekend and we'll get
you ready for it with Indy Car and Indianapolis Motor
(01:00):
Speedway President Doug bowl.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
So.
Speaker 7 (01:02):
Racing over the last a few years has been really
good here at the Speedway. There's a lot of tradition
around the speedway, the number of people that come back
for generations in year over year, and we're beginning to
build stars again in.
Speaker 6 (01:13):
The IndyCar Series like we had several years ago.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
We'll also hear from trailblazing NASCAR driver Catherine leg All
of that and more is on the way on the
Bloomberg Business of Sports, But first, Amazon is betting big
that sports, with its Prime video streaming platform, will carry
it through its sports lineup. Touts New York Yankees games,
(01:36):
NASCAR boxing, and will add NBA games next season, and
the crown jewel at the moment is the rights to
NFL Thursday Night football games and Amazon. They believe that
this year's slate of games will be its strongest yet.
Joining us now to dive into Amazon's big sports plans
or Prime Video is Amazon VP and Global ahead of
(01:57):
Prime Video Sports, Jay Marine, as well as Bloomberg News
media reporter Hannah Miller.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Thank you. I'm happy to be here, Thank you for
having me.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
There's a lot to talk about. Let's I want to start.
First of all, you guys got the Thursday night viewership
and I'm looking at this I got a lot to
say about this NFL schedule, but I'm going to start
with the Thursday night schedule, which is a pretty solid schedule.
You guys are coming out the blocks week two, September eleventh,
Commanders at the Packers.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Absolutely, this schedule is the best Thursday night football schedule
we've ever seen, and it shows you the continued trust
that the NFL has in us. You know, I know
we'll walk through it, but we have ten divisional matchups.
We start in Lambeau, as you said, with the Commanders coming,
huge Black Friday and Christmas games we can talk about,
(02:49):
and then you know, we have that little Detroit game
versus Dallas, so you can decide which team's America's team.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Well, James, let's chang Jay and let this jump right in.
You graduated from Universe Michigan. You grew up in Michigan.
I said, here here next to Michael barn All, here
is Detroit, Michigan. We ate Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Chargers.
JJ McCarthy against his former coach wanted for you, Michigan
Blue Boys. I mean, that's a pretty Did you have
(03:16):
anything to do with that? I'm just I mean, like,
let us know right now, I'd like to take credit
for that. I'd also like to take credit for the
National Championship. It was glorious.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
I did happen to be at the Rose Bowl in
the National Championship?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Were you there? I wish I was. I wish I
was at that super Bowl. By the way that we see,
I want to check the pronown here so you all
understand why. Jay obviously also a native detroiter in that area,
and when we hosted the Super Bowl, I wanted so
much to go. My best friend he got to go
(03:54):
because at the time he worked for Xerox, so he
had to man all the Xerox machines. I see, man,
how to go? Can I carry your luggage? Can I
do anything for you? Man? Is like, this has got
to be again. You've got in Hannah jump in here.
With this schedule for the NFL is going to be
very exciting for you guys.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yeah, like I said, we we could not be happier.
You know, when you look at our audience has been
up over almost forty percent from the first year of
Thursday Night Football through to our third year, so continued
growth in the audience. We have an audience that's eight
years younger than an audience that watches NFL games on
Linear and so all of that lines up with what
(04:39):
the NFL is looking for. They want to reach newer fans,
they want to reach younger fans, and this schedule reflects it.
We have the Super Bowl champ Philadelphia Eagles twice on
this schedule. Yeah, we have Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen
twice on this schedule.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
And Jay, it's a lot of divisional games, right, I mean,
I've never seen a slate of divisional games like this
coming in actually on a Thursday night.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Before tension matchups, and those are so key because you
know they're always going to matter, and they're going to
matter more because of the impact on the division. So really,
you know, our whole team is a static. You know,
Michaels and Al Michaels is very had. We had a
lot of texts going on yesterday that the team is
very Kirk's coming back just a great and then you
(05:22):
know our halftime crew with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Richard Sherman
Andrew Whitworth, so their fun crew. But I think the
younger audience has really responded to that. We've really tried
to come really get people right off the field who
are fresh faces. You know, we talk about if you
guys ever came to one of our games at a
pre game, we talk about how many of the current
(05:45):
players come up to these guys and it's like non stop.
You know, they come up to Sherm, they come up
to Wit because they just got done battling with these
guys a couple of years ago, right, So they know
the league in and out, and we're having a lot
of fun. We can't wait to get going this year.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Well it's not just the NFL either, right, I mean,
you guys had a pretty big year.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
I mean, let's talk.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
About the NBA a little bit, right And by the way,
talk about Thursday Night. You guys can own Thursday Night Sporting,
right because you got the double headers on Thursday, you
got the double headers on Friday. We're talking basketball here,
and I think you have some black Friday sprinkled in there. Also,
not to mention six out of the next eleven NBA finals,
I mean that's some slate, you know, well done there,
I mean exciting stuff.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
The NBA is a big deal for us, big deal
for the company, and that's an eleven year deal starts
in the fall. As you said, just an incredible package
of playoff games. We'll have about a third of the
playoff playoffs we'll have every year. We'll have the play
in games, and we'll also have the n Season Tournament.
(06:45):
And we think that N Season Tournament's just going to
continue to grow. And we have a bunch of ideas
there and we've introduced some of our talent there. We're
gonna have Blake Griffin, Dirk Novinsky, Steve Nash, Dwayne Wade,
like Candice Parker so and the chemistry I'm already seeing
with that group is just fantastic.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
And I think Dwyane Wade is the best men and mellow.
I love that commercial.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
He's the best. And you know why Hannah is here
because this is number one entertainment, especially for a dude
like me.
Speaker 8 (07:18):
And Yeah, well, I was going to ask, like, what
are you planning on doing with the viewing experience on
Prime for people? You know, we saw NBC come out
with all these changes that they're doing, the Peacock for
the NBA. You know, you got graphic overlays, statistics and
mobile game coming out. What are you guys doing?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Yeah, I think you're going to see a lot of
innovation from us. We're going to take the exact same
approach we took with Thursday Night Football. So for anyone
has seen some of the AI innovations we brought to
Thursday Night Football in our alternative cast called Prime Vision,
you know, we've created something called defensive Alerts, which essentially
is highlights players that may blitz. But this is happening
(07:59):
real time in the broadcast without latency, So when you
work with Ryan Fitzpatt, it's what a quarterback has to identify.
And so we've rolled out a number of those on
Thursday Night Football. But now pointing to NBA, you're going
to see that similar investment. And I think we have
a pretty unique approach. We have a whole team in Israel,
a data scientist, AI experts, machine learning experts. This is
(08:22):
kind of in our DNA and the special sauce is
really combining those people with people who know the game,
like a Blake Griffin and a Juwyane Wade, combined with
our production people who know how to storytell. You know,
it's very easy just to throw a lot of data
up on the screen. That's not super helpful. It's got
to be concise. It's got to really advance the education
(08:44):
of the fan and the storytelling. So you're going to
see exact same approach we took with Thursday Night Football
and stay tuned for the details on that.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Well, Jay, I'd love to stick with that theme of
storytelling because your Amazon original sports documentaries are just unbelievable.
And now we're talking by By, you know, we're talking
Coach Prime. But you know what stories haven't been told yet?
You know, like what's coming up?
Speaker 3 (09:07):
It's a good question. There's a lot more to be told.
And I think you know what's interesting is sports are
the greatest unscripted show on Earth, and there's so much
drama that happens, and there's so much drama that happens
behind the scenes that you can't really learn about until
some time passes and people are ready to talk about it.
(09:28):
And so when you saw that with Bye Bye Berry,
for example, I want it.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Now you are a native Detroiter. I'm a native Detroiter,
and I want to get to this schedule that we
got for the Detroit Line, Baby Glynn. Now look, we
got the second toughest schedule overall, and I already want
to get into what the road game is all about.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
I am incredibly excited, but I'm with you, that is
a tough schedule. It is a brutal, brutal schedule. And
obviously we've lost a couple of assistant coaches, fantastic coaches.
But I trust Dan Campbell. We're gonna get to the
promised Land sooner or later.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Here, Jay, I just have to ask you, you know,
because you know, when I think of Amazon and what
a beast it is, and you know, I mean in
terms of just the company itself and what it does,
and then I look at, you know, the suite of
not forget about the NBA, forget about the NFL for
a second. I'm talking one Championship, Premiere boxing. I'm Champions
League football in the UK, Cricket New Zealand, cricket in India. Yeah,
(10:30):
copa football, I mean Brazil. I'm just looking at this
slate and I'm like, how do.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
You manage that?
Speaker 9 (10:36):
Like?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
What your day job must look like?
Speaker 4 (10:37):
I mean, and are you traveling to these places and
dealing with the local providers and all.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
The I mean, how does that all?
Speaker 4 (10:43):
I mean, what's your day job look like?
Speaker 5 (10:45):
Here?
Speaker 3 (10:47):
I have a very fun job, first of all. And
my wife often says, they are going to pay you, right,
I think so.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I think so.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Listen, this is a childhood dream. I grew up sports.
I love sports. No one's probably played or watch more
than I have, and so I love it. And yes,
we are really all over the world. In fact, it's
interesting we started our entry into sports in the UK.
I was over there at the time actually, and we
started that with our entry into the Premier League and
(11:19):
that was around twenty seventeen, and really it was the
first major league that ever put any games on streaming
exclusively in the home country, and.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
That was only eight years ago.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
And you know, we've learned a lot over that time
and we've built up the credibility. And now, as you said,
we have Champions League in the UK, Germany, Italy, Wimbledon
and Germany. I mean this is Grimbledon in Germany. We
have the French Open in France, we have soccer in
lat Ham and so oh, and we also have hockey
(11:52):
in Canada. So what you're really seeing is we are
focused on having the biggest Tier one sports in every country,
you know, and so it's less about having worldwide rights
necessarily because fans live in one country per se and
there's only a few sports that really are worldwide. Now
NBA is one of them. They've done a fantastic job
(12:14):
and that deal is a worldwide deal for us that
we're incredibly excited about. But all of that innovation and
all that time spent is really why we've been able
to have such a quality streaming experience, such picture quality,
because we've been at this for a long time, and
what we did in Europe was part of the reason
(12:34):
that gave the NFL confidence that we could do that here.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Aber thanks to Amazon Prime Videos head of Sports and Advertising,
Jay Marine for joining us, as well as our own
Hannah Miller. Up next, we'll talk to a NASCAR trailblazer,
Catherine leg For Damian Sasawa and Vanessa Bernomo. I'm Michael bar.
You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg
Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
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 Damian Sasauer and Vanessa Perdomo. We're
all in on racing the rest of the way as
we get ready for the ND five hundred this weekend,
plus a slate of big NASCAR races, including the Coca
Cola six hundred. Trailblazing NASCAR racer Catherine Legg will be
(13:30):
competing in that race, and earlier this week, our own
Vanessa Perdomo got a chance to sit down with her.
Let's take a listen to their conversation.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
You're the first woman to compete in the NASCAR Cup
Series in since twenty eighteen, right, And I mean it's surprising.
It's not surprising, right, but given you know how female
athletes have been treated over the last few years, right,
but seven years? You know, tell me about your journey
because you've you've been professional for a very long time.
This isn't new, right, But tell me about your journey
to get here.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Yeah, long time.
Speaker 9 (14:00):
You're aging me now. But I have literally driven everything
in my career, like I have one of the most
diverse careers in racing. I've driven open wheel and electric
cars and sports cars, and I did a handful of
NASCAR races back in twenty eighteen, and I loved it,
and I wanted to do more of it, but it's
it's almost a different sport. It's not, but it's a
(14:22):
different paddock, it's different people, and I just didn't know
how to like break into it per se. So a
long come ELF and with the most wonderful partnership where
they're truly empowering women right like they say it. A
lot of people say it these days and it's just
a buzzword, but they actually stand behind it and they
mean it. And we were going to do The Night
(14:43):
five hundred this year and we didn't get cars, so
we like were pivoting to NASCAR, and we went all
in on NASCAR. And so I feel incredibly fortunate that
I have such a powerhouse company standing alongside me, you know,
breaking down these barriers. And it is surprising that it's
been so years. But it's also you know, it's a
really tough business to be in. Whether you're man, woman, black, white,
(15:08):
no matter what it is, it's it's really tough. So
hopefully hopefully there'll be more following in my footsteps.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
Yeah absolutely, And yeah I want to get into that,
you know, the partnership with ELF a little bit more.
And because they were your partners, also went in IndyCar before, right,
and I listened to you on your podcast you had
talked about it and said, you know, the event last
year that you did with them was one of the
most rewarding of your career. Can you elaborate a little
bit on that and on the partnership there?
Speaker 9 (15:35):
It really was. It was special and I had no idea. Okay,
so going into Indie last year, it was the second
year that I'd partnered with them, but they wanted to
go do it in a big, splashy cool way and
really make a difference because, like I said, they really
do stand behind the company ethos, and so they're out
there empowering all these women and some men by making
(15:57):
them look and feel better. Right, And then they they say, Okay,
we want to do activations. We want a pink car,
we want X, Y and Z. And I'm thinking, oh goodness,
pink car. That's so cliche, Like, ah, there girls driving
the pink car. It was the coolest thing that ever happened.
Because what I've been trying to do for like twenty
(16:18):
years of professional driving is rallied the women and have
this girl power movement. And I've tried supporting other young
and upcoming female drivers. And I do do that because
I feel like without men and women, I wouldn't be
where I am today. So I think it's important to
realize that it takes both. And so we went into
(16:41):
Indy and they had this big activation where they saluted
the women that had come before me, you know, Janet Guthrie,
Lindsa and James Danica and really kind of like paid
homage to them and to me at the same time,
and got behind all the women at the racetrack and
for the first time ever, the women found were seen
(17:01):
right because there've been a lot of sponsors on a
lot of race cars, but there they were the first
beauty brand, yes, and everybody can relate to Elf right,
So there was this massive, like I don't know, all
the women got along, there was no competition between them,
like team Elf, team Catherine, Let's get behind the pink car.
(17:24):
And it was just this really cool thing that happened
that I'm really hopeful what happened on the NASCAR side
this year because we're doing the same thing at Charlotte
and they've got a big activation. It's going to be
slightly different. It's going to be really cool. It's centered
around their Jumbo power Grip primer, so it's like a
teal car instead of a pink car.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
It's beautiful.
Speaker 9 (17:44):
And I'm hoping that the same thing happens with that
fan base as well, that you know, they all get
just as excited as Indy Codd.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
Yeah. I love that what you were saying there, and
you when you first started talking about oh, no, pink
car and the woman's driving the pink car. But that's
I feel like what was happening for a while in
women's sports was beauty brands weren't getting involved, and maybe
even the people running the teams weren't asking them to
get involved because they were like, oh, just because we're women,
doesn't mean we should have beauty brands. But the reality
is you can have both the traditional you know, sponsors,
(18:15):
the beer sponsors, the airlines and all that, but still
have the beauty brands because you're speaking directly to your fans,
to your consumers, right.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (18:24):
And I think there's this this I don't know, misconception,
let's say, in women's sports, that you shouldn't be seen
as women, you shouldn't be seen as feminine. And I
was super guilty of it for the first fifteen years
of my career or whatever it was that I just
wanted to be seen as a race cut driver. I
didn't wear makeup. I didn't want to be I didn't
(18:45):
want to play on the fact that I'm female, and
I still don't want to play on that fact. But
I do think that I can be authentically who I am,
which is I want to be feminine, right, Like who
doesn't want to be seen as attractive or feminine? Are?
You know, if that's what you want, then go for it.
But I think there was this thing where you should
just be seen as another robot or driver or in
(19:06):
case of soccer, like I don't know, it's like it's
a sport, we shouldn't be too girly and that's rubbish.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
Yeah, absolutely, and I love the way that it's changed too.
But it's like you said, it's authentic. Some some female
athletes don't wear makeup, but some like to completely do
a whole face. You can go out there on the
field and you can be amazing athlete and still be
super girly, super whatever you want to be.
Speaker 9 (19:29):
But you know, no, I totally get it, and I
think you should be able to do, you know, wear
whatever you want to wear and feel however you feel.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
And I think that speaks to what has really unlocked.
Would you say for women's sports and the growth in
the last few years, it's finally speaking to women's sports
fans as a separate entity almost and they consume in
a different way or how would you think about that?
Speaker 9 (19:53):
I think it's segregated. So I think if you look
at it, let's say, the last decad has changed, but
before that, it was just sports, right. There wasn't women's sports,
male sports, But the women were not watching women's sports.
The women were watching If they watched any sports, they
were watching male sports. And I think now they realized
(20:15):
that there are women's sports, like women's soccer. I had
no idea how huge it was over here until I
came over here and experienced it. And you have the
best team in the world, right, So I think that
you have to get the women rallying around that and
supporting it like the men's support the men's soccer. And
(20:35):
there's absolutely no reason and I think you're seeing it
a lot more now why there isn't crossover. You know,
women watch men's sports or sports, and men can watch
women's sports and so I think that it's much more acceptable.
You know, there was a I don't know, a misconception. Again,
the women's sports was not as good as men's sports
(20:57):
because they weren't going far, shooting as much, or whatever
it may be. But now you've got like Kaitlin Clark
with WNBA and like she's yeah, change the game, and
you get these people women's tennis, you have like Selena
change the game. And so I think that men aren't
just watching it now to be like, oh, so I
(21:21):
think it's really cool.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
Yeah, that's awesome. And as we talk about that, and
we were talking about the growth of women's sports as
a whole, one of the things I do hear though
from a lot of people is how come there aren't
more you know, women drivers in Formula one and NASCAR
and things like that, as they are now watching the
WNBA and things like that. So when you look at that,
do you think that racing has has more to do
(21:44):
to catch up? Like, how do you think there can
be more women in racing? So it's not you know,
seven years until the next person.
Speaker 9 (21:50):
I think racing is different, and I think racing is
unique because there is absolutely no reason why we can't
compete with the guys. It's not an outright strength or
fitness thing, Like I am not going to bench what
some guy can bench if we're both training the same
it's just physically an impossibility. But can I do the
same thing three hundred times, three thousand times and do
(22:12):
the repetitive thing and take the g forces and everything
else that racing takes. Absolutely I can, And there's absolutely
no reason why we should be segregated. And what's really
interesting about racing is as soon as they did segregate
the women, there haven't been any women turn pro. So
if you look back to when I turned pro, there
(22:32):
was there was like a handful of us at the time.
There was Danica, there was Me, there was Simona, there
was Beer, there was there was like six or seven
of us. And since then they've kind of either retired
or like Beer, went and had babies. Like they put
the women in an old female series called The F
one Academy. It was a w series transition to the
(22:54):
F one Academy. And because they're not competing against the
best of the best, they're competing against each other, they're
not getting as good as they could be if they
were out there in the real world, racing against the guys.
So I think that segregating us in that situation has
made for this big gap that they're not going out
(23:15):
and they're not turning pro. There are no women in
IndyCar right, There are no women in the Exfinity Series
or the Cup series. There are maybe two, maybe two
gold rated women in sports cars, So why what happened?
And all I can think of is by putting them
(23:36):
all together, they're not racing against the best of the best.
If you're playing against the best, it makes you better. Right,
if you're anything in life, if you're competing against the best,
it makes you better. So I think that they've done
them a massive disservice. Well, I think it's great that
it's opened the doors and it's highlighted women in sports
and women in racing. I think that it should be
like a year entry level max, and then they should
(23:58):
be supported against the guys to be able to be
the best. Right.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
So I had spoken to one of the F one
Academy drivers who now has gone on too in next
series and talked about you know, she told me about
one of her struggles was getting sponsors to get her
time in the car, and I think that's something not
a lot of people understand. Can you elaborate a little
bit on that and how it's so important as a
driver you have to get your own sponsors to get
(24:22):
time in the car, and it really is one of
the struggles to make it so high.
Speaker 9 (24:27):
It is, And I think that's another reason why women
have struggled in the past. You know, we haven't had
beauty brands like Elf come on board. And it's tough
because you have to look at it like a business,
Like it's not just about driving the car. You have
to find partners and sponsors to folly, you have to
do pr and you have to do like all the
(24:48):
things that's around it which make it incredibly difficult. The
guys have to do it too, right, right, Like, let's
be real, it's hard for everybody unless you come from
an uber wealthy family. Dad can spend six million a
year on an indy car ride. I know, I don't know.
I don't know many people who who that happens to you,
to be honest, but I think it has been a
(25:10):
bit harder. Well, it's gone for you, and it's gone
against you being female and racing because it's gone for
you and that you get a lot more eyeballs because
you get a lot more attention because you're an anomaly
and it used to be like a gimmick, which I
hated and wanted it to be more mainstream. So in
a way that helps because sponsors that come on board
get way more bang for their butt because they get
(25:31):
a lot more eyeballs. And that's at the end of
the day, what you want the b to be, the attention, et.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
Cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
That's NASCAR driver Catherine leg speaking with Vanessa Berdomo. Up
next week stick with fast Cars and talk with the
president of Indy Car and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Doug Bowles.
I'm Michael Barr, and you are listening to the Bloomberg
Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Thanks for joining us on the 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.
The greatest spectacle in racing is this weekend and it's
looking to have a huge audience. The Indianapolis five hundred
will hit Indianapolis Motor Speedway with its grandstands sold out
(26:27):
for the first time in nearly a decade. Plus, a
local TV blackout that had been in place since nineteen
fifty one was lifted, which will boost the TV numbers.
Here to take us through all of the prep for
the race and more is IndyCar and Indianapolis Motors Speedway
President Doug Bowls. Doug, welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 6 (26:51):
Well, thanks for having me.
Speaker 7 (26:52):
This is the best time of the year for me
as we get ready for the weekend and the running
of the Indianapolis five hundred. So I love your energy
level kicking off because that's exactly how I feel today
is I'm just ready to get going.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Let me explain for first of all, anybody that's going
to call me, I don't call me because I've got
First of all, I'm starting off with the Grand Prix
of Monaco, and then of course the greatest spectacle in racing,
the Indianapolis five hundred, and then we're going to finish
it off with the Coca Cola six hundred NASCAR. Doug,
(27:24):
What an exciting time for racing, especially at the brickyard.
Speaker 7 (27:29):
Yeah, you know, you captured it. It is an amazing
day for racing. You can literally get up in the
morning watching F one race and tune into an IndyCar race,
watching the Indianapolis five hundred, take a break for a
few minutes, and go right back into the Charlotte event,
the six hundred down Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Speaker 6 (27:45):
So yeah, it's a fun.
Speaker 7 (27:47):
Weekend of racing, and it really is sort of that
last weekend as we all roll into summer and just
sort of that attitude we all have when you get
out of winter and spring.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
Especially in the Midwest and summers around the corner.
Speaker 7 (27:59):
But excited about the one hundred and ninth running of
the eighty five hundred, of all those events we just
talked about. You know, we've been around a lot longer
than most and it's pretty amazing just to see this
place fill up with three hundred and fifty thousand people
on race day and just the way we all celebrate
summer around the corner.
Speaker 6 (28:15):
Certainly the race.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
Isself, Doug, I hate to go there, but it has
been a busy week for you. Senior leadership team Penske
cheating scandal. Talk to us a little bit about what
happened there. I mean Joseph Newgarden trying to become the
first driver to win three straight Indy five hundreds. Now
he's a plus one thousand in the back row. Talk
to us a little bit about what happened this week,
what the implications are ahead of this weekend.
Speaker 7 (28:37):
Yeah, you know, on our last qualifying to get into
the fast twelve. So the fastest twelve cars in qualifying
on last Saturday get a chance on Sunday to compete
for positions one through twelve. And in the technical inspection
line where the car went through technical inspection, the Joseph
Newgarden car and the Little Power Car, both Team Penske
(28:59):
cars unfortunately failed the inspection. And it was a part
in the back of the car. That is a part
that you are not allowed to modify in any way.
You have to use it as supplied and the team
had made some modifications to it. And there's an argument
over why the piece was modified. The team says it
(29:19):
was modified for looks, make it look better and that's
you know, Team Pinsky's cars to look better than others.
But others said, hey, that is maybe a performance advantage
there and so the rule said you have to start
at the back of your qualifying group, which is would
have put them at eleventh and twelfth. And as we
really sat down and thought about it, this is the
biggest race in the world, and just making sure integrity
(29:40):
there is paramount, and it was on such a grand
stage and there was some question about it, we decided
to move those cars to the back of the grid,
so they will start thirty second and thirty third. So yeah,
it's been a challenging week really talking talking through that,
and it's taken a little bit of the focus away
from the excitement of three hundred and fifty thousand people
and spent a lot of time talking about.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Rules for the audience. The part that's being talked about
is called the attenuator and what it does is that
and you're right, you cannot alter that. But what it
does is if a driver hits with the rear of
the car into the wall, it's supposed to help cushion
to blow. But then that's when it all ran in
(30:20):
the problems when.
Speaker 5 (30:21):
That's it, right, And I mean, obviously the main thing
everyone is concerned about the safety, right Doug of course,
and in the week of something like this when you
have Penske who owns the team and they own the
Indianapolis Winter Speedway, an Indy car. Is this where you
look at it and say, hey, maybe we do need
things to run independently, and because outside forces may look
(30:44):
in say there are some sort of you know, favoritism
potentially or to get away from the idea of favoritism.
Speaker 6 (30:53):
Yeah, I think the latter is really where it is.
It's an optics issue for sure.
Speaker 7 (30:57):
When you have officiating that is, you know, Roger didn't
have anything to do. Roger Pinsky didn't have anything to
do with the decision we made or wasn't involved at
all in the conversation and the teching side of things.
But if you're a competitor in the series and Roger
Pinsky owns a car in the series and he owns
the series and the racetrack, at least for the Indianapolis
five hundred, there is an optics issue and that is
(31:20):
a challenge. We've had a couple of these with Team Penske.
We have problems with other teams too. They're not the
only one, but it is a challenge when the company
and the person that owns the series is also being penalized,
and I think for me, in the penalty that they received,
it's maybe I need to go back. I've only been
(31:41):
in the job on the Indy Car side for ninety days,
but it's maybe one of the most severe, if not
the most severe penalty that has been given to a
team for an infraction, moving them to the back of
the field, find each of each of the team's one
hundred thousand dollars, suspended two of their key personnel, and
then took away their qualifying points. Hopefully people see that
(32:01):
in those decisions there that we were not taking it
easy on Team Penske. Unfortunately for them, they have to
live up to a higher standard at some level because
they have to make sure there's.
Speaker 6 (32:12):
No appearance of optics.
Speaker 7 (32:13):
So we've talked about do we outsource the officiating, so
race control and tech inspection to a completely solely independent
organization that has nothing to do with Roger Pinsky, Penske
Entertainment or the series.
Speaker 4 (32:25):
Well, Doug, let's talk about some good news here. This
is the first ever Indy five hundred with your new
broadcast partner, Fox Sports. You've got a sold out crowd
of nearly three hundred and fifty thousand people. I think
you sold out the grand stands for the first time
in nearly a decade. So you know, what's driving me interest?
I mean, talk to us a little bit about, you know,
this weekend, what the fan engagement's going to look like,
what comes next.
Speaker 6 (32:46):
Well, certainly, I think the Fox relationship. You know, this
is the first year with Fox.
Speaker 7 (32:50):
We were with ABC forever and then we had a
nice run with NBC and we just switched to Fox
beginning in twenty twenty five. And the promotion that they've
put into the relationship has been outstanding in terms of
the way they use you know, we have ads in
the Super Bowl. There's all kinds of promotions even across
their NASCAR platform, which has been really helpful. So I
think that's driven some of it, but I think a
lot of it has been just the racing over the
(33:11):
last a few years has been really good here at
the Speedway. There's a lot of tradition around the Speedway,
the number of people that come back for generations in
year over year, and we're beginning to build stars again
in the IndyCar Series like we had several years ago,
and I think that's helpful. So people like Joseph Nugarten,
who will start from the back, will be entertaining to
watch as he comes forward. Pado Award has turned into
(33:31):
this just phenomenal superstar, popular race car driver in our series.
Speaker 6 (33:35):
So I think all of those.
Speaker 7 (33:36):
Components together are really what make it so successful and
gave us an opportunity to sell out the two hundred
and thirty two thousand seats we have in our grand stands.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
And you got to keep your eye on Kyle Larson
because he is going to do the double. He's going
to do the Indianapolis five hundred, and then he's going
to try to get to the Well. I like to
call it the World six hundred because I'm old, but
he is someone to watch. He's going to try to
do it.
Speaker 7 (34:02):
Yeah, you know, he did it last year and the
rain kept him from actually being able to get in
a car once he got to Charlotte. He had a
really good run here in the five hundred. Last year
he had a pit violation, speeding violation that hurt him
a little bit, so he didn't finish as high up
as I think he might have. He's just been really
he's been really consistent this year. He's had a couple
of incidents, which in a lot of ways people say
is probably helpful because he knows where the edge of
(34:24):
the car is, which will make him smarter on race day.
Last year he was able to skate through and not
have one of those instance instances. Kurt Busch, Indy car
driver or sorry, NASCAR driver that ran the Indy five
hundred few years ago, had a crash on the last
practice before the Indy five hundred. He will tell you
that that was maybe the best thing to happen to him,
to know where the edge of the car was, and
he came and ran in the top ten all day
in that race. So I think Kyle Larson's still definitely
(34:46):
going to be a factor. And what a story that
would be if he could eve been finish in the
top three or four here at the Speedway and then
head on over to Charlotte and have a great finish
over there.
Speaker 5 (34:54):
Doug, when we're talking about, you know, other great stories
happening for the five hundred, we had to talk about
the rookie who won pole position this year. I was actually,
you know, I've been following along with Premo because I did.
I came to the first race of the season in
Saint Petersburg and I did a story on Prema. They've
joined IndyCar for the first time this year. Robert Schwartzman rookie,
(35:15):
won pole position on his first ever oval track. I mean,
that's that's unbelievable. I mean, tell me about that, tell
us about that story and how quickly Prema has been
able to really adapt.
Speaker 6 (35:26):
How many Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 7 (35:28):
Prema is an Italian based team that decided to join
the Indy Car Series this year, which is a pretty
tall task. You're you're competing against teams that have been
doing this for years, some of them for decades, and
they know the cars in and out, they know the
tracks in and out. You're stepping into shark infested waters
and they have been. They struggled it, to be honest
(35:48):
with you, for most of the season, trying to get
their feet under them really understand it. And going into
qualifying weekend, I think they would have been maybe one
of the teams, two or three teams that we would
have thought might be at risk of not even making
the race.
Speaker 6 (36:04):
Because we weren't sure they could be fast up.
Speaker 7 (36:06):
And then when Robert had such a great qualifying effort
on Saturday that allowed him to compete Sunday in the
top twelve. I think everybody came out of at though.
That's very cool, but he's probably going to end up
in eleventh or twelve. And then for Robert Schwartzman and
that team to sit on the pole to be the
fastest of qualifying on Sunday is such a great story.
And Robert is he just celebrated in a way that
(36:27):
I think was our fans really appreciate.
Speaker 6 (36:29):
We're looking forward to that.
Speaker 4 (36:30):
Talk to us a little bit, Doug about you know
what comes next. How are you you know, you know,
approaching your fan base, trying to grow it, trying to
grow the sport.
Speaker 7 (36:39):
Yeah, you know, it's really important that we focus on
the platform that our new TV partner gives us with
Fox and really trying to extend the reach of the
IndyCar brand. And I think we've got a great opportunity
to do that with with Fox. The other thing I'm
really focused on is the Indianapolis five hundred. Obviously the large,
huge event. We need to figure out a way to
make sure that our other events are the races become events.
(37:01):
So working with promoters to continue to elevate those Vanessa
talked about. Saint Petersburgh's a great way to kick the
season off. It feels like an event. Long Beach feels
like an event. But we need all seventeen of our
races that feel like events. So that's going to take
a lot of work in those individual markets, so supporting
our promoters as they go for it. And then, as
you noted, we have to get younger. We're all trying
to get younger. We've gotten younger a little bit over
(37:23):
the last ten years, but we have to get substantially younger.
So things like our edm concert we do here at
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are connecting to some of those
young personalities.
Speaker 6 (37:31):
Finding ways to really reach.
Speaker 7 (37:33):
Out to that next generation a potential fan that is
a priority for us. So we've really continuing to work
on how do we make that happen. And then from
a commercial standpoint, working with our teams, bringing in the
right partners, and when those partners come in as sponsors
on teams, we've got to get them to activate. We
need to see brands that people know in retail outlets,
so whether it's you know, picking a Pepsi up out
(37:55):
of the convenience store, or whether and ready global brings
in somebody like Chili's. How are we working with those
partners to build our brand. So it's a combination of things.
There's no silver bullet to continue to grow the sport,
but working on all of those as we go forward.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
A well, thanks to Doug Bowles joining us. He is
the president of IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway and thank
you for joining us. For my colleagues Damian Sasauer and
Vanessa Perdomo, I'm Michael Barr. Tune in again next week
for the latest on the stories moving big old money
in the world of sports, and if you missed anything,
catch it on demand now with the Bloomberg Business of
(38:29):
Sports podcast on all your favorite podcast platforms. 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.
Speaker 4 (00:10):
Teams ours especially have been very intentional to diversify at
all levels.
Speaker 5 (00:15):
Of the company.
Speaker 6 (00:15):
I think we're in the bolden years for the NFL
and college football.
Speaker 7 (00:18):
Our demographic reach has continued to explode.
Speaker 8 (00:21):
This is going to be really unlocking the streaming platform
for sports fans.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Sports evaluations are rising. We'll see when they peak.
Speaker 6 (00:29):
You don't have to be the best in your sport
to make a whole ton of money.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports. Michael
Barr along with Damian Sassauer and Vanessa Perdomo. Scarlett fou
is on assignment. Coming up. We are all about racing. Yes,
the Indianapolis five hundred is this weekend and we'll get
you ready for it with Indy Car and Indianapolis Motor
(01:00):
Speedway President Doug bowl.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
So.
Speaker 7 (01:02):
Racing over the last a few years has been really
good here at the Speedway. There's a lot of tradition
around the speedway, the number of people that come back
for generations in year over year, and we're beginning to
build stars again in.
Speaker 6 (01:13):
The IndyCar Series like we had several years ago.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
We'll also hear from trailblazing NASCAR driver Catherine leg All
of that and more is on the way on the
Bloomberg Business of Sports, But first, Amazon is betting big
that sports, with its Prime video streaming platform, will carry
it through its sports lineup. Touts New York Yankees games,
(01:36):
NASCAR boxing, and will add NBA games next season, and
the crown jewel at the moment is the rights to
NFL Thursday Night football games and Amazon. They believe that
this year's slate of games will be its strongest yet.
Joining us now to dive into Amazon's big sports plans
or Prime Video is Amazon VP and Global ahead of
(01:57):
Prime Video Sports, Jay Marine, as well as Bloomberg News
media reporter Hannah Miller.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Thank you. I'm happy to be here, Thank you for
having me.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
There's a lot to talk about. Let's I want to start.
First of all, you guys got the Thursday night viewership
and I'm looking at this I got a lot to
say about this NFL schedule, but I'm going to start
with the Thursday night schedule, which is a pretty solid schedule.
You guys are coming out the blocks week two, September eleventh,
Commanders at the Packers.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Absolutely, this schedule is the best Thursday night football schedule
we've ever seen, and it shows you the continued trust
that the NFL has in us. You know, I know
we'll walk through it, but we have ten divisional matchups.
We start in Lambeau, as you said, with the Commanders coming,
huge Black Friday and Christmas games we can talk about,
(02:49):
and then you know, we have that little Detroit game
versus Dallas, so you can decide which team's America's team.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Well, James, let's chang Jay and let this jump right in.
You graduated from Universe Michigan. You grew up in Michigan.
I said, here here next to Michael barn All, here
is Detroit, Michigan. We ate Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Chargers.
JJ McCarthy against his former coach wanted for you, Michigan
Blue Boys. I mean, that's a pretty Did you have
(03:16):
anything to do with that? I'm just I mean, like,
let us know right now, I'd like to take credit
for that. I'd also like to take credit for the
National Championship. It was glorious.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
I did happen to be at the Rose Bowl in
the National Championship?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Were you there? I wish I was. I wish I
was at that super Bowl. By the way that we see,
I want to check the pronown here so you all
understand why. Jay obviously also a native detroiter in that area,
and when we hosted the Super Bowl, I wanted so
much to go. My best friend he got to go
(03:54):
because at the time he worked for Xerox, so he
had to man all the Xerox machines. I see, man,
how to go? Can I carry your luggage? Can I
do anything for you? Man? Is like, this has got
to be again. You've got in Hannah jump in here.
With this schedule for the NFL is going to be
very exciting for you guys.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yeah, like I said, we we could not be happier.
You know, when you look at our audience has been
up over almost forty percent from the first year of
Thursday Night Football through to our third year, so continued
growth in the audience. We have an audience that's eight
years younger than an audience that watches NFL games on
Linear and so all of that lines up with what
(04:39):
the NFL is looking for. They want to reach newer fans,
they want to reach younger fans, and this schedule reflects it.
We have the Super Bowl champ Philadelphia Eagles twice on
this schedule. Yeah, we have Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen
twice on this schedule.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
And Jay, it's a lot of divisional games, right, I mean,
I've never seen a slate of divisional games like this
coming in actually on a Thursday night.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Before tension matchups, and those are so key because you
know they're always going to matter, and they're going to
matter more because of the impact on the division. So really,
you know, our whole team is a static. You know,
Michaels and Al Michaels is very had. We had a
lot of texts going on yesterday that the team is
very Kirk's coming back just a great and then you
(05:22):
know our halftime crew with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Richard Sherman
Andrew Whitworth, so their fun crew. But I think the
younger audience has really responded to that. We've really tried
to come really get people right off the field who
are fresh faces. You know, we talk about if you
guys ever came to one of our games at a
pre game, we talk about how many of the current
(05:45):
players come up to these guys and it's like non stop.
You know, they come up to Sherm, they come up
to Wit because they just got done battling with these
guys a couple of years ago, right, So they know
the league in and out, and we're having a lot
of fun. We can't wait to get going this year.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Well it's not just the NFL either, right, I mean,
you guys had a pretty big year.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
I mean, let's talk.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
About the NBA a little bit, right And by the way,
talk about Thursday Night. You guys can own Thursday Night Sporting,
right because you got the double headers on Thursday, you
got the double headers on Friday. We're talking basketball here,
and I think you have some black Friday sprinkled in there. Also,
not to mention six out of the next eleven NBA finals,
I mean that's some slate, you know, well done there,
I mean exciting stuff.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
The NBA is a big deal for us, big deal
for the company, and that's an eleven year deal starts
in the fall. As you said, just an incredible package
of playoff games. We'll have about a third of the
playoff playoffs we'll have every year. We'll have the play
in games, and we'll also have the n Season Tournament.
(06:45):
And we think that N Season Tournament's just going to
continue to grow. And we have a bunch of ideas
there and we've introduced some of our talent there. We're
gonna have Blake Griffin, Dirk Novinsky, Steve Nash, Dwayne Wade,
like Candice Parker so and the chemistry I'm already seeing
with that group is just fantastic.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
And I think Dwyane Wade is the best men and mellow.
I love that commercial.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
He's the best. And you know why Hannah is here
because this is number one entertainment, especially for a dude
like me.
Speaker 8 (07:18):
And Yeah, well, I was going to ask, like, what
are you planning on doing with the viewing experience on
Prime for people? You know, we saw NBC come out
with all these changes that they're doing, the Peacock for
the NBA. You know, you got graphic overlays, statistics and
mobile game coming out. What are you guys doing?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Yeah, I think you're going to see a lot of
innovation from us. We're going to take the exact same
approach we took with Thursday Night Football. So for anyone
has seen some of the AI innovations we brought to
Thursday Night Football in our alternative cast called Prime Vision,
you know, we've created something called defensive Alerts, which essentially
is highlights players that may blitz. But this is happening
(07:59):
real time in the broadcast without latency, So when you
work with Ryan Fitzpatt, it's what a quarterback has to identify.
And so we've rolled out a number of those on
Thursday Night Football. But now pointing to NBA, you're going
to see that similar investment. And I think we have
a pretty unique approach. We have a whole team in Israel,
a data scientist, AI experts, machine learning experts. This is
(08:22):
kind of in our DNA and the special sauce is
really combining those people with people who know the game,
like a Blake Griffin and a Juwyane Wade, combined with
our production people who know how to storytell. You know,
it's very easy just to throw a lot of data
up on the screen. That's not super helpful. It's got
to be concise. It's got to really advance the education
(08:44):
of the fan and the storytelling. So you're going to
see exact same approach we took with Thursday Night Football
and stay tuned for the details on that.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Well, Jay, I'd love to stick with that theme of
storytelling because your Amazon original sports documentaries are just unbelievable.
And now we're talking by By, you know, we're talking
Coach Prime. But you know what stories haven't been told yet?
You know, like what's coming up?
Speaker 3 (09:07):
It's a good question. There's a lot more to be told.
And I think you know what's interesting is sports are
the greatest unscripted show on Earth, and there's so much
drama that happens, and there's so much drama that happens
behind the scenes that you can't really learn about until
some time passes and people are ready to talk about it.
(09:28):
And so when you saw that with Bye Bye Berry,
for example, I want it.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Now you are a native Detroiter. I'm a native Detroiter,
and I want to get to this schedule that we
got for the Detroit Line, Baby Glynn. Now look, we
got the second toughest schedule overall, and I already want
to get into what the road game is all about.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
I am incredibly excited, but I'm with you, that is
a tough schedule. It is a brutal, brutal schedule. And
obviously we've lost a couple of assistant coaches, fantastic coaches.
But I trust Dan Campbell. We're gonna get to the
promised Land sooner or later.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Here, Jay, I just have to ask you, you know,
because you know, when I think of Amazon and what
a beast it is, and you know, I mean in
terms of just the company itself and what it does,
and then I look at, you know, the suite of
not forget about the NBA, forget about the NFL for
a second. I'm talking one Championship, Premiere boxing. I'm Champions
League football in the UK, Cricket New Zealand, cricket in India. Yeah,
(10:30):
copa football, I mean Brazil. I'm just looking at this
slate and I'm like, how do.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
You manage that?
Speaker 9 (10:36):
Like?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
What your day job must look like?
Speaker 4 (10:37):
I mean, and are you traveling to these places and
dealing with the local providers and all.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
The I mean, how does that all?
Speaker 4 (10:43):
I mean, what's your day job look like?
Speaker 5 (10:45):
Here?
Speaker 3 (10:47):
I have a very fun job, first of all. And
my wife often says, they are going to pay you, right,
I think so.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I think so.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Listen, this is a childhood dream. I grew up sports.
I love sports. No one's probably played or watch more
than I have, and so I love it. And yes,
we are really all over the world. In fact, it's
interesting we started our entry into sports in the UK.
I was over there at the time actually, and we
started that with our entry into the Premier League and
(11:19):
that was around twenty seventeen, and really it was the
first major league that ever put any games on streaming
exclusively in the home country, and.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
That was only eight years ago.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
And you know, we've learned a lot over that time
and we've built up the credibility. And now, as you said,
we have Champions League in the UK, Germany, Italy, Wimbledon
and Germany. I mean this is Grimbledon in Germany. We
have the French Open in France, we have soccer in
lat Ham and so oh, and we also have hockey
(11:52):
in Canada. So what you're really seeing is we are
focused on having the biggest Tier one sports in every country,
you know, and so it's less about having worldwide rights
necessarily because fans live in one country per se and
there's only a few sports that really are worldwide. Now
NBA is one of them. They've done a fantastic job
(12:14):
and that deal is a worldwide deal for us that
we're incredibly excited about. But all of that innovation and
all that time spent is really why we've been able
to have such a quality streaming experience, such picture quality,
because we've been at this for a long time, and
what we did in Europe was part of the reason
(12:34):
that gave the NFL confidence that we could do that here.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Aber thanks to Amazon Prime Videos head of Sports and Advertising,
Jay Marine for joining us, as well as our own
Hannah Miller. Up next, we'll talk to a NASCAR trailblazer,
Catherine leg For Damian Sasawa and Vanessa Bernomo. I'm Michael bar.
You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg
Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
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 Damian Sasauer and Vanessa Perdomo. We're
all in on racing the rest of the way as
we get ready for the ND five hundred this weekend,
plus a slate of big NASCAR races, including the Coca
Cola six hundred. Trailblazing NASCAR racer Catherine Legg will be
(13:30):
competing in that race, and earlier this week, our own
Vanessa Perdomo got a chance to sit down with her.
Let's take a listen to their conversation.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
You're the first woman to compete in the NASCAR Cup
Series in since twenty eighteen, right, And I mean it's surprising.
It's not surprising, right, but given you know how female
athletes have been treated over the last few years, right,
but seven years? You know, tell me about your journey
because you've you've been professional for a very long time.
This isn't new, right, But tell me about your journey
to get here.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Yeah, long time.
Speaker 9 (14:00):
You're aging me now. But I have literally driven everything
in my career, like I have one of the most
diverse careers in racing. I've driven open wheel and electric
cars and sports cars, and I did a handful of
NASCAR races back in twenty eighteen, and I loved it,
and I wanted to do more of it, but it's
it's almost a different sport. It's not, but it's a
(14:22):
different paddock, it's different people, and I just didn't know
how to like break into it per se. So a
long come ELF and with the most wonderful partnership where
they're truly empowering women right like they say it. A
lot of people say it these days and it's just
a buzzword, but they actually stand behind it and they
mean it. And we were going to do The Night
(14:43):
five hundred this year and we didn't get cars, so
we like were pivoting to NASCAR, and we went all
in on NASCAR. And so I feel incredibly fortunate that
I have such a powerhouse company standing alongside me, you know,
breaking down these barriers. And it is surprising that it's
been so years. But it's also you know, it's a
really tough business to be in. Whether you're man, woman, black, white,
(15:08):
no matter what it is, it's it's really tough. So
hopefully hopefully there'll be more following in my footsteps.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
Yeah absolutely, And yeah I want to get into that,
you know, the partnership with ELF a little bit more.
And because they were your partners, also went in IndyCar before, right,
and I listened to you on your podcast you had
talked about it and said, you know, the event last
year that you did with them was one of the
most rewarding of your career. Can you elaborate a little
bit on that and on the partnership there?
Speaker 9 (15:35):
It really was. It was special and I had no idea. Okay,
so going into Indie last year, it was the second
year that I'd partnered with them, but they wanted to
go do it in a big, splashy cool way and
really make a difference because, like I said, they really
do stand behind the company ethos, and so they're out
there empowering all these women and some men by making
(15:57):
them look and feel better. Right, And then they they say, Okay,
we want to do activations. We want a pink car,
we want X, Y and Z. And I'm thinking, oh goodness,
pink car. That's so cliche, Like, ah, there girls driving
the pink car. It was the coolest thing that ever happened.
Because what I've been trying to do for like twenty
(16:18):
years of professional driving is rallied the women and have
this girl power movement. And I've tried supporting other young
and upcoming female drivers. And I do do that because
I feel like without men and women, I wouldn't be
where I am today. So I think it's important to
realize that it takes both. And so we went into
(16:41):
Indy and they had this big activation where they saluted
the women that had come before me, you know, Janet Guthrie,
Lindsa and James Danica and really kind of like paid
homage to them and to me at the same time,
and got behind all the women at the racetrack and
for the first time ever, the women found were seen
(17:01):
right because there've been a lot of sponsors on a
lot of race cars, but there they were the first
beauty brand, yes, and everybody can relate to Elf right,
So there was this massive, like I don't know, all
the women got along, there was no competition between them,
like team Elf, team Catherine, Let's get behind the pink car.
(17:24):
And it was just this really cool thing that happened
that I'm really hopeful what happened on the NASCAR side
this year because we're doing the same thing at Charlotte
and they've got a big activation. It's going to be
slightly different. It's going to be really cool. It's centered
around their Jumbo power Grip primer, so it's like a
teal car instead of a pink car.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
It's beautiful.
Speaker 9 (17:44):
And I'm hoping that the same thing happens with that
fan base as well, that you know, they all get
just as excited as Indy Codd.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
Yeah. I love that what you were saying there, and
you when you first started talking about oh, no, pink
car and the woman's driving the pink car. But that's
I feel like what was happening for a while in
women's sports was beauty brands weren't getting involved, and maybe
even the people running the teams weren't asking them to
get involved because they were like, oh, just because we're women,
doesn't mean we should have beauty brands. But the reality
is you can have both the traditional you know, sponsors,
(18:15):
the beer sponsors, the airlines and all that, but still
have the beauty brands because you're speaking directly to your fans,
to your consumers, right.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (18:24):
And I think there's this this I don't know, misconception,
let's say, in women's sports, that you shouldn't be seen
as women, you shouldn't be seen as feminine. And I
was super guilty of it for the first fifteen years
of my career or whatever it was that I just
wanted to be seen as a race cut driver. I
didn't wear makeup. I didn't want to be I didn't
(18:45):
want to play on the fact that I'm female, and
I still don't want to play on that fact. But
I do think that I can be authentically who I am,
which is I want to be feminine, right, Like who
doesn't want to be seen as attractive or feminine? Are?
You know, if that's what you want, then go for it.
But I think there was this thing where you should
just be seen as another robot or driver or in
(19:06):
case of soccer, like I don't know, it's like it's
a sport, we shouldn't be too girly and that's rubbish.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
Yeah, absolutely, and I love the way that it's changed too.
But it's like you said, it's authentic. Some some female
athletes don't wear makeup, but some like to completely do
a whole face. You can go out there on the
field and you can be amazing athlete and still be
super girly, super whatever you want to be.
Speaker 9 (19:29):
But you know, no, I totally get it, and I
think you should be able to do, you know, wear
whatever you want to wear and feel however you feel.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
And I think that speaks to what has really unlocked.
Would you say for women's sports and the growth in
the last few years, it's finally speaking to women's sports
fans as a separate entity almost and they consume in
a different way or how would you think about that?
Speaker 9 (19:53):
I think it's segregated. So I think if you look
at it, let's say, the last decad has changed, but
before that, it was just sports, right. There wasn't women's sports,
male sports, But the women were not watching women's sports.
The women were watching If they watched any sports, they
were watching male sports. And I think now they realized
(20:15):
that there are women's sports, like women's soccer. I had
no idea how huge it was over here until I
came over here and experienced it. And you have the
best team in the world, right, So I think that
you have to get the women rallying around that and
supporting it like the men's support the men's soccer. And
(20:35):
there's absolutely no reason and I think you're seeing it
a lot more now why there isn't crossover. You know,
women watch men's sports or sports, and men can watch
women's sports and so I think that it's much more acceptable.
You know, there was a I don't know, a misconception. Again,
the women's sports was not as good as men's sports
(20:57):
because they weren't going far, shooting as much, or whatever
it may be. But now you've got like Kaitlin Clark
with WNBA and like she's yeah, change the game, and
you get these people women's tennis, you have like Selena
change the game. And so I think that men aren't
just watching it now to be like, oh, so I
(21:21):
think it's really cool.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
Yeah, that's awesome. And as we talk about that, and
we were talking about the growth of women's sports as
a whole, one of the things I do hear though
from a lot of people is how come there aren't
more you know, women drivers in Formula one and NASCAR
and things like that, as they are now watching the
WNBA and things like that. So when you look at that,
do you think that racing has has more to do
(21:44):
to catch up? Like, how do you think there can
be more women in racing? So it's not you know,
seven years until the next person.
Speaker 9 (21:50):
I think racing is different, and I think racing is
unique because there is absolutely no reason why we can't
compete with the guys. It's not an outright strength or
fitness thing, Like I am not going to bench what
some guy can bench if we're both training the same
it's just physically an impossibility. But can I do the
same thing three hundred times, three thousand times and do
(22:12):
the repetitive thing and take the g forces and everything
else that racing takes. Absolutely I can, And there's absolutely
no reason why we should be segregated. And what's really
interesting about racing is as soon as they did segregate
the women, there haven't been any women turn pro. So
if you look back to when I turned pro, there
(22:32):
was there was like a handful of us at the time.
There was Danica, there was Me, there was Simona, there
was Beer, there was there was like six or seven
of us. And since then they've kind of either retired
or like Beer, went and had babies. Like they put
the women in an old female series called The F
one Academy. It was a w series transition to the
(22:54):
F one Academy. And because they're not competing against the
best of the best, they're competing against each other, they're
not getting as good as they could be if they
were out there in the real world, racing against the guys.
So I think that segregating us in that situation has
made for this big gap that they're not going out
(23:15):
and they're not turning pro. There are no women in
IndyCar right, There are no women in the Exfinity Series
or the Cup series. There are maybe two, maybe two
gold rated women in sports cars, So why what happened?
And all I can think of is by putting them
(23:36):
all together, they're not racing against the best of the best.
If you're playing against the best, it makes you better. Right,
if you're anything in life, if you're competing against the best,
it makes you better. So I think that they've done
them a massive disservice. Well, I think it's great that
it's opened the doors and it's highlighted women in sports
and women in racing. I think that it should be
like a year entry level max, and then they should
(23:58):
be supported against the guys to be able to be
the best. Right.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
So I had spoken to one of the F one
Academy drivers who now has gone on too in next
series and talked about you know, she told me about
one of her struggles was getting sponsors to get her
time in the car, and I think that's something not
a lot of people understand. Can you elaborate a little
bit on that and how it's so important as a
driver you have to get your own sponsors to get
(24:22):
time in the car, and it really is one of
the struggles to make it so high.
Speaker 9 (24:27):
It is, And I think that's another reason why women
have struggled in the past. You know, we haven't had
beauty brands like Elf come on board. And it's tough
because you have to look at it like a business,
Like it's not just about driving the car. You have
to find partners and sponsors to folly, you have to
do pr and you have to do like all the
(24:48):
things that's around it which make it incredibly difficult. The
guys have to do it too, right, right, Like, let's
be real, it's hard for everybody unless you come from
an uber wealthy family. Dad can spend six million a
year on an indy car ride. I know, I don't know.
I don't know many people who who that happens to you,
to be honest, but I think it has been a
(25:10):
bit harder. Well, it's gone for you, and it's gone
against you being female and racing because it's gone for
you and that you get a lot more eyeballs because
you get a lot more attention because you're an anomaly
and it used to be like a gimmick, which I
hated and wanted it to be more mainstream. So in
a way that helps because sponsors that come on board
get way more bang for their butt because they get
(25:31):
a lot more eyeballs. And that's at the end of
the day, what you want the b to be, the attention, et.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
Cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
That's NASCAR driver Catherine leg speaking with Vanessa Berdomo. Up
next week stick with fast Cars and talk with the
president of Indy Car and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Doug Bowles.
I'm Michael Barr, and you are listening to the Bloomberg
Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Thanks for joining us on the 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.
The greatest spectacle in racing is this weekend and it's
looking to have a huge audience. The Indianapolis five hundred
will hit Indianapolis Motor Speedway with its grandstands sold out
(26:27):
for the first time in nearly a decade. Plus, a
local TV blackout that had been in place since nineteen
fifty one was lifted, which will boost the TV numbers.
Here to take us through all of the prep for
the race and more is IndyCar and Indianapolis Motors Speedway
President Doug Bowls. Doug, welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 6 (26:51):
Well, thanks for having me.
Speaker 7 (26:52):
This is the best time of the year for me
as we get ready for the weekend and the running
of the Indianapolis five hundred. So I love your energy
level kicking off because that's exactly how I feel today
is I'm just ready to get going.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Let me explain for first of all, anybody that's going
to call me, I don't call me because I've got
First of all, I'm starting off with the Grand Prix
of Monaco, and then of course the greatest spectacle in racing,
the Indianapolis five hundred, and then we're going to finish
it off with the Coca Cola six hundred NASCAR. Doug,
(27:24):
What an exciting time for racing, especially at the brickyard.
Speaker 7 (27:29):
Yeah, you know, you captured it. It is an amazing
day for racing. You can literally get up in the
morning watching F one race and tune into an IndyCar race,
watching the Indianapolis five hundred, take a break for a
few minutes, and go right back into the Charlotte event,
the six hundred down Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Speaker 6 (27:45):
So yeah, it's a fun.
Speaker 7 (27:47):
Weekend of racing, and it really is sort of that
last weekend as we all roll into summer and just
sort of that attitude we all have when you get
out of winter and spring.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
Especially in the Midwest and summers around the corner.
Speaker 7 (27:59):
But excited about the one hundred and ninth running of
the eighty five hundred, of all those events we just
talked about. You know, we've been around a lot longer
than most and it's pretty amazing just to see this
place fill up with three hundred and fifty thousand people
on race day and just the way we all celebrate
summer around the corner.
Speaker 6 (28:15):
Certainly the race.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
Isself, Doug, I hate to go there, but it has
been a busy week for you. Senior leadership team Penske
cheating scandal. Talk to us a little bit about what
happened there. I mean Joseph Newgarden trying to become the
first driver to win three straight Indy five hundreds. Now
he's a plus one thousand in the back row. Talk
to us a little bit about what happened this week,
what the implications are ahead of this weekend.
Speaker 7 (28:37):
Yeah, you know, on our last qualifying to get into
the fast twelve. So the fastest twelve cars in qualifying
on last Saturday get a chance on Sunday to compete
for positions one through twelve. And in the technical inspection
line where the car went through technical inspection, the Joseph
Newgarden car and the Little Power Car, both Team Penske
(28:59):
cars unfortunately failed the inspection. And it was a part
in the back of the car. That is a part
that you are not allowed to modify in any way.
You have to use it as supplied and the team
had made some modifications to it. And there's an argument
over why the piece was modified. The team says it
(29:19):
was modified for looks, make it look better and that's
you know, Team Pinsky's cars to look better than others.
But others said, hey, that is maybe a performance advantage
there and so the rule said you have to start
at the back of your qualifying group, which is would
have put them at eleventh and twelfth. And as we
really sat down and thought about it, this is the
biggest race in the world, and just making sure integrity
(29:40):
there is paramount, and it was on such a grand
stage and there was some question about it, we decided
to move those cars to the back of the grid,
so they will start thirty second and thirty third. So yeah,
it's been a challenging week really talking talking through that,
and it's taken a little bit of the focus away
from the excitement of three hundred and fifty thousand people
and spent a lot of time talking about.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Rules for the audience. The part that's being talked about
is called the attenuator and what it does is that
and you're right, you cannot alter that. But what it
does is if a driver hits with the rear of
the car into the wall, it's supposed to help cushion
to blow. But then that's when it all ran in
(30:20):
the problems when.
Speaker 5 (30:21):
That's it, right, And I mean, obviously the main thing
everyone is concerned about the safety, right Doug of course,
and in the week of something like this when you
have Penske who owns the team and they own the
Indianapolis Winter Speedway, an Indy car. Is this where you
look at it and say, hey, maybe we do need
things to run independently, and because outside forces may look
(30:44):
in say there are some sort of you know, favoritism
potentially or to get away from the idea of favoritism.
Speaker 6 (30:53):
Yeah, I think the latter is really where it is.
It's an optics issue for sure.
Speaker 7 (30:57):
When you have officiating that is, you know, Roger didn't
have anything to do. Roger Pinsky didn't have anything to
do with the decision we made or wasn't involved at
all in the conversation and the teching side of things.
But if you're a competitor in the series and Roger
Pinsky owns a car in the series and he owns
the series and the racetrack, at least for the Indianapolis
five hundred, there is an optics issue and that is
(31:20):
a challenge. We've had a couple of these with Team Penske.
We have problems with other teams too. They're not the
only one, but it is a challenge when the company
and the person that owns the series is also being penalized,
and I think for me, in the penalty that they received,
it's maybe I need to go back. I've only been
(31:41):
in the job on the Indy Car side for ninety days,
but it's maybe one of the most severe, if not
the most severe penalty that has been given to a
team for an infraction, moving them to the back of
the field, find each of each of the team's one
hundred thousand dollars, suspended two of their key personnel, and
then took away their qualifying points. Hopefully people see that
(32:01):
in those decisions there that we were not taking it
easy on Team Penske. Unfortunately for them, they have to
live up to a higher standard at some level because
they have to make sure there's.
Speaker 6 (32:12):
No appearance of optics.
Speaker 7 (32:13):
So we've talked about do we outsource the officiating, so
race control and tech inspection to a completely solely independent
organization that has nothing to do with Roger Pinsky, Penske
Entertainment or the series.
Speaker 4 (32:25):
Well, Doug, let's talk about some good news here. This
is the first ever Indy five hundred with your new
broadcast partner, Fox Sports. You've got a sold out crowd
of nearly three hundred and fifty thousand people. I think
you sold out the grand stands for the first time
in nearly a decade. So you know, what's driving me interest?
I mean, talk to us a little bit about, you know,
this weekend, what the fan engagement's going to look like,
what comes next.
Speaker 6 (32:46):
Well, certainly, I think the Fox relationship. You know, this
is the first year with Fox.
Speaker 7 (32:50):
We were with ABC forever and then we had a
nice run with NBC and we just switched to Fox
beginning in twenty twenty five. And the promotion that they've
put into the relationship has been outstanding in terms of
the way they use you know, we have ads in
the Super Bowl. There's all kinds of promotions even across
their NASCAR platform, which has been really helpful. So I
think that's driven some of it, but I think a
lot of it has been just the racing over the
(33:11):
last a few years has been really good here at
the Speedway. There's a lot of tradition around the Speedway,
the number of people that come back for generations in
year over year, and we're beginning to build stars again
in the IndyCar Series like we had several years ago,
and I think that's helpful. So people like Joseph Nugarten,
who will start from the back, will be entertaining to
watch as he comes forward. Pado Award has turned into
(33:31):
this just phenomenal superstar, popular race car driver in our series.
Speaker 6 (33:35):
So I think all of those.
Speaker 7 (33:36):
Components together are really what make it so successful and
gave us an opportunity to sell out the two hundred
and thirty two thousand seats we have in our grand stands.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
And you got to keep your eye on Kyle Larson
because he is going to do the double. He's going
to do the Indianapolis five hundred, and then he's going
to try to get to the Well. I like to
call it the World six hundred because I'm old, but
he is someone to watch. He's going to try to
do it.
Speaker 7 (34:02):
Yeah, you know, he did it last year and the
rain kept him from actually being able to get in
a car once he got to Charlotte. He had a
really good run here in the five hundred. Last year
he had a pit violation, speeding violation that hurt him
a little bit, so he didn't finish as high up
as I think he might have. He's just been really
he's been really consistent this year. He's had a couple
of incidents, which in a lot of ways people say
is probably helpful because he knows where the edge of
(34:24):
the car is, which will make him smarter on race day.
Last year he was able to skate through and not
have one of those instance instances. Kurt Busch, Indy car
driver or sorry, NASCAR driver that ran the Indy five
hundred few years ago, had a crash on the last
practice before the Indy five hundred. He will tell you
that that was maybe the best thing to happen to him,
to know where the edge of the car was, and
he came and ran in the top ten all day
in that race. So I think Kyle Larson's still definitely
(34:46):
going to be a factor. And what a story that
would be if he could eve been finish in the
top three or four here at the Speedway and then
head on over to Charlotte and have a great finish
over there.
Speaker 5 (34:54):
Doug, when we're talking about, you know, other great stories
happening for the five hundred, we had to talk about
the rookie who won pole position this year. I was actually,
you know, I've been following along with Premo because I did.
I came to the first race of the season in
Saint Petersburg and I did a story on Prema. They've
joined IndyCar for the first time this year. Robert Schwartzman rookie,
(35:15):
won pole position on his first ever oval track. I mean,
that's that's unbelievable. I mean, tell me about that, tell
us about that story and how quickly Prema has been
able to really adapt.
Speaker 6 (35:26):
How many Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 7 (35:28):
Prema is an Italian based team that decided to join
the Indy Car Series this year, which is a pretty
tall task. You're you're competing against teams that have been
doing this for years, some of them for decades, and
they know the cars in and out, they know the
tracks in and out. You're stepping into shark infested waters
and they have been. They struggled it, to be honest
(35:48):
with you, for most of the season, trying to get
their feet under them really understand it. And going into
qualifying weekend, I think they would have been maybe one
of the teams, two or three teams that we would
have thought might be at risk of not even making
the race.
Speaker 6 (36:04):
Because we weren't sure they could be fast up.
Speaker 7 (36:06):
And then when Robert had such a great qualifying effort
on Saturday that allowed him to compete Sunday in the
top twelve. I think everybody came out of at though.
That's very cool, but he's probably going to end up
in eleventh or twelve. And then for Robert Schwartzman and
that team to sit on the pole to be the
fastest of qualifying on Sunday is such a great story.
And Robert is he just celebrated in a way that
(36:27):
I think was our fans really appreciate.
Speaker 6 (36:29):
We're looking forward to that.
Speaker 4 (36:30):
Talk to us a little bit, Doug about you know
what comes next. How are you you know, you know,
approaching your fan base, trying to grow it, trying to
grow the sport.
Speaker 7 (36:39):
Yeah, you know, it's really important that we focus on
the platform that our new TV partner gives us with
Fox and really trying to extend the reach of the
IndyCar brand. And I think we've got a great opportunity
to do that with with Fox. The other thing I'm
really focused on is the Indianapolis five hundred. Obviously the large,
huge event. We need to figure out a way to
make sure that our other events are the races become events.
(37:01):
So working with promoters to continue to elevate those Vanessa
talked about. Saint Petersburgh's a great way to kick the
season off. It feels like an event. Long Beach feels
like an event. But we need all seventeen of our
races that feel like events. So that's going to take
a lot of work in those individual markets, so supporting
our promoters as they go for it. And then, as
you noted, we have to get younger. We're all trying
to get younger. We've gotten younger a little bit over
(37:23):
the last ten years, but we have to get substantially younger.
So things like our edm concert we do here at
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are connecting to some of those
young personalities.
Speaker 6 (37:31):
Finding ways to really reach.
Speaker 7 (37:33):
Out to that next generation a potential fan that is
a priority for us. So we've really continuing to work
on how do we make that happen. And then from
a commercial standpoint, working with our teams, bringing in the
right partners, and when those partners come in as sponsors
on teams, we've got to get them to activate. We
need to see brands that people know in retail outlets,
so whether it's you know, picking a Pepsi up out
(37:55):
of the convenience store, or whether and ready global brings
in somebody like Chili's. How are we working with those
partners to build our brand. So it's a combination of things.
There's no silver bullet to continue to grow the sport,
but working on all of those as we go forward.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
A well, thanks to Doug Bowles joining us. He is
the president of IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway and thank
you for joining us. For my colleagues Damian Sasauer and
Vanessa Perdomo, I'm Michael Barr. Tune in again next week
for the latest on the stories moving big old money
in the world of sports, and if you missed anything,
catch it on demand now with the Bloomberg Business of
(38:29):
Sports podcast on all your favorite podcast platforms. You're listening
to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around
the world.
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