June 6, 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.
Marty Edel, co-chair of the Goulston & Storrs sports law practice and adjunct professor of law at Columbia Law joins to break down some of the latest legal headlines in sports, including the battle for player compensation in college sports and the MLB recently ruling to allow Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame.
Toronto Raptors president and vice-chairman Masai Ujiri joins to talk the latest headlines in the NBA, his team and how he's growing basketball in Africa and using the game to empower young people through his Giants of Africa.
Plus, listen to a special conversation Vanessa Perdomo has with US Soccer CEO and Secretary General JT Batson ahead of the Concacaf Gold Cup and in anticipation of the US hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2026.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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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 starting 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 (00:11):
Teams ours especially have been very intentional to diversify at
all levels of the company.
Speaker 5 (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 exploise.
Speaker 5 (00:22):
This is going to be really unlocking the streaming platform
for sports fans.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Sports evaluations arising.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
We'll see when they peak.
Speaker 5 (00:29):
You don't have to be the best in your sport
to make a whole ton of money.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explored
the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm
Michael Barr, along with MI cole leagues, Damian Sassauer and
Vanessa Bernomo. Coming up on the show, we'll hear from
Mesai Jerry. He is vice chairman and president of the
NBA's Toronto Raptors. He's also co founder of Giants of Africa.
We'll talk to him about that initiative and how he's
(01:00):
using the game of basketball to empower young people in Africa.
Speaker 6 (01:04):
We started a basketball camp twenty two years ago and
it was started just from the basic teaching of kids
basic fundamentals of the game, fifty kids in Nigeria. I
modeled it out of Basketball without Borders.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
All that and more is on the way on the
Bloomberg Business of Sports, But first we wanted to check
in on some of the legal headlines in the world
of sports. Lately, Congress is still mulling over compensation for
college players, and in the pros, we saw the MLB
make the choice to make Pete Rose and several others
eligible for the Hall of Fame. Here to go over
(01:37):
that and more is friend of the show Martin Needle.
He is co chair of Gulston and Stewart's Sports law
practice an adjunct professor of law at Columbia University. Marty,
Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports. Oh my goodness,
he's even more handsome in person than he is on
(01:58):
the phone. Hey, welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 7 (02:02):
My friend, Michael, so nice for you to have me here. Damien,
it's good to associate a face with a voice.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
You might have regrets after you've seen this space. Well,
we got a lot to talk about. There is a
prospective house settlement, the House and the NCAA settlement. It
hangs in the balance. They have extended a deadline. It
was supposed to be June sixth, and it is now
June twenty seventh. Now that's important, Marty, as you've mentioned,
(02:33):
for two reasons. One, it gives more time for an appeal,
but more importantly, it pushes the timeline for a potential
resolution even closer to July first.
Speaker 7 (02:44):
So you're absolutely right, Michael. The House settlement is far
from clear at this point. There are a number of
wild cards going on, in particular the roster size of
college teams. The judge has expressed concern about what will
happen if the NCAA and the various conferences fix the
(03:06):
rosters at a particular size. What will that mean for
some members of the class. Will they be thrown off
the team? Will they have the ability to be guaranteed
a roster spot? And there are lots of ideas coming
up to deal with that. What's really important to note
about the House settlement is what it does not cover.
(03:30):
It does not cover Title seven concerns or Title nine concerns.
It does not cover prospective anti trust claims. Let me
give you an example. Prospectively, the House settlement provides that
conferences will pay up to twenty percent of revenues to
student athletes. Why twenty percent? Why not twenty two percent?
(03:55):
Twenty five percent? This is an antitrust lawsuit waiting to happen.
It restrains competition for those dollars. And the third area
that it does not cover is something that we have
talked about repeatedly before, which is our student athletes, employees,
they're going to be paid a percentage of revenues, they're
(04:17):
going to get their scholarships, they're going to get their
nil dollars. Sort of looks like, smells like, feels like
an employee, and what will happen?
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Then settlement's touchstones they remain unchanged right starting the first
of July. Believe, NCAA schools can share as much as
twenty point five million in revenue with their athletes, and
former athletes who played between twenty sixteen and twenty four
will be paid what two point eight billion with a
B in back payments if the settlement is actually approved.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
But it's this roster limit that I'm struggling with.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
I mean, talk to us a little bit about how
they put the toothpaste batock in the bottle as it were.
Speaker 7 (04:49):
You know, so, I think you hit the nail on
the head here, Damien. You can't go backwards, plain and simple.
What do you do with rosters? Well, now there's no
longer a cap on the number of scholarships, for example,
to be awarded, so schools can continue to award scholarships. Well,
they have the money for more than let's say one
hundred and five Maybe not so, maybe that's why they're
(05:11):
trying to link rosters with scholarships. But ultimately this should
be a resolvable problem, and both the players and the
NCAAA have proposed various solutions for the roster situation. Keep
all members of the class, for example, guarantee them a
roster spot is one second is create a wild card
(05:35):
number of roster entries kind of going forward basis one.
Speaker 8 (05:39):
Of the things, like on the roster limit thing that
I'm really struggling with as well as a former athlete
myself and someone who plays a sport that really feels
like it was going to be affected by this. As
a women's soccer player. You know, our scholarships were divvied
up in between you know, each other, and we didn't
really not a lot of people have full rides. So
(06:01):
in a sport like football, where they can afford one
hundred and five scholarships, feels like maybe they don't get affected.
But what about the non revenue generating sports like women's soccer, baseball,
track and field.
Speaker 7 (06:12):
So if I can expand your question a little bit
and then take it apart, so we have the non
roster you know sports, the non revenue sports, and then
we also have the dichotomy between men's and women's sports,
which we also shook can touch on if you'd like. So,
for example, in the difference between revenue and non revenue sports,
(06:33):
schools can continue to have rosters, they can continue to
award scholarships now without limit. They still have to find
some money, according to this, to pay athletes for the
use of the athlete's time and energy on in even
these non roster sports. How this is going to come
(06:55):
about is far from clear. There's some talk that Judge
Wills will appoint a magistrate judge to oversee enforcement. Maybe
she appoints instead a tribunal to look at this. There
are lots of ways of looking at it, but they
haven't dug into the details for on the non revenue
(07:15):
because the revenue sports take such a high precedence for
most colleges and universities.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
I want to open up a whole brand new jar here.
It goes something to what you wrote about, by the
way in sportco about gambling, but it goes to the
MLB decided, hey, you know what, Pete Rose, fifteen others,
including shoeless Joe Jackson, you know what, Well, okay, we'll
make him eligible for the Hall of Fame posthumously. And
(07:43):
I know they're purists out there that are saying, who
should never happen because Pete Rose gambled on news and
that whatever others are saying just the opposite. Can you
break it down for us?
Speaker 7 (07:54):
I can try it least. So we have a really
interesting sit situation. If you go back to nineteen nineteen
and the Black Sox, and now that you can see me,
you know I was around then.
Speaker 9 (08:09):
I was.
Speaker 7 (08:12):
Now I remember how I So with the Black Sox
came the start of having a commissioner for sports. Kennisaw
Mountain Landas was the first commissioner in any sport, and
he became the first commissioner in baseball. He promptly threw
out eight players from the Chicago White Sox team for
(08:32):
Baseball for life, including shoeless Joe Jacks. Baseball then had
this epiphany, Jay, if somebody bets, we're going to throw
them out for life. The reasons are pretty clear. We
don't want players to game what's there. We want fans
to think that this is not, for instance, like WWE.
(08:53):
We want to have a clean contest to attract fans.
And with the nascent media attention coming on, they wanted
media dollars. Why would media pay huge dollars if they
knew the outcome before it started. So baseball was in
the forefront and said you're out. This coincided, of course,
(09:13):
with the feeling in the country where most states had
laws which prohibited gambling. Not so in the other leagues though,
So you look at football. I'll jump forward to about
nineteen sixty one, Paul Horning, a star running back for
the Green Bay Packers, Alex Carris, a star defensive tackle
for the Detroit Lions. Court gambling tossed out initially for
(09:39):
life and then later changed to a single year hockey,
same thing one year.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Back then, the amounts of revenue that's generated from legalized
sports gambling wasn't one hundred point nine billion dollars per year.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
So this is a big money issue.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
And you know my curiosity, Marty, and I wonder if
you can appign on this is some of the people
out there are the ones who physically enhancing drugs and
PD all that kind of stuff. This opens the door
for you know, some of that to get challenged as well.
But you know, I believe sports betting is a different
animal than pds. What's the president that's being said here
(10:17):
in your opinion?
Speaker 7 (10:18):
Again, two tracks going, So one is sports gambling. Sports
gambling is now legal in thirty eight states plus the
district of Colonis.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Fan engagement. It's good for the game.
Speaker 7 (10:28):
How many people engage in fanduels or DraftKings. I used
to tell my class, you know, by show of hands,
how many of you are participating that They raise the hand.
I said, well, I guess I have to report you
to the authorities. It's illegal. After they got over the
shock of that, but now you're right, we're spending as
a nation well over one hundred billion dollars annually. In
(10:51):
sports gambling.
Speaker 8 (10:52):
People can bet on if someone gets a touchdown, they
can bet on specific players, right, So how come they
can't get a pece piece of that high obviously not
betting on themselves, but shouldn't they get something from other
people trying to bet on them?
Speaker 7 (11:07):
Well, again, if you want to, if you come to
the conclusion that these are not outcome determinative and won't
affect therefore the way fans and the media look at sports,
maybe you can permit something like that. I think it
makes sense as a rule, at least right now, to
say you cannot bet on a sport in which you
(11:30):
can bet on sports in which you do not participate,
but not on sports in which you participate. Is this
really any different though, than your old time gamblers who
told players will break your kneecaps unless you throw the game.
That's not what we want in our as fans viewing
(11:50):
it or as the media broadcasting sports. You want a
free and open game, and the more you get away
from that, the more problems you have there. It's a
constantly evolving problem.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
By the way, you all missed. The biggest prop bet
was on Alex Chris that he was going to star
in Webster years down the road. I came through all
that Marty Eedel, I love that show. Our thanks to
Marty Eagle for joining us. He's co chair of Gulston
and Stores Sports Law Practice and adjunct Professor of Law
(12:26):
at Columbia University. Up next, our very own Vanessa Perdomo
speaks with the CEO and Secretary General of the US
Soccer Federation, J. T. Batson. For my colleagues, Damien Sassauer
and Vanessa Perdomo, I'm Michael Barr. You are listening to
the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world sports. Michael Barr
our very own, but Essa Perdomo is our resident soccer expert.
She's launching a new series focused on some of the
big names in the sport in the run up to
the US hosting the FIFA World Cup in twenty twenty six.
In her latest conversation, she spoke with J. T. Batson,
(13:18):
he's CEO and Secretary General of the US Soccer Federation.
Let's listen in on that conversation as they look ahead
to the World Cup and to next weekends concer CAFF
Gold Cup.
Speaker 8 (13:31):
So we are one year out from the start of
the twenty twenty six FIFA World Cup. I am so excited.
You know, how quickly has this come for you? Is it?
Is it right around the corner for you? Do you
feel or is it still a long way's way.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
The way the.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
Soccer calendar works, there's always something right on your doorstep,
and of course the Men's World Cup being here in
twenty twenty six is a huge moment. We're all incredibly
excited about it. You know, we joke a lot. The
soccer calendar never sleeps, and so you know, the team's
up for it, are organization's up for it, our fans
(14:06):
are up for it, and we're certainly excited.
Speaker 8 (14:08):
It definitely is constantly populating the soccer calendar, for sure.
So Jat, you came into the federation just a few
months ahead of the twenty twenty two World Cup and
guitar and that must have been quite a busy first
few months. But now you're you're in it. You know,
you're in tune with the job and everything. So how
is this year going to be for you different for
(14:28):
you in going into twenty twenty six than it was
in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
Well, the going into the twenty twenty two World Cup,
you know, I joined in September, Obviously the World Cup
was a few months after that. Those plans are long
baked before before two months out, and so you know,
as you think about the prep for next summer, you know,
Matt Crocker, a sporting director, working with Marizio Pocchettino and
(14:53):
staff planning out everything going into next summer. You know,
so that that work is very actively going on, and
everything from where's the team based during the World Cup
to what are the games you're playing to prepare to
all of the sort of logistics and everything we're doing,
you know, off the field as well to take full
(15:14):
advantage of this unique moment. So you know, I was,
you know, in Qatar, I was able to benefit from
all of that work, whereas in this instance, obviously we're
we're all knee deep in it, and with the World
Cup being here presents all sorts of new opportunities for
us to to really you know, seize the moment and
help transform what soccer looks like in this country.
Speaker 8 (15:35):
Right exactly. I mean, there so much this This is
gonna be the biggest moment for soccer really in the
US ever, right because the last time we hosted a
World Cup, nineteen ninety four, we hosted a World Cup,
the MLS was on the cusp of being created because
of that World Cup, right, So how is this going
to be different because of everything that's on the line,
(15:56):
MLS and WSL, everything that can benefit from this time.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
You know, in ninety four, we had aspirations of being
a soccer country. You know, you mentioned Major League Soccer
was sort of born out of the ninety four World Cup.
You know, nineteen ninety four World Cup is still the
most attended World Cup in history, even though it was
only twenty four teams. So you know, imagine forty eight
teams in next summer is going to shatter that record.
(16:23):
But I think as you think about where we are now,
we are a soccer country. They're over one hundred million
fans of the men's and women's national team. There are
more soccer games available to watch on television in the
US than any other country in the world. You've got
tens of millions of people playing. You've got an incredible
amount of commercial investment, success of Major League Soccer NWSL,
(16:44):
USL and sort of all forms of soccer in this country.
So you know, conceivably maybe twenty twenty six is when
the rest of the world learns that were a soccer country.
And so you know, for us, you know, the journey
from ninety four to twenty twenty six is one of
incredible growth and real maturity of the soccer market. And
(17:05):
and you know it's around how do we take that
to the next.
Speaker 8 (17:08):
Level, in your opinion, how do we show the rest
of the world that we are a soccer country since
we are one of the hosts of the twenty twenty
six World Cup.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
Well, first and foremost, you know, we have to have
a team that everyone believes in, and we have to
have a team that after every game you're proud of
their fight, you're proud of their performance, and you're excited
about the next opportunity for them to go win.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
You know.
Speaker 5 (17:33):
The one of the things that was very true in
Qatar was colleagues from around the world kept coming up
to me and some of my colleagues at US Soccer
is saying, wow, this US team look at you know,
look at you know, look at you guys, and they
weren't expecting that.
Speaker 6 (17:50):
I think, what, of.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
Course, we got to perform on the field, But I
think where our big opportunity is is for the millions
of people that come to America to experience the tens
of millions of fans here in America and their passion,
their love, their knowledge for the game, and helping them
really appreciate how deep and broad the sort of love
(18:13):
of soccer is in this country. And of course benefiting
from the amazing facilities and infrastructure and restaurants and hotels
and everything we have in the US that makes it
such an amazing place to witness a global sporting spectacle.
Speaker 8 (18:27):
Are there any metrics in terms of, you know, growing
the game percentage wise by fans or viewership or in
terms of youth participation that you're looking at that it
stands now to where you want it to grow over
the next year.
Speaker 5 (18:43):
So overall, US Soccer believes that we exist in service
to soccer. Our job is to support those who are
bringing soccer to life in communities all across the country,
you know, and those folks have three shared ambitions. They
want soccer everywhere, so they want everyone in the country
to be able to experience the joy of soccer. They
want our teams to win, so they of course want
our national teams, they want our pro clubs to win
(19:04):
on the world stage, and they want to maximize investment
in the sport at all levels. So that's commercial investment,
philanthropic investment, government support, private capital coming in. And so
as we think about the opportunity of Club World Cup
in twenty five, Men's World Cup in twenty six, Olympics
in twenty eight, and US being the sole bidders for
(19:24):
the Women's World Cup in twenty thirty one, there's a
really unique opportunity for us to move the needle across
all three of those shared ambitions, and as we think
about what that means, we launch the Soccer Ford Foundation
to drive more access to soccer, to make it to
where everyone in this country can walk, ride their bike
(19:46):
or take public transit to a safe place to play soccer.
To make it to where soccer is in every school
in this country. We've launched the US Way, which is
our comprehensive strategy to ensure our teams win, to focus
on all levels of the game to set our teams
up for success in these big moments. And of course,
from an investment standpoint, think about the investment that's going
(20:08):
on at all levels of our game, whether it's infrastructure,
building facilities, our new arthroom blank US Soccer National Training
Center in Atlanta, almost a two hundred acre project, first
ever national training center and headquarters for US Soccer. It'll
be the best in the world when it opens next year.
To the investments in the professional leagues, the investments in
(20:32):
all of the infrastructure, the digital infrastructure that US Soccer
is doing around supporting the rest of the soccer ecosystem.
So this is a very very very important time for
us to take advantage of the growth of our sport,
the momentum and the focus and if anything, we are
thinking about using twenty six twenty eight thirty one sort
of forcing functions to get people to take big, bold
(20:53):
steps forward around transforming what the sport can look like.
Speaker 8 (20:57):
And is that looking to get investors and the stakeholders
in leagues and things like that, those are those the
people you're looking at to take big, big swings and
big you know, things like you just said, Like I mean,
you guys obviously had a lot of investment this year.
The Ken Griffin Donation made a lot of headlines this
year and helping with Merchu Po Chattino getting hired as
(21:21):
US men's national team coach, and then obviously, like you
mentioned Arthur Blank in that training facility. Michelle Kang Big Donations.
Talk to us a little bit about those specific people
and investors that you're looking at to help grow and
the role that philanthropy plays for US soccer.
Speaker 5 (21:38):
So when you think about US Soccer, one, you know
analogy for folks who are listening. In terms of our
sort of businesses, we've got almost like a pro sports
part of our business.
Speaker 6 (21:49):
Those are our national teams.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
We have twenty seven national teams, most known for our
men's and women's national teams, but those sort of resemble
a pro sports organization. We have a trade association type
of business, think of coaching, education, referee certification and licensing,
sort of promoting a health and safe and positive ecosystem
type of work. And we have the Impact arm Soccer
(22:11):
Ford Foundation, which is around accessibility and ensuring our game
can be everywhere for everyone. And so as you you
think about investment, those come in different forms depending on
which of those businesses your your business lines you're you're
talking about and as you think about US Soccer at
the organization, you know, we've had incredible success over the
(22:33):
last two years UH launching our commercial rights business. We
have been able to partner with some of the great
brands in the world, from Nike to Bank of America,
to Coca Cola, to Visa to you know, and and
and to where we have you know, grown revenue had
a really impressive clip over the last couple of years
(22:55):
from people who believe in our vision, believe in our mission,
and believe in and the opportunity to use soccer as
a force for good in their relationship with the US
Soccer to bring that to life. We also have had
incredible success from a philanthropic standpoint. You know, you mentioned,
you know, the support from Arthur and Blank, from Michelle Kang,
(23:16):
from Ken Griffin and others who believe that, you know,
US Soccer can go do big things. You know, Unlike
our peers US Soccer around the world, US Soccer receives
no government support directly. UH. And so you know, philanthropic
support is a unique American thing and it's something that
(23:36):
you know, we want to embrace as we are trying
to go be best in the world, and so why
not use what America's great at uh. And so we've
been very fortunate to have people who believe in our
overall mission and believe in our ability to go do
big things and being great stewards of their money. And
so we're we're excited about about what that looks like. Then,
more broadly, we care about what's the health of the
(23:59):
soccer eCos system in this country. Our investors stepping up
to invest in professional teams. Absolutely, you're seeing that every
day on the MLS, NWSL and USL side. Our governments
investing in making soccer more accessible in their communities. Every week,
new communities across the country opening up new soccer facilities,
(24:19):
whether they're big you know, soccer complexes or sort of
small fields or spaces to play in denser areas. Soccer
in schools are expanding rapidly, you know, thanks to school
districts investing in soccer is an incredibly accessible sport, very
high our ROI to achieve health outcomes and positive community outcomes.
(24:42):
So as we think about sort of investment, we take
a very broad lens on that and it's it's something
that you know. Across the board, we're seeing you know, growth,
growth and more growth.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
At US Soccer Federation CEO and Secretary General j T.
Bats and speaking with our own Vanessa Pernomo. Soccer fans
may make sure you subscribe now to The Bloomberg Business
of Sports on your favorite podcast platform. Vanessa will be
having conversations with some of the biggest names in soccer
as we anticipate the US hosting the twenty twenty six
(25:13):
feet of World Cup. Never miss a conversation with an
athlete who would take the field, or an executive or
stakeholder helping to make it happen behind the scenes. Up next,
we turn to the world of basketball and how Toronto
Raptors Vice chairman and President Massi you Jerry put it
all together. I'm Michael Barr, and you are listening to
(25:33):
the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberger Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports,
where we explore the big money issues in the world
of sports. I'm Michael Barr. Join now by Bloomberg Original's
Chief correspondent Jason Kelly the sign you. Jerry is vice
chairman and president of the NBA's Toronto Raptors, but basketball
runs even deeper for him than that. He's co founder
(26:08):
of Giants of Africa, and initiative that uses the sport
to empower young people in Africa. Here now to talk
with us about Giants of Africa, the state of the sport,
the NBA and more, is mister you, Jerry Massi. Welcome
to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 6 (26:26):
Thank you, Michael, Thank you Jason, Thank you guys for
having me.
Speaker 9 (26:29):
Well, Michael, I'm so excited that Massia is here. I mean,
this is a guy I've gotten to know over the
last couple of years, and you know, his impact on
the sport of basketball globally is massive. As you know,
you and I have talked about this, and you know, Massi,
we're so happy to have you here. We're on the
eve of the finals as we talk. How do you
sum up this season in terms of the business of
(26:50):
the NBA.
Speaker 6 (26:51):
I think, in my apstart is slow, but I think
Adam Silva has done an incredible job and creating parodying
this league. We see what the finals is and we
saw our competitive playoffs very fun to watch. Now we
have two small market teams playing in playing in the finals. Yeah,
I think it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
You've got a busy schedule coming up because you've got
to get ready for the NBA Draft. Now, you don't
have to tell anybody man. In fact, you can just
tell us keeping in here, are you guys looking at LJ.
Cryer Man? Because Lo's good. You don't have to just
you know, just give me that wink.
Speaker 6 (27:28):
That's all I get you to scout him.
Speaker 9 (27:34):
This goes to sort of the broader question too, of
sort of the talent in the NBA right now. You're
a businessman at heart, like as you look around the
sort of global talent pool, like, what are you seeing
out there in terms of you know, the players that
are developing where they're coming from. The Raptors under your
leadership really have become a sort of a global team,
which sort of speaks to this broader sort of macro trend.
(27:56):
What are you seeing in terms of global talent right now?
Speaker 6 (27:58):
But you know, talent is is everywhere because of not
only the genius of the NBA being a global brand
and it's extended its wings into all corners of the world, Africa, Asia,
South America and Europe. And also because of this handset
(28:20):
we carry everywhere the globe, the game is so attainable
for every young kid around the world. So the chance
for kids to play. I always tell people my son
learned how to do the step back. It wasn't coach
to do it. He just saw it. Like watching all
these guys on the screen. But you look at the
landscape of the NBA, there's players in America, players in Europe,
(28:43):
plays in Africa or everybody make an impact. It's a
time in the league where you know, we really have
to think about the young players coming up because at
some point there's going to be a change of guard,
you know, like and I think the league is set
up well with a really good young player.
Speaker 9 (28:59):
Part of what you've done, Massai through Giants of Africa
is create this incredible pipeline for talent on the court,
off the court, et cetera. Tell us about Giants of
Africa sort of the state of play twenty two years.
I believe into a big festival coming up, but help
our listeners understand what Giants of Africa is.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
We started a basketball camp twenty two years ago and
it was started just from the basic teaching of kids,
basic fundamentals of the game. Fifty kids in Nigeria. I
modeled it out of Basketball Without Borders with the NBA
and I was the director of Basketball with out Borders.
And I saw what the NBA was doing in South
Africa bringing all these kids together, and I said, I'll
(29:37):
start doing that in my own country in Nigeria and
started to grow beyond, you know, I took it to
my mom's country, Kenya. It started to increase, not only
in countries, but we started thinking all the things while preaching,
you know, like with kids with life skills, being honest,
being on time, empowering women. And I'll start talking about
(29:58):
women and I'm like, okay, not doing those things that
empower women, which is doing a women's camp too. So
I introduced girls camp and it became a boys and
girls camp, which really took off. And then we started
going into tough areas in the continent, you know, kids
that don't have that much opportunity, slumps, refugee camps or
torn areas, and really started to affect maybe some of
(30:22):
those kids that don't have as much opportunity growing, you know.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
I think one of the neatest things that you have
ever done. You guys won the championship Toronto Raptors in
twenty nineteen. You took the Larry O'Brien Trophy to Africa
to show the kids there is like, hey, this is
what we played for. Now you've developed almost more than
one hundred basketball courts in Africa. Tell us more about.
Speaker 6 (30:48):
That the camps. Eventually, I started to get bigger as
it started to get bigger and we traveled to other countries,
started growing in countries, you start to discover that infrastructure
becomes a problem where the kids playing potholed courts, you know,
like geams that are not well kept. And it became
a priority for me, you know, like to see that
this kid's playing with better courts, better grounds, you know,
(31:11):
better facilities and provide balls. Thank you to Nike and
all the sponsors that we've had to give the kids
some of the kid that they've needed to play the game.
And we made a pledge to build one hundred courts
around the continent and that became real. We started doing
it and we're growing with I think almost at forty
(31:32):
courts now. We build them well, we secure them we
have make sure they are programs running on these courts,
which is important. Women. I included, the communities, included schools,
I included. It took off, and I thank the NBA
for having this foresight, you know, giving me also opportunity
working in the NBA. Is he has been a huge
(31:52):
opportunity to go and do this. You take coaches back,
you take so many aspects you know that come into
play here one big family. You try to grow the
game all over the continent. You try to learn and
learn as much as you can. You help other youth,
you help other coaches, other people, and you continue to
grow and you start to think about this ecosystem which
(32:16):
is educational in my opinion, you know, to get this
kid thinking as sports, even broader sports as a business.
You know, sports as you do only see it in
Africa as recreation and competition, you can also see it
as a business and a career path for you. Just
look at me. Yes, I didn't play in the NBA.
(32:38):
I wasn't good enough to even play in high division
in Europe, you know, but my scouting background, business, all
those things, you know, really gave me this opportunity to
be sitting down here and talking to you here at Boomberg.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Yeah, you haven't seen me play. I was playing golf stort.
Speaker 6 (32:55):
I was going to tell you, Michael, we're going to
draft you. I'm looking at you.
Speaker 9 (33:03):
So So, Michael, I had a chance, you know, a
couple of years ago to go to the Giants of
African Festival, you know in Kagali. You know, they're running
it back this year, Massia and his team and so
you know it and it's an unbelievable gathering of you know,
youth teams from across the continent, you know, convening there
(33:24):
in Rwanda. You're doing it again Massida this coming year.
How do you level that up? I mean, it was
such a it was such an amazing scene, you know,
I remember so vividly, like being at the closing concert
with the Davido and Tyla, I mean, and then there
was all this basketball happening as well. But the festival
nature of it speaks to I think this ecosystem that
(33:47):
you're talking about that that's created around sports. So tell
us about this version of the festival and what you're
expecting and what the big goals are.
Speaker 6 (33:56):
You know, we're celebrating twenty years to two years ago, Jason,
when we were there, and it was a big thing
that we thought about, how do we make the twentieth
year really big? It was supposed to be a one off, right, yeah.
And I always go by what coach Casey doing. Casey
always says when you do something good, he always says,
(34:18):
you told on yourself. That means you can't do it again.
So we told on ourselves. And I wasn't planning to
do it, you know, like for many years to come.
But it was so good, you know, to have about
three hundred kids come together, you know, from all parts
of the world. We want to redefine what Africa is.
(34:40):
And one of the themes of that is how does
Africa become borderless? And it starts with our youth. You know.
Sometimes people don't understand that Africa is. It is a continent,
not a country, you know, so different countries have their
rules and regulations and sometimes times that creates some sort
(35:02):
of boundaries, you know, And how do we bring it together?
You know, the cultures, the languages, the food, the it's
all unique, you know, but it can all come together
in some kind of way. And that's what the festival did,
you know, bringing these kids together.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Well on the fifteenth anniversary this it was spectacularly. You
had former President Barack Obama there. It helped to kick
off this festival that had to be a special treat.
Speaker 6 (35:29):
Yeah, So having him, we we went to we went
to Alego and we built one of our first courts
and opened it with President Obama. We built it for
Auma Obama uh in Saudi ko and in Kenya. And
it's always incredible to have to work with him and
(35:50):
worked with him for for for a while as a
dear friend and mentor, and it be he's just so
knowledgeable about the world, old about and loves basketball.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
And he's a hooper.
Speaker 6 (36:04):
He's a he really should own a team, his his
his very We know, you never see somebody that that
knows so much about a lot of things, you know,
and does it so humbly, you know. But having him
(36:26):
being part of Giants of Africa is always as will
always be special to us. And it's one of those
reasons while always trying to like do even.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
More, I know the sands of the hour glass hour
against us, but I do want I ask one question
before we wrap up. And Adam Silver, NBA Commissioner, just
recently affirmed that they are going to start a new tournament,
the n B a versus the World. They're going to
scrap the mini tournament that they had around in the
(37:00):
All Star break.
Speaker 6 (37:02):
Your thoughts about that, you know, He's always been known
for being very creative, you know, and open minded. That's
known him for twenty two how many years now, been
in this business, and that's how his mind works. But
it's also the minds of everybody he listens to, which
is the whole league and the whole world in some
(37:23):
kind of way, and his team and I think I
always try to get this league right, you know, and
I think we I'm open for ideas because you have
to innovate in this league, you know, like, yes, you
have to figure out what history is and what you
want to carry on for a long time, but you
also have to innovate and make things spicy in our league,
(37:48):
you know, as the NBA is a drama league, you know,
like and we love it and and that's why we
It always rises to the occasion, you know, And I'm
incredibly grateful to be a part of it.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Thanks to Messi U Jerry for joining us. He of
course is vice chairman and president of the Toronto Raptors
and co founder of Giants of Africa. And most importantly,
thank you as well to Bloomberg Original's chief correspondent and
friend of the show Jason Kelly for joining us for
that special conversation. And that does it for this edition
(38:20):
of The Bloomberg Business of Sports. For my colleagues Vanessa Perdomo,
Damien Sassauer and Jason Kelly.
Speaker 6 (38:26):
I'm Michael Barr.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Tune in again next week for the latest on the
stories moving big old money in a world of sports.
And don't forget to catch our podcast on all your
podcast platforms. You're listening to The Bloomberg Business of Sports
from Bloomberger 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 starting 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 (00:11):
Teams ours especially have been very intentional to diversify at
all levels of the company.
Speaker 5 (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 exploise.
Speaker 5 (00:22):
This is going to be really unlocking the streaming platform
for sports fans.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Sports evaluations arising.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
We'll see when they peak.
Speaker 5 (00:29):
You don't have to be the best in your sport
to make a whole ton of money.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explored
the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm
Michael Barr, along with MI cole leagues, Damian Sassauer and
Vanessa Bernomo. Coming up on the show, we'll hear from
Mesai Jerry. He is vice chairman and president of the
NBA's Toronto Raptors. He's also co founder of Giants of Africa.
We'll talk to him about that initiative and how he's
(01:00):
using the game of basketball to empower young people in Africa.
Speaker 6 (01:04):
We started a basketball camp twenty two years ago and
it was started just from the basic teaching of kids
basic fundamentals of the game, fifty kids in Nigeria. I
modeled it out of Basketball without Borders.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
All that and more is on the way on the
Bloomberg Business of Sports, But first we wanted to check
in on some of the legal headlines in the world
of sports. Lately, Congress is still mulling over compensation for
college players, and in the pros, we saw the MLB
make the choice to make Pete Rose and several others
eligible for the Hall of Fame. Here to go over
(01:37):
that and more is friend of the show Martin Needle.
He is co chair of Gulston and Stewart's Sports law
practice an adjunct professor of law at Columbia University. Marty,
Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports. Oh my goodness,
he's even more handsome in person than he is on
(01:58):
the phone. Hey, welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 7 (02:02):
My friend, Michael, so nice for you to have me here. Damien,
it's good to associate a face with a voice.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
You might have regrets after you've seen this space. Well,
we got a lot to talk about. There is a
prospective house settlement, the House and the NCAA settlement. It
hangs in the balance. They have extended a deadline. It
was supposed to be June sixth, and it is now
June twenty seventh. Now that's important, Marty, as you've mentioned,
(02:33):
for two reasons. One, it gives more time for an appeal,
but more importantly, it pushes the timeline for a potential
resolution even closer to July first.
Speaker 7 (02:44):
So you're absolutely right, Michael. The House settlement is far
from clear at this point. There are a number of
wild cards going on, in particular the roster size of
college teams. The judge has expressed concern about what will
happen if the NCAA and the various conferences fix the
(03:06):
rosters at a particular size. What will that mean for
some members of the class. Will they be thrown off
the team? Will they have the ability to be guaranteed
a roster spot? And there are lots of ideas coming
up to deal with that. What's really important to note
about the House settlement is what it does not cover.
(03:30):
It does not cover Title seven concerns or Title nine concerns.
It does not cover prospective anti trust claims. Let me
give you an example. Prospectively, the House settlement provides that
conferences will pay up to twenty percent of revenues to
student athletes. Why twenty percent? Why not twenty two percent?
(03:55):
Twenty five percent? This is an antitrust lawsuit waiting to happen.
It restrains competition for those dollars. And the third area
that it does not cover is something that we have
talked about repeatedly before, which is our student athletes, employees,
they're going to be paid a percentage of revenues, they're
(04:17):
going to get their scholarships, they're going to get their
nil dollars. Sort of looks like, smells like, feels like
an employee, and what will happen?
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Then settlement's touchstones they remain unchanged right starting the first
of July. Believe, NCAA schools can share as much as
twenty point five million in revenue with their athletes, and
former athletes who played between twenty sixteen and twenty four
will be paid what two point eight billion with a
B in back payments if the settlement is actually approved.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
But it's this roster limit that I'm struggling with.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
I mean, talk to us a little bit about how
they put the toothpaste batock in the bottle as it were.
Speaker 7 (04:49):
You know, so, I think you hit the nail on
the head here, Damien. You can't go backwards, plain and simple.
What do you do with rosters? Well, now there's no
longer a cap on the number of scholarships, for example,
to be awarded, so schools can continue to award scholarships. Well,
they have the money for more than let's say one
hundred and five Maybe not so, maybe that's why they're
(05:11):
trying to link rosters with scholarships. But ultimately this should
be a resolvable problem, and both the players and the
NCAAA have proposed various solutions for the roster situation. Keep
all members of the class, for example, guarantee them a
roster spot is one second is create a wild card
(05:35):
number of roster entries kind of going forward basis one.
Speaker 8 (05:39):
Of the things, like on the roster limit thing that
I'm really struggling with as well as a former athlete
myself and someone who plays a sport that really feels
like it was going to be affected by this. As
a women's soccer player. You know, our scholarships were divvied
up in between you know, each other, and we didn't
really not a lot of people have full rides. So
(06:01):
in a sport like football, where they can afford one
hundred and five scholarships, feels like maybe they don't get affected.
But what about the non revenue generating sports like women's soccer, baseball,
track and field.
Speaker 7 (06:12):
So if I can expand your question a little bit
and then take it apart, so we have the non
roster you know sports, the non revenue sports, and then
we also have the dichotomy between men's and women's sports,
which we also shook can touch on if you'd like. So,
for example, in the difference between revenue and non revenue sports,
(06:33):
schools can continue to have rosters, they can continue to
award scholarships now without limit. They still have to find
some money, according to this, to pay athletes for the
use of the athlete's time and energy on in even
these non roster sports. How this is going to come
(06:55):
about is far from clear. There's some talk that Judge
Wills will appoint a magistrate judge to oversee enforcement. Maybe
she appoints instead a tribunal to look at this. There
are lots of ways of looking at it, but they
haven't dug into the details for on the non revenue
(07:15):
because the revenue sports take such a high precedence for
most colleges and universities.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
I want to open up a whole brand new jar here.
It goes something to what you wrote about, by the
way in sportco about gambling, but it goes to the
MLB decided, hey, you know what, Pete Rose, fifteen others,
including shoeless Joe Jackson, you know what, Well, okay, we'll
make him eligible for the Hall of Fame posthumously. And
(07:43):
I know they're purists out there that are saying, who
should never happen because Pete Rose gambled on news and
that whatever others are saying just the opposite. Can you
break it down for us?
Speaker 7 (07:54):
I can try it least. So we have a really
interesting sit situation. If you go back to nineteen nineteen
and the Black Sox, and now that you can see me,
you know I was around then.
Speaker 9 (08:09):
I was.
Speaker 7 (08:12):
Now I remember how I So with the Black Sox
came the start of having a commissioner for sports. Kennisaw
Mountain Landas was the first commissioner in any sport, and
he became the first commissioner in baseball. He promptly threw
out eight players from the Chicago White Sox team for
(08:32):
Baseball for life, including shoeless Joe Jacks. Baseball then had
this epiphany, Jay, if somebody bets, we're going to throw
them out for life. The reasons are pretty clear. We
don't want players to game what's there. We want fans
to think that this is not, for instance, like WWE.
(08:53):
We want to have a clean contest to attract fans.
And with the nascent media attention coming on, they wanted
media dollars. Why would media pay huge dollars if they
knew the outcome before it started. So baseball was in
the forefront and said you're out. This coincided, of course,
(09:13):
with the feeling in the country where most states had
laws which prohibited gambling. Not so in the other leagues though,
So you look at football. I'll jump forward to about
nineteen sixty one, Paul Horning, a star running back for
the Green Bay Packers, Alex Carris, a star defensive tackle
for the Detroit Lions. Court gambling tossed out initially for
(09:39):
life and then later changed to a single year hockey,
same thing one year.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Back then, the amounts of revenue that's generated from legalized
sports gambling wasn't one hundred point nine billion dollars per year.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
So this is a big money issue.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
And you know my curiosity, Marty, and I wonder if
you can appign on this is some of the people
out there are the ones who physically enhancing drugs and
PD all that kind of stuff. This opens the door
for you know, some of that to get challenged as well.
But you know, I believe sports betting is a different
animal than pds. What's the president that's being said here
(10:17):
in your opinion?
Speaker 7 (10:18):
Again, two tracks going, So one is sports gambling. Sports
gambling is now legal in thirty eight states plus the
district of Colonis.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Fan engagement. It's good for the game.
Speaker 7 (10:28):
How many people engage in fanduels or DraftKings. I used
to tell my class, you know, by show of hands,
how many of you are participating that They raise the hand.
I said, well, I guess I have to report you
to the authorities. It's illegal. After they got over the
shock of that, but now you're right, we're spending as
a nation well over one hundred billion dollars annually. In
(10:51):
sports gambling.
Speaker 8 (10:52):
People can bet on if someone gets a touchdown, they
can bet on specific players, right, So how come they
can't get a pece piece of that high obviously not
betting on themselves, but shouldn't they get something from other
people trying to bet on them?
Speaker 7 (11:07):
Well, again, if you want to, if you come to
the conclusion that these are not outcome determinative and won't
affect therefore the way fans and the media look at sports,
maybe you can permit something like that. I think it
makes sense as a rule, at least right now, to
say you cannot bet on a sport in which you
(11:30):
can bet on sports in which you do not participate,
but not on sports in which you participate. Is this
really any different though, than your old time gamblers who
told players will break your kneecaps unless you throw the game.
That's not what we want in our as fans viewing
(11:50):
it or as the media broadcasting sports. You want a
free and open game, and the more you get away
from that, the more problems you have there. It's a
constantly evolving problem.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
By the way, you all missed. The biggest prop bet
was on Alex Chris that he was going to star
in Webster years down the road. I came through all
that Marty Eedel, I love that show. Our thanks to
Marty Eagle for joining us. He's co chair of Gulston
and Stores Sports Law Practice and adjunct Professor of Law
(12:26):
at Columbia University. Up next, our very own Vanessa Perdomo
speaks with the CEO and Secretary General of the US
Soccer Federation, J. T. Batson. For my colleagues, Damien Sassauer
and Vanessa Perdomo, I'm Michael Barr. You are listening to
the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world sports. Michael Barr
our very own, but Essa Perdomo is our resident soccer expert.
She's launching a new series focused on some of the
big names in the sport in the run up to
the US hosting the FIFA World Cup in twenty twenty six.
In her latest conversation, she spoke with J. T. Batson,
(13:18):
he's CEO and Secretary General of the US Soccer Federation.
Let's listen in on that conversation as they look ahead
to the World Cup and to next weekends concer CAFF
Gold Cup.
Speaker 8 (13:31):
So we are one year out from the start of
the twenty twenty six FIFA World Cup. I am so excited.
You know, how quickly has this come for you? Is it?
Is it right around the corner for you? Do you
feel or is it still a long way's way.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
The way the.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
Soccer calendar works, there's always something right on your doorstep,
and of course the Men's World Cup being here in
twenty twenty six is a huge moment. We're all incredibly
excited about it. You know, we joke a lot. The
soccer calendar never sleeps, and so you know, the team's
up for it, are organization's up for it, our fans
(14:06):
are up for it, and we're certainly excited.
Speaker 8 (14:08):
It definitely is constantly populating the soccer calendar, for sure.
So Jat, you came into the federation just a few
months ahead of the twenty twenty two World Cup and
guitar and that must have been quite a busy first
few months. But now you're you're in it. You know,
you're in tune with the job and everything. So how
is this year going to be for you different for
(14:28):
you in going into twenty twenty six than it was
in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
Well, the going into the twenty twenty two World Cup,
you know, I joined in September, Obviously the World Cup
was a few months after that. Those plans are long
baked before before two months out, and so you know,
as you think about the prep for next summer, you know,
Matt Crocker, a sporting director, working with Marizio Pocchettino and
(14:53):
staff planning out everything going into next summer. You know,
so that that work is very actively going on, and
everything from where's the team based during the World Cup
to what are the games you're playing to prepare to
all of the sort of logistics and everything we're doing,
you know, off the field as well to take full
(15:14):
advantage of this unique moment. So you know, I was,
you know, in Qatar, I was able to benefit from
all of that work, whereas in this instance, obviously we're
we're all knee deep in it, and with the World
Cup being here presents all sorts of new opportunities for
us to to really you know, seize the moment and
help transform what soccer looks like in this country.
Speaker 8 (15:35):
Right exactly. I mean, there so much this This is
gonna be the biggest moment for soccer really in the
US ever, right because the last time we hosted a
World Cup, nineteen ninety four, we hosted a World Cup,
the MLS was on the cusp of being created because
of that World Cup, right, So how is this going
to be different because of everything that's on the line,
(15:56):
MLS and WSL, everything that can benefit from this time.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
You know, in ninety four, we had aspirations of being
a soccer country. You know, you mentioned Major League Soccer
was sort of born out of the ninety four World Cup.
You know, nineteen ninety four World Cup is still the
most attended World Cup in history, even though it was
only twenty four teams. So you know, imagine forty eight
teams in next summer is going to shatter that record.
(16:23):
But I think as you think about where we are now,
we are a soccer country. They're over one hundred million
fans of the men's and women's national team. There are
more soccer games available to watch on television in the
US than any other country in the world. You've got
tens of millions of people playing. You've got an incredible
amount of commercial investment, success of Major League Soccer NWSL,
(16:44):
USL and sort of all forms of soccer in this country.
So you know, conceivably maybe twenty twenty six is when
the rest of the world learns that were a soccer country.
And so you know, for us, you know, the journey
from ninety four to twenty twenty six is one of
incredible growth and real maturity of the soccer market. And
(17:05):
and you know it's around how do we take that
to the next.
Speaker 8 (17:08):
Level, in your opinion, how do we show the rest
of the world that we are a soccer country since
we are one of the hosts of the twenty twenty
six World Cup.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
Well, first and foremost, you know, we have to have
a team that everyone believes in, and we have to
have a team that after every game you're proud of
their fight, you're proud of their performance, and you're excited
about the next opportunity for them to go win.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
You know.
Speaker 5 (17:33):
The one of the things that was very true in
Qatar was colleagues from around the world kept coming up
to me and some of my colleagues at US Soccer
is saying, wow, this US team look at you know,
look at you know, look at you guys, and they
weren't expecting that.
Speaker 6 (17:50):
I think, what, of.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
Course, we got to perform on the field, But I
think where our big opportunity is is for the millions
of people that come to America to experience the tens
of millions of fans here in America and their passion,
their love, their knowledge for the game, and helping them
really appreciate how deep and broad the sort of love
(18:13):
of soccer is in this country. And of course benefiting
from the amazing facilities and infrastructure and restaurants and hotels
and everything we have in the US that makes it
such an amazing place to witness a global sporting spectacle.
Speaker 8 (18:27):
Are there any metrics in terms of, you know, growing
the game percentage wise by fans or viewership or in
terms of youth participation that you're looking at that it
stands now to where you want it to grow over
the next year.
Speaker 5 (18:43):
So overall, US Soccer believes that we exist in service
to soccer. Our job is to support those who are
bringing soccer to life in communities all across the country,
you know, and those folks have three shared ambitions. They
want soccer everywhere, so they want everyone in the country
to be able to experience the joy of soccer. They
want our teams to win, so they of course want
our national teams, they want our pro clubs to win
(19:04):
on the world stage, and they want to maximize investment
in the sport at all levels. So that's commercial investment,
philanthropic investment, government support, private capital coming in. And so
as we think about the opportunity of Club World Cup
in twenty five, Men's World Cup in twenty six, Olympics
in twenty eight, and US being the sole bidders for
(19:24):
the Women's World Cup in twenty thirty one, there's a
really unique opportunity for us to move the needle across
all three of those shared ambitions, and as we think
about what that means, we launch the Soccer Ford Foundation
to drive more access to soccer, to make it to
where everyone in this country can walk, ride their bike
(19:46):
or take public transit to a safe place to play soccer.
To make it to where soccer is in every school
in this country. We've launched the US Way, which is
our comprehensive strategy to ensure our teams win, to focus
on all levels of the game to set our teams
up for success in these big moments. And of course,
from an investment standpoint, think about the investment that's going
(20:08):
on at all levels of our game, whether it's infrastructure,
building facilities, our new arthroom blank US Soccer National Training
Center in Atlanta, almost a two hundred acre project, first
ever national training center and headquarters for US Soccer. It'll
be the best in the world when it opens next year.
To the investments in the professional leagues, the investments in
(20:32):
all of the infrastructure, the digital infrastructure that US Soccer
is doing around supporting the rest of the soccer ecosystem.
So this is a very very very important time for
us to take advantage of the growth of our sport,
the momentum and the focus and if anything, we are
thinking about using twenty six twenty eight thirty one sort
of forcing functions to get people to take big, bold
(20:53):
steps forward around transforming what the sport can look like.
Speaker 8 (20:57):
And is that looking to get investors and the stakeholders
in leagues and things like that, those are those the
people you're looking at to take big, big swings and
big you know, things like you just said, Like I mean,
you guys obviously had a lot of investment this year.
The Ken Griffin Donation made a lot of headlines this
year and helping with Merchu Po Chattino getting hired as
(21:21):
US men's national team coach, and then obviously, like you
mentioned Arthur Blank in that training facility. Michelle Kang Big Donations.
Talk to us a little bit about those specific people
and investors that you're looking at to help grow and
the role that philanthropy plays for US soccer.
Speaker 5 (21:38):
So when you think about US Soccer, one, you know
analogy for folks who are listening. In terms of our
sort of businesses, we've got almost like a pro sports
part of our business.
Speaker 6 (21:49):
Those are our national teams.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
We have twenty seven national teams, most known for our
men's and women's national teams, but those sort of resemble
a pro sports organization. We have a trade association type
of business, think of coaching, education, referee certification and licensing,
sort of promoting a health and safe and positive ecosystem
type of work. And we have the Impact arm Soccer
(22:11):
Ford Foundation, which is around accessibility and ensuring our game
can be everywhere for everyone. And so as you you
think about investment, those come in different forms depending on
which of those businesses your your business lines you're you're
talking about and as you think about US Soccer at
the organization, you know, we've had incredible success over the
(22:33):
last two years UH launching our commercial rights business. We
have been able to partner with some of the great
brands in the world, from Nike to Bank of America,
to Coca Cola, to Visa to you know, and and
and to where we have you know, grown revenue had
a really impressive clip over the last couple of years
(22:55):
from people who believe in our vision, believe in our mission,
and believe in and the opportunity to use soccer as
a force for good in their relationship with the US
Soccer to bring that to life. We also have had
incredible success from a philanthropic standpoint. You know, you mentioned,
you know, the support from Arthur and Blank, from Michelle Kang,
(23:16):
from Ken Griffin and others who believe that, you know,
US Soccer can go do big things. You know, Unlike
our peers US Soccer around the world, US Soccer receives
no government support directly. UH. And so you know, philanthropic
support is a unique American thing and it's something that
(23:36):
you know, we want to embrace as we are trying
to go be best in the world, and so why
not use what America's great at uh. And so we've
been very fortunate to have people who believe in our
overall mission and believe in our ability to go do
big things and being great stewards of their money. And
so we're we're excited about about what that looks like. Then,
more broadly, we care about what's the health of the
(23:59):
soccer eCos system in this country. Our investors stepping up
to invest in professional teams. Absolutely, you're seeing that every
day on the MLS, NWSL and USL side. Our governments
investing in making soccer more accessible in their communities. Every week,
new communities across the country opening up new soccer facilities,
(24:19):
whether they're big you know, soccer complexes or sort of
small fields or spaces to play in denser areas. Soccer
in schools are expanding rapidly, you know, thanks to school
districts investing in soccer is an incredibly accessible sport, very
high our ROI to achieve health outcomes and positive community outcomes.
(24:42):
So as we think about sort of investment, we take
a very broad lens on that and it's it's something
that you know. Across the board, we're seeing you know, growth,
growth and more growth.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
At US Soccer Federation CEO and Secretary General j T.
Bats and speaking with our own Vanessa Pernomo. Soccer fans
may make sure you subscribe now to The Bloomberg Business
of Sports on your favorite podcast platform. Vanessa will be
having conversations with some of the biggest names in soccer
as we anticipate the US hosting the twenty twenty six
(25:13):
feet of World Cup. Never miss a conversation with an
athlete who would take the field, or an executive or
stakeholder helping to make it happen behind the scenes. Up next,
we turn to the world of basketball and how Toronto
Raptors Vice chairman and President Massi you Jerry put it
all together. I'm Michael Barr, and you are listening to
(25:33):
the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberger Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports,
where we explore the big money issues in the world
of sports. I'm Michael Barr. Join now by Bloomberg Original's
Chief correspondent Jason Kelly the sign you. Jerry is vice
chairman and president of the NBA's Toronto Raptors, but basketball
runs even deeper for him than that. He's co founder
(26:08):
of Giants of Africa, and initiative that uses the sport
to empower young people in Africa. Here now to talk
with us about Giants of Africa, the state of the sport,
the NBA and more, is mister you, Jerry Massi. Welcome
to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 6 (26:26):
Thank you, Michael, Thank you Jason, Thank you guys for
having me.
Speaker 9 (26:29):
Well, Michael, I'm so excited that Massia is here. I mean,
this is a guy I've gotten to know over the
last couple of years, and you know, his impact on
the sport of basketball globally is massive. As you know,
you and I have talked about this, and you know, Massi,
we're so happy to have you here. We're on the
eve of the finals as we talk. How do you
sum up this season in terms of the business of
(26:50):
the NBA.
Speaker 6 (26:51):
I think, in my apstart is slow, but I think
Adam Silva has done an incredible job and creating parodying
this league. We see what the finals is and we
saw our competitive playoffs very fun to watch. Now we
have two small market teams playing in playing in the finals. Yeah,
I think it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
You've got a busy schedule coming up because you've got
to get ready for the NBA Draft. Now, you don't
have to tell anybody man. In fact, you can just
tell us keeping in here, are you guys looking at LJ.
Cryer Man? Because Lo's good. You don't have to just
you know, just give me that wink.
Speaker 6 (27:28):
That's all I get you to scout him.
Speaker 9 (27:34):
This goes to sort of the broader question too, of
sort of the talent in the NBA right now. You're
a businessman at heart, like as you look around the
sort of global talent pool, like, what are you seeing
out there in terms of you know, the players that
are developing where they're coming from. The Raptors under your
leadership really have become a sort of a global team,
which sort of speaks to this broader sort of macro trend.
(27:56):
What are you seeing in terms of global talent right now?
Speaker 6 (27:58):
But you know, talent is is everywhere because of not
only the genius of the NBA being a global brand
and it's extended its wings into all corners of the world, Africa, Asia,
South America and Europe. And also because of this handset
(28:20):
we carry everywhere the globe, the game is so attainable
for every young kid around the world. So the chance
for kids to play. I always tell people my son
learned how to do the step back. It wasn't coach
to do it. He just saw it. Like watching all
these guys on the screen. But you look at the
landscape of the NBA, there's players in America, players in Europe,
(28:43):
plays in Africa or everybody make an impact. It's a
time in the league where you know, we really have
to think about the young players coming up because at
some point there's going to be a change of guard,
you know, like and I think the league is set
up well with a really good young player.
Speaker 9 (28:59):
Part of what you've done, Massai through Giants of Africa
is create this incredible pipeline for talent on the court,
off the court, et cetera. Tell us about Giants of
Africa sort of the state of play twenty two years.
I believe into a big festival coming up, but help
our listeners understand what Giants of Africa is.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
We started a basketball camp twenty two years ago and
it was started just from the basic teaching of kids,
basic fundamentals of the game. Fifty kids in Nigeria. I
modeled it out of Basketball Without Borders with the NBA
and I was the director of Basketball with out Borders.
And I saw what the NBA was doing in South
Africa bringing all these kids together, and I said, I'll
(29:37):
start doing that in my own country in Nigeria and
started to grow beyond, you know, I took it to
my mom's country, Kenya. It started to increase, not only
in countries, but we started thinking all the things while preaching,
you know, like with kids with life skills, being honest,
being on time, empowering women. And I'll start talking about
(29:58):
women and I'm like, okay, not doing those things that
empower women, which is doing a women's camp too. So
I introduced girls camp and it became a boys and
girls camp, which really took off. And then we started
going into tough areas in the continent, you know, kids
that don't have that much opportunity, slumps, refugee camps or
torn areas, and really started to affect maybe some of
(30:22):
those kids that don't have as much opportunity growing, you know.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
I think one of the neatest things that you have
ever done. You guys won the championship Toronto Raptors in
twenty nineteen. You took the Larry O'Brien Trophy to Africa
to show the kids there is like, hey, this is
what we played for. Now you've developed almost more than
one hundred basketball courts in Africa. Tell us more about.
Speaker 6 (30:48):
That the camps. Eventually, I started to get bigger as
it started to get bigger and we traveled to other countries,
started growing in countries, you start to discover that infrastructure
becomes a problem where the kids playing potholed courts, you know,
like geams that are not well kept. And it became
a priority for me, you know, like to see that
this kid's playing with better courts, better grounds, you know,
(31:11):
better facilities and provide balls. Thank you to Nike and
all the sponsors that we've had to give the kids
some of the kid that they've needed to play the game.
And we made a pledge to build one hundred courts
around the continent and that became real. We started doing
it and we're growing with I think almost at forty
(31:32):
courts now. We build them well, we secure them we
have make sure they are programs running on these courts,
which is important. Women. I included, the communities, included schools,
I included. It took off, and I thank the NBA
for having this foresight, you know, giving me also opportunity
working in the NBA. Is he has been a huge
(31:52):
opportunity to go and do this. You take coaches back,
you take so many aspects you know that come into
play here one big family. You try to grow the
game all over the continent. You try to learn and
learn as much as you can. You help other youth,
you help other coaches, other people, and you continue to
grow and you start to think about this ecosystem which
(32:16):
is educational in my opinion, you know, to get this
kid thinking as sports, even broader sports as a business.
You know, sports as you do only see it in
Africa as recreation and competition, you can also see it
as a business and a career path for you. Just
look at me. Yes, I didn't play in the NBA.
(32:38):
I wasn't good enough to even play in high division
in Europe, you know, but my scouting background, business, all
those things, you know, really gave me this opportunity to
be sitting down here and talking to you here at Boomberg.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Yeah, you haven't seen me play. I was playing golf stort.
Speaker 6 (32:55):
I was going to tell you, Michael, we're going to
draft you. I'm looking at you.
Speaker 9 (33:03):
So So, Michael, I had a chance, you know, a
couple of years ago to go to the Giants of
African Festival, you know in Kagali. You know, they're running
it back this year, Massia and his team and so
you know it and it's an unbelievable gathering of you know,
youth teams from across the continent, you know, convening there
(33:24):
in Rwanda. You're doing it again Massida this coming year.
How do you level that up? I mean, it was
such a it was such an amazing scene, you know,
I remember so vividly, like being at the closing concert
with the Davido and Tyla, I mean, and then there
was all this basketball happening as well. But the festival
nature of it speaks to I think this ecosystem that
(33:47):
you're talking about that that's created around sports. So tell
us about this version of the festival and what you're
expecting and what the big goals are.
Speaker 6 (33:56):
You know, we're celebrating twenty years to two years ago, Jason,
when we were there, and it was a big thing
that we thought about, how do we make the twentieth
year really big? It was supposed to be a one off, right, yeah.
And I always go by what coach Casey doing. Casey
always says when you do something good, he always says,
(34:18):
you told on yourself. That means you can't do it again.
So we told on ourselves. And I wasn't planning to
do it, you know, like for many years to come.
But it was so good, you know, to have about
three hundred kids come together, you know, from all parts
of the world. We want to redefine what Africa is.
(34:40):
And one of the themes of that is how does
Africa become borderless? And it starts with our youth. You know.
Sometimes people don't understand that Africa is. It is a continent,
not a country, you know, so different countries have their
rules and regulations and sometimes times that creates some sort
(35:02):
of boundaries, you know, And how do we bring it together?
You know, the cultures, the languages, the food, the it's
all unique, you know, but it can all come together
in some kind of way. And that's what the festival did,
you know, bringing these kids together.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Well on the fifteenth anniversary this it was spectacularly. You
had former President Barack Obama there. It helped to kick
off this festival that had to be a special treat.
Speaker 6 (35:29):
Yeah, So having him, we we went to we went
to Alego and we built one of our first courts
and opened it with President Obama. We built it for
Auma Obama uh in Saudi ko and in Kenya. And
it's always incredible to have to work with him and
(35:50):
worked with him for for for a while as a
dear friend and mentor, and it be he's just so
knowledgeable about the world, old about and loves basketball.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
And he's a hooper.
Speaker 6 (36:04):
He's a he really should own a team, his his
his very We know, you never see somebody that that
knows so much about a lot of things, you know,
and does it so humbly, you know. But having him
(36:26):
being part of Giants of Africa is always as will
always be special to us. And it's one of those
reasons while always trying to like do even.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
More, I know the sands of the hour glass hour
against us, but I do want I ask one question
before we wrap up. And Adam Silver, NBA Commissioner, just
recently affirmed that they are going to start a new tournament,
the n B a versus the World. They're going to
scrap the mini tournament that they had around in the
(37:00):
All Star break.
Speaker 6 (37:02):
Your thoughts about that, you know, He's always been known
for being very creative, you know, and open minded. That's
known him for twenty two how many years now, been
in this business, and that's how his mind works. But
it's also the minds of everybody he listens to, which
is the whole league and the whole world in some
(37:23):
kind of way, and his team and I think I
always try to get this league right, you know, and
I think we I'm open for ideas because you have
to innovate in this league, you know, like, yes, you
have to figure out what history is and what you
want to carry on for a long time, but you
also have to innovate and make things spicy in our league,
(37:48):
you know, as the NBA is a drama league, you know,
like and we love it and and that's why we
It always rises to the occasion, you know, And I'm
incredibly grateful to be a part of it.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Thanks to Messi U Jerry for joining us. He of
course is vice chairman and president of the Toronto Raptors
and co founder of Giants of Africa. And most importantly,
thank you as well to Bloomberg Original's chief correspondent and
friend of the show Jason Kelly for joining us for
that special conversation. And that does it for this edition
(38:20):
of The Bloomberg Business of Sports. For my colleagues Vanessa Perdomo,
Damien Sassauer and Jason Kelly.
Speaker 6 (38:26):
I'm Michael Barr.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Tune in again next week for the latest on the
stories moving big old money in a world of sports.
And don't forget to catch our podcast on all your
podcast platforms. You're listening to The Bloomberg Business of Sports
from Bloomberger Radio around the world.
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