July 25, 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.
New York and New Jersey officials are projecting a $3.3 billion economic boost to the region from hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2026. The region will hold eight matches at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, including the final on July 19, 2026, expecting to bring in over 1.2 million fans and tourists, according to an economic impact summary released Monday by the NYNJ Host Committee, the local body responsible for organizing the games. Bloomberg News reporter Sri Taylor joins to discuss her reporting on what the highly anticipated games could mean for local economies.
Then, Australian yachtsman and CEO of Red Bull Italy's SailGP team discusses the rise of competitive sailing and an upcoming documentary.
Plus, the NFL's players association recently found itself embroiled in controversy that led to the resignation of NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell as well as at least one other executive. Martin Edel, Goulston & Storrs Sports Law Practice co-chair and adjunct professor at Columbia University joins to discuss the latest headlines and potential fallout.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 5 (00:38):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm
Michael Barr, along with my colleagues Damien Sassauer and Vanessa Perdomo.
Coming up, we'll talk about the recent turmoil gripping the
NFL Players Association and it led to NFLPA executive director
Lloyd Howell's resignation. We'll talk with a friend of the show,
(01:02):
Marty Eedle, of Gulston and Stores.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
The executive director was found to have a conflict of interest.
He was working for the Carlisle Group, a private equity group,
while he was the executive director of the NFLPA.
Speaker 5 (01:16):
We'll also talk sailing with Red Bull Italy team CEO
Jimmy Spithill. All that is on the way on the
Bloomberg Business of Sports. But first, with the FIFA Club
World Cup and Conker Caff Gold Cup behind us, we
are now full steam ahead to the FIFA World Cup
hitting the States next year, and right now, officials in
(01:38):
New York and New Jersey are anticipating an economic boost
of over three billion dollars from it. Joining us to
talk about how big of an economic win hosting the
World Cup could be is Bloomberg News sports reporter Sree
Taylor three. Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports. He
wrote a great article New York and New Jersey and
(02:01):
they expect a boodle coming from the World Cup that
the FIFA World Cup next year. Tell us about it
if you can.
Speaker 6 (02:10):
Yes, So, New York and New Jersey are jointly hosting
the final match and they're projecting a three point three
billion economic boost to the entire region. So that's the
entire state of New York and New Jersey from hosting
the FIFA World Cup. And that is a little under
a year from now when the final match will kick off.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
So let's just clarify, that's eight matches. That is, like
it is the three point three billion dollar economic but
it's got to be from all eight matches, right, including
the final.
Speaker 6 (02:38):
Yeah, all eight matches at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford,
New Jersey, including the final on the nineteenth of July.
Speaker 7 (02:45):
I'm glad we mentioned that MetLife is in New Jersey
because that's my point here as a Jersey your own
very defensive about this. I'm very defensive about MetLife is
in New Jersey, and people need to know this and
they need to remember this. And it's always, you know,
we're always saying it's New York, it's New York. Whatever.
(03:05):
So what I'd like to know is there any indication
between the is there a split difference between the two areas.
Are they expecting people to stay in Jersey at all?
Or is the NJ transit really gonna get be the
biggest winner in the New Jersey economy from people coming
from the city right.
Speaker 6 (03:21):
So I'm a Jersey girl too, and I do hate
to say it, but it is a little trickier to
stay in a hotel around MetLife Stadium. So that's why
I think the states are kind of making this a
joint effort because a lot of people are likely going
to be staying in New York. You know, if their
hotels are going to be there, they're probably going to
fly into either LaGuardia or JFK and then they are
(03:44):
going to hop on New Jersey Transit from Penn Station
and then New Jersey Transit will take it from there
and then shuttle people to the stadium.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So you know, we might see a little bit of
activity in New Jersey too, you.
Speaker 6 (03:58):
Know, just people kind of going to met Laight Stadium
and you know, buying food, buying drinks, and you know,
we'll get some people staying locally, but I can predict
there will probably be more people in New York. I
think it might just be a little easier.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
You're expecting about one point two million fans and tourists.
You try to put an extra one point two million
people in this area, Where where are they going to go?
Speaker 8 (04:26):
The room.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
We do have the room We.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
Do definitely now that hotel prices.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Are going to be going up, oh for sure.
Speaker 6 (04:34):
But I mean, you know, it's it's it's gonna only
do great things for the area, I think, And you know,
I think Atlanta and the other host cities, like I
think Atlanta is also expecting a one billion dollar boost.
So the cities are ready, they know what's coming, and
they're going to try to, you know, only reap the
benefits of the chaos.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
We have a sophisticated audience, so we need to do
a little history lesson here. You know, I'm just looking
at this economic pack summary that's released, but it was
released on Monday by the New York New Jersey Host Committee. Right,
so obviously they're incentivized to fluff these numbers a bit.
But that's three point three billion they're projecting. There's what,
I don't know, one hundred and four matches across eleven
host cities. Right, let's just I mean, I'm just going
to the back of the NAP and say fifteen billion
(05:16):
is what they expect to generate.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
You know, in.
Speaker 5 (05:18):
Total across the whole fief for World Cup.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Cutter generated seven point five billion in twenty twenty two.
For those who remember it cost Cutter two hundred and
twenty billion.
Speaker 5 (05:27):
Dollars to put it on.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
I mean a massive dislocation. And by the way, if
you look back at Brazil in twenty fourteen or even
Russian eighteen, I mean again, there's this sort of you know,
black hole of spending and they you know, the economic impact.
I guess the argument as it goes, doesn't really offset
the amount of money that spends. What makes this time
different because obviously they're only projecting one point seven billion
(05:51):
and spend across New York and New Jersey to generate
this three point three billion. Sounds like a good investment
to me. But is it accurate?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Ah, I would say it's acurered.
Speaker 6 (06:00):
I think that you know, across the country, the World
Cup or FIFA is expecting six point five million people
to attend the tournament, which is just the highest attended
I think sporting event ever.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Maybe you guys.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
Probably know that better than me, but that's that's the
phrase that I'm seeing thrown around by them. And you know,
they're also expecting the tournament to drive up up to
forty point billion point nine billion USD and Christami stick product.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Forty billion is that the number really forty point nine billion?
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Wow, and that in US GDP. That is just for
anybody can do the math six times what the World
Cup generated in twenty twenty two and cutter. If that holds,
that's an incredible The thing we have.
Speaker 7 (06:44):
To remember there, Damien is one. This is an expanded tournament,
so they're playing more games, they have more teams than
ever before. And in those other regions one Qatar, they just.
Speaker 5 (06:54):
It was a full build out. I agree, it was
a full buildout.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
You're absolutely right.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
They built everything out.
Speaker 7 (06:59):
We don't have to build anything, so there's all of
those things that go into that. And even in Brazil,
in Russia they also had these structures that they built
that they stop using and things like that. That's the
biggest part of this. I do think those numbers are inflated.
And one of the things sure that I'd like to,
you know, to talk about that they're not seemingly paying
attention to or really noting in this is the problem
(07:22):
that people are going to have with visas and people
are not risking you know, coming to the US. What
do you have to think about that?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I mean, it's it's kind of at the forefront of
my mind.
Speaker 6 (07:33):
I don't know if I don't know if the administration
is thinking about it as strongly. I mean, President Donald Trump,
who you know, refers to the FIFA president Gianni Infantino
as a good friend of his.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
They're very chummy.
Speaker 6 (07:47):
He has, you know, super high expectations for next year's turnout,
and you know, when asked about well, you know how
you know, a lot of the success of the Games
are riding on how the US will you know, managed
to ease the international tensions brought up by Trump's trade war.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
You know, his mass deportation mandates.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Sydney say it'll make it more exciting. He says, tarffs
will make the for World Cup more exciting because there'll
be more tension between nations. That is an unbelievable statement.
And I guess, you know, the fact of the matter is,
do you think there'll be any sort of negative backlash
toward the United States because of this, because of these tarffs.
Is it possible that people just boycott the games entirely?
Speaker 6 (08:24):
I think the Games are gonna happen regardless, But I
think what we've seen with some you know, other large
sporting events that have kind of kicked off since Trump
took office. For example, the you know Boston Marathon earlier
this year. I was talking with the head of a
tourism agency meet Boston, and she said that, you know,
we do have a lot of concerns about Canada because
(08:45):
this was, you know, around the time Trump was coming
in really hard on Canadians, you know, and he was
threatened tariffs, and I think that a lot of Canadians were,
you know, not feeling it. They were like, well, you know,
I don't think I'm going to go as a spectator.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
I don't think I'm going to go as a runner.
And that was a really.
Speaker 6 (09:06):
Major tension point when the marathon was leading up. So
this will probably be that but tenfold.
Speaker 5 (09:15):
Trying to put this in a delicate way. With the
Trump administration's policies, tourism has gone down in the United States.
Is the FIFA World Cup the difference, the one off
that's like, look, this is the product to bring tourists in.
Will that be the case for for the US? And
(09:39):
and will Canada say Okay, I'm gonna come and see this.
Speaker 8 (09:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (09:44):
I mean I think I think it's it's not even
just Canada, it's Mexico.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
It's it's it's you know, you know, people around the world.
Speaker 6 (09:50):
I was going through the list, the very long list
of who Trump has either posed harrison or or or
threatened to and that's you know, some of the bigger teams,
so that Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Japan, the UK, South Korea,
so you know, and these are a lot of fans
that are you know, hoping to come here and stay
here for a long time, and you know, go to
(10:12):
cities that they probably never otherwise would like Kansas City
or you know, Atlanta or Miami or you know, a
bunch of these. This the World Cup should be a
very rare, large opportunity for the US to kind of
regain its good standing with the rest of the world.
And I do think that, you know, depending on how
(10:35):
it goes, depending on how Trump kind of positioned himself
leading up to the Games in this last year, you know,
it could either make or break the Games.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
About twenty six thousand jobs are going to be created
by this. And yes, we all know restaurants and yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
but I'm talking about the guy who owns the food truck.
He's like, hey, let me back this thing up. In
here so I can get part of this money that's
(11:08):
coming in. And it's it's the people like that are
really going to benefit from this.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (11:14):
Absolutely, And you know, this is a great opportunity for
a lot of those folks who kind of rely on
that mini ecosystem around these stadiums when they're huge, you know,
game events, and you know football and the Super Bowl
and and you know obviously the smaller soccer tournaments like
the World Cup club and and you know basketball games
(11:38):
and stuff like that. So a lot of these like
smaller vendors will you know, reap a lot of benefits
from this. But I guess my concern when I was
talking to some analysts that are looking closely at this,
they were like, well, a lot of this will be
one time jobs and then they will lose them and
their contractors and then so.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
You know, these jobs will be generated.
Speaker 6 (12:00):
It's a lot of jobs twenty six thousand, but you
know they're temp they're temporary, a lot of them are.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
So we will see. It's definitely good for the time being,
but not to be a not to be a necnive.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Dancy Vanessa, you get your tickets.
Speaker 7 (12:14):
Yet, Listen, I'm going for work okay, and.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
That's well struck.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Vanessa Perdow, I'm going to the World Cup for work.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
I've heard it all our thanks to Bloomberg News reporters
Reet Taylor for joining us. Coming up next week, turn
to the world of sailing with the CEO and co
owner of Red Bull Italy, Jimmy Spithill. For my colleagues
Damien Sassawur and Vanessa Perdomo. I'm Michael Barr. You are
listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberger Radio
around the world.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explored
the big money issues in the world of sports. Michael
are along with Damian Zassauer and Vanessa Berdomo. Our next
guest is one of the greatest athletes in the history
of competitive sailing and is the subject of a new
docu series called Unchartered Saale GP. We're talking about Jimmy Spithill.
(13:18):
He is the youngest skipper ever to win the America's
Cup and is now team CEO of Red Bull Italy.
Jimmy is here to talk with us about the team,
the Roleleck sale GP Championship and the State of Sailing. Jimmy,
Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 8 (13:37):
Oh hi, guys, thanks for much for having me.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
People keep calling it a niche sport. I'm not so
sure anymore because people are starting to get to know
this sport. And one thing that has helped is that
you have been the subject of a documentary that is
out right now.
Speaker 8 (13:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Look, I think sailing was a nice sport, you know,
and it was definitely viewed as something probably.
Speaker 8 (14:00):
For the elite.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
You know, you needed quite a lot of equipment, and
so let's say the barrier to entry was generally not
open for everyone. I think as technology has gone along,
and I think just as the sport's evolved, that's you know,
that narrative is well and truly out the window. And
certainly now if you look at where SLGP is or
(14:23):
the top end of the sport, it's you know, bo
it's doing over one hundred kilometers an hour. They're powered
by nature. There's real risks, so it's a lot more
like I guess auto racing. Yet the team functions like
any other high level sporting team, you know, like a
football or a rugby team. You know, they've got certain playbooks,
they've got to work together, and so.
Speaker 8 (14:42):
Yeah, it's it's fascinating to see it. And i'd even say.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
On to to get into the sport now at a
lower level, the barrier is even lower because of technology
and foiling. You can now go and get a foiling
surfboard and essentially an inflatable bat wing and when you're
out there, so gone to the days of having to
have a trailer and boats and all this sort of gear.
Speaker 8 (15:05):
It's this sort of.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Whole you know, advancement and quantum leap in technology and
construction and carp and fiber, et cetera has really changed
the game, I think, from the very bottom to the
very top to.
Speaker 7 (15:16):
Have this sort of team based thing that a lot
of people understand how that works. Do you think that's
what changed the game kind of for sailing, is this
team format that everyone kind of understands and can follow
along with.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Yeah, I think you're right, because it is from the outside,
it's a very let's a confusing sport to understand, you know,
like where are the boats going?
Speaker 8 (15:38):
What is the course? There was a whole lot of rules.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
And then even the sort of technical jargon I mean,
I just to confuse myself, and I'm a professional sailor,
so I think a big part of it was really
trying to simplify it. The other thing, I think that
the top of let's say, the top end of the
sport before Sales GP was probably the America's Cup, and
that was something that was really every four years the
rules would constantly change they still do, and you didn't
(16:05):
have that regular season. The other thing was that the
boats for a big part of the America's Cup were, Man,
I can tell you it was a little bit like
watching paint, right. I mean, while it was okay to
sail them, but to watch them, it was just it
wasn't like there was you could look away and have
a conversation and look back and it didn't look like
a whole it had changed. The third thing is probably
let's say stadium, you know, having a stadium and fans
(16:27):
there in the bleachers and watching and being able to
hear that crowd, and that's you know, notoriously in Sale
we're racing, it's been oh, let's take the course as
far away from land as we can, let's get it perfect,
and let's not let anyone get too close. Well, sojpas
the opposite, very tight racetracks. When we just recently raced
in the Hudson in Manhattan. There the races are twelve
(16:48):
to thirty minutes long, twelve boats, very tight racetrack with
sideline boundaries. One sideline is literally the spectator stands and
they can almost reach out and high five the athletes.
Speaker 8 (16:59):
I think. You know.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
The other thing is having a very very tight and
squared away broadcast. You know where fans when they turn
it on, they can't get an understanding. They get educated,
and all the athletes a Mike Live. It's one of
the very few sports where men and women compete together
in the teams. And so yeah, we're starting to, let's say,
(17:22):
have the right ingredients to produce something that I believe, well,
we're already seeing it in terms of our TV and
media numbers, but starting to get out of let's say,
what was thought a niche sport and for people that
are just interested in sailing to more mainstream. And when
you look at the audience, I think it's about twenty
or thirty percent are actually just sailing audience. The rest
(17:42):
are non sailors and a lot of racing fans Actually.
Speaker 5 (17:45):
I admire you so much and I want to bring
up an extreme positive, but I have to start out,
unfortunately with the negative that happened. You were ousted from
the Oracle Team USA when new ownership came in, and
then you established Red Bull Italy and you're just kicking
butt and I admire you for establishing the team. Can
(18:10):
you take us through that process?
Speaker 8 (18:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Well sure, I mean, look, I got involved with solgeot
Penn season two. During season one, I was involved in
the America's Cup campaign and sort of finishing that off,
and Larry Ellison approached me and Russell cous to come
and lead the American team. At that stage, they just
finished last in season one, had no sponsors, and so
we immediately took the team to the final. We had
a bunch of fantastic commercial partners. But anyway, I was
(18:35):
thinking at that point, look, I'll probably this is my
long term plan here with the team, and I had
an ownership option on the team. Now we while looking
for partners, were received what was then a record offer
for the team to be purchased by a guy named
Ray McKillen was one of the early Uber guys and
a consortium he'd put together.
Speaker 8 (18:55):
Now at that point, I had an option. There was
one catch in that.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
One catching that that oper and that was that, well,
they wanted to field their own team so really start again,
and they wanted a full American team. I was born
in Australia, I'm a wife and kids are American, but
so they wanted to go all American and run it
their own way. So yeah, it was an interesting process
because it was either well, do you know, how do
(19:21):
I treat this? You know, I could stock and block
the deal and just stay here and keep looking to
build it up. But at the same time, I'd been
competing with an Italian team in the America's Cup, and
I thought, oh, what an incredible opportunity to now one
go through the process of a sale of a team,
but essentially start again and start from scratch, as opposed
(19:41):
to taking over an existing team like I did with
the American team. And that's really what led to Repulsugupeaterly
And it's just been such an amazing ride to get here.
We're the newest team, We've got the least amount of hours,
but we've just got a fantastic lineup of guys and
girls in our roster, huge fan base. I mean, if
you've ever watched you know Italian fans, there's some of
(20:03):
the most passionate out there and also a very let's
say educated marketplace as well in terms of commercially and audience.
So yeah, it was just a great opportunity. It was
a win win. It was a win facality to bring
someone like Ryan and the group you brought in to
take over the American team, and the same time for
me it was it was just I mean, how many
(20:23):
athletes get the opportunity to one even get involved in
the ownership of the team, but to be able to
do it twice and with a completely new group, different culture, etc.
I just thought, Wow, what an opportunity.
Speaker 7 (20:35):
The whole idea of an athlete, you know who's done
the whole sport, done it from the top to bottom,
and then going into a CEO role, but also still competing.
You know, you're still skipper and things like that, and
then you co owner CEO. How you wear all those
hats tell us about how that informs you in a
(20:56):
unique way in running the team.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
I think it's like a lot of businesses, and even
when you look around at other successful sporting franchises. I
believe that some of the most successful and valuable are
the ones that are ultimately influenced or run by ex athletes,
because it's a little bit like armies or generals. Generals
(21:18):
in the army or admiralson in a navy. The guys
that have been in the trenches, have been out in
the water, been there on the ground, and then work
that way up. They really know what has been going
on in the whole process. Now I'm not saying that's
the only way, because clearly there's examples of well admirals
and generals that haven't gone that way, and in people
(21:38):
that run these teams, all sorts of sporting teams and franchises.
Speaker 8 (21:42):
But I believe if you really.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Want to have a full understanding of what it's like,
and they really gain the respect of people on and
off the water. If you've got that sort of background
and knowledge, there's no shortcut to that. You don't just
get that by clicking your fingers and reading about it.
If you've lived and breathed that, you've made, had mistakes
and had the growth, that's that's that's a different level
of education. And I believe I've always been inspired by
(22:07):
athletes that have been successful on the field to play,
but then the ability to go out of their comfort zone,
you know, and be successful off the field to play
almost like a second career. And at the same time
benefit I'm also finding has been able to impact and
now help and provide something for the next generation. That's
in itself something really rewarding. But at the time when
(22:30):
I was competing, to be quite honestly, I never that
was never really something on the back of my mind
that you know, when you're competing, all you're thinking about
is the game and to win. But now when I
look at all of the ingredients, I yeah, it's been
it's been fascinating just to be able to play the
different roles and get a let's say, a full full
circle picture.
Speaker 5 (22:50):
One of the investors in sale GP a very famous name,
and Hathaway tell us about that, because now you're attracting
some really big names involved in this that people instantly know.
Speaker 8 (23:06):
Yeah, well, that's that's true.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
I mean, and I think if you look at the
group that we've assembled in the team, it's just I mean,
as the founder of the team, if I could have
just drawn up a wish list, I'm not sure I
would have had the courage to say. The names we've
got it's unbelievable. I mean, we've got some incredible entrepreneurs,
(23:29):
businessmen and women. We've got some amazing from all walks
of you know, We've got amazing actresses, athletes, and ultimately
what that means is we just have such an awesome
group to go back and call on their own experiences
and their lessons learned to apply to our let's say,
sports and entertainment product that we're growing together. And so
(23:54):
and if you look at all the other teams, theres
some incredible names as well, like you know, some of
the business and some of the funds, some of the
Mark Lazarie's with the US team, athletes, kill Him Abati,
Sebastian Battle, you know, actors, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman. I mean,
the list just goes on and on, and so I
(24:14):
think when it's all good and well for me to
come and tell you how good sale GP is or
what I think the teams are worth. And it's a
little bit like selling your own house. You can think
it's worth a billion dollars, but at the end of
the day, the market will tell you what it's worth
and here we are again. You know, the market will
tell us from an investment point of view, well is
(24:36):
this investible and what's our market value?
Speaker 8 (24:40):
Now?
Speaker 3 (24:40):
If you look at the growth we've had in just
five seasons, especially starting out when when COVID and what
people thought was a NWE sport, well we've got a
pretty big range of sophisticated men and women investors. You
look at the valuations now, you look at the TV
numbers and even getting feedback from the hospitality and the
racing experience.
Speaker 8 (25:00):
It's live again. You will think I'm boss. I am boss.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
But you only have to now look at the diet
of the results and the people that are investing in
those teams. They're not the majority of them. Again, they're
not sounding fans.
Speaker 8 (25:12):
They really say the value.
Speaker 5 (25:13):
Here our thanks to Jimmy Spitthill, team CEO of Red
Bull Italy, for joining us up. Next, we turned to
the NFL and a controversy that has shaken up the
NFL Players Association. For Damien Sasawer and Vanessa Bernomo. I'm
Michael Barr. You are listening to the Bloomberg Business of
Sports Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 5 (25:41):
Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
We explore the big money issues in the world of
sports Michael Barr along with Damian Sasauer and Vanessa Bernomo.
The NFL's Players Association recently found itself embroiled in controversy
that led to NFLPA Executive Director of Lloyd Howell, as
well as at least one other executive being out of
(26:06):
the NFLPA. There are several key developments here and we
wanted to get to the bottom of it with an
old friend of the show. Joining us now is Marty Eedle.
He's Gulston and Stewart's Sports law practice co chair and
adjunct professor at Columbia University. Marty, welcome back to the
Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
Man. There is so much NFL news to talk about,
and I guess I want to start off with the NFLPA,
where it was kind of a meltdown. What has happened
The NFLPA Executive director Lloyd Howell and President JC Treader
resigned earlier this month. What in the world happened? Marty?
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Well, we have a confluence of two events that have
been disclosed. I can't tell you what else is behind
the scenes because I don't know. But the two big
events here are one that the NFL and NFLPA entered
into a confidentiality agreement to hold confidential the decision which
(27:17):
found that there was collusion by the NFL owners. Why
would anyone withhold that from their constituency, in this case
the players. The second issue, of course, was that the
executive director was found to have a conflict of interest.
He was working for the Carlisle Group of private equity
(27:37):
group while he was the executive director of the NFLPA.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Surprise in the mean of it, right, I mean the
grievance itself, as I understand it was accusations that team
owners were colluding to suppress the pay the guarantee pay
sorry for quarterbacks in the wake of the Cleveland Brown's
decision to sign to Sean Watson to someone godly two
hundred thirty million dollar. Some talk to us a little
bit about that. I mean, is there going to be
(28:04):
any sort of potential blowback, any damages to you know,
quarterbacks who you know, maybe weren't given a fair deal
because of this.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Yeah, so let's start off with that, but it's far
broader than the was it three quarterbacks Kyler, Murray, Lamar Jackson,
and Russell Wilson who claimed that they were deprived of
guaranteed dollars because the owners colluded after paying Deshaun Watson
(28:33):
this ungodly some damien that you pointed out two undred
thirty million in guaranteed compensation over five years, but it
affected a lot more. There were also five hundred and
ninety four veteran players who claimed that they were deprived
of some amounts of guaranteed compensation because of this owner's collusion.
(28:58):
And the concept of owner's collusion is that the owners
got together and somehow agreed to hold down guaranteed compensation.
There was an arbitration before a very respected arbitrator who
happens to be the NFL NFLPA Collective Bargaining System arbitrator,
(29:20):
and that was Chris Droni, who was a former judge
on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He rendered a
sixty one page decision which promptly was buried because of
a confidentiality agreement between the NFLPA and the NFL only
because of leaks through the media, and thank goodness, we
(29:41):
have a vigorous media to ferret out the truth. But
because of leaks in the media, it came out that
Droni found there was collusion among the owners. He didn't
find that the NFL had colluded in a way that
resulted in damages. I can get into that later if
you want, because he set forth three questions and answered
(30:03):
two of them in the negative. But he found clearly
there was collusion, and he based that on Commissioner Goodell
and Jeff Pass the General Council talking to the owners
and saying, you know, we have this problem. Our revenues
have declined since COVID, and you guys are still giving
(30:26):
out lots and lots of guaranteed dollars. That's obviously a paraphrase,
and exhorted them to be more careful about it. And
the arbitrator found that there was collusion, and then it
got buried.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
Apparently. There were also a series of text messages between
the owner for the Arizona Cardinals and the chargers. I mean,
is that just the first I mean, how are they
getting access to text messages between owners? I mean, is
that part of disclosure? I just find that so fascinating.
I mean, is there are there text you know, chats
out there that might come to light in lieu of all.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
This, So the answer should be a decided yes.
Speaker 5 (31:06):
They would.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
In terms of the arbitration itself, the NFLPA, which which
was prosecuting the claims on behalf of Kyler Murray Lamar
Jackson and Russell Wilson, would have had an opportunity to
get disclosure of texts, emails, documents which go to their
(31:28):
claim of unlawful collusion, and they would have gotten those emails,
those texts there should have. There may be others out there,
we simply don't know. They're all under confidentiality agreement.
Speaker 5 (31:41):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
And no one has seen fit to disclose everything to
the public yet. Uh. You know, maybe Bloomberg Business on
Sports will issue a subpoena or freedom of the press
for your request to try to get that info.
Speaker 5 (31:56):
Well, I'm sure former nfl PA executive director Demorris Smith
is saying, you miss me now, because there's more to
this with how it apparently he expends multiple strip club
trips on the nflpa's dime, and that also came out.
(32:20):
I didn't even hear about that part until much later,
So I don't know where to go with this.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Marty Well, I had not heard about that particular one.
But this is quite a tangled web, as you point out.
You know, we have the NFLPA technically losing the arbitration,
having the right to appeal, which according to its collective
(32:49):
bargaining Agreement, it has ten days to appeal. That appeal
time ran starting in late January of twenty twenty five
when Arbitrator Dronian to down his decision. The NFLPA did nothing.
Only after Pablo Torres finds out podcasts was there pressure
(33:13):
put on the NFLPA to say, maybe you guys ought
to appeal the loss here, and they filed this appeal
in July. Well, that's more than ten days. There's a
good chance that they're barred from fun. You know, they'll
put in all sorts of special circumstances which I haven't
seen yet, but there's a good chance their appeal will
(33:34):
be barred because it was not timely. Then you have
the issues which are coming out now of the executive
director Lloyd Howell expensing chargers for which there's no reasonable
explanation having been given yet being paid by the Carlisle
(33:57):
Group to explore the investment of private equity in the NFL.
You know, you got to keep your nose clean.
Speaker 4 (34:07):
I heard this is this is a New York Post.
To take it from, take it and stride here. But
apparently Lloyd Howell he ordered the facilities department in Washington,
DC headquarters to merge two spaces in the parking garage
into one over concern of potential door dings on his
poor Kayen Turbo. And he numbered the spot thirty two
in honor of OJ Simpson, just saying this is the
(34:29):
New York Post reporting. So it sounds like Lloyd Howell
has some explaining to do in the eyes of you know,
the media and more importantly, his constituents amongst the NFL,
I mean, the players themselves. This is just kind of outrageous.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
No, yeah, And you know one of the great parts
of that outrage is they use number thirty two, which
not only refers to OJ Simpson, who has a less
than stellar reputation, but also all those great players who
use number thirty two. Jim Brown who was number thirty two,
(35:03):
Sandy Kofax in baseball, Elston Howard in baseball, all numbers
thirty two, and yet he's using it now. I'm just
making light of that way again. I mean, Michael, to
confirm what you said. Yes, in the same you know
kind of article they talk about.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
You know, the strip clubs they talk about, you know
how previously been accused of sexual discrimination back in twenty
eleven while he was an employee at Booz Allen another
you know, management consulting firm of repute, you know. And
so it's just it's just amazing that the NFL even
had him representing their interests, and for this to happen
so quickly into his tenure, to your point, shows just
(35:38):
how challenging that position truly is.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Well, I think that's right. But you know, as we've
seen a whole bunch of executive directors of players associations
who have kept their noses clean, who have represented very
well the interests of the players, you know, to the
some owners may say they represent that the executive directors
(36:03):
represented the player's interest too zealously. This is just the opposite.
Did he represent the player's interests well enough? You're right,
he has a lot of explaining, but don't count on
that happening since he's no longer part of the NFLPA.
Speaker 5 (36:18):
Can we talk about in a little more uplifting if
you want to call it that. CNBC we first reported this.
The NFL is in talks to buy a ten percent
stake in ESPN for some NFL media assets, and according
to CNBC, the stake size is still a moving target.
(36:38):
Now what does that mean for ESPN and what does
that mean for the NFL.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
Well, legally at least and probably financially, it's a boondoggle
for the NFL. It gets to have an outlet for
more and more for increasing amounts of its content. It
will have a network which has a wide, wide audience
(37:05):
to watch whatever the NFL will come up with to
be appropriate. It may not only be NFL games, but
it may be documentaries, It may be interviews with experts
all Lah, Martini, Dell. You never could tell. But it
will have a It's a good vertical integration for the NFL.
(37:29):
For ESPN, it depends how much it's giving up other
than the equity part of it to acquire rights to
NFL licenses. I think it.
Speaker 5 (37:42):
Could be a win win our thanks to Marty Edel
for joining us. He is adjunct professor at Columbia University
and co chair at Gulston and Stores Law Practice, and
thank you for joining us. Make sure to subscribe to
our podcast on your favorite podcast platform so you never
miss an episode from my colleagues Damien Sasaur and Vanessa Verdommo.
(38:04):
I'm Michael Barr. Tune in again next week for the
latest on the stories moving big money in the world
of sports. You are listening to The Bloomberg Business of
Sports Bloomberger Radio around the world. Stay with us. Today's
top stories and global business headlines are coming up right now.
This is the Business of Sports.
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Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 5 (00:38):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm
Michael Barr, along with my colleagues Damien Sassauer and Vanessa Perdomo.
Coming up, we'll talk about the recent turmoil gripping the
NFL Players Association and it led to NFLPA executive director
Lloyd Howell's resignation. We'll talk with a friend of the show,
(01:02):
Marty Eedle, of Gulston and Stores.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
The executive director was found to have a conflict of interest.
He was working for the Carlisle Group, a private equity group,
while he was the executive director of the NFLPA.
Speaker 5 (01:16):
We'll also talk sailing with Red Bull Italy team CEO
Jimmy Spithill. All that is on the way on the
Bloomberg Business of Sports. But first, with the FIFA Club
World Cup and Conker Caff Gold Cup behind us, we
are now full steam ahead to the FIFA World Cup
hitting the States next year, and right now, officials in
(01:38):
New York and New Jersey are anticipating an economic boost
of over three billion dollars from it. Joining us to
talk about how big of an economic win hosting the
World Cup could be is Bloomberg News sports reporter Sree
Taylor three. Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports. He
wrote a great article New York and New Jersey and
(02:01):
they expect a boodle coming from the World Cup that
the FIFA World Cup next year. Tell us about it
if you can.
Speaker 6 (02:10):
Yes, So, New York and New Jersey are jointly hosting
the final match and they're projecting a three point three
billion economic boost to the entire region. So that's the
entire state of New York and New Jersey from hosting
the FIFA World Cup. And that is a little under
a year from now when the final match will kick off.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
So let's just clarify, that's eight matches. That is, like
it is the three point three billion dollar economic but
it's got to be from all eight matches, right, including
the final.
Speaker 6 (02:38):
Yeah, all eight matches at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford,
New Jersey, including the final on the nineteenth of July.
Speaker 7 (02:45):
I'm glad we mentioned that MetLife is in New Jersey
because that's my point here as a Jersey your own
very defensive about this. I'm very defensive about MetLife is
in New Jersey, and people need to know this and
they need to remember this. And it's always, you know,
we're always saying it's New York, it's New York. Whatever.
(03:05):
So what I'd like to know is there any indication
between the is there a split difference between the two areas.
Are they expecting people to stay in Jersey at all?
Or is the NJ transit really gonna get be the
biggest winner in the New Jersey economy from people coming
from the city right.
Speaker 6 (03:21):
So I'm a Jersey girl too, and I do hate
to say it, but it is a little trickier to
stay in a hotel around MetLife Stadium. So that's why
I think the states are kind of making this a
joint effort because a lot of people are likely going
to be staying in New York. You know, if their
hotels are going to be there, they're probably going to
fly into either LaGuardia or JFK and then they are
(03:44):
going to hop on New Jersey Transit from Penn Station
and then New Jersey Transit will take it from there
and then shuttle people to the stadium.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So you know, we might see a little bit of
activity in New Jersey too, you.
Speaker 6 (03:58):
Know, just people kind of going to met Laight Stadium
and you know, buying food, buying drinks, and you know,
we'll get some people staying locally, but I can predict
there will probably be more people in New York. I
think it might just be a little easier.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
You're expecting about one point two million fans and tourists.
You try to put an extra one point two million
people in this area, Where where are they going to go?
Speaker 8 (04:26):
The room.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
We do have the room We.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
Do definitely now that hotel prices.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Are going to be going up, oh for sure.
Speaker 6 (04:34):
But I mean, you know, it's it's it's gonna only
do great things for the area, I think, And you know,
I think Atlanta and the other host cities, like I
think Atlanta is also expecting a one billion dollar boost.
So the cities are ready, they know what's coming, and
they're going to try to, you know, only reap the
benefits of the chaos.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
We have a sophisticated audience, so we need to do
a little history lesson here. You know, I'm just looking
at this economic pack summary that's released, but it was
released on Monday by the New York New Jersey Host Committee. Right,
so obviously they're incentivized to fluff these numbers a bit.
But that's three point three billion they're projecting. There's what,
I don't know, one hundred and four matches across eleven
host cities. Right, let's just I mean, I'm just going
to the back of the NAP and say fifteen billion
(05:16):
is what they expect to generate.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
You know, in.
Speaker 5 (05:18):
Total across the whole fief for World Cup.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Cutter generated seven point five billion in twenty twenty two.
For those who remember it cost Cutter two hundred and
twenty billion.
Speaker 5 (05:27):
Dollars to put it on.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
I mean a massive dislocation. And by the way, if
you look back at Brazil in twenty fourteen or even
Russian eighteen, I mean again, there's this sort of you know,
black hole of spending and they you know, the economic impact.
I guess the argument as it goes, doesn't really offset
the amount of money that spends. What makes this time
different because obviously they're only projecting one point seven billion
(05:51):
and spend across New York and New Jersey to generate
this three point three billion. Sounds like a good investment
to me. But is it accurate?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Ah, I would say it's acurered.
Speaker 6 (06:00):
I think that you know, across the country, the World
Cup or FIFA is expecting six point five million people
to attend the tournament, which is just the highest attended
I think sporting event ever.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Maybe you guys.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
Probably know that better than me, but that's that's the
phrase that I'm seeing thrown around by them. And you know,
they're also expecting the tournament to drive up up to
forty point billion point nine billion USD and Christami stick product.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Forty billion is that the number really forty point nine billion?
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Wow, and that in US GDP. That is just for
anybody can do the math six times what the World
Cup generated in twenty twenty two and cutter. If that holds,
that's an incredible The thing we have.
Speaker 7 (06:44):
To remember there, Damien is one. This is an expanded tournament,
so they're playing more games, they have more teams than
ever before. And in those other regions one Qatar, they just.
Speaker 5 (06:54):
It was a full build out. I agree, it was
a full buildout.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
You're absolutely right.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
They built everything out.
Speaker 7 (06:59):
We don't have to build anything, so there's all of
those things that go into that. And even in Brazil,
in Russia they also had these structures that they built
that they stop using and things like that. That's the
biggest part of this. I do think those numbers are inflated.
And one of the things sure that I'd like to,
you know, to talk about that they're not seemingly paying
attention to or really noting in this is the problem
(07:22):
that people are going to have with visas and people
are not risking you know, coming to the US. What
do you have to think about that?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I mean, it's it's kind of at the forefront of
my mind.
Speaker 6 (07:33):
I don't know if I don't know if the administration
is thinking about it as strongly. I mean, President Donald Trump,
who you know, refers to the FIFA president Gianni Infantino
as a good friend of his.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
They're very chummy.
Speaker 6 (07:47):
He has, you know, super high expectations for next year's turnout,
and you know, when asked about well, you know how
you know, a lot of the success of the Games
are riding on how the US will you know, managed
to ease the international tensions brought up by Trump's trade war.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
You know, his mass deportation mandates.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Sydney say it'll make it more exciting. He says, tarffs
will make the for World Cup more exciting because there'll
be more tension between nations. That is an unbelievable statement.
And I guess, you know, the fact of the matter is,
do you think there'll be any sort of negative backlash
toward the United States because of this, because of these tarffs.
Is it possible that people just boycott the games entirely?
Speaker 6 (08:24):
I think the Games are gonna happen regardless, But I
think what we've seen with some you know, other large
sporting events that have kind of kicked off since Trump
took office. For example, the you know Boston Marathon earlier
this year. I was talking with the head of a
tourism agency meet Boston, and she said that, you know,
we do have a lot of concerns about Canada because
(08:45):
this was, you know, around the time Trump was coming
in really hard on Canadians, you know, and he was
threatened tariffs, and I think that a lot of Canadians were,
you know, not feeling it. They were like, well, you know,
I don't think I'm going to go as a spectator.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
I don't think I'm going to go as a runner.
And that was a really.
Speaker 6 (09:06):
Major tension point when the marathon was leading up. So
this will probably be that but tenfold.
Speaker 5 (09:15):
Trying to put this in a delicate way. With the
Trump administration's policies, tourism has gone down in the United States.
Is the FIFA World Cup the difference, the one off
that's like, look, this is the product to bring tourists in.
Will that be the case for for the US? And
(09:39):
and will Canada say Okay, I'm gonna come and see this.
Speaker 8 (09:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (09:44):
I mean I think I think it's it's not even
just Canada, it's Mexico.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
It's it's it's you know, you know, people around the world.
Speaker 6 (09:50):
I was going through the list, the very long list
of who Trump has either posed harrison or or or
threatened to and that's you know, some of the bigger teams,
so that Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Japan, the UK, South Korea,
so you know, and these are a lot of fans
that are you know, hoping to come here and stay
here for a long time, and you know, go to
(10:12):
cities that they probably never otherwise would like Kansas City
or you know, Atlanta or Miami or you know, a
bunch of these. This the World Cup should be a
very rare, large opportunity for the US to kind of
regain its good standing with the rest of the world.
And I do think that, you know, depending on how
(10:35):
it goes, depending on how Trump kind of positioned himself
leading up to the Games in this last year, you know,
it could either make or break the Games.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
About twenty six thousand jobs are going to be created
by this. And yes, we all know restaurants and yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
but I'm talking about the guy who owns the food truck.
He's like, hey, let me back this thing up. In
here so I can get part of this money that's
(11:08):
coming in. And it's it's the people like that are
really going to benefit from this.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (11:14):
Absolutely, And you know, this is a great opportunity for
a lot of those folks who kind of rely on
that mini ecosystem around these stadiums when they're huge, you know,
game events, and you know football and the Super Bowl
and and you know obviously the smaller soccer tournaments like
the World Cup club and and you know basketball games
(11:38):
and stuff like that. So a lot of these like
smaller vendors will you know, reap a lot of benefits
from this. But I guess my concern when I was
talking to some analysts that are looking closely at this,
they were like, well, a lot of this will be
one time jobs and then they will lose them and
their contractors and then so.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
You know, these jobs will be generated.
Speaker 6 (12:00):
It's a lot of jobs twenty six thousand, but you
know they're temp they're temporary, a lot of them are.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
So we will see. It's definitely good for the time being,
but not to be a not to be a necnive.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Dancy Vanessa, you get your tickets.
Speaker 7 (12:14):
Yet, Listen, I'm going for work okay, and.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
That's well struck.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Vanessa Perdow, I'm going to the World Cup for work.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
I've heard it all our thanks to Bloomberg News reporters
Reet Taylor for joining us. Coming up next week, turn
to the world of sailing with the CEO and co
owner of Red Bull Italy, Jimmy Spithill. For my colleagues
Damien Sassawur and Vanessa Perdomo. I'm Michael Barr. You are
listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberger Radio
around the world.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explored
the big money issues in the world of sports. Michael
are along with Damian Zassauer and Vanessa Berdomo. Our next
guest is one of the greatest athletes in the history
of competitive sailing and is the subject of a new
docu series called Unchartered Saale GP. We're talking about Jimmy Spithill.
(13:18):
He is the youngest skipper ever to win the America's
Cup and is now team CEO of Red Bull Italy.
Jimmy is here to talk with us about the team,
the Roleleck sale GP Championship and the State of Sailing. Jimmy,
Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 8 (13:37):
Oh hi, guys, thanks for much for having me.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
People keep calling it a niche sport. I'm not so
sure anymore because people are starting to get to know
this sport. And one thing that has helped is that
you have been the subject of a documentary that is
out right now.
Speaker 8 (13:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Look, I think sailing was a nice sport, you know,
and it was definitely viewed as something probably.
Speaker 8 (14:00):
For the elite.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
You know, you needed quite a lot of equipment, and
so let's say the barrier to entry was generally not
open for everyone. I think as technology has gone along,
and I think just as the sport's evolved, that's you know,
that narrative is well and truly out the window. And
certainly now if you look at where SLGP is or
(14:23):
the top end of the sport, it's you know, bo
it's doing over one hundred kilometers an hour. They're powered
by nature. There's real risks, so it's a lot more
like I guess auto racing. Yet the team functions like
any other high level sporting team, you know, like a
football or a rugby team. You know, they've got certain playbooks,
they've got to work together, and so.
Speaker 8 (14:42):
Yeah, it's it's fascinating to see it. And i'd even say.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
On to to get into the sport now at a
lower level, the barrier is even lower because of technology
and foiling. You can now go and get a foiling
surfboard and essentially an inflatable bat wing and when you're
out there, so gone to the days of having to
have a trailer and boats and all this sort of gear.
Speaker 8 (15:05):
It's this sort of.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Whole you know, advancement and quantum leap in technology and
construction and carp and fiber, et cetera has really changed
the game, I think, from the very bottom to the
very top to.
Speaker 7 (15:16):
Have this sort of team based thing that a lot
of people understand how that works. Do you think that's
what changed the game kind of for sailing, is this
team format that everyone kind of understands and can follow
along with.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Yeah, I think you're right, because it is from the outside,
it's a very let's a confusing sport to understand, you know,
like where are the boats going?
Speaker 8 (15:38):
What is the course? There was a whole lot of rules.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
And then even the sort of technical jargon I mean,
I just to confuse myself, and I'm a professional sailor,
so I think a big part of it was really
trying to simplify it. The other thing, I think that
the top of let's say, the top end of the
sport before Sales GP was probably the America's Cup, and
that was something that was really every four years the
rules would constantly change they still do, and you didn't
(16:05):
have that regular season. The other thing was that the
boats for a big part of the America's Cup were, Man,
I can tell you it was a little bit like
watching paint, right. I mean, while it was okay to
sail them, but to watch them, it was just it
wasn't like there was you could look away and have
a conversation and look back and it didn't look like
a whole it had changed. The third thing is probably
let's say stadium, you know, having a stadium and fans
(16:27):
there in the bleachers and watching and being able to
hear that crowd, and that's you know, notoriously in Sale
we're racing, it's been oh, let's take the course as
far away from land as we can, let's get it perfect,
and let's not let anyone get too close. Well, sojpas
the opposite, very tight racetracks. When we just recently raced
in the Hudson in Manhattan. There the races are twelve
(16:48):
to thirty minutes long, twelve boats, very tight racetrack with
sideline boundaries. One sideline is literally the spectator stands and
they can almost reach out and high five the athletes.
Speaker 8 (16:59):
I think. You know.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
The other thing is having a very very tight and
squared away broadcast. You know where fans when they turn
it on, they can't get an understanding. They get educated,
and all the athletes a Mike Live. It's one of
the very few sports where men and women compete together
in the teams. And so yeah, we're starting to, let's say,
(17:22):
have the right ingredients to produce something that I believe, well,
we're already seeing it in terms of our TV and
media numbers, but starting to get out of let's say,
what was thought a niche sport and for people that
are just interested in sailing to more mainstream. And when
you look at the audience, I think it's about twenty
or thirty percent are actually just sailing audience. The rest
(17:42):
are non sailors and a lot of racing fans Actually.
Speaker 5 (17:45):
I admire you so much and I want to bring
up an extreme positive, but I have to start out,
unfortunately with the negative that happened. You were ousted from
the Oracle Team USA when new ownership came in, and
then you established Red Bull Italy and you're just kicking
butt and I admire you for establishing the team. Can
(18:10):
you take us through that process?
Speaker 8 (18:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Well sure, I mean, look, I got involved with solgeot
Penn season two. During season one, I was involved in
the America's Cup campaign and sort of finishing that off,
and Larry Ellison approached me and Russell cous to come
and lead the American team. At that stage, they just
finished last in season one, had no sponsors, and so
we immediately took the team to the final. We had
a bunch of fantastic commercial partners. But anyway, I was
(18:35):
thinking at that point, look, I'll probably this is my
long term plan here with the team, and I had
an ownership option on the team. Now we while looking
for partners, were received what was then a record offer
for the team to be purchased by a guy named
Ray McKillen was one of the early Uber guys and
a consortium he'd put together.
Speaker 8 (18:55):
Now at that point, I had an option. There was
one catch in that.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
One catching that that oper and that was that, well,
they wanted to field their own team so really start again,
and they wanted a full American team. I was born
in Australia, I'm a wife and kids are American, but
so they wanted to go all American and run it
their own way. So yeah, it was an interesting process
because it was either well, do you know, how do
(19:21):
I treat this? You know, I could stock and block
the deal and just stay here and keep looking to
build it up. But at the same time, I'd been
competing with an Italian team in the America's Cup, and
I thought, oh, what an incredible opportunity to now one
go through the process of a sale of a team,
but essentially start again and start from scratch, as opposed
(19:41):
to taking over an existing team like I did with
the American team. And that's really what led to Repulsugupeaterly
And it's just been such an amazing ride to get here.
We're the newest team, We've got the least amount of hours,
but we've just got a fantastic lineup of guys and
girls in our roster, huge fan base. I mean, if
you've ever watched you know Italian fans, there's some of
(20:03):
the most passionate out there and also a very let's
say educated marketplace as well in terms of commercially and audience.
So yeah, it was just a great opportunity. It was
a win win. It was a win facality to bring
someone like Ryan and the group you brought in to
take over the American team, and the same time for
me it was it was just I mean, how many
(20:23):
athletes get the opportunity to one even get involved in
the ownership of the team, but to be able to
do it twice and with a completely new group, different culture, etc.
I just thought, Wow, what an opportunity.
Speaker 7 (20:35):
The whole idea of an athlete, you know who's done
the whole sport, done it from the top to bottom,
and then going into a CEO role, but also still competing.
You know, you're still skipper and things like that, and
then you co owner CEO. How you wear all those
hats tell us about how that informs you in a
(20:56):
unique way in running the team.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
I think it's like a lot of businesses, and even
when you look around at other successful sporting franchises. I
believe that some of the most successful and valuable are
the ones that are ultimately influenced or run by ex athletes,
because it's a little bit like armies or generals. Generals
(21:18):
in the army or admiralson in a navy. The guys
that have been in the trenches, have been out in
the water, been there on the ground, and then work
that way up. They really know what has been going
on in the whole process. Now I'm not saying that's
the only way, because clearly there's examples of well admirals
and generals that haven't gone that way, and in people
(21:38):
that run these teams, all sorts of sporting teams and franchises.
Speaker 8 (21:42):
But I believe if you really.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Want to have a full understanding of what it's like,
and they really gain the respect of people on and
off the water. If you've got that sort of background
and knowledge, there's no shortcut to that. You don't just
get that by clicking your fingers and reading about it.
If you've lived and breathed that, you've made, had mistakes
and had the growth, that's that's that's a different level
of education. And I believe I've always been inspired by
(22:07):
athletes that have been successful on the field to play,
but then the ability to go out of their comfort zone,
you know, and be successful off the field to play
almost like a second career. And at the same time
benefit I'm also finding has been able to impact and
now help and provide something for the next generation. That's
in itself something really rewarding. But at the time when
(22:30):
I was competing, to be quite honestly, I never that
was never really something on the back of my mind
that you know, when you're competing, all you're thinking about
is the game and to win. But now when I
look at all of the ingredients, I yeah, it's been
it's been fascinating just to be able to play the
different roles and get a let's say, a full full
circle picture.
Speaker 5 (22:50):
One of the investors in sale GP a very famous name,
and Hathaway tell us about that, because now you're attracting
some really big names involved in this that people instantly know.
Speaker 8 (23:06):
Yeah, well, that's that's true.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
I mean, and I think if you look at the
group that we've assembled in the team, it's just I mean,
as the founder of the team, if I could have
just drawn up a wish list, I'm not sure I
would have had the courage to say. The names we've
got it's unbelievable. I mean, we've got some incredible entrepreneurs,
(23:29):
businessmen and women. We've got some amazing from all walks
of you know, We've got amazing actresses, athletes, and ultimately
what that means is we just have such an awesome
group to go back and call on their own experiences
and their lessons learned to apply to our let's say,
sports and entertainment product that we're growing together. And so
(23:54):
and if you look at all the other teams, theres
some incredible names as well, like you know, some of
the business and some of the funds, some of the
Mark Lazarie's with the US team, athletes, kill Him Abati,
Sebastian Battle, you know, actors, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman. I mean,
the list just goes on and on, and so I
(24:14):
think when it's all good and well for me to
come and tell you how good sale GP is or
what I think the teams are worth. And it's a
little bit like selling your own house. You can think
it's worth a billion dollars, but at the end of
the day, the market will tell you what it's worth
and here we are again. You know, the market will
tell us from an investment point of view, well is
(24:36):
this investible and what's our market value?
Speaker 8 (24:40):
Now?
Speaker 3 (24:40):
If you look at the growth we've had in just
five seasons, especially starting out when when COVID and what
people thought was a NWE sport, well we've got a
pretty big range of sophisticated men and women investors. You
look at the valuations now, you look at the TV
numbers and even getting feedback from the hospitality and the
racing experience.
Speaker 8 (25:00):
It's live again. You will think I'm boss. I am boss.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
But you only have to now look at the diet
of the results and the people that are investing in
those teams. They're not the majority of them. Again, they're
not sounding fans.
Speaker 8 (25:12):
They really say the value.
Speaker 5 (25:13):
Here our thanks to Jimmy Spitthill, team CEO of Red
Bull Italy, for joining us up. Next, we turned to
the NFL and a controversy that has shaken up the
NFL Players Association. For Damien Sasawer and Vanessa Bernomo. I'm
Michael Barr. You are listening to the Bloomberg Business of
Sports Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 5 (25:41):
Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
We explore the big money issues in the world of
sports Michael Barr along with Damian Sasauer and Vanessa Bernomo.
The NFL's Players Association recently found itself embroiled in controversy
that led to NFLPA Executive Director of Lloyd Howell, as
well as at least one other executive being out of
(26:06):
the NFLPA. There are several key developments here and we
wanted to get to the bottom of it with an
old friend of the show. Joining us now is Marty Eedle.
He's Gulston and Stewart's Sports law practice co chair and
adjunct professor at Columbia University. Marty, welcome back to the
Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
Man. There is so much NFL news to talk about,
and I guess I want to start off with the NFLPA,
where it was kind of a meltdown. What has happened
The NFLPA Executive director Lloyd Howell and President JC Treader
resigned earlier this month. What in the world happened? Marty?
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Well, we have a confluence of two events that have
been disclosed. I can't tell you what else is behind
the scenes because I don't know. But the two big
events here are one that the NFL and NFLPA entered
into a confidentiality agreement to hold confidential the decision which
(27:17):
found that there was collusion by the NFL owners. Why
would anyone withhold that from their constituency, in this case
the players. The second issue, of course, was that the
executive director was found to have a conflict of interest.
He was working for the Carlisle Group of private equity
(27:37):
group while he was the executive director of the NFLPA.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Surprise in the mean of it, right, I mean the
grievance itself, as I understand it was accusations that team
owners were colluding to suppress the pay the guarantee pay
sorry for quarterbacks in the wake of the Cleveland Brown's
decision to sign to Sean Watson to someone godly two
hundred thirty million dollar. Some talk to us a little
bit about that. I mean, is there going to be
(28:04):
any sort of potential blowback, any damages to you know,
quarterbacks who you know, maybe weren't given a fair deal
because of this.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Yeah, so let's start off with that, but it's far
broader than the was it three quarterbacks Kyler, Murray, Lamar Jackson,
and Russell Wilson who claimed that they were deprived of
guaranteed dollars because the owners colluded after paying Deshaun Watson
(28:33):
this ungodly some damien that you pointed out two undred
thirty million in guaranteed compensation over five years, but it
affected a lot more. There were also five hundred and
ninety four veteran players who claimed that they were deprived
of some amounts of guaranteed compensation because of this owner's collusion.
(28:58):
And the concept of owner's collusion is that the owners
got together and somehow agreed to hold down guaranteed compensation.
There was an arbitration before a very respected arbitrator who
happens to be the NFL NFLPA Collective Bargaining System arbitrator,
(29:20):
and that was Chris Droni, who was a former judge
on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He rendered a
sixty one page decision which promptly was buried because of
a confidentiality agreement between the NFLPA and the NFL only
because of leaks through the media, and thank goodness, we
(29:41):
have a vigorous media to ferret out the truth. But
because of leaks in the media, it came out that
Droni found there was collusion among the owners. He didn't
find that the NFL had colluded in a way that
resulted in damages. I can get into that later if
you want, because he set forth three questions and answered
(30:03):
two of them in the negative. But he found clearly
there was collusion, and he based that on Commissioner Goodell
and Jeff Pass the General Council talking to the owners
and saying, you know, we have this problem. Our revenues
have declined since COVID, and you guys are still giving
(30:26):
out lots and lots of guaranteed dollars. That's obviously a paraphrase,
and exhorted them to be more careful about it. And
the arbitrator found that there was collusion, and then it
got buried.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
Apparently. There were also a series of text messages between
the owner for the Arizona Cardinals and the chargers. I mean,
is that just the first I mean, how are they
getting access to text messages between owners? I mean, is
that part of disclosure? I just find that so fascinating.
I mean, is there are there text you know, chats
out there that might come to light in lieu of all.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
This, So the answer should be a decided yes.
Speaker 5 (31:06):
They would.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
In terms of the arbitration itself, the NFLPA, which which
was prosecuting the claims on behalf of Kyler Murray Lamar
Jackson and Russell Wilson, would have had an opportunity to
get disclosure of texts, emails, documents which go to their
(31:28):
claim of unlawful collusion, and they would have gotten those emails,
those texts there should have. There may be others out there,
we simply don't know. They're all under confidentiality agreement.
Speaker 5 (31:41):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
And no one has seen fit to disclose everything to
the public yet. Uh. You know, maybe Bloomberg Business on
Sports will issue a subpoena or freedom of the press
for your request to try to get that info.
Speaker 5 (31:56):
Well, I'm sure former nfl PA executive director Demorris Smith
is saying, you miss me now, because there's more to
this with how it apparently he expends multiple strip club
trips on the nflpa's dime, and that also came out.
(32:20):
I didn't even hear about that part until much later,
So I don't know where to go with this.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Marty Well, I had not heard about that particular one.
But this is quite a tangled web, as you point out.
You know, we have the NFLPA technically losing the arbitration,
having the right to appeal, which according to its collective
(32:49):
bargaining Agreement, it has ten days to appeal. That appeal
time ran starting in late January of twenty twenty five
when Arbitrator Dronian to down his decision. The NFLPA did nothing.
Only after Pablo Torres finds out podcasts was there pressure
(33:13):
put on the NFLPA to say, maybe you guys ought
to appeal the loss here, and they filed this appeal
in July. Well, that's more than ten days. There's a
good chance that they're barred from fun. You know, they'll
put in all sorts of special circumstances which I haven't
seen yet, but there's a good chance their appeal will
(33:34):
be barred because it was not timely. Then you have
the issues which are coming out now of the executive
director Lloyd Howell expensing chargers for which there's no reasonable
explanation having been given yet being paid by the Carlisle
(33:57):
Group to explore the investment of private equity in the NFL.
You know, you got to keep your nose clean.
Speaker 4 (34:07):
I heard this is this is a New York Post.
To take it from, take it and stride here. But
apparently Lloyd Howell he ordered the facilities department in Washington,
DC headquarters to merge two spaces in the parking garage
into one over concern of potential door dings on his
poor Kayen Turbo. And he numbered the spot thirty two
in honor of OJ Simpson, just saying this is the
(34:29):
New York Post reporting. So it sounds like Lloyd Howell
has some explaining to do in the eyes of you know,
the media and more importantly, his constituents amongst the NFL,
I mean, the players themselves. This is just kind of outrageous.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
No, yeah, And you know one of the great parts
of that outrage is they use number thirty two, which
not only refers to OJ Simpson, who has a less
than stellar reputation, but also all those great players who
use number thirty two. Jim Brown who was number thirty two,
(35:03):
Sandy Kofax in baseball, Elston Howard in baseball, all numbers
thirty two, and yet he's using it now. I'm just
making light of that way again. I mean, Michael, to
confirm what you said. Yes, in the same you know
kind of article they talk about.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
You know, the strip clubs they talk about, you know
how previously been accused of sexual discrimination back in twenty
eleven while he was an employee at Booz Allen another
you know, management consulting firm of repute, you know. And
so it's just it's just amazing that the NFL even
had him representing their interests, and for this to happen
so quickly into his tenure, to your point, shows just
(35:38):
how challenging that position truly is.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Well, I think that's right. But you know, as we've
seen a whole bunch of executive directors of players associations
who have kept their noses clean, who have represented very
well the interests of the players, you know, to the
some owners may say they represent that the executive directors
(36:03):
represented the player's interest too zealously. This is just the opposite.
Did he represent the player's interests well enough? You're right,
he has a lot of explaining, but don't count on
that happening since he's no longer part of the NFLPA.
Speaker 5 (36:18):
Can we talk about in a little more uplifting if
you want to call it that. CNBC we first reported this.
The NFL is in talks to buy a ten percent
stake in ESPN for some NFL media assets, and according
to CNBC, the stake size is still a moving target.
(36:38):
Now what does that mean for ESPN and what does
that mean for the NFL.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
Well, legally at least and probably financially, it's a boondoggle
for the NFL. It gets to have an outlet for
more and more for increasing amounts of its content. It
will have a network which has a wide, wide audience
(37:05):
to watch whatever the NFL will come up with to
be appropriate. It may not only be NFL games, but
it may be documentaries, It may be interviews with experts
all Lah, Martini, Dell. You never could tell. But it
will have a It's a good vertical integration for the NFL.
(37:29):
For ESPN, it depends how much it's giving up other
than the equity part of it to acquire rights to
NFL licenses. I think it.
Speaker 5 (37:42):
Could be a win win our thanks to Marty Edel
for joining us. He is adjunct professor at Columbia University
and co chair at Gulston and Stores Law Practice, and
thank you for joining us. Make sure to subscribe to
our podcast on your favorite podcast platform so you never
miss an episode from my colleagues Damien Sasaur and Vanessa Verdommo.
(38:04):
I'm Michael Barr. Tune in again next week for the
latest on the stories moving big money in the world
of sports. You are listening to The Bloomberg Business of
Sports Bloomberger Radio around the world. Stay with us. Today's
top stories and global business headlines are coming up right now.
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