October 3, 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.
On this episode, hear from:
- US Olympic & Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland on preparations for the next set of Olympic games, including the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles
- Wayne Kimmel, Managing Partner of SeventySix Capital on how technology is driving innovation in the sports betting space and investing in sports tech
- NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Monumental Sports & Entertainment founder, chairman and CEO Ted Leonsis on hockey's growth
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Business of Sports. Sports are the greatest
unscripted show owner.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
The next generation of players who really grew up with
tech and believe in tech.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Your face is your ticket, your face is your wallet,
Your face is your access to a club.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
These are such iconic and important buildings for businesses. For fans, COVID.
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Was one of the best things that ever happened to go.
Speaker 5 (00:21):
The NFL is a bulletproof business.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Raising is unique because there is absolutely no reason why
we can't compete with the guys.
Speaker 6 (00:27):
Wall It's pro pickleball.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Real are people really going to tune into this?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
If you're playing moneyball with a huge bag of money,
you're going to be really, really good.
Speaker 7 (00:35):
Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 6 (00:39):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports. I'ndm
Michael Bahr along with my colleagues Damian Sasaer and Vanessa Perdomo.
Coming up on the show, we'll hear from NHL Commissioner
Gary Beckman as we get ready for another season of hockey.
Speaker 8 (00:57):
You look for big events, for big stories, and you
use every platform imaginable, whether it's linear streaming platform social
media and no different than what we did in February
with the Four Nations Tournament. I mean, we created something
that even if you weren't a hockey fan, even if
(01:18):
you weren't a sports fan, you felt compelled to tune
in because it was so topical and so intriguing. People
wanted to know more.
Speaker 6 (01:27):
Betman spoke on stage alongside Monumental Sports and Entertainment founder
Ted Leonsis in a panel moderated by our own Scarlet
Foo recently at Bloomberg Power Players, New York. All that
is on the way on the Bloomberg Business of Sports,
But first, the next Winter Olympics are right around the
corner and preparations are well underway for the next Summer
(01:50):
Olympics that hit Los Angeles in twenty twenty eight. To
give us an update on all things Olympics, we welcome
back Sarah Hirschlan. She's Chief executive officer of the US
Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Sarah, welcome back to the Bloomberg
Business of Sports. I am so glad that you have
joined us, and I want to talk about some of
(02:11):
the things that you're doing with the US Olympic and
Paralympic Committee. Where do you see it now for the
upcoming games? Where do you see the committee heading in
this in these race?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Well, as you know, in February, we will take a
delegation of Team USA to Italy anchored in Milan, but
with a strong presence up in Courtina Lavigno. So we'll
be spread up, spread across the Italian Alps with what
I will say is one of the strongest Winter Team
USA teams we've seen in quite some time. So we're
(02:49):
we're optimistic and excited.
Speaker 9 (02:51):
My goodness, spread across the Italian Alps. It doesn't sound
too bad, doesn't Michael.
Speaker 6 (02:54):
No, I think we can tag along. Yeah, you need
someone to carry the luggage.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Just called me center.
Speaker 9 (03:00):
Yeah. So in this time, in the next few months,
what are you know, what's your biggest you know, things
that you have to worry about and that you have
to strategize for for team you say, to be ready
for those games in February, Well, a.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Few pretty pretty important things. Number one, we've got to
make sure all the athletes qualify. So there is a
quite a series of you know, as we like to say,
making Team USA, you got to make the Olympic and
Paralympic team first, so a lot of qualification events those
will actually start here very soon across all of the
(03:34):
winter sports. And then there will be some team selections
as you can imagine something like our ice hockey teams,
those coaches and captains will go through a process of
selecting the individual athletes who will represent us on those teams.
So you got to qualify first. Our organization spending a
lot of time making sure we have all of the
logistics in place so that when we get on the ground,
(03:56):
these athletes have all of the support resources that they're
accustomed to in their training environments. And you know, that's
everything from nutrition to recovery equipment to sports medicine support,
making sure that they can be in an environment that's
going to allow them to reach their highest potential at
exactly the right moment. And you know the core the secret,
(04:20):
if you will, that's not such a secret, is we
always say if we get Team USA to the start
line healthy, we like our chances.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Yes, so, you know, Sarah, For me, it's the question
I have is what are you doing? Twenty twenty five
is an off year, you know, but there's so much
preparation that goes hand in hand with getting the venues ready,
getting actually the athletes ready.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
You know, where are you most focused right this minute?
Speaker 3 (04:42):
It's it's you know, the year after a Summer Games
and right before Winter Games is naturally a bit of
a transition.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Year for us. So you're right, it's a combination.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Of some long term planning obviously the short term planning
and work that goes into preparations for the Winter Games,
but it's also an opportunity for us to make sure
that focused on you know, what's on the long horizon
and are we set up properly to drive a good, strong,
healthy sport culture for many years to come. So we
(05:12):
do work on what we call quadrennial planning, a four
year long range plan looking out ahead. Obviously, for us,
we're in the unique situation of having the LA twenty
eight Games in our next four year cycle, so it
is getting the people, getting the resources in place, human
and financial to be ready.
Speaker 6 (05:33):
In late July, the Committee they updated its policies on
transgender athletes. Can you tell us more about what the
committee decided?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
You know, a real and this has been, as you
guys well know, a really robust discussion, I would say
across across global sport, across this country, but also with
our peers around the world, and I think there's a
very strong commitment in many places, many countries, many hallways
(06:05):
in the United States, a very strong commitment to protecting
women's sports in particular and a real focus on ensuring
that the gains we've made in the US in particular
continue to provide fair opportunities, safe opportunities for women to
compete in sport.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
And that's really exactly what this is.
Speaker 9 (06:27):
About, and that obviously comes off of the back of
President Trump's declaration right of keeping women's sports and protecting
women's sports.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Is that right?
Speaker 4 (06:38):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
The administration and the President in particular have been really
vocal on this topic, and it's an area where we
see tremendous support from the public at large. People understand
fairness in sport and safety in sport above all else.
Athletes will tell us it's the single most important two
issues to them, and so we feel a real obligation
(07:00):
to make sure we're listening and paying attention to what
is it going to take to provide both a safe
environment but also you know, fairness that everyone feels like
they arrive on the field of play with a level
playing field.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Sarah, talk to me about ski mountaineering. It's a new
sport in twenty twenty six. What other new sports are
coming to the Olympics in the not too distant future.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Well, that's the one in twenty twenty six on the
winter side, and it will be you know, we do
there are people in the United States who are ski
mountaineer athletes, and so we will hope to have a
team there competing, but not something that's been you know,
mainstream and really popular, so I think the US will.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Find it fun.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
It's quite an endurance sport, and we tend to like
the endurance sports. You know, you could almost liken it
to long distance running or cycling, but the combination of
some endurance and some speed. So it'll be fun to watch.
When we get to Los Angeles. On the summer side,
we know we'll see squash, we'll see flag foot, and
(08:00):
I'll call out in particular there that one will be
fun for both men and women. We'll see baseball, softball
come back, We'll see lacrosse come to the games for
the first time, and we'll see I think I mentioned squash,
and we'll see cricket for the first time, so some
very popular global sports back in the games in Los Angeles.
Speaker 9 (08:20):
Obviously we saw a huge resurgence, just felt like a
big resurgence in twenty twenty four the Paris Games just.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Being so so successful.
Speaker 9 (08:28):
And then now kind of not to take a step back,
but what's going on with college athletics and given the
NCAA House settlement that now was passed that looks to
potentially have some some adverse effects on Olympic style sports,
are you at all worried about that? Given that a
lot of teamsay is made up of college athletes or
(08:51):
athletes that train at colleges.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
We have been very vocal for some time years now
in the halls of Congress and among our peers in
the collegiate space advocating for the preservation of broad based
sport opportunities on our campuses. The US is the envy
of the world. We are the greatest sporting nation in
(09:17):
the world, and a huge component of that is the
education based sports system that we have always enjoyed. And
so to see that sports system threatened and changing in
you know, elementary, middle school, high schools, as it has
and to now see that broad based sport offering threatened
(09:38):
at the collegiate level is absolutely concerning to us, and
so yes, we are very focused on it.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
We are we're.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
We're advocating, we're lobbying, and we're sitting at every table
that we can to be part of the conversation around
creating solutions.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Further to that, how does name image likeness affect you?
How does it affect Olympic athletes? Do you see there
be incentives, you know, for them to move away from
amateur sports, from the Olympics or is I mean, what
do you what are you doing to compete with all that?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I think the important thing is we have to separate
true name image likeness from the pay to play environment,
and that unfortunately hasn't happened effectively in the collegiate environment.
We are and have been huge advocates for athletes to
(10:31):
capitalize on their name, image and likeness to generate income.
We've been supporters of that at the Olympic and Paralympic level.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
We're supporters of that at the collegiate level.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
And there are athletes who've been wildly successful in in
becoming you know, marketing, marketing, geniuses in their own right
and capitalizing on their on their name, image and likeness
to drive real income. And that's that's good and positive
and should be encouraged. But the distinction between that and
(11:03):
what has become recruiting endorsements is a very different thing.
And that's where the struggles and challenge in collegiate athletics
is navigating how you properly ensure athletes have the ability
to earn in an appropriate and fair way. We have
the same sort of you know, principles and premises. We
(11:25):
would love for Team USA athletes to have significantly greater
income than they do.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
We're working really.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Hard to improve upon that. In fact, this year was
a huge milestone for US. You guys know, a big
part of our revenue and our funding comes from the
American public through philanthropy. We had our first one hundred
million dollar donation by an incredibly generous gentleman and his
family named Ross Stevens, who created the Stevens Awards, and
(11:56):
that is income directly to athletes. It's one hundred thousand
dollars grant and a hundred one thousand dollars life insurance
for athletes who make Team USA and the Winter Games
in twenty six will be the first group of athletes
who receive that benefit. So a lot of us are
working on the right ways to ensure athletes have earning.
The key is to make sure that we do it
in ways it's going to incent the right behaviors.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
Sarah Hirschland, Chief Executive Officer of the US Olympic and
Paralympic Committee. We are so grateful that you came to
join us and talk with Bloomberg's Business of Sports. We
really do appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
It's always a pleasure to be with you guys.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (12:33):
Up next, we turn to sports tech and a firm
investing in the people and products that will power the
future of sports. From colleagues Vanessa Perdomo and Damian Sasauer.
I'm Michael Barr. You are listening to the Bloomberg Business
of Sports Bloomberger Radio around the world.
Speaker 9 (12:54):
This is Bloomberg Business at Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 6 (13:00):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports. We explore the
big money issues in the world of sports. I'm Michael
Barr along with my colleagues Damian Sasawer and Vanessa Perdomo.
Now for a look at the sports Tech World. Seventy
six Capital is a sports tech venture capital company that
focuses on the people and products that are building the data, analytics,
(13:23):
and technology that will power the future of sports. Joining
us now is Wayne Kimmel. He's managing partner at seventy
six Capital. Wayne, Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Thanks for having me. This is really exciting to be here.
Speaker 6 (13:38):
This is I'm excited because you know me, I hate Yes,
I bet, Yes, I do, and I'm not good at it,
but I bet. Have we hit a point now where
the market has saturated with online betting?
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Not yet? I mean I really don't think we've hit
a point yet. We certainly have where draft can and
FanDuel have taken the lead with betting today. But at
the same time you've got BETMGM fanatics nipping at their heels.
You've got also, at the same time, the prediction markets,
and that's a whole other can of worms, which really
(14:17):
now has betting legal in fifty different states now, not
just the thirty eight, thirty nine, forty whatever it is
the regulated states now, it's everywhere. So it's really really
interesting to see what's going to happen next but for us, look,
it's all about making sure that betting is safe and
fun and we're just making sure that there's true integrity,
(14:40):
there's real compliance with everything that's going on across that
and that's where you know, one of our companies, I
through sixty IC three sixty is right in the middle
of all that.
Speaker 9 (14:49):
Which is really important obviously, and when we're talking about
security and all that, and it's particularly struggling right now
in the prediction markets, I would say, right, it's it's
a little bit less regulated than where there's those things
there that aren't really regulated as much. So how do
you figure that when it comes to the entire betting process.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
Well, look, I think in general, what we really want
to make sure is that there's true integrity and there's
really no anomalies across the whole space. And that's what
our team at IC three sixty really works on to
make sure and just making sure that people are doing
the right thing right. I mean, I think that's the
key to everything. If everything's on the up and up.
We can't let professional sports turn into a scripted something
(15:33):
like wrestling like it can't be that. We need to
be able to be in a position where we know
that what's going on on the field is really what's happening,
and that's the most important thing for us.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Wayne. You know, you're the managing partner of seventy six Capital,
and the reason Michael Barr and we started asking about
sports betting is because that's really been your focus for
the better part of the last few years. And you know,
but you know, at seventy six, you invest in all
sorts of different companies of all different shapes and sizes,
and I just have to ask you, you know that
world of sports as an asset class, you know, talk
to us about exit strategies because it's really easy to
(16:06):
invest in a good idea and it's really really difficult
to crystallize that in terms of returns for you and
your partner. So talk to us a little bit about
your approach, how you work with these companies, how you
get them cash flow positive, and how you get them
and you know, into cruising altitude.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
Yeah, I think what's really important is to make sure
that these companies are truly ready to go and sort
of moving forward and working with our companies so that
they then can be one of those companies that we
can sell like we did with Vson selling them to DraftKings,
or you know, selling a company to Fubo TV or
(16:42):
the pylon cams you see on NFL fields that's was
sold to Cosm and then Cosm RaSE two hundred and
fifty million dollars open up more of their venues. So
for us, it's really all about getting behind amazing entrepreneurs
who are truly doing something innovative. And then and most times,
the stuff that we invest in our companies that are involved,
that have have hardcore technology, data and analytics, and we
(17:05):
really help those companies and help build those companies and
make sure that they have relationships with the teams, the leagues,
those sports betting regulators, of sports books themselves, and also
you know, just think about you know, it could be
at any as any part of the overall landscape from
professional sports where they work in, or college sports, or
it could be even on the youth side of things.
There's so much to do out there right now. But
(17:27):
for us, it's really all about making sure that we
get behind amazing companies, we get them moving, and then
that they start to really execute and do what they
need to do well.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
When you made an interesting point there, I mean all
of those exits were selling to a private right or
you know, to a larger company. You know, it wasn't
a public listing so to speak, was in an IPO,
you know, the traditional way that a lot of you know,
private equity investors try to you know, to cash in.
But you know, talk to me about you know, the
depth of that market, you know, and an operating link.
You who's been in the business since you know, I
(17:57):
mean the late nineties. You know those relationships and how
important they are. I mean, you have your athlete in
Residence program at seventy six. Talk to us a little
bit about how you work with your investors, your constituents,
and you kind of get to that point where you
have those relationships that you can even take a good
idea or a well functioning opportunity and bring it to
somebody's attention.
Speaker 5 (18:16):
I think one of the big things that we do
at seventy six Capital is really work closely with our
companies and help them with their with their marketing, with
their branding so they actually get out there into the
market so that they are a brand name when it
comes to the NFL or the NBA or any of
those leagues. At the same time, we sometimes will use
(18:37):
the help of an athlete who can help us maybe
you know, market the company a little bit to get
them get them out there a little bit. So that's
something that we'll certainly do. But I think the key
for everything is really that these companies have the best technology.
That's that they that they have to be able to
work really closely with incredible media companies like esp I mean,
(19:00):
as an example, you know one of our companies is
literally powering the personalization and customization of the ESPN app
that's out there today. We're super excited about that, and
that's something that you know, you won't know the name
of the business is not really that important, but it's
when you see your fantasy and you see your bets,
and you see everything that's personalized to you that's coming
through the tech side of things.
Speaker 6 (19:21):
I want to talk about. You were an investor in
Vson when the whole thing started, and I don't think
people understand how much of an impact Vson made on
the market because you used to have to go to
the racetrack some guy is selling a tip on a
piece of eight and a half by eleven paper that's
all typed in. Now you can listen to Vson and
(19:44):
if you want to do your homework on a bet,
you can talk to us about that about the impact
of Vison Well.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
Vson was an unbelievable investment for us. I mean getting
the opportunity to work with the legendary Brent Musburger, his nephew.
Speaker 6 (20:00):
Brian bill Ady.
Speaker 5 (20:02):
These guys were just incredible and they were always thinking
about everything, you know, ten steps forward. So it was
the idea of why shouldn't there be a network that
lets you hear everything that's happening across the bet sports
betting markets, just like here at Bloomberg, where you get
to learn everything that's happening on the financial markets, and
(20:23):
then not only have it be able to listen to it,
but also broadcast it like you guys do right from
the floor of the Exchange, which at the time our
first studio was in the South Point in Las Vegas,
the only twenty four hour sports betting book that was
open at the time. It was amazing to be there
and be in the middle of all that and had
the glass studio in there and really built that out.
(20:46):
But now they're at Circa and Just and in many
other places. I mean, they're continuing to really build that.
We sold that company to DraftKings. Now it's private again,
they have it back, but it's it's one of those
things where you know, it was all about those entrepreneurs,
their ideas, going out and getting really great hosts. The
to really make sure you have you know, authentic voices.
(21:09):
That was one of the most important things, right. You
had to really know what minus one ten means, not negative, that.
Speaker 9 (21:19):
Is, it's it's a it's a learning curve for sure.
And I just hit my first big bet actually this week.
Really pumped about it in a four hundred dollars Beth.
It was awesome. Yeah, I had a dollar bed this
week and my goal be jealous. It was amazing. So
my nails for my batchelor party gonna be fraid. So
one of the things you were talking about there, and
(21:39):
you're talking about Vson and you're talking about like the
pylon cam and things like that, those are more forward facing,
like for consumer businesses, right, and then you have other
things that you invested on the analytics side. The baseball
and basketball shot track are those things that really help
the sport in itself When you're looking at what to
invest in in the space, which are you really looking
at more what is well, what would you say is
(22:01):
more for your interest or has a bigger impact on
the sport.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
Yeah, the big thing for us is really you know,
whether it's on the field, off the field, for the consumer,
you know, for the business, it's really just making sure
that that there's the core of everything is all around tech,
data and analytics. So you know, you mentioned shot Tracker
and diamond Kinetics on the baseball side. I mean, like
shot Tracker on the basketball side of things, really being
(22:27):
able to use that information, use that data to enable
you to be a better player, and that could be
at the youth level, that could be at the college level,
all the way up to the pro side of things.
So I think like the whole thing for us is
just making sure that you have really the best of
the best tech and that's and that's what that's that's
(22:48):
a big part of what we look for.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Wayne.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
We were kidding offline here about the phenomenal valuations that
specifically in the NFL, but all professional sports teams are
now fetching in the open market. You know, some of
these transactions, I mean, I'll just give our audience, you know,
so I think the Dallas Cowboys, which were the most
valuable franchise heading into this year per Sportico at ten
point three billion, it's now estimated to be fourteen point
five billion, right, seem one point two you know billion
(23:11):
in revenue per year.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
You know.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
But my question for you, as we're talking about it
offline is what do these team owners need to do
to justify those valuations? I mean, as at IP is
it a technology, I mean, what can they do to
realize anywhere near what the market values are going for now?
Speaker 5 (23:30):
I think one of the big things for us, certainly,
and it's certainly the theme of everything that we do
at seventy six Capital is the idea you look at
every other industry and every other company that has gone
from where they are today or where they were in
the past, and how they've continued to grow, that's what
needs to happen here in sports and what and what
they use and what they do is many cases is
(23:51):
that's where they use the tech side of things. And
so for us to be able to bring in ways
for you to now monetize your fan base even more,
you know, through the use of technology, so that could
even be you know, one of our companies. An example
is Boomerang is actually and Boomerang is a lost technology
company that enables lost and found, you know, easily to
(24:11):
find something. So if you lose something at Madison Square
Garden at a Knicks game this year, you can easily
get it back through using Boomerang. Same thing Fenway Park,
same thing at many NFL stadiums, many other NFL arenas
around around the country. But those are the types of
things too. If you use technology to enable your team
(24:31):
to get better on the field, for you to be
able to monetize your fans. And that's where we believe
the values of these enterprises, which today are some people
say are high, but we believe they can go even
higher because we're just getting going with that. Because but
also the thing is that if you start to think
(24:52):
about the types of people also that are now owning
these teams, they have done this in other industries. This
isn't the first go around for some of these masters
of the universe we'll call them right, who are now
owning a lot of these teams, They've done this before.
They've actually gone in and bought companies and then taken
those companies to the next level and then sold them
(25:13):
and that's what's gonna happen. And we really believe that
the reason for these valuations that continue to rise is
because of the tech our.
Speaker 6 (25:20):
Thanks to Wayne Kimmel for joining us. He's managing partner
at seventy six Capital, a firm that invests in the
sports tech space. Up next, we look ahead to the
new NHL season with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Monumental
Sports and Entertainment founder Ted Leonsis bor Vanessa Vernomo, and
Amian Sasseller. I'm Michael Barr. Stick around. There's more straight
(25:44):
ahead on the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberger Radio
around the world.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 6 (26:00):
Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports,
where we explore the big money issues in the world
of sports, Michael Barr. The NHL kicks off its regular
season this week. Recently, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was at
Bloomberg World headquarters in New York for our annual Power
Players event. He spoke on stage alongside Monumental Sports founder, chairman,
(26:22):
managing partner and CEO Ted Leones in a panel moderated
by our own Scarlett Foo. Let's take a listen to
a portion of their conversation.
Speaker 7 (26:32):
Ted, You've built monumental sports, which includes the Caps NHL team,
the Washington Wizards NBA team, the Mystics WNBA team around
this idea of increasing fandom. So I'm curious, what does
that look like from the C suite where you sit,
and what does that look like to the average fan?
How does it end up looking like for them?
Speaker 2 (26:50):
We're spending most of our time now trying to capitalize
on we captured a new generation of fan betch can
affect if you will years all these young kids. We
have the most active, one of the most active in
North America youth hockey. And you have to follow where
the young people are because that's who your fan base
(27:13):
is going to be. And we have to fully make
the pivot from linear analog to digital. We've been global
from day one, and you know we're in Washington, d C.
And the most popular athlete in the history of the
community is alex Obechkina, Russian. And so we spend all
of our time trying to figure out how can we
(27:36):
build a platform be a really really important business in
this ten million household community. Obviously the linear part of
that cable plant has shrunk. We bought our cable company,
our RSN, from Comcast in NBC, and now we're able
(27:57):
to make it a IP districtribution network for US and
across promotion arm and we put all of our games there.
We've gotten renewals, but not only from the cable side,
but now we can work with the youtubes and the Amazons,
and we think we have to become a just embedded
(28:20):
in the lives of ten million people from Richmond, Virginia,
all the way to Delaware.
Speaker 7 (28:27):
So it looks very seamless from the fans perspective, because
it's where it should be, wherever they turn.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
There.
Speaker 7 (28:32):
You are Gary in keeping with this idea of Alexovechkin
his quest to surpass Wayn Gretzky as the all time score.
Obviously that was a big thing, but it's not a
regular thing. You can't count on something like that happening
every season. So how do you build on the momentum
that was generated and continue to activate fans.
Speaker 8 (28:52):
That's a great question. But I want to add one thing,
which is the best indication of what a visionary Ted is.
He has created his own ecosystem and they have content
twenty four to seven, three hundred and sixty five days
a year that they create because he's aggregated all of
(29:13):
the assets, whether it's teams in a variety of sports,
the arena, or his own streaming platform. That's what makes
it all work. And he has always been fan facing,
consumer facing, from the day you fought first bought the franchise,
which was what twenty six twenty.
Speaker 7 (29:33):
Seven, I bought the team, and he's a fan first.
Speaker 8 (29:36):
So what what Ovenchkin did is really what is what
sports is about. It captures the imagination. It gives people
a chance to focus on things that are super human.
You know, Alex broke a record that nobody thought was
(29:56):
possible to break, and it's a testament to him his
physical prowess, his skill, his endurance, his ability to not
get injured, and the support that he got from his
organization in terms of the players they surrounded him with
and everything they've done off the ice. So what do
(30:17):
you do is you look for big events for big stories,
and you use every platform imaginable, whether it's linear streaming platform,
social media, and no different than what we did in
February with the Four Nations Tournament.
Speaker 6 (30:33):
I mean we.
Speaker 8 (30:34):
Created something that even if you weren't a hockey fan,
even if you weren't a sports fan, you felt compelled
to tune in because it was so topical and so intriguing.
People wanted to know more.
Speaker 7 (30:48):
Your partnerships matter, as the Sea of a three hundred
billion dollar company has had put it partnerships like TikTok
on the capitalis Away Jerseys roadblocks to create a metaverse experience,
and so that idea of teaming up with brands that
matter to a younger audience that perhaps isn't trained to
watch TV the same way we are.
Speaker 8 (31:06):
There are two parts to answering that question. One is
the authenticity and the game itself and the good news
for us and I never like to talk about other sports,
but when it comes to Pace to Play, there's more action.
You can't be on your phone if.
Speaker 7 (31:24):
You're watching, you'll miss something.
Speaker 8 (31:26):
You'll miss something because it happens fast and furious. So
the amount of action to the amount of length of
the game works very well for us, and it's compelling
for younger people. The second thing is you've got to
reach your fans, and you would be fans on their terms. Now,
particularly now, you got to give them, as everybody says,
(31:47):
is what they want, when they wanted how they want it.
It didn't get a lot of attention. But when the
old deal in Canada with Rogers twelve years ago included
a streaming come opponent, it was really the first national
sports league deal to do that. And our deal most
recent deal withes with ESPN and we have Amazon in Canada.
(32:12):
We've always looked to see how can we use technology
not to change the game, but to take essential elements
of the game and make them more fan or consumer
friendly so that we can bring people inside the game.
And that's where because the game is so fast, using
technology puck and player tracking does a couple of things
(32:34):
for us. One, we're creating millions of data points a
minute and that's enabled fans to get inside the game
and understand the better if they didn't grow up at
hockey fans. And using the metaverse, we actually use the
pucking player tracking to use animated versions of our game
so that young people can get attracted to watching it
(32:56):
using their favorite cartoon characters.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
And reimagine the game. Especially in a global basis, we're
the largest investor, chairman of Team Liquid. Team Liquid is
the number one esports in North America. We just came
in second place in Saudi Arabia's thirty million dollars in
(33:20):
prize money that was awarded there. And we play on
eleven different platforms. And you know, you'll read it's a winter,
nuclear winter for esports. That's like saying the web this
was bad the in the mid nineties, the web blew up.
(33:42):
Don't make any investments in web companies. I think twenty
five years ago the company I helped to create AOL,
we had a two hundred billion dollar market cap. Microsoft
had a four hundred billion dollar market cap. It's twenty
five years later, AOL doesn't exist. Microsoft has a four
(34:03):
trillion dollar market cap and they've had to reinvent themselves.
They're now an AI and cloud computing company. So Team
Liquid we play on eleven different platforms. And the people
in Saudi Arabia, which are building a whole city and
(34:23):
infrastructure for tourism for their young people around esports, they said,
what other sport can we reinvent and make competitive? And
we said chess. Chess Chess okay now as an esport.
So we launch and we sign Magnus Carlson, the world's
(34:49):
most famous number one chess player, and he won the
national he won the World championship a couple of weeks ago,
and it's boomed out with the young kids. Young kids
go Chess is cool, it's analytic, it's algorithmically oriented. You
can train online, you can do multi user games. So
(35:11):
it's a really interesting loop. If you will, you can
use technology to reinvigorate you know, what looked like an
older sport. That's what I think we've done in the NHL.
When I first came in twenty six years ago, I said,
this looks like a video game to me. I mean,
(35:31):
you've got the glass. The players are out there, they're
working as hard as they can, but for thirty second shifts.
Alex probably stays out a little longer than he should.
But the speed, the music, it was a video game
come to life. They said, we have to connect that,
(35:53):
that speed, the sounds, and you know, like I got
rid of the I can't tell you how many older
fans hated me, he said, but move with the times. Yeah,
we kids want to, don't. They want different music, they
don't want organ music. So just paying attention to the
(36:15):
younger audience, and it's amazing how fast time goes. Gary,
How long have you been commissioner?
Speaker 8 (36:21):
Thirty two years?
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Thirty two years. He's the most tenured commissioner, not ten years,
he's got thirty two years.
Speaker 7 (36:28):
You're the longest serving commissioner in North American sports.
Speaker 4 (36:32):
As we talked about thirty two years.
Speaker 7 (36:34):
What kind of succession planning is taking place once you
decide to.
Speaker 8 (36:38):
Move on the answer is, I have a very strong bench.
I have great executives who work with me, particularly at
the c suite level I've had. I have a deputy
commissioner who's been with me for twenty six years, Bill Daly,
who is terrific, and if I got hit by a
(36:58):
bus walking out of here today, he could step in.
But it was funny. I've said to my executive committee,
not that I'm getting ready to retire, but I said,
at some point we need to focus on this because
I'm all they've ever most of them have ever known.
I mean, there are three legacy families in Boston, Detroit
(37:23):
and Chicago original six clubs, and then there's Ted and
everybody new who's come in since I've been commissioner. And
when you get identified with something as much as I
have been, succession becomes an issue due because question of
style and presence and branding.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
But I'm also.
Speaker 8 (37:42):
Cognitant of the fact that at some point there needs
to be a more youthful person pitching the brand.
Speaker 6 (37:52):
That's a portion of a conversation with NHL Commissioner Gary
Bettman and Ted Leones's founder and CEO of Monumental Sports
and Entertainment, live from Bloomberg Power Players, New York. Recently,
our very own Scarlet Food moderated that panel. And that
does it for this edition of The Bloomberg Business of Sports.
For my colleagues Damian Sasauur and Vanessa Perdomo, I'm Michael Barr.
(38:16):
Thank you for joining us. Tune in again next week
for the latest on the stories moving big old money
in the world of sports. You're listening to The Bloomberg
Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
This is the Business of Sports. Sports are the greatest
unscripted show owner.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
The next generation of players who really grew up with
tech and believe in tech.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Your face is your ticket, your face is your wallet,
Your face is your access to a club.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
These are such iconic and important buildings for businesses. For fans, COVID.
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Was one of the best things that ever happened to go.
Speaker 5 (00:21):
The NFL is a bulletproof business.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Raising is unique because there is absolutely no reason why
we can't compete with the guys.
Speaker 6 (00:27):
Wall It's pro pickleball.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Real are people really going to tune into this?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
If you're playing moneyball with a huge bag of money,
you're going to be really, really good.
Speaker 7 (00:35):
Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 6 (00:39):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports. I'ndm
Michael Bahr along with my colleagues Damian Sasaer and Vanessa Perdomo.
Coming up on the show, we'll hear from NHL Commissioner
Gary Beckman as we get ready for another season of hockey.
Speaker 8 (00:57):
You look for big events, for big stories, and you
use every platform imaginable, whether it's linear streaming platform social
media and no different than what we did in February
with the Four Nations Tournament. I mean, we created something
that even if you weren't a hockey fan, even if
(01:18):
you weren't a sports fan, you felt compelled to tune
in because it was so topical and so intriguing. People
wanted to know more.
Speaker 6 (01:27):
Betman spoke on stage alongside Monumental Sports and Entertainment founder
Ted Leonsis in a panel moderated by our own Scarlet
Foo recently at Bloomberg Power Players, New York. All that
is on the way on the Bloomberg Business of Sports,
But first, the next Winter Olympics are right around the
corner and preparations are well underway for the next Summer
(01:50):
Olympics that hit Los Angeles in twenty twenty eight. To
give us an update on all things Olympics, we welcome
back Sarah Hirschlan. She's Chief executive officer of the US
Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Sarah, welcome back to the Bloomberg
Business of Sports. I am so glad that you have
joined us, and I want to talk about some of
(02:11):
the things that you're doing with the US Olympic and
Paralympic Committee. Where do you see it now for the
upcoming games? Where do you see the committee heading in
this in these race?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Well, as you know, in February, we will take a
delegation of Team USA to Italy anchored in Milan, but
with a strong presence up in Courtina Lavigno. So we'll
be spread up, spread across the Italian Alps with what
I will say is one of the strongest Winter Team
USA teams we've seen in quite some time. So we're
(02:49):
we're optimistic and excited.
Speaker 9 (02:51):
My goodness, spread across the Italian Alps. It doesn't sound
too bad, doesn't Michael.
Speaker 6 (02:54):
No, I think we can tag along. Yeah, you need
someone to carry the luggage.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Just called me center.
Speaker 9 (03:00):
Yeah. So in this time, in the next few months,
what are you know, what's your biggest you know, things
that you have to worry about and that you have
to strategize for for team you say, to be ready
for those games in February, Well, a.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Few pretty pretty important things. Number one, we've got to
make sure all the athletes qualify. So there is a
quite a series of you know, as we like to say,
making Team USA, you got to make the Olympic and
Paralympic team first, so a lot of qualification events those
will actually start here very soon across all of the
(03:34):
winter sports. And then there will be some team selections
as you can imagine something like our ice hockey teams,
those coaches and captains will go through a process of
selecting the individual athletes who will represent us on those teams.
So you got to qualify first. Our organization spending a
lot of time making sure we have all of the
logistics in place so that when we get on the ground,
(03:56):
these athletes have all of the support resources that they're
accustomed to in their training environments. And you know, that's
everything from nutrition to recovery equipment to sports medicine support,
making sure that they can be in an environment that's
going to allow them to reach their highest potential at
exactly the right moment. And you know the core the secret,
(04:20):
if you will, that's not such a secret, is we
always say if we get Team USA to the start
line healthy, we like our chances.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Yes, so, you know, Sarah, For me, it's the question
I have is what are you doing? Twenty twenty five
is an off year, you know, but there's so much
preparation that goes hand in hand with getting the venues ready,
getting actually the athletes ready.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
You know, where are you most focused right this minute?
Speaker 3 (04:42):
It's it's you know, the year after a Summer Games
and right before Winter Games is naturally a bit of
a transition.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Year for us. So you're right, it's a combination.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Of some long term planning obviously the short term planning
and work that goes into preparations for the Winter Games,
but it's also an opportunity for us to make sure
that focused on you know, what's on the long horizon
and are we set up properly to drive a good, strong,
healthy sport culture for many years to come. So we
(05:12):
do work on what we call quadrennial planning, a four
year long range plan looking out ahead. Obviously, for us,
we're in the unique situation of having the LA twenty
eight Games in our next four year cycle, so it
is getting the people, getting the resources in place, human
and financial to be ready.
Speaker 6 (05:33):
In late July, the Committee they updated its policies on
transgender athletes. Can you tell us more about what the
committee decided?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
You know, a real and this has been, as you
guys well know, a really robust discussion, I would say
across across global sport, across this country, but also with
our peers around the world, and I think there's a
very strong commitment in many places, many countries, many hallways
(06:05):
in the United States, a very strong commitment to protecting
women's sports in particular and a real focus on ensuring
that the gains we've made in the US in particular
continue to provide fair opportunities, safe opportunities for women to
compete in sport.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
And that's really exactly what this is.
Speaker 9 (06:27):
About, and that obviously comes off of the back of
President Trump's declaration right of keeping women's sports and protecting
women's sports.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Is that right?
Speaker 4 (06:38):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
The administration and the President in particular have been really
vocal on this topic, and it's an area where we
see tremendous support from the public at large. People understand
fairness in sport and safety in sport above all else.
Athletes will tell us it's the single most important two
issues to them, and so we feel a real obligation
(07:00):
to make sure we're listening and paying attention to what
is it going to take to provide both a safe
environment but also you know, fairness that everyone feels like
they arrive on the field of play with a level
playing field.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Sarah, talk to me about ski mountaineering. It's a new
sport in twenty twenty six. What other new sports are
coming to the Olympics in the not too distant future.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Well, that's the one in twenty twenty six on the
winter side, and it will be you know, we do
there are people in the United States who are ski
mountaineer athletes, and so we will hope to have a
team there competing, but not something that's been you know,
mainstream and really popular, so I think the US will.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Find it fun.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
It's quite an endurance sport, and we tend to like
the endurance sports. You know, you could almost liken it
to long distance running or cycling, but the combination of
some endurance and some speed. So it'll be fun to watch.
When we get to Los Angeles. On the summer side,
we know we'll see squash, we'll see flag foot, and
(08:00):
I'll call out in particular there that one will be
fun for both men and women. We'll see baseball, softball
come back, We'll see lacrosse come to the games for
the first time, and we'll see I think I mentioned squash,
and we'll see cricket for the first time, so some
very popular global sports back in the games in Los Angeles.
Speaker 9 (08:20):
Obviously we saw a huge resurgence, just felt like a
big resurgence in twenty twenty four the Paris Games just.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Being so so successful.
Speaker 9 (08:28):
And then now kind of not to take a step back,
but what's going on with college athletics and given the
NCAA House settlement that now was passed that looks to
potentially have some some adverse effects on Olympic style sports,
are you at all worried about that? Given that a
lot of teamsay is made up of college athletes or
(08:51):
athletes that train at colleges.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
We have been very vocal for some time years now
in the halls of Congress and among our peers in
the collegiate space advocating for the preservation of broad based
sport opportunities on our campuses. The US is the envy
of the world. We are the greatest sporting nation in
(09:17):
the world, and a huge component of that is the
education based sports system that we have always enjoyed. And
so to see that sports system threatened and changing in
you know, elementary, middle school, high schools, as it has
and to now see that broad based sport offering threatened
(09:38):
at the collegiate level is absolutely concerning to us, and
so yes, we are very focused on it.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
We are we're.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
We're advocating, we're lobbying, and we're sitting at every table
that we can to be part of the conversation around
creating solutions.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Further to that, how does name image likeness affect you?
How does it affect Olympic athletes? Do you see there
be incentives, you know, for them to move away from
amateur sports, from the Olympics or is I mean, what
do you what are you doing to compete with all that?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I think the important thing is we have to separate
true name image likeness from the pay to play environment,
and that unfortunately hasn't happened effectively in the collegiate environment.
We are and have been huge advocates for athletes to
(10:31):
capitalize on their name, image and likeness to generate income.
We've been supporters of that at the Olympic and Paralympic level.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
We're supporters of that at the collegiate level.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
And there are athletes who've been wildly successful in in
becoming you know, marketing, marketing, geniuses in their own right
and capitalizing on their on their name, image and likeness
to drive real income. And that's that's good and positive
and should be encouraged. But the distinction between that and
(11:03):
what has become recruiting endorsements is a very different thing.
And that's where the struggles and challenge in collegiate athletics
is navigating how you properly ensure athletes have the ability
to earn in an appropriate and fair way. We have
the same sort of you know, principles and premises. We
(11:25):
would love for Team USA athletes to have significantly greater
income than they do.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
We're working really.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Hard to improve upon that. In fact, this year was
a huge milestone for US. You guys know, a big
part of our revenue and our funding comes from the
American public through philanthropy. We had our first one hundred
million dollar donation by an incredibly generous gentleman and his
family named Ross Stevens, who created the Stevens Awards, and
(11:56):
that is income directly to athletes. It's one hundred thousand
dollars grant and a hundred one thousand dollars life insurance
for athletes who make Team USA and the Winter Games
in twenty six will be the first group of athletes
who receive that benefit. So a lot of us are
working on the right ways to ensure athletes have earning.
The key is to make sure that we do it
in ways it's going to incent the right behaviors.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
Sarah Hirschland, Chief Executive Officer of the US Olympic and
Paralympic Committee. We are so grateful that you came to
join us and talk with Bloomberg's Business of Sports. We
really do appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
It's always a pleasure to be with you guys.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (12:33):
Up next, we turn to sports tech and a firm
investing in the people and products that will power the
future of sports. From colleagues Vanessa Perdomo and Damian Sasauer.
I'm Michael Barr. You are listening to the Bloomberg Business
of Sports Bloomberger Radio around the world.
Speaker 9 (12:54):
This is Bloomberg Business at Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 6 (13:00):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports. We explore the
big money issues in the world of sports. I'm Michael
Barr along with my colleagues Damian Sasawer and Vanessa Perdomo.
Now for a look at the sports Tech World. Seventy
six Capital is a sports tech venture capital company that
focuses on the people and products that are building the data, analytics,
(13:23):
and technology that will power the future of sports. Joining
us now is Wayne Kimmel. He's managing partner at seventy
six Capital. Wayne, Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Thanks for having me. This is really exciting to be here.
Speaker 6 (13:38):
This is I'm excited because you know me, I hate Yes,
I bet, Yes, I do, and I'm not good at it,
but I bet. Have we hit a point now where
the market has saturated with online betting?
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Not yet? I mean I really don't think we've hit
a point yet. We certainly have where draft can and
FanDuel have taken the lead with betting today. But at
the same time you've got BETMGM fanatics nipping at their heels.
You've got also, at the same time, the prediction markets,
and that's a whole other can of worms, which really
(14:17):
now has betting legal in fifty different states now, not
just the thirty eight, thirty nine, forty whatever it is
the regulated states now, it's everywhere. So it's really really
interesting to see what's going to happen next but for us, look,
it's all about making sure that betting is safe and
fun and we're just making sure that there's true integrity,
(14:40):
there's real compliance with everything that's going on across that
and that's where you know, one of our companies, I
through sixty IC three sixty is right in the middle
of all that.
Speaker 9 (14:49):
Which is really important obviously, and when we're talking about
security and all that, and it's particularly struggling right now
in the prediction markets, I would say, right, it's it's
a little bit less regulated than where there's those things
there that aren't really regulated as much. So how do
you figure that when it comes to the entire betting process.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
Well, look, I think in general, what we really want
to make sure is that there's true integrity and there's
really no anomalies across the whole space. And that's what
our team at IC three sixty really works on to
make sure and just making sure that people are doing
the right thing right. I mean, I think that's the
key to everything. If everything's on the up and up.
We can't let professional sports turn into a scripted something
(15:33):
like wrestling like it can't be that. We need to
be able to be in a position where we know
that what's going on on the field is really what's happening,
and that's the most important thing for us.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Wayne. You know, you're the managing partner of seventy six Capital,
and the reason Michael Barr and we started asking about
sports betting is because that's really been your focus for
the better part of the last few years. And you know,
but you know, at seventy six, you invest in all
sorts of different companies of all different shapes and sizes,
and I just have to ask you, you know that
world of sports as an asset class, you know, talk
to us about exit strategies because it's really easy to
(16:06):
invest in a good idea and it's really really difficult
to crystallize that in terms of returns for you and
your partner. So talk to us a little bit about
your approach, how you work with these companies, how you
get them cash flow positive, and how you get them
and you know, into cruising altitude.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
Yeah, I think what's really important is to make sure
that these companies are truly ready to go and sort
of moving forward and working with our companies so that
they then can be one of those companies that we
can sell like we did with Vson selling them to DraftKings,
or you know, selling a company to Fubo TV or
(16:42):
the pylon cams you see on NFL fields that's was
sold to Cosm and then Cosm RaSE two hundred and
fifty million dollars open up more of their venues. So
for us, it's really all about getting behind amazing entrepreneurs
who are truly doing something innovative. And then and most times,
the stuff that we invest in our companies that are involved,
that have have hardcore technology, data and analytics, and we
(17:05):
really help those companies and help build those companies and
make sure that they have relationships with the teams, the leagues,
those sports betting regulators, of sports books themselves, and also
you know, just think about you know, it could be
at any as any part of the overall landscape from
professional sports where they work in, or college sports, or
it could be even on the youth side of things.
There's so much to do out there right now. But
(17:27):
for us, it's really all about making sure that we
get behind amazing companies, we get them moving, and then
that they start to really execute and do what they
need to do well.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
When you made an interesting point there, I mean all
of those exits were selling to a private right or
you know, to a larger company. You know, it wasn't
a public listing so to speak, was in an IPO,
you know, the traditional way that a lot of you know,
private equity investors try to you know, to cash in.
But you know, talk to me about you know, the
depth of that market, you know, and an operating link.
You who's been in the business since you know, I
(17:57):
mean the late nineties. You know those relationships and how
important they are. I mean, you have your athlete in
Residence program at seventy six. Talk to us a little
bit about how you work with your investors, your constituents,
and you kind of get to that point where you
have those relationships that you can even take a good
idea or a well functioning opportunity and bring it to
somebody's attention.
Speaker 5 (18:16):
I think one of the big things that we do
at seventy six Capital is really work closely with our
companies and help them with their with their marketing, with
their branding so they actually get out there into the
market so that they are a brand name when it
comes to the NFL or the NBA or any of
those leagues. At the same time, we sometimes will use
(18:37):
the help of an athlete who can help us maybe
you know, market the company a little bit to get
them get them out there a little bit. So that's
something that we'll certainly do. But I think the key
for everything is really that these companies have the best technology.
That's that they that they have to be able to
work really closely with incredible media companies like esp I mean,
(19:00):
as an example, you know one of our companies is
literally powering the personalization and customization of the ESPN app
that's out there today. We're super excited about that, and
that's something that you know, you won't know the name
of the business is not really that important, but it's
when you see your fantasy and you see your bets,
and you see everything that's personalized to you that's coming
through the tech side of things.
Speaker 6 (19:21):
I want to talk about. You were an investor in
Vson when the whole thing started, and I don't think
people understand how much of an impact Vson made on
the market because you used to have to go to
the racetrack some guy is selling a tip on a
piece of eight and a half by eleven paper that's
all typed in. Now you can listen to Vson and
(19:44):
if you want to do your homework on a bet,
you can talk to us about that about the impact
of Vison Well.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
Vson was an unbelievable investment for us. I mean getting
the opportunity to work with the legendary Brent Musburger, his nephew.
Speaker 6 (20:00):
Brian bill Ady.
Speaker 5 (20:02):
These guys were just incredible and they were always thinking
about everything, you know, ten steps forward. So it was
the idea of why shouldn't there be a network that
lets you hear everything that's happening across the bet sports
betting markets, just like here at Bloomberg, where you get
to learn everything that's happening on the financial markets, and
(20:23):
then not only have it be able to listen to it,
but also broadcast it like you guys do right from
the floor of the Exchange, which at the time our
first studio was in the South Point in Las Vegas,
the only twenty four hour sports betting book that was
open at the time. It was amazing to be there
and be in the middle of all that and had
the glass studio in there and really built that out.
(20:46):
But now they're at Circa and Just and in many
other places. I mean, they're continuing to really build that.
We sold that company to DraftKings. Now it's private again,
they have it back, but it's it's one of those
things where you know, it was all about those entrepreneurs,
their ideas, going out and getting really great hosts. The
to really make sure you have you know, authentic voices.
(21:09):
That was one of the most important things, right. You
had to really know what minus one ten means, not negative, that.
Speaker 9 (21:19):
Is, it's it's a it's a learning curve for sure.
And I just hit my first big bet actually this week.
Really pumped about it in a four hundred dollars Beth.
It was awesome. Yeah, I had a dollar bed this
week and my goal be jealous. It was amazing. So
my nails for my batchelor party gonna be fraid. So
one of the things you were talking about there, and
(21:39):
you're talking about Vson and you're talking about like the
pylon cam and things like that, those are more forward facing,
like for consumer businesses, right, and then you have other
things that you invested on the analytics side. The baseball
and basketball shot track are those things that really help
the sport in itself When you're looking at what to
invest in in the space, which are you really looking
at more what is well, what would you say is
(22:01):
more for your interest or has a bigger impact on
the sport.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
Yeah, the big thing for us is really you know,
whether it's on the field, off the field, for the consumer,
you know, for the business, it's really just making sure
that that there's the core of everything is all around tech,
data and analytics. So you know, you mentioned shot Tracker
and diamond Kinetics on the baseball side. I mean, like
shot Tracker on the basketball side of things, really being
(22:27):
able to use that information, use that data to enable
you to be a better player, and that could be
at the youth level, that could be at the college level,
all the way up to the pro side of things.
So I think like the whole thing for us is
just making sure that you have really the best of
the best tech and that's and that's what that's that's
(22:48):
a big part of what we look for.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Wayne.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
We were kidding offline here about the phenomenal valuations that
specifically in the NFL, but all professional sports teams are
now fetching in the open market. You know, some of
these transactions, I mean, I'll just give our audience, you know,
so I think the Dallas Cowboys, which were the most
valuable franchise heading into this year per Sportico at ten
point three billion, it's now estimated to be fourteen point
five billion, right, seem one point two you know billion
(23:11):
in revenue per year.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
You know.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
But my question for you, as we're talking about it
offline is what do these team owners need to do
to justify those valuations? I mean, as at IP is
it a technology, I mean, what can they do to
realize anywhere near what the market values are going for now?
Speaker 5 (23:30):
I think one of the big things for us, certainly,
and it's certainly the theme of everything that we do
at seventy six Capital is the idea you look at
every other industry and every other company that has gone
from where they are today or where they were in
the past, and how they've continued to grow, that's what
needs to happen here in sports and what and what
they use and what they do is many cases is
(23:51):
that's where they use the tech side of things. And
so for us to be able to bring in ways
for you to now monetize your fan base even more,
you know, through the use of technology, so that could
even be you know, one of our companies. An example
is Boomerang is actually and Boomerang is a lost technology
company that enables lost and found, you know, easily to
(24:11):
find something. So if you lose something at Madison Square
Garden at a Knicks game this year, you can easily
get it back through using Boomerang. Same thing Fenway Park,
same thing at many NFL stadiums, many other NFL arenas
around around the country. But those are the types of
things too. If you use technology to enable your team
(24:31):
to get better on the field, for you to be
able to monetize your fans. And that's where we believe
the values of these enterprises, which today are some people
say are high, but we believe they can go even
higher because we're just getting going with that. Because but
also the thing is that if you start to think
(24:52):
about the types of people also that are now owning
these teams, they have done this in other industries. This
isn't the first go around for some of these masters
of the universe we'll call them right, who are now
owning a lot of these teams, They've done this before.
They've actually gone in and bought companies and then taken
those companies to the next level and then sold them
(25:13):
and that's what's gonna happen. And we really believe that
the reason for these valuations that continue to rise is
because of the tech our.
Speaker 6 (25:20):
Thanks to Wayne Kimmel for joining us. He's managing partner
at seventy six Capital, a firm that invests in the
sports tech space. Up next, we look ahead to the
new NHL season with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Monumental
Sports and Entertainment founder Ted Leonsis bor Vanessa Vernomo, and
Amian Sasseller. I'm Michael Barr. Stick around. There's more straight
(25:44):
ahead on the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberger Radio
around the world.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 6 (26:00):
Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports,
where we explore the big money issues in the world
of sports, Michael Barr. The NHL kicks off its regular
season this week. Recently, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was at
Bloomberg World headquarters in New York for our annual Power
Players event. He spoke on stage alongside Monumental Sports founder, chairman,
(26:22):
managing partner and CEO Ted Leones in a panel moderated
by our own Scarlett Foo. Let's take a listen to
a portion of their conversation.
Speaker 7 (26:32):
Ted, You've built monumental sports, which includes the Caps NHL team,
the Washington Wizards NBA team, the Mystics WNBA team around
this idea of increasing fandom. So I'm curious, what does
that look like from the C suite where you sit,
and what does that look like to the average fan?
How does it end up looking like for them?
Speaker 2 (26:50):
We're spending most of our time now trying to capitalize
on we captured a new generation of fan betch can
affect if you will years all these young kids. We
have the most active, one of the most active in
North America youth hockey. And you have to follow where
the young people are because that's who your fan base
(27:13):
is going to be. And we have to fully make
the pivot from linear analog to digital. We've been global
from day one, and you know we're in Washington, d C.
And the most popular athlete in the history of the
community is alex Obechkina, Russian. And so we spend all
of our time trying to figure out how can we
(27:36):
build a platform be a really really important business in
this ten million household community. Obviously the linear part of
that cable plant has shrunk. We bought our cable company,
our RSN, from Comcast in NBC, and now we're able
(27:57):
to make it a IP districtribution network for US and
across promotion arm and we put all of our games there.
We've gotten renewals, but not only from the cable side,
but now we can work with the youtubes and the Amazons,
and we think we have to become a just embedded
(28:20):
in the lives of ten million people from Richmond, Virginia,
all the way to Delaware.
Speaker 7 (28:27):
So it looks very seamless from the fans perspective, because
it's where it should be, wherever they turn.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
There.
Speaker 7 (28:32):
You are Gary in keeping with this idea of Alexovechkin
his quest to surpass Wayn Gretzky as the all time score.
Obviously that was a big thing, but it's not a
regular thing. You can't count on something like that happening
every season. So how do you build on the momentum
that was generated and continue to activate fans.
Speaker 8 (28:52):
That's a great question. But I want to add one thing,
which is the best indication of what a visionary Ted is.
He has created his own ecosystem and they have content
twenty four to seven, three hundred and sixty five days
a year that they create because he's aggregated all of
(29:13):
the assets, whether it's teams in a variety of sports,
the arena, or his own streaming platform. That's what makes
it all work. And he has always been fan facing,
consumer facing, from the day you fought first bought the franchise,
which was what twenty six twenty.
Speaker 7 (29:33):
Seven, I bought the team, and he's a fan first.
Speaker 8 (29:36):
So what what Ovenchkin did is really what is what
sports is about. It captures the imagination. It gives people
a chance to focus on things that are super human.
You know, Alex broke a record that nobody thought was
(29:56):
possible to break, and it's a testament to him his
physical prowess, his skill, his endurance, his ability to not
get injured, and the support that he got from his
organization in terms of the players they surrounded him with
and everything they've done off the ice. So what do
(30:17):
you do is you look for big events for big stories,
and you use every platform imaginable, whether it's linear streaming platform,
social media, and no different than what we did in
February with the Four Nations Tournament.
Speaker 6 (30:33):
I mean we.
Speaker 8 (30:34):
Created something that even if you weren't a hockey fan,
even if you weren't a sports fan, you felt compelled
to tune in because it was so topical and so intriguing.
People wanted to know more.
Speaker 7 (30:48):
Your partnerships matter, as the Sea of a three hundred
billion dollar company has had put it partnerships like TikTok
on the capitalis Away Jerseys roadblocks to create a metaverse experience,
and so that idea of teaming up with brands that
matter to a younger audience that perhaps isn't trained to
watch TV the same way we are.
Speaker 8 (31:06):
There are two parts to answering that question. One is
the authenticity and the game itself and the good news
for us and I never like to talk about other sports,
but when it comes to Pace to Play, there's more action.
You can't be on your phone if.
Speaker 7 (31:24):
You're watching, you'll miss something.
Speaker 8 (31:26):
You'll miss something because it happens fast and furious. So
the amount of action to the amount of length of
the game works very well for us, and it's compelling
for younger people. The second thing is you've got to
reach your fans, and you would be fans on their terms. Now,
particularly now, you got to give them, as everybody says,
(31:47):
is what they want, when they wanted how they want it.
It didn't get a lot of attention. But when the
old deal in Canada with Rogers twelve years ago included
a streaming come opponent, it was really the first national
sports league deal to do that. And our deal most
recent deal withes with ESPN and we have Amazon in Canada.
(32:12):
We've always looked to see how can we use technology
not to change the game, but to take essential elements
of the game and make them more fan or consumer
friendly so that we can bring people inside the game.
And that's where because the game is so fast, using
technology puck and player tracking does a couple of things
(32:34):
for us. One, we're creating millions of data points a
minute and that's enabled fans to get inside the game
and understand the better if they didn't grow up at
hockey fans. And using the metaverse, we actually use the
pucking player tracking to use animated versions of our game
so that young people can get attracted to watching it
(32:56):
using their favorite cartoon characters.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
And reimagine the game. Especially in a global basis, we're
the largest investor, chairman of Team Liquid. Team Liquid is
the number one esports in North America. We just came
in second place in Saudi Arabia's thirty million dollars in
(33:20):
prize money that was awarded there. And we play on
eleven different platforms. And you know, you'll read it's a winter,
nuclear winter for esports. That's like saying the web this
was bad the in the mid nineties, the web blew up.
(33:42):
Don't make any investments in web companies. I think twenty
five years ago the company I helped to create AOL,
we had a two hundred billion dollar market cap. Microsoft
had a four hundred billion dollar market cap. It's twenty
five years later, AOL doesn't exist. Microsoft has a four
(34:03):
trillion dollar market cap and they've had to reinvent themselves.
They're now an AI and cloud computing company. So Team
Liquid we play on eleven different platforms. And the people
in Saudi Arabia, which are building a whole city and
(34:23):
infrastructure for tourism for their young people around esports, they said,
what other sport can we reinvent and make competitive? And
we said chess. Chess Chess okay now as an esport.
So we launch and we sign Magnus Carlson, the world's
(34:49):
most famous number one chess player, and he won the
national he won the World championship a couple of weeks ago,
and it's boomed out with the young kids. Young kids
go Chess is cool, it's analytic, it's algorithmically oriented. You
can train online, you can do multi user games. So
(35:11):
it's a really interesting loop. If you will, you can
use technology to reinvigorate you know, what looked like an
older sport. That's what I think we've done in the NHL.
When I first came in twenty six years ago, I said,
this looks like a video game to me. I mean,
(35:31):
you've got the glass. The players are out there, they're
working as hard as they can, but for thirty second shifts.
Alex probably stays out a little longer than he should.
But the speed, the music, it was a video game
come to life. They said, we have to connect that,
(35:53):
that speed, the sounds, and you know, like I got
rid of the I can't tell you how many older
fans hated me, he said, but move with the times. Yeah,
we kids want to, don't. They want different music, they
don't want organ music. So just paying attention to the
(36:15):
younger audience, and it's amazing how fast time goes. Gary,
How long have you been commissioner?
Speaker 8 (36:21):
Thirty two years?
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Thirty two years. He's the most tenured commissioner, not ten years,
he's got thirty two years.
Speaker 7 (36:28):
You're the longest serving commissioner in North American sports.
Speaker 4 (36:32):
As we talked about thirty two years.
Speaker 7 (36:34):
What kind of succession planning is taking place once you
decide to.
Speaker 8 (36:38):
Move on the answer is, I have a very strong bench.
I have great executives who work with me, particularly at
the c suite level I've had. I have a deputy
commissioner who's been with me for twenty six years, Bill Daly,
who is terrific, and if I got hit by a
(36:58):
bus walking out of here today, he could step in.
But it was funny. I've said to my executive committee,
not that I'm getting ready to retire, but I said,
at some point we need to focus on this because
I'm all they've ever most of them have ever known.
I mean, there are three legacy families in Boston, Detroit
(37:23):
and Chicago original six clubs, and then there's Ted and
everybody new who's come in since I've been commissioner. And
when you get identified with something as much as I
have been, succession becomes an issue due because question of
style and presence and branding.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
But I'm also.
Speaker 8 (37:42):
Cognitant of the fact that at some point there needs
to be a more youthful person pitching the brand.
Speaker 6 (37:52):
That's a portion of a conversation with NHL Commissioner Gary
Bettman and Ted Leones's founder and CEO of Monumental Sports
and Entertainment, live from Bloomberg Power Players, New York. Recently,
our very own Scarlet Food moderated that panel. And that
does it for this edition of The Bloomberg Business of Sports.
For my colleagues Damian Sasauur and Vanessa Perdomo, I'm Michael Barr.
(38:16):
Thank you for joining us. Tune in again next week
for the latest on the stories moving big old money
in the world of sports. You're listening to The Bloomberg
Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
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