September 19, 2025 • 39 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:
- Ryan McCormack, Senior Director, Factor & QQQ Equity Product Strategy, Invesco speak with Bloomberg's Christine Cook during Power Players New York about the new opportunities in college athletics
- Bloomberg US sports business reporter Randall Williams on some of the latest headlines in sports including a major sports convention that didn't happen in Saudi Arabia
- Derek Sprague, CEO, PGA of America speaks with Bloomberg Dallas bureau chief Julie Fine during Power Players New York to preview the Ryder Cup and to talk about golf's growth
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. This is the Business
of Sports.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
The business of sports can be intimidating or hard for
a starting to break into.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
We really appreciate what our owners are actually there, you
know with us through the journey.
Speaker 4 (00:18):
Teams ours especially have been very intentional to diversify at
all levels of the company.
Speaker 5 (00:22):
I think we're in bolden years for the NFL and
college football.
Speaker 6 (00:26):
Our demographic reach has continued to explode.
Speaker 7 (00:29):
This is going to be really unlocking the streaming platform
for sports fans, sports evaluations arising. We'll see when they peak.
Speaker 6 (00:36):
You don't have to be the best in your sports
to make a whole ton of money.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports. Michael
Barr my colleagues Damien Sasauer and Vanessa Perdomo will join
later on in the show. Coming up today, we hear
from PGA of America CEO Derek Sprague on golf's growing
popularity and to unpack the Ryder Cup's intensity, global reach
(01:08):
and behind the scenes strategy in one of golf's most
iconic competitions.
Speaker 6 (01:13):
Well, I think with all the programs that the PGA
of America does, helps with the retention in the game,
helps with the growth of the game since the pandemic
when you know, we haven't used the word social distancing
in a long time, but where you could get families
together playing the game together. And we've seen this multi
generational growth, getting the you know, the parents and grandparents,
getting the younger generation into the game. So we've seen
(01:35):
that explosion. We have more golfers today than we've ever
had in the game. Close to twenty eight million people
in this country are playing the game. Five hundred and
fifty million rounds of golf we played last year.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Derek Sprague recently joined us here at world Headquarters from
Bloomberg Power Players, New York. The annual event brings together
influential voices from the business of sports to identify the
next wave of disruption that could hit this molti trillion
dollar global industry. Well, here the PGA of America CEOs
(02:05):
conversation with Bloomberg Texas Bureau Chief Julie Fine. That and
more is on the way on the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
But first, football football, the college football season is just
getting underway, and live on stage at Power Players, Bloomberg's
Christine Cook spoke with Ryan McCormick, the senior director of
(02:26):
Factor and QQQ Equity Product Strategy at Invesco, for conversation
on the new possibilities for college athletics. Let's take a
listen to a portion of that conversation, just to kind.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Of set the stage. Can you, as a quick reminder,
tell everybody what the QQQ is.
Speaker 8 (02:44):
Yeah, no, I'm happy to so. Invesco QQQ is an ETF.
It's an exchange traded fund. It happens to be the
fifth largest ETF in the world, and it tracks the
NASDAQ one hundred index, which is made up of the
one hundred largest company is listed on the NASAQ Exchange
x Financials, So pretty much a number of different companies
(03:05):
that you probably use every day, multiple times a day,
very well known companies. But it was launched twenty six
years ago, back in March of nineteen ninety nine, sort
of like in the early stages of ETFs in the US,
and so in that twenty six years, I mean at
the time it was a pretty novel technology, a pretty
(03:27):
novel advancement in the world of asset management, and you know,
to see staying power of twenty six years, like it
really has blossomed into this very widely known, very widely
utilized ETF and you know, a strategy that has brought,
you know, the ability for investors to add growth into
their portfolio in a very easy and efficient manner.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
You say ninety nine, I immediately think about Y two
K and so good that you made it past. All
of that is all this longevity. Well, part of the
growth is an investment in collegiate sports. Can you talk
a little bit about your partnership with the NC double
A and why that's important in your partnership portfolio?
Speaker 8 (04:08):
Yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, I think in
general the question would probably be like, well, what is
this guy doing at a sports conference? Right?
Speaker 5 (04:15):
And I think you.
Speaker 8 (04:17):
Know, we're the official ETF of the NC DOUBLEA. We've
had that partnership now for a couple of years. Alongside
that where kind of the official financial literacy partner of
the NC DOUBLEA. We developed a program how not to
suck at money. Originally it was geared towards like the
college athlete, but I mean it's for anybody, right, It's
(04:38):
for a college age students, for a high school age student,
it's for a thirty a forty year old. Like it
really just emphasizes the basics of where do I start
with investing right or how do I tackle credit card debt.
It's like very approachable questions to try to develop some
level of education. And you know with that came in
(05:00):
conjunction with our sponsorship of the NCAA. So I joked
before in our lunch. You know, if you watch the
NCAA basketball tournament, if you're watching March Madness, I mean
I challenge you to go ninety seconds without seeing an
Investo QQQ commercial. But it's a great opportunity for us
to elevate our brand with you know, a whole new
set of potential investors, a whole new set of eyeballs,
(05:22):
and you know, just a very high profile sponsorship that
they we're quite proud.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Of when you think about financial literacy in that way
and the commitment that you all have had, and like
you said, it is all it's a variety of age groups.
Are there any trends that you see on programs that
you all have invested more in there or need states
that have shown up that maybe you've had to pivot
to address Yeah, you.
Speaker 8 (05:43):
Know, so we partner with a number of different schools,
and I've been on the road and I've presented with
you know, alumni networks at you know, pretty major universities.
Right they'll tap a former athlete to come and talk
about the importance of financial literacy, or you may maybe
a specific on a financial question that they've been asked.
I would say it's the most encouraging thing is like
(06:07):
the appetite for education. Like these are packed rooms with
college athletes with stuff a lot better to do than
listen to me, but like they are all there showing
up and asking very real questions about you know, where
do I start, what do I do in this scenario?
Speaker 5 (06:24):
And I think.
Speaker 8 (06:25):
Alongside like some of those alumns, right, like they're drawn
to those alumnis. They've been in their shoes, they've been
in that room, they've seen most of them a fair
amount of success, and just the engagement is pretty spectacular.
But I would say the one thing that I would
really highlight is just like it's the appetite. These are
(06:46):
this generation of kids, they want to learn, they want
to capitalize on nil and I think the fact that
there's so much education that is out there, not only
through our financial literacy program, but I mean a number
of them. It's affording these kids, these athletes, these students
access to this information and they're really taking to it.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Let's shift a little bit and talk about innovation. So
earlier this afternoon you sponsored a breakout session innovation investing
in College Sports. Talk about what role innovation plays in
powering a fund like investco QQQ and shaping kind of
the future for college athletics.
Speaker 5 (07:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (07:26):
I think for investco QQQ, like we say that if
you invest in QQQ, you're investing in innovation. And I
think there's a few different layers to peel back on
that onion. Like number one, the fact that this strategy
was launched way back in ninety nine. Like as I
said earlier that the in and of itself, that was
a pretty innovative product. The ETF ecosystem was pretty innovative
(07:51):
at that time. But we kind of look a little
bit further because the companies that are in invesco QQQ
like generally they seem to be able to stay ahead
of the curve when it comes to changing consumer preferences,
changing consumer trends. I mean in this case like Wholesaley
looking different, or the ability to stay nimble, where these
(08:13):
companies look way different today than they did three years ago,
five years ago, ten years ago, and throughout that they've
been able to generate very real fundamental growth. Right, They've
been able to grow sales, they've been able to grow earnings,
and that has fueled a halfway decent amount of performance.
So that in and of itself is pretty innovative. And
then you look at sort of the crossover between sports
(08:35):
and some of these names, these technologically oriented names. There's
no secret I mean any of the programming. I mean
everybody was talking about how technology somehow shapes sports. That
could be the way that we consume as fans, the
way we watch the game, that what we have at
our fingertips when we're watching the game. The options that
(08:55):
we have certainly big data analytics. Right, if you look
at prepareness, right, film study recovery, I mean, they lean
they need data in an effort to get any sort
of edge on a competitor. And then you kind of
take it a step further and you look at some
of the companies, Well, a lot of these companies that
(09:18):
are in this fund or these social media companies, and
if you look at NIL and where you can monetize
your name, your image and likeness, I think immediately you
get the gravitation over to kind of the world of
social media an easy way kind of get your foot
in the door when it comes to NIL and promoting
your own brand. So I think the intersection has only
(09:39):
gotten kind of more entwined when you look at some
of the names within the fund or technology in general
and sports right it's revolutionizing the way that we consume,
the way that athletes play, and the way that the
game has evolved and grown over the past twenty years.
And I feel like we're advancing at a pace that's
much faster than at any point now and twenty years ago.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
Well the other you know, back to school for all
of us with kids in New York today and the
beginning of fall, which I refuse to say it's fall
yet because I think we have at least twenty days
more or maybe eighteen. But college football is officially full swing, right,
So let's do some lightning round on college football questions.
(10:24):
We're ready, all right, everybody favorite college football rivalry.
Speaker 8 (10:32):
I mean, I love notre Dame sc but I will
never say anything other than Army Navy.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Oh, very nice tickets to the game or home fan cave.
Speaker 8 (10:46):
I don't know if I'm in the minority on this,
but tickets of the game.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
I feel like I can get to.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
Show a hands who's fan cave at home end Live?
Speaker 8 (10:55):
No? Yes, woh, okay live see my friends are all
I No, I'm just gonna sit in the basement and
kind of relax and I got my big screen or whatever,
but no.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
I got to be there. I love the idea of live.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
I think especially you talk about innovation, you talk about technology,
You're hearing more and more people want the kind of
experience of the game, which is very exciting. Okay, early
season favorite to win the CFP.
Speaker 8 (11:17):
My heart always says, Notre Dame.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
But we get.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
A we're sensing a trend.
Speaker 8 (11:22):
We get a yeah, I got. I gotta stick with
my heart. I mean, you get we got a free
look last week. I mean tough Miami team on the road,
but I mean Ohio State also probably.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
I think I probably know what the answer to this
one Buckets stadium and or game day atmosphere.
Speaker 8 (11:38):
Well, I know where I'm going. I mean and LSU
Tiger right here. I know, I've some people were trying
to sway me.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
We have any other Tiger fans? I went to LSU. Anybody,
I'm alone here, Okay, I'm alone.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
I was that stadium.
Speaker 8 (11:52):
They were trying to sway me before Penn State wide out.
I had a couple of folks trying to lob in, Hey,
you know, throw this on. But again, I gotta just
stay with what I really want, and that would be
LSU Death Valley Night game.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Yes, Mount Rushmore of college football players, the four best
players ever.
Speaker 8 (12:13):
And I'm gonna do best players, not Heisman's not, Okay, Yeah,
Cam Newton, Herschel Walker, Bo Jackson, Vince Young.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Yes, I like that.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
That's Ryan McCormick, singor director a Factor and QQQ Equity
product Strategy at Investco, speaking with Bloomberg's Christine Cook from
Bloomberg Power Players, New York on investing in college athletics.
Up next, we go through some of the latest headlines
in sports, including a big SALI sports conference that didn't happen.
(12:47):
I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of
Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm
Michael Barr. We haven't even gotten to the FIFA World
Cup hitting the US in twenty twenty six, and plans
are already getting started for the World Cup in twenty
thirty four. A part of that planning was supposed to
be the World Stadium's and Arena's development summit in downtown Riad.
(13:24):
It was scheduled for earlier this month, but it was postponed.
Damian Sassauer and Vanessa Perdomo caught up with Bloomberg US
Sports business reporter Randa Williams to talk about the big
Saudi sports convention that did not happen and some of
the other headlines in the world of sports. Let's take
a listen to their conversation.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Well, it sounds like this conference they were having is
for an anticipation right of the World Cup, right this
post of the World Cup. I think I forget which
year it's conning twenty thirty four, Thank you, vanessn They
have to build a lot of infrastructure to handle what
is going to be a huge, huge audience, and am
I to believe that they're falling a bit behind the
eight ball here? I learn?
Speaker 7 (14:00):
I think World Cup preparations are hard anywhere outside of
the US. The US is naturally built for it because
there's a lot of stadiums and things like that. But
when you take this to other countries, I don't think
it means that they can't do it. It just means that
it requires a lot more money, a lot more commitment,
a lot more labor. And there are some countries that
are better fit for it and there are others who aren't.
I think the Saudis can do it, just needs a
(14:22):
lot of work.
Speaker 9 (14:22):
Yeah, I mean, like, let's be real, the Saudi World
Cup is going to be similar to what we saw
in Qatar in twenty twenty two. Agreed, It's gonna be
absolutely outstanding, and they're probably gonna want to break that record,
don't you think For the most expensive World Cup ever?
Speaker 7 (14:34):
This one is probably the most sustainable the one that
we'll see next year. But I mean you talk about
brand new stadiums, brand new training facilities, probably hotel accommodations,
it's a lot of money that's going to be spent
there No one's talking about it right now because everyone's
so excited for next year, and then we have the
twenty thirty World Cup after that, but yeah, twenty thirty four,
(14:54):
which I'm glad that that is a long time from now,
because I mean, you start talking about things and we're
talking about the World Cup years ago and now it's
basically tomorrow. So good ways away, but a lot of
money to be spent between now and then. I think
one of the I wouldn't say issues, but one of
the difficulties with sporting events in Saudi is just getting
out there, and from the boxing, from the UFC perspective,
(15:16):
they have held events there, but a lot of times
like it's a hall to get out there, and if
you're only there for a couple of days, it better
be some damn good business that you're doing otherwise. I
meant a lot of these sports companies, investors, business people
are like, ah, I don't know if I want to
spend however, I'll just say sixteen hours on a flight.
So I think there's things like that going on. But
(15:38):
at the end of the day, money is money, and
if the Saudis are paying as they are in a
lot of sports named golf and tennis everything else. Then
you know, this world's couple come along just fine.
Speaker 9 (15:47):
All right, Randall, As we talk about things that are
going to be expensive and being built, you recently wrote
about the Chicago stadium for the Bears and Denver they're
now getting new stadiums. Tell us about that.
Speaker 7 (15:58):
Yeah, so the Bears may their move official. They're moving
from downtown Chicago to Arlington Heights. There's some things that
they have to work out there, but that is the
site of their stadium they purchased. I want to say
it's three hundred acres. I think it's three hundred twenty
six acres in Chicago. Some years ago that was potentially
for building down there. Now it's official, so they'll be
moving there. In Denver, they already have the land set up.
(16:21):
This is another Walmart family that's going to be building
I believe Walmart, right, Yes, a retractable roof, so that'll
be I think both of these stadiums will be super expensive,
super expensive.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
I see Vanessa's eyes watering because this is the end
of Soldier Field, right, I mean one hundred years and
like you know, Windy City and all that stuff goes
away overnight. Because, as you rightly point out, they're gonna
have a roof on that puppy one way or the other.
Speaker 7 (16:45):
Yeah, all, I think a good portion of NFL teams
are looking at stadiums and looking at them as multipurpose facilities.
Now they're every Both the Bears and the Broncos mentioned
Super Bowls, and one of the jokes that I have
in this newsletter is that it would be cool old
as Hellheim in both of those cities in February. But
the reality is that in the NFL, if they go,
(17:05):
if they moved to eighteen games or seventeen games either
or you host eight or nine home games a year,
and so that's nine dates out of a three hundred
and sixty five day calendar. And if you have an
open air stadium, then you can't host a lot of
events during the wintertime. And so what the Bears, the Broncos,
the Chiefs, the Browns, and so many other organizations. This
(17:26):
isn't just specific to the Broncos and the Bears, but
they're looking at, okay, like, how can I make the
most out of this money if we're going to be
putting billions of dollars into it? And so a roof
is the way that you can do that. It is
the way to do that.
Speaker 9 (17:37):
But at the same time, it makes me nervous that
you say super Bowl great because the last frigid one
was in Minnesota.
Speaker 7 (17:44):
You were at that one, right, I was not at
that one, Okay, but I understand what you're saying.
Speaker 9 (17:48):
Yeah, I mean I don't want us to be rolling
up to a you know, Chicago super Bowl in a
couple of years.
Speaker 8 (17:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (17:56):
I'll be honest, I think that to Chicago super Bowl,
I believe, Kevin Orn Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren
wrote in his letter a twenty thirty one date, I
think that's a little bit ambitious. I do think that
when stadiums get built, that the NFL does to make
an effort to show off these new facilities. And the
way that they do that normally is you get a
draft or you get another event there and in your
(18:18):
local municipalities first before you get a super Bowl. So
will the Broncos and the Bears eventually get a super
Bowl should their stadiums be built? I think so. How
imminent is that, I would say ten years out? I mean,
you still have Nashville that has to be built. I
think Jacksonville's getting a new stadium. Both of those will
come first, and that's not even including we still have
so far an allegiance. I think the Sports Business Journal
(18:39):
reported a couple days ago that twenty twenty nine is
looking like Vegas once the Titan Stadium opens up in Nashville.
I think that's a new Nissan stadium. They're they're going
to be bidding for a new stadium, and so at
that point you get to twenty thirty and now we're
looking at twenty thirty one, and neither one of these
stadiums have even started construction yet. Twenty thirty one is.
Speaker 9 (18:56):
Ambitious, but it's better for business. Do you think for
the NFL's business of the Super Bowl Week to host
in warm cities?
Speaker 7 (19:04):
I think so absolutely. I mean, if you're talking about
what is a destination, one of the reasons that Las
Vegas and Los Angeles and so many of these others
are Arizona, Jacksonville, Miami. All of these are destination cities
because people want to go down in the middle of
February and be warm. If you're going to Chicago, yes,
that vibe is completely different. Minnesota and so many other places.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Damian, Here's the interesting thing, and you pointed out so
clearly in your article, is these huge five billion, four
billion dollar news stadiums are being funded privately. And I
think that is just fascinating. That means that there is
an ROI for the debt and the equity investors out
there for building these multipurpose facilities. And so it's funny
because there's been all this backlash against municipal taxes and
(19:47):
taxing you know, locals to fund this. But I mean,
how did the public sector mess this up? These were
real investment opportunities that they're shooing away. We don't want
to fund this, but obviously to a private investor to
reel into utional capital, there's got to be something here.
Speaker 5 (20:02):
Now.
Speaker 7 (20:02):
Now, you have an interesting perspective there, because I think
that a lot of politicians would disagree with you there.
I think that there are a lot of politicians who
don't And granted, let me say this, I think the
culture of sports depends on where you go, if you
go down. If you look at Charlotte, Charlotte made a
stadium and made a deal with David Tepper very quickly,
Jacksonville made a deal in DC, Josh Harris made a deal,
(20:26):
But some of these cultures aren't in. Some of these
politicians in some of these cities don't have a lot
of money. In Chicago's want now in what both of
them are saying is that they will be privately funded,
but they won't be paying any new taxes. Now, Chicago
has a lot to work out there. In Denver, I
think things are a little bit more simple because again
you have the Walmart family. Now, will will Greg Penner
(20:49):
come out and pay another five billion dollars similar to
what the Cronkeys did in LA I don't think so,
but hey, I don't know. Maybe he wants to build
a state of the art facility that will be for
and have billion dollars. I doubt it, but you never know.
In Chicago, I think that it's a completely different issue
because this isn't a Walmart family and while they do
have Greg Ryan as a part owner of the team,
(21:11):
we don't know if Greg Ryan is going to be
offering up any money for this. And the mccaskeys are
an older family. They aren't the biggest capital family in
the NFL in terms of the cash that they have
to spend on this, So Chicago has some work to do,
but at least they've chosen a site.
Speaker 9 (21:27):
It just feels like with everything that's happening in the
NFL and really just in sports in general, with new
facilities and team valuations, that everything is chasing a record number.
So you don't think that these owners will want some
sort of record when they're building these new stadiums.
Speaker 7 (21:44):
No. No, And the reason for that, I mean, if
you look at if you stadiums are the most expensive
things for these owners to build by far, it's not
even close. And the reality is not There's not a
lot of people who just have a lot of money
to spend on these things. That's why private equity was
brought in. That's why you see more transactions happening because
there are some owners who are looking for liquidity. Philadelphia
(22:06):
is next. They've floated that around with their season ticket holders,
and so I do think that there are owners who
are willing to pay, but they see this as a
public private partnership, and sometimes they're politicians and the people
that the people that live in the cities that their
teams are in, they don't see it that way. And
Kansas City is a perfect example. How many Super Bowls
have they been to in a row? How many Super
(22:26):
Bowls have they won in the last six years, three
and I think five overall, And yet they couldn't reach
a deal. Maybe that was because of the Royals, and
maybe they'll be able to reach a deal in Kansas
or in Missouri. We'll see, and I do think that
they will get a deal done. But when you win
three Super Bowls, I don't think that the common fan
would expect like, oh yeah, the Kansas Citians, they did
not vote for a new stadium there. That's kind of crazy, Rando.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
We only have a few minutes left with you, and
I can't let you leave without asking you about your
favorite sport, and that sport being women's basketball and Unrivaled
just raised a new round of funding which gave it
a three d and forty million dollar valuation. Now unrivaled
is the women's three on three Professional League. Brianna Stewart.
I mean, talk to us a little bit about what's
going on there.
Speaker 7 (23:08):
Yeah, they raised money, they're going to be adding teams,
they're going to be touring as well, and I mean
the business that they've built in less than a year
really has been remarkable. The ways that they have in
many ways been able to empower WNBA players who are
now playing for both of these leagues has been remarkable.
Speaker 9 (23:25):
Are those players feeling that. Do you think new valuation
the players who got that initial stake in the league
last year.
Speaker 7 (23:32):
I don't know if the players got to payout out
of this. I do think that Unrivaled has been strategic
on offering equity to specific players so that they can
attract more players. Now, who are the two elephants in
the room that they're hoping to land. Obviously it's Kaitlin
Clark and I would say Asia Wilson. Now neither have
committed to play yet, but they're doing just fine without them.
(23:54):
So if they come, If Kaitlin Clark comes and plays
in this, it's going to supercharge the league even more.
They could be at a billion dollars in a couple
of years from now, considering that they've already hit three
hundred and forty million in less than a year.
Speaker 9 (24:05):
One of the things about Unrivaled was that it really
empowered the players, like you said, and it was kind
of putting pressure on the CBA. Now, with this valuation,
everything you know about the CBA, do you think it
still has anything to do with any sort of pressure
still at all, seeing this four hundred million dollars.
Speaker 7 (24:23):
In some aspects, the CBA negotiations are independent between the
league and the union, of course, but it definitely has
informed the union as far as what value and what
sort of business the players have been able to raise themselves.
I mean, you have to remember that this is founded
by Anfisa Collier and Breonna Stewart, two WNBA players who
were able to do a lot of this business alongside
(24:45):
the infrastructure and the support that they have. And so
if two w players can do this in the league,
the WNBA is supported by billionaires, and you have to
imagine like the W players are then going back to
the negotiating table and be like, Okay, this is what
we're hearing, and the WA owners and there I imagine
their collective bargaining committee are saying, this is what we
think is a fair deal. This is what we don't
(25:05):
think is a fair deal, and we're gonna find out
on Halloween, which again is the most poetic date for
CBA negotiations to potentially end if they're going to be
able to come to terms.
Speaker 9 (25:15):
So it's interesting because one of the reasons why. I
feel like, obviously there could be a lockout for all
of the reasons that we know, but less detrimental because
they have this lead to play in actually where they're
making one hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 7 (25:27):
In some aspects, I mean, the player population is a
little smaller, but I do think that there are more
opportunities here than there were a couple of years ago,
and that's a lot. That's a huge factor in things.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
Randa Williams, Chairman and Ceoh no, I'm sorry, senior Business report.
Speaker 7 (25:42):
I think I'm just US sports business reporter, not senior yet,
but thank you.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
That's Bloomberg US sports business reporter and friend of the show,
Randa Williams speaking with my colleagues Damian Sasaer and Vanessa Perdomo.
Up next, we hear from PGA of America CEO Derek
Sprague as art of a special conversation from Bloomberg Power Players,
New York. I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg
Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Where we explored the big money issues in the world
of sports. I'm Michael Barr. Recently at World Headquarters in
New York, Bloomberg hosted Power Players. It's an annual event
that brings together some of the most influential in the
world of sports to talk about what's next in the industry.
PGA of America CEO Derek Sprague was at this year's
(26:42):
event and spoke with Bloomberg Texas Bureau Chief Julie Fine
about one of golf's most iconic competitions, the Ryder Cup,
and continuing to grow the game of golf. Let's listen
in looking.
Speaker 10 (26:54):
At golf now, you've got eighteen to thirty four year
olds playing like they've never played before. Women, that demographic
growing exponentially. So how do you capitalize on this moment
in golf?
Speaker 6 (27:06):
Well, I think with all the programs that the PGA
of America does, helps with the retention in the game,
helps with the growth of the game since the pandemic.
When you know, we haven't used the word social distancing
in a long time, but where you could get families
together playing the game together, and we've seen this multi
generational growth getting the you know, the parents and grandparents
getting the younger generation into the game. So we've seen
(27:28):
that explosion. We have more golfers today than we've ever
had in the game. Close to twenty eight million people
in this country are playing the game. Five hundred and
fifty million rounds of golfer played last year.
Speaker 10 (27:38):
And all eyes, of course, will be on the Ryder
Cup and Beth Page Black. This really gives you a
good opportunity to show what you can do at the
PGA of America PGA America, of course, that represents the
teaching golf professionals. You are in charge of the Ryder Cup,
you own and operate it. You own and operate PGA
championships as well. Talk about how you can really expand
(28:02):
your global footprint in a somewhat divided golf world.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Right.
Speaker 6 (28:06):
Well, the difference between the PGA Tour and the PGA
of America is we own majors on every tour. We
have a KPMG Women's PGA Championship, the Senior PGA Championship,
the PGA Championship for the men, and of course the
Ryder Cup being played sort of the backyard here of
New York City. So really, when you look at that
and the Ryder Cup really is the global event, if
you will, with Europe against the Americans here, and that
(28:29):
really when we look at the economic impact that the
Ryder Cup will be this year, we have two hundred
and sixty corporate partners. Thirty of those are global from
around the world, where you normally don't see that at
any of the other championships.
Speaker 10 (28:41):
And you've been to nine of them, nine Ryder Cups.
So can you talk a little bit about that, how
you're seeing more of that global footprint there.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
Well, I think you know, when you look at the
European team that was just announced on Monday, we see
those faces every week, you know, playing the regular tour,
we see them in our majors and and of course
we'll see them at the Ryder Cup. So yeah, exactly,
those the global impact of those players playing around the globe.
Speaker 5 (29:07):
It just helps grow the game globally and economically.
Speaker 10 (29:10):
What do you expect to see, especially in this area.
Speaker 6 (29:13):
Well, I think you know, this will generate close to
two hundred million dollars economic impact just in this one
week here. They're building a small city at a Bethpage
Black there, and this is an incredible stat We had
half a million people pre registered to get tickets for
the Ryder Cup. Just show you an unprecedented demand for
this event.
Speaker 5 (29:32):
We had over.
Speaker 6 (29:32):
Thirty thousand people apply to be a volunteer at this
year's Ryder Cup and we put you know, close to
four thousand people to work building this small city out there.
Speaker 5 (29:41):
So it's a huge economic impact.
Speaker 6 (29:43):
Golf is one hundred and two billion dollar year industry,
and the PGA of America is doing its part, especially
with the Ryder Cup.
Speaker 10 (29:49):
I want to talk economically about the changes that you've seen. Again,
you've done nine Ryder Cups up until now. I want
to talk about how the difference is you seen in
terms of what people are willing to spend, you know,
the global aspect of the entire thing, and the fan experience.
Speaker 6 (30:08):
Well, I think corporate America and fans alike love live
sporting events. That's what we're sort of in the business
with with our four spectator Championships and the corporate environment.
You know, their clients and their employees want to have those,
you know, sort of experiences that you can't find anywhere else.
Attending a Ryder Cup, attending a PGA Championship, one of
(30:29):
our Majors really provides an experience for those corporate partners
and their clientele.
Speaker 5 (30:35):
So we're on the right path. It's been booming.
Speaker 6 (30:38):
I've been involved for a number of years now, as
you mentioned, and you know, the product has changed a
little bit.
Speaker 5 (30:43):
We have triple deckers, so we have three story.
Speaker 6 (30:47):
High tents and out of beth Page and two story
venues there as well, seventy.
Speaker 5 (30:53):
Four thousand square feet of retail.
Speaker 6 (30:56):
I mean, it's really an incredible city that they're building out.
Speaker 10 (31:00):
We frequently talked about the changes that you see in
the game of golf. Largely the biggest one, of course,
is the live tour. Now, while your tour is different
than the tour that represents the elite pros, what do
you see the trajectory.
Speaker 6 (31:14):
Of this, Well, I think it's you know, again, we're
two different organizations. The PGA of America has allowed the
live players to play in our major championships in the
Ryder Cup, and we have Bryson D. Chambeau as a
live member. We'll be playing on our American team this year.
But yeah, I think, you know, I think it's it's
shed a lot of light on the on the elite
sport in the game, and I think.
Speaker 5 (31:36):
That's helped put a lot of eyeballs on golf.
Speaker 6 (31:38):
I think it's helping the retention rate, and certainly these
these pros.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
Have benefited for for large purses.
Speaker 6 (31:45):
That has put you know, some focus on on the
associations and the PGA Tour and the partners who corporate
partners coming up with these large purses. So but I
think again overall, it's great to to include the live
players in our championships because the golf consumer wants to
(32:06):
see the best players in the world, and they can
do that at the PGA Championship in this year's Ryder Cup.
Speaker 10 (32:10):
So in that aspect, you're seeing them play together in
certain tournaments, and you know, the bigger names of golf
are in both. Eventually, do you think that they merge
if you had to play your crystal ball out, when
do you see this going?
Speaker 6 (32:23):
Yeah, I mean, it'd be more of a question for
the tour, but I think, you know, I think it's
too early to tell. I mean, there's been a lot
of chatter that there probably won't be any reconciliation, but
I think that's okay. I think now we got a
new CEO at the PGA Tour that I've already met
Brian Rollapp and he's my counterpart and we've already been
(32:45):
talking about ways to make sure that we strengthen the
game at the elite level, So it'll be good to
work with him.
Speaker 10 (32:52):
Well, when you look at the technology, when you see
I mean, obviously you can see in your office, I
assure you you can see everything right and wrong with
your swing. But is there also a time where you've
got to get out on the course and really look
at your game.
Speaker 5 (33:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (33:06):
Absolutely, And that's what's neat about PGA Frisco and our
headquarters there when our partnerships with the Omni Hotel group
and we have this we have two amazing golf courses.
We have our twenty seven PGA Championship coming up there.
We had our Women's and our Senior PGA already there
in twenty three and twenty five. So we literally have
a golf course at our back door. So these associates
(33:30):
coming and train. We have three hundred employees that love
the game at golf as well, and they can literally
go out, they can hit balls on the driving range
right out our doors where they can go play a
couple of championship golf courses. We've got a short course
right there, and we've got a two weekre putting green.
All the short course and the putting green are lit
and just adds to the fun of the sport.
Speaker 10 (33:49):
Do you see a world where golf more broadly embraces
rule changes or different formats like you see things like
the match and they're playing at night. I mean, do
you see shorter rounds, more sin based content?
Speaker 5 (34:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (34:00):
I mean I think you know what is golf right,
and you sort of The National Golf Foundation is our
research arm for the industry, and it used to be well,
we're just going to count eighteen hole rounds. But if
you play nine holes, is that around a golf? If
you play a short course like called the Swing at
PGA Frisco, we have our finance group every day goes
out from noon to one fifteen and plays the quick
(34:21):
ten hole loop, is that golf?
Speaker 5 (34:22):
Absolutely?
Speaker 6 (34:23):
So I think these these varied forms of golf, whether
it's on course or then at sites like top Golf
where it's off course, I think all of that is
part of the sport and part of the lore of it.
And I think you're seeing people go from their couch
and video games to maybe these top golf venues to
en course, whether it's short course, nine holes or eighteen holes.
(34:44):
So yeah, it's all golf, and we're helping develop all
that in many aspects.
Speaker 10 (34:49):
In an era where we are seeing more and more
private equity in sports, what kind of pools do you
think golf should be looking at to increase revenue?
Speaker 6 (34:59):
Well, I think, you know, certainly with great assets like
the Ryder Cup and PG Championship and our other majors,
seniors and the women's. You know, private equity is getting
in all types of sports right now.
Speaker 5 (35:12):
SSG just got involved with the.
Speaker 6 (35:14):
PGA Tour a little over a year ago, and so
because golf in the demographic that it represents in the world,
like I said, as one hundred and two billion dollar industry,
so private equity is looking to see how they can
get in that industry as well. So I'm sure that
SYSSG got in with the PGA Tour and these other
(35:34):
private equity companies are getting involved with other sports to
sort of see how they can grow those products and
improve them.
Speaker 10 (35:40):
Ten years from now, what do you see the game
of golf looking like, both economically and sports wise?
Speaker 6 (35:46):
Yeah, I see it's going to continue to grow. You know,
just ten years ago when I was on the board
of the the PGA, it was an eighty two billion
dollar industry. Here we are ten years later, it's one
hundred and two. You know, I can see that being
north of one hundred and twenty one hundred and thirty
billion dollar industry that we're in.
Speaker 5 (36:03):
And it'll be interesting. On the sports.
Speaker 6 (36:05):
I think people will continue to love to attend live
sporting events. I think you'll see your corporate environments on
these small cities that we build will change over time.
They'll probably get higher in I mean, at this year's
Ryder Cup, we have VVIP experiences where we're going to
helicopter people in from the city and you know, backdoor
(36:26):
entrances and stuff. Just they want These people want this.
There's a lot of wealth in and around live sports,
and certainly with golf, and it has helped us shape
our corporate hospitality products at our venues.
Speaker 10 (36:41):
Before I let you go, I do want to know
you played golf with a lot of people. What is
the most unique round you've ever played?
Speaker 6 (36:48):
Well, I've been fortunate enough to play with a lot
of tour pros and this will probably be a boring answer,
but you know, anytime I can play with my kids
my family is really a joy. And you know, I
can remember walking down the fairway with my son, who
was sixteen years old at the time, and I said,
just think, I said, we can play this sport for
another seventy years or so.
Speaker 5 (37:09):
My grandfather took up.
Speaker 6 (37:11):
The game of golf at age seventy four, so anybody
in the audience out there is never too late to
take up the sport. But but I had the good
fortune to play with great players like Bernard Langer. When
you talk about longevity, right, and that guy's in his
mid sixties, I think, and can play as good as
the best players in the world. And he is so disciplined,
(37:32):
so disciplined in his workouts, in his game of golf,
but also with his family and his faith and stuff.
And I can just remember when I played with him,
just in AWE, say, I mean, this guy doesn't he's like,
you know, he's German, So I said, he's just like
a German automobile, finally tuned, finally engineered. And he was
just a joy to play with and such a gentleman
(37:54):
that I really remember that round of golf with him.
Speaker 10 (37:57):
And I can't ask you to pick your favorite course
because I know that challenging, but certainly your most memorable
one that everyone here that plays golfer enjoys that should
make sure.
Speaker 5 (38:05):
To get to.
Speaker 6 (38:05):
Yeah, I mean right here in your backyard, Beth Page
Black is just incredible. You know, as Keegan said, our captain,
you know, used to be New York's courses a public park,
but it's going to be America's course here in a
few weeks. But I've had the good fortune of.
Speaker 5 (38:20):
Playing some of the finest private courses in the world.
I love playing.
Speaker 6 (38:24):
I played Cyprus Point, you know, hearing the ocean crashing
in and the seals barking on the rocks out there
was memorable because they have a lot of inland core
inland holes as well, So you go from hearing the
ocean to very peaceful and then ending near the ocean.
Speaker 5 (38:39):
That was pretty memorable.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
That was PGA of America CEO Derek Sprague on stage
with the Bloomberg Texas Bureau chief Julie Fine. You want
to hear more from power players, check out the Bloomberg
Business of Sports podcast feed. Some of our most recent
editions have several conversations from the event, including conversations with
two times WNBA champion and four time Olympic gold medalist
(39:03):
Sylvia Fowls, Aries Management co founder Michael Arrugetti, and five
time NBA All Star New York Knicks center Karl Anthony Towns.
Check it out now wherever you get your podcast, and
subscribe so you never miss an episode. And that does
it for this edition of The Bloomberg Business of Sports.
For my colleagues Vanessa Perdomo and Damien Sassauer, I'm Michael Barr.
(39:25):
Tune in again next week for the latest on the
stories moving big money in the world of sports. You're
listening to The Bloomberg Business of Sports Bloomberg Radio around
the world.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. This is the Business
of Sports.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
The business of sports can be intimidating or hard for
a starting to break into.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
We really appreciate what our owners are actually there, you
know with us through the journey.
Speaker 4 (00:18):
Teams ours especially have been very intentional to diversify at
all levels of the company.
Speaker 5 (00:22):
I think we're in bolden years for the NFL and
college football.
Speaker 6 (00:26):
Our demographic reach has continued to explode.
Speaker 7 (00:29):
This is going to be really unlocking the streaming platform
for sports fans, sports evaluations arising. We'll see when they peak.
Speaker 6 (00:36):
You don't have to be the best in your sports
to make a whole ton of money.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports. Michael
Barr my colleagues Damien Sasauer and Vanessa Perdomo will join
later on in the show. Coming up today, we hear
from PGA of America CEO Derek Sprague on golf's growing
popularity and to unpack the Ryder Cup's intensity, global reach
(01:08):
and behind the scenes strategy in one of golf's most
iconic competitions.
Speaker 6 (01:13):
Well, I think with all the programs that the PGA
of America does, helps with the retention in the game,
helps with the growth of the game since the pandemic
when you know, we haven't used the word social distancing
in a long time, but where you could get families
together playing the game together. And we've seen this multi
generational growth, getting the you know, the parents and grandparents,
getting the younger generation into the game. So we've seen
(01:35):
that explosion. We have more golfers today than we've ever
had in the game. Close to twenty eight million people
in this country are playing the game. Five hundred and
fifty million rounds of golf we played last year.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Derek Sprague recently joined us here at world Headquarters from
Bloomberg Power Players, New York. The annual event brings together
influential voices from the business of sports to identify the
next wave of disruption that could hit this molti trillion
dollar global industry. Well, here the PGA of America CEOs
(02:05):
conversation with Bloomberg Texas Bureau Chief Julie Fine. That and
more is on the way on the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
But first, football football, the college football season is just
getting underway, and live on stage at Power Players, Bloomberg's
Christine Cook spoke with Ryan McCormick, the senior director of
(02:26):
Factor and QQQ Equity Product Strategy at Invesco, for conversation
on the new possibilities for college athletics. Let's take a
listen to a portion of that conversation, just to kind.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Of set the stage. Can you, as a quick reminder,
tell everybody what the QQQ is.
Speaker 8 (02:44):
Yeah, no, I'm happy to so. Invesco QQQ is an ETF.
It's an exchange traded fund. It happens to be the
fifth largest ETF in the world, and it tracks the
NASDAQ one hundred index, which is made up of the
one hundred largest company is listed on the NASAQ Exchange
x Financials, So pretty much a number of different companies
(03:05):
that you probably use every day, multiple times a day,
very well known companies. But it was launched twenty six
years ago, back in March of nineteen ninety nine, sort
of like in the early stages of ETFs in the US,
and so in that twenty six years, I mean at
the time it was a pretty novel technology, a pretty
(03:27):
novel advancement in the world of asset management, and you know,
to see staying power of twenty six years, like it
really has blossomed into this very widely known, very widely
utilized ETF and you know, a strategy that has brought,
you know, the ability for investors to add growth into
their portfolio in a very easy and efficient manner.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
You say ninety nine, I immediately think about Y two
K and so good that you made it past. All
of that is all this longevity. Well, part of the
growth is an investment in collegiate sports. Can you talk
a little bit about your partnership with the NC double
A and why that's important in your partnership portfolio?
Speaker 8 (04:08):
Yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, I think in
general the question would probably be like, well, what is
this guy doing at a sports conference? Right?
Speaker 5 (04:15):
And I think you.
Speaker 8 (04:17):
Know, we're the official ETF of the NC DOUBLEA. We've
had that partnership now for a couple of years. Alongside
that where kind of the official financial literacy partner of
the NC DOUBLEA. We developed a program how not to
suck at money. Originally it was geared towards like the
college athlete, but I mean it's for anybody, right, It's
(04:38):
for a college age students, for a high school age student,
it's for a thirty a forty year old. Like it
really just emphasizes the basics of where do I start
with investing right or how do I tackle credit card debt.
It's like very approachable questions to try to develop some
level of education. And you know with that came in
(05:00):
conjunction with our sponsorship of the NCAA. So I joked
before in our lunch. You know, if you watch the
NCAA basketball tournament, if you're watching March Madness, I mean
I challenge you to go ninety seconds without seeing an
Investo QQQ commercial. But it's a great opportunity for us
to elevate our brand with you know, a whole new
set of potential investors, a whole new set of eyeballs,
(05:22):
and you know, just a very high profile sponsorship that
they we're quite proud.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Of when you think about financial literacy in that way
and the commitment that you all have had, and like
you said, it is all it's a variety of age groups.
Are there any trends that you see on programs that
you all have invested more in there or need states
that have shown up that maybe you've had to pivot
to address Yeah, you.
Speaker 8 (05:43):
Know, so we partner with a number of different schools,
and I've been on the road and I've presented with
you know, alumni networks at you know, pretty major universities.
Right they'll tap a former athlete to come and talk
about the importance of financial literacy, or you may maybe
a specific on a financial question that they've been asked.
I would say it's the most encouraging thing is like
(06:07):
the appetite for education. Like these are packed rooms with
college athletes with stuff a lot better to do than
listen to me, but like they are all there showing
up and asking very real questions about you know, where
do I start, what do I do in this scenario?
Speaker 5 (06:24):
And I think.
Speaker 8 (06:25):
Alongside like some of those alumns, right, like they're drawn
to those alumnis. They've been in their shoes, they've been
in that room, they've seen most of them a fair
amount of success, and just the engagement is pretty spectacular.
But I would say the one thing that I would
really highlight is just like it's the appetite. These are
(06:46):
this generation of kids, they want to learn, they want
to capitalize on nil and I think the fact that
there's so much education that is out there, not only
through our financial literacy program, but I mean a number
of them. It's affording these kids, these athletes, these students
access to this information and they're really taking to it.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Let's shift a little bit and talk about innovation. So
earlier this afternoon you sponsored a breakout session innovation investing
in College Sports. Talk about what role innovation plays in
powering a fund like investco QQQ and shaping kind of
the future for college athletics.
Speaker 5 (07:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (07:26):
I think for investco QQQ, like we say that if
you invest in QQQ, you're investing in innovation. And I
think there's a few different layers to peel back on
that onion. Like number one, the fact that this strategy
was launched way back in ninety nine. Like as I
said earlier that the in and of itself, that was
a pretty innovative product. The ETF ecosystem was pretty innovative
(07:51):
at that time. But we kind of look a little
bit further because the companies that are in invesco QQQ
like generally they seem to be able to stay ahead
of the curve when it comes to changing consumer preferences,
changing consumer trends. I mean in this case like Wholesaley
looking different, or the ability to stay nimble, where these
(08:13):
companies look way different today than they did three years ago,
five years ago, ten years ago, and throughout that they've
been able to generate very real fundamental growth. Right, They've
been able to grow sales, they've been able to grow earnings,
and that has fueled a halfway decent amount of performance.
So that in and of itself is pretty innovative. And
then you look at sort of the crossover between sports
(08:35):
and some of these names, these technologically oriented names. There's
no secret I mean any of the programming. I mean
everybody was talking about how technology somehow shapes sports. That
could be the way that we consume as fans, the
way we watch the game, that what we have at
our fingertips when we're watching the game. The options that
(08:55):
we have certainly big data analytics. Right, if you look
at prepareness, right, film study recovery, I mean, they lean
they need data in an effort to get any sort
of edge on a competitor. And then you kind of
take it a step further and you look at some
of the companies, Well, a lot of these companies that
(09:18):
are in this fund or these social media companies, and
if you look at NIL and where you can monetize
your name, your image and likeness, I think immediately you
get the gravitation over to kind of the world of
social media an easy way kind of get your foot
in the door when it comes to NIL and promoting
your own brand. So I think the intersection has only
(09:39):
gotten kind of more entwined when you look at some
of the names within the fund or technology in general
and sports right it's revolutionizing the way that we consume,
the way that athletes play, and the way that the
game has evolved and grown over the past twenty years.
And I feel like we're advancing at a pace that's
much faster than at any point now and twenty years ago.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
Well the other you know, back to school for all
of us with kids in New York today and the
beginning of fall, which I refuse to say it's fall
yet because I think we have at least twenty days
more or maybe eighteen. But college football is officially full swing, right,
So let's do some lightning round on college football questions.
(10:24):
We're ready, all right, everybody favorite college football rivalry.
Speaker 8 (10:32):
I mean, I love notre Dame sc but I will
never say anything other than Army Navy.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Oh, very nice tickets to the game or home fan cave.
Speaker 8 (10:46):
I don't know if I'm in the minority on this,
but tickets of the game.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
I feel like I can get to.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
Show a hands who's fan cave at home end Live?
Speaker 8 (10:55):
No? Yes, woh, okay live see my friends are all
I No, I'm just gonna sit in the basement and
kind of relax and I got my big screen or whatever,
but no.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
I got to be there. I love the idea of live.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
I think especially you talk about innovation, you talk about technology,
You're hearing more and more people want the kind of
experience of the game, which is very exciting. Okay, early
season favorite to win the CFP.
Speaker 8 (11:17):
My heart always says, Notre Dame.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
But we get.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
A we're sensing a trend.
Speaker 8 (11:22):
We get a yeah, I got. I gotta stick with
my heart. I mean, you get we got a free
look last week. I mean tough Miami team on the road,
but I mean Ohio State also probably.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
I think I probably know what the answer to this
one Buckets stadium and or game day atmosphere.
Speaker 8 (11:38):
Well, I know where I'm going. I mean and LSU
Tiger right here. I know, I've some people were trying
to sway me.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
We have any other Tiger fans? I went to LSU. Anybody,
I'm alone here, Okay, I'm alone.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
I was that stadium.
Speaker 8 (11:52):
They were trying to sway me before Penn State wide out.
I had a couple of folks trying to lob in, Hey,
you know, throw this on. But again, I gotta just
stay with what I really want, and that would be
LSU Death Valley Night game.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Yes, Mount Rushmore of college football players, the four best
players ever.
Speaker 8 (12:13):
And I'm gonna do best players, not Heisman's not, Okay, Yeah,
Cam Newton, Herschel Walker, Bo Jackson, Vince Young.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Yes, I like that.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
That's Ryan McCormick, singor director a Factor and QQQ Equity
product Strategy at Investco, speaking with Bloomberg's Christine Cook from
Bloomberg Power Players, New York on investing in college athletics.
Up next, we go through some of the latest headlines
in sports, including a big SALI sports conference that didn't happen.
(12:47):
I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of
Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm
Michael Barr. We haven't even gotten to the FIFA World
Cup hitting the US in twenty twenty six, and plans
are already getting started for the World Cup in twenty
thirty four. A part of that planning was supposed to
be the World Stadium's and Arena's development summit in downtown Riad.
(13:24):
It was scheduled for earlier this month, but it was postponed.
Damian Sassauer and Vanessa Perdomo caught up with Bloomberg US
Sports business reporter Randa Williams to talk about the big
Saudi sports convention that did not happen and some of
the other headlines in the world of sports. Let's take
a listen to their conversation.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Well, it sounds like this conference they were having is
for an anticipation right of the World Cup, right this
post of the World Cup. I think I forget which
year it's conning twenty thirty four, Thank you, vanessn They
have to build a lot of infrastructure to handle what
is going to be a huge, huge audience, and am
I to believe that they're falling a bit behind the
eight ball here? I learn?
Speaker 7 (14:00):
I think World Cup preparations are hard anywhere outside of
the US. The US is naturally built for it because
there's a lot of stadiums and things like that. But
when you take this to other countries, I don't think
it means that they can't do it. It just means that
it requires a lot more money, a lot more commitment,
a lot more labor. And there are some countries that
are better fit for it and there are others who aren't.
I think the Saudis can do it, just needs a
(14:22):
lot of work.
Speaker 9 (14:22):
Yeah, I mean, like, let's be real, the Saudi World
Cup is going to be similar to what we saw
in Qatar in twenty twenty two. Agreed, It's gonna be
absolutely outstanding, and they're probably gonna want to break that record,
don't you think For the most expensive World Cup ever?
Speaker 7 (14:34):
This one is probably the most sustainable the one that
we'll see next year. But I mean you talk about
brand new stadiums, brand new training facilities, probably hotel accommodations,
it's a lot of money that's going to be spent
there No one's talking about it right now because everyone's
so excited for next year, and then we have the
twenty thirty World Cup after that, but yeah, twenty thirty four,
(14:54):
which I'm glad that that is a long time from now,
because I mean, you start talking about things and we're
talking about the World Cup years ago and now it's
basically tomorrow. So good ways away, but a lot of
money to be spent between now and then. I think
one of the I wouldn't say issues, but one of
the difficulties with sporting events in Saudi is just getting
out there, and from the boxing, from the UFC perspective,
(15:16):
they have held events there, but a lot of times
like it's a hall to get out there, and if
you're only there for a couple of days, it better
be some damn good business that you're doing otherwise. I
meant a lot of these sports companies, investors, business people
are like, ah, I don't know if I want to
spend however, I'll just say sixteen hours on a flight.
So I think there's things like that going on. But
(15:38):
at the end of the day, money is money, and
if the Saudis are paying as they are in a
lot of sports named golf and tennis everything else. Then
you know, this world's couple come along just fine.
Speaker 9 (15:47):
All right, Randall, As we talk about things that are
going to be expensive and being built, you recently wrote
about the Chicago stadium for the Bears and Denver they're
now getting new stadiums. Tell us about that.
Speaker 7 (15:58):
Yeah, so the Bears may their move official. They're moving
from downtown Chicago to Arlington Heights. There's some things that
they have to work out there, but that is the
site of their stadium they purchased. I want to say
it's three hundred acres. I think it's three hundred twenty
six acres in Chicago. Some years ago that was potentially
for building down there. Now it's official, so they'll be
moving there. In Denver, they already have the land set up.
(16:21):
This is another Walmart family that's going to be building
I believe Walmart, right, Yes, a retractable roof, so that'll
be I think both of these stadiums will be super expensive,
super expensive.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
I see Vanessa's eyes watering because this is the end
of Soldier Field, right, I mean one hundred years and
like you know, Windy City and all that stuff goes
away overnight. Because, as you rightly point out, they're gonna
have a roof on that puppy one way or the other.
Speaker 7 (16:45):
Yeah, all, I think a good portion of NFL teams
are looking at stadiums and looking at them as multipurpose facilities.
Now they're every Both the Bears and the Broncos mentioned
Super Bowls, and one of the jokes that I have
in this newsletter is that it would be cool old
as Hellheim in both of those cities in February. But
the reality is that in the NFL, if they go,
(17:05):
if they moved to eighteen games or seventeen games either
or you host eight or nine home games a year,
and so that's nine dates out of a three hundred
and sixty five day calendar. And if you have an
open air stadium, then you can't host a lot of
events during the wintertime. And so what the Bears, the Broncos,
the Chiefs, the Browns, and so many other organizations. This
(17:26):
isn't just specific to the Broncos and the Bears, but
they're looking at, okay, like, how can I make the
most out of this money if we're going to be
putting billions of dollars into it? And so a roof
is the way that you can do that. It is
the way to do that.
Speaker 9 (17:37):
But at the same time, it makes me nervous that
you say super Bowl great because the last frigid one
was in Minnesota.
Speaker 7 (17:44):
You were at that one, right, I was not at
that one, Okay, but I understand what you're saying.
Speaker 9 (17:48):
Yeah, I mean I don't want us to be rolling
up to a you know, Chicago super Bowl in a
couple of years.
Speaker 8 (17:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (17:56):
I'll be honest, I think that to Chicago super Bowl,
I believe, Kevin Orn Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren
wrote in his letter a twenty thirty one date, I
think that's a little bit ambitious. I do think that
when stadiums get built, that the NFL does to make
an effort to show off these new facilities. And the
way that they do that normally is you get a
draft or you get another event there and in your
(18:18):
local municipalities first before you get a super Bowl. So
will the Broncos and the Bears eventually get a super
Bowl should their stadiums be built? I think so. How
imminent is that, I would say ten years out? I mean,
you still have Nashville that has to be built. I
think Jacksonville's getting a new stadium. Both of those will
come first, and that's not even including we still have
so far an allegiance. I think the Sports Business Journal
(18:39):
reported a couple days ago that twenty twenty nine is
looking like Vegas once the Titan Stadium opens up in Nashville.
I think that's a new Nissan stadium. They're they're going
to be bidding for a new stadium, and so at
that point you get to twenty thirty and now we're
looking at twenty thirty one, and neither one of these
stadiums have even started construction yet. Twenty thirty one is.
Speaker 9 (18:56):
Ambitious, but it's better for business. Do you think for
the NFL's business of the Super Bowl Week to host
in warm cities?
Speaker 7 (19:04):
I think so absolutely. I mean, if you're talking about
what is a destination, one of the reasons that Las
Vegas and Los Angeles and so many of these others
are Arizona, Jacksonville, Miami. All of these are destination cities
because people want to go down in the middle of
February and be warm. If you're going to Chicago, yes,
that vibe is completely different. Minnesota and so many other places.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Damian, Here's the interesting thing, and you pointed out so
clearly in your article, is these huge five billion, four
billion dollar news stadiums are being funded privately. And I
think that is just fascinating. That means that there is
an ROI for the debt and the equity investors out
there for building these multipurpose facilities. And so it's funny
because there's been all this backlash against municipal taxes and
(19:47):
taxing you know, locals to fund this. But I mean,
how did the public sector mess this up? These were
real investment opportunities that they're shooing away. We don't want
to fund this, but obviously to a private investor to
reel into utional capital, there's got to be something here.
Speaker 5 (20:02):
Now.
Speaker 7 (20:02):
Now, you have an interesting perspective there, because I think
that a lot of politicians would disagree with you there.
I think that there are a lot of politicians who
don't And granted, let me say this, I think the
culture of sports depends on where you go, if you
go down. If you look at Charlotte, Charlotte made a
stadium and made a deal with David Tepper very quickly,
Jacksonville made a deal in DC, Josh Harris made a deal,
(20:26):
But some of these cultures aren't in. Some of these
politicians in some of these cities don't have a lot
of money. In Chicago's want now in what both of
them are saying is that they will be privately funded,
but they won't be paying any new taxes. Now, Chicago
has a lot to work out there. In Denver, I
think things are a little bit more simple because again
you have the Walmart family. Now, will will Greg Penner
(20:49):
come out and pay another five billion dollars similar to
what the Cronkeys did in LA I don't think so,
but hey, I don't know. Maybe he wants to build
a state of the art facility that will be for
and have billion dollars. I doubt it, but you never know.
In Chicago, I think that it's a completely different issue
because this isn't a Walmart family and while they do
have Greg Ryan as a part owner of the team,
(21:11):
we don't know if Greg Ryan is going to be
offering up any money for this. And the mccaskeys are
an older family. They aren't the biggest capital family in
the NFL in terms of the cash that they have
to spend on this, So Chicago has some work to do,
but at least they've chosen a site.
Speaker 9 (21:27):
It just feels like with everything that's happening in the
NFL and really just in sports in general, with new
facilities and team valuations, that everything is chasing a record number.
So you don't think that these owners will want some
sort of record when they're building these new stadiums.
Speaker 7 (21:44):
No. No, And the reason for that, I mean, if
you look at if you stadiums are the most expensive
things for these owners to build by far, it's not
even close. And the reality is not There's not a
lot of people who just have a lot of money
to spend on these things. That's why private equity was
brought in. That's why you see more transactions happening because
there are some owners who are looking for liquidity. Philadelphia
(22:06):
is next. They've floated that around with their season ticket holders,
and so I do think that there are owners who
are willing to pay, but they see this as a
public private partnership, and sometimes they're politicians and the people
that the people that live in the cities that their
teams are in, they don't see it that way. And
Kansas City is a perfect example. How many Super Bowls
have they been to in a row? How many Super
(22:26):
Bowls have they won in the last six years, three
and I think five overall, And yet they couldn't reach
a deal. Maybe that was because of the Royals, and
maybe they'll be able to reach a deal in Kansas
or in Missouri. We'll see, and I do think that
they will get a deal done. But when you win
three Super Bowls, I don't think that the common fan
would expect like, oh yeah, the Kansas Citians, they did
not vote for a new stadium there. That's kind of crazy, Rando.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
We only have a few minutes left with you, and
I can't let you leave without asking you about your
favorite sport, and that sport being women's basketball and Unrivaled
just raised a new round of funding which gave it
a three d and forty million dollar valuation. Now unrivaled
is the women's three on three Professional League. Brianna Stewart.
I mean, talk to us a little bit about what's
going on there.
Speaker 7 (23:08):
Yeah, they raised money, they're going to be adding teams,
they're going to be touring as well, and I mean
the business that they've built in less than a year
really has been remarkable. The ways that they have in
many ways been able to empower WNBA players who are
now playing for both of these leagues has been remarkable.
Speaker 9 (23:25):
Are those players feeling that. Do you think new valuation
the players who got that initial stake in the league
last year.
Speaker 7 (23:32):
I don't know if the players got to payout out
of this. I do think that Unrivaled has been strategic
on offering equity to specific players so that they can
attract more players. Now, who are the two elephants in
the room that they're hoping to land. Obviously it's Kaitlin
Clark and I would say Asia Wilson. Now neither have
committed to play yet, but they're doing just fine without them.
(23:54):
So if they come, If Kaitlin Clark comes and plays
in this, it's going to supercharge the league even more.
They could be at a billion dollars in a couple
of years from now, considering that they've already hit three
hundred and forty million in less than a year.
Speaker 9 (24:05):
One of the things about Unrivaled was that it really
empowered the players, like you said, and it was kind
of putting pressure on the CBA. Now, with this valuation,
everything you know about the CBA, do you think it
still has anything to do with any sort of pressure
still at all, seeing this four hundred million dollars.
Speaker 7 (24:23):
In some aspects, the CBA negotiations are independent between the
league and the union, of course, but it definitely has
informed the union as far as what value and what
sort of business the players have been able to raise themselves.
I mean, you have to remember that this is founded
by Anfisa Collier and Breonna Stewart, two WNBA players who
were able to do a lot of this business alongside
(24:45):
the infrastructure and the support that they have. And so
if two w players can do this in the league,
the WNBA is supported by billionaires, and you have to
imagine like the W players are then going back to
the negotiating table and be like, Okay, this is what
we're hearing, and the WA owners and there I imagine
their collective bargaining committee are saying, this is what we
think is a fair deal. This is what we don't
(25:05):
think is a fair deal, and we're gonna find out
on Halloween, which again is the most poetic date for
CBA negotiations to potentially end if they're going to be
able to come to terms.
Speaker 9 (25:15):
So it's interesting because one of the reasons why. I
feel like, obviously there could be a lockout for all
of the reasons that we know, but less detrimental because
they have this lead to play in actually where they're
making one hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 7 (25:27):
In some aspects, I mean, the player population is a
little smaller, but I do think that there are more
opportunities here than there were a couple of years ago,
and that's a lot. That's a huge factor in things.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
Randa Williams, Chairman and Ceoh no, I'm sorry, senior Business report.
Speaker 7 (25:42):
I think I'm just US sports business reporter, not senior yet,
but thank you.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
That's Bloomberg US sports business reporter and friend of the show,
Randa Williams speaking with my colleagues Damian Sasaer and Vanessa Perdomo.
Up next, we hear from PGA of America CEO Derek
Sprague as art of a special conversation from Bloomberg Power Players,
New York. I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg
Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Where we explored the big money issues in the world
of sports. I'm Michael Barr. Recently at World Headquarters in
New York, Bloomberg hosted Power Players. It's an annual event
that brings together some of the most influential in the
world of sports to talk about what's next in the industry.
PGA of America CEO Derek Sprague was at this year's
(26:42):
event and spoke with Bloomberg Texas Bureau Chief Julie Fine
about one of golf's most iconic competitions, the Ryder Cup,
and continuing to grow the game of golf. Let's listen
in looking.
Speaker 10 (26:54):
At golf now, you've got eighteen to thirty four year
olds playing like they've never played before. Women, that demographic
growing exponentially. So how do you capitalize on this moment
in golf?
Speaker 6 (27:06):
Well, I think with all the programs that the PGA
of America does, helps with the retention in the game,
helps with the growth of the game since the pandemic.
When you know, we haven't used the word social distancing
in a long time, but where you could get families
together playing the game together, and we've seen this multi
generational growth getting the you know, the parents and grandparents
getting the younger generation into the game. So we've seen
(27:28):
that explosion. We have more golfers today than we've ever
had in the game. Close to twenty eight million people
in this country are playing the game. Five hundred and
fifty million rounds of golfer played last year.
Speaker 10 (27:38):
And all eyes, of course, will be on the Ryder
Cup and Beth Page Black. This really gives you a
good opportunity to show what you can do at the
PGA of America PGA America, of course, that represents the
teaching golf professionals. You are in charge of the Ryder Cup,
you own and operate it. You own and operate PGA
championships as well. Talk about how you can really expand
(28:02):
your global footprint in a somewhat divided golf world.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Right.
Speaker 6 (28:06):
Well, the difference between the PGA Tour and the PGA
of America is we own majors on every tour. We
have a KPMG Women's PGA Championship, the Senior PGA Championship,
the PGA Championship for the men, and of course the
Ryder Cup being played sort of the backyard here of
New York City. So really, when you look at that
and the Ryder Cup really is the global event, if
you will, with Europe against the Americans here, and that
(28:29):
really when we look at the economic impact that the
Ryder Cup will be this year, we have two hundred
and sixty corporate partners. Thirty of those are global from
around the world, where you normally don't see that at
any of the other championships.
Speaker 10 (28:41):
And you've been to nine of them, nine Ryder Cups.
So can you talk a little bit about that, how
you're seeing more of that global footprint there.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
Well, I think you know, when you look at the
European team that was just announced on Monday, we see
those faces every week, you know, playing the regular tour,
we see them in our majors and and of course
we'll see them at the Ryder Cup. So yeah, exactly,
those the global impact of those players playing around the globe.
Speaker 5 (29:07):
It just helps grow the game globally and economically.
Speaker 10 (29:10):
What do you expect to see, especially in this area.
Speaker 6 (29:13):
Well, I think you know, this will generate close to
two hundred million dollars economic impact just in this one
week here. They're building a small city at a Bethpage
Black there, and this is an incredible stat We had
half a million people pre registered to get tickets for
the Ryder Cup. Just show you an unprecedented demand for
this event.
Speaker 5 (29:32):
We had over.
Speaker 6 (29:32):
Thirty thousand people apply to be a volunteer at this
year's Ryder Cup and we put you know, close to
four thousand people to work building this small city out there.
Speaker 5 (29:41):
So it's a huge economic impact.
Speaker 6 (29:43):
Golf is one hundred and two billion dollar year industry,
and the PGA of America is doing its part, especially
with the Ryder Cup.
Speaker 10 (29:49):
I want to talk economically about the changes that you've seen. Again,
you've done nine Ryder Cups up until now. I want
to talk about how the difference is you seen in
terms of what people are willing to spend, you know,
the global aspect of the entire thing, and the fan experience.
Speaker 6 (30:08):
Well, I think corporate America and fans alike love live
sporting events. That's what we're sort of in the business
with with our four spectator Championships and the corporate environment.
You know, their clients and their employees want to have those,
you know, sort of experiences that you can't find anywhere else.
Attending a Ryder Cup, attending a PGA Championship, one of
(30:29):
our Majors really provides an experience for those corporate partners
and their clientele.
Speaker 5 (30:35):
So we're on the right path. It's been booming.
Speaker 6 (30:38):
I've been involved for a number of years now, as
you mentioned, and you know, the product has changed a
little bit.
Speaker 5 (30:43):
We have triple deckers, so we have three story.
Speaker 6 (30:47):
High tents and out of beth Page and two story
venues there as well, seventy.
Speaker 5 (30:53):
Four thousand square feet of retail.
Speaker 6 (30:56):
I mean, it's really an incredible city that they're building out.
Speaker 10 (31:00):
We frequently talked about the changes that you see in
the game of golf. Largely the biggest one, of course,
is the live tour. Now, while your tour is different
than the tour that represents the elite pros, what do
you see the trajectory.
Speaker 6 (31:14):
Of this, Well, I think it's you know, again, we're
two different organizations. The PGA of America has allowed the
live players to play in our major championships in the
Ryder Cup, and we have Bryson D. Chambeau as a
live member. We'll be playing on our American team this year.
But yeah, I think, you know, I think it's it's
shed a lot of light on the on the elite
sport in the game, and I think.
Speaker 5 (31:36):
That's helped put a lot of eyeballs on golf.
Speaker 6 (31:38):
I think it's helping the retention rate, and certainly these
these pros.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
Have benefited for for large purses.
Speaker 6 (31:45):
That has put you know, some focus on on the
associations and the PGA Tour and the partners who corporate
partners coming up with these large purses. So but I
think again overall, it's great to to include the live
players in our championships because the golf consumer wants to
(32:06):
see the best players in the world, and they can
do that at the PGA Championship in this year's Ryder Cup.
Speaker 10 (32:10):
So in that aspect, you're seeing them play together in
certain tournaments, and you know, the bigger names of golf
are in both. Eventually, do you think that they merge
if you had to play your crystal ball out, when
do you see this going?
Speaker 6 (32:23):
Yeah, I mean, it'd be more of a question for
the tour, but I think, you know, I think it's
too early to tell. I mean, there's been a lot
of chatter that there probably won't be any reconciliation, but
I think that's okay. I think now we got a
new CEO at the PGA Tour that I've already met
Brian Rollapp and he's my counterpart and we've already been
(32:45):
talking about ways to make sure that we strengthen the
game at the elite level, So it'll be good to
work with him.
Speaker 10 (32:52):
Well, when you look at the technology, when you see
I mean, obviously you can see in your office, I
assure you you can see everything right and wrong with
your swing. But is there also a time where you've
got to get out on the course and really look
at your game.
Speaker 5 (33:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (33:06):
Absolutely, And that's what's neat about PGA Frisco and our
headquarters there when our partnerships with the Omni Hotel group
and we have this we have two amazing golf courses.
We have our twenty seven PGA Championship coming up there.
We had our Women's and our Senior PGA already there
in twenty three and twenty five. So we literally have
a golf course at our back door. So these associates
(33:30):
coming and train. We have three hundred employees that love
the game at golf as well, and they can literally
go out, they can hit balls on the driving range
right out our doors where they can go play a
couple of championship golf courses. We've got a short course
right there, and we've got a two weekre putting green.
All the short course and the putting green are lit
and just adds to the fun of the sport.
Speaker 10 (33:49):
Do you see a world where golf more broadly embraces
rule changes or different formats like you see things like
the match and they're playing at night. I mean, do
you see shorter rounds, more sin based content?
Speaker 5 (34:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (34:00):
I mean I think you know what is golf right,
and you sort of The National Golf Foundation is our
research arm for the industry, and it used to be well,
we're just going to count eighteen hole rounds. But if
you play nine holes, is that around a golf? If
you play a short course like called the Swing at
PGA Frisco, we have our finance group every day goes
out from noon to one fifteen and plays the quick
(34:21):
ten hole loop, is that golf?
Speaker 5 (34:22):
Absolutely?
Speaker 6 (34:23):
So I think these these varied forms of golf, whether
it's on course or then at sites like top Golf
where it's off course, I think all of that is
part of the sport and part of the lore of it.
And I think you're seeing people go from their couch
and video games to maybe these top golf venues to
en course, whether it's short course, nine holes or eighteen holes.
(34:44):
So yeah, it's all golf, and we're helping develop all
that in many aspects.
Speaker 10 (34:49):
In an era where we are seeing more and more
private equity in sports, what kind of pools do you
think golf should be looking at to increase revenue?
Speaker 6 (34:59):
Well, I think, you know, certainly with great assets like
the Ryder Cup and PG Championship and our other majors,
seniors and the women's. You know, private equity is getting
in all types of sports right now.
Speaker 5 (35:12):
SSG just got involved with the.
Speaker 6 (35:14):
PGA Tour a little over a year ago, and so
because golf in the demographic that it represents in the world,
like I said, as one hundred and two billion dollar industry,
so private equity is looking to see how they can
get in that industry as well. So I'm sure that
SYSSG got in with the PGA Tour and these other
(35:34):
private equity companies are getting involved with other sports to
sort of see how they can grow those products and
improve them.
Speaker 10 (35:40):
Ten years from now, what do you see the game
of golf looking like, both economically and sports wise?
Speaker 6 (35:46):
Yeah, I see it's going to continue to grow. You know,
just ten years ago when I was on the board
of the the PGA, it was an eighty two billion
dollar industry. Here we are ten years later, it's one
hundred and two. You know, I can see that being
north of one hundred and twenty one hundred and thirty
billion dollar industry that we're in.
Speaker 5 (36:03):
And it'll be interesting. On the sports.
Speaker 6 (36:05):
I think people will continue to love to attend live
sporting events. I think you'll see your corporate environments on
these small cities that we build will change over time.
They'll probably get higher in I mean, at this year's
Ryder Cup, we have VVIP experiences where we're going to
helicopter people in from the city and you know, backdoor
(36:26):
entrances and stuff. Just they want These people want this.
There's a lot of wealth in and around live sports,
and certainly with golf, and it has helped us shape
our corporate hospitality products at our venues.
Speaker 10 (36:41):
Before I let you go, I do want to know
you played golf with a lot of people. What is
the most unique round you've ever played?
Speaker 6 (36:48):
Well, I've been fortunate enough to play with a lot
of tour pros and this will probably be a boring answer,
but you know, anytime I can play with my kids
my family is really a joy. And you know, I
can remember walking down the fairway with my son, who
was sixteen years old at the time, and I said,
just think, I said, we can play this sport for
another seventy years or so.
Speaker 5 (37:09):
My grandfather took up.
Speaker 6 (37:11):
The game of golf at age seventy four, so anybody
in the audience out there is never too late to
take up the sport. But but I had the good
fortune to play with great players like Bernard Langer. When
you talk about longevity, right, and that guy's in his
mid sixties, I think, and can play as good as
the best players in the world. And he is so disciplined,
(37:32):
so disciplined in his workouts, in his game of golf,
but also with his family and his faith and stuff.
And I can just remember when I played with him,
just in AWE, say, I mean, this guy doesn't he's like,
you know, he's German, So I said, he's just like
a German automobile, finally tuned, finally engineered. And he was
just a joy to play with and such a gentleman
(37:54):
that I really remember that round of golf with him.
Speaker 10 (37:57):
And I can't ask you to pick your favorite course
because I know that challenging, but certainly your most memorable
one that everyone here that plays golfer enjoys that should
make sure.
Speaker 5 (38:05):
To get to.
Speaker 6 (38:05):
Yeah, I mean right here in your backyard, Beth Page
Black is just incredible. You know, as Keegan said, our captain,
you know, used to be New York's courses a public park,
but it's going to be America's course here in a
few weeks. But I've had the good fortune of.
Speaker 5 (38:20):
Playing some of the finest private courses in the world.
I love playing.
Speaker 6 (38:24):
I played Cyprus Point, you know, hearing the ocean crashing
in and the seals barking on the rocks out there
was memorable because they have a lot of inland core
inland holes as well, So you go from hearing the
ocean to very peaceful and then ending near the ocean.
Speaker 5 (38:39):
That was pretty memorable.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
That was PGA of America CEO Derek Sprague on stage
with the Bloomberg Texas Bureau chief Julie Fine. You want
to hear more from power players, check out the Bloomberg
Business of Sports podcast feed. Some of our most recent
editions have several conversations from the event, including conversations with
two times WNBA champion and four time Olympic gold medalist
(39:03):
Sylvia Fowls, Aries Management co founder Michael Arrugetti, and five
time NBA All Star New York Knicks center Karl Anthony Towns.
Check it out now wherever you get your podcast, and
subscribe so you never miss an episode. And that does
it for this edition of The Bloomberg Business of Sports.
For my colleagues Vanessa Perdomo and Damien Sassauer, I'm Michael Barr.
(39:25):
Tune in again next week for the latest on the
stories moving big money in the world of sports. You're
listening to The Bloomberg Business of Sports Bloomberg Radio around
the world.
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