Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - February 18th, 2022

edition of Bloomberg Business Week. A special holiday weekend program ahead, as we look back on our recent visit to Beverly Hills that was for the Bloomberg Power Players Summit, a fantastic event, Carroll. The event did take place ahead of Super Bowl fifty six in l A, bringing together power broker's senior execs, world class athletes, all of them to talk about game changing shifts of the six hundred billion

dollar global sports business. Ahead on the program, you're gonna hear from the likes of ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, American soccer legend Carly Lloyd, w w E Chief brand Officer Steph McMahon, and Pro Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson. He actually ended up having a pretty good weekend, he did. Indeed, it was definitely an all star line up. First of all though he did speak with us and then his former team, as you know, the L A. Rams held

off the Cincinnati Bengals to win the World Championship. All of that and more to come, but let's kick it off with a man who knows a little something about Super Bowl success. Two time champion linebacker totally Banta Caine, and a lot has changed since he left the gridiron more than a decade ago. When I played, there was no social media. There was no Twitter, no Instagram, any of that stuff. I mean it was at the tail

end of my career. So for players now just to have the that platform or so many platforms to get to engage with their fans and and to really tell their stories, I mean, that's an awesome time for sports in general. Hey, I want to talk a little bit about going from player to coach and in changing sort of the idea of what you're doing out there on the field. How do you do that, How do you make that transition and how do you take what you learned as a player and help younger people and people

earlier in their careers. Uh, well, you just have to reflect on the time that when you were a kid or when you were young and realize that these kids are just they're trying to get where you're at, and so you have you have to draw from that knowledge and experience from going from player to coach. I think it's a lot of when you listen and watch other styles of coaches, then you can kind of see what works for you or what worked for you and what didn't work for you, and try to make it your own.

All right, you know what we all want to ask you? So talked to us about playing with the Patriots and Tom Brady. Uh dream come true? I mean, uh, I still it's been over ten years now. It's just when I look back, it's hard to really believe that that happened to me. But when I was drafted to New England, Um, did you want to be there? You know? I didn't even know where it was to be honest, I didn't had no idea where New England was, what it was about.

I knew they had won a Super Bowl two years prior, so getting there and being able to win a Super Bowl my rookie year was like really because I never went to a bowl game in college, went to Berkeley, you know, the powerhouse, and uh, then to win it back to back was just like, oh man, I'm on the Super Bowl every year. And then obviously playing with great guys like Tom Brady and that whole team, you know, from the Mike Vrabels to the Teddy Bruce Ki's Troy Browns.

I mean, everyone that was on that team was just a special type of player, because you do realize not everybody has the same experience, like the same you know what I mean, there are other players with teams where it doesn't necessarily go so well, like you know, something's magical. Yeah, I mean I was just talking to Eric Dickerson, who was like, you know, did you play? I was like, yeah, I played. He's like you, who'd you play with? New England? Always?

So you want some rings and I want some rings to do win some rings. No, I didn't win any rings, you know, so it's like, wow, this is Eric Dickerson, you know, kind of you know, and all of the fact that I want winnings, and it's like, you know, there are a lot of stories where I have you know, I don't take for granted the fact that I want two of them. Surprised by Brady's retirement at all, I mean, I'm not surprised because I didn't want I wanted him to go out where the game didn't take him out.

You don't want to see him leaving the game on a stretcher, right, So the fact that he was able to do it on his own terms, Uh, it's great. But I don't count him out making a comeback, really, I don't. I don't know when the type of person he is, if he stays in shape, uh, and he sees an opportunity to win another one, he's gonna take it. Knowing who he is. Well, it's interesting too as a player.

The conversations we often have at these events is players who play really well and then they're done, and then they're in a tough wayire financially or thinking about what comes next. How do you think about that? Um? I mean, I think it's a serious issue among a lot of players because you know, you've gotta think you're coming into a professional game at years old. You don't really have

that much business acumen of business sense. So when you get into the real world, the NFL can prepare you in certain ways with you know, teamwork and working with people, but there are other things that you kind of miss by not being in that realm. So I think a lot of players they try to get into it and it's it's can be overwhelming. Hey, we've been speaking a lot of today about the Brian Floors lawsuit and the lack of diversity in the NFL, especially at the coaching level,

not to mention the ownership of team levels. Would be curious to get your thoughts on this and where you see things it out. Well, I mean the game is changing, uh, and the league itself is changing where you know, they're they're trying to make room for for guy minority players and coach players obviously, but the coaching realm is uh is wide open, and I think there's so many worthy candidates to get in and um, where isn't it happening? Well, uh, you know it's a it's you got to look at

the top. I mean the ownership is I would say, what Caucasian or what's the right word, uh, European descent. So, um, you know, I think when there's a time where players may come together and you know, uh crowdsource some money and and uh maybe on on the on their own league, well you know it's thinking about your background your African American right also Irish said, it's great, but but but that's so American, like we're all got you know, the

melting pot. But it's so true, right, that's our common ground. But I'm just curious, you know, why we don't understand that that that's the threat of America, right, And why isn't there more of that common ground in sports, in the NFL and just more generally. Well, I do think it's involved. I think it's gotten better if you look back just in the history of time. But I think with everything happening now with social media, the Internet, we're

seeing a change. And I think the game and what I'm actually about to start doing myself, I'm founding a new type of league or a new type of exhibition game for NFL players. That's kind of what's happening with boxing, where you see Jake Paul and Magweather getting these big events, but we don't even know who's the the up and

coming title runner, right. So I think the same thing can happen with the NFL, where you can get an exhibition type game put together where guys can play one time in a pay per view event and and and people eat it up. That was two times Super Bowl winning linebacker with the New England Patriots, totally Banta Kane coming up more for the Bloomberg Power Players Summit, and a conversation with a different sort of champion footballer. We're

talking about US women's sucker legend, Carly Lloyd. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes. Tim Stinovik from Bloomberg Radio. Our next guest took part in a panel discussion on the modern athlete at last week's Bloomberg Power Players Summit in Beverly Hills Now. The panel focused on the growing role athletes are playing in our world and the influence that they have on our culture.

Carli Lloyd is no stranger to the global spotlight, having built a resume that includes two Olympic gold medals, to FIFA Women's World Cup Championships, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards. You gotta say she was just super nice the soccer Icon, announcing her retirement from the sport after seventeen year run in the professional ranks. Now, she's poised to make an impact far beyond the field, as she seeks to transfer her athletic skills to new business ventures.

You know, I don't think any moment can prepare you for this moment. But I think what I did during my career and throughout the course of my career, I set myself up nicely to retire, and I'm at peace with that decision. And now it's about building, continuing to build my brand and uh continuing to just you know, break barriers within the woman's game. And I think we're in a really great space to to just keep empowering so many other women. And uh, the sport, the sports

growing tremendously. I want to talk to you about that. But when did you first start playing? I first started playing at the age of five. Wow, did you like it? Right away? I loved it. My parents signed me up for you know, multiple different sports. Um, I swam, played softball, basketball, I actually, uh did skiing as well. They put they my parents put us in ski school and then they went off and skied on their own and enjoyed that.

So I did so many different sports and I really believe that that has helped shaped who I am as a person and player to this day. But you know, when my mom signed me up for dance and piano. Um I screamed and cried going to practice, and I didn't with soccer. So I think that was a very good indication that I was interested in that when it came to sports growing up, though, at what point did you realize that you were special when it came to soccer.

I think a lot of other people saw the talent uh in me and and just noticed that I was different from a lot of other players. Um I loved it, you know, that was that was my biggest thing. Is I just loved playing. And you know they really say for love of the game. It was it was for love of the game, and I think you know, for me, the turning point was watching Women's World Cup team play

in the US. Got to go to a game, and for me that was that was a real big moment that changed my life because I looked out onto that field watching from the stands, and I knew that that was what I wanted to do. So those women helped inspire me, and now I'm helping to inspire so many other generations coming up. The pipeline talked to us about that because it's not easy or women in lots of different industries and certainly not in sports, and you know

the inequities that are out there. I'd like to think it's getting better, but you tell me, because you've seen it front and center. I'd like to say that we're at a stage where we can just kind of rest in our laurels, but that's not the case. I feel like it's just this constant evolution of continuing to push and break these barriers. The women before me, uh did it as well. When I first came onto the team in two thousand and five, they were fighting for guaranteed

contracts so they didn't didn't have to work anywhere. They were fighting for health insurance for pregnancy leave, um. And I just get, you know, two checks from playing in two games and coming out of college, and I'm thinking this is amazing, um. But I didn't realize the magnitude of what they were fighting for. And that laid the foundation for myself for you know, all all my teammates that I played for, and now we're doing the same

for this next generation coming in. Does name, image, likeness and the ability for now college athletes like, does that help in terms of giving women maybe some more power? I think it does help. Um. You know, I was recently talking with a you know, a field hockey player who's going to college who lives in our area, and um, she's nationally ranked, like number one field hockey player in the country, and she just wants to play right. But they have the opportunity to to build a brand. And

and what I told her was just be authentic. You know. I built my brand off of just being authentic, true to myself. It all happened organically. UM. But that's the best way to go because I think now you're gonna see, you know, all of these young players get any dated with so many opportunities, and it's like you can't just

pick everything that comes your way. Um. And I think that that is really going to be the key, is just being smart with the decisions that they're making, um, and really dive deep and figure out what type of brand they want to be and represent. How do you think the role of an athlete changed in society during your career? And I asked that not just as we've seen athletes increasingly become investors, but also increasingly takes stands

off the field for political causes. It's been huge. I've had sort of the best of both worlds and different worlds. Two thousand five to about two thousand ten, there was really no social media presence at all. You know. I just played soccer focused on that and that was it. Once two thousand ten, two thousand eleven World Cup hit, Uh, that's when I joined Twitter and social media became very prevalent.

And now you have all these opportunities to build your brand and have opportunities to you know, make posts for for you know, money, and sign on with different endorsements. So I think it's just really uh, you know, a unique space to be in. Um. You know, it's not something that I would you know, recommend people just you know doing right away. I mean, I think it just you have to be really smart. You have to be

diligent about it. You have to figure out what you're really passionate about and the way you want your brand to go. I think that's the most important thing. Um. You know, you don't want to just a quick hit of something just because you think you're going to earn a few bucks. Um. And I've just kind of built this brand over time. But it's been you know, it's been incredible to have the platform to be able to voice concerns about different things going on in the world

on and off the field. And do you feel like you have freedom to do to say what you want without any kind of repercussions or is there always a little bit of management and balance in that. For me as a player, when I was playing, my social media portrayed motivational quotes, Uh, me playing, me training, working hard, and that's what I wanted to be about. You know, I I kind of kept my private life separate. People didn't really see a whole glimpse of, you know, what

what life is like. But that was intentional. Right, Yeah, you're absolutely, absolutely, And now you know, I'm I'm sharing a little bit more. I've got some nieces I kind of post them and um, but yeah, it's if you know what I'm thinking, and we're thinking polity tix and we're thinking with the Olympics, like this has been a tricky, very tricky game, I think for athletes, and I just think, you know, you guys are our role models. Um. And I think increasingly the public fans look to all of you,

and some don't want politics and sports. I think they think it's a break, but others expected. So I just wonder how you manage that. Yeah, I try to stay positive. I think that's that's the most important thing for me, is just living a very authentic, positive life, shedding light on different failures success, how hard it is to be the best at something in the world, and that's what I want my message to be. That was two time FIFA Women's World Cup Champion and two time FIFA Player

of the Year Carli Lloyd. We spoke with her from the Bloomberg Power Players Summit. Still ahead on Bloomberg Business Week watching the Super Bowl in the metaverse. You ready to him, I'm ready. It's in the works, folks, It's for real. We'll find out how close we really though are to the next big breakthrough in the immerse of sports experience. We're going to talk to Peter Moore of Unity Technologies formerly Liverpool Football Club CEO. On the other side.

This is Bloomberg broadcasting from the financial capital of the World, Bloomberg eleven Frio in New York to Washington, d C. Bloomberg to Boston, Bloomberg one oh six one to San Francisco, Bloomberg nine sixty to the country. Sirius XM Chado one nine team and around the globe of Bloomberg Business app and Bloomberg Radio dot com. This is Bloomberg Business Week. Well, you know, sports are increasingly crossing over into other areas. You see it gaming, betting, long form content creation and

a lot more. Peter Moore first made his mark on the video game industry at Electronic Arts, Microsoft Xbox. He was at SEGA of America before a Stinness CEO of European football giant Liverpool FC. Now he's the Senior VP and General Manager of Sports and Live Entertainment at the big game engine make Unity Technologies. We caught up with Peter at last week's Bloomberg Power Players sum just before

Super Bowl fifty six. Peter told us Unity is reaching beyond the gaming world and using its tools to help drye processes such as film production and even sports broadcasts. It's more than gaming. Unity who I've known for years being in the gaming business before I went off to Liverpool to do a little bit of traditional sports. UM started off life as a mobile gaming engine and it's really grown under the direction of leadership of my former

bossity A John Ricktello. About six thousand people now, forty five officers, and we focus on real time three D bringing things to life. And obviously, and I'm going to use the metaverse where it is like you gotta go there is he gonna bob Cha Peck of Disney was all in on it on his earnings call this week. Well, we believe you know that the metaverse, everything's going to

be in three dimensions. We're going to interact three dimensionally, either as avatars or go into environments, shopping, sporting events in three dimensionals. And so when how long does it take though to get there? We're still were still a ways away from a real time element of it, but we've been working a unity with the UFC, who have been incredible collaborators, and we've captured volumetrically to UFC Fight

is here in Los Angeles a few months ago. And what this means is that not only can you watch your UFC fight, but then on your smartphone or your tablet, we will deliver to you three D imagery that you can manipulate and interact with. And you know, as a guy that remembers watching football, soccer and black and white, this feels like when color arrived and it just opened

up my world. It was a completely different experience. So I understand it from a perspective of content consumption and perhaps gaming, but from a hardware perspective, what does it look like? And and who owns that space? Who wins there? Well, the hardware, it could be via obviously virtual reality. Augmented reality we think plays a role here. When we say augmented reality, you mean that is Google class back in

the yea on this table. We're here right now, actually three dimensionally, the super Bowl could be played out three dimensionally in in what probably looks holographic but instead of flat imagery what augmented reality. We all played Pokemon Go. But you have this idea of things that come to life in interesting ways, typically using a smartphone or a tablet to look at them and view with them, and

the unity. We're doing this not not only in gaming, but automotive design, construction, architecture, bringing the world to life, creating digital twins and and getting away from carving clay models for cars and things of that nature, which feels so archaic now and and bring that to life in sports is a big deal for us. So sports games, the super Bowl, the metaverse, that's not something unusual maybe

in the future, not at all. I think at first you're going to see, for example, the food fighters have got their concert after In VR, you do need the headset um. A lot of people find VRE difficult. There's only so much you can tolerate. But ultimately, I think that's the first step in my life. I've been in video games off and on for twenty five years, and the more you need hardware, they are a little more challenge.

You get is you talked about Google Glass and that that when by the wayside, is I'm getting to a plain and so you want you want to be able to interact in devices like these laptops we have in front of us without having a bespoke piece of hardware, and that's what we're working on. I think we'll watch spoarding events in in on television and we currently do.

Like I'm watching Liverpool a goal is scored, I watched them yesterday, and I go to my tablet and then manipulate that imagery and what we call six degrees of freedom. I want to be in the penalty area when the shot is made. I want to be behind the goalkeeper as he makes the save. And you can do that with volumetric capture. Hey Peter for our investor audience, who are the winners here other than Unity? Of course? I mean, look,

it takes it takes hardware, it takes chips. Yeah, you know, it takes manufacturing in order to bring this to life. But yeah, I mean, and look at the context of course of this question, is Facebook or Meta Platforms Inc. Investors don't think they're the winner right now? I think, you know, I go back to the dial up days of when I was at Sega. We were burning video games somehow with thirty frames per second NFL, NBA, NHL via dial up modium and that modem was running a

fifty six K and and it sounds ridiculous. Somehow we got those games until your mom picked up the phone in the other room and then the disaster. You're welcome to my life because that is what happened. But the dreamcast led the way to Sega Dreamcast. What what the point I'm making is it takes a while, it takes a village. In the cases were saying real time three D. It's not just Unity, but but camera companies like Cannon

and Sony need to build those volumetric capture cameras. Computing companies that delivered networks like Cisco, for example, and then the five g s, particularly in North America, desperate for this content. That was Peter Moore, Senior VP and General Manager of Sports and Live Entertainment at the publicly held Unity Technologies. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. Coming up next, one of our featured panel discussions from the Bloomberg Power

Players Summit. What the biggest content makes are doing to attract the next generation of sports and entertainment consumers. My conversation with w w E Chief Brand Officer Steph McMahon and Marie Donohue, the VP of Global Sports Video over at Amazon. A great duo. This is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovik from Bloomberg Radio. No, I'm a geriatric millennial. I'm an old millennial. I can't believe that's actually even

my youngest brothers, not even a gen z here. Does it feel weird? Um? It does? Yeah, it does feel a little weird, right, because millennials with young people for all for so long. There are many of my colleagues. All right, well, we're gonna talk not really about millennials. We're gonna do buy gen zuh. They're interacting with the world much differently than millennials or geriatric millennials like tim

from aren't phones to VR and streaming apps. Children ages ten to seventeen roughly likely to consume content virtually anywhere other the traditional broadcast TV. The trend has leagues and teams worried over how to win the attention of more diverse audiences and younger sports fans. Carol You hosted a panel at last week's Bloomberg Power Players Summit with two women who have some keen insight into the issue. They do.

Indeed's definent man is chief brand officer over w w E, and Mari Dona Hue is the VP of Global Sports Video at Amazon. I began by asking Steph how the company her father, Vince McMahon built into a global powerhouse plans to grab future fans off the sidelines. W w E was always generational viewing. You know, you had kids that were brought into it by their parents. Everybody's sitting around the same screen, and even though we're still the most watched sport outside of the NFL. Um By for

family viewing. It's diminishing so quickly. So when you're losing that when everyone has these screens and they have their own different methods of of watching, you know, whatever it is they want to dodge or whatever it is they want to play, all of the different distractions, how are you going to reach these kids? It's it's a big problem. It's I would call it a challenge. Actually the better

word is opportunity. Okay, we're gonna talk about you're finding, um those opportunities where we come on in on this Amazon right aggressively moving into sports. How do you guys speak about the younger fan? So I'm going to follow up on Stephanie. It's an opportunity and we think, you know, we we it's all white space for us. So we're really excited about the opportunity. And it's you can't do

it the way it's always been done. You know, kids want to watch their content when, where and how they want, So we see it as a great opportunity. We are on every single screen, every single piece of glass, and over forty countries, so we we we go at them where they are, We reach them where they are, and then we're really excited about optionality. You don't have to

have the same experience Stephanie. Stephanie and I probably want to watch She's probably a better and I'm more a character driven fan, you know, I like the story or vice versus. So we believe in a lot of optionality because that's what they expect, and we also think you have to have been much more interactive. So we Amazon owns Twitch, which we've learned so much from our in

our interaction with Twitch. We've been showing Thursday night football on Twitch for several years and it's a totally different experience. We literally have an interactive experience on Twitch, and folks are watching it with their favorite creator. They it's we We literally they don't necessarily go to watch just an event. They go to watch with the community that they're with all week. So it's we think it's a great opportunity and I think I think the league see it that

way too. We've been talking we just did a live broadcast here at Bloomberg Radio and a lot about community and how you create these communities between fans and players. Stephanie w w E. The origins go back several decades, so how do you continue to dice and slice content and provide optionality and so that you make sure you're

meeting younger fans, but also a more diverse audience. Absolutely, so our audience is actually female, and we over index for both has been especially with the women's evolution, which I can get into in a little bit UM, but we over index for African American and Hispanic viewers as well. And our talent roster is, you know, ethnically diverse. So it's a true representation, you know, and people see themselves in our product and I think that's always been the way.

It's reflective of culture. That's how you stay relevant UM. And to Marie's point, you have to go where people are, where the viewers are when they're watching, how they're watching, what they want to watch. You have to create customized content for all different platforms. So for w W where platform agnostic, you know. For our television shows regularly scheduled, we have partnerships with Fox and USA Network. We produced seven hours of live content at a minimum every single week,

fifty two weeks a year UM. But then we also have an a VOD strategy UM, which is our our digital and social strategy across all platforms. Were the number one sports property on YouTube. Um actually more so than any of the other sports leagues combined. UM number one sports property and TikTok um just ahead of the NBA. Because we want to be where our fans are and especially where these younger generational viewers are and on streaming.

So are formerly known as pay per views are premium live events stream domestically on Peacock and ww network around the world. Is it basically Marie and steph like, if somebody calls you, it's a platform, You're like, yes, let me talk to you. Like Marie, like, do you say no to nobody or how do you kind of pick through and say here's where we need to focus our Yeah?

We so we absolutely. Before we answer that question, I want to give Stephanie credit because one of my favorite events ever was one that you invited me to, which was the first all women's pay per view, which was so powerful. Is out in NASA Coliseum and literally to see these daughters with their sea whole families, but especially to see these daughters and literally see the legends in Ronda and everybody. So anyway, so she walks the walk

and talks the talk. UM. So yeah, something to that because we're in an environment where a lot of people make statements, say things, but they don't actually follow through. So kudo yes, um, yeah, So no, we want to be on every piece of glass. I mean, you obviously have to prioritize your time and and figure out. We don't do a hundred alternate telecasts. We do you know, two or three right now, and we'll do more in the future. So you don't. You can't. It can't be

unlimited optionality. But for every platform, we need to that's our marching orders, and we are on every platform if there's a piece I've said, you know, it's not easy to deliver millions of concurrent streams without latency issues, and we do that. We do with the Premier League, the Champions League, and I'll be in the war room and there'll be a slight issue with There'll be an issue with one platform, and you know that we're trying to

work through with the engineers. And in any other company, a lot of other companies would say, well, how big is that audience? Do we need to be on that platform. That's not how Amazon thinks. We have to be on every piece of glass. So we spend our time figuring out how do we fix that glitch, how do we make sure people on that device also get great service? And it's hard because you all, you know yourselves, all

these TVs out there, smart TVs. People don't replace their TVs that often, so it's hard when you're trying to serve live on all those platforms. Let's talk deals, because you guys did a big one for Peacock, right, Um, I think a billion dollars or so it's been said. It's so it's been said, Um, what did that do

for you guys? Well, so WW launched the WW network are direct to consumer platform roughly eight years ago, so we were one of the first UM and we were also one of the first to realize we don't want to deal with all the technology problems, you know that that are right opportunities exactly exactly. We don't want to be competing, you know, with the Disneys of the world in terms of technology and apples and amazons, et cetera. Content, Right,

we're content producers. That's what we want to focus on. UM. So in the US we did domestic our license our content domestically to Peacock, and we're we announced another partnership with Disney in Asia. UM, that we're very excited about and look for a few more deals to to to roll out, you know internationally soon. It's all good. It's all good, it's all good. Gravy. Well, speaking of content, it is about content, content, content, and UM read Amazon

big deal with the NFL. I mean when that I heard about it, Dori Cross, we were all like, Wow, Amazon and the NFL. Yeah, no, it was Look, it's it's a game changer for us. It's it's it's a game changer for the industry, I think, and you know, it didn't happen overnight. We've been in business with the NFL for about five years. I think we had five years of Tricast where we shared the Thursday night game

with with NFL network and a broadcast network. So we worked a lot with them, gained a lot of trust. UM Our Premier League was the first time we actually had exclusive rights for something that drove millions of concurrent viewers. And that was really important to the NFL because they saw we could do it and they weren't putting the the fan experience at risk. So UM, it was it was we we we consider ourselves, UM a key part strategic partner for them and to help them reach different audiences.

We've been working with them on Twitch for years. AWS. Amazon Web Services has a huge partnership with the NFL helping behind the scenes on player health and safety and and um all sorts of behind the scenes next gen stats. So it's a big, huge Amazon partnership. But I think it's a really strategic partnership for both of us because we want to you you see where fans are going. I mean, it's not it's not your parents media anymore.

So we have to innovate and engage fans differently, and so it's we're working really really closely with an a lot more in terms like I gotta ask because I'm going to talk to Jimmy Pitaro es Piano of it later on Sunday ticket which which the Sunday Tickets Sunday ticket package. Um. So we're really excited about our Thursday Night football hoping for a headline. But all of these things that you guys are talking about different platform ms content, you know, does it get to that younger fan. We

have found success yes. So for example, in TikTok Um, we did an announcer contest for Summer Slam, so and we had actually tried a few different things because I think it's really important to test and learn right and and you know, the NFL wanted to make sure their fan experience was going to be just right, which is which is absolutely the right way to go. But you have to be willing to take chances, and the today's

audience is willing to let you do that. That was depnic Man, the Chief Brand Officer at w w E, along with Marie Dona Hue, VP of Global Sports Video at Amazon. And that wraps up the first hour of the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. I'm Carol mass there and I'm Jim Stanivik. Coming up

in our next hour. More from the Bloomberg Power Players Summit in Beverly Hills, including a deep dive into the age of mobile sports betting with the chairman of ESPN and Sports Content at the Walt Disney Company, Jimmy Pitaro, also Brewin Sports Capital CEO George Pine. The two of them are buddies, so it's really fun to have them up on stage together. Plus Pro Football Hall of Fame or Eric Dickerson on the financial challenges facing many players

once their careers are over. Tim, I gotta say whenever we're speaking with an athlete, a professional athlete in particular, especially those like in the NFL, man, you know a lot of them have a tough time financially once the game is over. It's pretty amazing to see the different directions that former pro athletes have taken after they finished their professional sports careers. Coming up next, the excitement of space.

It's not just for billionaires anymore, Carol. How one company is enabling customers to float through the year without actually going into orbit or spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. You ready for this one? Yeah, I'll do it in a second. Alright, cool. Maybe it's another field. I don't know if it's a sport, though. It's not inexpensive either,

It's not alright. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week, inside from the reporters and editors who bring you America's most trusted business magazine, plus global business finance and tech news as it happened. Sloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes. Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Hi'm Carol Masser and plenty ahead in our second hour of the special weekend edition Holiday edition of Bloomberg Business Week.

It's all from the Bloomberg Power Players Summit, including what the convergence of mobile, sports, betting and social media mean for the six hundred billion dollar global sports business. You talked all about that, Carol, with ESPN chairman Jimmy Pittaro and Bruins Sports Capital CEO George Pine. Plus, we spoke to NFL greadt Eric Dickerson about his new memoir, Also former Super Bowl winner Nagi Good on the mobile technology

platform that he co founded. Can I already say that these are probably some of my favorite conversations for the year? All Right, I want to I'm already ready to get these guys back. You're thinking about playing football now, I don't know playing, but you know, certainly watching more of it. All right, First up this hour, we're going to talk about technology, specifically the growing market for space travel and

tourism and maybe it being a sport. Right. It turns out it's not just for a professional astronauts or even Captain Kirk, it could be for all of us. We spoke with Matt Good, CEO of privately held space entertainment and tourism company Zero Gravity Corporation. He says, you don't have to spend big with the likes of Virgin Galactic or Blue Origin to find out what it's really like to be an astronaut. So none of these, with exception of flying up with Elon, is going into space. I mean,

so you don't buy that. You don't think the Virgin Galactic goes into space. Well, technically neither of them are or say orbital, and there's the Carmen line, which is this you know number that they say is space. But from basis goes higher than that. He goes basically to

the Carmen line. Richard goes and slightly below it. But when you wouldn't really talk about space, you're talking either suborbital, which is them and really us and some others that are developing, but they have to blast off the well you're going up on a rockets and um. But you know you've got to get out of the Earth's gravity to basically say yeah, I'm truly in space. That could really go wrong. You know, Sorry, they're still go wrong with my car trying to get here today. All right,

So tell us about what you guys are doing. So what we're doing, we've been around for a while as we create the experience of being in space in zero gravity where you're floating, doing somersaults, hanging in mid air, very similar to being out in orbit or on the International Space Station. And we do it via are very highly customized Boeing seven twenty seven one same size. I went online. It's pretty cool. It's very cool. It's very unique. And we basically pitch up at about UM fifty degrees.

You're feeling a little under two gs. So what that means is like your body weight is sort of pulling you down. Hasn't hurt, it's just weird. And then when you get up to the top, you're literally start floating off the off the mats and now you are in zero gravity and you have the exact and when we train astronauts, we have astronats on it. It's the same feeling as being on the I S S. What's the altitude you go to, It's not a function of altitude.

It's a function of how quickly you climb and fall exactly. And again people also think it's the fall. You actually start witlessness at the top of the parabola. So by the time the planes kind of tipped over, you already back on the mats, and then we're getting ready to do it again totally acceleration and velocity. What's the demand bin for your business? Have they gone crazier too? With everybody else shooting up into space? So it was going

well for us? Is there Captain Kirk effect? I think exactly, Um, you know, space has become so topical, you know, and again thinks I think to really elon, you know, with the reusable rocket, and then with with Richard Branson with Virgin and then with Jeff with what he's doing with Blue Origin. Is people are seeing space as something that's in their consciousness, and we give you more time and zero gravity than they do. You just don't get the view.

You're not, you know, with them, you should be you know, planted at the window looking at the blue Earth. With us, you're basically doing somersaults and flying like Superman and and doing these things which are the uber coolest thing a person can do. I would also imagine a little cheaper than going on a trip one origin how much, so it's about two to come up with us um for about seven eight minutes of zero out at the time

with Richard, it's about four fifty. And though they don't they don't have a price yet with Bezos, but I'm gonna guess it's about a million five And we've seen people pay upwards of tens of millions of dollars. Yeah, I think, you know, I think the most expensive was the first one, which is the guy I think spent twenty But it's profitable. Um, we are, I'd like to say we're pro former profitable. We invest a lot in the business, but now we're you know, generating cash and growing.

We're gonna take on two new planes, two more planes to build out the demands there, and the demands not just there from cool experiences but for science. So how for a business of science like what specifically, so a lot of a lot of science that's done on the plane is how do things act in microgravity or in the space so fluid transfers, how things come together? All these things and with the space stations being built now, the need for even more of that is there. And

we train astronauts. The last four that went up on inspiration for training with us, the next four they are going up at the end of March with Axiom to the Space station training with US. So part of that initial feeling before you get up there is coming through us those government contracts that you're getting. Yes, so for some of the projects we are working with NASA and some of the other things we do, we definitely get

government contracts. We've actually just got a fairly big one in a competitive environment to basically do a lot of super things. And and there's one thing I can't quite yet announce now that I think is the coolest um. But the other thing we're looking to do is we wait, wait, wait, wait you could I can't. Yeah, you could, but you want to go to jail UM. So the really cool thing we've actually been thinking about, and here we are at this really as a sports summit, is introducing a

high gravity training program. So basically, when you're climbing like this, you're pulling two gs and the atmosphere in the plane is similar to be like like Lake Tahoe. Heard about them, you know, so the same environment as being in Lake Tahoe as far as you know pressure, and now you've got two g's. So think of doing push ups twice your body weight at Lake Tahoe. Just as an example.

So instead of doing the pair um parable, isn't giving all that, We're just gonna go up, down, up, down and give you twenty five minutes of literally the highest intensity, coolest workout known to man. That's Matt god the CEO of Zero Gravity Corporation. Would you do that over doing the other stuff if money wasn't if you weren't thinking about the financial cost of going up into space like this one over Blue Origin? Yeah? No, I mean if if if I didn't have to pay for any of it,

I would do Blue Origin. Okay, yeah, really go off to space, right, yeah, and looking back at Earth it's pretty cool. Yeah. I don't think i'd do a SpaceX one yet. That's like, that's that's too much, Okay, too far? Good to know. Al Right, Well, you're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. Coming up. Pro Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson on his hard Road to Canton, his memoir, and how players should plan for life beyond the gridiron. This

is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes. Tim Stinovik from Bloomberg Radio. Eric Dickerson played eleven NFL seasons for the l A Rams, Indianapolis Colts, l A Raiders, in Atlanta Falcons. He still holds the NFL single season rushing record that was set back in eighty four, and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That was in It's all

in his new book, Watch My Smoke. He joined us last weekend in Beverly Hills at the Bloomberg Power Players Summit that was ahead of the Rams Super Bowl win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Still hurt, Still hurts, all right. Well. His memoir took nearly fifteen years to complete, and it comes at a point where financial inequality continues to divide many Americans along racial line, something he came to know all too well early in life. It just came at

the right time. I mean that didn't plan only coming out with all the stuff that's going on, right he just came out at the right time, and it really did. It wasn't like a plan like I won't drop it, you know at this time with everything going on, But it just kind of worked out like that. You know, I think about and I am going to go to racism and diversity and inclusion because I think about Black Wall Street. I am Florida, and I think a lot of individuals are in this country that that has not

been a part of our history. And you realize you're not telling American history unless you tell it all and you tell it all accurately. And it's control, like there's been a lot of control of the narrative of so much and incorrectly. So wow, you know you say that, give me cold chill saying it because I know it's true.

I mean, and because Mamma Tabe I was born, my mother was born who adopted me, was born in nineteen o four, and she telled me, Eric, you say, she's something you don't You don't know the things that I've seen. She said, I've seen things that you wouldn't even believe, you know, because she was born in that in that in that time. And she said, you know, I know the evil things that the white man does, you know.

And I'm like, I was, I've never seen that. So it's like she would tell me something like I said, that can happen, but it but it really does. And and so you know, it's it's it's sad that they hide stuff. I'm like, hey, if you're gonna tell it. Tell the whole story, you know, to that point, tell the story of what you saw in the NFL and what you experienced in the NFL, or maybe even go back earlier in college. You know, I'll go back with me. And the media never kind of saw out of eye.

And I just started college because you know, as a young kid coming out of Seeley, Texas two thousand people, black kid, I was a number one recruiting the whole nation. It was me, John Elway and Marino top three, and so um I went, you know, got I got. I was recruited by everyone, went to s m U and make us a long story show up. My first year, I struggled. I mean I was a kid, you know, and I from a small town, and I don't get the writer's road that they should take my scholarship because

I'm a bust. You know. I was a bust. And I had my friend Craig James, the white kid. He played the biggest school, and he was doing better than I was. But I mean that's just how it was. I wouldn't I wouldn't really ready for college. And so as time went on, I just saw kind of things that they would say about me that wasn't fair, you know, And when especially when when I got to the RAMS, and and and then I got drafted, and you know, I had to some of the holdouts. And it wasn't

about people think it's always about the money. The money. It wasn't about that. I just wanted to be treated fairly. That's what it really was. Good example, Elway was the first pick. I was the second pick. Always making a million dollars. I'm making a hundred fifty thousand. That's kind of that that that's wrong, and and and people that's why, that's why I'm glad I did this book because I

wanted people to get to know me. Because my mother it really hurt her because I didn't like reading articles. My coach, my high school, my college coach told me, son, don't jump y'all read articles because one minute they hate you, the next minute they love you. So I never read artists articles because of that. And my mother would read it. She said, Eric, she said, this isn't your son, this isn't this is the man that the kid I raised.

I know you better than this. And so that's the thing that I think that really was frustrating when you when you had no no way out. Like now the players have Instagram, Facebook, you know, they can tell their story. We had no story. I mean, the writers write it and people said, oh, it's gotta be true. It's gotta be true. A matter of fact. Just the other day, I was with a guy and he heard him talking

about the player. I wanta say the player's name, And he said, oh, man, I heard he said, as he's asking my friend bombs and asks, so my lady friend, I said, I said, so, have you ever met the guy? I said? He said no. I said, so, do you know your friends? Bout your friends? He said no, I don't know. And I said, you're taking his word. He said, yeah, that's wrong. I said that, that's right. I said that. And it's a lot of that. I mean, it's a lot of that in the NFL. Look, the NFL is

with the NFL is. I'll say, I'm glad I played in the national film. What does that mean? What does that mean? It's it's a big entity that you really can't you can't control it. I mean, it's it's gonna do what it does, and it does a lot of it's done a lot of good. I mean, like this. It's done a lot of good. It's done a lot of bad too, And I think the bad is it hide stuff and it doesn't come out until it's caught. It's like they have this phrase that we are we

are family. We are family, and the players like, we're not no family. You know. We treat us like dogs, you know, but the players are family because we know what it's like to be out there on the field. Are are you optimistic that the NFL can get to a point where you don't feel that way about the organization. I don't think it happened in my lifetime. Just being honest, I don't. I mean, I'm to being honest about that.

I had dinner with my friend Clyde Drexler, you know, NBA basketball player, And I said, claud I said, like, I said, y'all, you're in the basketball y'all. I said, I put my hand y'all even right here. He said, oh no, the basketball players up here and the owners are down there. You know. We said we control the narrative because you know different different you say, you know, our contracts are guarantee, we have a voice. We vote, weren't to hold out, we hold out and the NFL players,

they they can't stick together. How much the eric is the owners also because they right, I mean, you've the NFL, but they can't necessarily they can tell the owners with you just so much, right, yeah, they they own the league on the league, I mean, And that's what a lot of players are afraid of. You'd be surprised how many guys that don't want to speak up against the NFL because they're afraid of it's a man and billionaires. Man.

But you know, but you know, you know, the thing is, I gotta I gotta give the ladies credit, the women. The women are the ones who take care of our broken bodies. After all over when we have no health care, we have no we have no insurance, and the women are like stuck, like I'm stuck with this guy that he's not the same guy that I'm married. I mean,

he's he's he's broken and I need some help. And I feel bad for because a lot of times, like you talked to the wives and I was like, I'm I'm with it, I want to do it, and well, I'm not sure. You know, I'm a little afraid. It's a tough game. And you think about there are a few players who go on to either be you know, comment leaders on networks or great investors and companies. But there's the bulk of the team, the players. They really

have a top. They have a tough time because you know, to say that, I guess the one of the main thing is the pension is really bad and that it might be better for the current players. I'll give you a quick story. A matter of fact, this was about twelve years ago, twelve thirteen years ago, my friend Deacon Jones I went to the hospital of Business way way before he passed away, and I said that all day we talked lad and he said, Eric is which what

did you what did you take your pension? I said, no, I don't take my pension yet, it's how do I think? I was forty nine in town, said thinking, I've always Eric, you any old? Yet he's I'm old. So he says, he said, I said, Deacon, so you tell you? Said yeah, he said, you know my pension is there. My pension is two hundred and fifty dollars a month. What am I gonna do with That's exactly what he said. He said,

I take it because I don't want them to have it. So, I mean that is that's the struggle, you know, with with with the National Football League or the owners or whatever. It's just not it's not an evil even playing ground. That's Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson. His new book. It's called Watch My Smell, The Eric Dickerson's Story and it's out now. Really true. Um, I

felt like heartfelt conversation. And you know, Carol, throughout our three hour broadcast, people were lined up the entire time with copies of his book to get it signed by him and talk to him. Yeah. I mean, it was like going on for a long time. It's really cool to see. All right, still to come on Bloomberg Business Week, A former Super Bowl champion looks to cash in on the convergence of sports data and fan engagement. VB a

co founder. Now g good he's with us next and later, Carol, we're gonna hear from your conversation with ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro and bruin Sports Capital George Pine. This is Bloomberg Broadcasting from the financial capital of the world, Bloomberg eleven Frio in New York to Washington, d C. Bloomberg to Boston, Bloomberg one oh six one to San Francisco, Bloomberg nine sixty to the country Sirius XM Chado one nine team, and around the globe the Bloomberg Business app and Bloomberg

Radio dot Com. This is Bloomberg Business Week data playing an increasingly bigger role in how sports content is being delivered today, giving fans a much more customized experience. To learn more about the business opportunities for athletes in this space, we turned to Nagy Good. He's a former NFL linebacker for the Buccaneers, the Eagles, Cults, and Jaguars. He won a Super Bowl ring playing for Philly, which he actually

let me hold. I never saw you so excited. Nagi is also co founder and chief of Fan Engagement at VPO. It's a social monetization platform for brands and advertisers to connect with. He brought us up to speed on the venture at last week's Power Players Summit. Right now, we have initiative to establish ownership of data and empowerment of data through campaigns, through sponsorships, through traditional forms of media and advertisement. With our new technology capability, I feel like

ownership of data that is like the big Cahuna. I feel like in the world, right, because there's so much out there, how do you do that? Because there's the I mean, you're going to have to pull from other sources, right, Yeah, well not necessarily are are to. Which is nice is that we are additive. It's why the Eagles joined them with this Jeffrey ar equity owner and we partner with a few teams because what we do is all additive.

We take with the fans and the users like to see and we show them more and in the ownership of data and the sponsors participating with marketing marketing, influencers and influencer marketing. But the players, we give them them the ability to see that data. So you have our tool, you able to see that data, You able to see those interactions, and it empowers the player to put out better content with the team and then strategically aligns every organization.

What's the problem that the VPO saw that needed to be solved. What was the white space there that hadn't been filled yet? Yeah, So Jonathan America and nine Grant, our partners, we saw a space in sports to where athletes were put on this platform to speak out and to engage with people, but they didn't understand what they were doing. They didn't understand the reach of that. Which platform, social media, any platform. We're talking Instagram, we're talking Twitter, yes,

book and talking to any platform no playbook. I mean we even talked about that, Like we do a lot of stuff, but it's like you're always trying to find out, like what's the most productive way to do it exactly.

And the one thing that we see on platform the platform with especially like what HBC used the resources of things they need um in the sports in general, where we saw VP of solving a big problem was we connect every user to every entity and monetize all the possible futures that what they do in digital sports and media.

So would it help an athlete understand Okay, well if they post this on TikTok, it has a reach like this and monetization possibility like this versus Instagram versus you know, Twitter. So the best thing about our technology is that you can see it on every platform. So we integrated right now with team Overlaps and we're integrated with sports leagues where everyone are the mobile apps playing ball with you.

They're trying to because you know, because you know their data is their data, and that's so valuable to them, So they want to choose what they actually hold on to and what they actually show yes, and this is why, this is why VPO has been at it, because not only do they see that, but they also see additional data of when a user, a fan interacts specifically with an influencer. So very important, you know right now, especially with the women's sports and the actual accountability of what

what athletes are doing in social media. Um. The cool thing about what we can do is that we can actually monetize and we can pull in those fans that they engage with, you know, whether it's the one person from your hometown or if it's a million fans around the world. What's been the growth of the platform? Oh,

the growth of the platform has been huge. Um, We've grown the fan base and audience and the engagement of the audience and the the Jaguars are actually number one most time spent on site with our technology capabilities because we were able to link every fan, every draft pick. We were able to link the new era hats that they had and the story of the player. How many guys have you come into the league. You don't know

the stories of the players. We're able to link their personal stories via Twitter, via Instagram to that direct photo or video. So why are you looking at that player? Get to find out more information about what he's about, what he stands for. My cleats my Cause is a big initiative that we want to get into this year with having the ability to directly link from team content to auction off cleeks for causes charities Loopus, breast cancer awareness,

stuff like that. And then for the initiative for HBC use um, we see the gap that you know has been you know forwarded to the opportunities that haven't been forwarded to him, and the resources that can be there. And by giving the HBC user really leg up in the African American community, we can give them the opportunity

to ownership data. Talk to us about that. I do feel like with with Brian flores Is lawsuit and stuff, we're just talking about a lot of people coming out and talking about the lack of diversity within the NFL, specifically UM racism. What's been your experience and what are your thoughts on this? So my personal experience, I am legacy, So I've had the privilege of understanding the game. From my father's standpoint of view. Um, he was an Eagle as well, so it was pretty cool to be in

that same environment. And UM, I think the game does need to be more diverse. I'm from the standpoint of you know, we're all of family. The locker room is one of the most diverse things that We've always had exceptional conversations no matter where they are. I mean, there's guys on my team I play with, you know, America's Altamas. I played with White plat Um, you know. And the fact that that diversity needs to be seen more. It can be seen more at a coaching at a front

office level. That's former Super Bowl winning linebacker with the Philadelphia Eagles, Nagy Good. He's also the co founder in chief of fan Engagement at VPO. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. Up next, ESPN Boss Jimmy Pitaro and Bruined Sports Capitals George Pine on social media and sports betting for bringing in a new audience. This is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovik from Bloomberg Radio Meeting the fans

where they are well. That was the theme of a palel I hosted it last weekend's Bloomberg Power Players Summit, held them Beverly, was just ahead of Super Bowl fifty six and Carol. Increasingly, where those fans are is while it's on social media. It's the key conduit for many major media outlets to draw younger viewers and then of course keep them engaged. Another factor though, that's helping with that mobile sports betting, so many platforms, fans engaging with

sports in so many different ways. And that's essentially what we heard from Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN and Sports content at the Walt Disney Company, and George Pine, founder and CEO Brewing Capital, when asked how social media and gambling are impacting traditional sports viewership. This is just one

little anecdote. I was speaking at a conference UH sales conference and we're having this exact discussion, and afterwards, an executive came up to me and said, I just want you to know I have I have two teenagers and they were both introduced to ESPN on Snap and now they're watching first Take and get up on traditional television.

So for me, that's the strategy. You know, we of course want to be there and will continue to be there on those platforms, but it's a way to grow awareness, it's a way to grow affinity and and and get this younger generation just generally excited about ESPN. And you know the other thing that's interesting now is gambling. Well, that's sports, right. I mean, we have a company called odds Checker that it's kind of a kayak for betting

in the UK. We're bringing it to America. And in the first three days of New York being live, we did of the budget revenue for the year, so obviously we budgeted it too low. But the gambling is sticky as well. So when you think about gambling, social media, digital media, understanding what people want, you know, the world's world's changing around us. Has gambling turn into somebody who ultimately goes to ESPN? Does it work? I mean, well, look, so here's wrong. We're in it. We are in the space.

We've been in the space for for several years. Disney actually said this week he's bullish on sports, including betting. He is bullish on both. Um. I will tell you we've been in the space. We have content, we have dedicated segments on Sports Center. Scott Van Pelt has has his Sports Center where does a segment called Bad Beats. We have dedicated podcast, we have a dedicated area on ESPN dot com. We have an ESPN branded studio in Vegas on this strip um that generates betting specific programming

on on a regular basis. We've done the research, and of course we were treading carefully here over the past few years, still investing, but but really looking closely at the data. And what we saw is that Number One, our fans are no longer just okay with it. They're demanding it. They expect ESPN to be offering this betting experience within our environment. Number Two, and this is really interesting, we didn't see any negative impact on the Disney brand.

I mean, for those of you that don't know, the Walt Disney Company owns ESPN, So we've wanted to be careful in that regard to and what we're seeing was it was neutral or positive even on the Disney brand. So because I think people thought family brand, how could you get into betting? Well, you see, you see all the leagues now, in all the major leagues. In fact, you're in nineteen times more likely to watch a sporting event if you make a bet. So if I'm a

broadcaster sports, how can I not do it? Like if they don't do it, everybody else will. They'll be at a disadvantage. ESPN really doesn't. I can say no, no, you don't have a choice. They have to They have, like he said, he has to be where the fans are, and he has to give the fans what they want. Yeah, we're in a battle. We're in a battle for people's time. Were and we're not just competing against the traditional sports

media companies. We all know this. We're competing against Instagram and Snap and Fortnite and Netflix, and so we have to be aggressive here. Now that being said, my job is to protect the brand at all costs. And if I saw any data that that that indicated to me that that this was a dangerous position to be taking, we wouldn't do it. Even if there was financial upside, we wouldn't. We wouldn't do it. I have to protect

the brand, but we're not. We're just not seeing that any worries about the integrity of sports in general, especially as we know it's teams getting in right, the league's getting in I mean, everybody is really kind of all in when it comes to betting and gambling. Well, you know, around the world they've been doing it for a long time without really any issue. I mean, there's always an initiative integrity, but I would argue you had that whether

it was legal or illegal. I mean, one of the things we're finding is that legal bettings way up you'd make sense. I'd rather make a legal bet than an illegal bet, right, So if I don't have the choice to make a legal bet, it's probably better. But no, we I don't. I don't think there's any evidence that it's been a real issue. I mean in Europe they've been betting for quite a long time. Yeah, And look,

one of the somewhat connected to that. One of the things that we bring to the table, I think is is our brand, which represents trust, a certain level of credibility. So anyway we see opportunity here, but of course we're going to do it responsibly, right and just try carefully and slowly. One of the things you see the leaves, which I think is really smart to that point, is

talking about doing advertising the NFL about responsible gaming. I think that's one of the learnings that wasn't done well around the world, and you see some of the countries of increasing regulation, and I think the leagues here in the US they're trying to get ahead of it by initially bring up do this responsibly right, because there is the concern of that. Well, Odds Checker your company, I mean, how much have you seen in terms of the growth

of your brand. Well, it's certainly we just thought it. But what we are seeing in the US is amazing. I mean, I expect this weekend to be incredible. Um, and like I said, the opening of new markets that you know, you can only bet right now in thirty states, so this twenty states left to go, and it's it's movement. It's more than we thought it would be. I think the net is gambling is bigger than everybody thought, and it's moving faster. I think it's just moving a lot

faster than I thought. When when when wet into it and look, just to use a sports cliche, it's it's the first in a right. So today, um, you're you're going to a dedicated sports app not not too distant future, you're going to be consuming media in a digital environment and you're going to be able to place a bet right there around the game. Now, obviously you have to do that in partnership with the LEAs you know, what's probably most important ESPN is our live rights portfolio and

our relationship with the league. So whatever we do would be would be in lockstep with them. But there's so much opportunity from a product perspective to it, to uh advance this whole ecosystem. Well, you know, and negasm one is part of the content. How much though, is that you talked about the NFL relationship. I had Marie Donahue up here, you know, Amazon, you know, aggressively moving into the NFL. UM. I feel like it's the holy grail in many ways, UM content content you guys do long

form like talk about the Last Dance during the pandemic. Yeah, I know, you guys rushed it to some extent right to get it. We accelerated it. But but yes, it was not it was not meant to be launched in April of UM. We were several months away, but we felt like the world was craving new content and we were getting there. So yes, the director moved heaven and Earth, uh and and and got it out for us. And

it's we couldn't be. We're proud of that. It is that that series is consistent with our strategy in terms of ESPN films and thirty for thirty, which is bigger, bolder, more impactful projects. So we have something coming out with their Jeter called The Captain. We have something coming out with Colin Kaepernick, are right, Yeah, Spike Lee. We just brought on Spike lead to Directed. These are these are needo moving projects and it does in terms of your

fan base. Oh yeah, people, and and and and by the way, uh Man in the Arena and The Captain, the Jeter documentary are are exclusively on the ESPN Plus platform. So you know, when you look at our priorities, not just at the Walt Disney Company, but at ESPN, we usually lead with director consumer and that means we need a fresh, impactful content for that platform. So, George, when you think about investments and stuff, as you said, you know,

you're looking at the media space, but it's technology. You're pulling in a lot of different things. You know, what are the interesting trends and innovation that you think are going on. You know, we're talking about about metaverse and we're trying to figure it out. But what is it that we're we're scarely focused on is the data, like understanding the consumer? Uh like we we do. We run O T T s around the world. We operate in twenty countries and I know on the O T T

we know at what price somebody will buy something. We know what ads move them. And so you know, take sports content today, a lot of leagues sell sports content as a package that I was talking without gym last say, It's gonna be different down the road. You're gonna be selling all different services. You're gonna merchandise, all kinds of experiences. The idea that right now I only sell a subscription for content and I'm not building that relationship with the consumer.

That's the future. And when you look at sports leagues, they don't really think enough about the lifetime value of a customer. So as as the distributions channels change, and you know, look, the cable model for leagues is quite profitable, right so that the sports depends on that. That that probably is going to erode a little bit more as

time goes on. But what will open up is the relationship with the consumer and looking at things as the lifetime value of the consumer, not just selling somebody's season tickets and nothing else, or selling them live game content and nothing else. It's going to be those people that can develop a whole holistic relationship with a consumer. And I see it like because the companies we owned were on the forefront of it, and so I knows, Jimmy, you gotta have great technology, but at the end of

the day, it's marketing. It's that's going to be the differentiator I think between people that do well and people that don't do as well. How do you think about it in terms of the technology space and pulling it in and and just innovation in general. UM, you've got to be thinking about down the road of how the fan wants to interact with you. We've been successful in fantasy. Actually before I was at Disney, I worked at Yahoo.

We were very invested in in fantasy. So there there are some examples of that lean forward experience, UM that have been around for some time, but for the most part today when you look at the ESPN fan base, it is a lean back experience. That was Jimmy Pittaro, chairman of ESPN and Sports Content at Walt Disney, and

George Pine, founder and CEO of Bruined Capital. They joined you, Carol at the Bloomberg Power Player's Summit, and that wraps up the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. Essentially game over. Thanks so much for joining us. We're not in Beverly Hills anymore, right, See what I did there? Yeah? I know, We're definitely not, and I'm Tim Stenevik. Be sure to tune into Bloomberg Business Week Monday through Friday. It starts at two at Wall Street time on Bloomberg Radio.

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and more. Have a great weekend. Favorite moment that's super Bowl ring. Yeah that was probably it, just meeting all these folks. I mean, this was so cool. It was incredible. It was like it was like pre pandemic exactly. And if you missed it, the conversations find them in their entirety. As we mentioned online, this is Bloomberg. Mmmmmm