You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. Let's talk more about sports. It's so exciting that sports are back, Carol. Are you guys excited at home? Oh my god, are you kidding me? Yeah? We can't get enough. I mean, you got lacrosse coming up this weekend. We got a little baseball to watch. Not that my kids care about baseball, um, but so much going on the NBA on the verge of coming back.
We'll see what happens in the fall. Obviously a lot of big questions, so so many questions for Noel la Montaigne. He is a director at Verden's Capital Advisors, joining us on the phone from Los Angeles. Noel, you're a former NFL player, former professional athlete. You've got to be excited to write. I'll tell you what, just to have something get going that we don't know the ending two already, or we it's gonna it's gonna be great, whatever's to be great? Well said? And so what do you make
of it so far? Because I mean this is ultimate Lee. We're Bloomberg after all. I mean, this is an economic story. This is a business story in many ways part of why these teams had to get back on the field, and certainly in the case of baseball, we're talking on opening day here had much delayed Opening day was and how tortured it was was largely owing to uh, let's say, some disagreements between the owners and players, but ultimately business
had to win out. Well, I think with any business, the player there's going to be a driving force, and in sports, the driving force as the players. So figuring out how to safely and efficiently get them back on the field, keep them safe, and make them comfortable going out there and performing for the audience, that's that's the key component. So you know, it's really kind of an interesting time. Um, you know, how do you see it
kind of unfolding? I mean, it is all about safety. Well, and I just do wonder what you're hearing from some of your clients about their expectations, what they're hearing from their teams, from their managers, from the franchises about you know, is it really not going to be sports like we're used to until well into well with Burden's Pro which is our athlete and Entertainment division, we've had a lot of direct conversations proactively with our clients, and there's there's
obviously a lot of trepidation and fear associated with the virus and the ramifications of the virus. Keeping your family safe, but it's also about seeing what the answers are from these leagues in terms of how are these athletes going to be kept safe, How are they going to be put back into the practice fields and on the field ultimately in a safe way, what happens if somebody gets sick, How are they going to be looked after? How is their financial well being going to be going to be
considered if they do get sick. And as those answers have come, it's eased some of the tension. The virus isn't going away anytime soon. It's proven that, and the guys under and that. But the question just becomes how are they going to be treated when it when it does rear itself well, because and you said it very well, Noel, just a minute or so ago, about you know, ultimately the sports don't happen without the players. And at the same time, the players have a living that they need
to make. How does it change the advice that you're giving them. Given all of this uncertainty, and I think about baseball, and in part because it is opening day, collective bargaining that is going to be renegotiated, the collective
Bargaining agreement next year. A lot of folks looking ahead to that as we look ahead to an NFL season that may or may not happen, or may happen a little bit differently, how does the advice that you're giving your guys change well during tough times like this, times that are unfamiliar, we we fall back onto on, really onto our foundational beliefs, and education is one of the biggest things that we preached to of our clients and making sure that whatever situation they're going to go into,
they do it knowledgeably. They look at it from every direction, they ask questions, and players are in a position of power if they are educated on what they're getting into. And I think those two things go hand in hand, between just making sure guys know what they're getting into and understanding the position that they're in when they do take the field. I mean, is it pretty clear. I mean, is it that teams and owners are kind of taking an approach of they want to take care of their players.
They have they have a mutual um. They've got the same ultimate goal. The owners obviously want to run their businesses. They want to get the players back on the field so that they can make money, even if it's going to be a little bit less than it's been in the past. And players want to go out and do what they've been working their whole lives to get to the point of doing again. They don't want to be off the field. They don't want to be looking at a zoom call and and and trying to figure out
how their teammates are doing. They want to be entertaining. They want to take the country's mind off of all of these things that have been thrown at it over the past several months. And they want to give people a little bit of hope that this country is resilient. Sports are resilient, and they want to be a part of the healing process. Do the short term or mid term economics change because of no fans And how do
you counsel your players? What are you hearing from your players and candidly from the owners and the management of various sports around how this may change the economics, whether it's salary negotiations and other things that have to do with compensation in the short and mid terminal. Well, I think that's difficult to predict. Obviously, the most people assume it's going to be less. Again, I think sports are they are huge business. That's not a that's not a
rocket scientist statement. But they're also going to be very very biliant. They're they're extremely popular prior to this. They're gonna be extremely popular in any form that they come back. So the players, the players have to be smart. They have to realize that there is potential for an economic dip and with certain sports careers are shorter than others, and an economic dip. This year, this this might be potentially your last or one of the last years that
you're going to get the opportunity to play professionally. So, you know, we preach, we preached our clients you've got to be responsible. You've got to look long term and what's in your best interests, even if that might mean from a health concern not participating or opting out in some form. Um. You know, that's that's been a big discussion with a lot of the sports leagues as of late. Um, So you know, that's the way you've got to look
at it. The ramifications are yet to be determined. It's all speculative and and um, there's gonna be there's gonna be different reasons for arguments on both sides of what that's gonna look like right now. But until we know, it's tough to react to from a league standpoint at least. All right, speaking of speculation, I'm gonna ask you to speculate on one thing you played in the NFL? Is there going to be an NFL season this year? Do
you think? I am extremely optimistic? Uh, and hopeful. And there's there's so much there's there's so much willingness on both sides. Players want to play, the owners obviously want to make money. Um, and in this country we need an outlet. Everybody, everybody at home, whether they're a fan or not, they want something to watch. And I know that the athletes and the owners out there are fighting like heck against against this this virus to figure out how to give that to them. So, yes, I'm I'm
an optimist and I think I think it will happen. Well. I think the TV contracts hopefully may and help ensure that. Right, a lot of money to be made. As you say, on all sides of this, all right, Nola Montaigne, thank you so much, directing director over at Vergen's Capital Management, giving us some nice insights as a former pro athlete and also someone who's talking to pro athletes every day.