NBA to Expand, Sale of Tampa Bay Rays | Bloomberg Business of Sports
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Coming up on the show, we take stock of the MLB season at its midway point with MLB Network insigner John Morosei. The idea of this is entertainment. And I would challenge anyone who even remotely likes baseball that if they spent their evening on Tuesday watching the game and turned it off that anybody would have said, “Ah, nothing entertaining about that.” Plus, the NBA is looking to expand for the first time in more than two decades. We get the latest and find out which cities are the early favorites to land a new NBA franchise. All that is on the way on the Bloomberg business of sports. But first, Apple is diving into F1 racing beyond the new movie with Brad Pitt. The iPhone maker is set to win the rights to stream Formula 1 in the US for $150 million a year, a figure up almost two times from the currently F1 deal with ESPN. For more on this and some of her other recent reporting, we welcome back Bloomberg Intelligence senior media analyst Githa Ragnoff. Githa, welcome back to the Bloomberg business of sports. Thank you so much for having me. the movie that came out with Brad Pitt F1 the movie has it kind of supercharged the TV rights here in the US for F1 racing? I definitely think so. I think the the success of that movie has been kind of instrumental for really kind of jolting this whole bidding process because we know that the F1 rights have now been on the market for quite a while. Uh everybody was kind of kicking the tires, right? The rights are currently held by ESPN, Disney’s ESPN, which is paying about $85 million a year. These are only for uh US telecast rights. Um we know Netflix was interested. Uh they probably looked at it. Uh Amazon probably looked at it. Uh Warner Brothers said that they were probably interested. And you know, we had some rumors or some inkling about Apple also being interested. But I think after the F1 movie came out and performed as well as it did, by the way, it’s grossed about $400 million globally. So it’s, you know, by is that all any account? Yeah, it’s done really, really well. And this is considering that the movie was produced by Apple, which by the way has had a pretty disastrous track record at the box office. So, uh, you know, this movie really kind of surpassing expectations, doing really well and kind of speaking to, uh, you know, the popularity of the sport. It’s a global sport. I think that’s what kind of really emboldened Apple to kind of make that commitment and bid, uh, what we’ve heard right now about $150 million per year just for the US rights for uh, Formula 1. So, that’s a pretty healthy step up from what ESPN was paying. Well, Githa, we know that Formula 1 was looking for something on the order of $180 million a year. Do we have any color as to what Apple has um has offered them with what they’ve settled on? The range has been anywhere from about 150 to 200 million. That’s what Apple is said to have offered. The final reports that have come in, and again, nothing is official so far from either Formula 1 or from Apple. Uh but Business Insider and some of the other news sources were reporting that they have offered 150 million which is again a pretty good step up. That’s almost an 80 uh% increase from what ESPN is currently paying. Uh which again is really healthy because when you kind of look at the Formula 1 bidding process yeah initially there was a lot of excitement. I mean this is you know a global racing circuit. People are interested. It’s a younger audience. There’s a lot of female interest that has been growing. So obviously it would be a coveted property. Uh but then um you know Disney’s ESPN which is the incumbent right now and holds the rights has been taking a very very measured approach. Uh so they have you know they kind of let the exclusive period negotiating period expire with Formula 1. They did the same thing with UFC. They dropped out of the MLB. So they are taking a very hard look when it comes to renewing sports rights. And then you had you know obviously Netflix and Amazon and everybody. But I think what happened with those streamers is they really wanted global rights. I mean this is a global racing circuit. Obviously it makes sense to have global rights and because this is only a domestic rights package. I think the bidding process kind of cooled down quite a bit. So what happened is investors were resetting their expectations. They were thinking that maybe you know Formula 1 is not going to be able to get the increase uh that it was looking for. Maybe the increase would be more in like the 30 to 40 to 50% range. But the fact that Apple went out and got this uh you know uh basically bid 80% over uh it just shows that again sports market is healthy. Formula 1 is in a good place and for Apple of course this is just a drop in the bucket. I mean $150 million a year really isn’t that much when you take a look at a lot of the other you know properties even in motorsport NASCAR’s deals 7 billion for seven years. So why is Formula 1 so much further behind there do you think? Is it just newer in the US or or why is is it seen as a big deal just for 150 million? Yeah, it’s definitely a much smaller kind of circuit when it comes to the US. I mean this is much bigger popularity in in Europe. So, you know, we’ve been actually kind of tracking the rise in popularity of Formula 1 and how uh Liberty Formula 1 has really been kind of cashing in actually the launch of the Netflix series Drive to Survive that really kind of broadened the appeal of the sport. So, I think in many ways that was kind of instrumental. So, if you just kind of Vanessa, if you just kind of track viewership just a few years ago for Formula 1 races in the US, you know, we’re we’re looking at about a half a million. So today with all of that increased awareness, it’s closer to about almost 1 and a.5 million. So they’ve managed to almost double to triple their audience base. But again, this is small potatoes when you compare it with some of the viewership numbers in the European markets. Well, you know, Githa, I mean, the implications looking ahead here for the UFC, right, because they’re up next. I mean, and UFC is a bit of a different animal, right? I mean, that’s year- round programming and they don’t have um, you know, the European, you know, media rights aren’t spoken for already. you know, what can we look through? What can we expect uh the UFC to get for for for its service? Yeah. So, right away, you know, when when we kind of saw these numbers, our first uh knee-jerk reaction was this is really good news for the UFC. So, we know that currently, again, ESPN is the incumbent, uh Damian, for the UFC as well. They’re paying roughly about $500 million for two separate packages. One is broadcast, one is on, you know, ESPN Plus. What we think is going to happen since they’ve kind of walked away from the exclusive negotiating period. We think UFC has by the way demanded at least a billion dollars. So they’re looking to double their fees. We think the UFC can easily get that. And again, you spoke to all of these, you know, plus points with the UFC, right? Again, you have a yearround programming. You have a global audience base. You have this whole rise in this super fan uh base, if you will, and all of that. that there’s so much uh engagement that we’re seeing right now in terms of you know uh fans for combat sports and so UFC kind of ticks all of those boxes. We’ve we see uh you know week after week we see WWE Raw doing really well on Netflix. You know anytime you open up Netflix top 10 uh you see that doing really well. But what we think is going to happen with the UFC rights process is we think that this is really going to be split up into multiple packages. uh we saw that happen with the NBA uh you know the NBA creating more packages and basically scoring almost a tripling in their uh rights fees just by kind of introducing uh Amazon and and NBC into the mix. Uh and so we think something very similar is going to happen with the UFC as well. you know, you probably will have a streamer uh like a Netflix or an Amazon kind of get into the bidding process here and you’ll have ESPN also kind of hold on to to what to at least one of the packages. But what Apple is banking on from people like old man Gearhead Bar uh and many others like me is that you got to get the Apple service to get the streaming and pay for it. And likely yes, I’m now going to pay for Apple. And that’s what I think Apple is banking on. Gita, you’re absolutely right. I mean, live sports is, you know, some of the most important program for streaming services. I mean, time and time again, we’ve seen that premier sporting events can drive subscriptions like nothing else. So, you know, you think about Peacock during the Paris Olympics. You think about Peacock having that one uh NFL wildcard game, getting almost 3 to four million subscribers just in a few hours. or you even think about Netflix with WWE, Raw, Paramount Plus with UEFA, Champions League. So all of these sporting p uh sporting uh you know events really drive subscriptions. Amazon has seen the same thing with you know the NFL and now hopefully with the NBA. So yes, absolutely Apple is banking on the exact same thing too. The only thing that I would add here uh Michael is that Apple has dabbled a little bit in sports. So they they did take the MLB, the Friday night games, they did take the MLS. We don’t think that, you know, any of those have been a gamecher, if you will. Uh, and a lot of that is just because Apple um TV Plus still is kind of a lagard. Uh, just when you compare all of the other streamers. So, they have an estimated 45 million subscribers, but you compare that to the big dogs out there. You think of a Netflix over 300 million subscribers. You think of, you know, an Amazon Prime about 275 million. Disney well over 150 million. So Apple I think the problem for them is going to be reach but you’re absolutely right. Yes, they are going to use this um property to basically boost subscriptions to basically uh and not just boost subscriptions also retain uh subscribers as well. F1 is a great product. There were concerns though that the bidding process wasn’t very competitive. Why is that? Yeah. So there are just a whole different set of reasons for you know why it wasn’t competitive. One is that the incumbent which is you know Disney’s ESPN is really on this cost cutting drive. So just a few years ago Michael their content budget was 33 billion. After Bob Iger came back they basically you know said uh they’re all about riding the ship. They’re all about kind of really cutting down the fat, cutting down the bloat. And so they are actually they committed to a content budget of about $23 billion. This means that any sports rights, anything that comes up for renewal, they are taking a very very hard look at it. Uh which is why they didn’t go jumping, you know, to renew the UFC. They didn’t go jumping to renew the the Formula 1. They’ve opted out of MLB. So they’re, you know, they are really on this cost cutting drive. And then in terms of the other streamers like you know Netflix or Amazon, I think what they really wanted was global rights. And with the Fund, what we’re seeing is this is only the US rights package. So, it’s just a small sliver of the, you know, the entire property. Uh, and we don’t think Netflix was necessarily interested in that because, you know, this is a global racing circuit. You do want to have global rights to um to kind of be able to to to get that reach, to get that engagement. And so, that’s why we think that the bidding process kind of lost a little bit of momentum, but I think again the movie came and really kind of jolted that whole process. Our thanks to Keith Aragana and she is senior media analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. Up next, we turn to the NBA and its plans to expand for the first time in decades. For Damian Sassau and Vanessa Predomo, I’m Michael Bar. You’re listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world. This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. This is the Bloomberg business of sports where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports. I’m Mike Labar along with Damen Sassau and Vanessa Bernomo. The NBA is eyeing expansion for the first time since 2004. And here to take us through what we know and which cities might get a new NBA team soon is Bloomberg US sports business reporter Randall Williams. Randall, welcome back to the Bloomberg business of sports. I appreciate you all for having me as always. We got to talk about first of all the NBA uh and your story. Uh looks like the league is going to have its first expansion in 20 years unless something changes. But there’s been a lot of heavy chatter about it. Randall, look, I spent a couple days in Vegas and that was the biggest topic of the week was would the NBA officially announce expansion and they did. just didn’t happen in the way that I think a lot of people expected it to. When you announce expansion, people think like, “Oh, well, I can put my bid in tomorrow. I want to be in Nashville. I want to be in Seattle. I want to be in Las Vegas.” And that’s not what the league did. The league said, “Look, we’re starting the expansion process. We have to analyze things, both economic and non-economic.” So, you had people excited, but not the level of excitement that that you think. Well, here’s the thing. Let’s just say, for example, it’s Las Vegas against Seattle, right? and and or it had to go to one of the two, you know, or Nash, whatever. But, you know, here’s my question. You’ve got I mean, the money behind the Las Vegas team. I I’m talking LeBron James, Fenway Sports, Red Bird, I mean, the full smash. And then, you know, I don’t know what’s going on in Seattle, but wouldn’t it be awesome to see Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton and those old supersonic jerseys back? I mean, like I mean, like, how do you compete against Las Vegas? Well, I I think that those are two completely different situations. In Seattle, you have uh Samantha Holloway, who’s the daughter of David Bonderman, and she owns the um Seattle Kraken and also has the stadium ready to go. And then in Las Vegas, as you said, there’s the the Fenway, Redbird, and LeBron group. There is Bill Foley, and then Mark Lazar is also in in the hat as well. But I’m I’m told that they are not the only people who are interested. There’s plenty more people involved. And what it becomes is, you know, what is the expansion fee going to be? Last summer, people told me they expected it to be between four and five billion, but that was before the Celtics sold. That was before the Lakers sold. And so now it’s a thing of like if the floor and reminder that the Lakers and Celtics sold without owning their arena, meaning they don’t make money from these concerts and things like that the same way, let’s say, you know, Madison Square Garden would. With that in mind, what in the world would is this expansion fee going to be and who’s going to be priced out of it? So, the question there that is interesting to me is if there’s this bidding war going on in Vegas, does that mean the expansion fee for Vegas or whatever is going on there can be different than if Seattle gets a team and it’s just given to Samantha Holloway or whatever? It’s still to be determined. Um, is that’s the best answer I can give. I would imagine that the Seattle if Seattle is chosen that Seattle would go for less than Vegas just because I think competition is going to drive that Vegas price way way up. I wrote like last summer that that team could sell for 7 billion and people looked at me like I was crazy in large part because you know there’s T-Mobile Arena there but there’s no guarantee that someone doesn’t want to build their own arena and doesn’t want to strike a deal with Bill Foley and and the people who operate T-Mobile Arena and so you know you look at what stadiums and arenas are going for today. They’re two to3 billion and you know it could be a $5 billion expansion fee. it could be a $4 billion expansion fee and that cash is just very very steep. And something we also haven’t mentioned is what do the trailblazers sell for? That could be the floor of this. And keep in mind too and as you guys have mentioned that Samantha Holloway uh as co-owner of the NHL Seattle Kraken and she is probably a very pivotal part in getting the team or at least bringing a team back to Seattle. And I and I think they should just use the uh Supersonics’s team name. Just bring it back. Yeah, I think that’s likely to happen. Um but it just begs the question again of like what’s the price going to be because the reality is that there can be people priced out of this. There are some look all billionaires are very rich but you’re talking about if it’s 6 billion or 5 a half billion that’s a lot of cash and I mean you think about what the commanders sold for is 6.05 and Celtics is 61. But this expansion fee is huge. It’s huge. And the longer that this process goes on, the NBA’s process of evaluating things and doing this analysis that Adam Silver has spoken of, uh, I think the price is going to continue to gradually rise. Well, you know, Randall, I mean, when you just look at the average NBA team’s full year 23 24 revenue, you’re talking something on order of what, $388 million per year. You know, so there’s still a lot of untapped inherent value in there. And yet yet, you know, where I get a little bit confused is, you know, there’s no guarantees, as you rightly point out, there’s no guarantees there’s a stadium. There’s no guarantees that they’re going to do their job, create a uh, you know, franchise values, create a brand, get people to reach into their pockets and pay for those tickets. There’s no guarantees of anything. So, there is, you know, some modeicum of risk here, right? And I would imagine that risk is a little bit greater in smaller markets like Seattle or Nashville. I’m just comparing to Las Vegas. I mean, or am I mistaken there? No, I think that the the risk really for the league is that you have some owners who are interested in that expansion fee because you have to remember that this expansion fee is split between all of the owners of course. So if it’s you know let’s say 6 billion it’ll be split between the 30 the 30 owners but Adam Silver pointed out some really good points and you know the RSN issue which is you know the regional sports networks. Um, and then of course like does it dilute the talent? When can they start playing? All of these things that the NBA is going to have to analyze and figure out is this the best economic driver or do we have some other issues that we need to solve first. So if you’re an investor who’s been waiting for this since Adam Silver, I believe he first mentioned it maybe in 2020 or 2021. This was the moment that you thought he was going to be like, “Yes, like we are expanding. This is it.” And that’s not exactly it. Yes, they are expanding. But he’s also said that there is no guarantee that after the analysis that they come back and say, you know, maybe we don’t want to expand just yet. There’s no guarantees with anything. And interesting thing too about you’re saying there’s no guarantees and we’re almost talking about if they do expand, it feels like Vegas and Seattle are on lock and they’re already there. But before there, you know, uh there was mention of expanding into Mexico internationally and all of that. Is that kind of closed off or is there still potential there? I think that Las Vegas and Seattle are the overwhelming favorites. Seattle because they have a stadium setup. They owned a team. There was a team there previously and then Las Vegas like that team is just going to go for such a price that you’re going to have everyone both domestic and internationally interested in that team. I do think that if there was a city that could potentially rival these, it is Mexico City. It’s the largest city in in North America. Um, but who’s going to who’s going to raise their hand from that? Who’s going to want to compete against Seattle and Las Vegas who are these favorites? And of and of course there’s the issue there’s like political issues, you know, there’s there’s a lot of things to figure out there, but other cities like Nashville, Kansas City come to mind. maybe Vancouver, but it’s a steep hill to climb to get over Seattle and Las Vegas. Well, well, you know, Randall, I mean, just to your point, you know, again, if you look at just regular old Sportico data, you know, the average NBA franchise value was something on the order of 4.6 billion and that was a while ago. They ran these numbers last year. You know this, and you’re and I think you’re spot on here because, you know, if you just look at the Lakers at that in that analysis, they were at like 8 billion. They just went for 10. You know, you look at the Celtics, they were like five and a half, they just went for 6.1. So, I mean you you know 7 billion is is I I dare I say that may just be like a median estimate. You know, it could be even I mean it’s pretty unbelievable these numbers. It’s just it’s it’s kind of mind-numbing. I mean, if you look at one of the things that’s interesting to look at is if you look across sports in the bigger leagues, the NFL, NBA, and MLB, and you compare the valuations of the professional franchises there. So, you compare the Knicks to the Yankees to the Giants to the Jets. I all of those franch Oh, the Mets, of course. You compare those franchises and they’re all in the same ballpark. In Las Vegas, there’s a little bit less of that just because the Raiders are there, you have the Aces there. The Athletics aren’t playing there yet. Um, and so then you have the NBA coming in and whoever owns that franchise is not going to have any trouble selling luxury suites. They’re not going to have any trouble selling courtside tickets. Pretty much the exact same thing in Seattle because they have tech the tech presence there. Um, but with that in mind, that’s going to bring in the big investor pool. It’s like everybody is going to want that last that last golden goose, which is Las Vegas because I don’t know if any of you have been to a Raiders game, but Allegiance Stadium is very nice and they have crazy fans and Las Vegas is a basketball town. I mean, if you go into the March Madness history and and their event hosting there, it’s it’s going to be crazy. Well, that brings me to goofy question number 245A and about Las Vegas and and and hear me out. Why can’t Las Vegas have two NBA teams? We got two NBA teams here in the New York area, two NBA teams in the Los Angeles area. Why can’t Las Vegas have two NBA teams? Because, yeah, I I get it. You know, they’re they’re growing, but they’re expanding fast. And you’re talking about a city that’s on the run. I mean, I think it’s a good question. I just think it’s unlikely. And the reason for that is because yes, like you look at all the markets out there that own or have two teams and it’s basically LA and New York and Las Vegas does have the capabilities of it, but does the NBA want to put two teams there versus Seattle? And you’re thinking about it from a market perspective. Seattle might do a little bit more than two teams in Las Vegas. Then of course you have the split between who’s let’s say it’s the Las Vegas um Outlaws versus the Las Vegas Rattlesnakes or something. You split a fan base and I don’t I don’t particularly think that’s w that would be wise of the league. But could Las Vegas sustain it and could they make money? Yes. But I think they would cannibalize each other. I think that one team would be more successful and then it would be sort of the relationship between um I wouldn’t say the Knicks and the Nets because I think that the Nets have the Liberty and the Liberty Packout stadiums arguably more than the Nets do, but it would be it would create a situation where I think people would um point at one team and be like, “Oh, you’re lame for liking them.” And rally towards the other team. I mean, Michael, why are you asking Mike? You’re asking about two teams in Las Vegas when De Moine doesn’t. De Mo Iowa doesn’t even have one. I mean, come on. Grow up. I mean, so selfish, you know. I Oh, I’m sorry. De Mo, the De Moines Daggers owned by Damen Sassar and Michael Bar. I can see it. What would you luxury boxes? What would you all name the Las Vegas team? Uh, the rolling. Oh. Oh, that’s pretty good. Oh, that’s pretty good. I was thinking the Las Vegas seven out line away team, but that’s another story. That’s what I hear all the time. Rand Randall Williams, man, I love you. Thank you so much for joining us once again on the Bloomberg business of sports, buddy. Appreciate you all for having me. Up next, the MLB is officially back from its Allstar break. We’ll take a look at some of the biggest headlines from the first half and more. For Damian Sasau and Vanessa Pomo, I’m Michael Bar. You are listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports. Bloomberg radio around the world. [Music] This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports. I’m Michael Bar along with Damen Sassau and Vanessa Bernomo. The MLB season is back underway after taking its all-star break. Now it’s swinging off, baby, to the postseason with a lot of teams looking to bolster their rosters ahead of the July 31st trade deadline. Here to take a look back at the first half, preview what’s to come and the trade deadline, we welcome MLB Network insider John Morosei. Hey there, John. Welcome back to the Bloomberg business of sports. Damian, Michael, Vanessa, great to be with you. Happy second half. What an all-star game we just witnessed on Tuesday. How about that? You know, I want to start with that. All right. Now, and I listen there there’s some high points and some low points about it. I loved that we went back to the uniforms for each team instead of, you know, one for the National League and one for the American League. Because as the Detroit Tigers fan, I wanted to see the old English D out. The Tiger the Tiger Roads. Now, you know, I got to tell you, Schwarber doing Schwarber things, right? And the coolest thing about it, I have to say, was you’ve got Braves fans cheering for him, you know, like out of their seats and, you know, Mets fans, too. You know, it was kind of cool to watch. But, but I guess from the negative side, I mean, John, correct me if I’m wrong, it’s almost like penalty kicks are like a shootout in hockey, right? But I thought it was the way to do it. And and listen, it’s it’s not it’s not a regular season game. It does not determine homefield advantage for the World Series any longer. So the idea of this is entertainment. And I would challenge anyone who even remotely likes baseball that if they spent their evening on Tuesday watching the game and turned it off that anybody would have said, “Ah, nothing entertaining about that.” That was a complete dud. You John, John, you must be talking about Showi Otani and Aaron Judge who actually left the stadium. I mean, what’s up with that? By the way, that that and again, I cannot confirm, deny, speak to wherever anybody was during the course of the latter innings of the game. I will say this, it has been standard procedure for many, many, many years that once a regular player is out of the game, they typically travel home or to their next destination because in fairness, they play the game on Sunday. They traveled Sunday to the All-Star site. They did the derby and all assoc associated festivities on Monday, media obligations, etc. They played the game Tuesday and and their all-star break lasts for about 24 hours. And so I I never have an issue with once you’re out of the game that you that you go. And and so I I will never criticize and some of the pitchers who were still when they came out in their street clothes. How cool is that? You know, I mean, I loved it, too. It was awesome. And that was awesome. And and again, every player is in a different circumstance. It probably was the case that the Tigers guys were all traveling together and there were six of them. So, School was probably waiting around for his buddies to finish their obligations. Again, that was that was all cool. And so, I and listen, when the when the drama was unfolding, zero issue for me that it wasn’t necessarily Judge and Otani there. It was just it was a different group. And now you’re going to have Kyle Schwarber beloved by that many more people and and Brent Rooker for the American League who started things off did an amazing job and and so I’ve got zero issue. They’re all all star. They all belong there and so I’m I’m not going to bemoone that it wasn’t Judge versus Otani. We have seen they they have both fulfilled their obligations to the game as far as I’m concerned. So, do you think that, you know, this sort of excitement that we saw for the All-Star game and all of that, like was it enough for All-Star games in general that like haven’t really been doing well? People don’t watch them, they’re not as excited for them. How do you categorize this year’s All-Star game? I I think there was plenty of buzz, Vanessa. And part of the the issue now is is how we look at the ratings. For me, in my opinion, when you look at whatever the the linear television ratings are, I I I get that they still exist and on some level there are advertisers who care about it, but so much now is is via streaming. It’s it’s consumed in different ways, social media, different apps, etc. that that the the linear TV rating to me means less than it did 20 years ago, certainly even two years ago for me because there’s just more ways in which it’s it’s capturing it’s capturing the attention. And I’ll say this, all I know is that when I and I did I went on X I went on threads during the the latter stages of the game, Swing Off was just like trending across the world, okay? Like everybody wanted to talk about it. Of course, by then it’s morning in Japan and you got so many fans around the world. So to me, yes, ratings are relevant on some level, but they are not as relevant as the overall engagement with the product. And if you if you were on X, if you were on threads that night, Instagram, there was plenty of engagement, I think, with the global audience for that game. And I I think it was really a a pretty remarkable way to end that particular All-Star experience. And remember, too, the according to Neielson, uh almost 7.2 million viewers watched the Allstar game. Now, I have to admit because I’m an old coot and and I remember the days when Pete Rose was on the field and and all of this. So I I didn’t know at first what the swing off because this was brand new what was going to happen. And then I started thinking about it as I was driving into work and driving home and this that whatever. The whole point of the Allstar game, and it still is relevant to this day, is if you could get the local games in your area, but you couldn’t see a Pete Rose play at that time, or you couldn’t see uh the other players unless they made the playoffs. And that’s the the essence of the All-Star game. And and and like you said, John, I guess everybody enjoyed that swing off because you got to see the players. You did. And and I think to that to that point, you think about the big picture and and Kyle Sters, Randy Aros, Aarena, uh uh Jonathan Aronda, there were players there that were that maybe were not household names, but they they get their chance now and you get to see them and understand their stories a little bit. And that’s empirically a good thing for the game of baseball and is to then give them that moment to have the conversation about them and to take their turn in the spotlight. I think we we right now have a tremendous amount of of great players and great stories in baseball that go beyond Judge and Otani. Yes, those are the number two number one and number two players that we talk about, but you had the starters and Scubble and Skins and it was a great story that was done by Tom Raldi on the pregame show with Fox about the two of them. Uh Jacob Miserowski throwing a million miles an hour on the mound uh which was a lot of fun to watch too. So, we have a lot of great stars and I think I want to give credit too to the the Fox Sports production and and Joe Davis and John Smoltz that the the tiebreaking mechanism was revealed almost um in a really creative and subtle way. Uh there was a bit of a tease there about what was going to happen and that’s all good. That’s I I realize we all knew it was part of the rules and and on some level we probably should have been we as fans should have been more prepared for what was going to happen at the end, but it it’s it was perfect there. We don’t have enough surprises in life anymore, everybody. We got to have randomness and spontaneity and and delight and unexpected things are great. That’s what we we sign up for this life to do this. and and certainly sports give us that experience in in the microcosm of why we love sports so much is we don’t know what’s going to happen. And so the the un the unknown and the the newness of it. I I remember there was actually an interview that James Wood uh the outstanding prospect of the Washington Nationals gave that night with Fox Sports Radio and he basically said we in the National League dugout didn’t know exactly what was going on. That’s great. unexpected things are cool. And and I think that leaning into the um the the magic of the unexpected conclusion is part of why we love sports. And I think it was another demonstration of why this is the greatest of all the All-Star games and why this is also the greatest of all the sports because of everything that unfolded. And certainly I don’t want to go any further without mentioning the Hank Aaron tribute was just beautiful in every possible way. And I I having Billy Aaron there and there was a beautiful image of her watching it unfold in the ballpark. Um I get goosebumps talking about it. Uh and I was watching it with my wife at that point who was not a sports fan. And I was explaining some of the significance of of why that home run was so special and and what that call meant and the way the fans greeted Hank Aaron after all he had endured all the hatred he endured and racism along that journey to then setting this greatest of American records. I just think was a a beautifully done moment by MLB and the city of Atlanta, too. John, you know, I love that you referenced another friend of the show, John Smolson there. You know, John came in second in the American Century Golf Championship. I mean, I know he’s pretty hard on himself, Michael, so he’s probably upset that he only came in second there, but a shout out to him. But, you know, I just want to switch gears on you, John. I think we just saw another sale here in Major League Baseball. I think I think the Tampa Rays are going to sell for, if I’m not mistaken, 1.7 billion to Jacksonville developer Patrick Zelupsky. So, I guess that means they’re going to stay in town. But, I mean, my goodness, this is the I mean, based on Sportico data, John, this is the uh 29th of 30 uh Major League Baseball teams in terms of valuation, or at least it was going into this. And it was what I mean, I think there I mean, you covered the the the Harvard Crimson hockey team. I think there are 14 NHL teams that have a command a higher valuation even at 1.7 billion, if that’s indeed the number. Talk to us a little bit about this sale. I mean, for what again for one of the I guess least valuable Major League Baseball teams to go at a you a premium to what the this has to be good for the for the sport for the league, right? Yes. I I’ I’ve often said, Damian, I I I will never do live math on on the radio because I’ve I I often make mistakes. And then and by the way, when I make a mistake, the response is always, “Great job, Marosi. You went to Harvard and you can’t do math.” I’m I’m not going to calculate percentage right now other than to say that’s a pretty big percentage uh increase of what Stu Sternberg bought the raise for and what the reported sale price is going to be. Um that to me again we talk about different investments and and I realize we’re on we’re on the Bloomberg show so I can reference this. You think about some of the best investments in the American business world over the last quarter century. Sports teams have appreciated quite nicely uh in that in that time. It’s a pretty good investment. And and this even even a team without a an assured long-term home. You’re buying a team for the for the right to then sit there and have a negotiation with with different governmental entities in Florida about where you’re going to try to build a stadium. This is not exactly a a glide path to uh to to an easy profit year-over-year, but the macro, the franchise appreciation tells you all you need to know. And the Minnesota Twins are also up for sale. The commissioner talked a bit at the All-Star game about where that process is going. And again, the Rays have basically set the floor here. Um, and and it’s it’s a floor with a fairly it’s not like a floor, it’s a trampoline in terms of how high the valuations are going. So, it’s a it’s a really good situation for the game. It shows how much interest there is in in what the long-term place of baseball is going to be. It’s really important, I think, for the game’s health as as we enter a new uh CBA negotiation period. U, this is a nice bit of news for everybody. Listen, it it helps the players to know that the the franchise has a great valuation. That means investment in in players and capital and the overall uh mechanics of the organization should be very very strong. And certainly from a a macro level, if you’re Rob Manfred, uh with with now several years left in his tenure as commissioner, he’s got to say that if if the Tampa Bay Rays are selling for close to $2 billion, that that he’s done a pretty good job in his stewardship of the game. Yeah. Unbelievable. And you had mentioned it there about how they still have so many questions to really settle on where they’re going to be playing and all of that, but now with new change in ownership and obviously the deal falling apart in St. Pete with everything that happened there, where is this, you know, stadium going to be built, when will they really have a real home, like a real new home? Yeah, it’s a great question. And obviously the they’ve been playing outdoors at Stein Burner Field, the Yankee spring training facility for this year because of the storm the hurricane damage at Tropicana Field. The the belief is as the commissioner said, there’s still a pretty good optimism that the field’s going to be ready, the Tropicana Field is going to be ready for 2026 opening day, but obviously as as you point out, that is not the long-term home. It does seem to me that with the success of albeit a short-term solution in Tampa that that may revive and reopen the the minds of people on the the Hillsboro County side of the bridge to the potential of of having the team there long term. The Tampa Bay Lightning in a non-traditional hockey market have become something of a model franchise. They’ve won Stanley Cups. They’ve got one of the most respected coaches in the game. They’ve got elite talent on the ice and have for a long time. So there’s there’s a lot to like about Tampa as a sports market. Uh Rob Manford is on record as saying he hopes the team stays in the area, stays in the state. So I I think that this franchise ownership whenever it changes over, it it will reset things a little bit. Um and and as as we all know when it comes to a new stadium being built, a lot of it has to do with the political dynamics of a particular place, how well the owner negotiates and navigates the various municipalities, the the governor, the county government, the city government. This to me feels like a reset. Yeah. To where um the the new ownership group will come in and certainly helpful that that again based on the reports uh if it ends up being this group that closes the deal, there’s a lot of real estate, a lot of a lot of knowhow in this particular area of of franchise operations. Where are you going to build? Uh and and what’s going to happen next? So I think um th this particular ownership group I would say Vanessa is very well equipped to handle this conversation and I would expect that it does give a bit of a boost to the notion of the raise staying in Tampa Bay for the long term. Yeah. Do you think that the new ownership coming in, like you said, has a reset sort of value that maybe the public has more, you know, faith in them, even just creating a better team, putting more money into the team that makes them more willing to say yes to public funding? It’s a great point and I think it could uh and and that’s where, you know, public funding for franchises has been it’s been a hot topic and and it’s somewhat dependent upon where and how and in what fashion you ask for that money. uh where it’s it’s a complicated question based on wherever you’re you’re asking uh that that uh request for for public money but I I do think in general that the manner in which you are a steward of the organization and and how much you spend I think if a team comes in depending on how the how the deal is structured how much debt there is how much cash they have on hand I would hope that that the idea would be from a standpoint of of MLB make sure we pick a team pick an ownership group that has good cash on hand that can infuse some capital in the roster and make this a more competitive team to bring in some stars. And I I’ve often said this, sports fans are smart. They pay attention. They know what’s going on with their team, with other teams, and they can look at the payroll numbers and say, “Okay, are we spending like we should spend or not?” Tampa is a big market. Uh it’s not the biggest, but it’s a big market and a growing market. in in Florida, if you especially if you if you sort of add in the areas going east a bit towards Pulk County and and the and Orange County in Florida uh along I4, there’s a lot of fans there. And so if you do it right in Tampa, you’re going to have a very wellsupported franchise. And I I hope that that’s the case for the long term. Uh John, you totally nailed it. I mean, let me remind our audience that the Tampa Bay Devil Ray still generated $311 million in full year 2024. That’s a 34% rise over the three-year period before that. So, I mean, you know, clearly that it generates a lot of money, Michael Bar. But let’s also remember that of the next what 37 almost 40 games in the Major League Baseball season, less than half of them or maybe half of them are only played at home. And they’re they’re still, you know, three in a three and 11 slide or whatever slide they’re in. And you know, they’re they’ve got the work cut out for him. They’re five and a half games out of first as of right now. MLB Network insider John Morosei, man, I’m going to give you his tune. I’m going to sing to you, man. We’re all behind our baseball team. Go get them, Detroit Tigers. Go get them, Tigers. That is a classic from the from the 60s there. Well, well done, Michael. I love it. My pulling out in the Detroit Free Press right there, Michael Bar. That’s right. My My parents uh they’re going to be listening to the segment and loving loving the sound of that song. They they’ve got the best record in baseball as the second half begins. So, let’s see if the old English D can find a way to to play the final game of the season there right around Halloween in Detroit where, you know, if you all come up and join us, just, you know, bring a couple layers. Uh, you never know, you might have snow around that time. Uh, but we’ll we’ll be ready and and eager to welcome all the baseball community to the great state of Michigan that time of year. John Morosei, we love you, man. Thank you for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports. We appreciate it. Great to be on the show. Thanks so much for everything. Take care. Now, our thanks to MLB Network Insider John Morosei for joining us. And that does it for this edition of the Bloomberg Business of Sports. Man, it goes so fast. If you missed any part of it, catch it on demand now with the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast. Find it on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts. And while you’re there, find the latest bonus episode on the business of soccer as we make our way to the FIFA World Cup in 2026. For Vanessa Bernomo and Damian Sassau, I’m Michael Bar. You’re listening to the Bloomberg business of sports. Bloomberg radio around the world. [Music]
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.
Apple is expected to win the rights to stream Formula 1 races on Apple TV (https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/apple-tv/)+ in the United States thanks to a $150 million bid, rights currently held by Disney’s ESPN, according to a report by Business Insider. Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Media Analyst Geetha Ranganathan breaks down what this means for Apple moving forward.
Then, Bloomberg News Global Business of Sports reporter Randall Williams on NBA officially beginning the process to expand for the first time in more than two decades. Why Las Vegas and Seattle are favored
Plus, MLB Network Insider Jon Morosi on the pending sale of the Tampa Bay Rays, the upcoming trade deadline and more.
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