Bloomberg Business of Sports

It sounds like something ripped from a 10-year-old's daydream: Being the star player in the professional sports league you and your older brother create. But that's just what Paul Rabil did last year, and now he and the rest of the Premier Lacrosse League are on the verge of bringing pro lacrosse back to the field next week -- albeit with no fans, and in a Utah "bubble." The tournament could be th...

Germany's Bundesliga had the distinction -- and pressure -- of returning to the field ahead of any other pro sports league. Now Robert Klein, the CEO of Bundesliga International, is fielding calls from across the world as to how the league did it, and what he learned. He joined Jason Kelly to talk about making all the stakeholders (including players, sponsors and fans) happy, working with the coun...

The decision last month to cancel the entire minor league baseball season had a profound affect not just for tens of millions of fans, but more than 150 towns across America. David Wright, the league's chief commercial and marketing officer, calls the league "the front porch of local communities." Wright, who prior to MiLB spent a decade-plus building Major League Soccer, talks with Jason Kelly, M...

Managers, teammates and and fans know Trevor Bauer is restless and relentless. With baseball about to get back to work, the Cincinnati Reds pitcher walks Jason Kelly, Michael Barr and Mike Lynch through the contentious negotiations that got us to "summer camp." He also talks about what motivates him as both a player and an entrepreneur, and what's spurred him to consistently push the envelope in e...

A hockey fan since his Harvard days, Xavier Gutierrez never expected to run a team. But here he is, recently relocated from a career in the investment world in Southern California, overseeing a franchise on the rise in one of America's fastest growing -- and most diverse -- cities. The first Latino to head an NHL team, he spoke to Jason Kelly, Michael Barr and Mike Lynch about the responsibility t...

The team welcomes back Michael Barr and gets down to business making sense of all that's happened in the month he's been away. He breaks down his reaction to the Bubba Wallace/NASCAR incident, and the group aims to answer some big questions: Is the optimism around sports returning increasingly misplaced as players balk -- and leagues look at the virus surging right where they're meant to play? Is...

As protests roiled Atlanta, thrusting the Southern capital back into the civil rights spotlight, Hawks CEO Steve Koonin had an idea -- turn his team's home into the largest polling station in the U.S. Now State Farm Arena may be the model for how the increasingly activist NBA can attack systemic racism, simply by making it easier and safer to vote. Koonin, a native Atlantan and former Coca-Cola an...

With most gyms and fitness studios still shuttered, the fitness business -- like so many industries -- has been radically disrupted. To makes sense of it, Jason Kelly and Mike Lynch turn to Goldman Sachs's Aarti Kapoor, one of the top investment bankers across the wellness and exercise landscape. It's a reunion of sorts for Jason and Aarti, who was featured prominently in his 2016 book, "Sweat Equ...

Our pal, Bloomberg Opinion columnist (plus bestselling author and podcaster extraordinaire) Joe Nocera stops by to talk about the prospects for a college football season and why the door may be closing for a fall as we're used to. Plus, he tells us why he's bullish on the NBA's chances to get back to work late next month. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the eve of the pandemic, LeBron James and Maverick Carter -- lifelong friends from Akron who became business partners -- cut their biggest deal yet: a $100 million investment to create The SpringHill Co., a Nike-Disney-Patagonia hybrid. They want to change the way content is made, and consumed by the world. In an exclusive interview, James and Carter go deep with Jason Kelly about Black Lives M...

Cathy Engelbert unwittingly spent decades training for this moment. A dual-sport Division I athlete, she spent a career at Deloitte, ultimately becoming its CEO, before taking the top job at the WNBA last year. In conversation with Jason Kelly and Mike Lynch, Engelbert talks about how she held a draft during the crisis, the plans for a restart and what the "player first" mentality means to the WNB...

Former WNBA Champion and Four-time All-Star Alana Beard says her new job is a lot like being a rookie again. After 16 years in the league, she's moved to Silicon Valley and the world of venture capital and it's competitive in a very different way. She talks with Jason Kelly and Mike Lynch about her early business ventures (including a pizza joint) and reckoning as a Black woman with what may be a...

Jason Levien, who once led the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, is all in on soccer these days. After buying a stake in MLS club DC United, he was able to deliver a brand new soccer-specific facility in the nation's capital, resisting the easier move to the suburbs. He sits down with Jason Kelly and Mike Lynch to talk about how he got the stadium got built, the effect Covid-19 has had across his business...

You'll be able to hear a tennis ball drop in Flushing Meadows this Labor Day, as the U.S. Open will go ahead, but no fans on site. USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center chief operating officer Danny Zausner joins Jason Kelly and Mike Lynch to discuss how a major event on the tennis (and New York) calendar will look and feel. Zausner also talks about the economic implications of a spectator-...

Bloomberg Opinion's Jonathan Bernstein ponders the idea of President Trump taking action to solve the off-the-field drama between MLB and its players union to bring back America's pastime. We'll discuss his latest column, the current state of negotiations and which team he's rooting for once we get back to the diamond.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Billy Andrade went two months without touching a club, but he's back on the course in his Atlanta neighborhood, getting ready for the Champions Tour to resume later this summer. Andrade joins Jason Kelly and Mike Lynch to discuss the state of sports amid the Covid-19 crisis, learning from the PGA's restart, his charitable work bringing golf to under-served  communities and how TV taught him how to...

The sports world continues to react and adapt as calls for social justice echo across the world. NASCAR announced earlier this week that it will ban the Confederate flag throughout its organization. One driver has already announced his plans to retire from the sport over the news. Bloomberg TV's Erik Schatzker stops by to discuss his interview with Apollo's Josh Harris, after it was disclosed he w...

Jason Kelly and Mike Lynch discuss the ongoing -- and incredibly public -- negotiations between Major League Baseball and its players association regarding terms for the abbreviated 2020 season, and the difficulty America’s pastime might face going head to head with the NBA’s return. Also discussed is the PGA Tour, which is set to restart in Texas this week, and UFC star Conor McGregor’s retiremen...

Hall of Famer and Super Bowl MVP Terrell Davis has some things to say about this turbulent world, through the lens of a businessman, philanthropist and father. In a timely and frank conversation with Jason Kelly and Mike Lynch, Davis -- co-founder of the CBD product company Defy -- recalls early encounters with the police in his native San Diego, the NFL's decision to reverse its stance on player...

Jim Van Stone, President of Business Operations and Chief Commercial Officer for Monumental Sports and Entertainment, joins Jason Kelly and Mike Lynch to discuss the gradual return of live sporting events, and the opportunities ahead for broadcast enhancement. Monumental, one of the leading names in sports and entertainment, owns and operates the Washington Capitals, Wizards, and Mystics. Van Ston...

Jason Kelly and Mike Lynch discuss a host of issues related to the business of sports, including a proposal by N.B.A. owners for a July 31st season restart. They also discuss the controversial comments made by star quarterback Drew Brees, regarding players kneeling during the national anthem. Brees’s comments prompted backlash from teammates and athletes across other pro sports, as protests over t...

Before he started Bruin Sports Capital, George Pyne learned about sports, and sports fans, by building the modern NASCAR as chief operating officer, as well as at the right hand of Ted Forstmann, as president of IMG Sports and Entertainment. In this conversation with Jason Kelly (recorded in late May), Pyne reflects on how the experience of sports may change, the economic impact of seasons without...

Jason Kelly, Michael Barr and Mike Lynch talk about how athletes and teams have responded to violent protests across the country, and the historical role sports has played in times of civil unrest. The trio also discusses the ongoing -- and still contentious -- negotiations between Major League Baseball's players and team owners, and the increasingly real possibility of no season. They also celebr...

In less than a decade, Rich Paul has emerged as one of the most influential voices in the world of sports. Starting with no less than LeBron James, Paul has expanded his representation not just in the NBA (adding the likes of Anthony Davis), but more recently into Major League Baseball and the NFL (repping the No. 2 and No. 3 picks in the most recent draft). In a candid conversation with Jason Kel...

Jason Kelly, Michael Barr and Mike Lynch discuss the latest in the business of sports, including the Pensacola Blue Wahoos plan to post their stadium on Airbnb. We find out exactly how the crew would spend a night in their personal field of dreams. We also discuss Major Leagues Soccer's return to play tournament in Orlando and the financial challenges NCAA athletic departments face this fall.  See...