Bloomberg Business of Sports

It was a jam-packed weekend for American sports, as the NFL's first week coincided with NBA and NHL playoff action, MLB, and U.S. Open tennis finals. Jason Kelly, Michael Barr, and Mike Lynch speak with a veteran of sports gambling, Steve Budin, Chief Executive Officer of Sportsinfo.com. They discuss the impact the pandemic has had on the industry, the outlook for the professional and college foot...

Three months into a widespread, national reckoning on racial inequalities, and on the eve of pro football returning, NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Davis returns to take on all of it. And amid a wide-ranging discussion touching on systemic racism, player safety and health, the football great pauses to ruminate on Michael Barr's bowling injury -- proving once and for all why he's the show's favorite gue...

Your fantasy football draft is probably over. Now your searching the waiver wire and combing through the free agent pool to bolster your team right before week 1. Who do you pick up? Who do you stay away from? Who do you stash for a later dater? Well Michael Barr, Damian Sassower and Rich Trueman clue you in to some pick ups. Also Rich and Michael are looking to spice up their team names? Any idea...

An empty Arthur Ashe Stadium isn't stopping the U.S. Open from being one of the most important sporting events of the year. Tennis Channel President Ken Solomon joins Jason, Michael and Mike to talk about how his sport has survived -- and even thrived -- amid the pandemic. He discusses both the social distance, and the social activism, that have defined tennis for decades, and his hope for a new g...

Football, and the world, have changed a lot since Amani Toomer stopped playing. The former New York Giants and University of Michigan great weighs in from Denmark on the pending NFL season and the trickiness of non-bubbled pro football. He also talks to Jason, Michael and Mike about the gross inequalities built into college athletics and how social media has radically transformed what it means to...

What's the best strategy for picking a fantasy football team when we might not have any football at all? Michael Barr and Mike Lynch speak with our in house fantasy football experts, Bloomberg Intelligence's Damian Sassower and Bloomberg Radio producer Richard Trueman. Do you diversify picks among NFL teams? How many backup quarterbacks do you hold? Do you change the structure of your league? Our...

He’s the co-founder of the Home Depot who’s now better known as one of the most influential team owners in the U.S. Arthur Blank joins Jason Kelly to talk about his new book, and the lessons along the course of decades in business. Blank talks about the advice he got from Robert Kraft, Michael Vick’s remorse and the role his adopted hometown plays in a time of massive tumult and discussion around...

The first four days of Jason Wright's new job as the Washington Football Team's new president are even more challenging than anyone thought they could be, and that's saying something. The first Black man to run an NFL team is facing scandal in his own organization, and social unrest in the broader world; he'll draw on every experience as a former NFL player and a McKinsey & Co. partner to tack...

How the Dodgers left Brooklyn has spawned a cottage industry of books, but very little has been written about how they got to Los Angeles -- and how the city picked a site for the ballpark. "Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between" is Eric Nusbaum's gripping new history of one of sport's iconics ballparks and it's a must-read, detailing the lives torn apart ahead o...

She was a ball kid for the Dallas Mavericks, and cut her teeth in social media at the Cowboys and ESPN. Now Neeta Sreekanth is the chief operating officer at INFLCR, where she's working with hundreds of colleges and thousands of college athletes to get smart about engaging the world at a time of increased empowerment. She talks with Jason Kelly, Mike Lynch and Michael Barr about what college sport...

After months of being shut down, gyms in New York have a timeline for reopening. Retro Fitness CEO Andrew Alfano wasn't even a year into the top job when Covid-19 ravaged the economy and shuttered his franchises. He tells Jason Kelly, Michael Barr and Mike Lynch about the demand for fitness centers, the biggest hurdles to reopening, and the attention the pandemic has brought to health and wellness...

Author, screenwriter, and former pro hockey player Bill Keenan joins the podcast to discuss his transition from playing professional puck in Europe, to investment banking, and everything in between. He speaks with Michael Barr, Mike Lynch, and Scarlet Fu about pro hockey in a Covid-19 world, and adapting his first book, Odd Man Rush , to film. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Barr, Mike Lynch, and Jon Stashower discuss the decision to name former pro running back and business consultant, Jason Wright, as the new President of the Washington Football team. He is the first African-American to hold such a position in league history. Also discussed is college football, and the economic impact small towns like Iowa City, Iowa, and State College, Pennsylvania will fee...

Have you ever wanted to get face to face with your favorite sports teams chief executive? If you’re an Oakland A's fan this is more realistic than you might think. Jon Stashower, Michael Barr and Mike Lynch sit down with Athletics president Dave Kaval and talked about his aggressive marketing plan, how he plans to keep the team in Oakland and why he schedules "Office Hours" to meet the Athletics f...

Earlier this week two of the NCAA's power 5 conferences decided to postpone fall football. The Pac 12 and Big 10 will not play any games until at least 2021. Jon Stashower, Michael Barr and Mike Lynch discuss the effects this may have over the rest of the NCAA and how it could alter the NFL's plans to get back on the field. We also discuss the thrilling finish to golf's first major in the covid-19...

Great power requires great responsibility... as one of the largest social media platforms in the world Twitter has found itself at the forefront of the call for social justice in the sports world and it continues to grow in digital content distribution. Twitters Head of US Sports, TJ Adeshola joins Jason Kelly, Michael Barr and Mike Lynch for a wide ranging conversation about the impact the compan...

Motivational speaker, restaurateur, philanthropist, investor, and oh yeah… Super Bowl winning quarterback! Jason Kelly, Michael Barr and Mike Lynch sit down with former Washington Redskin Joe Theismann to find out how his life’s changed since we last spoke at Super Bowl LIV in Miami. Joe talks about how he picks his investments, the current state of the NFL season and his thoughts on the future of...

If you made up Mike Repole's life story, folks might tell you it was a bit much. He's sold a company to Coca-Cola, owned a Breeder's Cup Champion and gone into business with the late Kobe Bryant. With that last business, BodyArmor, he's got his sights set on the dominant player in sports drinks: Gatorade. That's not all: This son of Queens is part of a group, with Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez...

He's been a college football player, a professional wrestler, a movie and TV star, producer and entrepreneur. Now Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson can add "league owner" to his resume, with his purchase of the assets of the XFL. He and his partners will try to pull off what his old boss Vince McMahon couldn't, and stand up a successful non-NFL pro football league. Jason Kelly, Mike Lynch and Michael Barr...

Tim Leiweke's the go-to guy when it comes to the modern sports arena. The former CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and AEG, he's in the midst of massive projects from Milan to Long Island to Seattle. Leiweke joins Jason Kelly, Michael Barr and Mike Lynch to break down some of the cutting edge mobile technology he's bringing to the New York Islanders's newly named UBS arena, negotiating the needs of Jeff Be...

We may have booked one of Michael Barr's favorite guests in the world… no it's not Barry Sanders…. It's FanDuel CEO Matthew King! On today's podcast, Barr, Jason Kelly and Mike Lynch break down the current state of sports betting in a Covid-19 world, the strength of their casino business and the future of expansion as states and municipalities look to generate revenue. See omnystudio.com/listener...

As the Miami Marlins Covid-19 news broke this morning Jason, Mike and Lynchie had an opportunity sit down with Legendary Red Sox broadcaster Joe Castiglione. Initially our interview was planned to be a reflection on opening weekend, we quickly pivoted and dove right into the headlines as they hit the wire. We chatted about the effect the positive test results will have on the season and what its l...

NBA general counsel, USA Basketball President, WNBA President, Women's Basketball Hall Of Famer…. You may need a resume this deep to manage an NCAA power conference through a pandemic. Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman joins Jason Kelly, Michael Barr and Mike Lynch to discuss Covid-19's impact on the legendary basketball league, how a unique insurance policy helped solidify the conference's finan...

College football's near-term prospects continue to look bleak. Colonial Athletic Association Commissioner Joe D'Antonio describes the 3D chess game he and his colleagues are playing to balance sports, academics and safety across schools and regions. He tells Jason Kelly, Michael Barr and Mike Lynch about the decision to cancel conference play for football, the economic implications of this crisis,...

With Major League Baseball, the NBA and the NHL all geared up for a cautious return, John Levy can barely contain himself. He's a fan first, but he's also got a lot riding on the return. The Score, based in Canada, blends sports news and information with a betting platform; both the company and its customers are ready to put some money on the line. Levy joins Jason Kelly, Michael Barr and Mike Lyn...