BONUS: MLB Takes Over South Of France, With CC Sabathia, Jimmy Rollins & More 

27:42It was like this is the all-star game where MLB, we show up, and this is what it is. Now we can have a more friendly, more personal experience to the city because we have people in our offices and our network that we can ask about the heartbeat of the city. And things like that are awesome. We talk about it amongst each other. We talk about who wants to do what and how do we get them there. Yeah. And that's always the tricky part. Guys, we got 20 guys or so, and there are 20 different ambitions. how do we make sure everyone is seen and heard and it's over time and that's the beauty of it that although hopefully we're all here for a long time there's no rush with us if you have a program you have a foundation we can get to it over time we hear you keep your name in a fire and then we will get around to you.

28:47Some we won't. I mean, it's impossible to get everybody, but being able to provide that. Hey, you have something, need players? We have a Relodex. We can get players to your event. And I don't think without this, it can get done. It's just not as easy because you're personally making phone calls. Somebody from your foundation is making a phone call as opposed to EJ reaching out with the marketing. Me or C reaching out. Hey, such and such is in town. You have interest. That's a whole different conversation. Oh, for sure. Bet. I don't even know. Thanks for letting me know. Yeah. Do you think some of those conversations should happen in locker rooms?

29:24Like people sharing their goals, their ambitions for currently or in the future. Like I know I've talked to other athletes about the fact that they wish more business conversations were happening in the locker room. Yes. Oh, my gosh. I talk about it all the time. And there's no regret. But the one thing I wish I took more advantage of were the business opportunities when you're making 10, 11, 15, 60 million. It's only a couple of them, but yes, there's so many opportunities because you're current, you're hot, you're on fire, your marketability is crazy. You touch something, it's like Midas' touch, it turns to go.

30:03when you're done playing baseball it's a little harder because yes you were great but time's moved on because this is the next superstar this is the next legend this is the next marketable person um but it's hard because the fine line or the dance is are you here playing baseball right are you here trying to run a business are you here trying to sell yourself um and you can do both. It's definitely much more widely acceptable across every sport. And I think there's no thought Meaning more than it was before. Yes. And you can thank the NBA for that. They've been at the forefront of playing baseball and still being a business person.

30:44I mean, basketball. Playing basketball and still being a business person at the same time. And it doesn't have to take away from what you do on the field or on the court. In the past, that was it was a truth but that doesn't mean it's true right my mindset handle your business on it was told to me handle your business on the field and then when you're done you can worry about what happens off the field because yes you're there to win a ball game you're paid to win but the world has evolved with social media makes things so much easier you just pick up your phone or pick up a camera sit on your couch call your homeboy have a conversation about what's going on and people have accepted that you have an opinion that wasn't accepted 10 years ago.

31:29It's really been the last five years where this picked up and exploded. I have a microphone, I have an opinion. I went to college. I'm actually educated. I'm in touch with this. I know business people. I do business. They didn't care back in the day. It was what's on the field. So I think those conversations are happening. We're seeing it. We're seeing guys have podcasts while playing and no one bats an eye where 10 years ago, for sure you'd have been like, bro, what are you doing? Yeah. Why do you think that is? It's interesting because business people, owners of teams, they don't own just one business.

32:04Right? So they're doing multiple things. On the teams, that's their, this is my big boy, you know, boys club. I'm going to show you how much money I have I can own a team and then I can create winners. I can go buy players, sign players.

32:22that is a great question I think if we look if we look at the history of the game where the owners owned the players it wasn't until the union came and fought for players rights that players were to have some control not control but some control over where they went who they signed or who they didn't sign with. When you look at it in that way, we have one job. Most people have, if it's paying you well enough, you have one job. That is it. Baseball has always been a reflection of life. Be satisfied with your job. You paid handsomely to go and play the sport. That's all you need to worry about. And then when you're done, you figure out life.

33:14That's not how it should be, but that's the mentality. I think that's still all involved in baseball. And you'll hear it, you know, like, for example, show up and dribble. It's like, so I'm just supposed to be one dimensional, but everybody else can do whatever they want in their extra time. Right. But my extra time, I just. The world first experienced football through sound. A crackle, a voice from afar, carrying the hopes of millions. Football traveled by frequency and imagination did the rest. But technology never stood still. It evolved frame by frame. With Hisense, the game steps into a new light.

33:57Flickering black and white unfolded into color. Distant heroes moved at the speed of sight. We feel every pass, every strike, every second that stops time. Sharp emotion, richer color, hat-trick technology behind every unforgettable moment. From radio factory to immersive display, the beautiful game is for everyone. Hisense. Tuned to the game. Hisense. Official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026. So there's a lot of noise about AI, but time's too tight for more promises. So let's talk about results. At IBM, we work with our employees to integrate technology right into the systems they need. Now, a global workforce of 300 ,000 can use AI to fill their HR questions, resolving 94 % of common questions.

34:52Not noise. Proof of how we can help companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business. IBM. Brought to you by Capital One. As a founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports, Capital One is here to bring you closer to the athletes and teams you care about. And with checking accounts that have no fees or minimums, Capital One is here to handle your banking needs too. Just ask the Capital One bank guy. It's pretty much all he talks about, in a good way. Capital One, what's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com slash bank for details.

35:31Capital One and a member FDIC. I have to sit there and twiddle my thumbs and wait for tomorrow's game to start. I think we're out of that mentality now. Like I said, NBA has done a lot to curb and change the view on that, that we're multifaceted people. Before we put on this uniform and after we take this uniform off, we're human beings with lives, lives, families, and trying to find ways to improve ourselves and to get further in life to leave our legacy. Yeah. Not just on a court or a field. That was Vanessa Perdomo-Megleone at the Cannes-Leon International Festival of Creativity speaking with Phillies legend Jimmy Rollins.

36:10When we come back, more conversations with stars in the baseball world from Cannes, France. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports, Bloomberg Radio Around the World.

36:23This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Thanks for joining us for a special edition of the Bloomberg Business of Sports. I'm Michael Barr. We're listening to a series of special conversations with our own Vanessa Perdomo Maglione. And she had the chance to report from the CanLeon International Festival of Creativity, catching up with players, executives, and more in the sports world who are looking to grow their sport in the eyes of some creatives and brands at the festival. Next up, we hear a conversation Vanessa had with All-Stars center fielder Dexter Fowler about the state of baseball right now and how he thinks it can contribute to grow around the world.

37:08Let's listen to that conversation. So this is the first time in Cannes, especially for Cannes Lion and Sport Beach. It's been great, you know, just getting to meet the different executives, especially seeing everybody in different sports at one place at one time. And it's central. So you see people from all walks of life, which is awesome, like walking through the hotels or walking through Sport Beach. It's just like, oh, I know him. I know him. It's definitely eye-opening that something like this came together, and it's been such a success. Have you talked to other, like, athletes who have been here before about their experience?

37:51I kind of went in blind, which I like. Okay. I've heard about it from MLB and from C and J-Rowe, but just coming in, like, I just wanted to form my own opinion. It's been great. It's interesting. I feel like I've likened to like Canline and Sport Beach. It's almost the Super Bowl, but for everyone, like you're saying. Yeah. Yeah. I wish. I mean, obviously we're in season, so I think we're the only – baseball is the only sport, obviously, and some soccer now with the World Cup. But, yeah, I think we're the only sport that hasn't been here. And I feel like – major sport that hasn't been here. And I feel like, you know, being a chance to get to come here and, like I said, sit down with some executives and try to form some new partnerships and relationships is awesome.

38:43Tell me about, yeah, like being here, the importance of it, especially the fact that, yeah, NFL players and NBA players and things like that have been able to be here before. So putting the MLB now in front of people's faces. I mean, you said it best. It's the MLB now. So it's our turn. No, getting here in front of people, you can see our personalities and what we have to bring to the table, which is awesome. What's your style of deal making when you're going into these meetings? What's your goal? What do you want to do for the league? What do you want to get from the conversation to understand if it's the right deal for you guys?

39:23For me, just having conversations. I like stuff to happen organically. That's just how I've always been. You know, we talk about, obviously, what we need in the league and the stuff that's going well. And once you start having those conversations, everything starts to come together. Like, oh, that would be awesome if we could get, you know, an executive to come in. It would be awesome to sit down with you and talk more about X, Y, and Z, which is, I mean, instead of having to get on a phone call, you set a meeting right then and there. Jimmy had talked about obviously being able to make those deals as a player when you're currently playing.

40:05It's a little bit easier. How have you been able to do that now? Well, I've been, I mean, it's knock on wood. I mean, being a part of the commissioner's ambassador program, we're still around a lot of executives. And the statute is already there just because, you know, you're in the league office. But also, I have some business stuff, ventures going on. So it's kind of been seamless since I've been retired. I've kept those relationships that I built while I was playing, which is that right there. Like you said, when you stop playing. But I've nurtured those relationships before that. What made you decide to have those relationships while you're still playing?

40:48I'm just a people person, honestly. I just like getting to know people. And I've been fortunate enough to have a lot of great mentors. So I've kind of bounced some stuff off of them. And it's kind of taken off. So it's been great. Yeah. You have a lot of different investments, right? So how did mentors or business partners walk you through what you really wanted to be getting into? Well, it's crazy. I met one of my really big mentors is Bill Foley. And he's my next-door neighbor. Oh, I'm good. Yeah, and I'm part owner in Bournemouth with him. But it's great because just sitting out and being able to talk to him and bounce ideas off of him and him helping me, I sit on four of his boards.

41:33So it's been, like I said, it's been seamless. I've been blessed enough to be in the right rooms and talk to the right people. What are some of the things that you've learned from him being in those boards and through those conversations that you think? Patience. other people. I think patience is huge. I mean, everybody wants to be something so fast and the process, trusting the process and learning the process of business. But I feel like business and leadership, you know, like once you, if you're a leader, once you learn the vernacular of the business, I feel like the sky's the limit. Do you feel like the leadership came from your playing career?

42:11Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, even growing up, just being on different various teams, going to different schools, just having to navigate stuff myself. It's kind of helped me, you know, obviously in the business world. And it's been great. Like I said, I started to learn the businesses and different types of businesses, but then you know how to put the chess pieces where the chess pieces are supposed to go. So let's talk a little bit about your investment in Bournemouth and, you know, being a owner of a team. Was that something you always wanted to do? and why Premier League? Well, yes, I've always wanted to be an owner of a franchise.

42:54And it was funny because Bill came to me during the Ukrainian and Russian thing and was like, hey, we're going to get this soccer team. He goes, I want you and Michael B. Jordan to be a part of it and invest in it. And I was like, everything Bill says, I said, okay, you got it, Bill. So, I mean, he's done such a great job. He owns the Vegas Golden Knights. They've gone crazy. Obviously, he started Fidelity. And I know his background and his mindset. So, with him, what he says, I'm like, okay. I listen to it. And I'm like, all right, yeah, Bill, I got you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What have you learned from being part of that ownership group?

43:36Has it made you be like, I'm looking at other sports franchise investments? Yeah, yeah, definitely looking at more stuff. But Bill made it look easy, but it's not. And sitting down and picking his brain and seeing the different moves you have to make and the money that has to go into that and just, you know, going back to investors. And the Premier League is different. Like, you're paying for players. You're paying for, like, out, like, your pockets. Like, instead of, like, a huge fund. So it's been – it's definitely a learning process, but I've slowly gotten to learn the process. So it's been good.

44:16We've seen a lot of American investment into the Premier League. Has it made you want to get into like – then it spurs other conversations of should I buy a smaller soccer team and see them rise? No, no, no. We started at the top. We're going to stay at the top. It was funny because we were going to get – the first year we bought it, we almost got relegated. And I'm like, Bill, shouldn't we have gotten relegated and then built the team up and then come back? He goes, no, we don't want to get relegated. I was like, okay. So we figured that out. And now we're upper middle pack. So it's good. Did you know the Premier League and read the relegation system and how that works?

44:54I knew there was a relegation system. I did, obviously, if I'm going to invest in the team, I'm doing the research on it. But, you know, you hear about, you know, I didn't hear about that. I didn't know about the cherries. I knew about like Man U and, you know, like all the Tottenham. And so learning about the cherries and, you know, even Bournemouth, like seeing the area, like it's like a beach town, which is great. Yeah. Yeah, it's cool. Not something you would think of. Exactly. Yeah, for sure. And you're like, oh, this is, they're part of the Premier League. Yeah. But now we made a statement.

45:30So it's good. How is that role as an owner of a team and then the advisor role with the MLB and then obviously your player mentality impacted each other and what mindset you have going into each of those? No, that's a great question. There's a lot of similarities there. There's a lot of parallels. And for me, it's like I said, it's just learning the different leagues. Right. Because they kind of all have the same fundamental values. And it's just the little things that have changed. Right. And baseball is growing. I think all sports are growing right now, which is good. And then you have new sports coming in.

46:13Yeah. So, you know, the blueprint's already there. So it's about following that. Obviously, you said like the Premier League operates very differently than, you know, most American sports. But then baseball operates its own way outside of most American sports. And that's the conversation that's coming up right now with the CBA, right? So do you think that there are certain things in baseball that they should be more aligned with the rest of American sports or should it rely on the way that it's operated? kind of um you know time will tell i think that that's you know obviously the game changes because the times change but the fundamental aspects of the game are definitely going to stay the same baseball is always going to be baseball basketball is always going to be the basketball so you know you rely on the commission you rely on the players association just to be able to um grow the game in the best way possible where would you say baseball is right now because it feels like the last few years have been really great for the popularity surgeons.

47:18I mean, yeah, you got super like Shohei, I mean, Judge, like you got guys that are doing crazy things in the game that you haven't seen in years, which is exciting for the game. And as a fan, you know, as, you know, ex-player and a fan looking in now, baseball is in good hands with these young guys coming out. Do you think it's the star power that there is right now with like guys like that? I think it's that. I think it's social media. I think it's a lot because, like, you know, you play, and if you're not on your network or playing on the major stage, people didn't really see. Now you have Instagram.

47:51You have stuff like John Boy. You have MLB. Like, everything is at your fingertips. You can YouTube some stuff. Just boom, it's on. And that's awesome for the game and awesome for the fans. Do you think current players are team? manage that uh yeah for sure for sure you can get their personalities out there like for us it was like i remember our first game in the league it was like twitter had just come out so i don't want to date myself yeah twitter had first come out and it was like wow like now how far we've come in 20 years it's crazy yeah absolutely so where do you think like the next evolution for the game can be like obviously you know one of the things you guys are doing is trying to grow the game and just put you know uh you know more out there obviously with the wbc put it on a really international stage so is that one of the things that you would like to see grow 100 the wbc was great it was so good like you know what it's we always talk about having fun playing the game and i played the olympics so being able to play in the olympics that had that feel like you're you're you're out there fighting for your nation which is different than being on a team of you know guys from all over right and now it's like hey we got to beat everybody it's the world so it's it's that's uh the the world baseball classic is one of my favorite events yeah it was unbelievable and i think it came at a great time that it was right after the winter olympics yeah and it's right before the world cup yeah so you could almost feel that so this is the year of international competition like really intense you know patriotism yeah in certain places for sure Yeah, you definitely got that vibe.

49:36Do you think, what are the markets do you think that baseball can grow in? Because it's very big, obviously, here in Asian markets, but we did see some of the European represented teams. Yeah, I'd like to see us go to Africa. Oh, okay. Yeah, I'd like to see us go to Africa. I mean, they play cricket and stuff over there. I'd like to see that. I'd like to see us in the Middle East. It would be great. So we definitely got some places we need to go. Have you ever had conversations with people who watch cricket, play cricket, about the similarities and the differences of cricket and baseball? Yeah, I did in London.

50:12So we, Cubs Cardinals, and we had a cricket dude out there. And we were sitting down talking to him about, yeah, there's definitely similarities. The game's so long over there. Talk about people used to complain about the length of baseball games. Man, that's crazy how long the game is. And I didn't, like, I had no recollection. I didn't know anything about that. So it's cool, but they need to do like a cricket versus MLB, like a home run derby or something. Oh, that would be amazing. Yeah. Or see if you could do this. See if you could do that. So you didn't try it. You didn't try it. I didn't try it.

50:45No, I saw the bat or paddle, whatever it is. Yeah. Yeah, it is called a bat, but the way – it's hard because the way you hit it, the way you hit might mess up your actual swing, letting it bounce. Yeah, for sure. For sure. So the All-Star game is coming up. I know that's one of the things that CeCe and you guys are really involved and trying to make great. But the MLB All-Star Game is actually one of the ones that actually still people really enjoy and watch. So what are you guys doing to continue that excitement and growth? You know what? I think it's just getting, like you said, the personalities of the players because there's so many young players that are now in the All-Star Game, maybe first All-Star Games, and just being able to highlight that stuff.

51:31And like, even like the Hank Aaron thing that CeCe did last year in Atlanta, like stuff like that, innovative stuff that's moving the game forward is what we need. That was former Olympian and MLB star Dexter Fowler speaking with our own Vanessa Perdomo-Mag-Leon at the Cannes-Leon International Festival of Creativity in France. Rounding out Vanessa's conversations at Cannes, And we hear from Major League Baseball's Chief Marketing Officer, Uzma Rondowler. Uzma also serves as the MLB Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Partnerships. Let's listen to that conversation. Uzma, can you set the scene a little bit for us so the people listening can understand where we are and why you're here?

52:16So this is my first can, actually, and we are excited to be here. We have a number of folks with us from MLB. Our player engagement team is here. Obviously, our comms folks are here. We have representatives from the marketing team in addition to myself. And then we brought three former MLB players with us as well, Cece Sabathia, Dexter Fowler, and Jimmy Rollins. And we wanted to make sure that we were present here and having conversations with brands, media partners, and sort of be in and around what's happening throughout the course of this week. And we're excited to be present, participating in panels, having conversations with yourself, and sort of understanding what the landscape here looks like to see if it makes sense for us to come back next year.

53:02Right. That's the interesting thing. I mean, it's different for you guys more than really a lot of other leagues that come here and have a space because you're in the middle of your season, right? So is that obviously maybe the reason your first year and why it was... Was it hard to navigate how to activate here? I think that we leaned a lot on our brand partners, quite honestly. Adobe has a presence here. They're a partner of MLBs. New York Life has a presence here. We have a strategic partnership with Boardroom. So there were a lot of conversations that we had leading into, quite honestly, this week, just in terms of planning, what makes sense to go to, what panels should we speak on, what makes sense to be a part of.

53:41And we leaned a lot on our partners to really educate us on this is what you should do. This is how you should program the week. This is what makes sense to go to. Don't need to really participate in that to really help guide the programming and build out our itinerary. And we're really proud of the fact that we have a pretty packed itinerary this week. So it's good. So what is your goal for while you're out here? I think one, to spread the love of baseball. We are mid-season right now. We've had an incredible first half of the season where we just launched our summer marketing campaign tied to celebrating America's 250th birthday.

54:15Baseball plays such a unique role in American history. So we're excited to launch that. And we're leading into All Star in a couple of weeks in Philadelphia. So just to talk about baseball, what it means for brands to align with baseball, the role that we play in American culture and culture in general, and how, quite honestly, partnerships can help enhance that. Yeah, absolutely. So tell me more about this time for baseball. It feels like the last few years have shown a lot of growth for the sport in a time when... Say it louder for the people in the back. I feel like a lot of, let's call them haters or critics or whatever you would want to call them, that it was in a downtick for a little bit.

54:53It was less popular. Basketball and football were getting more and more popular. But baseball has come back into that conversation. Would you say that? 1 ,000%. I would say that very, very loudly and proudly. I'll say I will give our commissioner credit a few years ago when we implemented the rule changes, sort of shifted the paradigm of the sport in general as it relates to creating more action on the field. And also, quite honestly, getting younger. When you look at the median age of fans that are visiting our ballparks and attending our games that are watching us on TV, we've seen tremendous growth as it relates to that demographic getting younger due to the rule change implementations.

55:31I have a five-year-old myself. Actually, he just turned six. I should know that. I have a six-year-old and now he can stay up and watch almost a full game with me at home versus a game ending at 1130 or 12 o 'clock at night. So that's really, really exciting just for families in general, not just going to the games and watching them in stadium, but also watching at home. I'll also say that as it relates to the last few years, we've had attendance growth for the last five years. The last three, we've had 70 million plus in attendees. So our numbers, our reach, our frequency, our engagement, all those metrics are up and credit to the action on the field and what like the players are performing and doing their job.

56:07And what we want to do is make sure that we're creating sort of a swirl around enhancing that story and telling that story and continuing to tell the story of players, not just on the field, but off the field as well. And how much does the, you know, on the field action or just the stardom of the players on the field play into, you know, the popularity growth? I think one thing that we're really focused on just as part of our overall marketing initiatives is player storytelling. You've seen research that shows that fans become fans of players first, before maybe sometimes teams. And so we want to make sure that we're continuing to tell that whole player story, not just the incredible talent that they have and the skill level that they have as it relates to their performance on the field.

56:46But our players, they've grown up in the era of social media. I'm holding my phone right now. So they're coming into our league with built-in audiences. And why would we not want to leverage that and harness the fact that they are creators and influencers themselves? They have interests off the field, tapping into what those interests are, propping them up so that we can bring fans, new fans into the MLB ecosystem through other passion points. Lindor, Francisco Lindor is a great example. He loves fashion. We want to make sure that we're getting him out to Paris Fashion Week or New York Fashion Week.

57:21So he has exposure to those environments. And so fans that are fans of Francisco Lindor that also might be fashion enthusiasts sort of start to become baseball fans as well through that ecosystem. Yeah. I was going to ask you, yeah, if there was examples that you were feeling of that and the people that you brought even here, the former players that you brought with you, do they feel that as well? Like they use their brand to also enhance the growth of baseball? Yeah. The players that we have here are former players. So they're continuing to build their brand and do work off of the field. CeCe Sabathia is a brand ambassador for MasterCard, for example.

57:55Dexter Fowler, I actually was just in a roundtable discussion with him at Sport Beach with New York Life. He's a brand ambassador for New York Life. So we want to make sure that we're providing our former players with opportunities as well to connect with brands and also connect with brands where they have interest in as well. So tell me more about the brands that you work with and a little bit just about the sponsors you decide to sign on, who's here with you, and all of that. Because obviously, as baseball grows, you sign more sponsors. That's how you grow revenue and all of that. So how are you determining how to get new sponsors?

58:30What do you do in that? I think the best way to look at it, and we say this a lot, it's not just about wanting to align with a brand to help that brand tell their story. That is one objective for us when we partner with a Mountain Dew or an Adobe or a New York Life. But baseball has a really cool story to tell as well. And we want it to be a two-way street where they're also helping MLB tell our story as well. And so that's where we feel like we create the one plus one equals... I used to say one plus one equals three. Someone the other day said one plus one equals five. And I love that a lot better.

59:03So that's where we create that halo effect, where we're creating a meaningful partnership, where we're helping them tell their story. They're helping us tell our story. We're mutually delivering on each other's objectives. So a partner like New York Life, they are about financial literacy and financial education and really planning for families as families grow. And so one element of the partnership that we have with them is the first game certificate. So if you're taking your child to a first game, you can go online and sort of download a certificate to sort of memorialize the fact that my son went to his first game.

59:37They took it a step further district, which was really cool. And one of my colleagues at work, actually her dad went in. And so they've gone back. And so if you know that you went to your first game in 1975, you can go and look up that game and download a first game certificate from that game with the scorecard, the stat sheet, and all the information sort of populates. So that's where we're also connecting generations as well. Baseball is such a multi-generational sport. And so that's a partnership. And we think about what New York Life represents. They represent multi-generational planning and financial planning.

1:00:09And so that's how they're connecting the dots with the partnership with us. That's so cool. I love that. I totally can't love, I can't wait to get my kids eventually that sort of thing. It's so cute. When we're talking about, you know, the MLB story, like you were saying, and how you can advance that for us, for a league that's so historic and has so much, you know, history to it, it's been around for such a long time. How has that story evolved? How do you continuously tell it in a brand new way? And really, what is it other than just, yeah, we love baseball here? Yeah. No, no. That's a fair question.

1:00:46I think baseball is always considered America's past time, but we're not just America's past time. We're America's present and future. I mentioned what the rule changes have done for our sport in terms of getting younger. We're always also wanting to find ways to connect with new fans as well and bring them into the ecosystem. That's where culture marketing initiatives are very, very important to us. How are we connecting with fans through their fan passion points? When you think about baseball, there's so many unique things about our sport, like the food culture in baseball. Every stadium and ballpark has their own sort of signature food item, whether it's...

1:01:20I think it's in Seattle. I think they have chocolate-covered crickets in Seattle. Yeah. Yes. Yes. I've tried this at an MLB Fan Food Fest. There you go. I wasn't a fan. I stuck around. You tried the chocolate-covered crickets? They stuck around for me for a while. Okay. You have to try it. I will. I will. When I go to Seattle next, I'll try it. But food is such a big part of baseball culture. So how can we connect with foodie enthusiasts and tap into a passion point that they have that might not necessarily be baseball and bring them into the baseball ecosystem through the side door and feed them that content to ultimately have them become the core fan that they are.

1:01:55Music is such a big part of baseball. We're the only sport that has a walk-up song. And so I was actually by the Sport Beach stage. And before any panelists go up, they play a song. And then when they come off, they play a song. That sort of is derived from baseball culture and walk-up music. I think even the Knicks the other day during their tunnel walk, there was an interviewer that was asking Knicks players what their walk-up song would be. It comes up. And so how do we bring fans into the baseball ecosystem through music, through fashion, through food, through lifestyle, through culture. I love that.

1:02:31So for the MLB, again, we're here in Cannes, France. So I want to iterate that again. And baseball is obviously seen as an American pastime, like you were saying before. How are you growing it here in places like France and Europe where it's maybe not? I mean, we've seen in the World Baseball Classic, we saw some European teams do really well. Did you watch the World Baseball Classic? Of course I did. It was pretty epic. It was pretty amazing. The finals were pretty incredible. The whole tournament was so much fun. And my husband, this is a side note, but my husband was ready for the Dominican Republic and I'm Puerto Rican.

1:03:02And we were like, you're not supposed to do that. Okay. What are you doing? I think everyone, by the way, was wanting a Team USA, Team Japan rematch. But I think that what we got with Team Venezuela and them winning was incredibly beautiful and sort of brought the entire tournament together. and honestly talks about World Baseball Classic did wonders for us when we think about global baseball. Each team had their own dugout celebration after home runs. Team Italy had espresso machines in their dugout. And so that's the beauty of global baseball. And we are a global sport. When you think about where baseball resonates, Asia, for example, is a huge baseball market for us.

1:03:47We've gone back to Asia every year for the past couple of years. We played our opening day games in Korea a few years ago. We went back last year with the Dodgers and the Cubs in Tokyo. And when we were in Tokyo for the opening day games, you couldn't look around and not feel like baseball and MLB had taken over. Otani is a demigod there and he will always be, but our other Japanese players and sort of the love that Japanese fans have for their hometown players is beautiful to see as well. And the way that we market our sport, quite honestly, in Japan is very different to the way that we market our sport here in Europe.

1:04:26People are less familiar with baseball, baseball rules, the diamond, sort of the structure of the sport here. But they do, when you walk around, I've seen it here. When you walk around, you see people wearing baseball hats, they might not know what that... They don't know what a Yankee hat is, but they're going to wear it. But they're going to wear it because they think it's cool and they think it's fashionable and they've seen celebrities and influencers and creators wear it. And so that's what we're leaning into in a market like Europe. We're really leaning into the cultural aspects of baseball, the food, fashion, lifestyle, culture, and educating them on baseball in that manner versus in Japan.

1:04:58They are such diehard baseball fans where we can speak to baseball very differently to the Japanese audience, the Korean audience, the Taiwanese audience than we do, the French audience, Spanish audience, European audience here. Do you feel like for you guys when you're in those specific markets where Japan and Korea, where they're already really baseball crazy, there's more of an initiative to keep the MLB growing there or even in Europe, or maybe they don't know it as well. What is the importance, I guess? I mean, we are a global sport because we have global players that play in our league. You mentioned you're Puerto Rican.

1:05:32Yes. And your husband's Dominican. No, he's Italian. Oh, sorry. Okay. Okay, yeah. Just an American person. But the amount of Latin American players and Hispanic players that we have in our sport, we are a global sport. And so we want to continue to share that message that yes, baseball is America's pastime. We're rooted in American culture, but there are so many unique sort of attributes about baseball in other markets, the way that other markets celebrate baseball and play baseball as well. What do you think the next iteration of the WBC is going to look like after this one was such a success?

1:06:04Honestly, I didn't even think that we could outdo the 2023 World Series. Sorry, WBC. I hope it continues to grow. I think that global baseball was on such a big stage. Also coming out of the Olympics as well, I think everyone sort of had that country pride. And we were able to draft off of that and sort of leverage that to create what became the WBC. And I hope that continues to grow for sure. It was really amazing. It's the year of international competition, really, after the Olympics. Yeah, I would say. And going into WBC. I would say. And I also think it's really interesting to see how fans from different cultures celebrate as well.

1:06:53Some are more reserved. Some are louder. So I think that that was really, really interesting to see just the way that fans celebrated their teams. After, I will say, Team Japan lost in the semifinals, we had a lot of a number of our Japanese partners that came from Japan to Miami for the WBC finals, thinking that Team Japan was going to be in the finals. And we quite honestly briefly thought that maybe those partners would not stay for the finals, but they didn't leave. We had an event the night before the finals and they stayed. And I think there's something in Japanese culture where if your team loses, you sort of inherit the fandom of the team that beat you.

1:07:41And so they were all rooting for Team Venezuela. Yeah. That's really interesting. That's cool. Yeah. I love that. I've always been on that route for the team that beat you because otherwise, What would you lose for? Uzma, as we wrap up here, as we look ahead forward, obviously we said, what could the next WC look like? But for you, in the next couple of years, what is your initiatives and your goals for the MLB? I think it's twofold. I think from a partnership standpoint, it's continuing to develop organic and authentic partnerships with brands that allow us to create a mutually beneficial relationship.

1:08:12We always say that the best representation of our sport is really attending a live game and sort of seeing the action on the field and sort of experiencing all of that. And how can brands work with baseball and align with us to sort of enhance that fan experience, not take away from it, but be additive to it. And then from a marketing perspective, I think continuing to focus on driving butts in seats and eyeballs on TV. That is the lifeblood of our business is having fans attend games, watching on TV, but also So how are we continuing to grow our younger, more diverse fan base and our growth audiences through some of the cultural passion points that I mentioned as well?

1:08:52That was our own Vanessa Bernomo Maglione speaking with the MLB's Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Partnerships, Uzma Rondal. Well, that does it for this special edition of the Bloomberg Business of Sports. Make sure you subscribe now so you will never, I mean never, miss an episode. and be sure to catch our weekly podcast every Friday. I'm Mike LeBar. You are listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.

1:09:29This Sports Spotlight is brought to you by Capital One. Capital One offers no fees or minimums on checking accounts. Did you know that Toni Stone is considered the female Jackie Robinson? The first woman to play big league pro baseball, Stone signed with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League in 1953 to play second base. Hank Aaron played second for the team before her. Capital One, what's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com slash Bank Guy for details. Capital One, N-A, member FDIC. Whatever your goal, trade show giveaways, client gifts, or team gear, 4imprint has the promo products to match.

1:10:06With thousands of options, from apparel and drinkware to tech and totes, it's easy to find the right fit for your brand and budget with standout choices at every price point. And with their 360-degree guarantee, you can be 4imprint certain your order will show up just right, right on time. Explore more at 4imprint.com. 4imprint. 4certain. When you're running a business, the best days are the ones where priorities stay on track. For midsize and large companies, risk can affect multiple parts of the organization at once, from property and liability to cyber and regulatory challenges. At that level, managing risk becomes an ongoing discipline.

1:10:43At the Hartford, the focus is on helping businesses manage risk before it turns into something more disruptive. And when losses do happen, that work is paired with insurance coverage shaped by years of underwriting, risk engineering, and claims experience. Learn more at thehartford.com slash risk mitigation. Policies provided by Hartford Fire Insurance Company and its property and casualty affiliates, Hartford, Connecticut.