NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell; Growing Pro Volleyball & USMNT's Matt Freese

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1:32Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News. This is the business of sports. Our aim is always to leverage the global appeal of football. Having representation in college sports is even more important than pro. 10 % of Americans now claim soccer to be their favorite sport. We estimate the youth sports audience has$3 trillion in spending power. The nature of baseball is it is worldwide and it is global. I'm very happy for the WNBA and how the NBA has embraced them. Sportsbooks are not going anywhere and sports betting is only growing. We have a super team running this league and this league is here and it's here to stay.

2:12Bloomberg 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 Michael Barr. I'm Vanessa Perdomo-Maglione. And I'm Randall Williams. Coming up today, we will be speaking with an Olympic legend, Carrie Walsh Jennings, about her new investment in volleyball. And we will hear from the U.S. men's national team goalkeeper, Matt Freeze. But first, we're going racing with NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell. Michael, you and Randall had the chance to sit down with Steve when I was still on my honeymoon. But you guys got the chance to talk to him actually right before he came and did our annual event this week, Bloomberg Power Players.

2:54That's right. We made sure he came by to see us here first because, Michael, we know how much you love NASCAR. You were definitely a fan throughout the entire time. So let's take a listen to our conversation with NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell. Steve, thank you, sir, for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports. Yes, I am a motorhead. I love it. I love it. Period. It's fantastic. I want to bring up a point. Well, tell them where you're from first. Yeah, we're from here. Tell us where you're from and why you're a motorhead. Detroit, Michigan. Oh, yeah. There you go. That's where we build them.

3:25That's where we build them. That's right. But you know what? You did something for the first time in NASCAR. Usually you have a France member or someone related to the France family. You're the first person to come in to NASCAR and kick butt without the France connection. Tell us more about that.

3:47Steve O’Donnell:Yeah, it's been a great ride. This is my 30th year at NASCAR. So I owe an incredible amount to the France family and the confidence in kind of letting me grow throughout my career. I've had a lot of great mentors, still have a strong relationship with Jim and Lisa, who are on the board, obviously, and talking to them every day. And then we've got Ben Kennedy up and coming as well as our COO. So it's a great partnership to kind of talk about where we've been, some of the things we've learned, but more importantly, where we want to go in the future. And so how do you balance that understanding tradition versus you being yourself, you entering in someone is like, yeah, I did my 30 years, but this is how I'm going to lead for the future.

4:28How do you balance all of that?

4:29Steve O’Donnell:Yeah, I think you take, you know, what you what you've learned. But for me, you know, I try and learn every day, look at other sports, read what's going on. And and the only way we can continue to grow is we've got to evolve. Right. But we've got to do it in that authentic NASCAR way. And I think when we get ourselves in trouble, we try to do things that really aren't NASCAR and our fans see through that. So if we can do some things that are maybe a little bit of a stretch, but we've brought the industry together, talked about why we're doing something, we can help grow the sport, expose it to new fans.

4:59Steve O’Donnell:So we've got to be authentic. I think once people get to a race, they think, hey, this is pretty cool. There's a lot to do. We just got to get them there. And we got to go out and talk to people, you know, where they live, you know, and what language they're speaking or what they think is cool. And so what I always say is, you know, I want our sport to be culturally relevant. I want a kid in Seattle, Washington, no matter how you grew up, middle schooler to be able to go talk about NASCAR. And they're not the kid whose parents maybe, you know, raced. They just love the sport and want to be involved.

5:28Steve O’Donnell:So that's the goal in the future. And I'm an old school NASCAR fan. So I want to bring that up, too. And you brought up the connection between the old schoolers and bringing in the new people. to get into the sport, but try to do it in a true way. Can you expand just more on that? Yeah, absolutely. And that's probably the toughest thing we have to do. But I'd say we got away from that, and we catered too much to the new fan. And the old fan said, wait, what's wrong with the sport? Why are we going away from that? And what we've learned is talking more about what's cool about the sport, the fan access that you get, the great competition, the drivers who are relatable up and down pit road.

6:10Steve O’Donnell:We've got great stories to tell about former D1 athletes now. And so making sure that people just understand what's happening in the sport. Once they do that, we can get to new avenues. And I think it's a sport that people want to follow and want to love, but need to understand why it is for them as well. And connecting them to what a story may be taking place at a racetrack. Now, you've been around NASCAR for three decades. Tell me your top three events a new fan should attend. Top three events. Daytona 500, for sure. You got to go just from when it's happening. Get there a couple days early and have some fun.

6:45Daytona 500, what?

6:47Steve O’Donnell:Talladega number two. And Talladega, here's the reason why. Shout out to Ricky Bobby. Yeah, shout out to Ricky Bobby. Talladega is a place that I think just a sports fan or someone who's into just having a good time, you can go to Talladega, Alabama, which is a place you'd probably say, man, I've never been to Talladega. What would I do? But it's a bucket list event. People love it. They have fun. Fans, they just want to see you there and have fun. So I think that's great. And then I'd probably look at more sports fan. If you get to the Bristol night race, I mean, that looks and feels like kind of that last Coliseum.

7:19Steve O’Donnell:You know, hosted college football, hosted baseball. I think that's in a venue that feels maybe more familiar. And it's just great action. I got to give an honorable nod to Darlington also. Oh, old school. Yep, just raced there. Came off a good race. So, yeah, Darlington. And that's one. That's a true racer's track, right? If you ask the folks in the industry where they want to win, Darlington's certainly up there. Who thought a minnow track, a minnow pond, would cause the configuration of the track? It's crazy, isn't it? It's just wild, wild. Steve O'Donnell, he is the CEO for NASCAR, which brings me to some other things also.

7:56So when you have the ad money now for NASCAR, which has gone way up from what it used to be, tell us about that, about those sponsorship deals.

8:09Steve O’Donnell:Yeah, it's really important for our industry, right? So especially the race teams who rely heavily on their partners that are on the race cars. NASCAR does as well. Not so much for the financial help, although it doesn't hurt. It's more what they do to promote the sport. We're seeing more and more of our drivers now on television ads, in-market activation. So if a fan is maybe walking around or even a non-fan and they see something at their local store about, oh, hey, NASCAR's coming to town, that's important for us. So they're really helping us get the word out. And I think they're seeing once they're involved in the sport, if you go to Daytona and you go to the driver's meeting and you're a CEO of a new partner that maybe took a chance on NASCAR and says, why are we here?

8:51Steve O’Donnell:and there's a hundred other CEOs there because they believe in the partnership and they're able to do business with each other. So, you know, it's a place where you're part of the sport, right? You know, you can put a patch on a uniform in another sport, but for us, you're part of the team. And if you jump in and be a part of NASCAR, you know, you're winning, you're in victory lane and you're part of that team being successful. So now tell me about a potential partner or partnership that you want, but don't have just yet? You know, I think it would be more around emerging media. So how do we get involved?

9:27Steve O’Donnell:And I think we're just starting to dabble in that, with the TikToks, more with YouTube. So we have some relationships, but I think getting in that space, but doing it right. And that's an avenue that we've really got an opportunity to jump in. And then the other one I'd say is outside of North America, looking at how we grow the sport authentically so be either you know bring in a new driver in uh who comes with a sponsor or new ownership interest is a way to look at that as well you guys did something that was really unique you had a race at a base we did and it was kind of cool tell us more about that it was awesome uh we had 67 or i think 70 new fans and so you're bringing a sport out to a base where people were able to experience the sport.

10:14Steve O’Donnell:The men and women who helped us put on that event on the base, they allowed us, first of all, to come into their home, put a ton of work into the event. And just the camaraderie and the spirit fit so well with our NASCAR group as we came in. The race was fantastic all weekend long. We ran out of merchandise early on, so we've got to fix that problem. It's a good problem to have. But it showed that we can race anywhere, and it's a great partnership. I think we're going to look to develop. That will be back on the base for 27. But it's an avenue we want to look at in the future of can we take this concept and expand upon it and go to different areas with NASCAR and partner.

10:53And I should add, it was Naval Base Coronado in San Diego. Now, a race that you had was not at a Naval Base and was on the streets of Chicago. Yes. And tell me about sort of what you've learned along the way. It's been a couple of years. I think the first time that a new race happens. There's a bunch of learnings, of course, but now that you are well experienced in that, what have you learned about doing a unique event such as the street race?

11:15Steve O’Donnell:Yeah. So I'll go back. Ben Kennedy and I went up to Chicago originally and we looked at Soldier Field because we used to race there. I probably should have done a little more research because they had moved the seats in a little further, right, for football. So there's no way we're going to race, but they said, ah, maybe you can race around the parking lot. We're like, eh, I'm not sure. So we had a meeting downtown with a friend of ours who said he had designed a course a couple of years ago and it was going to be potentially open wheel. And we said, you know, why not us? You know? And he said, well, let's, let's take a shot.

11:45Steve O’Donnell:And so it was about a three-year journey. During that time, we went out to LA and we looked at the Coliseum as well. So, you know, we kind of said, Hey, let's, let's try this. We've got a great design and development team. We've learned a lot along the way of how much goes into planning. I think the biggest challenge is probably, you know, you're a promoter normally of a race. So, you know, if there's weather coming in or when you can race. That's a challenge for us. You know, when you're dealing with different municipalities, it's just a different way of doing business. But it's been fantastic.

12:15Steve O’Donnell:We've learned a lot, as you've said. But I think it's allowed us to say anywhere in the world, we can go try and put on a race because we've got a good team that's able to do that. So you say anywhere in the world. And one of the things that I've thought about in our coverage of racing in particular is the difference between NASCAR and F1's approach. F1, of course, is trying to bring more races here. They have Vegas, they have Miami, and they have Austin. But you all, of course, are centered here and are trying to expand more internationally. Tell me about your progress in terms of adding races internationally and finding the right markets.

12:47Steve O’Donnell:Yeah, so we have four series now that are kind of a feeder system, lower-end touring system. I've got one in Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and then in Europe. And so what gets lost sometimes is the races in Europe. You know, we'll put 50 ,000 people in, which is for, you know, kind of a lower tier series. The goal, though, is not just to take a cup race and export NASCAR. I think we want to build the culture. So wherever we're going to go, we want to make sure that we've got a fan base that's starting to be developed. We can bring a race series in. And then eventually you want to see a driver come from that country and come compete in the U.S.

13:22Steve O’Donnell:I think the NBA does a really great job with that model. And that's something we want to look at as well. That was NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell. Up next, we will hear from Olympic legend, three-time gold medalist, Carrie Walsh Jennings. I got this opportunity to join an amazing ownership group with Vivek Ranadive and NorCal, who owns the Kings, and Teresa Gao, who is just in the venture capitalist world. And I said, of course, I'm from the Bay Area. NorCal changed my life growing up in the environment, you know, in the 80s and 90s with the Warriors and the Niners and the Giants and no one ever lost.

13:53And so I said, I want to bring a pro team to NorCal and sign me up. That is straight ahead on the Bloomberg Business of Sports. For Vanessa Ferdomo-Maglione and Randall Williams, I'm Michael Barr. You are listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world. Bloomberg Business of Sports is brought to you by HPE, bringing you the Self-Driving Network, a network that's self-optimizing, self-healing, and self-protecting, and only continues to get smarter. Learn more at hpe.com slash networking. This is the Bloomberg Tech Minute brought to you by ChatGPT. Now with ChatGPT Work, I'm Carol Masser.

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16:52This 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 Michael Barr. I'm Vanessa Perdomo-Maglione. And I'm Randall Williams. Vanessa and Randall, a few weeks ago, you had a chance to speak with an Olympic legend, beach volleyball icon, Carrie Walsh Jennings. That's right, Michael. We talked to her about the upcoming 2028 Olympics, but also about her investment into Major League Volleyball. She's one of the few owners of the new franchise in San Francisco, and she spoke to us about how she's using her experience in the game to build up that team.

17:30Huddle around the set, gang. Let's take a listen to that conversation with three-time Olympic gold medalist, Kerry Walsh Jennings. I am so excited to be talking today. It is an absolute honor, a legend in the game. I'm really excited to talk about a different kind of volleyball, indoor volleyball, than you played. But you are now one of the owners of MLV NorCal. Tell us about that investment and how you got involved. Well, first of all, Miss Vanessa, let me correct you a little bit. So my career began in indoor volleyball. I played four years at Stanford University. And then my first Olympics back in 2000, the dark ages, was in Sydney, Australia.

18:12And we finished four. So that was the start of my love affair with volleyball. And you know, this opportunity to participate in ownership with MLV NorCal, I feel like it's been a lifetime in the making. It's like a 30-year overnight success. My whole goal post-career and even during my playing career was to leave the game better than when I found it. The game per every marker at every level is kicking butt and dominating, but the one little piece of the puzzle that has not been dominating has been on the pro side of women's pro volleyball. And so I got this opportunity to join an amazing ownership group with Vivek Ranadive and NorCal, who owns the Kings and Teresa Gao, who is just in the venture capitalist world.

18:56And I said, of course, I'm from the Bay Area. NorCal changed my life growing up in the environment, you know, in the 80s and 90s with the Warriors and the Niners and the Giants and no one ever lost. And so I said, I want to bring a pro team to NorCal and, you know, sign me Yeah. And so what made you believe in the MLV so early on? That's a great question, Randall. You know, I am very familiar with, you know, our competitive league, which is League One. And I was actually part of the Pro Volleyball Federation, which was the first iteration of MLV years ago. And I did my diligence on both leagues.

19:35And I chose initially to go with PVF because I aligned with their product. I aligned with their league structure and I, you know, I was just all in. I had principal differences with league one that I just couldn't get over. And PVF, you know, had a year or two, had two years under their belt and they merged with MLV. And at that point I had stepped away from, from the league and I was wondering what to do. And, you know, just kind of going on about my life, being a mom and, and working on the ecosystem of volleyball generally. And I got a call from Vivek saying, we're back. Major League Volleyball is the real deal.

20:12We have this governance that is more in line with traditional pro sports in America, where the league is an entity of its own. We have these franchises that are all individually owned with incredible humans who know what it takes to survive and kick butt in sports business. and so I chose MLV because I appreciate largely the league structure and the governance and then for me it's like if we're going to have franchises I don't want everything to be centrally owned and operated you know that that to me doesn't that doesn't feel like America I want to be with a league where you have these franchises that are battling it out where every single franchise you know owns their own P &L they own their own budget they can bring their own expertise and and you know, super specific local greatness to each franchise.

21:00And so that's why I chose the MLB. So what do you think that you bring to the ownership group? Vanessa, what I know I bring is a lot of heart, a lot of energy, amazing connections. You know, it's hilarious. We have a big announcement coming up on Monday, August 24th. And the mayor, you know, of the town we're having, of San Jose is going to be there. My mother sold him his house. and you know I just a small world and I were talking to all these partnerships in northern California and my dad does their insurance and I played volleyball with their daughters and you know my my husband coaches their kids and so it's I'm just excited to bring all of me you know this sport has given me everything you guys and and I've learned so much and but the most beautiful part of my career has been the relationships and so for me to be able to bring my relationships that I have that are so sincere to Northern California is a very big deal because I want to add value.

21:57I want to drive revenue. I want to drive attendance. Wherever I can be an asset, I'm raising my hand. We have a foundation that we're launching as well. So to give back, that's a huge component of what we're doing. But it's so fun because we're going to have a hometown, home city where our venue is, but we are NorCal MLV. And I love that because NorCal is so diverse. There's so many different communities. I played all over NorCal and we want each one of them to take ownership of us, you know, from Sacramento to Santa Cruz and all the cities in between. And so my job is to have those communities feel the love to show up consistently so we can have sellouts and, you know, follow in the footsteps of the Omaha Supernovas who sell out so many games and they have over 10 ,000 pounds at every match.