Bloomberg Power Players hosts Athletes, Investors, Leaders in International Sports

20:29Carol Massar:What's interesting to you? I mean, obviously soccer. And I mean, are you surprised by how popular and how well the World Cup went here in the United States? and kind of where does it go next? I'm not surprised. It was something, when we came in as new owners with Gotham, part of our bet was on the growth of women's sports, which we continue to see. Part of it was on the growth of soccer and knowing that the World Cup was coming, that the Olympics were coming. So I think soccer will continue, the fandom will continue to rise. For a long time, the product really wasn't there in the U.S. to then bring that fandom every four years into the U.S.

21:03I think it's part of what we're so excited about, what we're building at Gotham, is that you can go from loving the World Cup to then going to watch World Cup winners right here in your own backyard. Right. So that was part of our bet with Gotham. I'd say we don't, but most of our investments, we don't go in kind of sport first. We first think about where is product market fit? Where is a product that fans, even if it's a small group of fans, love that product? And then where is there room for disruption, either in the media space or in the fan development space?

21:32Carol Massar:I think it was your conversation with Jason Kelly and Alex Rodriguez where you talked about your experience at Peloton and how that has shaped your strategy. Can you just share a little bit on that, like how that has shaped kind of how you think and make decisions today? Yeah. So I ran marketing at Peloton for a number of years, kind of in the growth years. And what was really important to us and the founders really believed in this from the beginning was that when you felt, there was the early years when everyone was walking around. Every time I met someone, I love Peloton. It's changed my life.

22:00when you actually start talking to them, it wasn't about the bike. People have been making indoor bikes for years. It was about the instructor and the relationship that you had kind of breaking through the fourth wall with the instructor. And so that was our, our thesis was, we really need to build these instructors as stars and tell their stories and build their brands because that's how we're going to grow the Peloton brand. And I've tried to really bring that into sports as well and say, okay, your relationship with Gotham or with the Giants is not just about the brand and the history of the Giants.

22:33It's about Jackson Dart. It's about how excited you are, you know, about maybe even the new coach. And so to be able to, that's what I've tried to do is kind of bring that Peloton model.

22:41Carol Massar:Which is great. Like promoting the people who are actually playing on the field is really great. Exactly. Carolyn, thank you so much. Carolyn Tish Blodgett, she's founder and CEO of Next3, co-owner of Gotham FC. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week Daily Podcast. Catch us live weekday afternoons from 2 to 5 p.m. Eastern. Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. Or watch us live on YouTube. Randy Levine is with us. He's president of the New York Yankees, chairman of the YES Network, a member of the board of directors of AC Milan. The list goes on. He joins us here on site at PowerPlayer.

23:16Do you like sports? Hi, guys. You do. I do. I do. I've been doing it a long time. You have. You have. You just wrapped up this panel on the evolving college sports landscape. We had a great conversation with Ira Boudouet about that a moment ago. We're going to get to that, but we've got to talk about the business at the MLB right now because the collective bargaining agreement between the MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association is set to expire at the end of this season. Owners want a salary cap. Players don't. Is there going to be a lockout? I sure hope not. We're negotiating with them right now.

23:52The commissioner has stated over and over again he'd love to have a deal. It's been labor peace for a long time. But there are serious problems that both sides need to recognize and come to an agreement on. You're not just approaching this as president of the Yankees. I mean, you were labor commissioner for New York City from 94 to 95. You were chief labor negotiator for the MLB and helped negotiate the 1996 MLB labor agreement also. So where is the white space right now between the two sides that are negotiating? I'm not going to comment on that because that's up to the negotiators. And, you know, confidentiality in the room is really what's most important.

24:34We have a great labor committee. My owner, Hal Steinbrenner, is on the committee. Dan Halem, the deputy commissioner, is leading it. And, you know, they're meeting with the Players Association. And it's early. Let them take their course. But, you know, we need an agreement. Baseball's doing great right now. But there are serious issues they need to tackle. So we'll see what happens. We can't prejudge it.

24:59Carol Massar:Randy, most serious issues that need to be dealt with, in your view? Well, I think there's no secret. You know, the issue of competitive balance, it's been around for quite a long time. And that's been an issue since I was the labor negotiator, the chief labor negotiator for baseball back in the mid-'90s. I think that we need to find a solution that's the core issue and there's a bunch of others but I'll leave that to the negotiating team are you preparing for a possible lockout? yeah I'm not going to comment on that are there teams though like the Yankees notwithstanding because I guess you could argue it's well capitalized but are there teams that will be in trouble because they don't have revenue coming in if this were to happen?

25:48I really quite don't understand. I mean, right now we have a system that has a luxury tax situation where money goes from taxpayers to other teams. We have a robust revenue sharing program, and we have a central fund that's equally distributed. And it's been going on for a long time, yet there are still disparity issues.

26:15Carol Massar:All right, so let's talk about World Series. Prospects of winning another World Series. Got Aaron Judge's back, right? He missed a bunch. So how are you looking at it? I like our team. You can never predict. You know, today I think the history is, you know, once you get to the playoffs, the team that's, you know, hot for three weeks to a month has a good chance of winning. I think our pitching can match up with anyone. I think, you know, now that Big 99 is back in the fold, our hitters will relax a little. So I like our chances, but the big issue is injuries. We have to stay injury-free, and that's the big issue for a lot of teams.

26:54Is it a bigger problem now than it has been in the past? I don't think so. I think it happens. I think in the old days there wasn't the technology to determine some of these injuries. And I always hear, well, you know, in the 50s this guy played through this, this guy played through that. Well, I think in the 50s they didn't have the technology to figure out what was wrong with them.

27:16Carol Massar:You know, one of the things we want to think about, we are thinking a lot about tomorrow, the 25th anniversary of 9-11. You were a part of the World Series run back in 2001 following the attacks. You have spoken often on that year and how it really helped bring New York City together. I'm just curious how you're thinking about it 25 years later. I think about it all the time, not just on 9-11. A lot of friends of mine didn't make it. I was deputy mayor for Mayor Giuliani. I had left to become president of the Yankees before 9-11. So I think about it all the time, and I remember the Yankee contribution.

28:00Right after 9-11, I called the mayor and said, can we help? George Steinbrenner was sitting right next to me and we wanted to help. And it was remarkable. There were still people at the armory who were looking for loved ones. We had patients at St. Vincent's who had been injured, both first responders and people who were in the buildings. And all of the crews from all over the world were coming to the Javits Center to help. And our players, you know, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Paul O 'Neill, our manager, Joe Torre, and a bunch of others actually went, when things were still, as we say, you know, unsettled, went to all of those places.

28:47And it was just beautiful to see how they lifted morale and took people's minds off of it for a little bit. And, you know, when baseball came back and we had a great run, unfortunately, we lost the World Series in the ninth inning of Game 7. But at the end of the day, I think it was a great distraction. It kept New York, the world, the United States, you know, a little bit of distraction and pleasure in a very tough time. And I'm proud of that.

29:15Carol Massar:Started the healing process. Yes. I think sports and eventually comedy and people just coming out and coming together as a community. Yes. We're speaking with Randy Levine, president of the New York Yankees, chairman of the Yes Network, a member of the board of directors of AC Milan and much more. He joins us here at Power Players in New York City. Randy, I want to talk a little bit about the evolving college sports landscape. I mean, you have worked with the Trump administration to push for legislation that creates this national framework for college sports. We spoke about it with Ira a few minutes ago, but lay out the case for us and why you see this as being so important.

29:52If this isn't fixed now and this bill isn't passed, there's not going to be a college sports soon. You look every single day, big universities, just the last couple of weeks, UCLA losing over$100 million, Maryland, Rutgers, North Carolina State, I can sit here and go on and on and on. The situation has gone completely out of control. the everybody agrees student athletes should get paid for the name image and likeness the problem is there are no rules people find judges and every single you know town state to create different rules and there's chaos and what's happening is in order for certain schools to compete with other schools, they're going into their endowments, they're charging student fees, and the whole situation is going to collapse.

30:50And now, right in front of our eyes, what people thought was going to happen is actually happening, where the wall between professional sports and college sports is coming down, where you have guys who either stay in college for seven or eight years because they can make more money in college than they can in the pros, or they go to the pros, which is even worse, sign a contract, get cut, and then come back to college. And that's not fair. And we're starting to lose the wall between what a student athlete is and what a professional athlete is. 360 universities, all of the conferences, the NCAA, everybody supports the Protect College Sports Act.

31:36It's a bipartisan act, and today nothing is bipartisan because everybody understands there has to be a set of rules where kids come first, can have a situation where agents who in the pros can only charge 5%, charge these kids 20%, 25%. a situation where you have a transfer portal where there's one-year free agency, and people just move from place to place, lose sight of what it is to be a student athlete or graduate. And worse, you get a situation where anyone can be an agent, and they put kids in this portal, and only 40 % come out. And once you go in, you lose your scholarship, you lose your place, and so 40 % are left high and dry.

32:23It's a disaster. What the Protect College Sports Act does is it provides uniform rules, one transfer, five years of eligibility. It closes the loophole that people have been using, you know, collectives and all of this behind the scenes cheating through, you know, affiliated companies. And yet provides double the cap that's in the house settlement, actually more than double. but it's going to be so successful because it encourages you to stay where you are. You can make more money staying where you are than going. And you just look at the situation of University of Michigan last year. They won the NCAA basketball championship with five transfers.

33:11One of the great coaches, Dusty May, left to go to the NBA because he said, if I'm going to be dealing with free agents, I might as well go to the NBA and make a lot more money. And he's right.

33:21Carol Massar:Randy, we've only got about 30 seconds left here. I mean, the original name image likeness, which started all of this, I mean, it's right to compensate college players, but it just went too far. Or what happened, just quickly? Very simple. Yes, they're entitled to it. They should get it. But the point is there has to be rules. There are no rules in the system now. And what does that mean? That cheating goes on? And there are so many kids who sign NIL contracts who can't even get paid. There's no rules to enforce it. What we're trying to do is stabilize the system, national rules. Everybody plays by the same.

34:01You're at a university, you're a student athlete, not a professional.

34:04Carol Massar:So what do you hear about this getting through? Timeline? The vote is scheduled in the Senate any time from September 15th. And I'm optimistic, not overconfident, but I'm optimistic we'll get it through. All right. Good luck. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Business Week Daily coming up after this.

34:48Carol Massar:Rob Mandelbaum notes that according to the Graduate Management Admission Council, the skills recruiters sought most among 2026 graduates of business school master's programs, including MBAs, were communication, problem-solving, and adaptability, which changed little from last year. Training in artificial intelligence tools ranked in the bottom third of the skills list, but recruiters did say AI-specific training will be more important in five years. On that, recruiters rated current graduates as only somewhat prepared or less to work with AI tools and said business schools are not doing a good job of teaching AI skills.

35:24Carol Massar:Bottom line, according to the survey, what most companies want when it comes to AI skills is for candidates to be able to automate routine work. That's the Bloomberg Tech Minute brought to you by ChatGPT. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at ChatGPT.com today by selecting work mode available on Plus and Pro Plans. You already know how AI is changing how everyday work gets done, how much ground you can cover, and how fast a team can scale. To stay ahead, you need the tools that give you a competitive advantage built for this new era. Welcome to Agentic Revenue.

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37:10stay you. Visit vitalproteins.com to learn more and where to buy. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week Daily Podcast. Catch us live weekday afternoons from 2 to 5 p.m. Eastern. Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App or watch us live on YouTube.

37:36Carol Massar:Candice Story Lee, she's Vice Vice Chancellor, Athletics and University Affairs, Athletic Director at Vanderbilt University, joining us here. Welcome, welcome. Thank you so much. Thank you. We're honored to have you here with us. You guys were up on the stage. And when you think about college sports and where it's going, what's top of mind for you? I know. The landscape is evolving so much. I mean, I think you all mentioned it, like the changing economic model. Is it good? More money? Different types? Like, is it a good thing? I do think it's a good thing, but it needs guardrails. So I think part of the pressures that we're feeling is that we've gone so long without addressing the issue.

38:15So for the longest time, you know, we had these draconian rules that a student athlete couldn't receive anything. Not a dollar, not a taco, nothing. Right. And so the pendulum has swung to the other side and we need to find our middle ground. I think the idea that young people would be connected to generating so much revenue and not sharing that revenue is not good. So it is appropriate, I think, for the economic model to change. But I think it has to change while we also preserve the values that are great about athletics and about higher education. And we haven't done that part. So what's the right way to change that?

38:55Oh, well, here's the challenging part. I mean, before there was name, image, and like this, and athletes weren't compensated, college coaches were compensated to the tune of, in some cases, many millions of dollars a year, especially at some of the big football schools. So there was an imbalance there. So the imbalance existed even before this. And now I think many people would argue that the imbalance is even in more stark contrast. So you're correct about the imbalance. I think that this is why you're seeing such a push for the Protect College Sports Act, because the idea is not to eliminate the opportunity for young people to profit off of NIL and to share in the revenue.

39:36I think that's right, and we need to close the gap on the imbalance. But to do that without any guardrails at all is, I think, inappropriate in this space. So there are many, I mean, you asked how to fix it. I mean, the federal solution would certainly be a big step for us simply because it would provide clarity. Right. And some constraints. And rules across the board. Exactly.

40:04Carol Massar:Well, I want to ask you, I always think about branding and naming of legislation or rules. Protect College Sports Act. Who's being protected? Great question. Like, who is this about? So I think if you go back to the time where we're talking about the imbalance that you spoke of, I would say that the student-athletes really had no agency and all the control was on the side of the institution, the coaches, the university. I don't think that's appropriate. So I think that when we say protect college sports, I think you're talking about protecting young people in a modernized environment where they can actually take advantage of and optimize the revenue, optimize their opportunity to get an education and to compete at the highest level.

40:51That's what we should be protecting.

40:52Carol Massar:But are they not optimizing by being able to switch teams or go to pro and then come back? Is that not optimization? So I think that that depends. From my perspective, that's not. So I think, I don't think you, you don't have to be a student athlete, right? So if you decide to be a student athlete, I think that there is, the collegiate model should be protected and we should be providing great opportunity to compete while also getting a degree. That's what I believe. Amen. I agree. That's why you go to college. You were a student athlete. I was. A long time ago. Team captain, not that long ago, four year letter winner, five time SEC academic honor role, selection as a member of the women's basketball team.

41:29You have three degrees from Vanderbilt. I believe you're only able to play during your undergrad degree, though.

41:35Carol Massar:You're such an underachiever. I'm curious about playing as an undergrad. Were there moments that you felt like you should be getting paid to do this? No, I never thought that way, but probably because there also wasn't an environment that suggested that. So I was asked on the stage earlier today, if you were a student athlete right now, what would you do? when I said, oh, I would be taking advantage of the system that's in place. So the system that was in place when I was a student athlete did not include money, not legally, right? Everybody said not legally because there were happy perks for many years.

42:09There were certainly some people that absolutely not, I don't think, on my team, but certainly that's the case. I would say I never thought about it, though, because I actually, I mean, you go to Vanderbilt for the chance to check several boxes. So I wanted to compete and win in the SEC. I wanted a great degree. And I got that at Vanderbilt. That, to me, was enough. But again, I didn't know any different. I'm not upset that student-athletes want to take advantage of what's in front of them right now. That's our fault. Given that you did graduate school at Vanderbilt, too, so you've seen what it's like to go to school and not be a student-athlete, too.

42:47I'm curious about the academics part of your undergrad experience. Did you feel like you got enough academic exposure being an elite athlete as well? I did. You were able to balance the two of those things. But at Vanderbilt, you know, we prioritize that. It's not like that at every school. It's like there are some schools out there where you're there to play a sport, and academics are a tiny part of it.

43:10Carol Massar:Yeah, there's lots of sports scholarships, but not necessarily academic anymore. And there's a – That to me says – Unfortunately, the narrative, right, is such that, like, what you're describing, that may be the case a lot of places. It wasn't the case for me at Vanderbilt, and it's not the case now. So, you know, we may be uniquely positioned to be able to check all those boxes, but I really believe that everybody could do that, you know? And so there is a virtuous story to be told there. We're not telling it. You think there are some of these large state Division I schools with football teams where the football players could be focusing on academics as much as they're focusing on football?

43:49It's an interesting question to say focusing it. But look, if you're going to be elite at anything, it's going to require a lot of time. So, you know, when I played basketball, there were times I was more focused on basketball in a moment than I was on school. And then there were times I was more focused on school. That's every college student. That to me is not a big deal. I think that that teaches you also about balancing as an adult. Absolutely.

44:11Carol Massar:But when you put money and you get money involved, it changes the dynamic and maybe where you're going to focus on. Well, so I hear that. But honestly, I think that we're focusing too much. It's almost to me that we're using the change in the economics as a reason to kind of lose the plot. So we're adding money to it. It does not change that young people need support. They need tools to develop. They're not pros just because you give them money. They have earned it. They are doing what athletics can do for a university. It's tremendous. So student athletes participating in that and being able to avail themselves of the financial resources, that does not have to be a this or that.

44:58They can do that and also be great students and also be great citizens. We do have to update our thinking around it, though. That's the problem, right? We need a new system that's responsive to today and not something from years ago where we ignored what was right in front of us. That's what I think.

45:16Carol Massar:I do think it's like a tricky balance, right? Because you think about the amount of money that these sports teams bring into colleges and universities. And why shouldn't students? Not Division III, where I played, Carol. Well, sorry about that. That was not a difficult balance. But I'm just saying for many schools, I just, it's just, I don't know. Maybe covering business news and markets for a long time. Like money, you get money involved. Money makes it more complex, but it doesn't excuse us of the responsibility. We have to have a bit of a mindset shift. Yeah, exactly, exactly. How important, though, athletics?

45:52Carol Massar:I was looking at this conversation you had with Jason Kelly and Alex Rodriguez for the deal. They caught up with you. And I'm going to just kind of quote, Verdebilt is having a moment. The university has transformed from a respected southern institution to one of the country's most selective and sought-after schools. Athletics has become an increasingly important part of that rise. You're at the center. This was a huge story this summer. You are at the center of it all. The build is one thing. Maintaining it is another. How important, though, and how much pressure do you feel when it comes to athletics and the university's broader ambitions?

46:26Vanderbilt University is a rocket ship right now. And so we've taken off in athletics. I think it's not the only part, but it is an integral part. As an institution, we're so competitive and we have very high aspirations. So the pressures I feel are the pressures that we all feel at our university. That's to be great. And so it's something that we inhabit and we accept. I would say the pressure that I feel is on making sure that we can reach our potential. I never, ever guarantee we're going to win that. We're going to win this. I do guarantee, though, that we're going to compete if we continue investing and nurturing the culture that we have.

47:05I feel the pressure to create the environment that will then allow young people to just run. And, you know, that's what we're supposed to be doing.

47:14Carol Massar:What does that environment need to be in your view? I think it needs to be both competitive and collaborative, which are two things that really kind of we demonstrate, I think, in so many different ways at Vanderbilt. I think we've got this motto at the university, Dare to Grow. And I think we really do demonstrate that in the athletics department where we're going to take some risks and we're going to stick our neck out. And sometimes we're going to fail, but we're going to learn and we're going to get back up. And we're going to show up ready to compete at the highest level. So in our department, we talk about creating a championship environment.

47:48Like you have to have an environment that operates like at a championship level before you can become a champion. The academic distinction of our university is a superpower for us. It is not something that we, it's not an impediment. And then we want to do everything with intentionality and purpose. That's the environment. That's the environment that I think that everywhere you look at Vanderbilt, that's who we are. So the pressure I feel is self-imposed because that's who we are. We're speaking with Candace Story, Lee, Athletics Director at Vanderbilt University, live from the Power Players Summit in New York.

48:24I'm wondering about the facility support that you get from donors and to what extent that that shift has changed or shifted since NIL. and now that money can go to lots of different places, it doesn't just have to support athletics through a single channel. Is it harder to raise money from donors, from alums, now that there are more places for them to spend that money on athletics apart from directly to Vanderbilt? I think if we don't get some stability in the landscape, I do think that over time we will not be able to sustain. Because of what? Just because there's only so much money to go around.

49:05And so to your point, you're asking if it's harder. If this continues unfettered, it will be harder. What I would say, though, is that Vanderbilt, I've been the athletic director for six years. Daniel Diermeier has been our chancellor for six years and really fortunate to be able to be at Vanderbilt at a time where we decided across the board that we're going to, when everyone else is sort of backing, like withdrawing. So think about this, right? Six years ago was COVID. So at a time where people are really, they're not leaning in. They're pausing or they're actually stepping back. And so we made a decision to really lean in.

49:47And so while I didn't like walking into a situation where there had been historical neglect in the athletics department for years and years and years, you know what it did allow though is a reset at a time where other people were pausing right so so so nil is growing and the transfer portal is changing and so you might look at that and say oh my gosh like is there enough money to go around well our people were so hungry to invest because we finally said that we're ready to operate at a higher level and so for us the timing was as silly as it might sound and maybe it was perfect. It was perfect.

50:27Now, we now find ourselves in a landscape where, again, the instability is going to cost us. So if it continues without restraint, your question's a fair question. I just think we're so excited at Vanderbilt to feed the momentum and to put ourselves in position where that success can be sustainable, we need to do that while also fixing the external stuff. So what worries you the most when it comes to college sports? Just got about a minute left here. The fact that if we're not careful in saving this enterprise, saving slash modernizing this enterprise, that young people will lose the chance to participate in it.

51:06I think that would be awful. But I think not only is that awful for student athletes, I think that'd be awful for universities. Agreed. I think it'd be awful for alumni. I think it's awful for fan bases. I think it's awful for this country.

51:21Carol Massar:We're going to leave it on that note. No, sports, you think about, we were talking with Randy and just thinking about like after 9-11 and how sports brought. That's right. One of the things that brought the world together, certainly this country together, and it does. It will galvanize a community. Even the world, like you watch the World Cup and what that was like. That's right. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Good luck. Good luck. uh candace story lee she's athletics director at vanderbilt university uh joining us here from the power players summit this is the bloomberg business week daily podcast available on apple spotify and anywhere else you get your podcasts listen live weekday afternoons from 2 to 5 p.m eastern on bloomberg.com the iheart radio app tune in and the bloomberg business app you can also watch us live every weekday on YouTube and always on the Bloomberg Terminal.

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