The Executive Charged With Executing Netflix's Sports Ambitions

0:08Welcome to the sports media podcast. I'm your host Richard Deitsch, my producer is Jared Roland. One guest on this episode, but it is someone I have been trying to get for a long time. I mean, I don't know if it's white whale status, but it is somebody who's been on my very high on my list of people to talk to because he has one of the more interesting jobs in my space. Gabe Spitzer is the vice president of Global Live Sports and Entertainment for Netflix. He has been with the streaming giant since 2018. And so his strategy is he oversees, as his title implies, company's global live sports strategy.

0:48Part of that is obviously managing rights negotiations and partnerships with the many leagues that Netflix deals with. So MLB, NFL, WWE, combat sports, FIFA, now obviously with the Women's World Cup, which we will talk about this. And also with Gabe now doing big entertainment or large-scale live entertainment, he would be part of the stuff like Skyscraper Live, which is pretty interesting with Seth Rollins as one of your analysts there. He previously worked at Fox Sports and HBO, has a long history in documentaries. Netflix will air the NFL's first ever regular season game from Australia on June 10th.

1:34Rams at 49ers. And Gabe gets a nice bit of news with Aaron Donald returning to the Rams. And with that long intro, finally, I bring in Gabe Spitzer to the Sports Media Podcast. Welcome. Thank you. Thanks for having me, Richard. Appreciate the intro. I'd say far from a white whale, a small minnow in the sea, but I'm still happy to be here and excited to chat with you. All right. The narrow sea from Game of Thrones. All right. We'll start with the NFL, Gabe. What can viewers expect? This is an intentionally broad question. What can viewers expect from the Australia game? First and foremost, we hope for an incredible matchup.

2:16Obviously, Super Bowl favorite and the Rams, huge rivalry with Rams and Niners. But I think what's exciting for us is, you know, this is our third year of our NFL partnership. The first two years, we were just on Christmas, right? Two games over one day. This is an expansion of that partnership. So we're now showing up next week, you know, week one of the season, September 10th here in the U.S. But we will be a part of the, you know, football family, NFL family between September and February. So five games across the year. Australia, Thanksgiving Eve, two games on Christmas, week 18 for a playoff stakes matchup, and then NFL on our Super Bowl week.

2:54So we're thrilled about the expansion of the partnership. In Australia, I think this was a huge piece of the deal when we were negotiating with the NFL. You know, starting the season abroad, we are in 190-plus countries around the world, you know, over 325 million subscribers. So we, you know, we love to think of how can we entertain the world, right? And there's no better way to do that a lot of times than sports and live sports. So to help work with the NFL and think about ways to grow the game internationally and to do that in Australia for the first time, we're thrilled. It's a very different type of game.

3:28It's going to be 10.30 in the morning, 10.35 a.m. kickoff in Melbourne. It's going to be 110 ,000 people in the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is a very different type of stadium, which people will see. So I think for us and how we're telling a story in that broadcast, we want to drop fans right into the middle of the crazed madness in Melbourne, with which they have just incredible fans. People, I think the game sold out in 30 minutes. So we're going to do a lot of storytelling around that, but we're also excited. It's still in the US, it's in 8.35 p.m. Eastern kickoff. It's a big Thursday night game to start the season, and we want to make sure our viewers here are understanding those stakes as well.

4:08Yeah, it should be an amazing spectacle. It's a great sports crazed country. it should be just really interesting viewing even if you're a casual fan in the NFL. There's a lot you just mentioned there that I want to get into. Netflix, as you said, expanded its number of NFL games in 2026 to 5. Why was that the right number at this time for you guys? I think going into the partnership, we were excited just to have games on Christmas. We felt like this was the type of type of deal that could fit within our strategy. Right. Which, you know, we've said before and maintain. Right. We have an event strategy as much as a sports strategy.

4:50We want to try to deliver big moments that are going to feel like they matter to our members or to people who maybe want to sample Netflix. So it was a great start to the partnership. I think we were really thrilled with our viewership two years in a row. You know, we've had four games in total, I think three of the top four, three of the four, you know, some of the top top streamed NFL games that they've ever had. But, you know, they came to us, I think, near the end of the season, closer to the Super Bowl and to other partners as well. And, you know, they had more inventory available and it was a bit open ended in terms of what was possible.

5:23So as we started looking at, you know, the potential games, the potential dates that they had available, I think for us, we wanted to make sure it felt intentional in terms of how we were showing up across the season and in those moments that matter, like I said. So to be able, obviously NBC is that first game on Wednesday with the Pats and Seahawks, but to be able to be in week one, I think already that shows, you know, Netflix is in the NFL business and we're in the live sports business. Thanksgiving Eve, obviously is an exciting one. and Packers in LA, great matchup. It's also one that they've never done before.

5:54So already in our first two games this year, it's two firsts for us in the NFL, right? First game in Australia, first time on Thanksgiving Eve, Christmas, excited to run it back. Incredible matchups again with Bears-Packers, not a better rivalry out there potentially. And then the Bills-Broncos rematch of a great playoff matchup. And then week 18, obviously more open-ended. We don't know the matchup yet. They don't decide it until five or six days before, but to be that 1 p.m. game on a Saturday exclusive window, our hope is there's going to be great playoff stakes there. And then NFL honors. There's no bigger week in at least the U.S.

6:29sports than Super Bowl week. So to show up there and jump in on that front, and obviously we're an entertainment business first and foremost, and how can we bring a bit of entertainment flair to that ceremony and help lift it with the NFL. So it wasn't an unlimited amount of games available. I think we were excited about the amount of games available because it felt like it fit within our strategy. And then nailing down these specific windows, you know, it was a perfect fit. How much will how these games do, whether you measure them by viewership or whether you measure them by whatever the, you know, whatever objective measurement you do, like sentiment online is really, really good for it, or the production value was just crazy high.

7:14So however you measure this stuff, Gabe, How much of how it does this year will inform Netflix strategy to potentially get more inventory if more NFL inventory is available in the future? I think right now we're very focused on making sure we can execute these. We don't want to jump ahead and think three, four years down the road. We just went from one day to four days across the year, five games. That's already an expansion of what we're doing. we want to make sure we're really focused on, on nailing those, right. And we have a great partner working with NBC sports who obviously, you know legends in terms of what they do in terms of sports production.

7:55So it's been a great collaboration there in terms of the production of the games. I think the talent we brought in this year is as good as it gets. So, you know, making sure with people like on the studio side, Al Duncan, Michael Irvin, Clay Matthews, Nick Foles, and then in the booth, Noah Eagle, Luke Keekly, which, you know, I don't have all the stats, but I'd say it's maybe like the youngest booth of all time in live NFL, but also one that we're really excited about. I think, you know, former Hall of Famers across the board, really experienced people, and I think it's going to deliver, you know, a fun, entertaining, educational broadcast.

8:29So that's our focus right now. Obviously, you know, you can't predict what's going on down the road. We don't know what's going to happen in terms of those race negotiations, but taking it one step at a time, and I think we're thrilled about, you know, what we have on tap this season. Are you complete in terms of your NFL hires? for 2026 talent hires i should say we are i would say 90 percent there you know we have that second game on christmas so we're working through some final pieces there in terms of who would be the in the second studio desk so so more to come on that front um but in terms of you know we have mj acosta and tom palacero on the sideline side tom's also our nfl insider uh we're excited to have him on board he'll also work with the ringer so we're you know very very much close to complete but not quite there and a little bit more to come on Christmas.

9:13No, you're welcome to break the news anytime during the next 30 minutes. I'll let you know. Yeah. How many, I mean, again, you got to be sort of diplomatic here, but how many people were considered for the sort of the main booth, the A booth beyond Noah Eagle and Luke Kuechly? Well, Noah we've worked with for the past two years. He's been incredible. Obviously young rising star in sports play by play business, you know, has done, you know, incredible work across NFL, college, Olympics, uh things like that so he was a natural fit as we continued and are working with nbc sports now uh on the on the analyst side you know we looked at a lot of names um luke is one he came as a suggestion to us and wasn't like the first obvious choice because he hadn't done you know tv before he'd been on panthers radio uh and we had you know initial meeting with him and loved him right and this was just you know a zoom call with you know with with a couple of us but immediately you could felt like he was thinking about the game differently.

10:08He had, you know, he's played with a lot of these players. So I think can relate to a lot of what's going on in the game today, which is always useful. And then we brought him in for a rehearsal with Noah at the NBC studios in Stanford. I think I would say early July at this point. And, you know, from our side, as we were watching it from the NBC side with people like Fred Gidelli, who's, you know, a legend in this space, I think he surprised all of us. You know, he was just the way he was thinking about the game the way he was talking about the game super analytical but also felt like relatable at the same time and and we were excited just to you know to take that swing with luke and we know you know like this is going to be the first time he's done a big national game we're hoping to try to give him all the support possible but we're also really confident that that he's going to knock it out of the park in in my um in my world i've i've talked to a lot of agents uh a little less these days than i did when i was really day-to-day transactional stuff and you should feel good that every agent I talked to prior to doing this interview said that you really are excellent to deal with.

11:08Straight shooter, honest, they felt like negotiation-wise, what you said was what you said, and it's not a lot of games. The reason I bring all this up is that in your position, and we'll just use the NFL for example, you probably have to go to a lot of different networks and ask maybe for permission to talk to their talent if their talent has indicated they'd be interested in working with Netflix for whether it's the five-game package or a one-off. You don't have to be so proprietary to one story, anything like that. But broadly, can you give my audience just a sense of what is that like for you?

11:50Do you find the networks are, generally speaking, willing to loan out their talent? Or maybe some places it's a little harder to pry some people than others? I'd say probably the latter, but it's changed over time. We want to try to be open and honest with those partners. We understand that they're competitors at the same time. We also understand we are in a different business than they are. We're not in the volume business, and we try to stress that to them. We're not coming and bidding on a full-season NBA package or a full-season NFL package right now. We're as honest as to get. That's not in our strategy yet.

12:25And could that change three, four, five years down the road? Sure. But if I can look you in the eye right now and say that is not in our strategy. So we're trying to be honest and open with them. And I think in the first couple of years on the NFL side, there was a bit more openness to say, hey, you know, this talent wants to, talent X wants to do it. We're going to loan them to you. Or maybe there's something, you know, we can discuss some trade and kind along those lines. I think it's become a bit more challenging. I can't blame any other network for doing what they do, right? They all have their strategies.

12:58They all have their way that they want to deal with talent. So we just have to be able to pivot along the way. And, you know, right now we're working with NBC. They were very open, obviously, with someone like Noah Eagle because they're producing the games for us. Some other networks are more challenging right now. But, again, I can't blame them for the way they want to approach the talent. I think part of that was within our strategy to sign Al Duncan, who's been incredible for us, an amazing, versatile host. She can do anything from skyscraper to Major League Baseball to boxing to now NFL to Women's World Cup next year.

13:31And signing her felt like, okay, we know we have this core person who can be across a lot of our broadcasts. But at the same time, when we did that, we didn't want to box her in because we couldn't guarantee the amount of events that we had in a given year. So she is not exclusive to us. She's doing work with WNBA, with Versant, and other things. So that's the way we like to approach talent is we want to be as talent friendly as possible. You know, we know we can't guarantee the heavy volume, but we also know that we can bring a big audience and, you know, they can have fun working with us. So that's been our approach.

14:05And, you know, we'll continue to see how the other networks evolve, but we're trying more and more to see how we can, you know, have some talent that we feel like, you know, is consistent across Netflix over a number of events.

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14:52At the moment? Or would I be incorrect on that? There's no one who's exclusive to Netflix. I'd say, you know, El obviously is the one who's been across most of our events. But again, yeah, we don't want to try to box people in. I think we're open to them doing other things if they come to us and there's the right opportunity. We want to make sure they feel like they can flourish here but also have opportunities elsewhere. One last thing on sort of that's tangential to this. How often do you hear from agents in a given week from whether it's the CAAs of the world or the WMEs? I imagine a lot. Quite a bit.

15:27Yeah. They're all, you know, we have great relationships with a number of different agencies, obviously on the talent side. When I was more focused on documentaries, you know, a lot of pitches coming in. So we're talking constantly. But, yeah, a lot of conversations back and forth. All right. You mentioned with L. Duncan, the Women's World Cup, that is obviously a topic I want to get to. The previous World Cups, both for men and women in this country, have really been extraordinary to watch, whether it was ESPN back in the day. Fox, I think I have to give them credit. They really invested a lot of money when it came to the Women's World Cup.

16:03And I think raised the bar on that property. You guys now have it. And you have said that in other interviews, this is the most ambitious thing that Netflix has ever undertaken. I don't know if you were saying broadly anything in Netflix. It's certainly in terms of sports. I don't think it's close. 64 matches, more than a month. So as we're talking today, early September, where are things production prep-wise for you? Yeah, I mean, we're over a year into planning and you're right. It's whether it's all of Netflix or live sports, it's at least it's the most ambitious we've ever done on the live side.

16:42Right. And one of the most ambitious things we've ever done at Netflix. I think you have to keep in mind that we've only had live functionality on Netflix for a little over three years. We've only had big sports events on Netflix for a little over 18 months. Paul Tyson was a little over 18 months ago. And as mentioned with NFL and others, most of these have been single day events. So to go from those to 30 days of programming, 64 matches, as you mentioned, really like live for a full eight hours every day for an entire month in arguably one of the biggest sporting events in the world is something that we're not taking lightly.

17:22Right. We've gone deep into preparation for about a year. We actually have some of our FIFA counterparts here this week for a deep dive on a lot of the programming we're doing and the preparation we're doing. So we're far along. You know, we have our studio plans for Rio. We are deep into planning for talent hires, things like that. Nothing I can reveal yet today, but, you know, some exciting people that we'll have on board. And I think we have the responsibility of, you know, there have been really successful, great productions in the past, like you mentioned, ESPN, Fox, Telemundo, and then in Canada as well, right?

17:56So we're now the equivalent of Fox and Telemundo in the U.S. because we've got English and Spanish rights. And then in Canada, obviously, we have English and French rights. So that's a lot of different productions to do simultaneously. And we're really excited, but we also know it's under 300 days to go. So a lot of work to be done, but we have full confidence that we're going to nail it and can't wait for it to start. All right. Let me put you on a couple of things. You're not going to answer any of this, but I'll ask anyway. Go ahead. Okay. Have you made talent hires already for the Women's World Cup that you just have not announced?

18:30Yes. Okay. Have you made talent hires for the Women's World Cup on both the studio and game side? Yes. Okay. Are these people that are fans of women's soccer, will they recognize? Yes. Okay. Have they, this will be the last one. I appreciate you even saying yes. I'm answering them. I'm just saying yes. You are. Yeah. Are they people who have called World Cups before either men or women? Yes. 100%. We're not like, this is where I think, I mean, just on that last point, you know, we, we want to be entertaining, but we also know that we have to nail this first and foremost with those four fans. Right.

19:10So if we're trying to bring in all brand new people, we're going to alienate a lot of people immediately. So it's really, you know, we've got, um, former execs from, from ESPN, from Telemundo, um, you know, other, other production partners who have done a lot of world cups before. we have the benefit of you know tapping into talent in Canada in the U.S. in the U.K. in other countries around the world right even though we only have the rights in the U.S. and Canada we want to make this feel like a global world cup so it's a ton of you know there's going to be decades of experience in terms of calling you know big-time football big-time world cups okay all right I'm gonna have to do a little reporting we'll see if I can see if I can nail it don't call too many agents yeah let's you know this Gabe everybody everybody eventually everybody eventually talks um all right so let me let me ask you a question because again as someone who really is um fascinated by global football slash soccer coverage i i've talked to many people at fox and espn over the years and this is a very very sort of hard thing to figure out you are trying to you obviously have to show the entire tournament and you know you want to um how do i sort of say this there's a there's a there's a fine line between being too um how do i sort of say this basic for the soccer uh newcomer but and then alienating the hardcore diehard soccer fans who know tactics and know teams and stuff like that that is always to me the challenge whether you're in espn or fox back in the day is how can you how can you show the respect to the fan who's always there, right?

20:48But also make the casual people who are tuning in for an event, like you let them know what's going on. So have you thought about this in terms of how you navigate that, that line? Because that to me is always sort of the, the thing that a World Cup has to the Olympics to, you have to figure out how to make the 10 so large that everybody can enjoy the broadcast. It's something you're, you nailed it. I mean, something we talk about a lot. And actually, from research we've done, it's really about a third, a third, a third. So that first third is the hardcore super fan. That second third is people who are sports fans that are really interested in coming in for, I would say, the storytelling around it and falling in love with individual players, characters.

21:33If you can get them in through that storytelling, and same way they do it with Olympic features and other things, they'll watch and they'll be advocates. And that final third, there's obviously a group of people are just never going to watch it. But that final third, or we would call more of the bandwagon fans that might just watch, you know, if you're in the U S you might just watch the U S games. Or if you're in Canada, you might just watch the Canada games. And we have to, we have to make a world cup for all of them. But I do really think, and the way we're approaching it, which hasn't necessarily been the same way we've approached other sports.

22:00And we've learned along the way is we have to nail it with the hardcore fans first. Right. And I do think those people, if they, if they're bought in and they think we're telling the world cup story in the right way and the coverage is strong, they're going to be the advocates for those other two thirds. Right. And they're going to, I think, start to create that FOMO for the people who maybe haven't watched as much to come in and watch more. Now, that doesn't mean we can't still do World Cup 101 explainers or show highlights of the top 10 World Cups of all time. People can come in and check that out.

22:31And that is part of the benefit, I think, hopefully, we hope of being on Netflix in that we're building this massive World Cup hub on Netflix where you can come in and you'll of the ability, just if you're in the U.S. as an example, to decide, do I want to watch the English language broadcast today and all that studio coverage? Or Spanish, right? Or Spanish, you know, or studio coverage. Do I want to watch, you know, highlights of everything? Do I want to watch, you know, a lead up documentary or the 99ers movie that we're doing? There's going to be a ton of content at your fingertips and that's going to bring in viewer choice to sort of, you know, create that journey for yourself of how do I want to be educated and how do I want to consume the World Cup?

23:09A couple more things on this. In Canada, will there be a Canada-specific broadcast where there's more focus on the Canadian team versus if you were in the U.S., when obviously it should be U.S.-centric? As of right now, the plan is a single broadcast in the U.S. and Canada, but we understand that just can't be rah-rah U.S., right? And we can't have just a U.S.-focused lens on that. We're talking to a ton of great Canadian talent, both on the play-by-play analyst side, former players as well. and then obviously we're taking over from RDS, so on the French side too, for studio coverage and game coverage.

23:45So the hope is we're going to create a broadcast that obviously when Canada's playing, it's going to be much more raw, raw Canada. When US is playing, it might be more, but if neither of them are playing, I think we want to make sure we're still covering those teams editorially in a great way possible for both markets. The World Feed controls the images still for this? The World Feed still controls the images. I think for specific games, we can add some cameras or different coverage, but it still is, yes, it's HBS who produces the world feed. Okay. And then any plans yet, and maybe this is still far afield, where you might do something like some kind of alternate broadcast where you had, just sort of throw this out there, four legends of the game talking about the game, and maybe there's like on the far right screen, you could actually watch the game, but you're really tuning in for the four famous people who are talking about this.

24:34No plans as of now for that. I think we really want to make sure we're nailing these individual language broadcasts first and foremost. Yeah, of course. Those all casts are very fun. I think they get a lot of, I think, noise in the press. They're not necessarily the viewership isn't necessarily strong. It doesn't mean we won't try it ever. I think it is just that we want to keep the focus there. That's not to say we won't do a nightly video podcast or other things to wrap up the day with those types of players or show highlights. But I think when we're in the live game, at least right now, the plan is to focus on those individual core broadcasts.

25:11Okay. I have to ask you this soccer question. When you spoke to my old colleague, Andrew Marchand, the budget for that podcast is so much higher than this one, Gabe. So it's very kind of you to slum here. You're both great guys. Yeah, we'll appreciate that. Regardless of the budget. Yeah, all true. So you said, you specifically made some news. You want to have a conversation with FIFA about landing the rights to the men's World Cup. That will be the next one is Morocco, Portugal and Spain. That's obviously those three countries. We just saw Fox and the viewership numbers through the roof for the U.S.

25:48World Cup. Some of that obviously is domestic World Cup. The property, though, Gabe, is hot. People were entranced by it. As we talk today, early September, what can you tell me? Have you had this conversation with FIFA? is our, where are you right now with the thought of at least Netflix being, being perhaps a player for the men's world cup? Yeah. And I will say, I will, I mean, I'd argue a little bit on breaking is that, you know, us wanting to have a conversation doesn't mean even that we're betting on it. I think we're every one of these big events, it's undeniable, right? The men's world cup is as big as it gets for, for a global event.

26:24We are, we're already in business with FIFA on the women's side, which we're thrilled about. And that's what we're focused on, not just for 2027, but for 2031 as well, when most likely it will be here in the US. We're, you know, we're not, we're waiting on FIFA, I think, you know, for a number of people, I think they're having conversations with a number of different partners. They haven't started an official process. I think from everything we understand, it could be later this year, early next year. So when the time is right, obviously, we'll have those conversations, we'll do the analysis internally, and we'll, you know, decide if it makes sense for us.

26:55At the same time, right, It is, in terms of our strategy and doing big events, it's the World Cup, right? So you'd want to say it's something that we have to think a lot about and decide as a company, is it something we want to pursue? What I will say is a lot of the press right now is very focused on the U.S., and that makes sense. It's the big market. It's where a lot of sports media coverage is. We are a global company, right? We are in many different countries around the world. We just had the World Baseball Classic rights in Japan only. we did a deal in Mexico for, for CONCACAF or the gold cup and nations league.

27:28So even when we're having conversations with FIFA, I'd say it's not necessarily just us specific. We could be, you know, look at other markets. But for the women's world cup, obviously, you know, in approaching that it was us and Canada together. That made sense. So we'll, we'll see how everything shakes out and hopefully there'll be, you know, news down the road, but I can't promise anything right now. I appreciate you answering that. Have you been to Spain personally yourself? I've been to Spain. Yeah, it's going to be a beautiful and fun country for a World Cup. So whether we have the rights or not, I definitely want to check it out.

28:00I'll talk to you. You have bosses. Mention how beautiful that country is. Yeah, exactly. Might be the difference. We have a great office in Madrid. So, yeah, I'll go visit there. There you go. All right, a couple more here. And I just want to take advantage of your expertise and your experience. You know, in your previous role, you were once the director of documentary series, right? That was a title of yours, right? So obviously in your background, you have a very, very impressive background when it comes to documentary filmmaking and just being part of all those processes. Obviously Netflix has really made its bones in many ways when it comes to sports documentaries.

28:35I've read a lot. Actually, my colleague Austin Carp at SBJ did a really interesting piece not too long ago where he sort of examined where the documentary sports market is now. And it was actually very, very interesting to read. And there was a thought that like maybe in some cases it looks a little bit of a glut or like the money isn't the gold rush isn't there right now in 2026 where it might have been before. There's no better person to ask of this than you. Big picture. Where is the sports documentary space in your opinion right now? And is it where are we? I'll just leave it very broadly.

29:07I read. Yeah, I read the article as well. I thought it was really thoughtful, you know, talking to different network partners and also production companies, a lot of whom we work with. And like you said, you have almost 20 years in the sports doc business and a huge fan of, you know, so many different genres and periods of time when, you know, the sports docs have been, I think, a golden age for a long time. I think it's just in an interesting transition point right now. We're still at Netflix, huge believers in sports docs. I think we're as guilty of it as anyone. I think there was a certain genre, maybe that we would call it like a league follow, like a present day, let's follow a team for a season.

29:45Or what we've done with very successfully, you know, with a number of different series, like a drive to survive or quarterback or full swing. I think we probably greenlit too many, other people greenlit too many and started to feel like everything was the same. And maybe the access, we really, you know, pride ourselves on, you know, authentic access. And we want to make sure that that doesn't feel surface level. and it probably has gotten to a point across a number of different properties where maybe that access is too surface level. Maybe leagues or teams or athletes are trying to exert too much control.

30:18So I think now it's just, what's that next wave of sports stocks and what's to come? We still have incredible stuff. Just today we launched a really strong stock on Raygun, that Olympic breakdance that are part of our series. series. It's really strong. We have one of Mr. T coming next week. We've got a great Tyson series coming in the fall. We have the Rafael Nadal series is nominated for a primetime Emmy. So I mean, every month, there's incredible sports stock programming still coming out on Netflix. So it's not slowing down. I think it's more just a reexamination of, you know, what are those ones that are going to cut through right now?

30:57There is a lot out there. I think people feel like, you know, a lot of the best stories have been told. But every time you say that there's a new great one that comes out so we just need to be you know we're having a lot of conversations internally you know the docs group led by adam del deo who's a great exec you know across not just sports docs but you know all the documentaries we do it's constant discussion of sort of what's next and you know what are those stories we can still find the one thing i wanted to ask you is i was very fortunate to cover um women's basketball sports illustrated when i work there.

31:28And, um, you know, one of the things that, you know, you, especially when I was covering it like, uh, mid two thousands, early 2010s was you, if you were sort of into like, uh, media and women's basketball, that's, I was kind of a rare combination at that time. Um, what you noticed is there were not a lot of women's sports documentaries. Like the space was so open. It's been better the last couple of years, but I did want to run by you. It strikes me that in terms of like certain stories that have never been told that remains the space which has a lot of terrain now whether you can get viewership i understand that's a different um conversation but do you agree broadly that like that where maybe every nba story or many of them have been told it feels like the women's sports space still some of these stories like have never been told in documentary style i agree i think there's a lot of great stories still to be told in the women's sports base.

32:22I mean, we're really proud of something we've done so far, whether the Simone Biles series unfolds on Hope Solo. We did Under Pressure on the U.S. Women's World Cup team back in 2023. Naomi Osaka, just to name a few. But there's definitely more to be done, and we're working on some ups leading up to the Women's World Cup as well. So I think it's a place where not just us as a network, but others could focus to see, you know, what are those other great stories to tell? I know Apple just launched one on the UConn Women's Team. that I watched. Yeah, I thought they did a good job with it. So definitely more to tell there.

32:55Yeah, and I will say words and pictures have done pretty good. They've actually, that's a space that they've examined. All right, a couple more here and then I will let you go. You got a lot of attention on this. Netflix's interest in sports podcasts and having a video component with that. Literally this week, although people may hear this a couple of days after this announcement, But Netflix and The Pivot announced the multi-year partnership that brings that podcast to the platform that begins September 8th. Obviously, there's already partnerships with Barstool Sports, and Part of My Take is on there.

33:38Ryan Russillo is on there. Spitting Chicklets is on there. So obviously, Netflix believes that this is good business is to have – And The Ringer as well, obviously. Yeah, Bill Simmons. Yeah, Bill Simmons, obviously. Yeah, how could I miss that? So obviously Netflix believes that there's a real business here to be had when it comes to these very, very popular high-profile sports podcasts. From someone inside the organization, what was the thought process or what is your thought process to why you think this works? I think going back to sort of the initial conversation around who Netflix is for, right?

34:14We're trying to entertain the world and, you know, we're seeing how consumption is changing and podcasts are a huge piece of that. Video podcasts are a huge piece of that. People are watching it, you know, in the morning and we've seen a ton of, you know, additional viewership during different day parts on Netflix now that we've had, you know, video podcasts on service. And, you know, Brandon Rieg, who is my boss, has done a great job, you know, not just in the sports side, but across pop culture, music, entertainment. You know, we have the Breakfast Club every single day live. So there's a lot of different beyond just sports.

34:46But I think, you know, as we have live sports on Netflix and sports documentaries, this is just another piece of that, you know, that that journey for fans as they come on to Netflix and options to watch. So I think it's pretty cool now that we can have, whether it's the pivot that's starting soon or the Barstool podcast or, you know, Bill Simmons, you know, doing his ringer podcast live after one of our NFL games. Right. It's just more opportunity for fans to to stay on Netflix and consume more content. You happy with where the viewership is of all that stuff now? 100%. Yeah. It's obviously very early for us.

35:18But like I said, I think it's been exciting to see just even people logging on to Netflix different times a day and how they've been watching. So we're excited to continue to build it, but it's been a great start. Okay. Two areas left and I'm gonna let you go. How do you judge success based on your WWE partnership? Like what are the sort of the things that you're looking for from the Netflix end that makes this worth Netflix as well? Yeah, we're now in, you're almost two years in, but I'm a little over a year and a half. And obviously, this was our first big live, I would call it live sports entertainment deal.

35:52Yeah, huge. I've been a fan for a long time. And great partners over there with people like Paul Levesque and Lee Fitting and Nick Khan. They've been great partners. And I think we're thrilled with the results so far. We knew in the U.S., it was something like Raw having that every week. there's going to be that passionate, loyal fan base, and they are going to show up, and they have come in expected ways over to Netflix in a predictable way. So it's hit every metric that we've hoped for on the U.S. side. I think the place where we've been surprised in a good way and that will continue to grow is outside of the U.S.

36:28And that's really where we see the potential to continue to grow this partnership is in the U.S. We have Raw only outside of the U.S. and most countries around the world. We're the home for all of WWE. So that's Raw. That's SmackDown. That's NXT. And that's the big premium live events every month, be it WrestleMania, Royal Rumble or SummerSlam. And it's been cool to see as different countries have come online. As an example, Italy this year came online and they did a big PLA, the clash in Italy there shortly after. So they're working with us and they're saying, hey, what are the countries you want to continue to grow?

37:03or how can we boost that viewership or can we bring an event there they're going back to australia this year they've been to europe a bunch of times they're going down to mexico in just a couple weeks for for a big raw that we're really excited about so that's been the cool evolution of the partnership is beyond just that those predictable loyal passionate viewers and there are a lot of them um to see how we can potentially bring new fans in around the world too yeah basically my wwe consumption is through you guys i am in i am in toronto right now so like I get all this stuff via Netflix, so it's been sort of interesting to sort of follow.

37:37I realize obviously no partner is going to have involvement in creative, but here's my but. But are there things that you talk to the WWE about where like standards-wise like Netflix has like, I don't know, too much blood, too much cursing? Like do you get – do you ever have those conversations with them? Obviously you're not getting involved with the storyline. You know, like, like I'm sure, Gabe, you know, you're not telling Paul Levesque what Obafemi should do. Right. But like there are things that like when it comes to Netflix is placed in this. I do think you have a corporate like sort of right to say X.

38:12Does that happen? Not often. Obviously, there's rating standards that anyone has to adhere to. We're Netflix. So we're trying to be a little looser on that. I think the place where we've had conversations with them, like I said, around locations, I also think it's helped us. There's been examples where even with the Raw coming up in a couple of weeks, right, it's leading to a big Roman Reigns heavyweight championship match after this tournament that they've done. The ability for us to promote three, four weeks out for a big Raw, you know, starting off the year, I think it was Braun Breaker and CM Punk, our first Raw of the year.

38:45that's the type of conversations we've had where either it's hey you potentially go to this city or hey if there's a big matchup can you let us know three four or five weeks in advance so we can start promoting that outside of the ple as you normally do you know honor ross and they've been very receptive to that do you find are you interested like i think rollins did a great job on that skyscraper show like is that like have you talked to anyone else within wwe about maybe like some kind of, he's kind of unique because he's a big football fan, right? I think he wants to do this stuff. But are there others and other on-air talents in WWE who you could see being part of Netflix's broader sports coverage?

39:23Yes, Seth has been great. We had him, I think, two years now on NFL. Actually, no, last year he was on Christmas. And we likely will, yeah, not to break news, but yeah, we hope to have him back. He's a big Bears fan, so we hope to have him back this year on Christmas. And like you said, he was great on Skyscraper. So he's awesome. I think we're constantly meeting with other WWE talent to see if there's a fit in the sports space. They've been great partners in trying to volunteer that talent. And I would say not just in sports. They're meeting with our film and scripted series teams. How can we cast some of those superstars in some of our shows?

39:57Because I think that creates that larger cohesiveness across Netflix that I think can help lift the WWE, help them and help us in terms of viewership too, to create more of that fan affinity. Give me Paul Heyman on the NFL or Becky Lynch on the Women's World Cup. Exactly. Just for me. All right, last one. I'm having you represent streamers, okay? Even though you only work for Netflix, you don't work for Amazon or Apple, whatever. But you'll be my voice here. Should the NFL fan be scared of a streamer getting a Super Bowl one day? Yes, no, why? I don't think – I would leave that question to the NFL.

40:38I think if the NFL is going to give a Super Bowl to a streamer, they feel like that streamer can have equivalent reach to a broadcast network right now. And obviously that's not happening at the moment. If it happens down the road, I can't predict the future. But no, I don't think anyone should be scared. Anything else you want to add, Gabe, before we get out of here? Anything else you want to promote? I think just really, I don't know when this is launching, but our Australia game. It will be right before the Australia game. Rams-Niners, incredible rivalry. So we hope people tune in. We think, obviously, we're excited to deliver and hope it's a great game, but it should be fun.

41:16I assume you'll be in Melbourne, right? I will be there. I'll be making the 15-and-a-half-hour flight next week. So I can't wait. That's going to be really fun. Did you ever think college, Gabe, would have had this cool a job? You have one of the coolest jobs, in my opinion, in sports media. I love the job. I love working at Netflix. So I think college gave maybe Netflix. I was still getting DVDs in the mail. So yeah, no, I didn't think I would have this job. College gave, college gave going to Blockbuster, not thinking. Exactly. That's right. All right. Gabe Spitzer is vice president, global live sports entertainment for Netflix.

41:48Again, if you are consuming their sports and millions upon millions of you are, this is the person who has oversight for that company's global live sports strategy, obviously along along with his bosses as well. Helps manage the rights and partnerships with all these major, major players from the NFL to WWE. And I'm not just putting him over, as I say, in the wrestling business. He really does have one of the great jobs. And again, I can tell you, I've talked to at least eight or nine agents who have all said that he's a straight shooter. And that, to me, really speaks volumes because there's no reason for them to say that to me unless it's actually true.

42:25Gabe, thank you for this. I appreciate it. I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and I wish you the best. Thanks for joining me today on the Sports Media Podcast.