Why 2026 is the Year of Alternative Sports

0:00This is the Gary Vee Audio Experience.

0:30as CEO and VaynerX chairman. Great to see you, Gary. Always great to see you. Good morning. So much fun, this idea of Major League Wiffle Ball. My one disappointment in looking into it is you don't actually use a lawn chair for the strike song. But I mean, how long has it been around? What's the business model of the league? I mean, the business model of the league is the business model of every league, right? Which is ultimately you want to build enough demand that you get significant TV rights to become exclusive, sponsorship. None of these alternative sports are creating any kind of new business model per se.

1:05Obviously, esports does some stuff. But, I mean, look, we've all lived through watching UFC be a side conversation to a huge sport. I think people forget the 1982 NBA Finals. There was games that were taped delay because the NBA was in that position. Even pro football not too long ago. Super Bowl I did not sell out its tickets. So you have a teenage founder for this Wiffleball League who had an idea and was grinding for several years and then caught enough attention from people like me, Lazary, Blitzer, real investors, real thought leaders, real operators. And this last season crushed ratings on ESPN, too.

1:42What you were seeing there was Will Smithy, the greatest Wiffleball player in the world. And, you know, stuff like me being on this and people start to dig in and slowly but surely, like every league that has ever been created, becomes. The thing that people are missing is we all grew up where cable and TV were the only options. And then you got satellite. But now we're in full pledge streaming and you've got YouTube TV. And I was an early investor in pickleball, which has done incredibly well. Major League pickleball teams now sell for tens of millions of dollars, has a real following. You have Annalie Waters, like real fame in the league.

2:17And they can now make it because you can win on a small streaming service or social media and then build your way up to your ESPN deal or your Paramount deal, Netflix deal. And I think that Wiffle Ball, Sailing League I'm involved in, Padell, all of these things have a real shot. Apple TV has a TV show about a former, a pickleball player now. That's right. Right? This is real. They're turning it into like the Ted Lasso of pickleball. That's right. And, you know, for me, I think, you know, I aspire to buy the New York Jets. I don't know if you've heard, but these teams in the big leagues are starting to get really expensive.

2:53What? Yeah, yeah. So I've got real work to do, but I think one of the ways I do that is by building out my portfolio. But Logan Rose and kids like that are, or a 60-year-old that has a passion, could start a league, you build on social media, and you could be stunned where this could go. But how much of a correlation is there to the higher valuations you see in traditional sports? We've been talking all week about the Lakers at$13 billion. with the alternative sports world, this idea that there is so much capital flowing into the sports space, there's not enough supply of places to put it, therefore you're able to support maybe under the radar, less well-known sports in the process.

3:36Is the argument, when you say nowhere to put it, I just want to make sure I fully understand you? Well, they're just, it's scarcity value. Of what? Of traditional sports. Oh, yeah, for sure. And even when I was a kid and wanted to buy a team, these were like hundreds of millions of dollars. Obviously, capital, everyone that watches this knows there's a lot more money in the system. But of course, and even if that wasn't the case, you know, I didn't go into the fives and major league pickleball or big league whiffle because like, oh, darn, I can't get the Jets. I'm going to get the Jets. I went into it.

4:11Are you going to get the Jets? I'm going to get the Jets. Okay. So let's talk about the Jets, please. All right, so Woody Johnson and his brother buy the Jets for$700 million in the year 2000. I'm impressed. The L.A. Lakers reportedly being sold for$12.5 billion. That's a basketball team, Gary. Yes, I heard. So CNBC lists the valuation of the New York Jets, J-E-T-S, at$9.1 billion last year. That's about a billion a win. Yep. Sorry, I had to do it. By the way, I'll take nine wins. Okay. I'm talking about it. I'm just kidding. Not for a year. No, no, no. Don't be back. Thank you for that. Sorry, I have to say that.

4:49I'm the Chargers fan. Okay. Let me ask you this. If you were to buy the Jets today, what would they go for? Because if the Lakers are worth 12 and a half or the Jets worth 20, I think they could get it. I mean, now that the Jets. But here's what happened. Fractionalization happened. They've allowed PE. I mean, by the way, let's make this very valuable for everybody. This is what's about to happen with all assets. All assets are about to get fractionalized because the blockchain is about to change the world. Is it because the blockchain is about to change the world or do we need so much capital to get toward AI compute?

5:19We were talking about that all week. Because the blockchain is going to change the world. You're right, they'll change the world. Yes, that's the minor thing. The macro thing is within a decade on this incredible platform, what we're going to see is there's going to be an ability for small businesses to transact. When Rick Thompson has four pizza shops in Iowa and can get liquidity because there's an incredibly easy way for him to transact, and we have laws in place that allow for it. And this incredible technology that continues to get misunderstood because of the cynicism of crypto and NFTs.

5:52People don't understand the macro. But we've been hearing that for a long time, this idea that illiquid assets will be disintermediated by the blockchain. But it has happened yet. Sure. Why not? The show also in 2003 asked someone like me, like, we've been hearing about the internet. Why hasn't that happened yet? Because we talk about stuff at nausea before it hits maturity. Do you know how many times ESPN talked about LeBron not winning a title yet? And then he did. We are incredibly impatient. We like to talk about short-term things. And the reality is, is anybody who's got a long view and who understands consumer behavior and technology...

6:25Now, I guess the government... I mean, we have a very interesting political spectrum. So if it swings too hard and it becomes politicized, it could slow it down. But technology is undefeated in the end. The other thing that's certainly propping up or expanding the value and opportunity in sports is betting. I mean, can you bet on these alternative sports? I think these sports, the answer is I don't believe so. I mean, listen, I don't know if you've heard about Polly Mark and Caltech. You could bet on him sneezing in the next minute. Yeah, but I could make that happen. That doesn't mean you can't bet on it.

6:58I could affect the outcome. Am I making the bet? which is why all of that is going to be a very, very challenging thing to navigate for all of us in society regulation. The leagues, I would say that Major League Pickle is the kind of league that within two or three years, I could see a FanDuel or DraftKings or Fanatics bet come along and say, hey, this thing's ready. And then you've got to put in all the checks and balances. I'm undereducated on what those checks and balances are. But I know that the threshold, when I look at the platforms, when I'm studying behavior, you got to get to a certain point to get in.

7:31This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales, using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify. You think$20 billion, maybe not$20 billion for the Jets, realistically though, Gary, if the Lakers are going to sell for$12.5 and CNBC values the Jets at$9.1 billion, what would realistically, in an NFL franchise, be worth today?

8:13Well, not the Cowboys. What do the Seahawks just go for,$9? $9 out of$10. I think the Jets are$15. I do. Because the New York media market. They also don't have a terrible stadium. But they also own half of it. Yeah, the stadium. Right? So it might be a terrible stadium because they tried to appease both and they appeased no one but but they stole you know the stadium you know the cool thing is when i was i was born in the soviet union when i came to america i came to queens and the thought that and i have a crazy story because of what my mom did to me a jets jersey it's really cool but we don't have time for that when i buy the jets and i'm a jersey voice this is challenging for me but i do dream about moving them to queen everybody if you enjoyed this podcast please go back and look at the prior episodes.

8:57They're loaded. I appreciate your attention. And thanks for being part of this.

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