Juan Soto Inks Record-Breaking Deal; Velocity Capital Gets Big Investment From Texas

Published Dec 13, 2024, 4:23 PM

Join hosts Michael Barr, Scarlet Fu and Damian Sassower for a look at some of the latest headlines and stories in the business of sports.

  • Juan Soto signs a record-breaking 15 year, $765 million dollar contract from the New York Mets. Bloomberg Opinion columnist Conor Sen argues why the deal is good for the game of baseball.
  • Velocity Capital Management founding partner David Abrams and Texas Permanent School Fund CEO and CIO Bob Borden talk the future of alternative investment in sports as several NFL teams announce selling stakes to private equity firms. Plus the Texas Permanent School Fund's anchor investment of $200 million into Velocity's flagship Opportunity Fund.
  • Plus, Bloomberg Originals sports correspondent Vanessa Perdomo introduce us to the newest WNBA franchise, the Golden State Valkyries. They have a conversation with Valkyries' general manager Ohemma Nyanin and head coach Natalie Nasake.

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This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm Michael Barr, along with my colleagues Garlett Foo and Damian Sasaur. The Gangs all back. We've got a busy show today. We'll talk with the general manager and the head coach of the UWNBA team. The Golden State Valkyries plus private equity firms are pushing more and more into the sports world. We'll check in on that space with Velocity Capital Management founding partner David Abrams. All that and more straight ahead on the Bloomberg Business of Sports. But first, we saw a lot of big sports headlines this week.

Saudi Arabia was confirmed as the host of the twenty thirty four World Cup, marking the second time in a decade that the tournament will be in the Gulf region.

That's right, Scarlett, And we also found out that legendary NFL head coach Bill Belichick will make his next knop and it won't be in the pros, guys, It'll be at UNC into a three year deal to coach the football team at the University of North Carolina.

But if you didn't think that was big enough, the biggest money headline we saw in sports was from Juan Soto. He's trading in his Yankees pinstripes to Mets orange and blue.

And that's not a small deal. Michael Barr he aked a record breaking shattering is more like a fifteen year, seven hundred and sixty five million dollar deal with the New York Mets, and he is now the highest paid player in all of professional sports.

So here's Juan Soto speaking to reporters at a press conference just a few days after the deal was announced about his decision.

Mats is a great negotiation and what they have done in the past couple of years, showing all the ability to keep winning, to keep growing a team, to try to grow a dynasty. Is one of the most important teams that Finny. What you were seeing from those side, it was unbelievable. And the buds and everything in the field and the future that this team has. He has a lot to do with my decision.

That's a giggling happy Wan Soto speaking to reporters courtesy of the MLB Network. The MLB world is still reacting to the deal, including Alex Rodriguez. He sat down with Jason Kelly for a special edition of their podcast, The Deal. Ay Rod talked about how he felt when it was him at the center of the free agency bidding war, when he was around the same age as Sodo and hiding in a secret location while the bids came.

In excitement and anxiety. I'm not sure which one. I had both, you know, forever stuck in this location for ten days, but I was twenty four, Jason, and one of the great benefits of you know, entering the major leagues at eighteen. Is it takes you to six years to become a free agent. Now, remember Scott Bors had me three years prior to that. He had me at fifteen years old. So for nine years, from fifteen to twenty four, he was training me almost like a robot, feeding me, giving me the information, preparing me for this big heavyweight battle. And when that battle came, just like Juan Soto, we were ready. He was ready and I was ready. I knew he was ready. Twenty minutes after the last out when they got eliminated that Juan Soto had his hat backwards. He did a postgame press conference. I'm not sure if you saw it. He basically said, everybody starts at ground zero, nobody has an advantage. And that's when I said, Oh, the Yankees are in trouble.

Former Yankee superstar Alex Rodriguez there speaking with Jason Kelly on a special edition of The Deal about the many parallels between his free agency and one Sodos. For more on One Sodo's massive deal with the Mets, we welcome Bloomberg opinion columnist Connorson, whose latest work argues that Sodo's record setting deal is good for the sport. Oh my goodness, gracious, well, the heck, let's just jump right into it.

Man.

It's like conn of this deal. It's off the charts, unbelievable, it is.

And what was interesting to me was that he had a chance two years ago, when he was still with the Washington Nationals, to sign a fifteen year, forty million dollars extension and he turned it down, and he made an extra three hundred million dollars from him. So it's sort of the implications of the fact that he turned that down he took this and what it means for other teams going forward as they think about their young players who could be the next Soda.

So what's the lesson connor for general managers of other teams in terms of how they approach or how they think about locking up young talent.

Well, as I wrote in the column, there's been about a fifteen year trend where teams would really focus on the draft, hope that some of their young players would show promise, and then when they were really just barely in the major leagues, like only been in the majors for at most a year or two, sort of sign them to an eight or nine year deal, which would lead players to get paid more on the front end, but if they turned out to be really good, sacrifice them earning potential on the back end and have them become free agents at say thirty instead of twenty seven. And that worked really well for the teams they ended up getting in a lot of cases stars at below market value at their peak. But it led to in the case of players, you become a free agent at an age when maybe teams don't want to sign you for long term deals because you're a little older. For the sport as a hole, in fans, it just led to a kind of dull atmosphere because maybe your team had their star for a decade. But as we're talking to this week, the excitement of these big contracts, big players moving last year, so hey Otani going from the Angels to Dodgers. I think it is better for the interests in the sport as a whole if you do have these mega deals and teams change and players changing teams.

Connor said Bloomberg opinion columnists SODO seven hundred and sixty five million dollar deal will make baseball better, but baseball better from the perspective of whom right I mean? That is the real question here, And I think you'd hit the nail on the head here, Connor. I mean it is Sodo turning down that four hundred and forty million dollar deal a few years back, taking a bet on himself. That is the real story here. And for me, I mean, my goodness, I mean, Scott Boris must be a modern day Jerry Maguire. I mean the risk of injury, right, think about that, you know, Sodo, something could have happened. I mean, this is we're not talking about rod Tidwell here, we're talking Aboutjuan Soto. So you know, talk to us about the bet that Wan Soto made on himself and now he put himself in this position and what that means for future ball players going down the road exactly.

So, I think what we can see from the Sodo deal, he's he's very, very good. I don't think he's as good as Alex Rodriguez was at his peak. But he's being paid by the Mets for the next five for the next five years, sixty million dollars a year. So, in a way, Boris has figured out that the market value on a maybe one or two year basis for players in their prime and their mid to late twenties is sixty million dollars a year. So if you're a young player thinking about betting on yourself or taking one of these long term, possibly team friendly deals when you're twenty two twenty three, you've got to think, you know, if the team's offered me twenty five thirty million dollars and I'm twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine, but I think at that point I can maybe get sixty million or more with inflation. You've got to kind of wave that risk reward and how likely you think it is that you'll be worth that at that age. And so I think that's sort of the trade off that young players have to weigh.

Now, I'm a Detroit Tigers fan. I'm a Detroit guy. Can't see anybody going so Here's but I gotta say, if I'm a Detroit Tigers player, I'm kind of mad as hell because the entire payroll for the team annually is around eighteen point five million dollars. Now, I mean, one Soto could my the Detroit Tigers for that ten times over.

Well.

I think in the case of the Tigers, you had the Miguel Cabrera contract, which was kind of one of the reasons why teams don't want to pay thirty somethings to long term deals because he was overweight and making whatever, thirty forty million dollars in his late thirties, And maybe that's one reason why ownership there has become a little more stingy about these deals. And so I think it's really teams have gotten a lot smarter about realizing you want to pay guys. You want to pay them migal Cabrera as the one Soto's when they're twenty seven, not when they're thirty seven.

Connor, I wonder if you could also fold in some macro factors into why teams are now basically signing these players to these super long term contracts. Does inflation drive long term contracts? A dollar tomorrow worth less than a dollar today. Teams feel more comfortable shelling out big money in the you know, in the early part of the contract.

Part of it is with the there's not a salary cap and baseball, but there is a luxury tax. So if you can spread out the money over more years, you're not getting hicked by that salary or the luxury.

Tax as much.

So I don't think anybody expects Toda to be a great player when he's forty. But if you're the Mets, you'd rather just pay him sixty million dollars in twenty twenty five, rather than say, seventy five million dollars and only have him for ten years.

Connor, before I ask you this next question, I just have to clarify for our audience and for myself as well. You grew up in Bethesda, right, so I imagine you're an Oriel Span and I think you live down around the Atlanta area of Brookhaven if I'm not mistaken, which makes you maybe a brave span. Also, before I ask you about Stevie Cohen and the New York Mets stealing, I mean, this is craziness. This isn't about just any New York Yankee player bailing on the team for the Mets. This is about Juan Soto bailing on the New York Yankees for the Mets. Talked to us about what this means for New York sports and for the Mets going forward.

I think it sure shows the shift in the New York bounce of power, where, especially after the Great Financial Crisis, the Mets were for a variety of reasons not a position to spend big money on talent, and now with Cohen they are, and so Cohen, you know, the Mets are used to being a little brother in New York. But Cohen's richer than the Yankees ownership, and he's clearly motivated to win.

Does not care.

About staying under the luxury tax. He's like, this is my guy, and I think part of him probably loves the fact that the Yankees are here feeling like, you know, their guy left for the Mets, like that's never happened before. Yeah, I'm sure he's just loving this shift.

The Yankees GM Brian Cashman did say he has no regrets. The team has no regrets regrets about pon Soto not signing on with the Yankees. Connor, I wonder also about teams having to ensure these contracts. I mean, the premiums on these massive contracts must be getting a little bit out of reach for the teams. How do you ensure against something like this pictures?

I mean, sorry, hitters tend to be more durable than pitchers, so at least he's got that going for him. It's sort of you're not going to see a get a fifteen year contract but hitters in general are probably a little bit cheaper to ensure than a picture.

Now, I'm going to go back to the Yankees Mets and why he left the Yankees.

There was a report, Yes, I know what you're going to say, now, okay.

The Yankee said, look, we're going to give you seven hundred and sixty million. Yeah, but no, it was the seven sixty.

They wouldn't let his family into the stadium. Is't that what you're going about to say? Well, there was some something but security he wasn't happy.

Yeah, it was something like that.

That came out after the fact. So I mean, like, you know, I mean, I kind of what do you know what we're talking about here? Like there was some rumor that at some point during the season, Juan Soto's family got escorted out of Yankee Stadium and it didn't resonate well with him obviously, and that that drove that was a big factor in his decision to choose the Mets of the Yankees. Any any clarity truth to that, By.

The way, seven hundred millions heard Yankees.

I hadn't heard that specific point, but I do know that the Yankees offered him seven to sixty over sixteen years instead of fifteen the average annel value was a little bit different. There's a big signing bonus, which means he's getting paid more upfront, and he can opt out after five years, I believe, so if he's still a great player in five years, he could opt out and then sign another twelve year deal at even more money. So there's a lot going for him with us Mets contract.

Hones Sin, you are the man. Thank you, sir for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

Thanks for having me hour.

Thanks to Bloomberg opinion columnist Connor Sin for joining us up. Next, we turn to the newest WNBA team, the Golden State Valkyries. For my colleagues Scarlett Fou and Damian Sasaur. I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Around the world.

You're listening to Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explore the big money issues world of sports. Michael Barr, Scarlett Fu and Damian Sasaur. We'll be back a bit later in the program. Join him. Mcnow is Bloomberg original sports correspondent Vanessa Perdomo. The WNBA's newest franchise is the Golden State Valkyries, and joining us now to talk about the club's fresh expansion draft is the general manager Ohema Nayanan and head coach Natalie Nakassi. Well, folks, welcome to the Bloomberg business of sports. We are so appreciative, and first of all, we are congratulations because the Valkyries are going to do some damage here I can see coming up. So I'm going to start this one, if I may, with coach Natalie Nicasse, because I enjoyed what you said when you were going through the initial draft to get the players and you were asked as like, well, what are you looking for in your players, and coach you said they better hit some threes. So can you expand more on that?

Yeah, no, I mean you can win by getting the basket.

The ball in the basket, right.

No, we want to play, you know, we want to play fast paced. We want to play selfless. So you know, imagine you're on the court and if you got two defenders, pass it because someone else is open, right, And we want to take quality shots, like I really believe in taking quality shots over quantity, and then that's what I'm saying, is like, we got to make threes, but if they're quality threes, if they're open threes, those are the ones we want.

Yeah.

Absolutely. You know obviously, you guys just had your expansion draft and so you finally are starting to get players in the building. Oh Imma, you've been part of the team now since since May, so about seven months of not having any players. You know, I'm curious like what those first few months were for you, and you know those conversations between you and Jess about how to build out a brand in the early days that she obviously did it at angel City and the NWSLF. So how how are those early days for you and building out a team without having a team.

Great question. I let just do all things business, which includes brands and marketing, and she hired a staff that is elite, as you can tell from our colors and our all of our different logos, which allowed me not to have to even think about that, right, So my first couple of months were higher with as much intentionality as possible. So I hired Fanya Tchernovets. She was the GM of the London Lions who just recently won the yuro Old Cup about seven months ago or eight months ago now, and asked her to become my VP of Ops and she said yes, thankfully. And her and I have just been on this journey of you know, hiring as many people as possible and all the different worlds that we're going to need. And you know, the big public one was to hire a coach, and we were so fortunate that number one coach nally picked up the phone and too she said yes after a pretty intense uh search as well. And you know, from there then the blank slate, you know, started to take shape a little bit with a little bit of color, because these are two individuals that I think that, uh, this organization will grow organically, authentically and the most competitively because of their breath of experience and their prior.

Jobs.

And then you know, all eyes were to how do we create the most inclusive welcoming experience for our athletes that other duties as assigned construction manager, Right, we have a practice facility that's getting refurbished. They're building us a brand new locker room at the Chase Center which is only five years old. So and then all of a sudden, like we need to bring players in. So it's been an interesting seven months. I would say no day is the same, and that's exactly why I took the opportunity.

I want to start with general manager Ohima and then also with coach Nicasse in that order. And I want to bring a math problem. See, the Chase Center has a capacity of eighteen thousand people. You have already surpassed twenty thousand season ticket deposits already now the last time. Now I'm no algebra fans, but the last time I checked, that's a great math problem to have.

Indeed, and yeah, again I'm going to let Jess and her folks figure out that math. I think, you know, to have twenty thousand and close to twenty one thousand now individuals who are just waiting online to buy season tickets is a testament to how hungry the Bay is for a WNBA team. And I think that that number, while it is over capacity, Jess and her team are going to figure it out.

Yeah, have you guys ever been in a suite? So all the pack those suites because you know, there's some sitting and then there's some standing and then some people eating food and drinks.

So I would love to come to the suite at Chase Center actually free Valkyries game, So please extend the invitation. Tis love to come. Oh great, Natalie, you know, I'd love to hear from you on this side of you know, after the draft and realizing has this you know, has this sunk in for you? That the over the last few years, you know, one of the concerns of the league has been there's only been one hundred and forty four roster spots, right and now with you guys coming on board officially now officially drafting new people new and having more spots, there are places for more talent in the league. Has that sunk in for you? And what's the impact of that being able to have more players in this league?

Yeah, I think that's a great opportunity for more women, just because it's hard to make cuts in our training camp. It is really hard, like we battle on who are the last three or four players? And so I think it's great that we have more space. We have more space for coaches, we have more space for the front office. I think it's great and we're going through you know, the international now bringing more international players over. I think that is really good because there's so much talent over there, and so we just want to be really inclusive and just this make this league grow.

One player that has really expanded the exposure to the w NBA, of course, has been Caitlin Clark and whoever would like to comment on it. Time Magazine has named her Athlete of the Year, and that's doing something. Can either one of you guys comment on that and what the exposure means for the WNBA?

Yeah, I mean I worked with Caitlyn with my tenure at USA Basketball, so I've known her since she was fifteen years old and to see her growth to be named such a prestigious award is is just a testament to her and her work ethic, and she's done it with so much grace. She's unapologetic of you know who she is. I would say this rookie class has brought a lot of new eyeballs to the w n b A and we're grateful for that. And there are athletes currently in the w n b A that have also had similar careers, right, and so the the collaboration of the two, I think that there's like a world for both, right, and we're just happy that we get to work with these athletes, either with them or against them. Uh in the w n b A, which is the best league in the world.

I just wanted to add lean and agree with Ohama like she's a generational talent. I mean that word is just going to carry on as she goes because she's been bringing so many to the game and that has helped us tremendously. But I think what kind of hasn't been talked maybe enough about, is just her handle with the grace of all the pressure that she's kind of been all every day she's doing interviews. I mean, you know, with we have Kate Martin who had to have a ton of interviews as well, you know, just because of the Iowa connection and all the viewership that they got with Iowa and just watching them go through it. It's just it's a lot, you know, every day, just imagine, I mean doing this every day. So just handling herself with grace, I think, you know, she should get a lot of credit for that.

I one of the things I'd love to talk to you guys both about and you both come from interesting places, right and Natalie, you were just the aces Ohama. You were just at the Liberty two of the best, you know, franchises over the last few years, most successful, and that also means successful in ownership. And they have both really great ownership that you know has transcended the Size obviously or like I would say, cream of the crop. This is me as a Liberty fan, but they're the crop when it comes to investing into this league, investing into women's sports before it was really the cool thing to do, right. So, Haima, can you really talk to me about that about working with ownership and do you see that ownership with Joe lacub and this organization the Valkyries.

Yeah, the ownership group I've just I have had the privilege of working with probably the two best ownership groups and in the w you know, Natalie can will add to that as well from her experience. What I will say is, first and foremost, each of the owners that I've worked with, both the Size and mister Joe, they're passionate humans. They care, uh, they are very intentional with their dollars, and they're unapologetic about their sheer joy of investing in women's women's sports more specifically, and they in addition though allow us to do our jobs right. They are collaborative humans. They understand that we are the experts in this in this field, and they provide the confidence that we need on days that may not go as well, to tell us, you know, like brush it off and keep it going. And I was nervous, to be quite honest, leaving the Liberty having had all the relationships that I had for five years, and then coming to the Golden State Valkyries, and throughout my interview process, all the individuals that I met just showed me that you you can leave a good thing and walk into another good thing. And seven months later, I don't even know why it was nervous, because it's just been such a seamless transition.

Our thanks to Golden State Valkyries general manager Ohema Nyanen and head coach Natalie Nakassi for joining us. Up next on the show, we turned to private equity in the sports world with Velocity Capitol Management founding partner David Abrams. His firm just entered a unique deal with the Texas Permanent School Fund for my colleagues Scarlett Food, Damien Sasaur, and Vanessa Perdomo. I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Around the world.

You're listening to Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore the big money issues and world of sports. I'm Michael Barr, along with my colleagues Scarlett Fou and Damien Sasover.

And this week NFL league owners approve the sale of two teams selling ten percent stakes to private equity firms.

That's right, Scarlett. The Buffalo bill sold a ten percent stake to Arctos Partners and the Miami Dolphins sold a ten percent stake to Aris Management.

And we're expecting a lot more similar moves down the road as more private equity firms look to get a foothold in sports. Here now to take us through the growth of private equity in sports is Velocity Capital Management founding partner David Abrams.

We're also joined by Texas Permanent School Fund CEO and CIO Bob Borden, who recently invested into Velocity's flagship opportunity fund.

David, Bob, Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

Thank you for having us.

I'm going to start with David if I may, the Velocity Capital Management founding partner. This must be great news because we're going to see more and more of this, of the capital of the small equities coming in and eventually maybe we can afford some of these big old two, three, four billion dollar teams.

Well, we are both humbled and grateful for our partnership with Bob and the Texas Permanent School Fund Corporation. Bob will talk a little bit about our history and some of the things we've done together, but we really believe that this is the first time that we've seen where an institutional allocator has said we don't want to just invest in a specific fund and be in private equity or credit, but we want to build a platform to take advantage of the disruption and commercialization we're seeing across the broader entertainment, sports, and media ecosystem. And with the partnership we have, we think that we can be of an operationally intensive partner for the middle market, which where we believe there's, you know, the most attractive risk adjusted opportunities.

So, Bob, let me bring you into the conversation. What have you seen take place in this sector that convinced you that you want to bring the Texas PSF into this part of the business. Was it a specific deal, was it a specific sport?

Well, you know, when I look at it over a long period of time, you know this this really evolved from you know, franchises that were owned by dynasty families for decades on ends, and really the revenue sources were primarily around you know, cable television contracts. And now we have a brave new world of all kinds of delivery of the experience, not only through media and streaming, but through surrounding entertainment and functions broader around the entire sports event. And it's really a disruption of an ancient model that is creating a world of opportunity. And it's still in its nascent stages of you know, what are ultimately going to be the best mechanisms to monetize the entire experience. And David's assembled a top flight team. And David and I have experienced going back to the great financial Crisis, that has given me great confidence in his ability to execute. And you know, I think that's it's a good time to really assemble teams and back them with capital while there is this consolidation opportunity in this sector.

Well, Bob, our audience, we know David all too well. We know him from Harris Blitzer and Apollo. I mean, forget about David. We want to hear more about you, and we need to bring you in properly. You're the CEO and CIO of the fifty two billion dollar Beast, the Texas Permanent Fund, and you're investing in a sports focused private equity and I'm going to pitch yourself. Well, Bob, I really am here. Collar Capital saying eighty one percent they surveyed one point nine trillion in assets under management pension funds like yourself, eighty one percent reported the risks of sports funds are too great, too great to invest in these trophy assets as you put them. Talk to us about what makes Velocity different in your mind?

Yeah, well, yeah, the risks of doing it with the wrong team are certainly high. And I that's not a pun. I mean the you know, the wrong management group. You know, this is somewhat analogous to the early days of you know, internet search engines, you know, and there was a lot of viable ideas and competitors, but you know, once the industry really coalesced. You know, you had two or three obvious leaders. It's also a very bifurcated industry. You know where at the very you know top, you have these you know, multi billion dollars you said earlier, two or three billion. I think the check size is now are going to be five to ten billion for certainly for NFL franchises. And that's hard to play in because you know, they're big checks and very liquid. But all of the infrastructure in and around major sporting events has got a great opportunity for consolidation and scale, and you know, Velocities put together a really good team.

Well, Bob, I think you can hit the nail on the head here. You're not buying a sports franchise per se, You're buying into Velocity in their holdings like Parrella Motorsports, Elevate. David tell us a little bit about what's going on with X Games, some of the you know, portfolio holdings, how the fund is structured, and you know what lies ahead.

Well, I think Elevate is a perfect example of this partnership and why we're so excited. There was some news out the other day about both Velocity and Texas Permanent School Fund and Levy putting significant capital on the balance sheet. But I think one of the big differentiators of this partnership is how Texas Permanent School Fund is not just a typical asset allocator. And the reason they'll bring that up is we have the ability to provide holistic solutions to various intellectual property rights holders. And if I think about Elevate, you know, one of the big initiatives for us as a company is what the disruption is going to lead to in college athletics, and so there's lots of different ways to figure out how to work with the university, whether it's the NIL space, whether it's helping build the stadium, whether it's helping monetize their ticketing inventory. Elevate can do a lot of different things, but Texas Permanent School Fund can provide capital that's private equity oriented, credit, real estate, and do let Bob to talk about the last point, which is the name permanent is there for a reason because it's permanent capital where you can hold an asset for thirty years. There's very few examples of other investment firms who have had access to that capital, and that allows us to solve problems for rights holders.

Well, you know, I was mentioned earlier, what you know our peers do. We're the largest educational endowment in the country and actually knocking on sixty billion today. The lessons that I learned over the years when you've got you know, good partners and investment firms, and I think that you know, we're where my peers have you know, left a lot of meat on the bone. Is putting everything in boxes, you know, hiring talented firms to manage one, you know, very narrowly defined aspect of the fund, and you know, kind of report back on that. And I found that, you know, there's incredible talent at some of these firms, and they're doing a lot of interesting things, not just the little slice that you may have hired them for. Necessity being the mother of invention. In the mid two thousands, I was tapped to run the South Carolina Investment Commission. It was thirty five billion dollars and I was hired and given an attorney and an admin and said, build a cutting edge endowment style pension solution. And I realized that we were going to have to really leverage partners a lot more than have traditionally been done, and by providing more free form capital that can be put to use, and not only in funds, but in co investments, direct investments, both in debt, inequity and real assets, seating platforms, et cetera. A much more fungible form of capital that makes you a true partner with that group is a key to success. It's a way to access a lot of opportunities. And using those lessons along with the experience that I had with David, you know, see this space as ripe for development. Consolidation is almost you know, a late stage word. You know, this is still very nascent in some of the technologies and other services in and around entertainment, just not only the hospitality, but you know, the branding and naming rights and a lot of these things. And those who who figure it out and can do it at you know, reasonable scale, you know well, will come out ahead.

So David, can you give us some more of an idea of what specific opportunities look like as we head into twenty twenty five. I think about the college space because philosophy focuses on middle market companies. So we're not talking NFL teams, right, that's no longer middle market. But if you're talking about businesses or opportunities within college athletics. Obviously that space is growing by leaps and bounds. You have Bill Belichick, who led the Patriots to multiple Super Bowl victories, now joining the United Excuse me, the University of North Carolina's football team. College athletics is becoming more and more professionalized. It's no longer going to just be middle market anymore.

Well, I think the Belichick announcement is interesting, but it's a lot more than just hiring a football coach to build the football program.

You and c is what do you see then starting with Bill Belichick joining UNC and how what kind of opportunities does that open your eyes up.

To college athletics. This you can use the word professional sports, but they're entertainment and media businesses. It just so happens that the talent is also going to get a college education. At the same time, Bill Belichick is away for North Carolina to build a global brand which will attract athletes, which drives the revenue generation of the intellectual property rights of University of North Carolina. So when people want to come to North Carolina now it's I get access to one of the most successful NFL coaches of all time, his network of contacts around the world. So if I'm coming to play, they have a fantastic women's soccer team, I'm gonna get access to Bill Belichick. Maybe you can't build my brand even And that is where college sports is going. You just saw the example of what happened at University of Michigan, where all the resources was Tom Brady and Dave Portney were put into attracting talent for the university. It's the same exact reason why this happened at North Carolina, because it's a way for them to present an opportunity to talent that other universities can't match.

David bob Man, what a pleasure to talk to you guys. Thank you for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

Thank you for having us. We look forward to coming back.

Our thanks to both Velocity Capital Management founding partner David Abrams and Texas Permanent School Fund CEO and CIO Bob Borden for joining us. Thank you for joining us for my colleague Scarlett Pooh and Damian Sasaur. I'm Michael Barr. Tune in again next week for the latest on the stories moving big old money in the world of sports, and don't forget to catch our podcast on all your podcast platforms. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.

Bloomberg Business of Sports

Michael Barr, Scarlet Fu and Damian Sassower follow the money in the world of sports, taking listene 
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