The Deal with Alex Rodriguez and Jason KellyHow ESPN's Laura Rutledge Thinks NIL Will Affect the NFL
In this episode of The Deal, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly talk with Laura Rutledge about how she built a career as a host for ESPN and the SEC Network. Rutledge tells the hosts about how the new name, image, and likeness rules are affecting when college football players are ready to go pro, how she organizes herself covering football and golf, and what she thought about Tom Brady's turn on the mic calling games.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.
Welcome back to the Deal. I'm your host Jason Kelly, alongside my co host and partner Alex Rodriguez. He's back in Miami, coming up on the Deal reporter in sports broadcaster Laura Rutledge. But first, all right, Alex, you're in Miami. I'm in London. We're coming off of All Star Weekend. I want to get your thoughts on that, and then I can tell you, like, what the heck I'm doing across the pond. But All Star Weekend really fun, new format, like new. Look what you make of it?
I really enjoyed it.
Look, I still think that Saturday is the most fun and the most engaging day. That's when you have a skills three point contest and obviously the Slam contest. You know the Slam Contest winner. He's won three years in a row. And for me, the highlight was him jumping over the car. That was incredible.
Mac mcclunk, he said, be he's an absolutely.
Incredible and he never misses a dunk, so he must watch TV. The other part is I know that the NBA got a lot of flak. Some people love this, Some people like this, and people didn't like it, but you got to give the NBA a lot of credit for continue to pivot and continue to find better ways to do things.
And I enjoyed it.
Yeah, it was. It was super, super fun to watch. And then I immediately jumped on a plane.
Plane Where whe where are you these days?
So I'm in London. I'm seeing some of our old friends and someone who's been a guest on this show, George Pine, could be hanging out with him. So excited to report back some of the folks that he's pulling together here in London. You know, one of the things that we delved into and highly recommend people go back and listen to and watch the George Pine episode of the Deal. I have to say we've gotten tremendous feedback for that one, in part because this is a guy who very quietly has become one of the most influential people in the business of sports, investing in the entire sports ecosystem. And I think it's interesting thing about seeing him in London is very much a global approach that he's taking. So I'm excited to do that. Speaking of global the other thing, and I'm excited and I take like just a little bit.
Of criss a flex. Here comes AUP flex.
He's here's the flex just on you, which is I think you're becoming an F one fan, and I like to think I have a little bit to do it. Like you're getting into.
It, right, I'm getting into it. I'm getting into it. Yes, I went to the one in Vegas. I really really enjoyed it. Yes, I know where you're going. Are a good friend, Zach Brown, who's a great, great leader. He's the one that's kind of making me feel really excited about it.
Yeah, he's your guy. I mean, you saw him in Vegas and so I remember we talked afterwards and You're like, you know, this F one thing is huge. I'm like, are you kidding me right now? All right? Yeah, But one of the reasons I'm in London this week is F one Media Day is this week here in London. They're doing it for the first time, all the teams together at the O two Arena, you know, which is this massive place, a bunch of fans and journalists and all coming together to really kick off the season. Seventy fifth season. As you said, Miami is probably the next time will really be together looking at F one, and it's interesting. Miami has become a must attend Grand Prix on the calendar. It's its fourth year now. I think you've seen up close and personal just what it does to this city, right.
Yes, And I recently went to the one in Vegas, and I'm telling you, like I've been to Vegas for the last thirty plus years, I've never seen Vegas transform the way it has. And I got to tell you, like, if you watch the Netflix special, if you watch on TV whatever, in person, it's a whole different sport.
I've never seen cars move like this.
The amount of wealth and influential people that are around the hoop, it's like nothing I've ever seen before. And of course F one in Miami also kind of merges with the Man Dolphins ecosystem. We know Joe Cy and others have bought into the Dolphins, which means they're buying into the whole real estate. So F one is like in Maine and Maine every conversation when it comes to media, sports and culture totally.
Yeah, that's a great point. So that's you know, Steven Ross, Tom Garfinkel, they have put together this empire that is as you say, it's the Dolphins, which is obviously the cornerstone of all that, the Grand Prix. They also have the Miami Open. We're actually to be talking to Tom Garfinkel on this program coming up in a few weeks ahead of the Miami Open. So we're excited to do that because they really had built something very special and as you say, they were one of two teams or really two NFL franchises so far that have sold a minority stake to outside investors. Aries is one of the investors that went into the Dolphins, and of course Arctose led the round going into the Buffalo Bills. So a lot to get into when we talked to Tom Garfinkel in a few weeks. Coming up today, we're going to talk to Laura Rutledge, and you know, we feel like we know her from TV. You have another personal connection to her, which is her husband played Major League Baseball with the josh It like you know him like from the field.
Yeah, sure did.
And you know, I never knew that these two worlds were collide, you know, because josh I played against him.
He was a good ball player.
He played for the Red Sox and a few other teams and He was very, very solid, and it was really nice to come full circle interview his very talented wife, and she was really fascinating. I learned so much and I'm so excited for our listeners to hear what she had to say.
Yeah. No, she's amazing and really has transformed the world of broadcasting, especially when it comes to football, and we talk a lot about what has essentially what feels like the merger of the college game, at least on the highest level. She went to University of Florida. She knows the SEC inside and out. She has seen the transformation of that conference and what the real power conferences in football have done in college football have done as they become more and more I dare say NFL Junior. So we'll get into all that coming up with the deal. Reporter and sports broadcaster Laura Rutledge. All right, we're so excited to have Laura Rutledge here with us. You see her everywhere. She's on NFL Live all year round. She's a host of SEC Nation, she's covering golf. Now we're definitely going to get into that. Laura, so happy to have you here on the deal.
I'm so happy to be with you guys, just a huge fan of what you do in general, and especially on this podcast.
Just so appreciative that you'd have me on.
So, Laura, when I was doing a little research about you, it was interesting to me. One little nugget that I found. My daughter is a sophomore the University of Michigan and she studies musical theater. And I saw that when you were sixteen and somehow you convince your parents who go to China to be a dancer or ballet A is that true? And b how did you pivot from that to where you are today?
It was pretty awesome.
Yeah, it's funny.
Anybody who knew me back then, they're like, wait, what you do sports broadcasting?
Like you were always into the.
Arts and all that in Ballet was truly my favorite thing in the world, my passion. I convinced my parents let me go to Shanghai. Actually studied at the Shanghai Theater Academy when I was sixteen and then turned seventeen while I was there. So my ballet teacher in Orlando, Florida, was going back to China to prepare for the Beijing Olympics.
She was part of the opening and closing.
Ceremony, so she said, I'll just take you with me, which, now that I think about it, having kids of my own, now I'm like, golly, I.
Don't think I could send my kids over there like that, you know.
But it really was incredibly difficult, But it was incredible time of hard work that I think laid the groundwork of discipline that ended up being really necessary in this career too.
Yeah, that totally makes sense. So let's jump into it and talk about your journey and your way into this business. When you're at University of Florida. I mean, is this what you imagined you wanted to be like from the get go, or like what's the quick path for you?
Yeah? I never could have imagined this.
In fact, when I was at Florida, I thought my dream job would be the radio reporter for Florida football broadcast. If I could just do that, I will have made it. And I actually still think that's a really great job. But I could have never in a million years imagine this. I only did radio when I was in college, and it was a way to get a ton of reps early on, and then you know, from there I got my opportunity in baseball, which came the spring of my senior year, so I was driving back and forth between Gainesville and Tampa Bay basically to do raise home games, and did that, you know, for a couple of years, and got an opportunity with the Padres after that.
I bring up that side of it because I don't know if you.
Guys have ever read Malcolm Gladwell's book The Outliers, but I subscribe to his ten thousand hours of reps or whatever it may be, are needed to become an expert in something. And I kind of accidentally got my ten thousand hours because I knew I needed a lot of improvement.
At this job.
And I feel like every day I'm still trying to get better because you just can never predict what's happening in live TV.
But that was how I got my start.
And then after that I beat down everybody's door here at ESPN trying to get him to hire me at SEC Network, and thank goodness, they probably did think I was a little crazy, but they did give me a chance, and you.
Know, to the sort of reps of it all. It also strikes me that when you get to University of Florida, you know, Alex and I talk all the time, and maybe you've talked about it on the show, this intersection of business, sports and culture. I grew up down South. I was in more of an ACC kid than an SEC kid. But have you know so many friends and family who went to SEC schools. It's a way of life. And I do wonder you know how you saw and how you see this nexus that you're right at the white hot center of when it comes to how much football, specifically in college football, manifested in the broader culture.
Yeah, it is. I think that's becoming more and more prevalent too. And we've even seen it.
Let's say Alabama, for example, as they've won championships, their enrollment has become so difficult to even get in there, and their enrollment is massive, and there's so many kids from across the country that are wanting to go to school at Alabama and wanting to go to Tuscaloosa. And it's because of the success that they've had as a broader football brand. And people know Alabama football, people know Texas, people know Michigan, people know USC. I mean some of these brand names, but I think college football, and especially with the expansion of the college football playoff. It's just become a larger part of the conversation throughout a season, throughout a year. It's not as you this minute time that sort of gets diminished by other sports. It's becoming more of a centerpiece. And then to your point, the culture of it, all the tailgating and what comes with it. You can almost like feel it and taste it when you think about it, you know, And there's not that many other things like that, especially in sports.
So I think college football is on a rocket ship.
People love it, it's nostalgic, but I think it's going to continue to grow as we've seen the playoff expand, and as we see NIL and some of the business side of it change and grow too.
Yeah, when it comes to the college part, which you mentioned, I think we almost have to take the amateur part are because now their professionals are getting paid. How do you see the relationship between the NCAA and the NFL. I mean, in baseball we have TRIPAA and basketball we have the G League At some point is it an extension of the NFL?
Is it a feeding ground? How do you see that?
Yeah, I think it's becoming more and more like that.
And you know, the NFL is so unique in the way that they're basically saying we're going to pick and choose whoever we want from college.
And they're going to have no other choice.
I mean, everybody's lifeline in college is about trying to advance to that next level and being part of the NFL. But I do think that, you know, the NFL is going to see how college football changes me we go to these two power conferences, or maybe there is more regulation when it comes to how it's all divided out. We have some version of like the Big Ten and the SEC that converges together and they play each other, and that's one league.
And then you've got the secondary.
Leagues that could be some of these Group of five type schools.
That just can't compete with.
The nil caliber that some of these big brand names have. And then maybe that you know, elevated league is a closer step to the NFL. But I think the interesting thing from the NFL side, and I wouldn't want to speak for Roger Goodell here, but what I've seen in covering both regularly is the NFL doesn't have a ton of interest in being that associated with college football until the combine comes around.
You even see it when these schedule.
Games, they're like, oh, the college fellow playoffs on. We don't care, like we're going to have some of our playoff games. They know, Oh, the NFL knows that it's king. And while they need college football, when it comes to how are they going to get their players, how are they gonna you know, create their own stars, I think they would continue to stay interested in it being very separated. And some of that, too has to do with the lack of regulation in college football in general, college sports in general. So until some of that changes, I don't know that we'll see, you know, like a triple A version of college football yet, although I do think there would be a lot of players that would benefit from that.
Yeah, And so let's talk about the players in this sense of from the player's perspective, and let's talk a specific example Carson Beck. You know, so, so you have this situation where he is going pro. You know, he's he's sort of like following the very traditional path of like I was good in college, now I'm going to you know, try and be a professional athlete, like Alex Tredriguez, like your husband, Like I'm going to play at the highest level of my sport, and then the school right down the street from Alex calls him up and it's like, but what if you didn't do that and we're going to pay you four million dollars to play at University of Miami. I mean that almost I got to tell you, as a longtime college football fan again growing up down south, that like broke my brain. So, like, what's your reaction to sort of this moment of the push and pull and the tug between the NFL and college when it comes to the players.
Yeah, it's just fascinating because if you're talking about the Carson Becks of the world, the Quinn Viewers of the world, for instance, they're making more money in college than they may even ever make in the NFL.
I mean, we'll see how those guys end up panning out.
But in Carson's situation specifically, it made sense I thought for him to stay in college because he wasn't going to have a super high draft grade after what happened this past season, and he was dealing with an injury that you know, we wouldn't have been able to see him throw at the combine. All these sort of benchmarks that the NFL wants to see and that teams would have been interested in. He wasn't going to be able to hit those and I think that was part of it, right, I think the injury piece weighed in. But yeah, I mean, how you looking in four million plus? I actually think it'll end up being a little bit more. How are you looking that in the eye and saying, yeah, I think I'm going to just go ahead and sort of roll the dice. On the NFL side, this is going to be fascinating to watch. I mean, you guys have seen the recent ruling where you're going to see a little bit more revenue sharing from these universities where they're actually direct to the student athletes. We're still calling them student athletes. NCAA is very specific about that. And then along the way, you know, all of these lawyers are lining up to sue the NCAAA once again because there's zero regulation here as that continues. And the reason why I think it's important to bring up is it relates to a Carson Beck in the situation, is because if there's no regulation, these guys are going to continue to just stick around and continue to take as much money as they can from the collectives and from other interested parties, and it's just the wild wild West.
I mean, it makes it incredibly.
Difficult, and I think there are so many ripple effects. And we could talk about this all day, which we will in a way, but coaches are getting really disinterested in all this. You're gonna see a lot of the best, the biggest names.
We've already saw Nick Saban step away. You're gonna see a lot of these guys say this just isn't for me anymore. This isn't coaching anymore. And while yes, we all.
Agree that players should be compensated, that is first and foremost, and I should have led with that. That's key, right, But this needs to be regulated in some way, shape or form, and I think we're a long way away from that. So there's gonna be a lot of these guys that do decide just to stay in school for longer than they would have otherwise.
So, Laura, you've seen it a little bit with NCUBLA basketball, right, Coach k has left, Duke Jay Wright has left Villanova. You mentioned Nick Saban. I'm interested to know what are your thoughts with Bill Belichick.
Now.
The last time I saw an iconic coach like that, go from the NFL to the NC DOUBLEA was a long time ago. Steve Walsh from the forty nine ers to Stamp good one. Yeah, and I'm dating myself a little bit here, but tell me a little bit about your thoughts. Mid seventies, iconic, maybe the greatest coach of all time?
How does he land in North Carolina?
I mean, you guys, when we started hearing that this was potentially happening, We're like, that can't be real.
What is Belichick doing? You know, it didn't make sense.
And I thought, man, somebody's just got this wrong. And I actually knew somebody else, another coaching candidate who was interviewing for that job and really did well in the interviews. You know, thought he had a nice inside track there. And then here comes Bill Belichick.
Rolling in, and he's like, well, shoot, I can't compete with that guy. You know, come on.
Some of us have wondered, Okay, is he setting this up for his son and all that? But by all accounts, Belichick, you know, he's all in. He's taking this very seriously. And I think what's unique here, at least as it relates to this current version of college football you are more of a GM, you are more of a manager of sorts.
I'll be interested to.
See how nitty gritty is he when it comes to the coaching side, because that's his core, right, He loves ball, he wants to be coaching. He is the greatest coach of all time, you know when it comes to the NFL level, and maybe ever right, depending on how you look at it, We're seeing these GM types be hired for all of these schools to manage all this. But I mean, shoot, to answer your question, I was shocked, and I would say too, I don't think we're going to see a lot of this happening. And what I'll be interest is as much as he says, oh, I'm in it, you know, for the long haul, like I want to be there and I'm going to stay there, It's going to be really interesting to see if he actually does and how it goes. And what I would say too is that you know this can be humbling. I mean we saw Ole Miss for instance, as symbol an all star team of portal guys paying so much money for all of these transfers, and you know, lang Kiffin approaching this in a way where you felt like they were stacked, and you know, Ohio State certainly paid a price. They want a championship. It wasn't without some bumps along the road, Michigan having.
A nice play in that. But they want it all right.
So sometimes the money is rewarded and then sometimes you look back and say, what do we have to show for it?
This is a humbling sport at.
This point in that way, because you can pay all this money, you can get all these donors, and you can you know, build your collective, and then you still may not even make it to the playoff.
And that's where I think.
We're going to see a lot of coaches discouraged and maybe the Bill Belichick types say no, I'm good.
So Laura, you.
Know, knowing this as well as you do. You know you talked about how you know, we're going to see how this all plays out. We're going to put you in charge for however long you want. How would you fix it? As someone who again you know it inside out and you know the pro level as well. What is the model of college football as it should be or could be?
Yeah, it's not easy right to figure it out, But I think what's key is that you know there has to be some sort of collective bargaining element.
To all this, and it has.
To be that players can come to the table and negotiate for themselves.
And even right.
Now with what's been you know, the latest development in all this, it's like, okay, so so these universities are going to be paying some form of payment to these players.
But they don't have any control over it.
The players need to be able to negotiate for themselves, and I believe they can't.
Now.
The issue there is if I were in charge, I would say that means, you know, truly the players are negotiating.
We're not having all this outside noise and these agents and people.
I mean, it's just very murky right now with all of the people, I would say, cut the fat. Make sure that these players are getting the best advice possible and so that they really can make decisions for themselves, be advised in a way that would.
Benefit them long term.
You know, you hate to see anything mismanaged or people taking advantage of them or anything like that. And I do think the reality is they are young, so that's part of it, But how can they set themselves up for success long term? I think that's kind of the main thing and then doing everything possible to make it equal in a way, as equal as we can. And that's where I do think the suggestion of like a super conference that is a step of a bus. Right, Let that happen, but then also let these other universities have a fair playing field against each other to allow for further opportunity.
Right.
I mean, there's so many people that you look at who have great success in life because they were a legend at wherever it may be, let's call it Houston or something. They were a great player at University of Houston. They go on to have a law firm there because they're well known, you know, for anybody who was a fan of the school. How do we continue to keep that going where they're still prominent enough? And then there are plenty of players if I use the Houston example, at Oliver who goes on to be an excellent NFL player at the highest level, a high draft pick. There are so many examples of this where I think that's important to continue.
But regulate it, and it has to be regulated.
And listen, maybe we should all partner together to do this because Nick Saban doesn't want to do it as much as people are like, let's let him control college football, He's like, I'm good, I'm not interested. But yeah, that's the main key, giving the players a voice to actually negotiate for themselves, and then also regulation that is in their benefit and with their well being in mind.
I'm really excited because there's so many players to go, but I want to push you a little bit on a specific take Carson Back. We've talked about him. Four million dollars the largest payout. I feel there's a bit of a blind spot when I've signed a professional contract in baseball, you get a certain amount of payment, and for that there's a commitment, whether there's a five year commitment a ten year commitment, there's a.
Loyalty that's practiced.
I'm a little bit confused, like, Okay, the player gets four million, but what is the commitment the player gets back to the university. I don't like the idea that you can be a free agent every year, or you can take the money and then run the other way.
How do you fix that? And do you think that's a problem.
Yeah, So it's interesting because I agree with you the pushback that we've seen there from players themselves and just from fans even is that we'll look at the coaches.
They make all this money and they can leave whenever.
They want, and basically their contracts, I mean, the universities buy them out.
How many times have we seen I mean, jeez, Miniez.
You think about Jimbo Fisher for example at Texas A and M one hundred million dollars didn't work out. Now they tried for a while and they finally said, we're cleaning our hands of this. Now they get a lot of money there. But I think that's where people have been resistant, like if coaches can do this, why can't players. But what I would say is if I'm somebody who wants more investors, if I'm a fan of a university, Right, so let's say we're Miami fans Carson Beck, we have him for a year, let's say, and he's making four million, and he's going to stick around. Well, who's the next Carson Beck? And you're only getting more money if these investors feel like their investment's paying off. If these donors feel like their investment's paying off. So to your point, if I'm putting money on something like I want to know, Okay, how are you filling your end of the bargain here, and I do think that and that's where maybe, you know.
If players do have a voice, there's a.
Little bit more of a hey, look, well, if you're going to give us this, here's what we offer on our side, and here's our commitment. Because you're right, I mean, it's it's risky, like every single time these universities are paying this big cash to get these guys, and you know this is so relatively new, right, it's only been going for four seasons or whatever it is, you're wondering if.
It's going to pan out.
I feel like I can think of more times when it hasn't than when it has. And that's where a lot of schools are running into trouble, you know, having the amount of cash that they need, right, And here's nothing I would add. I've been talking to some people recently who are either very connected to donors at top universities or our donors themselves, and they don't have a big appetite to.
Donate because of what we're talking about.
Another thing that's interesting is there are a lot of people that say, well, I think we need to make a coaching change. So until we do that I'm holding on to my money. Now, if we make a coaching change and I like the coach, I'm going to spend all my money and I'm gonna immediately add.
To the collective.
So that's another thing too, Like I wonder could you add some regulation where you're bringing in more of a steady stream of.
Ca so that if a player is available in the.
Portal who's a game changing player can get you to championship level, which you know Miami's hoping that's what happens here, that you're prepared for that and you're ready.
I really like where you're going, Lauren, in terms of saying you have this like more regulated, highly profitable, high octane business of you know, a super conference where you really can manage that as ANFL junior. Whether the NFL wants that association or not is almost irrelevant. Doesn't like kid, it doesn't matter. It's NFL junior. Although it's funny to call people who play that level of college football junior or anything. But anyway, but I do think you know, one of the things that we don't want to lose. And I say this from a personal perspective, as Alex knows, I have a son, who plays Division three lacrosse, And the fact of the matter is is that, like I look at him and his teammates, and obviously I'm very biased towards my son, but it's like he is going to be so well prepared to work in the business world, you know, Like there is something about like, if you're a high level athlete at the college level, certainly at the professional level, you are trained in a way that is extremely attractive to employers. And I've said this about Alex in front of him as well. It's like, you know what this guy is, and I'm pointing to Alex right now, incredibly coachable. He takes feedback really well, you know, and it's like there is such high value in that that I really don't want us to lose because money just overwhelms this sport. And so I think you're right that there has to be some sort of bifurcation so that we don't essentially destroy college athletics in the pursuit of like these bigger and bigger profits. So, like, I'll step off my soapbox now, but like I think about that all the time.
Now, that's such a great anecdotal example, because I do think that gets lost in it all sometimes. And you know, the other thing that I would throw out there is just a.
Fan of the sport.
I'm even over here pitching this super conference thing because I actually think it creates more opportunity for maybe the schools and the athletes that aren't getting as much attention because they would have a little bit more of an equal footing. But you don't want to lose traditions. That's the other thing too, Like how do we say, all right, we're creating this whole thing, and you still want these great matchups, right, like the out of conference big time, the you know, the Michigan versus Alabama, like that whole thing. You want that, and I think that's that'd be totally doable in this model. But you also want to still hold on to the traditions that are so iconic with college football and college basketball too.
Right. And then the other piece.
Of this, which shouldn't be thought of as a secondary piece, is the opportunity for women because so many times, you know, we've got Title nine and all that, but when it comes to professional opportunities, women don't have as many. It's really women's basketball. Maybe there's more coming in the softball world, where you're seeing more of these women have an opportunity to advance in softball, but when it comes to gymnastics, for instance, or something else, this is their chance to make their money and to make their connections and to build their brand that ultimately allows them to have success in life. And that's where I'm hoping. However, the conferences get worked out or whatever happens with NIL, those opportunities need to still be there for women, and we've seen many of them take advantage of it. I've talked to so many female athletes too, who say, yeah, I'm going to stick around and use as much of my ability eligibility as possible because this is how I'm.
Going to make money.
I'm making way more money doing this than I would be, you know if I went into the workforce.
Well, Laura, I'm super interested in this because I always love kind of the art of preparation, right, and my mentors always told me you want to be really prepared, and that's really one of the biggest advantages you can have on television or presentation in business. My question to you is I struggle sometimes as a bilingual child. My parents at both Dominican, I was born in New York, but I was raised, you know, talking Spanish at home, and when I go back from Spanish to English and back and forth sometimes to struggle, or if I'm talking baseball for the whole month, doing the playoffs in the World Series, and then I transition to basketball, sometimes I get now you you're doing NCAA, NFL Live, and now you've added golf to your portfolio. How do you think about your preparation and sometimes does it get confusing for.
You at all?
Yes, I'm always like, oh my goodness, what am I talking about today? Because it's just not possible to be as invested as I want to be. And what I would say, just being completely honest here, that's been a really hard adjustment for me because I like to be over prepared for everything, and I'm very much like, Okay, let me control what I can control, and that's what I can control.
I can be as prepared as possible.
I've had to let go of some of that a little bit, just because there's too much that I'm trying to handle all the time. But what I found is that sometimes giving up that control can be freeing in a way, and it's made me better at times because I say, all right, now, I'm just kind of being a fan and a human being, and I'm reacting to things with curiosity. I'm admitting when I don't know something, and I'm being very honest about that and saying, Okay, I need to research that, and I want to present and come across as credible and knowledgeable but not beating myself up as badly as I have in the past.
So, Laura, you mentioned Jayden Daniels and the Commanders, and I want to spend a few minutes if we can't talk about the NFL. This is a season full of storylines. You covered all of them. One of the things Alex and I were joking about this before we came on. You have a daily show in the NFL. Because the NFL and professional football is twenty four to seven, three hundred and sixty five days a year. I'm one of the most brilliant sort of like business evolutions and explosions I think we've seen. As you think about like the business storylines of this past season and going into new season, like what are the two or three that are top of mind for you?
Yeah, it's so interesting.
People are always like, oh, the super Bowl's over, it must be time off.
I'm like, well kind of.
But you know, like before you know it, it's the combine and free agency and then the draft and they just keep going. So as far as storylines, you know, I think the interesting thing is going to be what are the Chiefs do because they're not going to be satisfied with losing, you know, they just don't do that. And we saw this, you know, the last time that they lost in a Super Bowl against the Bucks, they went out and they spend a bunch of money on their own line.
So I think you'll see them try to spend there.
And then you know, there's so many of these teams that are going to be in free.
Agency able to help themselves. And this is a really.
Unique year because the quarterback draft is not super strong whereas last year it was. And we've seen that play out right with these guys showing so much potential Jayden and Daniels especially, But you get to see teams say I'm not reaching for a quarterback and they're going to try to grab a guy like a Kirk Cousins in free agency and can you revive his career, which I think potentially will happen. That's where I think the cap structure and the way that teams spend is going to be really interesting to watch. I think a lot of money spent to create rosters that can make it all the way and then you know, you hope it works. And then what you'll also see as teams being a little bit more conservative than they would have been otherwise when it comes to the draft and when it comes to big time trades because they may feel like there's not a quarterback in this draft that really screams to them like this is our franchise.
You know.
Staying in the business of NFL. I think one of the main storylines this year was Tom Brady, and both Jason and I are huge Tom Brady fans. Yeah, my question to you is a guy like Tom in his first year with the limitations of not being able to have access to both locker rooms production meetings, how difficult, how challenging is it for Tom? And what was your over impression on his performance this year in the Super Bowl?
Yeah?
Well, Alex, you know, like just the prep of being able to talk to people who you're going to be talking about is crucial, and when you're not in the room, it's hard to really get the information the way that you want to get it. And so I feel like, I mean, listen, Tom has been so successful and he's done so many things so well that it's not something where we're feeling like, oh my goodness, he didn't live up to the hype or he didn't do as well. He just didn't have the same advantages that you know, normally you would and that's his own doing, right.
He would be the first to.
Admit that because he has been such a smart businessman with everything that he's dealing with. I think people were overcritical for sure, But it is difficult, and it happens fast. And when you're calling a game, everything's going on and you've got people in your ear saying, okay, what look do you want now, they're not telling you what to say.
There's a lot going on.
So I think he will be really good, like if he wants to continue, and I think he was already good.
He just needs more reps.
It's like we were talking talking about from the beginning, and you know, people who want to write him off and be haters, they're just being haters, you know, because it's just not easy to do and I think a lot of us got experience, you know, honing our craft where maybe not that many people saw, or maybe it was in Triple A or maybe.
You know, the miners or whatever it was.
He comes out and he's going to call super Bowl his first season.
That's crazy the eyeballs on that, and just to try to manage the nerves.
I just sympathize with whatever Tom, you know, has felt.
He's a perfectionist.
He wants to be the best at his craft, and it's definitely possible, you know, with more reps. And I think people need to be a lot kinder about.
How they speak about everybody.
I mean, Alex, I'm guessing you had that experience. I mean, like you and I've talked before about how those early days when when you were going on air was not easy. We talked about that with Kevin Burkhart.
Yeah, Laura's exactly right.
I mean, what she's talking about is to open and I did something I baseball for a few years Laura for ESPN.
Great, thank you, thank you so much.
But I was so nervous for those first two minutes and you're on TV and you're talking in the mic and literally once the camera goes off, you will go and then you can take your jacket off and like the game can start now, right, But like it's just you would think two minutes is nothing, but when you're in novice, it was a big deal for me, and I'm sure it's a big deal for Tom.
Well.
You can't replicate the red light turning on, right, like you can practice.
You can think it in your mind and.
Then it happens and you're like, oh man, you know, okay, now now it's real, you know, and you're thinking a million miles a minute.
It is amazing. I mean, just to put a button on this. I mean, having worked in TV and radio over the last you know, many years, I've had the chance to interview so many like hyper hyper powerful, successful multi billionaires over the years. You know, they've negotiated the toughest deals in history, you know, made the biggest decisions. And you put them on the bright lights, you put a camera on them, that red light goes on. They're literally shaking, Like I mean, I've come off set with them, and inevitably they're like, was that okay? How did I do?
Jason?
Let me add one thing to what you're saying, because I think you're dead on. I heard Oprah one say that she's interviewed everyone, and she may have said, like, I've interviewed seven or eight presidents, prime minister's, every actor, you name it. The one common denominator of the thousands of interviews she's done over the last thirty or forty years has been how do I do?
Yeah?
At the end, how'd I do? Right? And that's amazing.
So it tells you, no matter how big you are, how popular, how wealthy, how smart, everyone still has that insecurity that Laura's talking about. When that red light goes on, it's different.
Yeah, how'd I do? Was was that okay? Yeah?
I mean it's.
Yeah, it's and you're like, you're Barack Obama.
Of course.
It's good. It was good moving.
Does anybody ever say no, it wasn't okay?
I'm like, yeah, can you imagine saying it's like it could have been better? Yeah, keep trying, maybe come back tomorrow. But yeah, it's fine, it's fine, all right. So let's do our lightning round here, Partner, five questions you can, you know, just answer him, Ty Laurie. You're a great broadcaster. You know how to do it. So I'll start and then Alex he'll pick up. All right, what's the best piece of advice you've received on deal making or business?
Don't sell yourself short?
Who is your dream deal making partner?
I'm gonna say my dad. He's a great businessman. Graduate of Harvard Business School. He has created all kinds of different companies over his years.
Some have succeeded, some have failed.
He actually recently sold his company, and I'm really happy for him. He's finally retired, but I feel like he still has that itch, so we'd be good making deals together.
My little Laura flex there, go ahead.
Yeah, that's good. What's the most nervous you've ever been?
Ooh, that is such a good one.
I would actually say it was my very first broadcast for the Rays. This would have been twenty eleven, Spring of twenty eleven, and I had never done live television before, so I have no idea why they thought I could do this.
But I was able to kind of tread water through it and get past it. But I was so nervous.
I was sweat and so bad that I sweat through my whole shirt. And I was like, from then on, I'm only wearing black.
Because this is bad.
What is your hype song before a big meeting or negotiation.
I have a few, but I'm going to go with this is so corny, but it's good Rachel Platten fight song. If you hear it and it doesn't get stuck in your head, there's something wrong with you.
Now it's going to be in my head for the rest of the day. Thank you. It's good. That's good, I know, I know, all right. Last question, what's your advice for someone listening who wants a career like yours.
I steal this one from Eleanor Roosevelt. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent, and I think that's really key in this business because there's a lot of comparison, there's a lot of criticism, there's a lot of things like that. If you can overcome that and not let it completely control your life and your career, you can have success in this business.
All right, Laura Rutledge, you're the best. Thank you so much. We really enjoyed it. Best of luck, you know, through football, through golf, through everything else, we will certainly be tuning in. We really appreciate your time.
I love it.
I appreciate y'all, this is so much fun and Lauras and Josh my best I will thank you guys.
The Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and me Jason Kelly. This episode was made by Anamazarakis, Stacy Wong, and Lizzie Phillip. The music is made by Blake Maples. Our executive producers are Kelly Laferrier, Ashley Honig, and Brendan Newnham. Sage Bauman is the head of Bloomberg Podcast. Additional support from Rachel Carnivali and Elena Los Angeles. Thanks for listening to the Deal. If you have a minute, subscribe, rate and review our show. It'll help other listeners find us. I'm Jason Kelly. See you next week.
