Speaker 1: ♪ Mark, thanks for joining us. Let's get right into it. You have three teams, owner of three teams, the Minnesota Vikings, the NFL, Orlando City, Major League Soccer, and then the Orlando Pride, which is a National Women's Soccer League team. All three of those teams have had some very strong seasons so far. And I know that, in general, the media rights provide so much revenue to teams, but I'm curious, how important, from a business perspective, is winning?

Speaker 2: Well, winning is certainly a goal for all of us. That's one of the main reasons we do it, is the passion for the sport. And it certainly helps. It helps grow the attachment among the fan base, and it builds the strength in the community. So while winning is only part of the strategy on the business side, it's certainly very, very important.

Speaker 1: It seems to me like there's sort of a trend among owners' ownership to own multiple teams. And I'm curious, what are the synergies to owning multiple teams in different franchises?

Speaker 2: Well, I can tell you the sports business is such a privilege to be a part of. So our first purchase, of course, the Minnesota Vikings. And we realized what an impact it has in the community, what a platform it is, and just the excitement and passion of it. And very few things lately seem to unify all of us. And sports is something we can all agree is something very exciting. And when you have the multiple franchises, you grow the relationships you have, you lever the different people you meet, the different businesses you have, and there is some synergy to it. So that doesn't surprise me that more and more there's multiple ownership.

Speaker 1: What are the synergies, though? Because it's not immediately obvious to me what they are.

Speaker 2: Well, certainly making sure the content is out there for the fans to be connected to. I think that type of interaction is very important. I think the people that you meet and the network and the people that know how to run sports businesses is a small world, so there is some synergy. We have some overlap even among our executive staff. We also have some overlap in terms of sports performance and training and all the rest. So there are some commonalities. And of course, facilities, stadiums, and how you make fans feel the fan experience is all important. And I think those experiences can be shared from one sport to another.

Speaker 1: Can you walk me through sort of your day-to-day running three franchises? Like in the back of my mind, I'm thinking of how Jack Dorsey used to split his time between Twitter and Square. It was like, in the morning, I'll do Twitter, and in the afternoon, I'll do Square. Is that how you're doing your day?

Speaker 2: Well, it's not as segmented as that. And the fact is, we wouldn't be fortunate enough to be in the sports business if we didn't focus on our real estate business, which is our main business at Garden Homes based in New Jersey. And of course, philanthropy is important. But the sports business, I think the big headlines for us is making sure we are keeping in touch with our sports leadership, our business leadership, providing resources to have the best facilities to make it first class, and most importantly, to get the right people in place. So we're fortunate, not just on the coaching or general manager side, but also on the business side, to have really top executives. And I make a point to interact on a regular basis with them, sometimes daily, sometimes weekly, to make sure we have a ear to the ground in terms of what's happening.

Speaker 1: And are those interactions sort of you making sure that you're available to listen from them? Or is it you coming to them being like, hey, I think we should do this, I think we should do that? A little of both.

Speaker 2: It's a give and take. Certainly on the sports side, we know what we don't know. And we have a great reliance on our coaches, general manager, our technical staff. But we listen to them. We hear what they have to say. We discuss budgeting and how you approach the seasons ahead. On the business side, we have a little more interaction. We know how to build buildings. We've experienced building facilities and managing people. And so those things we have a little more say on. But again, we have great reliance on our fine executive staff.

Speaker 1: The NFL just introduced private equity ownership. A couple questions on that. One, is that something you would consider, selling a minority stake in the Vikings?

Speaker 2: I would say at this point, no. And the fact is we're very supportive of it. The fact is for a lot of franchises, the liquidity is something really helpful. And we're hopeful that most of this liquidity will be plowed back into the sports businesses that we can help grow the game, whether it's football, soccer, or wherever private equity is being infused. I think it's going to be good for growth of sports in general.

Speaker 1: Are there any concerns with it in terms of bringing in ownership that may have purely financial point of views? Obviously, the league hasn't done it to this point. And I would imagine there was a reason why they haven't done it to this point.

Speaker 2: Well, each league has varying rules and restrictions. I know at the NFL, we're going about it in a more cautious way. I know there's a lot of guardrails in terms of control and how things are decided and the kind of individuals or equity firms that are brought in. So I think the commissioner and the NFL have done a really good job in terms of just beginning a process that is going about it in a fair, conservative way that can help grow the sport.

Speaker 1: We just had an election. The last time Donald Trump was president, there was a melding of politics and sports with Colin Kaepernick taking a knee. And are you concerned that as we have sort of Trump 2.0 here, we may go back to this uneasy tension between politics and sports? And how do you navigate that?

Speaker 2: Well, it's always a navigation because for me, and I think for all Americans, sports is a beautiful thing. And our own perspective is to try to keep what's going on between the boundaries of the field, that the game is pure and it's about the game because I think for families that are working hard to get the entertainment value of a sports experience, they want to come to the game and enjoy the game. So yes, sometimes you have to navigate those things and all the sports clubs that we're fortunate to be involved with, they mix red and blue. All our teams are purple. So we like to try to be unifying and I think sports is a unifier. And hopefully we can keep it that way. Were there any lessons from the Kaepernick incident?

Speaker 1: Do you think the league handled that appropriately? I think in the end,

Speaker 2: it worked out the proper way. Again, for us, we dealt with it as a club. We spoke to our players, we spoke to our coaches and our staff and we worked out a solution that felt right for everybody at the time. And in the end, like I said, I think what prevailed was the game is paramount and making sure that the game is not interfered with in any way and that the focus for the fans should be on the entertainment.

Speaker 1: Was it fair to him, though? I guess that would be the byproduct of it, right? Like he never played again. Yeah.

Speaker 2: Well, on that individual matter, we always evaluate our players based on how they play and how they focus on the field. And I know he was a great player in the league and that's an individual circumstance. I know when we look at players, we look at players to make sure they give us our best chance to win and they can contribute to the team the best.

Speaker 1: Let's go into your teams individually here. The Vikings, they're off to such a strong start already. Honestly, has this surprised you? Did you expect them to be so good so early this year?

Speaker 2: Well, you know, whatever you expect in sports, you can expect the unexpected. But for us inside the building, we have such tremendous faith in Coach O'Connell and Kwasi, our general manager, and Rob Brzezinski, the entire football operation. We knew that we were in a good path in terms of the kind of culture they're creating there. And so we're in a very tough league, a tough division for sure. But I have to say, Sam Darnold has led us well. The draft picks, we have J.J. McCarthy also in the quarterback room. And of course, the defensive effort's been unbelievable. We've brought on some great free agents and Coach Flores has the defense going as well.

Speaker 1: Let's move to the Major League Soccer. There seems to be every year more and more, there's sort of this energy behind soccer, the World Cup is coming. Do you feel like the league, MLS as a league, is on a trajectory that you're pleased with?

Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say that we're very pleased with the direction of soccer in America, and we think MLS is well-positioned to really take advantage of that. For those of the people that are watching or others, we encourage people to get the in-game experience. The stadium experience is outstanding. Of course, the deal with Apple TV, it's a great viewership experience as well. And we're seeing growth in attendance numbers, growth in the level of play, the quality of play. And of course, I know Miami, picking up Messi really gave a big surge to soccer viewership. So step-by-step, we're getting there. And of course, we have great opportunities to be on the world stage in North America. We have the Club World Cup in 2025. We have the FIFA World Cup for Men in 2026. And I think we're poised, like the last time the World Cup was in North America, that it will begin to get us to the next level.

Speaker 1: The Apple deal, obviously, was a nice surge of revenue for the teams in the league. But I think it's a little controversial in the sense that we don't know how many people are watching these games. Are you giving insight into how many people are watching?

Speaker 2: We do get our share of data. And again, remember, it's very early in the infancy of the deal. And I know MLS and Apple were working very close, collaboratively together to make sure it's a win-win. We're going to continue to market well, market to our fans. And the exciting thing about MLS is we have a great fan demographic, young, energy. And so I think it bodes well for the future of soccer in America. Are you pleased with the viewership numbers, as far as you know? Yes, but we always want more. I mean, the fact of the matter is we have great viewership when we're on Linear. We also have... Remember, with the MLS and the Apple package, we have almost 600 matches in one package being seen around the country and around the world. So there's a lot of product, and people as an aggregate are viewing dramatically. And we have, I think, close to 12 million fans that have come to our games over the years. So soccer is growing.

Speaker 1: On the women's side, do you feel like you are sitting on sort of an untapped jewel in women's soccer? Is this something that you see is just going to boom in popularity and also from a business perspective?

Speaker 2: Well, very much so. And you're seeing the beginnings of that in terms of how women's sports are taking on in different sports in different ways. And soccer is no exception. I think Commissioner Berman has done an excellent job with our clubs in terms of expanding at a proper pace. The in-stadium experience is growing dramatically. We're proud of our own Orlando Pride team. We had the longest unbeaten streak in women's soccer history. We've had a nice season. Of course, we're into the playoff mix now, and who knows what that season is going to be, but we're loving the job. Our CSO, our chief soccer operator, Haley Carter, and our coach, Seb Hines, they've done a great job building a great culture. But I just think the future of women's sports is so exciting. And now we have women's soccer stadiums in Kansas City. First time ever there was a women's-only franchise stadium. So people are investing in women's sports. Women's soccer is no exception. The World Cup, of course, everyone knows about. But the NWO sells the best soccer in the world with the best players in the world. You have three teams now.

Speaker 1: Are you looking for more? We're always opportunistic to see where there's opportunities to invest

Speaker 2: and grow our sports knowledge. But right now, we're focused on these franchises and the synergies they create. And again, our main priorities as ownership and any steward of a sports franchise is, of course, winning championships, number one, making sure it's a first-class operation, making sure it's a first-class operation in terms of facilities, in terms of culture, and, of course, being great citizens in the communities we're in. So whether it's in Minnesota or in Central Florida, we view the sports platform as a way to give back in the community. And I think that's been proven for us so far.