Bloomberg Special: The Business of the Super Bowl
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Time now for a special edition of The Close, the business of the Super Bowl. We've got an all-star lineup. We've got Kansas City Chiefs President Mark Donovan, New England Patriots CEO Robert Kraft, FanDuel CEO Amy Hao, among others. And joining me for this entire hour is Bloomberg Originals Chief Correspondent Jason Kelly, host of The Deal with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly. Great to have you. Hi. It's fantastic. What a Friday. I know.

I mean, the Friday to do this, right? I'm imagining there's a lot of deal-making going on in New Orleans right now with everyone from the sports industry gathering. Everyone is there. I mean, everyone except us because, you know, we're working for a living. But actually, they are doing deals. I mean, this is when the big deals happen in the sports world because the entire sports world, as you mentioned, sort of descends. Maybe they don't stay for the game, but they're at

the parties. They're going to the conferences. They're doing the side meetings. It's amazing. We're going to check in with Randall Williams, who's on the ground. So much to talk about. A ton to talk about. All right. So mind meld there for everyone in New Orleans. In the meantime, let's create street to someone who's been living the business of the Super Bowl since 2020. He is Kansas City Chiefs President Mark Donovan. Mark.

Welcome to the program and congratulations on your fifth trip to the Big Show in six years. Thank you. I appreciate that. Great to be with you guys. So as the organization makes a run to become the first three-piece Super Bowl champions, would you say you're more or less nervous this time around?

You know, I think experience is a great teacher. So we've done this enough to realize sort of what makes it successful. We tweak things every year, but it's been a really smooth operation since we landed on Sunday night and started practicing this week. And it's going very, very well. It's going very, very well.

about the Chiefs as a brand because it's so much more than a regional team or even an American team at this point, right? It is a global brand that really resonates with sports fans around the world. Talk a little bit about your organization's international efforts and how you have a new entertainment production studio that plays into that, that really amplifies that. Yeah, it's a convergence of the platform that we're on right now. I mean, we have one of the most successful franchises in sport.

We have the world converging and consuming content like never before. And then the international program that the NFL launched back in 2019 gave us and other franchises the opportunity to aggressively pursue growth internationally. And we've been one of the more

aggressive teams to do that. So the convergence of all this on top of being in for the last five Super Bowl, for the last six Super Bowls, and the opportunity to constantly be out there with content is something that we've been very excited about. We take an advantage of and we've seen results from. So Foolish Cup Studios is something we launched this past week that gives us the opportunity to create even more ideas and then distribute that content internationally, hopefully.

All right. So, Mark, obviously a chance to create more content. Let's be honest. This is Bloomberg. It's a chance to create more revenue when you're this successful on the field. Walk us through what it means to the top line, the bottom line of your team to be consistently in the big game and, you know, now going for your third straight win. What does it do for your business?

Yeah, I think that's a fair question given the audience here today. I think that when you look at our business, we are on a platform we have never been on as a franchise before. And so we look at that as opportunity. What can we do in this platform to take advantage of this time to maximize the platform? So top line, bottom line, it's growing brand value first and foremost. And then everything that sort of comes off of that.

And we are very successful in Germany after investing in there over the last four years. We're the number one team from brand value in Germany. We have the most revenue from a sponsorship base in Germany. We're looking to do that again and again and again as many times as we can. The opportunity and the platform that I speak of is the international market. So, you know, as we grow, we now have the ability to grow internationally. And that's really the focus.

And so, Mark, part of it is growing the audience and some of that comes from just showing the games. Also, you mentioned the additional content, but also social media has been especially powerful for you guys. You are one of the most followed teams out there. How do you continue to grow that? And are there certain platforms that are working better for you overall?

Yeah, so it's a combination of things. It's one, the superstars that we have on our team and what they've done with content, with Patrick and with Travis, with his podcast. And it's sort of dovetailing with that and then using the content that we have. We have a program on YouTube called The Franchise, which is an inside look at our team. We're the first National Football League team to have over a million subscribers on YouTube. We're the second...

sports franchise in America behind the Golden State Warriors to do that. So those are the platforms that I'm talking about, but you have to have the content to be able to take advantage of that. So we have a production studio in-house that does the franchise show. Now we've launched a production studio that will be more out of house to really look at partnerships around that.

So is it frustrating then with all these plans and this incredible brand, not just in the U.S., but globally, to not have as much certainty as you'd like over where you're going to be playing in terms of stadium down the road? Yeah, so I would take that two different ways. One, we want to play more games internationally when we're given the opportunity because we've seen the value of that and we've seen the benefit of that. As it relates to our domestic situation, specifically in Kansas City with our stadium,

We are pursuing two different options. One is renovation of the iconic Arrowhead Stadium and GHA Field. And then secondly, investigating the opportunity to build a world-class dome stadium. Two very different paths. And we have the advantage of having two different states that we can go down those paths on. I think with, as I said, on the one hand, it's

the iconic nature and how can you make a worldwide bucket list icon of a venue better through a renovation versus if we build a brand new state-of-the-art dome stadium, we have the opportunity to host even more events. So Super Bowls, Big 12 Championships, National Championships, as well as year-round concerts and events. So

It's an exciting place to be in. I will tell you personally, it's a very time-consuming place because you're looking at a bunch of different options and you're dealing with politicians on both sides of the state line. They're both excited about the opportunity and we just got to figure out what's the best thing for this franchise and for our fan base for the next generation. Yeah, it's definitely, it's pursuing lots of different paths and kind of seeing where they take you. I wonder if you would ever look to private equity or sell LP Stakes to fund the construction of a new stadium?

Well, we have the expert in the building on private equity program. Clark Hunt is the chair of our organization. He's also the chair of the finance committee at the National Football League. And he was really one of the architects with, I think, one of your next guests in putting together the private equity situation with the NFL. It gives us the opportunity as franchises to pursue that.

Clark has said publicly, and I know in dealing with the siblings and the family members, that that's not something we're pursuing in the present time. But it's good to have the option out there. And we've seen the other teams that have taken advantage of this opportunity. And so what have you learned from that, Mark? I mean, we have seen a number of your counterparts, one of your arch rivals, Buffalo Bills, who you beat to get to this game. You know, they took advantage of selling a stake. They may use it most likely to build a new stadium or to upgrade facilities.

their facilities. What are the learnings that you take even if you're not going to partake of it right now? Well, first and foremost, learnings of seeing them go through the process and seeing just what it takes and how to maximize that process. The second thing I think that this gives you is true valuations.

The ability for, you know, the firms that have the ability to capitalize on the private equity piece are true evaluators of value. They have to return to their shareholders. So they're investing in these teams and pieces of these teams in a very structured and a very critical way of exactly what the value is so they can see a return. I think just the first few that have done have been really positive signs for the NFL and for the individual franchises that have taken advantage of that.

All right. So you went exactly where I wanted you to go, Mark, which is valuations. You worked on the league side. You worked for a little team called the Philadelphia Eagles for a few years before you got to your current home in Kansas City. You look at these valuations since you were a guy coming up in this league. I mean, is it mind blowing to you?

Yeah, it's mind blowing on the NFL side, but I know the NFL side so well that I can sit here and tell you that the valuations are solid. And you look at the growth of this game and look at the opportunities that are in our future. I'm a big believer, obviously, in the National Football League and the power of the NFL.

I think it sort of spreads across sport, though. When you look at the valuations of NWSL and NBA, Major League Baseball, MLS, across the field, as well as properties like the Premier Lacrosse League, the ability to sort of look at these as true investment opportunities and see the growth that sports provides. There's no better appointment viewing and, frankly, from a rating standpoint, no better viewing than the National Football League. Well, how do other sports match up against that, and then how do they continue to grow that?

Mark, before we let you go, I did want to get your thoughts on one thing. Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, with the backing of team owners, is standing by the NFL's diversity initiatives, even as we've seen some moves on the federal side otherwise. As the head of a high-profile organization, what are you hearing from your employees, from your customers, from your partners on this front? Yeah, I think as administrations change, you're going to have change.

We're very proud of our policies. We're very proud of what we've implemented at the Kansas City Chiefs. It's something that we take very seriously. I was asked this question multiple times today. And I think I'd point to even our most recent hire. People talk about and know about the Rooney Rule and all that it's done and the process behind that. I think not everyone is aware of

you know, the impact it has across the entire business. So we just had a very significant hire on their communications team and we went through a very inclusive and diverse slate of candidates. We wanted to see all the talent that was out there before we made our decision. So we're proud of our policies and we continue to sort of lean on those to have the best possible employee base in the National Football League.

All right. Mark Donovan, a pleasure speaking with you. Good luck to you, president of the Kansas City Chiefs, Mark Donovan. I love, love, love the fact that you brought up he was at the Eagles for about six seasons before he moved to Kansas City. So maybe, you know, whatever happens, he'll be okay. Uh,

Maybe, but I think he's pretty diehard Chiefs at this point. I mean, it is amazing, though, to think about the, you know, part of business is the personnel, right? And so this is a guy who ran the business side. Let's not forget the guy who's running the on-field side for the Kansas City Chiefs. Yes. Andy Reid. Andy Reid.

Once coached the Philadelphia Eagles, I mean, this is a really tight-knit league. I mean, it's part of what is driving exactly what Mark was talking about there, these massive valuations. These are very smart business people. You and I talk about this all the time. This is a juggernaut. It is a global juggernaut.

Amazing to me how much he really leaned into the international side and how aggressive they're being there, right? Anytime you go abroad, you look at how many people are wearing, say, Kansas City hats or Kansas City jerseys. I mean, that's a big part of it. They've got to monetize off of that, you know, tap into that. All right, coming up, the potential for an expanded NFL season. If we continue to focus on the safety, I think 18 is a potential opportunity.

We're going to get the flip side of that with Lloyd Howell Jr., head of the NFL Players Association. This is The Close on Bloomberg.

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If we continue to focus on the safety, I think 18 is a potential. And as you know, we would take a preseason game away. So we would keep within that 20-game framework. We actually started 14 and 6 preseasons. We went to 16 and 4 and now 17 and 3. So 18 and 2 is a logical step. But we would only do that with the players.

That was Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, talking with David Rubenstein on the potential for an expanded season. But the NFL Players Association is pushing back. The head of the association, Lloyd Howell Jr., saying no one wants to play an 18th game. I'm pleased now to say we're joined by the man himself, Lloyd Howell Jr. Lloyd, it's good to speak with you. And I know that you just heard the clip we played there. Your members oppose 18 games, yet you heard Roger Goodell speaking about it as if it were a formality. Why do you think that is?

Oh, I think our membership completely appreciates what the opportunity would be for the economics. And given the current all revenue split on paper, the academics would say, yeah, just keep adding additional games. But where I believe Roger and I do agree is the science has to support economics.

the health and welfare of the players instead of just adding more games for financial reasons. And that is still a big question mark.

We need to know more about recovery. We need to know what's the proper amount of time, nutritional issues for recovery, as opposed to just adding another game. The other dynamic is what's the complexion of the 18, potential 18-game season. I think the league has had a lot of commentary about wanting to do more international games. In my previous life,

traveling around the world, not being a professional football player, it takes a moment to recover. It can be depending on how far away you go, even longer. So it's not just the length of the season. It's also, well, how many games would be overseas and how far away? What's the recovery time? What's the structure of the league look like? Right. And then ultimately, what are the finances that would benefit our membership? So the NFL

has announced games in Ireland and Australia. So far, what has been the players single biggest concern about international travel? What have you gathered from them?

It comes in different dimensions. There's the logistics of business travel, like size of plane, how large are the seats, where are we staying once we get to the location, how close or far away is it from the venue. Those are what I would describe business travel issues.

But then I think more importantly, it's what's the recovery time? Do I have a bye week after going overseas or am I expected to play, you know, the next Sunday or Thursday? So there are lots of different dynamics that hang off of just playing overseas and not the least of which, how many different time zones and, you know, what's that going to look like when I when I return to home? So, yeah.

In one sense, there's logistics of travel. In another sense, it's recovery. In another sense, it's how do you include the players as a part of any potential expansions the league has an objective around.

Lloyd, I wanted to talk to you about a different aspect of the economics of the NFL. You know, we've had so much talk about new money coming in, institutional capital. We just talked about that with Mark Donovan over at the Kansas City Chiefs. You worked at Goldman Sachs. You worked at Booz Allen. You understand this analysis as well as anyone, the shared economics of this league.

What's the best way for the players to continue to be partners and economic partners? Does that entail being equity partners? It could. I think there are more homework needs to be done. I think rightfully so. There's sensitivity around would this investment create any sort of conflicts of interest?

or would it go through an intermediary where you have an arm's length arrangement where their capital can be put to use and the integrity of the game isn't compromised in any kind of way. So there are details that need to be worked out, but

With the abundance of capital, given the attractiveness of the investment, in your last interview, you highlighted franchise valuations, the valuation of the shield. It's doing very well. And as a part of that, why not have your workforce participate in that accretion? And I think it makes all the sense in the world for that to be permissible.

But the details of it have to be worked out. So is there a world where you imagine sort of an NFLPA-sponsored fund that then willing players or enthusiastic players could invest into and then essentially a private equity fund that invests on behalf of the players? For sure. I mean, they're probably...

several obvious schemes where that could work. Certainly our membership has more of an equity mindset than ever. Maybe that's due to the introduction of NIL. Maybe that's how they're coming into the league. It's a little bit different than in previous generations. So they themselves appreciate what private equity means. They appreciate what investment means. And they would like the opportunity to participate

in that accretion of the game they love and the teams they play for. I mean, getting equity would go a long way, but we go back to the idea that to really meet the demand, 18 games a season, more international games overseas, all that takes a physical toll. I'm curious whether...

I'm curious whether there's an idea that maybe the players need to concede on rosters being expanded. Should each team have more players than what they have right now so that the players' physical health can be spared?

I mean, you're certainly raising dimensions that once we open up the CBA and we get into it, would need to be put on the table. So when I said, hey, I haven't talked to a player who wants to play an 18th game, that's in the absence of all these other dimensions that need to be addressed.

you know, recovery, economics, you know, their health and wellness, and we're just not there. So it's just a human reaction that if I say, hey, you want to do more with no change? And they'll go like, no, I don't want to do that. And so here we are to all the dimensions you put out there that would need to be addressed. And that's just not a snap of the fingers and we get to agreement. We may never get to agreement just depending on how those other dimensions get adjudicated.

All right, good stuff. Lloyd, really appreciate your joining us today. Thank you so much for the thoughtful responses. Lloyd Howell Jr. is head of the NFL Players Association. Really important questions that need to be asked. And certainly, you know, he has a difficult job of trying to get everyone on consensus. Well, and what a fascinating moment for these players, right? I mean, the world has really come to them in a lot of ways. They have a fascinating model, I think.

in the NBA where the players really have, I would argue, a stronger voice in really how the league is run. You know, this is a new head of the, relatively new head of the NFLPA. So interesting, he comes from a Wall Street and a consulting background. - That's true, yes. - Very different from his predecessor, Dee Smith. And so interesting to see what the voice looks like. I love the idea of players investing in the league. You see it in other leagues,

And the NFL is often the last to come, but when they do, they come back. - No, that's a great point. But I think they would just as quickly want to get something like guaranteed contracts, which are a rarity in the NFL and which are basically default in the NBA and the MLB. - Well, and also really important to remember, the NFL, the average career is about three and a half years. And so the money needs to be there

and be there with a certain level of certainty. You're exactly right. And it needs to be there longer term. And so having a longer term investment in the teams or in the league may be that much more important in the NFL. Absolutely, to both the teams and the players themselves. Let's check in with our colleague who is at the Super Bowl, who is in New Orleans.

because much of the country and for the world, and the world for that matter, is excited to be at the game or watching the big game on Sunday. For residents of New Orleans, though, it does mean lots of revenue streams will be flowing into the Big Easy. Let's check in with Randall Williams, Bloomberg News, U.S. sports business reporter. He is in the city, and he joins us now with a bit more color. We were joking around about whether bank CEOs show up there or not, but you've been there already.

all week and you've seen kind of the flow and the tide of people coming in. There's also a lot of security on the ground as well because you had the terrorist attack on New Year's Eve, the reported terrorist attack or what people are calling terrorist attack, as well as President Trump scheduled to arrive for the big game as well.

Yeah, there is more security than I've ever seen at a Super Bowl. They have the popular streets like Bourbon Street blocked off. There's military vehicles that I only see in movies out on these streets. Like, it's pretty incredible. And, you know, President Trump coming in town is only going to heighten that. The NFL is already preparing for it.

It'll be really interesting. I'll probably be walking back to my hotel after the game. All right. So, Randall, I have seen you at these events. You are working the rooms like nobody else out there. You're talking to dealmakers. I appreciate you. We know how many deals are getting done. Like, what's the chatter? What are people talking about? You've been covering the private equity deals. Like what what's top of mind for the business folks there this week?

Well, you just talked to Lloyd, and I think it was really interesting being at Roger Goodell's press conference on Monday. There's a lot of talk about this 18-game season, 16 international games. And I asked Goodell if he would sell an international package, and he said yes. He even mentioned Netflix by name.

So to hear him say 18 games, 16 game international package, then you go to Lloyd Howell's press conference from the NFLPA and for him to say no one wants an 18 game season. Then I talked to Bijan Robinson and Atlanta Falcons running back and he says, you know, I'd love to play 18 games. So there's a lot of thoughts around this 18 game season. It's not collected and collected bargaining time yet, but it sounds like it's going to be a battle or they're going to need to be, um,

Roger Goodell is going to need to do some convincing. He's going to need to. OK, well, we'll, of course, look to your reporting to hear what happens there. Randall, your reporting also featured the Super Bowl halftime show, because for a lot of people who aren't football fans, that is where the action is. And Rock Nation, Jay-Z's company, has actually made the halftime show possible.

a good thing again, something cool, something to talk about. For a couple of years, it was kind of like an afterthought. People went to the bathroom during the halftime show so they could get ready for the third quarter. Yeah, Roc Nation took over things, and its cultural relevance is higher than it's ever been. Usher had the most watched halftime show ever. Rihanna had a good halftime show. And so when you think of the Super Bowl and the NFL really now, the most grand event, the Super Bowl, people...

People are tuning in for the artists, too. And the artists see that. I think Usher had a 550 percent increase on Spotify. I'm sure Kendrick will see a similar thing. And artists are using these platforms to drop music, to make announcements. I think Usher released an album and Rihanna announced she was pregnant. So we'll see what Kendrick does on Sunday. All right. Good stuff. Bloomberg's Randall Williams, really appreciate you. And of course, we'll catch you back when you're back in New York after the big game.

Absolutely. Thank you for having me. All right. One of the ways viewers can tune in to watch the big game is through Tubi. The streaming service will be airing the Super Bowl halftime show and ads live and for free. This is a major milestone for the ad-supported streaming service. Joining us now to discuss this is Anjali Sood, the CEO of Tubi. Anjali, good to speak with you. Tell us a little bit more about how this deal came together where you are now airing the Super Bowl for free.

Hi, Scarlett. It's great to be in new Orleans. We're very excited about Sunday. Um, Fox is doing a special takeover of to be on game day. Uh, Americans will be able to tune in to the game, the pregame show, the halftime show, the trophy ceremony, uh,

free, live, in 4K through Tubi. And the reason that we're doing this is because we want to broaden and expand the reach of America's biggest sporting event and a cultural moment to many more people. The majority of Tubi's user base, we have nearly 100 million monthly active users, the

The majority are Gen Z and millennials, and the majority aren't subscribing to cable. So this is just a really great, unique opportunity to bring the game to all of those folks who maybe aren't diehard football fans, maybe are more interested in the commercials and the halftime show. And so we're very excited. We're also going to be doing an exclusive red carpet only on Tubi before the game.

where you'll be able to check out the fashion and celebrity around the game and even shop looks from your phone. Okay, so you are appealing to the cord-nevers that may not be diehard sports fans. I'm sure also part of this is to increase your user base. You have about 97 million monthly active users. What do you anticipate that to go to, to rise to once you host, once you stream the Super Bowl?

I think right now our goal is to deliver delight and a great experience to as many Americans as we can. But there's no question, Scarlett, this is a great opportunity to introduce Tubi's value proposition to more of America.

Yes, we have nearly 100 million monthly active users, but there are a lot of Americans that don't know that Tubi is 100% free and that we have the world's largest collection of premium movies and TV series. So our goal is absolutely to introduce more people to that offering and then ultimately to engage them and have them be watching lots of Tubi in the future.

And so we know that the Super Bowl is, I mean, it's called the big game for a reason. It literally is the most popular thing to consume, to watch on TV. You know, seems like an antiquated things to say, just to watch. What does this tell us about your future investment and your ongoing investment in sports? This is clearly something that captures everyone's imagination and

you know, from the diehard fans to the sort of culturally interested as you alluded to. So what's the playbook from here for, for Tubi when it comes to sports?

Well, so Tubi is a free ad-supported streaming service. And what you'll see us do is going to be very different from others. Where we're most interested is how can we tell stories around where sports meets culture, Super Bowl being a great example of sports and culture. But you will see us invest in a lot of other things that sort of do that. Examples include a talk show that we have on Tubi right now with

Coach Prime, Deion Sanders, talking more about culture and what's happening in America. We had our highest performing most watched title on Tubi ever recently. And it's a young adult romance movie about a football player that

based on a Wattpad novel and stars a TikTok influencer. So you'll just see Tubi do more and more around sports meets culture storytelling versus the premium live sports rights, just given that those are very expensive and competitive, as we all know. And as you think about doing more in sports, are there things that you do less of in order to make room for sports?

No, I think, you know, the reality is Tubi has incredible momentum. We've been growing really quickly and we continue to invest and do more around the types of content that we put out there. And in general, I think you'll see us just look to do things differently. We'll try new things. But really what's driving that is what are our fans telling us? And again, those fans tend to be cordless.

They're younger. They're more diverse. And their tastes are a little bit different, and they're evolving at the speed of TikTok. So I think it will just be a lot more of trying to have a pulse on what's culturally relevant and then trying to deliver that through the content that we offer.

Anjali, really appreciate your joining us. Anjali Sood is CEO of Tubi, which will be streaming the Super Bowl for free, the ad-based streaming service on Sunday. And of course, Tubi is owned by Fox, so it makes sense that they'd be partnering on this. The question is, will the infrastructure be able to handle it? Will it be like Netflix and the Tyson Paul match? Yeah, I mean, this is the big question for these streaming services is like, can they handle...

a huge, massive event like this. I'm fascinated to see who tunes in and then who sticks around to Tubi, right? - Oh yeah, absolutely. - I mean, what's the conversion rate? Where you're like, "Oh yeah, I sort of like this. "I like this take on sports." - Yeah, it's gonna be my go-to place now. All right, it's not just the big game itself. One of the biggest draws of the Super Bowl are the television ads that air, often starring celebrities. Now one of those ad campaigns is backed by the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, with former quarterback Tom Brady and rapper Snoop Dogg leading the charge

Their message for viewers is pretty simple. Let's unite against hate in all its forms. Here's part of our conversation with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who is founder of the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. The American people are great people. We found 80% of...

Americans don't understand what's going on in terms of hate building up in this country. And it's doing it like it's never done before in my lifetime. And why people would hate someone because how they worship God or what their political feelings are or what their skin color is. You know, we all, our families all came to this country

And we're able to live the dream because of the way we accepted everything in America.

And I think there's been a growth of hate. Last year at the Super Bowl, we had Dr. Clarence Jones, who wrote Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. And his basic message was that silence from people who see inappropriate behavior is the worst enemy of Americans.

We preached that message, and now we're asking people to reevaluate why they hate. You know, we're born with empathy and love, and hate is learned, and it's so dysfunctional to what's great for America. You know, in 2019, I started this foundation because after seeing Charlotteville and the Tree of Life,

I saw signs of what was going on in Germany in the 30's. Yeah. And I didn't want a repeat of the 40's. The two folks featured in that ad, one Tom Brady, of course, who you have a long standing relationship with, and Snoop Dogg, of course, who has a long standing relationship with Tom Brady. What was their reaction when you approached them about doing this ad? Well, you probably wouldn't believe it, but I've had a relationship with Snoop for

And, you know, when I called him, you know, he just said, hey, brother, I'm in for preaching love. Whatever we can do to stop this hate, count me in 100 percent. And that really, you know, people wouldn't think we have that connection and have worked together on other things. And then, of course, Tom Brady is here.

one of a kind in his field and so special and unique and one of the greatest human beings on the planet. And for him to be willing to speak out as well. And he liked the idea of the two of them from different backgrounds speaking about what was good for the American people and all people.

Absolutely. Robert, I'm curious how you plan to measure the effectiveness of this ad campaign on Super Bowl Sunday and, of course, during the week leading up to it and other efforts to amplify the cause. You're able, obviously, to track views, but beyond that, how are you measuring the impact? Well, we have a very scientific way of

an interview process where it's over 8,000 people random selected from our group. And they educate us in terms of these are people who we've had no contact with. It's done very scientifically. And what we learn from that is how we want to proceed forward.

to try to continue to educate the American population. Given your background with the Patriots, I mean, there has been a lot of talk over the years how sports was kind of one of those, you know, unilateral unifiers in this country. You know, of course, we all pick our cities and our teams, but at the end of the day, if you go to a stadium or you go to a bar to watch the games, you're probably the most diversity you're going to see

in any sort of stage in your life. And I'm wondering, can it be that again? Or was that never the case? - No, I really believe that sports and music, those are the two things that bring people together from all walks of life, all backgrounds. Those of us who have benefited by this country have a responsibility to stand up

I've had a lot of wonderful people contribute to us who want to be part of the effort, because we're just trying to lead and help manage a great group of people that have this on their agenda to fight back and push back against all this hate.

And our thanks again to Robert Kraft for joining us. He's the founder of the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, of course, also the owner of the New England Patriots. And it goes to the point that the NFL has been pretty vocal in terms of talking about anti-hate. They had this end racism messaging in the end zone for the last couple of years. This year, they're changing that to choose love. They started doing that in the later rounds of the playoffs. Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, what you heard earlier,

Robert Kraft talked about there, which I think cannot be emphasized enough, is people listen to sports figures and entertainers probably more than anyone. And so the recognition, you know, you see Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady. These are two of the most famous and influential people in the world. People pay more attention to the Kansas City Chiefs because Taylor Swift is a big fan because her boyfriend plays on the team. And, you know, you think back to 2020 and LeBron James coming out the way that he did around certain social issues. Mm-hmm.

they have a platform that if they use for good can be extremely influential. And can be instantaneously effective as well. I mean, people are going to be talking about these ads. In fact, that's why they roll it out a week in advance to kind of build up the interest for it. Totally. All right, still ahead, we're going to talk about the rising popularity of sports betting with FanDuel's CEO, Amy Hao. This is The Close on Bloomberg. ♪

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The Super Bowl is traditionally the biggest betting day in the U.S. Americans are expected to place an estimated $1.5 billion in legal wagers on Sunday's matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. I had the chance to catch up with FanDuel CEO Amy Hao, and she told me about how her company is planning to capitalize off of the $15 billion sports betting industry. Take a listen.

The Super Bowl is always the biggest sports betting day of the year, and this year will be no exception at all. From a handle perspective, it's actually pretty even, a slight edge towards the underdogs. The Philadelphia Eagles have about 52% of the handle overall.

A bit more skewed when you look at the bet count, but where the real excitement is, is around the player props, right? You've got Saquon Barkley, who is the odds-on favorite for MVP. And of course, you know, all the usual suspects, Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, Kelsey for any time touchdown scores.

One of the things that we have at FanDuel this year, which we're very excited about, is a new product called YourWay, which is live in all the sports betting markets that we compete in. And it effectively gives consumers unlimited choice and control. So, you know, you might go into the FanDuel app and see Travis Kelsey receiving 60 yards or so. You can toggle that and it'll reprice the market and you can parlay just about anything you want. So we're very excited about that for this year, which...

gives you lots of different options to bet on this year. So basically it allows people to customize their bets. So are there a lot of new markets created during the course of the game that people can then bet on?

Yeah, that's exactly right. So, you know, you can any player prop, you can customize, you can actually increase or decrease the line and it recalculates the odds. But there's also some great head to head markets, which are really popular. You know, the homes to pass for more yards than than Hertz. And then you can parlay those. And so what you're seeing is a lot of creativity. Right. You've got, you know, 20 leg parlay bets that consumers are going in. And it's really it is your bet. So we're very excited about it.

This is expected to be a pretty close game as implied by a smaller than average point spread. I know that there are some 600 separate markets that people can bet on. Can you give us a sense of which ones are unique to FanDuel that only you offer?

Well, there's specials that we offer every year. So we've got a jackpot for $5 million. This year, we've had a special that was popular throughout the entire NFL season, which is each team to score a rushing and a passing touchdown in each half. So that one's really popular. But probably the most unique thing is this Your Way product. What we also have this year is we have brought back

the kick of destiny for the third year. And this has really kind of become part of the Super Bowl. So we have Eli and Peyton Manning who are going to compete in a live kicking competition on Sunday at 3:00 Eastern.

consumers can go in into the FanDuel app and they can decide if Eli or Peyton is going to win. And if you choose correctly, you get a share of $10 million of bonus bets. So that you certainly can't find at any other sports lookout. - Yeah, building off the Manning Brothers franchise and brand that they've really built up.

The American Gaming Association forecasts a record $1.39 billion in Super Bowl bets this year, which is just kind of mind-boggling. Can you give us a sense of what FanDuel's share of that would look like? You know, it's hard to predict what our share of the Super Bowl is going to be. If you look at our share...

These are numbers that we shared at our investor day. We've had about, call it a 45% share of the market. Those numbers are going to bounce around a bit, but we have not just sustained, but really strengthened our leadership position over us if you go all the way back

to 2018 when the Supreme Court repealed PASPA. So we've had a great position. We've got a phenomenal product this year. And so we're excited to see it's one of the most important days of the year because we're also bringing a lot of new users onto the platform. And it's an important way for us to educate consumers as well as we do that on how to bet responsibly. So it should be a great day.

We'll see where the numbers fall out. Well, security we know will be stepped up in the city of New Orleans following the New Year's Eve attack in the city. Do you see that translating into fewer visits by people to the city and therefore an increase in terms of mobile bets? You know, it's hard to say.

I don't know the actual visitation numbers. Just being in the city of New Orleans right now, it's certainly bustling. I don't think it's going to have a huge impact on the numbers. You know, we're live in 24 states, which is over 50 percent of the U.S. population. And, you know,

Super Bowl is by far the most important betting day of the year. But it's a great way for new users who are big NFL fans but may have never had an opportunity to bet before. It's a fun way to do it. And it's a very social, engaging way to make the Super Bowl, which is already fun, even more engaging. And that was my conversation with Amy Howe, CEO of FanDuel. And Jason, it is really...

really interesting to think about how like maybe five, 10 years ago, sports betting was not as prominent. It was not even prominent. And the only way you really bet on sports, the Superbowl was like those squares that you bought, you know, through your office team, uh, office colleagues. Oh yeah. You would, you would show up at the Superbowl party and like somebody's kid would be running around and be like, fill in this box and give me five bucks. And you're like, okay. Um, or, you know, if you were really into it, you'd have to literally like call your bookie. I mean, it's crazy to think about how much

the public has embraced it, but also how much the leagues themselves are like all in all of this content that is built around the lines. Their entire show is built about this, right? And Adam Silver was the first sports commissioner to start talking about it as, you know, like maybe we need to think about this in a different way. Yeah, it's crazy. But I mean, it also speaks to how deeply embedded

sports and this game are in the culture. I mean, this is in a world where we aren't always watching the same things. We're almost never watching the same things. Everybody knows about this game. You can't afford not to watch this game because that's what everyone's going to be talking about. And you don't even have to like the game or know the players, but you got to know about the commercials. You just need to be able to take part in the conversation that happens the following day.

And you wonder why these teams are worth billions and billions and billions of dollars and growing? This is why, because people are tuning in. Those media rights are huge. The ticket prices go up. So there's just money everywhere. And they can't add more teams without changing the math of how many games they play and how many...

teams make the playoffs. So it's really a very, very limited supply. It's amazing drama. And we're all going to be tuning in. All right. Well, that does it for us. My thanks to Jason Kelly. Of course, he is a co-host of The Deal with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly. This airs what, every week, right?

Every week. Tune in. All right. We look forward to that. In the meantime, for more sports coverage, also listen to the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on Bloomberg Radio, where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports. And every once in a while, we do that on the close here as well. Have a great weekend, everyone. Hope you enjoy the Super Bowl, whether you watch it live or whether you watch it on television or you stream it. This is Bloomberg.

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There's always a benefit in talking to someone because we can all benefit from improved insight about ourselves and who we are and how we behave with other people. So if you're human, that's like a good indicator that you could benefit from talking to somebody. Find out if therapy is right for you. Visit BetterHelp.com today.

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