Kara Nortman and George Pyne Talk Sports Business

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio, News.

**Romaine Bostick** (0:08)
And this is Bloomberg Deals. Bloomberg Deals Senior Reporter Michelle Davis still with us, and she's been following the latest deals in the sports industry. And Michelle, there's a big one out there.

**Michelle Davis** (0:18)
That's right, Romaine. The world of sports has become a multi-trillion dollar industry, and teams continue to change hands at huge valuations. Earlier today, news broke that Josh Kushner and Disney's Bob Iger are buying the LA Lakers for reportedly $12.5 billion and what will be the biggest deal ever for a sports team. They're buying the iconic basketball team from Guggenheim CEO Mark Walter, and his $10 billion purchase of the team last year held the previous record for most ever paid. Compare that to the Seattle Seahawks, which were just sold in a deal reportedly valued at more than $9 billion. To put this all into context, Sportico today came out with its annual US rankings, with the Cowboys, Rams, Giants, and Warriors topping the list. Beyond the US, this week, reports surfaced that Jeff Bezos and other investors are close to buying a piece of Liverpool Football Club from the owner of the Boston Red Sox.
The minority stake would value the English soccer team at about $8 billion, and this would be Bezos' first foray into sports ownership. And with so much excitement around live sports, the question now is, where will the money go from here? Romaine?

**Romaine Bostick** (1:19)
All right. Well, Michelle, I think we have two people who can answer that better than anyone. That brings us to this week's investment committee, where we take you into the boardroom debates in real time. And joining us right now is George Pyne, the CEO and founder of Bruin Capital. And also joining us is Kara Nortman, co-founder of Angel City Football Club and co-founder of the Monarch Collective. Great to have both of you here. Kara, I gotta start with you, because obviously you've made a big investment in a WNBA franchise team at what was then considered a pretty eye-popping value. I just gotta get your thoughts here on the latest news about the Los Angeles Lakers, the deal potentially valued at $12 billion, the most ever for a single sports franchise.

**Kara Nortman** (2:03)
Well, I think it, I mean, it speaks to the uniqueness of these assets, right? They're scarce assets. It's one of the few things we do in life that makes us feel human these days, gathering in person to watch these games. The Lakers are obviously an iconic franchise, the team I grew up watching as well. But I mean, it is really interesting, right? It was sold, I believe, a year ago for $10 billion. So it's gone up quite a bit in even a year. But I think in some ways, we look at these experiences as almost like unique IP. And no one knows that better than Bob Iger, given his years running Disney.
And Los Angeles obviously is one of the biggest markets in the world. So I think it shows the fundamentals of the strongest sports teams and leagues will continue to drive, you know, kind of outcomes for a long period of time.

**Romaine Bostick** (2:51)
Well, George, I want to bring in to this conversation because obviously the value of these teams goes beyond just what they put on the court or the field. It's the whole ecosystem around it. And of course, when you see a guy like Bob Iger associated, your first thought is, OK, there's going to be a big media business bigger than what the Lakers already have, probably, because it's going to crop up if this deal goes through.

**George Pyne** (3:11)
All right. And you're seeing sports really further differentiate itself in terms of entertainment. Entertainment streaming has been commoditized because there's so much to choose from. And then when you think about artificial intelligence, entertainment is being disrupted by artificial intelligence. Sports will be enhanced. So sports has real tailwinds right now that it's never really had before. And you're seeing it in the valuations. And of course, it's a very safe investment. So if you're looking to put investments into sports teams, they're safe to predictable and they performed over a long period of time.

**Romaine Bostick** (3:43)
With that performance, no concerns about that performance maybe slowing down at all. Is this just the future that we're in right now where sports is everything?

**George Pyne** (3:52)
Well, I just think sports is pretty predictable. And again, it's separating, right? Because entertainment is less special. So there are very few things that bring together hundreds of millions. In the case of 1.5 to 2 billion people for the World Cup, very few things can bring people together like that unifying. So it's an incredible platform that's really separating from everything else.