The International Business of Sports

Panel Composition and Introductions

• Moderator: Shelley Smith, ESPN SportsCenter correspondent.
• Vivek Ranadivé: Owner of the Sacramento Kings; noted for calming public sentiment during 2018 protests following the shooting of Stephon Clark; leveraged childhood exposure to the moon landing to drive business ambition.
• Todd Boehly: CEO of Eldridge Industries; part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers; currently lamenting the team's performance but citing a pattern of recovery following 10-game losing streaks.
• Chris Park: Major League Baseball executive focused on international development; cites Mexico, Asia, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil as key growth markets.
• Dan Beckerman: President and CEO of AEG; oversees LA Live, Staples Center, and global entertainment assets including hotels, theaters, and the StubHub Center.

Technological Transformation and Fan Experience

• Vivek Ranadivé (Kings):
  • Defined the NBA's evolution as "NBA 3.0," driven by technology, globalization, and social impact.
  • Utilized Oculus Rift VR to sell arena tickets prior to construction completion.
  • The Golden 1 Center is 100% solar-powered, features indoor-outdoor convertible walls, and utilizes facial recognition for frictionless entry.
  • Implemented a "psychological router" using deep machine learning to deliver personalized offers and information to fans.
  • Repositioned the arena as a "global communal fireplace" or modern cathedral, shifting from the fan checking into the building to the building checking into the fan.
• Todd Boehly (Dodgers):
  • Invested approximately $150 million in Dodger Stadium renovations, including reconfiguring seating, subterranean digging, and upgrading clubhouses.
  • Launched a proprietary "Dodger Accelerator" with 12–15 investments aimed at enhancing fan engagement.
  • Introduced flexible merchandise selection to increase per-capita spend.
  • Aiming to utilize pitch-dead time for digital engagement and betting integration pending the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling.
  • Reported $20–$25 million in excess merchandise revenue attributed to the World Series run.
• Dan Beckerman (AEG):
  • Maintains that live experiences remain irreplaceable despite VR growth; VR serves to enhance, not replace, physical attendance.
  • AEG operates 185 venues globally, creating a network that supports touring and sponsorship (generating nearly $600 million annually).
  • Identifies real estate as the core business pillar, with sports and music serving as content drivers for property value.
  • Expanding the "LA Live" model to urban underdeveloped districts, with a new entertainment district opening in East Berlin later this year.
  • Targeting Asian markets (specifically Shanghai and broader Asia) for large-scale venue development and Western artist tours.
• Chris Park (MLB):
  • Utilized Facebook Watch integrations inspired by streaming models in China.
  • Deployed VR at a British Summertime Music Festival and streamed a celebrity home run derby to over 1 million viewers via Twitter, primarily international.
  • Views technology as an O2O (online-to-offline) conduit for connecting brands to new communities lacking a sports heritage.

Revenue Models and Strategic Shifts

• Shift from Transactions to Subscriptions:
  • Todd Boehly: The Dodgers aim to transition from ticket/media/sponsorship revenue to a "loyalty business" model, treating fans as subscribers similar to Netflix.
  • Vivek Ranadivé: Compares team value to social networks, emphasizing that the market is larger than ticket sales (18,000 capacity) and relies on lifetime engagement.
  • Dan Beckerman: Sees long-term distribution shifts and new partners as critical for navigating rights renegotiation volatility.
• Real Estate and Venue Development:
  • Vivek Ranadivé: Invested $1 billion in building the Golden 1 Center, which catalyzed an additional $1 billion in private sector activity in Sacramento and created thousands of jobs.
  • Todd Boehly: Notes media rights values have peaked; future growth relies on unlocking subscriber data to drive ancillary revenue.
  • Dan Beckerman: Plans to scale the LA Live model to smaller markets (e.g., Nashville) via hundreds-of-millions investments rather than $2 billion "mega-districts."
• Soccer (MLS) Strategy:
  • Dan Beckerman: AEG remained invested in MLS during a contraction phase (12 to 10 teams) based on long-term potential, now owning LA Galaxy in a league growing toward 28 teams.
  • Beckerman: Highlighted Zlatan Ibrahimović's recruitment as a strategic win; the player accepted a discount to fill a designated player slot, citing a desire to play in Los Angeles.
  • Impact: Ibrahimović's 40-yard goal against Chicago was broadcast in 15 languages, demonstrating global reach previously unattainable.

International Expansion and Emerging Markets

• NBA Global Strategy:
  • Vivek Ranadivé: Predicts the first-ever NBA preseason game in India and potential "Monsoon Madness" league operations.
  • Vivek Ranadivé: Identifies basketball as a "legacy sport" but views e-gaming (NBA 2K) as the future, noting 2K viewership now exceeds ice hockey and American football.
  • Vivek Ranadivé: Emphasizes long-term community investment (schools, tech, education) in China and India, extending beyond pure sports programming.
• MLB International Strategy:
  • Chris Park: Modeling requires a 20–30 year horizon for market development in regions without native heritage (e.g., Japan, emerging markets).
  • Chris Park: Announced a plan to double international series starting next year, including the first Mexico series since 2018 featuring the Dodgers.
  • Shohei Ohtani: Cited as the latest example of international superstars driving audience growth, representing a generational shift in Japanese player migration.

E-Sports and Virtual Engagement

• NBA 2K League:
  • Launched under the NBA umbrella with 17 teams; ESPN covers the league as a primary sports property.
  • Viewership data suggests e-sports are effectively capturing the millennial demographic.
• Learning from E-Sports:
  • All Panelists: Agree that traditional leagues must adopt e-sports' superior community building, multi-screen interactivity, and talent-player feedback loops.
  • Chris Park: Notes that while sports titles rank lower than general gaming titles, the presentation and community engagement models of e-sports are the critical lesson for the industry.
  • Vivek Ranadivé: Observes that video games offer unique educational opportunities, citing a specific autistic child who learned better through gaming than traditional classrooms.

Gambling, Regulation, and Future Investments

• Sports Betting (New Jersey Case):
  • Vivek Ranadivé: Kings have integrated betting into their platform using loyalty points as a proxy, preparing for full legalization in "the next few years."
  • Todd Boehly: Views betting as a major revenue inventory source; does not anticipate direct profit-sharing with players but expects player salaries to rise due to increased revenue.
  • Concerns: Legalized betting is expected to surface "abnormalities" more quickly than the current underground market.
• New Revenue Verticals:
  • Todd Boehly: Developing "St. James," a 450,000 sq. ft. athletic facility near Washington D.C., modeled after Chelsea Piers.
  • Boehly Strategy: Partnerships with mall developers (Simon, General Growth) to repurpose dead mall space into athletic hubs (Topgolf, table tennis, bowling).
  • Youth Engagement: Investing in community fields (e.g., "Dream Fields") to capture 6-year-olds with a 50% likelihood of long-term fandom.

Key Disagreements and Nuances

• NFL Viability: Dan Beckerman explicitly rejected the notion that the NFL is failing, asserting long-term belief in hockey, baseball, basketball, and football, though acknowledging distribution methods will evolve.
• VR vs. Live Experience: Vivek Ranadivé and Todd Boehly acknowledge VR's utility, but Dan Beckerman firmly stated he does not believe VR will overtake the live communal experience.
• Investment Scale: A debate emerged regarding the feasibility of the LA Live model in smaller markets; Beckerman clarified that while a $2B district may not work in Des Moines, a scaled-down, hundreds-of-millions version is viable.