Sunday Forum: Takeaways from L.A.

Good Sunday morning. A few things to start your week.

• What I heard and saw during a week in Los Angeles
• Takeaways from the CAA World Congress of Sports
• “Jerry West: The Logo,” and more of your favorite sports docs
• This Week’s Forum: Don Garber looks back, and ahead, at MLS

Thanks to the more than 1,200 who attended the CAA World Congress of Sports. There were so many themes discussed, but I will say, it was very encouraging to hear one leader after another stress that they are focused on accessibility and affordability. We will have to see what comes from that focus, but it’s a positive that with such an emphasis on premium experiences, we think about all levels of customers. The other major theme was globalization, and here’s one of the strongest stats showing why: Kroenke Sports’ Kevin Demoff noted Arsenal has three times as many avid fans in the United States as it does in the U.K., clearly demonstrating the global opportunity. Read more about the week in Monday’s issue of SBJ.

→ Many attended the World Congress fresh off Coachella or were heading to the second weekend of the music festival. Two attendees shared their favorite acts: Garber’s was David Byrne and AEG CRO Todd Goldstein’s was Foster the People.

→ I’ve never seen AEG’s L.A. Live look better. We know this campus is one of the OGs when it comes to real-estate development around sports, having opened in 2007, and it’s gone through some years of ups and downs. But visiting it this week, I witnessed a massive, welcome difference in how the closing of Chick Hearn Court between L.A. Live and Figueroa Street has dramatically transformed the footprint. It’s much more pedestrian friendly, walkable, open, bright and clean, and with AEG taking it private, that moved out street vendors and other pop-up sellers. AEG also invested in beautiful new video boards that give the area a dynamic, vibrant vibe. Yes, it would like more traffic on non-game days, but bottom line, this original is showing well nearly 20 years later.

→ Upon arriving in Los Angeles, I picked up a copy of the L.A. Times, and a front-page, above-the-fold headline read: “L.A. Sounds Alarms Over Olympic Costs: ‘Bankruptcy cannot be the legacy.’” The story outlined how L.A. city officials are warning LA28 that a “zero-cost” Games is crucial, as the city faces budget pressures. From talking to people in L.A. this week, this was not a surprise, as there are tensions between elected officials and LA28, and the city still has concerns it will be on the hook to backstop any major bills due after the Games. The hope of LA28 is to leave a longtime legacy fund for youth sports programs, but the city is saying that before talk of any fund, taxpayers must not be liable for any financial shortfall.

Here’s what I took away: California’s elected officials are going to spar with LA28; that’s the nature of the political climate in the state. LA28 has done a good job on the revenue front; it’s selling sponsorships, but expenses are also rising, and that’s led to possible budget cuts. It’s a challenge doing business in California just over a year from massive fires, which has inflated the cost of material goods and labor. I don’t envy LA28 leaders, as they have to have a delicate balance between city, state, national and global politics. They are in the crosshairs, and there is a lot of anxiety over the political landscape and which costs LA28 will be responsible for versus what will come from the federal government.

→ The sport referenced the most in my conversations with top executives this week was Major League Baseball. Executives really credit Commissioner Rob Manfred and the players for all the improvements to the product: the pitch clock, banning the shift, the ABS system. It wasn’t easy making those changes, but the benefits are obvious. The pace and the product get good marks, and the game has real stars. I was also surprised at the tone around the upcoming labor negotiations, which are seen as an accepted, understandable price of business. And if the results are a better economic system, the game will be even stronger.

→ The most entertaining session at the CAA World Congress of Sports was a sit-down with WWE President Nick Khan, as Khan, ever the grinder with a renowned work ethic, shared his view on office culture and a worker’s mentality. Some excerpts:

• “You’ll see someone and say, ‘Hey, how you doing?’ They’re like, ‘Busy.’ I’m like, ‘Busy?’ Well, you’re supposed to be busy. How about, ‘I’m doing great.’ Busy. It’s very strange to me. And then you’ll hear people say, ‘I’m tired, man.’ What does that mean? You’re working hard? Who’s not tired who works hard? And by the way, if you want to make a lot of money, show me the job where you can make a lot of money and not work hard. I’m happy to go take it. I haven’t seen that job anywhere.”

• He is not fond of staffers using the out-of-office reply in email: “Please don’t ever do that if you’re working with me. And when I see people do that ... If I email you something and you send me an out-of-office reply, ‘I only have intermittent access to email’ — huh? Where are you that you only have this intermittent access? And why, if I need something, are you telling me ‘Don’t bother me’? Wouldn’t I just go to somebody else who could help me with that? So, I get it, people need their vacation time. They got to catch their breaths. But at the same time, an out-of-office reply? Like, ‘I don’t want to work’? Then just don’t work here. Go find that somewhere else.”

→ I took in the premiere of Prime’s new documentary, “Jerry West: The Logo,” at The Culver Theatre in L.A. on Monday night. The doc, which debuted Thursday and is directed by Kenya Barris (“Black-ish”), shows the human struggle of West over two hours, where he is very candid, reflective and emotional about his private struggles with depression, loss, divorce and parenthood. Put bluntly: West was not a simple man, and the documentary is almost painful to watch at times when seeing his personal demons. There is a lot of sadness. But what a player and executive. The best executives know how to make decisions, and few made better decisions than Jerry West.

It was encouraging to see all the former players and staffers connected to West in attendance. Everyone who worked with him raved about him while acknowledging his personal struggles. One told me, “Jerry would come out and see all the beat writers — ‘What the f— did you write all this shit about us and that our players f-ing suck? You all don’t know shit.” Then, after a pause, West would say, “I’m hungry. You all want to get lunch?” That was Jerry West. Spotted at the event: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper, James Worthy, Kurt Rambis, Mitch Kupchak, Stephen Curry, Steve Kerr and Vlade Divac.

More of Readers’ Favorite Sports Documentaries

• These are my top five:

1. David Beckham

2. 30 for 30 on Maya Moore

3. 30 for 30 on the Fab Five

4. 30 for 30, Of Miracles and Men

5. The Last Dance (“except for the biased cheap shots against Isiah”).

• I’m going a bit off the main path for my favs: The Lost Son of Havana, Luis Tiant returns home

Kokoyakyu, High School Baseball fever in Japan

• Hoop Dreams

• Requiem for a Running Back, Rebecca Carpenter’s dad and CTE

• Easy: “The Two Escobars” was riveting and sad and showcased the fanaticism of futbol in Colombia.

→ An astute reader noted that I missed on referring to the two songs that longtime MLB team executive Charles Steinberg made into anthems for the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox: “As you’ll remember, in Baltimore it was ‘Country Boy,’ or ‘Thank G-d I’m a Country Boy,’ rather than ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads,’ though both were John Denver!”

Quotes From The CAA World Congress Of Sports

• “I wouldn’t think so; it’s certainly not the strategy at the moment.” —Premier League CCO Will Brass, when asked if clubs have interest in regular-season matches outside of the U.K.

• “We view international as the R&D in the NFL; there aren’t a lot of places you can do R&D in the NFL, and this is an area.” —Kevin Demoff, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment president of team and media operations, on the Rams’ interest to play and do business in international markets

• “Are we too close to each other?” —Fox Sports CEO and Executive Producer Eric Shanks, after sitting onstage next to his interviewer, Colin Cowherd. The two quickly moved their chairs farther apart.

• “If we make it too hard for the consumer, they won’t watch live sports. They will default to social.” —NBCUniversal’s Mark Marshall, stressing that the failure to make appointment viewing for sports fans, i.e. “Sunday Night Football,” will hurt the entire industry

• “Nobody’s banging on our door. We’re banging on their door. We got to be better. We got to be smarter. We got to be more nimble. We have to deliver. We’re held through a different lens. And if you can do that and win, good. I’d rather do that. Not everybody’s wired like we are, but we are wired to win. We’re courageous and we have no fear.” —Don Garber, on the mentality at MLS

→ Photos of the week are from the World Congress, including four of our six 2026 Champions, who were able to attend the event and were celebrated at a luncheon and on a panel. This was one of the most talked-about sessions of the week — what compelling stories, reflections and messages.

→ If you missed Morning Buzzcast, check out this week’s episodes here.

→ Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Now, check out our Early Access stories from the weekly print edition coming out tomorrow, and then on to this week’s Forum, where MLS Commissioner Don Garber talks about life as a commissioner…

When MLS Commissioner Don Garber was tasked to run the league in 1999, it had 12 teams. Today, it sits at 30, and Garber has overseen every major advancement and change of the sport in North America. But Garber has more yesterdays than tomorrows as commissioner and the league will soon enter a new era of leadership, as he and Deputy Commissioner Gary Stevenson will shortly move on from MLS: Stevenson at the end of July, Garber likely at the end of 2027.

Speaking to a full house at the CAA World Congress of Sports last week, Garber was reflective and spoke honestly about his role and what needs to happen to continue MLS’s growth. After finishing two days of board meetings in nearby Santa Monica, our conversation on-stage touched on the growth of the league and changes to the sport’s calendar, but it was his comments about leading as commissioner that was the talk in the hallways and dinners afterward. Like all commissioners, Garber has seen owners come and go, and faces a new mindset from today’s investor. He acknowledged shepherding ownership is harder, but the tenor in the boardroom remains the same. “I don’t think it’s much different today than it was 25 years ago,” he said about the approach of owners. “There are just more of them. They’re louder. They come into the sport now with more experience. The league was started by sports industrialists (like Lamar Hunt, Robert Kraft and Phil Anschutz), and then all of a sudden, we’ve evolved, and we have people that know the game, love the game and are part of the game and believe they can add a level of interest and knowledge and pressure. And pressure is good. It forces tough decisions that lead to good processes and good outcomes. Is it harder? Yes, you got 30 of them. They’re all really successful. They’re not used to listening to anybody. I say a lot that commissioners are the only people in owners’ lives that can, other than their partner, their wife or their husband, tell them what to do.”

When asked how he approaches the role, he said, “Commissioners are like puppeteers. You’re like a UN general secretary. You’re like a hammer; the idea is the nail, and you got to try to get it in the ground and you got to try not to bang it on one blow and miss, and you can’t take too many shots, because you never get the nail in the wood. And you got to be thoughtful about keeping the owners that don’t like you away from the ones who really haven’t figured out that they don’t like you. And just be smart, focused, honest, transparent, thoughtful and have courage. Don’t care when people say bullshit about your league.”

As the league searches for its third commissioner in its history, it won’t be an easy role to fill, as Garber’s accomplishments are incredibly impressive over nearly three decades, and, I would argue, largely underrated. But the 68-year-old feels the league’s succession planning is on track. “Real companies need to have succession plans,” he said. “Leagues don’t necessarily do that because of the unique dynamic that being the commissioner of a league isn’t like just being a media expert or a sponsorship revenue expert. You’ve got to be a politician, you’ve got to be a governor, you’ve got to be a CEO and you’ve got to accommodate the needs of massive diverse constituents and stakeholders. … I’ve been the commissioner for 27 years. We got to think about the future. Our next generation, that 3.0, is what’s MLS going to look like for the next 30 years? We need to think about who the next leaders are going to be. That person — male, female, international — that person needs to think about, ‘How do I take this foundation and how do I take it to the promised land?’ Our business continues to need to move forward. Like that shark, if it doesn’t keep swimming, the shark dies. And MLS has got to keep moving.”

Toward the end of the conversation, I asked Garber, with all the progress, with all the growth and promise of the future, what could impede that progress and prevent MLS from reaching the lofty goals that he has envisioned over all these years. His answer, considering he learned at the side of Paul Tagliabue at the NFL, shouldn’t surprise anyone. “Misalignment of ownership,” he said. “Aligning ownership in a pro sports league is the single biggest priority for a commissioner. We’ve got to get big markets, small markets, new owners, wealthy owners, those coming from a family office, institutional owners and entrepreneurs and PE. Bring them together, lock them in a room, convince them that this is the plan, and don’t leave until they’re all aligned. If we can’t get aligned, the league won’t achieve its goals.”

Coming from someone with more than 40 years of sports experience and nearly three decades as commissioner, these are words to remember, file away and not take lightly.

Abraham Madkour can be reached at amadkour@sportsbusinessjournal.com.