Sunday Forum: Takeaways from a week in NYC

Good morning. Hope everyone is having an enjoyable, safe and peaceful Memorial Day weekend. A few things to share as we head into the official start of summer.

• John Henry’s story, and message, to the sports industry
• Feedback on the Sports Business Awards
• Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro are two talented, connected additions to the Las Vegas Raiders
• First impression of new Ticketmaster President Saumil Mehta
• Mets President of Business Operations Lew Sherr’s busy week in NYC
• Forum: Inside the debate on the toughest categories for the Sports Business Awards

Overheard this week in New York, as the city has a serious case of Knicks fever with the team in the Eastern Conference Finals: “When the Knicks are good, there are no teams in New York that compare. The Knicks own New York when they are winning.” It’s hard to argue, seeing the amount of energy and enthusiasm around the team in the city.

→ Fenway Sports Group founder John Henry paused a few times during his Lifetime Achievement Award acceptance speech, admitting to feeling emotional as he was struck by the scene of the full-ballroom standing ovation, but also a moving tribute video that played before he took the stage. But the video started with some humor.

Opening to the sound of “Take one!”, it then showed Henry’s longtime partner and friend Tom Werner looking into the camera, saying, “Good evening. I’m Tom Werner, and I’m here to nominate my best friend, John Henry, for the new SBJ award, 70 Over 70.”

Off-camera associate: “Ah, Tom, no. It’s SBJ’s Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Werner: “A Lifetime Achievement Award?”

Associate: “Yes, not 70 Over 70.”

Cue the sound of, “And...take two!”

Werner: “Good evening, I’m Tom Werner and I want to thank everyone at the Sports Business Journal for giving John Henry and me this Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Associate interrupts: “Ah, Tom, the award is only for John.”

Werner, in disbelief: “What?”

Off-camera associate: “The award is only for John; it’s not for you.”

Werner: “It’s...not for me?”

Off-camera associate: “No, just John.”

Cue the sound of, “And...take three!”

Werner then got serious and talked about Henry, his friend and partner. It was a fun start, and Werner showed clever acting chops in his delivery. The video also included comments from Rob Manfred, Sam Kennedy, Theo Epstein, Billy Hogan, Jay Monahan, Rory McIlroy and Brian Rolapp.

“That was the most magnanimous speech I’ve ever heard an owner give. That was amazing, the way he spoke of and recognized his staff. No owner I know would have spoken of his staff that way.” That comment was said to me minutes after the awards celebration and referred to Henry’s remarks, when you could hear a pin drop in the 1,000-person ballroom as Henry, in his soft voice, talked about his life journey and “epic quests,” but frequently mentioned his partners and colleagues, highlighting many by their first name. At one point, he asked everyone who worked at Fenway Sports Group to stand and be recognized, saying, “These are the people you are honoring. It’s a remarkable group who strive to excel everywhere with honesty and character. … And we are all great, great friends who have tremendous fun working together.” It was easy to believe, as you saw FSG staff fill a number of tables, work the room and then all head together to an after-awards reception at Arva on West 57^th Street.

Henry spoke very fondly of being a limited partner in the Yankees in the 1990s, and his appreciation for George and Hal Steinbrenner. “George treated me incredibly well throughout the ‘90s. I loved the Yankee partners. George was the dad,” he said. Henry noted that after the Red Sox came back from a 3-1 deficit to win the ALCS in 2004, “He sent me a letter that has hung on my wall the last two decades, congratulating me, congratulating the Red Sox. Yankees-Red Sox is still the greatest rivalry in baseball, but there has been no owner in baseball I admire more on a personal level than Hal Steinbrenner.”

Other highlights from Henry’s remarks:

• “The fans put their faith in us as stewards — pretty much everyone in this room has taken on an important obligation. We all work every day on behalf of the fans.”

• “Baseball gave me a love, not of numbers or math, but of probability. I was fascinated with batting averages and ERAs changing daily. I learned the significance of small changes and eventually began to understand that things weren’t necessarily as they seemed.”

• “My family moved to California, and after my rock ‘n’ roll years, I read and met an iconoclast who taught me the power of paying attention to what is over what should be. I eventually took over the family farm and learned about the price of soybeans. That led me to study markets, where paying attention to what is happening rather than to what you think should happen was a tremendous advantage.”

• “The pursuit of epic quests, including recently stepping into the PGA Tour, has led to a remarkable, emotional and rewarding set of achievements.”

• “The work is never finished. So, congratulations to all of the winners tonight who work so hard year in and year to make the sports industry so important to the fabric of community in the United States and globally.”

Here are two videos giving you a sense of both Henry’s evening and the overall event. Also, check out SBJ’s Behind The Scenes from the Sports Business Awards.

→ We have had a lot of feedback on the awards, like we usually do. We’ve focused for years on making this a tight program; a shoutout to my colleagues, as the show came in at a swift 1 hour, 58 minutes, done by 9:36 p.m. — a record pace for the event. Here are some of the notes I’m comfortable sharing. Thanks for the continued feedback and support:

• “The biggest surprises to me were the Indiana A.D. not winning and NBC not winning anything.”

• “It’s interesting to see the mix of acceptance speeches; some long and self-serving, others short, which is nice, but miss a real chance to share a powerful message.”

• “Talk about pace of play! Well done on a tight, quick program.”

• “You and your judges really missed on Team of the Year. What a message it would have sent to have the Valkyries win. The Dodgers? Boring and blah.”

• “I thought Indiana’s Dolson was a sure thing. Otherwise no beefs with the winners.”

• “Tough to applaud Red Sox wins. 🙂”

• “ESPN for Deal (of the year) I get, but not in Sports Media. How did NBC not win there?”

• “The food was awesome — the salad was actually ridiculous.”

• “You need to recognize smaller companies and organizations. Feels like only the big ones ever have a chance at these Awards. You should also do a category for GMs.”

• “Mark Walter, fully deserving. Hat tip to all he is doing. But it’s hard to put owners/true titans up against the likes of media/agency CEOs. You might rethink that.”

• “Would MJ have come if he won? That would have been an amazing add to an incredible room!”

• “First time this year. Meticulous, flawless, precise. What a message from John Henry. I wish the entire industry could have heard that.”

→ Raiders owner Mark Davis has brought on some incredibly strong limited partners recently. We know Egon Durban has a right of first refusal on control of the team if Davis sells, but last week TKO Group executives Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro purchased limited stakes in the team under a deal approved by NFL owners. Landing two executives with such an understanding of the sports, media and entertainment landscapes is a massive benefit to a team that still has plenty of runway for growth — from a brand, business development and monetization standpoint. Shapiro’s background, mindset and network alone will be a serious advantage to the organization, and while he already has three full-time jobs — TKO Group, WME Group and MARI — sources said this won’t be a passive investment and he plans to devote genuine time toward the Raiders. Interestingly, sources said that Emanuel and Shapiro, who both grew up in the Chicago area, first approached the Bears about becoming limited partners in the past year but conversations never advanced, so their partner at Silver Lake, Durban, reached out to get them involved in the Raiders.

→ A few takeaways from watching my colleague Dan Kaufman’s interview with Ticketmaster President Saumil Mehta, who has been in the role for just over seven months and came from Square. First, I admired how he stressed the competitive intensity at Ticketmaster, calling it a “fight every day to win clients and fans.” That’s the way it should be. He made it clear that he’s a product person and loves building tools and simplifying things, and will approach the business with a software-first, product-first, technology-first lens. He believes if they focus on building the right product for clients and fans, everything will be OK. High on his list: pairing personal preferences with available event inventory, and more upgrade opportunities for fans — from a few hours before the game to even after a fan enters the venue. When it comes to trends in premium sales and experiences, he is bullish and said it’s too early to say that the industry has over-indexed on premium offerings, believing there is still growth in that space.

→ Mets President of Business Operations Lew Sherr had a busy week. First, he spoke at SBJ’s Tech Week on Tuesday in an affable sit-down with Next League founder David Nugent. Among the highlights:

• Sherr first met Steve Cohen after the Mets owner requested to walk the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and over 45 minutes, “I have never been asked the number of questions and the depth of the questions from anyone like Steve before. He was going deeper and deeper. … He has a level of intellectual curiosity like I have never seen before.”

• He was intrigued by the estimated $9 billion hotel/casino/entertainment complex being built at Willets Point and the vision of Steve and Alex Cohen. “The district will be the sports and entertainment district in New York City. … That’s what attracted me to this opportunity, because it’s really extraordinary.”

• When he got to the Mets, he saw significant upside around tickets and sponsorship and focused resources around those efforts. “We are not chasing as many things on the periphery,” he added, instead focusing on getting first-time ticket buyers to buy a second and third ticket, as he sees that as critical to inspiring fandom.

• What surprised him the most? The size of the Mets fan base — more than he expected — and its passion. “When good things happen, I hear it, and when we lost 12 games in a row, the obscenities that were being left on voicemails on my phone were extraordinary, and my response to that is, ‘Thank you!’ Our people care. There is no apathy with our team, and they come out anyway and they support and they care.”

Two nights later, Sherr was sitting at a table at the head of the ballroom when one of his ideas, the change to the U.S. Open Mixed Doubles Championship, won the Sports Business Award for Breakthrough of the Year. Former USTA CEO of Professional Tennis Stacey Allaster had some fun in calling him out when accepting the award: “You have these leaders in our organizations and they got these big ideas, big visions, and they challenge us on the status quo,” she said, smiling. “Why does the mixed doubles have to be played in the third week with no top players? We give them all the reasons. He doesn’t care. And then what does he do? He leaves the organization and leaves the heat to all of us. So, I don’t know where you are, Lew. Thank you, man!”

→ In this week’s Forum below, I offer some insight into the Sports Business Awards categories that had the most spirted debate, and the closest votes by the judges. One category, Agency of the Year: Brand Consulting, is traditionally the hardest category for so many reasons. Each agency nominated had very strong years, featuring blue-chip brands and exemplary activations. It’s hard to find real differences. So, many judges looked beyond that and delved into people, culture and talent development. So much of the agency business is about the relationship with the brand, so judges talked a lot about how the nominees handled relationships, who had long-standing ties, where there was a focus on the people and not just transactional work. Diversity in leadership, developing talent and employee retention were also a focus. Again, this is the hardest category in the group.

Here is a glimpse of the deliberations among the judges in some of the most closely contested or high-profile categories for the Sports Business Awards. We have been doing these awards for 19 years, and this year had some of the most intensely debated decisions.

SPORTS MEDIA: The toughest category to determine that I can recall in all my years of sitting in these discussions. This one took hours to get a winner. First, Rogers Sports & Media had support for its programming and production, and how it dominates the Canadian market. NBC Sports had such a portfolio of big events, and its coverage of the Milan Cortina Games was widely praised, especially the experience on Peacock, and judges believed the network has dramatically increased interest in the Olympics. Judges agreed NBC Sports does the best storytelling of any media company and had a monster year. With ESPN, judges felt the company moved its business — and the industry — forward with the unique deal for the NFL Network, the new DTC Unlimited hub and building out its rights portfolio. This debate eventually narrowed to a discussion of NBC and ESPN, and the judges even discussed a tie. Deliberation continued, and arguments centered on which company did more in the past 12 months to lead to long-term success: Which one had a definable impact on the industry in the past year, but lined up the pieces that could ensure future excellence? Which company evolved the most? That seemed to slightly shift momentum to ESPN. It was incredibly hard to honor one company when both had such great years.

TEAM OF THE YEAR: Another difficult category followed Sports Media. 23XI Racing was credited for changing NASCAR, being disruptive while also showing a blueprint for other teams to follow. Many felt the Toronto Blue Jays aren’t given enough credit for their grassroots marketing, renovating Rogers Centre and driving interest in baseball in Canada. But it soon narrowed to a debate around the first-year Golden State Valkyries and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Everyone loved the story of the Valkyries and how they are such a best-in-class operation. A first-year team without stars built an incredibly robust season-ticket business, which is so difficult to do, and got that entire Bay Area marketplace to care. All existing and expansion teams will take a page from the Valkyries. While judges discussed the size, scale and resources of the Dodgers, there was real admiration for how they continue to excel with their domestic and global strategies. Judges dug into the Dodgers’ data, analytics, pricing and merchandise approach, as well as on-field excellence, and couldn’t overlook how the organization’s business results truly dominate virtually all other teams in sports. On this one, those impressive revenue results really seemed to shift the calculus to the Dodgers.

LEAGUE OF THE YEAR: The NFL always seems to be at a disadvantage because of its size, which is of course not fair, but it’s been a prevailing sentiment from judges over the years. The NFL did get a lot of credit for being so culturally relevant, and between its efforts around flag football and non-Super Bowl events, it was in the conversation. But judges also felt it was in-between some important items, from adding an 18^th game to addressing its media rights. While MLB had a lot of support for product improvements and relevancy around big events, many felt the league’s story is not complete, with media deals and collective bargaining looming. The NHL kept coming up, from its CBA and harmony with the players association to strong attendance and a growing media footprint, as well as the influx of new stars and the effective social storytelling around that generational talent. The NHL seemed to be having a real moment, and that made the difference.

EVENT OF THE YEAR: Judges appreciated the NHL Stadium Series in Tampa, and there is consistent appreciation for the NFL taking the draft to markets where it can be the biggest show in town and really resonate. But judges also zeroed in on the World Series and how that event, through some luck, became so special and kept the attention of American and Canadian audiences. The stars aligned for this seven-game classic, and it drew in so many non-fans while being talked about on morning shows and talk shows. Judges also noted the interest around the world was a result of the investment MLB teams have made to attract global talent.

SPONSOR OF THE YEAR: This largely came down to a discussion about Delta, State Farm and AWS, and judges were most impressed by AWS’s innovation around in-game activation while bringing stats and data to life. AWS’s partnership with leagues resulted in effective storytelling and offered a true benefit to fans and viewers, and was seen by judges as a model for future sponsorships.

I couldn’t hit on every point, but this gives you an idea of the conversations. These were very, very tough decisions. Let me know if you are interested in participating in these debates in the future.

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