マーク・ウィルフが語るスポーツビジネスの成功とチーム運営[CNBC]

Music. Alex Sherman: Mark, thanks for
joining us. Let's get right into it. You have three teams--owner
of three teams, the Minnesota Vikings, the NFL; Orlando City,
Major League Soccer; and then the Orlando Pride, which is a
National Women's Soccer League team. All three of those teams
have had very strong seasons so far. AndI know that in general,
like the media rights, provide so much revenue to teams. But
I'm curious how important, from a business perspective, is winning? Mark Wilf: Well, winning is
certainly a goal for all of us. That's one of the main reasons
we do it is the passion for the sport, and it certainly helps.
It helps grow the attachment among the fan base, and it
builds the strength in the community. So while winning is
only part of the strategy on the business side, it's certainly
very, very important. Alex Sherman: It seems to me
like there's sort of a trend among owners, ownership, to own
multiple teams. And I'm curious, what are the synergies to owning
multiple teams in different franchises? Mark Wilf: Well, I can tell you,
the sports business is such a privilege to be a part of. So
our first purchase of course, the Minnesota Vikings. And we
realize what an impact it has in the community, what a platform
it is, and just the excitement and passion of it, and very few
things lately, seem to unify all of us. And sports is something
we can all agree as something very exciting. And when you have
the multiple franchises, you grow the relationships you have,
you lever the different people you meet, the different
businesses you have, and there is some synergy to it. So that
doesn't surprise me, that more and more there's multiple
ownership. Alex Sherman: What are the
synergies, though? Because it's not immediately obvious to me
what they are. Mark Wilf: Well, certainly
making sure the content is out there for the fans to be
connected to. I think that type of interaction is very
important. I think the people that you meet and the network
and the people that know how to run sports businesses is a small
world. So there is some synergy. We have some overlap, even among
our executive staff. We also have some overlap in terms of
sports performance, and training, and all the rest. So
there are some commonalities. And of course facilities,
stadiums, and how you make fans feel the fan experience is all
important. And I think those experiences can be shared from
one sport to another. Alex Sherman: Can you walk me
through, sort of your day-to-day running three franchises? Like,
in the back of my mind, I'm thinking of how Jack Dorsey used
to split his time between Twitter and Square. It was like,
'in the morning, I'll do Twitter and in the afternoon, Square.'
Is that how you're doing your Mark Wilf: Well, it's not as
segment as that. And the fact day? is, we wouldn't be fortunate
enough to be in the sports business if we didn't focus on
our real estate business, which is our main business, at Garden
Homes based in New Jersey. And of course, philanthropy is
important. But the sports business, I think the big
headlines for us, is making sure we are keeping in touch with our
sports leadership, our business leadership, providing resources
to have the best facilities to make it first class. And most
importantly, to get the right people in place. So we're
fortunate, not just on the coaching or general manager
side, but also on the business side, to have really top
executives. And I make a point to interact on a regular basis
with them, sometimes daily, sometimes weekly, to make sure
we have a ear to the ground in terms of what's happening. Alex Sherman: And is, are those
interactions sort of you making Mark Wilf: A little, a little of
both. It's a give and take. sure that you're available to
listen from them, or is it you Certainly, on the sports side,
we know what we don't know, and coming to them being like, hey,
you know, 'I think we should do we have a great reliance on our
coaches, general manager, our this, I think we should do that.' technical staff. But we listen
to them. We hear what they have to say. We discuss budgeting and
how you approach the seasons ahead. On the business side, we
have a little more interaction. We know how to build buildings.
We've experienced building facilities and managing people.
And so those things, we have a little more say on. But again,
we have great reliance on our fine executive staff. Alex Sherman: The NFL just
introduced private equity ownership. A couple questions on
that. One, is that something you would consider selling a
minority stake in the Vikings? Mark Wilf: I would say at this
point, no, and the fact is, we're very supportive of it. The
fact is, for a lot of franchises, the liquidity is
something really helpful, and we're hopeful that most of this
liquidity will be plowed back in to the sports businesses that we
can help grow the game, whether it's football, soccer or
wherever. Private equity is being infused. I think it's
going to be good for growth of sports in general. Alex Sherman: Are there any
concerns with it in terms of bringing in ownership that may
have, you know, purely financial point of views? Obviously, the
league hasn't done it to this point. And I would imagine there
was a reason why they haven't done it to this point. Mark Wilf: Well, each league has
varying rules and restrictions. I know at the NFL, we're going
about it in a more cautious way. I know there's a lot of
guardrails in terms of control and how things are decided, and
the kind of individuals or equity firms that are brought
in. So I think the commissioner and the NFL have done a really
good job in terms of just beginning a process that is
going about in a fair, conservative way that can help
grow the sport. Alex Sherman: We just had an
election. The last time Donald Trump was president, there was a
melding of politics and sports with Colin Kaepernick taking a
knee. Are you concerned that, as we have sort of Trump 2.0 here,
we may go back to this uneasy tension between politics and
sports, and how do you navigate that? Mark Wilf: Well, it's always a
navigation. Because for me, and I think for all Americans,
sports is a beautiful thing. And our own perspective is to try to
keep what's going on between the boundaries of the field, that
the game is pure and it's about the game--because I think for
families that are working hard to get the entertainment value
of a sports experience, they want to come to the game and
enjoy the game. So yes, sometimes you have to navigate
those things. And you know, all the sports clubs that we're
fortunate to be involved with, they mix red and blue. All our
teams are purple. So we like to try to be unifying. And I think
sports is a unifier, and hopefully we can keep it that
way. Alex Sherman: Were there any
lessons from the Kaepernick incident? Do you think the
league handled that appropriately? Mark Wilf: I think in the end,
it worked out the proper way again for us. We dealt with it
as a club. We spoke to our players, we spoke to our coaches
and our staff, and we worked out a solution that felt right for
everybody at the time. And in the end, like I said, I think
what prevailed was the game is paramount, and making sure that
the game is not interfered with in any way, and that the focus
for the fans should be on the entertainment. Alex Sherman: Just--was it fair
to him, though? I guess that would be the byproduct of it,
right? Like he never played Mark Wilf: Yeah, well I, you
know, on that individual matter, again. we always evaluate our players
based on how they play and how they focus on the field, and I
know he was a great player in the league, and that's an
individual circumstance. I know when we look at players, we look
at players to make sure they give us our best chance to win
and they can contribute to the team the best. Alex Sherman: Let's go into your
teams individually here. The Vikings are--they're off to such
a strong start already. Honestly, has this surprised
you? Did you expect them to be so good, so early this year? Mark Wilf: Well, you
know--whatever you expect in sports, you can expect the
unexpected. But for us inside the building, we have such
tremendous faith in Coach O'Connell and Kwesi, our general
manager, and Rob Brzezinski, the entire football operation. We
knew that we were in a good path in terms of the kind of culture
they're creating there. And so we're in a very tough league, a
tough division, for sure. But I have to say Sam Donald has led
us well, the draft picks, we have J.J. McCarthy also in the
quarterback room. And of course, the defensive effort's been
unbelievable. We've brought on some great free agents, and
Coach Flores has the defense going as well. Alex Sherman: Let's move to the
Major League Soccer. There seems to be every year, more and more,
there's this sort of this energy behind soccer. The World Cup is
coming. Do you feel like the league, MLS as a league, is on a
trajectory that you're pleased with? Mark Wilf: Yeah, I would say
that we're very pleased with the direction of soccer in America.
And we think MLS is well positioned to really take
advantage of that. For those of the people that are watching or
others, we encourage people to get the in-game experience. The
stadium experience is outstanding. Of course, the deal
with Apple TV, it's a great viewership experience as well.
And we're seeing growth in attendance numbers, growth in
the level of play, the quality of playing. Of course, I know
Miami picking up Messi really gave a big surge to soccer
viewership. So step-by-step, we're getting there. And of
course we have great opportunities to be on the world
stage in North America. We have the Club World Cup in 2025. We
have the FIFA World Cup for men in 2026. And I think we're
poised--like the last time the World Cup was in North
America--that it would will begin to get us to the next
level. Alex Sherman: The Apple deal,
obviously, was a nice surge of revenue for the teams in the
league. But I think it's a little controversial in the
sense that we don't know how many people are watching these
games. Are you given insight into how many people are
watching? Mark Wilf: We do get our--we do
get our share of data. And again, remember, it's very early
in the infancy of the deal. And I know MLS and Apple were
working very close collaboratively, together, to
make sure it's a win-win. We're going to continue to market
well, market to our fans, because--and the exciting thing
about MLS is we have a great fan demographic, young energy. And
so I think it bodes well for the future of soccer in America. Alex Sherman: Are you pleased
with the viewership numbers? As far as you know? Mark Wilf: Yes, but we always
want more. I mean, the fact of the matter is, we have great
viewership when we're on linear. We also have, remember, with the
MLS and the Apple package we have almost 600 matches in one
package being seen around the around the country and around
the world. So there's a lot of product, and people as an
aggregate are viewing dramatically. And we have, I
think, close to 12 million fans that have come to our games over
the years. So soccer is growing. Alex Sherman: On the women's
side, do you feel like you are sitting on sort of, you know, an
untapped jewel in women's soccer? Is this something that
you see is just gonna boom in popularity, and also from a
business perspective? Mark Wilf: Well, very much so.
And you're seeing the beginnings of that in terms of how women's
sports are taking on in different sports in different
ways, and soccer is no exception. I think Commissioner
Berman has done an excellent job with our clubs in terms of
expanding in a proper pace. The in-stadium experience is growing
dramatically. We're proud of our own Orlando Pride team. We had
the longest unbeaten streak in women's soccer history. We've
had a nice season. Of course we're into the playoff mix
now--and who knows what that season is going to be. But we're
loving the job. Our CSO, our chief soccer operator, Haley
Carter, and our coach, Seb Hines, they've done a great job
building a great culture. But I just think the future of women's
sports is so exciting, and now we have women's soccer stadiums
in Kansas City. First time ever there was a women's-only
franchise stadium. So people are investing in women's sports.
Women's soccer is no exception. The World Cup of course everyone
knows about. But the NWSL is the best soccer in the world, with
the best players in the world. Alex Sherman: You have three
teams now. Are you looking for Mark Wilf: We're always
opportunistic to see where more? there's opportunities to invest
and grow our sports knowledge. But right now we're focused on
these franchises and the synergies they create. And
again, our main priority is ownership--and any steward of a
sports franchise is, of course, winning championships number
one. Making sure it's a first-class operation in terms
of facilities, in terms of culture, and of course being
great citizens in the communities we're in. So whether
it's in Minnesota or in Central Florida, we view the sports
platform as a way to give back in the community. And I think
that's been proven for us so far.