WEBVTT

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Hey guys, welcome to the Marcafts
read here. Surely this episode will ruffle

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no feathers today. UFL merger.
Is the USFL carrying its way? A

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good discussion today, Lots of fun
things coming up on the podcast. All

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keep this intro short, gets all
the interviews here. Three great interviews today,

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vallid discussions here as we approach UFL
week four. You know some of

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the attendance, you know, did
Fox kind of sour the well and some

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of these markets giving away tickets here
the last couple of seasons. Now we're

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trying to get the Memphis attendance up, Michigan all of that. I know

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Birmingham showed up last week twelve thousand. I know they're competing against Alabama and

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all of that. We'll see what
they do this weekend here coming up hosting

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again the DC Defenders. That should
be a good game. But lots of

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fun stuff today. We have USFL
historian Paul Reese joining from our Sports Central.

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Really appreciate that Paul books on the
USFL has been on to all of

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the different you know, the branding
of the league and then the lawsuits and

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everything with the USFL and Fox back
from old ownership there, so always appreciate

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getting Paul's the thoughts and everything,
really wide ranging conversation with them. You

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have the TV broadcast the attendance,
so we talk a little bit of football

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teams and stuff, storylines of the
season. So certainly I hope you guys

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enjoy that. Tsm's Dave Naylor coming
on talking all things CFL, Schad Kelly's

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of it all, Edmonton Elks,
lots of things I'm sure we'll get into

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with Dave, and then Matt mccrane
of the DC Defenders game winning field goal

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kicker here last week. They're going
into Birmingham. It should be a great

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game this weekend, so excited for
that. If you like the work we

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are doing on here, like seventy
away, like and subscribe, get us

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to thirty five hundred subscribers, we
will be at the UFL championship game,

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and if we get to thirty five
hundred before that, we will be giving

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away two tickets to the championship game. I think you'll be able to sit

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with the Professor Andrew Murray, I
think is what we're gonna do for that.

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I don't know he signed up for
that, but we'll get you going

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so like and subscribe. Lots of
work going in all the time on this

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getting interviews and stuff she did Nailor
taking time and DC Defenders getting that set

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up with the league, so obviously
with Paul getting his busy schedule coming on.

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So if you like the work that
we do, all the friends that

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come on like and subscribe. Hope
you guys enjoyed the interviews. We'll see

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at the end. Well we're back
here. We have Paul Reeves USFL story

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in with our Sports Central. I
literally we were done with the UFL kickoff

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and I'm sitting there talking with Dorothy. I go, I'm such a dummy.

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I didn't have Paul on to do
the pre show kickoff stream, but

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we can remedy that today. Get
a longer discussion with Paul reas. Paul,

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first off, how are you and
why don't you just we have a

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lot of new subscribers, so maybe
just a quick elevation pitch of who you

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are? Read Thanks for having me
on. Things are going well here.

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So you know, I'm an old
guy, so I followed the original USFL

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very closely as a young man,
never quite got it out of my blood

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and wrote a book on the league, did a lot of research and interviews

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just with various people involved, and
that kind of led to my interest in

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secondary alternative leagues. And with that
interest, I started our Sportscentral dot com

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about twenty five years ago and have
followed that up since with statscrew dot com.

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Our sports Central covers news from around
alternative and minor leagues, and stats

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Crew covers all the statistics, including
the historical statistics for a lot of minor

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and alternative leagues as well as the
majors. Perfect and you know, Paul

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is here today, so we're gonna
talk general thoughts kind of football, and

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then I wanted to get into kind
of the thesis here this week of you

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know, is the USFL carrying its
weight here in the merger? First off,

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you know, we're going into week
four vibes I get. I'm watching

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that That's good Sports on YouTube as
well. I got turned on to that.

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He's this funny NFL recaps, Like
seems that the quality of football.

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People are impressed, people are happy. Kind of how are you viewing the

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season thus far? Now that we
have the eight teams? You know,

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I think it's a little bit of
a mixed bag, but more on the

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good side than the bad side.
I think you touched on probably my biggest

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takeaways so far, as that the
quality of football seems to be improved over

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both leagues last year. We've seen
tremendous kicking. For instance, our author

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France Dutchburg just did an article that
had had detailed how improved the kicking has

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been. You know, to me, when I watched that Saint Louis Arlington

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game a couple of weeks ago,
you can put that up against any football

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game from the last year, NFL, CFL whatever. That was a great

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football game, a tremendous atmosphere and
came down to the wire. It was

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just very well played, and I
think you really do see a lot of

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that throughout the league. So that's
that's been positive. Attendance, of course,

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has been a bit of a mixed
bag, but I do think that

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the television presentations has remained very solid. I like the energy and that the

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ESPN and ABC folks bring to the
mix. But I also think Fox is

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up their game this year. It's
funny to me, because yeah, it

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really does depend on who you ask, Like, some people are very anti

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the ESPN broadcast. Like I'm pretty
kind of neutral to all of it.

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I mean there's certain guys, like
the Steve Levies of it all on ESPN

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kind of get on my nerves screaming. I mean, he's not part of

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it, like, but certain announcers
might bother me, but I'm generally not.

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But yeah, it seems like you're
either team Fox or team ESPN.

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It's kind of weird how there's a
divide. There. Always got to have

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these divides here with the Spring football
right well. And I mean a lot

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of it is that we're less than
a year away from watching both of them,

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and they were different presentations, and
I think what we're seeing now is

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a little bit of a blend.
But you know, I really do like

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the energy and I've enjoyed the broadcast
by and large. Do you like the

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branding now that this is the premiere
spring football league we've come together? Do

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you like because I know we've talked
to you and through all this kind of

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merger stuff, but now that we've
seen it kind of in action and what

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they want this to look and feel
like, are you liking the branding around

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it? Because to me, we
still don't really have an identity. Maybe

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we'll get that next year. Yeah, and you know a little bit,

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it's so dizzying. You know,
we saw the relaunch of the XFL,

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which looked different than the previous versions
of the XFL. We saw, you

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know, another relaunch of the XFL, which looked different than the prior to

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versions. Then we saw the launch
of the USFL, which looked a little

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bit different than the original USFL.
And so now we're seeing yet this a

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new entity, and there's blendings of
the old and the new branding, and

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I think we're still so new to
it that it's it's really hard to get

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a feel for how it's different than
maybe some of the predecessors and how it's

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going to end up standing out.
You know, we say the same thing

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every time. You know, hopefully
by year five or by year three,

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let's cross our fingers. Let's hope
that we get that far and really do

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feel like we have, you know, a discernible identity because we and this

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came up on our live stream on
Monday we were recapping or I guess we

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did it Tuesday. We were recapping
the weekend and you know, talking to

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Tendance and we'll get into all that
here, but I said, you know,

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if you're a casual person, this
league doesn't make sense at all.

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How it is right now, it
makes sense because we know how we got

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to it where we had eighteen,
Like you would never pick three Texas teams,

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Memphis, Michigan, Saint Louis.
That would never be. But it's

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like, well, you know,
because they started to Birmingham and then we

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did this and we did that,
Like is it striking you? I mean

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TV audience has been you know,
consistent, right, they went up against

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the Masters this week in Fox and
ABC are certainly showing their power for that.

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But I don't know, it's hard
for me when they're showing like maps

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in the US and you know two
thirds of it aren't represented and kind of

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where the teams are like trying to
get that national appeal. But maybe people

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don't care. Maybe it's just football
on TV and that's what people are like,

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you know, And I do think
that it does make a difference.

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You know, we don't have anything
out west at all. In addition,

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the Northeast is really represented solely by
Washington. D c Well, a New

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Yorker, a Bostonian. How much
do they care about that? So,

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you know, just having eight markets, and three of them in Texas.

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I don't think it's helping the TV
ratings. I do believe that the networks

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that are involved are fully aware of
that that they just don't have a real

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broad base. What they're really scraping
here is that core group that's going to

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watch professional football no matter what.
Yeah, and even you know there was

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the not league but kind of the
thing a couple of weeks ago, like

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new Trademark either that it was Canton
and Nashville. I'm like, that doesn't

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help with your national appeal. Like, I just for the life of me,

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I can't figure out why we can't
get anything going in San Diego except

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maybe that stadium is just too busy
now they have built. Like I just

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can't wrap my mind how you can't
just get a flight from Dallas to San

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Diego and get this going. Yeah
exactly. I mean, your your operations

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aren't going to be based in the
state anyway, as long as you have

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the Arlington Hub, so you would
think that it would be wide open.

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You know. I know that the
people who were in Canton who went to

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the games last year really missed them. There just weren't that many of them

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can't would be a horrible mistake.
It would not help at all with the

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TV ratings. You know, it
just didn't make any sense from that standpoint.

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It's just really when the USFL did
that, they took on all the

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costs of another hub and absolutely zero
benefit besides a kind of decent stadium.

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Are you used to prize now that
we're gotten this far that it's we're doing

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the XFL business model with you know, where we basically just adopted some of

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these USFL teams. I mean,
we knew kind of the arlington of it

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all. But I guess that bears
fruit to kind of the way the XFL

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had been doing it from the beginning, even if it was costing more to

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do this flying in and out.
Because certainly, I think if the USFL

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had its way or thought saw a
success on that side, you know,

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we would have just done two or
three hubs and not been flying out to

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all of these cities. I think
that's certainly right. You know, it

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does show that the USFL business model
that you know, they sat down in

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the room and compared numbers, and
they didn't go with the more expensive proposition

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there. They didn't go with the
one that made less sense, So the

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Arlington hub made a lot of sense, and just flying out to the individual

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markets. I think that it was
a realization on Fox's side that yes,

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we're a TV network, Yes the
ratings are going to be the big driver

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here, but attendance is all so
important. It's more than just having props,

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it's more than just having the people
as a backdrop. That there's a

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piece of the revenue equation eventually that's
going to have to be carried by attendance,

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and whether that's twenty percent or forty
percent or fifty percent whatever, we

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can't just write it off with ten
dollars tickets or I think I ran the

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numbers last year in Memphis. If
you went to both Houston and Memphis games,

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you could sit in the end zone
for like three bucks a game,

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which is ridiculous, you know.
And what I think there's been a realization

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that we can't do that long term. That's hurting us. We need to

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turn this ship around. And so
I think you're seeing by and large,

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more normalized ticket prices than a lot
of these markets, because you know,

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and we talk and even the Monday, you know, the attendance and Birmingham

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showed out that I have the numbers
here, I'll pull up. But you

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get all this like, well,
you know it doesn't matter, right,

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it's TV. It's all TV.
It's all TV. Hey, And we've

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talked about this, and we've learned
people don't like watching football with nobody in

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the stands, right, It's really
hard. We've we've learned this with the

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USBL it's such a like what's going
on here? Any casual fan that's tuning

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in, it's like why why is
there? Why is there no one here?

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So there's that the energy level of
the level of it. But then

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also if you're trying to get people
that eventually buy these franchises, which we've

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been told is the plan, and
I think that keeps getting kicked down the

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road now as we you know,
maybe the USFL had that, you know,

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year five to seven, Well maybe
that's another five to seven years from

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now, but you get I mean, I mean here, Memphis is averaging

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eighty seven hundred people a game.
Like, what am I buying there?

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If I'm buying a Memphis franchise?
It's a great question, you know,

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I think right now what you'd be
buying is the concept. I don't know

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that necessarily anybody except the guy who
owns FedEx would be looking at that Memphis

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franchise. It certainly has been a
really slow start there, and there's a

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lot of different reasons for that.
But what you'd be buying is a concept.

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You'd be buying. Hey, I
want the San Diego market, I

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want Seattle, I want Denver.
Those probably would make more sense to a

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buyer right now than some of the
markets where we're seeing really minimal attendance unless

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things suddenly turn around in those markets. I equated it to It's kind of

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like how some of these private ownerships
with the CFL teams, where it's like,

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you know, they would be like
I don't want to buy a yacht,

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I want to go buy a CFL
team. And then you know we

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have like a mar Doman in BC
and putting tremendous. You know, that's

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something he just really believes in and
wants to rebuild that and we work with

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the amateur football, but that is
a huge like he is dumping the money,

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and he is you know, one
Republic comes up and cool comes,

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We're having all these bands. That's
him dumping money. And yeah, I

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think that that's what you're looking for
here. With the UFL, it's not

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going to be here, buy this
in turnkey, you're going to make money,

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it's you're going to need to put
in your own time. Do you

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see it? Similarly? Yeah,
And the advantage of the CFL has is

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decades of history, so that these
guys can look back and say, I

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remember watching them on TV, or
I was in the stadium when this happened,

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or this was a part of me
growing up, or you know,

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at some point in my life,
I really connected with this. So they

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have more of those people who will
come in and say, you know what,

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I can stand and lose a little
bit of money, or maybe I'll

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really over the long term kind of
draw even on this. That's fine with

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me. Whereas the UFL, you
know, we don't have that yet and

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it would take a long time to
build. So they've got to be looking

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at some extra intangibles that they're going
to build into a UFL franchise in order

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to sell them. And I do
think that it's a few years down the

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line. Well, and even with
the CFL, there's the promise of like,

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hey, maybe every four or five
years you might get a gray cup

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and then you really get some money
coming back into the city. I mean,

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that's I can't remember. I think
when they were talking about one of

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the sales that came out, it
was like that was part of the guarantee.

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It was like, Hey, we're
going to get you a great cup

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here just to kind of make sure
you you know, you don't have,

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you know, a multimillion dollar event
coming in you know, every year here

225
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with the UFL. That's going to
generate that, and you know, we

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could be looking at a similar situation
in a few weeks here Saint Louis puts

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a really nice crowd into the Dome
for the championship game, no matter who's

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in it, that could be a
nice revenue generator. And if if you

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can promise that every eight or ten
years or more, that might be something

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that helps sway somebody. I don't
think that we'd be looking at that in

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the next couple of years, but
maybe down the line. Yeah. So

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I have a tweet here and this
is from a cather Day on Twitter,

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and this is running down kind of
the average attendants. This is just a

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good way to kind of visualize it. I had Max kind of run these

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numbers as well, so that because
I hate like seeing this and okay,

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this is whatever, but what to
me? And I hate being the like

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whatever. But it's exposing these USFL
markets right came in, you know,

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Memphis now that we're not giving away
tickets three dollars tickets right even Houston on

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here, you know, doing the
whole switching bit with that. I think

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we're seeing a disparity here now.
Birmingham showed that up twelve thousand there game

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one. You would like to see
that for a team that's been in the

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city three years. I know they
had the Alabama game going on. Looking

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at this general thoughts and then we
can dive in more. Yeah, and

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looking at Houston, I think that
the stadium switch has really affected them this

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year as well. I don't think
that we're far enough into the season to

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really see that the roster switch has
hurt, but you know, not having

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Wade Phillips there probably hurts a little
bit. Yeah, And you know,

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with the rest of it, Birmingham, we've got the one game, which

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was easily the best of the USFL
draws so far. One of the things

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that we're looking at is that they
I believe they increased ticket prices and all

251
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those markets, and so it's no
longer that ten dollars seat. So not

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only are people looking at an increase
in the ticket prices, but when they

253
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set those values over the last year
or two, people are used to those

254
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ten dollars tickets. That's what their
football team is worth to them now.

255
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And so I think this was probably
the biggest mistake that Fox made was they

256
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devalued their product to the local populace
rather than selling at a normal rate for

257
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any other team. They were so
interested in getting people in as backdrop as

258
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so that it looked like there were
people in the stadium on TV that they

259
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forgot about the long term, and
I don't think they really helped themselves that

260
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much in the short term. I
think it was a tremendous mistake the way

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they priced their tickets, and that's
really reflected in three different places on this

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attendance chart in terms. And this
is, you know, kind of again

263
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my thesis this week, you know, is the USFL carrying its way?

264
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I don't know, and I always
struggle even with like the rough Necks brand

265
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whatever, but like I don't know
what cachet like a Michigan Panthers, a

266
00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:18.799
Memphis showboats has here in twenty twenty
four outside of you know, my age

267
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or your age higher. You know, you get that, But I just

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don't know where. I don't know
the DC Defenders and I know they're you

269
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know, they're where are they at
right now? Fifteen thousand average? I

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think they had two home games,
right Like, it's at least it's a

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00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:33.960
sexy new brand, right the BattleHawks, and then they're kind of standard of

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that. But I just I don't
know if we're getting exposed that way.

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Also the cachet of some of these
just quantity or entities not having in twenty

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twenty four. I mean, I
don't think that there's really any debating and

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I think you're absolutely right that obviously
the attendance would I mean, for outdoor

276
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football to have attendance under eight thousand, I'm not that far away from Green

277
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Bay and they can draw that for
an indoor football game. It's amazing to

278
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me. And they're doing that at
full ticket prices. It really is amazing

279
00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:14.599
to me how much these markets have
struggled. And there are some reasons.

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You know, Memphis, for instance, has had a team in every single

281
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league that There's Ben Birmingham too,
and you see the before this, with

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the collapse of the alliance, that
couldn't have hurt couldn't have helped the local

283
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markets at all. But I think
you know, your point is right about

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the USFL branding, which I love. There's nobody who loves the original USFL

285
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branding more than I do. But
I think they found that it was of

286
00:19:42.759 --> 00:19:49.039
limited benefit here in the twenty twenties. Is that as someone that you know

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obviously has built a large, you
know, a business and stemmed from all

288
00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:56.839
this, is that disheartening? I
mean? Is that because I think people

289
00:19:56.839 --> 00:19:59.759
come on like, oh, like
Paul's going to rag on whatever, reads

290
00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:02.680
going to like this is something that's
been a large portion of your life in

291
00:20:02.680 --> 00:20:04.319
a lot of people's lives, to
see it kind of get to this point,

292
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you know, it doesn't what I
will. I look at the original

293
00:20:10.920 --> 00:20:14.119
USFL as something that had a beginning, it had a middle, and it

294
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had an end, and they really
have had by and large, so little

295
00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:26.200
to do with the current happenings with
the new league that took on that old

296
00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:30.119
name that you know, it's a
really it's a new entity. And so

297
00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:33.400
that's the way that I looked at
the USFL last year, and so you

298
00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:40.920
can't. You can't compare attendance in
the twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three

299
00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:45.440
USFL to the nineteen eighties USFL.
It would have been tremendously unfair to the

300
00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:49.559
new one. You can't compare the
quality of play where the original USFL was

301
00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:53.640
competing for the best players, that's
what made them a major league. And

302
00:20:53.720 --> 00:20:57.240
the new USFL is is really a
developed you know, it was really a

303
00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:03.359
developmental league, and really everything since
the original USFL has been a developmental league.

304
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And that's fine, and I do
enjoy it. I enjoyed NFL Europe,

305
00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:11.160
and I enjoyed the World League,
and I've enjoyed everything that's come since.

306
00:21:11.960 --> 00:21:17.799
So there's there's no insult at all
from my perspective there. It just

307
00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:21.799
really is what it is. With
you. In order to be a major

308
00:21:21.880 --> 00:21:26.200
league, you have to compete for
the best players, and clearly now these

309
00:21:26.519 --> 00:21:30.319
leagues are in a position to do
that. The XFL wasn't, the USFL

310
00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:33.039
wasn't. There's no shame in that. The NFL is a you know,

311
00:21:33.319 --> 00:21:38.480
multi billion dollar juggernaut. You're not
You're not going to compete with that,

312
00:21:38.599 --> 00:21:41.400
right now, and you're certainly not
going to do with that in the spring.

313
00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:48.759
So I enjoy these leagues for what
they are, do you what do

314
00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:51.680
you? I mean? So I
agree with you. But we had Darrel

315
00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:55.079
Johnson on before the season and he
talks about you, they don't want to

316
00:21:55.079 --> 00:21:56.400
be a developmental league. I mean, what do you? What do you

317
00:21:56.440 --> 00:21:59.839
say to that? Just as a
side note here before we keep going,

318
00:21:59.880 --> 00:22:02.640
like, because like you said,
I mean, you're you're a decade away

319
00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:04.920
from even being to the point where
I just curious your thoughts on that where

320
00:22:04.920 --> 00:22:07.920
he says they want to move away
from that. Oh, I mean there's

321
00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:12.599
perception versus reality, you know,
so I can understand that he doesn't want

322
00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:18.160
to be perceived in that way.
The reality is, unless you're taking people

323
00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:25.759
off NFL rosters or taking collegiance that
the NFL wants, you're a developmental slash

324
00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:30.440
minor league. That's all there is
to it. So what do we do

325
00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:33.279
here? Because like you said,
I do think, you know, going

326
00:22:33.319 --> 00:22:37.400
back if we could reverse course and
go back a couple of years here in

327
00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:41.559
the price appropriately, Like, what
do we do at this point here with

328
00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:44.880
the USFL markets? Right? How
do you I guess how do you rebuild

329
00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:47.240
that? And I know, like
if we all knew how to do that,

330
00:22:47.319 --> 00:22:48.920
it would be done. Thoughts about
that because I do think, like

331
00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:53.200
you said, irreparable damage in some
of these markets. I mean, it's

332
00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:57.519
going to be super hard to turn
the ship around. I think where you've

333
00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:00.759
already devalued your product, I mean, how do you take that away?

334
00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:07.279
That the only you know? I'm
thinking of John Spolstra. He was former

335
00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:11.119
NBA Ezech who wrote about how to
sell the last steat in the house,

336
00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:15.000
and I think that was kind of
the ticket seller's bible. And you know,

337
00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:18.359
one of the ways that you do
that is by increasing the value of

338
00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:25.279
your ticket more freebies maybe, or
player visits or you know, exclusive ticket

339
00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:29.240
holder events. There are some of
those things that maybe can be done.

340
00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:33.480
I don't know how much that bumps
the needle in these markets, to be

341
00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:40.079
honest, you may be looking at
choosing the markets where you think you can

342
00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:47.079
build and then reassigning teams to other
markets where you can't. That's my fear.

343
00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:49.119
I mean, I agree with that, but my fear is if you

344
00:23:49.400 --> 00:23:52.680
do that, then you're like,
how locked in are you to any of

345
00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:56.440
these markets? Right? I mean
I think you gotta go. Do you

346
00:23:56.480 --> 00:24:00.240
pull out of Michigan at the end
of this year? I just I don't

347
00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:03.960
know then whether's that say to the
next I always equate when the new ownership

348
00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:06.799
took over the Washington Commanders and everyone
said, well, they're going to fire

349
00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:08.039
Rondrifra, and they said, no, we're going to give them a season

350
00:24:08.119 --> 00:24:11.680
because we want the next head coach
coming in to know that we'll also give

351
00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:15.759
them the full kind of benefit of
that. So I don't I don't know

352
00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:17.880
what you do if you pull the
plug in any move. And then to

353
00:24:17.960 --> 00:24:19.279
San Diego, well, god,
if we don't get enough people here,

354
00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:22.640
they're going to pull it in the
year. Yeah, And you know you

355
00:24:22.759 --> 00:24:30.559
mentioned Michigan. At least you have
market size with Detroit, whereas it in

356
00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:34.559
a place like Memphis. If you're
struggling with attendance and you're not your market

357
00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:38.200
size is not doing much to help
the TV rating, then that's when you

358
00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:41.960
really have to take a good hard
look at how can we turn this ship

359
00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:45.400
around? Can we turn this ship
around? And then do we move?

360
00:24:45.559 --> 00:24:51.359
So you know, a couple of
different things that you think about is do

361
00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:53.720
you move a team or do you
expand first and then contract, you know,

362
00:24:53.799 --> 00:24:59.720
so that you know, I don't
know what the right answer is there.

363
00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:06.240
The other thing that I think about
is the Original American Football League if

364
00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:11.759
you look at how that league started. And of course everyone knows that the

365
00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:15.559
Original American Football League ended up merging
ten teams in the NFL and as part

366
00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:23.319
of the NFL multi billion dollar juggernaut
now, but originally they were drawing three

367
00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:27.400
thousand to seven thousand in Oakland.
They had to move out of Los Angeles,

368
00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:32.519
they had to move out of Dallas, you know, So there were

369
00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:34.920
a lot of things that happened there, but part of it was in places

370
00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:40.720
like Oakland and New York. They
were able to build from those meager beginnings,

371
00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:45.880
partially because the league built around them, and you know, you entered

372
00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:49.799
a new stadium situation in New York, but you know, they were able

373
00:25:49.880 --> 00:25:55.079
to continue to build in Oakland,
for instance. So you have to,

374
00:25:55.680 --> 00:26:00.240
Okay, what can we develop a
five year plan on which markets can we

375
00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:06.160
do we think that we can actually
improve and which markets are we actually just

376
00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:10.519
wasting our time and we'd be better
shirt getting out of right now. I

377
00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:12.799
just and I am always the mister
pessimist on here. I just don't,

378
00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:15.319
you know, and I, you
know, believe in this space and wanted

379
00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:18.599
to succeed. I just don't know
what the long term play is here where

380
00:26:18.599 --> 00:26:22.039
we saw Redbird after one season of
loss, like, Okay, we need

381
00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:25.880
to you know, we need to
downsize. We need to do this Fox

382
00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:29.599
the same way. You know,
maybe we're seven years away from getting ownership.

383
00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:32.720
You know, ratings are good,
right, We're averaging eight hundred to

384
00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:36.279
a million viewers. Is that enough? Are we happy enough with that for

385
00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:37.839
the next eight, you know,
in the next you know, four or

386
00:26:37.880 --> 00:26:41.160
five years. I don't. I
would love to be a fly on the

387
00:26:41.160 --> 00:26:44.319
wall and kind of know, you
know what what like what are the metrics

388
00:26:44.359 --> 00:26:48.519
here we're trying to hit because we
both of these ownership groups now coming together

389
00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:52.799
seem very gun shy about losing any
money at some point, And we talked

390
00:26:52.839 --> 00:26:55.880
on the Monday Show, you know, like when I quit my day job

391
00:26:55.960 --> 00:26:59.440
to freelance, at some point you
got to pull the plug, take a

392
00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:03.160
hit and build up the other way. But you can't just kind of meander

393
00:27:03.240 --> 00:27:07.200
along at this pace right right.
And I think Fox has to be encouraged

394
00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:12.240
by ratings because of what they saw
last year they had to wonder, you

395
00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:15.880
know, are we on a downward
slide where this thing is just it's just

396
00:27:15.960 --> 00:27:19.559
not working. And to see a
rebound I think for them has to be

397
00:27:19.640 --> 00:27:25.359
helpful. You know. If anything, I would say that I maybe underestimated

398
00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:30.480
Redbird capital a little bit and just
how much capital Redbird has. This is

399
00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:34.519
a group that is you know,
has been in talks about CBS, you

400
00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:40.359
know, so these people have a
lot of resources. Now, if they

401
00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:45.240
have the patience and the plan to
continue with this, we'll see. But

402
00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:49.000
I'm encouraged by the level of operations
that we've seen throughout the league. Even

403
00:27:49.119 --> 00:27:55.359
just from a media relations standpoint,
I think these teams have taken a step

404
00:27:55.480 --> 00:27:59.920
up, particularly the former USFL teams. They actually have people issuing press really

405
00:28:00.359 --> 00:28:06.759
and game notes and all the things
that you normally expect. And that was

406
00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:10.720
probably part of the whole that was
dug last year and even the year before,

407
00:28:10.759 --> 00:28:12.799
where people are like, you know, these people don't even really treat

408
00:28:12.839 --> 00:28:17.000
this like a real league. You
know, from a media standpoint, it

409
00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:22.160
was certainly obvious, and you know, I would imagine that that translated in

410
00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:25.440
how the media talks to fans.
If they talk to them at all about

411
00:28:25.480 --> 00:28:32.319
your product and and in fan perception
as well after that, respectfully, yes,

412
00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:34.240
and they. I do enjoy having
the USFL teams, you know,

413
00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:38.440
having people respond. I like the
media portal. Not all raps they're created

414
00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:41.519
equal, right, I mean you
get a little bit about that. But

415
00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:45.640
like even even in terms of that, you know, I get I get

416
00:28:45.640 --> 00:28:48.640
the press release every week, Like, hey, Arlington, they're doing a

417
00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:51.880
practice. If you want to come
at nine, film the first thirty minutes,

418
00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:55.039
and then Bob Stoops is going to
be around at twelve twenty, and

419
00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:57.920
then you know, Luis Prez whatever
at twelve thirty. I would love to

420
00:28:57.960 --> 00:29:02.839
meet a single media that's going to
go to the Arlington Renegade's game or a

421
00:29:02.920 --> 00:29:04.640
practice, you know, on a
Wednesday at nine, Like I used to

422
00:29:04.680 --> 00:29:07.640
do that for the Seahawks and we'd
go film and you'd go to the first

423
00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:11.440
ten minutes and then yeah, you'd
sit around because you're waiting to talk to

424
00:29:11.559 --> 00:29:14.640
you know, Russell Wilson or whatever. Right, I don't I don't know

425
00:29:14.920 --> 00:29:17.599
if we're at that point yet,
ses I. I appreciate it, you

426
00:29:17.640 --> 00:29:19.359
know, the access in that way. I would be curious that the number

427
00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:22.599
of people that are taking advantage of
that, and it's hard with the hub.

428
00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:26.000
You know that that is one of
the difficulties that the hub introduces,

429
00:29:26.759 --> 00:29:33.359
as much as it certainly saves them
on the cost side, that exposure in

430
00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:37.559
the local markets is part of the
price that they pay for that, and

431
00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:42.880
I you know, that's one of
the areas I think that they really need

432
00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:48.279
to continue to do some thinking about
how you get exposure in the local market.

433
00:29:48.039 --> 00:29:52.680
Does that mean you fly a select
group of players in a day early

434
00:29:52.759 --> 00:29:59.119
to the local market just to meet
great do all those things that you would

435
00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:03.599
do if you were low goalie based
your cheer team. Are they always around

436
00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:08.680
and available treated well so that they're
more than willing to go to parades in

437
00:30:08.759 --> 00:30:14.759
different other things just to keep your
name and your brand out there. You

438
00:30:14.759 --> 00:30:18.359
know, it is one of those
things that the league has to overcome.

439
00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:22.640
And you know, setting up video
meetings is certainly helpful. It does allow

440
00:30:22.680 --> 00:30:27.680
local media to interact, So there
are some options, but they are going

441
00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:34.920
to have to get creative not only
in how you really help the press connect

442
00:30:36.039 --> 00:30:40.920
with the team members, but in
how you maintain a local presence in the

443
00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:45.240
market when you're really only there a
day or two five times a year.

444
00:30:45.079 --> 00:30:48.319
I think that's really hard. And
I think that's what I've learned this season

445
00:30:49.079 --> 00:30:52.759
with having all the reps and everything. And we'll start winding this conversation down

446
00:30:52.759 --> 00:30:56.880
here, seeing I appreciate your time. You know, it is that it's

447
00:30:56.960 --> 00:31:00.559
you know, I go on the
I don't have time. I'm a to

448
00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:03.759
like do all Hey it's Wednesday or
whatever on the zoom. You know,

449
00:31:03.799 --> 00:31:06.839
I try my best, and I'll
look at the recordings afterwards. Uh.

450
00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:08.559
You know, you might have three
people on there, right, you might

451
00:31:08.640 --> 00:31:11.799
have two people on there talking to
whoever, Like I don't uh, you

452
00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:15.400
know, not being in the markets
besides the fans stuff. And they do

453
00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:18.000
a good job. I think,
like, hey, we're doing the thing

454
00:31:18.039 --> 00:31:21.640
a meet and greet like right before. You know, they try to do

455
00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:25.000
some things that way little town halls
and stuff. But yeah, getting the

456
00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:26.720
media. I know Anthony was at
the Renegades game, I think it was

457
00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:30.839
last week, Like I think he
said there were seven people in the press

458
00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:33.279
box, which just is not a
not a bird in the And that's and

459
00:31:33.319 --> 00:31:36.759
that's the hub that you're in.
Let alone, you know, what does

460
00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:38.359
Michigan look like? I haven't had
a chance to go. You know,

461
00:31:38.359 --> 00:31:41.640
I always at the kickoff game obviously, but you know, I imagine Saint

462
00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:45.359
Louis is packed. I imagine DC
has packed, like I don't know what

463
00:31:45.400 --> 00:31:49.559
the Memphis Showboats press box looks like
on game day. Yeah, and that's

464
00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:52.960
tough. It's tough. You know, you're going to have a little bit

465
00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:56.599
limited media buy in because of that. So one of the things that I

466
00:31:56.640 --> 00:32:04.759
am encouraged with is that, and
particularly contrasting last year's USFL teams with this

467
00:32:04.839 --> 00:32:10.079
year's UFL teams, is that you
can get transaction notices, you can get

468
00:32:10.119 --> 00:32:15.319
game notes, you can get game
recaps. You know, these were all

469
00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:20.079
things that were missing out of the
USFL puzzle last year, and last year

470
00:32:20.119 --> 00:32:22.519
they had taken a step up from
the prior year where it was basically,

471
00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:25.680
if we can't release it on Colin
Coward, we're just not going to bother

472
00:32:25.759 --> 00:32:30.640
to release it. So, you
know, they've they've continued to kind of

473
00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:36.920
up those operations. So when I
say that I'm encouraged by the media relations,

474
00:32:36.920 --> 00:32:42.279
there's still there's still a lot of
improvements that could be made, but

475
00:32:42.440 --> 00:32:46.519
they have taken some steps. Oh
yeah, Night and Day compared to especially

476
00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:50.599
with the USFL, and that was
getting because last year they have like the

477
00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:53.920
Hubs had media people and the Yes
having people dedicated the media Portlos all that

478
00:32:53.960 --> 00:32:58.880
stuff. Last note for me,
we were talking TV ratings and all that,

479
00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:01.640
and I know that my Moulba Hill
Wholeville, I can never say this

480
00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:07.440
last night with the Fox Sports guy
tweeting out, you know, like it's

481
00:33:07.799 --> 00:33:12.000
forty seven percent increase whatever, because
they're consolidating all these TV time slots right

482
00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:15.960
giving you know, we're giving Fox
at Nune whatever. What struck me and

483
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.680
curious your thoughts, Like I think
we're learning it doesn't matter if it's the

484
00:33:19.799 --> 00:33:22.960
USFL, the XFL, UFL,
Like if it's on a good time slot,

485
00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:25.160
people are going to watch. Like
I don't know how many now.

486
00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:29.680
I know we've talked this whole you
know, interview about USFL, you know,

487
00:33:29.799 --> 00:33:32.160
hurting their local markets in that way, and I do stand by that,

488
00:33:32.519 --> 00:33:36.880
but I think a general TV audience
is like they don't know if it's

489
00:33:36.920 --> 00:33:38.720
the Stars or the rough, you
know, like, okay, which one

490
00:33:38.799 --> 00:33:43.519
is this league? Which especially like
when the when the leagues were competing last

491
00:33:43.559 --> 00:33:47.039
year during the same time and one
of the big helps in TV ratings so

492
00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:52.039
far is removal of games from USA
and f S one. Now I think

493
00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:55.480
there's an f S one game this
week. This one's going to be rough

494
00:33:55.519 --> 00:34:00.799
this week, that'll be that'll be
the roughest rating. But those ratings were

495
00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:07.640
they dragged down the whole average last
year in the year before, So it

496
00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:12.039
has been very helpful. When you
know you're on ESPN, when you're on

497
00:34:12.119 --> 00:34:15.840
ABC, when you're on Fox,
it does help it. It's a tremendous

498
00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:21.639
boost well. And even I think
just in terms of like you know,

499
00:34:21.800 --> 00:34:24.159
we go to a lot of sports
bars, like even flying back from the

500
00:34:24.280 --> 00:34:29.119
kickoff, sitting down at the airport, the TV is already on ESPN or

501
00:34:29.159 --> 00:34:31.119
whatever. Right, you're not sitting
there like excuse me, like okay,

502
00:34:31.360 --> 00:34:34.960
we don't okay, we don't have
ESPN two or we don't have whatever.

503
00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:38.800
Like it just it being on places
where people are just going to find it

504
00:34:38.920 --> 00:34:42.440
naturally. I think it's such a
boon. And just having it be like

505
00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:45.960
there's always going to be a TV
on Fox or ABC or ESPN at any

506
00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:47.960
bar you're going to walk into it. I think that helps like oh wow,

507
00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:51.719
what's going on? Like that's awesome. That's right. Yep, that

508
00:34:51.840 --> 00:34:54.920
helps a lot. And I think
that, you know, we have this

509
00:34:55.039 --> 00:35:01.599
weird kind of the season when it
started to it's earlier than the USFL started

510
00:35:01.639 --> 00:35:06.239
last year, but later than the
XFL started last year. But I still

511
00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:08.079
think they're missing their window. I
was glad to see that they did take

512
00:35:08.119 --> 00:35:15.679
on the NCAA tournament, and actually
the women's championship proved to be a bigger

513
00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:21.679
hurdle than even the final four games. So I mean the thing that you're

514
00:35:21.679 --> 00:35:25.159
going to have to embrace this competition. You're gonna you're gonna have competition on

515
00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:30.719
TV no matter when. So when
is the best time to hit this?

516
00:35:31.280 --> 00:35:36.880
Right after the Super Bowl, tax
Day, which is what it was last

517
00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:40.320
year for the USFL, or somewhere
in between. I continue to personally believe

518
00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:45.480
that it's right after the Super Bowl. You ride that wave of football and

519
00:35:45.599 --> 00:35:47.440
try to hang on to as much
of it as you can. Yeah,

520
00:35:47.480 --> 00:35:52.239
and I think take on the habits
of people have already built. Right Saturday

521
00:35:52.239 --> 00:35:55.000
morning, I'm sitting around watching football. I'm not you know, whether it's

522
00:35:55.079 --> 00:35:59.599
terrible, I'm not doing anything.
You know, baseball is not on Paul

523
00:35:59.679 --> 00:36:00.800
any else from you I don't want
to take it too much of your time.

524
00:36:00.840 --> 00:36:04.280
I appreciate it today. Anything else
you want to plug or get off

525
00:36:04.320 --> 00:36:07.199
your chest here? No, no, you know, as far as getting

526
00:36:07.239 --> 00:36:10.320
off the chest, probably you know, I was watching. I've watched most

527
00:36:10.360 --> 00:36:15.880
of the games so far, and
this league had five fantastic finishes in a

528
00:36:15.960 --> 00:36:20.599
row, like literally coming down to
the final seconds. You know, a

529
00:36:20.679 --> 00:36:25.400
couple of games this last week were
blowouts, but you know, just tremendous

530
00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:30.920
finishes and it's been super fun to
watch so far. And I think this

531
00:36:31.000 --> 00:36:35.039
story it's been a good storyline of
the season. You know, a couple

532
00:36:35.039 --> 00:36:37.760
of different look at Birmingham coming back
whatever, and DC doesn't look like the

533
00:36:37.800 --> 00:36:40.320
same team they were last year.
And you know, now we have the

534
00:36:40.320 --> 00:36:44.840
san Antonio, the Garber's injury.
Okay, now we got another sign in,

535
00:36:44.920 --> 00:36:46.440
Like what does that look like?
Is you know a week ago,

536
00:36:46.519 --> 00:36:49.719
it looked like san Antonio was going
to be on top of it. You

537
00:36:49.800 --> 00:36:52.400
know, that's our team here at
the marcass and I chose so you know,

538
00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:55.519
there's there's enough little things like that
going on. It seemed like,

539
00:36:57.280 --> 00:37:00.840
especially the overlap last year where I
got sixteen teams trying to keep track of.

540
00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:04.559
I'm like, I don't, I
can't process all these storylines right And

541
00:37:04.679 --> 00:37:07.800
the AID at least right now feels
good in that way. And that was

542
00:37:07.880 --> 00:37:10.880
really tough, you know, and
you know when you looked at the disadvantage

543
00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:15.480
that I think that served up to
the USFL because you had the XFL entering

544
00:37:15.519 --> 00:37:19.760
its playoff stretch, and so how
much you know, if I have limited

545
00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:22.480
time, how much am I going
to pay attention in the league in its

546
00:37:22.519 --> 00:37:27.440
first week or two of the regular
season versus how much am I going to

547
00:37:27.440 --> 00:37:31.199
pay attention when it's coming down to
the line for the playoffs? And the

548
00:37:31.320 --> 00:37:37.320
XFL. I thought that a fantastic
job last year with the presentation and bringing

549
00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:43.880
that whole season to a conclusion,
where the USFL maybe they were trying to

550
00:37:43.880 --> 00:37:46.719
do the same thing as they had
last year, only in four different places

551
00:37:47.239 --> 00:37:53.840
and it just didn't necessarily translate all
that well. So it has been nice

552
00:37:53.840 --> 00:37:58.639
to be able to concentrate attention,
but I'm kind of running into the you

553
00:37:58.639 --> 00:38:01.760
know, now it's starting to get
nice outside, and now it's starting to

554
00:38:01.800 --> 00:38:07.280
get really busy, and so not
through any conscious effort to avoid games,

555
00:38:07.320 --> 00:38:12.760
I'm going to start missing some of
them. You know, it was spring

556
00:38:12.800 --> 00:38:14.920
break and people are gone, and
I was, you know, I'm trying

557
00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:16.559
to keep up traveling so I can
talk about the games when we get back.

558
00:38:16.559 --> 00:38:20.800
No, I totally agree with that
last point. For me, I

559
00:38:20.840 --> 00:38:24.280
think going into next season, I
would I don't know if we need this,

560
00:38:24.360 --> 00:38:28.960
but I think adding the team or
two. I hate talking the expansion,

561
00:38:29.000 --> 00:38:31.320
but I think having it feel like
this, you know that this speaks

562
00:38:31.360 --> 00:38:35.039
to the success of the league,
like we're moving on and this is a

563
00:38:35.079 --> 00:38:37.880
conversation down the line. But I
think they got to have some sort of

564
00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:42.239
hook where the USFL going from one
hub to you know, three and a

565
00:38:42.280 --> 00:38:45.719
half or whatever with the can thing, Like, I didn't feel like that

566
00:38:45.800 --> 00:38:49.960
was enough of a hook going into
the next season. And I think that

567
00:38:49.960 --> 00:38:54.800
that that might be the greatest call. The greatest reason maybe keep teams around

568
00:38:54.840 --> 00:39:00.320
for next year is so that you
do see actual expansion and not relocation kind

569
00:39:00.320 --> 00:39:01.760
of answer some of those doubts.
So, oh, you know, if

570
00:39:01.800 --> 00:39:05.079
we struggle right out of the gate, here are we going to get our

571
00:39:05.119 --> 00:39:08.239
team inked? It gives you know, a year under the belt at least

572
00:39:08.239 --> 00:39:15.679
before maybe you'd move somebody or or
whatever, just to you know, just

573
00:39:15.719 --> 00:39:19.960
to make the new markets feel better
about themselves and about the patience that's going

574
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:23.920
to be displayed. But I think
if you would expand it all part of

575
00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:29.800
that is you've already answered some of
those questions. You've already have some some

576
00:39:29.920 --> 00:39:35.079
good corporate support with sponsorships, you
already have an interested fan base. So

577
00:39:35.320 --> 00:39:39.280
choosing those, you know, expansion
markets would be you know, making good

578
00:39:39.360 --> 00:39:44.559
choices there would be very important.
Well, Paul, I appreciate it.

579
00:39:44.599 --> 00:39:47.760
Our sport Central statscrew dot Com appreciate
it. We'll get you back on again.

580
00:39:47.800 --> 00:39:51.760
But always it means all you taking
the time. All right, thank

581
00:39:51.760 --> 00:39:55.760
you so much for having me on
RED. Great to talk with you.

582
00:39:59.000 --> 00:40:01.119
Well, it's been a lot long
time since we found this gentleman on It

583
00:40:01.159 --> 00:40:06.400
was you and Farhan wandering through the
VC Lions dead here at Great Cup.

584
00:40:06.599 --> 00:40:10.280
Internet issues aside, we have Dave
Naylor here, TSN Insider, CFL everything

585
00:40:10.280 --> 00:40:14.400
else. David, how are you
very well? Other than the internet issues?

586
00:40:14.400 --> 00:40:15.360
I was just having there, but
I think we got them sorted out

587
00:40:15.440 --> 00:40:19.880
there, you go. That's a
good I got Matt mccrane logging on.

588
00:40:19.960 --> 00:40:22.519
I got to do it. I'm
gonna. I'm sitting into my other chat

589
00:40:22.599 --> 00:40:24.159
right here when he hops on me
to tell hi're running a few minutes late,

590
00:40:24.199 --> 00:40:29.920
So I appre I appreciate that,
man. So we're getting ready CFL

591
00:40:30.039 --> 00:40:32.719
everything else going on. We were
talking a little bit of like the NFL

592
00:40:32.840 --> 00:40:36.159
kickoff and all that. Where do
you want to start what's on your mind

593
00:40:36.239 --> 00:40:40.280
right now? Well, let's start
with a kickoff, because I think that's

594
00:40:40.639 --> 00:40:45.559
that's a you know, I was
at the CFL combine where they were talking

595
00:40:45.599 --> 00:40:50.400
about all that, and it was
funny because I don't think people really knew

596
00:40:50.400 --> 00:40:54.159
how close the NFL was to moving
it's kickoff like five days later, right

597
00:40:54.199 --> 00:40:58.320
Like I made some it was sort
of references to, like, you know,

598
00:40:58.360 --> 00:41:00.360
the NFL is going to talk about
this maybe like as early as next

599
00:41:00.440 --> 00:41:05.199
week, and then they pulled the
trigger a week later. So I'm kind

600
00:41:05.199 --> 00:41:08.440
of interested in how that may have
influenced the CFL's decision one way or another.

601
00:41:08.480 --> 00:41:15.440
And I think it's always been a
different discussion because kickoffs and just the

602
00:41:15.480 --> 00:41:19.760
return game in general is so much
a bigger part of Canadian football, and

603
00:41:19.800 --> 00:41:22.480
it's more celebrated and returners are more
stars. Some of the greatest stars in

604
00:41:22.480 --> 00:41:27.000
the league and the NFL because they
kind of face it out slowly every time,

605
00:41:27.679 --> 00:41:30.679
and because those those players in the
history of the game have not been

606
00:41:30.719 --> 00:41:34.920
as prominent relative to the other players
in the league as they are in the

607
00:41:35.119 --> 00:41:39.519
in the CFL. So there's a
lot of sensitivity about this. And the

608
00:41:39.599 --> 00:41:44.119
curious thing to me is you see
fans on Twitter and things like this,

609
00:41:44.159 --> 00:41:49.079
they seem to think the league has
some agenda to get rid of an exciting

610
00:41:49.119 --> 00:41:52.480
play that has nothing to do with
injuries. I don't know what that agenda

611
00:41:52.519 --> 00:41:54.480
would be. I don't know why. You know, the commissioner and the

612
00:41:55.079 --> 00:42:00.039
different the different people in the rules
committee and competition comties would yeah, let's

613
00:42:00.039 --> 00:42:04.159
get kickoff returns out of the game. It doesn't make any sense to me.

614
00:42:04.719 --> 00:42:08.159
But I do think there is a
greater sensitivity to the fact to the

615
00:42:08.199 --> 00:42:12.840
idea of removing them. Now,
you're still gonna get a lot more punting

616
00:42:12.880 --> 00:42:15.199
in the CFL than you do in
the NFL, and you have no fair

617
00:42:15.280 --> 00:42:17.679
catch, so it's not like the
return game is going to disappear. But

618
00:42:17.840 --> 00:42:22.000
I mean, there's two proposals I
think they're looking at. One is that

619
00:42:22.079 --> 00:42:24.719
you would give teams the option to
scrimmage on the forty yard line as opposed

620
00:42:24.719 --> 00:42:29.800
to accepting a kickoff, which they
already have for field goals, and ninety

621
00:42:29.880 --> 00:42:32.159
six percent of the time last year
teams took the ball in the forty as

622
00:42:32.159 --> 00:42:37.639
opposed to a return. So you're
gonna basically wipe out returns after touchdowns,

623
00:42:37.679 --> 00:42:40.679
I think we can say pretty safely. And then again, the only time

624
00:42:40.719 --> 00:42:44.679
you don't give that choice is the
final three minutes of a game because that

625
00:42:45.360 --> 00:42:49.440
protects the on side kick. But
the other possibility is looking at a version

626
00:42:49.480 --> 00:42:52.280
of what the NFL just did,
you know, the XFL model. I

627
00:42:52.280 --> 00:42:54.440
think that one is on the table
as well, and whether they would make

628
00:42:54.440 --> 00:42:58.880
some tweaks do it or come up
with their own the buzz I'm hearing read

629
00:42:59.760 --> 00:43:02.880
is and I think this is smart
that the league is probably going to strike

630
00:43:02.920 --> 00:43:07.960
a committee and study this for a
year, which would allow them to see

631
00:43:07.960 --> 00:43:12.079
what happens in the NFL. It
allowed them to look at their own data

632
00:43:12.159 --> 00:43:16.440
a little closer, and I think
it's just it's such a fundamental thing.

633
00:43:17.400 --> 00:43:22.239
The CFL has been around Canadian football, and one form around another has been

634
00:43:22.280 --> 00:43:24.239
around for you know, over one
hundred years, so there's not this.

635
00:43:24.679 --> 00:43:28.719
You know, we got to get
this done before kickoff twenty twenty four,

636
00:43:28.880 --> 00:43:30.599
right, I mean, the game
has survived for a long time. But

637
00:43:30.840 --> 00:43:35.000
I do believe that, you know, this is being driven by the same

638
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:37.679
thing in the end that is driven
by in the NFL. The rate of

639
00:43:37.719 --> 00:43:43.880
injuries on these plays is substantially higher. That costs roster churn. That's bad

640
00:43:43.920 --> 00:43:46.960
for players, that's bad for owners
who have to replace injured players. It's

641
00:43:47.000 --> 00:43:51.360
just one of those things that I
think it was kind of naive to think

642
00:43:51.400 --> 00:43:53.400
that the NFL was going to go
here, college football was going to go

643
00:43:53.440 --> 00:43:58.079
here. But in the CFL,
we're fine. Like I said to somebody,

644
00:43:58.199 --> 00:44:00.880
it's like saying that, you know, if you smoke a cigarette in

645
00:44:00.880 --> 00:44:02.920
Buffalo, it's bad for you,
but you can do it in Toronto.

646
00:44:04.079 --> 00:44:07.119
Like, it just doesn't make sense. And the physics are a little different

647
00:44:07.119 --> 00:44:10.000
in the two games, but not
that dramatically different. So I'm not surprised

648
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.599
the CFL is is dealing with this
issue. Well, it's it's the same

649
00:44:14.639 --> 00:44:19.880
irony where the the UFL now is
using the and even and even more elongated

650
00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.840
NFL kickoff. I say it's bizarre
right that that the the alternative spring league

651
00:44:24.840 --> 00:44:30.000
football, we can call it.
That is the inspiration for the most substantial

652
00:44:30.079 --> 00:44:34.280
change we've seen to the NFL game
in I don't know in my lifetime,

653
00:44:34.599 --> 00:44:37.239
just in terms of, you know
what, how often you're gonna see it,

654
00:44:37.760 --> 00:44:40.599
and the league that developed it isn't
using it's kind of you know what.

655
00:44:40.639 --> 00:44:42.920
It reminds me. It is like, you know, you're gonna put

656
00:44:42.960 --> 00:44:45.079
a piece of furniture out to your
curve and somebody comes over five minutes later

657
00:44:45.159 --> 00:44:50.119
and like takes it away. It's
I feel like the UFL kind of or

658
00:44:50.159 --> 00:44:52.800
the XFL put its kickoff out to
the curve and the NFL came along in

659
00:44:52.800 --> 00:44:57.599
the dumped in a pickup truck and
said, oh take that. It's it's

660
00:44:57.599 --> 00:45:00.039
funny And I know you're busy,
man, but I did. We We

661
00:45:00.079 --> 00:45:02.159
had Darryl Johnston on that week before
the week of the kickoff, and it

662
00:45:02.320 --> 00:45:06.320
was very interesting kind of hearing his
thoughts on all of that. So you

663
00:45:06.360 --> 00:45:07.920
know, it's a little bit of
egg in the face on that, but

664
00:45:08.159 --> 00:45:13.559
certainly you know they're doing the best
they can. Hey, look, I

665
00:45:13.840 --> 00:45:17.840
think that I think if everybody recognizes
that one of the real opportunities that spring

666
00:45:17.880 --> 00:45:22.119
football brings about is to experiment with
stuff, right, and people people forget

667
00:45:22.199 --> 00:45:25.360
and correct me if I'm wrong in
this, because you're the the XFL expert.

668
00:45:25.360 --> 00:45:30.159
But I mean that camera shot you
know above the kittle, Yeah,

669
00:45:30.199 --> 00:45:32.039
like we use that all the time, right, and the NFL uses it

670
00:45:32.159 --> 00:45:37.360
ubiquitously, And that was an XFL
in you know, invention. So I

671
00:45:37.400 --> 00:45:43.119
do think it's great to have leagues
that you know, can can try stuff

672
00:45:43.119 --> 00:45:45.840
that maybe established leagues are a little
afraid to try, you know. And

673
00:45:45.320 --> 00:45:49.159
by the way, on the XFL
kickoff, I loved it the first time

674
00:45:49.199 --> 00:45:52.119
I saw it. You know,
I was always surprised, especially with the

675
00:45:52.599 --> 00:45:57.119
you know, the grumbling in the
NFL, that that didn't get more attention.

676
00:45:57.280 --> 00:46:00.840
Obviously, it was getting a lot
more attention behind the scenes that anybody

677
00:46:00.880 --> 00:46:02.639
knew, because you know, they
didn't go from zero to one hundred on

678
00:46:02.679 --> 00:46:06.280
this in a month, right,
They've obviously been looking at this for a

679
00:46:06.280 --> 00:46:09.840
long time. And you know,
major rule changes often take like a tipping

680
00:46:09.840 --> 00:46:15.239
point, and I think for the
NFL it was you know, eleven kickoffs

681
00:46:15.239 --> 00:46:16.440
in the Super Bowl that all sailed
to the end zone. I mean,

682
00:46:16.480 --> 00:46:21.079
like, what are we doing?
Uh? In terms of moving on to

683
00:46:21.239 --> 00:46:23.599
some other CFL stuff, In terms
of the Chad Kelly's of it all,

684
00:46:23.840 --> 00:46:30.800
has anyone thought of just deleting Twitter, maybe pulling back his film like this

685
00:46:30.920 --> 00:46:32.480
is this is all I've seen the
last couple of weeks. What's going on

686
00:46:32.559 --> 00:46:37.559
with this? Yeah? I have
reason to believe that that Chad Kelly has

687
00:46:37.599 --> 00:46:45.639
probably been advised too, you know, use discretion on social media, but

688
00:46:46.000 --> 00:46:51.960
he's obviously not not doing so to
the degree that people would want him to.

689
00:46:52.480 --> 00:46:57.800
I think this is a real tough
story for a few reasons, including,

690
00:46:58.679 --> 00:47:01.159
you know, the presumption of anis
which we have to maintain. And

691
00:47:01.280 --> 00:47:08.280
I know that a lot of people
are looking at Chad's history of questionable decision

692
00:47:08.360 --> 00:47:12.360
making and saying, well, this
lines up with you know, who he

693
00:47:12.519 --> 00:47:15.800
was before he came to Canada.
And again, I think we got to

694
00:47:15.840 --> 00:47:20.719
try to be fair and objective and
allow him the presumption of innocent as as

695
00:47:20.920 --> 00:47:28.400
innocence as we discussed this, but
it's we it's it's strange because Chad Kelly

696
00:47:28.480 --> 00:47:30.960
was a guy who the moment he
came here. I think people were kind

697
00:47:30.960 --> 00:47:34.039
of I don't say, holding their
breath, but keeping their fingers crossed.

698
00:47:34.719 --> 00:47:37.039
And that's not so much about him. I would just say the history of

699
00:47:37.519 --> 00:47:45.480
players who've been out of the NFL
largely for behavioral reasons or character questions and

700
00:47:45.559 --> 00:47:50.199
come to Canada, usually those kinds
of things follow them here. It tends

701
00:47:50.239 --> 00:47:54.039
not to get left at the border. And Chad Kelly for you know,

702
00:47:54.360 --> 00:48:00.480
two full seasons. I mean,
what was the most controversial thing he did?

703
00:48:00.719 --> 00:48:05.719
He went on radio last winter and
said he'd love to play for the

704
00:48:05.719 --> 00:48:08.480
Saskatchewan rough Riders while he was still
under contract to the Toronto arganized that would

705
00:48:08.519 --> 00:48:13.280
probably be, you know, the
most controversial thing he did, right,

706
00:48:14.800 --> 00:48:19.840
And then you know there's the bad
performance in the Eastern Final, and bad

707
00:48:19.960 --> 00:48:23.719
is a mild world. I mean, I've just I've never seen a player's

708
00:48:23.800 --> 00:48:30.159
playoff performance that was so unrecognizable from
what he'd done consistently in the regular season

709
00:48:30.199 --> 00:48:32.840
on any team at any level of
my life. I just, you put

710
00:48:32.880 --> 00:48:37.760
that game up against everything else Jad
Kelly did, It's unrecognizable. I think

711
00:48:37.840 --> 00:48:44.519
you just I think he just threw
another interception right now. It was it

712
00:48:44.559 --> 00:48:46.679
was unreal, and not just the
numbers of interceptions, but if he actually

713
00:48:46.760 --> 00:48:52.440
watched the plays. They are textbook
awful, right, And I'm not a

714
00:48:52.880 --> 00:48:54.599
break it down kind of guy,
but even I can see that when you're

715
00:48:54.599 --> 00:48:59.079
looking one way of the field and
you pivot and throw off your back foot

716
00:48:59.119 --> 00:49:00.840
on the other to the other side
of the field, you know, off

717
00:49:00.920 --> 00:49:07.719
balance, you're probably gonna get picked
anyway. Then you have you know,

718
00:49:07.960 --> 00:49:12.159
before he was named the league's MOP, he has the concussion story that he

719
00:49:12.280 --> 00:49:15.559
was concussed and that's why he left
the field afterwards without shaking hands. Well,

720
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.880
I can tell you given the sensitivity
of that issue, the league went

721
00:49:19.960 --> 00:49:25.840
through the tape play by play play
by play to try to find any play

722
00:49:27.280 --> 00:49:31.039
where Chad Kelly might have been concussed. They did not find one. And

723
00:49:31.039 --> 00:49:36.719
and I think if you you know, look at his you know whereabouts in

724
00:49:36.760 --> 00:49:40.400
the days that followed that game,
he wasn't necessarily those weren't the actions of

725
00:49:40.440 --> 00:49:43.639
somebody who was dealing with a serious
head injuries. So what I was saying,

726
00:49:43.639 --> 00:49:47.679
so I just say the league,
and I believe he signed his h

727
00:49:49.039 --> 00:49:51.039
at the end of the season,
and you have to sign your exit that

728
00:49:51.039 --> 00:49:53.440
you're healthy. He signed that.
So that was kind of a lot of

729
00:49:53.480 --> 00:49:57.280
people in the league looked at that
and went, wow, what's going on

730
00:49:57.360 --> 00:50:00.599
there? And now you have the
civil suit, which again we can't really

731
00:50:00.639 --> 00:50:06.400
comment on, but we can comment
on his social media presence, and you

732
00:50:06.440 --> 00:50:10.559
know, like the video he made
during the CFL combine where he went on

733
00:50:10.639 --> 00:50:15.440
and dropped a bunch of f bombs, and I would say, objectively,

734
00:50:15.519 --> 00:50:21.760
I would describe him as showing a
complete lack of self awareness. I'm comfortable

735
00:50:21.760 --> 00:50:24.199
with that description of what he looked
like on that video. I mean,

736
00:50:24.599 --> 00:50:30.039
that's the face of your franchise,
that's the mop of your league. Like

737
00:50:30.119 --> 00:50:35.559
that is behavior and conduct that is
so out of touch with your role,

738
00:50:36.280 --> 00:50:40.039
you know, And that again,
I think it just kind of raised questions

739
00:50:40.079 --> 00:50:45.320
about where his hat is at that
he would think that that was appropriate or

740
00:50:45.360 --> 00:50:51.000
acceptable. And then since then you've
had kind of cryptic tweets. You know,

741
00:50:51.719 --> 00:50:53.360
that can be read a whole bunch
of different ways. But again,

742
00:50:53.840 --> 00:51:00.039
for somebody who's facing potentially you know, a legal situation, or he is

743
00:51:00.079 --> 00:51:05.519
facing a legal situation and is also
facing the court of public opinion, which

744
00:51:05.559 --> 00:51:09.119
in this case is you know a
big one for him because a lot of

745
00:51:09.239 --> 00:51:13.400
again a lot of people are judging
him and saying, this is the guy

746
00:51:13.480 --> 00:51:15.719
we heard about before he came to
the CFL. Now we're seeing it.

747
00:51:16.000 --> 00:51:20.639
And every time he puts out one
of those tweets, it kind of moves

748
00:51:20.679 --> 00:51:24.960
people more in that direction. So
I think I asked the CFL Players Association

749
00:51:25.039 --> 00:51:28.199
about it when I was at the
combine. They said, Look, we

750
00:51:28.199 --> 00:51:30.960
don't proactively reach out and tell players
what to do or not do. We're

751
00:51:31.000 --> 00:51:36.519
here to accept their requests for help
or guidance or counseling or whatever they need.

752
00:51:36.599 --> 00:51:38.639
We're here for them, but we
don't, you know, identify guys

753
00:51:38.679 --> 00:51:40.880
and go out out for them and
say hey, what are you doing?

754
00:51:42.320 --> 00:51:45.360
That would be more the role of
his employer or the league. And I

755
00:51:45.400 --> 00:51:51.800
don't know that that's happened, but
I would be surprised if there haven't been

756
00:51:51.800 --> 00:51:53.440
efforts to try to get them off
social media. And I also wouldn't be

757
00:51:53.480 --> 00:51:58.719
surprised if he's ignored them. Yeah, because then and the last thing was

758
00:51:58.719 --> 00:52:02.039
obviously the Caitlin Clark hurt getting the
contract coming out in him saying like,

759
00:52:02.079 --> 00:52:07.679
oh that's CFL money. I saw
Nathan Wurk tweet out, you know,

760
00:52:07.840 --> 00:52:10.440
kind of the league taking too long? Is this just time, and yeah,

761
00:52:10.639 --> 00:52:14.400
I don't quite get that, and
I'm not gonna be I think the

762
00:52:14.480 --> 00:52:19.280
league's messaging on this one hasn't been
great. Like it took what several days

763
00:52:19.360 --> 00:52:23.000
until the suit was filed, till
they had a statement, Chad tweeted out

764
00:52:23.000 --> 00:52:27.880
a denial and then it got deleted, and you know, the argos haven't

765
00:52:27.920 --> 00:52:30.679
really said much and I don't know
what they can say, but it feels

766
00:52:30.719 --> 00:52:34.880
like there should be a little more
clarity about what's going on right now.

767
00:52:34.920 --> 00:52:37.039
And I don't know if you can
put him on and administrative as offseason right

768
00:52:37.039 --> 00:52:39.679
so, I don't know what putting
him on a leave does, but even

769
00:52:39.719 --> 00:52:44.280
symbolically, that might show that you're
a little more proactive that hey, until

770
00:52:44.280 --> 00:52:47.719
we can clear this matter up,
we put Chad Kelly on a whatever suspended

771
00:52:47.719 --> 00:52:51.760
list, whatever it may be.
It doesn't really affect anything because there's no

772
00:52:51.800 --> 00:52:55.119
off season for the CFL anyway,
but it would least sort of clarify maybe

773
00:52:55.159 --> 00:53:00.440
a little bit where where they stand. But beyond that, I don't I

774
00:53:00.440 --> 00:53:02.079
don't have a ton of criticism for
the league, and particularly on the it's

775
00:53:02.119 --> 00:53:08.400
taking too long part here right Like
the league has hired an independent investigation to

776
00:53:08.440 --> 00:53:12.079
be done on this, okay,
which I think people would say is probably

777
00:53:12.079 --> 00:53:16.000
the right course, right. And
look, I don't know if Chad Kelly

778
00:53:16.039 --> 00:53:20.400
is going to get favorable judgment because
he's a starting quarterback and the highest paid

779
00:53:20.400 --> 00:53:22.199
player in the league, in the
MOP, I would hope not. But

780
00:53:22.239 --> 00:53:27.719
I can tell you he's getting a
different process because we have seen other players

781
00:53:27.719 --> 00:53:32.039
who've been involved in situations, and
the league by and large has acted very

782
00:53:32.119 --> 00:53:37.000
quickly without very long process, which
is their right to do, I guess,

783
00:53:37.039 --> 00:53:38.440
unless they want, if they want, you know, they to the

784
00:53:38.480 --> 00:53:44.519
point that they could be sued by
somebody if that person thought they were acting

785
00:53:44.559 --> 00:53:47.400
inappropriately. So, but we can
clearly say that Chad Kelly is getting a

786
00:53:47.480 --> 00:53:52.239
different process. He is getting a
much more thorough process. And I don't

787
00:53:52.280 --> 00:53:54.840
have a problem with the league saying, hey, you know this is this

788
00:53:54.920 --> 00:54:00.400
is a guy who has tremendous importance
to our franchise in our biggest city where

789
00:54:00.440 --> 00:54:02.840
we've been trying to gain traction.
This is a guy who is tremendous important

790
00:54:02.840 --> 00:54:07.719
to our league. He's our reigning
MOP. We're going to take our time

791
00:54:08.039 --> 00:54:12.480
and step back and let somebody else
deliver us a report on this. I

792
00:54:13.000 --> 00:54:15.119
again, I, I mean,
do we want the league to rush this?

793
00:54:15.199 --> 00:54:19.000
I don't, you know, I
don't necessarily feel that way. So

794
00:54:20.280 --> 00:54:23.280
that's what they're doing. I asked
Randy and Brosie the commissioner about this at

795
00:54:23.280 --> 00:54:27.519
the combine, and he said,
we're not going to act or comment until

796
00:54:27.519 --> 00:54:30.239
we get that report. And that
seems like a legitimate position to me.

797
00:54:30.840 --> 00:54:37.280
I guess the question is when's that
report coming now? Because we're like a

798
00:54:37.320 --> 00:54:38.960
month away from training camp, less
than a month away from the opening a

799
00:54:39.039 --> 00:54:45.199
training camp, and you know,
you think that a decision has got to

800
00:54:45.239 --> 00:54:50.199
come down before or that that report
and the league's decision based on that report

801
00:54:50.360 --> 00:54:52.679
has to come down before the start
of training camp. So we're all kind

802
00:54:52.679 --> 00:54:55.719
of waiting to see where this is
going to go. And I, you

803
00:54:55.719 --> 00:55:00.840
know, I would expect that,
you know, this may be framed from

804
00:55:00.880 --> 00:55:05.199
the league's perspective as kind of an
HR issue. I mean, it's there's

805
00:55:05.239 --> 00:55:08.000
not a criminal accusation here, right, there's a there's a there's a civil

806
00:55:08.079 --> 00:55:13.800
suit, and the descriptions that are
in that suit, you know, we'd

807
00:55:13.880 --> 00:55:16.679
sort of line up with inappropriate behavior
in the workplace. Right. So,

808
00:55:19.159 --> 00:55:22.119
is that is that the framework that
the league's or the argos are going to

809
00:55:22.199 --> 00:55:24.599
use to do with this. I
don't know, but I think I think

810
00:55:24.599 --> 00:55:29.239
it's just it's an issue that's been
hanging over the whole off season, and

811
00:55:29.280 --> 00:55:31.039
it feels like Chad Kelly's been hanging
over the whole off season when you go

812
00:55:31.079 --> 00:55:36.679
back to the concussion stuff. So
and and I just on a on a

813
00:55:36.719 --> 00:55:40.119
personal level, I'm I'm kind of
sad just to see you know that when

814
00:55:40.119 --> 00:55:44.039
we did a feature on Chad Kelly
a year ago and we were at Jim

815
00:55:44.119 --> 00:55:46.719
Kelly's house and Jim Kelly said,
I would not be doing this if you'd

816
00:55:46.760 --> 00:55:52.599
called me two years ago, because
I didn't really believe Chad had had matured

817
00:55:52.599 --> 00:55:57.119
and seen the light. And it
was my producer, Matt Dunn who wrote

818
00:55:57.119 --> 00:56:02.039
the line in the feature. He
said in there is no past, only

819
00:56:02.079 --> 00:56:06.280
a future. That was the line
that I thought was kind of the line

820
00:56:06.320 --> 00:56:08.039
of the piece, right, that
Chad Kelly's able to come across the border

821
00:56:08.519 --> 00:56:12.880
and people aren't familiar with all the
things about him from the past. They

822
00:56:12.880 --> 00:56:15.639
don't care. You've got a fresh
slate man run with it. And for

823
00:56:15.840 --> 00:56:20.239
most of two years he did that, and so just on on a personal

824
00:56:20.360 --> 00:56:23.280
level for him, I'm sorry that, you know, he's kind of his

825
00:56:23.360 --> 00:56:28.280
behavior has become you know, a
little worrisome. I particularly when you see

826
00:56:28.280 --> 00:56:30.960
that video. I mean, that
video is just you cannot do that as

827
00:56:31.000 --> 00:56:36.039
a starting quarterback in the Canadian football
day. That cannot be your representation.

828
00:56:36.239 --> 00:56:39.000
And again I don't know what the
argos of the league are going to do

829
00:56:39.039 --> 00:56:44.920
about it, but it's not certainly
anything that would be considered acceptable. Rapid

830
00:56:44.960 --> 00:56:49.280
fire last one here, because I
got to hop over Elk Sail everything what's

831
00:56:49.320 --> 00:56:52.159
going on with that? And then
we're trying to privatize and like I think

832
00:56:52.199 --> 00:56:55.159
we're I think we're about a week
away maybe or within the next week from

833
00:56:55.239 --> 00:57:00.840
the sale of the Elks being slimmed
down to a short list. And it

834
00:57:00.880 --> 00:57:02.840
made me a long short list.
I Mean. One of the things I

835
00:57:02.840 --> 00:57:06.800
think you always got to remember these
situations is, you know, read you

836
00:57:06.840 --> 00:57:09.280
and I can put our hand out, form a partnership and sign a non

837
00:57:09.320 --> 00:57:13.840
disclosure agreement and get all the financials
of the Elks and say we want to

838
00:57:13.840 --> 00:57:15.079
buy them, right, I mean, basically, if you knock at their

839
00:57:15.119 --> 00:57:20.360
door and look presentable, you're going
to be given an opportunity to look at

840
00:57:20.360 --> 00:57:24.039
it. So you know, I
reported the number was more than a dozen

841
00:57:25.039 --> 00:57:29.480
individuals or groups had looked forward.
And I think, you know, part

842
00:57:29.519 --> 00:57:35.440
of the part of my role in
reporting that, I think from the Elks

843
00:57:35.440 --> 00:57:38.480
perspective is they kind of wanted everybody
in Canada to know about this, right

844
00:57:38.599 --> 00:57:43.920
like they they understand that that tsn
is is a platform that's widely read,

845
00:57:43.960 --> 00:57:47.360
particularly for CFL, and I think
they weren't unhappy to have me reporting on

846
00:57:47.400 --> 00:57:52.519
that because they knew that anybody wasn't
aware that the Elks were for sale.

847
00:57:52.840 --> 00:57:55.519
Now might be it's a real fascinating
sale. And I'll tell you first of

848
00:57:55.519 --> 00:57:59.159
all, and again somebody else told
me who I trust, that the number

849
00:57:59.199 --> 00:58:01.000
was nine got up to nineteen.
I don't know what it is now and

850
00:58:01.039 --> 00:58:04.440
I don't know what the short list
will be. But you know, for

851
00:58:04.440 --> 00:58:07.440
a league that's been used to having
fire sales or distress sales or hoping somebody

852
00:58:07.440 --> 00:58:12.119
comes to the rescue, this is
not that. But here's the interesting thing.

853
00:58:12.280 --> 00:58:15.000
People ask, well, what's the
franchise going to sell for? Well,

854
00:58:15.039 --> 00:58:17.079
it's owned by a nonprofit. It's
not even clear where the money would

855
00:58:17.159 --> 00:58:22.000
go if somebody paid ten million dollars, twenty million dollars, thirty million dollars

856
00:58:22.039 --> 00:58:25.760
for the Edmonston Elks. Paying it
to the nonprofit makes no sense because there's

857
00:58:25.760 --> 00:58:29.559
nowhere for it to go. It
doesn't get divided among the board. So

858
00:58:29.639 --> 00:58:32.719
I think where the negotiation is going
to come in here is how much are

859
00:58:32.719 --> 00:58:37.920
you willing to invest in the team
in a new stadium, in the facilities,

860
00:58:37.039 --> 00:58:40.519
in the infrastructure, in you know, raising the team's profile and driving

861
00:58:40.519 --> 00:58:44.920
the season ticket base. That's going
to be the negotiating point. I think.

862
00:58:44.960 --> 00:58:46.760
So you can see a situation where
you know, the franchise fee is

863
00:58:46.920 --> 00:58:51.280
a dollar whatever, you know,
it just disappears into into the ether.

864
00:58:52.000 --> 00:58:54.920
But the money number that's going to
matter is if somebody is willing to pay,

865
00:58:55.360 --> 00:58:59.039
you know, thirty million dollars for
the Edmonntson Elks, twenty five million

866
00:58:59.039 --> 00:59:01.360
for the Edmundson Elks, you know, ninety nine percent of that is going

867
00:59:01.400 --> 00:59:05.880
to go to investing on the team, not into the pocket of the current

868
00:59:05.920 --> 00:59:08.159
owners. Because the current owners really
don't have private pockets. So I think

869
00:59:08.159 --> 00:59:12.400
it's a good opportunity for them to
sort of set this right. And I

870
00:59:13.480 --> 00:59:17.960
asked the question of somebody, is
there any chance that this doesn't happen like

871
00:59:19.039 --> 00:59:22.920
this stays as a community owned team
like it has been for seventy five years,

872
00:59:22.239 --> 00:59:27.119
and I was told that the only
scenario would be somebody who has a

873
00:59:27.119 --> 00:59:30.559
ton of money and really really wants
to see the Edmonson Elk State community own

874
00:59:30.639 --> 00:59:35.119
and would donate that money to the
board and say, here you go,

875
00:59:35.519 --> 00:59:37.639
keep running the team. Here's my
thirty million. You know. On,

876
00:59:38.360 --> 00:59:40.280
I don't think that's going to happen. No, I think we're going to

877
00:59:40.320 --> 00:59:44.679
see a private sale. Well there
you go, Dave. Let's get you

878
00:59:44.719 --> 00:59:46.519
on again here. When we got
more stable internet, but it held up

879
00:59:46.559 --> 00:59:50.960
today, we got the data everything
else. I appreciate it. I yeah,

880
00:59:51.000 --> 00:59:52.480
sorry for the delay off the top, but as you know, always

881
00:59:52.519 --> 00:59:55.719
enjoyed Johnny Reed, thanks so much, awesome, thanks and yes, l

882
00:59:57.000 --> 01:00:05.079
it's almost June, that is not
far away. Well, this is kind

883
01:00:05.079 --> 01:00:07.880
of the man of the hour here
for the DC Defenders a great season thus

884
01:00:07.920 --> 01:00:12.280
far and then certainly a killer game
here over the weekend. Amcraid. How

885
01:00:12.320 --> 01:00:14.639
are you doing, sir? I'm
good man. I appreciate you having me

886
01:00:14.679 --> 01:00:17.360
on. It's good. I know
it's trying to get these remote stuff and

887
01:00:17.400 --> 01:00:22.320
with the training camp and hubs and
everything. I appreciate it. You're back

888
01:00:22.320 --> 01:00:25.199
here again, obviously with the Guardians
back in twenty twenty. What is it?

889
01:00:25.599 --> 01:00:30.599
What does it feel like being around
here right now? You know,

890
01:00:30.639 --> 01:00:35.280
it's exciting. I think I talked
about it a little bit in the postgame

891
01:00:35.320 --> 01:00:38.119
interview with Jordan, is you know, the merger of the two leagues and

892
01:00:38.480 --> 01:00:42.360
to kind of I guess skip on
a forward a little bit, but you

893
01:00:42.400 --> 01:00:45.400
know, the merger of the two
leagues has been really exciting, really cool.

894
01:00:45.400 --> 01:00:49.239
We've been able to put a good
product on the field that I think

895
01:00:49.239 --> 01:00:52.760
people are starting to enjoy. So
that's been good man. It's been really

896
01:00:52.760 --> 01:00:59.079
really well ran and has been really
exciting. So I've got nothing bad to

897
01:00:59.119 --> 01:01:02.079
say so far. What's cool,
too, is you know, you always

898
01:01:02.199 --> 01:01:06.079
you never really know going into these
leagues, right, who's going to get

899
01:01:06.079 --> 01:01:09.159
spotlighted? Right? We had Camante
turbin, excuse me Turbment back with USFL

900
01:01:09.559 --> 01:01:15.599
and all that special teams, especially
kickers right now, insane between you and

901
01:01:15.679 --> 01:01:17.440
you know, Jack Bates and everybody
else, Like, what is that?

902
01:01:17.679 --> 01:01:22.440
Is it? Just getting the opportunity. Is it just because it's like one

903
01:01:22.480 --> 01:01:27.320
of the major storylines of the season. Yeah, I think there's I mean

904
01:01:27.679 --> 01:01:30.320
not just me and Jake, right, I mean everybody in the league.

905
01:01:30.320 --> 01:01:31.880
I think I saw the stat at
what we're like ninety two percent or something

906
01:01:31.880 --> 01:01:36.760
across the league so far through three
weeks, and so I think for a

907
01:01:36.800 --> 01:01:40.840
lot of people, is it's that
it's just limited opportunity in the National Football

908
01:01:40.880 --> 01:01:45.199
League, right, Like there's only
one active roster kicker out of the thirty

909
01:01:45.199 --> 01:01:47.639
two teams, so you're, you
know, on each team, so you're

910
01:01:47.639 --> 01:01:52.920
talking thirty two kickers in the world, and it's hard to get an opportunity.

911
01:01:52.960 --> 01:01:53.960
You know. I've been in and
out of the National Football League,

912
01:01:54.079 --> 01:01:58.039
you know for five years, off
and on, from practice squad to active

913
01:01:58.159 --> 01:02:02.400
the COVID year and filling in for
injured guys, and so really I've only

914
01:02:02.440 --> 01:02:07.199
had one genuine opportunity to say,
Okay, I think this is my job,

915
01:02:07.239 --> 01:02:09.559
and that was when I was with
Oakland. You know, Daniel Carlson

916
01:02:09.599 --> 01:02:13.840
got cut by Minnesota and then they
moved on from me, and Daniel's been

917
01:02:13.840 --> 01:02:17.280
with them ever since. And so
I think it's just proving that there's a

918
01:02:17.320 --> 01:02:21.400
lot of really good kickers out there
on the market. And I say a

919
01:02:21.400 --> 01:02:23.440
lot, I mean limited. Right, There's only eight guys in this league,

920
01:02:24.760 --> 01:02:28.760
so not very many. I mean
i'd say maybe you know, fifteen

921
01:02:28.800 --> 01:02:31.440
twenty guys that deserve a shot to
play in the National Football League. That

922
01:02:31.719 --> 01:02:37.760
just whether it's through injury or you
know, guys are performing well in the

923
01:02:37.840 --> 01:02:40.480
NFL and so it's limited opportunity to
get in. And so I think you're

924
01:02:40.559 --> 01:02:45.039
just seeing that right now, as
there's really good talent out there and kickers

925
01:02:45.079 --> 01:02:50.360
are proving that week in and week
out. You guys have to get jazz

926
01:02:50.480 --> 01:02:52.679
up for each other, right,
I mean, especially like coming off of

927
01:02:52.719 --> 01:02:54.920
your game and Jake and everything else
like that. What is that like?

928
01:02:55.000 --> 01:02:58.760
And just see it? You know, these like records hetting kicks and you

929
01:02:58.880 --> 01:03:01.480
have you know, super like fifty
yard plus. Uh yeah, this isn't

930
01:03:01.719 --> 01:03:06.079
This is nothing to kind of sneeze
at. Yeah. We I think it's

931
01:03:06.119 --> 01:03:08.280
always been that way for kickers.
I don't think if there's a kicker out

932
01:03:08.280 --> 01:03:12.559
there that's wishing ill will on another
kicker just to get an opportunity, like

933
01:03:12.840 --> 01:03:15.079
that's a bad thing coming. You
know, it's that's some bad some bad

934
01:03:15.119 --> 01:03:19.280
mojo. But you know, Jake, Jake and I are kind of back

935
01:03:19.320 --> 01:03:22.119
and forth, you know, on
social media. He commented on on Uh,

936
01:03:22.440 --> 01:03:25.239
I think a post that I was
in after the game winning field goal

937
01:03:25.280 --> 01:03:30.519
and and UH said, uh,
you know, congrass or something. I

938
01:03:30.559 --> 01:03:31.360
was like, dude, how I
comment back said, how are you going

939
01:03:31.400 --> 01:03:35.079
to cover me up? Right?
How are you going to steal the spotlight

940
01:03:35.159 --> 01:03:38.360
with another sixty plus? And so
we have good banter back and forth.

941
01:03:38.400 --> 01:03:42.199
But you know, I stay in
contact with a lot of these kickers.

942
01:03:42.679 --> 01:03:45.599
You know, we all train together
out Some of us train out in California

943
01:03:45.639 --> 01:03:49.960
together with Nick Novak. You know, we we see each other at combines,

944
01:03:50.039 --> 01:03:53.639
his Honors combined. So it's a
it's a tight knit group. And

945
01:03:53.800 --> 01:03:57.199
uh, I think we're all cheering
for each other. Man. It's it's

946
01:03:57.239 --> 01:04:01.679
really good opportunity for us. Uh
in turn of the kind of the game

947
01:04:01.719 --> 01:04:05.760
itself, this last one with the
game when you quick really kind of spotlights

948
01:04:05.840 --> 01:04:10.079
right the UFL rules and we're able
to do this big eleven point swing and

949
01:04:10.119 --> 01:04:13.039
all that. What is that like
just from I don't know, a game

950
01:04:13.119 --> 01:04:15.000
strategy, game planning, and you
because it's I mean, it really is.

951
01:04:15.039 --> 01:04:18.079
You're you're really in all these games
until the very end. Yeah,

952
01:04:18.079 --> 01:04:23.800
well it's it's funny like I learned
my lesson just this week because you know,

953
01:04:23.880 --> 01:04:27.639
we were down. We were down
a touchdown, and in a normal

954
01:04:27.719 --> 01:04:30.280
circumstance, you know, I would
say, okay, I'm telling my long

955
01:04:30.320 --> 01:04:32.480
snapper and holder like, we're dead
is what we call it, you know,

956
01:04:32.480 --> 01:04:34.920
hey, are we dead? We're
done for the game. Like if

957
01:04:34.920 --> 01:04:38.800
we score, we're going for two, right or in this league, of

958
01:04:38.800 --> 01:04:41.639
course we're going to go for you
know, two or three. And so

959
01:04:42.719 --> 01:04:44.800
I looked. I went to coach
Barlow and I said, we're dead,

960
01:04:44.880 --> 01:04:45.800
right. I think there was like
two and a half minutes in the game

961
01:04:45.840 --> 01:04:48.679
and we were down by a touchdown
and he said, yeah, you guys

962
01:04:48.679 --> 01:04:53.679
are dead. So I literally untied
my shoes and I told I told h

963
01:04:53.960 --> 01:04:55.920
Paxson and Tray, I'm like,
hey, guys, we're dead. You

964
01:04:56.000 --> 01:04:58.280
know, when we score, we're
going to go for it. Well what

965
01:04:58.400 --> 01:05:01.039
happened was Arlington and A getting the
ball and they kicked a field goal.

966
01:05:01.760 --> 01:05:05.159
And now I'm looking at it and
I'm like, okay, with the new

967
01:05:05.239 --> 01:05:11.400
role the fourth and twelve, like
we could be back up potentially, So

968
01:05:11.480 --> 01:05:15.119
I tied my shoes back on,
I got us all stretched back out and

969
01:05:15.159 --> 01:05:16.840
ready to go, and sure enough, we drive the whole field, we

970
01:05:16.880 --> 01:05:20.239
score a touchdown, and we're back
in the game and need a field goal.

971
01:05:20.320 --> 01:05:24.719
So I think it's an adjustment for
a lot of us because you know,

972
01:05:24.760 --> 01:05:28.559
the fourth and twelve it's more engaging
for the fans. It's fun and

973
01:05:28.599 --> 01:05:32.280
exciting, and it gives a team
an opportunity to score points quickly. And

974
01:05:32.320 --> 01:05:36.239
we've seen that the last two weeks
in a row. In terms of kind

975
01:05:36.239 --> 01:05:40.719
of the DC locker room, the
vibe, kind of what is everything like

976
01:05:40.800 --> 01:05:43.920
there? And coach Barlow, I
mean, I feel like even last year

977
01:05:44.000 --> 01:05:46.280
kind of runs a heavy like a
like a tight ship or what is that

978
01:05:46.400 --> 01:05:49.360
like? What's it like being in
the locker room there? You know,

979
01:05:49.440 --> 01:05:53.000
Barlow is definitely a players coach.
You know, I've had a few of

980
01:05:53.039 --> 01:05:57.679
those in the in the past,
and that can really relate to the players.

981
01:05:58.719 --> 01:06:01.000
You know, he's very open to
different ideas and strategies and things that

982
01:06:01.039 --> 01:06:04.239
we go with. He's got an
open door policy. So that's really cool

983
01:06:04.239 --> 01:06:06.599
to see from him, is that
he was a player once you know he

984
01:06:06.679 --> 01:06:12.000
gets it and so but you know, we're going on our second year of

985
01:06:12.079 --> 01:06:15.559
having a really good squad. You
know, last year we were we had

986
01:06:15.599 --> 01:06:17.000
a great team. You know,
obviously we lost the championship game, but

987
01:06:18.199 --> 01:06:24.800
we're starting to build that culture and
it's really cool to see us excel now.

988
01:06:24.800 --> 01:06:27.559
We've had really close games and I
think we can we can play a

989
01:06:27.559 --> 01:06:30.719
lot better and and you know,
our offense and defense have talked about that,

990
01:06:30.760 --> 01:06:32.719
like, hey, we need to
put a better product on the field

991
01:06:33.159 --> 01:06:36.960
because we've proven to do that last
year. And so, yeah, we're

992
01:06:36.960 --> 01:06:40.159
building that culture. We got a
lot of the same guys back, we

993
01:06:40.280 --> 01:06:43.679
got some new faces. But it's
really cool to see that now in year

994
01:06:43.760 --> 01:06:46.679
two of the same team just starting
to build some chemistry. Yeah, because

995
01:06:46.719 --> 01:06:50.000
it is it's a lot of carryover, but then between injuries or players you

996
01:06:50.039 --> 01:06:53.760
know, getting other opportunities things.
I mean, it is, uh,

997
01:06:53.880 --> 01:06:56.639
you know, Jordan's there obviously kind
of at the helm, but you know,

998
01:06:56.880 --> 01:07:00.639
it's a different chemistry this year.
Is that Do you feel like you

999
01:07:00.639 --> 01:07:02.880
guys are are getting into this now
as we get into week four because it's

1000
01:07:02.880 --> 01:07:05.480
so hard with like that limited you
know, training camp, and we're trying

1001
01:07:05.480 --> 01:07:09.519
to come in like you think you're
finally hitting it, because even like last

1002
01:07:09.559 --> 01:07:12.320
year, some of these teams,
he's taking you to week seven, eight

1003
01:07:12.360 --> 01:07:14.559
to really kind of get things going. Well. I mean, that's exactly

1004
01:07:14.599 --> 01:07:15.880
what happened with us last year.
You know, it took some time,

1005
01:07:16.000 --> 01:07:20.480
especially like defensively, to really start
locking it down. And you know,

1006
01:07:20.559 --> 01:07:23.639
Greg's been on him, you know, Coach Williams been on them like,

1007
01:07:23.679 --> 01:07:26.639
hey, listen, you know we
we've got to we've got to kind of

1008
01:07:26.679 --> 01:07:29.960
finally wake up and say, listen, we are a solid defensive unit.

1009
01:07:30.280 --> 01:07:33.159
Because Greg's a phenomenal defensive coach,
like he is on those guys week in

1010
01:07:33.239 --> 01:07:38.039
and week out. Well he's day
Honestly, I'm witnessing it on the sideline

1011
01:07:38.079 --> 01:07:43.079
watching it, and so he's very
tough. But I think that's where you

1012
01:07:43.119 --> 01:07:45.719
know it's again, it takes time. Right, we don't have a full

1013
01:07:45.800 --> 01:07:47.199
We had four weeks of training camp, but we don't have an off season

1014
01:07:47.280 --> 01:07:50.519
to develop. We didn't have you
know, the luxury of what some of

1015
01:07:50.519 --> 01:07:54.239
these NFL guys have. Heck,
we didn't even know if we were gonna

1016
01:07:54.239 --> 01:07:58.000
have a league, right, and
so when it came out that we had

1017
01:07:58.039 --> 01:08:00.199
a league. You know, we
had a little group chat of all of

1018
01:08:00.320 --> 01:08:02.360
us and staying in contact with each
other. But yeah, I think it's

1019
01:08:02.360 --> 01:08:06.000
gonna take time all through Week three
but still to be able to get all

1020
01:08:06.079 --> 01:08:10.039
pull off a win. And I
said this the other the other day in

1021
01:08:10.039 --> 01:08:14.159
an interview, is that no matter
in what sport you're in professionally, And

1022
01:08:14.159 --> 01:08:17.239
I say that because this league is
professional ball. Because there's guys that are

1023
01:08:17.239 --> 01:08:21.000
two, three, four, five
year NFL vets and even a one year

1024
01:08:21.039 --> 01:08:26.000
out, Like, there is really
good talent on these teams. And I

1025
01:08:26.039 --> 01:08:29.760
think that's what we need to get
a point across to fans and people looking

1026
01:08:29.760 --> 01:08:32.520
to watch this league is like listen, like we're not We're not guys that

1027
01:08:32.640 --> 01:08:35.760
haven't got haven't don't deserve opportunities,
or we're not good enough to play in

1028
01:08:35.760 --> 01:08:40.079
the football the National Football League.
Like that's not the case at all.

1029
01:08:40.239 --> 01:08:43.560
It's just limited opportunities. So we're
able to put up a good product.

1030
01:08:44.000 --> 01:08:45.119
It's just gonna take time, you
know, it just takes a couple of

1031
01:08:45.119 --> 01:08:48.960
weeks to get our momentum and figure
out what we you know, what we

1032
01:08:49.039 --> 01:08:54.119
do and who we are and the
episode that this is all going to be

1033
01:08:54.159 --> 01:08:57.640
a part of. We're talking kind
of XFL and USFL and markets and people,

1034
01:08:57.840 --> 01:09:01.359
you know, what teams have on
showing up and obviously DC and Saint

1035
01:09:01.399 --> 01:09:04.479
Louis are really, you know,
obviously the tent poles right for in terms

1036
01:09:04.479 --> 01:09:08.479
of like fans coming out, what's
it like playing there? What's it like?

1037
01:09:08.520 --> 01:09:10.359
No, I know you were in
Arlington last week, but what's it

1038
01:09:10.399 --> 01:09:14.479
like playing there and just haven't knowing
that that team really is is the full

1039
01:09:14.520 --> 01:09:17.640
support of you guys? Yeah,
you know, I like the soccer stadium.

1040
01:09:17.640 --> 01:09:21.560
I like the capacity of that.
It's really a cool environment because we

1041
01:09:23.199 --> 01:09:25.600
you know, especially towards the end
of last season, I mean we packed

1042
01:09:25.600 --> 01:09:29.600
that thing, you know, twelve
fifteen thousand people, and so I really

1043
01:09:29.720 --> 01:09:31.439
like that aspect of it. You
know, when I was playing with New

1044
01:09:31.520 --> 01:09:34.600
York, you know, we played
at MetLife and so we played at a

1045
01:09:34.680 --> 01:09:40.119
massive stadium and we still had a
really good crowd in New York before COVID

1046
01:09:40.199 --> 01:09:43.520
hit. And I remember when we
played at DC, like, okay,

1047
01:09:43.520 --> 01:09:46.079
this is a somewhat intimidating atmosphere.
You know, I've played in big time

1048
01:09:46.159 --> 01:09:49.840
college football games in NFL at one
hundred thousand plus, and I said,

1049
01:09:50.359 --> 01:09:54.800
in order to get that professional feel, you need that fan attendance, I

1050
01:09:54.840 --> 01:09:59.039
think, and you know last year
when we played in Saint Louis, you

1051
01:09:59.079 --> 01:10:03.399
know they're packed that dome full and
opening up new sections each week. So

1052
01:10:03.960 --> 01:10:08.520
the fan support is crucial right into
the success of this league. And I

1053
01:10:08.560 --> 01:10:11.239
think that's the point that we have
to get across. Just like I said

1054
01:10:11.239 --> 01:10:14.760
in your previous question, was that
the product is there and the talent is

1055
01:10:14.800 --> 01:10:16.760
there. It's guys that should be
playing on Sunday and that have played on

1056
01:10:16.800 --> 01:10:19.800
Sunday. But it's spring football.
I mean, what else are we going

1057
01:10:19.840 --> 01:10:23.760
to watch on TV as fans?
Right? Like it's a it's a great

1058
01:10:23.800 --> 01:10:28.279
product in a great atmosphere, and
again I couldn't be any more excited with

1059
01:10:28.319 --> 01:10:30.760
it. I think it's been good
so far. Yeah, we were at

1060
01:10:30.760 --> 01:10:33.000
Autyfield for the kickoff back in twenty
twenty, and then I went last year.

1061
01:10:33.119 --> 01:10:35.319
I'm Seattle and so I went.
When you guys took care of the

1062
01:10:35.680 --> 01:10:41.199
Sea Dragons there to go on,
I was removed for my own safety from

1063
01:10:41.239 --> 01:10:44.479
the beer snake section because I had
on my and they said that the security

1064
01:10:44.640 --> 01:10:46.920
is and we got to re look
at you guys. I'm just but you

1065
01:10:46.960 --> 01:10:49.760
know, but it's because it's like
a hardcore familus. But it's it's all

1066
01:10:49.760 --> 01:10:54.680
these spring football I'm like, nothing's
this isn't like you're going to No one's

1067
01:10:54.720 --> 01:10:58.720
attacking me here in the XFL game. But I but it's certainly a passionate

1068
01:10:58.720 --> 01:11:00.439
fan base there, so it's exciting
to see. Yeah, for sure,

1069
01:11:00.479 --> 01:11:03.560
I mean we uh yeah the beer
Steaks section. I think they opened up

1070
01:11:03.560 --> 01:11:06.600
another section for our home game against
the battle Hawks in a couple of weeks.

1071
01:11:09.279 --> 01:11:11.359
They're doing a promo I saw,
which is kind of cool. They're

1072
01:11:11.359 --> 01:11:15.079
doing sixteen dollars tickets or something in
the hundred sections, so they're they're utilizing

1073
01:11:16.039 --> 01:11:19.279
my number to to sell some tickets, which is cool, and try to

1074
01:11:19.279 --> 01:11:23.000
make it affordable, you know,
like bring the families out, bring the

1075
01:11:23.039 --> 01:11:27.720
kids out on Saturday and Sundays and
get to watch NFL caliber talent. Like

1076
01:11:27.800 --> 01:11:31.039
what's any better than that? It's
really cool. Last question here just speaking

1077
01:11:31.079 --> 01:11:34.439
of you know fans support. Right, you guys are going into Birmingham this

1078
01:11:34.479 --> 01:11:36.760
weekend, going to be a big
one there, one the right one,

1079
01:11:38.920 --> 01:11:42.960
tremendous teams and obviously everyone's supporting that. Thoughts going into the weekend and what

1080
01:11:43.000 --> 01:11:45.000
are you looking forward to? Yeah, so it's gonna be a huge game.

1081
01:11:45.880 --> 01:11:48.680
I was gonna have a watch party
at my restaurant back in Texas,

1082
01:11:48.680 --> 01:11:54.000
but there's another kickoff same time,
and it's a regional game, so we

1083
01:11:54.039 --> 01:11:56.960
won't be able to have a watch
party in Brownwood, Texas with it.

1084
01:11:57.000 --> 01:12:00.720
But I'm excited for the opportunity because
we believe that we should have won that

1085
01:12:00.800 --> 01:12:06.239
championship game, and so we see
this as the XFL versus the USFL,

1086
01:12:06.640 --> 01:12:10.960
you know, championship game, and
so that's been our mentality this week as

1087
01:12:10.960 --> 01:12:14.239
a team is like, you know, we've we've heard things about Burningham and

1088
01:12:14.239 --> 01:12:17.399
that they're they're really solid football club, but we're we're eager to take it

1089
01:12:17.439 --> 01:12:20.720
on and come come to their you
know, uh, you know, their

1090
01:12:20.720 --> 01:12:25.680
home field. So uh again,
I'm excited for this league. I'm happy

1091
01:12:25.760 --> 01:12:30.159
for the opportunity and I'm grateful for
the opportunity because it's a platform that not

1092
01:12:30.199 --> 01:12:33.680
only me as a kicker, but
other positions have that we need the game

1093
01:12:33.720 --> 01:12:36.800
film in order if we want to
go to the National Football League or continue

1094
01:12:36.800 --> 01:12:39.840
playing this league, in this league, whatever it is, we need the

1095
01:12:39.880 --> 01:12:44.039
game tape and so I'm I'm I'm
thankful for those that made it happen in

1096
01:12:44.079 --> 01:12:47.239
short term because merging a league like
this from you from XFL the USFL,

1097
01:12:47.560 --> 01:12:49.760
I don't know how they pulled it
off, but I'm glad they did.

1098
01:12:50.319 --> 01:12:54.000
Yeah. No, as I was
at San Antonio, I also don't know.

1099
01:12:54.119 --> 01:12:57.439
I also expected you guys to win
the championship game. So that was

1100
01:12:57.680 --> 01:13:00.439
that was as much a flabber guy. But you know, I mean give

1101
01:13:00.560 --> 01:13:03.680
Arlington their flowers. You got a
little revenge last week, so that was

1102
01:13:03.720 --> 01:13:06.560
good. I mean, I know
it's not the same as getting the trophy,

1103
01:13:06.600 --> 01:13:11.319
but yeah, yeah, this game
will be fun, man. I

1104
01:13:11.359 --> 01:13:14.159
mean we, like I said,
we've seen it as like the XFL versus

1105
01:13:14.199 --> 01:13:17.920
USFL championship, you know we that's
how we're kind of approaching it. And

1106
01:13:17.920 --> 01:13:23.279
and uh, you know, take
that mentality of how we've created the XFL

1107
01:13:23.319 --> 01:13:26.640
in our hand against the USFL.
It should be fun, should be fun

1108
01:13:26.640 --> 01:13:29.720
for fans to watch. So if
that's in your area, man, you

1109
01:13:29.760 --> 01:13:31.279
know, the people that are listening
to this, like it'll be one to

1110
01:13:31.319 --> 01:13:34.960
tune into. Well, Matt I
appreciate it taking the time. Dave Naylor

1111
01:13:35.039 --> 01:13:38.920
was running long. I appreciate you
waiting a few this week. I'm like

1112
01:13:39.039 --> 01:13:42.399
trying to get all this going,
so super appreciate it. Good luck,

1113
01:13:42.439 --> 01:13:45.119
even though you took the Sea Dragons
out of the playoffs last year, it

1114
01:13:45.159 --> 01:13:47.720
will be supporting, so good luck
and have a great weekend. Yeah,

1115
01:13:47.720 --> 01:13:56.319
I appreciate your support, man big
Banks. To all of our guests today,

1116
01:13:56.319 --> 01:13:59.640
I always appreciate getting to catch up
with Paul Reese, taking time from

1117
01:13:59.680 --> 01:14:02.560
his with the website so he runs
coming on talking about you know, good

1118
01:14:02.560 --> 01:14:06.159
wide ranging conversation. Don't want to
be too negative, Nancy, but you

1119
01:14:06.199 --> 01:14:10.800
know, it's an interesting discussion here. I mean, did I think the

1120
01:14:11.039 --> 01:14:14.479
at Fox, you know, maybe
overestimated and we're giving away tickets and now

1121
01:14:14.479 --> 01:14:18.479
we're trying to build this back up
by that Paul probably vocalized it better assistinctly

1122
01:14:18.560 --> 01:14:21.560
than I ever could. But I
thought that was a great discussion with Paul.

1123
01:14:21.840 --> 01:14:25.520
I know Dave Naylor is a busy
guy a week before the draft,

1124
01:14:25.800 --> 01:14:30.000
so I appreciate him taking the time
with everything. Always great at getting Dave

1125
01:14:30.039 --> 01:14:31.960
on. I think it's been since
the Great Cup, so it's been way

1126
01:14:31.960 --> 01:14:36.000
too long since we've had Dave Naylor
on the podcast and then Matt mccrane coming

1127
01:14:36.039 --> 01:14:41.680
on. DC Defenders really appreciate that
and him taking the time and them setting

1128
01:14:41.680 --> 01:14:44.359
that up with the league. Should
be a good show next week. I

1129
01:14:44.359 --> 01:14:47.119
know we have the NFL Draft,
got a good a guest coming on that

1130
01:14:47.600 --> 01:14:54.159
is very NFL Draft focused, but
he is very anxious to talk about the

1131
01:14:54.239 --> 01:14:58.239
UFL. So we will get him
on working for a couple of different interviews

1132
01:14:58.279 --> 01:15:00.800
with the league, and then we'll
figure out some c FEL stuff as well.

1133
01:15:00.880 --> 01:15:02.119
So, like I said, like
and subscribe if you like all this

1134
01:15:02.159 --> 01:15:06.239
stuff, give us a thirty five
hundred subscribers and we'll see you guys next

1135
01:15:06.279 --> 01:15:08.880
time. Hope you have a great
weekend. Take care