Big Viewership for MLB's Fall Classic; Briana Scurry Talks Goalies

Summary

Bloomberg Business of Sports

Episode: Big Viewership for MLB’s Fall Classic; Briana Scurry Talks Goalies
Date: November 7, 2025
Host(s): Damian Sassour, Vanessa Perdomo
Guests: Al Leiter, Briana Scurry, Sarah Goffinson

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Overview of the Episode

This episode dives into three major areas within the global sports business landscape:

• A recap of the thrilling MLB World Series between the Dodgers and Blue Jays.
• A detailed look at the evolving investment and branding landscape in women’s sports, featuring Trailblazing Sports Group CEO Sarah Goffinson.
• A personal and insightful interview with soccer legend and Hall of Famer Briana Scurry about the unique role and value of goalkeepers, as well as the broader trajectory of women’s soccer.

The hosts trace the massive money moves shaping sports, spotlighting shifts in viewership, advertising, team ownership strategy, and athlete marketability across both men’s and women’s competitions.

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Key Discussions & Insights

1. Women’s Sports and Brand Partnerships

Guest: Sarah Goffinson, CEO, Trailblazing Sports Group
(Segment begins 03:17)

Growth and Opportunity in Women’s Sports

• Trailblazing Sports Group’s Mission:
  Sarah Goffinson discusses transitioning from ESPN brand partnerships to founding a boutique firm focused solely on women’s sports.

  “I really believe in the power of the purse and the power of brand marketers to really impact the growth of women’s sports.” (03:28, Goffinson)

• Brands Leaning In:
  Growth in brands’ willingness to sponsor women’s sports, starting with key initiatives like the creation of the WNBA studio show with Google and the “Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi MegaCast” with AT&T.

  “I really was seeing some signals of brands wanting to lean in, and I wanted the opportunity to just work with brands across the ecosystem.” (04:46, Goffinson)

• Innovative Advertising Inventory:
  Trailblazing leverages streaming’s dominance among women’s sports fans to create context-driven in-game ad opportunities (picture-in-picture, ad “L-bars,” etc.)

  “We create incremental in-game inventory for advertisers around the biggest moments in women's sports…if an advertiser wants to target every three point shot within the WNBA, or serve a picture-in-picture in the game…” (06:40, Goffinson)

The Undervalued Potential and Historical Perspective

• Lasting Undervaluation:
  Despite a projected 2-3x growth in valuation ($1B to $2.25B by 2030), women’s sports remain undercapitalized compared to men’s franchises.

  “Women's sports are still very undervalued. There's a tremendous opportunity for brands and companies to increase the value they put towards it.” (11:10, Goffinson)

• Historical “Trailblazers”:
  Billie Jean King is hailed as the original trailblazer, with her legacy shaping today’s athletes and serving as inspiration for Goffinson’s own company name.

  “Billie Jean is the ultimate trailblazer... She founded the Women's Sports Foundation with her check from her first equal paycheck.” (10:30, Goffinson)

• The Growth Cycle:
  Briana Scurry’s perspective—echoed by Goffinson—notes that women’s sports are at the start of another boom cycle, paralleling the surge tied to consecutive Men’s/Women’s World Cups and Olympics in the late 1990s.

  “It’s going to be just the same as it was back then… it’s going to double from that momentum.” (12:44, Perdomo quoting Scurry)

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2. Soccer’s Goalkeepers: The Unsung Heroes

Guest: Briana Scurry, Hall of Fame Goalkeeper
(Segment begins 18:02)

Goalkeeping’s Lack of Spotlight

• Star Power Gap:
  Scurry highlights that goalkeepers are often underappreciated compared to goal scorers, both in media and sponsorship attention.

  “America and I think the world, likes goal scorers—and not too fond of those of us who try to stop goals…” (18:28, Scurry)

• Media Dynamics:
  Even with championship performances, keepers rarely achieve household-name status unless they also possess a compelling personal story or headline-grabbing personality (e.g., Hope Solo).

  “A lot of my friends who are casual fans don’t really know who Alyssa Naeher is by name... Do you think that’s on the media side?” (24:15, Perdomo) “She was greatly overshadowed by Alex Morgan, by Megan Rapinoe... but she is a brilliant goalkeeper. We’ve been very blessed with great goalkeeping here for decades.” (25:20, Scurry)

1999 World Cup: A Transformative Moment

• Building the Audience from Scratch:
  The 1999 Women's World Cup was originally meant for small stadiums; the team had to market the sport personally before eventually playing for sellout crowds.

  “We literally went door to door for two years, selling our game… So then when we finally got to play our first game... in front of 76,000 people, it was truly a dream come true.” (19:41, Scurry)

• Media Evolution:
  1996 Olympics offered minimal broadcast for women’s soccer, while the 1999 final became a nationally televised event, majorly boosting visibility.

  “They didn’t show our game live, even though we had 76,000 people in the stands and we were favored to win… By the time 99 rolled around, they decided 'hey, maybe we should show the whole game once in a while.'” (21:37, Scurry)

• Cultural Impact:
  The success of the 1996 Olympics and 1999 World Cup forged a permanent shift in the perception of women’s sports teams.

  “It truly was [the] year of the woman... that Olympic Games was the year of the woman. It truly was.” (21:54, Scurry)

Branding, Longevity & Keeper Value

• Brand Opportunity:
  Scurry actively makes the case to brands that goalkeepers exemplify strength, leadership, longevity, and should be natural endorsers for teamwork, reliability, and trailblazing.

  “If you’re a company that wants to talk about strength or teamwork or camaraderie or leadership, goalkeepers are all those things wrapped into one.” (28:10, Scurry)

• Keeper Dominance in USWNT:
  Only three starting USWNT keepers over 30 years. Stability and impact indicate that keepers can offer exceptional value and endorsement continuity for sponsors.

Memorable Quotes

• Scurry:

  “At one point in time, if you go back in time and look at every single team that’s won a world championship or Olympic championship, at one point in time in that run, the goalkeeper had the team on their shoulders.” (28:09)

• Perdomo:

  “If I was a brand… I would invest in a player who’s going to be in that seat for 10 years.” (27:39)

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3. MLB World Series Recap & Business Landscape

Guest: Al Leiter, MLB Analyst, 2x World Series Champ
(Segment begins 33:33)

Dodgers’ Dominance and Payroll Dynamics

• Dodgers’ Back-to-Back Titles:
  The Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays in a closely-fought series, showcasing their rotation depth and strategic use of star Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

  “Yamamoto did Game 6, 6 innings, 100 pitches... and the next day... pitches three innings. It’s beyond comprehension. He deserved the MVP.” (34:11–34:51, Leiter)

• The “Evil Empire” Question:
  Discussion around whether LA has joined the Yankees as modern “villains,” given their massive payroll and consistent success.

  “I think it’s great for the sport and all sports to have a villain... their payroll was over $400 million.” (36:16, Leiter) “There’s a correlation [between spending and winning]... I love the fact that Mark Walter, the owner of this team, they put money in the payroll, they put money in the team, and guess what? They got rewarded.” (36:21, Leiter)

Japanese Talent Reshaping the Game

• Significant influx of top Japanese players (Yamamoto, Okamoto, Imai, Sasaki) powering not just team wins but broadcast/merchandise reach in Asia.

  “If there’s a cornering of the best Japanese talent with one respective team... it would be disappointing… There’s talented players all around the world.” (38:02–39:07, Leiter)

Expansion & Media Rights Future

• MLB Expansion Markets:
  Realignment and franchise expansion possibilities (Nashville, Salt Lake, Vegas, Charlotte, etc.). Leiter is bullish on Nashville as the next great baseball city.

  “If [Nashville] doesn’t get an expansion team, I think they missed the boat on that.” (40:54, Leiter)

• Media Rights & Realignment:
  Looming changes as national TV contracts expire; potential realignment (Yankees/Mets in same division).

  “They got to figure out how to nationalize... the TV package... I think there’s going to be a realignment to have the Yankees and Mets in the same division.” (41:54, Leiter)

Moneyball vs. Deep Pockets

• Every Team Chasing the Ideal Model:
  While owners try to mimic the Tampa Bay Rays/Guardians’ success on small budgets, big spenders still rule postseasons.

  “A lot of the owners want the model of the Tampa Bay Rays... but extrapolating data and analytics... they really are [all following similar models].” (44:57, Leiter)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “You had like, alright, we don’t like them and we’re gonna go after them…that’s great for sports.” (36:21, Leiter)
• “I think Nashville would be a golden ticket for whoever gets that franchise and for Major League Baseball…” (40:06, Leiter)
• “I'm going to say [the Dodgers] are probably the favorite [for 2026]... you have an ownership group that will continue to spend.” (43:08, Leiter)

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment / Highlight | |-----------|--------------------| | 03:17 | Sarah Goffinson on brand partnerships in women's sports | | 06:40 | In-game digital ad innovation for streaming women’s sports | | 10:30 | Billie Jean King’s influence & the underestimated growth of women’s sports | | 12:44 | Parallel cycles in women’s sports growth (Scurry’s perspective) | | 18:02 | Briana Scurry interview begins: The undervalued role of goalkeepers | | 19:41 | Behind-the-scenes of marketing the 1999 Women’s World Cup | | 21:37 | Gaps and shifts in media coverage for women’s soccer | | 24:15 | Why keepers rarely become household names—media and marketability | | 28:10 | The value of keepers to brands and team success | | 33:33 | World Series recap with Al Leiter | | 34:11 | Yamamoto’s record postseason performance | | 36:16 | Dodgers as the new “evil empire”—sports needs a villain| | 38:02 | Japanese pipeline to MLB and the sport’s globalization | | 40:06 | MLB expansion: Nashville, Salt Lake, Vegas in play | | 41:54 | Looming media rights shift, potential new divisional structures | | 44:57 | Moneyball vs. big market payrolls—who really wins? |

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Notable Quotes (with Attribution)

• Sarah Goffinson:
  “If [brands] can fuel athletes and can fuel the growth in teams and leagues, the ecosystem will be better for it.” (05:34)
• Briana Scurry:
  “At one point in time… the goalkeeper had the team on their shoulders. If you don't have strong defensive goalkeeping, then you're not going to win.” (28:09)
• Al Leiter:
  “I like that. I like the fact [of having] a villain. It’s great for the sport and all sports...” (36:16)

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Episode Tone & Language

The episode is conversational, sometimes playful but deeply knowledgeable with each expert and host bringing both lived experience and analytical sharpness. There is a strong sense of advocacy—for women’s sports and for a data- and business-driven understanding of modern athletics—without losing sight of the cultural moments and personalities that make sports memorable.

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Conclusion

This rich episode offers both sports fans and business insiders a compelling look inside the evolving landscape of sports investment and audience engagement. It covers how legacy moments shape today’s opportunities (both in women’s soccer and baseball), the transformative potential of smart partnership and innovation, and underlines the crucial role of narrative, identity, and market forces in shaping what—and who—gets noticed on the world stage.

Transcript

[Damian Sassour]

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[Vanessa Perdomo]

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Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts, Radio News this is the business of sports.

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[Al Leiter]

The next generation of players really grew up with tech and believe in tech.

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Your face is your ticket. Your face is your wallet. Your face is your access to a club.

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These are such iconic and important buildings for businesses. For fans, Covid was one of the best things that ever happened to golf.

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The NFL is a bulletproof business.

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Racing's unique because there is absolutely no.

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Reason why we can't compete with the guys.

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Come on, is pro pickleball real?

[Brianna Scurry]

Are people really going to tune in to this?

[Al Leiter]

If you're playing Moneyball with a huge bag of money, you're going to be really, really good.

[Bloomberg Announcer]

Bloomberg Business of Sports From Bloomberg Radio.

[Damian Sassour]

This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm Damian Sassenhower.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

And I'm Vanessa Perdomo. Michael Barr is off this week.

[Damian Sassour]

Coming up on the show, we'll recap the Major League Baseball season and a wild World Series between the Dodgers and the Blue Jays bounces one up the middle.

[Al Leiter]

That's to the back over the first. To beat the champ, you gotta knock him out. The Dodgers stand tall and win back to back titles.

[Damian Sassour]

We'll talk with two time World Series champion and MLB Network analyst Al Leiter for his reaction and insight.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Plus, we'll hear part of my conversation with National Soccer hall of Famer Brianna Scurry, part of my new Business of Soccer series.

[Damian Sassour]

All that is on the way. But first we take a look at a company that wants to revolutionize how brands invest and partner with women's sports.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

TrailBlazing Sports Group CEO Sarah Goffinson sat down with us recently along with Michael Barr to talk about her company and how it's boosting women's athletes in the women's sports space. Let's listen to that conversation.

[Damian Sassour]

Sarah, welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

[Sarah Goffinson]

Thank you. It's great to be here with you all. I appreciate the time.

[Damian Sassour]

You are the founder and CEO of Trailblazing Sports Sports Group. Tell us about that.

[Sarah Goffinson]

Well, we are a company that is just nearly four years old and I founded Trailblazing after 18 years at ESPN overseeing brand partnerships. But I really believe in the power of the purse and the power of brand marketers to really impact the growth of women's sports. So I really wanted to do just focus on women's sports. Although I love doing our college football and Monday night deals and NBA final partnerships, I really to focus the next chapter of my career on just talking to brands about the ROI within women's and and how they could invest authentically and connect with the growing fan base of women's sport. We are a boutique brand partnership firm and having fun doing it.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Sarah, I'm curious, you know what when you were seeing things at ESPN and working on those brand deals and what drove you to do this particularly in women's sports, were you seeing a lot left on the table there for women's sports and not a lot of attention being paid there that you realized so many people could benefit from something like this. And what sports necessarily were you thinking, wow, they, they really deserve more investment from the brand side.

[Sarah Goffinson]

Yeah, I think, I mean I think ESPN was very early on, I mean we're at the and Women's Sports and Summit where I'm where I'm doing this podcast and this is I believe their 15th year. So they believed in the power of women's sports early and, and I, you know, working with with that team to get our brand partners like the Nikes of the world early on. But I did see some signals coming out of the pandemic where brands were asking how do we lean in a little bit more? What could we do? That's on the spots and dots and presenting of the WNBA games. So what really energized me was working with a few clients. So we worked with Google to create the first WNBA studio show. There was no WNBA Countdown until about five years ago. We worked at and T to do the Sue Bird and Diana Frosty Mega Cat. I really was seeing some signals of brands wanting to lean in and I wanted the opportunity to just work with brands across the ecosystem. So not just within the ESPN platforms that we had, but also work with teams and work with leagues and work with athletes because I do think that the brands again have the purse. So if they can fuel athletes and can fuel the growth in teams and leagues, the ecosystem will be better for it.

[Damian Sassour]

So Sarah, what I find most interesting is the way you create this incremental in game advertising inventory. For example, in the middle of a game when there are free throws going on or goals or whatever, I guess stuff pops up on the rail of the show. Kind of like what we're receiving when we're watching any sports these days. Talk to us about that business, about the future of that business, about the power of advertising in that way.

[Sarah Goffinson]

Yeah, well, it starts with the fact that women's sports fans are consuming 60% of women's sports content via streaming channels. And it's really because they've had to over the years. You couldn't just pop on a linear broadcast and find women's sports. So women's sports fans have been trained to actually search out women's sports content via CTV and via streaming. So we thought okay, well there's an opportunity here to do more than just have a 30 second spot that lives within the linear broadcast. So Trailblazing partnered with a company called Transmit and what we do is we create incremental in game inventory for advertisers around the biggest moments in women's sports. So if an advertiser to target every three point shot within the WNBA or we could serve a picture in picture or an L bar unit within the game without having to go to commercial break after if they if let's say a medical company or a health care company wanted to injury timeouts, we could then serve an ad that's contextually relevant within moments in sports. And what we really love about it is for a long time would say, oh you know, we're trying to buy, you know, the inventory in women's sports. We just can't. And this is sort of debunking that myth of like listen, we can inventory and we can create opportunities. So we're excited. It's called trailblazing moments across A number of different sports. Lpga, tennis, wnba, nwsl.

[Damian Sassour]

I know we are running out of time, but I would like your reaction to something.

[Sarah Goffinson]

Tell me.

[Damian Sassour]

I being the old geezer, I always think of what moment really started for women's sports to really put it on the map. And you gotta go back to me to 1973 with Billie Jean King going up against Bobby Riggs, because that was on Linear TV and I remember that very well. And my mom, I'll never forget this. My mom, now she's not a big sports person, but I remember her watching this on ABC and my mom saying, you get that, Bobby? You get that?

It's like.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

She sure did.

[Damian Sassour]

She did. It's your reaction to it just, you know, about a Billie Jean King. Thank you.

[Sarah Goffinson]

Yes. Was she Billie Jean King? I mean, my company is named Trailblazing Sports Group and I think Billie Jean is the ultimate trailblazer. And you know her, her book sure is a Privilege is, is one everyone should read. So she is, you know, to, to me, the, the godmother in sports. I've had the privilege of meeting her a couple of times. My, you know, 12 year old dog, I think eight or nine at the time, met her with me and then again without me and just said thank you for all you do for, for, for women, you know, a young girl. I'm excited for the future. So there's totally, there's totally that feeling.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Like when meeting her and speaking to her that it's less like genuinely thank you to what she did and, and the goal that she had at the time to not take less money and to take, yeah. Women's tennis away and say, guess what? If you don't want to pay us, we're going to figure out ourselves. And truly what she did in the 70s, it's crazy when you think about where we are today.

[Sarah Goffinson]

Yeah. And I don't know if you've heard, you know, but she had a. She was a big part of Foudy and the U.S. women's National Team and their fight for equal pay. She, you know, Fatty will tell you stories of Billie Jean coming into their meetings and really encouraging them and she still continues to be a big part of the women, you know, Women's Sports Foundation. She founded that with her check first equal paycheck. So. But I think for me the moment was night was the 99 World Cup. I went to that game at Rose Bowl Stadium as a kid from San Diego and seeing that that was the moment. So I think when everybody says, oh, this is women's sports. We're having, you know, a moment. It's Caitlin Clark. It's like, no, no. Like, I love that you went back to 73. But you think about the night the 94 dream team and the Atlanta Olympics with Cheryl Swoopes and, and then you think about the 99, you know, World Cup. So women's sports is, is been on the rise, and I think it's finally getting the do. And I think, you know, we still are undervalued. I mean, there was a great MacKenzie report that said, you know, it's going to be valued at 2.5 million or $2.25 billion by 2030, which sounds like a big number because it's valued about 1 billion today. But, you know, then you hear Bateman talking about how the latest NHL team be valued at a $2 billion franchise fee next year. So I just think that women's sports is still very undervalued. And I think there's a tremendous opportunity for brands and companies to increase the value that are putting towards it.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Absolutely. You know, it's interesting, Sarah, I had recently spoken with Brianna Scurry, who was the goalkeeper of the 1999 World cup team. Oh, yeah. And she had pointed out to me that this moment that we're in right now is actually the same formula that we were in in the 90s when it was World Men's World cup, then Olympic, then FIFA World cup, then Olympics, then Women's World Cup. And that's exactly what started the trajectory of women's sports. So she said, take a look at what happened then and what's about to happen again. And it's going to be just the same as it was back then. So it's going to double from that momentum. And I thought that was really interesting to take a look at that.

[Sarah Goffinson]

Yeah.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Formula that we're in.

[Sarah Goffinson]

Yeah, I think, I mean, Vanessa, I just, I listen to your, you know, the business of soccer and think about this. So you've got the 27 World cup in Brazil, 28 Olympics where the women are defending their gold in the United States. Then you will have the 31 World cup stateside. So you're just going to have a tremendous wave of women's soccer and interest in women's soccer all on Netflix, which I'm sure they got for a coup. So it's going to be exciting time for women's soccer, I think, over the next eight years.

[Damian Sassour]

Our thanks to Trailblazing Sports Group CEO Sarah Godfrey for joining us.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Up next, my conversation with two time Olympic gold medal winner and 1999 World cup champion Briana Scarry.

[Damian Sassour]

For Vanessa Perdomo and Michael Barr, I'm Damian Sasshour. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.

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[Vanessa Perdomo]

Bloomberg Business of Sports From Bloomberg Radio.

[Damian Sassour]

This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

I'm Damian Sass Our and I'm Vanessa Perdomo. Michael Barr is sadly off this week. We're gearing up for the World cup, coming to the States with a new series, the Bloomberg Business of Soccer. You can catch new episodes on the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast feed. Subscribe now on Apple, Spotify and all your favorite podcast platforms so you never miss a new episode. On the latest edition of the Bloomberg Business of Soccer, I focused on goalkeepers. I spoke with former U.S. women's National Team goalkeeper, National Soccer hall of Famer, and two time Olympic gold medalist Brianna Scurry. Let's take a listen to a portion of that conversation. Guys, I'm fangirling over here. If you can't tell, I was a former goalkeeper, so this is really a dream for me. Brianna, thanks so much for joining the business of soccer.

[Brianna Scurry]

Oh, my pleasure. Thanks for having me. Thanks for thinking of me. So I appreciate that. Goalkeepers unite.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Exactly. So that's exactly what I wanted to.

[Brianna Scurry]

Talk to you about.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

You know, so I think one of the things that is really interesting when we're talking about we're obviously soccer is coming up a lot this year. That's why we have this podcast. You know, we're around the corner from the World cup, but I think in the conversation of soccer, in the conversation of stars, goalkeepers get lost in this conversation. Would you agree with that?

[Brianna Scurry]

I I do agree. It's a very interesting thing because America and I think the world likes goal scorers and not too fond of those of us who try to stop goals from being scored So, I mean, it's so interesting because it's exciting. I mean, it's more exciting when a goal is scored, although we obviously think it's. It's better when a goal is.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

I love a good save.

[Brianna Scurry]

I know, right?

[Vanessa Perdomo]

You love a good save. I mean, athleticism is. Everyone should really pay attention. That's the best.

[Brianna Scurry]

Yeah, I know. Lack of appreciation, I guess. I don't know what to say.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Yeah, absolutely. So I want to start with your journey in your career. And obviously, we have to start with the 99 World cup, which, you know, I. Is the greatest performance from a team in. Greatest moment in American sports. But I'm not biased at all.

[Al Leiter]

Don't.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Don't worry about that.

[Brianna Scurry]

I don't detect any bias.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

So I want to start with, you know, kind of the overall arching aspect of the tournament. It's. It's 1999. It's a World cup in the US but it's women's soccer, so it's kind of new. I want to. What was your take? You know, throughout. How it grew. The fever grew from group stages to the final.

[Brianna Scurry]

Well, the fact that we were even having a women's standalone event such as the World cup was interesting and had never really been done on the scale that we were doing it originally. I don't know if you know this, but originally the tournament was supposed to be played regionally in small high school stadiums, two to 5,000 people, but the committee decided to try to blow the doors off the thing and put it in football stadiums. And that was like three years. Two. Three years before. So we literally went door to door for two years, selling our game and said, please, please come to our tournament. We're going to have it right here in the US in your backyard, and you don't want to miss it, and da, da, da. And so we were educating and letting people know. So then when we finally got to play our first game, you know, on a giant stadium in front of 76,000 people, it was truly a dream come true. I mean, it was way beyond any expectation. I mean, because there's a. There's a certain level of desire of a dream that you want to create, and then when you're actually living in it, it's very different. And so we were very emotional that game. And of course, now that it was happening, we had to get to business. We had to get to work. So we had a fantastic game that day and beat the team, Denmark, 3 to 0.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Yeah. And obviously, I know that one of your dreams when you were younger was to be an Olympian. And you played in the Olympics, Right. A couple of years before that. And that was also in the. In 1996, which is kind of the first Olympics where we see women's sports become a big thing. Right. You guys win the gold medal, the US Women's basketball team wins the gold medal, and that spurs the wnba. And then you go into the moment of the World Cup.

[Public.com Advertiser]

Did.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Did that have any momentum, do you think, or was the World cup still kind of this new concept? Everybody knew what the Olympics was, but not everyone maybe knew what the world. The Women's World cup was.

[Brianna Scurry]

I think the 96 Olympic Games had a lot of momentum in it. One of the things that happened, I don't know if you recall, but they didn't show our game live at all on NBC during that 96 Olympics. They were showing all these other different sports, but they didn't show our game live, even though we had 76,000 people in the stands and were favored to win. And so what you saw, if you weren't at the stadium, you saw snippets. So by the time 99 rolled around, they decided, hey, maybe we should show the whole game once in a while. People might want to watch it. So they did. And so that was one thing that changed. But I also feel like that Olympic Games was the year of the woman. It truly was. And a lot of our collective sports teams in the United States won gold. And I think that really had a shift in how women's sports was perceived, especially team sports. And so when we were trying to do this standalone World cup tournament, a lot of people were skeptical because they were like, oh, well, yeah, the Olympics, of course. Who doesn't want to see the Olympics? And who wouldn't want to go to a game, a gold medal game? And they were saying, well, this is very different. But we believed differently from them, and we thought we could pull it off. So I feel like the two combined tournaments really had an impact on each other.

[Public.com Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Brianna Scurry]

And so for me, we had great momentum going into the 99 World cup because of the 96 Olympics.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Right. And so you win in the ultimate fashion of penalty kick shootout, which I. It's my favorite way to win. I think it's just like, the most incredible feeling. I don't think there's anything that beats it. But did you expect what the fervor that you guys got after winning 99?

[Brianna Scurry]

I feel like we kind of thought there would be some real fire in women's game, especially in women's soccer, after we won, but I don't think we truly understood the magnitude. At least I didn't. It went from relative obscurity leading into the World cup start to completely. Everybody knowing who I was right after we won a lot of fame and a lot of notoriety and truly relief that we had won, actually.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Yeah. Getting back to goalkeepers a little bit, you know, and you mentioned it, that maybe at the time, there was obviously all these other factors that led you to not be the most marketable player. But I also think it's interesting when we're looking at goalkeepers, it's a cyclical thing. I mean, there's only been really three goalkeepers of the US women's national team in the last 30 years. I mean, 30 years. That's really crazy. But I think that there's something there, too, that, yes, the other players and other goalkeepers in general and internationally have been able to find some footing, but there also has to be this other element to it, like this. This first. Right. You were the. You were this iconic first player. The 99ers and all of that. Hope Solo was very notorious for many things, you know, positive and negative, made a lot of headlines. But I would say that a lot of my friends who are casual fans don't really know who Alyssa Nair necessarily is by name. So I think there has to be this other thing that propels people beyond for people to notice goalkeepers. Do you think that's on the media side? Do you think it's a personality thing? Like, what would you say that that is?

[Brianna Scurry]

Well, yeah, that's really fascinating point to make. First of all, let me say that when it comes to winning with the women's side, the teams that are playing the World cup and the Olympics tend to be the same people. On the men's side, it's different. So when you talk about cycles, World cup is first and the Olympics are right. After every single cycle, Team USA has won either the Olympic gold or the World cup championship. And so I think in those few cycles where we were winning Olympic gold instead of World cup gold, it's the same team. And so you have that notoriety. I feel like what happened with Alyssa is, I think that the light shifted from goalkeepers being able to essentially take the game by the scruff of the neck and get the team to the final, and then we figure out how to win it. To the field players, you had Megan Rapinoe, you had Abby Wambach. You've had a lot of different players now. You had Kristen Press, Tobin Heath, Lindsay Horan. All these great names and the goalkeeper. Alyssa didn't have to do as much, I feel like, as Hope and I had to do. And so her name wasn't really in the media that much, but the truth is, in my opinion, she proved herself in 2019 because there was no way that that team would have won that, that World cup if it weren't for Alyssa. And. But she was greatly overshadowed by Alex Morgan, by Megan Rapinoe, and just by all the different things that were going on. And the first time us winning World cup in a long time. So there was a lot going on there, and that got a lot more attention than Alyssa did, unfortunately. But she is a brilliant goalkeeper. I've met her several times, watched her play, and she's got all the goods. And we've been very blessed with great goalkeeping here for the women's side for decades.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Yeah, absolutely. Also, she's a PK saving machine listener.

[Brianna Scurry]

Yes, I know, exactly. You can bank it, right?

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Yeah.

[Brianna Scurry]

She's gonna save at least one, if not two. Yes.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

I think it's interesting, you know, in your new year, like, second half career, you know, you work with brands, you said you have more partnerships now. You. You mean part owner of a team and things like that. Have you had conversations with brands about the power of goalkeepers and, and telling their story? And. And like we said, I mean, if I was a brand and I was going to invest in a player, I would invest in a player who's going to be in that seat for 10 years. You know, you know, I'm saying. So have you had those conversations with brands?

[Brianna Scurry]

I have had those conversations not. Not only with. With goalkeepers in general, I mean, I explained to them how goalkeeping is the foundation of a team. And at one point in time, if you go back in time and look at every single team that's won a world championship or Olympic championship, at one point in time in that run, the goalkeeper had the team on their shoulders. And so if you don't have strong defensive goalkeeping, then you're not going to win. That's just how it works. And so who better to have represent you? If you're a company that wants to talk about strength or teamwork or camaraderie or leadership, goalkeepers are all those things wrapped into one. And in my case, I feel like not only am I a goalkeeper, but I was also a trailblazer. And so I understand how to literally blaze trails and make something there that was not there before. And so for me, I think the important thing too, with goalkeepers is we tend to be rather cerebral in our ability to decide who goes where and shift our teammates and positions to be strong as a team. I mean, I feel like one of my greatest traits was my ability to communicate to my backs and put them in the right position for them to be successful. And so all these steps of success, these attributes of success are all the same whether you're on the pitcher in the boardroom.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

That's a portion of my conversation with all time women's soccer great and my personal hero, Brianna Scurry. Check out an extended edition of the conversation as part of the Bloomberg Business of Soccer. You can find that on the Business of Sports podcast feed on Apple, Spotify and all your favorite podcast platforms.

[Damian Sassour]

Up next, we recap the World Series and talk the upcoming baseball off season with two time World Series champ Al Leiter.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

For Damian Sassour, I'm Vanessa Perdomo. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.

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[Bloomberg Announcer]

This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

[Damian Sassour]

Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm Damian Sassour.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

And I'm Vanessa Perdomo. Michael Barr will be back next week. Damian, this weekend was by far the craziest World Series I have seen in a long time.

[Damian Sassour]

I mean, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Those are the only two words you need to remember, Vanessa. I mean, what an outstanding performance by him and the entire Dodgers team. I mean, I thought the Blue Jays had it.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

I thought the Blue Jays had it. They were with him one inch of making it happen.

[Al Leiter]

Marshall Roller to second. Rojas comes home in time and it's Miguel Rojas who ties it in the top of the ninth, saves it in the bottom of the nine.

[Damian Sassour]

Well, joining us now to recap a wild, wild World Series and to look ahead to a busy off season for Baseball is one Mr. Al Leiter. He's a 19 year MLB vet, a two time World Series champion and is currently an MLB Network analyst. On top of being a former New York Mets great.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Al, welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.

[Al Leiter]

Thank you. Good to be here Damian. Vanessa, how are you?

[Damian Sassour]

Well, we had one heck of a World Series. Al, what are the key takeaways from your point? I mean Toronto, I mean for that matter, Canada was up in arms. What an incredible World Series. What an incredible ending. What are your takeaways here.

[Al Leiter]

Well, the Dodgers are a super team, but they didn't do it as super. Everyone anticipated with their 93 wins this year. What they are able to do as a result of their deep pockets and large amount of revenue that they bring in is quite frankly, they had, they had front end starters that were able to temper their workload until the end of the season. Blake Snell. They're one starter. Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Unbelievable. Damien, Vanessa. I don't know how close you guys are to baseball. I pitched in the big leagues for 19 years. My son actually pitches now. I've been around it my whole life and I never ever would think someone can do what Yamamoto did. Game 6, 6 innings, 100 pitches right there at. And the next day, not only just to come in and pitch an inning, he pitches three innings. It's beyond comprehension. He deserved the MVP and it heartbreaking for me. I'll be honest. I played seven years in Toronto and was part of some World Series teams. Very cool. It was in their hands, man. It was their series to win. And it was again heartbreaking there in Toronto, an entire country behind them, massive amount of people eyeballs watching. Do you know, it was.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Yeah, yeah, I feel like it was. It was heartbreaking for more than just Canada. Right. I'm watching this as. As a Yankee fan who we absolutely get destroyed last year by the Dodgers in the World Series. Horrible to watch. Honestly, this was just more entertaining to watch from. Just a not heartbreaking aspect. But I also feel like then you have people rooting for the Blue Jays, right. Because they don't want the Dodgers to win back to back. But it's a great. Are the Dodgers the new evil empire? Is it gotten to the point yet where there will start to be people rooting just against them or are they just a likable team with the way they did win and the way they pulled it out?

[Al Leiter]

Do you think, Vanessa, you said you were. You're a Yankee fan.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Yep.

[Al Leiter]

Okay, so guess what? I think it's great for the sport and all sports to have a villain. I really do. I mean, it's silly. I mean it's, you know, it's comic book talk. But I don't mind at all that they have. They had a payroll over 400 million. Guess what? The Mets weren't far behind at 340 million. They didn't even make the playoffs. They won 83 games, barely over 500. Your Yankees are right there in the, in the, in the neighborhood. Over 300 million. The Phillies are there and Toronto is fifth in payroll in 2025. I say this because, yeah, they're likable guys. Yeah, there's an interesting team. There's a litany of different players from all around the world, but I like that. I like the fact. I assume I'm much older than you guys, but I liked when I used to watch football in the 70s and it was the Cowboys, the Steelers, the Dolphins, the Raiders. And it was. You had like, all right, we don't like them and we're going to go after them just like you probably don't like the Red Sox. And I think that's great for sports. Do I put these as like, evil empire and awful people? No, of course not. I love the fact that Mark Walter, the owner of this team, Guggenheim Partners, they put money in the payroll, they put money in the team, and guess what? They got rewarded for it.

[Damian Sassour]

Well, you know what, Al, I mean, you mentioned Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and, you know, I'm looking at the free agents to watch as we head into this off season, and I see no fewer than three Japanese ballplayers, all legends. I mean, Kazuma Okamoto, I mean Tatsuya Imai, I mean, they're all coming to the major leagues next year. And so talk to us a little bit about this influx of Japanese talent and how it's changing the face of the game.

[Al Leiter]

Yeah, that's a good question, Damien, because perhaps there might be a conversation in the owners meetings whenever they have that in the wintertime, because there is a pipeline right now of the guys you just mentioned potentially coming here and signing with respective team. And what's going on with the la. Because when you have Ohtani, you know, move from the Angels over to the Dodgers, Yamamoto is a special guy. Sasaki is also a special pitcher.

[Damian Sassour]

Yep.

[Al Leiter]

The free agents that you mentioned, you know, if there's a cornering of the best Japanese talent with one respective team, I know it's free market, I know it's capitalism. But it would be a little disappointing to think that. That they're all pipeline to one organization. I hope that that's not the case because there's. There's talented players all around the world. We know that. Right. The Caribbean has been littered with, you know, great players. Dominican, Cuba, Venezuela, you know, puerto Rico, Mexico, etc. So here we are.

[Public.com Advertiser]

We.

[Al Leiter]

This has become it here. I think this was pretty cool. Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw the first pitch in Major League Baseball in Tokyo when, When. When the Dodgers went there and the last pitch was thrown by Yamamoto in Toronto. Canada, you couldn't get more of a better snapshot of where our sport is trying to go. Now, I know the NFL has put a corner on the market on that, or at least, you know, with their experience of playing in. Mostly in Europe, but now Mexico and Brazil. So, yeah, it's getting. The world's getting smaller.

[Damian Sassour]

Well, you know what, Al? I mean, we know the A's are moving to Vegas. Right. And I had asked you, league expansion. Right. I mean, look, what are your thoughts on expansion? I mean, do you believe that we're going to see it in the coming years? I mean, I imagine, you know, the answer would be yes, but I'm just curious to hear your thoughts. And what do you think about some of these cities? I mean, Nashville, we know is a baseball city, but Salt Lake, Vegas, I mean, what are your thoughts?

[Al Leiter]

Yeah, if they don't, I would be massively disappointed. What you just set up there, there are, There are strong candidates for a major league team. I 100 agree with you. And I don't know, the media rights issue with a place like Nashville close to Cincinnati and you got St. Louis nearby and I guess to a lesser extent, Chicago. I don't know. Atlanta will probably get a little upset about it, but you can figure it out, right? It's all about money. I think Nashville would be a golden ticket for whoever gets that franchise and for Major League Baseball, as you know, being an anchor down, by the way. There you go, huh?

[Damian Sassour]

I know we had a tough. We had a tough one on the football side. I know, I know. I don't know if we're out of it yet, but we'll see.

[Al Leiter]

Well, if they, if they win out and be Tennessee, they're. They're going to be in the. They're going to be in the bcs, which is amazing. Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Sidetrack. I'm following the birdie. And we need another team out west. You know, it's Seattle. Has Oral always been problematic with travel? It looks like Oakland is going to settle in Vegas, I hear. Salt Lake, I don't know. With Portland, maybe with their troubles that we. I read about and watch videos of downtown Portland. Maybe that's scaring baseball, I don't know. And, yeah, so we put a team out west. I'm all in for Nashville if Nashville doesn't get an expansion team. I, I think they. They missed the boat on that. I, I really do.

[Damian Sassour]

I couldn't agree.

[Al Leiter]

Charlotte is being mentioned. Probably. That's probably. That's probably the strongest four right there.

[Damian Sassour]

No, I, I Mean, I agree with you if Nashville misses out on this, I mean it would be and also.

[Al Leiter]

Too Damien if they wanted. I think there's some, there's some talk about realigning the whole thing because once the national TV package expires, and I think that's in 27 or 8, there's a chance to renegotiate. Right. And as you guys know, you're there at Bloomberg, you talk about numbers all the time. They got to figure out how to national, nationalize if it's word the TV package not only with a Fox or TBS or NBC or whoever, but the regional sports networks because not every regional sport network is, you know, the S network or, or nessen or some of the stronger ones marquee. You know, there's some of the clubs that struggle and their revenue is reflective based on viewership. So that's all in play. I think it's, I think it's going to be a realignment to have. Yes, Vanessa. The Yankees and the Mets in the same division.

[Damian Sassour]

Oh my God, could you imagine.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

That would be interesting.

[Damian Sassour]

Well, one last question for me. I mean, you know, we just saw the Dodgers win their second in a row. I mean the last time we saw back to back to back champions, you know who it was? It was our 98, 2000 New York Yankees. But it's only happened four times in the history of Major League Baseball. What do you think about the Dodgers chances next year?

[Al Leiter]

I'm going to say they're probably the favorite. I don't, I don't know what the line is going to be but you have an ownership group that will continue to spend and I'm not saying all spending results in world championships, but it's pretty close correlation. Yeah, strong correlation. Thank you. I mean you got the number one. The Mets are disappointed, right? No question about it.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

It's my favorite story actually.

[Al Leiter]

Yeah, I'm looking at it again on spot track, the Yankees playoff team 3rd Phillies playoff team 4 Toronto World Series 5th San Diego playoff team Boston playoff team Houston. Missed the other one. Oh, Chicago. Chicago's 11. Yeah. So there's a correlation. And why not? That I don't see. Ohtani Yamoto's only going to get better. Roki Sasaki is a young kid. He's going to get better. Yeah, yeah.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

It's all about the way they spend. They spend smart and they get, they get some good guys.

[Al Leiter]

That's right. I mean honestly, a lot of the owners want the model of truly the Tampa Bay race. You look at their win loss record over the last however many years, they're right up there with the big dogs. Another team, surprisingly, because I was, I was working the World Series and I was curious about payroll. The Cleveland Guardians, I went back to like when the Dodgers started winning, I think it was like 2013. The Cleveland Guardians were like second or third to only like the Yankees and the Dodgers and the Guardians. Not a big payroll, not a big market, not big revenue. So when the owners, the deep pocketed owners sit there and say, why AM I spending 350 million on players when the Rays and the Guardians, you know, whip our butts once in a while.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Everyone needs a better system is what it is. Yeah, better farm system because they're very good at that.

[Al Leiter]

The mousetrap. They're all trying to get ahead, but they're now it's splitting hairs because they're, they're extrapolating data and number and analytics from kind of the same places. They really are.

[Damian Sassour]

Our thanks to two time World Series champion and MLB Network analyst Al Leiter for joining us.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

And that does it for this edition of the Bloomberg Business of Sports. For Damien Sassour, I'm Vanessa Perdomo.

[Damian Sassour]

Tune in again next week for the latest on the stories moving big money in the world of sports. And don't forget to catch our podcast on all your podcast platforms. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Stay with us. Today's top stories and global business headlines are coming up right now.

[Al Leiter]

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