US Olympic Silver Medalist Korey Dropkin Talks Curling, Rock League

Summary

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Bloomberg Talks: US Olympic Silver Medalist Korey Dropkin Talks Curling, Rock League

Date: March 12, 2026
Guest: Korey Dropkin, US Olympic Curling Silver Medalist
Host(s): Bloomberg Host, Alexis Christopher
Episode Theme: The evolving world of curling—from grassroots experiences to the launch of Rock League and efforts to boost the sport’s popularity in the US.

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Episode Overview

This episode welcomes Korey Dropkin, fresh off an Olympic silver medal in curling, to discuss his journey from youth clubs in Massachusetts to Olympic podiums. The discussion explores curling’s traditions, rising popularity, changes in the game’s culture, the upcoming Rock League, and how Dropkin envisions a broader curling presence across the U.S.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Childhood Roots & Curling Culture

• Background: Dropkin grew up in the Boston area, with the Brumstones Curling Club serving as a formative "second home" for both him and his family.
  • Quote:

    “Brimstone’s curling club was like my second home. My whole family curled. I have an older brother that curled and I followed in his footsteps. My parents were so involved with the youth curling program there.”
    — Korey Dropkin [01:29]

• Youth in the Sport: Started curling at age five, with junior-sized stones designed for kids.
  • Quote:

    “They have these smaller stones... made for younger curlers for kids that can't slide a 40-pound stone down the sheet of ice.”
    — Korey Dropkin [02:04]

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2. Olympic Evolution & Changing Curling Energy

• Shifting Perception: Curling is gaining recognition beyond its quadrennial Olympic spotlight.
  • Quote:

    “We love a sport where the crowd's going wild and cheering big... instead of the respective cheers... we want those... to vibrate through the stadium. And that’s what we saw in Italy... the energy that the athletes were giving off.”
    — Korey Dropkin [02:31]

• Tradition vs. Modernity: From quiet etiquette to vibrant, enthusiastic crowds.

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3. Curling Boom: Youth Interest & Accessibility

• Olympics Impact: Interest naturally peaks every four years, but Dropkin notes surging participation among younger generations in the U.S., spurred by club open houses and outreach.
  • Quote:

    “Every four years, it's natural. The world loves watching curling. We just need to be able to give the world what they want to watch more often... I'd want to see, especially in the U.S., curling exposed a little bit more.”
    — Korey Dropkin [03:52]

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4. Rock League: The Future of Professional Curling

• Launch Details:
  • Rock League launches April 6–12 in Toronto, marking its inaugural Eastern season.
  • Structure: Six franchises, each with 10 athletes (five men, five women), making it a mixed-gender competition.
  • Goals: Make curling more accessible, year-round, and visible to wider audiences, especially in the US.
  • Quote:

    “It's the eastern inaugural first season... There's six franchises... it's mixed gender. The beautiful thing is that it's... the best in the world playing head-to-head.”
    — Korey Dropkin [04:32]

• Media Coverage: Ongoing negotiations for U.S. television coverage; hopes to replicate Canada's strong curling broadcast environment.

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5. Myths & Realities: Curling as an Athletic Sport

• Barroom Stereotypes: While recreational curling—especially in leagues—has a social side (beer included), Dropkin stresses curling is a competitive, athletic endeavor at higher levels.
  • Quote:

    “League night is known to have some beer involved for sure... But I love pool. When I grew up and I wanted to be good at curling, my dad told me... you gotta learn your angles. If you wanna learn your angles...”
    — Korey Dropkin [05:27]

• Skill Translation: Dropkin played a lot of pool growing up to improve his understanding of angles, an essential skill for curling strategy.

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6. Olympic Drama: “Were the Canadians Cheating?”

• The Controversy:
  • The hosts press Dropkin on an Olympic controversy involving Canadian curlers, technical infractions, and a heated response.
  • Quote:

    “...Essentially a legend of the sport who's being called out... He was in a fracture that, as you know, traveling in basketball, some people get called on it, some people don't. And he got called on it.”
    — Korey Dropkin [06:34]

  • Swedish curler Oscar Erickson called out the Canadian team, resulting in unusually heated exchanges and some cursing on the Olympic curling sheet—rare for the sport.

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7. Medal Stories & Home Life

• Where’s the Medal? Dropkin keeps his silver medal close by or “up high on a shelf at home” [06:56].
• Running Jokes: Hosts tease about curling skills doubling for kitchen cleaning duties at home.
  • Quote:

    “I'm very good at cleaning the kitchen floors for sure. You can ask my fiancé.”
    — Korey Dropkin [07:17]

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8. Game Structure: Calls for Change

• Length of Matches: Traditional games last ten ends (~2.5 hours).
• Future Format: Rock League will introduce shorter formats—mixed doubles games (~1.5 hours)—which Dropkin believes will increase viewer appeal.
  • Quote:

    “I think what we need to see is the game shortened a little bit, and you're going to see that in Rock League too... mixed doubles games are about an hour and a half.”
    — Korey Dropkin [07:46]

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Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• Silver Medal’s Value:

  “Silver, by the way, at $86 right now, up 7.”
  — Korey Dropkin jokes about silver prices [03:33]

• On Curling’s Social Side:

  “League night is known to have some beer involved for sure... On an average Tuesday evening, you're definitely gonna see curlers with the beer on the back of the boards.”
  — Korey Dropkin [05:27]

• Olympic Emotion:

  “There was cussing going on and curling, which doesn’t happen often.”
  — Alexis Christopher [06:31]

• Medal Handling Humor:

  “Not under the pillow, not under the mattress.”
  — Alexis Christopher teases Dropkin about storing his medal [07:01]

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Important Timestamps

• 00:47 – Introduction to Korey Dropkin and his medal
• 01:29 – Korey’s childhood and family curling background
• 02:31 – Curling culture shift and Olympic energy
• 03:52 – Curling’s surging popularity and youth interest
• 04:32 – Rock League launch details
• 05:27 – Curling as a social but serious sport
• 06:07 – Olympic controversy over rules, sportsmanship
• 06:56 – Where Dropkin keeps his medal
• 07:41 – Curling match length and Rock League’s new format

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Conclusion

Korey Dropkin shares an inside look at curling’s growing appeal, the energy transformation at the Olympics, and hopes for the new Rock League to anchor the sport firmly in US sports culture. With wit and passion, Dropkin brings out the athleticism, camaraderie, and entrepreneurial drive behind curling’s next chapter.

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Transcript

[Ben Walter]

Every small business owner has that one moment that could have broken them. But remarkably, it didn't. Hi, I'm Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business. And on season three of the Unshakeables, my co host Kathleen Griffith and I are bringing you more incredible stories of overcoming the impossible. We're really proud to share that the Unshakeables is nominated for best branded podcast at the 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Listen to the Unshakeables wherever you get your podcasts and lear [e-mail] podcast JP Morgan Chase bank and a member FDIC Copyright 20 and 26 JP Morgan Chase Co.

[Alexis Christopher]

Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio news

[Bloomberg Host]

He comes in with a silver medal. John Tucker thought it was going to be handed to him. Corey Dropkin joins us now. US Olympic curling silver medalist working on a furtherance of curling. Back away from the 10 days where we all tune into it. Welcome to Bloomberg Surveillance.

[Corey Dropkin]

Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.

[Bloomberg Host]

I've got to do this because it was inflicted upon me as a child. So in the 90 to 9 region of Boston, if you fancy, there's the Wellesley Country Club, Braeburn, the Weston Golf Club, and they sort of coalesced around a curling hunk of ice called Brumstones.

[Corey Dropkin]

Yeah.

[Bloomberg Host]

Did you go there as a little kid? Like, were you part of that whole scene?

[Corey Dropkin]

Absolutely. That was Brimstone's curling club was like my second home. My whole family curled. I have an older brother that curled and I followed in his footsteps. My parents were so involved with the youth curling program there. You know, I was known to be running up and down the stairs playing pool, throwing so many stones on the ice.

[Bloomberg Host]

Did you ever stub your toe on that damn stone? I mean, was the stone laying around at home and you ran over it?

[Corey Dropkin]

No, no, no. Pretty much just grew up sliding down the sheet of ice.

[Alexis Christopher]

Since you're five years old. You were curling five years old. I didn't think a five year old could, I know.

[Corey Dropkin]

Well, they have these, these smaller stones that weigh like half the, half the size. So their stones about 44 pounds. They have like these little rocks that they call them that you know, are made for younger curlers for kids that can't slide a 40 pound stone down the sheet of ice.

[Bloomberg Host]

What changed with this Olympics in terms of a sport that we focus on every four years to, hey, this is for real. What's the catalyst right now out of that wonderful Olympic coverage?

[Corey Dropkin]

I think it's the energy that you see from the sport, from all the Athletes, you know, we love a sport where, you know, the crowd's going wild and cheering big. You know, I think traditionally it used to be known as, you know, a bit of a quiet, you know, more of like a silent, please type of sport where, you know, it's all about etiquette and. Is a sport of etiquette and, you know, instead of the, you know, the respective cheers, you know, on made shots and then be silent for the next opponent to throw, you know, we want to. We want those. Those cheers to vibrate through the stadium. And that's what we saw in Italy, you know, the Italian crowd showing up, our American crowd, you know, every country showing up for their own right. And the energy that the athletes were giving off.

[Bloomberg Host]

Alexis Christopher is with Corey Dropkin. He has a silver medal in studios with us. That. That's a hunk of metal.

[Alexis Christopher]

It's around his neck in case you guys can't. Can't see me. I feel it just for. Never been this close to a. Oh, my gosh, that's heavy.

[Ben Walter]

All right.

[Alexis Christopher]

That's. That's the real deal.

[Bloomberg Host]

And hopefully it'll last because the stories, like, they go on three, four, five years and they fall apart. Yeah.

[Alexis Christopher]

Or they've been falling off the ribbon or something.

[Corey Dropkin]

Silver, by the way, at $86 right now, up 7. We got that piece in there.

[Bloomberg Host]

Alexis, please.

[Alexis Christopher]

He's going to hang on to his silver. So, I mean, undoubtedly, you know, curling's having its moment, but in what ways? Like, are you. Are you seeing and hearing from, like, young people here in the US Are they going like, yeah, I want to do that?

[Corey Dropkin]

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think every four years, it's natural. I mean, the world loves watching curling. You know, we just need to be able to give the world what they want to watch more often. And I would want to see, especially in the US Curling exposed a little bit more. We need it more on an annual basis, and that's part of why Rock League is here and starting in April, you know, But I've heard so many curling communities having, you know, big open houses, new kids, new adults trying to come in and learn how to.

[Bloomberg Host]

Now you're up in Duluth right now.

[Corey Dropkin]

Yeah, you bet.

[Bloomberg Host]

It's still winter. Okay, so you're up in Duluth and you want to do Rock League. Do you have any media into it? Is there a tv? You know, tv.

[Alexis Christopher]

That's what you need to get it to the next level.

[Corey Dropkin]

Yes. Yep.

[Bloomberg Host]

And I know it says Apple tv. I mean, you know, it says dead tv.

[Corey Dropkin]

Yeah, yeah. I know, Yeah, I know they've got a network for sure in Canada. I know they're working on the US it sounds like there was, there was talks about potentially securing something, you know, but hopefully, hopefully we're able to get that and that way that everyone around the U.S. can watch. April 6th to 12th in Toronto is where Rock League's happening. It's, it's the eastern inaugural first season. It's going to be seven days long. There's six franchises and the beautiful thing is that it's, it's, it's mixed gender. So on each franchise there's 10 athletes, five male and five female. And so really you get the best in the world that are, that are playing head, head and head.

[Bloomberg Host]

What do you like in a bar where the games, like a pool table or some of those games. You must be. You just go in and get some idiot to bet you. This is not, this is not a sport. You can do with what beer in one hand. These guys are athletes.

[Alexis Christopher]

It's like a Marty Suprem.

[Bloomberg Host]

I'll tell you what are you in a bar?

[Corey Dropkin]

League night is known to have some beer involved for sure. On an average Tuesday evening, you're definitely gonna see curlers with the beer on the back of the boards. But I love pool. When I grew up and I wanted to be good at curling, my dad told me that if you want to be good at curling, you gotta learn your angles. If you wanna learn your angles, you

[Bloomberg Host]

start playing three cushion billiards or you doin pocket.

[Corey Dropkin]

Absolutely pocket.

[Alexis Christopher]

So see you can the curling skills translate to other things?

[Bloomberg Host]

Size in my ear. Size are curling expert here. I got, I got out of turn here. I'm gonna have to go here in a couple of minutes because of Iran and that. I mean, Corey, it's as simple as that. Were the Canadians cheating?

[Corey Dropkin]

You know they weren't cheating. No, you know, there was, there was, you know, basically touching the ground is technically in fracture where, you know, it's similar to like traveling in basketball.

[Bloomberg Host]

Okay. Were they cheating?

[Corey Dropkin]

They weren't cheating, but they were, they were definitely.

[Alexis Christopher]

Did somebody call them out on it? Is that really what happened?

[Corey Dropkin]

I mean, yeah, the Swedish curler, Oscar Erickson called them out on it. And I'd say, you know, they probably reacted a little bit over the board, which is why this thing went pretty cool.

[Alexis Christopher]

There was cussing going on and curling, which doesn't happen often.

[Corey Dropkin]

Yeah, you don't see it very often. You know, it's also a big stage. You know, we're talking about the Olympics the emotions are high. You know, you had, you know, essentially a legend of the sport who's being called out and you know, he overreacted for sure. He was in a fracture that as you know, traveling in basketball, some people get called on it, some people don't. And he got called on it.

[Alexis Christopher]

Where do you keep the metal when you're not wearing it?

[Corey Dropkin]

Either close by to me or up high on a shelf at home.

[Alexis Christopher]

Not under the pillow, not under the mattress.

[Corey Dropkin]

Yeah.

[Bloomberg Host]

Okay. When you get the Clorox free and clear out on the kitchen floor, you're like demanding you do the scrub into the kitchen floor.

[Alexis Christopher]

You know, if you were my son, this would. I'd be asking you to do it. I really would. Cory.

[Bloomberg Host]

Yeah.

[Corey Dropkin]

You know, I'm very good at cleaning the kitchen floors for sure. Yeah, you can ask my fiance.

[Bloomberg Host]

Well, thank you so much. This has been just a joy is a real entrepreneurial spirit, folks. Rock League, you're going to see it as Corey mentions, out of Toronto here as they develop our interest in curling after our complete addictive fixture. How come the games are so long?

[Alexis Christopher]

Oh, that's a good question.

[Corey Dropkin]

Right now the men's and women's four person games are ten ends and that takes about two and a half hours.

[Bloomberg Host]

Are you going to get a pitch clock?

[Corey Dropkin]

I know they should. I think what we need to see is the game shortened a little bit and you're going to see that in Rock League too where the games will be shortened to the mixed doubles games are about an hour and a half. There you go. My mind is perfect. People love watching mixed doubles.

[Bloomberg Host]

Corey, thank you so much. Out of Wayland, Massachusetts, out of Southborough as well. And of course now up in Duluth, Minnesota. Mr. Dropkin is an Olympic silver medalist. The Dow right now, negative 600. We've got to get back to these markets. And all the new slow changing are literally by the the 15 minutes is how I would put it. Right now I'm going to go to the major Bloomberg feed here which we have in Iran that's actually a little bit stable right now. And Alexis, if I bring it over to Top Live where they're working feverishly.

[Alexis Christopher]

Yes.

[Bloomberg Host]

Out of Dubai, out of London, out of Dublin. Today is. Well right now this is, this is just a general statement from our Matthew Griffin on the stock market as well. And again there's a way to the tape. Negative 630.

[Alexis Christopher]

Yeah. And Iran's new leader coming out with these statements that are moving the market for the first time since the war.

[Bloomberg Host]

Here's what I want. This is Patrick Sykes. He's out of Cambridge and is in Istanbul. We've had him on the show. He's absolutely brilliant. No other way to put it in. Patrick Sykes, making clear that the message itself was defiant. Iran will continue to attack the Gulf and keep the Strait of Hormuz closed. So we'll have to see that. As is. What did you.

[Alexis Christopher]

Maybe you'd want to hold the medal on a.

[Bloomberg Host]

Hold the medal?

[Alexis Christopher]

Yeah. Isn't that heavier than you'd expect?

[Bloomberg Host]

Yeah.

[Alexis Christopher]

Silver medal.

[Bloomberg Host]

I don't think you got that through tsa.

[Alexis Christopher]

Okay. Right now, here. You can have your medal back.

[Bloomberg Host]

Thank you.

[Alexis Christopher]

Your silver medal.

[Bloomberg Host]

Great. Corey Dapkins, silver medalist with us today as he begins Rock League and curling.