A (2:14)

As one of the greatest drivers of all time, you helped to mainstream NASCAR. You made NASCAR a household event. We're seeing F1 experience a moment now, and I'm wondering if you see that as competition or if this is the rising tide that lifts all boats.

D (2:30)

I mean, obviously their presence in the US has grown, so I've always looked at them as totally different.

A (2:35)

It is totally different. But does it actually help you to just have more race fans in this country?

D (2:40)

I think if motorsports is growing, I think everybody's growing along with it. So, yeah, absolutely. And, you know, I think that's what we're focused on, right, is, is we've got some great characters and storytelling and rivalries. Chase Elliott, you know, one of the most popular winning this past weekend, a new star in Carson Hosavar. So we understand that. You know, we're always trying to link our TV partners to our fans as well as our partners within the business on our race, to our drivers and to the storytelling. And I think we've got some great momentum right now, especially collaborating with nascar, what they're doing.

A (3:17)

Yes.

B (3:18)

Well, I want to ask you guys both, how do you expand the global footprint? And Jeff, let me kick it off with you. In terms of nascar, how do you see how you go about it?

D (3:25)

Yeah, I think a lot of it has to do with OEMs. Right. Right now or Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota. You know, Dodge has recently come in to the truck series and could extend fan there. But I think it kind of starts with where are the OEMs and their footprint? And it's always been North America for us, and that's been their focus. But as if we can bring in some OEMs that look at it outside of just North America, I think that could be a great start.

B (3:51)

Well, are those talks going on at this point?

C (3:53)

Yes.

D (3:55)

I told him I was going to give all the tough questions.

B (3:58)

We like headlines.

A (4:00)

Let's make some noise.

C (4:01)

No, we're excited about it. And to Jeff's point, we have, you know, always focused on new oem. So Ram came into their sport this year with the truck series, which has been great. And then Jeff and I have been talking about what. What does the future of NASCAR look like? So, primarily a domestic sport. All of our races this year in the United States. We had a race in Mexico City for the first time in our sports history last year, which was great on so many different levels. Have a lot of interest north of the border, and then we have interest abroad as well. We worked with Jeff and Hendrick team on garage 56 car. So a car that went over to Le Mans a couple of years ago. And I could tell you the fans there went nuts over it.

B (4:37)

So are the OEMs in Europe or anybody in Asia? Like, are you talking to.

C (4:42)

Yeah, there's. There's a handful. Zeeker to hear. Yeah, there's a. There's a ton that we're talking to. So domestic and then international as well. And you think a lot of these, these different OEM brands, a lot of them are consolidating. A lot of them are working together now. So whether it is their flagship brand or one of the brands that live within their ecosystem, always having conversations.

D (5:05)

I just want to add to that, you know, something NASCAR has done. And we have a next gen or Gen 7 car right now. We're able to go to stadiums. We were here at the Coliseum and in Los Angeles competing. We're going to San Diego to a naval base. So now we're able to go to places even outside of the US and put on a great event, either a street course, a stadium course. And I think that really opens up the door for more global.

A (5:30)

You mentioned Prime. Is that your exclusive streamer? Obviously, you start looking to the future. The TNT deal is a big one, of course, but you need to have digital rights at some point. People need to find you in different places. Where are you looking for streaming and how big can that be for nascar?

C (5:48)

Yeah, so we created the Amazon prime deal and a new meteorites package which takes us through 2031. So they have five races in the summer. They're actually going to kick off on Memorial Day weekend for the Coke 600. And it's been great for us so far. What I didn't actually realize about it is you're not beholden to any broadcast windows or TV windows.

A (6:06)

Right.

C (6:06)

So they can come on whenever they want and they'll leave whenever they want. So they've been really intentional about creating pre race shows, post race shows.

A (6:13)

Is that an exclusive arrangement?

C (6:14)

Putting a lot of data into it for the Cup Series? Yeah. Yeah. So they, they cover those five races and then the promotion that they're able to bring as well. If you go to the Amazon app or Amazon.com on race day, you're literally one click click away from watching Cup Series race. Very cool.

B (6:30)

Got to ask you about Jeff. Michael Jordan. Yeah. Competing against Michael Jordan, except for his

D (6:36)

winning too much in typical Michael fashion.

B (6:39)

What was, you know, what is it like having him? He's a massive celebrity. I don't even need to say that, you know, presence, you know, his presence at the ownership level for NASCAR just got about 30 seconds he loves motorsports.

D (6:50)

Right. We've seen him in motorcycles, we've seen him around NASCAR races even before he became an owner. But I've never seen him as engaged as he is right now. Of course, they're having a lot of success. Daytona 500 win. But as an owner, it's great to have Michael so engaged from an ownership. And I think it's only going to help the whole sport grow.

A (7:08)

Fantastic. Ben Kennedy Jeff, no, I was just

C (7:11)

going to say what I love to see about it is and Jeff touched on this is he he is truly passionate about the sport. He is a fan. That's great. Comes to a lot of races. He grew up going to a lot of NASCAR events, so it seems to see that come out of them.

A (7:23)

Thank you for helping us animate some of the great stories that are coming out of Milken here. This was fantastic.

B (7:27)

You said it was a race to

A (7:28)

the finish, a Hall of famer. Yeah. I think you guys won, actually. Jeff Gordon, Ben Kennedy, great to meet you both. And thank you for sharing your insights with us here on Bloomberg.

E (7:36)

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