John Hope Bryant (5:37)

She's a firecracker.

Jed York (5:38)

He's a firecracker and making a difference also in her home city to this day. Right.

John Hope Bryant (5:43)

Always, always. Youngstown, Ohio.

Jed York (5:46)

Youngstown, Ohio. So, okay, so let's get into this. He became CEO of the 49ers. Well, he was president and then CEO, but somewhere around 2008, 2009, at the ripe old age of 28, succeeding his parents, John and Denise York. Denise York. Mrs. York is who I just referred to, who I believe sent me a personal donation operation, I believe after I met her. I just can't say enough about her. He built and moved on his leadership into Levi's Stadium in Santa clara in around 2014. A major infrastructure and business achievement. We'll talk a little bit about that because that was economic development for the entire area. It just popped the entire area. And actually Operation Hope partnered with the 49ers and the 49ers foundation with a hope inside the community, I believe, to help the community with. To raise up its credit score and raise up its economic energy around the stadium. And actually that partnership that we have with the 49ers at Operation Hope has become was, I think indirectly led to a partnership we have with the NFL, which, where we are a partner now for successive years on economic inclusion and financial literacy with the NFL. And I believe other owners of teams are going to follow suit. We just by the way signed a partnership with an NBA team in Chicago. But I think it was indirectly. We were sort of in the pro sports family and now everybody feels sort of it's okay. But Jord was, but Jed was the first mover. He reached the Super bowl in 2013, 2020 and again in 2024 and probably doesn't want to be talked, want to talk too much about the 2024 thing. Too much. See, he gets, he only gets cranky when he loses. And it doesn't make sense to him, by the way, very much like my friend Tony. Wrestler owns the Atlanta Hawks. If he loses. They don't want to talk to Tony. He's a little cranky because he's, you know, they want to win. Established the 49ers as a consistent playoff contender. Of course, they've won the super bowl successive times. We'll talk about. He'll talk about that. Strong advocate for long term coaching stability help build the 49ers off field. Brand is one of the most valuable franchises in sports itself, valued at billions. I won't get into their pockets. It's nobody's business. But it's say it's billions. Known for his tech forward mindset, embracing analytics, sports, sports science and corporate partnerships. The 49ers are now involved in real estate development around Levi's Stadium and have equity and I guess, venue. Venue next. I believe that's right. A technology company. He's on the board of directors of the Levi Strauss company and Operation Hope. I might say he is seen as a bridge between old school sports ownership and new era tech leadership, especially given the 49ers location in Silicon Valley. You know, family man, father a good dude, and my dear friend. Now, Jen and I met like in a weird way, like we met at a conference that we can't talk about, that doesn't have a website. And I got this call out of the blue. I remember exactly where I was. Was in my old home, old office, downstairs, early evening, I get this call on my mobile phone with somebody sort of going off a little bit, but not on me, just sort of going off in general with frustrations. And they're like, this is bs. I can't understand what's going on in this world. This is crazy. And I thought it was like one of my crazy uncles or something. And it's Jed York and he's upset because of the George Floyd murder. Do you remember that call, Jed?

John Hope Bryant (9:44)

I do, I do.

Jed York (9:46)

He was very frustrated and he thought this was not America, this is not the country he knew. He didn't understand why humans would do this to each other. And he wanted to have a conversation about it and more importantly, wanted to figure out a way to help. And this started a beautiful friendship. And I consider Jed my brother, my brother from another mother. He is a. Just a. Just a genuine article. And there's been times when Jed has called me when he thought I needed emotional support, flew out to meet me again, a separate situation. I don't know if you're already there, but I think I met you in New York for. It was for lunch.

John Hope Bryant (10:26)

Yep.

Jed York (10:27)

And he was just. Just making sure I was okay. And he. This was. This is what he does when nobody's looking. That's. That's what a real friend and a real leader and a real person is. So, Jed, why did you call me after George Floyd's murder? I never asked you this question. What was going on with you?

John Hope Bryant (10:47)

Well, I mean, I think there's. There's more to it. And I know you and I have talked a little bit about, you know, Colin Kaepernick beforehand. And I mean, there was all the cap stuff with the NFL.

Jed York (10:57)

I was gonna say I was gonna save you for that, but now that was.

John Hope Bryant (11:00)

But that was part of. I mean, that was Part of it where. When you're looking at social justice reform and. And trying to figure things out, I, I think, I mean, we can get into the CAP stuff, but there was stuff that. That he started.

Jed York (11:15)

CAP was it for those who are not. Anybody living on Mars and doesn't know Colin Kaepernick was a quarterback for the 49ers.

John Hope Bryant (11:24)

And I mean, when he started protesting during the anthem and taking a knee for different social justice reforms, and then you see it sort of play out with George Floyd, what we wanted to connect on. And obviously when. I can't remember the name of the book that you wrote at the time on financial literacy, but you were. You were promoting that book at the conference or you had just come out with that. But it just hit me with how.

Jed York (11:51)

The pork and save capitalism maybe up for nothing. I think it was how the poor concept capitalism back then. Or the memo. The memo.

John Hope Bryant (11:58)

It was a memo. It was a memo, but it's just like, look like people don't have the memo. I literally just came from a meeting today with a group that we helped start called Golden Heart Fund that helps our former alumni players that fall into hard times. And we went from sort of dire need cases to sort of preventative cases. And they said, I know who we need to connect with. We need to connect with Operation Hope and we need to figure out financial literacy. But that's. I mean, all of this kind of ties together where it's. You look at poor communities, and not even just poor communities, but most communities, they don't have financial literacy.

Jed York (12:36)

Yep.

John Hope Bryant (12:37)

And they need the memo. And if they don't have the memo, they can't help pull themselves out of poverty and pull themselves out of things that are sort of outside of their control. And that's. That was the frustration that I felt. And I think we've connected. And I hope that. I know that Operation Hope has done a lot. I hope collectively we've done a lot to help people and get more people financially literate to help solve some of the social justice issues that exist mainly because of financial literacy.

Jed York (13:07)

So you've done a lot without even knowing you've done. Yes. We're going to get back to some people listening might be saying, what does financial literacy have to do with Kaepernick and George Floyd? And you're about to get into why this guy is so wicked smart and how his brain works and how it connects with his heart. With the answer. But before we get to that, because I believe financial literacy is a civil rights issue of this Generation. Let me tell you how this game works, Jed. Jack, just write me a check if he wanted to, but he knows that that can only go but so far. But if Jed introduces me to his team and says, this is my dude and don't you know, it's not a handout program, but if he's got something viable here, you should listen to him, all of a sudden the tone changes with his team. They're more open. This is just human nature anywhere. And I believe in the James Brown version of affirmative action. Open the door, I'll get it myself. Well, he's opened a lot of doors. I've tried to open a few doors for him. He's certainly opened some doors for the work of Operation Hope. Whether it was the NFL, whether it was civic, civic groups in Silicon Valley who were trying to bridge the gap. I don't know if you remember that, Jed, those calls we had in the video calls, whether it's one on one meetings or he's willing to come and sit with me in the meeting, like the commissioner for the NFL who's become now a very dear friend and a partner on his own. And frankly, we had all of the commissioners on stage last December at HOPE Global Forum, and I'm told it was the first time in history that all of the sports commissioners were at one place in a public setting ever. And that then led to several months later, the first Green Sox Day, April of this year, where all the commissioners were engaged with their sports offices in wearing green socks for financial literacy, posting and being engaged. And now they want to do more next year. Now it's gonna be gone. The NFL, Adam Silver, the NBA, Rob and others, you know, baseball based, the Major League Baseball, et cetera, et cetera, National Hockey League, et cetera, nascar. All that started because Jed walked me into the meeting with Roger Goodell. Now I had to do the rest after that. And then I had to make sure I didn't embarrass Roger, made him comfortable, and then understand the dynamics between all the commissioners. But Jed opened that first door and he's been opening doors consistently. And if I ever call him and say I need an introduction before I can get out of my mouth, he's like already moving to make it happen. That sounds like a little. But it's everything because every time he does that, he's putting his credibility on the line. But that's what we need to do for each other in order to move the line. For people who are invisible, who feel invisible in a society where the color is not so much black or white or red or blue anymore, even though it feels that way. It's green, it's economic in nature. You gotta move folks from the streets to the suites. That is financial literacy being the civil rights issue of the generation. So I'm saying once again, what does Colin Kaepernick and George Floyd, the murder, the memo, the book, financial literacy and your interest, how those and your friendship with me, how do all those things come together?

John Hope Bryant (16:32)

I mean, I don't know if we have enough time on the podcast, but.

Jed York (16:35)

We want to get to other topics. So. Yes.

John Hope Bryant (16:39)

I mean, I think when I look at Cap, I realize it was very controversial what he did. And there were people that were completely against saying people completely for it, and a lot of people that are completely confused. And when I look at what he did, he, he brought light to issues people weren't really talking about in mainstream.

Unknown Speaker (16:58)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (16:59)

People knew that they were there, but people weren't talking about them in mainstream. And you can agree, disagree on his method and whatever. That's, that's, that's in the past. That's besides a point now. It's how do we take what he started and getting this to be a national conversation and figure out how to help people that need help and that are in need. And that's where, when you started speaking about the memo and figuring out, well, this area in social justice or this area in social justice, if you get to financial literacy, you're going to solve 90 plus percent of the issues that are there. And that's what connected me to you. And your message is that we need to make sure that we are going from protests in the streets to actually making something happen and getting people to a better place in life. And that's the key. And when you're fortunate enough to be in the situation that I'm in, when you represent The San Francisco 49ers and Leeds United and Glasgow Rangers and the National Football League and all these tremendous brands and folks that you're a part of. I think you have an obligation to give back and try to help. And to me, I think financial literacy covers more areas than just about anything.

Jed York (18:19)

My Jewish brothers and sisters are Jewish brothers and sisters who were discriminated against for thousands of years and they had no country for most of that time. The way that they were able to succeed was they became experts in financial literacy and they use that expertise and ownership to get power and position in the world. And I think that other grieve groups should look at that as a model for how they come up. And essentially, I do believe that if you look at all the ethnic groups in this country, the three groups that have been left behind have been left behind for economic or lack of economic prominence and access to capital and opportunity reasons. Black Americans enslaved on American soil. Poor whites. There are more poor whites in America than poor anybody else. That's Dr. King's day. To this day. I think they've been riding at the ballot box most recently because they're really frustrated and they want somebody to pay attention to them. And somebody should, by the way. We just need to give them some solutions and not just flame their frustrations. I'm trying to do that while I work in Operation Hope. 20% of my offices are in poor, white, rural neighborhoods, by the way, in the south. And Native American Indians on Indian reservations. Now, those three memos, those three groups never got the memo on how free enterprise, capitalism, economics, ownership and opportunity works. So you've got the largest opioid addiction. Well, I think it's so true. The number one group dying today are high school educated white men. Shocking to most people to hear that that's opioid addiction, lack of aspirational attainment, depression, Native American Indians, that's alcoholism. Same thing, in my opinion. And I think that a vast majority of people I love have depression because they feel. They don't feel seen in the biggest economy in the world or properly dealt with or addressed economically and aspirationally. And yet you want to do something about that. You have put your money where your mouth is. You and your family. Let's clear up some misinformation. One of the reasons I love this podcast is I'm able to bring light to topics. You know, typically you're on TV, it's 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 7 minutes, 7 minutes. A long episode, and you're responding to whatever the anchor is saying. We have a chance here to unpack and remove disinformation and replace it with real information. Colin Kaepernick. There's a lot of misinformation about this. Get out the way you guys did them, dirty, whatever that means. What really happened?

John Hope Bryant (20:57)

I mean, Cap was with us. We drafted cap in 2011, and his protest happened in 2017, I believe. 16 or 17. I can't remember the exact year. It's crazy that it was almost 10 years ago now. But Cap decided to sit during the national anthem. I think we were in Denver and no one really recognized it, Right. And then he sat the following week when people started to recognize. And if you know, Dr. Harry Edwards, who's worked with us. I mean, he was a founding member of the Black Panthers. He helped with Cap go from sitting in something that can very easily be taken as a disingenuous gesture and something that was a slap in the face to getting him to think about his protest tactics and getting him to take a knee. And he connected him with some former military folks. And. And again, whether you like it or not, like, it's. It's hard to say that taking a knee, at least to me, I don't know any situation where somebody taking a knee is a. Is a gesture that's like a slap in the face to you. And I think he was able to help him sort of refocus where he can focus more on the message. And at the time, Colin was our highest paid player. We ended up having, I think we were 2 and 14 that season. We were the second worst team in the league. And we moved on from our coach that year. We hired Kyle Shanahan the following season. So I think it was 2016, and we hired Kyle in 2017, and we moved on from Colin. We moved on from a lot of players, and two years later, we were in the Super Bowl. But all of that, the heat that I received was probably more for, quote, allowing Colin to do this to me. The last time I checked, we live in the United States of America. People have the right for free speech. That doesn't mean that you don't have the right from repercussions from free speech that you make. And that's sort of what happened, was we supported Cap the entire season. No one told him to not do that. We tried to help, and I think we've done a lot and changed our focus and our foundation from things that were probably not social justice related beforehand to being more social justice related moving forward. And I think he started a movement that hopefully people are carrying on in their own way. And I mean, the NFL, I mean, you've spent time with Roger.

Jed York (23:43)

Yeah.

John Hope Bryant (23:44)

Roger maybe hasn't embraced Colin Kaepernick specifically and everything that he said and did, but the things that the NFL is working on today, I don't think we would be doing if it wasn't for Colin Kaepernick.

Unknown Speaker (24:04)

There's something special about folks who come through without being asked. Like your coworker surprising you with your favorite coffee just because. Or your friend handing you the ox card the moment you get in the car. No debate, no fight, just positive vibes that kind of love. It just hits different. And that's exactly the energy at. And T is on with their new guarantee. If there's ever a network interruption, AT&T will proactively credit you for a full day of service. No calls, no emails, no jumping through hoops. It's just handled. It's like the universe saying, I got you. Except this time it's not the stars aligning, it's your network. And let's be real, that connection is everything. Whether you're holding down the group chat, checking on parents, your media scrolling TikTok, your network's gotta come through. And if there's a problem, AT&T is on the case. No stress, no drama, just real backup when it counts. Credit for Fiber downtime lasting 20 minutes or more or wireless downtime lasting 60 minutes or more caused by single incident impacting 10 or more towers. Restrictions and exclusions apply. See att.com guaranty for full details. AT&T. Connecting changes everything.

Jed York (25:13)

So. So you just said something positive about, basically about, about cap. You had no problem with the social justice.

John Hope Bryant (25:20)

Our number one goal is to. Is to win a lot of football games and hopefully win Super Bowls.

Jed York (25:25)

That's right. That's right. He's not social justice central. He's an NFL team. He wants to win some games. But he, along the way, he didn't mind folks expressing themselves.

John Hope Bryant (25:34)

No. And I mean, it wasn't just Colin. There were other guys. Eric Reed was very close with Colin. Eric, I think he stayed on the team several more years and I know he knelt the entire following season. In 2017, when, when Kyle came in, I went to, we were playing D.C. we took a train together to New York to meet with the NFL and talk about some of the social justice forums and things like that. So, I mean, it's, it is not specific with Colin to say, well, you know, he took a knee, so he got blackballed. Like, I can't speak for any other teams. Like, that certainly wasn't the case with the 49ers. And I still think a lot of Colin, I think a lot of the guys that were there and they were part of that movement then. And again, like, you have to go from protest to progress. And that's, you know, I want to make sure that, that I adequately give respect to Dr. Edwards because that was his whole line when we started, like, protest is great, but if you don't go from protest to progress, protest doesn't matter.

Jed York (26:34)

Amen. And I'm probably talking out of turn here. And I'm going back a few years. I could swear you actually offered Colin a contract or something. Or somebody said that you didn't offer him a contract. Like, no, that's not. That wasn't accurate.

John Hope Bryant (26:48)

No. When Kyle and John came in, they sat down with them and said, you know, we're going to. We're going to probably move on from you and sort of have the conversation of, do you. Do you want us to release you? Do you want us to. How do you want this to happen? He said, you know, I'm fine being released. And again, like, I don't. I don't know the specifics of them having conversations, but he. He was released and he was able to be a free agent and move on and try to find another team. Unfortunately for him, he. He didn't have a great opportunity to find another team. And I think that's where a lot of the controversy came, but nothing to.

Jed York (27:27)

Do with you allowing him to take a knee and all that stuff. This was. This was. This was. You want. You're just trying to win. You're trying to win the super bowl, right?

John Hope Bryant (27:37)

We're trying to win games. And we went from being the worst team in the league to being in the super bowl three years later. And I give a ton of credit to John and Kyle for rebuilding the core and the foundation of this team that reflected what my uncle built in the 80s and 90s of a team that, you know, one with class, one on the field and one off the field. And that's. That's what we're always trying to do.

Jed York (28:02)

Like, we're in no shade to cut the Cap. I mean, again, great. I mean, Cap is incredibly talented and made a contribution when he was there and it. But, you know, sometimes the chemistry doesn't work. And as people just heard, my brother just gave enormous love for him, which he never told me. This is the first time I've heard it. And even the influence that. That his foundation has had at the 49ers in direct. Direct indirectly influenced by Cap's efforts. And now. Yeah, I'm thinking about it, yes. The 49ers and what they're doing with Jay Z and all that stuff. I think a lot of that was influenced by Colin Kaepernick and his spirit. And I mean, people don't know that Roger Goodell's father was a US Senator. It was very interested in public policy and probably lost his seat in the Senate because of his civil rights work in the 60s. I know that's the case. And so this was also Roger Goodell's way within the NFL to lean in and be for something. They're still doing it to this day. And unfortunately egos sometimes get arrows in the broader sense of maybe you might be ahead of your time, society doesn't completely understand what you're doing, so on and so forth. So. And he picked up contracts, I won't name names with major companies. Whatever Colin did and seems to be doing really well in his nonprofit areas wish him well. So thank you for all you did there. Thanks for clarifying.

John Hope Bryant (29:31)

No, absolutely.

Jed York (29:33)

Now get on to. So for anybody who said, okay, that's all cool. I want to understand this business model. Thanks for the tea. Now I want some coffee. Explain, explain, explain the NFL and explain owning a team and the economics, the cash flows. How does it work?

John Hope Bryant (29:56)

So I mean it's interesting you talked about glad global soccer and there are, there are probably larger brands and more well known brands in soccer than there are in American football. But I think you'd be hard pressed to find a league that is as valuable from, from top club to the 32nd club as the National Football League because the way that the league is structured and this goes back to, you know, Wellington Mara from the New York Giants who when television became a new revenue stream and something that people saw is going to be something that was a focal point for the growth of the National Football league in the 50s and 60s. He went from saying we're going to keep all of the New York revenue to saying we're going to pool all of national television and we're going to pull this together and we're all going to make the same amount of money. So we have a very, very socialist approach to the National Football League where we share a ton of revenue. Probably 2/3 of our revenue, if not more is shared. So you share piece of your ticket revenue. So a third of our gate goes into our ticket sales, goes into a shared pool where all 32 teams receive the same amount back but everybody puts in a third of their own revenue.

Unknown Speaker (31:17)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (31:18)

100 of all television revenue is shared. There's other revenue that shared like the national sponsorships and things like that, like super bowl revenue, things like that. That's all shared equally amongst all the teams. So this year we host Super Bowl 60.

Unknown Speaker (31:32)

Right?

John Hope Bryant (31:33)

You'll, you'll probably see one of the highest grossing, if not the highest grossing Super Bowls in history.

Jed York (31:39)

By the way, she has already said she's gonna be there. So I just told me to tell.

John Hope Bryant (31:42)

You that it should be a great party but just in terms of how financially works, we pay for and raise money from the host committee to, to put things on. And then the NFL shares revenue from the tickets. So it's not like we host a Super bowl and the 49ers make a ton of money because we host the Super Bowl. It's something that's good for the league and it's something that we work on together. And I think that's what makes the NFL so compelling.

Unknown Speaker (32:10)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (32:10)

When you look at most sports leagues, you have a pretty good sense who's going to win the English Premier League. You have a pretty good sense who's going to win the top European soccer leagues. You have a pretty good sense of who's going to be in the playoffs or who's going to be in the championship in the NBA or mlb. The NFL is really the most competitive league from top to bottom and that allows us to be maybe not individually the most valuable franchise. Where you saw the Lakers go for $10 billion, right. The LA Lakers are a great brand. They own Los Angeles. It's an unbelievable market.

Jed York (32:48)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (32:48)

But other teams in the NBA don't necessarily share in that with the Lakers, where the LA Rams are going to share all the same revenue with the Green Bay packers. And the Green Bay packers are going to have as much of a chance to win the super bowl as the Los Angeles Rams because things are relatively equal in the National Football League. And I think that's what makes the National Football League the best sports league in the world.

Jed York (33:11)

And you guys share broadcasting rights, revenue, Right. Which is a big piece of the revenue model as I understand.

John Hope Bryant (33:19)

It's a huge piece. And you know, as you get into next generation media, right. When you're looking at streaming and you're looking at digital services, the NFL is generally not going to be the first mover. And when you are sort of the 800 pound gorilla in the room like you, you're generally not the first mover. But I give Roger and team credit. They, they see where things are headed. They, they see what works and what doesn't work and then they figure out how to, how to move into those spaces. A social media. I think the NBA did a great job jumping onto social media first. Now the NFL is as strong, if not stronger on social media than the NBA, but they were, they were not the first movers, but they saw some of the mistakes that were made and they built out a great program to, to be as engaged, if not the most engaged, social media property, you know, in professional sports.

Jed York (34:11)

Yes. And they're embedding in the super bowl. By the way, how many times have you guys won the super bowl with the 49ers, by the way.

John Hope Bryant (34:18)

So we won five times, four in the 80s, one in the 90s, and we've played, played in eight Super Bowls.

Jed York (34:25)

There you go. A historic winning team. When I've seen almost at every super bowl, the advert, the advertisements interspersed with that are a lot of mission statements. Mission statements about purpose statements. Anti hate, anti Semitism, black and brown empowerment, women achievement. Just trying to bring light at this moment in time to not something other than just pure capitalism and commerce, but to community and compassion too. That's intentional by the owners, correct?

John Hope Bryant (35:07)

It's absolutely intentional. I mean, I think breast cancer awareness is probably the most successful thing that, that the NFL has been a part of in terms of philanthropic ideas. You know, using the, my cause, my cleats and you know, wearing pink shoes and having, having that be a piece of what we do during the year. I don't know how many people have, have found lumps in their breasts because of mammograms that the NFL has, has brought awareness to.

Jed York (35:38)

Yep.

John Hope Bryant (35:38)

And, and again, that's gone from breast cancer awareness to cancer in general. And you know, we're not probably at the same level of success with social justice, but it's something that we've started working on over the last probably seven or eight years.

Jed York (35:54)

Inspired change. That Operation Hope is a partner. Absolutely. At NFL Inspired Change, which again, Roger and his team deserve incredible credit for.

John Hope Bryant (36:03)

Again, we can't answer everybody's problems and cure all ills in the world, but when you think about the super bowl. Right. It's really the last place that is water cooler talk.

Unknown Speaker (36:16)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (36:16)

Like your podcast is great. There's a lot of great podcasts. It's not like 100 million people are tuning into one podcast.

Jed York (36:23)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (36:24)

We had over 200 million Americans watch the last Super Bowl.

Unknown Speaker (36:28)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (36:29)

Like you have hundreds of millions of people worldwide watching the Super Bowl. Outside of the Olympics or the World cup, there just aren't many things that drive that type of viewership for a one time sitting. And that's something that, that the NFL is very fortunate to be in that position. I think the top 100 television shows, over 90 of them are NFL games or NFL related every year.

Jed York (36:53)

The value of the NFL franchise for all 32 teams is over $160 billion. Is that number right?

John Hope Bryant (37:02)

I don't know if I can do my math, but I mean, it's a large number. Whatever it is, I know it's a large number.

Jed York (37:10)

And as you just said, NFL games account for 70 to 80% of the most watched TV broadcasts in America annually and major broadcasting, over 90%.

John Hope Bryant (37:23)

It's over 90% of the top 100 watch shows. I think we were 91 or 92 of the top 100 watched television shows.

Jed York (37:29)

Last year with broadcast deals with Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN, Amazon, totaling over $110 billion across an 11 year span. That goes to 2033. That's part of the socialism that Jed joked about, but we're serious about too. It's economic socialism in the sense that there's shared economics. And then you have people who do good work with this franchise, their franchise, like our friend Robert Kraft, who has created nonprofits trying to do good in the world. Another good man that I respect and admire. We become friends.

John Hope Bryant (38:09)

Let's now Robert's done a great job, like so many people have done a great job. Like you said it earlier, Robert can write a check. But bringing the Patriots brand along with it brings so much more awareness than just writing a check. And I, I would say that's what I'm proud of. Most of the majority of my partners, they're, they're going to do things that are going to move the needle to try to make their world a better place.

Jed York (38:35)

Yes, yes. And I, I just was with Roger. We were with Roger Robert last week and 98% of his conversation was about how do we impact the world in a positive way, how do we move the world forward and what can we do to, to do that. He wasn't talking about himself or his wealth or his team or, or his, or his pocketbooks or. It was all about how do we give, how do we contribute? And again, nobody was watching. It was a private conversation. Let's now shift to the business model for a team. So we talked about the franchise system. How does a team's economics work down to the level of, all the way down to the level of a game and ticket prices and how much is the gate vis a vis, you know, everything else. Then I want to go to, I want to go to soccer, which you also want a soccer team, as I understand, a part of a soccer team.

Unknown Speaker (39:27)

Yep.

John Hope Bryant (39:28)

So essentially the NFL, like I said, the, the league generates a lot of revenue that I think it's about 2/3. 70%, give or take, is shared revenue.

Unknown Speaker (39:41)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (39:41)

What you generate on your own is sponsorship, suite sales, ticket sales. You share some piece of your ticket sales, but the majority of your ticket sales you get to keep. That's where the differentiation happens with, with revenues.

Unknown Speaker (39:54)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (39:54)

And for us, in a larger market, in a great market, like the Bay Area, San Francisco. We're going to generate higher revenues, but you're also going to have more cost here.

Unknown Speaker (40:05)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (40:06)

We're not going to get a ton of public money and public equity going into a stadium for us to be built.

Unknown Speaker (40:12)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (40:12)

We built our stadium at Levi's in Santa Clara in 2014. We opened up with no impact to the city's general fund, no impact on taxpayers, which is going to be different than potentially smaller markets where making sure that they keep a sports team in their location. There's going to be more taxes going into that. There's going to be more public direct investment going into that. So we may have a different cost structure than some of the other teams, but we also have a different revenue structure and. Go ahead.

Jed York (40:44)

No, it was pretty risky of you to build this new stadium. I'm sure other people have said, if it's not broke, don't fix it. Keep the other one. Why? Why go through all this hassle? You're going to put yourself at risk as a new, a new CEO. Keep your head down. Why'd you do it anyway? And what was your vision? And has that vision matched your reality?

John Hope Bryant (41:07)

So we had a wonderful run at Candlestick from, I think we opened. We started playing in Candlestick in 1972. Played in Candlestick from 72 to 2013. Great historical stadium is originally built for baseball. So they brought the New York Baseball Giants out. After the Dodgers left Brooklyn, they brought the New York Baseball Giants out. And funny story, if you've ever been to Candlestick, certainly if you know San Francisco, the weather in the fall in San Francisco is awesome.

Unknown Speaker (41:43)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (41:43)

So they brought the Giants ownership to Candlestick Point in, I think, October and the weather was beautiful and they kind of tricked them to build a stadium at Candlestick in October. Imagine how wonderful it's going to be in the summer. And summer baseball is always a little chilly at Candlestick. It's always great weather for us during football season. But it was originally built for baseball. It was the oldest unrenovated stadium in the National Football League.

Jed York (42:10)

Wow.

John Hope Bryant (42:11)

And it was. It was just one of those things where the cost of refurb the stadium for maybe a 10, 15 year life expectancy was 75% of the cost of building a new stadium.

Jed York (42:25)

Okay.

John Hope Bryant (42:25)

We, my uncle, when he was still running the team, they passed a ballot measure in 1997 to build a stadium and a shopping mall at that location that ended up not coming to fruition. We looked at over 90 sites in and around the Bay Area and found yeah. And found what we felt was the best location in Santa Clara. That was great access to public transit, great access to the freeway systems, and it happened to be right next door to where our training facility was. And having our training facility and stadium together made a lot of sense and making sure. I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio. I watched the Cleveland Browns become the Baltimore Ravens, and then I watched the Browns come back several years later in Cleveland. And I never wanted to take our franchise from the fans that loved it the most in the Bay Area. And if you couldn't stay in the city of San Francisco, we wanted to make sure that we broadened our. Our approach and figure out how do we. How do we put a stadium in the Bay Area where all of our fans can still reach that on 10 Sundays a year when we're playing our home games? And that's really. That was the thinking. And it's. It's like anything else. You have to make a bet. You have to take a risk in order to build something that's going to last for the future. And I think we've been able to do that with the 49ers and building Levi's Stadium.

Jed York (43:56)

So the bet paid off, or it's paying off.

John Hope Bryant (43:58)

It is paying off. And I mean, it's been. It's been a great partnership. You know, we've been able to do amazing events that we just couldn't do it. Candlestick at the old stadium. We just didn't have the facilities to be able to pull it off. We'll host our second Super Bowl. We host the World cup coming up this year. This will be the first time in history, and I assume the last time that a Super bowl and a World cup will be played in the same venue in the same year.

Jed York (44:27)

Wow. Wow. Yeah. And at no cost to the taxpayers.

John Hope Bryant (44:33)

Correct.

Jed York (44:34)

At a time where San Francisco really does need some good news from a branding and imaging perspective, you are part of that good news. Now, you made a bet that was unpopular and nobody understood or few understood it, and that bet has paid off that show. That means you're a bit of a visionary in business, and it means you got guts. It reminds me what your mother did. And as I understand it, and without getting too much in the family business, there was a real estate company or something that.

John Hope Bryant (45:05)

My grandfather is a real estate developer, was one of the first people that. That saw the suburban shopping mall as being the new downtown. And after World War II, he came back and he started with shopping plazas and then saw sort of the flight from Inner cities to suburbs and the growth of suburbs. And he was looking for a new downtown for suburbs, and it ended up becoming the shopping mall.

Jed York (45:34)

And he made a fortune in real estate in shopping malls. And as I recall, said to the kids, okay, you know, let's divvy this up. I'm getting older and brother got one bunch of assets or preferred, I guess, a bunch of assets, which I think was the real estate.

John Hope Bryant (45:53)

And so I would say not to go too deep into family history, but my grandfather's estate planning strategy was to not die for folks. You're looking for financial literacy lessons. That is. That is generally not the best choice. But everything was owned by the corporation. And my uncle ran the 49ers for a long time. My mom ran other aspects of the family business. And, you know, there were some circumstances that came up that my uncle decided to sort of leave his half of the 49ers and sort of trade his half of the 49ers for other real estate assets. And they. They made a swap in 1999, 2000.

Jed York (46:40)

And your mother ended up with the team, is that right?

John Hope Bryant (46:42)

Yes.

Jed York (46:44)

Brilliant move. I mean, for everybody. One but one.

John Hope Bryant (46:50)

And most importantly, my. My mom and uncle are very close and very tight. And like, I. I couldn't ask for a better uncle and godfather than. Than my uncle Eddie.

Jed York (47:01)

Your family is fantastic. I mean, everybody I've met have just been first class. And I'm sure, even though your uncle would admit. Would acknowledge and admit you're. That his. That his sister has done wonders with this team. So they didn't. For everybody watching, they didn't start out with a football team. They started out in real estate and business, and the team came later, and they just built it into something that really is magical. It's creating value. And by the way, we're honored to be your partner at Operation Hope in Communities now, and we want to do more with you. By the way, let's now pivot to why soccer. Let me back up back before why soccer? Why? Is there a good reason why there aren't yet blacks and browns of people who own significant parts of NFL teams? Is it simply because the dollar number is just so large?

John Hope Bryant (47:55)

I think we. We are. Again, we. The NFL is generally slower to adopt newer policies. Right?

Jed York (48:03)

You said it earlier. They're not. They're late adopters is what you said earlier before.

John Hope Bryant (48:07)

Other leagues have now taken a lot of private equity money and. And adjusted. The NFL now allows private equity to buy up to 10% of teams, which just gives you the ability to pull capital much more so than going to individuals to buy a, a, a, a limited partner stake in a team. And there's just a small number of people that can be in that world.

Unknown Speaker (48:29)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (48:29)

So I, I've been trying to push the league like I would love to put together the right diverse group of people to be a, you know, limited partner group and figure out how to get that together. And I think you're going to see that change over time where you're going to have more and more people of color and more people of diverse backgrounds be part of ownership of NFL teams.

Jed York (48:52)

So I really can't say more than a sentence of what I'm about to say other than because it would allow people to get breadcrumbs to go to the details. But I got a call from Jed one day. I was at dinner in New York asking me about a situation because he was trying to put together a minority investment group not in the NFL around sports. And let's just say no good detail going punished. It didn't really work out but Jed really tried and didn't have to. Let's now switch. Now you own up. I think you heard you, I think I heard you say baseball or no lead.

John Hope Bryant (49:25)

So Leeds United in the English Premier League. Leeds has been a top brand in English football for 100 years. Fell on some hard times and was, was out of the Premier League, which is the first division, the second division. Yeah. In soccer I, they call it football there. So I have to be very careful of English football any place outside of.

Jed York (49:50)

The U.S. soccer is football.

John Hope Bryant (49:52)

Yes. We saw Leeds as a great opportunity. It's a great brand Leeds. The city reminds me a lot of where I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio.

Unknown Speaker (50:02)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (50:02)

It's a very, very blue collar, great working class, lots of pride and it was a team that had a great brand that, that hadn't performed well on the pitch. We invested probably seven or eight. The field.

Jed York (50:16)

What does the pitch mean for the audience?

John Hope Bryant (50:17)

Pitches the field. So on you for a minute. I had to switch my lingo when I'm talking about American football versus global football. But we've, we've tried to help leads get back. We were up in the Premier League for a few years, got relegated. So there for folks that don't know the, the bottom three teams of the Premier League move down a level and then two teams from the second division automatically move up and there's a playoff for the third spot. So three teams move up. We, we were able to buy the team outright three years ago when we got relegated and then we, we played in that championship game the first year and lost. Unfortunately, we won the league last year, so we had an automatic promotion and we are back in the Premier League. Starting August 18th, we will host our first Premier League game. And that is, it is the toughest league in sports.

Unknown Speaker (51:13)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (51:13)

You're competing against not just other teams, but you have sovereign wealth funds that own teams. You have to be very, very smart in order to be able to keep your team up and work very, very hard and very, very diligently and that's a very, very difficult league to win. But we're hoping to make ourselves a mainstay in the Premier League and keep building and growing. We've loved soccer, global football so much. There's an opportunity with some of our investors with Leeds to buy Glasgow Rangers, which is a great, great storied franchise in Scottish football there. One team has kind of dominated the Scottish League for the last decade, plus who is our biggest rival. And they need a little bit of competition. So we're going to, we're going to bring in some competition.

Jed York (52:06)

So outside of the U.S. football is soccer.

John Hope Bryant (52:10)

Yes.

Jed York (52:11)

All around the world. All around.

John Hope Bryant (52:13)

This is the only place where it's not.

Jed York (52:16)

And the players in, in soccer, football outside the U.S. are household names outside the U.S. yes. Just like our, our players here are household names in the U.S. absolutely. Very quickly, I know we got it. We're coming short on time and thanks so much for this time. This has been really beautiful. Jed, can you give people a snapshot of the economic, how the economics are different owning a soccer team from owning an NFL team? And then we're going to wrap up with any advice you have for builders, leaders, investors, people who are trying to come up in this aspiration generation to try to become a Jed York in the making, a John o' Brien in the making. You know, whatever, whoever the hero or shero happens to be just in with some, some thoughtful advice you might give to them. But let's get this, the what's there between the soccer team, owning a soccer team and it's economics and a US based NFL team.

John Hope Bryant (53:14)

So a soccer team, you have global rights, so you can sell jerseys, you can sell your, your brand anywhere and everywhere. The NFL, it's that. So there's a, there's a huge global opportunity, but you have to be good enough for somebody in China or somebody on Australia to care about your soccer team.

Unknown Speaker (53:34)

Right?

John Hope Bryant (53:34)

And Leeds has a big piece of that brand. Rangers has a big piece of that brand. We just need to make sure that they continue to perform well on the pitch and continue to perform better, to continue to build and grow that. But it's like anything, American football and global football are the same. Like if, if you can't create a great atmosphere in your stadium, like that's where it starts, right? No one wants to watch something on television if people aren't going to go to, to the game. And like I will put Leeds and Rangers up against anyone in the world. Their fans are the best of the best. And to be able to watch a game in either one of their stadiums, it's just, it's a life changing experience. And I think we can continue to do great things with those brands and great things with those clubs and continue to build them. And it's, you know, there's obviously long term asset appreciation. You know, teams trade for maybe one to two times revenue in the smaller dividend in the lower divisions and as you continue to build and grow they can trade from 3 to 8x revenues and your revenues increase significantly the higher up you, you get in the leagues. Like that that playoff game that I talked about where there's a playoff from the third through the sixth team in the second division in English football they call that. It's like, I think it's now like the 200 million pound game because that's the, the revenue increase that you get from television from going from the second division to the first division. Wow, that's, there's, there's a great book called the Club that sort of explains the history of the business of, of global soccer and English football and how things have changed. But that's a great read for anybody that's looking the business aspects of the English Premier League. But there's. With our brand, with the 49ers and great global brands in soccer and global soccer, there's just so much more that we can do together. And taking our expertise in running a sports team and making sure that we take the experiences that you have at those stadiums today and continue to increase them and continue to make them better. I think you're going to see a great return on your investment. But this is not a widget business, right? Like I would much rather be involved in sports. There's a lot of ways to make money for people out there and you may not ever have the opportunity to invest in a sports team, but if you do, you have to have passion for the team that you're involved with. You have to want to win or you're number one. You're just not gonna have any fun. And number two, I don't think you're going to make that much money because at the end of the day, it's an entertainment product and your fans. And if you don't have that passion to go win, you're never going to see a financial return.

Jed York (56:26)

It's the sports business, the business of sports. Brilliant. And so what I heard you say is soccer, football outside the US Is pure capitalism as it relates to the US Based version of this, which is more social capitalism in the sense that you're sharing revenue and licensing rights with others. You got to sort of collaborate with soccer. You do as you want. Within the rules.

John Hope Bryant (56:56)

Yes, globally. And I mean even within the rules, like their rules are much, much further out than what any global and any American sports league is. There's still people that break rules that, like, aren't, aren't even written.

Unknown Speaker (57:14)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (57:15)

You just have people that are spending a lot of money that they shouldn't be spending. There's some, it's too complicated to get into. But financial fair play, you're only allowed to spend so much money. You're only allowed to lose so much money based off of how much revenue you have coming in. And there are people that try to game that system, and you see those people get doc points every once in a while. But if that was the NFL, if, if some of the things that happen in, in the English Premier League happened in the NFL, Roger would, would take people to task. And I don't know that that happens in, in, in global football. In soccer, the same.

Jed York (57:50)

So you got me so excited about soccer. Now I'm gonna come. I'm going with you to one of these future games. I'm just gonna tag along. This is great. So look, let's, let's. Before you kick me out, before your office says you got to go to another appointment, than what do you have to say to people who are strivers, who didn't get the memo? But as you and I well know, as Milk, as Michael Milken has said, that intelligence is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. And one of the things you and I both anguish over, and that's why when we're together, you and I both will talk to the waiter. We'll say hello to the, to the, to the bellman. We'll stop and talk to anybody because we realize we've been blessed and other people are stressed. What advice do you have as somebody who's gone. And I'm sure you were underestimated because you were the member of the family they Dismissed you because you're a young person. Oh, they're just giving us to him. And you had to prove yourself and your own worth on your own terms and get your own respect. What advice do you have for people coming up?

Unknown Speaker (58:55)

Look, I.

John Hope Bryant (58:57)

You're gonna fail. And if you're not willing to fail, like, the bigger you're willing to fail, the more you're willing to achieve, able to achieve. And I see it all the time where I have a few students that I try to mentor and somebody said something to me, very nice. Like, you said that I'm the nicest billionaire that you know. There's only like however many billionaires. So hopefully I, I strive to be one of the nicest people. I don't think it's that hard to be one of the nicest billionaires to. Low bar.

Unknown Speaker (59:32)

Right.

John Hope Bryant (59:32)

But I was talking to a young student who. She's more than nice.

Jed York (59:36)

You're kind, by the way. Go ahead.

John Hope Bryant (59:38)

Thank you. Kind.

Unknown Speaker (59:40)

That's probably right.

John Hope Bryant (59:41)

Nice. My wife would definitely say.

Jed York (59:46)

Folks negotiating with you wouldn't say you're nice, but everybody would say you're kind of.

John Hope Bryant (59:51)

I know for me, my family built two buildings at the University of Notre Dame. I went to Notre Dame. So it's very easy to say, you got in here for this reason, that reason, whatever, that's fine. People can say whatever they want. I graduated with honors. No one let me graduate with honors. And somebody can say to you, oh, well, the color of your skin, and you got in for this and there's this and that. That's great. You can say whatever you want. Like what you've achieved. No one gave you your achievements like you, you earned them. And, and that's where I would tell anybody. Don't worry about what people say. Don't worry about whatever failures happen, because they're going to happen. You look at the statistics of billionaires, most people aren't billionaires until they're in their 50s or 60s.

Unknown Speaker (60:36)

Right.

Jed York (60:37)

My grandfather Are millionaires, by the way.

John Hope Bryant (60:39)

Yes. And it is like, it's, it sounds cliche, but like the first million, the first whatever, is always the hardest to make. And then once you figure out what you love and you figure out how to be really, really good at that, it is so much easier to continue to build and grow. And I see it. A great friend of mine and I, we talk about it especially with athletes, right? Like, they become black belts in what they do. And a lot of athletes struggle because they don't know how to go back to being a white Belt in entrepreneurship, in whatever else. So if you're willing to go back to being a white belt and you've already figured out how to be a black belt and you know that process to get there, you're going to get there much quicker than other people. But you always have to go back to being a white belt. You always have to start from the beginning. And the more time and effort you're willing to put into something at the beginning and something that you love, the much more you can achieve. And don't worry about whatever that struggle is for a year, for three years, for five years, it is worth it if you're willing to go put that time and effort into it to achieve what you want.

Jed York (61:50)

Now I understand why you called me. You were a white bill in social justice, you are a white belt in race relations, you are a white bill. And stupid people doing stupid things that you didn't understand you were a white belt and people going backwards. And you're trying to become a black belt in solutions so that you can be a bridge for others. And I thank you for that.

John Hope Bryant (62:16)

I mean, you've been a wonderful, wonderful teacher. And I've had a lot of other great mentors. And that's probably the best experience I've had, is giving back to young people and being a mentor. Like, I've been a mentee and I still try to find mentors for myself. But when you can have both, when you have mentors and mentees, I don't know that there's a better situation than that in the world. And being able to give back. And that's what I tell anybody that is a mentee, you don't owe me anything. Except when you're as old as I am. When you're 44, please pay this forward and give this to somebody else.

Jed York (62:55)

Yes. And you've been you. You're also a very good friend. And my staff, my team was all excited about you coming over. Like, Jim was like, they don't do. He doesn't do this very often. Like, you don't see, Jeff doesn't do interviews. I said, really? We talk all the time. But thanks for trusting me and for sharing with this audience. I think a lot of people get a lot out of this. The whole black belt to going to white belt, to get back up to black belt in a different area, to bucket, to sort of buckle up, go up and then be willing to unbuckle, come down to a new space, buckle up again, come back up a new mountain. I mean to do that repeatedly. And I mean, that's, that's, that's a masterclass all by itself.

John Hope Bryant (63:39)

Well, I'll plug my buddy Tarek Azeem, his book Empower. I'm one of the chapters in it that. That's Tarek, you know, so I, you know, even somebody that's my age, he's a year younger, so I won't make it.

Jed York (63:49)

Black name is Tariq Black.

John Hope Bryant (63:52)

No, he's, he's from Afghanistan originally.

Jed York (63:55)

That's honorary black.

John Hope Bryant (63:57)

He read that book as well. But that's, that's the key, right? You have to be willing to learn and grow, and that, that's what keeps you young.

Jed York (64:06)

Well, I love you, man. And my love to the family. Thanks for this time. You've. You've, you've put some pebbles out into the universe into the water that will create ripples and turn into waves of opportunity as people have taken this and will listen and I'm sure re listen, take pieces of this, share with their family and figure out how they can become and their children can become the Jet Yorks of the future. I love you, man. This is love.

John Hope Bryant (64:32)

Thank you so much.

Jed York (64:34)

This is the Black Effect Network and iHeartRadio and season two of Money and Wealth with John Hope Bryant. We're out. Money and wealth with John o' Brien is a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network. For more podcasts from the Black Effect Podcast network, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

John Hope Bryant (66:39)

This is an I heart podcast.