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Dan Le Batard
welcome to the Big Sui presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show, the podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan LeBatard podcast?
Zaslow (Zaz)
I'm sorry, I'm not going to apologize for that.
Dan Le Batard
In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging. I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries that if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys.
Mike Ryan
I've done it.
Dan Le Batard
And now here's the marching man to Nowhere, Fat Face and the Habitual Liar.
Zaslow (Zaz)
This episode of the Dan Lebatard show is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings the Crown is yours.
Dan Le Batard
I mentioned Mick Cronin undressing. Sorry, undressing the reporter next to him. There's a reporter in Houston, John McClain. He has been working for 50 years in Houston and he has said that he will walk naked through downtown Houston if the Texans trade C.J. stroud. He does not believe that C.J. stroud will be traded, and he believes it. This is going to go in the pantheon of bets that if he loses them, he's not going to pay them. There was that Seminole fan that promised to eat poop that didn't eat poop after the Seminoles lost. And you cannot betray your bets if you're going to say something like this. We are making arrangements for Greg Cody to walk to Seattle like we he said that if he said that if the Mariners lost to the Blue Jays after being up to oh, that he would walk to Seattle. And then the Mariners promptly lost to the Blue Jays. So we are going to make him honor that bet. David Sampson is with us now. He's giggling. This has to be either the worst or the best jacket in the entirety of his collection here. Before we get started, can you tell us what it is that you're going for in the general look at me of your jackets because there cannot be another jacket like like that anywhere in the world.
David Sampson
Well, I didn't have it made for me, so yeah, it's a Robert Graham jacket that is part of the rotation. And if you look actually at the intro, that was done by your great people at Metal Arc. One of the pictures in my intro to Nothing Personal, I'm in this jacket. So it's not the first time you've seen it, I would imagine. Dan, as the leader of the company, you've watched all of the shows, you
Dan Le Batard
have a lot of ugly jackets. And I noticed one in the opening. I didn't think it was that particular Jackson Pollock painting. Like, I. I've not seen a jacket like that before. I've never seen one like that.
David Sampson
Well, you're a guy of Vera guy.
Mike Ryan
He's not.
Dan Le Batard
Look at how he amuses himself with his terrible Spanish.
David Sampson
I said it in my brain first. I said, is it Vera? Is it Barra? Should I roll the R's and make Javier proud? Guy of era.
Dan Le Batard
No, that's not.
Mike Ryan
Yes.
Zaslow (Zaz)
Nailed it.
Mike Ryan
Great job, Dave.
Dan Le Batard
What. What is the name? How do you say in Spanish, the Breaded Ham Delight. That is rolled up. How do the Breakfast Blank. You don't know what I'm talking about.
David Sampson
Me?
Dan Le Batard
Yeah. Well, you've said the word inappropriately before. Not inappropriately. You've said the word.
David Sampson
Oh, the croqueta.
Dan Le Batard
That's it. You got a boy.
Mike Ryan
Attaboy.
Dan Le Batard
There you go. Look at that. That's really good. Yes. Congratulations. A small victory for David Sampson. I have a number of different business questions and otherwise to ask you, but let's start with the Seattle Seahawks being sold immediately after winning the championship. Being put up for sale, the Allen family estate. Paul Allen passed away in 2018. Can you explain to me what's interesting here to you?
David Sampson
Well, it happens to just be a coincidence, because when Paul Allen died, his will said that my sports teams. And he had three of them. The Trailblazers, the Sounders, and the Seahawks. They will be sold for the benefit of a charitable trust. So all the proceeds are going to charity. But he left the timing up to his sister, Jody Allen, of When to sell. But it needed to be, like, in a reasonable time. She couldn't run the teams forever. Here we are, eight years later, the Trailblazers are under contract, and the Seahawks were not even put up for sale. And the NFL was like, hey, the succession plan, the will, it's time. And it just so happens they won the super bowl. And now they think that they're going to get this huge premium because, hey, there is super bowl winner. So instead of being worth 7 billion, it could be worth 10 billion or 11 billion. And that's not really how buyers look at these assets. They don't look at the record the year before and say, oh, it's worth more, worth less. It really is a matter of what the ego premium is. But it's time for them to be sold. And now they've hired an investment banker and they're going to be sold prior
Dan Le Batard
to the you don't believe, you don't believe that after winning a championship you're selling high, you're selling at the highest point.
David Sampson
It's funny, I don't because what you really try to sell is hope because the new owner comes in. What are the, what are the chances of going back to back Super Bowls where they could go another 10 years and not win and they'd still be considered successful winning three, you know, in 25, 30 years, that's still pretty darn good. Just ask Dolphins fans. But no, when you're a buyer and you're looking at teams, not one time did it come up in selling of the Marlins. Man, you guys didn't win 81 games. Your team is worth less. It's about what the revenue is, what the industry revenue is. The more exciting part for the Seahawks and the charities that will benefit is that there's new media deals coming to the NFL when Roger Goodell breaks all of his existing deals and renegotiates them and that will lead to more money for all of the 32 teams, which will increase the value of all of them.
Dan Le Batard
I want to talk about some Epstein files stuff with you and I will remind people, as I always do with David Sampson, that he shies away from nothing on nothing personal. He talks about all of the difficult stuff that a lot of other people are not talking about because it's too complicated. And this is one of the things I've noticed isn't being talked about. So Steve Tisch, the owner of the New York Giants, has said that he had a brief relationship with Epstein and it's at least come out since then in the reporting by the Wall Street Journal and others that it's less brief than he suggested. Now, the owner in a no nonsense league where the commissioner is known for being tough on all manner of crime, the owner is supposed to be held to a higher responsibility than the players. But the only way any of this is going to happen is if the media flames climb on it and if the pressure climbs on and the only way the pressure can climb on it is if the NFL actually investigates whether there's more. Otherwise he can hide in the silence and claim that it's still brief. What do you do here if you're the NFL, because I'm guessing Goodell just hopes this blows over.
David Sampson
Well, this is one of those examples where it's not like the NBA investigating the Clippers and Steve Ballmer and aspiration and trying to get people to talk to say, hey, what's going on here? Where can we find a smoking gun if one exists? What was the actual frame of mind with the Kawhi Leonard signing? This is different because all these files are now available on a website. They're available in public. And what you can then do is talk and interview Steve Tisch and say, here's what you wrote, we have it. What did you mean? You can say, what were the circumstances surrounding it, but clearly the NFL is going to have to investigate, quote, unquote, because this story is not going to go away. What's happening around so many people who are involved, not just in a cursory way in these files, because it's not about, quote, unquote being in the file. It's more about what were the circumstances under which you found yourself in the orbit of Jeffrey Epstein. What were you doing? Did you know what was going on? Number one, were you a part of what was going on? Number two, did you not just encourage but participate in the result of what was going on? Numbers three and four, those require an investigation. And Roger Goodell cannot get away without doing it. He may not do it publicly. It may not be hiring an outside law firm, but Steve Tisch is going to get punished. There is no question he will not be involved in NFL activities. He will not be allowed to be involved in NFL activities. It's a matter of is it a year or is it forever?
Dan Le Batard
I have not heard that anywhere. I think that that is something that you're saying that is stronger than I'm hearing anywhere because I haven't even heard yet that the NF is saying we have to investigate whether we're going to investigate. And the only way this climbs, David, is if there's media pressure or NFL pressure. Like you seem convinced that something's going to happen here and you're saying punitively something is going to happen. I'm not hearing that.
David Sampson
Yeah, Roger Goodell actually did say it right from the beginning that we're going to figure out what's here and then figure out if what's here is enough to investigate whether there's more here. So he has already come to the point of investigating whether to investigate, but it is all right there. And if you look at what the Wall Street Journal Uncovered. It's really, anyone can uncover it because it's literally available in public right now, much like stadium agreements, might I add. And so the NFL can't hide from it. And you talk about media blowing it up. I would tell you that there's not a next story here. This story is going to linger. And the question is who gets impacted by it and who doesn't. And the NFL has way too much at stake to be sidetracked by any sort of moral issue that could take place by a member of ownership of a team. So they've got to lop it off. And lopping it off isn't getting rid of the story, it's punishing the person involved and then moving on.
Mike Ryan
It's just, it's flabbergasting to hear that the NFL's threshold is higher than, you know, the highest office in the land. It's on the NFL and sports and corporate America. You see what happens with Wasserman. Like there are actual punitive measures for people emailing about these things and not named co conspirators. Just yesterday Les Wexner, a named co conspirator under oath, under threat of perjury, said, I've never been talked to by authorities about Jeffrey Epstein, but yet Steve Tisch is going to. And yes, I'm all in. If there's something that this investigation turns up more than we already know and even for what we know, punish him. But it is wild to me that there are punitive measures for people on the fringes of this and not at the very top.
Dan Le Batard
All right, David, let me ask you when Mike mentions Wasserman so that I can explain this to the audience. Okay, so Casey Wasserman owns a talent agency in Hollywood that he now has to let go because from what I've read and I haven't seen all of the details but, but he had inappropriate texting, flirtations with Maxwell, you know, Epstein's right hand woman. And so the cause of everything around there that has made him sell his or put his agency for sale seems to be a bunch of artists are leaving and has put the business in jeopardy. But he has kept his position so far as the head of the LA Olympic Committee. But he is under a great deal of pressure to resign now. And to me that was super weird that Wasserman and sports in the Olympics would have a standard. The Olympics hugely corrupt. The Olympics would have a higher standard for what it is that must represent them. Where there would be political pressure for Wasserman to step down from that position and yet Trump's name is in the Epstein files more than a million times and it somehow doesn't reach him. Explain to me what's happening there.
David Sampson
Well, you're conflating some issues. So let's talk about Casey, Casey Wasserman and talk about what happened with his agency. He was not forced to sell. He made a decision. He owned 40%. He had a partner who had 60% of the agency already and he said it's in the best interest of his employees, of his artists, of the people who are clients of the firm to not be a distraction. And so therefore he is going to step away from the day to day management and allow for his 40% to be sold so that the company can continue on. That's been part of his family for generations. That's a decision that he made with eyes wide open in the best interest of the shareholders and the clients. Olympics is totally different. That's not a for profit business by any stretch. That's about going around and getting all constituencies to give money, public and private partnerships. And what the Olympic Committee, and this is not the IOC, this is the US Olympic Committee said, hey, Casey is a great CEO. He's getting us ready and has for the last 10 years to host the Olympics in 28. The clock's ticking and a change at the top at this moment would not be in the best interest of getting these Olympics and getting them done right. So it's two different thresholds in terms of what he is doing and what he's not doing. And I'm not sure that they mix ever.
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David Sampson
See site for complete details.
Mike Ryan
Hey everybody, it's Mike Ryan. Now, if you've been following the show, you know I've been traveling, been super busy, been supporting my favorite football team with mixed results, right? Not the greatest hanging so far. In 2026. I try to find every excuse in the book. I had one buddy that was trying to invite me out. I wanted to stay in. He's like, come on, let's watch this NBA game. So I go over to his house, I watch this NBA game, and guess what? Something amazing happened. He pulled out the Miller lights, and I knew right away I made the right call. Next thing you know, we're toasting, we're celebrating, we're having a great time. We're talking about nostalgia, we're talking about old friends that we had. And it was all thanks to Miller Lite. That icebreaker. Because when you actually say yes and you actually show up, you want a beer that fits the moment. For me, that's Miller Lite Legendary moments. Start with Miller Lite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.
David Sampson
Don LeBatard. Go peefee.
Mike Ryan
Stugats.
David Sampson
Go pee pee. This is the Dan LeBatard show with the Stugats.
Miller Lite Advertiser
David LeBron might go into a farewell tour next year. There was a sports radio host in Cleveland who said that he did some reporting and learned that LeBron could get anywhere between 40 and 75 million in the streaming rights for his farewell tour, thus being able to take a minimum contract. So sort of a two pronged thing. Would LeBron ever take a minimum contract? And also, is he allowed to sell streaming rights for his farewell tour?
David Sampson
So two things. Remember Shohei Otani's contract, Jeremy, where he's getting paid what you think is 70 million, but it's not. He's getting paid 2 million in cash by the Dodgers for 10 years and then 68 million a year for the 10 years after that. And the reason Ohtani did it is that he's got sponsorship money as an active player, let's just roughly say of 68 million U.S. so it's as though he's getting 70 million current day cash. LeBron James. If you're going to get 60 million to play 82 games, well, not to play 82 games, but to be on a team. But you split IT up with 2 million in salary from the team. But then you get 58 million from a streamer to be followed around with a camera like Philip Seymour Hoffman and Along came Polly. For LeBron, it's the same amount of money and it's a great product for his production company. I think it's a great move for him and it Tracks perfectly with an overstated retirement tour where financially he's actually the same, if not better off, and he gets something permanently cataloged for his kids, grandkids and for his fans around the world. I think that makes sense to do a documentary about his final year.
Zaslow (Zaz)
I don't think there's any way clutch sports allows that. There's no way. Because it's always about the players the player needs to earn the most money possible. And even though, yes, in theory, we're being logical, David, where he's going to make the same amount of money that he would make if the NBA were paying him with his, you know, sponsorship, streaming rights, whatever, that's not the way the players association looks at this stuff. Right.
David Sampson
Yeah, but Zaz, it's a one off. This is not someone in arbitration and baseball taking a number that impacts salaries for second time eligible pitchers for the next 10 years. So therefore you can't do it. It's not a free agent who takes a discount at all. This is LeBron on a retirement tour. So it would not be used against any other players going forward.
Dan Le Batard
What's to stop? What is to stop somebody? Because this is a salary cap sport. Okay. Unlike we' Ohtani is. So what is to stop LeBron James from saying, hey, my retirement tour is going to be worth $100 million and it's going to be brought to you by Miller.
David Sampson
Like, in terms of salary cap Dan, that's actually not an impact. That's not part of the rules. Players have the ability, if they're given access by the team, players can absolutely go ahead and do documentaries, they can have cameras follow them, they create their own content. That is totally fine.
Dan Le Batard
What's that worth? What's that worth though?
David Sampson
What?
Dan Le Batard
Do you believe the sports, the sports radio guy who said that he had talked to some executives. Do you believe. I think his retirement tour would have an enormous amount of worth and I would think that he could get somebody to sponsor it the way that you would get a stadium rights deal on naming a stadium.
David Sampson
It's the reason I wanted to do the franchise. Of course you think it's worth something to your team to have cameras and to catalog what you're doing and the drama, et cetera. So for any team that can get LeBron, but clearly we're talking about Cleveland here and it would just be a perfect bow in his career, in his mind, to end with his hometown team, you're not going to see anybody complain about that. But it would not count toward the salary cap unless the team were Somehow paying for the documentary. That's really the issue where you get into salary cap circumvention.
Dan Le Batard
Stan Van Gundy says the following quote. In order to correct and fix tanking, I'd get rid of the draft. No draft, you still have the salary cap. If you want to go give Cooper Flagg $45 million a year coming out of college, do it. He's a free agent. Everyone coming out as a free agent with no draft, there's no incentive to lose. There's none at all. What are your thoughts there?
David Sampson
I've been calling for no draft for as long as I can remember. I've been calling for free agency every year for every player. Dominique does not like that because he wants guaranteed long term contracts. And I understand why players want that. I want all one year deals and the maximum, whatever a player can get. And there's a concern, well, the Dodgers could end up getting every rookie out of the draft. Well, no, there's only 26 slots. So the players would be distributed and there would be the sort of the sales that goes into, hey, come play for us. There's opportunity, there's playing time, etc. I love Stan Van Gundy's concept, but I also don't mind tanking at all. I think it's not that I'm Mark Cuban, but I it is an absolute proper strategy. As you all know, being in the middle is the wrong place to be.
Zaslow (Zaz)
David, what did you make of what Cuban said on Twitter a couple of days ago where, you know, he thinks that fans not only should be more about embracing the tanking, but that the winning isn't what should be first and foremost on owners minds. It should be about the fan experience at that time. That's what's the most important thing and making tickets affordable. And I would just wonder as well. David, I thought it was interesting where he said in his 23 years as owner, he admits that the Mavericks, they tanked several times. I mean, did Cuban lower prices those years? I feel like that's kind of a weird thing to say.
David Sampson
You know, I was smiling at that because if I had a bigger video department, I would have people come up with the video of every time I met the media in 18 years to say, hey, it's about the name on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back. It's about the experience with your employees, with your family, with your loved ones. No one remembers what the score was. They just remember going to the game. That is an old trope that's used by Old people like Cuban and like me. But it's actually not true. We don't actually believe it. Winning is what people want. Winning is what matters. Winning is what helps your turnstile the following year. It's what helps you increase prices to sponsors and to fans. So it is true. The reason why there's tanking is owners and executives believe that is the quickest path to making the most money, which is to winning. And why be mediocre? Listen, haven't you guys talked about the Heat for the last number of years? Always in the play in tournament. And eventually you do what the Bulls do when they came out at the deadline and said, screw it, we're tired of being in the playing tournament. We're going to be the worst and then we're going to try to get back to being the best and you're never going to legislate that away.
Mike Ryan
I do think that there is a middle ground though, and I think the United States is. It's difficult because just the culture around American sports is it rings, it's a championship or bust. And I think that's a little unfair. You go over to places like in Europe where teams don't have clubs, don't have a shot at a title and the fan has a large voice and the fan experience is highly considered here in the States. Minor league baseball, no one really cares if your team wins or loses. You care about having a good time. And I do think that American sports franchises could do more to ensure win, lose or draw. The fan experience is going to be something that you're going to enjoy and it's not so tied up in the result. I don't think that Mark Cuban is that far off the mark while still upholding a standard to, to your paying customer that look, we're trying to win.
David Sampson
But just keep in mind that it's those days are past. Where in game entertainment used to be such a huge part of sports. But the number of people who go to a game, it's so much smaller now than the number of people who engage in the game on TV through streaming or however else they're engaging with it that you're finding more and more people like unrivaled. The new women's basketball league that is partially, partially owned by John Skipper where they built a studio in Miami. Yeah, you put a couple thousand seats in, but at the end of the day it is a TV product. They wanted to sell the broadcast rights. And when you look at the NFL, it. You can't argue to me when you see the Numbers for a regular season game is greater than a playoff game in any of the other sports. It's about the people watching, not the 60,000 who are going to. That's just. That's just the truth. And the Dome, you want to know why they're doing domes in the NFL? It's not so that people can be comfortable watching the game. It has nothing really to do with that. It has to do with the quality of the game. And I don't agree. But the NFL didn't like Seattle versus Denver in the snow in the second half. I happen to love snow games. I think they're awesome because I'm a Green Bay guy. But that's what they're trying to avoid.
Dan Le Batard
You guys have talked about this on the Sporting Class with John Skipper and Pablo Torre. Pablo is going to join us here in a little bit to talk about something that he just did that was sweet about Ronnie Seikkely and Magic Johnson. But when you look at the business of sports, what would happen, David, if right now I took all fans paying customers out of the stadium? What kind of damage would be done? Because you guys are always making some form of the argument that it doesn't actually matter if the paying customer is in the facility as long as they're watching on television.
David Sampson
Well, can we have actors there or are you saying it would be like the COVID bubble?
Dan Le Batard
I'm talking about the business of it. I don't care about the atmosphere. I'm just saying how much does the paying customer actually matter? If there are no fans in the stadium anymore and you're cutting out all of the money from concessions and paying tickets, how much does that matter?
David Sampson
It's interesting because it used to matter way more than it does. And it's the law of diminishing returns where it's mattering less and less. And that's the irony of all these new stadium arguments. Why do you think that the new stadiums now all involve ancillary development? Because new stadiums themselves are a losing business proposition. There are not enough events, there's not enough revenue even for a baseball stadium with 81 games. For a football stadium with eight or nine home dates, forget about it. It's why that ancillary development matters so very much, because it's the only way to make the numbers work.
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David Sampson
Close your eyes, Exhale. Feel your body relax and let go of whatever you're carrying today.
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David Sampson
And breathe.
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David Sampson
Don Levotard.
Dan Le Batard
There's sunglasses in boxes today, but in my bed in the hospital, ending our lives all the same stugats. It's the final night gown.
David Sampson
This is the Dan Levatar show with the stugats.
Dan Le Batard
I want to get to what's happened and been remiss here and not getting to it with you. So the head of the Major League Players Association, Tony Clark, who was in that job for more than a decade. You're smiling. Before we get into the details of the scandal, which I assume is what's making you smile because you love when labor gets betrayed by its leaders and there is scandal involved. What will be his legacy as a negotiator? Never mind just what's happened here at the end. His presiding over the players union, which used to be the most powerful union in sports and one of the most powerful unions ever. What will be his legacy? Did he destroy that players union?
David Sampson
No, that's. That's too much. He was a players leader. That's. You know how in, in sports there's a players manager and where they're just sort of. They're one of the guys. Tony Vitello of the Giants is trying to be that by shagging and doing drills with his players. And you want to be one of the guys. And then there's, you know, the Buck Showalters of the world who are clearly not one of the guys. And you tend to go back and forth when you're hiring and firing coaches. That's what Tony Clark was. He was the guy who was looking out for player comfort, worried about game start times, worried about travel, worried about chefs in the kitchen, worried about all sorts of crap that owners didn't really care much about and was willing to trade meaningful things in order to get these player comforts. He was a player's guy and I think now the players realize and it's not about screwing his sister in law who, whether that happened or not, the reality is that they are going to a much hard, harder line stance on core economic issues. And that's why there's going to be a work stoppage having nothing to do with Tony Clark and scandal. The reality is you could have Bruce Meyer in there, who's the interim director or you could have Mickey Mouse in there. The union membership has gotten to the point where they're less interested in comfort and they're more interested in allocation of dollars and that's when fights happen.
Dan Le Batard
As an owner's guy though, what was your favorite kind of person to negotiate against? Was it the players guy like Tony Clark?
David Sampson
Yes, it's a dream. You know, baseball was not happy when Tony was let go in one regard. But the truth is Bruce Meyer was, you know, the chief negotiator with Dan Hallam last time. But you had Tony Clark there with Rob and saying, hey, you know, Tony, you know, tell Bruce to relax, telling me he doesn't know what he's doing, he's going to screw this all up. Now you in theory have no one above Bruce to calm Bruce down. And that's an issue for the game. And that's, I think what fans should be more concerned about is there's no governor on Bruce Meyer any longer now that Tony Clark is gone. And he was the right type of governor for the game, meaning for the owners. And so that's what is, is a big concern.
Dan Le Batard
You mentioned the most scandalous detail that everyone is looking at as it requires, as it regards Tony Clark, which is the alleged affair with his sister in law. What are you shaking your head?
David Sampson
No matter, it doesn't matter the number of people in the union or in management, et cetera, who have had a, it's, it's silly. Anyone who's, if you believe that Tony Clark Was let go because he had an affair with his sister.
Dan Le Batard
Well, he resigned. He resigned. That's. Look, I don't know, okay, There was an investigation, but that is the detail people are seizing on in the resignation. But as a talk topic, we were discussing briefly yesterday something that feels like it would be in your wheelhouse. Which is, which is the greatest of the betrayals with the most consequences. Is it having an affair with your sister's husband, Having an affair with your. Your sister's wife, Having an affair with your brother's husband, or having an affair with your brother's wife? Which is the greatest of the betrayals? I'm an ally.
David Sampson
Your brother's wife definitely would be number one sister. As your brothers. Listen, if you leave a marriage to go to a same sex relationship, like you leave for your brother's husband and, and all of a sudden your wife is like, oh, you know, all right, I had that one wrong. I sort of suspected but wasn't sure. But I can deal with that. If you ask a woman whose husband is left for another man versus another woman, every woman, and you can put it on the poll, would rather her husband leave for another man because it's far less personal or damaged.
Dan Le Batard
Why are you guys berating Chris right now? Why is everyone situation?
David Sampson
Yeah, I'm married to a twin.
Mike Ryan
Yeah. So you're very clearly attracted to your sister in law, identical twin.
Dan Le Batard
Yeah. Wow.
Zaslow (Zaz)
Good for you.
Dan Le Batard
Good for you.
David Sampson
I know Chris.
Dan Le Batard
What do you mean good for you?
Zaslow (Zaz)
That can't be bad for him.
Chewy Advertiser
Good for you.
Mike Ryan
He's got a point.
Dan Le Batard
What do you mean it can't be bad for him dream? He just got berated by the entire
Chewy Advertiser
because I voted wife's sisters the worst and they were all like, oh, I got one.
Mike Ryan
Of course. I don't like this combo for Chris. For us it's fine.
Dan Le Batard
Before we get to your movie review, Robert Duvall passed away at the age of 95 earlier in the show. He's got a lot of great memorable lines, historic lines. I don't know, it's probably not his best movie, but I love the Smell of Napalm in the Morning is a classic. And his best movie, I guess has to be Godfather, although it is a starring role, but he is a lesser character in the Godfather. So do you have any memories or anything in the way of context on the way of what kind of actor historically Robert Duvall was.
David Sampson
Well, I'd like to do a top five Robert Duvall movies if you have time.
Dan Le Batard
Sure. Do you have any Oli, Are we Just going to go straight to the hard top five.
David Sampson
Spend too much time on Cody's sister in law. So we got to go right to the number five. Number five, top Robert Duvall movies, Deep Impact. Nothing like being washed away by a wave holding Tea Leone's hand. Although that wasn't his daughter. What a great movie. I'm all in on Deep Impact. That is the way to go. Number four, the Apostle. Not many people saw it. He actually wrote it and directed it. This is a tour de force. That's an Adnan phrase. This is a movie worth your time, I promise. But not as good as number three. Mash. He is. No. You put the TV anything up? What is that for the audio audience? They're showing the TV cast. He was in the movie mash, the Robert Altman movie, playing Colonel Frank Burns. Sorry. Number two. It's outrageous. Number two, Apocalypse Now. For people looking for war movies, this is probably the number one war movie. You've got Deer Hunter. You've got Coming Home. You've got Platoon. You've got Born on the Fourth of July. You've got Saving Private Ryan. You've got Black Hawk Down. You have Zero Dark Thirty. Apocalypse now is the grandfather of all these movies. And Robert Duvall is the character in that movie to pay attention to. And the number one Robert Duvall movie. Not even close. The Paper.
Mike Ryan
Not even close.
Dan Le Batard
Wait a minute. So no Godfather, you're going with the Paper? Not even close. Goes above Apocalypse Now.
David Sampson
I don't have the Godfather as a Robert Duvall movie. He is in the Godfather. But that is a Marlon Brando movie. At least you can say it's a Diane Keaton movie now.
Dan Le Batard
He put that, too. He put that.
Zaslow (Zaz)
I know, but that's a Martin, Al Pacino movie.
David Sampson
The Paper is a movie that does not get enough attention. It's directed by Ron Howard with Michael Keaton.
Miller Lite Advertiser
Oh, there they go.
David Sampson
They got the Paper. Not the Paper. That is the TV show that you're showing. Thank you so much. Video.
Mike Ryan
Sure.
Dan Le Batard
The Paper. Yeah, that's Mike Schurz.
David Sampson
I'm happy for Mike. Sure. It's a great series, actually with Dom Gleason, who I love. But the movie, the Paper, from whence it comes is Glenn Close. It is Marissa Tomai. It is about actually 24 hours.
Mike Ryan
Yeah.
David Sampson
Tomai Tomei. Excuse me. Thank you, Mike. I'm cooking here. It's. You give me 22 minutes. Minutes. I give you the world. That was the. The line when we were growing up in New York, believe it or not. You had to get the news every 22 minutes, and otherwise you couldn't. And this movie is Randy Quaid back before he was crazy. It's just one of those movies that you are. You don't move for the entire movie. So check it out.
Dan Le Batard
No colors.
David Sampson
I like that movie, too. There's only five. What? What do you want?
Dan Le Batard
I know, but if. Yeah, but you. You didn't even put the Godfather in there. There is only five. You had Oli. Okay, that's a Sean pin movie. Is it a. Okay, yeah, fair enough. It is a Sean.
Mike Ryan
He also wasn't a wartime consiliary. Hated the way I said that.
Zaslow (Zaz)
You say it again. Oh, there he goes. Let's cut that up.
Dan Le Batard
He's leaving.
Zaslow (Zaz)
Bye.
Dan Le Batard
He's leaving. All right, hold on a second. Let me get this. That. Get the penalty right. I'm sorry.
David Sampson
Minor penalty.
Dan Le Batard
Two minutes for leaking confidence. One of the things that I love best about Tony is his general trouble with words.
David Sampson
That's a hard word.
Dan Le Batard
It is a hard word, but he had no confidence on the second syllable, and it looked like a speed bump to him. And so it became con siglieri with a question mark. That pause. I mean, that's his pause. That's not my pause. I was.
Mike Ryan
Yours was scary.
Dan Le Batard
I was doing an impersonation.
David Sampson
Before we leave, Dan, I want to. You guys talked about the gold medal game in men's hockey. I think we have to mention the gold med game in women's hockey because there's a real live, heated rivalry going on where there's a relationship between a female USA player and a female Canada player, and they broke up. They're breaking up before the game. They could have had heated rivalry. They could have gone against each other, and they decided to end it before the gold medal game. And now I'm not going to watch because I'm so despondent about that.
Miller Lite Advertiser
But now it's an actual rivalry. Like, I saw these rumors on TikTok David, that this couple had gotten together and now broke up in the final stages of the Olympics. And that's an even better plot than you could have written in the idea that now it's an actual rivalry. These aren't people who like each other now they hate each other, and they're squaring off for the gold medal. I can't think of anything better.
David Sampson
Oh, I. I want to beat my sibling way more than I want to beat a stranger. I want to beat my spouse. That's. I do not. I want to win competition against my spouse way more than I Want to against my ex. So I happen to think that the rivalry is greater if they're together. That's the whole heated rivalry show.
Dan Le Batard
You want to beat your spouse.
Mike Ryan
I think I'm good. Right?
David Sampson
Yeah.
Mike Ryan
Tony's off to what just happened there.
David Sampson
Luckily, Dan, I don't have a spouse.
Dan Le Batard
Put it on the poll at Lebatard show. In a rivalry, do you prefer to beat. Wait a minute.
Mike Ryan
No.
Dan Le Batard
Do you prefer to beat your spouse in competition than a stranger? I don't think that's true.
David Sampson
This was a good idea.
Dan Le Batard
I don't think that's true. I don't think that. Why would you want to beat your sibling in a competition more than a stranger? I would think. You think. You think that Venus Williams and Serena Williams, they would rather play against each other and beat each other than beat a stranger. I don't think that's true.
Mike Ryan
No. They hated playing one another. That's why the matches were always bad.
David Sampson
That doesn't mean they didn't want to win. I just happen to think that when you're competitive, this is what you do do.
Dan Le Batard
Let me hear Tony's mistake again.
Mike Ryan
He also wasn't a wartime conciliary.
Dan Le Batard
So he swallowed the end, put the G before the end.
Mike Ryan
He also wasn't a wartime conciliary.
David Sampson
I'm gonna sounded like kug sig.
Dan Le Batard
I'm gonna do this again.
David Sampson
Didn't sound like what did.
Dan Le Batard
For leaking confidence.
Mike Ryan
You can't kick me out again when
David Sampson
I did it myself.
Dan Le Batard
That I am kicking out because you don't did it yourself. You don't make the penalties around here when you don't get to decide.
David Sampson
That's how I do it, though.
Dan Le Batard
Well, that's how you did it. Now I'm doing it to you this way.
Miller Lite Advertiser
Sounded like he was talking about Zaz and ciliary.
Dan Le Batard
Both of you, get out of here.
Mike Ryan
Wow.
David Sampson
Oh, wow. Yeah, I was doing a little bit
Miller Lite Advertiser
of fake like when you almost said the C word.
Zaslow (Zaz)
Look at you now.
Mike Ryan
We check down first.
Zaslow (Zaz)
Look at you now.
David Sampson
I was doing it. All right.
Dan Le Batard
See you later, David. Thank you. The name of the podcast is nothing personal. It is exceptional. There is nobody doing what he is doing in the space. Trying to tackle all the toughest stuff by himself with Coca.
David Sampson
I want to beat my spouse.
Dan Le Batard
He'll say edgy things on nothing personal.
David Sampson
I want to beat my spouse. Thank you, Dan.
Mike Ryan
Hey, everybody, it's Mike Ryan. Now, if you've been following the show, you know I've been traveling, been super busy, been supporting my favorite football team. With mixed results. Right? Not the greatest hang so far in 2026. I try to find every excuse in the book. I had one buddy that was trying to invite me out. I wanted to stay in. He's like, come on, let's watch this NBA game. So I go over to his house, I watch this NBA game, and guess what? Something amazing happened. He pulled out the Miller Lights, and I knew right away I made the right call. Next thing you know, we're toasting, we're celebrating, we're having a great time. We're talking about nostalgia, we're talking about old friends that we had. And it was all thanks to Miller Lite, that icebreaker. Because when you actually say yes and you actually show up, you want a beer that fits the moment. For me, that's Miller Lite. Legendary moments start with Miller Lite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.
Date: February 19, 2026
Location: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami
Hosts: Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Mike Ryan, Zaslow (Zaz), David Sampson
This Big Suey episode dives into the intersection of sports, business, controversies, and pop culture with Dan, Stugotz, and company, featuring a heavily insightful segment with David Sampson. The panel explores topics ranging from NFL ownership and the challenges facing sports executives, to the murky fallout of prominent scandals, tanking in pro sports, and a playful but revealing ranked list of Robert Duvall movies following the actor's passing.
(01:06 - 02:26)
(03:41 - 06:23)
(06:23 - 13:57)
(17:52 - 21:41)
(21:41 - 25:27)
(26:41 - 27:42)
(30:26 - 33:21)
(33:21 - 35:16)
(36:12 - 39:10)
(40:13 - 41:31)
The episode is a swirl of irreverent banter (roasting fashion, mispronunciations, tongue-in-cheek rankings), business acumen (sports ownership, revenue mechanics), and unflinching commentary on controversy and scandal. Sampson brings directness and candor, while Dan and the crew needle, probe, and occasionally spiral into digressive, but insightful, humor.
This Big Suey is a quintessential Le Batard Show ride: sharp, unsparing sports talk that’s as comfortable skewering the powerful as it is dissecting the trivial, punctuated by laughter and off-the-rails asides. If you want a breakdown of sports, scandal, and the absurdities underpinning both—with zero fear of offending power—this episode delivers.