Who In Sports Could Be The Next O.J. Simpson? | Hour 2 (feat. David Samson)

Summary

Podcast Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: Who In Sports Could Be The Next O.J. Simpson? | Hour 2 (feat. David Samson)
Date: May 7, 2026

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Episode Overview

From the Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami, Dan Le Batard, Stugotz and their panel (including David Samson, Amin Elhassan, John Skipper, Mike Ryan, and Jeremy) dive into sports, cultural memory, and the intersections of celebrity, infamy, and fandom. Anchored by a provocative question—who in sports today could generate an O.J. Simpson-level media cut-in if embroiled in scandal?—the hour weaves through NBA playoffs, sports nostalgia, media spectacle, ticket sales controversy, sports franchise branding, fan safety, and reflection on winning a Pulitzer Prize.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. NBA Playoffs: Scheduling, Knicks Nostalgia, and Greatness

• Scheduling Frustrations:

  • Dan and David debate the pros and cons of staggered vs. simultaneous NBA Playoff games.
    • “I want to sit and watch a game. I don’t want the conflict. … It's like watching Red Zone Channel. You end up seeing nothing.” — Dan (02:10)
    • David counters that he enjoys choosing between games in real time.

• Knicks Legacy and Emotional Distance:

  • Dan reflects on his youth as a Knicks fan, now feeling detached but still yearning for a Knicks title.
    • “I'm a full chorus line guy. Like I feel nothing. And it is incredibly upsetting...I still want them to win a championship because I'd like to be. I'd like to be around.” — Dan (02:59)
  • Debates on who is the greatest Knick if Jalen Brunson wins a title (Clyde Frazier vs. Ewing).

• Defensive Weaknesses and Playoff Prognosis:

  • “Brunson, he's a one-way player. He absolutely cannot play defense. He's going to get exposed.” — Dan (04:48)
  • Consensus is the NBA champion will come from the Western Conference.

2. The O.J. Simpson Bronco Chase: Sports, Celebrity, and Culture

• Personal Recollections:

  • The crew recalls where they were during the infamous 1994 NBA Finals broadcast interrupted by the O.J. Chase—how surreal and disruptive it was.
    • "While the...all of a sudden they cut to a white Bronco on a highway and people online at the Garden lost their minds." — Dan (06:30)
    • “At first I thought they were just going to get back to the game … and then they didn't. I said something to the effect of ‘make a decision already!’” — Amin (07:21)

• What Sports Figure Could Be "The Next O.J."?

  • Panel speculates on which modern sports celebrity could cause a similar cultural media cut-in if involved in an O.J.-esque event:

    • Only true A-listers who transcend sports (The Rock, Brady, Taylor Swift-adjacent Travis Kelce) would qualify.
    • "I don't think they cut in for A-Rod. I think it has to be someone who transcends sports." — Dan (11:41)
    • "Now—it’d be Travis Kelce, because Taylor Swift." — Jeremy & Amin (12:17-12:22)

  • Fragmented media and streaming services reduce the possibility of another singular cultural moment.

3. Pulitzer Prize Win: Emotion and Meaning

• David Samson on Winning:
  • Shares an emotional story of learning about winning the Pulitzer for “Pablo Torre Finds Out” and how it connected to his daughter’s last show before her illness.
    • "It was really a proud, emotional moment. And thank you, thank you to Dan and all of you guys who have let me into your crazy playpen." — David (14:13)

4. World Cup Ticket Bust and Sports Economics

• World Cup 2026 Ticket Woes:

  • High ticket prices and flawed assumptions about foreign tourism are driving low sales and empty hotel rooms ahead of the U.S.-hosted World Cup.
    • "The reason you’re seeing a lag in ticket sales is not because of the price. It's... foreign tourism that has ended up not happening." — David (19:53)
  • Security, immigration fears, and political climate are factors.

• Dynamic Ticket Pricing Philosophy:

  • David reiterates that, for sports owners, higher revenue per ticket beats a fuller but cheaper house.
    • "You'd rather have the one person paying $100 than 100 people paying $1." — David (18:00)

5. Las Vegas Athletics Trademark Troubles

• Branding and Legal Hurdles:
  • Explains MLB’s failure to secure “Athletics” as a team trademark in Vegas, and the possible need for a name change.
    • "Las Vegas Athletics... is that a gym, a hotel, a casino? There are people who don't know that there is a baseball stadium being built." — Dan (21:57-22:15)
  • Discusses the real reason for Vegas: pushing through relocation to ultimately get to a profitable expansion.

6. Home Advantage and Fan Divides

• Can You Keep Out Visiting Fans?:

  • Discussion on attempts (e.g., ticket restrictions by zip code) to preserve home court/field advantage—usually don't work.
    • "We've tried to keep out foreign people because we wanted any semblance of a home court advantage ... but it does not work." — Dan (25:15)

• Fan Violence, Jersey Etiquette, and Stadium Safety:

  • Anecdotes about wearing opposing jerseys—sometimes dangerous, especially overseas or after big losses.
    • "I wore a Knick Jersey to game seven in Houston in 1994 ... I took the jersey off to walk out of the stadium as the Rockets were celebrating their championship." — Dan (32:32)
    • John Skipper describes warning a loud Ravens fan to take off his Ray Lewis jersey after a Steelers win. (35:16)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote / Moment | |---|---|---| | 02:59 | Dan Le Batard | "I'm a full chorus line guy. Like I feel nothing. And it is incredibly upsetting..." | | 06:30 | Dan Le Batard | "…they cut to a white Bronco on a highway and people…lost their minds…" | | 11:41 | Dan Le Batard | "I don't think they cut in for A-Rod...It has to be someone who transcends sports." | | 12:17 | Jeremy | "The answer is Travis Kelce." | | 14:13 | David Samson | "It was really a proud, emotional moment..." (on winning the Pulitzer) | | 19:53 | David Samson | "…foreign tourism…has ended up not happening." (on World Cup ticket sales) | | 25:15 | Dan Le Batard | "…we tried to keep out foreign people because we wanted any semblance of a home court advantage..." | | 32:32 | Dan Le Batard | "I wore a Knick Jersey to game seven in Houston in 1994...I took the jersey off..." | | 35:16 | John Skipper | "I would not continue cheering and talking crap now because the tide has turned and you’re gonna...get a whipping if you don't take that jersey off." |

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Timestamp Guide for Key Segments

• NBA Playoffs / Knicks / Player Legacies: 01:33–06:20
• The O.J. Simpson Cut-In & Modern Equivalents: 06:20–12:25
• Pulitzer Prize Story: 12:35–14:34
• World Cup Ticket Sales and Sports Economics: 18:42–21:09
• Las Vegas Athletics Trademark & MLB Expansion: 21:57–24:32, revisited at 37:38
• Ticketing Practices & Visiting Fans: 24:32–26:12
• Fan Violence, Jersey Protocol, and Stadium Safety: 29:34–33:19
• Personal Sports Fandom Stories: 33:19–35:47
• Lamar Odom Documentary Recommendation: 39:32–41:03

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Tone & Style

Funny, self-deprecating, and sharp, the hosts and guests blend nostalgia, business analysis, and cultural commentary with irreverence. Behind the banter and satirical self-congratulation (especially about Pulitzer wins), there’s a sustained critique of how sports, media, and fandom intersect in public memory and modern business.

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Final Takeaways

• Cultural Singularities: The O.J. moment remains unmatched in American culture due to its blend of sports, celebrity, and media spectacle—impossible to recreate in today’s fragmented digital landscape.
• Sports Nostalgia vs. Present Reality: Aging out of pure fandom, the team debates what makes a true sports icon.
• Pride and Pain in Modern Sports: Whether navigating win/loss cycles as a fan, managing franchises, or dealing with fan safety, the emotional highs and lows remain an unavoidable part of sports.
• Celebrity, Media, & Scandal: Only the rare athlete who transcends sports—by reaching movie-star or pop-sensation status—could dominate news in a way comparable to O.J.

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This episode is essential listening for anyone who loves sports, nostalgia, and sharp, unfiltered banter about the absurdity and gravity of the games we play and the celebrities we elevate.

Transcript

[Dan Le Batard]

This summer, serve up the Cookout classics, Oscar Mayer hot dogs and Heinz Mustard. Grill up a dog, add classic yellow mustard or loaded Chicago style. We all know it's not a cookout without Oscar Meyer and Hines.

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[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats podcast,

[David Sampson]

Nothing Personal with David Sampson. David Sampson joining us now. Good to see you, David. How are you today, pal?

[Dan Le Batard]

I am doing well. I'm getting a little tired of the late NBA games because it's the end of the week, but I'm glad they're at least consecutive now so I don't have to do a dual screen and end up watching none of them. So you see, I'm glad that now I can watch them in a row.

[David Sampson]

That's interesting that you say that because the night before the games overlapped, you know, they were going on at the same time. And I like when the games are going on. Like I have free will. I could choose what game I want to watch. I don't need them telling me you have to only watch this one and then only watch this one. I like when the games are going on at the same time, David.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, I don't want the conflict as I just don't. I want to sit and watch a game. I'm going to watch it develop in order to. It's like watching the Red Zone Channel. You end up seeing nothing. But you do it for fantasy or for gambling or whatever. You do it. But to me it makes me dizzy and I don't get to watch a game. Me knows this. There's a rhythm to an NBA game. Yes, it's a game of runs, of course, but you get to understand how a game is sort of unraveling like its own unwritten play. And if you're going back and forth and you're just looking at the score bug, hey, that one's close. Let me turn to that for that. I could watch the first round of the NCAA men's tournament, for crying out loud.

[David Sampson]

Now, I wonder, because you grew up, you've told us you grew up with the New York Knicks being your number one. That's a team of your childhood. Do you still feel any of that when you watch last night? I mean, they're two wins away from the Eastern Conference finals for back to back years.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, I'm a full chorus line guy. Like I feel nothing. And it is incredibly upsetting because you're right, watching The Knicks from 1974 missed a championship by a year through 1999. When I got into baseball, I got to the finals twice in 94. 99. Unbelievable series against the Bulls and the Pacers and the Heat. Who can forget the 8 vs. 1 May of 1999 game with Alan Houston? Sorry, gentlemen, but now I just, I'm not connected in that way to the team and. But I still want them to win a championship because I'd like to be. I'd like to be around, but it's. I'm certainly not a fan like I used to be. But here's the other thing, folks. The Knicks are not going to win a championship. If you're watching the Western Conference playoffs, it doesn't matter who comes out of the East. The NBA champion is going to come from the west. And I'd be willing to guarantee that.

[John Skipper]

Do you agree that if Jalen Brunson were to go against what you just said and win the title, be the best player on a Knickerbockers team that wins the title, that he becomes the greatest Knick of all time. And if he's not the right answer, who is?

[Dan Le Batard]

You have to go Clyde Frazier. I don't think that winning a title, Brunson winning a title, it certainly puts him in the conversation. But he's in the conversation already. But I think you got to go back with the red. Holzman led 70 and 73 Knicks. You have to look at Clyde. You have to put Patrick Ewing in there.

[John Skipper]

I was just gonna say, I mean, I bet would argue for Ewing.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, of course. But if Brunson wins a title that Ewing couldn't. But again, the superstar we got for Ewing was John Starks. I love you, John. Two for 18 is seared into my head like, you know, a tattoo on my forehead. But I will say that when I look at the Knicks, they're an interesting team. But Brunson, he's a one way player. He absolutely cannot play defense.

[Netflix MMA Announcer]

He.

[Dan Le Batard]

He's going to get exposed though. I don't feel like the Sixers are properly exposing him the way the Hawks did in the first round. It didn't work because they got blown out every game after game three. But I, I would say that I just don't think the Knicks as constituted can win a title. But we're going to find out.

[Amin Alhassan]

I would like to echo the words of my fellow Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Sampson. And I would say that Walt Clyde Frazier is greatly recognized as the greatest Knick of all time. Not only because of his two NBA rings, but also as he alluded to, was a tremendous defensive player. One of the best defensive guards in NBA history.

[David Sampson]

Why are you talking like that?

[Amin Alhassan]

Well, I'm a Pulitzer Prize winner. I'm speaking with another Pulitzer Prize. You wouldn't understand. It's kind of a so wise. You got a thing so. But beyond that, I would also say his continued presence with the organization cements him as Mr. Nick. Whereas Patrick Ewing, as great as he was, minus the non championship, also was gone for a long time and had just recently been re welcomed into the fold.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, he's back at every game. And I must tell you guys, I've never felt older than looking at the alums who are at the game and seeing Patrick with Starks and Larry Johnson and you see Sprewell come and you just look and you say wow, like that 94 finals against the Rockets, that is 32 years ago. It's almost impossible to believe. There are people well into their careers who were not alive to watch Elijahan against Ewing. And now they're just watching three points, three pointers get chucked all.

[John Skipper]

Well, that was the ultimate split screen experience. Where you were watching that finals, you were watching ojv, right? V the cops Bronco.

[David Sampson]

That's right. Bob Cost is cutting in on the broadcast.

[Dan Le Batard]

So a story. I was at that game and the way the Garden was before it was retrofitted. I was online on the concession line and there's TVs above the menu boards and they show the game so you don't miss anything. And while the. And it's the broadcast, I'm online and all of a sudden they cut to a white Bronco on a highway and people online at the Garden, lost their minds, get the game back on. And what happened is we all ran and said, forget it. We'll skip the food. And we went back into the bowl because it's not like where you can wait online and see and access the court at the Garden. You're in a hallway where you have no access to the bowl. So people at that game were furious. Forget the fact that if you're watching it on TV and it disappears, it's insane. It's unheard of.

[Amin Alhassan]

I cannot repeat the words I said when I was watching on TV. And they cut to O.J. in the Bronco. At first I thought it was just going to be like, okay, we're going to get back to the game. And then they didn't. And then I said something to the effect of make a decision already.

[John Skipper]

It's Tony, Tashay and Cody. Are you. Do you guys know about that? It was such a weird cultural moment, you know, O.J.

[David Sampson]

what happened with O.J.

[John Skipper]

they cut into an NBA Finals game, and they put it in the lower little box.

[Amin Alhassan]

It was like a lot just switched.

[Mike Ryan]

They switched. I don't think they switched for the whole time, but they definitely switched.

[Amin Alhassan]

They cut for a good amount of that. It was game five, wasn't it?

[Mike Ryan]

What was frustrating was, like, you could find it on other channels. Other networks were covering the OJ Chase, but the network that had the NBA Finals decided, no, we'll. We'll join in the fray.

[Dan Le Batard]

I was like, well, listen, the audience for that, Mike, I will just tell you, if you're the producer making that decision in the control room, the audience for the OJ Chase at the time was way bigger than the NBA Finals audience because that was. Remember, he was a suspect in those murders. No one knew what the hell was going on. And all of a sudden, he. This is O.J. simpson. People don't remember unless you live through it. This was a movie star. This was a Hall of Fame football beloved broadcaster.

[Mike Ryan]

This was Bob Casas talking about an NBC Sports colleague.

[Dan Le Batard]

Exactly. It's the most bizarre thing. It really is the most bizarre cut in I've had it, obviously, short of 9, 11. But that's not bizarre. That was tragedy. What you're looking at with the Bronco chase was, is this happening? And by the way, how does this end? Because at the time, what we were told was, he's going to kill himself. And we were thinking, O.J. simpson, make a decision. Can't be happening. And obviously, the rest certainly speaks for itself.

[Jeremy]

What level of sports celebrity could get a Cut in to the NBA Finals. Now, if they were in a Bronco who's playing with alleged murder.

[John Skipper]

Well, keep in mind too, like David Sampson just said, this wasn't a guy at the height of his stardom. He wasn't. He wasn't playing sport. He was. But. So that's 94. So he had retired.

[David Sampson]

He was.

[Amin Alhassan]

He was at the height of his movie star.

[John Skipper]

I get it from Naked. Right? From Naked Gun. I'm talking. But Tashay's question was people from the sports world.

[Jeremy]

Right.

[Mike Ryan]

I'm saying.

[John Skipper]

But he had retired 15 years prior as a football player.

[Mike Ryan]

But he was also like this. This didn't happen right away. He was also in headlines and entertainment magazines for several days because people suspected he had something to do with this. And then the chase kind of served to a nation like confirmation. This is a guilty conscience.

[David Sampson]

I can't believe it was 30.

[John Skipper]

But like a Rod is. Has endured as a celebrity beyond being a baseball player. They wouldn't break into no Stanley cup final to be like a Rod's getting chased by rappers here.

[Mike Ryan]

I think they would.

[John Skipper]

Do you really?

[Dan Le Batard]

So, yeah, the way it would work now is what happened when Mike Breen had to keep telling us that Trump is going to address the nation and we're going to cut away from this game, but just go to blank streaming service and the game will continue. Go to ESPN in that case, or go to Peacock. So remember, back then it was either you're watching on NBC or you're not watching at all.

[David Sampson]

Yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

Now you'd get a choice. You want to watch the Bronco, watch the Bronco. If you do, great. If not, you have 10 other channels where you can watch the game on four other devices. So I don't believe we'll ever have a cultural moment like we had in June of 94 ever again.

[John Skipper]

The Rock.

[David Sampson]

Oh, man, the Rock would never do something like that.

[Jeremy]

Neither thought about O.J.

[Mike Ryan]

yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

Derek Jeter?

[John Skipper]

I think so we're naming people. If so, if Mike and David are right that they would cut in for a Rod, I think you now have to adjust this conversation to how low down do you go before with Jay Cutler?

[Amin Alhassan]

This is my problem.

[John Skipper]

No way to see what's up with Jay Cutler.

[Jeremy]

Absolutely.

[Amin Alhassan]

This is my problem. With a Rod. We know who a Rod is. But do people outside of sports know who a rod is? Yeah, People outside of Sports knew O.J. o.J. Was famous. Famous. Not sports famous.

[Dan Le Batard]

No.

[Jeremy]

A Rod dated Zaslo's lover.

[David Sampson]

Right, Billy?

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. I don't think they cut in For a rod. Personally, I think it has to be someone who transcends sports. And so I don't put a rod or Cutler or any of those people in that category. Rock transcends Brady, of course, transcends anyone who Ichiro's heard of. Obviously transcends. But so yes, I would say that that is the A list to get a cut in a prime time. Cut in of any sort, even through previously recorded programming, but certainly into live sports, that requires a list. Jennifer Lopez.

[John Skipper]

We're cutting in Giancarlo Stanton.

[Dan Le Batard]

No cutting.

[Jeremy]

The answer is Travis Kelce.

[Amin Alhassan]

There you go.

[Dan Le Batard]

Now, because Taylor Swift. Yeah, right.

[Amin Alhassan]

That's absolutely. We got to cut in for Travis. Does his brother.

[John Skipper]

We got to cut him for the brother driver.

[David Sampson]

No, his brother is the driver.

[Jeremy]

And they record a podcast while they do it.

[Amin Alhassan]

New Heights.

[David Sampson]

David, a huge congratulations to you. Of course, we mentioned the entire crew at Pablo Torre finds out winning the Pulitzer Prize as it was announced a couple of days ago. How, how did you learn and how did it make you feel?

[Dan Le Batard]

I got an emotional call from Pablo and he called to say that we had won a Pulitzer. And I, I couldn't believe it. Obviously it's such an honor to be a part of Meadowlark Media and what Dan had done, putting, putting faith in a show that just hadn't been done before and putting resources behind it. It's much like what he does with, with your show and my show and, and all of the network shows. But I'll tell you what, what I thought of immediately, and I said this to Amin immediately when we were talking, is that my daughter actually got sick on September 12th. And the last show she ever listened to me do was September 3rd, which was the first show that won the Pulitzer on the aspiration Kawhi Leonard salary cap circumvention. And she's in media and was very interested in the story and I knew we were onto something because she wasn't ever interested in nothing personal, did not listen, didn't care about MLB and analyst work or didn't watch our show here, the Dan Lebatard show, but this one she paid attention to because we had been talking about it for months. And then once it was recorded, Amin will remember, it was recorded not to go under the kimono, but on August 20th. And so there was a two week period where we had recorded the show that it hadn't come out yet. And this was the first show as part of the athletic licensing agreement. And it just was a big deal, except we didn't realize it didn't even occur to us. Pulitzer. Don't be ridiculous. That can't be. But when I was called, I just couldn't believe that those two things now are together. In terms of her last show, seeing me and winning a Pulitzer and what it means for the company and for all of us. It was really a proud, emotional moment. And thank you, thank you to, to Dan and to all of you guys who have let me into your, your crazy playpen.

[David Sampson]

It's, it's awesome. It's a great honor. Congrats again, David.

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[Jeremy]

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[Dan Le Batard]

Yo.

[Mike Ryan]

You know that energy shift when the game gets good and everybody all together in unison knows to stand up on their feet?

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, absolutely.

[Mike Ryan]

Mike.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

You've been at many big time sporting events. You know that moment quite well. That's what it's like when you take your first sip of Cuervo.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, delicious.

[Mike Ryan]

It's the signal that says, we're not checking the time anymore, pal. It's when small talk turns into stories. Cuervo, man. It's that high five. A random stranger effect. That's right. The game is popping. You're hugging people you never met before. That's the kind of energy that Cuervo brings. It's so smooth, so delicious. That's the Cuervo effect. Keep it Cuervo.

[Dan Le Batard]

Don Levatar. Tae tas stugats. Tae Tas. This is the Don Levatar show with the Stugats.

[David Sampson]

So we were just talking a few. We were just. And yes, the whole crew. All right. We congratulated you the other day. Now I'm congratulating David. All right, that's all.

[Amin Alhassan]

I'm here.

[David Sampson]

All right. Yeah, but I don't need to congratulate you every day.

[Dan Le Batard]

So, Zaz, I did some reading on this. I did. And the truth is, you do have to congratulate him every time you see him.

[John Skipper]

All right?

[Dan Le Batard]

So it turns out it's like when you win an Academy Award, you're always known as Academy Award winner. Whenever you walk, whenever you're introduced, whenever you walk into a room. Hey, it's John Cocktail, an Academy Award winner. Amin Al Hasanow, Pulitzer Prize winning podcaster. That's just part of his nome de plume. So anytime he walks in the studio, you have to say that.

[Amin Alhassan]

Wow, thank you, David. But that's the kind of grace that I would expect from a fellow Pulitzer Prize winner. You know, some of the lesser accomplished people, they don't know these etiquettes. Yeah.

[David Sampson]

David, you may have heard we were talking about the World cup and the lack of ticket sales, all of these games. There's a lot of tickets available for most of these World cup games that are starting up soon. And it had me think of something that you told us last week where we asked you, which would you know, a baseball team rather have? Which would the owner rather have? Would you rather one person at a game and the price of the ticket was $100, or would you rather 100 people at the game and the price was $1? And your answer, despite, you know, more people means more concessions. Your answer was you'd rather have the one person paying $100. So I wonder, like, does any of that line of thinking apply to what's going on here with the World cup where the tickets are so, so, so expensive?

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, keep in mind, as part of the RFP process, a request for proposal. When you're a bid city, part of your bid package includes what the ticket prices are going to be like when you bid for an All Star Game or when you are doing a postseason manual in Major League Baseball where you are giving baseball what the prices will be for every seat in your stadium, for every round of the playoffs, from wild card through World Series. And then those prices get agreed to and there's no changing them. But there's something deeper going on here. The reason why you're seeing a lag in ticket sales is not because of the price. It's that when you make the assumption, much like the Las Vegas A's are assuming they will get 7,000 tourists to every game, which is obvious, total horse hockey. What World cup did is they assumed a level of foreign tourism that has ended up not happening. And that manifests itself with hotel occupancy rates going up, meaning no one's staying in hotels, and with ticket sales going down, why people are not looking forward to coming to the US because they're worried. They're worried about what's going on with immigration. They're worried about what will happen in terms of security. It is not the perfect storm that was hoped to have existed when North America was granted the World Cup. And I think that they're going to have to sit in it because I don't know what's going to change between now and July. But obviously you can lower ticket prices, but that will not change people's view about coming to the US We're a month away.

[Mike Ryan]

It takes time to travel from abroad to the United States. Get those plans in line. Make sure you're all clear. It's not really at the drop of a hat type of thing where you can come to the United States if you're from one of these other countries. You mentioned the A's, the David, and tell me what's right here. There's Internet conjecture that suggests one of the great brands in baseball. I love their uniform sets. One of the great names in baseball, the Athletics Las Vegas may turn its back on this branding and I don't know what to believe here. Internet has found LLCs with different team names. The rumor that's spreading online is a lot like what happened with the Utah Mammoth, where initially they were the Utah Yeti, but they couldn't trademark the name Yeti, so they went in another direction. What's true here? They trademark this name.

[Dan Le Batard]

So they've not been able to yet. They've not been able to prove to the court that the Athletics are a name that can be trademarked within the Las Vegas area because it's not specific enough, because they're not doing business there. And one of the criteria for getting the use of a name is are you doing something in the area with that name that would take away any customer confusion about what your business is. Las Vegas Athletics, if you ask a random person on the street, is that a gym, is that, is that a hotel, is that a casino? What is that? There are people who don't know that there is a baseball stadium being built and that will be a baseball team. So A, they didn't get it pre cleared. So B, they've got to be prepared for all sorts of eventualities. Is it still possible? Remember the ruling from the court was today. We're not granting it. They didn't talk about tomorrow, they talked about today. And as the stadium gets built and as they get a stronger foothold in Las Vegas, do more business there. And I don't mean, you know, endorsing little league games and you know, selling tickets. I mean doing business. They could get that name trademarked. Will it be too late? I guess we're going to wait to see. But it's something that's never talked about in sports business, but it's a huge part of it. By the way, Mike, there's an entire department at MLB that does trademark clearance stuff.

[John Skipper]

Wouldn't that stand as a major failure and an embarrassing one for Manfred and company? This is an enduring brand. Athletics, it didn't start in Oakland, it was in Kansas City. And otherwise, I mean, that doesn't sound like much of a case. I'm not a, I don't know if I've mentioned this before, I'm not an attorney, but I mean, it seems like this would be a pretty straightforward case. Right?

[Dan Le Batard]

Like.

[John Skipper]

Well, we didn't just create this name. It's been around for 100 plus years.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, I think it's pretty clear when you look at relocated teams, when you look, the Brooklyn Dodgers became the Los Angeles Dodgers. The New Orleans Jazz became the Utah Jazz, for crying out loud. The Vancouver Grizzlies are the Memphis Grizzlies. There has been cases where teams move and keep their name and there have been cases where teams move and change their name. The Washington Nationals are not the Montreal Expos. And so you have to really be on top of the legal part of this. And did MLB anticipate this ruling by the panel? My guess is they did not. But once it came down, they were able to pivot both in terms of how to establish that you're doing business in Vegas, but also making sure that you're covered by coming up with some other names. And that's what happened in Utah as well.

[David Sampson]

Mike David. The Philadelphia 76ers, of course, went down two games to none to New York last night. The next game, Game three is in Philadelphia. Joel Embiid, at the end of last series against Boston, pleaded with Sixer fans not to sell their tickets to Knicks fans, that they need to make sure they have the great home court advantage. He said if they need the money, that he'll take care of them. I don't know what that means, but the Sixers, they have done the move where they restrict being able to buy the tickets to a certain area code. What is, you know, to keep the New York fans away from being able to even buy the tickets. David, what do you make of that practice?

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, tomorrow night you're going to find out that that practice does not work. And in Miami, you guys know this, we were the inventors, all of us in Miami, of trying to keep out foreign people because we wanted any semblance of a home court advantage. My man, if you close. I'm sorry.

[Mike Ryan]

My man. Keeping out foreign people love it.

[Dan Le Batard]

If you. Well, I'm talking about non, non Miamians, obviously, so people who don't like the Dolphins or the Marlins, but I'm talking about. Close your eyes and go to a Dolphins jets game. You know what the story is. You, you know, that you don't know where the Game's being played. So what you do is you restrict zip codes on the ticketing sites to only local zip codes. And what we also know is it doesn't work. Joel Embiid got very bad advice. Luckily, it's not a legal contract. He doesn't have to pay any one opportunity cost for what they could have sold it versus what they do sell their tickets for. That was a funny, nice gesture, but tomorrow night, there will be a lot of Knicks fans.

[Amin Alhassan]

How about.

[David Sampson]

You know, there are some venues, like the Clippers do this, I believe. You know, the Clippers in their new. In the Intuit Dome, The. The wall, you know, behind one of the baskets. I think you. You're only allowed to cheer for the Clippers. You're.

[Dan Le Batard]

You're.

[David Sampson]

You're, like, not allowed to cheer for the visiting team. Do. Am I. Do I have that right?

[Dan Le Batard]

I mean, that is.

[Amin Alhassan]

That is correct. Jonathan.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'd like to ask Mike this in terms of football, the supporters sections. Can you sit in a supporter section if you're rooting for the other soccer team?

[Mike Ryan]

I know you can. It's very difficult.

[David Sampson]

It's very difficult because the other fans will get angry at you.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, dude, it's. It's a dangerous thing. I've walked into stadiums. Like, the first time I watched a game in England, I was wearing. I went to see Chelsea play at Watford, and I was wearing a little blue, and security told me to cover that up.

[Dan Le Batard]

Wow.

[John Skipper]

It's still football, America. Let's refer to it as soccer when we're within these United States. I'm sorry to be an ugly American.

[Mike Ryan]

The other night, I was staying in. At least that was a plan. Then the text from my buddy Eagle Eye comes in. Mike, we've got the games on. I say, yeah. I grab a pack of Miller Lite and immediately my plan's gone. Now it's playoff basketball. Every possession feels huge. Baseball's on another screen, and I somehow care about that, too. Everybody's got takes flying. Nobody's watching. Just one thing, and we're all way more into it than we ever expected. It was one of those nights that you take a sip, you look around and you think, yeah, this was the right move. That's why I reached for Miller Lite. It's clean, refreshing, easy to drink, brewed for taste, with simple ingredients, just 96 calories and 3.2 carbs. The original light beer since 1975. And it still hits different cheers to legendary moments 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, 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

[Netflix MMA Announcer]

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[Dan Le Batard]

Levatard Go pee Pee Stugats Go pee pee. This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats.

[David Sampson]

I don't know if you remember, there was a time down here with the Panthers when that snake oil salesman, Michael your Mark was the CEO where they made one of the one of the goals behind one of the goals. There was a section there only Panther fans. You're not allowed to wear gear of another team. You're not allowed to cheer for the other team. That obviously did not work.

[John Skipper]

That's sad for those teams that can't control their fan base or don't have a passion enough fan base to keep out visitors.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean, in England in particular, they have this ugly history of hooliganism. And I saw I went to a rather famous Manchester City Liverpool match that ended up deciding the championship that year. And I was in like a posh part of the stadium. I was in the hospitality lounge and there was a gentleman who, who was not wearing Liverpool red and he was just sitting In a section adjacent to.

[John Skipper]

So you turned his lights out, the hospitality?

[Mike Ryan]

No, I was. I was there. I'm a Chelsea guy. So I was just there to appreciate the soccer. And this guy, like, did one of these, like, a little fist pump after something good happened in the match for Liverpool. Dame near got his ass kicked. Like, it was rough. Everybody was yelling at him just because he gave, like, a little subtle, like, fist pump. Has something happened? So while I think it's a little overblown, I've seen it happen.

[Dan Le Batard]

So, you know, guys, this is not unique to England. It just happened the other day that someone outside of bush Stadium in St. Louis got attacked. We've seen what happens in Los Angeles.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, I saw a Yankee fan get attacked recently that went viral.

[David Sampson]

It's not cool.

[Amin Alhassan]

After game one of Knicks Sixers, there's a guy walking around with like, an embiid jersey and he got.

[David Sampson]

Yeah, that's not cool.

[Amin Alhassan]

I'm gonna tell you, like, real talk, when I work for the Knicks. At the same time, there's this guy, he played professionally in Greece. And I remember the first game we went to, like when we first started that week, he was floored that he saw people with, like, Bulls jerseys on because the Bulls were in town. He was floored. He's like, what's gonna happen? I'm like, nothing. He's like, what do you mean nothing's gonna happen? Because in his, you know, experience.

[David Sampson]

Murder.

[Amin Alhassan]

Yeah. If you went to Panathenikos with like, an Olympiacos jersey, you are death wish violence.

[Mike Ryan]

Absolutely. It is. It is. And look, there have been a couple high profile incidents here in the United States. I think even, like, famously, there was an episode of Curb youb Enthusiasm that was brought into court as an alibi. But largely you can go into an opposing stadium. We did it at MSG for the Panthers. New York Rangers are in the Eastern Conference finals. You can rep your team and you'll have some banter, but you won't. It won't most of the time. A vast majority of time, it won't accelerate to, like, this physical confrontation.

[Amin Alhassan]

I remember I went to the Miami game.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

You were repping Georgia Tech, and I

[Amin Alhassan]

was wearing Georgia Tech.

[Mike Ryan]

People were giving you guff.

[Amin Alhassan]

But most of the people around me were good natured. There was one guy who got drunk and, like, try to start something, but everyone else kind of like, said, chill.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, not something that can happen abroad.

[Dan Le Batard]

I would say you have to be smart, though, because I wore a Knick Jersey to game seven in Houston in 1994. And I will never forget when we lost the game. I took the jersey off to walk out of the stadium as the Rockets were celebrating their championship because it just. I didn't want any problems. Obviously I'm not, I wasn't big at the time and. And then again in San Antonio in 99, lost a game, took the jersey off because why invite it? I don't, I don't appreciate that it has to be that way, but it's sort of understanding your surroundings if you know that there could be an issue. My view of it is that it's your responsibility to not put yourself in a. To have an issue. And I'm not victim blaming. Don't make that that. I'm saying situational awareness in life is generally a good thing.

[Amin Alhassan]

Samson, how you went to how many finals games? How are you getting these tickets?

[Dan Le Batard]

I, I was very lucky. I went to every game in 1994, all seven games of the finals. And I went to all The Games in 99 in San Antonio and in New York. I just was a lucky season ticket holder who was able to secure tickets on the road as well. And I was with the Knicks with. And Spike Lee. And in Houston, they took all of us, the families, to a rodeo in Houston. I'd never been to a rodeo before. When you're there for the, for the games one and two. So it was, it was fun to be a part of it. And this was before I was in baseball. I was just a huge, huge fan. And that was when I had my first dose of, wow, don't, don't meet your hero. Because I got a chance to have Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley in a hotel hallway was just me and my friend. And I saw them and, and I just wanted to say hello and say good luck tonight. It was game seven. They were just sitting in the hallway talking, and they were both very grumpy. And I said to my friend, oh, God, we're not going to win, are we? Of course, it didn't occur to me that starks would go 2 for 18, but all I wanted was like a, yeah, thanks for coming to Houston. Let's go, New York. Go, New York, go. And all I got was like, yours.

[John Skipper]

I think that is a, It's a great life lesson from David Sampson. I said it earlier in the show. You got to live in the world that, that as it exists, not the one you want. And if your team loses, there's a weird psychological or sociological thing that happens. The fans don't attack visiting fans wearing jerseys and otherwise, unless Their team wins. It's like a gut punch. If it goes. If the visitors gut punch your heroes down on the field, the people in the stands are also feeling that emotionally, and they just sort of. They just sort of walk out of the stadium when they win. Now they're imbued with reflected powers and they attack it. Good for you to take that jersey off. I said at the.

[Amin Alhassan]

The.

[John Skipper]

The game the Steelers beat The Ravens, the A.U.D. a title game. There was a loudmouth right in front of us with a Ray Lewis jersey on the whole game, and he was talking stuff. When it looked like the Ravens were going to win. As soon as Troy Polamalu picked sixed him, I got in his ear and I was like, I would turn that stuff down, man. I would take the jersey off.

[David Sampson]

Because you were being sincere.

[John Skipper]

I was. I was like, I would not continue cheering and talking crap now because the tide has turned and you're gonna. You are going to get a whipping if you don't take that jersey off. He listened.

[Amin Alhassan]

Look at that.

[David Sampson]

Like a real humanitarian, great empath.

[John Skipper]

How many times I have to tell you, hold on.

[Netflix MMA Announcer]

The guy took off his jersey.

[John Skipper]

He had to.

[Netflix MMA Announcer]

No, no, you got to keep that on.

[Amin Alhassan]

I like the idea of Dave Damachuk being like the quiet, menacing guy. Like, I'd take that off if I were.

[John Skipper]

Yeah. Hey, Yinz, all these yinzers around here is not gonna like you wearing that Ray Lewis jersey. I would take it off, dude. That's my advice to you.

[David Sampson]

David, how do you feel? How do you think that management in Boston hears what Jaylen Brown has been saying the last couple days, specifically when he talks about this year being his favorite year? Because I would imagine management, this was not their favorite year.

[Dan Le Batard]

I have to believe that they know their player. And so when we'd have players out in public doing certain things, very rarely were we surprised, because you live with the player every single day. Do I think that Brad Stevens woke up and said, wait a minute, Jalen Brown's doing a twitch live stream? I highly doubt that. That was his first experience with Jaylen Brown doing that. When Jaylen Brown starts going after the referees, if I'm the president of the team, I'm calling him up and saying, dude, get your checkbook out. You're about to get fined. And he ended up getting fined 50k. I get it. It's just emotional for him. He was doing it without Tatum for most of the year. Tatum comes back, they continue to do well, and then they just, you know, live and die. By the way, they were built and what they did. But for me, I look back at the year of the Celtics and say, what a success for their front office. It's a team that could have easily decided to give in with the way they cut payroll and had the Jayson Tatum injury, but instead, look at how competitive they were throughout the season and up through seven games against Philly. So I sort of take it with a grain of salt. I'm certainly not going to make transactional decisions based on a Twitch stream one day after a Game 7 loss by any stretch. But I am going to look around the league and say, hey, we're not good enough, so we have to make changes.

[John Skipper]

Hey, David, real quick, back to something you were talking about 20 minutes ago. Mike was talking about the Athletics in Vegas and all of that. If this all winds up with it being a bust once they do open that ballpark, I'm surprised to hear you say that. That they're not going to get foot traffic of the tourists. I don't think that would work in a destination city like Miami or Los Angeles. But that's because they're more sprawling. Everything in Vegas is right there. They're not going to just standardly get a bunch of people from around America and beyond walking into that yard.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. So baseball is different. You know, you can build the stadium and have the Raiders play seven games, eight, nine games there, and people will come to Vegas when their team is playing on the road and they'll say, all right, it's a weekend, let's go. But when you're talking about a Tuesday game against Colorado in July, you're not going to go to Vegas for that game. And also, there's just way there's ten times more home games. It was unrealistic the minute was it was presented to the public the minute it was presented to Major League Baseball. But the reason why baseball turned their head to the fact that Oakland won't work in Vegas is that, A, they were so upset for being last into Vegas, and B, they had to take care of the Oakland situation so they could get to the real money, which is an expansion. So they got to take care of Oakland and Tampa in order to get to 32 teams, which is when the owners will cash the expansion check. And so you turn your head to an assumption that ends up being wrong. By the way, guys, it happened in Miami. We had an assumption that our attendance would be way higher than it than it was. And it's been because we assumed that it was a roof that would make the difference and it ended up not being the case whether I'm there or not there. But at the time the stadium was being built, baseball wanted to get rid of Miami as a problem, get a new ballpark, move on to the next problem. And that's really how sports leagues look at these situations.

[David Sampson]

David, what have you watched recently? You have a review for us?

[Dan Le Batard]

I do. I've been watching the Untold Series and I want to talk about the death and life life of Lamar odom. Wow. It's 76 minutes. It was an hour and 16 minutes about Lamar Odom. I had totally forgotten about what happened. I had remembered that he was in some sort of brothel and that he almost died. I had forgotten totally if I ever knew that he had a reality show with one of the Kardashians, who was his wife. I didn't know all the craziness that happened after he was unconscious in the brothel from a binge. I didn't know where he was today or what he was doing. I didn't know he had other kids. I didn't know anything about his situation. And I found it to be compelling in its unbelievable sadness. As someone who spent decades around athletes who are deified by so many, and it turns out a majority of them are just struggling like the rest of us and trying to figure it out because money doesn't buy the end to your problems. And so Lamar Odom had addiction problems and money didn't change that. He had fame, money, and it still didn't change the addiction issues. And he's, you know, what a story for him. He's still alive and he sounds great, he looks great, but his life, what could have been with him? And you guys know him from the heat. It's just totally different than the script. He thought, and this untold, much better than the jailblazers. This untold is worth your time, David.

[Amin Alhassan]

It's funny because years ago I did a podcast with Pulitzer Prize winner Pablo Torre, and he had just written a feature about James Harden, who's with the Rockets. And at that time his girlfriend was Khloe Kardashian. And so we were talking about the effects of kind of celebrity and addiction and all these things, and it was, what, to this day, probably the best podcast episode I've ever done up until the one where I won a Pulitzer Prize. And the haunted hotel one was great too. The haunted hotel one was great. Then they, the ESPN pulled the episode off the site 50 minutes after it was on, and we were like, why? They said, well, cuz you guys made Light of alcoholism. So, no, we didn't make light of it. We were trying to illustrate how pervasive it is not only with players, but with staffers, with the media. Everyone around sports pretty much has a substance abuse problem by the definition of, you know, the medical definition. Well, guess what happened an hour after they pulled that episode down. Lamar Odom hospitalized on his deathbed. Had they kept it up, we would have had probably a crazy, relevant, greatly done episode with two future Pulitzer prize winners. But espn, in their imminent wisdom, he almost died.

[John Skipper]

But Amin is the victim.

[Amin Alhassan]

That's right.

[David Sampson]

David, always good to see you. Nothing personal with David Sampson weekdays, wherever you get your podcasts, of course, and on DraftKings Network. Great job, David. Thank you. There you go. All right.

[John Skipper]

Children and millions of dollars left behind. Yeah, but how about all the downloads I could have had?

[Amin Alhassan]

I could have been a star. I say, oh, but also, I love this week. You know, it's Thursday. We're not done with the week. But this week, one of my favorite things that's been happening is that we do an interview. We get done with the interview. Zaz sends the the subject on. All right, thanks a lot. That was David Sampson. And then we saw time on the clock and he just has. It's like, I've got nothing. All right,

[Dan Le Batard]

great job.

[John Skipper]

Rather not go on, maybe tease our

[Mike Ryan]

next segment someone else.

[Amin Alhassan]

This is the end of the live hour, right?

[Mike Ryan]

Everybody else's job.

[Netflix MMA Announcer]

Somebody says something about firefighters.

[Amin Alhassan]

I'm kind of hungry.

[Dan Le Batard]

You?

[David Sampson]

Very good.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm a cuck.

[Mike Ryan]

Have you heard from your sister in law?

[Dan Le Batard]

Nope.

[Mike Ryan]

Has work gotten to her?

[Dan Le Batard]

Her husband may have told her yes.

[Amin Alhassan]

He pillow talker

[Mike Ryan]

the other night I was staying in. At least that was a plan. Then the text from my buddy Eagle eye comes in. Mike, we've got the games on. I say, yeah. I grab a pack of Miller Lite and immediately my plan's gone. Now it's playoff basketball. Every possession feels huge. Baseball's on another screen, and I somehow care about that, too. Everybody's got takes flying. Nobody's watching. Just one thing, and we're all way more into it than we ever expected. It was one of those nights that you take a sip, you look around and you think, yeah, this was the right move. That's why I reached for Miller Lite. It's clean, refreshing, easy to drink, brewed for taste, with simple ingredients, just 96 calories and 3.2 carbs. The original light beer since 1975. And it still hits different cheers to legendary moments 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, 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.