Chris Koras - CEO, REP1 Baseball

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much hope for this generation coming up that I've grown up with women in sports, in leadership roles, on television, speaking about sports, speaking knowledgeably about sports. To me, all the work that I've done, all the humanitarian work that I've done, has always given me great perspective. It has allowed me to keep my feet on the ground and has really put and reminded me what's truly important.

That was for Seattle. Just to name a few of this. Welcome to sports business radio. Now, here's Brian Burger. This week's edition of sports business radio is presented by Underdog Fantasy. Underdog Fantasy is the easiest place to play fantasy sports. It's also the fastest growing fantasy. The fantasy app in the industry play underdog fantasies. March madness game. Download the underdog fantasy app. We're visit underdog fantasy.com.

Sign up today with promo code SBR like sports business radio SBR and get your first deposit doubled up to $100. Great. Guess for you this week. Chris Corris the CEO of rep one baseball. We cover a ton in this conversation from the record setting contract. Chris. Help negotiate for red socks third baseman. Rafael Devers to recruiting clients in Latin America. To how major league baseball should

show their games in the future. To what show Hey Otani's market value might be when he becomes a free agent in 2024. To the topic I've always wanted to discuss with a baseball agent length of contract. My listeners and Griggs know that I'm a big believer in not signing contracts that are longer than five years in length. So I debate this with Chris a quick note

scheduled guest on next week's episode of sports business radio. We're Ted Lassowing out. Cola Bokini who plays Isaac McAdoo the captain of aFC Richmond on the hit TV series Ted Lassow on Apple TV plus he is going to join us right here on sports business radio very excited about that joined by executive producer Brian Griggs Griggs. How are you? I'm doing great and I'm excited. I

have Chris on just because hey we're on the cusp of MLB and baseball getting started. It's nice that spring is in the air and the bats are swinging and baseball's backs. I'm looking forward to that in his conversation. He's got a lot of insight. Obviously signing a big deal. Like you mentioned this this week. So fun to talk some baseball. Yeah. And the world baseball classic

is going on right now. So it's become a little bit like World Cup. I mean, I think World Cup soccer is still much bigger than the world baseball classic. But I think world baseball classic aspires to be where World Cup soccer is. And one of the things we discussed, there's just so much more personality and so many more stories when watching World Baseball Classic than when

watching Major League Baseball. So how can Major League Baseball do a better job of bringing some of the stories out? I mean, Griggs, there was a guy who works as an electrician during the day that struck out Show Hey O'Tani and Mike Trapp. Like what a cool story. That is. He's getting to play. For his country. There was another young Latin American pitcher, 21 years old,

struck out one so to Julio Rodriguez, some of the best players in baseball. After the game, he was approached by Detroit Tiger Scout and signed on the spot. 21 years old. Love it. So some great stories coming out of World Baseball Classic. And I think Major League Baseball needs to humanize the players a little bit more. I always say we know the 10th guy on the

table. And I think that's the biggest advantage for an NBA team. I don't know much about Mike Trapp or Mookie Betts or Show Hey O'Tani or some of the biggest stars in baseball. So what could be done about that? But we really get into it with Chris. I thought this was a great conversation. You know, for the future of broadcasting. Not only for Major League Baseball,

but every sport. And just, you know, the length of contracts. Like I said, that's always been a big one for me. So he brings up some really good points. So I think you'll enjoy the conversation. All right. Let's get to some headlines. NFL free agency has started. Grigs and, you know, already a slew of signings lots of rumors that Aaron Rogers is going to be traded

from the Packers to the Jets that hasn't happened yet as of this recording. But it seems like we're on the cusp of that. Another big quarterback move. The Raiders are giving former 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppelo a three year 60 seven. And a half million dollar deal that includes a 34 million dollar guaranteed bonus. You know, lots of other movement. And we've been retweeting a lot of

those at SB radio. A trade Grigs with the NFL draft. The Bears trade the number one pick in the draft to the Carolina Panthers. And they get back the number nine pick the number 61 pick a first round pick in 2024. A second round pick. And 2025 and wide receiver DJ more. That's what you call maximizing your position. Yeah. So, you know, look, the Carolina Panthers

are going to get their quarterback. Whoever that may be CJ Stroud, Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson, whoever it is at number one. But the Bears need help at a number of different positions. And they basically trade back eight positions and pick up a lot of assets. So a lot of people are applauding the Bears for this trade because they already have Justin Fields. They don't need a

quarterback. Carolina values one of these quarterbacks coming out. So they got the most for trading out of that number one position. Yeah. And I think that's always kind of interesting when it's not necessarily as flashy when you first see it on, you know, Twitter, when you see, oh, they traded picks for this or whatever. But the strategy involved as they say is where it gets fun

because that's looking forward to the future. Like you said, getting their number one pick down the road. But not as flashy on the day it happens. But down the road, I think they'll be better for it. And it's fun. I mean, this is a good time of year. You see all these free agency signings and a lot of like we talked about long contracts and MLB,

a lot of one year quarterback contracts. Where you'll see like Sam Donald signed and you know, these one year kind of jumping around from team to team. We saw Baker do it with the Rams last year halfway through. So that's kind of fun. It's just to see where a team will pick up an old guy. Just for a season to kind of get, you know, if

there's an injury issue or whatever it is to. Get one of these OGs on the on the field with them. Well, and then it's interesting to see the teams at just sit and watch the first few days. And they basically pick up the leftovers off the scrappy and go, Hey, you didn't get picked up by anyone. I'm going to sign you on the cheap and put

you on my team. Right. So the team has more leverage. If you're not one of those first people traded Jalen Ramsey was traded from the Rams to the Dolphin. That was a big move. The Dolphin's really showing up their defense. Building their offense around to her and Cheetah. By the way, did you see Cheetah? Oh my God. Tyree Kill was in a US TA or US

track and field event and just blew away the competition. I look like everyone else was running in cement. Yep. And Cheetah just blew away the competition. So, you know, we see how fast these guys are in the football field, but you put them on a track like that in, you know, up against some great competition. And when you see these wide receivers, I mean, I'm old

enough to remember Willie Gault with the Chicago Bears when he played with Jim McMan and Walter Peyton. And I mean, these track and field guys, they can run like the wind. Well, it's even like sometimes they'll do it on an NFL game on a stat when it's a breakaway runner, a punt return. They'll put up the miles per hour, 23, 22, 20, what are I mean,

that's in sound like it, but think about driving a car, 25 miles an hour. And these guys are running could run right and look at you like, Hey, I'm just running by with you. That's crazy. Yeah, that is crazy. March Madness gets underway this week, both the men and the women. If you miss my conversation with Jillian Scott, the managing director of the men's basketball championships

for the NCAA, that was on last week's show. Go back and listen to that. She really gives us a great behind the scenes of the NCAA tournament for the men. Again, a reminder to our audience under a fantasy has some great March Madness games, pick them some rivals. Go do under a dog fantasy.com or download the app, enter the promo code SBR and have some fun

during March Madness. Griggs, I need your picks. Just I'm not going to ask you for all your picks, but just give me the championship game and who you have winning it all on the men's side. Yeah, it's funny because actually CBS sports is down currently. It's funny. They're bracket pages just spinning because everybody's feeling out their brackets. But I'm going to try and remember what I

picked because I did bracket a couple days ago, but I have Alabama going all the way to the championship game versus. The UCLA Bruins. So that's my final two. And I because I'm a West Coast guy, I got to pick UCLA to win it. They probably won't, but that's who I got winning it. The whole thing. I mean, this is really remarkable, Griggs. I thought my

pick was kind of like outside the box a little bit. I beat you. I have the two programs that sports business radio is gone in depth with in the last couple months in the championship game. Nice UCLA and Duke. There you go. Duke is 17 and one with their full complement. Of players, they are playing tremendous. Their freshmen are really rising to the occasion. Philipowski. Yep.

And I mean, look, the biggest thing that UCLA and Duke have going for them right now is that they've got the good Mojo from sports business radio. So like they don't realize this yet, but the SBR Mojo is real. It's a real thing. It's a real thing. So I'm going UCLA Duke. I'm going to pick UCLA to win it all. Nice. Look, UCLA has been battling

some injuries. So if their full complement isn't back, then obviously I don't feel is great about picking them to make it to the championship game. But if they're healthy, which it looks like they're going to be, I've got UCLA and Duke with UCLA winning it. Martin Jarmon would be very happy if that is the result. And wouldn't it be interesting UCLA wins the national championship before

moving to the big tech? That would that would be an insult. Mike Dropwell. Yeah, exactly. I mean, Pac-Wall would be happy now in current day. Right. Yeah, they wouldn't be real happy for the long term. All right. I want to ask our listeners to please follow the sports business radio podcast on Apple podcasts. You can hit the plus sign in the upper right. When you search

for our podcast and you'll automatically receive new episodes every week, you'll have access to our deep podcast. Podcast archive with biggest names and sports and business dating back to 2007. And if you like our podcast, please give us five stars on Apple podcast. Griggs, I'm excited for the tournament. Oh, on the women's side can't leave the women out. This is really interesting. South Carolina and head

coach Dawn Staley are such heavy favorites on the women's side that there is a bet. You can either take South Carolina, or you can take South Carolina. Take the field. And the odds are actually pretty good. If you take the field, but guess what, Griggs, I'm not doing that. I'm taking South Carolina. I'm taking Dawn Staley. Yeah. I think they are dominant. Unlike on the men's

side, where it's wide open, I'm taking South Carolina to win the women's tournament. How about you? They are so smooth. I mean, they just have it figured out their funda watch. They just dominate. I mean, every game it looks like it's like, you know, the giants playing against the little kids. It's just they they're good passers. They're good defenders. They're great shooters. The whole team is

just so, you know, meshed well together and coach so well. I can't I can't pick and gets to me. There I think they are a fun team to watch. I think they're going to win some games pretty handily in this tournament. All right. Coming up next, Chris Corus, the CEO of rap one baseball. You're listening to sports business radio. We'll be right back. Underdog fantasy is

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concerned with your play. Call 1 800 522 4700 or visit www dot NCP gambling dot org. Now back to sports business radio with Brian burger. My guest is Chris Corris. He is the CEO of rap. One baseball they've been busy. Closer record breaking deal for rap field devours with the Boston Red Sox and rap one has 22 clients representing eight different countries in the ongoing world

baseball classic over his three year tenure as CEO. Chris is overseen growth of the firm from approximately 50 clients to over 250 clients while growing revenue four times over this time frame. Chris, thanks for joining me on sports business radio. How are you? I'm great. Great. Thank you for having me. How you doing? I'm doing well. I'm excited to talk some baseball with you and let's

start with your path to CEO. How did you get interested in sports? How did you get interested in working for an agency? Our listeners always like to hear the path that our guests have taken. Yeah. So I think the path was probably set out for me very early on in that I am a sports junkie. If it's not baseball, it's hockey, if it's not hockey, it's

football, anything and all in all. I was laughing earlier about my home in the different pieces of memorabilia that we have from a sports perspective, everything from Formula One to the jerseys of some of the players that I get to represent and work with on a daily basis. I'm just a sports guy through and through. So I think I'm going to be a great player. I

played hockey early on, growing up in Canada. That's, you know, it's a right of passage. It's what you do. And took that all the way through college. And then after college, you know, it was obviously faced with across roads. Do I do I go and try my hand that something semi professionally. Work my way through Europe or the miners is that really the best path for

me or is it to take. What I've been really kind of gifted with, which is, you know, was the off ice and outside the lines type stuff and go to law school. So I chose law school and good decision. It's worked out pretty well. So moved down to California. I did my lot of read down here at Chapman, which is in Orange County, which is where

my wife and I currently live. And coming out of law school was, was. Like everyone else was trying to search for what what comes next. And I just happened to, I guess, stumble upon the good fortune of getting to work with a guy named Lee Styber. So God, sure, your listeners are familiar with Lee and what he's done in our industry. And you know, really came

out with the JD and law and left Lee after we had eventually partnered with. I guess you could consider it a PhD and. What this industry represents that the business side of sports in other words. So after Lee, God hooked up with another agency. And it's really just kind of grown from there. So I've been with rep one for. God, I want to say about eight

years now. And I've been primarily responsible for the baseball division for the time frame, the reference. And we've just had, you know, a lot of good luck and a lot of hard work. And good fortune and things just recently fall away. But it's really been a remarkably challenging journey to get it. It's not, it's not been easy. You know, this industry hyper competitive. The barrier to

entry in terms of getting in is not necessarily very high. There's a lot of people that can get into the industry very quickly and find some relative success. I'll be it not sustained success. And that's what we focused on is. How do we get to work with the industry? We're all a sustainable practice that continues to abide by the values that we've established the practice with.

And, and how do we continue to progress and innovate the way that we represent our players? You know, keeping keeping on track in terms of the growth that we want to achieve as a business. So I guess that brings me to today and really the graph. I'll never steal being the pinnacle of success our group has had. Certainly a moment that I'm particularly proud of, not

just because of the size of the deal and, you know, getting to work with a player as as gifted as Raphael. Extremely proud for him. Extremely excited for him. But the way the deal came together on our side was really such an amazing team effort in and led by Raff's agent Nelson want to stay. Oh, God. A gentleman internally here by the name of Scott Nelson.

Both of those guys have been with us pretty much. So for the three of us as a team to get to take that deal, that historic deal across the finish line together was, was really the cherry on top. The made it extra special. I want to get to that deal in a minute. Um, break background. I love how you say PhD from Lee, Lee's been on

the show. Just a legend in the industry. I think one of the negative things about the movie, Jeremy McGuire is a lot of people saw that movie and they're like, Hey, I'm gonna be. Come to sports safety, like it's really, like you said, it's not easy. So before we get to the Raphael Devers contract, walk me through the process of recruiting clients because baseball, much like

soccer is an international sport. And you have a client roster of international players. You're finding people playing stickball in the streets and Panama. I mean, it is, you've got to scour the planet. To find some of the best talent. It's a little different than like the NFL and the NBA. Um, how do you find your clients? It's, it's a great question. Uh, you know, in North.

So we have two practices. We have our North American practice, which is currently light by Nate Heisler. And he has team have done a great job recruiting domestically. And then we have our lot in practice, which as you pointed out, it's just remarkably different in terms of the recruitment process. Um, I will tell you the first thing I think it was probably the first thing I

did when I took on this post was I flew it to the Dominican. Um, you know, I, I, I understood the business. Of course, I understand what we're trying to achieve. And, you know, we churned it out this, this plan to build that what we felt was the, the right type of practice again in a sustainable way. But unless I was able to really get my

hands dirty and understand on the ground, what that meant on a day to day basis. Right. You know, the, the plan really didn't, didn't mean anything. Um, so I flew there and worked with our partner. And I, I went to every corner of the Dominican Republic. Um, I met with trainers. I met with bankers. I met with, um, like academy is, I mean, you name it.

I wanted to understand every single detail of what Latin American baseball entailed. I wanted to understand the culture. I wanted to understand where the players came from. Um, what they ate, you know, how they slept. I mean, you name it. I wanted, I wanted to understand it. Um, and that for me was probably the best thing I ever did in terms of the girl with of

our practice. It was fundamentally taking a step back. And, and taking a deep a dive into a really nuanced and unique culture as I could. So that I could on a day to day basis assist our recruiters, our agents, our servicing staff, our marketing staff in their own individual pursuits. And that from a collective standpoint of really just wanting to provide the highest quality service. So

from a recruiting standpoint, um, we took a look at academies in, in the Dominican Republic and in Venezuela, the two really important markets. Um, for our practice specifically. And when one is to understand what was not being done that could be done better. Uh, so you know, essentially what kind of resources could we assist with down there? Um, you know, to improve the training, the lives,

et cetera of all these players that were coming from these academies. So, uh, in terms of what that looks like. We've developed really, really strong relationships with the individuals who are at the forefront of actually producing these unbelievable talents. Um, you know, I don't know if you watched any WBC, but it's on full display. Yeah. Yeah. You know, as good as team USA, looks on paper,

they were, they weren't very good last night. Um, but as, as good as they look on paper as good as they look on paper, as good as they look on paper, as good as they do. like for almost any players who aren't heading on paper, as good as you described in the baseball players to the highest and best of our ability and servicing their particular needs.

So we've developed a comprehensive and team-oriented approach to providing that and it allows our recruiters who are on the ground day to day to really do a great job. But again, to circling all the way back, unless I got down there, unless I understood the culture, unless I really got it, I wouldn't be able to continue to support them with that and support our clients. How

much of recruiting in the Dominican and Venice, Wala, is people there coming to you and saying, I've got an outstanding baseball player could be a client of yours versus you. Like you said, going there, having those relationships with the academies and saying, we've noticed this player's outstanding, like we're interested in signing this player. Yeah, I think it starts with the trust of the recruiters who work

for us. And I say recruiters, but they are agents. So all of our people in both Venice, Wala and the Dominican who are recruiting in our behalf are certified by the MLBPA. It's one trusting their advice, trusting their eye, trusting the experience that they have in these spaces. They're all baseball guys. You know, whether they grew up and actually had up a chance at playing at

a big league or at a minor league level, whether they've worked with academies, whether they come from the team side, I just hired an individual previously with the Blue J Scouting down in Latin America. I have to trust that they're seeing things that I would never be able to comprehend at an early age in these players careers. So it definitely starts there. In terms of referrals,

this isn't necessarily referral. But it's not necessarily a business in terms of the discrepancy between the sources. You have to go up and get the business. You can certainly bounce things off of relationships that you have with the international directors, the scouts, coaches, people who really know the players. And certainly we've done a good job of doing our due diligence on the players that we represent.

But for anyone that's interested in getting into this line of business, first and foremost, I think it's a good thing to do. For most, you have to be willing to play yourself out there on a daily basis and go hunting. This is not a business that comes to you. You have to go and get this. You're listening to sports business radio. We'll be right back after

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Now back to sports business radio with Brian Berger. All right, let's talk about that record setting contract with Rafael Devers, the numbers I have and track me if I'm wrong 11 years, $331 million. Is that right? Correct. So I gotta tell you, my first reaction when I saw the contract first is I was like, the red socks are not handing out contracts lightly these days. I

mean, they've lost move kebabs and others. So when I saw this commitment, I was like, wow, that's really remarkable that in a Raphael was able to get this contract. And then the other thing, which I'll talk to you about in a minute, is 11 years. That's a long time. Great stability for the player, but the market's gonna change a lot over the next 11 years. So

let's start with how did this all come together? How do you get the red socks to make this kind of a commitment to a player win the last couple of years? That hasn't really been there their MO. Yeah, well, I think it starts on our side with the concept that I like. Well, they're out earlier, which is this team. A lot of the discussions were led

by Raf's lead age of Nelson Montez, Leo Grass, as I expressed, but we take a very team oriented approach to all of our negotiation. So our analytics people get involved. I'm heavily involved in the discussions. One of our lead agents, Peter Greenberg who's been doing this for a very long time. I shouldn't emphasize the barrier. I think he'd be upset with me. But no, we take

a very team oriented approach to our art negotiations. And what we try to do really on a player's career was really educate them on what is coming next. What does the market look like today? What do we anticipate that it could potentially look like tomorrow based on factors such as a new CBA negotiation, similarly situated players who would be coming up for contract prior to their

free agency, to our clients free agency years, you know, how the arbitration process is shifting, etc. So education, first and foremost, is an absolute cornerstone of the process. That allows the client to feel at ease with the progression of his play and how that transfers to the business side of baseball. And that's where we come into play. In regards to the actual negotiation with Boston, I

think there is one probably overarching theme that was the most important theme in the whole discussion, which is Boston wanted RAF to remain in a Red Sox, you know, for his entire career. And RAF felt the same way. And for us as agents, I think I think one of the common misconceptions as our job is to just maximize at all times. The only thing that we're

doing is we have to go out there and get the biggest contract, make the biggest splash. And that's the only thing that's important. That's just simply not the case. Our job is to optimize the financial opportunity in a manner that is consistent with the needs and the priorities of each individual player. And each individual player, those, those needs, that, that list that they have that that

is very different. So a deal early on in one player's career might make sense for him at a specific juncture. It might not make sense for the guy sitting back soon in the locker. For RAF, the priority again was, can I, can I get what I deserve? Can I optimize my earnings at this juncture while doing it in a way that I'm going to remain in

a Red Sox uniformed arrest in my career? That was our mandate. So going into the discussion, we knew that, Boston knew that and that created more of a collaborative environment. I believe to actually get a deal done. That was not easy to get done. Boston, as we said, their mandate recently has not been designed. They're, they're big guys. They're homegrown talent. But credit to them, I

think they identified early on in the new regime, which is led by Heinblum. Their RAF was their guide. You know, he was going to be the face of that. For Antrize for an extended period, they needed to prioritize their capital, their dollars, and to who they believed was the best fit for them long term. And again, it created an appropriate environment for us to collaborate. And

they get to a point where I believe the final figure was the largest deal in Red Sox history by about $117 million. They just don't do this. And I think RAF feels very fortunate that they've kind of selected him to be, to be that one. And we certainly feel very fortunate that, you know, we've put RAF in a position where he's created generational wealth. He's maximized

the opportunity of his value as a baseball player. And certainly, you know, years from now, he could be looking up that Fenway Park with his, his jersey and the Raptors. And for some guys, that, that's a priority. So it's been pretty cool. I appreciate you walking me through that. Congratulations. Joo Taylor torque. Thank you. Look he had to get out of the dealership. And then looking

at some of that marble and toilet paper, and I think he's going to find out what he, I'd say for a lot of, maybe $12 million in his group, or for a little while. Right. All right. Under all these cost triumains, trust is out there. The market changes a lot. Right. If you look at the market near one versus year 11, sports usually, you know, it

gets more expensive as you go along, whether it's rights fees for TV and media or just player salaries. I understand the guarantee of 11 years and $331 million. I mean, look, if someone offered me that deal, I'm signing it tomorrow. But the elite athletes, you know, I look at what LeBron James has done, for example, with short contracts to always be able to change with the

market and the times. Explain to me, I, this was like the number one thing I wanted to ask you when I knew I was having you want the value of the long term contract versus short term and being able to change with this times. I saw Corbin Carroll decide an eight year deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. And, you know, I know, he's going to go him

a little bit. And I was like, congratulations to him. But again, I'm not signing anything over five years, because I want to be able to go back to the table and renegotiate based on current market value. So, so let me just help, help you understand. Are you saying that you don't believe in it from a player's perspective, a team perspective, or just overall. I think from

a player perspective, from a team perspective, I think it's a great deal. You're locking in a player. I think that today's value, I think the value, the economics of the game, the media deals, everything is going to go up between year one and year 11. That's been proven historically. So when I see 11 years, I'm like the Red Sox grad, it got a great deal. Even

though they're paying 331, it's a great deal for them at today's value. Same thing with the Diamondbacks. I think Corbin Carroll is going to be an old star. And if you can lock him in today and look, you know, he's had some injury concerns. So, you know, he's probably like, hey, this is great. I'm getting the guaranteed money. I'm going to take it while I have

this value. So I see what the downside is. But I think from the player perspective, the market can change so much between year one and year 11. You're taking a risk. Sure. Yeah, I think I'll start with what I said previous, which is these deals are not a one size fits all. And that is, that's really important to touch upon. So, I think that's the only

thing that I can do is, although we might advise, like, gains to certain deal at a specific time, the client at the end of the day needs to make a decision that he feels, and his heart is best for him. I think it would be very presumptuous and vast to understand what it's like to walk in their shoes. Right. You know, one player might be a

picture that grew up in an uportown of the Dominican Republic who has had one season of success, a dramatic picture that may be dealing with confidence issues and really the idea of getting that security for he and his family and being able to build a home for Mom and Dad is what he needs to be able to get on the farm every single day and be

his best. So, I think we start there. It's just a fundamental understanding of our job and what we're supposed to be doing. That's advice and guide and educate and put the player in a position to succeed. But at the end of the day, they need to make the decision that's right for them. And oftentimes we can't again get in their shoes and really understand the thinking

at that type of level. And that's perfectly okay. Now with RAF, RAF's not that guy. RAF took this almost all the way to the end at three agency where we could optimize it. But when we had our conversations with RAF, I think one of the keys was taking a look at spending coming out of a CBA and spending going into a CBA. And how much that

fluctuates and how the market might shift moving forward as opposed to where the market is for him right now and how to assess those risks. So, let me take a look at next year's crop. It was a possibility that Machado was coming out. But I think we certainly helped to make a decision on what he was going to do. Sure, when he saw that dealer as

he didn't saw that deal, the bad really helps us. And as he has sold, he's done quite well. But next year you've got show, hey. And I, I, I, I don't think show, hey, moves, RAF's market whatsoever. He is such a unicorn. He's so different. You know, that, that's not exactly an indicator of a market mover for us. So if we were able to get the

best result, this year taking a full year risk off the table, putting RAF into a position again where you can tear himself further to Red Sox based on his priorities, that was the mandate. And that's what we're able to achieve now. I guess as a, as a philosophical standpoint, I can understand what you're saying. For some players, I, I, I think the Carol deal is probably

a good one to kind of pick apart. You know, why would a player was a 21, 22? You know, why would he agree this early on when everything indicates that spending is going to increase as we progress. There's going to be a new CBA cry. um, you know, I was and my parents didn't always used to say, were meeting zarota moron, uh, but that's what I'm

gonna do. That's there's gonna be a moment when the Union's all of it from old relationship to the cover, um, to the sort of, like, iinde price tag, um, other things that all of that, um, that's, um, that's called an granting for someone who doesn't have money, um, really too much for anything. Instead there's akrul judgement to have sort of something that I, um, that hasn't

pretty dark good. Um, so I, I don't, I don't know if I'm going to, like, directly disagree with you, uh, but what I will say is, like, thinking that just creating a flat five year deadline for every single release, think it's a little really simplistic and we have to understand that a deal for one guy might be great and it might not be best for, for

the other one, uh, depending on a myriad of factors, one of which is frankly age, um, you know, wrath, wrath at the age of 26, and this is just the way baseball thinks is formal, valuable, the wrath at the age of 31. So if we did a five year deal for wrath and he came out as a free agent at 31, that, you know, we're, we're

banking on performance, we're banking on health, we're banking on the market shifting, but we also have to balance that against is a stark reality, which is players later on in, and their careers are just worth less. Um, so taking that, that finite understanding of what's right in front of us, which is just that reality and balancing it out against the what ifs, which could be positive.

Um, I, I think we're off me at the right call. I do too. And then the best point I think you make is it's not one size of it's all. You have to look at each player situation, whether it's, you know, hey, this is a lot of money for me. I want to set up my family for the rest of our lives or, um, you know,

injury history. Like, there's always factors that go into it age. Like you said, you brought this up. So I'm going to ask you about this. I know you're not as agent, but. Otani is a unicorn. Like he's a great picture. He's a great hitter. He has global appeal. He helps baseball, you know, reach Asia and that's a market they really want to be in. How do

you price the sky? Like it really is. We've never seen anything like this. I mean, we, Babe Ruth wasn't going through stuff like this. Um, so how do you, if you were his agent, how do you go to the table and say this is the worth of this guy? You know, well, I think it's, the market will always tell you what you're worth, right? And, and

he is going to have an opportunity to be. I could really so unique in so many ways. One of which is who else are you going to bid on next off season? If you're the Dodgers, the Metz, the Padres, the Cubs, you know, some of these big Yankees, some of these larger market big spending teams who understand the value of the world. And the value of

this not just being a baseball decision, but it being a business decision because he is going to put buds in the seats. He's going to a tried viewership both domestically and internationally. He's going to sell jerseys. He is for all intents and purposes, the biggest star in baseball. And I don't even think we've, we've scratched the surface in terms of what his marketability could be when

part of what the right team. So, you know, if I'm one of these teams, there's a premium to be. And I think that's what I think is the best way to pay it on top of whatever the analytics will tell you. And in terms of the analytics, my guess is it's probably some combination of, of war of him as a pitcher and, and him as a

shirt. And how does that trail off later on in his career where, you know, the pitching crowd takes a bit of a dive comparatively. I pay for him and there's, there's going to be a market. There certainly is. I probably would be comfortable paying a 10, 20, 30 percent premium because I understand the business implications of bringing a player at stature into my organization. And such

a large market. You're listening to sports business radio. We'll be right back after this talent, hard work, focus and determination got you here. Now take the right steps to prepare for your future and ensure that you stay at the top of your game, your business, your craft. Morgan Stanley Sports and Entertainment is a division of Morgan Stanley wealth management dedicated to serving the unique and sophisticated

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wealth management for almost 20 years. Visit Morgan Stanley at Morgan Stanley dot com backslash G S E. Now back to sports business radio with Brian burger. There's just some players in sports, whether it's LeBron James Patrick, the home's there. Their corporations in and of themselves. It's like a merger when they move their emerging. They're brand and their corporation with the team that they're going to. And

I think you're exactly right. O'Connie, wherever he goes, this is beyond the field of play. This is a business decision. And like you said, the, you know, TV viewership, the buds and the seeds, the Jersey sales. And frankly, and I'll say this, I think the angels have done a really poor job of maximizing what they have with him. And I agree that if he's on another

team, that really makes him the face of the franchise and they work with Major League Baseball to make him the face of Major League Baseball, you could be talking about one of the biggest athletes in the world. Yeah, you know, I think in regards to the. It's interesting because I mean, I, I've, I've lived in Norse County essentially since I've moved down to California. I'm a

new port beach resident proud new port beach resident. I love it down here. I mean, it is remarkably beautiful all year round. There's endless amounts of opportunity to, to do and see things. You know, we're raising our 18 month old song here for a reason. It's a great place to be. But I do think when it comes to sports, there's just a certain level of apathy

that creates a ceiling of fan engagement in this market where a player like like a show, hey, he could, could probably or probably does. I should say, I'm not sure that the possibility of what, what could be achieved down here from mark, from a marketability perspective. And that's not to, not to say anything bad about the fans of the angels. There's a lot of passion in

angel's fans. I just think it's a, it's a, it's a reality of the market. On our North and, you know, you slot the blue on them. And now he's in the Dodger's market. There's just more you can do with that. Yeah, even though there's a lot to do at L.I. It's a lot more history there, a lot more passion. You know, the market is substantially larger

in size and scope. So yeah, you know, it's, it's an unfortunate thing because I want to see as someone who lives down this street. The angels do well. You know, I want to see the fan engagement. I want to see the ability to take. Call what it is baseball's two best players. I don't think there's. Really much archument to be made otherwise and create a level

of engagement and excitement that's good for the entire game of baseball, not just angels baseball. I think that's enough. He'll challenge. By the way, I'm familiar with Southern California. I went to Loyal LaMaria Mountain University. So I'm about to be familiar with the Southern California market. That's where I studied for the bar exam. I used, I used your campus. Nice. And it worked out well. It

worked out. It did baseball. I think again, doesn't do the best job when it comes to promoting and marketing. It's players. You know, I look at the NBA, which is where I come from. I used to work for the Portland Trailblazers. You know, the 10th guy on the bench. He's active on social media. You know, you know, what he's got going on. I don't feel like

I really know that much about Mike Trout, Mookie Betts. I think that's the best player in baseball. What can Major League Baseball, what can agents like yourself do to humanize the players so that we as fans know them personally. A little bit better than we do. What's an interesting question in terms of the timing of question, because we're right in the middle of the World Baseball

Classic. Right. It's the best. That is a very different brand of baseball that embraces the passion, embraces the end of it. I'll be at, you know, you are fighting for your flag, so to speak, but there is more wiggle room culturally to express. Express yourself in so many different ways. I mean, you'd see that we're the past couple of days with some of the pitchers. You

know, there was a picture on, on Venezuela that. You know, his, his jersey with half on Don and you can smacking his chest. And you know, you don't really get to see that much in baseball. So I, in Major League Baseball. So I think culturally, I think we need to embrace a bit of a shift. And I do, I do think with that set baseball has

done a pretty good job of taking some positive steps in that regard. But I think there's more to learn from the WBC as we watch it. First off, reality check is the passion and excitement you see in some of these games, the ability to transfer that over 162 games season. Very, very tough. Yeah. And near possible, I would say. But I think that the idea should

always be for any, any sport, specifically, right now, Major League Baseball. It's, it's not how do we create viewership. It's how do we to divert viewers into loyal fans? Um, and that, I think that's the key. Uh, I, I, I like to think about it. From a business perspective, um, you know, the angels are necessarily competing with the dog. So they aren't necessarily competing with the

near kick. They're competing with every other form of discretionary spending and entertainment. And as other leagues have improved the quality of their product as they've innovated as other forms of discretionary entertainment have entered into the marketplace specifically for the younger generation, the margins for error, things out, and they need to innovate dramatically increases. And I think baseball has generally. Like behind, um, but I think they've

made some positive steps. So again, kind of circling back to the WBC, I think more meaningful baseball on a more consistent basis throughout the year is an absolute necessity. Um, the way that I would think about it is if you're watching, again, this is no offense to the Oakland A's, but I think that's the way I'm going to look at it. If you're watching an A's

game in August and you're new to baseball, you're a casual viewer, you're thinking about it specifically as, as a, as a young boy or girl, the odds if you're getting converted into a loyal fan are, are pretty thin. Um, and that's simply because you know they're not playing beautiful baseball and they're not doing it with a lot of stars in the field. And that's a shame.

So I think from a CBA perspective, we do need to create an atmosphere where there is more parity in the game. And I think that's very important. We also need to focus on getting the stars in the game. Um, and I say that because we still have a, a system that allows for some service time manipulation. The best players should be paying play excuse me, period,

no matter how well they are, they are in their career. Um, I think those are the two things that certainly stand out to me most. And then from it, an actual player promotion perspective. Um, we're at an interesting time with what's happened with the regional sports network. This, this to me, if I'm, if I'm man-fred, um, and I'm sure he's thinking this, why is this could

be really a legacy setting moment for him and how he treats this. The idea of the centralization of the distribution of these games, I think is really interesting for baseball long term. Uh, I don't think because baseball has been such a regional game. We've had a product that really calls for a generation. I don't, I don't necessarily think regional sports networks. Any of us would believe

we're going to be on the forefront of those innovative pieces of game distribution. But now we have a chance to do that. And, you know, with the fragmentation of media rights, with streaming services such as Apple sticking their, their hat in the ring, we do have an opportunity to promote players in different ways simply by distributing the product in new and exciting ways and opportunities. So

if I'm, if I'm a baseball fan, but I'm really a fan of Shohei O'Tani. Now I can get push notifications, for example, that he's up to bad. I get to consume the product in a way that is consistent with my passion for that player. I'm not saying that that's going to be done or, or maybe Apple is, that's what they're thinking. But that, that could be

really amazing for us. And it could build more loyalty, more viewership, more chatter outside the blinds that then drives further viewership. And it's just a cycle. And I, I think if I'm baseball and probably thinking that way, I think I'm going to be able to do that. And, and a really this, this regional network shakeup could have a lasting effect in the game and an extremely

positive way for a long time, specifically when it comes to the play of interaction and content distribution. There's so much to respond to and what you just said so much different pack. You're, I mean, it's such good information, especially from someone who sits in your seat. The first thing I'll say is, you know, the, the point you bring up about the WBC and the, the passion.

And the personalities that we're seeing coming out, like, I'm a big story guy. Like I love stories of athletes. And yeah, I can't remember who the player is. But when I hear there's a player on, you know, Panama, Venezuela, whatever the team was. And he's like an electrician by day, but he just struck out Mike trout. Like I'm like, I want to know more about this

guy. And he's celebrating on the mound. And like he, he kind of becomes the every man. Like this is just dude, if an electrician during the day and he just struck out one of the best players at baseball in the WBC, like tell me more about this guy's story. So I think bringing out stories, whether it's in the WBC or whether it's in Major League Baseball

is really important. I love your idea about consuming the games for Major League Baseball, you know, in in micro bites. I would call it. I think if you factor in sports, I think it's really important. I think if you factor in sports betting, this is the way of the future. You want to see O'Tonney coming up to bat because he's your favorite player. But you also

want to bet on what he's going to do in that at bat. And there's real time betting. And, you know, I think a lot of the media is stuck in the 1970s as far as how they broadcast. Games still not just in baseball, but every sport. And, you know, what they don't realize is because betting is what it's becoming. And Lee, you know, I think that's

what I'm saying. I'm just being legalized everywhere. And then also, you know, I have a teen and teens consume things very differently than we do. And teens consume things, you know, they have ADHD. Like they don't want to sit and walk a three or four hour game. They want to see the at bat of their favorite player. They want to see the highlights on Tik Tok

or YouTube or Instagram or whatever. They're looking at it very differently than we look at it. So how do you reach the younger demo? Because that's the future of all of these sports, not just baseball. If you're not catering to the next generation, when this generation dies out, you're like, okay, what do we do now? Because we didn't do anything to grow our sport with that

to adapt with times. You know, I personally don't know what it's like to consume content on Tik Tok. But I can tell to you that every single teenager probably does. And that's what Major League Baseball is competing with. So, you know, rather than fight against the grain, I think we use this inflection point to allow technology to lead the way. And let's lean into those who

have a vested interest now in the sport that have been able to advance a lot of these components of entertainment specific grief with Apple. Apple having an interest and taking an interesting in the rights game, I think is fantastic for all sports, particularly. baseball because competition breeds innovation. And, you know, there's just a perfect storm of the opportunity with baseball now because of the falling out

with these regional networks. And the interest and appetite of these groups who have that technological capability to just take a take a look at how the game is being distributed and consumed. Make the appropriate alterations, iterate, iterate, iterate, get better as a result. Yeah, I mean, I look at what Apple has done with MLS. And, you know, now fans around the world can consume Major League

Soccer, right? You could be anyone in the world you subscribe to the games on Apple. It's much like, you know, I used to be on radio. And you had to be tuning into that radio station or network at a certain time to be able to hear a conversation like this one. Well, now is a podcast. Anyone in the world can listen to this. And I hear

from people all over the world. And they can listen on whatever, you know, time for the game. And I think also to a great extent, on average, it's like if you just want to the Huangdeer industry. You are to what I describe as a creamy brand, of course the game. I know you actually have a rhythm . We Bang has that in context I am a

lot of people who are working with, you know. During these games, I think both games aretulo rocked into the future. And I think the game is a lot more than the game. I think the key is how do you convert viewership into loyalty? How do you create bands of the game? Not just viewers of it? And the answer to that is very different across generations. I

certainly don't have the key to unlock the box of that next generation of viewership. But what I do know is we have to be aligned with the way that they enjoy consuming the product. We have to be aligned with technology. And you're absolutely right. What major league baseball should want more than anything is a fan in Nicaragua, a fan in Greece, a fan in simply just

Milwaukee. Being able to get push notifications on their phones. The show, Hayotani is up to bat. And I get to develop further loyalty to the game as a consumer of that specific part of baseball. Yeah. It's great. All right. I get talked to you for hours. But I know you have other things to do. My last question for you. Do you still have your dog Harrison

Ford? I do. This is the second five when it's come up today. These are these these are 130 pounds. We're all wide. I love it. As you can imagine, that stature intimidates a lot of people. But he is as needy and soft as you could ever imagine. And he and my 18 month old son watching them run around together throughout the house. And my son laughing

hysterically because we call him Harry for sure is looking at space and just seeing that it's pretty special. You know, my wife and I absolutely love it. He's become such a big part of our family. We love the bits. So you must be watching shrinking on Apple TV. Please tell me you are. Is it such a good show in Harrison Ford? Who doesn't do TV is

brilliant in the show? Okay. I'm going to have to take your word for it and tune in. I have not been watching it. You know, there's only only so much time in the day. Yeah. I'll do you like that. You know as a parent. Raising a little one and balancing and balancing that out with the rest of life is remarkably challenging. So our TV time right

now is about this. I'd like to make it this. And maybe when we expand that I'll want shrinking. But it's very minimal right now, especially with baseball. Starting to make its way. I've got to allocate my time there. Yeah. Well, and then Harrison Ford is in Indiana Jones a summer too. So like this is a big year for Harrison Ford. So your dog is awfully named.

Yeah, it's a different kind of it's a CGI version of him. Is it not? Yeah. I mean, I think there's current day Harrison in part of it. But yeah, it's mostly CGI. It's amazing what they can do. I mean, we've talked about technology in this conversation. It's amazing. What they can do in movies. I wish someone could CGI me with a little more hair and younger

Brian burger. That would be nice. Yeah, it'd be nice to get rid of these bags under my eyes and CTI as well. That'd be very awful. But if you have any opportunity, to create the introduction between the two Harrison's at any point, trust me, I will be a welcome taker. Okay. Yeah, I wish I knew the real Harrison Ford. But if there is the opportunity, I

will let him know that there's a very famous dog named after him. I love that he's come out of all the times today. He's just completely clueless to that. Yeah. But yeah, we we love the guy. I love the name. I think it's hilarious. We have another dog that was in Toronto. He's recently moved down in Chewbacca. So as you can tell, Chewbacca and Harrison Ford

were movie buffs. I grew up loving Star Wars. So kind of a geek and a bit of a nerdy thing that we've done. But I think it's great. Chris Corris, the CEO of RAP 1 baseball. Thank you so much for joining me on Sports Business Radio. This was just a fantastic insightful conversation. I appreciate it. Absolutely. Brian, anytime. Thanks so much. Well, that's it for this

edition of Sports Business Radio. Thanks for tuning in. Thanks to our team at Sports Business Radio. Brian Griggs, Josh Blank, Ryan Nakajima, and our friends at CG Sports who power Sports Business Radio. CG Young, Matt Amarlin, Nicole Wardle and Calvin Wurz. I'm Brian Berger. Have a great week. And we'll see you guys next time. We'll talk to you soon right here on Sports Business Radio. This

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