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00:00Noah, thanks so much for joining Bloomberg Business and Sports.
00:02Thanks for having me.
00:03So we have to start off with the news that just came out about Box,
00:06you partnering with Box to Box on your own production company,
00:10Iconic Productions.
00:11Tell me about that.
00:12Yeah, I mean, they came to me after the Olympics,
00:15and they were like, hey, we're looking to do bigger projects
00:18with, you know, athletes who have a strong credibility.
00:23And, you know, I was honored that they chose me, to be honest.
00:25It was kind of out of the blue.
00:26You know, we weren't really expecting it, but I'm like, I'm going to take it.
00:31That's interesting.
00:31I mean, because you did the series with them, Sprint.
00:33That was with them as well, right?
00:34Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:35But they went through the, you know, the Governing Body World Athletics.
00:38And, of course, you know, having a lot of showings in the series Sprint,
00:43and it obviously went very well.
00:45Winning helps.
00:46Yeah, definitely.
00:47But, you know, it did go very well, and it kind of seemed like a no-brainer.
00:52It's actually a funny story because I was telling my agent two years ago,
00:55as I'm getting to the end of my career, I want to have a production company.
00:59Midway through my career, I guess I'll just have to settle.
01:02Well, that gold, you know, it brings in the green.
01:04It does.
01:05It does.
01:06Yeah.
01:07So a lot of athletes have started their own production companies.
01:10What is going to be your signature style that people can watch iconic productions
01:14and say, this is iconic.
01:16I know this is Noah's production.
01:18What do you want your content to be like when you start going out with it?
01:22I believe the first few projects are going to be, you know, things that it might be a
01:28docu-follow, but to be honest, I want to get away from that.
01:30I want to do things that are going to reinforce what has already been happening.
01:34Of course, you know, you can have the docu-follow, but it's like, okay, now what else?
01:38You know, I'm known as the world's fastest man.
01:40How do we submit that idea, that concept?
01:43Well, why don't we start having, you know, Noah's showing up teaching people how to be fast.
01:47Why don't we start having shows where he's, you know, takes on a group of young youth
01:50prospering athletes and, you know, teaching them how to get to the next level, so on and
01:55so forth.
01:56You know, things that keep the ideal or the story going, and then, you know, you never
02:00know.
02:01Maybe another athlete will show up, and they have a concept, an idea, a dream.
02:04It's like, okay, hey, let's put them all in the same area.
02:07I mean, this could be everything as big as a movie to as short as a podcast show that
02:13is talking with moms of athletes and parents that, you know, have many things to say that
02:19are never given the opportunity.
02:20Yeah, really?
02:20That's an interesting show.
02:21I definitely watch that.
02:22So, like, those ideas have already been percolating for you?
02:25Oh, they're always in my head.
02:26I've been thinking about things like this since probably I was 18.
02:29You know, it's just now I'm given the opportunity to speak my mind.
02:32Yeah.
02:33So, you mentioned there you teaching people how to be faster, working with children.
02:37Is that something that you're really passionate about already and would love to bring it to
02:41a show?
02:41I say creating is my passion.
02:44And, of course, I would like to help the next generation for me because if I have a
02:49child, I would want them to be in the best sport light possible, you know.
02:54Hopefully, they don't have to go through the challenges that I'm going through.
02:56I heard you say you might not want them to do track.
02:58Probably not.
02:59You know, me and my fiancé have talked, and if track is in the same standings, we're going
03:04to probably persuade them in another sport.
03:07Of course, if they want to do track, we're going to say, hey, go ahead, live your dream.
03:11Just know what you're going into.
03:13I love what you said there is if it's in the same standings.
03:16So, I think that that's interesting.
03:18What standing would you say track and field is in right now that you wouldn't want them
03:22to be a part of?
03:23Amateurism.
03:24We're an amateur sport.
03:26You know, anybody is allowed to show up, and, you know, you take the Olympic trials.
03:30If somebody runs fast enough, they can do it.
03:32But as opposed to, you know, the NFL, you know, you have to be drafted to a team.
03:37You have to have an agent.
03:38You know, there are standings.
03:39There's a firm line that says, hey, if you're not on the other side of this line, you're
03:43not a professional in this sport.
03:45Do you think that, so you think those lines should be drawn clearly by what, world athletics
03:49or by who?
03:51It can be by many people.
03:54It all determines who is going to take the brave step to do that.
03:57Maybe it's a track and field league that decides that.
04:00Maybe it is the governing body.
04:01Maybe it's, you know, a certain track meet that's just like, hey, this is going to be
04:06the creme de la creme of track meets, and you have to have these qualifications to be
04:11invited to this event.
04:12So, let's talk about the track league.
04:14Obviously, Michael Johnson's league Grand Slam track just started this year, and you talked
04:19about it on Cam Newton's podcast, and you did say, even though you're not a part of
04:22it, you really hope it does well.
04:24So, what do you think about, do you think that that's the answer to what's going on with
04:28track and field right now?
04:29Do you think that it has the potential to be that?
04:32I think having a league is important.
04:34Like, we just talked about, you know, being able to set the benchmark of, if you're not
04:38on this side of the line, you're not professional.
04:40That helps with that.
04:41And it also helps with keeping athletes paid.
04:44Not having to worry if I don't get into a track meet, I'm not going to make money.
04:47Or if I don't have a contract with a shoe brand, I'm not going to make money.
04:52You know, I'm not going to survive, you know, throughout this sport.
04:55I might only have one chance, and if that chance is not done, I'm not going to be able to make
05:00it to the next year.
05:01You know, that's what that takes care of.
05:03And hopefully, you know, there's so many athletes who have worked at Burger King, Walmart, FedEx,
05:09and they're extremely good at their craft.
05:12And unfortunately, there's just not enough room because everybody's invited to the table.
05:16So, everybody's allowed to take money.
05:17Mm-hmm.
05:18And one of the things you had mentioned in that, too, was how NIL has come in and kind
05:22of shrunk in the middle class to it all.
05:25Do you think that that's a problem for track and field, or do you think it just needs to
05:29expand so that everyone can eat?
05:31I don't know any economy that's surviving with no middle class and doing well.
05:35So, whether that's in an economy for a country or the world or the sports, I don't think it's
05:45ever a good idea to have a shrinking middle class.
05:49You know, you are always going to need, you know, the next stop.
05:53And, of course, you want to build talent, but finding a way to cooperate with the whole
05:59sport instead of just seeing one idea and having almost like a gold rush effect where
06:04everybody's rushing to this one spot to try and get their piece, you know, it needs to
06:09be, it could be handled better, managed more strategically, more thought out.
06:14Yeah, it's interesting, too, because a lot of the NIL deals, do you think that they would
06:18go away once those players leave the moniker of their school, LSU or Oregon or whatever
06:24it be?
06:25It's not that I believe that they're going to go away.
06:27It's not that I think that they're bad.
06:29I think that they are very helpful.
06:31I'm super excited.
06:32If I was a collegiate athlete during this time period, you know, it's probably like the
06:37Wild Wild West right now.
06:38There's not a lot of rules.
06:39You know, whatever you could think of, you can obtain.
06:41I just say that they're just, you know, from the outside, you know, when you're not in
06:46college, I would hope that, you know, the sports that are influenced by these kids who
06:53are going to come out find a way to structure and work with these NILs and these colleges
06:59going forward.
07:00And for Grand Slam Track, you mentioned that they obviously gave you the call and it wasn't
07:05big enough for you at the time, but it wasn't just financial because that's to be expected
07:09with any sort of startup, but it was the marketability side of it too.
07:13Do you think it would help though if you signed on as well?
07:17I would say that it would help.
07:19I think somebody described me not joining it was like me wanting the table to be set
07:26before I showed up.
07:27And to that, I would, and this was somebody who didn't have all the information in the
07:31background to know what was going on in the inner workings.
07:34But unfortunately they did just announce that they financially didn't have enough to
07:39put on the last track meet.
07:40And I know if I was a part of that, I would probably be a big part of that asking for a
07:44big amount of money to go into my bank account for me being a part of the league.
07:49So, you know, it already, it's not that I want the table to be set.
07:52It's that I want the table to be steady.
07:54Right.
07:54Yeah.
07:54That makes a lot of sense.
07:55A lot of athletes I've spoken to that do like are part of startup leagues like NWSL or
08:00WMA players at a time felt like they had this responsibility to grow the league, grow the
08:05sport, leave it bigger than it was.
08:07Do you feel that responsibility at all with track in non-Olympic years?
08:11Like, do you feel like you need to help it grow in non-Olympic years?
08:14It's not that I feel the responsibility.
08:16It's that I like to take on this challenge.
08:18It's something that I want to do.
08:19Of course, everybody has their own idea and their own concept.
08:22And hopefully we can all come to an idea that will push it along at a faster pace because
08:28when we're all scattered, you know, it's a lot less effective.
08:32But I do like and try to push the concept of not only what I do and storytelling and athletes,
08:40but, you know, also the corporate side and also the production side and creating better
08:45ways for us to be better athletes.
08:47Yeah.
08:47I mean, you've definitely pushed that, right?
08:49Like, you've been out, your face has been out there since you won, since before you
08:53won, you know, the Olympic.
08:54And then you get the title fastest man in the world.
08:58How does that change everything?
08:59How does that open more opportunities for you after you win the gold?
09:03I mean, we could just talk about iconic productions, you know, box to box reaching out again and
09:08saying, you know, we want to create a production company.
09:11I don't believe that would have happened if I did not win.
09:14Of course, it would have been on their mind, but it's a lot harder to push somebody who did
09:18not win.
09:18And I know that winning is the stepping stones to get some of these goals and achievements
09:23that I want to do.
09:24I've talked about this many times.
09:27And sometimes athletes don't get it.
09:29You know, they come in, they have a passion.
09:31And unfortunately, I've talked to a few Olympic champions and they're like, where is, you
09:36know, the follows?
09:37Like, where are the subscribers and where are the companies ready to give me sponsorships?
09:42And I'm like, I'm so sorry to tell you this, but you have to do the work before the Olympics
09:47happen, before you get the after effect when you win.
09:51Because then everybody's just like, oh, that was sudden.
09:53Well, you inform them that it's going to happen or it's a possibility.
09:57It's not sudden.
09:57But if you haven't informed them or given them the idea that this is your goal, this is where
10:02you're headed to some degree, they're not going to be ready.
10:06The money will have been spent.
10:07Or who you are, right?
10:09Because I think, you know, you're known for other things.
10:12You said if they don't know you for a gold medal, they know you for world champions or
10:16what?
10:16Of what?
10:17Or racing speed.
10:18Right.
10:18Or, I mean, so many different things.
10:21Or from sprint, you know, there's so many different things that people will know me for.
10:26But of course, they do boil down to some point of being fast or creating something
10:32or pushing the boundary in some capacity.
10:34Do you think those viral moments, those notorious moments of you almost weigh a little bit more
10:39than winning?
10:39Because there have been other winners, but you've broken through more than really anyone
10:44else in the past decade.
10:45No, I definitely feel that adapting to your situation, knowing the current state of culture
10:51and where it's moving and constantly updating yourself on what's going on is very important.
10:56You know, right?
10:57I knew that, you know, streaming was huge.
11:00And I knew that speed had been, you know, going around racing people.
11:02And it's like, hey, okay, you know, here I'm here with Mr. Beast and we're doing a
11:06video and he's just like, you know, I think I could just call speed.
11:10Let's take advantage of the moment.
11:11You know, that's a crowd that I'm not, you know, in front of.
11:14You know, of course, I might have, you know, teenagers from, you know, 16 and up.
11:19But what about everybody else below that?
11:21You know, my agents, kids found out I was racing speed and they lost their minds.
11:24They have a crazy, streamers have that audience that I think that, like, rivals networks.
11:32Yeah.
11:32Networks wish they had that audience.
11:33I heard somebody say once that, you know, streamers are the new rappers.
11:38And I was like, you know what?
11:40You're not far off.
11:40Because here are rappers and athletes showing up on people's streams because it's such a demographic
11:46and a platform that they built for so many years that they now have access to.
11:49Yeah, absolutely.
11:50All right, lastly here, Noah, when you look at things in business that you want to get to
11:56in the future, other ventures you're looking at, what are those things that are really interesting
11:59to you?
12:01I personally, my fiancé might have some other things to say, but I personally like to put
12:07on my own track and field league to some degree.
12:10I really do.
12:11I feel that I can at least put enough people together knowing that it would be a really
12:17strong team to give a strong showing.
12:20And the thing that I have felt that is missing from a lot of leagues is, yes, we can run
12:26track, but let's give them a memorable moment.
12:28Let's put on a production.
12:30And as I've gone to more and more events, it's not so much the sport that I was watching,
12:36but how I felt when I was there and what got led up to there.
12:40And I'm like, guys, we can do the exact same thing.
12:42You know, I watched Drive to Survive and I've been to many Grand Prixs now, and I'm like,
12:47we can be doing the exact same thing.
12:48We're going to all the same countries.
12:50Why not us?
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