00:00Vanessa, I'm going to let you kick it off because, man, this is your world.
00:03You know, thanks, Carol.
00:06And, Carolyn, it's great to talk to you always about everything going on in Gotham.
00:12Next week is going to be a huge week, you know, kicking out in Queens for the first time with
00:16the Queens Classic.
00:18Almost 40,000 tickets have been sold already.
00:2170% of those is first-time purchasers, which I'm really interested to hear your take on why you think
00:27that is.
00:28Is it because of all the excitement of the World Cup?
00:31Is it because the World Cup final is in the market a couple of days later?
00:34Is it New York versus New Jersey?
00:36What is it for you, Carolyn, do you think?
00:38Yes, well, it's so good to talk to you again.
00:41I really appreciate you having me on the show.
00:44So a few things.
00:45So, yes, just to explain what we're talking about with the Queens Classic.
00:48So Gotham will be playing the first-ever professional women's soccer game in New York at Citi Field on Wednesday
00:55night.
00:55That is a few days before the finals, as you said.
00:59And when we made the decision to play this game, we knew that we didn't have access to our current
01:03stadium at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey because they're having a watch party.
01:07But we said, you know, the World Cup is coming to New York.
01:10Everyone, all eyes are on soccer right now.
01:12We want to be a part of it.
01:13We want to lean in.
01:14And so we created the first-ever Queens Classic.
01:17This will be our first time playing there.
01:19And as you said, the excitement, the momentum around it has been tremendous.
01:23So right now, as of this morning, we're at 38,000 seats sold.
01:29We set out to break the New York women's sports record, which is 28,000.
01:33So we are on track to beat that.
01:35And just to put those numbers in perspective, our average attendance when we came in as new owners two and
01:41a half years ago was about 4,000.
01:43So to get a stadium almost full, hopefully sold out by Wednesday, full of 38,000, 42,000 people all
01:51watching a women's professional soccer game is it's really part of the vision that we set out to from the
01:56beginning.
01:56But it's a bit of a pinch me moment when it happens.
02:00Carolyn, we've talked a lot about how, you know, having the World Cup in this market, how do you capitalize
02:06on all the attention that's happening on soccer?
02:08Sounds like you're kind of doing that with the Queens Classic already.
02:10But how do you take those first-time purchasers and turn them into lifelong fans?
02:15Yeah, absolutely.
02:17That is, I think that is the goal of every team, every league.
02:20That is really our duty is to take these national, global moments like a World Cup every few years and
02:26turn them into lifelong fandom.
02:28The Queens Classic is certainly part of it.
02:30But I'd say it's just the beginning.
02:32I think, you know, as you said, 70% of the people that are coming to the Queens Classic are
02:37first-time buyers.
02:38So now it is on us to bring them to, first of all, show them a great product, show them
02:42a great experience.
02:43So both the players on the field and the fan experience around it.
02:47And then bring them into the fold.
02:48Have them understand, you know, you don't have to wait another four years to see World Cup soccer.
02:53We have many players on our team that are World Cup winners and World Cup competers every few years.
02:58So that's really on us as team owners and league stewards to then bring that fandom back into the teams
03:04and leagues.
03:06A lot of World Cup winners on your team, Carolyn.
03:08Carolyn, as we're talking about, you know, this year's World Cup and the men's World Cup, do you think, you
03:15know, as we've spoken, you know, did the men's team, you know, in their departure in the round of 16,
03:23does that have any impact, do you think, on what you and other team owners were expecting to be a
03:29huge boom for soccer?
03:30Or, you know, are you seeing any damper on that, do you think?
03:35Yeah, obviously a disappointment.
03:37I wish I was on a plane to L.A. right now going to watch the U.S. team in
03:41a semifinal game.
03:42But I think we all do.
03:44But I think it doesn't take away from what this team has done for this country, I would say, more
03:49globally.
03:50I mean, I think this country has never felt more united than it did maybe Monday afternoon before the game
03:56or Sunday night, rather.
03:57And so I think this, you know, I think the team overall really brought this country together in a really
04:02special way.
04:03But when I think about it from a soccer perspective, people are continuing to watch.
04:07I mean, you saw the Mexico-England numbers, which was, you know, separate from the U.S. game.
04:11So, again, I think the World Cup is bringing in these moments of, you know, bringing a casual fan.
04:18And then we then, as team owners, need to convert that into our fandom.
04:22But I don't think that changes with the U.S. out of it.
04:24Hey, Carolyn, this is Carol here.
04:26I wanted to jump in.
04:27We announced in the lead about your guys' plans to play home matches at New York City's football club's new
04:34stadium.
04:34Why is it right to make this move, play in Queens starting in 2028?
04:40And I'm curious how it might, in your view, kind of expect it to maybe improve the business.
04:47Yeah.
04:47So when we came in as new owners, really just two and a half years ago, there was really a
04:52question of if this league was going to survive.
04:54If a women's professional soccer team could exist, now the conversation is so different.
05:00Now the conversation is, what is the best possible venue for this team that wants, that has very large ambitions?
05:08Where is the best possible place for this team to play?
05:10And our decision was to move it to New York and play in Etihad Stadium, which will be truly a
05:16world-class venue.
05:17And so if I think about, you know, when we, so when we came in as new owners, we said,
05:22you know, there's no professional women's team that is really a global brand.
05:26There's no, when people say what their favorite brand, soccer team, or when they say their favorite soccer or sports
05:32teams are in the world, they really never say a women's team.
05:35And our goal is to be that first team.
05:37To do that, we have to match the ambition of our, on the soccer side with the business team.
05:43And to be able to play in the greatest sports city in the world, in one of the most beautiful
05:47venues that will ever exist, that is why we have to go play at Etihad Park.
05:51And Caroline, we have just about 30 seconds left.
05:54Why is MetLife the right place for the World Cup Final, in your view?
05:59Absolutely.
06:00We are so excited to be hosting the World Cup Final next weekend.
06:04You know, as I said, New York is the best sports city in the world.
06:07We will have, obviously people will be coming from around the world to experience it, but they will get to
06:11experience every culture, every different restaurant, every different kind of all the creative options there are to do in New
06:18York.
06:18And I think you can only do that in New York.
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