Inside Soccer
Inside Soccer
Episode 11 - Be an Insider. NWSL Sky Blue Owner and Vice Chair Edward Nalbandian
Sky Blue Owner and Vice Chair Nalbandian joins Inside Soccer to discuss the teams focus on the NWSL Challenge Cup, fan connections during the pandemic and other leadership insights into club operations.
Hello and welcome back. You're listening to another incredible episode
Unknown Speaker :of Inside soccer when your host
Unknown Speaker :bill Peterson inside soccer brings you a soccer fan expert analysis and opinion on the critical issues facing the game today. also bringing guests that have incredible stories and historical perspectives on the game with soccer experience batting 20 A Rolodex is open to bring you the voices and opinions you want. Sit back at wherever you are in the world and enjoy today's episode.
Unknown Speaker :I want to welcome all of our inside soccer listeners now referred to as the insiders from around the globe. You are here listening to Episode 11. And there's never been a better time to get inside soccer so much going on across the globe that affects our little world of soccer. But that's what we're focused on inside soccer inside the game like no other podcasts. Today we continue that tradition of bringing you the best in the sport. We've turned our attention to our own USA domestic league, and Ws L. That's right. Our domestically NW SL may be considered the Premier League of women's soccer in the world, featuring the best players in the world. And in my opinion, maybe it compares more with the Champions League actually than any association football. When you start to look at the quality of talent, and the domination of the players that play in this league, it's more like a Champions League than it is anything else and we'll get a chance to talk about that. So many great stories to get inside of here with nws, maybe the biggest one being that they're actually playing a competition, the first and only ball sport playing meaningful games. And we have much, much more to cover. Today we're honored to have our first team owner on inside soccer. He is Ed Nalbandian and he is the owner and vice chair of sky blue part of their ownership group. He's Actually in Utah with the competition today, and he's here to take you inside sky blue and a little bit of nws Oh, so Ed, we're honored to have you here. And have you share with our listeners, welcome.
Unknown Speaker :It's great to be here, Bill. I really appreciate being on and, yeah, it sounds like you've got a great podcast gone. So I'm really honored to be a part of it.
Unknown Speaker :Well, we're having a lot of fun with it. And as we've spoken about, you know, our goal here is to take our listeners inside of soccer and inside the inner workings of the game and you're in a perfect position to to help them understand what's happening with the one and only ball competition I'll call it going on right now. Not to disrespect our racecar friends and and also what's happening with the league and what's happening with a team and why you're part of the ownership group. So, look, as always, we'll try to keep this to 30 minutes if possible. We have a lot of questions. our listeners have a lot of questions. And we're going to go ahead and get started. But maybe, and maybe just open it up with how are things going in Utah, not only for your team, but also the league. I mean, the press coverage has been tremendous. You're playing live games, you're getting a lot of attention. And it seems so far knock on wood. I don't want to jinx anything either. But it seems like you guys have really done an amazing job of capturing the spotlight. So So how's the team doing first? Let's start there.
Unknown Speaker :Yeah, we're two games in and we've lost one and untied one team is doing well. It's great being out here in Utah. And as you said, were basically the first pro sports league back which is a great opportunity for us as a league. There's also risk that comes with that, you know, wasn't our goal to be first but it's a great opportunity for us and, and so far, it's gone. Well, you know, our, our top priority is absolutely safety. You know, the league Lisa Baird, our commissioner has done a great job working with the medical team and our Players Association to ensure we could do everything we can to make sure it's safe out here. And, you know, we're really doing a good job of being vigilant. And we've got to see that through over the next several weeks. But yeah, it's great being out here in Utah. It's an amazing setting. And we've really enjoyed it, it's a great opportunity to showcase the league, the team and the players. You know, I think the League has done a great job, you know, at least at the helm of gaining some major new sponsors, you know, that have been added to the, to the four right here Procter and Gamble, Verizon, Google, as well as joining our existing large sponsors like Nike and Budweiser. So that was all part of putting this tournament together, it was all a part of being able to ensure to our players that they can get back on the field and we did give them the commitment that we would continue to, you know, pay them in full and all the insurance through the rest of the year and so that that's that's great and You know, this is also kicking off our new TV agreement with with CBS and Twitch. And the opening game of the tournament on CBS got great ratings, you know, twice the ratings of our championship game. So it's been great. The Utah team out here has done a great job Deloitte Hansen, the owner and yeah, so it's gone. It's gone swimmingly so far.
Unknown Speaker :Well, congratulations. I mean, you know, in this country, if you're a soccer fan, you're a fan of the the women's national team for sure. And I think now we're starting to see real growth right in front of us of a professional league. I mean, I gotta tell you it as of right now, as of today, if I devote on what's the most successful sports story in the United States this year, and maybe elsewhere as well, it's it's the fact that you guys are out there playing games and they mean something and the players are, are exhibiting you know, their normal level of talent and excitement and it's it's a lot of fun to watch and the concept has worked well. So I'm glad to hear about the partners coming on board as well. I think that's important obviously to to continue to fund this and grow this league in this sport and you know, they've got to be happy with what they're seeing right now because you guys own the space but let's back up for a second you have a very very unique mix of soccer experience and and also business success and walk us a little bit through your background and ultimately what brought you into NW ESL ownership. And how does that mix of experience help you as your role was a team?
Unknown Speaker :Okay, sure. Great. Yeah. I became a part owner of sky blue in January. Tammy Murphy is the lead owner. She's the chair of the club. Steve Tamara's is also on the board. Tammy of course, is the first lady of New Jersey. Her husband feels the governor and Steve as a longtime executive CEO, CEO Bed Bath and Beyond. He's on the board of the mat. So it's a really good ownership group and I'm more or less the day by day, managing honor, if you will. And my background is, you know, 35 plus years in business, specifically, it Information Technology Services, I was CEO of several companies, and, you know, this is my first real foray into a business that's not it. So I come into this with a lot of business background, but it's my first professional sports experience. But as you mentioned, I am I'm a big soccer guy. I've been a big player my whole life. I played as a kid in high school and college I played a couple years of Semi Pro in the New York area after school and I got my professional soccer coaching license and for three years I coached 13 to 15 year olds and you know, as I as I became a dad, you know, soccer sort of K back is a big part of my life with my kids, Kelly and Eric I coach their teams until they got up to high school and we became huge soccer fans of the women's and men's national team. We became huge Arsenal fans as well as sky blue and red bulls. You know, our idea of a perfect vacation is to try to go to a few Premier League games over in England and my wife Tracy's perfect vacation is more of a tennis tournament, but we're we're pretty big soccer family. She's She's coming on board. I am a graduate of UNC. And yeah, that's an interesting piece of my background because I was there as women's soccer at a college level sort of took off, you know, in the 80s and 90s. The Tar Heels won almost seemingly every national championship each year and I got there in 1980. The year before we want our our first national championship so it was great to see the program built as a big fan of the 99 members who you know, won that famous World Cup at the Rose Bowl with a few Tar Heels like Christina Lee and me him on the team and tell us my daughter, maybe 1011 years ago became a fan of this generation of the women's national team. You know, and Alex Morgan got on the scene and whatnot, we just, you know, we as a family really got into the US women's national team, anytime they were anywhere in the northeast, we go and see those games and, you know, professionally for me, after a long time career, you know, I'm kind of in a little bit of a, you know, my next phase of my career kind of mode. And so I started to look into a few years ago, being a part owner of a of a pro soccer team. I met a few men's clubs, sort of at the second third level of soccer, I got introduced to Sky Blue and the owners here. And once that happened, I really got into the idea of being a part of women's soccer and as I got calls for other opportunities on some other men's soccer teams, I just kept coming back to the sky blue. I really talked to the ownership team here for quite a while. You know, more Almost 18 months. And finally, Tammy called me one day and said, let's go. And the timing was good for me. So, so here I am. So yeah, I think what I bring is just a combination of running, growing successful businesses managing p&l, along with, you know, a true love of the sport, a lot of experience with the sport. So I'm hoping that helped me as I move ahead here was with sky blue.
Unknown Speaker :I think it definitely will. I mean, as a person has been involved in professional sports for for 30 years, maybe a little bit more professional soccer for 20 years. And I don't know if there's a difference in what I'm about to say between one organization or the other or one sport or the other. But, you know, it's rare. I mean, look, I have a ton of respect for anyone that wants to get involved in professional sports, and take that risk with their own money that they've, they've worked very hard to earn. There's no guarantees in Any league and we're seeing some of that right now that everything is gonna work out. And in some leagues it has worked out for decades, but there's no guarantee that tomorrow will be the same. Soccer has been different because it's fairly new still from a professional level in this country and there have been a lot of amazing owners come in and invest a lot of money into the game. But I think very few of them and I'm sure there's some probably more than I know of, but there's doesn't seem to be a lot of them that have the background that you bring, as, you know, Semi Pro Player, Player, father of player, Coach, you know, fan, traveling fan. I mean, those are those are experiences that I think will benefit us. You look at your own team and you're in conversation. have, you know, how do we get better? How do we bring more value to our fan base? You're one of those fans, and you're gonna have a real understanding of what you know is valuable and what means a lot to you. So I say I just I, I don't come across that very often. I think it's really neat. And I think it's going to serve you very well as you go forward. So, so let me stick on the business side of this for a second. I mean, you're used to coming in and evaluating businesses. And when you looked at at Sky Blue, and in a sense, you have to look at the league as well. And you have to look at the sport as well. But when you look at it, you know, what were the opportunities I mean, you're looking for something normally There you go, you know if we could tweak this or fix that or bring more resources to this or that we could grow this business and and get a return that we're happy with. When you look at Women's Professional Soccer and sky blue. What sort of opportunities Did you see? From a distance? So when you're doing your due diligence,
Unknown Speaker :yeah, I, you know, I just really have
Unknown Speaker :fallen in love with with women's soccer the US women's national team, you know, absolutely was was a part of that. But it also is, you know, you sort of mentioned it previously, but, you know, soccer in the US. And I've watched it pretty closely for a while now. I mean, I was a big and as fail and, you know, in the 70s, when the sport sort of boomed and busted, you know, just sort of expanded too fast and fizzled out. And, you know, by and large, I think the MLS has done a good job in and I think, the NWS sell now, you know, we've really got, I think, a good sustainable presence in the US sports scene and we haven't, I don't think we've sort of gotten out ahead of our headlights. So the big opportunity I've seen is as really really strong. I like the NWS Oh, I think it's a very interesting mix of teams that are independently owned were one of those. There are teams that are owned by MLS owners owned by USL we have one international team, Olympic Li and he's owned the rain out in the
Unknown Speaker :capital
Unknown Speaker :Tacoma area. I like that mix. You know, there's there's a number of cities that are looking to have a nws sell franchise in the future as well or we're adding Louisville next year which is which is really cool. But I I just think that that this league, the time the opportunity is is to connect with soccer fans in in all parts of the country. You know, get fans to come to games, watch on TV, get corporations on board. You know, in a short time as Commissioner, you know, Lisa bear has done a great job. I mentioned some of the things that have that have happened and and really, you know, it's each team that needs to connect with its fans and corporate sponsors. And many do a great job. All of us want to do a lot more certainly we at Sky Blue want to do a lot more. But you know, this is business is business and you've got to have a great product and then you've got to market and sell the heck out of it to your customers. And the one thing I knew going in is we have a great product. The the NWS o players, they're incredible athletes, and I appreciate you for them being out here in Utah, you know, watching the games and practices just gone through the roof and I believe wholeheartedly in the product. I really do. And so just like any business, if you've got a great product, you know, you we we need to up our game and selling and marketing to to fans and sponsors alike. And as I said, I think the League has a great role model and Lisa Barrett helped lead the way and, you know, so I think the future's bright and that's why I'm here.
Unknown Speaker :And I think you nailed it. I think the quality of the game is something that you know, is hard to Manage overnight you can you can, you can sell sponsorship, you can sell tickets, you can do tv deals, you can do a lot of stuff in a fairly short period of time. If you have a game that's interesting, and I think there's a hardcore follow I know there's a hardcore following. For the women's national team I suspect that this summer, NW ESL is is borrowing from that pool of women's fans right now. And I'm sure they're developing more of their own fans which is important to them I'm sure. You know, the one thing I hope people get a chance to see and I don't think this is just me. Again, having been in sport and a lot of different capacities including player. I love strategy. I love teamwork. I love all those things. But nothing gets me going more than the one on one matchup, whether it doesn't matter what the sport is. And it doesn't matter if it's my daughter's team, or it's the women's national team. When I see somebody looking someone else in the eye and they're one on one and one of them has a ball, one of them doesn't, and somebody's gonna win this matchup somebody isn't. Yeah, those are the things that get me excited. People. My point here is, I don't know that the average person understands just how Darn Tough these ladies are, and how good they really are. I mean, they're athletic. They're very good within the sport and what they do what they can do as a ball. But man, they're tough. They will, they will take it to you and then they're gonna come out winners, and I love being around them in practice, or close by the field and a game and listen to them talking and listen to them. You know, doing the things they do is is it's really electrifying. They're really, really good. It can't be overstated.
Unknown Speaker :Yeah, they really are. And I was watching on Team practice yesterday. And one of our Players we just acquired him from the North Carolina curves and calls are blown, he was just doing a drill where the ball was coming into here and sort of the corner of the penalty box and she turned and shoot it in the upper right hand corner, she must have done it, you know, five times in a row without blinking an eye. And it's just just a lot of little things. You see a practice and at the Games, these are very, very talented athletes.
Unknown Speaker :Yeah, for sure. So
Unknown Speaker :let's move to the elephant in the room, I guess you know, and, and and talk a little bit about how the pandemic has affected not only plans for this year, but also in your mind. You know, the strategy going forward, both short term and long term. What are the effects you see of this that that that you guys are contemplating right now?
Unknown Speaker :Well, it's a big deal for us what happened? You know, 2020 was really shaping up as a huge year for club you know, we felt we had turned the corner in 2019 after a pretty difficult 2018 for us on and off the field and, and Tammy put Elise lihue in charge of the club first as interim and then as a full time General Manager and in 2019. And you know, we really did a terrific job last year, improving our communication and relationship with our fans. The play on the field improved and we had a couple of games at Red Bull arena towards the end of last season in August and September, which were very successful. Over 9000 at one game over 8000 had another we had an interim coach put in towards the end of last year for whom she became full time, you know, permanently after the season. But you know, the biggest news for us I guess probably was as as last year wound down we did announce a move to move to Red Bull arena full time, which was a massive step for the club. You know, when we subsequently announced we'd be practicing at the Red Bull Academy as well. I know you had mark on earlier and he and his team have been great to work with. But that's a that's a big deal for our club. We previously played it at Rutgers and Tammy Elise drove that move which was which is really great for the club. So this is a big year for us and we were really gearing up for things in March the players had just come back and we're practicing when COVID hit and of course that changed everything. And at the beginning there was a lot of uncertainty on what would happen and it soon became apparent it was going to be pretty tough to play with van so we had to change very quickly which we did. You know, Elise, you know, without hesitation, really charted a new course with a club, our staff, you know, we got got them heavily involved in zoom calls, working on on new ideas and, and we really did a lot of things to creatively interact with our fans. We've got an incredible fan club. It's called Cloud Nine. They're they're like a part of the team, a part of sky blue and we had trivia nights bring your pet you Zoom calls bingo q&a with the players, a lot of weekend time put in by the staff, we organized a shark tank competition for the staff to come up with new ideas to improve the club going forward. And I was a judge on that along with a few of the players in the league. So it really changed things you know, quite a bit. And you know, before COVID hit we we had set a record for season tickets for the year so certainly disappointing for the for the season to be canceled and you know, we allowed fans to either refund or, or apply their payment towards 2021. Or we put in place a digital season ticket for 2020 where people that did that could have zoom calls, you know before and after our games, for example, out here in Utah behind the scenes access to the team and we ended up having less than 10% of our season ticket holders refund which which was really good, I think a real tribute to the staff and the team and Elise on on how they handle things over the previous several months and with the players as well for free Coach, and her staff did a great job, a lot of video sessions with the players track fitness, you know, over zoom. It's just it's just a whole, a whole new reality for the team. And then of course, last month, we started practicing again, at Red Bull Academy getting ready for the, for the Challenge Cup. So it It changed things quite a bit. This was a huge year for the club moving into Red Bull arena. So that is sort of shifted to 2021. And I'm out here in Utah and Lisa and I are are spending time and really thinking hard about next year so we have time to prepare, and we're very excited about next year.
Unknown Speaker :So let me make sure I heard you correctly here you offered your fans a refund and only 10% took the refund.
Unknown Speaker :Yeah, yeah, less than 10%. So and the other another option was to just have their have their money go towards 2021. And like I said, and the other option was this sort of digital. But yeah, I I'm really proud of that. And it's really it's a tribute to our front office team again, you know, led by Elise, anyone that is a fan of sky blue that's listening to this knows about Elise Lisa, who's our GM and she's done, done a phenomenal job and yeah, that I think that bodes well for us going forward.
Unknown Speaker :I was gonna ask you what you were looking for when you were putting your fun office together and the type of people but I think from that last answer, you can surmise from that, you know, one you're obviously getting talent and experience but a lot of passion. And it's going to take passion like people have never seen before, I think to keep fans engaged, keep them feeling good about their relationship with the clubs, have them out talking and saying positive things about the club during what's going to be an incredibly long offseason. You know, it's going to take a staff that realizes, hey, our roles have changed, and we got to put as much energy into building Relationships with fans and potential fans as we do coaching or or taking care of players house or whatever it may be our normal jobs are right.
Unknown Speaker :Absolutely. You know you're 100% right and you know Tammy put a lease in his general manager last year as I mentioned and you know that that's been a huge part of sky blue turning around and you know, now we're moving to Red Bull stadia. So there's a lot of a lot of things that are that are that are looking up but we still have a lot of work to do. And the covered have
Unknown Speaker :an effect on the size of the staff you guys have now.
Unknown Speaker :We're at the same size. You know, we didn't didn't layoff anyone or anything. So, you know, we're all they're all still in place and working, you know, very, very hard. It is it is kind of a seven day a week job. Even even during the COVID time when we know before the tournament was taking place. You know, these these videos whatnot I talked about with fans, you know, oftentimes we're on the weekends, because a lot of our fans obviously work during the week this week, nights and weekends. So very dedicated group of people. And yeah, they're all in place. So
Unknown Speaker :that's fantastic. I mean, you know, congratulations to you all, for keeping everybody on. I think that also sends an incredible message and provides a lot of comfort to those who are or they're working for you. But that's going to be something that they tout and ultimately the organization touts for years to come is that loyalty that you know, the ownership group is shown towards the front office and towards the technical staff. I mean, that's, that's, you can't replace that. That's, that's, that's great. So congratulations, for doing that as well. It's it's, it's a tough time. It's a different time for sure, but in your mind, and maybe What we have to do is put COVID on a shelf for this next question, but, Woody, let's do that. Let's put COVID on a shelf. And let me ask this question. What do you think that sky blue does? Or will be doing better than most going forward?
Unknown Speaker :Well, you know, we're a little unique. I think it's, it's kind of cool that our lead owner is a woman, the only lead owner in our league, that's a woman, our general manager as a woman, Elisa Hugh. She's one of only two in the league, our coach, for whom she's women, as well. So and she's the only one in the league. So we've got our lead owner, our general manager and our coach are all women. And it, you know, and we've got a terrific, you know, ownership group led by led by Tammy, so, we're a little unique in that I think that's a competitive advantage. You know, hopefully I won't drag down the team. But I think that's kind of kind of cool and kind of unique, and I mentioned before, you know, the great job that that Elise has done she she's done an incredible job, I have to work my butt off to just keep up with her. And you know, I really appreciate all her patients and helped me get up to speed Freya, our head coach really excited about her, you know, she's extremely thorough and knowledgeable the team is very well organized, you know, excellent team spirit and, and she just lives little ways away from me here in Connecticut. She coach that ever in America where my son played, though I didn't come across it when that happened. But I have been really excited, you know, working with her and I'm really optimistic about the staff she's put together and going forward. I you know, I think what makes us a little bit unique and maybe what we do, you know, better than most is kind of that fan engagement that I talked about, you know, anyone listening to this that that knows about sky blue knows that, you know, we we didn't have the best fan engagement and we did have some issues. A few years ago. And I think we've done an excellent job, a very creative job. And I think that found, you know, that forms a really good foundation for us. So we've got a great, you know, one big lead leadership team, I think we've got a good fan engagement model. I know we've got a phenomenal team of players on and off the field, you know, so I think that that gives us a great foundation to take it to the next level. And now it's, you know, now it's about executing.
Unknown Speaker :Yeah, that's, that's fantastic. And there's just so many cool stories associated with this club, you just get a feeling that they're definitely you're going to be, you know, rising from where they are to even higher levels. And you feel that way. I mean, it's Look, it's a competitive sport, it's competitive league. Do you feel that way? league wide, I mean, that teams are really focused on it. Improving all aspects and developing fan relationships and player development. I mean, you get a sense, this is a real
Unknown Speaker :race amongst you all as well.
Unknown Speaker :Yeah, you know, we're teammates, and we're competitors, you know, all the owners, for sure. But I feel like we're kind of on the same team, you know, because we really want this sport and league to be successful. It's interesting because we the team, we have one sort of dominant team in North Carolina courage you've won in the last couple years. And we've started out, you know, very strongly here in Utah. And so they're sort of the they're at the head of the pack right now. We're all kind of chasing them working very, very hard to do that. But you know, I've watched every game since I've been out here. I've been really impressed with the level of play on each team. It's getting very more and more competitive. I think there's a lot more team identity. And you know, it's hard to us, women national team, you know, has has so much of idea and identity and we want to have, you know, strong identity for each team and I, I see it happening, you know, each team has its own leaders, its own personality. And it's exciting to hear about, you know, successes that each team are having within their local markets, whether it's sponsorship, or fans or whatnot. So I think there's a lot of good momentum that's coming out of this tournament, and now it's up to us, you know, to to take advantage of that going forward.
Unknown Speaker :Yeah, well, it seems like
Unknown Speaker :this will be a semi upon sky's the limit there for you. So yeah, that's exciting stuff. And, you know, we appreciate you answering the questions we have so far. Is there anything we did not ask you that we should have or something you want to spend a little bit of time on?
Unknown Speaker :I, you know, I just, I guess just the future, you know, going forward. I think that I think there's a tremendous opportunity here for fans to connect with this league. And you know, It really comes down to one thing, like I said before, you know, the players, they're, they're incredible athletes on the pitch. They represent the game amazingly off the pitch. And I just feel we have an opportunity to, you know, leverage what the women's national team has done and have that same kind of compelling sports teams, sports personalities down at an individual team level. You know, I look at Sky Blue. I look at our team and our players and, you know, we've got a lot of great players I think fans can can gravitate to I mean, not only the obvious ones like Carli Lloyd and a few times FIFA Player of the Year and now pews at you know, incredible success at a young age on the women's national team, but we've got a goalie from Canada on the Canadian team Caitlin shared who's played amazing out here. some amazing defenders that have played great out here. Gina Lewandowski, Estelle Johnson, Mitch purse, Amani Dorsey are names that I think people are going to learn more and more about, they were at the at the National Team camp in December their wing players who played both defense and offense are Captain Sarah. Well, Mo former Sarah Kilian, she's a great midfielder I mentioned the calls are bony. He's a first year player for us and just there's a long list I think of not only just great athletes very terrific people, Paige Monahan EP on a monitor, I could go on and on. So I think this team is poised to really capture the hearts and minds of the New Jersey, New York area. You know, just a little anecdote we have the pretty cool new jersey so if I say so myself that we announced on June 25 we set a one day merchandise sales record two times what we had ever sold our our social media engagement you know, in this in this tournament, it's gone through the roof so I'm, I'm really excited about the team. I'm excited about the players. And you know, our job as a team is to connect these great players to the fans. You know, so myself least the whole front office, the ownership team. I mean, I know No, I feel a tremendous amount of responsibility and accountability to, you know, basically fulfill our goal or mission of connecting the New Jersey, New York area fans to these players and, and, you know, I when I allow myself to dream I picture a sold out Red Bull arena and with this team, you know, doing great things on the field. So I think there's a lot here. I really appreciate the time bill, I hope your listeners get a chance to watch us at the tournament and keep your eye on on this league and sky blue as a team. I think there's a lot of big things ahead.
Unknown Speaker :You've got me excited, and I'll go back to something I said in the beginning. I really think this league is more like a Champions League. I mean, you're sitting there ripping off names and I'm thinking about, you know, just the players I know and I wouldn't say I'm a hardcore fan on the women's side. I should probably know more than I do. But I've been to three World Cups. I've watched them when they trained in LA when I was out there and and I know how They can be but I think now this league really represents you know, the best in the world and the best competition and you've got players oozing from all corners here that are just great, great players and that's going to be fun to watch. So I do encourage people to follow sky blue and to follow the league and and also get your jerseys and and I don't look so good in a jersey but I'm going to buy my daughter when she was very excited. I was talking to you and talking to the women's side today. So we, we want to thank you again. We really appreciate you taking the time out during this very busy time you're in the middle of a tournament so to be able to get 3040 minutes of your time has been fantastic. I think you have delivered to our inside soccer listeners. A true inside look as to the thinking from an ownership perspective of what you're trying accomplish from a club, what you're trying to accomplish from the league standpoint, how important some of these items are, whether it's you know, it's it's relationships with fans or playing in a different Stadium, all things that are part of building a very, very successful club and I, for one leave here feeling like you guys are on a pathway to do that. So, again, thank you very, very much for spending time with us.
Unknown Speaker :Absolutely. I really appreciate it. Bill. It was a blast talking to you. And yeah, I would get your jersey pretty quick. There. There's some fast
Unknown Speaker :I will I I'm starting to collect stuff. So look inside soccer fans, that's 11 episodes, but we're not done yet. We'll be back Thursday, and we're going to talk with the NW SL Commissioner Lisa Baird, who's been on the job for a few months now. And as I mentioned earlier, has accomplished already quite a bit. I've known Lisa for a long time in other lives, and she's more than capable and it seems, from what I'm seeing and reading and listening. She's very, very focused and, and really excited to be in this role. And I think that's gonna also help everybody that's involved. So that'll be Thursday. Look for this episode to be released later this evening. Lisa Baird and Ws l Commissioner on Thursday, and everyone take care until the next time. Thank you very much.