Mellody Hobson Is Investing in a Big Sports Opportunity | The Deal

In this episode of The Deal, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly talk with Mellody Hobson, co-CEO and president of Ariel Investments, about her firm’s newly launched fund, “Project Level,” devoted to investing in women’s sports. In this conversation, which was taped in front of an audience at Bloomberg’s Invest conference, Hobson tells the hosts why she decided to personally invest in the Chicago White Sox and the Denver Broncos, how F1 racer Lewis Hamilton taught her to speak more positively to herself and what she learned from a specific seat at the table of the Starbucks Board of Directors. Listen to The Deal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, Bloomberg Carplay, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch The Deal on Bloomberg Originals and Bloomberg TV. 00:00 - 01:17 Intro 01:17 - 05:34 Mellody & John Rogers' partnership 05:34 - 09:28 How Mellody got into sports investing 09:28 - 10:48 Ariel's playbook for sports 10:48 - 15:56 Denver's NWSL expansion team 15:56 - 18:07 Ariel's Competitive Advantage 18:07 - 20:28 Bringing Jason Wright in to run Project Level 20:28 - 25:19 Denver Broncos Investment 25:19 - 30:56 Mellody's Friendship with Lewis Hamilton 30:56 - 32:52 How women's sports can succeed 32:52 - 36:45 Why Mellody always sat next to Howard Schultz 36:45 - 39:46 How Mellody chooses opportunities 39:46 - 43:24 Bill Bradley's advice 43:24 - 45:30 Rapid Fire -------- Like this video? Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/Bloomberg?sub_confirmation=1 Get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com for $1.99/month for the first 3 months: https://www.bloomberg.com/subscriptions?in_source=YoutubeOriginals Bloomberg Originals offers bold takes for curious minds on today’s biggest topics. Hosted by experts covering stories you haven’t seen and viewpoints you haven’t heard, you’ll discover cinematic, data-led shows that investigate the intersection of business and culture. Exploring every angle of climate change, technology, finance, sports and beyond, Bloomberg Originals is business as you’ve never seen it. Subsc