The Kevin Sheehan Show - Commanders' Minority Owner Mark Ein

Episode Date: July 20, 2024

Kevin opened with some Jason Wright follow up along with thoughts on a former NFL player who believes Jayden Daniels will look much like C.J. Stroud did last year. Commanders' minority owner Mark Ein was a guest on the show talking all things burgundy and gold. The guys also discussed Mark's other love, tennis. His Citi Open in DC begins next weekend.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. One year ago tomorrow, July 20, 20, 23, the sale was finalized. And Dan Snyder's era of owning the Washington football franchise was officially over. Yeah, one year ago tomorrow, time flies when you're having fun.

Mark Eind is going to be a guest. on the show today. Mark, of course, is a minority shareholder of the football team. And it was Mark who convinced his childhood friend Josh Harris to purchase the commanders, along with 20-plus minority investors, including Mark himself. Mark will join me in the next segment, roughly 15 minutes from now. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, is Windonation. Call them at 86690 Nation or head to wind donation.com for a free, no obligation in-home quote. I'll kick off the show with this email from Sandy. Sandy writes, Kevin, you guys were rough on Jason Wright today, meaning yesterday. And he's referring to Tom and I as the guys that were kind

of rough on Jason Wright, Sandy believes. He writes, although you acknowledged that working for Dan Snyder, no matter who you are, never works out. Shouldn't that have been the main point of Jason Wright's time here? While it was an opportunity for him to be the first black NFL team president, he should have never taken the job. But instead, he came into the reverse car wash, ha-ha. The reverse car wash was a phrase, I think, first coined by Mike Jones when he was at the post covering the team,

and he said, everybody that comes to work here comes in clean, leaves dirty. It's like a reverse car wash. Anyway, Sandy writes, but instead he came into the reverse car wash, ha ha. I personally hope he's able to land on his feet. No future employers should hold his lack of success in Washington to anything but the owner he worked for. Sandy, I appreciate the note, and you're right for the most part. he entered a building that offered basically no chance for success. And let's also keep in mind, and I said this a lot about Ron Rivera, he came into the organization at an extremely volatile time.

You know, the summer of 2020, the name was gone. All the investigations were beginning. And, you know, he was thrust into a position of not just being the head of business operations, but being one of the faces of the organization. So from that standpoint, yeah, I think we all understand that working for Snyder was a bad idea unless you didn't have any other options. And the truth of the matter is, over the last five, six, seven years of Dan's ownership,

nobody with real options came here. And Jason was working for McKinsey and he had a big job. and as an ex-NFL player, he perhaps could have held out for a better organization to work for in sports, if that's the direction he wanted to go in. But I will point out to you, Sandy, that, you know, the last year, as of tomorrow, he's worked for somebody other than Dan Snyder. He's worked for Josh Harris in Josh Harris's group for 12 months now.

He's known Josh Harris for longer than that because I think Josh Harris is part of, of the ownership due diligence process, they got to know each other. I don't think they were interested in retaining him. So there is that. This from Joseph, Joseph writes, Kevin, do you think the name will become less of an issue now that Jason Wright isn't around to prop it up? No, I don't, Joseph. I don't think Jason Wright's exit will make people fonder of the name or more.

willing to accept it. He and the others that put this together, Will Misselbrook, etc. I've said many times they had a very difficult task and I concede that and have conceded that for a while now. It wasn't well done. It wasn't presented very well. It wasn't rolled out well at all. It was a poor rollout as we have talked about many times. And I think for a lot of us, it just felt all along, like the new name and brand process was like a hit and run job by a group of outsiders, you know, who knew nothing about the team and knew nothing about us. And yes, the task was tough. Yes, I don't know that anybody would have gotten it completely right.

And I'll, you know, even give them credit for working really hard because, you know, putting together a new name, new brand, you know, that kind of a project. takes a lot of work when you're doing it for, you know, a big organization with a pretty important product like the one that's here. But bottom line, the results, the rollout, it all sucked, you know, and he had his name all over it. They left us with a big lump of, you know what, in the punch bowl. And it still sits here. And I think most people still feel the same way about it. even though one of the creators of it is gone. Next subject.

Did you hear what Bougar McFarland said on Greenberg's show on ESPN Get Up yesterday, I believe it was? He was talking about Jaden Daniels and Caleb Williams, the first two picks in the April draft, and he was comparing these two to last year's top two picks, Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud. And he said, quote, don't be surprised if midway through the season we're having a conversation that is very similar to what we had last year, meaning the number two pick, Jaden Daniels, looks better than the number one pick, Caleb Williams. Just like last year

with C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young, there are a lot of people out of Washington telling me this young man, Jaden Daniels, not only does he look the part, but his team no, he looks the part. Caleb Williams will struggle, and I think Jaden Daniels will come out of the gate flying. We'll have this conversation, Greenie, he said, mark it down July 16th or whatever day this is, he said. We are going to have this conversation again. It's such a bad comparison. He can feel that way. Remember, he's an LSU guy. Jaden Daniels is in LSU. guy. But the two situations are just not even close to comparable because Bryce Young entered a terrible situation in Carolina, top down, owner down to the supporting cast. Caleb Williams is

going into a situation that you could debate is the best situation any number one, number one overall, especially at quarterback, has ever entered. Chicago. pretty solid, if not loaded in some ways, around Caleb Williams. At receiver, DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Romadunze, who they took with their second first round pick. Their offensive line is solid. They've got Cole Comette at tight end. They added D'Andre Swift in the backfield. Their defense is pretty damn good. Led by up front, Montez Sweat. They added Shane Waldron. as the offensive coordinator.

This is the healthiest situation for a number one, number one overall that we've ever seen. Bryce Young went into one of the worst situations for a number one, number one overall that we've ever seen. Not to mention that Jaden's situation is maybe a little bit less

than C.J. Stroud's situation. You know, they were in a lesser division, the AFC South, He had some weapons built in, had a nice young offensive coordinator from the Shanahan tree. Yeah, not really comparable. Look, if he had said, I don't want to compare him to last year's too verbatim, but I think it'll turn out this way because I just think Jaden's the better prospect. And I like the situation he's in.

But Caleb Williams isn't a good situation. I just feel like Jaden is the better prospect. but he tied it to kind of this apples to apples and it just isn't from last year. Not in my opinion. Anyway, Tom had a story this morning that I wanted to mention in the Washington Times. Tommy wrote that the return to RFK is further clouded by the following. Angela also Brooks, who is running for Senator, the open seat vacated by Ben Cardin, she has a lead on former Governor Larry Hogan in the polls.

Tommy wrote that Angela also Brooks is also determined to keep the football team in Landover. Quote, the commanders belong here in Maryland. Having them here has always been a great source of pride for me, and for so many Marylanders. In the Senate, I'll continue to work with Senator Van Hollen. Tommy, remember, reported that Chris Van Hollen was going to be a stumbling block to the RFK site bill in the Senate. She writes, I'll continue to work with Senator Van Hollen, or her statement to Tommy, and Governor Wes Moore to keep the commanders here and ensure there is a fair process, closed quote.

Now, I would push back a little bit from this standpoint. First of all, if she does win, she's not going to be able to vote on anything until the middle of January when she takes control of that vacated Senate seat. And hopefully, sometime between now and the end of the year, the RFK site bill is voted on and hopefully it passes. You know, there will be a session in September and then they break for the election, and then there's a lot of, and then there's a lame duck session, as Howard Gutman explained to us the other day, following the election, and hopefully something can be done then. You know, it's also just interesting that in Maryland, yes, they have taxpayers in a whole state to worry about. Nobody in Baltimore cares if the stadium goes to D.C.

But a lot of the, you know, Montgomery County, PG County constituents for, Chris Van Hollen and Angela also Brooks if she wins would actually, I think, prefer the stadium to be in D.C. Two more things to mention, and then we will get to Mark Ein. The first of which is the Wizards did win a Summer League game last night. Who cares? The more important things in these Summer League games, how are your young players? playing. Well, Alex Sar, the number two overall pick, he was 0 for 15 in his last game, which was one of the worst summer league performances of all time. Well, last night, he did finally make a shot, but he was one for six from the field for two total points. That makes him one for 21 in his last

two summer league games for a total of two points. He had 11 rebounds last. He had 11 rebounds last. He had 11 rebounds last. night. He played some good defense down the stretch, but man, is he struggling on the offensive end of the floor? I mean, alarmingly so. Now, I mean, it's really hard to go one for 21 in summer league games as the number two overall pick in back-to-back games. Look, he's 19 years old, I'll wait until he plays some regular season games. You know, a few seasons maybe of regular season games before passing judgment. But one for 21 and two games is not very promising here early. His defense looks solid and, you know, they told us when they drafted him that they

really liked him as a defensive, you know, rim protector and as a guy who would be versatile defensively. I think they were hoping for a little bit more. early, offensively. Lastly, Jamir Young had one of the really, really good seasons in the history of Maryland basketball this past season. Talked a lot about him during the season, some of his performances, even mentioned that if he got in the right situation, he can really score, he's quick, he's athletic, he's able to get separation, even though he's only six feet, six one. he had 18 points last night for Denver in their summer league game.

Five of eight from the floor, seven of eight from the free throw line, along with seven rebounds. I'm telling you, this guy can play. It's got to be the right situation, the right team. You know, Kevin Willard had mentioned to me when he was on with me a few weeks ago that he thinks if he gets into the right situation that he could certainly have a chance, that he's the kind of guy that you'd love to have on your team. That's important, by the way, for an end-of-the-bench player when they're young,

is that they are a great teammate, that they work really hard in practice. But Jumeir's got some, you know, I think he's got some professional talent, certainly overseas, but maybe it'll be as an undrafted free agent on an NBA roster. He's playing well in the Summer League for Denver. Rate us and review us, if you get an opportunity. especially on Apple and Spotify, subscribe to the podcast, and also follow us on Apple and Spotify, if you get that chance. Up next, Mark Eyn, right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

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Mark a big sports fan and is part of his entrepreneurial spirit combined with being a sports fan. He not only owns the Washington Castles, he owns the tennis, tournament, the city open, which gets underway next week. He is also a part owner of the Washington commanders. His childhood friend, Josh Harris, purchased the team with the help of Mark during the entire process. He was involved from the jump and an advisor all along the way. And he joins me right now. Can you believe it is a year ago tomorrow that this thing was finalized? Yeah, I was Josh yesterday, and we were talking about this, it feels, on one hand, it feels like it was yesterday, and on the other hand, it feels like a lifetime ago. But it has been a year, and mainly we're just

really looking forward to the year coming up. You know, one of the things that you said, you know, a year ago, and Josh said many times, as he said, you both said, how difficult the sale was. It was not an easy purchase. And look Looking back, can you share some of the details on what made it a hard purchase? No. I mean, look, every deal has its own journey, and frankly, most deals of this size are complexity are not easy. This one had some unique components to it, as everyone can imagine.

but you have to bring a lot of people together to pay the highest price ever for a sports franchise in the world with leagues and jurisdictions and sellers and raising the bringing in you know a big set of really terrific partners and just when you throw that all together

and you do it in a fairly condensed time frame it creates challenges but you know it also creates the opportunity that we were able to capitalize on. Did you ever think that it wouldn't get done? Oh, sure. I mean, this started five minutes after the news hit the wire. And I had actually been approached earlier.

Which news, Mark? Which piece of news? That Dan was really going to sell. Okay. It hit the newswire that he was going to sell. I had been approached a few months earlier by the banker who ended up selling it, saying, would you have any interest in a minority stake in the T's? team, which we weren't.

And then when this happened, literally within five minutes, I texted Josh and said we got to do this. So it started that, and it closed. That was November and it closed in July. So that's how long it took. And so, of course, during that time period, there's lots of stops and starts, lots of ups and downs, lots of moments where it looks like it's not going to happen. But, you know, our view. was that this franchise matters as much as literally almost anything, maybe anything,

in the community that we grew up in, that we love. And that with people who are deeply committed and connected and live in the community, that there was a need, but really an opportunity, but really a need for that set of people to come in and take it over and rebuild it to the franchise that we loved as kids. and millions and millions of people in the area still love. And that mission kept us going every step of the way. And even when it didn't look like it was going to happen, that mission kept us going, you know, with Josh at the lead, me, Mitch,

you know, Magic and all the others. We'll come back to the football team. You've got a tennis tournament. I have always enjoyed this tennis tournament, especially when I was younger. I don't think there was probably a stretch of 20, years where I didn't miss going to it each summer. Before we get to the specifics, why is Washington such a good tennis town? I'm not sure all of my listeners understand that it is. It is why?

Yeah, it's a great point. It really is one of the best tennis communities in America, if not the world. And I'm not sure I fully know why that is. It's cultural or just historic, but we have an incredible legacy of players of the tennis business. Donald Bell started pro-serve here, which then spawned David Falk and Michael Jordan's Empire. Octagon started here, still based here. And then just when you look around, there's just a huge amount of clubs where tennis is the centerpiece of it. And so that also translates to this event, which, as you said, was a big part of your life here.

and a big part of so many people that's been here for 55 years, started by Donald and John Harrison, and they brought Arthur Ashen, who said, I'll be part of a pro tournament if you put it in a public park. Because if you remember in 1969, every tournament, including people forget the U.S. Open, was held at a private club. Right, Forest Hills.

And Arthur's vision, Forth Hills, Westside Tennis Club. And Arthur's vision was, if I'm going to get behind this, I wanted to be accessible to everyone. And it was put in the location that's in the day. and said it's been there 55 years and generations of Washingtonians like you and I have really made this a part of their life. I was a ball kid at the tournament. Me too.

I drove. Yeah, I drove. Then I did transportation. Then I was on the board of the foundation. And then I was just a fan. And so, you're interesting. We've talked about the football team. I think similarly, this was a tournament that had really great players and a really important

event on the pro tour. But frankly, it just needed some love, some investment, some effort to sort of lift the experience for everyone, fans, sponsors, and especially players, to a different level. And so we were really honored in 2019 to take it over. And I think for everyone who's been, they've seen this massive investment in the site, the facility, the chefs that we bring in, the players who are now coming, the fact that we have an equal-level women's event. So, Kevin, this event is the fifth biggest tennis tournament in America, and one of only 10 in the world where men and women are playing together on the same, at the same event. And so it's really been elevated to one of the premier events in the world, and fans come out in droves. We just announced that it's the fourth straight year the events totally sold out in this year almost two weeks before the event. Wow, that's impressive.

You know, you and I basically the same age, I remember, you know, it was. was played on clay. It was the Washington Star Tournament. Vlas was like the biggest star, but it was all the clay court players. Then it went to Hard Court and, you know, some of the big names would show up. Becker, you know, in the 80s and McEnroe came a couple of times. Connors showed up all of those, years, whether it was on clay or hard court. But now it's completely different because as you mentioned, it's a combined men's and women's tournament. And you've got a tremendous field this years. So just share with everybody who's going to be here. Yeah. And don't forget, Andre Agassiz. Of course. Yeah. There's a great passage in his book Open, which I recommend whether you love

tennis or not, if you like sports biographies, where he talks about losing a match and being so frustrated he threw all of his rackets into Rock Creek. He went across the state. So, but Andre's been a big part of the event. So, yeah, I mean, the player feels unbelievable. And And again, last year we lifted the women's event, which was a lower level 250 event to 500, which is the same as the men's. And because of that now, the player fields are crazy good. So we have nine of the top 20 women, including Arena Sabalanko, who won the last two Australian opens and made the finals of the U.S. Open.

She's three in the world, and incredible to watch in person. On Jubert, Madison Keys, Sloan Stevens, Sophia Cannon. We have Emerita Khan who's on the resurgence. It goes on and on. So really great deal on the women's side. And then on the men side, we have three of the top-size male players, including all of our favorites. Francis Tiafo from the DMV, who, if you follow him on social media, he's always representing decent sports teams all over the world. Ben Shelton, Sebastian Cordo, who ironically, his dad won the tournament in 1992, and now Seb is top 20 in the world.

And whose sister is pretty good at golf. And his sister, it's a pretty gifted family. Yeah, it's pretty extraordinary. I actually asked, I've asked if I can get the parenting tips, but they say they're not sharing them until their kids are further along in their career. But whatever they're doing is working. And Grigord Demetrov and Wiley O'Pelka and Dennis Shoppabaloff, and it goes on on and there's going to be a few more added on the men's side.

So between the two, I think we've got 13 of the... top 20 players, three, former number ones, five former Grandfam champions. And, you know, it's only a week. It used to be, if you remember, not that long ago, that like Monday, Tuesday nights weren't that great, and then Wednesday would be good, and then you'd see who won. Now, every year we've done this from the first day to the last day, frankly, from qualifying weekend, which is also sold out. It's great players, great matches all the time.

In fact, sometimes we have so many great matches. We're putting great players on our second and third court, which creates an incredible opportunity for people to see the best in the world up close. I actually used to love being there late at night and being on one of the outside courts watching doubles up close. That was awesome. And by the way, I'm speaking to, for those of you who don't know, Mark is an excellent tennis player,

and at one point was actually a ranked doubles player in the world. I know you hate when we bring up that conversation, but it's true. Anyway, you said three. I don't hate it. I think it's funny because, you know, the nuance to this story is that I did that in my 40s, so I didn't play when most people did. Right. And then just kept playing and found my way that my George Clinton experience and happened to win a match or two.

And it was great. I'll tell you, when you get out. and you live that life, even if it's only for a couple months, it makes you appreciate how hard it is to make a living doing that. All right. So you're saying it's sold out. So, you know, you can certainly get them on the aftermarket if you want, you know. But it starts next weekend with qualifying, starting on Saturday and the whole following week.

And, you know, it coincides. One of the reasons I think you've got a great field is because not everybody's going to Paris. Yeah, that's right. So, yeah, and all the tickets for stadium tickets are sold out, we do have some outer court passes that we've released, which is, frankly, on a lot of days, you get most of the action, and so it's really good, and they're lightly less, you know, they're less expensive.

And for me, the selling out the two-edged sword, obviously it's great on a lot of levels and shows how much our fans love the event. But I want as many people to come as they can, so we try to give people opportunities. They can do that until they're gone. And then in terms of the player field, yeah, the Olympics are the same week, but for a lot of reasons, there's a bunch of players who would rather stay on tour than go play the Olympics, all those players I mentioned,

and we're the only pro-tennis event are weak. So every single person who decided to skip the Olympics, which a lot of people did, they're all coming to D.C. All right, let's talk some football here. It's been a year, as we've mentioned, And from the outside looking in, we've seen a lot of change. And I'm wondering what you and the group think is kind of the most recognizable or the most profound change in the organization since you guys took it over a year ago.

The culture. Everything. I mean, it all starts and ends with that. And look, the way that Josh got in a position. to be able to be the majority owner of the team, the way Mitch Rails became in a position to, you know, write the main investment he made, the way I got in a position I did, the way Magic did. Virtually every single person in the ownership group is self-made and built businesses is because

we've all learned that the way to build great sustaining organizations, its culture, great organizations happen when the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. and for that to happen, what brings with a cohesiveness, the thread is the culture. And so if you get that right, great things happen over a long time periods. And if you have it wrong, it doesn't matter the quality of individuals. It's never going to get a great result. And so that's been the focus since the beginning. Look, I would say there were a ton of great people, including Coach Rivera,

and tons like really great human beings who were there before we got there. But like a lot of things to really make a change, you have to bring in a fresh set of people with fresh energy, and that's what we've done. And so Adam Peters was the most sought after general manager in the league, and he's shown everyone why based upon the moves he's made. And Dan Quinn is probably the best culture coach in the league. and I was out there practice a few weeks ago, and it was a sea change.

I mean, it just, the energy was completely different, and everyone was coming up and talking to Josh and me about how different it was. And then I eventually pulled someone to the side, I said, you're just saying that because we're part of ownership, and they said, no, legitimately this is what we think. And then I said, well, was it Washington good or NFL good? Because all these people came from all over the league, and they said, no, this is NFL really great.

This feels like what really great franchises feel like around the league. And so, look, we'll see what happens on the field this year. There's a lot of change. But I'll tell you, people are going to see a different energy. They're going to see a different culture. And they're going to be really excited about the team that they're going to cheer for this year. A year into this, Mark, do you have a wow moment or two that you can share with us? Gosh, it starts with when we knew we got the deal and Josh FaceTime me and just looked at me.

To be honest, there's a little bit of like, wow, the dog caught the ambulance, you know? But in a massively positive way, like with massive excitement. But it's not like it's not imposter syndrome for you guys, right? No, I mean, what Josh has done. Yeah, exactly. The things that he's owned and built. No, no, no, no. Like I say that in an exciting way, but it's like you work really hard for nine months,

and then it happens. So that's like, you know, that's the moment like, wow, it's here. But look at what Josh has done and the teams that, you know, he's owned and the improvements he's made. I mean, the Sixers was bottom of the league and everything on the court, in the stands and tendons, and now it's at the top. And so, you know, he's been there done that. And then we talked about the tennis tournament. What I've done, you look at the business is,

Mitch is built and the championship's magic one. You go down the list. So no one's, you know, no one's intimidated or daunted, just excited by the opportunity. But that's one. And then, you know, that opening day, the press conference was fantastic. And then seeing how many fans came out to cheer and the energy around that. And then, frankly, every single game, just pregame walking out on the field and looking at that stadium.

And last year, every game sold out and seeing pack crowds. That's what this is all about. And that really is what it's about for all of us. It sports uniquely brings people together, and that's what this team used to do, and that's what it's doing again. I don't know the answer to this. Were you a part of any of the GM or head coach interviews

or part of that process at all? I mean, indirectly, yes. Indirectly sort of was, you know, listening, advising part of it. I didn't interview them, but definitely was following a part of the process. Well, what, I mean, I think we know, you know, a little bit about the Adam Peters process. I mean, he was the number one GM candidate on the market. What stuck out in particular to all of you about Dan Quinn? Culture.

He was Adam's first choice from the beginning. He was the person he wanted because he felt. paired with him, that was the perfect combination. Adam never wavered from thinking that Dan was the person he wanted. And then, again, I didn't interview him, so I didn't meet him, but just, you know, talking to Josh and the guys while they're doing it, that was the thing from the first interview was just, you know, if you want to transform a culture, there's not going to be no one better than Dan Clint.

If you want to inject energy into an organization, there's no one better than Dan Clint. and he's proving exactly that to be the case. Talk about energy. When you draft a Heisman trophy winner at number two overall, that's a jolt of energy into an organization, especially an organization that hasn't had a quarterback for a long period of time. Do you have a sense at all,

football-wise or organizationally, how everybody wants Jaden handled, you know, young quarterback, sometimes get time, sometimes they're thrown in there right away. Do you have a sense on how the organization is approaching the development of Jaden Daniels? I don't know. I mean, we all collectively leave that up to the experts who's really Dan and his team, and so they make that decision.

The thing I'll tell you about Jaden is that, and this has gotten out there, and it is true, he gets to the practice facility when the team's there at 545. Actually talked to his mom about this because she was staying with him, and he said, yep, he leaves to get there at 545, opens up the facility. I think one of the other players or maybe a couple started coming with them. And when I saw him at practice, I said, is that really true? He said, yeah, that's what I do. And I told him that I love watching Kobe Bryant videos.

I was like I'm a little obsessed with just like listening. Now, Kobe talked about his work ethic, and people may have heard the one where he talks about, you know, if you get up early and you work out twice as much, the separation between you and everyone else becomes insurmountable over time. And Jaden said, that's my role model. That's my role model. And so you have a young man who obviously the talent is unquestioned. And then you have a work ethic like that.

and you put that together. You can't ask for anything more. We'll see what happens and, you know, how long it takes what happens this season in the future. But you're starting with the two best raw ingredients, unbelievable talent and world-class work ethic. All right. Let's take a quick break, and then I've got a couple more for Mark Ine right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, guys, most of us are interested in our mental and physical well-being to a certain degree. and with that in mind, I'd like to welcome and introduce a new sponsor to the podcast.

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regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, including EE system. This segment of the show brought to you by MyBooky. Go to mybooky.orgie. Use my promo code Kevin D.C. And you'll be playing with house money. MyBooky has every everything you need for sports betting, and it's fair. It's a fair environment, fair point spreads, money lines, totals, futures, bets, opportunities, and pricing. You're not going to find a better spot than My Bookie, even if you have a place right now where you're wagering on sports. Take the free money at MyBooky when you use my promo code, Kevin D.C., and use it as a place where you can comparison shop on points spreads, etc. Pricing, especially.

MyBooky.ag promo code, Kevin, D.C. We continue with Mark Eind. Just a couple more for Mark. Mark, I appreciate the time as always. Give us an update on the effort to find a new place for a new stadium. You've everyone seen the stuff that's out there. We're really eager to find a new home. We obviously put $80 million.

into this facility because we're going to be there a while. We know how much it needed. I actually was touring it yesterday, and there's a lot that people are going to get excited about already for this year, and things people will see, and we'll keep making sure our current home is good, but we're all eager to find a new one, and, you know, we're exploring all the options.

When you say it's going to be a while, what's a while? When do we, you know, get excited about going to games in a new stadium? What year? It all depends on when you get the site. But I think, you know, you're thinking kind of move in in seven, eight, nine years, and you try really hard for the earlier end of that, and it could go longer, depending on how long it takes to secure the right site. That's not jarring.

Which is the current site, by the way. That's not jarring if you've been paying attention to it, but what you just pointed out is 2031, 2032, which means it's FedEx field for the next seven, eight years, and that's why you continue to invest in the current facility. Yeah, and I think it 2030 is the near end. But yeah, that shows why you have to keep investing and why we are, and we're committed to creating a world-class fan experience where we are. And, you know, frankly, a world-class team that people want to come cheer for.

and we have a lot of confidence that we're going to be able to do that and make this a place that people really enjoy being, cheering for their team, coming with their families, their colleagues. Like, we're going to make that happen. But then we're also excited for what we can build once we get a site selected. Josh said that first, you know, initial introductory press conference with respect to the team's name and the associated branding, we will, you know, do what our fans, want us to do. I think you've been here long enough to know what the majority of the fans want. They want to rebrand. What do you think will happen with respect to that?

We've been, Josh, has been consistent about this. We've all been consistent that our priorities have been the priorities that you and I have talked about and everyone's talked about publicly, and I 100% believe these are the right near-term priorities. Okay, but I also know that people, like you and Josh and Mitch Rails and a lot of the people that are part of this big ownership committee, not to mention the people that are working for the franchise, that you've got the ability to multitask, especially when, you know, an issue is as big as this one. You guys have done a wonderful job in this first year of, first of all, making the current stadium safe for

everybody to go to, immersing yourselves back into the community. You know, looking at winning by building out a front office with a first-rate candidate as a GM and hiring a great coach and landing on what we all hope to be the quarterback of the future. I'm just asking for a bit of an update here as much as you can, and I know it's hard, but do you think we will get some information as it relates to this topic anytime soon. I'm not trying to avoid the question. It truly is, and I know it sounds like, well, can't you multitask? Actually, rebranding is a really big list.

It is way bigger than people understand, probably on the face of it, between trademarks and uniforms and colors, if you would ever even think about that. And so we just, it's not, it has not taken a moment of focus because the focus has been building a great organization with a great culture, getting the right pieces on the place, in place on the field and off the field, and then investing a lot of money and a lot of time into making sure our current stadium is a place our fans like to go, and that's what we've been focused on. I just want to make sure I heard you correctly at the beginning of that answer.

Did you say that rebranding is a big risk or it's a big task? What did you say? Oh, I said it's a big lift. Big lift. Got it. Okay. Yes, I think most of us understand that it is not an easy task without an obvious solution. But anyway, thanks for doing this.

It's always good to catch up. I hope you're well. Let's do it again soon. Thanks. It's always great to be with you, Kevin. Mark I, everybody. Always appreciate when he has time to come on the show. And tennis, starting next weekend, will be great. They've got a great field on both the men's and the women's side. Tickets available on the outer courts, which could be fun on that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, with some big players potentially not making it into the main stadium and having to play on the outer courts.

So head on out there. It's always a fun event. look, as it relates to the name, they're just not going to give us anything right now on this. Until the path for the new stadium hopefully is cleared back to D.C., and it's a challenge, as we know, they're just not going to, you know, they're not going to be out there talking about something where lots of people, politicians in particular, have big-time opinions on this subject. Do I think eventually something will be done? I do. I absolutely do.

But it ain't easy. And the solution is not, you know, obvious to anybody. All right, done for the day. Have a great weekend. I'll be back on Monday.