TODD WOODBRIDGE: Good morning, everybody, and welcome. We've got two very special guests here to be able to have a conversation with this morning.
Of course, we've got Tony Godsick, the Laver Cup chairman, and Steve Zacks, the Laver Cup CEO. Good morning to both of you. As we're about to get things underway today, there is an air of excitement.
Tony, let me just pose the first question to you. Ninth Laver Cup, is it everything that you perceived it would become when you and Roger had that chat in the car and look at where we are?
TONY GODSICK: Yeah. Anyway, hi, everybody. Yeah, for sure, we have completely exceeded our expectations. We really had no idea what we were conceptualizing or creating when we started the Laver Cup.
We knew that people would sort of come out and buy tickets, because we had the biggest stars in the world playing, but we had no idea if the format would hit, if sponsors would enjoy it, if the fans would come back. And here we are, as you said, in our ninth edition, back at the O2 Arena, and we're doing great. It's been a lot of fun.
Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to be released, but I saw a video last night at the Europe team dinner of Yannick Noah singing with the team, and that's exactly the kind of stuff, when Roger and Steve and I were thinking who would be the next captains, Yannick Noah, most of these players would never have had an opportunity to rub shoulders, get coached by or experience Yannick Noah, who is one of the most incredible personalities in the history of the sport, and he did it last night, and he got these guys all singing.
Same thing out on the court. Andre's out there, I think Andre was the first player/coach here on Sunday because he wanted to get ready for the mentoring and the coaching of the players.
We're super excited where we are on the ninth edition. I can't believe next year we are at ten years in L.A. We're super excited about where the event is today and where it's going.
TODD WOODBRIDGE: When you talk about where the event is today, Steve, the first time we have been back at a venue, and obviously the venue's a key and the city's a key, and it's wonderful to be back in here where four years ago we were able to celebrate the retirement of Roger.
STEVE ZACKS: Yes. Well, it's great to be here. We've had a wonderful partnership with AEG since the first Laver Cup held here in 2022. Then we went to Berlin and now back here.
It's a great operating team. We're very familiar with the venue. You know, so we learned a lot that year, but at the same time, we can improve on what we're doing, and it's so familiar. We know our way around. The team knows us. It was a very easy process loading in.
As you know, we do a pretty significant transformation of the arena. This is one of the great venues in the world. At the same time, it's a great showcase for the Laver Cup, and we're able to move in and get set up very quickly.
We're excited about, you know, what's to come.
TODD WOODBRIDGE: I'll open it up to the floor for some questions.
Q. Steve or Tony, you've got another really amazing lineup of players this year. What is it about the event that makes it so appealing for these top players to keep coming back? What do they tell you?
TONY GODSICK: I saw Carlos Alcaraz's press conference transcript yesterday, and he said it. This event brings joy to him, brings joy to tennis for him.
I think each person plays for a different reason. I think obviously one of the most important things is rivals becoming teammates. There is no other platform in tennis where they have an excuse to be on the same team with people that they're battling, you know, 51 weeks of the year against.
So I think that's one of the things that make relationships. The mentorship, they have an opportunity to be coached by Pat Rafter and Andre Agassi, Yannick Noah and Tim Henman, and before, McEnroe and Borg.
So I think that's one of the reasons. I do think that we're obsessed with detail and obsessed with making sure that the experience for the players is -- that's coming from Roger -- is a wonderful experience.
I was at the breakfast room this morning, and I saw one table filled with a player's whole family: kid, grandma, grandpa, and everything. I thought to myself, that's exactly what we wanted to do too. We wanted to provide an event -- the players are on the road all the time. They're rarely home. To be able to give them an opportunity to play a serious event, a fun event where they can bring their friends and family as well, that's maybe why some other people play it.
I think people like the competition, they like where we've been, they like the arenas. These players don't get a chance to play -- like Carlos Alcaraz, I hate to keep bringing him up, he's sort of the new big superstar in tennis, already with seven Grand Slam titles or major titles, he's never played at the O2 Arena.
That's another thing Steve and I talk about. Next year we'll be at the Intuit Dome. These players have never had an opportunity to play in some of these incredible arenas. So maybe that's another reason.
People play for different reasons, and you listen to them in press conference, and a lot of them have different reasons, but I think the presentation of the event, the camaraderie, is something that I hear a lot about.
STEVE ZACKS: So I would add that while we talk about all the quality elements for these players to come play, when they do come here, they come to compete.
So, you know, I would not mix up that they're really enjoying it with not trying incredibly hard. We've learned from all of them that it's a different kind of pressure than they have when they're competing for themselves. They're competing for their teammates, for a guy like Andre Agassi who wants to win very badly at everything he does. It's a very different thing.
Yes, it's not the same as every other tournament on the tour, but at this tournament, there is a different kind of pressure. When you put six, you know, incredible athletes against six others for one prize, they really go at it.
TONY GODSICK: Sorry to interrupt, but the peer pressure is real. When you're playing for Andre Agassi and he's on the bench, and Pat Rafter, another No. 1, is right behind you and you have all these players and they're playing for prize money, these guys are all like pushing.
There hasn't been one instance where someone hasn't -- and Rod Laver, who is sort of, he and his peers, you know, ushered in this professional game, they're sitting there watching, there's no chance for anything but hard play. The peer pressure is immense. And we've seen that year after year.
Q. A question for Tony. As you look to further establish the meaning of the Laver Cup within the tennis world, what kind of, or are you considering any kind of changes to it going forward? For example, could it be every other year? Is it important that it's every year? Or could there be a mixed element? What kind of changes are you thinking about?
TONY GODSICK: These are the questions -- so why fix it if it's not broken? I think, from you, I'd like to ask -- you know, this is a men's event. Women, combined events exist. As a matter of fact, another one was introduced yesterday, I just read, or re-introduced for the third time yesterday. The United Cup, the Hopman Cup, World TeamTennis, the mixed event exists.
In golf, we were not trying to be the Ryder Cup, but we were inspired by the Ryder Cup, because we saw rivals becoming teammates, it works in golf. I always go back, I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but they have a 100-year head start on us. We are slowly approaching our tenth year.
We can always take over things, but Simon, you have been to a lot of events, you have covered it, we didn't know if the format was going to stick or work, but it actually really works and makes for a competitive weekend each and every weekend.
So we will tinker with things as we continue to innovate, but changing the format is not one of the things, or changing the composition of the teams is not one of the things we are thinking about doing.
But there is always ways to improve. I said before we're obsessed with detail and trying to provide an incredible experience, not just for the players but for the fans, for the media. If there is anything we can do, Simon, you let us know. We know you too have other places to go and cover, and we want you to cover this event.
But we want to get closer to the ATP Tour, which we've done, which is great. We would like to attract players that maybe haven't played and get them to play.
I don't know how many of you last night were at the gala where Seal literally ran around the room, jumped up on tables. We want to do things and present the players in an atmosphere that you don't normally see them. We're not trying to replace what already goes on. We're trying to be additive, and I think we're doing that.
So, you know, we sit down -- unfortunately for Steve, we sit down on the Monday afterwards so things are fresh, and we talk to Roger, we interview the players, the captains, we interview the sponsors and try to find out what can we do better, what did you like, what did you not like?
The good news for us is we are not a two-week event. We are a three-day, five-session event, with twelve players. It's a little bit easier for us to navigate changes and make improvements, because we're not trying to move an ocean liner. It's a smaller boat.
But at the same time, that's what we're constantly trying to do. We're investing in the business every single year. We invest a lot of money, because we're fortunate to have an ownership group that is not looking for profit year after year. We're looking to build a brand of global property over the long term, and we're doing it, and so far very successfully.
Q. Once again, Tony, you just mentioned about the Ryder Cup thing, as you say, 100 years. Wandering around, looking at the wonderful photos we have down the corridors, and as you say, the nine-year history, I think other than Sascha and Taylor, it really does feel like it's a whole new generation of players. Does it already feel like you're building, starting that history side of things in a way with this new generation?
TONY GODSICK: Absolutely. I mean, that's where I hope you guys will all have an opportunity to walk through the halls, especially, and if not, I'll make sure you get an opportunity to do, we spend a lot of time, Steve and his team, in making sure that we list for the players, and obviously the cameras that are filming it, the past teams, pictures of them. Yes, we now have some history.
I was looking this morning, we have the average ranking of the player that's playing this year is 12, and there is no one, I don't know if you say higher or lower ranked than 22 in the world.
So we have a new crop of players. I promise you there are players out there right now that don't have a major that are going to win a major, and they're going to win Masters 1000s. They're out there, and they're coming.
Yeah, I look around, and I see that there is a little bit of history now. Roger gets always so upset with me when I'm talking to somebody, Oh, last year in San Francisco, it was the best year, and he looks at me and he's, like, I didn't play, how could it be?
I'm, like, Well, it's a different year, Roger.
But I really think that as we've gone year to year, we've sort of gotten better and more exciting and different things, and we hope we get more of the players out there on tour to come and join us.
STEVE ZACKS: So specifically on the players, you know, we've learned from them why do you play, how did you get inspired to play? Obviously you have to earn it, but right from the beginning, I mean, I remember Novak watching Roger and Rafa together in 2017 and saying, Hey, I want to be part of that, and that inspired him to come.
We hear from a lot of the young players now, since we've been at it for quite some time, they've watched the Laver Cup for years, and that was one of their goals to play and how excited they are to be here, like Rafa Jodar, as an example, this year, specifically said it. I'm not thinking of everyone, but I know Fonseca said that last year.
So it's great for us when we have someone like Sascha Zverev, who is now a record seven-time participating or Casper Ruud who's six years in a row, and also a mix of players who haven't done it, and that's part of the mentoring too.
But seeing it on TV, they understand the expectation. They come here ready to go, even as they're getting that, you know, new camaraderie team and mentorship.
Q. Steve, what can you tell us about next year, as you say, 10-year anniversary, L.A., are there any special things lined up? What can you tell us about the venue? It's the Clippers' stadium over there?
STEVE ZACKS: Yes, it is. So the nature of our business is we're all in on London 2026 right now, but certainly, we've scoped out the space. Obviously we'd never have an agreement if we had not done our due diligence, but we're very excited about it.
The Intuit Dome is one of the most innovative and new and award-winning venues. It's highly digital. It is built for the fan experience. It's much more vertical, so the views are fantastic for tennis. It's built for NBA, not for, let's say, a hockey arena, so it has this digital ring called the Halo that is, you know, sort of best-in-class.
And, you know, we expect that we're going to have a big turnout from the whole entertainment industry. Certainly we will look for collaborations there.
But as Tony said, when it ain't broke, we don't fix it.
TONY GODSICK: Let me just say about L.A., L.A. is going to be the sporting capital, it is the sporting capital of the world right now. They had some World Cup games, had the Super Bowl. We're sandwiched in -- I was telling Steve in San Francisco, we were sandwiched in between the NBA All-Star Game and the Super Bowl. That's pretty good. And the mayor, or actually, the owner of the Golden State Warriors said, We've got the NBA All-Star Game, then we have Laver Cup, and the Super Bowl.
I told Steve, That's really good book-ends to be in the middle of. And then the same thing. You have LA28 coming up after us.
So there's a huge attention to that market, not just with sports but with media and culture, music, fashion. We're really excited. As Steve said, that is one of the most incredible arenas.
STEVE ZACKS: We find a lot of the players just love going to NBA arenas, Tony mentioned earlier, just all these big indoor arenas they won't get the chance to go to. They follow basketball, a lot of their favorite players are there, they know the history, so that makes it another exciting element.
Q. Piggy-backing off of that, you had such success in San Francisco last year, you're returning to the O2 this year. Has the mindset changed at all as you guys start to scope and look for sites for the future?
TONY GODSICK: I will tell you what has changed is we used to have to knock on the doors of all these arenas around the world and ask them, Can we come? And now Steve's door is being knocked on by people saying, We'd like you to come, and in this case, We'd like you to come back.
As we approach our tenth year, we're looking at all different options where to go in the future, how to make sure that we modernize what we're doing, how do make sure we continue to get the, you know, the fan interaction, and we find holes and voids where they need tennis.
But, you know, this is a good time, I think, for us to sort of take a step back and examine where have we been and where do we want to go just in terms of the event, not necessarily location, and we're doing that.
That's what's super fun about this whole thing is it is a little bit malleable, and so as we look to where we're going to go after L.A., we've got a tremendous amount of options and we're weighing that.
STEVE ZACKS: If I can add, the rest of the tennis, let's say, industry or calendar has not stood still since we started in 2017, and so in terms of where the players are coming from, where they're going to, you know, the agreements we have with the ATP in terms of not being on top of other tournaments and so forth in terms of time and geography, you know, forced to us take a look at what the different options are.
It seems like it's a big world out there, but at the same time, when you consider everything you need to run a successful tournament and fit with player schedules and all those different things, and fan interest, you know, it does start limiting you, so as Tony mentioned, considering all that stuff we're looking at.
Q. Hello again. Just off the back of that, when you started the Laver Cup, it was very much to do with and Roger mentioned taking tennis to areas around the world that didn't have as much tennis, so what are the logistical challenges that you're clearly finding with, I suppose, South America or Asia, which is why it's back in London and it's in America quite often?
STEVE ZACKS: Can you just repeat the end of that, please?
Q. Just South America and Asia, are there logistical challenges with that, which means you're back in London or in the USA several times?
TONY GODSICK: In the beginning when we launched, we said we were going to go to places all around the world, and I think that was one thing I actually said that a few people keep pounding on.
We didn't realize what we actually needed in an arena when we started this. We were not arena experts, and we actually worked with a group who started to help us become experts. It's very hard to find facilities that have a certain amount of seats in a neighborhood or a country where your sponsors -- you know, we have 25 sponsors now, so we have a lot of voices telling us where they would like us to go and when they would like us to go and things like that. There are so many factors from when we originally conceptualized the idea.
In any event or in any sort of project or platform, you've got to innovate, change, adapt, and that's what we're doing. Sure, we'd love to bring this to Africa, would love to bring it to South America. We've got to find an indoor arena that can actually handle us for a period of time that has all the specifications.
I mean, I have become an expert in lights. I never thought I'd have to learn about lights. There are arenas, we have wanted to go to cities, and Steve -- Steve has a lot of frequent-flyer miles, this guy. But he's gone several times to a specific city where there is an arena that's too big and an arena that's too small. The answer they gave us, We will build you a new one. And they did. It's too big.
Then we have to look at how do you put the specific lights that we need in order to present the Laver Cup the way we've presented it. So that, all of a sudden, becomes something that is -- I don't mind investing in the event, I don't mind losing money, but it becomes so cost-prohibitive that at some point you say to yourself, Well, you know, it doesn't work at the moment.
But if you see all around the world in some different places, they are building some state-of-the-art arenas, facilities, areas, entertainment areas, and the good news is we are looking at all of them.
We hope to be able to go visit other markets at some point, but it's not as easy as we thought when we conceptualized it.
Did that answer your question? Okay.
Q. I have a question about the captains. You have two iconic captains in Andre and Yannick now. I think I'm right in saying that Roger has expressed his wish, the fact that he'd probably like to be a captain at some stage. Is there a set time frame for that? Do you have an idea when Roger might be involved as a captain? And any other thoughts on future world captains?
TONY GODSICK: So Roger one day is ready to be captain. The next day he says, I can't be a captain for ten years. He's got four kids and a lot going on.
What I can tell you is one day he will be captain, for sure. I hope. I mean, nothing is for certain. I know that he behaves and acts behind the scenes to Steve and I like a captain. He doesn't meddle in anything the captains are doing from that standpoint, but he loves this event.
I remember when we got the confidential schedule for today, I sent it to him right away, and he started breaking it apart. So he could be ready tomorrow to be captain, for sure. I'd love to see him be a captain at some point.
Andre is doing a great job. He takes this so seriously, and so does Pat Rafter. And Yannick Noah has been just absolutely amazing, and Tim Henman has been fantastic and great. So we've got two good captains now, but we'll sit down after this, I think.
But I'm always ribbing Roger, I think it would be great. And there is no reason, by the way, once you have been captain, it doesn't mean you can't be captain again.
So does that mean John McEnroe or Bjorn Borg can be back being captain or vice captain? Absolutely. That's the beauty of this thing. There's no rules or regulations as it comes to -- you know, because originally we had, I think the deal with John and Bjorn originally was two or three years? And they ended up staying for seven.
So let's see. I would personally like to see it, but we'll see when it's time.
TODD WOODBRIDGE: Well, I think that was very thorough. Thank you, gentlemen. We wish you, as the working team behind it all, the very best of luck over the next three days. I'm sure it's going to be fabulous competition.
We'll get ready for the start of play.
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