Inside the Owner's Box

Justin Nuñez Mike Valdes-Fauli
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Business
  • Semiweekly

Inside the Owner's Box (ITOB) explores the business behind the world's biggest industry: sports. Hosted by Justin Nuñez, a former private equity investor and sports executive, and Mike Valdes-Fauli, a globally recognized marketing executive whose clients include Coca-Cola, FIFA, the NFL, and Heineken, ITOB brings viewers inside the deals, boardrooms, ownership groups, leagues, and brands shaping the future of sports. From billion-dollar franchise sales and private equity investments to media rights, athlete entrepreneurship, sponsorships, and fan engagement.

Episodes

  1. Oct 21

    The Sports Valuation Game + Former WWE President, George Barrios | ITOB Ep. 9

    Episode 9 opens the Opening Bell with the valuation game. A normal business sells for about one times revenue. A pro sports franchise sells for 10 to 15 times. The Yankees bring in less than $1 billion a year and are valued around $10 billion. We break down why. Each league makes its money differently (NFL national media, MLB local TV, NHL gate and suites, fast-growing MLS), and four forces drive the numbers: scarcity, the billionaire boom, exploding media rights and private equity. We also look at why sports is its own asset class, with an emotional overlay and an uncorrelated return profile, and why it may be the one old-school industry thriving because of AI.Then the billionaire problem. When a team costs $10 billion, even billionaires can't write the check, so owners are selling 10% stakes instead. The Falcons, Browns, Giants and Dolphins have all done it. We talk about what that means for fans, the difference between being an owner and an investor, and whether a private stock market for teams, and eventually a team IPO, is coming. Next, predictions: who would be the ideal next sports owner? Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian and MrBeast all make the list. In Buy, Sell or Hold, we debate whether a small-market World Series is a business loss for MLB and why TKO is the easiest buy in sports. Plus Mikey's Book Club on Dave Portnoy's Cancel Me If You Can, and whether you'd let him in your ownership box.Featured interview: George Barrios, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Isos Capital and former Co-President and board member of WWE. George helped lead WWE's run from roughly a $1 billion market cap to a $9 billion deal with TKO. He tells the story of almost turning down the job ("are you kidding me?"), of telling Ari Emanuel they'd 10x WWE's media rights when Ari pitched 10%, and of Ari later saying, "You were right, I was wrong." He also talks about why Vince McMahon was the quiet one in the room. George reflects on his first zip code, Queens 11354, and the chip on his shoulder from a Cuban family where "no victims allowed" was the rule. He explains why he never wants to hear about a company's "Latino strategy," and why there is no sports rights bubble. And he gives his advice for an AI world: if you don't have your own point of view, you're in very big trouble. His book is Sometimes Wrong but Never in Doubt.#InsideTheOwnersBox #SportsBusiness #ITOB #SportsBiz #GeorgeBarrios #IsosCapital #WWE #TKO #UFC #SportsOwnership #FranchiseValuations #SportsInvesting #PrivateEquity #MediaRights #MinorityStakes #NFL #MLB #WorldSeries #Brewers #MrBeast #TaylorSwift #DavePortnoy #Barstool #HispanicMarketing #SportsPodcast #businesspodcast 00:00 - Welcome back and the Nike Watch 01:27 - Opening Bell: the sports valuation game 07:55 - The billionaire problem and the rise of minority stakes 14:21 - Predictions: who should be the next sports owner? 19:01 - Buy, Sell or Hold: the World Series and TKO 28:21 - Interview: George Barrios, from Queens to WWE 33:42 - Vince McMahon, Ari Emanuel and the 10x bet 41:56 = First zip code and why "Latino strategy" isn't a strategy 49:06 - Isos Capital, no sports rights bubble and career advice for an AI world 59:47 - Mikey's Book Club: Dave Portnoy's Cancel Me If You Can

  2. Oct 7

    Who does the "Protect College Sports Act" Actually Protect? + The WNBA Boom with Jackie Wilson

    Episode 8 opens with the bill everyone in college sports is arguing about. The Protect College Sports Act cleared the Senate with Ted Cruz in front and Nick Saban and Deion Sanders in its corner, and the opposition is just as loud. We break down what's actually in it: revenue-share disclosure on payments over $600, agent registration with fees capped at 5%, a five-year eligibility window with a single transfer, and protections for injured players' scholarships and health care. Then the debate. Is this the overdue framework for a "Wild West" industry, or a deal that protects the business more than the athletes? Our take: don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. A century of players getting nothing has swung into rosters that turn over every year. Guardrails, written in pencil, are a start. And capping eligibility is about protecting kids physically, not just financially.From there, the money. The NBA has amended its private equity rules so funds run by prospective owners can now co-invest alongside them in a full acquisition. That's a quiet admission that at $10–15B per franchise, the pool of buyers has gotten very small. We also look at 32 Equity, the NFL's own investment arm, as it gets serious about deal flow outside the shield, and ask the question of the episode: is private equity coming into sports because values are so high, or are values so high because private equity came in?Then the Nike debacle continues. The company is out of the S&P 100, Kylian Mbappé has left for On after nearly two decades, and Hoka and On keep taking running share. Revenue is still north of $45 billion, so this isn't a relevance problem. It's a cool problem. Plus Mikey's Book Club on Ari Emanuel's autobiography.Featured interview: Jackie Wilson, Senior Vice President at Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, joins us. He went from litigator to a decade as an NFL agent and general counsel at All Pro Sports & Entertainment, then tech founder, and now oversees brand partnerships, fan engagement and community for the Nets, the Liberty and Barclays Center. He covers why Barclays Center is "what you do in Brooklyn on a Saturday," why women's basketball didn't just get good (people just weren't paying attention), how the 2020 bubble lit the fuse for the WNBA boom, why audience growth is a revenue strategy and not a political one, the end of mom-and-pop team ownership, and the best career advice he's got: meet people with no agenda.Real talk, real numbers, and the deals shaping the business of sports. ▶️ Subscribe to Inside the Owner's Box for a new episode every Wednesday — hit follow and turn on notifications so you never miss a deal breakdown.#InsideTheOwnersBox #StayTranquilo #SportsBusiness #ITOB #SportsBiz #SportsOwnership #PrivateEquity #FranchiseValuations #SportsInvesting #ProtectCollegeSportsAct #CollegeSports #NIL #TransferPortal #NCAA #NBA #Lakers #NFL #32Equity #Nike #Mbappe #BrooklynNets #NYLiberty #BarclaysCenter #WNBA #WomensSports #SportsPodcast #BusinessPodcast 00:00 Welcome back to Inside the Owner's Box 00:11 The Protect College Sports Act: what's in the bill 02:09 The controversy, the supporters and the opposition 03:36 Our take: don't let perfect be the enemy of good 07:09 Haves vs. have-nots and the eligibility cap 08:54 The NBA amends its private equity rules 11:54 32 Equity and the chicken-or-egg question 14:45 The Nike debacle 20:01 Mikey's Book Club: Ari Emanuel 22:53 Interview: Jackie Wilson, Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment

  3. Sep 23

    ITOB Exclusive from Vegas with Franchise Owners & C-Suite Execs | ITOB 7

    On Episode 7 of Inside the Owner's Box, we bring you the exclusive!From the Latinos In Sports at Advance Global conference in Las Vegas, we bring you to the Owner's Box. Hear from Team Owners and C-Suite executives as they answer some of the biggest questions in the sports landscape. You'll hear from voices like:- Jon Fisher, Majority Owner of the A's- Sandre Douglas Morgan, President - Las Vegas Raiders- Kevin Demoff, President - LA Rams- Front Office Executives from Draft Kings, Amazon & sports franchises across the country- & Leaders from Top Invest FirmsWe also discuss the record-breaking deal between the University of Miami and Nike and how that deal changes the landscape of college sports. ▶️ Subscribe to Inside the Owner's Box for a new episode every Friday — hit follow and turn on notifications so you never miss a deal breakdown.#InsideTheOwnersBox #ITOB #StayTranquilo #SportsBusiness #SportsBiz #SportsOwnership #FranchiseValuations #PrivateEquity #SportsInvesting #sportspodcast #businesspodcast

  4. Sep 9

    Showtime, Interrupted: The Lakers Sale & Where the Money Came From + Inside the MLS with Camilo Durana, CBO at MLS

    Episode 6 opens with a late entrant to the "who won the sports summer" debate: Kevin Durant. A seed check written in 2016 alongside Rich Kleiman turned into a reported eight-figure exit when Nvidia acquired the open-source AI company Hugging Face — a return that took a decade to arrive and carries a lesson most athlete investors never hear about hit rates, patience, and the twenty checks that go to zero.Then we get into Showtime, and not the good kind. The $12.5 billion Lakers sale came just nine months after the league approved Mark Walter as owner, and the reporting around his insurance empire — an FBI probe, allegations of undisclosed self-dealing, and echoes of a 2014 class action — raises a harder question that reaches all the way to the Dodgers' back-to-back titles: what does a championship mean if the money behind it is under investigation? (Commentary and allegations, not findings — no charges have been filed.)From there, the deal round. Jeff Bezos and partners take roughly 40% of Liverpool at a reported $7.5B valuation, with the option to buy the rest inside 12 months — old-school trophy ownership, not an operating play. Arctos adds the Falcons at $10.6B, its fourth NFL position. And Marc Lore sells his Timberwolves majority stake to Dragoneer founder Marc Stad at $4.5B, five years after buying in at $1.5B. The through-line: liquidity has arrived in what used to be the most illiquid asset class in the world, and the buyer pool has narrowed to private equity and tech money.We close with Buy/Sell/Hold on three emerging leagues — Unrivaled and the CBA risk hiding under its $650M valuation, the World Fencing League and the "velvet rope thesis," and Athletes Unlimited softball, where the youth and college pipeline already exists and only the pro layer is missing.Finally, Camilo Durana, Chief Business Officer and EVP of Major League Soccer, joins for his own conversation — from buying World Soccer Magazine with his allowance in Montreal to running marketing, media, events and Soccer United Marketing for a 30-club league. He breaks down why MLS paused its own regular season to build Leagues Cup with Liga MX, how the league approached the World Cup as an enterprise for the first time in 30 years, and what the transition from Don Garber to the next commissioner looks like from inside the building.Real talk, real numbers, and the deals shaping the business of sports. Note: segments include the hosts' opinions and unverified figures — framed as commentary, not reported news.▶️ Subscribe to Inside the Owner's Box for a new episode every Friday — hit follow and turn on notifications so you never miss a deal breakdown.#InsideTheOwnersBox #ITOB #StayTranquilo #SportsBusiness #SportsBiz #SportsOwnership #FranchiseValuations #PrivateEquity #SportsInvesting #VentureCapital #KevinDurant #Lakers #Dodgers #Liverpool #JeffBezos #NFL #Falcons #NBA #Timberwolves #WNBA #Unrivaled #MLS #LigaMX #LeaguesCup #WomensSports #SportsPodcast #businesspodcast 00:00 Welcome to Episode 600:51 Kevin Durant's quiet $60M AI cash out01:50 What athletes get wrong about venture capital03:41 Showtime: the $12.5B Lakers sale and the questions around Mark Walter06:44 The Dodgers, the spending, and MLB's coming labor fight11:11 Jeff Bezos buys into Liverpool14:19 Arctos, the Falcons, and the road to $20B franchises17:30 Marc Stad buys the Timberwolves20:43 Buy, Sell, Hold: Unrivaled, World Fencing League and AUSL softball30:15 Camilo Durana, Chief Business Officer of Major League Soccer

  5. Aug 19

    FIFA on Fire, Nike in Decline + Exclusive Interview with Former Marlins President David Samson | ITOB Ep. 5

    The summer of sports never cooled off — and this episode brings a heavyweight guest to break it all down. The guys open with their winners and losers: Don Garber handing MLS to Larry Bird, Jake Paul quietly building a near-$200M business empire and eyeing the UFC, and a post-World Cup shift in youth sports that hit one host right at home. Then it's the Opening Kickoff on the FIFA/Infantino scandal (commentary, not reporting), plus a rapid-fire deal deep dive: Saudi Arabia's record $55B buy of EA Sports, Mark Cuban and the Las Vegas A's, and LSU reportedly selling its media rights.Then the main event: David Samson — World Series-winning former President of the Miami Marlins — steps inside the owner's box. He takes us from law school and delivering newspapers to Europe, to Wall Street, to the only three-way franchise swap in sports history, to building Marlins Park through "blood, sweat and tears." He gets candid about being the public face of controversy, playing "characters," and the masterclass negotiation behind the Marlins' ~$1.2B sale — the ego premium, and playing Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez against each other in a bidding war. He closes with a bold prediction on foreign investment and teams selling off equity stakes. Then the guys wrap with a "buy of the week" on Nike — a brand that traded its story for an app.Real talk, real numbers, and the deals shaping the business of sports. Note: segments include the hosts' opinions and unverified figures — framed as commentary, not reported news.▶️ Subscribe to Inside the Owner's Box for a new episode every Friday — hit follow and turn on notifications so you never miss a deal breakdown.#InsideTheOwnersBox #SportsBusiness #SportsBiz #DavidSamson #MiamiMarlins #SportsPodcast #BusinessOfSports #DealMakers00:00:00 Cold Open: The Summer of Sports 00:01:06 Winners & Losers: Don Garber & MLS00:02:18 Winner: Jake Paul's Business Empire00:04:12 Loser: Youth Football vs. the World Cup Effect00:04:53 Loser: AI's Public Perception Problem00:05:47 Opening Kickoff: The FIFA / Infantino Scandal00:13:39 Saudi Arabia Buys EA Sports for $55 Billion00:18:42 Mark Cuban & the Las Vegas A's00:25:14 LSU Sells Its Media Rights00:29:01 Guest: David Samson Enters the Owner's Box00:31:44 Samson's Career: Law School to Wall Street to the Expos00:39:28 Building Marlins Park & Being the Face of Controversy00:44:24 Selling the Marlins: The Ego Premium & the Jeter–A-Rod Bidding War00:53:09 Buy / Sell / Hold: Nike — Screaming Buy or Falling Knife?00:59:40 Outro

  6. Aug 5

    Cards, Culture & Capital - Featuring Collectibles Entrepreneur, Mat Sposta | ITOB Ep. 4

    In this episode of Inside the Owner's Box, we open on a simple idea: sport is the most universal language on earth — no translator needed to feel a championship or a last-second heartbreak. From there, we get into the business that's making that emotion investable.We break down the collectibles gold rush — Fanatics Fest hitting Super Bowl energy, nostalgia turning into a real asset class, and why our generation would rather hang a used Michael Jordan jersey than a Picasso. Then we sit down with Mat Sposta, CEO of CHCK.AI and founder of Trove, who walks us from Wall Street to sports cards, the launch of instant AI card grading, and where we really are in the collectibles cycle.We also unpack the record-breaking $9.6B Seattle Seahawks sale and what tech money means for franchise ownership, then close with a rapid-fire Buy/Sell/Hold on Major League Soccer after the World Cup, Bare Knuckle Boxing, and the Premier Lacrosse League's $100M raise. It's real talk on emotion, money, and culture that ties it all together.

  7. Jul 29

    Athlete Investors, Evolving Media Rights + an Exclusive with NASCAR Champ Daniel Suarez | ITOB Ep. 3

    The game is changing hands — literally. In Episode 3 of Inside the Owner's Box, we go beyond the scoreboard to the business of sport: how athletes evolved from chasing Gatorade endorsements to running their own investment platforms, why an Australian AI company just paid $50M to sit on the Golden State Warriors' jersey, and how a single word from Warren Buffett shaped A-Rod's entire fortune.We break down the athlete-investor playbook (Steph's Penny Jar, KD's 35V, Serena Ventures, and Novak going strategic advisor to a $125B private equity firm), the $1B sports-and-real-estate build coming to Oklahoma City, the rise of Cosm and "shared reality" venues, a deep cut on the history of media rights — from Pete Rozelle to Roger Goodell's $25B promise — and a Buy / Sell / Hold on World Cup water breaks, the NHL's expansion into Texas, and whether you'll soon own a piece of the Dallas Cowboys for a hundred bucks.Then we sit down with Daniel Suarez — the kid from Monterrey, México who fell in love with the most American sport there is and made it suyo. Daniel takes us from his origin story to his win at the Coca-Cola 600, the culture he carries onto the track, his philanthropy through Daniel's Amigos, and a very special new addition coming to the familia. Real talk on discipline, representation, and por qué the doors he's opening are bigger than the wins.

  8. Jul 22

    Culture Is King: The Business of Sports — Plus an Exclusive Sit-Down with Emilio Estefan | ITOB Ep. 2

    Culture is king — and in sports, it's rewriting who owns the game. In Episode 2 of Inside the Owner's Box, we go beyond the X's and O's to the business side of sports: how the World Cup turned into an "always-on" media machine, why leagues now compete with YouTube and TikTok más que with each other, and how the fan went from watching the game to owning it.We break down Nike betting on influencers over athletes, the stadium experience arms race (nightclubs, Michelin chefs, and all), the toughness trend fueling the NFL, NHL, and UFC, and why smart money — think LVMH-backed L Catterton — is chasing HYROX and the experience economy. Plus the $4B Padres sale and the rise of Latino ownership across sports.Then we sit down at his iconic Miami studio with a true icon: Emilio Estefan — 19-time Grammy winner, the producer behind the Miami Sound Machine, Gloria, Shakira, J.Lo and Marc Anthony, World Cup and Super Bowl anthem-maker, and minority owner of the Miami Dolphins. Emilio takes us from leaving Cuba with nothing, to playing accordion for tips, to being told his sound "would never work" — and building a legacy that opened doors for a generation of minorities. Real talk on family, faith, the power of sports to bring people together, and por qué love always wins.

  9. Jul 20

    From Youth Leagues to Billion-Dollar Deals | ITOB Ep. 1

    Welcome to Inside the Owner's Box — the show that pulls back the curtain on the business of sports, hosted by Justin Nuñez and Mike Valdes-Fauli. In this episode, the guys break down the $20–40 billion youth sports industry and whether professionalizing kids' games has gone too far. Then dive into Deals to Discuss: - Ari Emanuel's stake in the Las Vegas Raiders at a $9.9B valuation- Two mystery investors buying into the Miami Marlins, - Gucci's $150M luxury partnership with F1 team Alpine. They close it out with Buy, Sell, Hold — hot takes on pickleball, the WNBA, MLS, and combat sports, including one host's case for humanity's next great fight. Sports is American culture, sports is business, and this is where the two collide.

  • 9 Episodes

About

Inside the Owner's Box (ITOB) explores the business behind the world's biggest industry: sports. Hosted by Justin Nuñez, a former private equity investor and sports executive, and Mike Valdes-Fauli, a globally recognized marketing executive whose clients include Coca-Cola, FIFA, the NFL, and Heineken, ITOB brings viewers inside the deals, boardrooms, ownership groups, leagues, and brands shaping the future of sports. From billion-dollar franchise sales and private equity investments to media rights, athlete entrepreneurship, sponsorships, and fan engagement.

Information

  • Creator
    Justin Nuñez Mike Valdes-Fauli
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Justin Nuñez Mike Valdes-Fauli
  • Show Website
    Inside the Owner's Box

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