From mark.rauterkus at gmail.com Mon Jan 3 08:00:00 2022 From: mark.rauterkus at gmail.com (Mark Rauterkus) Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2022 08:00:00 -0500 Subject: [CLOH-News] Can you tell a story or write a lesson about boat wakes? Message-ID: Hi, Looking for someone to take this a a base for an article and run with it. I think this could make interesting reading for a swimmer. Mark R - - - snip - - - Why aren't ski boats designed like sailboats. It's rare to see a wake behind a sailboat even with the boat sailing at a speed of 15 to 20 knots. Could one develop a displacement ski boat that did 36 mph, as it would be great to ski behind a boat without any wake. The Horse Power (HP) required to push a true displacement hull to a particular speed climbs nonlinearly beyond the particular hull's "hull speed." That hull speed is an effective upper limit on the speed of the hull, and is only a factor of the waterline length. A good approximation is 1.34 X sqrt(LWL) = hull speed in knots. For 35 knots, that means LWL needs to be 681 feet. A 25 foot boat has a theoretical hull speed of 6.7 knots. From mark.rauterkus at gmail.com Wed Jan 5 13:41:03 2022 From: mark.rauterkus at gmail.com (Mark Rauterkus) Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2022 13:41:03 -0500 Subject: [CLOH-News] Burn out and self worth articles / videos expanded Message-ID: Hi, After you log in at https://Read.SwimISCA.org, you'll be able to see the expanded page on burnout in the Global Library for ISCA Members: https://read.swimisca.org/courses/global-library-for-isca-members/lessons/stay-happy-and-healthy-wellness-tips-for-coaches-from-wayne-goldsmith/topic/burn-out/ Do you have a story or insights to share about burn out? I'd love to hear them, perhaps on the comments at the bottom of that page. Or, send them directly to me and I'll blend that into that lesson or make a new one. New video (less than 3 minutes) on the blog and in the Library too about boosting self worth. https://Blog.SwimISCA.org https://read.swimisca.org/courses/global-library-for-isca-members/lessons/stay-happy-and-healthy-wellness-tips-for-coaches-from-wayne-goldsmith/topic/wellness-worthy-self/ Entries for the St. Petersburg meets are robust. Lots of more room at the West Coast meet, but it is coming along. Welcome to a new crew of coaches from Savannah, Georgia! -- Ta. Mark Rauterkus Mark at Rauterkus.com Webmaster, International Swim Coaches Association, SwimISCA.org 412 298 3432 = cell From mark.rauterkus at gmail.com Tue Jan 11 14:37:12 2022 From: mark.rauterkus at gmail.com (Mark Rauterkus) Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2022 14:37:12 -0500 Subject: [CLOH-News] Pointers, outside of the Library Message-ID: Hi, This tour page, outside of the Global Library for ISCA Members, gives an updated view of the lessons and topics in each realm. https://map.swimisca.org/tour/ We are building a gratis mini-course on being a counter for a distance swim event. Thanks Laura. http://blog.swimisca.org/mini-courses/simple-guide-for-offering-counting-support-for-swim-races What team do you think is going to win the NFL's Super Bowl???? Take this quiz. https://blog.SwimISCA.org/nfl/ Use that link with your peeps too. Talk about current events. Great time to break the ice with Georgia and Alabama too. The underdog (pun) wins! -- Ta. Mark Rauterkus Mark at Rauterkus.com Webmaster, International Swim Coaches Association, SwimISCA.org From mark.rauterkus at gmail.com Fri Jan 14 00:09:42 2022 From: mark.rauterkus at gmail.com (Mark Rauterkus) Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2022 00:09:42 -0500 Subject: [CLOH-News] Jump on this quickly, as the ISCA contest ends this weekend Message-ID: News from the Webmaster [image: 10-for-2-min.png] Contest, prizes, prediction! Hi Friends, If you have an opinion as to what team you think is going to win the NFL's Super Bowl, then get over to the ISCA blog and enter the prediction contest -- because if you win, you'll get a prize with a $75 value -- an Annual Membership to ISCA and a year's worth of access to the Global Library for ISCA Members . Contest ends in 48 hours. - https://Blog.SwimISCA.org/nfl/ The enrichment in the ISCA learning management system at Read.SwimISCA.org is well suited for both the experienced and newer coaches. There are hundreds of lessons and they are outlined in a tour page at - https://Map.SwimISCA.org/tour/ Areas include: - INTRODUCTION TO COACHING - STROKES, SKILLS, DRILLS - SCIENCE, RESEARCH - PSYCH - MANAGEMENT, PROGRAMMING, MASTERS, MEALS - RACING - COACHING CULTURE - TRAINING & EXERCISES - DYSTOPIA: WARNINGS, BAD, NEGATIVE, HORRIBLE, INJURIES, PAIN, SUFFERING - INTERVIEWS - TECHNOLOGY, SOFTWARE, DIGITAL RESOURCES A special offer, valid only until Super Bowl week, (30-days) is called, 2 gets 10. - Pay for 2, $150, but get 10 people memberships. So, you can bring on the whole staff, or even all the coaches in the summer league or PE teachers in the district. Give the gift of an ISCA Membership and turn them onto the resources of the Global Library for ISCA Members. Excitement is building, and reservations are flowing for the ISCA Championship swim meets this spring. The Age Group meets on both the west coast and east coast as well as the senior meet are special competitions where you see plenty of new teams and friends. Check out who is coming: - Attending ISCA's West Coast Elite Showcase (age group championships) - Attending ISCA's East Coast Elite Showcase (age group championships) - Attending ISCA's Senior Cup Free ebook, Readings from the Book of Coach Mark , is still available. The ebook, in PDF format, makes a great homework assignment for hyper-engaged parents, guardians and club board members. Freely cut-and-paste from the book into your own newsletters. Leverage the Q&As as grounds for discussions to share opinions on parenting and youth sports. - https://TinyURL.com/Book-of-Coach-Mark We'd love to see your team's website decorated with one or more of the ISCA logos . Raise awareness so more are familiar with the ISCA events and resources by putting the code and links into action. - https://Web.SwimISCA.org The ISCA Hall of Fame Clinic is going to honor six fantastic individuals who have devoted tremendous sums of energy and service into coaching and competitive swimming. Meeting and hearing from these masters at one clinic is going to be a fabulous experience. https://swimisca.org/isca-hall-of-fame-coaches-summit/ Thanks for your interest. Mark Rauterkus, Webmaster and Director of ISCA's LAP Webmaster-Team at SwimISCA.com 218-400-1500 = cell From mark.rauterkus at gmail.com Sun Jan 16 11:08:26 2022 From: mark.rauterkus at gmail.com (Mark Rauterkus) Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2022 11:08:26 -0500 Subject: [CLOH-News] ebooks hub at Read.SwimISCA.org, and new addition, Art of Being Happy Message-ID: Hi, New ebook, *The Art of Being Happy*, is in the Global Library for ISCA Members. You can see the ebooks hub page here: https://read.swimisca.org/tag/ebook/ You need to login to get to most of these ebooks. Over time, they'll also be available at small costs for sale on the shop site: https://SwimISCA.com. (Note, dot COM is the shop. Dot org is the main ISCA site.) -- Ta. Mark Rauterkus Mark at Rauterkus.com Webmaster, International Swim Coaches Association, SwimISCA.org From mark.rauterkus at gmail.com Tue Jan 18 12:15:00 2022 From: mark.rauterkus at gmail.com (Mark Rauterkus) Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2022 12:15:00 -0500 Subject: [CLOH-News] (no subject) Message-ID: Hi, When I am with the swimmers and complaints surface, I love to toss out the expression, "This is not a vineyard!" Huhhh? Say what? "There will be no whining here!" Only positive talk. Speaking of wine country, I heard that there was an in-person swim coaches clinic last week in Napa, California. Did any of you attend? Any and all feedback is welcome. Just post it here or shoot me an email. The ISCA Hall of Fame Clinic is coming at the end of March. Its banquet is on a Monday night and the Senior Cup begins the next day, on Tuesday. Hope to see many of you there. But, back to the avoidance of whining ... check out these two new ebooks. Log in and download them. Uploaded two new ebooks in PDF format. https://read.swimisca.org/courses/global-library-for-isca-members/lessons/affirmations/topic/accentuate-the-positive-ebook/ https://read.swimisca.org/courses/global-library-for-isca-members/lessons/affirmations/topic/affirmations/ Neither of these titles have "swim specific" content. I'd love to have one of you get me a supplemental chapter and thoughts on how you coach along these lines with swim jargon. When do you unveil the topics? Any first-person stories to share that can be included in the lessons or else the ebook's next edition? Mark Rauterkus, ISCA Webmaster & Director of ISCA's LAP mark at Rauterkus.com From mark.rauterkus at gmail.com Sat Jan 29 10:11:16 2022 From: mark.rauterkus at gmail.com (Mark Rauterkus) Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2022 10:11:16 -0500 Subject: [CLOH-News] Sports ownership Message-ID: Hi, This is more biz and meta than most swim coaches care about. But, I found it interesting and hadn't shared much in the past week. We were to have 4 meets in 4 days, but one got nixed. Excuse the delay. I'm working on a lot of content from Hall of Fame Coach Ernie Maglischo, Ph.D. His articles on back, breast and overtraining were pitched to Doug, for the main ISCA list as a value added service. And, then hook them into the notion of coming to the Hall of Fame Summit to meet Ernie, but that got waved off. Instead, I'll share those here, with you, shortly. A different website and email list that is more biz focused with sponsorship chatter with the NIL is at https://NIL.SwimISCA.org/ This is from Front Office Sports email newsletter: -- start snip -- Why Sports Teams Welcome Private Equity Ownership Prolific sports team owner Ted Leonsis broke down the first three generations of business types who purchase pro franchises during our phone call earlier this week. ?The first phase were the real estate people,? Leonsis said. ?They wanted to build or buy the stadium and they were looking for things to put in it. They were in the rental business, basically. The second phase of entrepreneurs came in and they were more media oriented. Cable was just launching, which became a big, new revenue stream. Turner, CBS, and Tribune got involved. The third generation was my generation: the web/internet [entrepreneurs].? The former AOL executive who owns the Washington Capitals, Wizards, Mystics ? and the city?s Capital One Arena ? welcomes the fourth generation: private equity. In just the last several months, the NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS have all cleared the way for large private equity firms to purchase minority stakes in their teams. ?There?s been big appreciation [in team valuations],? Leonsis continued. ?The downside is how do you get monetized? The only way you could really [take advantage] is if you sell the team. There are some really big funds that can give you growth capital for you and your partners with some liquidity. It?s been a godsend for a lot of teams who went through the pandemic.? None of Leonsis? teams have taken private equity money, but several others have ? especially in the NBA. The San Antonio Spurs are among them with Sixth Street Partners purchasing a 20% stake in the team last June. ?We?ve had decades of aligned leaders throughout the organization who?ve turned our bedrock of values into real life action and impact,? Peter J. Holt, chairman of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, told Front Office Sports. ?This, combined with the leadership, vision, and creativity at the NBA league level, is one of the many reasons why I believe we?re interesting to a group of dynamic partners.? Techies Still Want a Slice Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell purchased 10% of the Spurs at the same time of Sixth Street?s investment. Earlier this month, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia purchased an undisclosed chunk of the Spurs as well. Gebbia told FOS that his investment wasn?t just a financial play. He?s a longtime NBA fan and one of his first jobs in his native Atlanta was as a Hawks ballboy. ?The Spurs are just an incredible team,? Gebbia said. ?What the Bulls were in the ?90s is what the Spurs were in the 2000s. Five championships in 15 years. You have Coach Pop [Gregg Popovich] and players like David Robinson, Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker ? heroes as a kid I grew up looking up to.? Before Airbnb, Gebbia?s unofficial first startup was actually a college basketball team. He restarted a basketball program at Rhode Island School of Design that had been dormant for about 50 years. ?As a broke college student, [team ownership] was in a dream somewhere,? Gebbia said. ?How could I be involved in the NBA one day? My first experience was starting that basketball team. I had to recruit the team and raise money. I had to market it as a brand.? Limits of Minority Ownership Minority ownership is often seen as more about prestige than power. You don?t have a lot of, if any, say in how the team is run and few teams pay dividends to their minority investors. The same applies to private equity firms purchasing a stake in a team, which is limited to 20% in any one NBA franchise. No team can have more than 30% total of private equity ownership. An institutional investor can invest in up to five NBA teams. Rules are similar for the other leagues. ?The beauty of sports and the way the hierarchy works is that your team has to have a controlling owner who has 100% authority,? Leonsis said. ?What the leagues have done with the private equity firms was to create rules of the road on how much you can own. You can?t come to board meetings. You?re essentially a passive investor.? A Major Return on Investment One look at how much Leonsis? sports investments have returned and it?s clear why private equity wants in. Leonsis and his partners paid $85 million for the Capitals in 1999 and $551 million for the Wizards in 2010. (The Wizards purchase included the stake in Capital One Arena that Leonsis and his investors didn?t already own.) Now, the Caps are worth $1.5 billion and the Wizards are valued at $1.9 billion. According to Pitchbook, since 2002, all four of the major U.S. sports leagues have performed better than the S&P 500, and in some cases by a very wide margin. Here are the leagues? respective returns over the past 20 years: NBA: 1057% MLB: 669% NFL: 558% NHL: 467% S&P 500: 458% Valuations have held steady or risen since the start of the pandemic two years ago, even as profits have fallen ? a product of reduced schedules, crowd-size mandates, and a general concern over the spread of COVID-19. Other forms of entertainment haven?t been able to weather the pandemic nearly as well as pro sports, which are bolstered by massive TV contracts and, more recently, sports betting partnerships. ?We have proved to be a resilient industry,? Leonsis said. ?Everyone thought I was crazy for buying the Capitals for $85 million 20 years ago when the team was losing $20 million a year. Now it?s worth a billion and a half.? Liam Killingstad of FOS Insights contributed to this report. -- end snip -- -- Ta. Mark Rauterkus Mark at Rauterkus.com Webmaster, International Swim Coaches Association, SwimISCA.org From mark.rauterkus at gmail.com Mon Jan 3 08:00:00 2022 From: mark.rauterkus at gmail.com (Mark Rauterkus) Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2022 08:00:00 -0500 Subject: [CLOH-News] Can you tell a story or write a lesson about boat wakes? Message-ID: Hi, Looking for someone to take this a a base for an article and run with it. I think this could make interesting reading for a swimmer. Mark R - - - snip - - - Why aren't ski boats designed like sailboats. It's rare to see a wake behind a sailboat even with the boat sailing at a speed of 15 to 20 knots. Could one develop a displacement ski boat that did 36 mph, as it would be great to ski behind a boat without any wake. The Horse Power (HP) required to push a true displacement hull to a particular speed climbs nonlinearly beyond the particular hull's "hull speed." That hull speed is an effective upper limit on the speed of the hull, and is only a factor of the waterline length. A good approximation is 1.34 X sqrt(LWL) = hull speed in knots. For 35 knots, that means LWL needs to be 681 feet. A 25 foot boat has a theoretical hull speed of 6.7 knots. From mark.rauterkus at gmail.com Wed Jan 5 13:41:03 2022 From: mark.rauterkus at gmail.com (Mark Rauterkus) Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2022 13:41:03 -0500 Subject: [CLOH-News] Burn out and self worth articles / videos expanded Message-ID: Hi, After you log in at https://Read.SwimISCA.org, you'll be able to see the expanded page on burnout in the Global Library for ISCA Members: https://read.swimisca.org/courses/global-library-for-isca-members/lessons/stay-happy-and-healthy-wellness-tips-for-coaches-from-wayne-goldsmith/topic/burn-out/ Do you have a story or insights to share about burn out? I'd love to hear them, perhaps on the comments at the bottom of that page. Or, send them directly to me and I'll blend that into that lesson or make a new one. New video (less than 3 minutes) on the blog and in the Library too about boosting self worth. https://Blog.SwimISCA.org https://read.swimisca.org/courses/global-library-for-isca-members/lessons/stay-happy-and-healthy-wellness-tips-for-coaches-from-wayne-goldsmith/topic/wellness-worthy-self/ Entries for the St. Petersburg meets are robust. Lots of more room at the West Coast meet, but it is coming along. Welcome to a new crew of coaches from Savannah, Georgia! -- Ta. Mark Rauterkus Mark at Rauterkus.com Webmaster, International Swim Coaches Association, SwimISCA.org 412 298 3432 = cell From mark.rauterkus at gmail.com Tue Jan 11 14:37:12 2022 From: mark.rauterkus at gmail.com (Mark Rauterkus) Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2022 14:37:12 -0500 Subject: [CLOH-News] Pointers, outside of the Library Message-ID: Hi, This tour page, outside of the Global Library for ISCA Members, gives an updated view of the lessons and topics in each realm. https://map.swimisca.org/tour/ We are building a gratis mini-course on being a counter for a distance swim event. Thanks Laura. http://blog.swimisca.org/mini-courses/simple-guide-for-offering-counting-support-for-swim-races What team do you think is going to win the NFL's Super Bowl???? Take this quiz. https://blog.SwimISCA.org/nfl/ Use that link with your peeps too. Talk about current events. Great time to break the ice with Georgia and Alabama too. The underdog (pun) wins! -- Ta. Mark Rauterkus Mark at Rauterkus.com Webmaster, International Swim Coaches Association, SwimISCA.org From mark.rauterkus at gmail.com Fri Jan 14 00:09:42 2022 From: mark.rauterkus at gmail.com (Mark Rauterkus) Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2022 00:09:42 -0500 Subject: [CLOH-News] Jump on this quickly, as the ISCA contest ends this weekend Message-ID: News from the Webmaster [image: 10-for-2-min.png] Contest, prizes, prediction! Hi Friends, If you have an opinion as to what team you think is going to win the NFL's Super Bowl, then get over to the ISCA blog and enter the prediction contest -- because if you win, you'll get a prize with a $75 value -- an Annual Membership to ISCA and a year's worth of access to the Global Library for ISCA Members . Contest ends in 48 hours. - https://Blog.SwimISCA.org/nfl/ The enrichment in the ISCA learning management system at Read.SwimISCA.org is well suited for both the experienced and newer coaches. There are hundreds of lessons and they are outlined in a tour page at - https://Map.SwimISCA.org/tour/ Areas include: - INTRODUCTION TO COACHING - STROKES, SKILLS, DRILLS - SCIENCE, RESEARCH - PSYCH - MANAGEMENT, PROGRAMMING, MASTERS, MEALS - RACING - COACHING CULTURE - TRAINING & EXERCISES - DYSTOPIA: WARNINGS, BAD, NEGATIVE, HORRIBLE, INJURIES, PAIN, SUFFERING - INTERVIEWS - TECHNOLOGY, SOFTWARE, DIGITAL RESOURCES A special offer, valid only until Super Bowl week, (30-days) is called, 2 gets 10. - Pay for 2, $150, but get 10 people memberships. So, you can bring on the whole staff, or even all the coaches in the summer league or PE teachers in the district. Give the gift of an ISCA Membership and turn them onto the resources of the Global Library for ISCA Members. Excitement is building, and reservations are flowing for the ISCA Championship swim meets this spring. The Age Group meets on both the west coast and east coast as well as the senior meet are special competitions where you see plenty of new teams and friends. Check out who is coming: - Attending ISCA's West Coast Elite Showcase (age group championships) - Attending ISCA's East Coast Elite Showcase (age group championships) - Attending ISCA's Senior Cup Free ebook, Readings from the Book of Coach Mark , is still available. The ebook, in PDF format, makes a great homework assignment for hyper-engaged parents, guardians and club board members. Freely cut-and-paste from the book into your own newsletters. Leverage the Q&As as grounds for discussions to share opinions on parenting and youth sports. - https://TinyURL.com/Book-of-Coach-Mark We'd love to see your team's website decorated with one or more of the ISCA logos . Raise awareness so more are familiar with the ISCA events and resources by putting the code and links into action. - https://Web.SwimISCA.org The ISCA Hall of Fame Clinic is going to honor six fantastic individuals who have devoted tremendous sums of energy and service into coaching and competitive swimming. Meeting and hearing from these masters at one clinic is going to be a fabulous experience. https://swimisca.org/isca-hall-of-fame-coaches-summit/ Thanks for your interest. Mark Rauterkus, Webmaster and Director of ISCA's LAP Webmaster-Team at SwimISCA.com 218-400-1500 = cell From mark.rauterkus at gmail.com Sun Jan 16 11:08:26 2022 From: mark.rauterkus at gmail.com (Mark Rauterkus) Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2022 11:08:26 -0500 Subject: [CLOH-News] ebooks hub at Read.SwimISCA.org, and new addition, Art of Being Happy Message-ID: Hi, New ebook, *The Art of Being Happy*, is in the Global Library for ISCA Members. You can see the ebooks hub page here: https://read.swimisca.org/tag/ebook/ You need to login to get to most of these ebooks. Over time, they'll also be available at small costs for sale on the shop site: https://SwimISCA.com. (Note, dot COM is the shop. Dot org is the main ISCA site.) -- Ta. Mark Rauterkus Mark at Rauterkus.com Webmaster, International Swim Coaches Association, SwimISCA.org From mark.rauterkus at gmail.com Tue Jan 18 12:15:00 2022 From: mark.rauterkus at gmail.com (Mark Rauterkus) Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2022 12:15:00 -0500 Subject: [CLOH-News] (no subject) Message-ID: Hi, When I am with the swimmers and complaints surface, I love to toss out the expression, "This is not a vineyard!" Huhhh? Say what? "There will be no whining here!" Only positive talk. Speaking of wine country, I heard that there was an in-person swim coaches clinic last week in Napa, California. Did any of you attend? Any and all feedback is welcome. Just post it here or shoot me an email. The ISCA Hall of Fame Clinic is coming at the end of March. Its banquet is on a Monday night and the Senior Cup begins the next day, on Tuesday. Hope to see many of you there. But, back to the avoidance of whining ... check out these two new ebooks. Log in and download them. Uploaded two new ebooks in PDF format. https://read.swimisca.org/courses/global-library-for-isca-members/lessons/affirmations/topic/accentuate-the-positive-ebook/ https://read.swimisca.org/courses/global-library-for-isca-members/lessons/affirmations/topic/affirmations/ Neither of these titles have "swim specific" content. I'd love to have one of you get me a supplemental chapter and thoughts on how you coach along these lines with swim jargon. When do you unveil the topics? Any first-person stories to share that can be included in the lessons or else the ebook's next edition? Mark Rauterkus, ISCA Webmaster & Director of ISCA's LAP mark at Rauterkus.com From mark.rauterkus at gmail.com Sat Jan 29 10:11:16 2022 From: mark.rauterkus at gmail.com (Mark Rauterkus) Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2022 10:11:16 -0500 Subject: [CLOH-News] Sports ownership Message-ID: Hi, This is more biz and meta than most swim coaches care about. But, I found it interesting and hadn't shared much in the past week. We were to have 4 meets in 4 days, but one got nixed. Excuse the delay. I'm working on a lot of content from Hall of Fame Coach Ernie Maglischo, Ph.D. His articles on back, breast and overtraining were pitched to Doug, for the main ISCA list as a value added service. And, then hook them into the notion of coming to the Hall of Fame Summit to meet Ernie, but that got waved off. Instead, I'll share those here, with you, shortly. A different website and email list that is more biz focused with sponsorship chatter with the NIL is at https://NIL.SwimISCA.org/ This is from Front Office Sports email newsletter: -- start snip -- Why Sports Teams Welcome Private Equity Ownership Prolific sports team owner Ted Leonsis broke down the first three generations of business types who purchase pro franchises during our phone call earlier this week. ?The first phase were the real estate people,? Leonsis said. ?They wanted to build or buy the stadium and they were looking for things to put in it. They were in the rental business, basically. The second phase of entrepreneurs came in and they were more media oriented. Cable was just launching, which became a big, new revenue stream. Turner, CBS, and Tribune got involved. The third generation was my generation: the web/internet [entrepreneurs].? The former AOL executive who owns the Washington Capitals, Wizards, Mystics ? and the city?s Capital One Arena ? welcomes the fourth generation: private equity. In just the last several months, the NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS have all cleared the way for large private equity firms to purchase minority stakes in their teams. ?There?s been big appreciation [in team valuations],? Leonsis continued. ?The downside is how do you get monetized? The only way you could really [take advantage] is if you sell the team. There are some really big funds that can give you growth capital for you and your partners with some liquidity. It?s been a godsend for a lot of teams who went through the pandemic.? None of Leonsis? teams have taken private equity money, but several others have ? especially in the NBA. The San Antonio Spurs are among them with Sixth Street Partners purchasing a 20% stake in the team last June. ?We?ve had decades of aligned leaders throughout the organization who?ve turned our bedrock of values into real life action and impact,? Peter J. Holt, chairman of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, told Front Office Sports. ?This, combined with the leadership, vision, and creativity at the NBA league level, is one of the many reasons why I believe we?re interesting to a group of dynamic partners.? Techies Still Want a Slice Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell purchased 10% of the Spurs at the same time of Sixth Street?s investment. Earlier this month, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia purchased an undisclosed chunk of the Spurs as well. Gebbia told FOS that his investment wasn?t just a financial play. He?s a longtime NBA fan and one of his first jobs in his native Atlanta was as a Hawks ballboy. ?The Spurs are just an incredible team,? Gebbia said. ?What the Bulls were in the ?90s is what the Spurs were in the 2000s. Five championships in 15 years. You have Coach Pop [Gregg Popovich] and players like David Robinson, Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker ? heroes as a kid I grew up looking up to.? Before Airbnb, Gebbia?s unofficial first startup was actually a college basketball team. He restarted a basketball program at Rhode Island School of Design that had been dormant for about 50 years. ?As a broke college student, [team ownership] was in a dream somewhere,? Gebbia said. ?How could I be involved in the NBA one day? My first experience was starting that basketball team. I had to recruit the team and raise money. I had to market it as a brand.? Limits of Minority Ownership Minority ownership is often seen as more about prestige than power. You don?t have a lot of, if any, say in how the team is run and few teams pay dividends to their minority investors. The same applies to private equity firms purchasing a stake in a team, which is limited to 20% in any one NBA franchise. No team can have more than 30% total of private equity ownership. An institutional investor can invest in up to five NBA teams. Rules are similar for the other leagues. ?The beauty of sports and the way the hierarchy works is that your team has to have a controlling owner who has 100% authority,? Leonsis said. ?What the leagues have done with the private equity firms was to create rules of the road on how much you can own. You can?t come to board meetings. You?re essentially a passive investor.? A Major Return on Investment One look at how much Leonsis? sports investments have returned and it?s clear why private equity wants in. Leonsis and his partners paid $85 million for the Capitals in 1999 and $551 million for the Wizards in 2010. (The Wizards purchase included the stake in Capital One Arena that Leonsis and his investors didn?t already own.) Now, the Caps are worth $1.5 billion and the Wizards are valued at $1.9 billion. According to Pitchbook, since 2002, all four of the major U.S. sports leagues have performed better than the S&P 500, and in some cases by a very wide margin. Here are the leagues? respective returns over the past 20 years: NBA: 1057% MLB: 669% NFL: 558% NHL: 467% S&P 500: 458% Valuations have held steady or risen since the start of the pandemic two years ago, even as profits have fallen ? a product of reduced schedules, crowd-size mandates, and a general concern over the spread of COVID-19. Other forms of entertainment haven?t been able to weather the pandemic nearly as well as pro sports, which are bolstered by massive TV contracts and, more recently, sports betting partnerships. ?We have proved to be a resilient industry,? Leonsis said. ?Everyone thought I was crazy for buying the Capitals for $85 million 20 years ago when the team was losing $20 million a year. Now it?s worth a billion and a half.? Liam Killingstad of FOS Insights contributed to this report. -- end snip -- -- Ta. Mark Rauterkus Mark at Rauterkus.com Webmaster, International Swim Coaches Association, SwimISCA.org