Steelers investor Thomas Tull said at the ’17 NeuLion Sports Media & Technology conference that the NFL should take a step back to review what it has done well and how to face challenges such as TV ratings and making the in-person experience more compelling. “There’s a lot of things we need to do better,” Tull said. “The first step is to assess what about the league is compelling and what things we need to need to do a better job of. We need to be more proactive, but that’s probably stating the obvious.” Tull, who also previously served as Legendary Entertainment Chair & CEO, said a similar mindset should have been applied to the debate around player protests during the National Anthem before NFL games. “There could have been dialogue last year, getting together with the NFLPA,” Tull said. “We need to look at threats to the game and work with our players.”
FROM FILM TO FARM: During the half-hour session, Tull touched on numerous topics, including his film production career, sports team ownership, and the rapidly shifting media landscape. Now gone from Legendary, he is splitting his time between investment businesses and philanthropic interests, including an adjunct professorship at Harvard, several BOD commitments, and his Steelers stake. He also operates a farm in Pennsylvania that is committed to what he called “natural farming with modern techniques,” which includes installing Fitbit-type devices on his cows to monitor their daily movements and biometric data.
QUICK HITS:
* Tull was an early investor in The Players' Tribune and he discussed working with site founder Derek Jeter. “Derek is an unbelievably compelling guy. ... There’s not a lot of structure around the business model. But I never bet against Derek. It’s really turned into an interesting platform. It’s still a work in progress, but there are enough proof points that the platform is working and people are engaged.”
* Speaking specifically on Jeter’s work with the Marlins, Tull said, “What will be interesting for the players [there] is there’s no way they can say he doesn’t understand what they’re going through. ... Derek is extraordinarily serious about wanting to be known as a great businessman. He is 100 percent committed to this.”
* As for his own purported interest in being an MLB team owner, Tull said that was premature. “My interest would be as a control partner,” he said.
* On the changing media landscape, Tull said, "The traditional rules of TV have been completely obliterated,” but predicted the traditional two-hour format for most motion pictures will remain as a major art form.
