Verizon Media VP and Yahoo Sports GM Geoff Reiss acknowledged the present is a “really complicated time” for the industry at large, but he does expect new partnerships to come out of this. Reiss had the chat room at the the CAA World Congress Comes To You virtual conference booming yesterday when he predicted conversations during coronavirus isolation would lead to "deal babies." Reiss explained, “One of the most pleasing things that I've seen coming out of this is the sports community as a whole has come together and folks are picking up the phone, ‘How are you doing?’ ‘What can we be doing together?’ ‘Where are your pain points right now?’” Verizon Media/Yahoo Sports Head of Sports Partnerships Ishwara Glassman Chrein said, “We've been on the phone with our partners with the leagues to see how we can find interesting content to serve them when there aren't games going on.”
PLAYER FOCUSED: Glassman Chrein, a ’20 SBJ “Forty Under 40” honoree, hopes to “hear more of the voice of the player.” She said, “One of the things I always love to hear is what are the players doing off the field, off the court, off the ice? What do they do with their families? What do they cook? What matters to them? What are they doing from a charitable perspective? I hope we continue to hear more of that once life returns to normal."
DEEPER MEANING: Reiss said of sports' eventual return, “There's nothing I want more right now than to be able to go with my family to a ballgame. That is like the North Star that for me is hanging out in the distance. When can we go to a game together?” Reiss and Glassman Chrein also addressed their professional family, the sports industry. Reiss: “Use this as an opportunity to reach out to somebody that you haven't spoken to for a while and just shoot them a text, shoot them an email, ‘How you doing?’ Use this as a means of connecting with people across your industry.” Glassman Chrein: “My message would be to be kind to one another.”
