Ep. 66: Erik Moses - Team President of XFL DC Defenders Shares Journey To New Role, XFL vs. NFL and Importance of Mindfulness.
Erik Moses is Team President of Washington, D.C.’s new XFL team -- DC Defenders. The XFL will reimagine football for the 21st century. The new league is committed to delivering a fan centric, innovative experience, including fast paced games and a family friendly environment complemented by cross platform viewing options and real time fan engagement. The league also focuses on overall player health and safety as well.
Erik Moses, originally from central New Jersey, grew up playing sports but was always interested in the business side of the industry as well. The University of North Carolina undergraduate later attended Duke University for law school and that’s where his passion for business began to blossom. The creative thinker, problem solver, attorney, entrepreneur and adjunct professor shares how his new role came about and the importance of having mentors in your life. Moses also shares his take on mindfulness, overall health and his current favorite book.
The XFL league and the DC Defenders team has a bright future ahead with an opportunity to be an innovative league, both for rule changes, for executives, players, coaches, officials and others who aspire to the top league in this particular sport, which is the NFL.
“I want to build a beloved D.C. sports team. I want this team to represent this community in this region and the values of this community, broadly speaking. I want it to be the kind of team and players and coaches and administrators where people are proud to be represented by us, Moses said.”
For More Info on Erik Moses and The DC Defenders
Website: https://www.xfl.com/en-US/teams/washington-dc
Twitter: @DCSportsCEO and @XFLDefenders
Facebook: @XFLDefenders
Instagram: @xflDefenders
LinkedIn: Erik A. Moses
Books Mentioned In The Podcast: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates https://www.amazon.com/Between-World-Me-Ta-Nehisi-Coates-ebook/dp/B00SEFAIRI
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Show Notes
[00:21] The XFL will reimagine football for the 21st century. The new league is committed to delivering a fan centric, innovative experience, including fast paced games and a family friendly environment complemented by cross platform viewing options and real time fan engagement. Please welcome Erik Moses to Health Gig.
[00:46] So I'm a kid who grew up in central New Jersey and played sports, was always interested in sports, but very quickly became more interested in the business of sports than actually playing, especially when it was clear I wasn't gonna make a living pursuing any particular sport.
[01:06] I went to school in North Carolina and I did what is unusual to many people. I went to UNC for undergrad and Duke for law school.
[01:27] Can you tell our viewers what is the XFL and why is it called XFL?
[01:36] So the XFL is a spring football league. The second incarnation, the first being in 2001, where our chairman and founder, Vince McMahon of WWE Fame partnered with NBC and Dick Ebersol in 2001 to launch a spring football league, then called the XFL sports. I remind people often that the sky cam that is really commonplace now in all outdoor sports and other events was an XFL innovation. Micing players was another thing that they introduced that is now commonplace but wasn't done back then. What we want people to see when they come to a game or tune into a broadcast is football first.
[02:48] So we will have some innovations and some changes we think are more exciting. A faster paced game, one that puts player safety first and also puts the fan first in terms of fan engagement and opportunities to really feel like their voices are heard in the game, but it's gonna be football that you know and love.
[03:50] So first things first bet on people who have the vision and the wherewithal and the resources to get something big and ambitious like this done.
[04:10] I think we have a really good shot at giving some entertainment to the 38 million avid football fans in this country who go into a little bit of a depression after the Super Bowl is over because they have no more football until the fall.
[04:22] How did Vince McMahon find you and what exactly will you be doing for the XFL?
[04:38] Each of those teams will have a team president who is responsible for the business operations or what we call kind of the fan or fan engagement. And then we'll have a counterpart who is our General Manager and Coach. In our league the Coach gets to be the GM. So as they say, you get to pick the ingredients and make the stew yourself.
[05:04] So how will you be drafting the players? Is it going to be the same way the NFL does or how's that all going to work?
[05:29] How will the rules be different than NFL or different than the previous XFL?
[05:42] We think we're going to have probably about a dozen or so rule innovations, all again, intended to make the game faster. We want to make certain people are getting more of what they want, which is action.
[06:11] They want to see special people who are on that field do special things. And so our rules will be geared to allow that to happen more often.
[07:19] So you're focusing on health, wellness and the safety of players. And of course, that's what we're really interested in.
[07:36] Wherever we can make a positive impact for the stakeholder groups that we care about. Players, of course. Fans, of course, are sponsors and broadcast partners. We're going to look to do that. And player safety is one of those where we can kind of try to get out in front of it as opposed to playing catch up or being responsive to things, because there's a lot more information that's out there now than was, you know, even two years ago and certainly 20 years ago when XFL 1.0 occurred. So some of the rule changes will also be intended to make the game a bit safer.
[08:23] I think that we'll be looking for ways to use data collection and innovation and equipment and technology to help us better be able to track player safety and player health, as well as tweaking those rules in ways that make the game a little bit safer.
[09:17] What about nutrition? Often football players struggle with obesity after football because they've spent their football days bulking up and eating and coming in quotes "bigger and stronger."
[11:00] So I think sharing the information is really going to be key. Our goal is to be part of the football ecosystem.
[11:19] We know that there are about 28,000 guys that play football in college and about 300 get drafted every year. We know that there probably aren't 28,000 who can play professionally, but the number certainly is higher than 300. And so giving people an opportunity to pursue their dreams and to get paid to play a sport that they've been playing likely most of their lives, I think is a fantastic contribution that we can make to this society to give people a chance to pursue their dreams for some amount of time and to make a living doing that.
[13:44] Why do you think it took 18 years for XFL to comeback?
[14:31] I want to build a beloved D.C. sports team. I want this team to represent this community in this region and the values of this community, broadly speaking. I want it to be the kind of team and players and coaches and administrators where people are proud to be represented by us
[15:37 ] I think it's just been eye opening to understand how affected by football people are in this country.
[18:51] Is the XFL going to want to be equal to the NFL or will you always be NFL and XFL?
[19:35] I think in many ways we could end up being a proving ground, both for rule changes, for executives, for players, for coaches, for officials and others who aspire to the top league in this particular sport, which is the NFL.
[21:12] I don't have the traditional sports background, so I'm a lawyer by training, worked in private practice, bought and sold TV and radio stations to start my career, and then went and work at AOL Time Warner when it was the biggest entertainment company on the planet, had some government involvement for a while, ran a local business development agency for the city.
[22:22] How important are our mentors and who are yours?
[23:21] What role has health and mindfulness played in your professional career?
[23:33] So I've recently started journaling, so I bought these journals that allow me to spend some time in the morning.
[24:17] I find myself being much more mindful in all areas of my life and choosing what I say to people and how I say it to them, trying to be much more present in my interactions with folks
[24:40] The book Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates is one that was very, very impactful on me. It is essentially a book written to his 15 year old son.
Thank you for joining us on HealthGig. We loved having you with us. We hope you'll tune in again next week. In the meantime, be sure to like and subscribe to this podcast, and follow us on healthgigpod.com.
“I find myself being much more mindful in all areas of my life and choosing what I say to people and how I say it to them, trying to be much more present in my interactions with folks.” - Erik Moses
“We will have some innovations and some changes we think are more exciting. A faster paced game, one that puts player safety first and also puts the fan first in terms of fan engagement and opportunities to really feel like their voices are heard in the game, but it's gonna be football that you know and love.” - Erik Moses
“I want to build a beloved D.C. sports team. I want this team to represent this community in this region and the values of this community, broadly speaking. I want it to be the kind of team and players and coaches and administrators where people are proud to be represented by us.” - Erik Moses
“I think in many ways we could end up being a proving ground, both for rule changes, for executives, for players, for coaches, for officials and others who aspire to the top league in this particular sport, which is the NFL.” - Erik Moses
“I find myself being much more mindful in all areas of my life and choosing what I say to people and how I say it to them, trying to be much more present in my interactions with folks.” - Erik Moses
Keywords
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