WHEN: Today, Thursday, October 12, 2023
WHERE: CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”
Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with Authentic Brands CEO Jamie Salter, Inter Miami CF Owner David Beckham and CNBC’s Sara Eisen that aired during CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” (M-F, 9AM-12PM ET) today, Thursday, October 12, 2023. Following is a link to video on CNBC.com: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/10/12/david-beckham-on-manchester-united-its-the-right-time-for-somebody-to-take-over.html.
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
BECKHAM ON MANCHESTER UNITED
DAVID BECKHAM: Well, at the moment, there’s been no discussion of that. But everybody knows that I’m a Manchester United fan. And I’ve been very vocal about the situation that is happening at Manchester United, and that’s been happening for a number of years. You know, obviously I grew up at Manchester United from a very young age. We have a lot of stability, you know, the same manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, and then the same owners. Now obviously over the years Manchester United will always be Manchester United. They’ll always be one of the biggest clubs in the world. Now we need to get back to that for the fans, for the players, for the coaching staff, for the manager, because at the moment, there’s no stability. And we need to get the talk back on the field rather than off the field.
SARA EISEN: You wanna see it sold?
BECKHAM: I wanna see an ownership group that will take over that actually will now take it back to what it should be. You know, I’m not saying the past owners have done a bad job because we’ve still been very successful on the field and off the field. But for me, it’s the right time for somebody else to take over.
EISEN: But, so is it not true that you’re a part of the Qatari deal somehow?
BECKHAM: At the moment, there’s been no discussion with that. You know, obviously I have had a long-standing relationship with Qatar, because of my involvement with PSG when I played there and we won the championship. So obviously there’s gonna be, you know, some connection there, and people talking about my involvement in Manchester. Because you put the two together, myself, Manchester United, plus PSG, and, you know, there’s a connection. So people will obviously be talking about that. But there’s been no discussion at the moment.
EISEN: All right. That’s some news. How likely do you think a deal is? And for them to get it?
BECKHAM: I think, you know, something’s going to happen. I think there will be a takeover. I think it’s the right time. You know, I think we all have our own opinions on who we feel that should take over. But in my opinion, it’s whoever cares about the club the most, and that is gonna take it back to where it should be.
SALTER & BECKHAM ON FOCUS ON CONTENT
JAMIE SALTER: Content is for sure a new revenue stream for us. It’s new. We’re learning. But when you look at Disney, let’s be honest, Disney makes great movies. And then they really license their brand out a lot. So think about Authentic Studios no different than Disney Studios. And we’re starting off, you know, small. But we’ve already had two successful, actually three successful shows. And as you know, we were part of the Elvis movie with Warner Brothers, also. So between, you know, Save My Squad, and the Elvis movie, and now David Beckham documentary on Netflix, streaming all over the world, we’re number one right now. It’s pretty cool in the last year and a half, we’ve had a lot of successful shows.
EISEN: Anything about the reception to the documentary surprise you?
BECKHAM: All of it, actually. You know, I knew that we’d made something that was pretty interesting to people and would remind people of the memories back in the ’90s when I was at Manchester United, and obviously everything that I went through. But I suppose that the insane reaction that we’ve had, and the positive reaction has been just been incredible. And I sat down the other day with the team and I just said, “I just can’t believe I can’t believe the reaction that we’re getting.” I don’t think I’ve ever had a reaction like it to something that we’ve done. So my wife’s very happy. She enjoyed the process—
EISEN: Most importantly.
BECKHAM: And so did the kids. You know, it was nice for the kids to kinda see it, experience it, and just understand, you know, what’s gone on in the last 30 years really.
EISEN: Well, I think what people like about it is that you were very real. And we learned some things like the beekeeping hobby, and the closet organization, which is really extreme.
BECKHAM: Well, I always said to Netflix and my team that if I’m going to do this, I need to do it properly. I want to do it in a way that everyone sees what we’re like as a familiar, what I’m like, and what I’ve felt over the years about some of the pressures that I’ve been under with my career and outside of that. But I said, “I’m only gonna do this once. So if I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna do it properly.”
SALTER ON REEBOK
SALTER: Early days, but we’re going back into sport in a big way, which Adidas took them out of sport. So you gotta appreciate that, you know, Reebok, 50% of the business is sort of classic. And the other 50% of the business is sort of performance. And we’re gonna be pushing that performance, you know, in a much bigger way. And I think you’ll see some announcements here pretty soon where we’re gonna be back on the field, and back on the court.
EISEN: Okay. That’s a good tease. So it does feel like David, and Shaq, and Reebok, and sort of, you’re going heavily into sports within the sort of apparel industry–
SALTER: Well, look –
EISEN: That you usually go to.
SALTER: Let’s be honest. If you really look at what’s left of sort of the media business. What is still very big? Live TV. And live TV is sports. So we are gonna continue to focus on sport in a big way.
BECKHAM ON MLS GROWTH
BECKHAM: I look back to the time when I first joined the MLS. And there was only probably 13, 14 teams in the league. Now we’re looking at almost 30. And the league has global eyes on it now. You know, it has done for a few years. But now you bring someone like Leo, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba to the league, all of a sudden it takes it to the next level. Now it’s up to, you know, other ownership, and to really get behind this. Because even, you know, like I said before, there was a lot of people that helped, you know, bring Leo. And the other owners have done an incredible job throughout the league. To take it to the next level, we need to now capitalize on the opportunity of having someone like Leo in this league, and the eyes of everybody. You know, you bring, you bring a company like Apple into the, you know, the situation, it changes a lot of things. Now we have to continue to do that, and work hard to take the league to the next level again.
SALTER ON THE MARKETPLACE
SALTER: What’s going on in the marketplace, interest rates continue to rise which is not good really for anybody, including us. But it creates incredible opportunities, because you have some great companies out there, where their leverage is just too high. So I think that you’re gonna see some big companies have to sell some of their core assets, that they don’t really wanna sell, but they’re gonna have to sell to lower their debt. So, I wouldn’t be surprised—
EISEN: That’s where you come in.
SALTER: If you see Authentic do one or two large acquisitions over the next 12 months. And, yes. We have our eye on a few of them.
EISEN: IP? Is that what you’re looking at?
SALTER: Well, these are just big acquisitions that have IP.
EISEN: Yes, I’m trying to get some more specific clues.
BECKHAM: He’s not going to tell you.
SALTER: I’m not going to tell you. What I will tell you is they’re in the consumer/lifestyle space and the entertainment space.
