Josh Harris talks about the Devils and 76ers and mentions Jack Hughes

LESLIE PICKER:  We could turn to sports if you want.  Why don’t we do that?  Why don’t we turn to sports?

JOSHUA HARRIS:  Great.

LESLIE PICKER:  Okay.  So got a hockey team? 

JOSHUA HARRIS:  Got a hockey team.

LESLIE PICKER:  Basketball team? 

JOSHUA HARRIS:  Got a basketball team.  Yeah.

LESLIE PICKER:  Football team?

JOSHUA HARRIS:  A Premier League team, football.

LESLIE PICKER:  American football?

JOSHUA HARRIS:  No, I don’t have a football team.

LESLIE PICKER:  Is that part of your wish list or —

JOSHUA HARRIS:  No, we’re — right now we’re — I mean, American football is an amazing industry and an amazing sport and a really interesting economic model, but right now I’m focused on basketball and hockey.  And, you know, we’re looking at the Sixers being positioned to win the East.  I mean, it’s a long season, but we are right there. And the Devils having massively improved their team with, you know, the acquisition, the pick of Jack Hughes, and bringing on P.K. Subban and Gusev from Russia and a whole lot of other moves.  So really excited on the eve of the sports seasons.

LESLIE PICKER:  Have you learned anything from managing a sports portfolio that you apply to your private equity portfolio?

JOSHUA HARRIS:  I’d say that the fundamentals of running — it’s all about great — you know, getting great people, either on the ice or on the court or in the front office, and motivating them to — and having a strategy that allows you to win and compete, and so those fundamentals are very similar.  The difference is I’d say the media scrutiny of sports, even though I’m sitting up here at the CNBC Alpha conference is very, very high. So, you know, we owned — we always tell the story of we owned Lyondell Chemical and we had thousands of workers, $50 billion company, but no one really cared about the price of polypropylene, but everyone cares about the Sixers’ starting lineup or the Devils’ starting lineup.  You’ve got a lot of people that care and have a view.  So, just there’s a lot of media attention and that takes a little bit of getting used to.