How Sports Helped Build T-Mobile: Mike Belcher, SVP of Biz Dev, Partnerships & Loyalty for T-Mobile - Sports Business Conversations

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How Sports Helped Build T-Mobile: Mike Belcher, SVP of Biz Dev, Partnerships & Loyalty for T-Mobile

Episode 104 • 21st July 2026 • Sports Business Conversations • ADC Partners

00:00

Dave Almy

So, Mike, let's just jump right in.

00:02

Mike Belcher

Yeah.

00:02

Dave Almy

Because I've had a few people on the show whose career started at Walt Disney World. And you joined them right out of college, I think, didn't you?

00:12

Mike Belcher

I did. I started my career at Disney as an international publishing coordinator in the consumer products division. So what that basically meant is I coordinated between the US Publishing office and the various Disney publishing offices around the world. As I like to tell my kids, I'm like, what I really did is I filled out labels on FedEx boxes and sent publications from the US to our international offices.

00:38

Dave Almy

Hey, man, that's coordination.

00:41

Mike Belcher

That's right. It happened.

00:42

Dave Almy

It was a good title, maybe, but it's. I guess it's sort of the equivalence of working in the mailroom to get started at a. At a big company. But I'm. So how many years did you spend at Disney?

00:53

Mike Belcher

I spent eight years at Disney and I'll tell you what, I was really fortunate to start my career there. It was an incredible training ground for me. I mean, I learned the power of storytelling and the importance of having a customer first approach. Disney's one of the best at it. So it was a great place to start my career.

01:16

Dave Almy

It's amazing how the lessons, particularly at Disney World because like you said, they have. It's almost a machine in the way that they have fine tuned the art of storytelling and the transition from that to your career T Mobile, where you spent the bulk of your time. I'm assuming those tools that you learned at Disney were hugely advantageous as you started to work at marketing and in partnerships at T Mobile. Did you continue to draw back on that experience as you began there?

01:50

Mike Belcher

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, it's interesting with storytelling because storytelling is everything from marketing and communications all the way to how you sell ideas internally and externally. And I think that's the piece we forget sometimes we're all salespeople at some point in what we do. Even someone that works in the finance department that has a bunch of data and has to sell it to the organization, what is that story? And I was fortunate to work with some just incredible storytellers. Whether it was Paul Pressler who was the one who started up or was a key person behind the Disney stores. And then our former CEO Mike Sievert. So I learned a lot from them. And then the other one around creating what I call, you know, exceptional customer experiences. Disney's exceptional at that.

02:41

Mike Belcher

And that's, I believe, one of the differentiators for T Mobile and something we always think about in Everything that we do with our partnerships.

02:48

Dave Almy

If you and I want to tease the storytelling piece out, because I absolutely, 100% agree with you, like, this is such an essential ingredient for success beyond just the partnerships and the advertising and the marketing and everything like that. If you had to distill the essence of what, maybe it was something you learned at Disney, or maybe it's something that you learned or applied at T Mobile, but if you had to distill the essence of an effective storytelling in your role, what would you say are some of the key part or parts of that?

03:18

Mike Belcher

Yeah, well, I mean, some of it is just basic fundamentals and structure of telling a story.

03:23

Dave Almy

Yeah.

03:24

Mike Belcher

And what I found is it's hard for people to do that. You know, the ability to be. To have a single. To have an idea that's simple, that's easy to understand, and to be able to articulate that in a way that's very concise and it's compelling. And, you know, I. When we're working on a new project or, you know, a new proposal or something, we. We always talk about the narrative. What is the narrative for what we're trying to do? How is. If I'm telling, like I'm talking to you right now, what is the story that I want to tell you that's going to get you excited about what we're doing and clearly connect to what it is? What is the meaningful impact to the business? And I think a lot of that comes down to people get.

04:13

Mike Belcher

People try to do too much when they're trying to sell something or even when it comes to what we do with customers and how we're trying to communicate in our advertising and trying to say too much and having a singular idea that's the same internally and the same with partners and the same for people that are selling is to be really clear on what you're trying to articulate, be very concise about it, and that way you're going to break through.

04:38

Dave Almy

It's interesting you say that we forget sometimes maybe the art of storytelling or get away from storytelling because, and I promise this is the last Disney reference. But like, if there is a. Like they have. We've all consumed Disney products. We have seen the movies again and again, and they do follow a very straightforward formula. So it's curious to me that we're all exposed to. We all have that fundamental basics of understanding of like what the parts of a good story are, but we get away. Is it the too busy thing? Is it, Is it the other Demands maybe too much, maybe people too focused on data and telling story with numbers.

05:18

Mike Belcher

I think it's a combination. I think we think more is better sometimes. And it's the opposite. The other thing I always try to get the team to do is what's the headline? What is the one thing that you want the customer to take away or you want the partner to take away? And if you can't get that, you have a lot of stuff underneath that have a clear headline. That's where you're going to challenge. It's like any story is like, you know, what is. What is the message that you're. What is the ultimate message that you're trying to deliver? And how does the story back that up? But we always start with like, what's the headline? Okay. And then build down from that.

05:55

Dave Almy

Now, you've been at T Mobile for a good long time, and a lot of that time had been focused on the sponsorship and partnerships portfolio and including sports, which is obviously the genesis of what we wanted to talk about today. Sort of focus on it. I know we've moved on to other things, but come on, man. It's a sports business conversation. Come on, Mike. We got to focus a little bit. So if you can go back to some from your perspective today and think back to some of the earlier things that you worked on AT T Mobile in a partnership capacity. Can you talk about the earlier memories that you have in it and what makes you now go like, I can't believe we used to do that.

06:35

Dave Almy

That was something that we spent a lot of attention on just to sort of getting into the evolution of it while it's been under your watch.

06:43

Mike Belcher

Yes. Can I. Can I do sports and outside of.

06:46

Dave Almy

Sports, you can do the entire. I will permit it.

06:49

Mike Belcher

Okay, fantastic. I, you know, I look back at. And there are many. But I look back at some of the things that we did as a brand in the early days. And just number one, it's like, oh, my gosh, how did we do that? And number two is it reminds me just how good it was when we did it that I don't think we even realized at the time. And I'll give you some examples. It starts with T Mobile rocks the Rock. We created the first ever outdoor concert on Alcatraz island to launch the T Mobile brand in the United States.

07:28

Dave Almy

As a member and denizen of the San Francisco Bay Area. I recall it well.

07:32

Mike Belcher

Do you recall it? Yeah. It was the talent was. I do this as trivia. Who is the talent for the first. For the launch of the. The event. It was Creed in the wallflowers. I won't ask you, but.

07:45

Dave Almy

I was getting a little panicky.

07:46

Mike Belcher

The event was promoted on Clear Channel radio stations across the country. It was. We had a televised live on VH1. Yeah. And it was one of the most surreal moments. And standing on that island looking out at the stage with a backdrop of San Francisco as the fog had moved by. And. And earlier we had. We had the Blue Angels fly over. It was just. It was just an incredible experience. It was one of the most challenging. Yeah.

08:17

Dave Almy

For those of you who have not been out to Alcatraz recently, let's just say the infrastructure is not robust.

08:23

Mike Belcher

No. And. And then getting everything from land on the island was a challenge, but it also was a big message that we wanted to send that were going to be bold, disruptive as a company and break through. And I said, celebrate the nationwide breakout of T Mobile on Alcatraz. And so I look back at that, it's just like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe we did that. The next one sports. It's the sponsorship we had with the NBA. And it was our first major sports sponsorship. And I think it helped put the brand on the map. And it was one of those things where were this small little T Mobile. We were a distant fourth carrier at the time. And now we're with the NBA. I mean, like, we're. We're real. We're. We're in the game. And. And it inspired one of the most.

09:10

Mike Belcher

One of our most successful ad campaigns in the history of our company. And that was who's in your fave five with Dwyane Wade and Charles Barkley. And. And for those of. For those people that might not remember that, it was a long time ago. That was our service, my phase, which was. Which was basically you could call to your five favorite people. It was unlimited calling to your five favorite people. And you can imagine the fun that we had coming up with stories about Dwyane Wade trying to get into Charles Barclay's Fave 5. And we shot that commercial and it was one of the first takes in Los Angeles. And I remember looking at our head of creative and I said, this is gold.

09:50

Dave Almy

Yeah, you felt it right there.

09:52

Mike Belcher

This. This is just magic. And we put it out and instantly it became a part of pop culture. It frequently showed up on late night TV shows. You would go to basketball arenas and people would be holding up signs. Can I get into your fave five, Charles? I would go to. I would go to golf tournaments. And people would have signs at the golf tournaments when Charles would play in. In Tahoe. And it was named one of the top advertising campaigns by Time magazine. It was just. It was just. We struck gold with that one. And it really did elevate the brand. And then the last one, I like, I said I could go on and on, but the last one was the T mobile sidekick. And another, an iconic device, part of popular culture.

10:36

Mike Belcher

It was the must have device for all the celebrities like Paris Hilton, Tony Hawk, Jennifer Aniston, Snoop Dogg. I could go.

10:43

Dave Almy

Dave Almi.

10:45

Mike Belcher

Dave Al. Me. Yes, I could go. I could go down the line. And we had the T mobile psychic launch events in Hollywood. They became legendary. And I'll never forget, we had a new cmo. We were having dinner and he was getting nervous because he wanted to get up to the event. And I said, we've got this covered. We're good. And we walked up the steps. It was on the rooftop. And there was a line of celebrities waiting to get into the event before the actual event had started, which I've never seen before, because they wanted to get.

11:16

Dave Almy

They wanted to make sure they got their sidekick.

11:18

Mike Belcher

Got their sidekick, yeah. And they walked the magenta carpet and they went in, had a great time, and it was a special time. So I look back at those and just go, wow. You know, like you said, with the wow factor.

11:29

Dave Almy

Yeah, there's a lot of wow factor. I actually want to tease out the relationship with the NBA for just a second because like you said, at that point, you were the number four carrier in the US and the NBA is clearly its own cultural phenomenon. So the category had to be extremely competitive. I'm wondering, like, you know, we always talk about, you know, properties selling themselves to brands to try to make sure that they can get involved in that. But I'm wondering, as the fourth most popular carrier, did you have to sell yourself to the NBA a little bit to get them to consider you as a viable option as a sponsor?

12:03

Mike Belcher

Yes, we did. I think it was mutual in that they were at the time in an existing relationship with Verizon. I don't want to speak for the NBA, but I think it was a little bit stale. And they knew the NBA was doing really well at the time. They had an opportunity to maximize that category. And so we started having conversations with them, but it was very competitive. And I think there were kind of two internal camps at the NBA on where they were going to go. But yeah, we had to sell them on where the company was going our story as the brand. And I think the NBA realized they liked our approach to marketing. They liked how they could reach a younger audience with what were doing.

12:49

Mike Belcher

And ultimately they believed in us and we got to a place on the economics where it made sense.

12:55

Dave Almy

They started to see what you all were doing in the marketplace and thought, you know what, maybe this is a little bit more aligned with the. The story that the NBA wants to tell about itself. And I. I think that gets overlooked a lot as far as how partnerships work. I get focused so much on the money, obviously, for. It's one of the reasons why it's there. But there is a relationship that works between the two brands as they. As they coordinate with one another. You are the company you keep.

13:19

Mike Belcher

Right, Right. And it does. And. And, you know, I. I give them credit because they put stock in the fact that we told them that, listen, we're not just going to sponsor the NBA and put our name all over the place. We're going. This is going to be our main marquee property, and we're going to activate that. And when we did that campaign with Charles and Duane, that was the proof point. I remember David Stern coming up to me and confirming that, reinforcing that they made the right move.

13:54

Dave Almy

The famously prickly David Stern, who gives you an attaboy. That's something. You don't wash your shoulder from the backpack, Pat.

14:01

Mike Belcher

Not at all. That's when I knew were doing something good.

14:05

Dave Almy

I mean, I had a Jay Prasad from Relo Metrics on not so long ago. And Relo Metrics is one of the analysis tools for partners and things like that. And we talked a lot about how sports has gone from kind of a nice to have. It's one of the thing you do that's sort of the tail on the end of the dog. That is your marketing to something that's far more essential for how brands are trying to connect with audiences. As someone who has been AT T Mobile and sort of watched the evolution on that, can you speak to that and how the role of those kinds of relationships, whether sports or other organizations, have become more fundamental to how the brand works and what it's trying to say about itself.

14:51

Mike Belcher

Yeah, it has changed quite a bit. And 20 years. I mean, especially for us. I mean, you know, going back to where we had the NBA and maybe ESPN and. And I think, you know, I think back then were a little bit on the forefront based on how we had activated around the NBA. But I think the biggest difference today, and it's hard for me to speak to other brands. I can speak for us is the importance of sports across the entire enterprise. And, and what I mean by that is, you think back to our days with the NBA. It was really a lot more about brand awareness, consideration, the association with the mba and yeah, we had, you know, customer experiences and so on, but it was really more brand focused. You know, today it's about reaching new audiences. It's about integrating technology.

15:44

Mike Belcher

It's about driving new business for the company. And I'll give you a couple examples. Our market share in smaller markets in rural areas and enterprise business was much smaller than where it was general market. It was a big opportunity for us. And one of the big reasons for that was because of our network. As our network evolved and we got to a place where now we have the. We're the leader in 5G, it presented an opportunity for us to really accelerate growth in small markets in rural areas and enterprise. Yeah. And so we evolved our sponsorship portfolio by going after properties like the sec. I mean, the Southeastern Conference, if you think about their audience, a big portion of their audience is in small markets in rural areas. And we could back that up now because we had a great network.

16:33

Mike Belcher

We were expanding our network in those areas. And we've been with the SEC for well over three years. And then on the enterprise side, a good example is what we just did recently with the PGA Championship and what we're doing in golf. We are now showing up in places that weren't as expected from us, where our network is powering what is happening both like on the course, off the course, similar to the Las Vegas Grand Prix. And, and that's powerful because when you can bring someone to one of those events that is a decision maker in an enterprise business and say, we're powering this event.

17:15

Dave Almy

Yeah.

17:16

Mike Belcher

Not only is it driving perception of the network and we're picking up. I mean, we're starting to get reciprocal business.

17:23

Dave Almy

So it starts even from enterprise level customers who are showing up at those events. Like, I got four bars all over this event, so you know, something's working.

17:29

Mike Belcher

Yeah, well. And you can take them back behind the scenes or backup house at the event and say, this is literally what we're doing. And they're thinking, well, if you can do that for the PGA of America or Las Vegas Grand Prix, think of what you could do for my business. It's a very proof of performance type stuff.

17:47

Dave Almy

It's happening right in front of them.

17:49

Mike Belcher

Proof of performance. And it's not. I mean, it's things that people haven't seen or done before. And so it's really powerful. And that's a huge part of what we do now is the integration of our network in partnerships. That's the biggest evolution for us.

18:07

Dave Almy

Yeah, I was going to ask about that. Right. Because technology in particular, connectivity is, I mean, it's central certainly to fan experience. It's central to everybody's experience today. That has been an interesting evolution as well. How integrated and important that provision of that connectivity is to the partner. Can you talk a little bit about that? Because expectations are so high for people to maintain that active online presence. Infinitely. So as you think about business development and partnerships, what are the opportunities and challenges that are faced as a technology company? Who's responsible for that? How do those play out in real time on for your experience?

18:51

Mike Belcher

Yeah, well, it's, I mean, the evolution there is remarkable. Twenty years ago, fans mostly watched the games. Watch the games. They were consuming the event itself and that was basically that. And now today, they're simultaneously creating content, they're sharing content, they're streaming, they're buying stuff, messaging. I mean, there is so much that's going on.

19:17

Dave Almy

You and I come from the days we'd have to go home and actually draw out the play for people about here. No, I promise me, this is what happens. This is what happens.

19:23

Mike Belcher

You got it. And so connectivity is no longer supplemental. I mean, it's to everything within sports. It's a critical piece of it, which really puts us in a prime position as a network provider. I, you know, I always say that 5G is going to have profound changes on sports broadcasting. And it already is. I mean, it's already starting to reshape sports broadcasting. I talked about our example with the PGA Championship and how were able to work with CBS and create these cinema grade cameras so we could provide different views of Rory McElroy teeing off on the 13th hole. So you could get a side view, front view, back view, just different perspectives. And that's where technology starts to. Not only is it the connectivity that's happening at the event, but it's the experience that we're creating for the fans. And these are meaningful experiences.

20:26

Mike Belcher

I'm always, I'm always really critical. And I was watching over the weekend with the PGA Championship and it's like, is that actually something that I care about? It's not just we're doing it for the sake of doing it, but as I was watching it going, wow, that was really cool, you know, to See, Rory hit that ball from all different sides and how his body moves and. And how he's so much better than my swing.

20:48

Dave Almy

Come on. You're announcing today you're leaving T Mobile and going on the PGA Tour, aren't you, Mike?

20:55

Mike Belcher

That's definitely. That's definitely not going to happen, but it starts to make meaningful impacts for the viewer.

21:02

Dave Almy

So much about technology is also like, it's the Jurassic park world. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you necessarily should do something. And I appreciate a lot what you just said about the idea of, like, look, I have to care about it. It has to be additive to the experience. And that can be sometimes tough when you're working for a company where engineers hold a lot of say, like, hey, look at all the cool things we can do to have to go back to them and say, nobody cares.

21:27

Mike Belcher

Yeah, yeah. You know, our. We've been really fortunate, our technology, and you're right on that, by the way, because they get so excited about all and. But I think that we've, you know, it's something that our company has really committed to and has invested in with our sports platforms and making sure that we are working with the partner. I think this is really critical that we have a shared vision for what we want to accomplish and what our objectives are and. Sounds like business talk, but that's important that we're not trying to force something on the property or the broadcaster. So we work really closely with the production team and say, hey, if you could do anything, what would you want to do?

22:13

Mike Belcher

And they come up with a bunch of ideas and then we go figure out how to help them versus us just coming to them with a bunch of ideas and then they're way more invested in it and the experience is just better. Yeah.

22:24

Dave Almy

This is an interesting segue to talk about, the difference between being a sponsor and being a partner. Right. Because I think a lot of organizations, it's like a semantics distinction between the two. It seems small, but what you're talking about here are properties. Working with T Mobile in a. Hey, how can we collaborate? How can we work together to help? Here's that word again. Tell the story that we're both trying to tell here. So in your mind, what are some of the key distinctions that you look for or looked for in partners where it helped you understand that this was more about just putting a logo up? But we have a team here that's interested in helping us form that more integral form of partnership. Are there key distinctions that you see ahead of Time there are, I think.

23:13

Mike Belcher

You get some properties that come to you and they lean way too much into just selling the property versus properties that come to you and have a business need and understand what your business needs are and where there's an intersection to that on how you can solve a problem. I'll give you a great example. It's LA28. I mean this is, you know, this is a massive moment for our company to be the official telecommunications partner for the LA28 Olympics and Paralympics. And LA28 came to us and I'm sure they were talking to, you know, other carriers as well, but we had the network that had the capabilities to be able to provide solutions for what they wanted to do with the Games and make it the most advanced technology forward games in the modern area.

24:08

Mike Belcher

And so when a partner comes to you with that story, like we need you, not just we want to have you sponsor our event sponsor Olympics, that's nice. And you know, that will surround everything we'll do. That's our way of talking about the sponsorship. But now that we are a centerpiece of what the property is trying to accomplish, you become more endemic to the sport. And when you can become more endemic to the sport or more critical to the outcome of what the sport is trying to achieve, that's powerful. And I think that's true for really any property. I mean there are ways that our brands can be integrated. I think LA28 is just a great example because that is a massive undertaking for LA28. It's also a massive undertaking for our company.

25:00

Dave Almy

Well, and they gave you a platform, right, to be able to showcase like this isn't. Yes, okay. The Olympic rings phenomenal. Carry a lot of brand equity. Powerful images those ways. But you're giving, you said endemic to the sport. Like we're going to be part of the experience in a way that's going to make the fan experience better. That elevates us as well in that regard throughout. So that's how you break through. If you're a property trying to sell in to sponsors T Mobile and every other one that's out there too, is that the key differentiator? Like is it look at how can we collaborate? What are some of the other ways that properties trying to sell on T Mobile have both succeeded and challenged themselves in the past?

25:50

Mike Belcher

Yeah, I, this one's a great question. I, I was talking to another company just recently about this, who does sell in and I said, you know what I find and I'll kind of start here. But I find with a lot of properties is. And they forget that we're getting pitched to all the time, I can't even imagine all the time we're getting proposals. And a lot of what I get from properties is we've got the greatest opportunity for you, it's the best. T Mobile's the perfect fit. But they can't tell me why. And that right there loses me from the beginning.

26:26

Dave Almy

I love the question why?

26:28

Mike Belcher

Yeah, it's like, why, like and can they answer that in a compelling way that demonstrates to me that they've done their homework, that they have insights and I don't expect them to know everything. In fact, I would rather them be transparent and be more authentic and not try to be too salesy. But to have a grasp on what our business priorities are, what we're looking for and how they might be able to help our business, that is where it starts. And I think the properties that can really come in and say, okay, we know that T Mobile is trying to improve the perception of their network, that there's a gap or a difference between actual network performance and what the perception of our network is. So that is a business priority for us.

27:18

Mike Belcher

There are properties that can help us do that and ways to help us do that. And if you start by the problem, like, hey, here's how we can help you do that, or whether it's, you know, integration into the sport, the property through our technology or business back, it's, it's come to us with a business solution that's based off of insights and business priorities.

27:41

Dave Almy

I mean, that's great advice for properties trying to sell into sponsors or their partners and things like that. But like, as someone who's been in this industry for a long time, you've actually had an opportunity to connect with a lot of your peers who are doing the same thing that you're doing just at other categories and other businesses as well. And I'm wondering, like, given the success that you've had, what are they asking you about and how to be a better performing brand in those kinds of partnerships, what challenges do you see them having that you've been able to offer advice towards?

28:12

Mike Belcher

Yeah, the biggest challenges that I see companies having, it's more internal, it's more about how to sell internally, how to get commitment internally. I find that you get a lot of companies who will sign up for sponsorships and then I don't want to say they're stuck, but all of a sudden they're A sponsor of a property, that's a pretty hefty, you know, paycheck or not paycheck, but check that they're given to the property. But they don't. They underestimated, number one or number two is there wasn't a full commitment on how they were going to support that.

28:53

Dave Almy

Not fully baked on their side.

28:55

Mike Belcher

Not fully baked either. And some maybe because they didn't understand it because they didn't have the expertise internally. So then they're trying to catch up. I find that as one, the other one is going back to just what was the reason why they did it. And a lot of sponsorships, you know, they can be very emotionally driven. Naming rights deals are like that. And so what is, you know, what is the ultimate reason that why you did it? And then the other one is, do you have alignment with the partner? Because and I talked earlier about a shared vision. If you don't have a shared vision with the partner, alignment up front, it's likely going to break down and you're going to struggle because you don't have the same objectives and it doesn't become a mutual beneficial partnership.

29:47

Mike Belcher

And that's where I see a lot of challenges with partnerships and I think that's why our team's been so successful with Major League Baseball is we have a shared vision and we've had from the very beginning and it's evolved over time.

30:00

Dave Almy

Yeah, you've been a long time partner.

30:01

Mike Belcher

And so that's one I tell people is make sure that you have that honest, transparent conversation with the property. What are they trying to achieve? What are you trying to achieve? Does that align? And if it doesn't, you need to have some hard conversations.

30:14

Dave Almy

Yeah, if they say, well we need your money for operations and that's about it, that's probably going to be a red flag. You brought up Major League Baseball and like I said, this has been a long time partnership for you and you know these. I appreciate the challenges. Like, yeah, okay, baseball is the same, but everything around baseball changes so much. Like, for like the Home Run Derby is going to be streamed on Netflix this year. This is a big change from how these kinds of properties get activated and the decisions that you all have to make about where you're allocating dollars and visibility and things like that. So how does that change the calculus internally, I'm thinking particularly on the streaming side of the business, how does that impact decision making from where you sit?

30:59

Dave Almy

Is it opportunities like this is great or is it more narrow? How does it Work.

31:04

Mike Belcher

Yeah, it's, I, I think it's an opportunity to be honest. It's, it's different because we've been, you know, specifically as it relates to the T Mobile Home Run Derby, we've been with ESPN and we've got a great partnership with espn. That's a well oiled machine. And so yeah, you know, you hear that there's a change and you.

31:22

Dave Almy

Get a little antsy.

31:24

Mike Belcher

What's, what's that going to mean? Because we had a, I, I would say a really good partnership. We also have a partnership with Netflix and we've got a partnership with Netflix for several years. And it's fascinating to see how rapidly the distribution is changing in sports and entertainment. I think what Netflix will give to us is an opportunity to reach a different audience, maybe a wider audience, an audience that might not have been watching baseball, a more casual audience. The other thing you get from streaming platforms is there's discovery, there's social engagement. And so it presents new opportunities which we're going to have to evolve. And I'm sure it's going to be challenging at the, you know, at the beginning, just like it was with espn. As were trying to figure each.

32:13

Dave Almy

Navigating, that one had to start somewhere.

32:14

Mike Belcher

Yeah, it had to start that way. I remember, you know, we were really pushing baseball and ESPN to have those, the little lounge area that's right in front of the first base and the third base dugout that's very magenta and everything. And it was, you know, they were, I don't know. They did it. They love it. Manfred loves it. I mean, it's been a, it's been additive to the event both for the players and also for the viewers because they get to see the participants and also the guys that are just watching with their families down on the field. It's a, it's a neat, humanizes everything.

32:48

Dave Almy

Just that little bit more.

32:50

Mike Belcher

Humanize it. So I think Netflix ultimately broadens the awareness and creates new storytelling opportunities for us. And, and because of our partnership with them right now, because it's getting close, we're a little over a month, we.

33:02

Dave Almy

Are right almost close to it. T Mobile is also a unique member of the two named Sports Facilities Building. So we got T Mobile arena down in Las Vegas and T Mobile Ballpark up in Seattle. Seattle, I'm assuming is sort of a hometown, is based up here. Wanted to make sure that we had a good corporate presence and that type of thing. What about Vegas Why was the Vegas opportunity the right moment for T Mobile to put the brand on the building?

33:33

Mike Belcher

Sure. And we actually have three.

33:35

Dave Almy

Oh, gosh, I forgot one. Oh, my God.

33:37

Mike Belcher

There's T Mobile center in Kansas City, which used to be Sprint Center.

33:41

Dave Almy

Yep, that's. That's on me. To Kansas City listeners in Kansas City, that's one's on me.

33:46

Mike Belcher

It used to be Sprint Center. Forgive you on that.

33:48

Dave Almy

All right, thank you. Sorry about that.

33:50

Mike Belcher

We have there and then we have in Puerto Rico, we have an entertainment district, distrito T Mobile. So, so technically we have.

33:56

Dave Almy

I'm being, I'm being humbled in real time here.

34:01

Mike Belcher

Well, and that was so. It's a, it's a good story and it's a great question.

34:07

Dave Almy

Finding stories are definitely a theme here today.

34:12

Mike Belcher

back in, I think it was like: 2013

35:06

Mike Belcher

And it also just showed the investment and the presence of our brand in Las Vegas. And then you have ces, you have all these events that come into town. So there were a lot of reasons why that one made sense.

35:19

Dave Almy

It ticked a lot of boxes.

35:20

Mike Belcher

It ticked a lot of boxes. In fact, went to our CEO at the time to present the opportunity. It was basically a five minute conversation, short story. It was a short, it was very concise. It was, here's what it's going to do for us. And it was like, why wouldn't we do it? Yeah. I mean, that's how we operate it and still do as a company. We jump on big opportunities and we're obviously responsible about what we're going to go do and the deal behind it. But. And it's been fantastic. You know, I think, I don't want to say we took a leap of faith, but it was a little bit of a leap. We didn't know how it was going to do. And it was new for them. It's been great for both partners.

35:54

Mike Belcher

And so after that was done, we realized, hey, we did that really well. And then T Mobile, we've got this.

36:00

Dave Almy

Naming rights thing figured out.

36:02

Mike Belcher

We got the naming rights thing figured out. And then the opportunity presented itself with T Mobile Park. And that you're right that we did that because were also in the midst of. There were a lot of talks about us merging with Sprant. There were a lot of questions about will T Mobile be in Seattle. We wanted to make a statement about the fact that T Mobile is here and here to stay and we're invested in the community. We were also a brand that when you would ask who are the main companies in Seattle? We weren't one of the first mentioned. Maybe the top five. Now we are. That was one of our metrics that we looked at. That's good for market share. It's also good for recruiting.

36:39

Dave Almy

Yep.

36:40

Mike Belcher

In Seattle. And our partnership with Major League Baseball was another reason where it made sense. And then an interesting story on this is the owner of the Seattle Mariners is John Stanton. John Stanton was the founder of our company. So you talk about full circle.

36:55

Dave Almy

Boy, that really did come full circle. And I look at for people who have not been up to T Mobile park in Seattle. I'm a Boston guy, so a Red Sox fan. And Fenway is kind of a cathedral. I live in the San Francisco Bay area in Oracle park, where the Giants play is pretty nice place to see a baseball game. I mean, T Mobile park up in Seattle is pretty terrific. Great skyline shots, great optics all the way around. It's a great place to see a baseball game.

37:19

Mike Belcher

It is a great place. Thank you for saying that. And what's interesting is when we did it, you're always nervous. Are people still going to call it the old place? It changed quickly. Now people just call it T Mobile. I love playing at T Mobile. So do I. We get a lot of good brand attribution with T Mobile part.

37:39

Dave Almy

So. Hey, Mike, I've had you for a long time here. So we're going to wrap up here pretty quickly. Before I let you go, what do you think that partnerships are going to continue the role that they're going to continue to play at T Mobile? Particularly as your purview expands inside the company and its business development and partnerships, does the role continue apace? Is this something that you feel like now this is an even more important part of our portfolio now, like how where does it start to overlap? Delay and drive strategy versus respond to strategy.

38:11

Mike Belcher

Sure. I think the last piece of your question was really important and really good is that partnerships, we're very partner centric, our company. I mean, we take. First of all, we take a lot of pride in how we activate, how we manage our partners because we feel it helps differentiate us as a company in a lot of what we do around partnerships. So partnerships are a really important tool for us and will continue to be going forward, if anything, even more than they are today. And when I say partnerships, I'm talking about sports entertainment in the broadest sense, brand partnerships and why that matters. There are two reasons why that matters.

38:52

Mike Belcher

've been the UN carrier since: 2013

39:46

Mike Belcher

When you've got our competition out there talking about free iPhones and the same messages over and over, we're leaning to the experience that you get as a T Mobile customer, which is you get this great network, you get great value and you get great experiences. And those experiences and the value and the network are also tied to what we do in sponsorships. And so when you look at the portfolio as a T Mobile customer, I get free MLB tv, I get free Netflix, I get free Apple, or I get free Hulu. When I fly, I've got. We have sponsorships with the airlines. There are so many benefits that you get as a customer. And those are all byproducts or results of the partnerships that we have.

40:33

Dave Almy

Yeah, and interwoven together.

40:34

Mike Belcher

They're very interwoven together. And we always say when we do a partnership, as we look at it is, number one is what's in it for the customer. And that's not lip service. I mean, that's the starting point. And if there isn't a good answer to that, it doesn't make sense. And we've got really an incredible portfolio, and customers go to our events, whether it's Club Magenta or, you know, it's just there's so much you get as access, as a. As a T Mobile. As a T Mobile member.

41:01

Dave Almy

I'm with Mike Belcher. He's the head of business development and partnerships at T Mobile. Mike, thanks for the time. Before I let you go, though, I'm going to put you in the lighting room. Oh, yeah. You should lean back a little bit. Right. So these are just. All I want from you is the first thing that comes into your head. Are you ready?

41:19

Mike Belcher

I am ready.

41:20

Dave Almy

All right, well, here we go. So according to my researchers, my crack team of researchers, you won an NAIA World Series for Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Maine, and you're in the River Otter hall of Fame for baseball. What color is the jacket that you got upon entry to the hall of Fame there?

41:39

Mike Belcher

Orange.

41:40

Dave Almy

Is it really orange? Like, really Lewis and Clark orange?

41:43

Mike Belcher

Well, I didn't really get a jacket, but if I did, it would be.

41:45

Dave Almy

Come on, man. I was really gonna ask you to put it on.

41:48

Mike Belcher

I have to clarify. We were in the World Series. We did not win it.

41:52

Dave Almy

Okay.

41:52

Mike Belcher

Okay.

41:53

Dave Almy

All right.

41:53

Mike Belcher

And. And Lewis and Clark's in Port, Oregon.

41:56

Dave Almy

What did I say?

41:57

Mike Belcher

You said Portland, Maine.

41:58

Dave Almy

Portland, Maine. See, there's the New Englander. Everything centered around New England.

42:01

Mike Belcher

That's okay. It's the West Coast.

42:04

Dave Almy

I'm blaming the researchers.

42:05

Mike Belcher

But I did make the hall of Fame, but we did not get a jacket.

42:08

Dave Almy

No jackets.

42:09

Mike Belcher

No jacket. All right, so I do have a nice plaque.

42:12

Dave Almy

All right, nice plaque, but that's no jacket. All right, so Lewis and Clark administrators who are listening start measuring for jackets. Lewis and Clark students have invented some very peculiar intramural competitive sports, including Ninja and Wolf Tech. Very popular, but seldom played elsewhere. What position were you in? Ninja.

42:32

Mike Belcher

What position was I? A ninja.

42:34

Dave Almy

Yeah, I'm sure you played ninja. Ninja murals.

42:35

Mike Belcher

I don't know what position there are to see.

42:38

Dave Almy

No one else does. It's only at Lewis and Clark, Mike, so you can make it up right near. Oh, I was lead ninja.

42:43

Mike Belcher

I was going to say I was frontman.

42:45

Dave Almy

erships when T Mobile won the: 2023

42:57

Mike Belcher

In our office.

42:59

Dave Almy

You don't, like, have, like, a special little thing? It's in the general office or in your office?

43:03

Mike Belcher

Not in my office. In our office. In our area, there's a case where we keep it.

43:08

Dave Almy

Did you get a jacket at least for that?

43:10

Mike Belcher

No, no jacket for that. Yeah, but we have it proudly displayed in our office.

43:13

Dave Almy

All right, well, clearly we need to start bringing up the concept of jacket some more time. What percentage of your wardrobe features? T mobile magenta?

43:23

Mike Belcher

20.

43:24

Dave Almy

Only 20? That's modest in my. I would have said 50. That was going to be my guess. I should have done an under over on that one.

43:32

Mike Belcher

Yeah, well, I'm a collector of golf. Golf polos and shoes and stuff. So that's the reason why.

43:39

Dave Almy

All right, very good. So if anybody's listening, wants to get micropresent golf oriented stuff, even though he's not joining the PGA Tour, apparently anytime soon. Last one who is a mentor or colleague that you would like to give a shout out to.

43:51

Mike Belcher

I would give a shout out to Mike Sievert, our former CEO. I had the privilege of working very closely with him over the last 13 years and learned so much for him. I talked a lot about stories and storytelling and he's someone that I would call out.

44:11

Dave Almy

Very good. Mike Belcher, thanks so much for the time today.

44:14

Mike Belcher

Thank you very much. Enjoyed it.