Friendship with Michael Jordan entails a few perks – Alex Rodriguez and Carsten Koerl can testify. The host of The Deal can vouch for that Jordan brand of competitiveness and a sharpness while golfing and sports betting. Much of the A-Rod playbook of success is modeled after MJ. But Koerl – the CEO of the Sportradar, a company the Chicago Bulls icon invested in, has been around His Airness often and learned quite a bit from him. Including Jordan’s astute business principles that take priority over his favorite leisure activities.

On The Deal, hosted by A-Rod, Koerl described businessman Jordan saying, “And he is a fantastic businessman which many many people don’t realize too much. But the things what he is doing is very well organized, he’s very much looking to the details, he’s very attentive, and he want to provide value. He understands sport on a level I’m not able to understand it and he understands sports betting on a level where we are competing. So I see the directions here and he’s seeing that thinking ‘that would be a cool thing to do.’ That’s a perfect mix to engage on a business level.”

A-Rod had a very recent Michael Jordan story to confirm Koerl’s observation.

Michael Jordan has often shared his love for golf and on one instance even called it an addiction while basketball took the tag for passion. “Now, that is an addiction,” he had admitted to Cigar Aficionado, saying it is something he can’t help himself with. But when it comes to his billion-dollar empire, as A-Rod speaks, he can put that behind once in a while.

The baseball icon narrated that he was at the GroveXXIII, MJ’s golf club in Florida, looking to play a few holes with the boss of the place as they usually do. But Jordan was occupied in a discussion with his business partner.

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It’s incidents like these why Koerl and Rodriguez credit Michael Jordan as their mentor in the field.

Michael Jordan was at his friend’s high point

There’s reason why Koerl refers to the 6x champion as his “a great friend and mentor of mine.” Over a decade ago, Koerl had emerged as the guy who turned sports data into a sport itself. His company Sportsradar, though, had a rocky start. It was a few NBA team owners that took a big leap of faith in him that gave him a boost.

Then Hornets owner, Michael Jordan, now minority Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, and the big boss of multiple Washington teams, Ted Leonisis invested in Sportsradar. Jordan was there when Koerl’s IPO debuted on NASDAQ in 2021 and his friend became a billionaire. And because he’s so well-versed with the sports betting scene, Jordan became Sportradar’s special adviser.

A-Rod himself has followed Jordan’s business policies as the Yankees star is now an NBA team owner himself. Rodriguez is still working on establishing his ownership of the Minnesota Timberwolves with a Michael Jordan 2.0 aka Anthony Edwards.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.