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Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're going

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Speaker 1: to be rewatching the Aces highlight reel announcing Asia Wilson's return.

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Speaker 1: Anytime we so much as think another team might be

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Speaker 1: the favorite this year, She's still the baddest player on

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Speaker 1: the planet on the scariest team in the league. It's Thursday,

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Speaker 1: April sixteenth, and on today's show, we're bringing you my

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Speaker 1: conversation with Ali Cmo Andrea Brimmer from Tuesday at the

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Speaker 1: Deep Blue Business of Women's Sports Summit at NYC. You

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Speaker 1: might remember Andrea coming on the show last fall and

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Speaker 1: talking about Alli's fifty to fifty pledge. Well, we've got

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Speaker 1: news about that, and we look ahead to the future

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Speaker 1: of women's sports. How to keep fans from getting priced out,

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Speaker 1: how to validate and preserve sponsors and partners who have

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Speaker 1: been there from the beginning, and making choices that ensure

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Speaker 1: continued growth, not a big pop and then a decline.

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Speaker 1: Plus the clock is ticking, something's not clicking, and consider

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Speaker 1: me influenced. It's all coming up right after this Welcome

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Speaker 1: back slices. Here's what you need to know today, Starting

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Speaker 1: with hoops were just a few days out from the

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Speaker 1: start of WNBA training camps on Sunday.

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Speaker 2: April nineteenth.

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Speaker 1: But if you thought the dust had settled on free

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Speaker 1: agent signings, think again. First up on Wednesday, we all

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Speaker 1: expected this, but it was confirmed that four time MVP

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Speaker 1: Asia Wilson is returning to the Las Vegas Aces per

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Speaker 1: espns Andrea Carter and Sham Sharania. It's a three year,

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Speaker 1: fully guaranteed super max deal worth five million dollars over

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Speaker 1: the term of the agreement. In a press release issued

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Speaker 1: by the Aces, Wilson kept her thoughts succinct, saying quote

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Speaker 1: ykwtfgo end quote as in, you know what the going on.

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Speaker 1: The Aces also signed forward Stephanie Talbot, a three time

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Speaker 1: Olympian with the Australian national team who's entering her eighth

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Speaker 1: year in the w and Brianna Turner, a six to

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Speaker 1: three defensive specialist who stepped up for her short handed

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Speaker 1: Fever team during the playoffs last year.

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Speaker 2: And as treasure of the WNBPA.

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Speaker 1: Turner also played a key role in getting the new

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Speaker 1: CBA across the finish line.

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Speaker 2: Also a bit of.

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Speaker 1: A surprising move, one many would consider a calculated risk

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Speaker 1: for Becky Hammond's Aces squad. The team is inked Kennedy

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Speaker 1: Carter to a training camp contract. Now, last we saw

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Speaker 1: Kennedy aka Hollywood, she was playing in Mexico's LNBPF, signing

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Speaker 1: and kissing a fan's breast after a game, no joke.

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Speaker 1: But she's getting another shot in the W. No doubt

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Speaker 1: the talent is there. She averaged seventeen and a half

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Speaker 1: points per game on forty eight point seven percent shooting

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Speaker 1: with Chicago in twenty twenty four. But Carter's had off

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Speaker 1: the court issues at each of her stops in the W.

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Speaker 1: We'll see if she can stick in Vegas. More free

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Speaker 1: agency news. Three time WNBA Champ twenty twenty three to

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Speaker 1: sixth Player of the Year and Friend of the Show,

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Speaker 1: Alicia Clark has agreed to a one year deal to

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Speaker 1: join the Dallas Wings. Clark, the oldest player in the

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Speaker 1: league at thirty eight, began last season with the Seattle

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Speaker 1: Storm before being traded to the Washington Mystics in August.

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Speaker 1: Now she's Texas bound, adding some veteran depth to the Wings. Now,

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Speaker 1: we love seeing Clark find a home because she gets

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Speaker 1: to sign one of those big new w contracts she

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Speaker 1: worked so hard for in CBA negotiations. As vice president

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Speaker 1: of the WNBPA More Deals expansion team, the Toronto Tempo

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Speaker 1: is still ink in folks, including Canadian Olympian Kia Nurse

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Speaker 1: and free agent center Temmy fag Bentley, both on one

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Speaker 1: year deals. Nurse is the Dempo's first Canadian player and honestly,

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Speaker 1: I cannot wait to hear the roar of the crowd

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Speaker 1: if she takes the court in their first home game.

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Speaker 1: Nurse posted a message to Canadian fans sharing her excitement.

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Speaker 3: Nan, I am so excited to finally be able to

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Speaker 3: play on home soil and play for Canada's first ever

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Speaker 3: WNBA team. Little me in Hamilton twenty years ago this

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Speaker 3: would have been in my wildest roams and I wouldn't

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Speaker 3: even have thought this was a possibility.

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Speaker 1: So this is.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely insane, and I think it's so incredible that we're

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Speaker 3: going to continue to grow basketball here in Canada together

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Speaker 3: and this next generation of your athletes gets to see

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Speaker 3: in person, especially a young women, they get to see

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Speaker 3: what they can truly be.

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Speaker 1: The Tempo have also signed guard Darren Maybray to a

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Speaker 1: training camp contract, sister of Marina Maybrey, the Notre Dame

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Speaker 1: in Virginia alum has been playing overseas, most recently with

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Speaker 1: Australia's NBL one one. Maybury wasn't spicy enough Toronto. This

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Speaker 1: is going to be fun more WNBA. Per the New

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Speaker 1: York Post Madeline Kenny, Natasha Cloud has switched agencies and

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Speaker 1: will now be represented by agent Fabio Jardine of First

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Speaker 1: Pick Management. The point guard average ten points and five

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Speaker 1: assists for the New York Liberty last year, but surprisingly

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Speaker 1: remains an unrestricted free agent ahead of the upcoming season,

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Speaker 1: said Slice Data Holdzpurt on Blue Sky quote. This is

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Speaker 1: the WNBA's version of the transfer portal. Yeah, switching agents

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Speaker 1: when you haven't yet been signed.

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Speaker 2: Sure feels like it.

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Speaker 1: We're hoping she finds a landing spot soon. WNBA is

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Speaker 1: better with Toash Cloud in it. Sticking with Hoops for

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Speaker 1: some post draft updates. The number four and number nine

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Speaker 1: overall picks, Lauren Betts and Angela Dougalleach have said goodbye

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Speaker 1: to the NCAA and UCLA and are now headed to

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Speaker 1: the Washington Mystics, but there will be a familiar face

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Speaker 1: on their new team. In a super fun twist of fate,

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Speaker 1: Bets and Dougalleach will be playing alongside one of their

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Speaker 1: UCLA coaches, UCLA assistant coach MICHAELA. Onionute is also playing

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Speaker 1: for the Mystics after signing a two year deal worth

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Speaker 1: about seven hundred thousand dollars annually per her hoopstats. Onionute

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Speaker 1: was named the w's Rookie of the Year in twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty one as a member of the Liberty and his

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Speaker 1: Sense bounced around the league and played overseas in the

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Speaker 1: off season. Now, fresh off helping lead the Bruins to

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Speaker 1: a national championship from the sidelines, she'll find herself on

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Speaker 1: the court with Bets and Dougalleach, and Bets is also

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Speaker 1: teaming up with former Stanford teammate turned USC rival Keeky

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Speaker 1: Erie event with the Mystics too fun. More draft updates

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Speaker 1: and some detail on the trade heard round the world.

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Speaker 1: That is, of course, number eight overall draft pick Flaje

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Speaker 1: Johnson going to the Seattle Storm less than an hour

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Speaker 1: after the Golden State Valkyrie selected her well. Alchyri's gm

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Speaker 1: Ohema Nianan told ESPN that the teams actually agreed to

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Speaker 1: the trade before the draft picks were submitted. After Monday

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Speaker 1: night's draft, Nianan told ESPN, quote, Seattle and I had

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Speaker 1: an agreement to trade picks prior to any athlete selection.

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Speaker 1: I want to be super clear about the draft. This

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Speaker 1: had nothing to do with Flage or any specific athlete

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Speaker 1: selection end quote. So Seattle instructed Golden State to pick Johnson,

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Speaker 1: and when it was time for Seattle to make the

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Speaker 1: sixteenth overall pick, Golden State instructed them to select Marta Suarez. Basically,

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Speaker 1: the Valks saw the players on their draft board picked

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Speaker 1: before number eight and decided they'd rather flip the pick

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Speaker 1: and get an extra second round er out of the deal.

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Speaker 1: The number eight pick in the draft also starts with

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Speaker 1: a base salary of forty thousand dollars, more than the

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Speaker 1: players selected in the second round, so maybe that also

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Speaker 1: impacted the Valk's decision.

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Speaker 2: We can't be certain.

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Speaker 1: In her post draft presser, Nianan said, quote, I don't

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Speaker 1: talk or comment about salary cap end quote. As I

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Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, the next big date on the WNBA calendar

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Speaker 1: is the start of training camp, just a few days

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Speaker 1: away on April nineteenth. Then preseason games run for about

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Speaker 1: a week from April twenty fifth through May third, and

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Speaker 1: finally the forty four game regular season. The historic thirtieth

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Speaker 1: season for the league officially tips off on May eighth. Okay,

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Speaker 1: one more hoops note. Brianna Turner, who we just mentioned

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Speaker 1: as a new addition to the Aces, wrote an op

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Speaker 1: ed in USA Today last week with the headline I'm

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Speaker 1: a WNBA player, Don't use athletes like me to exclude

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Speaker 1: trans women. In the piece, Turner criticizes the new International

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Speaker 1: Olympic Committee policy that we've talked about on the show,

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Speaker 1: which requires everyone in the female category to undergo so

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Speaker 1: called sex testing. Turner writes, quote, policies that single out

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Speaker 1: transgender women and athletes with intersex variations do not protect

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Speaker 1: women's sports. They manufacture a scapegoat while the real challenges

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Speaker 1: to women sports go unaddressed. Unequal funding, limited access to

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Speaker 1: training and facilities, pay disparities, male dominated leadership, gender based

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Speaker 1: violence and harassment across race, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

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Speaker 2: End quote.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely spot on point by Turner, who's always been a

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Speaker 1: very thoughtful player.

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Speaker 2: The whole piece is.

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Speaker 1: Worth a REID, so we'll link to it in the

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Speaker 1: show notes so you can check it out.

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Speaker 2: To soccer, just.

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Speaker 1: As US women's national team head coach Emma Hayes said

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Speaker 1: things were starting to click for her squad. A loss

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Speaker 1: the team's first of the year and just their fourth

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Speaker 1: since Hayes took over in June of twenty twenty four.

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Speaker 1: Japan shut out the US one nail Tuesday night in

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Speaker 1: the second of three friendlies this week, but Hayes sent

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Speaker 1: out a young, unproven squad so I wouldn't hit the

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Speaker 1: panic button just yet. She swapped out the entire starting

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Speaker 1: lineup from when the US beat Japan last weekend, and

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Speaker 1: twenty year old Claire Hutton wore the armband for this one,

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Speaker 1: becoming the youngest player to start a match as US

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Speaker 1: captain since two thousand and one. Japan found the back

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Speaker 1: of the net in the twenty seventh minute to take

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Speaker 1: the lead, and with the US still scoreless in the

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Speaker 1: sixty fifth, Hayes subbed in stars Sophia Wilson and Trinity Rodman,

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Speaker 1: as well as Tierna Davidson, who got her first national

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Speaker 1: team action since tearing her ACL in March of last year.

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Speaker 2: But even with the.

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Speaker 1: Rush legs, the US couldn't find the equalizer, marking their

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Speaker 1: first l s since October of last year and the

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Speaker 1: first time losing in a shutout in forty two games.

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Speaker 1: There was some good news though, Despite some rain, the

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Speaker 1: fans in Seattle showed up thirty six, one hundred and

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Speaker 1: twenty eight people in the stands, break in the record

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Speaker 1: for a standalone women's soccer match in Seattle. The US

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Speaker 1: has one more meeting with Japan Friday in Commerce City, Colorado.

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Speaker 1: Kickoff is at nine pm Eastern to the PWHL, where

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Speaker 1: the first team has officially been eliminated from playoff contention.

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Speaker 1: The Seattle Torrent lost to the Vancouver Golden Eyes four

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Speaker 1: to one on Tuesday night, meaning there's no way the

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Speaker 1: Torrent can mathematically clinch one of the four playoff berths.

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Speaker 1: But thanks to the league's unique Gold Plan, Seattle still

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Speaker 1: has something to fight for as the season comes to

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Speaker 1: an end. During their final three games of the regular season,

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Speaker 1: the Torrent will look to secure quote unquote Gold Plan points,

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Speaker 1: which helped determine the postseason draft order. The PWHL implemented

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Speaker 1: the system ahead of its inaugural season as a to

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Speaker 1: ensure that teams don't do what we often see in

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Speaker 1: other leagues, tank their season in order to get a

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Speaker 1: better draft pick. The gold Plan wasn't a huge factor

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Speaker 1: during the first two seasons of the league because the

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Speaker 1: New York Sirens finished well behind the rest of the

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Speaker 1: pack both times, But with the expanded eighteen field, we

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Speaker 1: could see a little more jockeying for position this time around,

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Speaker 1: depending on how quickly the other three teams are eliminated.

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Speaker 1: To college gymnastics, the NCAA Championship is this weekend in

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Speaker 1: Fort Worth, Texas. The semi final round begins today, where

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Speaker 1: eight teams will get whittled down to four ahead of

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Speaker 1: Saturday's championship meet. Top seeded Oklahoma is aiming to win

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Speaker 1: its eighth title in program history and second in a

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Speaker 1: row after taking home the trophy in twenty twenty five,

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Speaker 1: but the Sooners should get a pretty tough challenge from

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Speaker 1: number two Florida, led by Sky Blakeley and Kayla Decello,

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Speaker 1: who defeated Oklahoma for the SEC title last month. Meantime, UCLA,

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Speaker 1: anchored by Jordan Chiles, is aiming to win its first

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Speaker 1: nc double A gymnastics title since twenty eighteen, while LSU,

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Speaker 1: led by Kaylyne Chio, is looking to get back on

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Speaker 1: the top step after winning its first title in twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty three. Action gets underway at four thirty pm Eastern

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Speaker 1: today on ESPN two, and we'll link.

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Speaker 2: To the full schedule for this weekend's championship in the show.

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Speaker 1: Notes to Volleyball, where Love Pro Volleyball is also handing

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Speaker 1: out its championship trophy this weekend. As a reminder, Love

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Speaker 1: salt Lake and Love Austin qualified for the championship series,

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Speaker 1: which gets underway today with match number one beginning at

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Speaker 1: eight pm Eastern and airing on USA Network. Match number

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Speaker 1: two is Saturday, also at eight pm Eastern, and if

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Speaker 1: the two teams split the series, they'll play a single.

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Speaker 2: Golden set to fifteen points.

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Speaker 1: Love Austin is looking to win its second straight title

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Speaker 1: after winning the ship in the league's inaugural season.

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Speaker 2: Finally, we got a shout out a.

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Speaker 1: Few of our Winter Olympic faves, who Time Magazine named

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Speaker 1: to its list of one hundred most Influential People of

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. Hockey legend and gold medalist Hillary Knight,

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Speaker 1: snowboarder and halfpipe silver medallist Chloe Kim, and figure skating

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Speaker 1: champion Alyssa lou all made the cut. Congrats, ladies. Slices.

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Speaker 1: Quick update from me in case any of you were

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Speaker 1: like slice Jennifer M who emailed to say, quote, I

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Speaker 1: just finished listening to your WNBA Free Agent Frenzy episode,

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Speaker 1: and I think I heard Sarah refer to the guards

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Speaker 1: on a team as the front court two different times,

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Speaker 1: fairly early in the episode and then towards the end.

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Speaker 2: Could that be?

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Speaker 1: I had to google backcourt to confirm that it really

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Speaker 1: is the guards end quote.

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Speaker 2: It really could be, Jennifer. I've been messing that shit

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Speaker 2: up since high school.

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Speaker 1: In fact, early morning after that episode posted, I was

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Speaker 1: thinking about it and I went back to re listen,

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Speaker 1: knowing that I'd screwed it.

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Speaker 2: Up again, but it was too late to update it now.

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Speaker 1: I've always thought that the front court should be the

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Speaker 1: closest as you're crossing the half court line with the ball,

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Speaker 1: and the back court should be the farthest away. It's

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Speaker 1: a driveway parkway situation for me. But I posted about

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Speaker 1: it on Blue Sky after I realized my fuck up,

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Speaker 1: and a Blue skypal helped me out with this analogy.

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Speaker 1: They said, look at it like distance from the basket,

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Speaker 1: kind of like if you're in the front at a concert,

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Speaker 1: you're closest to the stage. If you're in the back,

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Speaker 1: you're farther away.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: Picturing anything like a stage is sure to get me

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Speaker 1: on track. You know, I consider the whole world a

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Speaker 1: stage after all. Of course, stage left and stage right

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Speaker 1: are also a little bit confusing. Oh now, if I

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Speaker 1: made things worse, Sorry, Freddy confusion. Let's just say, when

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Speaker 1: in doubt in the future, if it has to do

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Speaker 1: with math, geography, stages, or the backcourt, just remember to

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Speaker 1: always double check my work. We're going to take a

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Speaker 1: quick break when we come back. Andrea Brimmer and the

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Speaker 1: fight to preserve the good in women's sports while growing

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Speaker 1: them stick around sitting up here with the amazing Andrea

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Speaker 1: Brimmer CMO of ally, and before we get into the

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Speaker 1: nitty gritty of all the things that she's working on

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Speaker 1: and all the reasons that I so genuinely admire the

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Speaker 1: work she's doing, she has a big announcement to share

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Speaker 1: with us.

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Speaker 2: I do.

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Speaker 4: It's kind of unbelievable to think that four years ago

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Speaker 4: we made a pledge that for every dollar we spend

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Speaker 4: in men's sports media, we would match dollar for dollar

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Speaker 4: in women's sports media. We gave ourselves a five year

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Speaker 4: time horizon, and I am very excited to announce that

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Speaker 4: four years, a full year ahead of time, we have.

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Speaker 2: Met and exceeded the fifty to fifty pledge. Let's go.

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Speaker 2: So it feels like a long time ago now, but

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Speaker 2: just twenty twenty two.

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Speaker 1: Take us back and help us understand why Ali wanted

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Speaker 1: to make this commitment and make it so publicly.

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Speaker 4: We wanted to do something special to commemorate Title nine,

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Speaker 4: and we thought we needed to do something impactful. And

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Speaker 4: you know, really, as I've told the story many times,

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Speaker 4: just kind of doing the back of the napkin math,

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Speaker 4: understanding that our investment in women's sports was about ten

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Speaker 4: percent versus ninety percent of the investment we had in

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Speaker 4: men's sports. We realized we were part of the problem

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Speaker 4: and we had to make a change, and so we

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Speaker 4: became very relentlessly focused and very intentional on really trying

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Speaker 4: to accomplis the spirit of getting to equity. And it's

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Speaker 4: just been an amazing journey. That video that we showed

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Speaker 4: of me announcing it. If I had known how many

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Speaker 4: times that video would have been shown, I would have

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Speaker 4: got my hair done that day. That's my biggest regret still,

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Speaker 4: But other than that, everything's been awesome.

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Speaker 1: I was there when you announced it at the espnW

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Speaker 1: something and my favorite story out of that is you

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Speaker 1: didn't tell your boss first, and so you're like, this

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Speaker 1: will be a cool thing to announce, and then it

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Speaker 1: blew up and you and they were like, just.

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Speaker 2: A heads up, skod, just a heads up with you.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. You know, you came on good game with Sarah

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Speaker 1: Spain just a few months ago at the NWSL Championship,

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Speaker 1: and I loved how you described the moment of making

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Speaker 1: the fifty to fifty pledge and some of the decisions

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Speaker 1: you've made along the way as blinking first. How somebody

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Speaker 1: in the space needed to blink first, specifically when it

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Speaker 1: comes to creating your own value system a new way

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Speaker 1: of seeing ROI, and how you have to sort of

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Speaker 1: overinvest without data in order to create the data that

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Speaker 1: others can follow.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: I mean, look, the women's sports ecosystem is just different.

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Speaker 4: We don't have the history, we don't have all the

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Speaker 4: same data points, and some of it you just have

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Speaker 4: to believe in the thesis of the investment. If you

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Speaker 4: look at the stats that were in the video that

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Speaker 4: we show, those stats weren't true four years ago when

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Speaker 4: we made the Pledge, and so a lot of it

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Speaker 4: was just intuition, kind of seeing around a corner and

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Speaker 4: really using a different valuation system for women's sports than

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Speaker 4: you do for men's sports.

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Speaker 2: It's not to say that men's sports still isn't.

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Speaker 4: A great place to invest, it is, it's just different

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Speaker 4: in the women's sports ecosystem. And that notion of taking

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Speaker 4: what I would say is a really smart and prudent

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Speaker 4: risk is something that we did as part of the Pledge.

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Speaker 1: Part of that is that unfortunately a lot of spaces

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Speaker 1: are not building out to have folks who understand the

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Speaker 1: women's ecosphere, so they're trying to use the same metrics

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Speaker 1: that they're using across the men's space. And if you're

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Speaker 1: going straight ROI or how many eyeballs saw it, it's

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Speaker 1: not going to match the Super Bowl, it's not going

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Speaker 1: to match certain men's events. So how did you start

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Speaker 1: to think differently about what it meant for ally to

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Speaker 1: be successful in the Pledge?

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Speaker 4: I think for us, a lot of what we thought

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Speaker 4: about is this is completely evergreen space. These are places

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Speaker 4: where we could invest in one thirty second football NFL

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Speaker 4: game on Christmas Day, or we could buy an entire

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Speaker 4: season of WNBA Media what makes more sense, And there

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Speaker 4: was a lot of discomfort in that for the team.

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Speaker 4: I can tell you that a lot of them are

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Speaker 4: here and I made many of them nervous many times,

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Speaker 4: but we all got behind this idea that we had

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Speaker 4: to create the ecosystem that we wanted. I still remember

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Speaker 4: a board member saying to me, well, you got to

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Speaker 4: be paying crazy CPMs for the media that you're buying,

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Speaker 4: and I'm like, no, we're creating the CPMs.

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Speaker 2: And so that's what this was about.

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Speaker 4: It was about co creation with the leagues, It was

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Speaker 4: about co creation with the media platforms. It was about

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Speaker 4: doing the work together to create the change that we

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Speaker 4: wanted to see. And the rest of it took care

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Speaker 4: of itself in terms of the results, in terms of

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Speaker 4: setting some of those things that others followed.

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Speaker 1: You said, you've underestimated at the beginning the impact it

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Speaker 1: would have, not just an ally about other companies in

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Speaker 1: the space.

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Speaker 2: Can you talk about that one.

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Speaker 4: I underestimated the bigness of the announcement with you know,

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Speaker 4: joking but no joking.

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Speaker 2: I'd hair and.

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Speaker 1: Makeup every day from now on, just in case I

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Speaker 1: exactly get the hair done.

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Speaker 4: But I didn't tell my boss. I really didn't think

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Speaker 4: it would blow up the way that it did. And

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Speaker 4: I still remember that night of you know, at ten

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Speaker 4: o'clock at night, getting a text from I'm saying Brimmer.

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Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm always in trouble when he calls me Brimmer.

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Speaker 4: And then I look, it kind of accelerated four years later,

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Speaker 4: and you look at the statistics of where we're at

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Speaker 4: forty percent growth in our brand valuation in the last

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Speaker 4: four years, the fastest growing in financial services, which is unbelievable.

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Speaker 4: Sixty five percent of everybody that's coming to our storefront

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Speaker 4: is female. We're over ninety percent positive sentiment, and our

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Speaker 4: favorability among women's sports fans is twenty to thirty percentage

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Speaker 4: points higher than it is in the general market. And

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Speaker 4: so it was just about seeing an opportunity and like

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Speaker 4: I said, of creating your own path forward, which is

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Speaker 4: really the way that we thought about it.

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Speaker 1: Two of the very cool things you've done along the

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Speaker 1: way of reaching fifty to fifty is help the first

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Speaker 1: NWSL championship on primetime television and most recently get a

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Speaker 1: PWHL game on nationally televised here in the States. In Canada,

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Speaker 1: they have every game, but those Canadians love their hockey.

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Speaker 2: Is that still worth it?

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Speaker 1: Because we always hear about young people are watching highlights

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Speaker 1: on YouTube where everyone's streaming now, But how much does

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Speaker 1: it still matter to get those games in front of

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Speaker 1: fans clicking through the channels.

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Speaker 4: It matters a lot, right, That's the way you're going

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Speaker 4: to reach casual fans. Look, the whole thesis behind the

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Speaker 4: fifty to fifty pledge is all about accessibility. We all

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Speaker 4: in this room are fans of women's sports. We get

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Speaker 4: it and we look for it. But if you are

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Speaker 4: a casual fan, if you're not familiar with PWHL but

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Speaker 4: you're just a hockey fan or sports fan in general,

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Speaker 4: if it's on YouTube and you're not intentionally looking for it,

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Speaker 4: you're never going to see it. Whereas if you're still

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Speaker 4: just there's a lot of casual people just sitting on

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Speaker 4: a couch on a Saturday afternoon flipping through looking for sports.

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Speaker 2: That's the way you get accessive. That's what happened.

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Speaker 4: If you look at what's happened with NWSL, first game

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Speaker 4: noon on a Saturday did about three hundred thousand the

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Speaker 4: following year. You know, we get it onto primetime eight

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Speaker 4: o'clock at night up against Michigan Michigan State Football and

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Speaker 4: World Series and still does almost a million viewers, and

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Speaker 4: look at last year record breaking, So that intentionality of

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Speaker 4: getting access and getting the content in front of people

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Speaker 4: is still of critical importance.

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Speaker 1: Explain quickly what you had to do in order to

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Speaker 1: get that game in that slot and how it was

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Speaker 1: a bit of a risk and rethinking the system that's

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Speaker 1: always been in place. It had to be a partnership

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Speaker 1: between the league, the NWSL and CBS, the network and

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Speaker 1: US and it was a very intentional planning process, you know,

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Speaker 1: not inconsequential for CBS to have to move programming around,

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Speaker 1: which they had to do to accommodate the time slot.

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Speaker 2: Not inconsequential for them. They're a for profit company.

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Speaker 4: They had to sell media space, We had to come

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Speaker 4: with a monetary commitment to.

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Speaker 2: A shore or that they got out of the gate strong.

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Speaker 4: And then for the League, there was a lot of

436
00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:07,119
Speaker 4: work that was required for them as well. So it

437
00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:09,919
Speaker 4: was really a matter of all three parties coming together,

438
00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:12,560
Speaker 4: being very intentional, working on it over the course of

439
00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:14,680
Speaker 4: a couple of months to make it happen and then

440
00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:17,200
Speaker 4: key was the promotion around it. You can't just put

441
00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:20,320
Speaker 4: it out there and not do a significant amount of promotion,

442
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:22,080
Speaker 4: and that was a place where we all invested.

443
00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:24,040
Speaker 2: You put your money where your mouth was.

444
00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:25,960
Speaker 1: Essentially, you were like, listen, we will put up X

445
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,239
Speaker 1: amount of dollars no matter what happens, so that you

446
00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:31,560
Speaker 1: aren't taking as much of a risk CBS without being

447
00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:33,280
Speaker 1: sure you're getting something out of it, and then you

448
00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:35,280
Speaker 1: all win, which is sometimes what it takes.

449
00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:36,359
Speaker 2: I'm curious about the.

450
00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:39,080
Speaker 1: Emerging platforms piece because you've gotten involved with just women's

451
00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,760
Speaker 1: sports reading together. There are all these spaces, these emerging spaces.

452
00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 1: Why was it important for you to work with those

453
00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,200
Speaker 1: platforms alongside the legacy media partners.

454
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,119
Speaker 2: I think the emerging platforms are just different.

455
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:52,840
Speaker 4: If you think about the way female athletes have always

456
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:57,159
Speaker 4: monetized themselves, They've monetized themselves through social They've created their

457
00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,320
Speaker 4: own cultural currency, and as a result, I think many

458
00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:03,560
Speaker 4: of us have almost a voyeuristic look into the lives

459
00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:06,760
Speaker 4: of these athletes that we don't have in an analogous

460
00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:10,560
Speaker 4: way with male athletes. And so these emerging platforms exist

461
00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:14,480
Speaker 4: to have a very deliberate focus on the stories on

462
00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:18,280
Speaker 4: the spaces, on the culture of women's sports, and it

463
00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:21,080
Speaker 4: is really the way that you round out this ecosystem

464
00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:23,920
Speaker 4: beyond the legacy media partners, because let's face it, men's

465
00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:27,120
Speaker 4: sports still dominate the legacy media partners. So for us,

466
00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,399
Speaker 4: I think it was two dimensions to mention. One was,

467
00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:31,399
Speaker 4: how do we give more access, how do we tell

468
00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:35,600
Speaker 4: more stories, how do we give fans a better look

469
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:38,680
Speaker 4: inside of the lives and the stories that matter to them.

470
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:40,760
Speaker 4: And then the second thing is many of these emerging

471
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:45,880
Speaker 4: platforms are athlete led, female focused, female owned, and.

472
00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:47,360
Speaker 2: That's all part of the thesis, right.

473
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,200
Speaker 4: That all counted towards the pledge, But it was about

474
00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:53,040
Speaker 4: making the pie bigger, and so it was really important

475
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:54,960
Speaker 4: to us and continues to be really important to us.

476
00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:57,840
Speaker 4: Where did you encounter resistance along the way to fifty

477
00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:00,640
Speaker 4: to fifty and where did you maybe find some unexpected momentum.

478
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,479
Speaker 4: I think it was less about resistance. I think it

479
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:05,480
Speaker 4: was more about the fear of the unknown.

480
00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:06,000
Speaker 1: You know.

481
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,240
Speaker 4: I remember when we made the pledge. One of the

482
00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:09,960
Speaker 4: first things that the team came back and said was

483
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:11,719
Speaker 4: we're going to have to go ask for a you know,

484
00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:15,399
Speaker 4: multimillions of dollars more in terms of budget, and that

485
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,320
Speaker 4: was not an option, Like there wasn't going to happen,

486
00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,440
Speaker 4: And so there was this internal resistance of like, wow,

487
00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:24,200
Speaker 4: if we start to optimize out of other media, all

488
00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:26,280
Speaker 4: of our brand health metrics are going to go down.

489
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,679
Speaker 4: We're going to not create as much account acquisition. So

490
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,359
Speaker 4: there was more of a fear of the unknown. And

491
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,159
Speaker 4: you know, I just kept saying, you guys, if we

492
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,000
Speaker 4: believe in this, if we believe that this is a

493
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,480
Speaker 4: good idea, then we have to optimize out a less

494
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:43,120
Speaker 4: performing media and into this and the payoff will be there.

495
00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:46,080
Speaker 2: And it has been, And so I would say, you know.

496
00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:49,720
Speaker 4: There was a lot of internal skepticism around whether it

497
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:52,480
Speaker 4: would work or not, but when you kind of fast forward,

498
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:55,120
Speaker 4: it is I would say that probably the biggest pride

499
00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:58,520
Speaker 4: point with an ally in fact this week is our earnings,

500
00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:01,320
Speaker 4: and our CEO will talk about us making the pledge

501
00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:02,840
Speaker 4: in earnings amazing.

502
00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:06,400
Speaker 2: We're here to celebrate that. It is a huge accomplishment.

503
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:08,760
Speaker 1: The winds are there, the proof is in the butten,

504
00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:11,680
Speaker 1: but there is a butt, and today we really wanted

505
00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:12,440
Speaker 1: to get to the butt.

506
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:14,040
Speaker 2: Just clip that off.

507
00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:18,680
Speaker 4: Please attribute that quote to Sarah Spain not Andrey Abermer.

508
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's about as deep as I go, Oh no,

509
00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:24,480
Speaker 1: that's not I didn't We're devolving girl.

510
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,639
Speaker 2: That one was unintentional. What's the butt?

511
00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:30,840
Speaker 4: The butt is I think that we're in a good

512
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:32,040
Speaker 4: time for women's sports.

513
00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:33,879
Speaker 2: We're not yet at this great time.

514
00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:37,359
Speaker 4: I think we have a lot of opportunity ahead still,

515
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:41,359
Speaker 4: and I think what you're seeing is this rising cost

516
00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:44,200
Speaker 4: that is coming with what's happening in the ecosystem, the

517
00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:48,199
Speaker 4: rising cost of fandom, average fans spending over sixteen hundred

518
00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:53,760
Speaker 4: dollars to attend experiences that they want to be a

519
00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,879
Speaker 4: part of. You're seeing league valuations go through the roof,

520
00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:01,040
Speaker 4: You're seeing media costs go through the You're seeing a

521
00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,280
Speaker 4: lot of just hey, this is what the market will

522
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:05,040
Speaker 4: bear without the right.

523
00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:07,800
Speaker 2: Amount of data still to justify that.

524
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,520
Speaker 4: And so in order to get more people investing in

525
00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:13,680
Speaker 4: women's sports, in order to bring more brands off of

526
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,639
Speaker 4: the sidelines, and in order to keep the brands that

527
00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:18,480
Speaker 4: have been there since the beginning.

528
00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:20,959
Speaker 2: That have been heavy investors at the table.

529
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:22,679
Speaker 4: I still think we have a lot of work to

530
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:26,439
Speaker 4: do around really what we talked about, the data not

531
00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:31,679
Speaker 4: getting ahead of ourselves in terms of outpacing really what

532
00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,320
Speaker 4: the market will bear, and really making sure we have

533
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:38,440
Speaker 4: a critically strong foundation before we leap too far ahead

534
00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:41,400
Speaker 4: of ourselves. So how do we do this where we're

535
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,000
Speaker 4: growing with the data and justification for spend and investment,

536
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,719
Speaker 4: choosing partners and deals that ensure that continued growth as

537
00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:51,200
Speaker 4: opposed to chasing the biggest offer the market will bear,

538
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,800
Speaker 4: because that can get things out of whack and also

539
00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:56,119
Speaker 4: can bring in players that aren't a part of the

540
00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:58,359
Speaker 4: space who come in with a lot of money and

541
00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:00,919
Speaker 4: don't really care if they disrupt did They're just going

542
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:03,240
Speaker 4: to leave and go somewhere else after, right, and they

543
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,119
Speaker 4: just they come in, they do a logo slap, they

544
00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:08,119
Speaker 4: don't invest right. And so I do think this is

545
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:10,000
Speaker 4: something that we talk a lot about, is just this

546
00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:12,639
Speaker 4: idea of the you know, kind of the circle of fairness.

547
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,280
Speaker 4: We have been really intentional. For instance, in our NWSL

548
00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:19,359
Speaker 4: sponsorship when we renegotiated that a few years ago, we

549
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:24,480
Speaker 4: actually gave up categories that were part of what ally does,

550
00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:27,679
Speaker 4: for instance, the mortgage category, because we don't spend a

551
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,520
Speaker 4: lot of time activating around mortgage, so we gave that

552
00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:33,639
Speaker 4: category up so that the league could go monetize that.

553
00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,600
Speaker 4: But in response, the league was very fair with us

554
00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,800
Speaker 4: in terms of the sponsorship dollars by giving up that category.

555
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,400
Speaker 4: I think there needs to be still that give and take.

556
00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:47,520
Speaker 4: Jessica Berman used this line with me a couple weeks ago,

557
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:49,280
Speaker 4: and I loved it. It was the circle of fairness.

558
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:51,600
Speaker 4: I think we have to stay within that circle of

559
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,800
Speaker 4: fairness while still growing women's sports by still investing, but

560
00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:59,000
Speaker 4: also by really looking at the brands that are going

561
00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,240
Speaker 4: to come in and are going to actually contribute in

562
00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:06,399
Speaker 4: meaningful ways to the continued growth of the ecosystem, not

563
00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:08,520
Speaker 4: just do a logo slap and write a big check

564
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:10,040
Speaker 4: and not care anything about it.

565
00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 2: Because we still have a lot of room to run.

566
00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:14,560
Speaker 1: You don't want folks to say, well, I made this here,

567
00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:16,520
Speaker 1: so now I'm not going below that, and it's not

568
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:18,120
Speaker 1: something the market will continue to bear.

569
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:18,960
Speaker 2: It was a one off.

570
00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 4: You and I talked about this too. We also don't

571
00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,159
Speaker 4: want to devalue ourselves as women. We don't want to

572
00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:26,760
Speaker 4: devalue the momentum and the things that are happening. But

573
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:28,959
Speaker 4: you know, you don't also want to be that gangly

574
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 4: teenager whose body grows, you know, too fast before the

575
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:34,720
Speaker 4: rest of everything else grows. And so I think we're

576
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,399
Speaker 4: at this precarious time right now where we have to

577
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:38,119
Speaker 4: balance both.

578
00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:41,320
Speaker 1: And it does feel like you need particularly wise people

579
00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:44,480
Speaker 1: with vision too. Because the space is moving so fast,

580
00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:46,560
Speaker 1: it's easy to make a deal that looks very stale

581
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:48,600
Speaker 1: within a year or two. So you also don't want

582
00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:51,399
Speaker 1: to hold things back because you're worried about not moving

583
00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:53,760
Speaker 1: too quickly. There is a tension there though, between the

584
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:57,760
Speaker 1: enthusiasm around the growth in the space, the excitement around

585
00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:03,400
Speaker 1: the audience expansion. That tension comes from affordability you mentioned

586
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:06,800
Speaker 1: beyond like season tickets for folks like Liberty fans who

587
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:09,399
Speaker 1: used to drive to the suburbs to go watch and

588
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:11,720
Speaker 1: now can't get into games. And then I'm looking at

589
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 1: front row Die Cummins and Julie Edelman, my pals that

590
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:16,359
Speaker 1: probably the whole room knows.

591
00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:18,440
Speaker 2: I have no idea how much money you spend every year,

592
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:21,520
Speaker 2: but you are never home. You are at every sporting

593
00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:25,280
Speaker 2: event around the globe, and the average fan can't pull

594
00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:25,760
Speaker 2: that off.

595
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:28,800
Speaker 1: So how do we find a way to encourage the enthusiasm,

596
00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,679
Speaker 1: keep growing, keep getting that money for the players and

597
00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:33,040
Speaker 1: the teams in the leagues that need it.

598
00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:34,680
Speaker 2: And not price everyone else.

599
00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:36,440
Speaker 4: I mean, I think it starts with trying to get

600
00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:38,840
Speaker 4: Die and Julie to adopt you so you.

601
00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:41,040
Speaker 2: Can go on all other family trips with them.

602
00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,000
Speaker 4: But if that doesn't work, no, I mean, look, we

603
00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:47,760
Speaker 4: actually did a pretty intensive survey around the idea of

604
00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,560
Speaker 4: the cost of fandom, and we found that the average

605
00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:54,080
Speaker 4: span is spending about sixteen hundred dollars a year to

606
00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:56,440
Speaker 4: attend the events that they want to do. And if

607
00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 4: you look at that in the macro that we have

608
00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,800
Speaker 4: right now with rising inflation, then the balance for what

609
00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:03,800
Speaker 4: you're going to do with your disposable income, it's a

610
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:06,400
Speaker 4: real challenge. And so I think a lot of it

611
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:09,440
Speaker 4: is about when fans don't have an opportunity to actually

612
00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:12,280
Speaker 4: attend the events, how do you give them access so

613
00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:14,720
Speaker 4: that they can create the same kind of experience, right,

614
00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,760
Speaker 4: whether it's for us. We've been creating these ally houses

615
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:21,080
Speaker 4: at different events. We had one at the Unrivaled Game

616
00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,840
Speaker 4: in Brooklyn. Two and a half hour wait to get

617
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:26,320
Speaker 4: into the ally house. We had athletes in there, we

618
00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,000
Speaker 4: did interviews, we did giveaways, we had free food, we

619
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:31,920
Speaker 4: had free drinks, same thing at NWSL. So how do

620
00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:34,680
Speaker 4: you create the experience around the experience, I think is

621
00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:37,800
Speaker 4: one dimension that brands can certainly be thinking about. I

622
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:41,160
Speaker 4: think the second one is helping fans say for the

623
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,920
Speaker 4: things that matter to them, and for us as a bank,

624
00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,960
Speaker 4: that's a great platform. But I think just this notion

625
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:49,800
Speaker 4: of being cognizant of it and trying to offset those

626
00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:52,040
Speaker 4: costs in the ways that we can you have some.

627
00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:54,560
Speaker 2: Potential plans for surprise and delight with that.

628
00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:54,880
Speaker 1: Yeah.

629
00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:56,840
Speaker 4: I mean, look, we've been talking a lot about taking

630
00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:00,480
Speaker 4: on what we're calling fanflation as really the next thing

631
00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:02,960
Speaker 4: to tackle in the ecosystem, and so how do we

632
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:07,280
Speaker 4: go after this notion of what's happening relative to fanflation

633
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:11,080
Speaker 4: and whether that is using our power in the marketplace,

634
00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:13,760
Speaker 4: tickets that come with league sponsorships to give those way

635
00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:17,360
Speaker 4: to fans, creating special savings buckets where if you're an

636
00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,920
Speaker 4: ally customer and you have a women's sports bucket, us

637
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,240
Speaker 4: actually going in and dropping money into your bucket as

638
00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,200
Speaker 4: a surprise and delight. I think there's all kinds of

639
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:31,560
Speaker 4: things that we can do. Seat upgrades, access to games

640
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,719
Speaker 4: when you are just at an adjacent event, doing some

641
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,360
Speaker 4: shoulder taps and bringing people into games. So I think

642
00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:39,320
Speaker 4: for us, there's a lot of different ways that we're

643
00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:41,920
Speaker 4: going to go after this and try and make sure

644
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,840
Speaker 4: that the fans that have helped build the ecosystem from

645
00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:46,520
Speaker 4: the ground up don't get shut out.

646
00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:50,840
Speaker 1: So smart, right, just imagine you're at an ally house

647
00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:52,640
Speaker 1: like this will be a fun watch, and instead they

648
00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:54,560
Speaker 1: send you inside. I also feel like everyone in the

649
00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:56,600
Speaker 1: room just got an Ally account and made a little

650
00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:58,239
Speaker 1: bucket and they're like, all right, let's see it.

651
00:30:58,280 --> 00:30:59,440
Speaker 2: Please do some money in there.

652
00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:02,320
Speaker 1: Why is it important to have this conversation now instead

653
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:04,200
Speaker 1: of waiting until some of this plays out.

654
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:04,960
Speaker 2: What we've been.

655
00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:06,640
Speaker 4: Saying is we made the fifty to fifty pledge, that

656
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:09,320
Speaker 4: doesn't mean we're done. Like we're just at the beginning

657
00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,080
Speaker 4: of the work. There's so much more work to do.

658
00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:14,200
Speaker 4: It resets every single year. It's not like you get

659
00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:16,320
Speaker 4: to fifty to fifty and you're like, okay, good, now

660
00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:18,120
Speaker 4: we're at the fifty. How much further do we go?

661
00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:21,000
Speaker 4: You reset every year and you start from the ground

662
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:24,320
Speaker 4: up at ground zero and keep rebuilding. It's the same

663
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:26,640
Speaker 4: thing with like I said, the place and the space

664
00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:29,080
Speaker 4: that we're at in terms of the women's sports ecosystem

665
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:29,640
Speaker 4: right now.

666
00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,080
Speaker 2: There's so much work that we collectively.

667
00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:36,760
Speaker 4: Continue to need to do and making sure that the

668
00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,680
Speaker 4: people that have been there from the beginning that care

669
00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:43,040
Speaker 4: about women's sports, the brands that have invested, the networks

670
00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:46,440
Speaker 4: that have been first, and the fans can continue to

671
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:49,240
Speaker 4: be part of this thriving ecosystem and continue to.

672
00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:51,920
Speaker 2: Enjoy it, so we don't completely turn it over.

673
00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:54,920
Speaker 4: And lose what's really special about women's sports. I think

674
00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:57,640
Speaker 4: we're all here because you guys all feel it, right,

675
00:31:57,680 --> 00:31:59,640
Speaker 4: There is this specialness.

676
00:31:58,920 --> 00:31:59,960
Speaker 2: That's just different.

677
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:03,160
Speaker 4: I don't know, maybe I'm naive, but I want to

678
00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:05,400
Speaker 4: preserve that, and I want to make sure that we,

679
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:08,240
Speaker 4: as the guardians of it collectively don't lose it.

680
00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's something to consider. I think when

681
00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 1: women's sports tries to operate in a capitalist society and

682
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:18,120
Speaker 1: gets the wins we've all been wanting, it also puts

683
00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:20,720
Speaker 1: at risk the things that make it special and different.

684
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:23,680
Speaker 1: And if we fall into just repeating the mistakes that

685
00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,080
Speaker 1: we see on the men's side in pursuit of an

686
00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:29,760
Speaker 1: equity or equality that's not actually desirable, we will end

687
00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:31,840
Speaker 1: up taking away some of the very reasons that we're

688
00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:34,080
Speaker 1: all here, and I think that's.

689
00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:34,520
Speaker 2: Something to keep an eye.

690
00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,880
Speaker 1: And you've said it's basically a continuous journey, not a milestone.

691
00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,880
Speaker 1: You've reached this, that's great, but what does the next

692
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:43,120
Speaker 1: chapter look like? How do you make sure that you're

693
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:45,240
Speaker 1: still making a difference in the same way if you don't.

694
00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:46,160
Speaker 2: Have that pledge to reach for.

695
00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:49,440
Speaker 4: It's about really taking a hard look and preserving the

696
00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:51,600
Speaker 4: things that we're a part of. I'm really proud of

697
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:58,360
Speaker 4: our women's sports portfolio NWSL, wmba unrivaled USGA. You know,

698
00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:02,640
Speaker 4: we push the women's purse to the largest person women's golf.

699
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:04,840
Speaker 4: Think about all the things that we've done in the

700
00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:07,520
Speaker 4: space team ally, all the athletes that are part of it,

701
00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:11,120
Speaker 4: our investments and conferences like this. So I think for us,

702
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,600
Speaker 4: it's continuing to make sure that we're investing in the

703
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,960
Speaker 4: places where we're educating, where we're creating fandom, where we're

704
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,200
Speaker 4: opening up our playbook and bringing more people along, more

705
00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:24,400
Speaker 4: brands along, Like it's great to see a new brand

706
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,520
Speaker 4: like Geico in the ecosystem and Arianna coming in with

707
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:31,480
Speaker 4: a really significant investment and jumping in with both feet.

708
00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:33,880
Speaker 4: So how do we continue to bring along the people

709
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,960
Speaker 4: that are actually going to come in and do real things,

710
00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:40,640
Speaker 4: you know, and be part of this and make sure

711
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,440
Speaker 4: that we don't close ourselves off, make sure that we

712
00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:47,360
Speaker 4: aren't sharing the information, make sure that we are continuing

713
00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,160
Speaker 4: to be builders and makers and not blockers.

714
00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:51,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I.

715
00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:53,400
Speaker 1: Think, as I talked about before, one of the things

716
00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:56,360
Speaker 1: is to share best practices with brands that maybe aren't

717
00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,120
Speaker 1: as familiar with this space, because what's been so frustrating

718
00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:01,920
Speaker 1: in the past is on the execution of some sort

719
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:05,240
Speaker 1: of activation is fundamentally wrong from the start, and at

720
00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:07,440
Speaker 1: the end when it doesn't pay off, they blame the product,

721
00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:09,640
Speaker 1: which is the same thing that's been happening with women's

722
00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:10,760
Speaker 1: sports for its entirety.

723
00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:12,120
Speaker 2: It's always the product blamed.

724
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:14,400
Speaker 1: Instead of the media ecosystem that's not elevating it, instead

725
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:16,240
Speaker 1: of the investment that isn't there, instead of the resources

726
00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:18,319
Speaker 1: that aren't there. So the same has to go for

727
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,960
Speaker 1: this ROI expectation. It has to be built on the

728
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:23,080
Speaker 1: reality of what the space looks like and how you

729
00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:26,200
Speaker 1: can gauge success. So let's say it's four years from now,

730
00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:29,040
Speaker 1: what does success look like? What does the space look

731
00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:31,080
Speaker 1: like if we do it right? What I think success

732
00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:34,399
Speaker 1: looks like as a number of dimensions. One, I think

733
00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,720
Speaker 1: you continue to see the rising valuations of the leagues,

734
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:40,960
Speaker 1: the teams. I think the second thing is you continue

735
00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:43,120
Speaker 1: to see the athletes get paid. I mean, you've seen

736
00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:45,600
Speaker 1: a massive shift in terms of the new CBA with

737
00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:49,279
Speaker 1: the WMBA, but that needs to be persistent across more

738
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:52,160
Speaker 1: than just women's basketball. That needs to port over into

739
00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:55,200
Speaker 1: women's soccer, that needs to poort over into a number

740
00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:56,840
Speaker 1: of the new and emergency guest hosts.

741
00:34:57,239 --> 00:35:00,239
Speaker 4: Podcast host number one on the list exactly. I think

742
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:03,640
Speaker 4: that whole notion of making sure there truly are no

743
00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:06,160
Speaker 4: more side hustles and that people that are part of

744
00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:09,600
Speaker 4: this can actually focus on their craft is really important.

745
00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:12,400
Speaker 4: I think the second thing is that you continue to

746
00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:16,040
Speaker 4: see more new leagues and teams emerge. You see what's

747
00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:19,000
Speaker 4: happening with PWHL coming out of the Olympics. You got

748
00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:21,759
Speaker 4: to figure out ways to make sure that that momentum

749
00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:24,920
Speaker 4: continues to thrive. You've got women's flag football, you've got

750
00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:27,920
Speaker 4: women's baseball, you've got all you know, women's volleyball, all

751
00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:30,359
Speaker 4: of these things that are happening. You still have less

752
00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:33,839
Speaker 4: than six percent of the Fortune five hundred doing sponsorships

753
00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:36,520
Speaker 4: in women's sports. I mean, there's so much room to

754
00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:40,040
Speaker 4: run still for sponsors to come in and make sure

755
00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:43,080
Speaker 4: that we've got the full sumness and the entirety of

756
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:45,400
Speaker 4: women's sports leagues that we do on the men's side.

757
00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:48,319
Speaker 1: So what's your message to other brands based on what

758
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,160
Speaker 1: Ally's done in terms of, you know, what their own

759
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:52,200
Speaker 1: commitments might look like.

760
00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:54,279
Speaker 4: I will have other people that will ask me that question,

761
00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:58,000
Speaker 4: other cmos, and like, just start somewhere, Just do something.

762
00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:00,919
Speaker 4: Don't be so afraid to just get in and dip

763
00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:03,520
Speaker 4: your toe in. You don't have to have all the data.

764
00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:05,600
Speaker 4: There's nothing about this that's going to blow up in

765
00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:08,800
Speaker 4: your face. There really isn't, and we've got the receipts

766
00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,120
Speaker 4: to prove it. And just reach out to the right people.

767
00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:14,759
Speaker 4: Start to make those connections and just start somewhere, even

768
00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:15,440
Speaker 4: if it's small.

769
00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:19,320
Speaker 2: Invest in an athlete, do an nil deal, do a team.

770
00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:24,280
Speaker 4: Sponsorship, buy some media not ours, don't try and outbid

771
00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:25,280
Speaker 4: us on our league deals.

772
00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:27,160
Speaker 2: But just go in and.

773
00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:31,040
Speaker 4: Start somewhere, and just start building and create your own

774
00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:33,839
Speaker 4: fact set because every factset's going to be a little

775
00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:36,120
Speaker 4: bit different. But create your own fact set and then

776
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:38,520
Speaker 4: be a champion for it. I think the other thing

777
00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:40,640
Speaker 4: that's just so important is people get in, but then

778
00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:43,560
Speaker 4: they don't champion it. You know, every week I'm stumping

779
00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:46,360
Speaker 4: women's sports somewhere and that's part of doing the work.

780
00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:52,120
Speaker 1: Big thanks to Andrea for the time, such a thoughtful conversation,

781
00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:54,600
Speaker 1: and I do love hearing about the innovative work or

782
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:57,080
Speaker 1: team is doing and what she thinks the future looks like.

783
00:36:57,480 --> 00:36:59,359
Speaker 1: We got to take another break when we come back.

784
00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:06,200
Speaker 1: All the friends I packed into my New York minute

785
00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:12,400
Speaker 1: Welcome back, Slices. We love that you're listening, but we

786
00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:13,919
Speaker 1: want you to get in the game every day too.

787
00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:16,640
Speaker 1: So here's our good game play of the day. Send

788
00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:19,799
Speaker 1: us a voicemail like Canadian slice Rhea, who called it

789
00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:21,840
Speaker 1: on Tuesday after the WNBA draft.

790
00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:24,960
Speaker 2: Hey, Sarah, it's Ria calling from Toronto. Just wanted to

791
00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:26,279
Speaker 2: say thank you for sharing.

792
00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:28,840
Speaker 1: You're on the spot reactions to the WNBA draft, so

793
00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:31,040
Speaker 1: the slices didn't have to wait until Wednesday to.

794
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:31,640
Speaker 2: Hear your takes.

795
00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:34,040
Speaker 1: Very happy we got to hear that on Tuesday.

796
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:36,200
Speaker 2: Also, I'm thrilled that Toronto got.

797
00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:38,440
Speaker 1: Top right, and I wanted to say you are welcome

798
00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:42,000
Speaker 1: to come hang out in Canada anytime. Have a good one, Ria,

799
00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:46,560
Speaker 1: say less, I'll see you there. In fact, plans are

800
00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:48,120
Speaker 1: actually in the works for me to be at the

801
00:37:48,239 --> 00:37:51,520
Speaker 1: very first Toronto Tempo game on May eighth and maybe

802
00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:53,520
Speaker 1: do a little more while I'm up in America's hat.

803
00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,839
Speaker 1: More to come on that very soon. We always love

804
00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:58,719
Speaker 1: to hear from you. Hit us up on email, good

805
00:37:58,719 --> 00:38:01,400
Speaker 1: game at Wondermedia Network dot com, or again, leave us

806
00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:04,680
Speaker 1: a voicemail eight seven two two four fifty seventy, and

807
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:08,240
Speaker 1: don't forget to subscribe, Rate and review. It's easy watch

808
00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:11,719
Speaker 1: hanging with a horse, a gecko, and a mess of

809
00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:15,320
Speaker 1: badass women. Rating one hundred percent of people in the

810
00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:17,800
Speaker 1: room who know business is booming.

811
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:19,000
Speaker 2: Review.

812
00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:22,400
Speaker 1: My conversation with Andrea on Tuesday was one of many

813
00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:28,000
Speaker 1: as the biggest names in women's sports, coaches, athletes, GMS, sponsors, filmmakers,

814
00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,160
Speaker 1: and change makers all gathered in Manhattan for the Deep

815
00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:34,440
Speaker 1: Blue Business of Women's Sports Summit. Y'all, there were so

816
00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:36,960
Speaker 1: many friends of the show in the room. I'm guessing

817
00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:39,680
Speaker 1: at least fifty I got to chop it up with

818
00:38:39,719 --> 00:38:43,680
Speaker 1: Sue Byrd, Lexi Brown, Deanna Flores, Cheryl Swoops and more.

819
00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:46,880
Speaker 1: I got to hug UCLA coach Corey Close and congratulate

820
00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:49,640
Speaker 1: her on the big NCAA title win and a huge

821
00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:51,160
Speaker 1: night for her Bruins at the draft.

822
00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:53,080
Speaker 2: And I got to meet the newest.

823
00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:56,680
Speaker 1: Member of the Chicago Sky, Gabriella Hakez. I also got

824
00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:58,560
Speaker 1: to meet a handful of friends of the show in

825
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:02,560
Speaker 1: person for the first time, including Paris snowboard medalist Kate Nelson,

826
00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:06,840
Speaker 1: driver Katherine Legg, stylist Amadi Brooks, and Quiet Please host

827
00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:10,400
Speaker 1: mel Reed. Oh and the Dallas Wings mascot Lightning the

828
00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:13,960
Speaker 1: Horse was there and the Geico gecko. He was like

829
00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:17,080
Speaker 1: six foot five. Y'all Those ads where he looks miniature

830
00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:21,440
Speaker 1: are very misleading. Now it's your turn rate and review.

831
00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:25,680
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow. Good game, Andrea, Good game,

832
00:39:25,680 --> 00:39:30,360
Speaker 1: Brianna Turner, keep using your voice you, Natasha Clouds, still

833
00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:38,520
Speaker 1: looking for a team. Good Game with Sarah Spain is

834
00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:41,319
Speaker 1: an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue

835
00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:44,640
Speaker 1: Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,

836
00:39:44,719 --> 00:39:48,080
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or Wherever you get your podcasts. Production by

837
00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:49,160
Speaker 1: Wonder Media Network.

838
00:39:49,360 --> 00:39:51,800
Speaker 2: Our producers are Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier.

839
00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:55,520
Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan

840
00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:58,600
Speaker 1: and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Lucy Jones,

841
00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:02,440
Speaker 1: Britney Martinez and Gianna Paul. Production assistance from Avery Loftus

842
00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:04,160
Speaker 1: and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain