WEBVTT - Do What Makes You Light Up with Risa Isard 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:03.400 Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're manifesting 0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:07.600 a long sunny fall this year, first Indian summer, long 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:12.960 Indian summer, but then real actual fall, several months of it. 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:13.399 Please. 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:16.200 It's Monday, September eighth, and on today show, we'll be 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:19.080 talking to Resa Eard, the director of Research at Parody, 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:22.320 about the biggest takeaways from two new reports on women's sports, 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:25.479 plus the history of racism and WNBA media coverage, and 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:28.480 why women's sports fans are the most valuable fans. 0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:31.200 And we're not just saying that the research proves it. 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:34.239 That conversation with Resa is coming up right after this, 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:40.240 joining us now. 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:41.680 She was recently hired. 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:43.920 As the director of research at Parody, a company that 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:47.040 helps connect athletes in women's sports with businesses interested in 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:47.840 sponsoring them. 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:49.640 Before that, she spent a whole lot of time. 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:52.000 In classrooms, including two years as a professor of sport 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.200 management at Yukon. While an undergrad at Duke, she created 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:58.360 her own major social change at the intersection of culture, 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:00.959 gender and sport. And then we got her PhD from 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:04.200 the University of Massachusetts with their dissertation that actually sounds interesting. 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:08.480 Women's professional sport and stigma. Her hobbies include surfing and 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:12.760 making educational children's worksheets about Title nine, it's Resa Iard. 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:15.720 I'm not surprised you when producer Alex our friends if 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:18.120 your hobbies include making worksheets. 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:19.640 It was such a great day. It was such a 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:20.080 great day. 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:24.120 As I mentioned in your intro these days, you're the 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:26.320 director of research at Parody, but you've been in the 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:28.479 women's sports space for a long time, even though I'm 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:31.080 guessing no one else was making Title nine worksheets for 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:33.959 you growing up. Now you have filled that hole amongst others. 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:35.600 Can you tell us about how you first got interested 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:36.960 in researching women's sports? 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:38.520 Yeah, I think you know. 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:41.520 I got interested in researching really just because for a 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:43.120 long time I was a fan, and so for me, 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:45.680 I think it actually all goes back to nineteen ninety seven. 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:49.520 I was a really impressionable young girl growing up in Phoenix, Arizona, 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:52.080 surrounded by the energy that launched the w like the 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.560 most successful women's sport league that we've had in US history, 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:59.960 and so I saw really early up close in personal 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:02.480 like how powerful women athletes were and what they meant 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:04.840 to me as a girl athlete. But I also saw 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:07.560 the disparities at a really young age, and so from 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:09.640 that moment on, I was really just committed to doing 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:12.480 whatever I could, wherever I was, with whatever I had. 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:14.760 And you know, I was never someone who like dreamed 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:17.600 of being a pro athlete. I think I was a 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:22.040 largely above average but basically mediocre athlete, and I loved sports, 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:25.480 but in the classroom I had good grades, and so 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:28.440 it was really just you know, what are the skills 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:30.760 or the talents or the areas that I can excel 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:33.280 in that I'm passionate about where I can hopefully help 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:36.320 make a difference for women's sports. And so that led 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:38.400 me down a lot of rabbit holes, you know, early 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:41.079 jobs with the Mercury, reading the collective bargaining agreement in 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:43.960 the eighth grade at bedtime, just like you know, being 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:47.280 really nerdy really early and soaking it all up so 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:49.240 that hopefully I was prepared for a moment like this. 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:52.680 Oh my god, I love that we need people like you, 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:56.720 because that's not my wheelhouse, digging through cbas and understanding 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:59.600 the nitty gritty of contracts. But okay, so you're rising 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:02.320 up the academia, and I imagine if you're a smart, 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:04.760 accomplished person. There plenty of folks trying to pull you 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:07.919 in different directions or suggest areas of focus. Did you 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:10.639 ever have any trouble convincing people that women's sports were 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:12.200 worth researching and worth your time? 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:16.280 Honestly, I feel like probably pretty lucky to say no. 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:20.519 I think the folks I surrounded myself with like saw 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:22.679 that this was something I was really passionate about, and 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:24.480 we're just like, we're going to get out of her 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:25.800 way whether we get it or not. 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:28.600 Like she's she's doing something, she's going somewhere. 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:31.800 I actually remember years ago I was talking with an 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.360 undergrad mentor and I wasn't sure yet about getting my PhD. 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:36.960 And you know, I was like, I don't know about 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:39.040 this whole thing, and he was like, look, you're actually 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:41.120 going to study something that really matters, Like you're not 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:44.880 going to just be another He was a historian, so 0:03:45.040 --> 0:03:46.760 he was kind of, you know, self deprecating. He was like, 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:48.520 you're not just going to go be another historian of 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:50.839 like you know these ten years. And don't get me wrong, 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:53.760 I love history. My undergrad honor thesis was on the 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.360 history of Title nine, so like here for all of 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:59.800 the history of women's sports. But I think people saw 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:01.600 that this moment was going to come, and I think 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:03.120 they just saw how much I lit up when I 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:03.920 was doing this work. 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:06.160 And you know, if all else sales like go do 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:07.080 what makes you light up? 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:10.160 Yeah? I love that and it's so true. 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:13.760 Especially even just five six, seven years ago, there was 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:16.560 such a dearth of both coverage and research and interest 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:19.080 in this space that has since blown up, and so 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:22.159 I imagine it was difficult in some cases to find 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:25.080 the information you were pursuing or to get access to things, 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:27.520 if not that many people were asking for it. So 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:29.960 part of what you're doing now is creating the kinds 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:33.080 of studies that everyone can look at and pull from, 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:36.000 especially when they're trying to make pitches or arguments as 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:38.960 to why investing in women's sports is smart. So this 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:41.160 new role director of research for Parity. For folks who 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:43.480 aren't familiar, can you give us kind of an overview 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:46.000 of what Paroity is and the work that the company does. 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:47.000 Absolutely? 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:47.200 So. 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:49.719 Parody was founded in twenty twenty and our mission is 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:53.440 to close the gender, income and opportunity gap in professional sports. 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:56.919 So everybody who's listening here today knows pretty obviously that 0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:59.960 women athletes make up just a fraction of global sponsorships 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.200 and media coverage, and they're often excluded from the most 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:07.039 meaningful brand deals, and so Parody works directly with athletes 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:11.239 and brands to address this inequity by connecting our roster, 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:14.200 our community of more than eleven hundred athletes over three 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:17.760 hundred lilympians across eighty five plus different sports, with purpose 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:20.080 driven brands that really want to tap into the women's 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:22.160 sports audience, that want to put their money where their 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:24.280 mouth is. And in doing that, we're really focused on 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:28.520 the financial empowerment and visibility for women athletes across our research, 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:31.080 our partnerships, the campaigns we work with them, all of that. 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:34.320 So you represent the athletes, but you're also contributing to 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:38.840 the space by creating information and data that allows not 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:40.919 just the connections with your athletes and brands, but just 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:42.600 the overall space to be better informed. 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:43.159 Yeah. 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:45.400 Absolutely, I mean, I think we do our job best 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:49.679 if the research that we're doing contributes to the broader ecosystem. Certainly, 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:52.640 right with our partners, we can run some proprietary analyzes. 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:54.680 We can make sure that you know the latest and 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:57.680 greatest is going towards them and directing their strategy and 0:05:57.720 --> 0:06:00.720 their partnership deals. But above all else, we believe that 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:04.479 a rising tide lifts all boats. So we absolutely want 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:06.440 our research out there as far and wide as it 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:10.800 can be to support every single person, brand, leader, athlete 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:13.679 in the women's sports ecosystem to do what they're doing 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:15.400 as well as they can do it so that women 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:17.120 athletes make as much money as they can. 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:20.920 Director of research sounds pretty fancy schmancy, So what exactly 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.080 do you do and did that exist before you were hired? 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:26.520 So Parody did have a person that was leading some 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:29.520 research for them before I joined this role. They did 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:31.160 a lot of things, and so I am the first 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.280 person at Parody to kind of be focused on research 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:35.960 twenty four to seven. And so my job is really 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:38.560 to think about what's our strategy and research, what are 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:40.680 the studies we want to run, and then go do 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:43.400 those studies right? So, what's our data, what's our analysis, 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:44.560 what's the story we're telling? 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:46.039 How are we putting it out there? 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:48.680 I have an amazing team of colleagues who are so 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:50.400 good at all of what they do too, to help 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:52.760 inform the research and make sure it's serving our clients 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:55.160 and then you know, using that data, like I said, 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:57.839 both externally so that everybody in the women's sports ecosystem 0:06:57.880 --> 0:06:59.640 can be as smart as we can be, and then 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.680 using really also to drive extra value to our brand clients. 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:04.719 There was just a new report that was released. This 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:05.640 was pretty fascinating. 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:07.560 It was about fan behavior and beliefs in the women's 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:10.840 soccer space. This is your baby, if you will so 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:13.840 tell us some of the big takeaways from this particular report. 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:17.200 Absolutely, you know, I think everyone who's listening here, we've 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:20.120 all seen the data that the women's soccer audience is 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:23.440 super engaged, loyal, passionate. I mean, I think probably everyone 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:26.080 listening to this is that right, Like my guess is 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:29.760 a huge number of you know, your listener, Sarah, have 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:32.080 been the folks that are actually spending against brands, Like 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:34.320 I can't count the number of brands I have bought 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:36.720 from because they sponsor women's sports. 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:38.600 And so we know that's happening across the board. 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:41.560 What's really interesting about the women's soccer audience is like 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:45.960 they're over indexing even above and beyond like your baseline 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:49.480 women's sport consumer who was already so loyal so passionate, 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:52.559 so engaged. We've kind of been joking like the women's 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:55.840 sports fans might just be the most valuable audience in 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.920 sports because they're not just watching, they're acting, and they're 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:02.000 doing so at a rate even greater and higher and 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:05.640 faster than other women's sports fans, which we just think 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:06.480 is an awesome. 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:06.800 Story to tell. 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:08.800 It's not actually a story we set out to tell, 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:11.080 but it was just in the data and it was 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:12.960 kind of screaming at us, and we really wanted to 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:16.320 name it and give women's soccer fans their flowers and 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:18.120 let brands know this is a great place to spend 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:18.520 your money. 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:19.200 Yeah. 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:21.200 I mean, I'm a prime example of someone who has 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.040 been intentional about using products and buying products that I've 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:28.440 seen step up when leagues needed it, step up and 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:31.000 support the players that I care about. Dumb it down 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:32.760 for folks who are not in this space, who maybe 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:36.120 don't understand how the research is conducted and what you're 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:38.839 looking for, and then we'll come back to some of 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:40.040 the details you just spelled out. 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:43.480 Absolutely, So, I think every great research project just starts 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:45.200 with a question when I talk about it, you know, 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:47.079 in my undergrads it's like, what are you noticing or 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:48.240 what are you curious about? 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:50.079 What do you want to know more about? 0:08:50.120 --> 0:08:53.000 Like it's just a question, and then you think about, Okay, 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:55.520 if this is my question, what do I need to 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:57.520 do to find the answer to that? What data can 0:08:57.559 --> 0:09:00.520 I collect? What data's already out there? Need to collect 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:02.480 new data? Who do I need to hear from to 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:05.079 be able to understand that? And so at parody for 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:07.559 our last several reports we've partnered with survey Monkey. They've 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:11.720 been fantastic for us in helping us survey a really 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:14.760 strong gen pop audience so that we're not just hearing 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:17.560 from women's sports fans. We're not just hearing from you know, 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:20.040 listeners of Good Game with Sarah Spain. We're actually hearing 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:23.320 from anybody who's ever taken a survey on survey Monkey, 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:25.960 which is, you know, like more than two million people 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:27.600 that they have serviced, and. 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:28.920 So we're hearing from those folks. 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:32.320 We're asking them questions about what sports are they watching, 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:34.280 and how do they think about athletes, and what about 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:36.880 these different brands and brand categories? And then that all 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:39.199 comes back in a spreadsheet and I spend a lot 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:42.760 of time writing fancy formulas or just doing some other 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.560 kind of analyzes with those numbers to arrive at some 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:49.320 answers as to what are we seeing here, how are 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:52.280 fans engaging, what are they telling us about themselves? 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:55.959 Yeah, and certainly what we understand about the relationship between 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:58.920 sports fans and brands and sponsors is that the goal 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:02.760 is to first get eyeballs on your name, your company, 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:05.520 be familiar, maybe recognize it on a shelf, and you 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:07.640 choose it because you remember hearing about it. But there's 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:10.480 a difference in the way that might operate for fans of, 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:12.840 say men's sport. I always make the example of if 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:16.120 a beer sponsors the NFL, I'm not like, oh my gosh, wow, 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:17.640 oh my gosh, that's so good of them to make 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:19.960 sure the NFL is going to succeed. I'm going to 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:21.720 go out and buy that beer. They're going to get 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:24.360 millions of eyeballs. But maybe fans don't see them in 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:27.319 a different light because they are supporting the NFL. 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:29.280 That's not the case for women's sports. 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:32.520 People do change their opinions about brands, often as a 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:35.760 result of their decision to get into the women's sports space. 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:38.679 So you mentioned that women's sports fans potentially are the 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:42.000 most valuable because one of the findings of the report 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:45.000 is not just now we've heard of your brand, or 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:46.839 now we know what your brand does, but we actually 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:49.680 actively change our buying behaviors as a result of you 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:52.440 showing up. So more than one in four women's soccer 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:55.760 fans have made a purchase because of a brand sponsorship, 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:58.640 making them fifty eight percent more likely to do so 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:01.719 than other women's sports. So this isn't just women's sports fans, 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:04.960 which we know over index compared to everyone else, but 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:08.199 soccer fans specifically. What do you think it is about 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:10.720 the soccer world? Disposable income? Is that part of it? 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:11.480 Is that what we learned? 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:13.640 You know, it's a great question. I really think it's 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:15.040 a few things about women's soccer. 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:17.559 I think first and foremost we have to talk about 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:20.800 the supporter community in women's soccer and just the way 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:24.560 that teams are already building really deep and meaningful and 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:27.520 authentic relationships with these fans, and so when brands enter 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:31.800 that space, fans are there for it. And so there's 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:35.040 a community around being a women's soccer fan that's different 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:37.679 than what you might find in other women's sports. I 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:39.840 think that's a huge part of it. I also think 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:45.239 women's soccer has had its moments of really deep important 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:48.360 reckoning of times that we all know the players were 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:50.560 not treated with the respect that they deserve, and the 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:52.760 brands that stuck by those players, the brands that are 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:55.000 investing in that, I think there's a little bit of 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:59.920 extra gratitude and appreciation and recognition for stepping up for 0:11:59.920 --> 0:12:03.800 these athletes who haven't always had people who had their backs, 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:06.560 and so I think those combined really help women's soccer 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:10.880 fans step up over and above how all other women's 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:11.640 sports fans are. 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:14.480 Yeah, I think the community aspect is really smart because 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:16.319 one of the things that we hear about women's sports 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:19.400 fans is they sometimes feel isolated. They don't have as 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:22.319 many people to talk about their favorite teams and players too, 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:24.800 and in the soccer world, there is a built in 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:28.440 sort of place to join to create community around this 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:30.120 thing that you love and care about, and then in 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:33.280 that they can have discussions about supporting and working with 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:34.880 brands that seem to be doing right by the. 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:36.000 People that they care about. 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:39.000 For this study specifically about women's soccer fans, are there 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:41.280 any unanswered questions that you're hoping to do a future 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:43.120 reporter or understand better in the future. 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:45.280 That's a great question, you know. 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:46.840 I think we just kind of want to track this, 0:12:46.920 --> 0:12:51.520 Like I am excited to continue to see how this develops. 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:54.440 I'm excited to see how brands activate off of this 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:57.040 and what great stories we can tell. And I also 0:12:57.160 --> 0:13:00.480 think Parody's really well positioned, given our community of nearly 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:03.000 twelve hundred athletes, to really shine a light on the 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:06.840 athlete experience and what is it for them, And so 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:09.360 I'm excited for us to continue doing work not just 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:11.520 with fans and not just with brands, but also making 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:14.959 sure that athlete voices are heard and elevated as part 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:17.720 of these conversations. Everything we do at Parody is about 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:22.400 women athletes and elevating them and their stories and closing 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:23.880 that gender and income opportunity gap. 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:25.800 So I'm excited for our research to do that too. 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:28.439 We got to take a quick break more with Risa 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:38.480 right after this. Earlier in the summer, Parody released a 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:41.600 broader report. This was on marketing and fan purchasing behavior 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.880 just in women's sports in general. So what conclusions can 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:46.320 you share from that Broader Report. 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:48.920 Yeah, absolutely, So we spent a lot of time talking 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:52.760 about soccer across the board. Basketball leads the way in 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:55.280 terms of the number of fans across the US for 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:58.560 women's basketball, and so we think that's really exciting and 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:02.439 a story worth elevating. And also we can't ignore all 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:05.480 of the new leagues that are emerging, you know, as 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:08.240 part of this incredible movement, that are making a huge impression. 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:10.960 And so we've seen a lot of traction actually with 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:15.240 the GSL, with the PWHL, right with Unrivaled, with a 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:18.240 lot of leagues that are emerging really kind of getting 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:19.960 off to a great start, and so that was a 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.080 really exciting part of that report as well. 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:24.720 The GSL, the Gamebridge Super League. We've talked about that 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:26.960 a few times on the show, though not super in depth. 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:30.240 That's sort of the league competing to be alongside the NWSL, 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:31.920 though most of the best players in the US are 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:36.120 still choosing the NWSL. You mentioned those emerging leagues. What 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:38.680 I think we're finding from some of them is incredible 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:42.000 dexterity as a result of being brand new and because 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:44.960 of their size, not being regulated quite the same way, 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:47.880 not having sort of like traditional history or connection to brands, 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:51.239 and they're not connected to men's leagues that have relationships 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:53.400 that they're required to be beholden too, like we often 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:56.240 see with say the WNBA Unrivaled feels a little more 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:58.400 dexterous right now, although we'll see how that changes as 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:00.640 they continue to age and grow. When you look at 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:03.200 that larger study of women's sports, I think we hear 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:05.480 at the show and you've probably talked about them a 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:07.800 million times, But are there a couple quick takeaways that 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:10.320 maybe the average person doesn't realize when you talk about 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:13.800 how fans of women's sport above and beyond anyone else 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:15.120 might be the most valuable. 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:18.280 Yeah, so trust in women athletes is at an all 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:21.360 time high. Year over year, we have seen the trust 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:25.000 in women athletes grow. We call this the believability boosts, 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:29.920 Like consumers believe women athletes believe in the products that 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:33.280 you know they're endorsing. And this is actually, you know, 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:36.080 true even for people who tell us they never watch 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:39.320 women's sports. Fifty eight percent of people who never watch 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:42.920 women's sports actually tell us they still have pretty significant 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:46.160 trust in women athletes when it comes to kind of 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:48.680 the products they're promoting and the collaborations they're part of, 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:50.720 and I mean, I think that's a phenomenal statistic, Like 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:52.880 more than half of people who literally are never watching 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:56.239 this actually care what these folks have to say as influencers, 0:15:56.280 --> 0:16:00.240 as endorsers for products, and so I think that's really exciting, 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:03.080 especially paired with all the research we know about how 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.080 sponsorship drives purchase intention and the fact that like fans 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:08.960 just want more, they want more brands in this space. 0:16:09.440 --> 0:16:11.480 I don't know a lot of places that consumers are 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:15.360 saying please, I'd like more advertising, like please feed me more, 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:17.640 But in women's sports were like, please, I would like 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:20.720 you right to feed me some advertising. And so I 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:22.880 think it's a great opportunity for brands to do that, 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.240 and to do that in partnership with women athletes, because 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.479 we know that those athletes first strategies really resonate most. 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:30.720 Yeah, there's been a lot of research into that that 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:34.680 just putting a female athlete in the campaign changes how 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:37.000 much people click on it, watch it, and then buya 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:37.880 as a results of it. 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:39.520 I think women athletes areu on this. 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:42.520 Really cool sweet spot where I think a lot of 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:45.040 us are kind of tired of quote unquote just influencers. 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:47.000 It started out with, Oh, we believe you because you're 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:49.120 the average person, and now we're like, we don't believe 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:51.280 you because you're the average person who will just get 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:53.480 paid to tell us that you like literally anything that 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:55.640 anyone will pay you to tell us about, you probably 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:58.320 haven't even tried it, and also probably just photoshop is 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:00.600 why you like look better in the APA photo. 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:02.560 Whereas women athletes. 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:05.399 Are more relatable than men's in that they're not millionaire 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:09.040 billionaires who are probably just driving cars we can't afford 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:12.000 and wearing watches we can't afford, they're more likely to 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:17.000 be closer to our economic kind of status, but they're cooler, 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:22.680 more talented, more visible, more fit. Like they they're aspirational, 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:24.479 but in a way that we feel like we can 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:26.639 still touch, and so then we believe them and we 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:27.840 want to be like them in a way that I 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.120 think it's very hard for male athletes to pull off, 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:33.560 because we're just like cool, Lebron, you love sketchers. I 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:35.560 know he's not a sketchers but like anytime many athletes 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:37.400 like sketchers, that's the only thing I wear. I'm like, sure, 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:40.080 no offense sketchers come support the show. 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:42.719 We're always looking for sponsors. All right. Back to you. 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:45.760 A few years back, you were you're actually pursuing your PhD. 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:48.840 You published a study looking at race in WNBA media. 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:51.840 Your finding's got a lot of buzz, including pagebackers giving 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:54.280 you a shout out on stage at the SP's that 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:56.199 famous speech that we all remember where we were like, 0:17:56.240 --> 0:17:59.159 holy how house page backers already this evolved at that age. 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:02.119 But talk about that research for folks who aren't familiar 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:02.320 with it. 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:03.760