Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're sketching
Speaker 1: out a rough schedule for all the different sporting events
Speaker 1: we want to.
Speaker 2: Hit up this summer.
Speaker 1: Are scients still working on teleportation devices or cloning?
Speaker 2: If so, let's chat.
Speaker 1: It's Tuesday, May sixth, and on today's show you'll hear
Speaker 1: another amazing conversation from Thursday's espnW summit.
Speaker 2: In New York City. This time it's my chat with
Speaker 2: Kim Minor.
Speaker 1: Chief of staff and chief legal officer for the NWSL's
Speaker 1: Boston Legacy FC, and Teresa Esh, friend of the show
Speaker 1: and president of the WNBA's Toronto Tempo. We of course
Speaker 1: get into the name change drama in Boston and the
Speaker 1: name leak incident in Toronto. Plus we talked through the
Speaker 1: lessons they've learned launching new franchises, how they've taken in
Speaker 1: and responded to feedback from fans, recruiting players in the
Speaker 1: NWSL without a draft, making the first's count, and the
Speaker 1: way celebrity owners impact teams. Plus Carly Lloyd issues an apology.
Speaker 1: Naomi Osaka is back in.
Speaker 2: The Winter Circle and the weight is over for Golden
Speaker 2: State Valkyrie basketball.
Speaker 1: It's all coming up right after this welcome back slices,
Speaker 1: Here's what you need to know today in footy news.
Speaker 1: On Saturday, former US women's national team star Carly Lloyd
Speaker 1: was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in
Speaker 1: a ceremony in Frisco, Texas.
Speaker 2: The honor is well deserved.
Speaker 1: The forty two year old's international career spanned seventeen years,
Speaker 1: and in that time she grabbed two Olympic gold medals,
Speaker 1: two FIFA World Cup trophies, and two FIFA Player of
Speaker 1: the Year awards. But Lloyd's twenty minute acceptance speech wasn't
Speaker 1: really your run of the mill thanks. She used part
Speaker 1: of it to issue an apology to her former teammates.
Speaker 2: Take a listen.
Speaker 3: I wasn't there to make friends or follow the crowd.
Speaker 3: I was there to push myself to the very top
Speaker 3: while helping my team win championships. That drive often meant
Speaker 3: keeping people at a distance. I avoided unnecessary drama. I
Speaker 3: rarely showed weakness, and vulnerability wasn't something I allowed myself
Speaker 3: to express. I wouldn't say I have regrets, but if
Speaker 3: there's one thing I do wish, I wish I had
Speaker 3: let more people understand me. Over the years, I operated
Speaker 3: like an emotionless machine. I was intense and I truly
Speaker 3: believed that the only way for me to survive in
Speaker 3: such a cutthroat environment was to be that way. So
Speaker 3: to my teammates, I want to say this, I'm sorry
Speaker 3: I wasn't always able to give you.
Speaker 2: All of me.
Speaker 1: I remember Carly and a former trainer speaking at an
Speaker 1: espnW summit and the way they talked about the work
Speaker 1: that she put in, the hours, the time, the commitment
Speaker 1: to her sport. I was both impressed and mildly concerned.
Speaker 1: And it wasn't until later that she talked about regretting
Speaker 1: not inviting family and friends to her games and trying
Speaker 1: to shut them out of her soccer world in order
Speaker 1: to stay focused that I think she really realized the
Speaker 1: price she'd paid for her dedication to greatness. So I
Speaker 1: kind of love hearing her talk about that. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's hard to look back and say, would you have
Speaker 1: had the same success if you had done things differently
Speaker 1: and not you know, feel like, oh, I don't want
Speaker 1: to regret all the wins that I got as a
Speaker 1: result of the choices I made. But really interesting to
Speaker 1: hear her sort of reflect on that and see it
Speaker 1: differently now that she's out of the sport. We'll link
Speaker 1: to the full speech in our show notes if you
Speaker 1: want to check it out. Over to the NWSL Got
Speaker 1: Them f C forward Astaire Gonzalez was named the Player
Speaker 1: of the Month for the month of April.
Speaker 2: No surprise.
Speaker 1: There seven goals for her, including three braces and two
Speaker 1: game winners in the month of April. She is the
Speaker 1: current leader in the Golden Boot race for most goals
Speaker 1: in the league. Angel City f C forward Riley Tiernan
Speaker 1: was named Rookie of the Month. She scored a pair
Speaker 1: of goals across three matches in April, including the game
Speaker 1: winner in Angel City's three to one win over the
Speaker 1: Houston Dash. She leads all rookies in scoring through six
Speaker 1: weeks of league play. I also want to give a
Speaker 1: shout out to fifteen year old KK Reem, who became
Speaker 1: the youngest starter in NWSL regular season history in the
Speaker 1: Utah Royals two nil loss to the North Carolina Courage
Speaker 1: over the weekend. The Harriman, Utah native is also the
Speaker 1: Royal's youngest signee ever. She inked her contract at just
Speaker 1: fifteen years and one hundred and fifty seven days old.
Speaker 2: Can't drive a car, but she could drive the hell
Speaker 2: out of a ball. Tennis.
Speaker 1: We're a little late catching up on the weekend's tennis results,
Speaker 1: but better late than never. World number one Arena Sabalanca
Speaker 1: won the Madrid Open final on Saturday, defeating number three
Speaker 1: Coco Goff in straight sets. The victory marks her third
Speaker 1: at the tournament and twentieth career title overall. She has
Speaker 1: gotten off to a scorching start in twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: making four straight finals, with the French Open coming up
Speaker 1: at the end of the month. More tennis, Twenty seven
Speaker 1: year old Naomio Osako won her first WTA title since
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one on Sunday at the Lope in thirty
Speaker 1: five to Saint Malo. It was also her first win
Speaker 1: since giving birth in July twenty twenty three. The four
Speaker 1: time Grand Slam winner earned the w five tournament title
Speaker 1: in straight sets, and she did it on clay, a
Speaker 1: surface that's been historically difficult for her. She alluded to
Speaker 1: that in a post on X after the win, writing quote,
Speaker 1: kind of ironic to win my first trophy back on
Speaker 1: the surface that I thought was my worst. That's one
Speaker 1: of my favorite things about life, though, there's always room
Speaker 1: to grow and evolve.
Speaker 2: Thanks to everyone accompanying me on this journey.
Speaker 1: I know it's turbulent, but it's also really fun and
Speaker 1: I'm grateful. End quote in WNBA News. There are three
Speaker 1: more preseason games to tune into tonight, including the Golden
Speaker 1: State Valkyries hosting the Los Angeles Sparks at ten pm Eastern.
Speaker 1: It'll be the first time the Valks take the court
Speaker 1: in their inaugural season of league action. I'm so excited
Speaker 1: to see what they've been putting together and super excited
Speaker 1: to see those six jerseys in action. That Valkyrie's Violet
Speaker 1: is so good. You can catch that game and the
Speaker 1: other two with a free preview of WNBA League Pass.
Speaker 1: We'll link to the schedule in our show notes. We
Speaker 1: got to take a quick break. When we come back,
Speaker 1: we're going to dig into expansion with Kim Minor and
Speaker 1: Teresa Rahans. Stay tuned, Welcome back, Slices. Let's listen to
Speaker 1: my interview with Teresa and Kim. I would like to
Speaker 1: first welcome up Kim Minor, chief of staff and chief
Speaker 1: legal Officer.
Speaker 2: For Boston Legacy FC.
Speaker 1: She previously served as Executive VP and General counsel for
Speaker 1: the Worcester Red Sox.
Speaker 2: Did I say that right? Is that correct?
Speaker 1: Worcester Woosta Wosta formerly the pot talk at Red Sox
Speaker 1: and she got her start in sports with the Red
Speaker 1: Sox and she was a college softball player at Tops.
Speaker 1: Give it up for Kim.
Speaker 2: We knew this was coming.
Speaker 4: Oh oh, I did not request this time. So good,
Speaker 4: so good.
Speaker 1: Okay, give it up for Teresa Rush, president of the
Speaker 1: Toronto Tempo, formerly VP of Basketball Operations for the Toronto Raptors.
Speaker 1: She also spent four years at the NBA office and
Speaker 1: was an All conference college volleyball player at Augustana.
Speaker 2: Give it up for Teresa.
Speaker 5: Okay, Okay, Canada pass that.
Speaker 4: I guess.
Speaker 1: So. Do you think that every time Shania Twain has
Speaker 1: a girl's night when they leave, she goes, let's go girls.
Speaker 4: Yes, I mean I'm.
Speaker 2: Gonna start doing that anyway, and I'm not Shania Twain. Okay.
Speaker 1: I'm so pumped for this conversation about expansion and hearing
Speaker 1: from some of the people that are entering this space
Speaker 1: at this incredible moment for women's sports and the power
Speaker 1: and opportunity that you have and Kim, I want to
Speaker 1: talk about your entry into the space because so many
Speaker 1: people have talked about it. Right, Boston Legacy FC, this
Speaker 1: new NWSL team that was originally Boss Nation, tell us
Speaker 1: what the biggest lesson was from that big announcement and
Speaker 1: then saying, Okay, didn't hit the mark the way we hoped.
Speaker 2: Let's try this again.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, there are a lot of lessons from that.
Speaker 6: If I were to pick one, I would say I
Speaker 6: think that sometimes when you I don't know if you
Speaker 6: guys have experienced this, when you want to make a
Speaker 6: big splash and you really want to have super impactful announcement,
Speaker 6: there's an instinct to sort of keep things close to
Speaker 6: the vest. And so for us, we certainly we did
Speaker 6: a lot of testing with the name, We did a
Speaker 6: lot of analysis, but in hindsight, we should have done
Speaker 6: more in an effort to sort of keep things confidential,
Speaker 6: prevent a leak, you know, preserve that sort of splash,
Speaker 6: And in hindsight, I think we should have prioritized the opposite,
Speaker 6: which is actually what we did when we switched the
Speaker 6: team name. And of course we didn't have a leak then,
Speaker 6: but it was just you know, it was a helpful
Speaker 6: reminder to all of us in terms of sort of
Speaker 6: marketing initiatives versus sort of the ultimate goal in terms
Speaker 6: of fan buying and communication. And I think that it
Speaker 6: was a good lesson for us. It was a very public,
Speaker 6: tough lesson, but yeah.
Speaker 1: The idea of like this is going to be so exciting,
Speaker 1: keep it super secret, don't tell anyone, And then when
Speaker 1: you revealed it was like, oh no, not what we
Speaker 1: were hoping for. Maybe if we'd shared it more we
Speaker 1: would have gotten enough feedback.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe we're just yeah exactly.
Speaker 1: And then I think, you know, the too many balls
Speaker 1: part of the campaign was something that just didn't land. Yep,
Speaker 1: when you're looking back on it, now, why didn't it land?
Speaker 1: Why didn't it work for you?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 6: I think there are a lot of reasons, the main
Speaker 6: one being that it decentered women, and it, especially the
Speaker 6: first half of that video, which of course is the
Speaker 6: part that it led with, sort of talked about women's
Speaker 6: sports as a mirror to men's sports, and that's loud
Speaker 6: and clear. Nobody wants that that. We don't need to
Speaker 6: do that, and I think it was, you know, trying
Speaker 6: to do too much. Honestly, I think that this is
Speaker 6: also something that can happen with an expansion team, especially
Speaker 6: before you have players. Is what are you talking about?
Speaker 6: You're talking about the team and the brand. You don't
Speaker 6: even have the things that people are most excited to
Speaker 6: hear about, which are your athletes. And so there's a
Speaker 6: lot of you know, intentionality, but I think a lot
Speaker 6: of instinct to just overthink it and do too much.
Speaker 6: And we learned a hard lesson with that. But also,
Speaker 6: you know, it was hard. It was really encouraging because
Speaker 6: the women's sports fans tell you quickly when you mess up,
Speaker 6: but they also are rooting for you to succeed and
Speaker 6: if you put in the work and listen and are genuine,
Speaker 6: what we have felt is, you know, they want you
Speaker 6: to succeed and they will give you another shot. You
Speaker 6: better get it right the next chance, and I think
Speaker 6: we did. But they were really encouraging, from our supporters
Speaker 6: to our local fans to national fans, and that was
Speaker 6: a really encouraging thing to say.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it's so true how much weight we
Speaker 1: put into a name at the beginning and then it
Speaker 1: just becomes the thing. Yeah, there are so many existing
Speaker 1: names that you're like, if you like lead right now
Speaker 1: with Dodgers, like Dodging, what if you lead with Yankees.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to tell you where my brain goes, but.
Speaker 2: Some stuff right like, Yeah, there's a lot of names
Speaker 2: that have.
Speaker 1: Just been in our world forever. We don't even think
Speaker 1: about them anymore. But when you launch now it's ripe
Speaker 1: for discussion on social media and everybody has a thought
Speaker 1: about it.
Speaker 2: But I do think also it was such a.
Speaker 1: Nice reminder that or not where we used to be,
Speaker 1: and that was where we should have been well while ago. Right,
Speaker 1: admittedly it wasn't super current, but the concept would have
Speaker 1: nailed it not that long ago.
Speaker 2: But now we are past that.
Speaker 1: It's not about reflecting on where we are compared to
Speaker 1: men or in opposition to men. It's like we are
Speaker 1: so established in our own thing now that we don't
Speaker 1: even need that, which is such a good positive thing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know, we'll get more into your pivot and
Speaker 1: your intentionality behind how you did that. But Teresa, speaking
Speaker 1: of leaks, Okay, you're doing the most intentional branding and
Speaker 1: name launch. You've got a whole podcast telling people this
Speaker 1: is what we're thinking, this is why we're not doing,
Speaker 1: this is why we are doing this, and then the
Speaker 1: name of your team ends up on a dropdown menu
Speaker 1: on WNBA dot com by mistake.
Speaker 2: Right, this is the big announce that you're not hoping for.
Speaker 1: So tell us how you handled that and how you
Speaker 1: just said, Okay, we're going to lean into this and
Speaker 1: make it work.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I mean, I think you set it up well in
Speaker 5: the fact that we were really transparent and everything we
Speaker 5: are trying to do, and we really wanted said women's
Speaker 5: sports fans have so long wanted to be part of
Speaker 5: the process. Yeah, So we did a podcast, we talked
Speaker 5: about all the names that weren't going to work and why,
Speaker 5: we talked about inclusive design with epic like the whole sphere,
Speaker 5: and we knew there was always a chance it was
Speaker 5: gonna leak. So we were ready for that, right And
Speaker 5: of course you don't want it to happen, but we
Speaker 5: were ready and I think that was what I was
Speaker 5: really proud of our team is Ultimately we wanted to
Speaker 5: be able to launch the same time the merchandise was ready,
Speaker 5: and that doesn't move right, So we just had to
Speaker 5: make the decision do we go or do we wait?
Speaker 5: And we just said, let's just do it, and it
Speaker 5: was about six weeks before we wanted to. And I
Speaker 5: literally look back now and I don't know how we
Speaker 5: could have kept it for six more weeks. Like December
Speaker 5: fifth was the day the Toronto Tempo was supposed to
Speaker 5: be born, right, you know, you have kids that come early,
Speaker 5: like our team just came early. You know, you're never
Speaker 5: really ready, so whenever it happens, it happens. But we
Speaker 5: were really excited to share it with the world. We
Speaker 5: had a launch video already in production, so we were
Speaker 5: able to fast forward it. It's not the full brand video.
Speaker 5: You'll see that maybe in a couple of weeks, you know,
Speaker 5: something to look out for, but we had had that piece,
Speaker 5: and then we had some licensees we were able to
Speaker 5: like turn some things so we could at least show
Speaker 5: the logo and some of the colors and things.
Speaker 4: Like that on that day.
Speaker 5: And then what was great is you know, greatness, like
Speaker 5: some of the things come out of chaos and crisis,
Speaker 5: and the fact that we were able to talk twice
Speaker 5: and then launch our first brand partner, Sephora, and then
Speaker 5: launch our team name like it just made a great cadence.
Speaker 5: So I think more than anything, we knew that there
Speaker 5: are possibility of a leak. It happened and we were ready,
Speaker 5: and I was really proud of our team for making
Speaker 5: it happen.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean you had the story and you had the
Speaker 1: reasoning behind your choice, because you had been so thoughtful
Speaker 1: throughout about what wasn't going to work and why you
Speaker 1: went with this.
Speaker 2: I love this tempo logo.
Speaker 1: It looks so cool and like retro to me, but
Speaker 1: then it becomes timeless because of the retro vibe I loved. Also,
Speaker 1: we were talking before this about how you try to
Speaker 1: take and input, but you also recognize that.
Speaker 2: Fans aren't always right.
Speaker 1: Tell everyone the name that would have been the name
Speaker 1: if you had just gone with the one most suggested
Speaker 1: by fans.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: We ran for the month of August last year for
Speaker 5: thirty days and name your Team dot caa campaign. So
Speaker 5: it was basically like any inspiration, it could be about
Speaker 5: the name, the colors, mask whatever. So you got over
Speaker 5: ten thousand submissions, over a thousand unique names, and the
Speaker 5: most submitted name was the Raptors.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Cool, so good idea, so interesting. I guess the Raptors
Speaker 5: really have a strong hold in that city. I feel
Speaker 5: very responsible for that, having worked for them for eleven years.
Speaker 5: But I think that just goes to show like you
Speaker 5: have to go through the process and like there's a
Speaker 5: reason why, why did the Raptors resonate? Like what can
Speaker 5: we learn from that? And some other names that were
Speaker 5: submitted that there was a lot of love for that
Speaker 5: were never going to work.
Speaker 4: You know, it's trademark that you.
Speaker 5: Said, there's so many names already taken. Just unpacking that
Speaker 5: a little bit and understanding why there's love for that
Speaker 5: and like how can we incorporate those learnings into it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Also, I'm glad you didn't choose rapped Hers, which would
Speaker 1: have been bad.
Speaker 4: A couple of those were submitted as well.
Speaker 2: I'm sure. I'm sure they were.
Speaker 4: Comes from a place of love. Like people are really
Speaker 4: passionate about these things.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're really enthusiastic and excited for when you actually
Speaker 1: begin play. There is so much to talk about when
Speaker 1: you have players and a coach and a season, but
Speaker 1: there's still a bit of lead time, both in the
Speaker 1: and WSL and in the WNBA for you to make
Speaker 1: it so what you're doing now does have an outsized impact.
Speaker 1: First impressions matter so much if a legacy team does
Speaker 1: something that doesn't quite hit you got one hundred years
Speaker 1: worth of brand affinity that you're like, oh, they'd mess
Speaker 1: that up, but we're right back with this, or we
Speaker 1: already love this player, we have nostalgia with them. Everything
Speaker 1: y'all do now is like outsized impact on telling fans
Speaker 1: who you are. So how do you plan to capitalize
Speaker 1: on the first understanding that they have such power?
Speaker 6: Kim, Well, First, I like they ease said legacy get
Speaker 6: in there a lot of time talking about sports, and
Speaker 6: you know, I think actually sort of how we think
Speaker 6: about getting all those first is when we have the
Speaker 6: word legacy associated with our team, we know that legacies
Speaker 6: are earned, they're not given. And I think that that
Speaker 6: applies to how we do every single first with our fans,
Speaker 6: where we have to earn their respect. There is so
Speaker 6: much organic enthusiasm, and we felt that very strongly with
Speaker 6: our name launch and everything that followed. And it's there,
Speaker 6: it's there. You don't have to do a lot, it's
Speaker 6: organically there. But you need to give people easy ways
Speaker 6: to engage with the team and to cheer you on.
Speaker 6: And so I think when we think about first with
Speaker 6: our fans, it's all about how can we make it
Speaker 6: really easy to cheer, for us, to get involved, to
Speaker 6: put your name on a list, to learn about what
Speaker 6: we're doing and so and also celebrate together because there's
Speaker 6: so much to celebrate even before we have players. Once
Speaker 6: we have players, it will just be another level. But
Speaker 6: we try to look at and sort of where can
Speaker 6: we create some fun and excite mintwhere it's already there,
Speaker 6: we just have to sort of harness it.
Speaker 2: How about you?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think when you talk about first impressions and
Speaker 5: first things, like what I'm thinking about is like, internally,
Speaker 5: how are we celebrating those first So one thing that
Speaker 5: we did is we're a team of four at the time,
Speaker 5: and it's like senior leadership and we made, you know,
Speaker 5: these big goals that we.
Speaker 4: Wanted to achieve.
Speaker 5: We actually like wrote them and grave them on bottles
Speaker 5: of champagne.
Speaker 4: So then we actually achieve those first.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we celebrate it as a team and man when
Speaker 5: we get to.
Speaker 4: Pop those bottles. But those are earned, Those are earned.
Speaker 5: So just like internally like understanding what an impact that
Speaker 5: can have, and it kind of there's a lot with
Speaker 5: a startup with expansion that goes on a lot of
Speaker 5: fires you're putting out and it's really great to like
Speaker 5: celebrate and actually take a moment and say, wow, we
Speaker 5: accomplish this.
Speaker 4: We never thought it was possible.
Speaker 5: So like, internally, that's something that really keeps us motivated,
Speaker 5: and I think, just like for externally, making sure that
Speaker 5: our fans are coming along for those first So we're
Speaker 5: going to have a lot of in person events this summer,
Speaker 5: so check out look out for Temple Live across Canada,
Speaker 5: and the fans are gonna be part of that and
Speaker 5: they're gonna be able to well I'm giving away all
Speaker 5: the secrets now, but you know.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, big announcements here.
Speaker 5: But we'll have a big banner that every'll be able
Speaker 5: to sign that interacts during those events so they can
Speaker 5: be part of the first as well. We've talked a
Speaker 5: lot about every single time we do these first so
Speaker 5: like press conference for our GM is a first, Like
Speaker 5: how can we also bring other people into it will
Speaker 5: be the first for them, So like how do we
Speaker 5: bring a student who's studying journalism become to their first
Speaker 5: press conference? And like we've been trying to understand and
Speaker 5: identify these different firsts that can happen along the way
Speaker 5: it was kind of a fun exercise to go through.
Speaker 5: It's just one more thing we have to figure out
Speaker 5: how to actually operationalize. But that thought is there all
Speaker 5: the time, especially because we represent the WNBA's first foray
Speaker 5: outside of the US, so everything we do, even if
Speaker 5: it's been done thirteen times before, is new and different
Speaker 5: in Canada.
Speaker 1: When you make those decisions too, you sort of set
Speaker 1: a precedent for who the team is and how they operate.
Speaker 1: And Kim, I wonder how your rebrand and renaming was
Speaker 1: considered in light of that, because of course you hear
Speaker 1: enough feedback and you think, instead of sticking with it
Speaker 1: and digging in our heels, let's pivot, right.
Speaker 2: We're not going to do that every time people disagree
Speaker 2: with something you do.
Speaker 1: Sometimes there's great intention or maybe they just don't have
Speaker 1: an information to know why you're doing it. So how
Speaker 1: did you consider that precedent setting when you embraced the
Speaker 1: feedback and pivoted.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it was a huge part of what we discussed
Speaker 6: internally was what do we want to be as a team.
Speaker 6: What is true to our values? When we mess that
Speaker 6: Number one, you own it, you all acknowledge it. But
Speaker 6: then also how do you react? And as a sports team,
Speaker 6: we're going to make mistakes, especially when we're moving as
Speaker 6: quickly as we are as an expansion team. But also
Speaker 6: it's just life, it's sports. You're going to make mistakes,
Speaker 6: So how do you respond to those? And while we
Speaker 6: want to work fast, we also do want to be
Speaker 6: thoughtful and methodic, and we don't want to be known
Speaker 6: for being knee jerk, and so we you know, we
Speaker 6: had lots of people asking for us to say we're
Speaker 6: going to change the team's name immediately, and we had
Speaker 6: a lot of internal discussions, but we didn't want to
Speaker 6: jump to that conclusion, even if you know, individually we
Speaker 6: might have thought. Of course, that's where we're going to
Speaker 6: end up. Is let's go through a process. Let's talk
Speaker 6: to all of the stakeholders we need to talk to,
Speaker 6: Let's go through some market research, let's do everything, let's
Speaker 6: do the listening. We're not just going to say we're
Speaker 6: going to do it. Let's do it, and then we'll
Speaker 6: make a decision. And I think in the future when
Speaker 6: that maybe there's something happening on the field with players,
Speaker 6: maybe there's another business decision with the team. We've set
Speaker 6: a precedent that we're listening, we hear you, and we
Speaker 6: are going to be thoughtful and careful about the decision
Speaker 6: that we make. And I think that that's important. We
Speaker 6: don't want to create an expectation that we can't sort
Speaker 6: of live up to again and again and again.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: And I wanted to add to that because what we've
Speaker 5: found too is, you know, you ask for all this feedback,
Speaker 5: you can't act on all of it. Yeah, but if
Speaker 5: you can find ways to act on it, man, the
Speaker 5: love you get back is so strong. So we put
Speaker 5: out a thing like, oh, what would you think our
Speaker 5: mascot would be? Like, that's obviously the next question after
Speaker 5: I have a team name, what's your mascot? We got
Speaker 5: all kinds of ideas and there was this one that
Speaker 5: really really I was confused about. They kept saying like,
Speaker 5: Rick the Temp should be our mascot. I'm like, what's
Speaker 5: Rick the Temp? So I guess he was like in Canada,
Speaker 5: this this like VJ, like MTV VJ back in the day,
Speaker 5: and he was like started as a temp. Anyways, he
Speaker 5: has his big persona. So on April Fool's Day we
Speaker 5: just came we had him. He was like, do you
Speaker 5: want to do something here. So he came in. We
Speaker 5: made a little video saying that he was our first
Speaker 5: internaz and oh my gosh, people love that. I had
Speaker 5: never heard him. I still don't get it. I didn't
Speaker 5: grow up there, but it really resonated with this. And
Speaker 5: then after that we announced like we are having an
Speaker 5: intern apply, and I think like we got so much
Speaker 5: love because we listened to what they said. So where
Speaker 5: we can yeah, and where we ken lean in, we're
Speaker 5: going to like, we can't do everything that people recommend,
Speaker 5: but I think if you're open to that. I mean
Speaker 5: the other thing, we just sent out a survey to
Speaker 5: all of our ticket holders depositors I should call them
Speaker 5: and asking them, you know, how much of a fan
Speaker 5: or whatever, and almost fifty percent of them said that
Speaker 5: they would love to fit sit in a fan section,
Speaker 5: which I was really excited about because I like, I
Speaker 5: go to these soccer games and like I warnt a
Speaker 5: fan section. So now we're going to prioritize that because
Speaker 5: they've spoken and we can and that's something that we
Speaker 5: can actually act on. So gosh, I'm gonna wait all
Speaker 5: the secrets, Sarah, I.
Speaker 2: Know, I love it. Wait the mascot is going to
Speaker 2: be flavor Flave's clock though, right. The thing to think.
Speaker 1: About tell us about how your time with the Raptors
Speaker 1: informs you for this, but also how you're being thoughtful
Speaker 1: about this being a different space, a different league, a
Speaker 1: different audience.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean the thing that I'm most excited about
Speaker 5: is having been with the Raptors from twenty thirteen to
Speaker 5: I mean just last year, to see that evolution and
Speaker 5: to see what worked, Like, now we can just accelerate
Speaker 5: all those things that worked. Right, So a group of
Speaker 5: us came in twenty thirteen is like, we need to
Speaker 5: invest in player development, we needed to invest in player spaces,
Speaker 5: and we need to raise the exposure of this team.
Speaker 5: So built a facility, got a G League team, hosted
Speaker 5: All Star, and we can take all those things.
Speaker 4: It took us about seven, eight nine years.
Speaker 5: I guess the last one there is wine makes a
Speaker 5: huge difference. It took us eight years to get to
Speaker 5: the finals and we got a little luck and we won.
Speaker 5: Like now I know exactly that playbook and we can
Speaker 5: do those things right away. But I think what you
Speaker 5: said there that was really important is like what does
Speaker 5: that look like in the W So what does player
Speaker 5: development look like in the W versus NBU, What is
Speaker 5: player environment, practice facilities, you know, capital investment look like
Speaker 5: in the W versus the versus NBA. And then exposure. Right,
Speaker 5: So the one thing I'm so excited about is that
Speaker 5: we are Canada's team. Our name says Toronto Tempo, but
Speaker 5: we are Canada's teams. We have commercial rights across the
Speaker 5: country and we truly want to captivate the entire nation.
Speaker 5: We have the largest market in all of w and
Speaker 5: it's really a gateway to global expansion for this league
Speaker 5: and we embrace that and I think it's just gonna
Speaker 5: It's going to and has impacted the way we look
Speaker 5: at the business and how we position this team, and
Speaker 5: it's something that no other team has ever had the
Speaker 5: opportunity to do. You know, the Raptors joined the league
Speaker 5: at the same time as the Grizzlies. There was the
Speaker 5: Blue Jays and the expos So it's really this really
Speaker 5: unique opportunity and like you said, it's the first it's
Speaker 5: ever been done before, so we're probably not going to
Speaker 5: get it exactly right. But what I'm excited about is
Speaker 5: all opportunity that is there.
Speaker 1: So much opportunity to be Canada's team while also living
Speaker 1: up to the great traditions and enthusiasm of Toronto, which
Speaker 1: I love Toronto. I've been going the last couple of
Speaker 1: years for the espnW seven in Canada and it is
Speaker 1: a blast. Are there challenges because of the Canada US
Speaker 1: tension right now? Are you feeling any of that as
Speaker 1: you're getting started?
Speaker 4: I think we're all feeling it.
Speaker 5: I mean the world that we live in today, it's
Speaker 5: part of the society that we exist within. Within Canada,
Speaker 5: there's a ton of national pride, very strong Canadians, and
Speaker 5: I think, more than anything's for this is a unifying force.
Speaker 5: Right now, the Maple Leafs are in a series against
Speaker 5: the Ottawa Senators. They call it the Battle of Ontario.
Speaker 5: The great thing about Tempo is the entire country can
Speaker 5: rally around us. So I think, more than anything, it
Speaker 5: just shows that sports are great unifiers and I'm really excited.
Speaker 5: Like you said, Toronto is I hadn't spent any time
Speaker 5: there until I moved there. Like literally, i had never
Speaker 5: been there until the day I moved there twelve years ago,
Speaker 5: and I'm sitting here as a Canadian citizen. So like
Speaker 5: to say It's been an incredible city. I can't wait
Speaker 5: to welcome the world. Like talking, I went to the
Speaker 5: Final Four, I went to All Star in Phoenix last year,
Speaker 5: and just talking to the people around women's sports, around
Speaker 5: women's basketball, you know, not a lot of them had
Speaker 5: been to Toronto. Right in the NBA, you know, when
Speaker 5: I got there, the Raptors had existed for twenty years already,
Speaker 5: So a lot of people have come just as a
Speaker 5: visitor for visiting games and things like that, but there's
Speaker 5: not a lot of people. So we're so excited to
Speaker 5: welcome people to Toronto and all of Canada.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the Chicago of the North.
Speaker 1: And as we all know, Chicago is the best city
Speaker 1: in the world, so.
Speaker 2: Toronto's a close second. Kim. I want to hear about
Speaker 2: the stadium project.
Speaker 1: This is a huge part of Boston legacy, this public
Speaker 1: private partnership. Like you were part of the paw Talcket
Speaker 1: Red Sox Stadium development, so you're bringing a lot of
Speaker 1: knowledge about that. But this is a very unique situation,
Speaker 1: this white stadium at Franklin Park that you're going to inhabit.
Speaker 2: So what's the latest on that.
Speaker 1: We've heard a lot of headlines, But what's the latest
Speaker 1: and how are you moving forward?
Speaker 6: Yeah, we're so excited about this, and I think that
Speaker 6: we've already seen with Denver's team announcing what they're going
Speaker 6: to do. This is going to become the norm. I think,
Speaker 6: whether it's public private partnership, or not having your own
Speaker 6: venue or at least a venue where you are the
Speaker 6: primary sports team is so important and unlocks so much
Speaker 6: potential for a team, and so we're thrilled. Through this
Speaker 6: partnership with the City of Boston, we're going to have
Speaker 6: a beautiful stadium that's right downtown in Boston, adjacent to
Speaker 6: a park setting. It's gorgeous but still right in the city,
Speaker 6: and Boston Public school students are also going to have
Speaker 6: access to it when we're not playing games, So it
Speaker 6: fits with a lot of our values. But also as
Speaker 6: a business, it allows us to make decisions about ticketing
Speaker 6: and sponsorships and controlling the fan experience and the player
Speaker 6: experience in a way that I think will elevate sort
Speaker 6: of the game. And you're seeing it both with investment
Speaker 6: in training facilities, but I think now also in your
Speaker 6: home venues for your games. So we're really excited Public
Speaker 6: private partnerships are tricky.
Speaker 4: They take a lot.
Speaker 6: They are you know, in the public spotlight. For us,
Speaker 6: we have a mayoral election this year, so we're also
Speaker 6: caught up in that. So they're a lot, but they're
Speaker 6: worth it. And I did get to see. I did
Speaker 6: the whole ring around in Rhode Island with Larry Lukeino
Speaker 6: with the Triple A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox,
Speaker 6: and we couldn't get it done because of politics. So
Speaker 6: we moved up to Worcestern, Massachusetts. You said it right,
Speaker 6: by the way, yes, and we built Polar Park, which
Speaker 6: is a jewel of a ballpark. And one of the
Speaker 6: things I'm most proud of is when we did that,
Speaker 6: you bring the public along with you, and you bring
Speaker 6: the elected officials and you know, all of your neighbors
Speaker 6: with you. And what I'm most proud of from that
Speaker 6: is that we kept every single promise that we made
Speaker 6: to the community, and the things that we believed were
Speaker 6: going to come true in terms of development and sort
Speaker 6: of you know, enriching this community happened. And so one
Speaker 6: of the things that I'm really excited about what we're
Speaker 6: doing in Boston is that there's skepticism but we're starting
Speaker 6: to deliver on what we promise and through our actions,
Speaker 6: people will see that we really mean what we're saying
Speaker 6: in terms of fifty percent mwbe hiring, in terms of
Speaker 6: you know, having women run the show here, it's we're
Speaker 6: doing it, and I really like to get to be
Speaker 6: on the inside to make sure that we're doing that.
Speaker 6: And demolition is underway. You know, we've had some bumps.
Speaker 6: These things aren't easy, but demolition is well underwell. See, yeah,
Speaker 6: we're so excited. The design part is the most fun.
Speaker 6: We're in the middle of that.
Speaker 2: So it's awesome.
Speaker 6: Now WEB means minority and women business enterprises, Okay, so
Speaker 6: that way we're having diverse local participation in the contracts
Speaker 6: for our stadium all super important to us.
Speaker 1: It is incredibly important to be in charge of your
Speaker 1: own facility, and that's something we've seen especially across the NWSL.
Speaker 1: For years, we were always like, when's the schedule coming out?
Speaker 1: When's the schedule coming out? It was always delayed because
Speaker 1: it was like we're third in line to whatever, and
Speaker 1: so it's huge to have that. And then I think
Speaker 1: also like people have really underestimated the impact that taxpayer
Speaker 1: funds toward men's stadiums have had on the sports industrial.
Speaker 2: Complex at large.
Speaker 1: Men have been constantly benefiting from it, being politically savvy
Speaker 1: to endorse and support your teams and lift them up,
Speaker 1: and on the women's there's just never been an opportunity
Speaker 1: to take advantage of that. So when it works out
Speaker 1: and when you keep your promises, it's such a great opportunity.
Speaker 1: Want to quickly ask you first team without a draft? Yeah,
Speaker 1: for those who don't know, the first major professional league
Speaker 1: in the US to abolish the draft. You got to
Speaker 1: really align your culture with your sporting side. You hired
Speaker 1: the former head of Barco women, Go magaushou. I had
Speaker 1: on my show Good Game with Sarah Spain and we
Speaker 1: talked about how he's got to sell the team the
Speaker 1: same way.
Speaker 2: You know, you're kind of almost recruiting like a college. Yeah.
Speaker 6: I mean it's a challenge. I think long term for
Speaker 6: the leader, there's dome, there's domain.
Speaker 4: He's the best he is, he really is.
Speaker 6: You know, it's great because it brings the NWSL on
Speaker 6: par with the international game. So it's a really wonderful thing.
Speaker 6: And what it means for US is sports and business
Speaker 6: sides have to be really closely aligned, and we're recruiting
Speaker 6: from the very beginning. We're not drafting anybody, and we're recruiting,
Speaker 6: So that goes to hiring our first GM. What are
Speaker 6: we signaling to players in terms of who is trying
Speaker 6: to bring them in. Having someone with international player knowledge
Speaker 6: and who has experience building a team without anything like
Speaker 6: a draft is critical. Also thinking about Boston and how
Speaker 6: do you sell players on the idea of playing in
Speaker 6: this amazing sports city That one's not too much of
Speaker 6: a lift, thankfully, but it you know, that's a huge
Speaker 6: part of it. And then also facilities, training, facility, player experience,
Speaker 6: what the stadium will be like. You know, we are
Speaker 6: recruiting players and that's really a key part of our
Speaker 6: business initiatives right now, which you know, I think it's
Speaker 6: awesome to see the players empowered in that way, and
Speaker 6: hopefully it also means that when they come to our club,
Speaker 6: we're really well aligned.
Speaker 1: Everyone has to step up their game INNWSL, which is awesome.
Speaker 1: You've got to get players to want to choose you
Speaker 1: instead of well, I'm stuck in fill in the blank city.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to say because I don't know where
Speaker 2: y'all are from you might be mad at me about it. Okay,
Speaker 2: we're almost out of time here.
Speaker 1: I want to ask you both the last thing about
Speaker 1: celebrity ownership, because Teresa Serena Williams joins Toronto Tempo ownership.
Speaker 1: She's got a hometown team in the Sparks, and she
Speaker 1: was like, nah, let me go to Toronto.
Speaker 2: How to just score that and how is she going
Speaker 2: to be involved?
Speaker 5: Incredible to have one of like the greatest of all
Speaker 5: time to be associate with your brand.
Speaker 4: She has been very public.
Speaker 5: You guys have been following. She's been very publican supporting
Speaker 5: women's sports. She said very publicly she wanted to be
Speaker 5: part of WNBA ownership. She had conversation with commissioner. You know,
Speaker 5: ownership isn't a way available like the Sparks. I don't
Speaker 5: know if they have any minority. I don't know if
Speaker 5: they have anybody that they're actually putting on their board.
Speaker 5: But as a new team, we do. And she has
Speaker 5: a great affinity for Toronto. She loves Tromp's been great
Speaker 5: to actually get to know her and hear some of
Speaker 5: her stories about her time there and how much she
Speaker 5: actually connects to it and she's really passionate about elevating
Speaker 5: women's sports in general.
Speaker 4: So we're excited.
Speaker 5: She's a busy lady, so or not like she's not
Speaker 5: going to be there every day, but we do look
Speaker 5: forward to leaning into the areas that she has passionate about.
Speaker 5: We announced another owner yesterday, actually a great Canadian business
Speaker 5: woman's Kinderson Cassidy. And we'll have another owner announcement in
Speaker 5: a couple of weeks, so stay tuned and we'll be
Speaker 5: filling out the board. And I think more than anything,
Speaker 5: the amount of strategic value that these women are adding
Speaker 5: is incredible and I'm so excited that we can find
Speaker 5: space for women at the table.
Speaker 4: It's really important, super important.
Speaker 2: Are you selling that fit that she's wearing? Because I
Speaker 2: want it?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 2: And while I look like that, I love this is
Speaker 2: also important to the equation.
Speaker 1: Elizabeth turn down the chance to be a part of
Speaker 1: Angel City Ownership, but join the ownership for Boston Legacy.
Speaker 1: What does your ownership table look like? Are we going
Speaker 1: to have some more celebs announced?
Speaker 2: Just like Teresa said, we will.
Speaker 6: We'll have a few more announced right here?
Speaker 2: No, no, okay.
Speaker 6: But we you know we have a few more coming.
Speaker 6: And what I'll say about our cap table is we
Speaker 6: have people who are passionate about Boston and about the team.
Speaker 6: We're so lucky to have Monarch Collective as one of
Speaker 6: our big investors, and they've been great, and one of
Speaker 6: the things they've advised is, you know, if you're bringing
Speaker 6: in celebrities, you want people who are engaged.
Speaker 2: We're going to show up to.
Speaker 6: Games or dedicate some of their expertise, whatever it is,
Speaker 6: to what you're doing. And so far, that's what we've
Speaker 6: got and it makes us a more well rounded organization.
Speaker 6: And Elizabeth obviously brings amazing wisdom to the club. But
Speaker 6: we've got two former pro sports gms on our cap table.
Speaker 6: We've got entrepreneurs from the tech and VC world. We
Speaker 6: have Celtics ownership like we've got a lot of dynamic
Speaker 6: owners And when I know, I'm Jessica Berman often says
Speaker 6: this about the NWSL owners is they are involved to
Speaker 6: a higher degree than I think owners and other leagues.
Speaker 6: I don't know about the w maybe it's the same,
Speaker 6: but these owners are involved and where they have expertise,
Speaker 6: we'll take them up on it.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 1: Teresa, thanks for giving us some secrets. Kim, thanks for
Speaker 1: keeping yours close to your best. We're going to hopefully
Speaker 1: be learning more and more about both your teams as
Speaker 1: we approach that first kickoff day.
Speaker 2: So thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Big round of applause for Teresa and Kim. It was
Speaker 1: awesome to talk to Teresa and Kim. I love how
Speaker 1: many times Teresa was like, oh, I'm giving away our secrets.
Speaker 2: Keep doing it, keep doing it.
Speaker 1: We love hearing the process behind creating these firsts and
Speaker 1: getting ready for these inaugural seasons. So keep spilling the beans, Teresa.
Speaker 1: All right, we got to take another break when we
Speaker 1: come back. Blame Canada, Welcome back Slices. We love that
Speaker 1: you're listening, but we want you to get in the
Speaker 1: game every day too, So here's our good game play
Speaker 1: of the day. Check out those WNBA preseason games tonight
Speaker 1: with the free League Pass preview and worth noting WNBA
Speaker 1: League Pass is just thirty five dollars a year. That
Speaker 1: is a steal and if you live in the Bay.
Speaker 1: By the way, there are still some very reasonably priced
Speaker 1: tickets available for tonight's Valkyrie's preseason opener.
Speaker 2: Just saying we'll link to where you can snag some
Speaker 2: in our show notes if you want to check it out.
Speaker 1: We always love to hear from you, so hit us
Speaker 1: up on email. Good game at wondermedianetwork dot com.
Speaker 2: Keep sending us those questions.
Speaker 1: As we get ready for the WNBA season, We're going
Speaker 1: to be doing some big previews. Some of you have
Speaker 1: sent in some great WNBA related questions.
Speaker 2: Keep them coming.
Speaker 1: We'll be sure to answer them before the season starts.
Speaker 1: And don't forget to subscribe a rate and review. It's easy.
Speaker 1: Watch the PWHL expansion map SNAFFU rating F minus. To
Speaker 1: paraphrase Billy Madison, what you've just posted is one of
Speaker 1: the most insanely idiotic things I've ever seen. At no
Speaker 1: point in this incoherent graphic were you even close to
Speaker 1: anything that could be considered correct. Everyone in this room
Speaker 1: is now dumber for having seen it. I award you
Speaker 1: no points and make God have mercy on your soul.
Speaker 1: Review yesterday we mentioned the exciting news a PWHL expansion
Speaker 1: adding teams in Vancouver and Seattle beginning next season. Only
Speaker 1: problem a PWHL released graphic that read eight teams for
Speaker 1: Canadian for American. Above a map of all the teams
Speaker 1: incorrectly identified the location of each and every team and
Speaker 1: city on the map.
Speaker 2: In fact, the.
Speaker 1: Boston Fleet are the only teams shown in the US,
Speaker 1: though their location dot is in Maine, the Minnesota Frost
Speaker 1: are in Ontario, Seattle is shown in.
Speaker 2: British Columbia, and New York is in Quebec.
Speaker 1: All the Canadian teams are shown in Canada, which is
Speaker 1: a start, but none of their location dots are in
Speaker 1: the correct spot either, So it seems like whoever made
Speaker 1: the graphic might have adjusted or resized the map part
Speaker 1: without similarly adjusting the correspond overlay graphic of cities. But
Speaker 1: it also seems like they should have noticed that before
Speaker 1: hitting publish, so let's hope quality control is a little
Speaker 1: more buttoned up when it comes time to book hotels
Speaker 1: and flights. We'll link to that map in our show notes.
Speaker 1: Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening, y'all,
Speaker 1: see you tomorrow. Good game, Kim, Good game, Teresa Hugh geography.
Speaker 1: We'll put Boston wherever the hell we want. Good Game
Speaker 1: with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in
Speaker 1: partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find
Speaker 1: us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you
Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network. Our producers
Speaker 1: are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are
Speaker 1: Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our
Speaker 1: editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez and Grace Lynch. Our
Speaker 1: associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah
Speaker 1: Spain