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

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Speaker 1: toweling ourselves off after the final minutes of that insane

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Speaker 1: Gotham Pride game. It's Monday, November seventeenth, and on today's show,

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Speaker 1: we'll be talking to WNBA legend and Project B co

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Speaker 1: founder and chief basketball officer Elaina Beard about the origins

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Speaker 1: of Project B, how her international experience as a player

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Speaker 1: has informed her new gig, the leagues, much talked about

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Speaker 1: partnership with a company owned by the Saudi owned Public

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Speaker 1: Investment Fund, and when we can expect more player announcements,

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Speaker 1: plus DC versus NYC, the rise of Vancouver and will

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Speaker 1: the real sc please stand up? It's all coming up

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Speaker 1: right after this Welcome back slices. Happy Monday. Here's what

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Speaker 1: you need to know today. Let's start with the NWSL

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Speaker 1: and a thrilling weekend of semi final action. On Saturday,

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Speaker 1: the Washington Spirit best at the Portland Thorns two nil

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Speaker 1: in front of a sellout crowd of nineteen thousand, three

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Speaker 1: hundred and sixty five at rowdy Audi Field, sending Washington

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Speaker 1: to their second straight NWSL championship game and fourth in

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Speaker 1: franchise history. The Spirit struck first in the twenty seventh

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Speaker 1: minute as Rosamond Quassi made a spectacular sideline play then

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Speaker 1: carried the ball all the way into the Thorns box,

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Speaker 1: where she set up Gift Monday for the easy goal.

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Speaker 1: Croy Bethune doubled the lead in the eighty third minute

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Speaker 1: as she intercepted an attempted pass back to Thorn's goalkeeper

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Speaker 1: Mackenzie Arnold, made a move around her and finished on

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Speaker 1: the open net. It was a starfield gallery for the

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Speaker 1: Spirit win, including Trinity Rodman's bow, Ben Shelton, fellow tennis

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Speaker 1: pro Frances Tiafo, and Spirit investor and gymnastics great Dominique Dawes.

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Speaker 1: On Sunday, the eighth seed got them FC continued their

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Speaker 1: run as Spoilers, defeating the defending champion Orlando Pride one

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Speaker 1: week after taking out the top seeded Kansas City Current.

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Speaker 1: It was a Jaden Shaw stoppage time tally that decided

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Speaker 1: this one, as she curved in a beauty of a

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Speaker 1: free kick to put her team up one and friend

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Speaker 1: of the show and Katrin Berger came up huge again

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Speaker 1: in the ninety ninth minute as a header in the

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Speaker 1: box cruised toward the top corner of her net in

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Speaker 1: the final seconds before she punched it up over the

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Speaker 1: goal and out of danger. Heading into the ninetieth minute

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Speaker 1: of this game, Gotam had not managed a single shot

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Speaker 1: on goal, but the only stat that matters when the

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Speaker 1: clock runs out is the score one nothing. Batties. They

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Speaker 1: advanced to the title game for the second time in

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Speaker 1: three seasons. So it'll be the Spirit versus Gotham at

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Speaker 1: PayPal Park in San Jose, California on Saturday. That'll be

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Speaker 1: an eight pm Eastern kickoff on CBS. And don't forget

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Speaker 1: producer Alex and I will be out in norcl later

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Speaker 1: this week to bring all the excitement from Championship weekend.

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Speaker 1: More NWSL news. Spirit fans got a bit of ominous

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Speaker 1: news just before the start of Saturday semi final, as

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Speaker 1: The Athletic reported that Trinity Rodbin's reps are in negotiations

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Speaker 1: with the league about her future. The twenty three year

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Speaker 1: old is drawing a lot of interest from leagues across

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Speaker 1: the Pond, and she'll be a free agent this offseason.

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Speaker 1: Under the current salary cap, teams outside of the NWSL

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Speaker 1: can offer far more than any team in the NWSL can.

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Speaker 1: Per the story from Friend of the Show Meg Linahan

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Speaker 1: and Tom Bogert. Quote. The NWSL operates under a salary

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Speaker 1: cap currently set at three point three million at each club.

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Speaker 1: That maximum will rise every season until it hits five

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Speaker 1: point one million in twenty thirty, in accordance with the

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Speaker 1: most recent collective bargaining agreement between the NWSL Players Association

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Speaker 1: and the league. While the minimum player salary for this

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Speaker 1: season is forty eight thy five hundred and will rise

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Speaker 1: to eighty two thousand, five hundred by twenty thirty, there

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Speaker 1: is no maximum salary for an individual player. Still, the

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Speaker 1: Spirit currently has twenty seven players' salaries to cover with

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Speaker 1: three players on loan, whereas teams in Europe do not

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Speaker 1: have to abide by such caps. End quote. Rodman received

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Speaker 1: a gigantic ovation from the rowdy Audi crowd when she

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Speaker 1: subbed in very late in Saturday semi final win, and

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Speaker 1: you did have to wonder if that was her final

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Speaker 1: home game in Spirit Yellow. Still more NWSL news, and

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Speaker 1: it's a surprising shakeup for the Kansas City current Vlatko

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Speaker 1: and Danovsky, who's been the team's head coach and sporting

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Speaker 1: director since October of twenty twenty three. Will transition into

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Speaker 1: a new role as the club's global sporting Director. In

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Speaker 1: his two years as head coach, Antonovsky took the team

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Speaker 1: from second to last in the league with twenty six

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Speaker 1: points in twenty three, to fourth place and fifty five

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Speaker 1: points in twenty four and this season first place and

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Speaker 1: sixty five points. A team press release explains the change.

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Speaker 1: Quote as Sporting Director, Adonovsky will work with the head

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Speaker 1: coach and newly formed Head of Player Development role to

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Speaker 1: implement the long term vision for the club's technical and

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Speaker 1: athletics success, as well as be responsible for player recruitment,

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Speaker 1: roster strategy and scouting end quote. Andonovsky will continue to

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Speaker 1: operate as head coach until the team hires his replacement.

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Speaker 1: The Current have also promoted head of soccer ops Ryan

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Speaker 1: Dell to general manager. More soccer up in Canada, the

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Speaker 1: Vancouver Rise lifted the Diana B Matthis Trophy as the

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Speaker 1: inaugural winners of the Northern Super League Professional women's soccer league.

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Speaker 1: A lightning warning forced a forty minute delay thirty eight

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Speaker 1: minutes into the match with AFC Toronto up one nil,

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Speaker 1: but the Rise struck twice in the second half for

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Speaker 1: the two to one comeback victory in front of nearly

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Speaker 1: twelve thousand, five hundred bands at Bemofield in Toronto. Rise

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Speaker 1: keeper Morgan mclasen was named Player of the match, surviving

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Speaker 1: an onslaught of shots from Toronto, which outshot Vancouver sixteen

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Speaker 1: to eight on the day. Friend of the Show and

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Speaker 1: Vancouver native Christine Sinclair is part owner of the Rise,

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Speaker 1: and frankly it feels fitting that her club would take

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Speaker 1: home the first ever women's title in Canadian pro soccer history.

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Speaker 1: To College Hoops, a big weekend of action that started

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Speaker 1: with a wild one Friday night at the Greenbrier Resort

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Speaker 1: as unranked West Virginia overcame the ejection of six players

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Speaker 1: due to a fracas just before halftime, going on to

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Speaker 1: upset fifteenth ranked Duke fifty seven forty nine with just

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Speaker 1: five players available. Sydney Shaw put up sixteen points to

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Speaker 1: lead the Mountaineers five remaining players to the win. Kro

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Speaker 1: Lawson and Duke, who lost to Baylor in their season opener,

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Speaker 1: now dropped to two and two on the season. Saturday

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Speaker 1: saw the quote unquote battle for the real SC and

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Speaker 1: Don Staley's South Carolina game. Cox earned the honors with

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Speaker 1: a sixty nine to fifty two victory over USC at

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Speaker 1: Crypto Arena. Joyce Edwards led four game Cocks in double

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Speaker 1: digits with seventeen points and ten rebounds in the win.

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Speaker 1: Also Saturday, Hanna Hidalgo followed up an epic forty four

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Speaker 1: point sixteen steel performance against unranked Akron with a twelve

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Speaker 1: point seven turnover dud against number fourteen Michigan. Olivia Olsen

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Speaker 1: led a balanced effort for the Wolverines, putting up twenty

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Speaker 1: points in their ninety three to fifty four drubbing of

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Speaker 1: the Irish. The thirty nine point defeat the worst loss

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Speaker 1: for Notre Dame in more than two decades. On Sunday,

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Speaker 1: we saw twenty nine point thirteen rebound double double for

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Speaker 1: Sarah Strong as number one Yukon defeated Ohio State one

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Speaker 1: hundred to sixty eight and number seventeen TCU upset now

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Speaker 1: number ten NC State sixty nine fifty nine behind twenty

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Speaker 1: six points from Marcho Suarez and a fifteen point fourteen

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Speaker 1: rebound double double from Olivia Miles. That win just the

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Speaker 1: second road win over a top ten team in Horned

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Speaker 1: Frog's program history, and their first road win over a

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Speaker 1: ranked non conference opponent since January of twenty eleven. Let's

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Speaker 1: talk college attorneys. Starting with soccer. Two upsets in the

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Speaker 1: opening round of the NCAA Tournament as Ohio State upset

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Speaker 1: Number eight Georgia and Lipscomb bested number six Mississippi State.

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Speaker 1: Second round games kickoff on Thursday to college field hockey,

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Speaker 1: where the NCAA Tournament Final four is set after a

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Speaker 1: weekend of opening and second round games. It'll be defending

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Speaker 1: champions Northwestern taking on number one seed UNC on one

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Speaker 1: side of the bracket, and number two Princeton facing number

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Speaker 1: three Harvard on the other side of the bracket. Both

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Speaker 1: those games are Friday title game on Sunday. Some vibes news.

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Speaker 1: Love Pro Volleyball has announced a new Minnesota franchise set

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Speaker 1: to debut in twenty twenty seven, joining previous announced expansion

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Speaker 1: team Love Los Angeles. Season two of Love gets go

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Speaker 1: on January seventh with the original six teams Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Madison,

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Speaker 1: Salt Lake, and newly named Nebraska formerly known as Love Omaha.

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Speaker 1: To softball. Some AUSL news from last week, as four

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Speaker 1: of the league's best players were honored at the MLB

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Speaker 1: Awards at the Chelsea Theater in Las Vegas on Thursday night.

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Speaker 1: Friend of the Show Aaron Koffel was honored for MVP

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Speaker 1: and Hitter of the Year, Georgina Cork Pitcher of the

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Speaker 1: Year on a Gold, Rookie of the Year, and Hannah

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Speaker 1: Flippin Defensive Player of the Year, said Flippant of the evening, quote,

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Speaker 1: being here with some of the best athletes in the world,

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Speaker 1: it's such an honor. MLB supporting the AUSL has been

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Speaker 1: a turning point in women's sports, I truly believe, especially

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Speaker 1: for softball. Just being able to inspire young girls to

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Speaker 1: be able to have softball as a career one day,

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Speaker 1: that's our goal. End quote. Finally, some shouts to Asia

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Speaker 1: Wilson as the WNBA champion in four time. MVP continues

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Speaker 1: her talk show tour, boppin from The Jennifer Hudson Show

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Speaker 1: on Monday to a Good Morning America slash Tonight Show

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Speaker 1: at Jimmy Fallon Double on Thursday, looking every bit the

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Speaker 1: star on Fallon and a Thierry Mugler, a vintage sheer

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Speaker 1: Maxi dress, and of course she had the Candy Corn

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Speaker 1: Queen a one's prominently on display on Jimmy's desk. Where

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Speaker 1: do we think she'll pop up next? Maybe here on

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Speaker 1: good game? Call us back, Asia, We're ready for you girl.

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Speaker 1: All right, slices, We got to take a quick break

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Speaker 1: when we come back. All things Project B with Eleayna

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Speaker 1: Beard joining us now. She's the co founder and chief

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Speaker 1: basketball officer of Project B Basketball. A twenty twenty five

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Speaker 1: inductee into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, she set

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Speaker 1: the school scoring record in her four years at Duke,

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Speaker 1: was the first NCAA basketball player with over twenty six

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Speaker 1: hundred points, five hundred assists, and four hundred steals, and

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Speaker 1: was a Wade Trophy and Wooden Award winner, a WNBA champion,

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Speaker 1: four time WNBA All Star, nine time WNBA All Defensive selection,

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Speaker 1: two time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, and a

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Speaker 1: champion in leagues in Israel, Poland, and s the founder

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Speaker 1: of the three eighteen Foundation, which supports underserved girls in

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Speaker 1: her native Shreveport, Louisiana area. She was the first women's

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Speaker 1: hoops player to have her jersey retired by Duke publicly

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Speaker 1: legendary and legendarily private. It's Elena Beard, Hi, Elena Hi.

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Speaker 1: Sarah Thanks for coming on early. You've done your work.

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Speaker 2: Yeah goodness.

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Speaker 1: Well, I'm so excited to talk all things Project B.

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Speaker 1: But before we get there, I kind of want to

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Speaker 1: get to how you got to this new venture. You

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Speaker 1: retired from the WNBA in twenty twenty after a fifteen

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Speaker 1: year career. What did you see yourself doing after hoops

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Speaker 1: my deadness?

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Speaker 2: Gosh, I was I was always the player who was

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Speaker 2: adamant about preparing for the life after the game, but

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Speaker 2: it was twenty ten that kind of put that into

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Speaker 2: hyper focus for me. I had a potential career inning injury.

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Speaker 2: The doctor said I had a two percent chance for

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Speaker 2: returning to an elite level, and I just took that

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Speaker 2: as an opportunity to just focus on me, focus on

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Speaker 2: my growth as an individual, and prepare for life after

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Speaker 2: the game. In fact, one of my first fellowships actually

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Speaker 2: was with the CEO of John Baja, and it's because

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Speaker 2: I had this vision of building exactly what Magic Johnson built, right.

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Speaker 2: He was the model that every athlete wanted to emulate

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Speaker 2: because he did such a great job of just transitioning

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Speaker 2: from court to life outdoors, and that eventually led me

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Speaker 2: to kind of owning my own franchise, but I quickly

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Speaker 2: realized that you got to have hundreds of franchise to

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Speaker 2: turn a significant revenue. But with that, I also just

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Speaker 2: took a deep dive into things that I was interested

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Speaker 2: in and things that scared me. And one of those

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Speaker 2: things was venture capital. And that just all stemmed for

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Speaker 2: me just having kind of this innate curiosity around startups

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Speaker 2: and innovation, but also reading the headlines and seeing that

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Speaker 2: our male counterparts got access to cap tables with ease, right,

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Speaker 2: they got in early on Airbnb, on Uber, all of

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Speaker 2: these innovative platforms. Yet women athletes didn't even have the

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Speaker 2: opportunity to say yes or no to that because people

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Speaker 2: just automatically assumed we don't have liquidity, and that eventually

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Speaker 2: became mission right. So when I retired officially in January

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Speaker 2: of twenty twenty, I made the immediate jump to the

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Speaker 2: venture capital space as a senior associate with a prominent

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Speaker 2: venture capital fund, and it was my mission to create

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Speaker 2: access and opportunity for female athletes to get their feet

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Speaker 2: into the door around venture capital because I knew the

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Speaker 2: potential of what that could mean, and so all of

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Speaker 2: that just kind of led me to one serving as

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Speaker 2: an independent board member on a publicly traded company, building

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Speaker 2: up my own nonprofit which is highly sustainable today, and

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Speaker 2: I oversee a team of eight, but just also keeping

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Speaker 2: at the forefront of wanting to create access and opportunity

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Speaker 2: for girls and women within sports.

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Speaker 1: That's incredible. It's funny you mentioned Magic because there was

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Speaker 1: a time when he sort of stood alone as an

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Speaker 1: example of someone who thought outside the box post athletic career,

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Speaker 1: in part because in men's sports, if you get a

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Speaker 1: big enough name, you have so much money, you can

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Speaker 1: just coast sort of maybe dabble here and there. And

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Speaker 1: Magic had done something so demonstratively bigger than that, and

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Speaker 1: it inspired a lot of people. But to your point,

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Speaker 1: for a long time and still in a lot of cases,

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Speaker 1: female athletes don't have the kind of money that's sometimes

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Speaker 1: required to get into that space and then start to

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Speaker 1: make things happen. And so I love that you dove

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Speaker 1: right in. Okay, so you were also part of a

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Speaker 1: bid to bring a WNBA expansion team to Oakland? Is

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Speaker 1: that still something you're working toward.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely not not the answer I was expecting. Yeah, No,

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Speaker 2: it was something that I just really took a deep

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Speaker 2: dive into while I was out in sort of the

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Speaker 2: Bay Area. I spent about two and a half years

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Speaker 2: out there, and during that time, I just met some

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Speaker 2: really great people who had a vision of kind of

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Speaker 2: acquiring those expansion rights to a WNBA team. And it

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Speaker 2: had always been my desire to own right and I

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Speaker 2: was always in the mindset of not being a face

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Speaker 2: and a name. I am so against that. I've always

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Speaker 2: wanted to attach my name and my work to anything

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Speaker 2: that I decide to engage with to see an outcome,

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Speaker 2: and that's just always how I've been kind of just

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Speaker 2: set up. And so the opportunity came around for me

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Speaker 2: to join this group that was pursuing kind of the rights,

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Speaker 2: and I jumped in and I led it with the

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Speaker 2: understanding that the moment that Joe Lacam and his team

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Speaker 2: put their name in a hat, my dreams would be crushed.

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Speaker 2: But what I couldn't allow to happen was that to

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Speaker 2: influence my learning journey. So I decided to move forward

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Speaker 2: with it. And I'll take credit for it, and I'll

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Speaker 2: take it it was my push that pushed Joe Lacam

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Speaker 2: to put their names in a hat to acquire the

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Speaker 2: expansion rights to the Valkyries, right, and to see that

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Speaker 2: organization flourish the way that Hit has within their first

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Speaker 2: year of existence, it's not surprising.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, little less little assist from Molena.

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Speaker 2: You know, I'll take it, right. They may not say it,

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Speaker 2: but I'll t But it's just been beautiful to just

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Speaker 2: watch them kind of move with sort of the intent

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Speaker 2: and focus and precision that they move with on a

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Speaker 2: daily basis.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been a really beautiful rollout, really incredibly impressive

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Speaker 1: first season. You're not interested in bringing a w team

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Speaker 1: to any other city, then that that part of your

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Speaker 1: desire to expand the league is no longer there.

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Speaker 2: My desire is to grow the global footprint of women's basketball.

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Speaker 2: That has always been my desire. I took that opportunity

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Speaker 2: sort of in the Bay Area, but I also approached

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Speaker 2: two other teams. Right had a legitimate proposal in place,

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Speaker 2: and it was either a no or went ghosts, And

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Speaker 2: that's that's fine, right, But what that taught me is

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Speaker 2: that they're a different ask to ownership. And when something

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Speaker 2: is meant to be successful, there are a few things

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Speaker 2: that have to work. One is good people, two is

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Speaker 2: the actual idea, and then three is the timing of everything,

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Speaker 2: and so Project B came into the picture at the

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Speaker 2: right time, and then those other two things just lined

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Speaker 2: up and it just made sense for me to jump

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Speaker 2: into this because I am a huge believer and players

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Speaker 2: having equity and ownership in the things that they create. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: and that's what we're building.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to get to that part of it,

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Speaker 1: because it's a really different model. Project Be's been in

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Speaker 1: the works for a couple of years now, So tell

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Speaker 1: us exactly what it is. What this women's league that

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Speaker 1: you're going to roll out in November of twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: six will be.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I think I want to correct you there,

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Speaker 2: because it's not just a women's league. We're starting with

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Speaker 2: the women first because it's about time we put the

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Speaker 2: focus on women first.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 2: But this has been something that we've just been head

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Speaker 2: down kind of in the trenches for two years. This

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Speaker 2: is not something that just happened overnight. Right. We have

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Speaker 2: a legitimate team in place that have been working underneath

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Speaker 2: the radar to build out something that is sustainable and global.

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Speaker 2: It all stems from Jeff Prentiss, who is the co

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Speaker 2: founder of Skype, and then Grady Burnett, who serves as

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Speaker 2: the CEO of global sales for Meta for like I

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Speaker 2: think eleven or twelve years. In fact, he came in

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Speaker 2: when revenue was at one hundred million. He scaled that

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Speaker 2: to a ten billion revenue within the twelve or thirteen

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Speaker 2: year period. So I only say that to say that

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Speaker 2: I get to be a part of an ownership group

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Speaker 2: that understands disruption and who understands scale on a global level.

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Speaker 2: And so this was an idea that the two of

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Speaker 2: them came up with over dinner and then they just

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Speaker 2: started digging in for six months straight. It's just literally

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Speaker 2: analyzing the entire market and what they came to understand

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Speaker 2: that there are three billion plus basketball fans around the

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Speaker 2: world and within the United States, within kind of the

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Speaker 2: two main leads, the w and the NBA, they're only

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Speaker 2: tapping into ten to eleven percent of that global fan base.

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Speaker 2: And so there's so much untapped market outside of North

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Speaker 2: America that we believe as an opportunity to come in

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Speaker 2: and build something that is extremely sustainable, global and competitive

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Speaker 2: and just really unique. And so Project B is a

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Speaker 2: platform and that is f one style, right.

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Speaker 1: It is our.

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Speaker 2: Intent to host two weeks tournaments in seven different cities

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Speaker 2: throughout a season. When you think about F one, you

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Speaker 2: think about how they go from city to city to city,

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Speaker 2: and they aggregate these points depending on their positioning, but

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Speaker 2: also kind of like who's the champion at the end

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Speaker 2: of that season, they eventually crown a champion of the world, right,

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Speaker 2: And that's exactly how we're thinking about this thing. So

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Speaker 2: to your point about us starting, you know, or there

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Speaker 2: being a women's basketball league, no, we're starting with men

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Speaker 2: with women, with every intent to launch with both men

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Speaker 2: and women. In Q four twenty twenty.

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Speaker 1: Six, Okay, yeah, we'll get to the men's sid because

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Speaker 1: I know that that's where the first sort of public rumors

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Speaker 1: about Project B came out was about the men. But

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Speaker 1: I know that that's not on hold. But the women

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Speaker 1: are the ones taking shape quicker and are more publicly

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Speaker 1: being spoken about now. So when you talk about those

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Speaker 1: seven two week tournaments in the major cities Asia, Europe,

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Speaker 1: the Americas, is the champion at the end, a team, yes,

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Speaker 1: one of those eleven player teams or an individual.

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Speaker 2: Exactly the team will will be the winner. Yeah, thanks

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Speaker 2: for that clarification.

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Speaker 1: Yeah cool, I mean you played basketball, and I think

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Speaker 1: you said twenty seven countries. Yeah, when we chatted. So

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Speaker 1: that's a lot of international experience. How did that influence

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Speaker 1: your decision to be a part of Project B and

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Speaker 1: how is it influencing your leadership on the project?

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Speaker 2: Oh my god, it's extremely influential.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: When I think about kind of my time internationally, there

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Speaker 2: is nothing that I valued more than experiences right in

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Speaker 2: those cities, immersing myself into the cultures, in building the relationships.

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Speaker 2: And so when Grady approached me about Project B, when

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Speaker 2: you started talking about the global nature of this thing,

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Speaker 2: I was like, yep, nope, I'm in right. That's all

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Speaker 2: I needed to hear. Of course I needed to hear

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Speaker 2: a few more things.

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Speaker 1: But what's my title?

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Speaker 2: You know? The title was never like of interest to me.

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Speaker 2: It was something that I I just Sarah, I do

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Speaker 2: to work right and everything else will fall into place.

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Speaker 2: I I've always been in that mindset as even a player,

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Speaker 2: I hated the title of captain right because it's not

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Speaker 2: one person that determines or dictates sorry of the success

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Speaker 2: or the outcome of a team our season. But to

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Speaker 2: your point, in terms of how it has influenced me,

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Speaker 2: what my international experience has shown me is that talent

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Speaker 2: is global, right. Obviously the pinnacle of basketball is NBA WNBA.

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Speaker 2: But because of those twenty seven countries that I've played in,

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Speaker 2: I am well aware that not all the best talent

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Speaker 2: exists within those leagues. And when we're thinking about the

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Speaker 2: composition of like our teams through our Project B, it

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Speaker 2: is with every intent to build out a global team

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Speaker 2: and a global pool of players that reflect exactly what

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Speaker 2: we're trying to do, and that's elite competition on a

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Speaker 2: global scale, hands down, no questions asked. It's not a gimmick,

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Speaker 2: it's five on five. It is our intent to build

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Speaker 2: out a platform that is hosting the best basketball in

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Speaker 2: the world.

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Speaker 1: You know, for a long time players here in the

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Speaker 1: States wanted off and options in the US because women

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Speaker 1: had to go abroad sometimes to places like Russia that

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Speaker 1: they didn't always feel necessarily safe or really even understand

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Speaker 1: what the financial backing of their ownership was or otherwise. Now,

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Speaker 1: with athletes unlimited and unrivaled, there are great options in

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Speaker 1: the States. Are you hearing from players that they are,

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Speaker 1: again some of them looking to find a way for

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Speaker 1: basketball to take them abroad.

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Speaker 2: What I would always say to that is that I

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Speaker 2: absolutely love what Unrival and Athletes Unlimited are doing too.

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Speaker 2: We're all different kind of models in terms of how

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Speaker 2: we think about this thing. What we want to focus

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Speaker 2: on as sort of that global nature of what we're building.

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Speaker 2: What I wholehearted will believe is that we're only going

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Speaker 2: to amplify what the WNBA is doing domestically and sort

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Speaker 2: of build out that global footprint to in turn create

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Speaker 2: global superstars. So if there's anything that I can share

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Speaker 2: here is that we're not competing with anyone, right, We're

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Speaker 2: in exclusively. We got sixteen sixties players. There's so much

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Speaker 2: more talent across the board here. It is our intent

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Speaker 2: to ensure that we're only amplifying what these women are

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Speaker 2: doing on the court and compensating them accordingly. We are

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Speaker 2: treating them like partners, right, they're owners in this one

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Speaker 2: of our largest stakeholder groups, and so they're going to

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Speaker 2: reap the benefit of the value that they're creating not

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Speaker 2: only on the court but off the court because they're brands.

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Speaker 2: They are individual brands that deserve to be paid for

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Speaker 2: whatever they bring onto the court, and that's how we're

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Speaker 2: focusing on it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting because you know, with individual sports, there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of fandom based on patriotism, right, players that

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Speaker 1: play for your country and you watch them play across

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Speaker 1: the globe and represent your country, and you might like

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Speaker 1: them for that. You might like style of play, you

435
00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:43,959
Speaker 1: might like vibes, you might like what they stand for.

436
00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:45,880
Speaker 1: Like there's a lot of ways to attach to individual

437
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,320
Speaker 1: athletes on a global scale and have fans from all

438
00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:51,720
Speaker 1: over the world root for them. With teams, we again

439
00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,760
Speaker 1: often usually starts with patriotism for global events, we all

440
00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:58,480
Speaker 1: root for our own country. Sometimes it edges into jingoism

441
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:02,399
Speaker 1: more than just patriotism. But then there might be teams

442
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,720
Speaker 1: like the Chicago Bulls, that La Lakers, the Golden State Warriors,

443
00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:09,240
Speaker 1: teams that go global in terms of fandom for them,

444
00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,879
Speaker 1: but they're still rooted in a place. How do you

445
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:16,359
Speaker 1: drive fandom for teams that are made up of players

446
00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:22,000
Speaker 1: presumably from around the globe, representing something artificial like an

447
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,560
Speaker 1: invented name or brand or logo, and then moving so

448
00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:29,800
Speaker 1: they're never of a place, of a country, of an

449
00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:31,399
Speaker 1: established franchise.

450
00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,439
Speaker 2: Yeah no, I hear you. And it's our thesis and

451
00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:36,560
Speaker 2: belief that it's about the name on the back of

452
00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:39,360
Speaker 2: a jersey, right, and I can point to many many

453
00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:43,399
Speaker 2: examples of this. You have Luka don KU's I mean,

454
00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:45,560
Speaker 2: and I'm only naming this because this is probably this

455
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,280
Speaker 2: was probably the most shocking story of last year in

456
00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:52,879
Speaker 2: terms of he getting traded to LA. The amount of

457
00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,280
Speaker 2: ticket sales and revenue that drop because Luka don KU's

458
00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:58,960
Speaker 2: left the Dallas Mavericks is an indication that it is

459
00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:01,119
Speaker 2: about the name on the back of the jersey versus

460
00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:03,880
Speaker 2: the actual team. And also when you think about kind

461
00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:06,679
Speaker 2: of the way fans are now engaging today, right, this

462
00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:09,919
Speaker 2: is a younger audience, is gin z. Yeah. They're all

463
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,960
Speaker 2: about highlights, they're all about streaming, and they're all about

464
00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,280
Speaker 2: the individual. So I don't think that that is a

465
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:20,879
Speaker 2: hindrance by any means. We are kind of operating outside

466
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:23,919
Speaker 2: of the established model of what it says today around

467
00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:26,280
Speaker 2: team and culture. We're all about the player.

468
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, that's a great point about young people.

469
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,720
Speaker 1: It's kind of like wild to the old heads like

470
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:34,760
Speaker 1: us that they're just bouncing around team to team based

471
00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:36,080
Speaker 1: on the players that they like. But I mean it

472
00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:38,639
Speaker 1: makes sense because it also is really stupid to just

473
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:40,399
Speaker 1: keep rooting for a team that lets you down and

474
00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:42,320
Speaker 1: doesn't have any players you like, just because that's the

475
00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:45,359
Speaker 1: one you were assigned when you grew up. He chose

476
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,080
Speaker 1: when you were young. Taken from me a fan of

477
00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:50,439
Speaker 1: teams that are currently letting me down repeatedly.

478
00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:51,800
Speaker 2: I know, not to take you off, but I think

479
00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:55,760
Speaker 2: I was watching like a social media like clip and

480
00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:58,720
Speaker 2: it was a Jets fan like yes, being like extremely

481
00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:00,280
Speaker 2: upset that Ye, it's just.

482
00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:06,280
Speaker 1: Like I hate this team. I hate them, yeah, which rightfully, so's.

483
00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,959
Speaker 2: I hate this team. I was born into this and

484
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,359
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna ever I'm always a Jets fan, but like,

485
00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:16,400
Speaker 2: I just I hate this tame.

486
00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:18,919
Speaker 1: How do you decide which city is to play in?

487
00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:21,480
Speaker 2: You know what, I'm not sure that I am the

488
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:23,720
Speaker 2: best to kind of answer that, but what I can

489
00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,840
Speaker 2: say we focus really on kind of the culture and

490
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:30,880
Speaker 2: what they were capable of offering from just an experience standpoint, right,

491
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:33,359
Speaker 2: there are more nuances and details as to why we

492
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:37,200
Speaker 2: choose a city, but I can say that we have

493
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,600
Speaker 2: kind of this matrix of how we think about what

494
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:42,040
Speaker 2: city is the right city from what we're bringing, and

495
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:43,720
Speaker 2: we let that lead all decisions.

496
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:45,760
Speaker 1: Do you anticipate the cities will be the same for

497
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:47,159
Speaker 1: the men's league as the women's.

498
00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,480
Speaker 2: Oh, we're not going to China to watch men and

499
00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:53,440
Speaker 2: Tokyo to watch women. It's exactly how you think about

500
00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:57,000
Speaker 2: start of the WTA. People go to the US Open

501
00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:59,960
Speaker 2: to watch both men and women tennants on the same platform,

502
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:03,239
Speaker 2: and we believe that is the value. Having both men

503
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,920
Speaker 2: and women on the same platform is what really drives

504
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,040
Speaker 2: the value in the uniqueness of what we're building.

505
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:10,639
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course the WTA does operate separately from the

506
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:12,920
Speaker 1: men's tour and have lots of events that are separate,

507
00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:15,640
Speaker 1: but yeah, US Open is a great opportunity for both

508
00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:17,960
Speaker 1: in the same place. So if you're looking at whatever

509
00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:19,439
Speaker 1: matrix and I know you said you aren't the one

510
00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,160
Speaker 1: deciding these things, but how do you know the women's

511
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:26,200
Speaker 1: basketball fandom in a place, because that might vary quite

512
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,760
Speaker 1: differently from how much that place is aware of and

513
00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:30,480
Speaker 1: interested in the stars of the men's game.

514
00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:32,400
Speaker 2: So back to your point when you asked me, how

515
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,320
Speaker 2: much has my overseated experience influenced my ability to have

516
00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,000
Speaker 2: an impact on start of the decision making here? That

517
00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:41,040
Speaker 2: is one of them, right, I've played in twenty seven

518
00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:43,119
Speaker 2: countries and I'm well aware of the fandom that exists

519
00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:45,560
Speaker 2: outside of North America, and I can tell you that

520
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:47,720
Speaker 2: it is live and it is thriving, and.

521
00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:49,960
Speaker 1: I imagine you've got some marketing plans in place to

522
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,919
Speaker 1: make sure that folks ahead of the role out of

523
00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,639
Speaker 1: these games are excited to see the players, know the

524
00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:58,959
Speaker 1: players that are coming their way, because you know, obviously

525
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:03,359
Speaker 1: they're are hotbeds where leagues have existed for your several

526
00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,200
Speaker 1: of what you've played in, but there are also probably

527
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:09,320
Speaker 1: some places that are a great opportunity in the men's

528
00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:11,000
Speaker 1: game that need some growth on the women's game, so

529
00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:13,520
Speaker 1: you have an opportunity to bring stars there and help

530
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:14,640
Speaker 1: open up a space as well.

531
00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:17,200
Speaker 2: One hundred percent, Sara, and I love that you brought

532
00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:18,960
Speaker 2: that up, because at the end of the day, it's

533
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:21,480
Speaker 2: about creating that access and opportunity for fans on a

534
00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:24,600
Speaker 2: global scale, in particular women and girls in sports. One

535
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 2: thing that we're adamant about is not just going into

536
00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:29,119
Speaker 2: a city for two weeks and leading. Our goal is

537
00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,520
Speaker 2: to build sustainable hear on programming in each city that

538
00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:36,280
Speaker 2: we partner with. So it's been such a phenomenal journey

539
00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:40,920
Speaker 2: to date because we have the right balance of understanding business,

540
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:46,120
Speaker 2: understanding people, understanding partnerships, and understanding the good that we're

541
00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,159
Speaker 2: capable of doing in this world. And so it's been

542
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:49,760
Speaker 2: a lot of fun.

543
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:52,119
Speaker 1: One of the keys to this model is you have

544
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,240
Speaker 1: to get names people are excited to see, right, because

545
00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:57,399
Speaker 1: it isn't about attaching to a team or league with

546
00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,879
Speaker 1: any sort of nostalgia. So I know you mentioned co

547
00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:05,680
Speaker 1: founder Jeff Prentiss and co founder Grady Burnett. Grady told

548
00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:08,320
Speaker 1: Front Office Sports the league is paying multiples higher than

549
00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:10,600
Speaker 1: what's available right now in the world of women's sports,

550
00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:14,000
Speaker 1: highest salaries and equity packages in women's team sports. So

551
00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:15,879
Speaker 1: what's the salary range you're working with?

552
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:19,040
Speaker 2: That is a great question, and it's not details I'm

553
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:19,520
Speaker 2: willing to.

554
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,800
Speaker 1: Share, Okay, but ok just a lot of money.

555
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,840
Speaker 2: Right. It's a lot of money, and we're intentional about it, right,

556
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:27,920
Speaker 2: We're not just throwing money out there.

557
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:28,200
Speaker 1: Right.

558
00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:31,720
Speaker 2: We have a legitimate model in place, business strategy in

559
00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:36,040
Speaker 2: place that dalidates what we're doing. But there is nothing

560
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:39,000
Speaker 2: more rewarding than being at the forefront of shifting this

561
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:43,120
Speaker 2: landscape of women's basketball that exists today and paying these

562
00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:47,000
Speaker 2: women what they absolutely deserve and it's a beautiful thing

563
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:51,720
Speaker 2: to watch. We're literally creating generational wealth in a weak time.

564
00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,880
Speaker 1: Well, I'm saying this, you are not, and I do

565
00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:59,760
Speaker 1: not expect a response. Reports are starting around two million

566
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,960
Speaker 1: dollar per player. Can you speak to the equity package,

567
00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:04,880
Speaker 1: because I know that's something important to you, is that

568
00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,120
Speaker 1: it's not just we're giving your generational wealth, but you

569
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,160
Speaker 1: have an ownership piece and caring about the success of

570
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:10,520
Speaker 1: this thing.

571
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:12,680
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think the only thing that I can say

572
00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:14,480
Speaker 2: that they are Again, I won't touch on like numbers

573
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,160
Speaker 2: because I just don't think that that's beneficial in this moment.

574
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:19,320
Speaker 2: It's about the core of what we're doing, and we're

575
00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:22,240
Speaker 2: creating that partnership and ownership model that should exist in

576
00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:26,120
Speaker 2: sports today. From an equity standpoint, I would say, if

577
00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:28,640
Speaker 2: I had to like give an example, just think about

578
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:31,200
Speaker 2: it as tech. I have two tech guys kind of

579
00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:33,040
Speaker 2: at the forefront of this thing, and when they think

580
00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:35,640
Speaker 2: about sort of that compensation package and what it could

581
00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:39,600
Speaker 2: potentially look like, tech is the best model.

582
00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,200
Speaker 1: Got it? Okay? You also have some big name investors

583
00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:46,040
Speaker 1: that are going to help you pay these players. Candice Parker,

584
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:49,600
Speaker 1: Steve Young, Novak, Djokovic, Loan Stevens among them. You've also

585
00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:52,440
Speaker 1: got a partner in Silo, which is an entertainment company

586
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,640
Speaker 1: owned by the Saudi owned Public Investment Fund PIF. Lots

587
00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 1: of talk about Saudi involvement in initial reporting about Project

588
00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,760
Speaker 1: be and on social media, but again, Burnett told Front

589
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:06,000
Speaker 1: Office Sports that Project wants a global diversified cap table,

590
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:09,720
Speaker 1: but quote that doesn't include any dollars from Saudi Arabia. Absolutely,

591
00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:12,160
Speaker 1: So what's the partnership with Celia and why has that

592
00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,640
Speaker 1: been something that's maybe either incorrectly reported or not fully

593
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:17,000
Speaker 1: fleshed out in reporting so far.

594
00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:19,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that you asked that question because I

595
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:21,760
Speaker 2: think people are going to focus on what they focus on,

596
00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:25,120
Speaker 2: because it's very hard for people to process something as

597
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:28,000
Speaker 2: ambitious as what we're building, and the fact that we

598
00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:31,680
Speaker 2: have to sort of engage a partner with certain entities

599
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:33,560
Speaker 2: to get it done. At the beginning of this call,

600
00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:37,480
Speaker 2: I named Jeff Prentiss, I named Grady Burnett. I don't

601
00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:39,440
Speaker 2: think you need anyone else to drive sort of access

602
00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,320
Speaker 2: to capital other than these two individuals, right, And so

603
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,080
Speaker 2: to Grady's point, we are a global basketball league, and

604
00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:47,120
Speaker 2: it is our job and it is our intent to

605
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:52,160
Speaker 2: build out a cap table that mimics just that Sella

606
00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:56,760
Speaker 2: is a global operating partner that is owned by PIF.

607
00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:02,200
Speaker 2: We're paying them as a service logistically produce our events,

608
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:07,520
Speaker 2: and they have. I mean, I think the latest kind

609
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,080
Speaker 2: of partnership that they have engaged on is the highly

610
00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:15,960
Speaker 2: anticipated ala Veraz and Crawford Pike on Netflix. They were

611
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:19,360
Speaker 2: partners in that right, and so they have produced global

612
00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:23,960
Speaker 2: events consistently, and so we can speak about Sella, but

613
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:28,440
Speaker 2: the real story here is that we're a global basketball

614
00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:31,040
Speaker 2: league and it is our intent to partner with partners

615
00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:34,600
Speaker 2: across the world. And so I just I really hate

616
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:38,120
Speaker 2: that that is the narrative because I just think people

617
00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:40,080
Speaker 2: are just picking and choosing what the focus on, and

618
00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,880
Speaker 2: it's important to do responsible reporting. So I really respect

619
00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:44,960
Speaker 2: you for asking that question.

620
00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:47,320
Speaker 1: Well, And it feels like I think when we hear

621
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:51,080
Speaker 1: about PIF or the Saudi's as a whole, we are

622
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:54,880
Speaker 1: usually hearing about them investing into a space for access.

623
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:58,040
Speaker 1: But in this case, you're saying there's no funding from

624
00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:00,600
Speaker 1: them funding. You're paying a partner that happens to have

625
00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:04,080
Speaker 1: an affiliation with them, because that partner is an event partner.

626
00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:05,720
Speaker 1: That you want to work with to put on events.

627
00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:08,680
Speaker 1: So where is the funding then coming from outside of

628
00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,880
Speaker 1: those investors? Do you have the kind of tech connections

629
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:14,480
Speaker 1: that you're referring to or alluding to exactly?

630
00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:18,880
Speaker 2: I won't necessarily go into detail about who those individuals are,

631
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,600
Speaker 2: but as I noted Grady Burnett, Jeck Prentiss, I mean

632
00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:25,959
Speaker 2: Jeck Princes started Atamaco, which is the largest venture capital

633
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,600
Speaker 2: farm in Europe. And so if that doesn't speak to

634
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:30,640
Speaker 2: access to dollars, I don't know what will. But we

635
00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:34,240
Speaker 2: have we have institutional investors from Quiet Capital to Mangrove

636
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:37,120
Speaker 2: Capital to Sequence Capital, and then we have individual investors

637
00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:42,120
Speaker 2: who understand and want tech type returns, right, and so

638
00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:46,600
Speaker 2: it's a different playing field for us. We're talking about sports,

639
00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:49,560
Speaker 2: but we're also merging that with tech, and I think

640
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:52,160
Speaker 2: that that's the concept that's extremely hard for people to

641
00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:53,800
Speaker 2: really understand, right.

642
00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:56,000
Speaker 1: Well, so help us understand it, because I am not

643
00:32:56,440 --> 00:33:00,520
Speaker 1: a Silicon Valley tech person. So when you say tech

644
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:06,120
Speaker 1: like returns, how does the product of basketball and presumably

645
00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:11,560
Speaker 1: money coming from sponsorships, attendants viewing all the typical sports things,

646
00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:14,360
Speaker 1: how does that spin into a tech product or a

647
00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:15,560
Speaker 1: tech like return. Yeah.

648
00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:17,520
Speaker 2: No, I think that's a better question for Grady Burnett

649
00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:19,640
Speaker 2: because they are the tech guys. My focus is purely

650
00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:22,680
Speaker 2: on sort of the basketball side of things. But with that,

651
00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:24,920
Speaker 2: it is every intent for us to engage a billion

652
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:29,040
Speaker 2: users on one platform and then we navigate it from there. Right,

653
00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:31,520
Speaker 2: It's about getting the eyeballs on the sport and then

654
00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:33,040
Speaker 2: driving that engagement from there.

655
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:36,320
Speaker 1: Got it. Okay, what's the media arm of the league?

656
00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:40,440
Speaker 2: Yeah? Oh, I mean obviously we have partners in HBS

657
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:44,120
Speaker 2: and other individuals who Grady and Jeff are working on

658
00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:48,320
Speaker 2: the background to kind of finalize kind of whatever planning

659
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:50,320
Speaker 2: that there needs to be finalized. But that's that's a

660
00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:51,960
Speaker 2: question for both Grady and Jeff.

661
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:54,680
Speaker 1: Okay, so you're kind of saying that the fans that

662
00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:57,880
Speaker 1: will watch from Afar when not you know, when it's

663
00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:01,400
Speaker 1: not in their city, will be on a proprietary website

664
00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:03,200
Speaker 1: and that's where everybody goes and watches or is it

665
00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:07,440
Speaker 1: a partnership with TV stations and other things. Yeah.

666
00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:09,640
Speaker 2: I prefer not to sort of jump into the partnership

667
00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:11,719
Speaker 2: side of things, but it is every intent for us

668
00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:15,920
Speaker 2: to create a frictionless engagement on a then standpoint right, Like,

669
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:19,440
Speaker 2: if I'm my wife is from Israel, I'm in Israel.

670
00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:23,080
Speaker 2: I want to watch NBA games, they're paywalls. There's timing

671
00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:25,120
Speaker 2: difference in things of that nature. Our goal is to

672
00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:28,160
Speaker 2: create a streaming platform that allows fans to sort of

673
00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:29,719
Speaker 2: connect and interact accordingly.

674
00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:31,800
Speaker 1: Okay, well, you got a year before you got to

675
00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:33,759
Speaker 1: tell me where I'm watching and how I'm watching and

676
00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:34,560
Speaker 1: who I'm wanting to.

677
00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:37,040
Speaker 2: Details to come, more details to come, I promise.

678
00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:40,080
Speaker 1: The timing, as I mentioned, You've got a year starting November.

679
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:43,000
Speaker 1: Plan is to end in April. So the timing of

680
00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:46,000
Speaker 1: the season makes this a competitor to unrivaled and AU

681
00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:48,520
Speaker 1: basketball and a lot of overseas opportunities, but not the

682
00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:51,680
Speaker 1: WNBA as of now. Is it the intention to keep

683
00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:54,560
Speaker 1: it a complementary option for w players or is there

684
00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:56,320
Speaker 1: planned to potentially expand in the future.

685
00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:58,839
Speaker 2: No, you know what I've always said, and this is

686
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,280
Speaker 2: just a belief of mine. I've spent fifteen years building

687
00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:04,120
Speaker 2: out the WNBAD. It is not my intent to dismantle

688
00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:06,759
Speaker 2: anything that has been established. What I wholeheard I would

689
00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:08,960
Speaker 2: believe is that we're capable of building what we're building

690
00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:12,120
Speaker 2: because of the WNBA, and it is every intent to

691
00:35:12,239 --> 00:35:15,200
Speaker 2: sort of partner alongside with them. This is only another

692
00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:19,360
Speaker 2: opportunity for women to access and continue to play the

693
00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:21,319
Speaker 2: sport that they love and get paid for doing what

694
00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:25,160
Speaker 2: they're doing. We are not competitive to the WNBA by

695
00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:27,759
Speaker 2: any means. It's just another option and.

696
00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:29,840
Speaker 1: It sounds like there's a lot of opportunity for players

697
00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:32,440
Speaker 1: who maybe aren't in the w to get a chance

698
00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:34,960
Speaker 1: to be seen alongside the best talent from the W.

699
00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:37,680
Speaker 1: We already heard about neko Oguomkay, which was the first

700
00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:41,200
Speaker 1: big name to hit. Now Alyssa Thomas announced as joining

701
00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:43,960
Speaker 1: the league. Should we anticipate more big announcements soon?

702
00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:47,239
Speaker 2: Yeah, wait and see again. It's really funny because my

703
00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:49,279
Speaker 2: friends get on me a lot because I am like

704
00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:51,960
Speaker 2: a vault. I don't share very much. I'm a very

705
00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:56,440
Speaker 2: private person as well. But you should absolutely anticipate more

706
00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:58,480
Speaker 2: announcements so private.

707
00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:01,480
Speaker 1: I put it in the bile budget early private. But

708
00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:04,160
Speaker 1: we should anticipate international players from other pro leagues being

709
00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:05,359
Speaker 1: a part of it. Right now.

710
00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:07,960
Speaker 2: What I can say is that we have multiple All

711
00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:11,279
Speaker 2: w NBA Team honors kind of signed on. We have

712
00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:14,520
Speaker 2: international players signed on, We have young players signed on

713
00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:18,560
Speaker 2: that consists of players from four or five different continents

714
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:19,080
Speaker 2: at the moment.

715
00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:22,400
Speaker 1: Okay, so let's talk about how the league's considering the

716
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:25,560
Speaker 1: rollout of the names and it's launch, because the information

717
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:27,560
Speaker 1: about Project B has kind of been fits and spurts.

718
00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:29,919
Speaker 1: Right there was the gossip about Lebron James and mav

719
00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:34,280
Speaker 1: Carter a yacht and all that stuff, and the rumored

720
00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:36,120
Speaker 1: men's league. That was the first sort of thing to

721
00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:38,360
Speaker 1: come out. But now the pivot to focus on the

722
00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:41,640
Speaker 1: women's league right now with players and actual info coming

723
00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:44,960
Speaker 1: out about the plans for November of next year. You

724
00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:47,560
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier that there's still a plan for a men's league.

725
00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:49,840
Speaker 1: Is the desire to launch that at the same time next.

726
00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:52,040
Speaker 2: Year, Yeah, to your point, Like I said, you're gonna

727
00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:54,359
Speaker 2: get more information as it comes, and it has been.

728
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:57,640
Speaker 2: We've been extremely strategic in terms of how we've released information.

729
00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:00,800
Speaker 2: I think the biggest shift for me is, uh, going

730
00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:03,480
Speaker 2: from operating underneath the radar for two years and now

731
00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:05,040
Speaker 2: talking about exactly what we're.

732
00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:09,120
Speaker 1: Doing and remembering which things are public and which exactly say.

733
00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:11,040
Speaker 2: You should have seen me before this interview. I was

734
00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:12,759
Speaker 2: like going through and reading articles and make sure I

735
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:13,719
Speaker 2: can say if you have a.

736
00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:16,080
Speaker 1: Big board in front of you that's like yes, no,

737
00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:18,840
Speaker 1: don't say it, ud say yes, this is this is.

738
00:37:19,200 --> 00:37:22,120
Speaker 2: It's been nerve wrecking actually, but it's been a lot

739
00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:24,279
Speaker 2: of fun. But it is with every intent to launch

740
00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:25,160
Speaker 2: with both men'sum women.

741
00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:27,560
Speaker 1: Okay, so Men's League will be coming out around the

742
00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:30,040
Speaker 1: same time, so we'll have to presumably start getting some

743
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:32,400
Speaker 1: rollouts of names of players and people involved with that

744
00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:36,480
Speaker 1: one as well. What about things like telling people timing

745
00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:38,400
Speaker 1: of when you're playing in which city, is, what the

746
00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:43,920
Speaker 1: teams will look like, coaches, GMS, branding, all that stuff.

747
00:37:44,239 --> 00:37:46,200
Speaker 2: Sarah, do you want to just join us right because

748
00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:51,000
Speaker 2: you clearly have it all planned out? But no that

749
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:53,279
Speaker 2: that that will all come in due time, Sarah, I

750
00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:53,840
Speaker 2: promise you.

751
00:37:54,239 --> 00:37:58,000
Speaker 1: Gosh, I'm so impatient that uh, stay tuned. It's just

752
00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:01,040
Speaker 1: there's so much mystery around this lead. It's so exciting

753
00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:04,719
Speaker 1: to consider the possibilities and the opportunity. And I think

754
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:06,640
Speaker 1: some of the names you know, we know Nekka and

755
00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:09,279
Speaker 1: Alyssa two of the best names in the w and

756
00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:11,680
Speaker 1: the opportunity to see them on a global stage is

757
00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:15,759
Speaker 1: really cool. But also, you know, diving into how that

758
00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:19,400
Speaker 1: works the headquarters in Singapore, games all over the globe, like,

759
00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:21,960
Speaker 1: how how does that work? If there's so much to answer,

760
00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:24,600
Speaker 1: which I'm sure your head is swirling trying to figure

761
00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:27,120
Speaker 1: all that out. But we appreciate you coming on and

762
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:30,160
Speaker 1: telling us what you are allowed to tell us, and

763
00:38:30,239 --> 00:38:32,279
Speaker 1: maybe some things you weren't. We'll find out later. If

764
00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:34,040
Speaker 1: you get in I know you're gotta get me in trouble.

765
00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:36,680
Speaker 2: I'm gonna get a call from legal right now. But

766
00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:39,400
Speaker 2: no what I and I said this yesterday and our

767
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:42,080
Speaker 2: pre prep calls there, I just really appreciate you reaching

768
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:45,879
Speaker 2: out and choosing to do responsible reporting. And I always say,

769
00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:47,720
Speaker 2: if you if you have ants, if you have questions,

770
00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:49,440
Speaker 2: just ask and so.

771
00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:51,680
Speaker 1: I might answer them and you might say answer them.

772
00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:54,120
Speaker 2: But what I will tell you is that I'll never

773
00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:56,520
Speaker 2: cross a lot of integrity. I'll always be transparent, and

774
00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,520
Speaker 2: I always lead with purpose. And so that's that's the

775
00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:01,279
Speaker 2: beauty and all of this, and I'm having a ton

776
00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:03,719
Speaker 2: of fun doing it. And I can't thank you enough

777
00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:05,040
Speaker 2: for having me on.

778
00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:06,719
Speaker 1: Well, I can't thank you if for coming on. We're

779
00:39:06,719 --> 00:39:10,960
Speaker 1: really excited to have more information and wait for the

780
00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:13,560
Speaker 1: rest of the information so we can get even more excited.

781
00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:14,560
Speaker 2: I promise you it's coming.

782
00:39:14,719 --> 00:39:17,319
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for the time, take care. Thanks again

783
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:19,480
Speaker 1: to Elena for taking the time. We got to take

784
00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:22,080
Speaker 1: another break when we come back. They fell in love

785
00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:30,120
Speaker 1: in an oval place. Welcome back, slices. We love that

786
00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:31,640
Speaker 1: you're listening, but we want you to get in the

787
00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:33,879
Speaker 1: game every day too, So here's our good game play

788
00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:37,600
Speaker 1: of the day. Follow Elena and Project B on social media.

789
00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:40,560
Speaker 1: We'll link to those accounts in our show notes. And

790
00:39:40,719 --> 00:39:44,640
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving is fast approaching. We want to know your family traditions,

791
00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:49,480
Speaker 1: the weirdest, quirkiest, silliest, or most meaningful and heartfelt moments

792
00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:52,720
Speaker 1: that you look forward to come Turkey Day every year. Also,

793
00:39:52,800 --> 00:39:56,360
Speaker 1: start thinking about your holiday hot takes. I don't know

794
00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:59,600
Speaker 1: you put your Christmas tree up in August. Sweet potato

795
00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:02,919
Speaker 1: should only be served as a savory dish. Whatever you got,

796
00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:06,040
Speaker 1: Send him our way good game at Wondermedia network dot com,

797
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:08,319
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798
00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:11,799
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799
00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:17,200
Speaker 1: rate and review slaces. It's easy watch Love Marriage and

800
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Speaker 1: the Baby and the Baby carriage rating two of two

801
00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:25,319
Speaker 1: major life moments review. Two of our show faves got

802
00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:29,400
Speaker 1: to celebrate massive milestones this weekend. First, best wishes and

803
00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:32,200
Speaker 1: congratulations to friend of the show, Anna Hall, who has

804
00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:35,640
Speaker 1: had quite a year. First the world championship win in

805
00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:39,880
Speaker 1: the heptathlon in September, and now a proposal. Longtime bo

806
00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:42,840
Speaker 1: NFL receiver Darius Slayton of the New York Giants popped

807
00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:45,560
Speaker 1: the question on the track where they first met, and

808
00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:49,000
Speaker 1: famous friends like Gabby Thomas, Cameron Brink, and Sunny Lee

809
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:51,239
Speaker 1: rushed to congratulate the duo in the comments of their

810
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:55,360
Speaker 1: shared Instagram post. Also, Giants rookie quarterback Jackson Dart wrote

811
00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:59,720
Speaker 1: mom and dad heart emoji. Also congratulations to Chicago sports

812
00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:02,560
Speaker 1: power couple Chicago Stars and US Women's national team stand

813
00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:06,279
Speaker 1: out mel Swanson and Chicago Cub star Dansby Swanson, as

814
00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:09,960
Speaker 1: the duo welcome their first baby daughter, Josie James Swanson.

815
00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:12,399
Speaker 1: See you on the US women's national call ups list

816
00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:16,399
Speaker 1: in twenty forty three, kiddo, no pressure, Now it's your turn.

817
00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:19,560
Speaker 1: Y'all Rate and review, Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow.

818
00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:23,759
Speaker 1: Good game, Molena, good game spirit and Gotham. You just

819
00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:27,400
Speaker 1: one game left in the NWSL season. We're not ready

820
00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:31,239
Speaker 1: for it to end. Good Game With Sarah Spain is

821
00:41:31,239 --> 00:41:34,080
Speaker 1: an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue

822
00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:37,359
Speaker 1: Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,

823
00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:40,480
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by

824
00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:44,000
Speaker 1: Wonder Media Network, our producers are alex Azzie Grace Lynch,

825
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:48,320
Speaker 1: Taylor Williamson, and Lucy Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett,

826
00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:51,879
Speaker 1: Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are

827
00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:55,879
Speaker 1: Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from

828
00:41:55,920 --> 00:42:00,160
Speaker 1: Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain DA