WEBVTT - Nine Lifetimes with Billie Jean King 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:02.560 Welcome to a good game with Sarah Spain where we're 0:00:02.560 --> 0:00:06.200 trying not to judge the grunters in tennis, but we're 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:10.120 really not fans. It's Wednesday, November twentieth, and on today's show, 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:12.399 we'll sit down with one of the greatest tennis players 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:15.040 of all time, one of the most influential Americans of 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:18.120 the twentieth and twenty first centuries, and truly the goat 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:21.200 of women's sports equality and advancement, the one. 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:22.520 And only Billy Jean King. 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:26.160 Plus reindeer games, good boys who just want to play ball, 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:27.360 and rookie hardware. 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:29.000 It's all coming up right after this. 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:42.200 Welcome back, slices and greetings once again from Malaga, Spain. 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:43.760 Here's what you need to know today. 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:48.640 The Billy Jean King Cup Finals conclude today and we 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:51.040 are excited to be in the building to watch the 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:54.120 showdown between Italy and Slovakia. In case you haven't caught 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:56.120 any of the action yet, here's how the event works. 0:00:56.320 --> 0:00:59.080 During each round of competition, nations go head to head 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:02.200 in a best of three format featuring two singles matches 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:05.840 followed by one doubles match if necessary. Countries get a 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:09.160 point for each match they win two points you advance. 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:11.680 Slovakia will be going for its first win at the 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.600 event since two thousand and two and second win all time, 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:17.760 while Italy will be going for its fifth in history 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:21.360 to the NWSL. Leading up to Saturday's championship, the league 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:24.480 is announcing all of the end of season awards, including 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:27.880 Rookie of the Year, which went to Washington Spirit midfielder 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:30.440 and Friend of the Show Croy Bethune. If you missed 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:33.280 her interview in yesterday's show, go back and take a listen. 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:35.080 A busy couple days for Croy. 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:37.600 She was also announced as part of the league's Best 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:40.640 Eleven and Second Best Eleven, which honors the top twenty 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:41.640 two players in the league. 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:43.280 Withoon made the first team. 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:47.160 Saturday's finalists the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit, along with 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:50.200 semi finalist Scot The FC led the league with five 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:54.000 players from each team earning either first or second team honors. 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:57.440 Also coaching honors announced on Tuesday, with Orlando Pride coach 0:01:57.480 --> 0:01:59.760 Sub Hines earning Coach of the Year. He led Orlando 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:01.840 to a league best record of eighteen two and six 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.680 with a club record forty six goals while allowing just 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:07.160 twenty tied for the lowest conceded goals in the league 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:09.000 this year. He took over in June of twenty twenty 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:11.359 two as the interim coach and has already become the 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:14.840 all time winningest coach in Pride history with a thirty one, 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:16.840 thirty and twelve record and led the Pride to the 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:19.480 most points in a season sixty, most wins in a 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:23.640 season eighteen, longest win streak eight and longest unbeaten streak 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:26.680 twenty three in a single season twenty four total all 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:28.280 and WSL records. 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:29.480 More footy news. 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:32.720 US Soccer on Tuesday announced that Washington Spirit owner Michelle 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:35.799 Kang has pledged thirty million dollars over the next five 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:38.440 years to support the development of girls and women's soccer, 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:42.120 with the donation helping support talent identification camps and more. 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:45.080 Per US Soccer, the donation will quote create over one 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:48.000 hundred thousand new opportunities for girls and women in soccer 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:50.640 and quote double the number of national team camps that 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:53.480 currently runs, equating to six camps per age group for 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:57.960 youth national teams end quote to basketball, Unrivaled has announced 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:01.400 the six head coaches for the inaugural season WNBA fans 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:04.160 will recognize a couple names on the list. There's Teresa Weatherspoon, 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:06.120 the Naysmith Hall of Famer who most recently led the 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:09.000 Chicago Sky in twenty twenty four, and Nola Henry, who 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:11.160 was an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Sparks this 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:14.480 past season. The other coaches include former MNBA Los Angeles 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:19.080 Lakers assistant Phil Handy, former MNBA player Adam Harrington, prominent 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:22.920 professional skills coach DJ Sackman, and Washington Mystics player development 0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:26.720 assistant coach Andrew Wade. In College field Hockey News, or 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:32.480 as Meisch wrote, NCAA faky, which listen me, I'm warming 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:35.800 up to vibes. I will consider vibes, but under no 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:40.720 circumstances will I ever let you make faki happen field hockey. 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:43.960 We're just gonna call it field hockey anyway. The final 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:44.520 four is set. 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:48.280 North Carolina, Saint Joseph's, Northwestern and the University of Massachusetts 0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:50.560 are playing in the semi finals this Friday, with the 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:53.680 championship game on Sunday. Friend of the Show Aaron Matson's 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.760 UNC squad had a pretty uneventful journey to qualify for 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.480 their fifteenth Final four in the last sixteen years. The 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:01.160 Tar Hills open the tournament with a four to oh 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:03.480 win over Delaware, followed by a three to nothing victory 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:07.160 against Duke. In Pro Hockey news, the PWHL may be 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:09.880 coming to a city near you. On Monday, the league 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:13.960 announced its PWHL Takeover Tour, a slate of nine neutral 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:15.800 site regular season games that will be played in a 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:18.480 variety of locations across the US and Canada. 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:19.839 The US cities on the tour. 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:23.880 Include Seattle, Denver, Detroit, Raleigh, Saint Louis, and Buffalo, and 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:26.640 stops in Canada will be in Quebec City and Vancouver. 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:29.440 The news comes after the PWHL announced that it plans 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:32.320 to expand to eight teams as early as next season, 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:34.680 so it's likely that a couple of these cities could 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:36.960 get a full time team in the very near future. 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:39.159 We'll link to the tour schedule and tickets in our 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:42.440 show notes and also sends manifestations to places that I 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:46.560 want to go as worked before. Wow, Vancouver, wouldn't I 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:51.800 just love to see a PWHL game in Vancouver. Just 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:55.040 put it out there to the WNBA. Per reporting from 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:57.680 Anti costable. The Chicago Sun Times, the Seattle Storm is 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:02.000 investigating its coaching staff for alleged player mistreatment, including harassment 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:04.960 and bullying related to on court performance. According to the 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:06.800 Sun Times, the team has hired a law firm to 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:10.000 look into the allegations, which include incidents at practice and 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:13.520 during games this past WNBA season. Noel Quinn is currently 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:15.280 the head coach of the Storm and has been since 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:18.400 former coach Dan Hughes retired in twenty twenty one. Quinn's 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:21.560 assistants this past season were former WNBA player Ebonie Hoffman, 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:25.520 longtime head coach and assistant Pokie Chapman, and Perry Hwang. 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:28.800 Will keep you updated as more reporting on that comes out. 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:33.080 One last note from the last few days of jam 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:37.320 packed sports news. Skier Mikayla Schiffrin earned her record extending 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:40.160 ninety eighth career World Cup win on Saturday at the 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:43.400 FIS World Cup slalom event in Levy, Finland, to give 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.080 herself the chance to compete for victory number one hundred 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:49.640 on home soil, with two upcoming races in Killington, Vermont, 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:52.480 on November thirtieth and December first. Now this is news 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:55.080 on its own as Schiffrin continues to add to her 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:58.839 unmatched resume. But my favorite part of this particular win 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:02.520 is that the levees on the tour includes a special prize, 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:06.560 perhaps my favorite of all the spoils of victory. No, 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:08.960 not the Santa Claus that celebrated with Schiffrin, although that 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:11.640 was a delight as well. My favorite prize is that 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:15.039 you get a baby reindeer. It stays in Finland, but 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:18.120 it's named by the winner, and Schiffrin's heard from past 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:23.719 victories at the event already includes Rudolph Svenn, Mister gru Ingemar, Sonny, 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:27.039 Lorax and Grogu, and on Sunday she announced that the 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:28.720 latest edition will be named. 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:31.320 Rory, short for Aurora Bori Alice. 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:33.800 Someone gotta start writing a new version of the song 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:37.920 because Mikayla's almost there, you know, Lorex and Grogu and 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:42.200 Sonny and Spenn. You get where I'm going with that. Anyway, 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.080 we got to take a quick break when we come back. 0:06:44.160 --> 0:06:55.640 The Queen of Malaga, Spain, Billy Jane King. We are 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:59.800 here in Malagas, Spain, in the BJK offices adjacent to 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:02.400 the courts and joining us now she really needs no introduction, 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:05.520 but she deserves one. So here's a life of greatness 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:08.080 in a nutshell. Former number one tennis player who won 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:10.640 thirty nine Grand Slam titles and the infamous Battle of 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.480 the Sexes in nineteen seventy three, International Tennis Hall of Famer, 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:16.600 the first female athlete ever named Sports Illustrated Sportsmen of 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:20.040 the Year, Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Congressional Gold Medal winner. 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:22.240 The USTA National Tennis Center in New York City was 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.560 renamed the USTA Billy Jean King National Tennis Center in 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:27.720 two thousand and six, and in twenty twenty, the FED 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.440 Cup was renamed the Billy Jean King Cup. A pioneer 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:33.000 for equality and social justice, She's founded the Women's Sports 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:35.920 Foundation in nineteen seventy four. She's an owner investor in 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:39.160 countless teams and companies, including the Dodgers, Sparks, Angel City FC, 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:42.320 the PWHL, and Just Women's Sports. After meeting her, Charles 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:45.040 Schultz started highlighting issues of women's sports in the Peanuts 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:47.520 comic and Elton John wrote the song Philadelphia Freedom for 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:48.960 She's an icon, She's a hero. 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.360 It's Billy Jean King BJK. What's up? 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:55.320 That's pressures Sarah hard to get. 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:56.720 It all out that quick. There's too many things I 0:07:56.760 --> 0:07:57.640 would pick from. 0:07:57.400 --> 0:07:59.800 Elan and I really love your show, so thank you 0:07:59.840 --> 0:08:00.400 so much. 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:02.800 We love to hear from you. Every time you email, 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:03.960 they're listening. 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:07.160 You do your research, which is most people don't, especially 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:09.640 young reporters. A lot of times will come and you 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:11.760 end up just educating them the whole time. 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:12.720 Yeah, it's okay. 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:14.400 That's how you keep learning from each other, and I 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:16.800 always learn from others. It's fantastic. 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:19.080 The history matters, though, to contextualize. In order to know 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:20.560 what we're watching now, we have to know how it 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.120 fits into the larger and that's the biggest thing for 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:25.520 women's sports right now, is giving people enough information to 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:27.239 care and understand what they're watching. 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:28.560 Well, this is what I always say by his story. 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:30.800 The more you know about history, the more you know 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:35.800 about yourself. But most importantly, it helps you shape the future. 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:40.280 It's shaping the future, I think probably reason I love 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:42.360 history so much, but I've always love history, even as 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:42.880 a child. 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:43.400 Yeah. 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:45.640 So I want to ask you the most important thing first, 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:47.360 which we ask every tennis guest. 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:50.760 It's a contentious question. What color is a tennis ball. 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:53.080 What color is it? 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:57.559 The ones we play with, they're probably yellow, probably well 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:01.000 yellow gold, whatever people want to look at it, yeah, 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:03.400 whatever they want to get an answer, it's usually yellow 0:09:04.000 --> 0:09:06.240 in our I think most tennis players would probably say yellow. 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:07.120 Is that right? 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:09.840 There is no answer. 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:13.560 In the old days, they were white when I played 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:16.360 in the beginning, and then we changed in the seventies. 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:19.480 We're in Malaga, Spain at the Billy Jean King Cup 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:21.920 formerly known as the FED Cup, renamed in your honor. 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:24.160 You want it ten times in your career with Team USA. 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:26.040 What makes this event so special? 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:28.719 Well, I grew up in team sports and this is 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:31.720 a team event. And most people think of tennis only 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:33.880 as as an individual sport. 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:34.400 It's not. 0:09:34.679 --> 0:09:39.680 It's really both. There's mixed doubles, doubles, singles. I like 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:42.840 doubles better than singles. I've always played all three events 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:45.480 when I when they had them available, like at the Majors. 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:50.000 And I just love playing for your country. There's there's 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:53.280 something about when you play for your country. You're playing 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:57.040 for something much bigger than yourself. You're representing your country 0:09:57.120 --> 0:09:58.800 where you most people grew up. 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:02.640 It's heavy. I mean it's good heavy. 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:04.000 Yeah, sure, it's a privilege. 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:04.280 It is. 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:04.920 I love it. 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:06.079 You know how that came about. 0:10:06.320 --> 0:10:07.960 Yeah, we heard the story that he was open. We 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:10.040 told it on our show. Yeah, I love that story. 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:11.120 That's in this event. 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:14.240 It's a Federation Cup. It's called Federation Cup. It started 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:17.160 in nineteen sixty three. I was on that team. I 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:19.720 was nineteen. I was the second best player. Darling Hard 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:23.040 was our best player, and Carol Colbo was our third player. 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:26.600 And we had sixteen teams that were invited just to 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:29.400 try it. It was the fiftieth anniversary of the ITF, 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:33.160 the International Tennis Federation, and it was at Queen's Club 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:34.920 and we're supposed to play outdoors on the grass, but 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:37.080 it rained, so we went indoors and of course on 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:40.600 the boards it was so fast, Bob. We were down 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:44.880 match points against Australia Margaret Smith now, Mark Smith Court 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:48.560 and Leslie Turner Leslie Turner Bowery now and we were 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:51.120 down match points and we won because I kept yelling 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:53.800 all week to the players, our players in our group, 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:56.440 that we have to win the first one because when 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:58.320 we look at the Cup the rest of our lives, 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:01.160 we'll be able to see that we won the first 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:02.680 and they kept saying, Oh, it doesn't matter. 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:05.360 I look at him and give him this stare in 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.360 the long rooms. Are you kidding? This is history? 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:11.440 Of course I love history, right, and I knew ten 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:14.200 twenty thirty years later. If they look at the Cup 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:18.240 and they see USA first, like hello, and so here 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:19.720 I am. I'm eighty years old. It will be eighty 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:22.120 one next week. And it's like if I look at 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:23.839 the Cup, I see USA first. 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:25.640 And I'm like hello. It still feels good and I 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:26.440 remember the story. 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:29.000 I remember being now match points and how exciting it was, 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:32.439 and Carol and I played all week in doubles, and 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:36.480 yet at the finals, our coach, our captain, mister Kellogg, 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:40.360 who was a tennis official, changed it up and said, no, 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:42.680 Darlene and Billy have to play, and it was the 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:43.320 right thing to do. 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:45.760 It's like putting eg in the doubles here this year. 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:47.480 Yeah, so you have to put your best players. 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:49.720 Let's talk about this year because we got the chance 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:52.760 to watch incredible matches between Poland and Italy and what 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:54.559 you just mentioned about the energy and the vibes, it's 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.600 so spectacular to hear drums and tambourines and chants things 0:11:57.600 --> 0:11:59.720 you don't really hear at tennis termas because of the groups. 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:02.520 WI I wish jennis tournaments would do that. Yeah, like 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:04.600 the the beck of our shirts. I think we should 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:09.439 have numbers. Actually the players do have numbers, like in Australia. 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:11.480 So yeah, I mean. 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:13.640 It's a very different atmosphere than the average tournament. But 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:17.800 also it's it's interesting to kind of get a perspective 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:19.640 on the state of tennis in different countries. And of 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:21.960 course not always the best players are available to play. 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:25.600 But this year Team USA got knocked off by Slovakia. 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:28.920 They haven't won since twenty seventeen players. Yeah, was it 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:30.400 just a matter of we didn't have. 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:32.800 The best players and I don't know why, but we're 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:33.480 going to find out. 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:35.439 We know that this event this year was supposed to 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.040 be in Sevilla, it ended up getting moved here to Malago, 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:39.880 which is also the site of the Davis Cup. Is 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:41.640 that something in the future you'd like to see is 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:43.600 both in the same place at the same time. I 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:45.800 know in this case it caused the creation of this 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:48.640 incredible bubble in order to play while the men are 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:51.560 in that original facility over there. If you had a 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.719 place where you could both be in a Really I 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:55.120 love it. 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:56.600 When the men and we were together. Yeah, I think 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:58.400 it's one of the pluses we have in our sport. 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:01.120 We started in the late teen hunts with men and women, 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:03.920 which I think teed it up culturally, and I think 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:07.360 that was a real blessing looking back at history, because 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:09.760 you don't want to have to fight to start having 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:10.960 them together and not together. 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:13.960 And the majors have them together. It's a better event. 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:18.679 It's worth a lot more money than if they're single tournaments. 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:21.920 And I think from a business point of view, you 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:25.280 have to look at that, how do we keep getting 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:27.760 people excited, how do we get younger people in our sport. 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:30.360 It's important to keep track of the average age of 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:33.160 the spectators because like baseball, for instance, got up into 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.240 the fifties and now they're back down in the forties. 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:37.880 They made some changes, made it tighter. We need to 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:40.719 think like that. And tennis is tough, you know, it's 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:45.000 very traditional. You know, I grew up in basketball, track 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:48.320 and field. Well, actually the things you did besides the 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:51.920 tennis you played as well, and so I came from 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:54.319 that and tennis. 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:55.560 Was a rude awakening. 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.400 It is a child, because well, look at the scoring. 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:00.480 I think it should be one, two, three four. How 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:02.199 do you get new kids in the game. I mean 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:04.920 they come to watch and I've never been in tennis. 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:07.640 And my coach starts saying, well, let me explain the scoring. 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:08.520 It's fifteen love. 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:10.360 Thirty the I know forty five, right. 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:12.880 They go, No, I go and I'm eleven years old, 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:16.120 And I said to him, this is the stupidest, great English, 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:19.560 the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Now I know, I'm 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:21.480 like a lot of kids. I don't come from tennis. 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:24.200 My family's on in tennis. And if you are in 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:27.760 tennis as a child, you still want to make it fun. Yeah, 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:30.040 And I think when you start tennis you should be 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:30.880 put on a team. 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:32.400 Just put them on a team. 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:34.640 They can be a great make it less individual less 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:38.080 in the beginning, because it's about relationships, and the best 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:41.840 relationships I still have today probably from the players I 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.440 played Federation Cup with or Billy Jinking Cup with. 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:46.120 Yeah, and it's so great to see the teammates sort 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:46.960 of cheering each other on. 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:49.040 And I imagine if you had the Davis Cup and 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:51.280 the Billy Jean King Cup together, not only could you 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:54.000 have them occurring simultaneously in their current iteration. But then 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:56.120 you could have that one last game of mixed doubles, 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:58.480 one of the playing each other. 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:00.960 I'm just listen, I want to change the scoring, Billy. 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:03.280 I'm try changes as big the troubles. 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:05.280 You have to have the two teams. It would be 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:05.760 tough part. 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:08.400 But the Italian men came last night. Yeah, yeah, no, 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.720 I say, guys came over to watch them. 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:13.880 It's been a very cool scene, not only the tennis 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:17.280 but also the recognition of Rafa here in Spain as 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:21.040 he's retiring, and then the activations, the food trucks, the brands, 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:22.360 everybody getting involved in. 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:24.760 It was the fan fest, that's yeah, the fan fest. 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:27.320 It was really cool to see, like the ELF activations 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:30.640 or both inside the tournament where you're watching them get 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:32.920 the fans excited and having dance offs and playing music 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:37.000 and stuff. Let's just helping y, let's help some help 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:40.800 some stuff up. But they also had these really cool 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:43.960 activations outside. And you know, you've been fighting for investment 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:46.560 in women's sports for years and I'm wondering how different 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:49.400 your brand relationships in twenty twenty four. Are brands that 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:51.600 you're working with like ELF. How different is that for 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:53.720 you compared to your early years when you were seeking 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:55.080 sponsor support. 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:58.400 Well, there must they really do help promote it better. 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:01.320 And the ones we had days, I must say Philip 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:02.200 Morris was amazing. 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:03.440 I don't smoke. 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.320 I went nuts when we got them, and I end 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:08.520 up loving every one of them. Are still friends within 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:12.200 that anybody who's still alive, because they really cared about 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:16.040 us and really helped further our mission. And that's what 0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:18.560 we're finding with ELF and the other sponsors. Game Bridge 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:21.400 has been amazing. Greenbridge is our main sponsor, and they're 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:23.480 the reason we get equal prize money with the men. 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:26.240 They're very big on equality. And then they also have 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.960 a parody that belongs to Gamebridge. Some of the athletes 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:31.160 will be here and then we're having our you know 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:35.320 most you know, women's Sports Powerful Summit for the first time, 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:38.400 which I've been wanting to do for years and really 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:39.320 emphasize sports. 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:41.240 I've be gone to Fortune, I've gone to Forbes. I 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:42.080 every time I. 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:44.640 Go, I go, You've got to have a sports part 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:50.760 of this because sports business, especially women is just now 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:54.760 in its infancy of really taking off and exploding. I mean, 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:57.000 we were at four percent media content and then five 0:16:57.400 --> 0:16:59.920 were kind of got excited. Right now, we're fifteen and 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:01.840 I think we're supposed to be at twenty five by 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:02.400 next year. 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:04.040 There's more money. 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:05.879 I think we can maybe go up to a billion 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:08.280 dollars a minute at two point seven billion, I think. 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:11.920 And we're on our way now, We're just on our way. Yeah. 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:12.120 Yeah. 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:14.639 The women. I was in Australia for the long and 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:19.400 I were there for the World Cup of Soccer. Yeah, 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:21.960 I know. I always has dandy football. I'm alga to 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:23.359 say football and. 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:25.639 I say footy now and then it sounds like a 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:26.840 real insider. 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:28.600 Foot is that? No, that's Australian rules. 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:32.000 Well, in the US, the US women say footy because 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:34.000 they know that people will roll their eyes at football, 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:34.680 but they don't. 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:35.320 Like to say soccer. 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:38.399 If you say footy in Australia, it's really came from footy, 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:42.040 came from Australia with Australian Australian rules football. Yeah, so 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:44.960 when they say footy, they're not really being accurate. It's 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:46.080 fun though, Yeah. 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:49.280 So we're watching all this growth around women's sports, and 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:51.840 we were recently together at the fiftieth anniversary celebration of 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:52.400 the women's. 0:17:52.160 --> 0:17:54.320 Sports Yeah, that's right. Yeah, and you want to know. 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:56.160 You founded it back in nineteen seventy four. 0:17:56.200 --> 0:18:00.280 The videos looking at the decades of both the mens 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:02.720