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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. I honestly believe that

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Speaker 1: part of the equation that wasn't in our control was

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Speaker 1: the mass general public and the business sector not ready

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Speaker 1: for women, not ready for powerful women, not ready for

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Speaker 1: women with big voices who have grand ideas. We didn't

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Speaker 1: have the deep pockets. And before coming here today, I

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Speaker 1: think that's the one thing that kept coming into my

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Speaker 1: head was I had zero dollars that I could be

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Speaker 1: an owner with. I didn't make money in the beginning

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Speaker 1: playing soccer.

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Speaker 2: So Alex Brandy Chastain, I mean so many these superlatives

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Speaker 2: around her, two time Olympic gold medalists, two time World

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Speaker 2: Cup winner. If you wanted to find the perfect lens

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Speaker 2: for the past three to four decades of women's soccer,

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Speaker 2: the growth, the missed opportunities, the incredible successes, it's all right.

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Speaker 3: There for her.

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Speaker 2: She starts in ninety one on the US women's national

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Speaker 2: team in the very first ever women's World Cup.

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Speaker 3: They win it.

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Speaker 2: She gets cut from the team, but comes back from

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Speaker 2: the ninety six Olympics. Then that iconic moment in nineteen

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Speaker 2: ninety nine that sets her on a completely different journey.

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Speaker 2: She is one of those people who transcended her sport.

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Speaker 2: Now she's an owner, and that's what I am most interested.

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Speaker 2: I can't wait to hear the back and forth about

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Speaker 2: player turned owner.

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Speaker 3: It's a vibe, you know.

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Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, if you think about like ninety one

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Speaker 4: ninety nine, we just remember those years were so important

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Speaker 4: an iconic player, as you mentioned. But I'm really interested

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Speaker 4: to see how she transfers her ecosystem, her experience from

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Speaker 4: player to owner, and how she plans to bring value

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Speaker 4: to that franchise.

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Speaker 2: So Alex, let's keep it in mind. Nineteen ninety nine,

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Speaker 2: it's this huge moment. Everybody's like women's soccer, it's here

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Speaker 2: to stay in the United States. Womh wah, it doesn't

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Speaker 2: happen right. The WSA and WPS, those are the first

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Speaker 2: and second women's soccer leagues in the US. They both folded.

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Speaker 2: So then the NWSL, the National Women's Soccer League, comes

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Speaker 2: along in twenty thirteen. So BFC, that's Brandy's team. They

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Speaker 2: come into the NWSL this year. They're the newest team.

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Speaker 2: And the twist for them is they're backed by a

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Speaker 2: private equity fund and that's a huge deal.

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Speaker 5: It's very interesting. I'm intrigued.

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Speaker 4: I'm going to ask her, like, how did you get

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Speaker 4: this enormous private equity group to invest in team sports,

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Speaker 4: in women's sports. I'm excited and I'm also excited. What

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Speaker 4: is her pitch? What is the value proposition in women's sports?

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Speaker 4: I know I feel very bullish about it. I want

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Speaker 4: to hear from her.

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Speaker 2: Right, So Sixth Street is the firm that she's a

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Speaker 2: partner with. She and three other former US national team

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Speaker 2: players teamed up with Alan Waxman. Sheryl Sandberg's also in

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Speaker 2: this group. This is a team led by Brandy that

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Speaker 2: could really be the key to US women's soccer from

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Speaker 2: a domestically perspective, having staying power, and that has been

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Speaker 2: elusive to this point, and to your point, women's sports

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Speaker 2: as a growth investment.

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Speaker 3: You talk about it around your boardroom.

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Speaker 4: Right, phenomenal phenomena And look, Mark Lazie recently said he

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Speaker 4: finds more growth, more opportunity in women's sports than in

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Speaker 4: men's sport. I think that hasn't really been commercialized. But

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Speaker 4: I think when we look at women's sports, we won't

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Speaker 4: believe where it is in five years versus today.

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Speaker 2: On this episode of the Deal, Brandy Chastain. So, Brandy,

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Speaker 2: we're very happy here. Let's start if you don't mind

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Speaker 2: introducing yourself and what you're doing these days.

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Speaker 1: Sure, my name is Brandy Chastain, and I am gosh,

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure how to introduce myself in terms of

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Speaker 1: my title. I'm a co founder of the Bay FC,

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Speaker 1: the newest expansion team in the NWSL. I'm one of

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Speaker 1: four founding women. And I'm born and raised in San Jose, California,

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Speaker 1: which is right in the heart of Silicon Valley and

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Speaker 1: the Bay Area. So that's my secondary title too. I'm

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Speaker 1: a mom and a grandmother and a wife, I guess.

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Speaker 3: And a pretty good soccer player.

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Speaker 1: And back in my data, back.

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Speaker 3: In the day. Well, let's start back in the day.

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Speaker 2: We're so fascinated by you having I feel like both

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Speaker 2: of us like watch this career that has mirrored soccer

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Speaker 2: in this country. I think we have to start in

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Speaker 2: nineteen ninety nine. That moment that you kicked the winning

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Speaker 2: penalty kick the world changes. What did it do for

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Speaker 2: you as a human but also as a business person.

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Speaker 1: Well, first and foremost, it made me sleepless for many

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Speaker 1: in many months, but in all seriousness, it gave a

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Speaker 1: visibility to a sport, a team individuals, not just myself

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Speaker 1: that had really been deserving since ninety one when we

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Speaker 1: had the first Women's World Cup in China, and nineteen

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Speaker 1: ninety six was the first time we had the Olympic Games.

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Speaker 1: So imagine, the Olympics have been around one hundred years

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Speaker 1: and women's soccer is just now getting in in nineteen

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Speaker 1: ninety six, and so I think ninety six was kind

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Speaker 1: of the first boost that we had that gave us

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Speaker 1: the idea and the confidence that we could put a

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Speaker 1: Women's World Cup in massive stadiums from coast to coast,

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Speaker 1: north to south, and FIFA wasn't really interested in that,

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Speaker 1: and so I think there was a big battle for

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Speaker 1: us to show up and to show off what we

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Speaker 1: could do, and that on the business side as well

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Speaker 1: as the footballing side of things, and so it changed

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Speaker 1: that dynamic for sure. Going forward, we've seen every World

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Speaker 1: Cup now done in this bigger way. I think for

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Speaker 1: me personally, it gave me a platform to stand on

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Speaker 1: so that I could just scream at the top of

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Speaker 1: my lungs about the importance of women's sports, the importance

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Speaker 1: of women and decision making positions. The importance of young

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Speaker 1: girls participating in sports. It created an opportunity for me

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Speaker 1: to dream of a nonprofit for young girls. So many

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Speaker 1: things changed that day, and in the moment, I didn't

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Speaker 1: know that, not at all, and that was not the intention,

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Speaker 1: which I feel really good about because I think all

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Speaker 1: great things come from organic moments, in genuine moments, and

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Speaker 1: so I'm obviously very proud of what has happened for

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Speaker 1: women in sports and women in general. Host nineteen ninety nine. Yeah.

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Speaker 4: When you look at iconic moments over the last century,

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Speaker 4: I mean, for me, my era was the Regijaction three

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Speaker 4: home run, the World Series again, the Dodgers on three pitches.

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Speaker 4: You look at Montana to Clark, you're in a San

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Speaker 4: Jose person famous pass, and you look at Jordan the

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Speaker 4: way he retarded as Utah. To me, as an American,

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Speaker 4: I felt so much pride, and I just saw that

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Speaker 4: over and over again. My question to you is, I

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Speaker 4: know how I felt. How did that make you feel

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Speaker 4: as an American? But b as really a pioneer in

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Speaker 4: a moment.

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Speaker 1: I think in the moment, I was so exhausted. Prior

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Speaker 1: to that. We practiced those kicks a lot, and that's normal.

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Speaker 1: As you would in baseball fielding grounders or bunts or whatever.

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Speaker 1: So that's a normal kick. I would have taken a

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Speaker 1: kick in the run of play, but this is special.

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Speaker 1: You're in the World Cup, you're in the Rose Bowl,

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Speaker 1: it's the final game. It's been a bend not break

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Speaker 1: situation between two teams who were so good that either

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Speaker 1: one could have been Crown Champion. Right before going out

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Speaker 1: to the middle, our assistant coach had come up to

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Speaker 1: me and said, hey, you want to take a penalty.

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Speaker 1: I said, yep, no problem, I got it. Then our

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Speaker 1: head coach comes over, Tony de Chico, and he says, okay,

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Speaker 1: puts his hand on my shoulder and goes, you're going

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Speaker 1: to take a penalty. I said, yep, I talked to

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Speaker 1: Lauren already about it. He goes, okay, good, you're going

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Speaker 1: to take it with your left foot, and then he

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Speaker 1: ran off. So I didn't think about it because I

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Speaker 1: practiced them and practice no problem. But later after the

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Speaker 1: kick and after everything sort of took a beat. I'd

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Speaker 1: never taken a penalty with my left foot in a game. Wow,

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Speaker 1: And now we're in the World Cup final. You know

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Speaker 1: it would be like, hey, step up, left handed and hit,

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Speaker 1: so I think in that moment, what I think, what

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Speaker 1: jumps off the page for me is this concept that

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Speaker 1: I try to share every time I have a meeting

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Speaker 1: with a young person on the sports field or in

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Speaker 1: a big group of business people, is that we all

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Speaker 1: have tools, and sometimes we get stuck in using him

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Speaker 1: in the same manner that we always have used them.

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Speaker 1: But we were so much more than that, and we

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Speaker 1: can really turn those tools into to work in different ways.

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Speaker 4: I honestly think there's a great just as a fan

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Speaker 4: and a former athlete, I think for viewers and listeners,

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Speaker 4: I think there's a great coach and teaching opportunity. Before

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Speaker 4: your coach has hit it with your left where was

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Speaker 4: from one to ten at your confidence level? And then

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Speaker 4: when he tells you that in real time, what does

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Speaker 4: it do to that number?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think my confidence was ten and it was

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Speaker 1: probably eleven after you said that. And the reason being

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Speaker 1: is again, earlier in my career, I was my position

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Speaker 1: was goalscorer. That's all I woke up thinking about. That's

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Speaker 1: what I went to bed thinking about. After the ninety

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Speaker 1: one World Cup, I was cut from the team and

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Speaker 1: I spent four years away from the national team, and

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Speaker 1: Tony brought me back and he changed my position, and

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Speaker 1: so I trusted this man and this coach implicitly. So

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Speaker 1: if he said something to me, he was telling me

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Speaker 1: that because he believed that I could do it, and

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Speaker 1: so my confidence was always very high when he put

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Speaker 1: me in uncomfortable positions or an usual moments, And so

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Speaker 1: I think I was exhausted as well, Alex, to be fair,

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Speaker 1: but in all honesty, I think that's the narrative of

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Speaker 1: a coach in a player. Young player's life is so

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Speaker 1: important and if we get that right, people can blossom

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Speaker 1: into just about any I.

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Speaker 4: Know, we're way Jason, like, it's funny because I'm thinking

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Speaker 4: about my World Series moments.

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Speaker 5: You've been a little exhausted.

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Speaker 4: Probably helps because it kind of just you just want

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Speaker 4: to survive and it keeps you in the pocket. If

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Speaker 4: you're not tired, you might be a little bit too

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Speaker 4: energetic and too high.

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Speaker 5: So that's interesting.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And so the expectation for women's soccer just explodes

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Speaker 2: at that point in that media bar and storming to

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Speaker 2: everything that happens after that. What was your expectation for

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Speaker 2: women's soccer as a business.

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Speaker 1: I have to tell you, I've been in this almost

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Speaker 1: five decades. I've been loving and playing and supporting women's

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Speaker 1: soccer for quite some time, and of course I thought

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Speaker 1: it would be that inflection point to a successful league

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Speaker 1: that would then transform into more driven by business than

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Speaker 1: by just the love and the passion of the game.

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Speaker 1: And that didn't happen. So that was very disappointing at

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Speaker 1: the minimum. Right, so in two thousand and three, when

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Speaker 1: the WUSA shut its doors, we had a chance for reflection.

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Speaker 1: And reflection is amazing because it allows you to say

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Speaker 1: what you did well, to celebrate those moments, but then

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Speaker 1: to recognize, okay, what didn't go well, and how can

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Speaker 1: we change And if you're really good and you're really

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Speaker 1: invested and you really believe, you can change anything. And

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Speaker 1: I think this as the third iteration of women's soccer,

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Speaker 1: the NWSL. We've gone through a lot of hardship, and

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Speaker 1: I honestly believe that part of the equation that wasn't

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Speaker 1: in our control was the mass general public and the

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Speaker 1: business sector not ready for women, not ready for powerful women,

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Speaker 1: not ready for women with big voices who have grand ideas.

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Speaker 1: We didn't have the deep pockets and before coming here today.

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Speaker 1: I think that's the one thing that kept coming into

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Speaker 1: my head was I had zero dollars that I could

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Speaker 1: be an owner with. I didn't make money in the

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Speaker 1: beginning playing soccer. I made some money, and when I

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Speaker 1: say some, it's much less than what they're making now.

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Speaker 1: And I felt like, Okay, I could make a living,

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Speaker 1: but not really great. And I was probably only one

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Speaker 1: of maybe a dozen possibly so I don't think our

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Speaker 1: illusions were two grand at that time. But we felt

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Speaker 1: that how could ninety thousand plus forty million or more

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Speaker 1: people tune in and have this not go somewhere? And

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Speaker 1: so we've been believers ever since. But it's taken a

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Speaker 1: lot of cajoling and a lot of educating and a

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Speaker 1: lot of believing, and then, you know, finding the right people.

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Speaker 2: Without getting too uncomfly deep into your finances. That's not

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Speaker 2: life changing. Money doesn't come to you after ninety nine, No,

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Speaker 2: not even not close.

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Speaker 1: I have the work every day, thankfully. Yeah, in a

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Speaker 1: good way. Abby Wombach said it so eloquently. I thought

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Speaker 1: at the SP's when she was standing next to Peyton Manning,

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Speaker 1: if you might remember it, you know, her thing is here.

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Speaker 1: She is standing up as Athlete of the Year and

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Speaker 1: receiving this amazing, impressive award. But tomorrow she got to

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Speaker 1: go to work because the money she made won't sustain

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Speaker 1: her for the rest of her life. And that's what's different.

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Speaker 1: That's the difference between men and women's sports right now,

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Speaker 1: and we're working diligently every day to show the value. Listen,

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Speaker 1: let's talk about the two buckets. We've got men's professional

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Speaker 1: sports and we've got women's professional sports. And what I

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Speaker 1: think is so fascinating about the business sector is that

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Speaker 1: we know that women spend the majority of money in right,

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Speaker 1: So why is everything I'm pushing in this direction opposite

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Speaker 1: of that? Why don't we go after women in sports?

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Speaker 1: Why don't we get into women in sports because that's

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Speaker 1: where the money spent. So I think now people have

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Speaker 1: finally woke up to the fact that this is the richest,

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Speaker 1: deepest will of talent, intellect, opportunity that is out there.

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Speaker 1: There's nothing else out there that has as many resources

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Speaker 1: and as many people who can do great things as

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Speaker 1: women's sports.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, one of the moments, which was obviously critical, was

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Speaker 2: even before nineteen ninety I went to nineteen ninety one

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Speaker 2: and you know that first World Cup and opened a

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Speaker 2: lot of eyes. Could you have imagined in nineteen ninety one,

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Speaker 2: when I believe you got five hundred bucks for winning

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Speaker 2: the World Cup, that's right, no prize money for the

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Speaker 2: for the team, that was just a bonus. I believe

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Speaker 2: that US Soccer paid. Could you have imagined or was

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Speaker 2: it your assumption that, of course one day it would

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Speaker 2: be like this.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's a great question. I think in

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Speaker 1: the moment, that's not what we were thinking about, right.

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Speaker 1: We were playing a game that we loved, that made

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Speaker 1: us feel individually accepted, wanted good about ourselves, and that

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Speaker 1: we could collectively come together from all the corners of

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Speaker 1: the United States and create this beautiful harmony on the

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Speaker 1: field born out of competition. Like I think this is

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Speaker 1: something that is really important in something that I stress

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Speaker 1: all the time that you know, competition for women has

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Speaker 1: historically not been a good thing because there's only been

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Speaker 1: one seat at the table, and so we have to

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Speaker 1: compete against each other, we couldn't support one another. But

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Speaker 1: this team was a beautiful example of how if Alex

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Speaker 1: and I were fighting for the same position, we could

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Speaker 1: still be great teammates. And we had that, and I

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Speaker 1: think that's why this team and going forward into nineteen

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Speaker 1: ninety nine we were so successful. How critical that is.

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Speaker 1: There's enough out there for all of us and we

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Speaker 1: can support each other in that way, and I think

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Speaker 1: going forward that's that really is going to be a

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Speaker 1: part of the landscape for women's sports. But thinking back

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Speaker 1: to ninety one, you know, we weren't thinking about big contracts.

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Speaker 1: I mean, we were thinking US Soccer needs to do better,

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Speaker 1: without a doubt. We had great captains in Carlo Overbag,

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Speaker 1: Julie Faudy, Michelle Akers, and we did. We fought for contracts. Honestly,

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Speaker 1: US Soccer. They put our back against the wall in

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Speaker 1: ninety six or ninety five after the World Cup, and

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Speaker 1: basically the players were willing to give up the Olympics,

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Speaker 1: the first ever Olympics in Atlanta, for a better contract,

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Speaker 1: not for them but for the future. And we stood

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Speaker 1: our ground and we got better, which was still not

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Speaker 1: good enough, but it was a move in the right direction.

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Speaker 1: But ninety one was the first opportunity to display what

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Speaker 1: we were doing on a big scale and for people

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Speaker 1: to look and say, hmm, something is going on. And

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Speaker 1: we could put sixty thousand people in a stadium in Guangzhou, China. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and put out two great products and have the game

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Speaker 1: be excellent.

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Speaker 4: So Brandy Jason asked you about ninety nine and that

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Speaker 4: was in the moment that changed things for you. When

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Speaker 4: you take a step back over the last five years,

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Speaker 4: I've seen some real movement and you see Kaitlyn Clark

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Speaker 4: going off, and you do, what are maybe one or

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Speaker 4: two three things that have happened that all of a

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Speaker 4: sudden you have big private equity firms, institutional capital trying

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Speaker 4: to pour money into women's sports.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. I would say moments like Kaitlyn Clark looking at

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Speaker 1: collegiate women's sports. I think Nebraska held a volleyball game

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Speaker 1: inside of the football stadium and it got ninety thousand people.

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Speaker 1: I mean that moves the needle. I think you look

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Speaker 1: at Women's World Cup again, the US one back to

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Speaker 1: back World Cups twenty fifteen, twenty nineteen. You know how

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Speaker 1: big can this World Cup be? And what is the

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Speaker 1: potential for selling sponsorships and broadcast rights. It's changed. Honestly,

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Speaker 1: FIFA didn't believe and wasn't interested in women's soccer, but

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Speaker 1: as a vehicle of equity they had to be even

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Speaker 1: though it wasn't equitable in the funds. But we're getting

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Speaker 1: there and that's important. It's still frustrating. There's still opportunity

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Speaker 1: out there to be better. And I think Alex to

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Speaker 1: give you more examples, I think every day we're seeing

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Speaker 1: young girls signing up participating in sports of all kinds.

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Speaker 1: So we're onto something. And I think everybody on the outside,

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Speaker 1: those people who were uncomfortable maybe in women's sports, are

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Speaker 1: now finding interest. They're finding that it's valid and that

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Speaker 1: they want to be involved.

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Speaker 4: I think transparency has been one of the things that

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Speaker 4: have actually helped women's sports and the trajectory of it.

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Speaker 4: And i'd say what I mean, when you look at

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Speaker 4: the ESPN numbers, for example, we can now see them

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Speaker 4: the audience, the viewers can see them and daily almost weekly, right,

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Speaker 4: And when you look at the final four last year,

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Speaker 4: what was comparable was the viewership and the ratings. Yeah,

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Speaker 4: but I'll tell you what wasn't comparable is how the

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Speaker 4: media companies value and what they pay or don't pay

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Speaker 4: for women's sports and the reason why we're so bullish

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Speaker 4: at a corp and women's sports, and of course we

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Speaker 4: own the timbules and the basketball links. And now we're

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Speaker 4: looking at a third sport, a second sport in women,

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Speaker 4: a third sport to own in the world of women's sports,

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Speaker 4: which we're very excited about.

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Speaker 1: And I would even take that example that you gave

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Speaker 1: about the basketball and go just go all the way

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Speaker 1: down to the size of the weight room, the fact

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Speaker 1: that the women had like twenty weights literally and the

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Speaker 1: men had a five thousand square foot gym basically in

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Speaker 1: the hotel. So even when your organization like the NCAA

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Speaker 1: doesn't support you in the way, even though the numbers

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Speaker 1: are even, it begs a lot of questions like what

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Speaker 1: is going on? Why are we so afraid of this environment?

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Speaker 1: I can't tell you. Is it a gender thing? Is

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Speaker 1: it a sporting thing.

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Speaker 4: I do think there's a rewiring of the brain that

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Speaker 4: has to happen. Is not as zero some game. I

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Speaker 4: actually make a different argument that the more you compliment

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Speaker 4: and reward women, the better is for sports. And when

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Speaker 4: everything rises, all bolts rise. It's not like women get more,

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Speaker 4: we get less.

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Speaker 3: Is that right?

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Speaker 5: I don't see it that way.

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Speaker 2: One of the things that you alluded to, Brandy and

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Speaker 2: in that post ninety nine era with the WUSA and

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Speaker 2: then the subsequent league before the NWSL. I mean, if

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Speaker 2: you look at it from a pure business perspective, there's

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Speaker 2: essentially no sustained investment. We were talking about this. You

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Speaker 2: think about the links the WNBA, they're twenty six years in.

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Speaker 2: Why didn't people stick with it longer?

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Speaker 1: I can't answer that because I wasn't the ownership group.

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Speaker 1: But I think what I would assert is that it

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Speaker 1: was a passion play. It was my kids are playing,

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Speaker 1: we love it, we want to be a part of it,

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Speaker 1: we want to help grow it. I think at that time, Alex,

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Speaker 1: to your point, it was if you exist, then there

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Speaker 1: is less, and we don't want that to grow. So

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Speaker 1: I think there was an actual tamping down of the

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Speaker 1: interest on it. Major League Soccer has been around for

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Speaker 1: a long time. They are supporting a group that I

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Speaker 1: work with and women in soccer who are trying to

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Speaker 1: make soccer opportunities accessible for more women and marginalized groups.

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Speaker 1: And Major League Soccer is supporting our career fair So

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Speaker 1: that is phenomenal, but it's taken a long time for

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Speaker 1: us to coexist in a way that I've always said,

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Speaker 1: it's soccer baseball doesn't have a natural competitor, right, does

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Speaker 1: not have a natural competitor. It's a traditional American sport,

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Speaker 1: and for us, I think soccer did feel slightly threatened

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Speaker 1: at times because of women's soccer instead of seeing it

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Speaker 1: like you saw, which is, Hey, we're going to do

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Speaker 1: soccer together. We're going to make it so great it's

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Speaker 1: going to be undeniable. We are the world's lead eating

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Speaker 1: sport by far. There's nothing out there that compares to us,

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Speaker 1: So why wouldn't we raise this boat to be on

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Speaker 1: this level?

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Speaker 2: And so during that period of under investment and candidly

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Speaker 2: the failure of leagues, what does that feel like from

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Speaker 2: your perspective as someone who has devoted her life to

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Speaker 2: the sport you're playing and then ultimately coaching, What are

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Speaker 2: you seeing and what does that disconnect feel like as

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Speaker 2: you're kind of looking around, probably like mildly bewildered.

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Speaker 1: Well, I think there's two sides to this. I think

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Speaker 1: there is great opportunity and I think there is, of

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Speaker 1: course disappointment. And on the disappointment side, it's just how

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Speaker 1: I how can I do a better job of sharing

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Speaker 1: and making other people see the value of this, And

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Speaker 1: you know, we thought for a long time we had

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Speaker 1: done that, and we had broadcasted this the biggest game

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Speaker 1: in the world for women's sports at the time, and

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Speaker 1: we still weren't getting that traction. And again to your point,

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Speaker 1: Alex about you know, listen, people need to be rewired.

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Speaker 1: I think what's been happening in business for so long

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Speaker 1: is the way we do things right, that's the culture.

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Speaker 1: We've already been doing it like this. It's been successful.

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Speaker 1: Don't tell us how to do what we do when

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Speaker 1: that's not what we're interested in. What we're interested in

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Speaker 1: is growing opportunity.

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Speaker 2: Coming up, we discuss Brandy's transition from being a world

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Speaker 2: class player to being a team owner, plus how six

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Speaker 2: streets investment in her team BAFC potentially shifts the future

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Speaker 2: not just for women soccer but all of sports.

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Speaker 4: Impostsandom. Is there something there for you that when you

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Speaker 4: walk into an owner's room with all these smart people,

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Speaker 4: private equity, institutional capital, is there any imposter syndom for

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Speaker 4: you as an athlete?

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Speaker 1: I would say that there's a level of understanding who

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Speaker 1: I am. I don't have an MBA, I don't have

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Speaker 1: a private equity firm, but I know this game and

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Speaker 1: I know the segment and I understand the history, and

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Speaker 1: so I'm valuable. So in that way, I'm not pretending

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Speaker 1: to be someone i'm not, and I'm open to learning

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Speaker 1: and growing. So I'm not afraid to go into those meetings.

435
00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,200
Speaker 1: But I'm also willing to say, hey, can you say

436
00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,520
Speaker 1: that again, Let's talk this over, let's find a better way.

437
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:35,200
Speaker 4: And as a former player, what are one or two

438
00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:38,720
Speaker 4: three things that you've learned as an athlete and a

439
00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:42,440
Speaker 4: player that you wish owners did for you. Then now

440
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,200
Speaker 4: you're thinking about doing for your players to bring value

441
00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:46,600
Speaker 4: and make it a better experience.

442
00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:50,200
Speaker 1: Well, I have to say there's one that stands out

443
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:54,040
Speaker 1: above the rest that in men's sports, nobody will talk about.

444
00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:58,960
Speaker 1: Safety of the player has been the priority. And I

445
00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,880
Speaker 1: think if you looked to ross the board in business,

446
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,159
Speaker 1: in sports or otherwise, safety has always been an issue

447
00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:09,000
Speaker 1: for women. Whether that's safety of speaking out, whether that's

448
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:11,880
Speaker 1: safety being by yourself, whether that's walking to your car

449
00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,879
Speaker 1: at night. You know, whatever it is, safety is important.

450
00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,840
Speaker 1: You know, what is the culture of the environment and

451
00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:21,960
Speaker 1: do they support women. I'm going to say full stop,

452
00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:26,320
Speaker 1: safety is far and wide the most important.

453
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:28,480
Speaker 2: And clearly that's at the core has been at the

454
00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,119
Speaker 2: court of the discussion around the NWSL. Yes, this is

455
00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:34,480
Speaker 2: a league that almost became the third failure right because

456
00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:39,760
Speaker 2: of gruesome for lack of a better term, very widespread

457
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,480
Speaker 2: scandal across the league that led to the commissioner, you know,

458
00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:46,720
Speaker 2: stepping down. I have to think something starts to form

459
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:49,199
Speaker 2: in your head. Conversations are happening. Take us back to

460
00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:50,800
Speaker 2: that moment, right, I.

461
00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:53,600
Speaker 1: Think as those things are happening, obviously your head goes

462
00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:57,120
Speaker 1: right to the players and how could this happen? Because

463
00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:02,640
Speaker 1: as guardians or stewards of the game, my generation, how

464
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:06,040
Speaker 1: didn't we change this? You know, how did we let

465
00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,480
Speaker 1: this happen? So I think there's a little bit of responsibility.

466
00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:12,240
Speaker 1: Then I think the thoughts go to how do we

467
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:16,439
Speaker 1: make it better? And what kind of influence can I,

468
00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:19,520
Speaker 1: as an individual have or my collective group of ninety

469
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:26,520
Speaker 1: nine ers have, And when Angel City was coming to town, myself,

470
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:30,680
Speaker 1: Ali Wagner, Daniel Slayton, Leslie Osbourne, the other four hours. Yeah,

471
00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:34,240
Speaker 1: Oh I like that. Okay, I will say you said

472
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,359
Speaker 1: it first, but I might have to go forward with that.

473
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:41,880
Speaker 1: You know, we said what we have a historical significance

474
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:44,919
Speaker 1: in women's soccer here, and yet we don't have a team.

475
00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:47,800
Speaker 1: We have to do something. All of a sudden started

476
00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:51,520
Speaker 1: the gears churning a little bit harder and faster and

477
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,800
Speaker 1: reaching out to people. And ultimately, when we met some

478
00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:58,000
Speaker 1: good business folks, they said, you know, money will be

479
00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:02,199
Speaker 1: the least of your worries. I chuckled because I'm like

480
00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:06,280
Speaker 1: a decade older than these other three, thinking money's always

481
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,080
Speaker 1: been the problem, right, always been the problem for us

482
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:12,320
Speaker 1: because either we get it and we don't know how

483
00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:16,520
Speaker 1: to spend it. And the league actually historically did not

484
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:21,160
Speaker 1: invite private equity to the table. And so we're game

485
00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:23,119
Speaker 1: changers a little bit in that way. And that's a

486
00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,919
Speaker 1: good thing, right. We're getting ourselves to look at ourselves

487
00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:29,560
Speaker 1: and say why and answer that why question and then

488
00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:33,120
Speaker 1: move forward to how can we then change the landscape

489
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:38,200
Speaker 1: altogether and make our league even better? And so that

490
00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:40,119
Speaker 1: conversation started happening right away.

491
00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:43,160
Speaker 4: So Sixth Street you got to think, well, if they're

492
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:46,320
Speaker 4: looking at other data and they're looking in data room

493
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:50,560
Speaker 4: potential and forecasting, and they're investing our viewers and listeners

494
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:52,640
Speaker 4: should be is there something we should be investing in.

495
00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:56,639
Speaker 4: But how does Brandy in the court for as Jason tagged,

496
00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,359
Speaker 4: you guys, how do you get on the table with

497
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:00,680
Speaker 4: six st every but it wants to get on the

498
00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:01,160
Speaker 4: table with them?

499
00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:02,720
Speaker 5: Why you how'd you make that pitch?

500
00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:03,120
Speaker 2: Yeah?

501
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:05,960
Speaker 1: Great question, and I'm not sure I know all the parts,

502
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:11,200
Speaker 1: but I think being locals was very important. We had

503
00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:16,560
Speaker 1: other relationships with the likes of Cheryl Samberg, who obviously

504
00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,879
Speaker 1: we know her from a different space, but just you know,

505
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:25,040
Speaker 1: a woman in business. I think also, and honestly, at

506
00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:29,600
Speaker 1: the grassroots level, kids playing soccer. Alan Waxman's kids are

507
00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:30,679
Speaker 1: involved in you soccer.

508
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,560
Speaker 3: Alan Waxman, the co founder and CEO of.

509
00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:37,120
Speaker 1: Sorry, I appreciate that, and I think they're also they

510
00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:42,080
Speaker 1: have investments in international professional leagues and so they understand

511
00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:45,440
Speaker 1: the game and to your point about data, they see

512
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:51,640
Speaker 1: how that's driving a lot of significant monetary decisions and valuations.

513
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,080
Speaker 1: And so now is the right time?

514
00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:57,320
Speaker 2: And is it fair to say, Brandy that as you

515
00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:00,320
Speaker 2: guys start talking about this and you sit with Ellen

516
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,280
Speaker 2: and the sixth Street team, it's got to feel different

517
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:09,640
Speaker 2: the types of questions they're asking than WUSA days and

518
00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:12,560
Speaker 2: subsequent I mean, did it feel different in terms of

519
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:13,160
Speaker 2: their approach.

520
00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:17,400
Speaker 1: Well, there's no even comparing what has happened before with

521
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:21,080
Speaker 1: what is happening now, So it's almost a moot point.

522
00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:25,160
Speaker 1: We don't need to discuss it because it's it's so

523
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:28,840
Speaker 1: insignificant what we were doing back then, with the exception

524
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:32,240
Speaker 1: of the fact that we were still doing what we

525
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:34,760
Speaker 1: believe for women's soccer was the right thing, which was

526
00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:40,160
Speaker 1: putting it out into the mass public in a professional landscape.

527
00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:47,360
Speaker 1: And like many other innovations, the first time doesn't usually

528
00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:51,880
Speaker 1: sure and in the final product, so it was necessary

529
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:59,800
Speaker 1: for WUSA and WPS to exist before. But no sitting

530
00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:03,760
Speaker 1: in in a board room with sixth Street and going

531
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:07,400
Speaker 1: through sheet after sheet of you know, necessary information and

532
00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,720
Speaker 1: to your point about you know how the data is

533
00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:16,040
Speaker 1: driving everything and really how even to pick players and

534
00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:20,960
Speaker 1: to line up players. And as a old school person

535
00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:23,960
Speaker 1: like I have to fight data every now and again

536
00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:26,960
Speaker 1: because I know with my eye I can tell you

537
00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:30,760
Speaker 1: what I see and what I know to be valuable.

538
00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,040
Speaker 1: But in the bigger market scheme six streets excellence will

539
00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:38,440
Speaker 1: rise above and allow us to make some good decisions

540
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:40,480
Speaker 1: based upon things that we didn't have access to in

541
00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:40,880
Speaker 1: the past.

542
00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:43,120
Speaker 2: And I mean, I think it's worth pointing out. I mean,

543
00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:46,200
Speaker 2: you're sitting in you know, owners meetings all the time, Alex.

544
00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:49,720
Speaker 2: I mean, this notion is radical. A private equity firm

545
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:52,560
Speaker 2: coming in. It's the first time in US sports history

546
00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:56,040
Speaker 2: that an institutional investor has been the majority owner. This

547
00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:59,440
Speaker 2: has never happened in the NBA, NFL, MLBA elsewhere. I

548
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:01,800
Speaker 2: have to think, I mean, I'm turning that, I'm turning

549
00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:03,680
Speaker 2: Pew for a second, But I mean that must feel

550
00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:06,760
Speaker 2: radical to you from the outside in and has the

551
00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:11,160
Speaker 2: potential to change how sports investment overall happens.

552
00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:15,000
Speaker 4: Right, It changes everything and is radical in one sense,

553
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:20,080
Speaker 4: but it's really a validation. But to Brandy's point about

554
00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:23,920
Speaker 4: some of the things I did as you, we fight

555
00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:27,120
Speaker 4: data sometimes because data is important, but it's not the gospel.

556
00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:29,800
Speaker 4: It's a guide, not a gospel, right, And the three

557
00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:33,320
Speaker 4: things we've did that we're not really p and l builders.

558
00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:36,160
Speaker 4: Where we build an owner's lounge because we wanted to

559
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:39,080
Speaker 4: cast a net to have people like yourself and Jason

560
00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:40,800
Speaker 4: come in where we can mark and I can visit

561
00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:42,320
Speaker 4: and spend time with people.

562
00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:44,600
Speaker 5: Locker room. The importance of locker room.

563
00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:46,920
Speaker 4: We want players come in early and leaving late, so

564
00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:51,160
Speaker 4: create casting a net that's really friendly environment for players.

565
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:53,080
Speaker 4: We know the difference between a great locker room and

566
00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:55,680
Speaker 4: a poor locker room. And then thirdly a family room.

567
00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:57,440
Speaker 4: And then they said, why family room, where's the p

568
00:31:57,480 --> 00:31:59,800
Speaker 4: and L. I said, it's a single most important asset

569
00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:03,280
Speaker 4: our players and their partners. The reason I know is

570
00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:06,840
Speaker 4: my girls were raised in the Yankee Locke family room,

571
00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:10,720
Speaker 4: so it is important. And happy partner, happy player. And

572
00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:15,040
Speaker 4: that's really three things that were really contrarian to numbers

573
00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:17,880
Speaker 4: but really have paid tremendous dividends to our players and

574
00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:18,440
Speaker 4: it shows.

575
00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:18,760
Speaker 3: In our record.

576
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:21,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think some things you can't put on paper, right,

577
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,200
Speaker 1: You can't. You can't quantify it, Yeah, you can't. And

578
00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:29,360
Speaker 1: I think peace of mind, safety, health, and wholeness are

579
00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:33,960
Speaker 1: aspects of the game that without those things, batting averages

580
00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:38,440
Speaker 1: go down, errors go up, you don't win penance, and

581
00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:42,440
Speaker 1: fans don't buy your merchandise and they don't buy tickets, and.

582
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:46,480
Speaker 4: So anxiety anxiety revenue goes down.

583
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:50,920
Speaker 2: Brandy Alex mentioned earlier sort of you know confidence level.

584
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:53,040
Speaker 2: I'm going to turn that question a little bit to

585
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:57,520
Speaker 2: you now as an owner, it feels like something important

586
00:32:57,560 --> 00:32:59,840
Speaker 2: is happening with the NWSL. You know, you look at

587
00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:03,440
Speaker 2: the numbers alone, fifty three million dollar expansion fee that

588
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:05,880
Speaker 2: you guys paid record one hundred and twenty five million dollars.

589
00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:09,600
Speaker 2: You're investing into this team. That's setting a new standard

590
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:12,160
Speaker 2: for other teams that are going to come into the league.

591
00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:14,320
Speaker 2: Boston is coming in. I believe that a year or

592
00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:17,920
Speaker 2: two after you guys do what is your confidence level

593
00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:20,280
Speaker 2: as an owner that this time it's going to work,

594
00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:22,160
Speaker 2: that this time is different.

595
00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:25,360
Speaker 1: Well, I think now we can look back over ten years,

596
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:27,200
Speaker 1: like you're talking about, like what are the data points

597
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:29,440
Speaker 1: over the last ten years, and we've seen it growing.

598
00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:33,000
Speaker 1: We now have an ownership in Kansas City who is

599
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:39,360
Speaker 1: built the first ever women's sports specific stadium that's unbelievable,

600
00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:44,640
Speaker 1: that will preview in Kansas City this season. We have

601
00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:49,040
Speaker 1: more teams than we've ever had, We've had larger media

602
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:53,480
Speaker 1: buys than we've ever had in the past. Players from

603
00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:56,920
Speaker 1: around the world, the best players around the world are

604
00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:00,400
Speaker 1: coming to the NWSL. Coaches from around the world are

605
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:06,600
Speaker 1: coming to our league. So what started out as obviously

606
00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:12,040
Speaker 1: a young girl's dream is now manifesting itself in a

607
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:17,400
Speaker 1: proper business forum and we get to now again expand

608
00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:22,759
Speaker 1: what women's soccer can do. And I'm very excited about

609
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:24,959
Speaker 1: that because I want to change FIFA at the same

610
00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:29,080
Speaker 1: time as we're changing the landscape here in America about

611
00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:35,920
Speaker 1: traditional sports, like that's radical baseball, of course, traditional American sport,

612
00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:44,200
Speaker 1: American football, traditional American sport, basketball, traditional American sport, women's soccer,

613
00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:49,280
Speaker 1: traditional American sport. So bullish on making that a part

614
00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:52,040
Speaker 1: of the landscape, Like you can't say American sport without

615
00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:56,560
Speaker 1: saying women's soccer. I think that's critical to the future.

616
00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:56,880
Speaker 1: For me.

617
00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:00,279
Speaker 2: It is this fascinating moment for the global game, right.

618
00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:02,680
Speaker 2: You know, we came out of a World Cup, which

619
00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:06,200
Speaker 2: was quite disappointing for those of us who are US

620
00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:10,560
Speaker 2: fans and fans and former players who have been at

621
00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:13,359
Speaker 2: the pinnacle. How do you hold on to that? I mean,

622
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:16,239
Speaker 2: the world is to your point about the American game,

623
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:17,239
Speaker 2: world's catching up.

624
00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:19,800
Speaker 1: It's interesting though, I'm going to say everybody's saying the

625
00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:21,719
Speaker 1: world is catching up. The world has been ahead of

626
00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:26,200
Speaker 1: us in soccer since inception of the game, so we

627
00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:29,919
Speaker 1: really I think caught early momentum because we were very

628
00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:32,279
Speaker 1: fortunate to live and be in the United States of

629
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:36,320
Speaker 1: America with Title nine blessing Sabilityjan King and the generation

630
00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:40,080
Speaker 1: of women who fought so hard and those lawmakers who

631
00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:43,960
Speaker 1: enacted Title nine in nineteen seventy two, because that changed

632
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:49,360
Speaker 1: the landscape. That allowed federally funded money to be spread

633
00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:52,239
Speaker 1: across the board and to get an education meant that

634
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:56,000
Speaker 1: you could also play sports. Now, not everybody was in compliance,

635
00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:58,960
Speaker 1: so it didn't work perfectly in the beginning, but now

636
00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:02,839
Speaker 1: it's changing. And now we have so many women who

637
00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:07,000
Speaker 1: are graduating as doctors and lawyers and whatever else that

638
00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:10,720
Speaker 1: they want while also playing sports. The world isn't catching

639
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,520
Speaker 1: up to us. We have thrust ourselves into the soccer

640
00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:15,759
Speaker 1: landscape in a way that nobody else could in the

641
00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:19,920
Speaker 1: world interesting and we did it really well because I

642
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:23,799
Speaker 1: think of what is so special about our country. What

643
00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:26,040
Speaker 1: is so special about our country is we have people

644
00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:28,360
Speaker 1: that are sitting right here together that look completely different.

645
00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:32,400
Speaker 1: We come from different places. We may have our history

646
00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:35,759
Speaker 1: or our heritage, may have spoke different languages. But they

647
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:39,440
Speaker 1: came to America and they brought their best parts, and

648
00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:43,879
Speaker 1: they worked hard. They became successful and now the community grew.

649
00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:46,360
Speaker 1: And the way we saw soccer at the beginning for

650
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:48,680
Speaker 1: women was we like what Spain's doing, We're like what

651
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:52,239
Speaker 1: Japan's doing, Brazil, England, Norway, and we put it all

652
00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:56,920
Speaker 1: together and we were unafraid to say that and we

653
00:36:57,120 --> 00:37:00,000
Speaker 1: liked how that was kind of this melting pot of things.

654
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:04,160
Speaker 1: We are still new to soccer in our country compared

655
00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:06,839
Speaker 1: to the world. We just found a way to do

656
00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:10,759
Speaker 1: it better in the beginning, and now we have to

657
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:12,439
Speaker 1: be able to sustain that right.

658
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:13,200
Speaker 3: So how do you do that?

659
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:15,480
Speaker 1: I think you have to have the right people. I

660
00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:19,680
Speaker 1: think people matter, and again I think that's a diverse approach,

661
00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:23,839
Speaker 1: not just gender, not just color. We have to have

662
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:27,040
Speaker 1: voices that come from all over and we have to

663
00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:29,880
Speaker 1: be comfortable in that. To me, that gives confidence to

664
00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:33,280
Speaker 1: an organization. If you are diverse, you have a chance

665
00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:38,360
Speaker 1: to grow in ways that institutions or organizations just can't.

666
00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:40,279
Speaker 1: They can't understand.

667
00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:44,680
Speaker 2: You know, One thing that I'm curious about is where

668
00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:46,759
Speaker 2: you look to for inspiration.

669
00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:48,080
Speaker 3: And I might turn this.

670
00:37:48,040 --> 00:37:51,120
Speaker 2: On you in the second Alex Do because obviously playing

671
00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:54,160
Speaker 2: a different sport from the sport you're now an owner

672
00:37:54,239 --> 00:37:57,320
Speaker 2: in where do you get inspiration as you think about

673
00:37:57,320 --> 00:37:58,480
Speaker 2: building this new team.

674
00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:02,880
Speaker 1: Well, Number one, I'm inspired by every environment I'm in.

675
00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:06,480
Speaker 1: But I think again, we're in Silicon Valley. The ideation

676
00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:09,920
Speaker 1: and the innovation that happens here changes the world, and

677
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:14,279
Speaker 1: we want to be a leader globally in changing the

678
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:22,280
Speaker 1: way women's soccer, women's football is consumed, celebrated, shared, viewed,

679
00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:27,200
Speaker 1: and we want to come up with radical ideas. I

680
00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:30,879
Speaker 1: think the word radical today is probably what we're most

681
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:35,080
Speaker 1: interested in. Being different, you know us for you know,

682
00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:37,319
Speaker 1: we've been different our whole lives. People have always asked

683
00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:39,600
Speaker 1: us like why are you playing this game? Like what's

684
00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:42,600
Speaker 1: driving you to stay in this lane? And I think

685
00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:46,680
Speaker 1: we just saw something different and we've always been different.

686
00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:50,800
Speaker 1: So we have a chance to work with some executives

687
00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:53,839
Speaker 1: at the Warriors or the Giants or the forty nine ers,

688
00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:58,279
Speaker 1: and we value their experiences. We should absolutely sit down

689
00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:02,919
Speaker 1: and listen. And they're like, Okay, how does that help us?

690
00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:04,399
Speaker 1: And I think we can help each other.

691
00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:07,920
Speaker 2: I would imagine that those conversations are a lot easier

692
00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:10,759
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four than they were

693
00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:12,080
Speaker 2: twenty years ago.

694
00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:14,279
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think there's a lot of education that's gone

695
00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:16,480
Speaker 1: around the world about the sport. I think, you know,

696
00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:20,280
Speaker 1: we're pretty fortunate that we participated in the Olympic Games. Obviously,

697
00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:24,839
Speaker 1: everybody values the Olympics in a different way than they

698
00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:29,480
Speaker 1: do professional leagues. The ninety nine ers were a collective

699
00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:34,120
Speaker 1: of trailblazers, to be honest with you, you know, we

700
00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:38,000
Speaker 1: had a leader in Mia Hamm who was thrust into

701
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:42,400
Speaker 1: the spotlight and carried herself so humbly and so honestly

702
00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:48,040
Speaker 1: and so team first that it just endeared people to

703
00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:51,040
Speaker 1: what it is that we were doing. And it wasn't

704
00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:54,279
Speaker 1: even big at that time. So you know what's happening now,

705
00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:56,799
Speaker 1: Just you know, think about how we've been spinning those

706
00:39:56,800 --> 00:40:00,200
Speaker 1: wheels for so long. We finally got the traction and

707
00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:06,279
Speaker 1: to make a bigger difference is really phenomenal. Again, it

708
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:09,719
Speaker 1: all comes down to the people and the culture that

709
00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:13,400
Speaker 1: we want to create for every single person who sets

710
00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:17,840
Speaker 1: foot into our stadium or onto the training ground, or

711
00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:23,160
Speaker 1: into the locker room, into the boardroom, is that they're valued,

712
00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:28,440
Speaker 1: they're respected, that they have something to contribute to the outcome,

713
00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:31,600
Speaker 1: and that they also will be leaders at some.

714
00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:37,120
Speaker 4: Point and Brandy as an owner player, Churn owner, what

715
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:40,319
Speaker 4: has been the biggest surprise, if any, And is there

716
00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:43,640
Speaker 4: any owners out there that you're looking at, studying and

717
00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:45,080
Speaker 4: basically trying to learn from.

718
00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:50,120
Speaker 1: Well, I'm trying to learn from everybody. I'm as naive

719
00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:53,799
Speaker 1: as a new day like I might know. This is

720
00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:58,440
Speaker 1: not my specialty. I think there's Again, We're very fortunate

721
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:02,560
Speaker 1: that we have started with Sixth Street and that we

722
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:06,760
Speaker 1: have this opportunity with this institutional capital to march forward

723
00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:09,680
Speaker 1: in a big way, and that I think right there

724
00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:13,279
Speaker 1: sets the foundation for the type of group we can

725
00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:16,080
Speaker 1: be and team we can be. I talked to a

726
00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:19,720
Speaker 1: lot of fans, I mean people stop me everywhere dog park,

727
00:41:19,840 --> 00:41:22,400
Speaker 1: the golf club, and they're like, we are so excited

728
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:25,000
Speaker 1: about your team. And then I asked them why, you know,

729
00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:29,960
Speaker 1: tell me why, and they're like, we haven't seen it

730
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:31,520
Speaker 1: before and we want to be a part of it,

731
00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:35,040
Speaker 1: and we can't afford something else. We grew up playing

732
00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:37,680
Speaker 1: the game. It reminds me of my childhood. I mean,

733
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:40,760
Speaker 1: so many reasons people want to be involved, and Brady, there's.

734
00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:42,200
Speaker 4: A lot of athletes out there that are listening to

735
00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:45,759
Speaker 4: you that you're their role model. What surprises have you

736
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:50,920
Speaker 4: seen that surprise you? That was surprised them as players,

737
00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:52,280
Speaker 4: not as owners.

738
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:55,719
Speaker 1: Honestly, it's everything for me right now. You know, we

739
00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:58,320
Speaker 1: took our team down to Santa Barbara and we stayed

740
00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:01,319
Speaker 1: in the most beautiful place. Like the thought of that

741
00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:06,960
Speaker 1: happening for women's soccer was never in my never. I

742
00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:10,600
Speaker 1: would never think about that. But they deserve it, and

743
00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:14,040
Speaker 1: so we should do that the opportunity. Julie Foudy used

744
00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:16,000
Speaker 1: to say this all the time. We'd come into the

745
00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:19,080
Speaker 1: hotel and we'd have like one of those big conference

746
00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:23,080
Speaker 1: rooms for the buffet breakfast or the buffet lunch, and

747
00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:27,040
Speaker 1: it was the same old stuff and not great, and

748
00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:30,440
Speaker 1: she'd just like say, can I just have cheddar cheese?

749
00:42:31,239 --> 00:42:31,640
Speaker 3: Please?

750
00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:34,879
Speaker 1: Just give me cheddar cheese, you know instead of like,

751
00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:35,640
Speaker 1: you know.

752
00:42:35,719 --> 00:42:38,960
Speaker 3: The white cheese fits the American you.

753
00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:42,320
Speaker 1: Know, like that would have made things so much better, right,

754
00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:43,600
Speaker 1: So it's little things.

755
00:42:43,719 --> 00:42:46,280
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'll tell you from personal experience, Jason and Brandy,

756
00:42:46,560 --> 00:42:48,879
Speaker 4: I will tell you that I played for almost twenty

757
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:51,120
Speaker 4: three years in the major leagues with three teams, Seattle,

758
00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:54,360
Speaker 4: Texas and the Yankees, and I took a lot of

759
00:42:54,360 --> 00:42:57,440
Speaker 4: things for granted. I mean life in the major leagues

760
00:42:57,520 --> 00:43:00,680
Speaker 4: was outstanding. I mean, you show up locker room, you

761
00:43:00,719 --> 00:43:03,840
Speaker 4: have all type of food, all type of cheese, white yellow,

762
00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:04,840
Speaker 4: plenty of cheddar.

763
00:43:05,120 --> 00:43:07,480
Speaker 5: You show up and you have clean uniforms.

764
00:43:07,719 --> 00:43:09,759
Speaker 4: You go on the charter, you fly to a team,

765
00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:12,520
Speaker 4: you stay at a beautiful hotel, you have per DM,

766
00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:13,560
Speaker 4: you have all these things.

767
00:43:14,040 --> 00:43:16,480
Speaker 5: And I never thought once like, how does this all happen?

768
00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:17,479
Speaker 5: How does the train run?

769
00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:17,960
Speaker 1: Right?

770
00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:19,480
Speaker 4: And now being on the other side as an owner,

771
00:43:19,800 --> 00:43:22,040
Speaker 4: you realize all the work and all the people and

772
00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:24,920
Speaker 4: all the commitment that takes to keep that train move

773
00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:27,840
Speaker 4: and it's been pretty, uh an educational process for me.

774
00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:30,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think also to that point, and I'm glad

775
00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:34,560
Speaker 1: that you said that, because from our perspective we didn't

776
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:38,520
Speaker 1: experience something like that to that degree. But I think

777
00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:42,080
Speaker 1: the thing again that we noticed as a team in

778
00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:45,920
Speaker 1: ninety nine specifically, and why this group is so special

779
00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:49,239
Speaker 1: about we all have to contribute to the outcome, right,

780
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:52,160
Speaker 1: And it doesn't matter if you're serving the food, or

781
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:55,160
Speaker 1: you're picking up the balls, or you're cleaning up after yourself.

782
00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:58,000
Speaker 1: You know the amount of gratitude that you have for

783
00:43:58,080 --> 00:44:02,200
Speaker 1: this opportunity and the people around you is paramount to anything.

784
00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:04,920
Speaker 1: Doesn't matter what your job is. If you're the center

785
00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:07,760
Speaker 1: back or the goalkeeper, you could still pick up the balls,

786
00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:10,239
Speaker 1: you can still move the goal, you can still say

787
00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:12,840
Speaker 1: thank you very much for the meal that's just been served.

788
00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:17,160
Speaker 1: And I think that awareness of the humanity that happens

789
00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:22,600
Speaker 1: around professional sports and my dedication and my deliberate shout

790
00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:25,920
Speaker 1: out to my team and other teams in the NWSL

791
00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:28,920
Speaker 1: is we have to have a connection to the people

792
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:31,919
Speaker 1: who come to our stadiums and they have to feel

793
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:35,560
Speaker 1: like this belongs to them. That is what will happen here,

794
00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:41,480
Speaker 1: and I hope that that happens everywhere because Alex, I

795
00:44:41,560 --> 00:44:43,879
Speaker 1: know that people would love to be next to you,

796
00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:45,719
Speaker 1: they'd love to get close to you, to get your

797
00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:47,879
Speaker 1: autograph or to look you in the eye, and you

798
00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:49,920
Speaker 1: just smile and then I mean that was me as

799
00:44:49,920 --> 00:44:51,839
Speaker 1: a kid. I was waiting right here in San Jose,

800
00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:54,640
Speaker 1: California for George Best to come out from the Santose

801
00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:57,880
Speaker 1: Earthquakes locker room and for me to be able to

802
00:44:58,480 --> 00:45:01,520
Speaker 1: get a picture or to have an autograph, and most

803
00:45:01,560 --> 00:45:05,040
Speaker 1: times it didn't happen, and I went away like Okay,

804
00:45:05,040 --> 00:45:07,560
Speaker 1: maybe next time, you know, Like I was enthusiastic about it,

805
00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:13,000
Speaker 1: but it never happened. I when our games were done

806
00:45:13,120 --> 00:45:14,960
Speaker 1: or practices were done and I had an opportunity to

807
00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:18,840
Speaker 1: engage with fans, That's always a priority because at the

808
00:45:18,960 --> 00:45:22,160
Speaker 1: end of the day, without them, an empty stadium means nothing.

809
00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:25,959
Speaker 4: All right, Brandy, So you have a lot of young

810
00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:29,560
Speaker 4: athletes fans from all over the world. A lot of

811
00:45:29,560 --> 00:45:31,080
Speaker 4: people want to be like you. They want to be

812
00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:34,120
Speaker 4: a great Hall of Fame type player like you. They

813
00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:35,239
Speaker 4: want to have abs like you.

814
00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:38,920
Speaker 1: Hey, that was a long time ago, my friend, I

815
00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:39,879
Speaker 1: got a big jacket on.

816
00:45:40,320 --> 00:45:43,040
Speaker 4: An owner like you and follow your lead. How can

817
00:45:43,600 --> 00:45:47,200
Speaker 4: someone who's out there, who's young, middle age, older, how

818
00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:48,359
Speaker 4: can they be more like you?

819
00:45:48,800 --> 00:45:50,880
Speaker 1: First, I think the number one important thing to remind

820
00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:53,960
Speaker 1: these people is that be your best self, right. Trying

821
00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:57,360
Speaker 1: to be somebody else will never work. You have to

822
00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:01,960
Speaker 1: be yourself. You have to invest time, you know, invest

823
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:05,280
Speaker 1: your time and know your craft, and to be humble

824
00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:08,239
Speaker 1: while doing it because it will. As it did for me,

825
00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:11,160
Speaker 1: my whole career was not this straight line ascension to

826
00:46:11,239 --> 00:46:13,840
Speaker 1: Olympic gold medals and World Cup championships. You know, I

827
00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:16,480
Speaker 1: was injured. I had two ACL reconstructions. I was out

828
00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:18,560
Speaker 1: of the sport for two and a half years injured,

829
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:20,439
Speaker 1: I was on the team, I was cut from the team,

830
00:46:20,480 --> 00:46:23,960
Speaker 1: I was brought back, change position. So I would say

831
00:46:24,719 --> 00:46:28,280
Speaker 1: it's important to be yourself, to invest time in yourself,

832
00:46:28,920 --> 00:46:32,520
Speaker 1: to understand that you will make mistakes and you will

833
00:46:32,560 --> 00:46:34,319
Speaker 1: fall down, but you're going to be fine. You're going

834
00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:37,080
Speaker 1: to get up and you're going to go after it.

835
00:46:37,160 --> 00:46:42,800
Speaker 1: Be kind, be kind, and know that no one's perfect.

836
00:46:43,400 --> 00:46:48,440
Speaker 1: And my mom, she gave me a saying when I

837
00:46:48,480 --> 00:46:50,520
Speaker 1: was a kid, when things weren't going well, when I

838
00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:53,800
Speaker 1: was injured and out of collegiate soccer for like I

839
00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:56,560
Speaker 1: said those two and a half years, she said, Brandy,

840
00:46:56,719 --> 00:46:59,480
Speaker 1: find your yes. People are going to tell you no,

841
00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:02,959
Speaker 1: and that is okay. Don't be afraid to ask the question.

842
00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:04,840
Speaker 1: So that's what I would say to people, you know,

843
00:47:04,960 --> 00:47:08,040
Speaker 1: find your yes. It won't always come easy, it won't

844
00:47:08,040 --> 00:47:10,160
Speaker 1: always come in the way that maybe you've dreamt it,

845
00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:12,319
Speaker 1: but it's out there and you can do it.

846
00:47:12,719 --> 00:47:13,840
Speaker 5: I'm that well.

847
00:47:14,040 --> 00:47:15,799
Speaker 2: This has just been such a pleasure. Thank you for

848
00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:18,680
Speaker 2: having us in your town. Best of luck with the

849
00:47:18,719 --> 00:47:19,880
Speaker 2: season with the team.

850
00:47:20,040 --> 00:47:21,759
Speaker 3: What a treat for both of us. Thank you well.

851
00:47:21,760 --> 00:47:23,359
Speaker 1: I would love to invite you to come to one

852
00:47:23,400 --> 00:47:26,920
Speaker 1: of our games, if you wouldn't mind say last you

853
00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:29,200
Speaker 1: tell me the date and I will give you the ticket.

854
00:47:29,280 --> 00:47:32,600
Speaker 5: All right, Thank you so much. And likewise to Minnesota,

855
00:47:32,680 --> 00:47:33,919
Speaker 5: thank you, Timbos and the Links.

856
00:47:34,000 --> 00:47:35,640
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

857
00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:46,920
Speaker 6: The Deal is a production from Bloomberg Podcasts and Bloomberg Originals.

858
00:47:47,280 --> 00:47:51,160
Speaker 6: The Deals hosted by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly. Our

859
00:47:51,200 --> 00:47:54,880
Speaker 6: producers are Victory Veyz and Lizzie Phillipp. Our story editor

860
00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:58,520
Speaker 6: is Sir Dartha Mohonta. Our system producer is Stacy Wong.

861
00:47:59,400 --> 00:48:02,880
Speaker 6: Blake Maple is our sound engineer. Rubab Chakir is our

862
00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:07,760
Speaker 6: creative director. Our direction is from Jacqueline Kessler. Original music

863
00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:13,160
Speaker 6: by Blake Maples, casting by Dave Warren. Our managing editor

864
00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:17,400
Speaker 6: is David Ravella. Our executive producers r s Age Bauman,

865
00:48:17,680 --> 00:48:23,560
Speaker 6: Jason Kelly, Adam Kamiski, Kelly Laferrier, Ashley Hoenig, Trey Shallihorn,

866
00:48:23,920 --> 00:48:29,360
Speaker 6: Kyle Kramer, and Andrew Barden. Additional support from Rachel Scarmuzino,

867
00:48:29,719 --> 00:48:35,280
Speaker 6: Elena Los Angeles Vanessa Perdomo and Anna Masaakis. David Dimingez

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Speaker 6: is our director of photography. Our camera operators are David

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Speaker 6: Nicholson and Paul Overstrom. Alex Diacanis is our video editor.

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Speaker 6: Our gaffer is Peter Dendrinos, our grip is Alex Ajayi,

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Speaker 6: and our production assistant is Maya Dstapons. You can also

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Speaker 6: watch The Deal on Bloomberg Originals on YouTube and Bloomberg Television.

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Speaker 6: Subscribe to the Deal wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks

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Speaker 6: for listening.