Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game of Sarah Spain on Tuesday, November fifth,
Speaker 1: where we're reminding you one more time to make your
Speaker 1: voice heard and vote. On today's show, we're bringing you
Speaker 1: an incredible panel I moderated at last week's espnW Summit,
Speaker 1: featuring some badass leaders from teams across multiple women's pro leagues,
Speaker 1: plus college hoops storylines to watch, some NWSL loose ends,
Speaker 1: and a final ode.
Speaker 2: To Spooky Season. It's all coming up right after this.
Speaker 2: Welcome back, my Lil Orange slices. Here's what you need
Speaker 2: to know today.
Speaker 1: The college basketball season is officially underway and it got
Speaker 1: off to a rock and start thanks to number three
Speaker 1: USC and number twenty ole Miss, who played in Paris
Speaker 1: at the AFLAC we Play event. USC fought off a
Speaker 1: late comeback from ole Miss to grab the sixty eight
Speaker 1: to sixty six win, with Juju Watkins contributing twenty seven
Speaker 1: points and ten boards in transfer Kiki eria Fen adding
Speaker 1: twenty two.
Speaker 2: Plus thirteen rebounds.
Speaker 1: We'll have more on the return of college hoops in
Speaker 1: a little bit to soccer, where we wanted to tie
Speaker 1: up a couple loose ends on the NWSL regular season
Speaker 1: ahead of the start of the playoffs this weekend. So first,
Speaker 1: let's talk parody, or, more accurately, the lack of parody.
Speaker 1: The regular season ended with a forty point gap in
Speaker 1: the table. Number one Orlando finished with sixty points, while
Speaker 1: the last place Houston Dash managed just twenty. Per ESPN's
Speaker 1: Jeff cassoof it's the second largest gap in NWSL history.
Speaker 1: Back in twenty eighteen, there was a forty eight point
Speaker 1: gap when the North Carolina team lost just one game
Speaker 1: and Gotham then called Sky.
Speaker 2: Blue, won just one game.
Speaker 1: There's also a huge gap dividing the top four teams
Speaker 1: in the league this year. Wheorlando Washington got them in,
Speaker 1: Kansas City are way ahead of everyone else. Number four
Speaker 1: Kansas City finished a full sixteen points ahead of the
Speaker 1: number five North Carolina courage to put that in perspective,
Speaker 1: last year, only thirteen points separated at the top ranked
Speaker 1: and last ranked teams.
Speaker 2: In the whole league.
Speaker 1: We'll see whether that gap in the table carries over
Speaker 1: to the playoffs during this weekend's quarter final matchups. Okay,
Speaker 1: moving on, We also got a shout out Kansas City's
Speaker 1: Temwa Chewinga for winning the Golden Boot in her first
Speaker 1: year in the league front of the Show, scored twenty
Speaker 1: goals in twenty five games to become the first African
Speaker 1: born player to earn the honor. Tewinga entered the Olympic
Speaker 1: Break even with the Orlando's Barber Banda in the Golden
Speaker 1: Boot race, but it was straight up Golabaloza for Chewinga
Speaker 1: during the back half of the season. Banda ended up
Speaker 1: finishing second in the Golden Boot standings with thirteen points
Speaker 1: and Portland Sophia Smith came in third with twelve. By
Speaker 1: the way, one of my favorite things on this show
Speaker 1: has been tem Will coming out and saying before the
Speaker 1: season started she thought she would score twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: twenty four goals.
Speaker 2: Didn't even realize that that would set a record, and
Speaker 2: she called her shot. It worked out.
Speaker 1: Also, here's another wild stat. So Washington's Croubathune finished the
Speaker 1: season with the most assists in the league with ten,
Speaker 1: but she played her last game at the season in August.
Speaker 1: The Rookie of the Year candidate sustained a season ending
Speaker 1: knee injury in August while she was throwing out a
Speaker 1: ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Nationals game and yet
Speaker 1: still finish the season with the most assists.
Speaker 2: That's damn good.
Speaker 1: Finally, to golf American, Nelly Korda, clinched her first LPGA
Speaker 1: Player of the Year award on Sunday, given annually to
Speaker 1: the player who accumulates the most points over the course
Speaker 1: of the season. Yeah, the season is still going, but
Speaker 1: it is mathematically impossible for anyone to catch Korda, whose
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four season included six wins on the tour,
Speaker 1: including one major. It's Korda's first time winning the award.
Speaker 1: We got a great guest lined up to chat all
Speaker 1: things college hoops later this week and get you set
Speaker 1: for what should be an incredible season. But since we
Speaker 1: were watching the first few games, we did want to
Speaker 1: give you one storyline will each be watching as the
Speaker 1: action unfolds. I'm gonna start with mine, my first honorable mention.
Speaker 1: I know we're not supposed to do this, but the
Speaker 1: technical that Juju Watkins got in their game just reminded
Speaker 1: me of how stupid technical fouls are, especially at the
Speaker 1: collegiate level.
Speaker 3: Let these bitches talk shit.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, My real actual storyline I will be watching
Speaker 1: actually does include Juju Watkins. So I'm looking for sophomore
Speaker 1: slumps and sophomore star. We saw incredible performances from last
Speaker 1: year's freshman class, and I'm wondering if any of those
Speaker 1: players are going to take a step back this season
Speaker 1: because expectations have ramped up for them, or opposing teams
Speaker 1: have watched a lot of tape on them, or maybe
Speaker 1: even just team dynamics and rosters shifting. And then secondly,
Speaker 1: on the opposite side of that, we have these sophomore
Speaker 1: superstars who will be the breakout star that separates themselves
Speaker 1: from the pack. My money is on Juju Watkins. That's
Speaker 1: what happened last year as a freshman. But Hannah Hidalgo
Speaker 1: will have something to say about that. Madison Booker, even
Speaker 1: Malaysia ful Wiley, simply due to her incredibly flashy play
Speaker 1: and some of the highlights we saw last year. She
Speaker 1: could really draw a lot of fans and eyeballs. So
Speaker 1: I'm looking for sophomore slump and sophomore star. Mesh, what's
Speaker 1: your storyline for me?
Speaker 4: I'm so excited about the resurgence of the southern California schools, Sarah.
Speaker 5: I want to take a.
Speaker 4: Trip out to so Cal because to me is one
Speaker 4: of the most dangerous teams in the field. We know
Speaker 4: they just be ole missing that nail bider yesterday. They've
Speaker 4: got arguably the best player they've had since Cheryl Miller
Speaker 4: on their team and Juju Watkins as you just mentioned.
Speaker 5: And last season was the first number.
Speaker 4: One seed that they had in the NCAA Tournament since
Speaker 4: nineteen eighty six.
Speaker 5: So they've got a lot of good things happening.
Speaker 4: And then UCLA Corey Close has been building them brick
Speaker 4: by brick since twenty eleven, and they've got I think
Speaker 4: enough talent between returners and transfers that they can make
Speaker 4: an even deeper run in this year's tournament. They made
Speaker 4: it to the Sweet sixteen last year, but watch out
Speaker 4: for them. And if you guys don't remember last season,
Speaker 4: the last Pack twelve championship game ever, twot crazy nail bider.
Speaker 2: Between those two teams.
Speaker 4: So I can't wait to watch them matchup again.
Speaker 1: That is a great one, such a fun rivalry. And
Speaker 1: I know people who live in Ohio who bought season
Speaker 1: tickets to UCLA Basketball to try to go as much
Speaker 1: as possible, especially when they're taking on USC bit of
Speaker 1: a hall but worth it? All right, Alex, what's your storyline?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 6: I am super curious to see what Iowa's program looks
Speaker 6: like this year. So context, they finished last season ranked
Speaker 6: number two in the country. They've made it to the
Speaker 6: National Championship Game the last two years in a row.
Speaker 6: Obviously Caitlin Clark huge part of that. But they are
Speaker 6: entering this season outside of the top twenty five in
Speaker 6: the preseason rankings. Y'all know how much I love the
Speaker 6: record books. You know how much I love digging into
Speaker 6: the stats. I want to know, is that a record
Speaker 6: for a team to drop that far from the previous
Speaker 6: season to the start of the new season. It feels
Speaker 6: like it should be a record.
Speaker 2: I have yet to.
Speaker 6: Find the answer. If you know the answer, please hit
Speaker 6: me up. But of course it's a new team. You
Speaker 6: don't have Kitlin Clark. You also have Lisa Bluter, head
Speaker 6: coach who retired, Jan Jensen stepping up taking her place.
Speaker 6: You also have two other seniors that graduated no longer
Speaker 6: with the team, so lots of question marks. I'm super
Speaker 6: curious also to see how Iowa fans respond to this
Speaker 6: Caitlin Clark list team, Because they announced last month that
Speaker 6: they sold out season tickets for a second straight year.
Speaker 6: That is fifteenths of people going to every game. And
Speaker 6: that's what we want to see. That's what people always say,
Speaker 6: right with Kaitlyn Clark, rising tide lifts all ships. We
Speaker 6: want to see Kaitlyn Clark keep people engaged. And so
Speaker 6: what will that engagement look like if this team really
Speaker 6: isn't a top twenty five team. But also maybe they'll
Speaker 6: surprise us.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good one too. That's a really interesting drop.
Speaker 2: And you bet that's bulletin board material for them or what.
Speaker 7: Do we call it?
Speaker 2: Pinterests eating good? Pinterests eating good.
Speaker 1: We're going to have so much more on this college
Speaker 1: basketball season to come, but coming up next. I got
Speaker 1: to be a part of yet another incredible espnW Women
Speaker 1: in Sports summit, and I wanted to share the panel
Speaker 1: that I moderated on expansion excellence. There was so much
Speaker 1: good stuff in this conversation, from the importance of building
Speaker 1: team specific facilities, what to learn from men's sports and
Speaker 1: what to leave behind, prioritizing culture, finding leadership, mentors and more,
Speaker 1: and similarly specific stuff about PWHL expansion, how AU softball
Speaker 1: it's going to pick at cities and really fascinating stuff
Speaker 1: from kim Ang learning from the unfortunate end to her
Speaker 1: time as a GM of the Marlins. So stay tuned
Speaker 1: for that. After the break, we're going to travel to
Speaker 1: beautiful Ohi, California together.
Speaker 2: Welcome back slices.
Speaker 1: Okay, I want to introduce you to the incredible women
Speaker 1: from my Expansion Excellence panel at the espnW summit.
Speaker 2: So here's whore.
Speaker 1: I sat down with President of the NWSL Kansas City
Speaker 1: current Raven Jemison, who joined the club in January after
Speaker 1: working in the NBA and the NHL previously, plus the
Speaker 1: first ever GM of the Golden State Valkyries Ohem and Nyanen,
Speaker 1: who joined the expansion team after spending five.
Speaker 2: Years with the New York Liberty. Next up Kim Eng.
Speaker 1: She's currently serving as a senior advisor of the Athletes
Speaker 1: Unlimited Softball League, which will begin play next spring. Also
Speaker 1: spent more than three decades in professional baseball, including serving
Speaker 1: as GM of the Miami Marlins, the first woman to
Speaker 1: be the GM of a major American men's professional sports team,
Speaker 1: and finally the PWHL Senior VP of Business ops Amy Sheer,
Speaker 1: who has a thirty five year sports career, including stops
Speaker 1: in the WNS, NFL and more, before joining that new
Speaker 1: women's hockey league last season. Okay, let's all head out
Speaker 1: to sunny California and listen to that conversation. Okay, so
Speaker 1: much to talk about, and I want to start with you,
Speaker 1: Raven the casey has gotten so much conversation about the facilities. Rightfully,
Speaker 1: so incredible centerpiece in the community, going to be hosting
Speaker 1: the NWSL championship this year. Those incredible commitments get great publicity,
Speaker 1: but they also then need a long term strategy and
Speaker 1: planning to make them pay off.
Speaker 7: I know that a lot happened before your arrival with
Speaker 7: the team.
Speaker 1: You got there pretty recently, but are there any big
Speaker 1: lessons or takeaways so far when it comes to this
Speaker 1: ongoing process?
Speaker 8: Big lessons? It is awesome to be the first. It
Speaker 8: is even better knowing that you're not going to be
Speaker 8: the last. So I'll start with the lessons that are
Speaker 8: running a stadium. Amy and I were talking about. Stadiums
Speaker 8: have been opened forever. I've been a part of other
Speaker 8: stadium openings, but there's never been one perpose. It's built
Speaker 8: for women in the world, So What comes with that
Speaker 8: is a lot of people asking you what you learned,
Speaker 8: And the big thing that we learned is that operational
Speaker 8: excellence is the same regardless if you have a stadium
Speaker 8: purpose built for women or a stadium that is.
Speaker 5: In a men's league.
Speaker 8: I think what we really want to get across with
Speaker 8: the Current is that we're running a business and at
Speaker 8: the end of the day, we have got to make
Speaker 8: sure that people come back match over match, regardless if
Speaker 8: we're sold out this season. We have to continue that
Speaker 8: going into the next season. We have to create an
Speaker 8: environment where people want to come to CPKC Stadium for
Speaker 8: non KC Current matches. We are hosting the Big Twelve
Speaker 8: Women's Soccer Championship starting tomorrow, and that isn't a division
Speaker 8: playing out in itself. So the lessons are how do
Speaker 8: we press press pause but make sure that we are
Speaker 8: learning match over match, but creating that environment so people
Speaker 8: want to come to something else that is not the
Speaker 8: Kansas City Current, because that's how the business thrives, that's
Speaker 8: how the business grows, and that's how we become again
Speaker 8: not just the first but the example of what is possible.
Speaker 8: So when that next team or next organization is looking
Speaker 8: to do this.
Speaker 3: They had the blueprint.
Speaker 1: Have we been to this stadium yet anybody? It's I'm
Speaker 1: dying to go. And when I love is seeing all
Speaker 1: the photos of the way it really takes over the
Speaker 1: community buildings, buses like wherever you are in case you
Speaker 1: know that that's where the current play which I love
Speaker 1: to see. Ohama nearly twenty thousand season ticket deposits for
Speaker 1: a team with no players.
Speaker 7: Go twenty thousand.
Speaker 1: I need to hear how the Valkyries have leveraged a
Speaker 1: city that already has great enthusiasm for hoops and a
Speaker 1: partnership with a great organization in the Golden State Warriors
Speaker 1: to come out the gates this strong.
Speaker 9: Yeah, the Bay has been hungry for women women's sports.
Speaker 9: There's a legacy that has already been created prior to
Speaker 9: our ownership group bringing this team over, and I think
Speaker 9: that they're just ready to rally behind what we've already
Speaker 9: put out our brand, the women that are leading the
Speaker 9: team and just really excited to be a part of it.
Speaker 10: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean you mentioned the brand, and I know you're
Speaker 1: not focused on brand creation, but it's impressive just to
Speaker 1: already have us recognize Valkyries violent and see the community
Speaker 1: events and see the pop ups with the different local
Speaker 1: folks that are bringing enthusiasm. There's a real intention there,
Speaker 1: which I think is quite clear. How do you see
Speaker 1: the balance of being an independent Valkyries team while also
Speaker 1: benefiting from how much you can gather and learn from
Speaker 1: the Warriors.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think the benefit is it's abundant. Like, I
Speaker 9: don't know how else to say it. The sky is
Speaker 9: the limit. I think that the ownership group has done
Speaker 9: an amazing job of bringing us both together to know
Speaker 9: that we can strong in our own right and that
Speaker 9: whatever journey that we have, we can.
Speaker 3: Be strong in it. Like there's no I guess like
Speaker 3: comparison between the two.
Speaker 9: Like the legacy of the Warriors is the legacy of
Speaker 9: the Warriors and the legacy of the Valkyries is about
Speaker 9: to be written.
Speaker 10: Yeah.
Speaker 7: I love that.
Speaker 1: I'm just happy that a team like the Warriors that
Speaker 1: set so many standards in the NBA, and players like
Speaker 1: Steph Curry who've been such great advocates for women athletes
Speaker 1: have this opportunity because I think I think you're gonna
Speaker 1: crush it already.
Speaker 7: Are twenty thousand Gee's.
Speaker 1: Kim the AUSL was inaugural season in twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: will be a touring league and then the games will
Speaker 1: be in six to eight different cities, and then in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six it will transition to a city based league.
Speaker 7: Can you share how athletes.
Speaker 1: U Limited Topall league will be different from previous AU
Speaker 1: Softball and then why this iteration will start on tour
Speaker 1: for its first year.
Speaker 11: Sure in terms of how it's different, before we were
Speaker 11: we had a leader board points system, and now we're
Speaker 11: going to a more traditional format with teams, with head
Speaker 11: coaches and general managers. In terms of twenty twenty five
Speaker 11: and its touring model, we thought it would be a
Speaker 11: great idea to go out and basically test different markets.
Speaker 11: So during this process we've gone to dozens of different
Speaker 11: markets in nearly twenty states, talk to them about AUSL,
Speaker 11: talk to them about what's different, and really tried to,
Speaker 11: I think bring a more of a brand awareness out
Speaker 11: there and so, you know, auditioning a bit and we'll
Speaker 11: get to see live what it looks like, you know,
Speaker 11: in these eight different markets and then and then bring
Speaker 11: it to you know, toaching them to cities, touching the
Speaker 11: teams to cities for twenty twenty six.
Speaker 10: Are they tryouts then in these cities to see who responds?
Speaker 11: Right, Well, I think it's more. I wouldn't call it
Speaker 11: a tryout, but I think it's you know, making sure
Speaker 11: that the mechanics are correct and that the support from
Speaker 11: the local community is what we want.
Speaker 1: It's smart to learn the logistics in practice, as opposed
Speaker 1: to assumptions that, yeah, that's really smart. Amy, you joined
Speaker 1: the PWHL two months before puck drop of the inaugural season.
Speaker 1: There have been several pro women's hockey leagues before this one.
Speaker 1: What did you take from watching those leagues and how
Speaker 1: were you intentional about creating something that you think can
Speaker 1: be successful and sustainable.
Speaker 5: So I think what's different about us is both sides
Speaker 5: of the house. One from a hockey perspective, we have
Speaker 5: one hundred and fifty of the best hockey players in
Speaker 5: the world. This is the first time all the hockey
Speaker 5: players that lead in terms of skill are all in
Speaker 5: one place. So every night the game is great. We've
Speaker 5: had no blowouts in season one. Every game is close.
Speaker 5: The level of hockey is unbelievable, So that's number one.
Speaker 2: I think.
Speaker 5: On the other side is that we're single entity and
Speaker 5: that really have not been done in hockey before. So
Speaker 5: we come to work every day, whether you're with the
Speaker 5: league or with the team, you have a PWHL email address.
Speaker 5: So while the teams want to win on the ice,
Speaker 5: I think off the ice, were one big, happy family
Speaker 5: and we all help each other. So every day everybody
Speaker 5: goes to work with the same goals, and that's to
Speaker 5: move the sport of hockey forward. It is to bring
Speaker 5: fans into the games, engage them at the highest quality
Speaker 5: that we can, and get more kids into play hockey.
Speaker 5: So we moved together very intentional as a staff, with
Speaker 5: the same goals whether you're with the team or the league,
Speaker 5: and I think that's very different than how other leagues
Speaker 5: have approached their business. So it's nice that we're aligned
Speaker 5: and together we move forward.
Speaker 1: And an incredible job of getting to the people and
Speaker 1: making them aware that it was happening, because records of
Speaker 1: attendance were broken left and right. To do that an
Speaker 1: inaugural season and to have twenty plus thousand people want
Speaker 1: to go and support is really cool.
Speaker 7: Something that you mentioned on our.
Speaker 1: Call that I thought was fascinating is Dodgers co owner
Speaker 1: and PWHL financier Mike Mark Walker said that there had
Speaker 1: to be a CBA in place before he would commit
Speaker 1: to financing a league.
Speaker 7: Why was that so important?
Speaker 5: So Mark and kimber Walter are our owners. They've invested
Speaker 5: quite a lot of money in the single entity, and
Speaker 5: I think having the CBA was important because it provides stability.
Speaker 5: So we have an eight year CBA and that we
Speaker 5: know as a league and as our teams, we have
Speaker 5: an eight year runway to set this league up, stand
Speaker 5: it up to be successful, and make it sustainable and
Speaker 5: continue to grow under this model. So I think it
Speaker 5: was really important just to provide that stability. There's never
Speaker 5: going to be a walkout in these eight years. We're
Speaker 5: all going to come united, the players and the league
Speaker 5: to work together, So it's important to have that stability.
Speaker 1: Yeah, are there any opt outs for the players because
Speaker 1: eight years is a long time if it continues to
Speaker 1: grow and get massive, and do they have any leverage
Speaker 1: in making sure that it continues to be on a
Speaker 1: benefit to both sides.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's a great question. I don't know the answer.
Speaker 7: I'll do some research on that.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I love the stability aspect, but we also know
Speaker 1: that the landscape changes so fast that making sure that
Speaker 1: you are indeed a big family working together allows the
Speaker 1: players to feel like they're advancing as the as the
Speaker 1: league advances.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I will say that, you know, in working with
Speaker 5: Jane to day to day in the hockey ops crew,
Speaker 5: we talk to the union while they talk to the
Speaker 5: union multiple times of days. So there's the relationship there
Speaker 5: and it's close and the communication is always open.
Speaker 1: Good Ohemma. Your first move as GM was hiring head coach.
Speaker 1: Now Ali Nakasse, take us through that process and how
Speaker 1: you lured her away from the Aces.
Speaker 9: Yeah, lured sounds interesting. I want to say my first
Speaker 9: real hire was Banya Chennevitz. She was the GM of
Speaker 9: the London Lions and is currently our VP of Bath Operations,
Speaker 9: and so along with her, we had an extensive conversation
Speaker 9: around coaches. We talked to too many coaches, but the
Speaker 9: idea was to leave no stone unturned. International College, NBA
Speaker 9: G League w n b A. We wanted to make
Speaker 9: sure that we found the right candidate for us to
Speaker 9: be the inaugural head coach for an expansion is really tough.
Speaker 9: There's gonna be a lot of pressure externally and so
Speaker 9: who is going to come in and bring a sense
Speaker 9: of calm, great competitiveness and also coach with their heart.
Speaker 9: I think for a long time athletes have been seeking
Speaker 9: the development, but they're also seeking, uh, the opportunity to
Speaker 9: be better people, and so why not pick a leader
Speaker 9: who can encompass all of that?
Speaker 3: And so I'm.
Speaker 9: Lucky that I was able to steal what's another adjective, higher? Higher,
Speaker 9: Let's know that that's a verb. Yeah, higher, Natalie.
Speaker 1: I don't know if y'all are keeping track of how
Speaker 1: many coaches in the w n b A have parted ways,
Speaker 1: but Natalie is now the seventh longest tenured coach the
Speaker 1: w NBA hasn't coached.
Speaker 7: A game, and we don't there yet. While we're on.
Speaker 1: Some of your early moves, you're really involved in the
Speaker 1: Valkyrie's commitment to facilities, multimillion dollar facilities. Why is it
Speaker 1: so important to have your own space and why was
Speaker 1: that one of the first priorities, especially when we know
Speaker 1: that the Warriors facilities are brand new and awesome.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was done pre me.
Speaker 9: I think that I always want to give credit where
Speaker 9: credits due our ownership group, mister Joe, as I fondly
Speaker 9: call him Lacub thought about this long and hard. So
Speaker 9: the investment of just getting an expansion team wasn't enough
Speaker 9: building a facility at the Chase Center. So we have
Speaker 9: our own exclusive locker room. The building's five years old,
Speaker 9: and it didn't it wasn't built with the idea of
Speaker 9: the Valkyries. And when they purchased the Valkyries, they said,
Speaker 9: well they need their own locker room. So other duties
Speaker 9: is a sign and I'm construction manager as well. And
Speaker 9: then the Oakland facility I think is a true testament
Speaker 9: to us being a team of the Bay, right, Like
Speaker 9: we're not just the San Francisco team, We're not just
Speaker 9: the Oakland team.
Speaker 3: We are the team of the entire Bay. And so
Speaker 3: to hone our craft in Oakland and then.
Speaker 9: Be able to showcase it in San Francisco, I think
Speaker 9: it's an amazing Yeah.
Speaker 1: And then just throw NAPA in there if you want
Speaker 1: to just figure out something to do there, I do
Speaker 1: almost every year. Raven, you arrived in Casey after three
Speaker 1: years with the Milwaukee Bucks. Before that, you worked in
Speaker 1: the NHL, MLB, NFL, every major men's sports league pretty much.
Speaker 10: How do you take.
Speaker 1: Helpful lessons from what you saw while keeping an open
Speaker 1: mind and being curious and creative about how women's sports
Speaker 1: can and should be different.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I'll be clear, the job is the same, right,
Speaker 8: put butts in seats, bring brands along for strategic partnerships,
Speaker 8: and again make sure people want to come back match
Speaker 8: over match.
Speaker 3: For your games. But I think that's where it ends.
Speaker 8: The beauty of being in men's sports is it's an establishment,
Speaker 8: which means there's policies and processes and things are kind
Speaker 8: of built money that are built for you to succeed.
Speaker 8: And there's a comfort in that, and there's a way
Speaker 8: that you can look at what your impact can be
Speaker 8: in that space. And that's honestly why I'm here at
Speaker 8: the current versus continuing down the past towards hopefully what
Speaker 8: would have been a presidency in the core for major
Speaker 8: men's sports. When you look at the impact that you
Speaker 8: can make in a major men's sports, you're going to
Speaker 8: move the needle slightly. You're going to improve evaluation for
Speaker 8: someone that is.
Speaker 2: Likely not you, and that.
Speaker 8: More bees in that valuation, which is exciting. Right, Leadership
Speaker 8: in that vein is exactly what I was looking for
Speaker 8: when I started my career in sports. But when you
Speaker 8: talk about the difference, what I looked at when I
Speaker 8: saw the opportunity here with the Kansas City Current after
Speaker 8: talking to our owners Angie and Chris Long, it took
Speaker 8: me ten minutes to hear the vision, to understand the vision,
Speaker 8: but also maybe have a little bit of panic, to
Speaker 8: be like, WHOA, this is really a startup. It's not
Speaker 8: just the NWSL team. There's a stadium that's making history.
Speaker 2: But it's a blank slate.
Speaker 8: And when you talk about entrepreneurial mindsets and who we
Speaker 8: try to hire when we think about what the future
Speaker 8: is for the NWSL and this endeavor, we want people
Speaker 8: who are a little bit scared but also looking to
Speaker 8: be that entrepreneur because it is a blank a blank slate.
Speaker 8: So the difference is that the blank slate allows us
Speaker 8: to be creative, to take chances, to make mistakes, and
Speaker 8: we've made plenty, and you know, for those on my team,
Speaker 8: I call those out hopefully probably too much. But we
Speaker 8: make mistakes, but we can quickly pivot and we can
Speaker 8: quickly learn because there is no place book and the
Speaker 8: beauty is we are writing it as we go. So
Speaker 8: that's the biggest difference.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that you called it a startup because
Speaker 1: I've been preaching for like a decade about how we
Speaker 1: have to treat women's sports like a startup. That desire
Speaker 1: for immediate ROI that look at losses within a first
Speaker 1: year as if that's somehow predictive of the product is
Speaker 1: so frustrating. And so I love watching Kansas City make
Speaker 1: these long term investments and view it in that way,
Speaker 1: because that's the way we do anything else. That's the
Speaker 1: kind of business that essentially a women's sports team is
Speaker 1: in this in this market. Okay, Amy, you've done consulting, marketing,
Speaker 1: business plans, bizdev for everything from MLS to rugby to
Speaker 1: the NFL. What are some of the biggest mistakes that
Speaker 1: you've seen teams make and how has that experience formed
Speaker 1: your decision making around this brand new thing in the PWHL.
Speaker 5: I think it's less about mistakes and more about people
Speaker 5: just doing the status quo and not being bold when
Speaker 5: the situation calls for it. It's very easy to say, oh,
Speaker 5: this happens, you know, let's just do it that way
Speaker 5: year over year over year, and especially in sports, you
Speaker 5: just get into you know, and maybe you and I
Speaker 5: were talking, right, You get in your groove every year
Speaker 5: of what when should you start working on next season,
Speaker 5: and when you should you start advertising, And it's very
Speaker 5: easy to fall into that groove. And so I think
Speaker 5: from the PWHL standpoint again that single entity ownership is
Speaker 5: we can do whatever we want. We make our own
Speaker 5: rules up. And so again I point the Jaina out
Speaker 5: in the crowd. But like going into hockey this year,
Speaker 5: she made some really cool changes to the rules of
Speaker 5: the sport to make it more entertaining, to make it
Speaker 5: more fun for the players, a little bit more physical,
Speaker 5: a jail break rule. Jail breaks the best thing ever, so.
Speaker 7: Calivin what and tell everyone what that is.
Speaker 5: So if you score a shorthanded goal, your player that's
Speaker 5: in the penalty box comes out, so it essentially ends
Speaker 5: the power play. So Jaina was very creative on the
Speaker 5: hockey side to make the sport I think more appealing
Speaker 5: for the fans and for the players. And on the
Speaker 5: business side, like how do we challenge the status quo
Speaker 5: for event presentation as well, and Montreal at least for
Speaker 5: our league has done a great job of that. Intermission
Speaker 5: starts and the lights go down and a DJ comes
Speaker 5: out and Montreal turns into a dance party for two intermissions,
Speaker 5: and it's ultimately the funniest, scariest and craziest thing I've
Speaker 5: ever seen in the scoring event. And so I think
Speaker 5: it's not about the mistakes, but more about taking the
Speaker 5: opportunity to be be bold and to maybe just be
Speaker 5: different and think differently, because sports a lot of times
Speaker 5: follows what you see in best practices for other industries,
Speaker 5: and we have to find a way to lead.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when you look across the major men's sports and
Speaker 1: you try to think of like true innovation, it's that
Speaker 1: easy to find, no, because they are beholden to larger
Speaker 1: rules and structures and also the way things have always
Speaker 1: been done. Women's sports needs to take advantage of the
Speaker 1: fact that we can make our own rules in so
Speaker 1: many different ways.
Speaker 7: I always talk about this.
Speaker 1: I think it might have a problem, but Lewis to
Speaker 1: see the soccer team in England that started having prosecco
Speaker 1: on tap instead of just beer, and.
Speaker 7: I was like, that is what I wanted a game.
Speaker 1: I don't just want to have the same old options
Speaker 1: of like a pretzel and beer. I want you to
Speaker 1: serve you know, the mystics having their Mimosa's Brunch game package.
Speaker 1: Just start thinking about what your audience might want that's
Speaker 1: different than what's always been there, and it leads to
Speaker 1: really cool ideas.
Speaker 7: I love jail break. I'm sensing a theme, Sarah.
Speaker 2: Are you ten er seco?
Speaker 7: You know, it's like.
Speaker 5: There are so many of you here.
Speaker 7: I haven't even for throwing up for me.
Speaker 1: Kim AU has run differently than most any other pro league.
Speaker 1: The players are involved in almost every aspect of the game,
Speaker 1: from uniforms to where and how money is spent, to
Speaker 1: equity in the league itself, and it really is delivering
Speaker 1: on so many things we say we want, from maternal
Speaker 1: care to everything else and to what I was just
Speaker 1: talking about, innovating and doing something different than we've seen before.
Speaker 1: As a former player yourself, what are some of the
Speaker 1: highlights in your opinion of how AU centers its players.
Speaker 11: Yeah, no, really interesting. So we have something called the
Speaker 11: Players Executive Committee, and it consists of five players. We
Speaker 11: meet every week and we seek their input about everything
Speaker 11: from travel to accommodations to rules to you know, how
Speaker 11: how we're going to you know, frame the league. So
Speaker 11: you know, every week we talk about items. The most
Speaker 11: impressive to me, and it was sort of eye opening
Speaker 11: given you know, my background as a general manager was
Speaker 11: that these player Executive Committee members basically recruit players from
Speaker 11: the outside to come play with us, so free agent market,
Speaker 11: and they also did they made all of the decisions
Speaker 11: with regards to the draft so huge and really really interesting,
Speaker 11: you know, drawing from their own experiences as players as
Speaker 11: well as coaches and and you know, it's been really
Speaker 11: interesting for me to.
Speaker 1: Watch when you have players and owners and executives working
Speaker 1: together on decisions like uniforms, resources, facilities, the players then
Speaker 1: can understand when you say, we're not capable of doing
Speaker 1: that right now unless we give up ex or why
Speaker 1: if you tell us this is the thing you want most,
Speaker 1: we'll do that. We're going to have to give up
Speaker 1: ex for why which one do you want to give up?
Speaker 1: Instead of this constant feeling like someone must be trying
Speaker 1: to get one over on the other person, we're not
Speaker 1: giving that to you because we don't want to, versus
Speaker 1: that's not in our budget right now, or that's not
Speaker 1: feasible right now, having those discussions allows them to feel
Speaker 1: empowered in their decision making, but also trust that you
Speaker 1: want the best for them and you want them to
Speaker 1: get what they want, but sometimes that's not possible.
Speaker 7: Have you noticed that in those conversations.
Speaker 11: Absolutely, and I think that it's very much, you know,
Speaker 11: weighing the costs and the benefits, the pros and the
Speaker 11: cons and taking them through that process and making them understand,
Speaker 11: you know, all of it and what we as executives,
Speaker 11: you know, we sort of take for granted and we've
Speaker 11: done our entire careers, but making them understand that there
Speaker 11: are choices and like you said, giving them the power
Speaker 11: to those make those choices.
Speaker 1: Raven, you wrote a book Congratulations More Than Representation, The
Speaker 1: Cheat Codes to Own your Seat at the Table. It's
Speaker 1: about being a queer, black woman executive in a male
Speaker 1: dominated sports industry. And I love this quote and an
Speaker 1: interview you said, sometimes there's a misconception that you have
Speaker 1: to look up to get mentorship, where the truth was
Speaker 1: we kind of looked across and said, how can we
Speaker 1: nurture each other and fill each other's cups such that
Speaker 1: we have a support system so when things get tough
Speaker 1: we can lean on each other. Can you talk more
Speaker 1: about finding mentors and supporters across when there isn't leadership
Speaker 1: that feels representative?
Speaker 8: Yeah, I check a lot of boxes.
Speaker 5: So what that.
Speaker 8: Means is when you're looking up and you're growing your
Speaker 8: career in sports and there's no one to look to,
Speaker 8: you tend to say, huh, you look like me. So
Speaker 8: what are we learning in this moment? So as we
Speaker 8: hopefully stay in this industry, as we grow together, we
Speaker 8: can share experiences. And there was no there were no
Speaker 8: black women really in the C suite none. There were
Speaker 8: few women, but they also seemed unattainable. And I think
Speaker 8: sometimes there's a misconception that we're always trying to pick
Speaker 8: your brain and that you guys could probably attest to
Speaker 8: this on LinkedIn. I get so many let me pick
Speaker 8: your brain, and there are people that you don't know.
Speaker 8: So looking inward, look in your circle, look at the
Speaker 8: people you work alongside, look at your friends. Some time
Speaker 8: I look to my friends and look at their experiences
Speaker 8: in their industry. Because sports, while we are still a
Speaker 8: very I think, is still a young industry. We're run
Speaker 8: like mom and pop shops a lot of us. There
Speaker 8: are more mature industries that we can learn from too.
Speaker 8: So we have a group of friends, some of whom
Speaker 8: are in sports. My circle is wide ranging for that reason,
Speaker 8: because there was no one that looked like me that
Speaker 8: didn't have They did not have the shared experience. I
Speaker 8: came out when I was an employee, and that, boy,
Speaker 8: is that scary, because you know, that's another checkbox for you.
Speaker 8: And I needed a support circle that could tell me
Speaker 8: who I was outside of this industry. Because the other
Speaker 8: thing is you kind of get locked into what you
Speaker 8: do for a living, especially when it's attached to something
Speaker 8: cool like sports. Everybody wants to come to you for tickets,
Speaker 8: even though I don't know Taylor Swift, but you. You
Speaker 8: would be surprised how many people cannot Sarah.
Speaker 3: I can't.
Speaker 2: I can't. I can't.
Speaker 7: I cannot.
Speaker 8: I'm not I'm not that, but all seriousness, you become
Speaker 8: that thing two people. So it's also important to make
Speaker 8: sure you keep your circle tight and make sure that
Speaker 8: people are supporting you for the person that you are
Speaker 8: before and after you punch in your your proverbial clock.
Speaker 1: Ohama, you spent five years with the Liberty.
Speaker 10: Apparently all it took was for you to leave for
Speaker 10: them to win.
Speaker 4: I mean, I helped set it up.
Speaker 2: I'll do that.
Speaker 1: Must have been must have been the path you said,
Speaker 1: Okay you for most recently the team's assistant GM. They
Speaker 1: are a great example of a team that took a
Speaker 1: big step forward due to investment. Clara Wusai and Joe said,
Speaker 1: came in and beyond money, you can invest and not have.
Speaker 7: The right people, the right culture.
Speaker 1: Do you have tips on how to handle things beyond
Speaker 1: money or when that money arrives, how to make sure
Speaker 1: that it can help make or break a franchise pivoting.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's people. Clara Wusai and Joe said.
Speaker 9: They hired Jonathan Cole and he's a mentor of mine.
Speaker 9: He's a peer mentor of mine, great friend, and I
Speaker 9: was his first hire. And the both of us together
Speaker 9: just kind of looked at each other and we're like,
Speaker 9: we started in Westchester County Center, we lived in Brooklyn.
Speaker 9: How do we create a professional experience for athletes who
Speaker 9: deserve more than what they were given at the time.
Speaker 9: Jonathan had all the tough conversations with ownership and the
Speaker 9: business team to say this is what our players need,
Speaker 9: and then he just continued to hire good people, selfless people,
Speaker 9: people who weren't.
Speaker 3: A part of the liberty just to.
Speaker 9: Check a box or to use the liberty as a
Speaker 9: stopping stone to go somewhere else. It's a destination and
Speaker 9: it's a dream job. And if you're ready to work,
Speaker 9: the world is your oyster. And so just being able to.
Speaker 3: Really caught a by how you treat.
Speaker 9: People and the empathy that it takes to know that
Speaker 9: it's hard and so what, let's just rock it out.
Speaker 9: I think that's the cheap code really is to find driven,
Speaker 9: purpose driven people to want to excel.
Speaker 7: Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1: All about culture. Someone said at the summit in May.
Speaker 1: Nobody leaves a job, they leave a culture. And that
Speaker 1: is a huge thing to remember when you're putting together
Speaker 1: a team of people, no matter how much money you have.
Speaker 1: Amy right before you got into PWHL, there was a
Speaker 1: little hiccup regarding team names and logos. There was a
Speaker 1: trademark search that revealed some possible team names, some of
Speaker 1: which got less than enthusiastic responses. So, your day two
Speaker 1: on the job and you say, yeah, we're not going
Speaker 1: with those, we're starting over. How are you so confident
Speaker 1: in making that decision and telling them we're doing this over.
Speaker 5: Well, I'm not saying I was com confident. I called
Speaker 5: someone you know from Alesian Park who was helping run
Speaker 5: the business, and I said, hey, like, do we have
Speaker 5: to go with these names? And she said, well, yeah,
Speaker 5: the ship is sailed. Why And I said, well, do
Speaker 5: we have logos, do we have team colors? Do we
Speaker 5: have a story on why these names? Are we really ready?
Speaker 5: And she goes, ship is sailed? So I was like okay.
Speaker 5: So I hung up the phone and I went and
Speaker 5: called the friend of mine and who was going to
Speaker 5: be my first hire, and I called her up and
Speaker 5: I was like, I don't know what to do, like
Speaker 5: we're not ready and had nothing to do with the
Speaker 5: team names right, Like having a team name is a luxury,
Speaker 5: it's not I must have. I said, I don't think
Speaker 5: we're ready this and that that she goes, you have
Speaker 5: got to get on the phone and called stand right now,
Speaker 5: Like get on the phone and call stand Casting right now.
Speaker 5: I said, all right, all right, okay, okay, I got
Speaker 5: my marching orders. I picked up the phone and I
Speaker 5: said to Stan, like, I listen, I don't think we
Speaker 5: should do this and he said why and I said, well,
Speaker 5: like usually when you announced team names, you've got the logo,
Speaker 5: you've got the story on why you've got all these
Speaker 5: wonderful assets to tell you a story, and we don't
Speaker 5: have any of that, and so it's premature and I
Speaker 5: think we should just go buy our city names like
Speaker 5: soccer does it right, So it's good enough for them,
Speaker 5: it's good enough for us. And to stands credit me
Speaker 5: said yeah, you're running the league. Go And I'm like really,
Speaker 5: and you know, because you're so used to, you know,
Speaker 5: sort of in their traditional sports models, running up the flagpole,
Speaker 5: running up the flagpole, run up the flagpole, and you're
Speaker 5: out of gas by the time you get to the
Speaker 5: last flagpole. And Stan just said go fine. I was
Speaker 5: like really, like yeah, jud leigue, we're not doing names, okay.
Speaker 12: And that was the.
Speaker 1: Conversation in the ship that sailed into Viking ship, one
Speaker 1: of those funerals where you just light it on.
Speaker 7: Fire and let it go. Yeah, and it was sailed.
Speaker 7: Then we'll never see it again.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Well the conversation ended and like, all right, well
Speaker 5: now you have to start the process to do sixteen names.
Speaker 5: And if they suck, it's on you. Yeah's great.
Speaker 7: They don't talk. They're very cool, I mean to them.
Speaker 5: And the one that.
Speaker 1: Looks like a Taylor Swift logo is very brilliant marketing.
Speaker 1: You have that first TS night and you're going to
Speaker 1: sell out the place. Also, a really big lesson to
Speaker 1: be learned. I'm not naming any names pos nation, but
Speaker 1: you can realize that things haven't been received the way
Speaker 1: you intended and decide you want to take that fan
Speaker 1: feedback because in women's sports base things are a little
Speaker 1: different when it comes to relationship between the fan base
Speaker 1: and the leagues and teams.
Speaker 10: Plenty of time to pull that ship back to Shore.
Speaker 2: Keim.
Speaker 1: Under your leadership, the twenty twenty three Marlins posted the
Speaker 1: fourth best winning percentage in the history of the franchise,
Speaker 1: earned the first full season postseason birth in twenty years.
Speaker 1: You oversaw all that success and then you and the
Speaker 1: team parted ways. What did you learn from that time
Speaker 1: and how it ended?
Speaker 11: Hm, Well, so we parted ways basically after all of that. Uh,
Speaker 11: you know, the Marlins decided they want to restructure baseball
Speaker 11: operations and bring in a president of baseball ops over
Speaker 11: me that I would have to report to and so
Speaker 11: learn I would say, maybe reaffirmed or confirmed in some ways.
Speaker 11: You a few things you know number one in terms
Speaker 11: of you know, my ability and the you know, the
Speaker 11: the idea that a when could you know, lead a
Speaker 11: group of guys to you know, playoff, run and get there.
Speaker 11: I think that was confirmed.
Speaker 12: You know.
Speaker 11: I go back to, you know, all the interviews that
Speaker 11: it took to get there, dozens of interviews, second interviews
Speaker 11: and all of that to continue to discuss, you know,
Speaker 11: what my vision was, how I would build the team,
Speaker 11: you know, how I would bring people together, et cetera,
Speaker 11: et cetera. You get a chance to do that, and
Speaker 11: then that was the answer to it. So but nonetheless
Speaker 11: confirmed the idea that a woman could do it and
Speaker 11: take a team to the playoffs.
Speaker 2: I think, you know.
Speaker 11: Secondly, you know again, so all of this happened within
Speaker 11: it like a two week spam, so where you know,
Speaker 11: we make it to the playoffs and then two weeks later,
Speaker 11: I'm being told this about this situation. So there was
Speaker 11: a lot to process. But I think, you know, one
Speaker 11: of the things that was affirmed in my mind is
Speaker 11: the idea of you know, we just talked about it
Speaker 11: culture and how big a piece that plays in the
Speaker 11: success of an organization or team, you know, And I
Speaker 11: had the you know, I had the privilege to watch
Speaker 11: these guys every day, and you know, with intentionality what
Speaker 11: we did to try and change the culture and what
Speaker 11: we did to try and change the offensive mindset and
Speaker 11: the way that we went about our business. And within
Speaker 11: a within a year, you managed to turn that around.
Speaker 11: And so that culture piece is huge.
Speaker 12: Yeah.
Speaker 11: Number three, I think, you know, I pride myself on
Speaker 11: having pretty good self awareness what I'm good at, when
Speaker 11: I'm not good at, what things I can handle, and
Speaker 11: what things I can't. And I think, you know, in
Speaker 11: terms of the self awareness, you know, as I thought
Speaker 11: through this decision, Yeah, because you're at you've gotten to
Speaker 11: the pinnacle of your career and now you're probably at
Speaker 11: the you know, biggest disappointment of your career. You know,
Speaker 11: over those several days, just understanding what I was not
Speaker 11: going to be able to handle right, right, and so
Speaker 11: then you just make your decision on that, and my gut,
Speaker 11: well not my gut. My initial reaction was no, f
Speaker 11: and way, And that's what it ended up being for
Speaker 11: you know, after several days for you Yeah, yeah, no,
Speaker 11: thank you.
Speaker 10: You just you could never do the parallel lines.
Speaker 1: But I would love to live in another universe and
Speaker 1: be able to have seen if a man did exactly
Speaker 1: what you did, whether they would decide to bring someone
Speaker 1: that you would have to report you because my answer
Speaker 1: is the same answer as yours.
Speaker 11: Yeah, you know number four. I think you know the
Speaker 11: realization and the affirmation that sometimes things are just out
Speaker 11: of your control, right, and it's just it's not on me,
Speaker 11: it's on now, right. But I think you know, it
Speaker 11: brings us to this moment where I'm part of this
Speaker 11: great women's sports movement, you know, and you know I
Speaker 11: have you know, I have a lot to learn, but
Speaker 11: I also have a lot to offer.
Speaker 7: Yeah, well, we're excited you're here.
Speaker 1: Yeahs a couple of last quick ones, Amy, Can we
Speaker 1: anticipate some creative outside the box events for the p WHL.
Speaker 7: Can we break some news here?
Speaker 5: Well, I don't know if we're breaking news, but I
Speaker 5: think we're doing a little bit of what Kim talked about.
Speaker 5: We're gonna do some barn storing this year. We're gonna
Speaker 5: have nine games across two countries outside of our main markets,
Speaker 5: so we'll be all over the US, We'll be all
Speaker 5: over Canada promoting the p WHL and playing games, and
Speaker 5: of course I think we're gonna work towards an outdoor game.
Speaker 5: I think we're gonna work forward games in Europe. Uh so,
Speaker 5: So Jane and I have had some fun conversations and
Speaker 5: we're dreaming up some things that are big.
Speaker 7: Any breaking records, any other news you want to break.
Speaker 5: Yeah. As of today, we are officially starting the expansion
Speaker 5: process for the p w h L. Yeah, so starting
Speaker 5: probably in the next week or Solul will be sending
Speaker 5: out RFPs to several markets. Also taking incoming as well,
Speaker 5: but looking at the opportunity potentially feel two new teams
Speaker 5: for next season for twenty twenty five, twenty six, and yeah,
Speaker 5: looking for the right market size, right fan base, right facilities,
Speaker 5: right economic opportunities. So a lot of research to be
Speaker 5: done over the next couple of months, but yeah, looking
Speaker 5: to continue to build the league and grow the number
Speaker 5: of teams.
Speaker 1: Okay, speed round. I want you each to tell me
Speaker 1: you have a choice of one or the other. Either
Speaker 1: who you're watching in women's sports that's doing it right,
Speaker 1: or the thing in women's sports you're most tired of
Speaker 1: seeing or hearing, whether that's a certain kind of sponsor pitch,
Speaker 1: certain marketing approach, certain business decision.
Speaker 2: I'll go.
Speaker 8: The thing I'm tired of seeing is that there's a
Speaker 8: belief that women's sports is lesser than Thus the pitches
Speaker 8: are that this product deserves less than the dollars that
Speaker 8: we deserve and that we've earned. So if you're interested
Speaker 8: in supporting women's sports, know that all money is not
Speaker 8: good money, and that the case of Current, for example,
Speaker 8: will be very picky with respect to who we partner
Speaker 8: with because we believe we deserve the dollars that should
Speaker 8: be given to these world class athletes.
Speaker 7: Love that.
Speaker 1: Also, if you need help with that, I always preach
Speaker 1: about this, but sports innovation labs, multiple fan projects will
Speaker 1: give you the hard numbers.
Speaker 5: That you need.
Speaker 1: So you're not walking into those meetings with subjective arguments.
Speaker 1: You're walking in with hardcore data to why this is
Speaker 1: an economic opportunity that they should take advantage of. So
Speaker 1: use those because the people at the top don't give
Speaker 1: you know what about your subjective arguments. They care about
Speaker 1: the bottom line, and the bottom line is there. It
Speaker 1: is we have to sell it, right, kem.
Speaker 11: I can answer both that yes, and then also we
Speaker 11: are watching the PWHL because we also are a single
Speaker 11: owner entity organization, and you know, there are some really
Speaker 11: interesting decisions that you know, typically are made at the
Speaker 11: team level, where you can make it the league level
Speaker 11: and you can create that minimum standard you know that
Speaker 11: that you need to keep a lead going for a
Speaker 11: number of years. So that's these are the guys that
Speaker 11: we're watching.
Speaker 10: Love that, Oh Hamma.
Speaker 9: I would just say that athletes that stand on something,
Speaker 9: I think, uh for far too long, shut up and
Speaker 9: whatever action it is that an athlete does, it's now
Speaker 9: taken away. Like our athletes are standing on things. They
Speaker 9: are advocates for the community, their advocates for themselves. So
Speaker 9: I think that that's one thing that I think that
Speaker 9: they're doing well. It's not a specific entity, it's not
Speaker 9: a specific.
Speaker 10: No, but we can all learn from them. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Amy.
Speaker 5: I had the opportunity to meet Clara Ussai last week
Speaker 5: and I gave her a big hug and I thank
Speaker 5: you for finally providing the resources that the liberty deserved.
Speaker 5: And so it is very true. You give resources, and
Speaker 5: that's what happens, whether it's on the player side, whether
Speaker 5: it's on the business side. It allows you to make
Speaker 5: a difference. It allows you to have the staff you
Speaker 5: need to do everything that you need to not just
Speaker 5: take care of the players, but take care of your fans,
Speaker 5: build a true business, and so resource matters. And it
Speaker 5: was great after so many years at the Garden of
Speaker 5: having to cut cut to finally see the liberty flourish
Speaker 5: because they were given the opportunity and the resources to
Speaker 5: do so.
Speaker 7: Yeah, agreed, love that. Thank you all so much.
Speaker 1: I could talk to you for another hour, but it's
Speaker 1: time to go another round of aplosties. Incredible women. It
Speaker 1: was another fantastic espnW summit. So much wisdom, so much insight.
Speaker 1: I'm hopefully going to pull some more sound for you
Speaker 1: guys in coming episodes, but for now we're going.
Speaker 2: To take a break. Stick around, Welcome back.
Speaker 1: Thanks to all of you who sent in your favorite
Speaker 1: women's sports inspired Halloween costs.
Speaker 2: I made a little video you.
Speaker 1: Could find on my Twitter slash x account at Sarah
Speaker 1: Spain or my Instagram at Spain two three two three.
Speaker 2: You can go check out some of my faves.
Speaker 1: Special shout out to all the dogs dressed is La
Speaker 1: that did it better than I did.
Speaker 2: It's a rough day for me, but a round of
Speaker 2: a pause for you guys.
Speaker 1: We love that you're listening, but we want you to
Speaker 1: get in the game every day too, So here's our
Speaker 1: good game play of the day. Listen to Cocoa Golf now.
Speaker 1: It's good advice generally, but especially right now. Take a
Speaker 1: listen to what she said during a press conference during
Speaker 1: the WTA finals over the weekend.
Speaker 2: I think it's a.
Speaker 12: Tough time for our country and a crucial time for
Speaker 12: our country right now. And all I can do is
Speaker 12: encourage people, especially young people to vote and use their ois.
Speaker 12: And you know, especially in my generation, I think there's
Speaker 12: a lot of people who don't see their power of voting,
Speaker 12: but for me, I do, and I can only hope
Speaker 12: that with my little bit.
Speaker 2: Of message influences some people.
Speaker 12: And obviously there's much bigger celebrities who are trying to
Speaker 12: do the brown work too. But yeah, there's a lot
Speaker 12: going on.
Speaker 1: And while you're at at checkout USA Today columnist Nancy
Speaker 1: Armor story on the impact that another Trump presidency would
Speaker 1: have on women's sports. Here's a quick excerpt quote. The
Speaker 1: last few years have given us a glimpse into what
Speaker 1: could be the norm. Packed arenas and blockbuster TV ratings
Speaker 1: for women's games, While investors and sponsors clamor for a
Speaker 1: piece of the action, and women's sports have a regular
Speaker 1: place in our.
Speaker 2: Conversations and consciousness.
Speaker 1: The results of Tuesday's election could erase all that dragging
Speaker 1: us backward, just when women's sports are finally gaining traction.
Speaker 1: The protections of Title nine, both against sexual violence and
Speaker 1: for athletic opportunities, would be at risk if Donald Trump
Speaker 1: is re elected. So too reproductive rights in blue states.
Speaker 1: Even the way women are viewed and treated would shift
Speaker 1: dramatically if the raging misogynists returns to the White House.
Speaker 2: End quote.
Speaker 1: We'll link to Nancy's full column in the show notes. Also,
Speaker 1: a big thank you to those of you who gave
Speaker 1: us the great tips and tricks to calm anxiety as
Speaker 1: we are sweating through the results of today's election. Here's
Speaker 1: a couple of our faves. Claim Conahan said, listen to
Speaker 1: Snoop Dogg's affirmation song. Laura Bustamante said watching clips of
Speaker 1: the Liberty Season and celebrations.
Speaker 2: Over and over again.
Speaker 1: At Rockgertz said watching the SNL Cold Open with Kamala
Speaker 1: and Maya Rudolph on a loop and at Eastin eleven
Speaker 1: said that Apple News Today mentioned the San Diego Zoo
Speaker 1: is doing a free live stream tomorrow of cute zoo
Speaker 1: animals specifically to combat election anxiety.
Speaker 2: Bless you, San Diego Zoo. I will be watching the
Speaker 2: live stream of animals.
Speaker 5: A couple others you.
Speaker 1: Guys mentioned, deep breaths, good thoughts, yummy food, edibles, watching
Speaker 1: college basketball, going to the gym, eating leftover Halloween candy,
Speaker 1: and something called cozy shack pudding. I don't know what
Speaker 1: that is, but I'm on it. We love to hear
Speaker 1: from you, so thank you so much. You can always
Speaker 1: shitt u up on email. Good game at wondermedianetwork dot com,
Speaker 1: or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two
Speaker 1: o four fifty seventy. Don't forget to subscribe, Rate and review, y'all.
Speaker 1: It's real easy. Watch Soup season rating five out of five.
Speaker 1: Hardy Bowls of Goodness review A big old bowl of
Speaker 1: Soup is a guy, God damned delight. Feel free to
Speaker 1: send me your recipes now it's your turn.
Speaker 2: Rate and review. Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Good game Raven Ohemma, Amy and Kim, Good Game, Coco Golf.
Speaker 2: Than You, Election Anxiety.
Speaker 1: Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
Speaker 1: production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
Speaker 1: can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2: Production by Wonder.
Speaker 1: Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones.
Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan
Speaker 1: and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez,
Speaker 1: Grace Lynch, and Lindsay Cradowell.
Speaker 2: Production assistants from Lucy
Speaker 10: Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain