Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're still
Speaker 1: picking confetti out of our undies from Sunday's national title game.
Speaker 1: It's Wednesday, April ninth, and on today's show will be
Speaker 1: taking a break from college hoops madness Olivia Miles to
Speaker 1: TCU to Naya Lats into South Carolina. Oh, we got
Speaker 1: a lot to get to tomorrow, but today we're going
Speaker 1: to pivot back to the NWSL and get right into
Speaker 1: my conversation with the Washington Spirits vice President of Fan
Speaker 1: Growth in Community Rashauna Hamilton. We caught up with their
Speaker 1: a couple weeks ago to discuss a brand new season.
Speaker 1: What made her pivot from coaching aspirations to community engagement work,
Speaker 1: Why it's so crucial for teams and franchises to listen
Speaker 1: to their fans and being intentional about uplifting cultures across
Speaker 1: the DMV area with the Spirits events and theme nights.
Speaker 2: That interview's coming up right after this.
Speaker 1: Joining us now, she's the vice president of Fan Growth
Speaker 1: and Community for the washer Rington's Spirit of the National
Speaker 1: Women's Soccer League, with previous stops at the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: and Atlanta Hawks. She's a George Mason University alum and
Speaker 1: got her master's at VCU.
Speaker 2: She could be a food photographer.
Speaker 1: Based on the snapshots of a recent trip to Austin,
Speaker 1: she was eating good and snapping good picks.
Speaker 2: It's Rashaanna Hamilton. Hirashaana, Hi, how are you good?
Speaker 1: Except I was also recently in Austin and I didn't
Speaker 1: have nearly as much time as you did to go
Speaker 1: to some good restaurants.
Speaker 2: Based on those photos, well, I.
Speaker 3: Do love to eat. I feel like the only way
Speaker 3: to know a city is to eat your way through it,
Speaker 3: and I definitely put on a few calories that should
Speaker 3: require a couple of jogs once I got home.
Speaker 1: That is my strategy too, But it's also walk, so
Speaker 1: I have to walk everywhere so I could see everything
Speaker 1: and then break up the walk in with the eaton.
Speaker 1: So I'm jealous of your trip. It looked awesome. I
Speaker 1: want to go back to the beginning and talk about
Speaker 1: your relationship with sports, whether playing or watching growing up,
Speaker 1: and how you ended up on this path to working
Speaker 1: in them.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Absolutely. My dad was a college basketball coach, and so
Speaker 3: I played sports growing up. I watched him. He was
Speaker 3: at Yukon and won a national championship at Yukon, actually
Speaker 3: won two national championships at Yukon, and so I just
Speaker 3: sat on the sidelines watching such great sports happen. That's
Speaker 3: why I started playing. I was like, if the boys
Speaker 3: can do it, I can do it too. And from
Speaker 3: there it just I fell in love with it and
Speaker 3: I figured it's time to explore it from a business side.
Speaker 3: And it's very different, but I knew that I wanted
Speaker 3: to find a way to contribute when my playing days
Speaker 3: were over.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you actually spent some time when you were at
Speaker 1: VCU as a women's basketball grad assistant.
Speaker 2: Was that the path originally was to get into the
Speaker 2: coaching side.
Speaker 3: Of course, I was like, Okay, my career is over.
Speaker 3: I don't want to go play overseas. I said, I'll
Speaker 3: just teach other women how to do this game at
Speaker 3: a high level. And what I realized is, hats off
Speaker 3: to every college basketball coach on the world, because it
Speaker 3: is a tough, tough gig and I feel like nowadays
Speaker 3: it's gotten even tougher with the poor and nil It's
Speaker 3: just you're really seeing the landscape change in college sports.
Speaker 3: And so I thought I was going to be a
Speaker 3: college basketball coach, and I took a very hard left
Speaker 3: once I got into it.
Speaker 2: What did you like about it coaching?
Speaker 3: Well, I think what's cool about coaching is that you
Speaker 3: really get to connect with players. I think that part
Speaker 3: is cool, and honestly, they keep you young. I like
Speaker 3: to consider myself like fresh and hip. And I was like,
Speaker 3: all right, I know all the slang, like I know
Speaker 3: what outfits to wear. Right, So I was like, all right,
Speaker 3: this will keep me young and keep me cool. Like
Speaker 3: to this day, my dad is still probably the coolest man.
Speaker 3: I know. I'm like, he's the coolest grandpa in the
Speaker 3: world because he's in college, so you know, he always
Speaker 3: is telling me what's going on, and I'm like, man,
Speaker 3: I need this to rub off on me.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's like a job that will both aid you quickly
Speaker 1: and keep you young somehow at the same time.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And we thought wine was the only thing that
Speaker 3: could do that. No college coaching.
Speaker 2: That's right, that's right. Let's talk about the Washington spirit.
Speaker 1: You're a DMV Natives, So what did it mean to
Speaker 1: come back to work for a hometown team.
Speaker 3: The spirit is crazy, crazy, crazy big. Right now we
Speaker 3: are growing and to come back home and be able
Speaker 3: to be part of a club with an owner that
Speaker 3: is really growing the game for women is absolutely phenomenal.
Speaker 3: I will tell you when I got the call and
Speaker 3: I was in Miami, and I said to myself, is
Speaker 3: this the time to really take a big jump and
Speaker 3: take a leap a little bit of faith because the
Speaker 3: NWSL is an emerging league And I looked around at
Speaker 3: the ownership, I looked around at what the NWSL was doing,
Speaker 3: and it was a no brainer. It also helps that
Speaker 3: my mom is still here and I've got two little ones,
Speaker 3: so whenever you can live close to a grandma, that's
Speaker 3: an easy yes. So I think it was a combination
Speaker 3: of right place, right time, but also being a part
Speaker 3: of this magnificent growth.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I want to get into some the differences from your
Speaker 1: previous positions, but first, like just set the stage a
Speaker 1: little by telling us what your main responsibilities are. Some
Speaker 1: people might not really know what someone with your job does.
Speaker 3: That is totally fair. I get that question all the time.
Speaker 3: What I say is I really kind of work in
Speaker 3: three spaces and so fan growth. For us, the first
Speaker 3: piece is our operations and running any match at Audifield.
Speaker 3: So for us, we have one of the best fan
Speaker 3: experiences in the city. Our fans truly love coming to
Speaker 3: see us, and my team helps to put on that
Speaker 3: experience and helps to really make sure fans are falling
Speaker 3: in love with us one game at a time. And
Speaker 3: the second space really is our community impact space, and
Speaker 3: that's what we do philanthropically to show DC how we
Speaker 3: support them. And then the third space that's super important
Speaker 3: and this little sliver I think unique right now to
Speaker 3: women's sports, is that fan engagement in growth, and that's
Speaker 3: where we bring the brand externally to the market and
Speaker 3: we meet people where they are to introduce them to us,
Speaker 3: but also to get them to get a little taste
Speaker 3: of who we are. That is what I like to
Speaker 3: call our personality, and so I get a chance to
Speaker 3: bring the personality out and about to streets.
Speaker 1: I was a minority owner of the Red Stars for
Speaker 1: a couple of years and one of the things that
Speaker 1: we talked about is how do we make the game
Speaker 1: day experience a little bit more exciting or informative for fans.
Speaker 1: How do you use the JumboTron or screens around the
Speaker 1: field to be informing them about something that's happening or
Speaker 1: a player that's playing because it's really difficult compared to
Speaker 1: something like basketball, where you have built in breaks, timeouts, quarters,
Speaker 1: et cetera. A lot more opportunities in basketball to have
Speaker 1: someone go out and juggle plates or you know, throw
Speaker 1: it fris me to a dog or do whatever else
Speaker 1: you do to add some entertainment, and some of it
Speaker 1: has to feel organic to to the team, even if
Speaker 1: it's a new team or only as a couple of
Speaker 1: years under its spelled. You also don't want to feel
Speaker 1: like you're forcing these activations or moments during the game
Speaker 1: onto face and they need to sort of create them themselves.
Speaker 1: How do you respond to those restrictions? How do you
Speaker 1: make sure that the game day isn't just about pre
Speaker 1: and post but also during the game. What's a value
Speaker 1: add for fans, especially maybe some who don't know soccer
Speaker 1: as well need something to jar them back awake or interested,
Speaker 1: you know the newbies that are like, I'm not sure
Speaker 1: what's even happening out there.
Speaker 3: Well, I think one thing that we've done that has
Speaker 3: been super interesting is in your traditional American sports that
Speaker 3: we're used to seeing on TV on prime time, they
Speaker 3: have all this entertainment that's kind of roaming through the stadium.
Speaker 3: We do that as well. So we've created our Spirit Crew,
Speaker 3: which is our hype crew, and so they're roaming the concourse,
Speaker 3: they're going up into the stands and engaging fans. We're
Speaker 3: really taking every opportunity that a person is at the
Speaker 3: building to connect with them. So we do your typical
Speaker 3: things pre and post because that's important. It's really important time.
Speaker 3: But when we have milestone moments within a match, we
Speaker 3: make sure to put that on the video board. We're
Speaker 3: sending our entertainment crews out so they can be capturing
Speaker 3: moments with fans so we can share those as well,
Speaker 3: and we try to make a really strong atmosphere. We
Speaker 3: try to get the fans prepared to chant and cheer.
Speaker 3: We have our supporters teaching all of the chants and
Speaker 3: cheers pregame so that by the time the ball goes
Speaker 3: in and we start kicking off, everybody's ready. Everybody's knowledgeable
Speaker 3: and excited to join us on this journey.
Speaker 1: Nice you're a year into the job. You started and
Speaker 1: join the team in March of last season. How was
Speaker 1: the learning curve after years in the NFL and the NBA.
Speaker 2: I will be.
Speaker 3: Honest, it was a little rough. I was like, what
Speaker 3: when do we take a break? Like it just keeps going.
Speaker 3: I think that was probably the biggest thing to get
Speaker 3: used to, which also made me realize I could never
Speaker 3: have been a high level athlete in soccer, right. I
Speaker 3: played when I was younger, But I was like, oh no,
Speaker 3: they just they keep running. That's like their condition for this.
Speaker 2: That's the sport.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, So I think for me adjusting to that
Speaker 3: was great. But what was the same, I think is
Speaker 3: the passion. So I think when you are sitting in
Speaker 3: a match, watching soccer match amongst nineteen thousand people, it
Speaker 3: is a truly electric atmosphere. And I thought because we
Speaker 3: didn't have these manufactured moments, that that atmosphere would take
Speaker 3: a dip. So I kept assuming to myself. I was like, oh,
Speaker 3: you know, we don't have a time out, we don't
Speaker 3: have this, we don't have that. Like people are going
Speaker 3: to fall asleep, people are going to be uninterested. And
Speaker 3: I found that to be untrue in the best of ways.
Speaker 3: I think because soccer is such a nail biting sport,
Speaker 3: right you just you're waiting and waiting for that magic moment.
Speaker 3: I think it keeps fans so interested because they feel
Speaker 3: like they cannot leave their seat, because if you leave
Speaker 3: your seat and there's that one goal, it's like you
Speaker 3: waited all this time to miss the moment. And so
Speaker 3: I think that is shocking, but also with shocking to
Speaker 3: me coming from these more traditional sports that have so
Speaker 3: much stoppage time, But it's also kind of nice. I'm
Speaker 3: not sitting in the stands for four or five hours, right, like,
Speaker 3: it feels very achievable for our fans.
Speaker 2: What do you think's the biggest difference when you're looking
Speaker 2: to serve fans of women's sports in the women's sports
Speaker 2: space versus serving fans in men's sports.
Speaker 3: We have done a lot of learning about our fans,
Speaker 3: and the biggest difference I see is that our fans
Speaker 3: are truly immune to the wins and losses. So I
Speaker 3: think in these bigger sports, you see a team has
Speaker 3: a bad year, their stadium starts to empty out right,
Speaker 3: There's very few of these legacy teams that are fighting,
Speaker 3: fighting and fighting for fans. And what we have found
Speaker 3: in our segmentation studies is that our fans are really
Speaker 3: with us because of what we represent, because of who
Speaker 3: we are, because of what we believe in because of
Speaker 3: the message that we provide. We are talking about strong
Speaker 3: role models with our athletes, we are talking about all
Speaker 3: of the community and philanthropic giving that we're doing, and
Speaker 3: that message resonates with fans. And what we find as
Speaker 3: well is that the soccer community is very tribal, and
Speaker 3: so people want to come and they want to be
Speaker 3: with their fellow people. That's really what we found, and
Speaker 3: so they are there for the experience. But it is
Speaker 3: a social gathering as much as it is an entertainment opportunity.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think, of course it helps a
Speaker 1: little with newer, younger leagues because the suffering has only
Speaker 1: gone on for so long for the teams that do
Speaker 1: struggle in you know, established men's sports. I'm literally wearing
Speaker 1: a cubsat right now. You can go one hundred and
Speaker 1: eight years without winning it all, and then it does
Speaker 1: start to feel like, listen, I love you, I'm going
Speaker 1: to keep coming, but figure it out.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: What's interesting is it's a positive, of course that fans
Speaker 1: are so aligned with their teams and they stand for
Speaker 1: so much more than just soccer. At the same time,
Speaker 1: that's a lot of pressure on teams and leagues in
Speaker 1: the women's space, to not screw up, to not offend,
Speaker 1: to not drop the ball. When it comes to important
Speaker 1: social engagement, community engagement, intersectional issues. How intentional do you
Speaker 1: have to be because you know that you will hear
Speaker 1: it from your fans if you step in it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think soccer fans are very vocal, but listen,
Speaker 3: they are representing a generation where that is the norm.
Speaker 3: I think the reality is is as we look at
Speaker 3: Generation Z becoming a bigger population of not just the
Speaker 3: workforce but consumers, they are an informed generation. They purchase intentionally,
Speaker 3: and so what it requires is accountability. And I think
Speaker 3: what the brands that are doing it really well, ourselves included,
Speaker 3: is that even when we make a misstep, it's about
Speaker 3: being accountable within that misstep, right, And so we desperately
Speaker 3: try not to and we will always try to be
Speaker 3: on the right side of history because that's what our
Speaker 3: brands stand for. But it's not to say that these
Speaker 3: that behind these brands aren't human beings that make mistakes.
Speaker 3: And I think what's really really nice is that gen
Speaker 3: Z sees effort, and gen Z ces progress, and gen
Speaker 3: Z is empathetic. And so when brands do make a
Speaker 3: misstep as long as they're willing to own that. I
Speaker 3: think that these consumers and these fans they get it.
Speaker 3: They understand. They're like, we are with you, and we
Speaker 3: get that. And I think really the NWSL is doing
Speaker 3: a great job of being player centric now and so
Speaker 3: it's really hard to misstep when you let your players
Speaker 3: have a voice. And the NWSL and especially the Spirit
Speaker 3: does a really good job of giving the players their voice.
Speaker 3: I think we've seen that in the CBA, in this
Speaker 3: new CBA, and I think that is what's promising, is
Speaker 3: that we are really testing and piloting something different and
Speaker 3: saying we think different is better, and let's give it
Speaker 3: a chance and see if that is the case.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would agree with you.
Speaker 1: I think the player centric league and then also listening
Speaker 1: to fans. And we've seen an example of that of
Speaker 1: late with the Boston and WSL team. Right, they rolled
Speaker 1: out a name and a brand that was poorly received,
Speaker 1: and they said, all right, bet let's go back, let's
Speaker 1: listen to y'all, let's try to think about how we
Speaker 1: did this and come back and try again. How much
Speaker 1: engagement does the Spirit have with supporters groups, fans, message boards,
Speaker 1: social media, chats. How much are you trying to keep
Speaker 1: up with that, either directly to them or just hovering
Speaker 1: behind the scenes and watching to make sure you know
Speaker 1: what your fans are saying and thinking about the team
Speaker 1: and the choices you're making constantly.
Speaker 3: The easy answer in the one word is constant.
Speaker 2: You got a lot of fence? Does?
Speaker 3: We got a lot of fence does? There's a lot
Speaker 3: of us And the best part about being a lean
Speaker 3: staff too, is that you have a lot of people
Speaker 3: here that are p passionate about the brand, and so
Speaker 3: when we are kind of circulating and watching what's happening,
Speaker 3: we're doing it because we genuinely care about this organization.
Speaker 3: But what's important is that our fans they do They
Speaker 3: tell us exactly what they think, They tell us exactly
Speaker 3: what they want. And we're also super intentional about not
Speaker 3: talking about fans as these groupings of people where they're
Speaker 3: not human. Right. Sometimes you hear a lot of marketers
Speaker 3: start saying our demographic or this group right, like we
Speaker 3: when we talk about them, we truly say our fans.
Speaker 3: We do a survey after every match and we go
Speaker 3: through and we read the verbatims because we want to
Speaker 3: know that a dad brought his daughter, his eight year
Speaker 3: old daughter to the match for her birthday with her
Speaker 3: eight friends, and he was so overwhelmed and exhausted by
Speaker 3: the time that night was over, but it is something
Speaker 3: she's going to remember. We get pictures of you know,
Speaker 3: ladybugs soccer that came to visit us, and there are
Speaker 3: so many of those stories, and that's what we hold
Speaker 3: on to, is those individual stories, because every fan matters
Speaker 3: to us and we care about every single one of
Speaker 3: their journeys and touch points with us.
Speaker 1: I remember talking to former Bull's employee at the time
Speaker 1: he was still employed. They're just talking about how important
Speaker 1: it is not to look at demographics but instead to
Speaker 1: look at behaviors. Because i might be a certain demographic,
Speaker 1: but when I'm taking my niece and nephew to a game,
Speaker 1: I might be buying more food and candy, you know
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff maybe merch for them, and if
Speaker 1: I'm going with my friends, I'm buying more beer and
Speaker 1: I'm engaging with the product differently. So needing to look
Speaker 1: at how someone's behavior impacts how you want to serve
Speaker 1: them instead of how they're demographic, might tell you what
Speaker 1: you think that they're going to behave as is super important.
Speaker 2: I was reading an interview and you talked.
Speaker 1: About being willing to fail in order to see progress right,
Speaker 1: and that you have to sort of take some big
Speaker 1: swings and see how they work out. Is there an activation,
Speaker 1: an event, a promotion that you remember taking a big
Speaker 1: swing on that didn't work and what did you learn
Speaker 1: from that?
Speaker 3: Oh, my gosh, I mean so many. You have to
Speaker 3: be willing to do it. I think this year we
Speaker 3: last year we had a giant American flag that we
Speaker 3: had out on the field, and operationally it was tough
Speaker 3: for us to do. I think it was you know,
Speaker 3: soccer fans, especially Spirit fans, are patriotic and definitely care
Speaker 3: about our country, but they're also very informed, and so
Speaker 3: I think for them, because that was the only representation
Speaker 3: on the field, they were like, well, what about what
Speaker 3: about the Spirit? What about? And so to say that
Speaker 3: we failed would be accurate because I think they were
Speaker 3: expecting so much more of us, And so what we
Speaker 3: said is what else can we provide that makes them
Speaker 3: feel like they are truly here for a Spirit match?
Speaker 3: And we've embraced their sense of identity in that, and
Speaker 3: so this year we've we've failed last year at just
Speaker 3: the Flag, we figured out how to kind of make
Speaker 3: it better operationally, and then and this year we did
Speaker 3: a center circle with the Spirit branding, and that's been
Speaker 3: why we accepted and loved. We've got people asking us
Speaker 3: to be part of that group to do it right,
Speaker 3: and we just realized that, hey, there was just a
Speaker 3: part of our fans identity that just resonated more and
Speaker 3: for us, we were.
Speaker 2: Like, we love it.
Speaker 3: We absolutely love having the opportunity to bring you more
Speaker 3: Spirit branding. We would love to do that with more merch,
Speaker 3: all all of that. So that was probably the one
Speaker 3: for us that we thought, Okay, this is a flop.
Speaker 3: How do we kind of take this flop and turn
Speaker 3: it into something better.
Speaker 1: Well, on editorial aside just from me that is not
Speaker 1: attached to you in any way, I could see why
Speaker 1: people maybe don't want the focus to be on American
Speaker 1: patriotism right now. So yeah, we're going to take a
Speaker 1: quick break. When we come back, I'm talking food and
Speaker 1: fan engagement with Rashaanna Hamilton.
Speaker 2: Keep it here. We do look at data for Washington's
Speaker 2: Spirit fans.
Speaker 1: Are there any surprises when it comes to different demographics
Speaker 1: or fan groups? Like, were there numbers that shifted your
Speaker 1: approach to outreach weather because you wanted to serve a
Speaker 1: fan base that you didn't realize was as big as
Speaker 1: it was, or maybe because you wanted to potentially catch
Speaker 1: the eye of a fan base that you think you
Speaker 1: could grow.
Speaker 3: Well. I think what is important right in marketing is
Speaker 3: that when you get to know who your core fan is,
Speaker 3: that as much as you want to kind of stray
Speaker 3: and try to go out and source these new fans,
Speaker 3: you do have to think about what is my potential there?
Speaker 3: And can I fish in a pond that I already
Speaker 3: know is biting? And so we have decided, because of
Speaker 3: really what's available to us and our market, We've decided
Speaker 3: to fish where we know the fish are biting. And
Speaker 3: so what that means for us is we are just
Speaker 3: trying to learn more about the fans that have been
Speaker 3: loyal to us. So we know about where they're consuming
Speaker 3: women's sports, but where they're consuming other information, we try
Speaker 3: to show up in those places. I mean, I will
Speaker 3: tell you DC is a brunch city, and so last
Speaker 3: year we had a game where we did a brunch promotion.
Speaker 3: We're trying to expand that and now We're like, who
Speaker 3: can we partner with to do brunch out?
Speaker 1: Oh we've seen that with the Mystics with their mimosa
Speaker 1: and tickets.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it worked out really well. Yeah, you DC folks.
Speaker 3: The DC girl is love, love, love a good brunch.
Speaker 2: I'm here, girl. Why try to fight it day drinking?
Speaker 2: You know you're not hung over the next day, you
Speaker 2: just hung over that night.
Speaker 3: So we we have kind of leaned into learning more
Speaker 3: about our fans. But the same thing we find in
Speaker 3: our youth soccer world that we get a lot of
Speaker 3: youth soccer, we get a lot of girls that want
Speaker 3: to become our athletes, but just girls that are seeing
Speaker 3: these role models, and so we lean heavy into that.
Speaker 3: I will say we we did see a very small
Speaker 3: segment that we think about as like a sports generalist,
Speaker 3: so they're just into sports in general. And I was
Speaker 3: I was surprised, I think at that one, but not
Speaker 3: surprised that they support us because we're winning. I didn't
Speaker 3: want to brag, but we are winning. We did with
Speaker 3: the Challenge Cup this year.
Speaker 1: We've noticed Yeah, so pretty good over there for y'all
Speaker 1: the last couple of years.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I think that helps.
Speaker 2: Right, Like we're Yeah, for sure, we're growing well.
Speaker 1: And also I think with the changing dynamic of women's
Speaker 1: sports in general, hopefully going to women's events will be
Speaker 1: a part of scanning your city for opportunities at entertainment
Speaker 1: of all kinds. It used to be very intentional that
Speaker 1: it was about being a women's sports fan, so like
Speaker 1: in the same way that someone might go to a
Speaker 1: baseball game, and if they don't love baseball, just because
Speaker 1: it's part of the culture of living somewhere. Now they'll
Speaker 1: start going to NWSL games, WNBA games, college women's basketball, like,
Speaker 1: hopefully that'll be part of the scan.
Speaker 2: Of what are the things you know available to me?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I have to tell you because I think this
Speaker 3: is a great, great story on that is that I
Speaker 3: had invited I have friends obviously all over the city.
Speaker 3: I had invited a couple of my guy friends out.
Speaker 3: There was like four of them. They are a little
Speaker 3: younger than me, and so they're still in that age
Speaker 3: where they have a good time when they go out
Speaker 3: and party, and so I said, just come to a
Speaker 3: Spirit game, just come to the home opener. You might
Speaker 3: have a good time. I just want you to experience it.
Speaker 3: They were open to it. They came and after I
Speaker 3: get four text messages that was so much fun. Please
Speaker 3: let me know when I can come back. But I
Speaker 3: think that is the power of women's sports now is
Speaker 3: that it's not a charity. It is entertainment and it
Speaker 3: is exciting, it's fun to watch. There's a great environment.
Speaker 3: And I tell you, I was like, okay, I have
Speaker 3: converted four Spirit fans that if you would have asked.
Speaker 1: Me, it's cool to be a part of yeah, the
Speaker 1: way that it didn't used to be, right. It's part
Speaker 1: of the water cooler talk, and it's part of being
Speaker 1: able to keep up with what everyone wants to know
Speaker 1: about and understand and like go to which is cool.
Speaker 1: Last year, the Spirit celebrated the Black community in DC
Speaker 1: with a Juneteenth celebration that included honoring Lincoln Phillips, legendary
Speaker 1: soccer coach at Howard University, engaging with local small business.
Speaker 1: Take us behind the scenes of creating an event like
Speaker 1: that and how you can make sure it feels authentic
Speaker 1: and not just a one off.
Speaker 3: We are very intentional about talking to each community that
Speaker 3: we identify and want to celebrate, and so specifically for Juneteenth,
Speaker 3: we worked with curators at the Smithsonian African American Museum.
Speaker 3: We worked with local community members, members that are running
Speaker 3: nonprofits that help tell stories within DC of the black community.
Speaker 3: And also, for so long d C had really been
Speaker 3: known as Chocolate City. It had been known as a
Speaker 3: safe haven in a place where black people can thrive
Speaker 3: with culture, economically, with homes, and so Juneteenth gave us
Speaker 3: an opportunity to embrace that. And the great thing about
Speaker 3: being a DC native is that I already know the inroads,
Speaker 3: I already know where to go. I've been in this
Speaker 3: city for years, and so getting an opportunity to work
Speaker 3: with those groups that helps it feel authentic. We're not
Speaker 3: just pretending we are living these values. We are living
Speaker 3: these moments, and we are really taking the time to
Speaker 3: make sure if we are going to celebrate this group
Speaker 3: of people and show the world how beautiful their culture is,
Speaker 3: that we do that in a way that they would
Speaker 3: feel proud of us for helping to do. And so
Speaker 3: I think it's just about if you are not the expert,
Speaker 3: and if you are not the person, then you go
Speaker 3: find that expert and be perfectly okay being a good listener.
Speaker 1: In addition to Juneteenth event, this year, you'll have that again.
Speaker 1: You'll also have special theme games for things like Pride
Speaker 1: and Hispanic Heritage among others. So there anything you can
Speaker 1: tell us about what might be planned for this year
Speaker 1: in terms of the theme nights you're having.
Speaker 3: Listen, theme nights are a big deal over here. Okay,
Speaker 3: We've got thirteen opportunities to bring fans out. And when
Speaker 3: we say we know how to party for a theme,
Speaker 3: we've been it. This year, we have our pitch side
Speaker 3: pups have Pride, as you mentioned, we have Hispanic Heritage month.
Speaker 3: We're working with our local Hispanic radio contacts to make
Speaker 3: sure that again we're celebrating authentically. We're working with small businesses,
Speaker 3: so we had Hispanic owned food trucks that partnered with
Speaker 3: us last year. Anybody who experiences culture knows the number
Speaker 3: one way to do it is through food, and so
Speaker 3: you will always see us getting fans an opportunity to
Speaker 3: have food be part of that culture. And so you'll
Speaker 3: see that pregame in our new tailgating space. We have
Speaker 3: just very much up to the ante when it comes
Speaker 3: to theme nights. And I'm like, at this pace, I
Speaker 3: don't know what we're going to do next year to
Speaker 3: blow this year.
Speaker 2: Out of the water.
Speaker 1: What's the date on that Pitch side Pups. I will
Speaker 1: attend anything with dogs.
Speaker 3: Pitchside Puffs is coming very very very soon. So that
Speaker 3: is our May second game. May second, We've got you down.
Speaker 3: So we've got you and your down for May second
Speaker 3: we go. It's also our celebration of AAPI heritage months.
Speaker 3: So you'll get a combination of really strong food, really
Speaker 3: good culture, and some cute pups.
Speaker 2: Perfect. We'll hit the road right now, I'll throw them
Speaker 2: in the car.
Speaker 1: Women's soccer in the US used to be a predominantly
Speaker 1: white sport, but that's changing.
Speaker 2: There are some of the biggest names now women of.
Speaker 1: Color, whether that's Triple Espresso like Trinity Rodman, Mausewans, and
Speaker 1: Sophia Wilson formerly Sophia Smith, or international stars like Tamushawinga
Speaker 1: and Barbara Banda. How does your approach to community connection
Speaker 1: change because the makeup of the sport is changing.
Speaker 3: Now because it is a global game. I think here
Speaker 3: we are looking to bring that access to the communities
Speaker 3: that historically have not had it, and so we do
Speaker 3: that by partnering with community organizations. For US, that's organizations
Speaker 3: like Boys and Girls Club and DC Scores, they are
Speaker 3: already doing programming. They already are engaging with kids in
Speaker 3: programming to help produce better outcomes for those kids. And
Speaker 3: so what we do is we work with them to
Speaker 3: help bring soccer as an avenue for them to experience sport.
Speaker 3: And I think what we're finding is as we're going
Speaker 3: into black and brown communities here, it is becoming more accessible,
Speaker 3: more acceptable, it's becoming an option. I think they're also
Speaker 3: seeing role models that look like them. Right, if you
Speaker 3: can see it, you can be it. And so for
Speaker 3: us it really has changed. I mean, our stadium is
Speaker 3: in the Anacostia Navy Yard area, which is a historically
Speaker 3: black community in DC, and so instead of going out
Speaker 3: to more suburban communities, we've said, hey, if we want
Speaker 3: to grow the game in black and brown communities, we
Speaker 3: can actually do that right where Autyfield sits. How do
Speaker 3: we work with DC Parks and rec How do we
Speaker 3: work with some of these nonprofits that are in that community,
Speaker 3: because we know that by doing that it helps further
Speaker 3: our game, but it also helps clear that participation gap.
Speaker 3: And I have to tell you that's important because in
Speaker 3: a city with such a high minority population. We also
Speaker 3: have the largest gap between girls and boys playing sports
Speaker 3: in the entire country. We are the smallest space, but
Speaker 3: we have a twenty percent difference in the amount of
Speaker 3: girls in the amount of boys that are playing sports
Speaker 3: in general. And so we have looked at that problem
Speaker 3: and said, how do we help do our part to
Speaker 3: fix it if nothing else in our sport.
Speaker 1: Yeah, one of your superstars, Trinity Rodman, the kind of
Speaker 1: player that sells tickets helps with the whole fan growth
Speaker 1: part of your jobs. Real nice when she talks about
Speaker 1: how playing club footy overseas is an inevitability, How does
Speaker 1: that change your timeline for promoting her and centering her
Speaker 1: in your efforts if you're aware that you might not
Speaker 1: always have a Trinity Rodman in a Washington Spirit Jersey.
Speaker 3: Listen, we have the Michelle Kange effect, and I think
Speaker 3: that is more than enough. We are a global brand
Speaker 3: is simply by having the Michelle Kaning effect. And I
Speaker 3: think we continue to support our players. We continue to
Speaker 3: really highlight our players, understand their talent, and I think
Speaker 3: Michelle has been great at investing in the talent that
Speaker 3: our women have. And we are focused on making sure
Speaker 3: as many fans as possible, and DC could come out
Speaker 3: and see Trinity play. And so I think you know,
Speaker 3: for us, is it is that simple? It's focusing on
Speaker 3: those things.
Speaker 2: So is the Michelle Kang effect?
Speaker 1: Don't count on Trinity leaving because we're going to convince her.
Speaker 2: To stay, or is it count on Michelle being able
Speaker 2: to get the next Trinity run?
Speaker 3: Listen, all I know is I leave the sporting ops
Speaker 3: to sporting.
Speaker 2: Good answer, Good answer. Let's talk Michelle King.
Speaker 1: How involved does she in the team's community outreach and
Speaker 1: engagement with fans?
Speaker 2: How much do you interact with her as an owner in.
Speaker 1: The presentation of what your team stands for and how
Speaker 1: you want to engage with the community.
Speaker 3: Michelle really sets the tone for the team. The one
Speaker 3: thing I will say is that Michelle King as an owner,
Speaker 3: and the one word I will use is visionary. She
Speaker 3: is involved in what we're doing. She is invested in
Speaker 3: what we're doing, and she also understands the importance of
Speaker 3: doing it in the nation's capital in DC. And so
Speaker 3: she has invested in women's sports, but she's also looking
Speaker 3: around DC and making sure that she's investing in DC.
Speaker 3: So it's been exciting I think to have such a
Speaker 3: visionary woman really helping the city.
Speaker 1: When I think of Michelle King, the one word that
Speaker 1: comes to mind for me is fits. Legendary fits. Do
Speaker 1: you have a favorite and doesn't involve a cape?
Speaker 3: Okay, my favorite Michelle look as I like to say
Speaker 3: that eliewuk K is really anytime she gives me a sunglasses,
Speaker 3: like any sunglass she gives me, I'm like, when we
Speaker 3: have a meeting or or I shouldn't say a meeting.
Speaker 3: When we are at a match and Michelle throws on
Speaker 3: one of her glasses, I'm like, I'm here for this energy.
Speaker 3: The thing amazing is about to happen and I'm about
Speaker 3: to witness it. And I think, what's really cool is
Speaker 3: that Michelle knows that her fashion is iconic and she
Speaker 3: owns it. And she's like, don't believe me, just watch right.
Speaker 2: No, it's a power play for sure.
Speaker 1: I remember meeting her and being introduced to hers one
Speaker 1: of the owners of the Red Stars, and I was
Speaker 1: wearing jeans and a like zip up and she had
Speaker 1: one of her looks on and I was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: these are not the same people economically and otherwise.
Speaker 2: Rashana, thanks so much for joining us.
Speaker 1: It's so fun to get a peek behind what teams
Speaker 1: are doing, and there's so much good stuff happening at
Speaker 1: the Spirit. It's nice to hear how y'all are getting
Speaker 1: it done.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we are trying, I will say, we are trying
Speaker 3: to build little Spirit fans everywhere, big Spirit fans everywhere.
Speaker 3: We are trying to do our part on the field.
Speaker 3: But I think what's really cool is that we are
Speaker 3: really trying to engage fans in a different way. We
Speaker 3: are trying to show them how fun soccer is. And
Speaker 3: I will tell you being able to witness even the
Speaker 3: smallest how Hirschfeldt fan has been ultimately life changing. I
Speaker 3: mean when you see a kid start crying because of
Speaker 3: the way that how brought us into that extra time
Speaker 3: and got some penalty kick action in the semi final
Speaker 3: last year. I think it's just really symbolism of things
Speaker 3: to come with this club, and I'm excited to see
Speaker 3: how we keep growing and keep progressing and moving forward.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for Shauna. Yes, we have to take
Speaker 1: another quick break when we return. Highlights that eat meet
Speaker 1: a song that slaps welcome back slices first, a quick
Speaker 1: shout out to Mary Zee, who won the Good Game
Speaker 1: with Sarah Spain bracket challenge, and not only that, she's
Speaker 1: a Connecticut resident and Yukon fan who made the trek
Speaker 1: to Tampa and got to see her squad win in person.
Speaker 1: Who's the big winner, clearly, Mary, Prize coming your way
Speaker 1: just as soon as they get my ass to the
Speaker 1: post office.
Speaker 2: Mary.
Speaker 1: We love that you're listening, but we want to get
Speaker 1: you in the game every day too, So here's our
Speaker 1: good gameplay of the day. If you find yourself in
Speaker 1: the DMV area, or if you live there like meish
Speaker 1: make your way to some Washington Spirit games and community
Speaker 1: events this season. Sounds like Rashana's got some really amazing
Speaker 1: things planned, so you don't want to miss out. We
Speaker 1: always love to hear from you slices, so hit us
Speaker 1: up on email. Good Game at Wondermedia network dot com
Speaker 1: and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. It's easy.
Speaker 1: Watch the folks who gave the women's tourney their one
Speaker 1: Shining Moment review ten out of ten, given the people
Speaker 1: what they want rating. Every year, the Men's NCAA Hoops
Speaker 1: Tournament ends with a video montage of highlights set to
Speaker 1: the now iconic song one shining moment. The women don't
Speaker 1: get the same treatment, so someone stepped in to make
Speaker 1: things right. Shout out at Trilly Donovan two on Twitter
Speaker 1: for creating their own montage of highlights from The Big Dance,
Speaker 1: appropriately set to I Want to Dance with Somebody and
Speaker 1: all time banger truly Whitney Houston forever and honestly Trollie
Speaker 1: Donovan two forever.
Speaker 2: Thanks for doing that. We'll link to the video in
Speaker 2: our show notes. Now it's your turn to rate and review.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Slices, Good Game, Rashaana, Good Game, Washington Spirit, few sports
Speaker 1: teams smiling and taking photos at the White House as
Speaker 1: if the world, our savings, our healthcare, our rights, and
Speaker 1: our due process aren't all completely and totally right now
Speaker 1: because the man you're smiling with looking at you Dodgers.
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. Production by Wonder Media Network,
Speaker 1: our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our Executive
Speaker 1: producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 1: Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez and Grace Lynch.
Speaker 1: Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host
Speaker 1: Sarah Spain