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00:00:00
Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're really excited for people to learn that boys play soccer too. The FIFA Men's World Cup is officially underway in the US, Canada and Mexico. It's Friday, June twelfth, and on today's show, we're bringing you my panel from Tribeca X at Spring Studios in New York City. Earlier this week, I sat down with WNBACMO Phil Cook, New York Liberty CEO Kia Clark, and NWSLCMO Rachel Epstein to discuss the barriers and obstacles that long delayed the current cultural moment women's sports is having, how major TV networks both reflect and dictate how women's sports are covered and sold, the importance of storytelling, and how leagues and teams can improve awareness and enable.
00:00:41
Speaker 2: Access to their content. Plus dropping out by.
00:00:44
Speaker 1: Default, wanting to stay but being forced to leave, and a friend of the show has a nice welcome to the Big League's moment. It's all coming up right after this welcome back to Here's what you need to know today. Let's start with tennis. Serena Williams return to the pro game has been cut short after her doubles partner at this week's HSBC Championships, Canadian teen phenom Victoria Boco was forced to withdraw due to injury. Williams and Inboco won their first round match on Tuesday in straight sets, but the nineteen year old Inboco injured her left knee in her singles match on Wednesday and had to withdraw from both competitions. Williams has said that she plans to compete at next week's Berlin Open, with the partner still to be announced, but her status in any tournament beyond that, including Wimbledon later this month, is still tbd. To the PWHL, where Phase three of the expansion process is now under way, during which each of the four new expansion teams will be able to sign three additional players to their inaugural rosters. Now, in the last few days, we've heard from a few of the players who were selected by expansion teams using foundational player offers in phase two of this whole process, including former Seattle Torrent captain Hillary Knight and former Ottawa Charge captain Brian Jenner. In their respective Instagram posts, both players made it clear that they didn't want to leave their previous teams. Jenner's post included the line quote, while it was my intention to continue and finish my career in Ottawa, the organization has decided to move in a different direction, and my time here has come to a close end quote while Knight said in part quote when I was left unprotected, I knew I was about to embark on a wild and challenging ride. I likely would not get to stay in Seattle, chasing championships, building this franchise, and growing the game in the Pacific Northwest end quote.
00:02:37
Speaker 2: Uugh.
00:02:37
Speaker 1: I understand expansion always comes with growing pains, but it's still tough to see players forced to leave teams and cities that they wanted to stay with, And especially when it comes to a player like Hillary Knight, who's been such a driving force for women's hockey for so many years, it's really hard to see her spend the first four seasons of the PWHL on three different teams, rather than being able to establish a strong legacy in one play as she closes out her legendary career. I guess the only silver lining is how many markets benefit from the night bump and the opportunity to sell new fans on the chance to root for one of the greatest of all time more PWHL. The Toronto Scepters have announced a new head coach ahead of next week's PWHL draft. Pascal Rayom will take over for the upcoming season. Reyom was most recently an assistant coach in the American Hockey League and had a long NHL playing career, including playing as a forward for the Stanley Cup winning New Jersey Devils.
00:03:31
Speaker 2: In two thousand and three.
00:03:32
Speaker 1: The Scepter's previous coach, Troy Ryan, announced he was leaving the Canadian team back in May to lead expansion team PWHL San Jose as both its GM and head.
00:03:41
Speaker 2: Coach to the WNBA.
00:03:43
Speaker 1: This weekend slate includes a matchup of the two teams atop the league standings at the time of this recording. The top ranked Minnesota Links travel to the second place Las Vegas Aces on Saturday and eight pm Eastern tip off. As of Thursday afternoon, both teams are riding nice wind streaks, with the Aces having lee their last four and the Lynx having won their last eight. This game will also have big implications for the ongoing Commissioner's Cup, as both Las Vegas and Minnesota are in the league's Western Conference, and the team with the best record in each conference at the end of round robin play next Wednesday will earn a spot in the Commissioner's Cup Championship game, featuring a five hundred thousand dollars prize pool. Also worth keeping an eye on the Seattle Golden State game tonight at ten pm Eastern to see if the Storm can finally put an end to their seven game losing skid and earn their first win of the season against a Western Conference opponent. Valkyries are in a little slump of their own, having lost three straight to Soccer San Diego Wave and Brazilian national team forward Dudina is expected to miss significant time due to an injury she sustained during Brazil's controversial red card filled one nil loss to the US women's national team on Tuesday night. In an Instagram post, Dudina set initial scans point to injuries to a rite, acl and meniscus. Her absence would be a major blow to the en WSL leading Wave, who entered the mid season break at the top of the table with a record of eight wins, one draw and four losses to the Athletes Unlimited Softball League in her first ever professional game on Wednesday night, friend of the Show Megan Grant, the UCLA slugger, had a nice welcome to the pro's moment, hitting a two run home run in the third inning. The bad news and all those ended up being the Portland Cascades only two runs of the game, as the expansion side
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lost to the Carolina Blaze eleven to two, getting run ruled in the fifth inning. Cis Bates was right, though, the rookie Grant was primed and ready coming off her record breaking college season. And a fun fact about Grant's long ball, her three hundred and thirteen foot bomb would have been good for a home run in multiple MLB ballparks, including Boston's Fenway Park. Looking ahead, the Cascade have two games this weekend, both against the Utah Talons, and on Saturday, I'll be in Rosemont, just outside Chicago, to throw out the first pitch for the Chicago Bandits home opener.
00:05:59
Speaker 2: Again.
00:06:00
Speaker 1: It's the Oklahoma City Spark. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to try to throw it underhand like softball or overhand. It's a little bit stressful, to be honest, if any slices are there, say hi, give me some emotional support ahead of that first pitch. We'll link to the full AUSL schedule in the show notes. Oh in slices. A quick follow up to my trip to Glorious Dynam's house. Thanks to all of you who confirmed it was the right choice to steal the pillow tassel as a memento, even though I did get permission so technically not stealing. Also shout out to the views Sarah Haines who told me that she shares glorious taste and who gives a crap sustainable TP.
00:06:39
Speaker 2: I love that. I love just so relatable.
00:06:41
Speaker 1: Also, I wanted to say that a friend reached out after the episode concerned that the Billy Jean King quip about a non attendee not giving money to women's sports might have been perceived as a comment about Gloria.
00:06:52
Speaker 2: Definitely not.
00:06:53
Speaker 1: We took that bit out of the episode yesterday just in case, but if you heard the original version of the episode, I just want to be clear it was deserved snart for someone whose name was invoked, not for Gloria or anyone in the room. All Right, I got to go find a home for this tassel, So we're going to take a break when we come back. My Tribaca X conversation with three people entrusted with keeping women's sports moving up into the right Phil, Kia and Rachel are coming up next Welcome Back Slices. On Tuesday, I had the honor of moderating a panel at Tribeca X and NYC featuring three fantastic representatives and stewards for women's sports. Chief Marketing Officer for the NWSL Rachel Epstein, who very recently joined the league after nearly fifteen years at ESPN, where she served as Vice President of Live Sports and Audience Expansion. Kia Clark, CEO of the New York Liberty, who leads the franchise's business operations and strategic planning. And Phil Cook, who's in his sixth year as Chief Marketing Officer of the WNBA after twenty five years as a brand director at Nike. Take a listen, Key, I want to start with you. I'm always fascinated to let people know who don't know that you're in your sixteenth season with the New York Liberty. You were the one employee that was held over when there was a massive regime change. So you were with them at MSG the Prudential Center, Westchester County, and then you led the team through the transition to Barclay Center in twenty twenty one.
00:08:21
Speaker 2: Even before joining the.
00:08:22
Speaker 1: Liberty, you were at the WNBA NBA League office, So you've been a witness to league history. And I wonder if there are a few key moments over the years that stand out to you as particularly pivotal to the Liberty ending up where they are today, which is one of the hottest tickets in town, setting single game receipt records, fully established, is not just a sports team, but really a global brand.
00:08:39
Speaker 3: Now, well, you see a lot in you know what's edged out to be almost twenty years nineteen if I counted to the tee, But certainly a lot has changed, but a lot.
00:08:52
Speaker 4: Has stayed the same.
00:08:53
Speaker 3: And I think when you think about those pivotal moments, what are the moments, especially for the New York franchise, what stands out most is not that there wasn't belief, not that there weren't people who were working as hard as they could, but really it became an investment, not just financial but mind share, and it was an investment in what we could be in not trying to save our way to profitability, and so much focused in those early years was on just to get people to the games, just put butts in seats, butts in seats, butts and seats, And now it's sort of balloon to being this actual full throttle business. And that really came with being in the right building. You mentioned all the moves, and you know, not that MSG wasn't the right building, but it wasn't the right building at that time. Prudential was temporary, Westchester was temporary, and we really found a home in Barclay Center, and everything sort of has hung off of what does it mean to be in the center of Brooklyn, to still be the heart of the city. But decisions that sort of all were flywheels off of that included reimagining the brand, investment in people and talent, but mostly it really was the forward thinking and the belief that this could be what it has become ultimately by our ownership group.
00:10:07
Speaker 4: So I always start.
00:10:08
Speaker 3: With new owners, new vision, and that's really what got us there. And shout out especially, you know, to Joe Si and Clara Wusai was actually named to time one hundred people in sports this morning. But that is a testament alone to what investment really went for the ment to the franchise.
00:10:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I want to quickly touch on because I think it's easy to say investment and mind to share, although mind shares a new one. And I think that's really key because having been in the sports business for twenty years now, for such a long time, the best and the brightest might start in women's sports, but then they would go to men's when the opportunity came up, and that's where you went to thrive. And to have the kind of resources and investment to make great things, and the idea of
putting enough money behind women's sports that you could get those minds was a huge part of this change, absolutely.
00:10:53
Speaker 3: I mean I talk about it all the time. We have now become a destination. There are several people on my team who have left, you know, NFL jobs or NBA jobs and said I want to work in women's sports specifically, and having been here, I was one of the lone people at that time who was saying that. I wasn't the only, but there were very few of us.
00:11:12
Speaker 1: You know, the great product has been there and in my work I'm always trying to hammer that home. Yes there are some amazing players now, Yes there's a lot going on that's great now, but we are not going to deride what came before. There was incredible talent, there were great games to be seen. People just needed to be given the access to them. The investment needed to be there so that there was value shown to them of going to a game, that the experience is going to be great. So, if you had to pinpoint what delayed this cultural moment for women's sports, or what barriers or obstacles were in the way of getting the kind of coverage and investment we see now, what stands out as the most important to you.
00:11:45
Speaker 3: Most important is definitely coverage a number of media partners. Accessibility, and I think that was really the lag, not that we weren't on linear television, but the onset and proliferation of social media and our ability to tell our own story is what changed it. Not waiting for beat writers, not waiting for you know, this is going to sound really old, but as the marketing manager of this team, I took out the ads in newspapers as part of my job, you know, at the beginning. And now then that became let's just put together our own story. Players can do it individually, franchise can can do it, leagues can do it. And that really, I believe has been a major, major turning point and allowed us to be accessible, allow people to get into who are the players the athletes in this league and others?
00:12:33
Speaker 4: What is there the story behind the story.
00:12:35
Speaker 3: But even fundamentally, how do you tell the basketball story or you know, just in a really meaningful way, in a real time way. That all happened with you know, the way that we're able to have coverage and influencers and people talking about the game.
00:12:47
Speaker 4: All of those pieces were what got us to this moment right now.
00:12:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, social media is a literal hell on earth, but it does remove the gatekeepers, which were predominantly middle aged white men deciding what people should care about and be interested in. And once people on so were able to say, hey, this is what I like and everyone flocked to it, all of a sudden, those gatekeepers had to recognize that there might be a bit of an aperture change that they needed to see all the things that people wanted to hear about. Rachel, You've just taken on a new role as CMO of the NWSL, so congrats on that. The last fifteen years though, you were at ESPN leading female audience growth strategy, overseeing marketing for WNBA ANDWSL, NCAA championships, love pro Volleyball, espnW all the women's stuff. So you've seen and contributed to the growth of women's sports in a major way. ESPN has the power to reflect and also dictate what's valued and consumed. So how did you see coverage and prioritization of women's sports changed during your time there?
00:13:39
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean wearing my old hat for a second. ESPN has been far and away the leader platforming women's sports. So I think the number is north of thirty thousand hours of women's sports programming across ESPN. And what changed over time was the investment across the enterprise. And we talk about investment, but it really had to happen in pockets, more marketing and media investment, more intentional coverage across their social channels.
00:14:06
Speaker 2: You had to be really intentional. Katie Daily and her team were.
00:14:09
Speaker 5: That made a huge difference, better windowing, finding those windows to drive the viewers right and being intentional about that. And of course the marketplace also demand in it right, So you see Women's Sports Sundays now right, Like that is because the marketplace wants more assets, more ways in that are ownable, and so that drives also that investment and growth that ESPN is so uniquely positioned to create. The thing. The thing to remember that's really important is that they have this opportunity not just to fuel momentum, but to like really jumpstart it. And that's their power. And I think there's still more opportunity for all of women's sports and the role that ESPN can play.
00:14:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, we talked about that a lot of women's sports because we're like ESPN convinced us all to watch the Little League World Series. So the old idea of like I only want to watch the very highest level of everything.
00:15:04
Speaker 2: No, you don't, you want to.
00:15:05
Speaker 1: Watch what we told you has value and so ESPN has the opportunity to keep doing that. Women's Sports Sundays will be a great place because of the pre and post game, because of the many resources across all the different channels and digital resources that ESPN has to really devote to telling people the stories and making them dive in the way that they have for so many years with the men's side failure in your sixth year as CMO of the WNBA, but you had twenty five years before that with Nike Child Prodigy.
00:15:30
Speaker 2: Obviously, how did.
00:15:31
Speaker 1: You view the league from the sort of sponsor and brand side before you joined it.
00:15:36
Speaker 6: Nike's partnership with the WNBA was always transactional for the first couple of decades. You know, Nike's been with the w for thirty years now, and initially we had some athletes signed. The second ever signature shoe created by Nike after Michael Jordan's, was the Swoops signature shoe. So
Nike knew that the power was investing in athletes and the league was a throw in contribution to brand building and it was important I think, you know back in the day that Nike wanted to be seen as the premier brand affiliated with basketball, and so they just hunted properties and platforms. NBA top college is USA Basketball and then you can add in the WNBA, and that was kind of the way of life for the first you know, twenty years or so of the w and then the opportunities to find new athletes and leverage their talents and their input on both the game and the culture started to shift. The thinking a little bit that in order to attract that female basketball player, you had to find assets. You had to find players, teams, leagues that were heroic to the kids you were marketing to.
00:17:05
Speaker 4: That then led to.
00:17:07
Speaker 6: Five years ago when the WNBA put out a capital race. They were looking for seventy five million dollars worth of investment. Nike stepped up with twenty five million of that seventy five and that was the first indication that Nike had committed to helping grow the league, not just exploit the league, and not just use it as a as a brand platform. So this evolution from athletes to branding on uniforms and in marketing to an actual investment in helping grow and jump start this investment in basketball here in the US was kind of the evolution of Nike's time.
00:17:47
Speaker 2: Kay, we talked about access.
00:17:48
Speaker 1: Getting access to game streaming has been really big because obviously linear are still so important, but the opportunity to actually see your team play whenever you want for women's sports wasn't always a given. You've partnered with wny W WNYW. That probably rolls off the tongue for New Yorkers. I'm from Chicago, WNYW Fox five to broadcast games. You recently also launched a directing consumer streaming platform called Liberty Live. Can you talk about why it was important for the team to increase visibility but also control the brand narrative.
00:18:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it goes back to what we were talking about before, the accessibility and for a WNBA fan to watch, there's many many places to watch, and we thought that it was important to provide a space for them to watch that wasn't behind a paywall. With the move, with the resurgence of the brand where we were at that moment, it was a really really pivotal and actually risky decision to say we won't be on an RSN, but we will be available in seven and a half million homes in the New York DMA. That was important just for awareness sake. I remember the first games at Barclay Center, we had a couple of celebrities show up at MSG like that's the sort of level of awareness that we were like, well, if we can get on Channel nine on Fox five, you know, and we could tell this story and tune in, tell this story in pregame shows or postgame shows. We're now actually running our Liberty Unlocked behind the scenes episodic series on Fox as well.
So this is this is an extension of marketing at this point, not in addition to the games, and that's why it was important for us. It was always about accessibility and I'm really proud to say it also became a monetizable area of our business for the very first time. It was the first media right scale that we had locally as well, so important onto wavelengths, but really for me, it was really about awareness at first, and then on the D two C that's really about being prepared. You know, we're always on the go, and if this becomes, you know, in the future a space where even locally.
00:19:47
Speaker 4: You need your own direct to consumer, we wanted.
00:19:49
Speaker 3: To be the first to build it and test it and also start to ingrain our fans into finding content that's exclusive to them on our app.
00:19:57
Speaker 4: We want to keep you with us and a always.
00:20:00
Speaker 2: It's really smart.
00:20:01
Speaker 1: Also as prices go up because the tickets are so popular, you do want to make sure everybody gets to watch, regardless of financial background. Can you drop a name of who called you from outside MSG at the back entrance trying to get in.
00:20:13
Speaker 3: I don't even remember it was definitely a high profile tennis player though. That's okay, It's like US Open Week.
00:20:20
Speaker 2: Okay, great. You know, storytelling is a massive part of this.
00:20:23
Speaker 1: That's why you want to control your own narrative, and that's why you want to open up access to as many people as possible to get to.
00:20:28
Speaker 2: Know players and brands. Rachel, you're very new to your.
00:20:31
Speaker 1: Role with the NWSLF, like a couple weeks new, but I imagine that's going to be a big focus for you as CMO.
00:20:38
Speaker 2: What's the challenge there specific to soccer.
00:20:41
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I feel like on every panel like this, we talk about the importance of storytelling, and that is so important. Telling the stories of our athletes, getting to understand and who they are off the field or off the court creates that real emotional connection and it's important sort of entry point for fans, especially audiences. But as important, Sarah, you and I have actually talked about this as important and maybe even more paramount for soccer is actually telling the story of who they are on the pitch and helping fans really understand what makes them a world class athlete. That is like dimensionalizing the sport really in helping fans in a way that's easily accessible for casual and new fans. Understand the game and what makes our players magical in world class. Bringing that to life is a really important part of the storytelling, and that's actually what I think as much as the stories off the pitch create that emotional connection, that's what I think creates stickier fandom, like real fan formation. So you sort of come for that storytelling an emotional connection, but you stay for the world class athlete in the sport that's on the field.
00:21:50
Speaker 2: Because you understand it, and it's so much harder.
00:21:52
Speaker 1: Exactly, you can't look at a box score and look at you know, points, rebounds, blocks, it's unless you're looking at the really advanced metrics of time on field and possession whatever.
00:22:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're like, I don't know, she seemed good loud, you know.
00:22:03
Speaker 1: So telling the story of how soccer works so that they want to watch the game, understand the game, even if it's a one yell game.
00:22:09
Speaker 2: There's so much action in there.
00:22:10
Speaker 5: There's some very exciting content opportunities around that in a way that like really helps new fans come in that is that successible and easy to understand.
00:22:18
Speaker 1: Beyond the stories of the players and the teams and the game on the pitch. You also kind of still need to establish a league voice in year fourteen. What's the story the NWSL wants to tell about itself and its place in global women's soccer.
00:22:32
Speaker 2: As you mentioned just a few weeks in.
00:22:34
Speaker 5: But I mean, but I think the most important thing to note is that we are entering this unbelievable moment globally for the sport of soccer Men's World Cup this summer Women's World Cup next summer LA twenty eight and then hopefully a World Cup in the US and thirty one, and we are laser focused. The NWSL is at being at the center of that moment. Our job is really to I think, further define and cement what the NWOSL means in the hearts and minds of consumers in this moment, so that as new fans come into the sport and they understand it and stars are born, as these global moments always create, they then see and understand and feel like the NWOSL is the next destination for their fandom. That's the opportunity and that's where we're going to strike.
00:23:26
Speaker 2: In America.
00:23:27
Speaker 1: We take for granted that we have the best women's everything, but the global women's soccer game is pulling players and contending for that attention. So the NWSL is at a big important moment to assert itself as the place to be and the brand that everyone should be following.
00:23:40
Speaker 2: Phil the W does not have a problem with voice.
00:23:43
Speaker 1: The W has long stood for much more than just basketball advocacy, women's empowerment, activism, fashion, culture, all these things. The players are change makers, they're cultural icons, they're incredible influencers. If you haven't read the Sports Innovation Lab fan project about brandefin about how women athletes in particular, there's more and more studies out now about how they move the needle for brands more than almost anyone. How has the W told the story of leaning into or even leading cultural shifts around women and women's sports over the years.
00:24:15
Speaker 6: Well as I listen to Rachel describe her approach to storytelling and lack of box scores and makes it sound like my job is the easiest job on earth,
honestly, because you know, we do have amazing athletes to do amazing things on the court, and they are unequivocally the best basketball.
00:24:35
Speaker 4: Players in the world. So we start with that, and.
00:24:39
Speaker 6: In order to tell a cultural story, we needed to ground the athletes and as Rachel mentioned, who they are on the court. We need to make sure that fans, not just loyalists who have been with us, but prospective fans and incoming fans recognize just how great these athletes are of what they do in their day job. And what this has allowed is we tell that story as a league, and we do a great job of again working across with our broadcast partners, with all the other social platforms that are existing in sport. We're we're not lacking coverage of the game, and we know that so our opportunity and the world of distinction, And that's where I try to drive my team is find the stories, find the paths of distinction that can highlight who these athletes are as humans. And this takes us quickly to culture. I think, you know, this was our approach. We started this few years ago. We always had this component of social justice and purpose that we're a part of our league and our athletes, and that story is kind of woven into our DNA and we always tell that story. We shifted, you know, into a heavier leaning into basketball and then we migrated and evolved into culture. So what this migration in the culture has done is it's if I did other partners to come in and also invest in our athletes and their stories to culture. And so we are the league that you know has more culturally relevant brands as partners and supporters than pretty much any other league, and it's these athletes have opened up you know, personal care, hair products, accessories, fashion, all of these different categories have entered into our league as partners and sponsors, and their investment has validated our athletes in that space much more than we have. We can go ahead and say our athletes are cool.
00:26:37
Speaker 2: But when these very.
00:26:39
Speaker 6: Culturally relevant brands start to invest and invest heavily in our athletes as their endorsers, that then authenticates.
00:26:48
Speaker 1: The culture rule well, and it feels authentic because the athletes are bought in in a way that a lot of times on the men's side, they aren't.
00:26:53
Speaker 2: Key.
00:26:53
Speaker 1: Can you talk about how important it is to move from momentum to modern marketing infrastructure because this build and really change if.
00:27:00
Speaker 2: You do it the right way, and it can also fall flat if you don't.
00:27:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's the most exciting part about my job. And just listening to fail even talk. There's you know, obviously a team in league, there's this symbiotic relationship.
00:27:12
Speaker 4: What you're doing at the league level, we're doing at the team level.
00:27:15
Speaker 3: And when I think about coming to this team as a marketing manager those sixteen years ago, it was literally like placed the banner ads post one today on the social media platforms and I wrote the copy for the in game reads like that was marketing, right, And now we've evolved to this space where it's one complete ecosystem where marketing.
00:27:43
Speaker 4: Is at the center of all of it.
00:27:44
Speaker 3: But how we bring that to life is what really really matters, Like how do we pull together the retail and merchandising story, the broadcast story, the on court story, we transfer that to how do we communicate with fans about their experience, their engagement, their tickets, how we show up in the community.
00:28:03
Speaker 4: So marketing is.
00:28:04
Speaker 3: Across all of that, and it's really, really, really it seems complex, But if you don't have a true identity and you know exactly who you are, what you represent, what you're trying to build for your market, then it becomes almost like non existent, like you know, and I think that's probably The best part of what happened for the Liberty is we build all of that when we won two games, when we were not in Barclay Center. We weren't in the center of attention, but we knew what we could be and what we wanted to be, so we were ready. And that's why now it's almost undeniable. When you think about the color Way and Ellie the mascot and all of those things coming together, it's because it's truly grounded in this expectation that we will amplify fill in the blank whatever we're partnering with, and that could be a corporate brand, that could be a broadcast partner, that is the fan in most In most instances, it's actually like how.
00:29:01
Speaker 4: Do we bring you in?
00:29:03
Speaker 3: This is a community that we're creating together. It's being cultivated together. But to me, that's like the modernization of it. It's no longer like, well, how many spots and debts can I do and how many people can I put together?
00:29:14
Speaker 4: And you know, can we in the tech story?
00:29:16
Speaker 1: We need now too because that's where everything is its. It's business now, and that's how it has to be. Rachel speaking at business, the NWSLS is booming. Two new teams this year Boston and Denver. They're adding Atlanta and Columbus next year. Expansion fees two hundred and five million dollars buy in for that Columbus team that's coming.
00:29:34
Speaker 2: What are the opportunities and challenges that come with that growth.
00:29:37
Speaker 5: Well, I mean, every new team that sort of comes to bear creates do fans that enter that enter the league allows us to drive more relevance, It allows us to grow commercially in terms of our footprint. So and those teams bring investment and resource so in their ambitious right like elite playing environment, mints, elite fan experiences, So all of that is tremendous upside. And then I think the opportunity there is and the challenge right is to ensure that we maintain clarity, that we stay really true to the culture, the
supporters, groups, the players, the everything that made from its inception the league so distinctive. You have to hang on to that and you have to you have to build from that, so you stay really authentic even as you scale.
00:30:36
Speaker 2: But the growth is imperative and it's creating a ton of.
00:30:41
Speaker 5: Opportunity just at the league level, at the team level, and we just have to stay authentic and distinctive within that growth.
00:30:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, there'll be some growing pains for sure. Kia.
00:30:52
Speaker 1: I'm sure knows this from going into Barclays and so Liberty Row and suddenly some of the fans are priced out and how do you stay authentic to them? But it's necess that you also still reflect the culture because that's what makes women's sports special. We're running out of time here, so I want to end actually by giving each of you a moment to just speak to anyone from sponsors to advertisers, to media, whoever the stakeholders are in the space. What would you want them to know about women's sports that they might not yet understand yet if they're not fully in it, Because that, to me is where the next big step is is how do we make sure everybody in the ecosystem gets it because it's a multi billion dollar opportunity that some people are still missing out on.
00:31:30
Speaker 2: Kyah.
00:31:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, a lot of this conversation has been reflective and when if I could, you know, tie it all together with a bow, I would.
00:31:38
Speaker 4: Say there is room for us.
00:31:40
Speaker 3: There was never really a reason to create barriers or ignore opportunities that existed in women's sports.
00:31:50
Speaker 4: There is room.
00:31:51
Speaker 3: You can still do the things that you're doing with budget, with time on air, with you know, there's still room. It becomes a little bit more complex, but we can figure it out because there's an audience and there's an audience that's hungry for this content.
00:32:05
Speaker 6: Phil, I think our athletes represent tremendous influence in the marketplace, their values, their willingness to compete every night, to represent their authentic self off the court. This is what fans are attracted to now. And the values of our athletes align so well with the value of so many brands consumers and so many media markets consumers that connecting your brand to our athletes is good business.
00:32:36
Speaker 2: Gosh, you nailed that, Phil, Rachel, good luck.
00:32:40
Speaker 5: The end of your cell Sits uniquely the only league that does at the intersection of two huge moments, one for soccer globally that I talked about and women's sports. So and we are uniquely positioned the most competitive league in the world. Ambitious owners, world class global athletes, unbelievable fans. The league is a huge opportunity for brands and for all the fans that are going to come in in that global soccer moment to invest and become committed.
00:33:11
Speaker 2: I wish we had more time.
00:33:12
Speaker 1: There's so much more I want to talk to you all about, but you'll have to listen to my show Good Game with Sarah Spain, and you'll have to check in with these great teams and leagues to continue the conversation.
00:33:20
Speaker 4: Thanks so much, Thank you, Thanks Sarah.
00:33:24
Speaker 1: Thanks again to Phil, Kia and Rachel for sitting down with me in NYC. And thanks to Tribeca X for spotlighting women's sports. We have to take another break when we return, trying to hold two things at once. Welcome back slices. It's time for Good Eggs, presented by Vital Farms. You know that black carton and the egg aisle. It's got the good eggs inside, the only eggs I buy for real slices, and today we want to tell you about a good egg.
00:33:58
Speaker 2: We hope stays fresh. Well pass the FIFA Men's World Cup.
00:34:02
Speaker 1: The twenty twenty six FIFA Men's World Cup is taking over cities across the US, Canada and Mexico, which has us dreaming of the Women's World Cup next.
00:34:10
Speaker 2: Year in Brazil.
00:34:11
Speaker 1: The tournament will run from June twenty fourth to July twenty fifth, and will mark Brazil's first time hosting and the first ever Women's World Cup with the South American host nation. The US women's national team will look to secure their spot in Brazil with a win in the twenty twenty six CONCACAFF W Championship this fall, which will serve as the final round of World Cup qualification in the region.
00:34:31
Speaker 2: Now, the US are the highest.
00:34:33
Speaker 1: Ranked team in the tournament in the FIFA rankings, so they'll meet the lowest ranked team, El Salvador, sitting in seventy eighth when the matchup was set. The four teams that win in the quarterfinal round will advance to the World Cup, so a win over El Salvador and the US clinch of spot. A loss would require them to get two more victories in that tournament to make it to Brazil. As the host country, Brazil is already guaranteed a spot, which has us thinking about a good egg who just might be out there on the pitch next year. Marta, the forty year old Orlando Pride and Brazil national team forward, has already played in six World Cups and in twenty nineteen became the first player of any gender, to score a goal in five different World Cup tournaments, the first Brazilian women's player to play outside Brazil, the first woman to play in a FIFA sanctioned men's game, and the first female soccer player to leave her footprints in the quote unquote Temple of Brazilian Soccer. She has inspired girls around the globe to go after greatness, always demanding more for women players now. Marta did announce her retirement from international play after the twenty twenty four Summer Olympics, but she came out of retirement to represent Brazil in the twenty twenty five Copa America Feminina last year. And of course we just saw in Brazil's friendlies against the US women's national team in Brazil.
00:35:48
Speaker 2: So never say never, I mean, it.
00:35:52
Speaker
1: Just wouldn't feel right for a six time FIFA Player of the Year, the all time record holder for most goals scored in any World Cup, Brazil's all time leading goalscorer, and a damn good egg to not be on the pitch for a Brazil hosted World Cup, right right, So stay fresh, Marta, we need you. Thanks again to Vital Farms for sponsoring this segment, and next time you're in the store, look for the black carton in the egg aisle and visit Vitalfarms dot com to learn more. Vital Farms good eggs, no shortcuts. We always love to hear from you, so hit us up on email. Slace's good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh four fifty seventy and don't.
00:36:34
Speaker 2: Forget to subscribe, rate and review. It's real easy.
00:36:37
Speaker 1: Watch Chris and Martina The Final Set World premiere rating two of two Things that Can Be True review. On Wednesday night, the new documentary Chris and Martina The Final Set premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The movie covers the legendary and often contentious rivalry between Evert and Navratulova in the seventies and eighties. They're overlapping battles with cancer and how their relationship has changed through their battles on the court and off it Now. I was lucky enough to be at the world premiere in person thanks to an invite from my friends, the very badass filmmaker Rebecca Gilletts, who just happened to direct the film, and her wife the supremely badass Sam rappaport icon of all things women in football and flag football.
00:37:18
Speaker 6: Now.
00:37:18
Speaker 1: I wanted to support Sam and Becca, and I had a keen interest in the film's topic as someone who grew up playing Usta tennis, went to the Nick Military tennis camp and had a family who all subscribed to Tennis magazine and watched matches voraciously. Now, my parents don't care like about most sports, but the likes of Martina and Chrissy Stefan Edberg, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, and Steffie Graff were all household names for the Spains. I also had some trepidation going into the dock because in recent years Martina has been allowed opponent to trans inclusion in sport. We even got into it briefly on Twitter a year or two ago when she refused to call trans women women, and Chris has defended Martina's takes. Now, it's certainly painted my opinion of both women and affected my opinion of their legacies. That being said, this film is still very much worth your time. The access to both women during the most vulnerable and scary moments of their cancer battles and treatments. The insight into their psychees throughout their legendary rivalry, Martina's loneliness after defecting from Czechoslovakia and Chris's refusal to make room for friendships and love when being number one was all that mattered. It's all so fascinating and moving and emotional and really powerful. Now I haven't changed my mind about the damage both have done by speaking out against trans athletes, especially Martina as a member of the queer community. But I very much left the theater wishing I could sit down and talk to them about it, find out how much work they've really done to understand the impact of trans bands, the science that's very much in flux, the need for inclusive policy at the youth level, you know, all the stuff that celebrities with considerable influence should understand before speaking publicly about such a fraught issue. Becka's film is lovely and powerful, and it reminded me that some people might be worth trying to reach instead of just discarding.
00:39:10
Speaker 2: At least that's a hope I'd like to hold on to for as long as I can.
00:39:13
Speaker 1: All of you at home can watch the doc on Netflix on June twenty sixth Now it's your turn, rate and review.
00:39:20
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. See you next week.
00:39:22
Speaker 1: Good Game, phil Kia and Rachel, Good Game, Marta, you the fact that FIFA still calls it the World.
00:39:29
Speaker 2: Cup, not the Men's World Cup.
00:39:33
Speaker 1: Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are.
00:39:46
Speaker 2: Alex Azzi and Bianca Hilliard.
00:39:48
Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Lucy Jones, Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain