Courtside with Laura Correnti

For nearly 20 years, Karina LeBlanc was known for defending Canada’s net. Now she’s defending the future of women’s sports as EVP of Strategic Growth at RAJ Sports, where she’s helping lead both the Portland Thorns and the new WNBA expansion team, the Portland Fire—which also happens to be Portlands original WNBA team. She joins Laura to talk about playing the long game—creating generational...

Joining Editor in Chief of Marie Claire Nikki Ogunnaike, Laura traces her journey from college athlete to successful partner at Giant Spoon, and how she founded Deep Blue to drive commercial investment in women’s sports. They explore the critical role sports play in achieving career leadership, the impactful intersection of advertising with women's sports, and the innovative strides being made to elevate women's sports throug...

Mike Nichols has spent nearly two decades proving women’s sports are undervalued—and he’s putting his investments where the returns are. The former LPGA exec turned Chief of Sponsorship Strategy at Group 1001 joins Laura to talk about Gainbridge’s partnerships with the USL Super League, Caitlin Clark, and more. They get into why 40% of his sponsorship dollars go to women’s sports, how $5,000 grants can...

UCLA WBB head coach Cori Close joins Laura to talk about a culture that outlasts banners and awards—sweeping the sheds, nurturing the roots, and why “coaching people’s hearts” is her real playbook. She opens up about the Final Four learning curve, the NIL and transfer-era noise, and what infrastructure college programs actually need so coaches can coach. Plus: the service work that connects teams—and h...

Constance Schwartz-Morini, CEO of SMAC Entertainment, has turned sports talent across sports into household names along with her partner and client Michael Strahan. She shares how she helped Strahan become a media mogul, why Deion Sanders is the ultimate CMO, and how she’s shaping the future in women’s sports with clients including Emma Hayes, Brie and Nikki Garcia, and Erin Andrews. They dig into what it takes to build...

When Laura founded Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment, the first firm dedicated to commercial investment and growth opportunities in women's sports, she changed the game. She dives into how she did it: explaining inspiration she drew from the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, why she’s torn up her five-year plan so many times amidst the growth of women’s sports, and what needs to be done to create more “multi-hyphe...

What happens when you design a sports league for the next digitally-led generation instead of adapting for an old one? You get Overtime—a media and sports company rewriting the rules. EJ Lawrence, Head of League Partnership Development, joins Laura to unpack the strategy behind its four leagues (including Overtime Select, its women’s basketball property), the content engine driving a tidal wave of content every week and...

Sarah Spain has spent nearly two decades shaping the way we talk about sports—from breaking down barriers in early sports radio to co-creating ESPN’s first all-women podcast. Now she’s back with Good Game—a first-of-its-kind, daily podcast spotlighting the stories, stats, and stars driving the explosive growth in the popularity of women’s sports. Sarah joins Laura to talk about her journey to airtime a...

When the U.S. Women’s National Team won the 2019 Women's World Cup, a stadium full of fans chanted “equal pay” instead of “USA”—and Laura Correnti took note. She tells Inside the Ice House how that moment inspired the journey to founding Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment, what brands need to know about strategic investment, and why the growth curve is just getting started.

00:44 The Rise of...

When Andrea Brimmer announced Ally’s 50/50 pledge at the 2022 ESPNW Summit, it wasn’t a tribute ad or a token donation—it was a demand for equity, backed by dollars. As CMO of Ally (and a former collegiate midfielder), Andrea joins Laura to unpack how they turned a bold idea into a blueprint for the industry. They talk through how she restructured the budget, challenged media systems, and proved that betting big o...

Speaking with Michael Kassan on his show Good Company, Laura Correnti explains why she isn't waiting for permission; she’s building the new power structure in women’s sports from the ground up. In this episode, she joins Michael to unpack how she's turning under-leveraged markets into power plays, architecting culture-shifting brand deals, and proving that when you own the game, you don’t have to play by the old r...

2024 was a record-breaking season for the WNBA—and Colie Edison is making sure it’s just the start. As Chief Growth Officer, she’s behind the league’s 19% spike in sponsorships, its mission to build long-term brand equity, and the 13x business return league partners are experiencing. She joins Laura to break down what’s fueling and how to sustain that growth, how the league is approaching an expanding ...

Kristýna “Kalty” Kaltounková is the 2025 PWHL #1 draft pick—and she’s headed to the New York Sirens. The Czech standout lit up the NCAA with a record-breaking career st Colgate, but her story starts much earlier: skating at age three to keep up with her older brother. Kalty joins Laura to talk about her journey from youth hockey to a new era in pro women’s sports, how she plays on the edg...

Chelsea and England footballer Niamh Charles is fresh off an undefeated season—and gearing up for another shot at international glory at the Euros. She joins Laura to talk about what it really takes to stay on top: relentless prep, mental fitness, and those 1% performance gains that separate the good from the great. They get into the rise of women’s football, the electricity of the World Cup, and why Charles is building...

Sophie Goldschmidt didn’t grow up in snow sports—but now she’s leading them into a new era. As CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, she’s shaking up a traditionally insular space with entrepreneurial thinking, global strategy, and a clear mission: to turn Olympic-level athletes into household names. She talks to Laura about breaking through the four-year awareness cycle, creating premium brand partnerships, and ...

Former WNBA President and Upshot League founder Donna Orender joins Laura to talk about why she’s launching a new pro league—and why the moment demands it. She shares lessons from her time leading the W, the structural gaps she’s aiming to fill, and what it takes to create community-rooted franchises that are more than just teams—they’re assets.

00:29 Meet Donna Orender

02:05 Donna's Early Love ...

As Co-CEO of Horizon Sports & Experiences, David Levy is helping usher in the next era of sports media—just like he did at Turner. He joins Laura to talk about why sports still command top dollar in a fragmented media landscape, Unrivaled's innovative approach to sponsorship, and where he sees opportunity in the rapidly growing women's sports business.

00:39 Meet David Levy: Co-Founder of Horizon Sports and Experie...

There was no home for pro volleyball in the U.S.—so Katlyn Gao built one from the ground up: LOVB (A.K.A. League One Volleyball). She joins Laura to share how a personal mission became a national movement, why conviction matters more than consensus (or even fundraising), and what it takes to build something that lasts—and reshapes the future—in the world of women’s sports.

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How do you build a world-class women's football league on one of the sports' biggest stages? Zarah Al-Kudcy, Chief Revenue Officer at the Women's Professional League Limited (the organization behind England’s top women’s football leagues), joins Courtside to discuss how the WPLL is redefining how to build and expand the commercial opportunities for some of the most storied teams in football history. She and Laura dive i...