April 22, 2026 • 40 mins
Major League Volleyball Commissioner Jaime Weston joins Sarah to discuss her main priorities as the league’s new leader, what her years at the NFL taught her about establishing a brand image and message, the differences between MLV and their top competitor LOVB, and why history shows that two leagues won’t work forever. Plus, growing up a few floors above the place to be in NYC.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're talking
valkyries who dig instead of dribble. It's Wednesday, April twenty second,
and on today's show, we're skipping the need to know
and getting straight to my conversation with the Commissioner of
Major League Volleyball, Jamie Weston. I caught up with her
on Monday to discuss her main priorities as commission what
her years at the NFL taught her about establishing brand
(00:20):
image and message, the differences between MLV and their top competitor, love,
and why history shows that two leagues won't work forever.
Plus growing up a few floors above the Place to
Be in NYC. That conversation's coming up right after this.
(00:43):
Joining US now, she's the newly named commissioner of Major
League Volleyball, the league's first ever commission She boasts more
than twenty years of executive leadership experience across professional sports
and global entertainment, including stops at Universal Music Group and
the NFL, and most recently as Chief Commercial Officer at
USA Volleyball. A former collegiate vollyb A player at Georgia Tech,
she grew up going to her father's famous restaurant and
(01:03):
jazz club, Jimmy Weston's in New York, where he hosted
the likes of Frank Sinatra, Muhammad al Lei, Tony Bennett,
and former NFL Commish Pete Rosel. We'll ask her if
she got any leadership tips from old Pete. It's Jamie Weston.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Hi, Jamie, Hello, Sarah, it's so great to be on.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
So you not only went to your dad's restaurant, you
lived above it, which means that at any moment, any
number of famous, big time people were just down below
chatting it up with your pops.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
That's correct. We lived on the eighth floor in the
apartment building in Midtown Manhattan, and so at any time
my father would would ring up the intercom and if
for my mom, if Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett came by,
he'd say, get on your look good and come on downstairs.
And then for us, it was a myriad of folks
(01:54):
we would see coming in and out throughout the years.
It was it was quite a way to to grow up,
I have to say, to just experience, you know, life
in New York City in the in the eighties, like that.
It was a different time, for sure.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Do you remember one or two of your favorites that
like if they were over, like, your dad better be
calling up and letting you know.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So growing up, I was a big w w E
fan at the time, it was still WWF World Wrestling,
And one night my father called and he said, Jamie
Andre the Giant is downstairs, come down, Come down if
you want to meet him. And he truly was a giant.
(02:38):
And there was a photo that my father and I
took with him. So he basically we both sat on
he outstretched his leg and then we both sat on
his leg. It was almost like a bench, and we
took a photo with him the same Yeah, the same
life that. That was definitely one of one of my
(02:59):
favorite times. You know. There was a few other times,
you know, and any time you'd see politicians there, you'd
see basketball coaches. You know. There's some great stories that.
Actually this was before I was born. Pete Rizzelle, the
commissioner at the time of the NFL. He came back
(03:22):
to my father's restaurant because the NFL was a block away,
so they'd always end up in there. They came back
after Vince Lombardi's funeral, which was in Brooklyn. They all
a few of them went back to my father's for
a drink after and that is where they decided to
rename the Super Bowl Trophy after and it became the
(03:43):
Vince Lombardi Trophy. Yeah, so lots of different stories like that. Also,
you know Monday Night Football, when they originally came up
with a concept, they you know, did it at my
father's restaurant. Phone calls were made. Back then there was
no emails or you know, even blackberries blueberries iPhones. So
a lot of cool things went down in the sports world.
(04:07):
Lots of lore, yes for sure. For sure.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
See I wasn't as into wrestling, but I'm still obsessed
with the Princess Bride, so I would have also been
wanting the call for Andre the Giant and the stories
if people haven't seen any of the docs or listen
to any of the podcasts with the stories from the
filming of that movie were just in general about Andre
the Giant and the amount.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
He could drink and a NK too much.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
No one could move him, so they would have to
just leave him wherever he was. And I remember there
was a story once where he passed out in a
hotel lobby and they had to throw some blankets over
him and pretend he was furniture because nobody could move him.
But he also was too drunk to go anywhere. Gosh,
what an interesting and fascinating way to grow up. And
it kind of does explain some of the NFL work
(04:49):
that you did. We're going to get to that, but
I want to just start with this MLV job, because
you've been on the job for less than two months
so far. What has been maybe the most surprising thing
to discover, either about the role or the league.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
The biggest surprise for me. First of all, I'm just thrilled.
I'm so thrilled to be here and taking on this
very important role for the sport right now in our country.
For me, it is seeing the play that the women,
the strength, the speed, you know, I refer to them
(05:22):
as gladiators out there, because if you've never watched pro
volleyball up close and personal, you can't grasp at how
in awe you can be watching watching them play. It's
other level, and that, to me is has been the
biggest surprise. I started catching it more when I was
(05:44):
at USA Volleyball, seeing the national team play. But wow,
it's it's incredible to watch.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Yeah, what appealed to you most about the gig because
of course you played in college and you were with
USA Volleyball, but you spent a lot of time time
on the men's pro side. So as you made your
way toward USA Volleyball and now to this gig, what
was drawing you back toward women's sport?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Well, you know a couple things. Well, One, when I
graduated college, I knew I wanted to work in sports,
but working in women's sports wasn't really Maybe in college, right,
it would be okay, I could work in college on
the women's side, but there was there was no offering
really for pro women's sports, like you just naturally would go.
And you, I know, you were at ESPN for a
(06:29):
long time. It's like for so long we just covered
men's You were in men's men's pro sports. And I
kept playing after college. I played on the beach and
then my daughter, she's when she was of age, she
started playing club volleyball indoor and then she transitioned to beach.
She's subsequently playing in college. Now she's playing beach volleyball
(06:53):
for Santa Clara. So you know, when you end up
having kids, you start coming back into the sports. You
know that you could. Tay actually grew up in right
and she did want to go down the volleyball route,
so you come back into it. And for me, my
first taste back with Major League volleyball was a year
ago when I was with USA Volleyball. I went to
(07:15):
the All Star match in Indy and Sarah. The most
incredible thing for me was, you know, you're watching the match.
First of all, I'm like, this is incredible, and you're
and you go, Okay, that's like zero point five percent, right,
whatever the percentage is of these women that will ever
get a chance to play on the court. But then
I stepped back and I looked around and I saw
(07:38):
all the people working in the sport. And that's when
I got chills, because it you know, yeah, it's a
small finite number of people that will ever actually be
able to grace the court. But now when you look
at how many people can actually work in pro volleyball
and other women's sports right now, tow of that opportunity
(08:01):
is you know, I just think there's so many more
opportunities now for men and women to get in. So
for me to it was just really full circle. I
love the sport and for me to have the opportunity
to represent it at the highest level is just an
honor for me to be here.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
You mentioned the number of jobs and the number of people.
There were even more women's professional volleyball leagues up until
this merger, So just before the season began, MLV and PVF,
the Pro Volleyball Federation merged, so they kept the pvf's
history of a couple of seasons, but they took on
the MLV name. I know you weren't get employed by
the league, but can you just tell us a little
bit about that merger and how we ended up getting
(08:41):
here with the MLB.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Honestly, I can't. I don't know everything that went down,
except for you know, there was a brief parting of
the ways with one team, and then I think there
was a conversation at the table to say, listen, we're
trying to shrink down right, not fragments even more. And
I think that's when, you know, sounder minds come together
(09:04):
and just say let's let's do it. Let's right for
the athletes, Let's do it's right for the sport so
we can succeed at the highest level. And you know,
everybody came back to the table and made it happen.
And I've enjoyed working with everyone, you know at the
all the eight teams so far in the league. It's
it's it's been great. So you know, it's that moving
(09:25):
forward at this point.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yeah, it's Omaha Supernova's wanted to spin off with that
ownership starting this new Major League Volleyball League. They had
one hundred million dollars in funding and investors. And then
eventually instead of that spin off to a new league,
the two leagues sort of merged but took on this
new Major League Volleyball name.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
So you've got the.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Two seasons of the PVF in the books, the league
technically now and it's third season, eight teams. You mentioned
several new franchises set to join in the future. So
what are the top priorities for the MLV and for
US commissioner as you're nearing the end of this season
three and looking ahead.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Sure, well, first coming in, we were going right into
All Star weekend, so that was a priority. That was
our you know, second time a year later on CBS broadcast,
so we had a great number. We increased viewership by
thirty five percent, I believe year over year over four
hundred I think for average, four hundred and sixty seven
(10:20):
thousand tuned in, which is just it's a great number
for people like leaning forward, putting it on and staying
along for the two hour show. We're going into championships
Championship week, as you mentioned, so we want to keep
that momentum up and you know the audiences that we've
grown year over year. We think we hit our million
(10:45):
fan this season coming into the Arenas, So just you
know the growth. We want to continue on that growth.
And for me, Sarah's I keep saying it's this, you know,
you don't want to confuse moment and some with maturity.
We have the momentum, but there's there's nothing to rest
(11:06):
on yet. Yeah, you want to say young and scrappy
with your decision making. You know that that is what's
great about being here. Of course I love my time
at the NFL, but sometimes you know, it's such a
traditional league and it's been around. You know, there's there's
so many rules and viral laws. Sometimes you lose that
(11:28):
freedom to uh take some risks, take some innovations because
of you know, different things that are in place, so
we still have that ability to be quick and nimble
and and try different things. So you know, really when
you start getting into what are those those priorities, it's
making sure we have a great broadcast package that is
(11:49):
accessible to all fans to find. We really want to
get that rigor of day, date time, people know when
to tune in. That's important behavior UH to start UH sponsorship,
we want to make sure we have a really strong
portfolio of brands that you want to be a part
of Major League Volleyball. And you know that is we
(12:09):
are the major leagues, right that is the standard we're setting.
So our other priorities are making sure that's the bar
when we talk internally, we are the major leagues. We're
in with all of these other men and women pro leagues.
It's up here. So how do we make sure across
(12:30):
volleyball operations, governance, marketing, sponsorship, business development, you name it,
that everybody understands like what that means and what we
need to reach and setting all all of our priorities.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
There are a lot more women's professional sports leagues popping up,
and all of them have different financial support, varying frameworks.
You know, when it comes to n LV, what are
some of the player benefits and resources beyond just salary?
How what are the ways that you're trying to establish
that you are major league professional women's league, even if
it's just a couple of years in.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
So worth noting for Major League Volleyball, And one of
the reasons why I'm here is it's not essentially managed league.
So like traditional pro leagues, the owners that come in,
they they're from the community and they run their team locally.
(13:24):
They understand the community, they understand the fan base there
and the culture there, so they have the opportunity to
then build the team culture in the way they want to. Right.
So what is that when you say those benefits right?
Making sure right now we put everyone up to live
(13:44):
throughout the season. That was new for me to understand.
You know, coming from the NFL, it's like you get
your paycheck, you know, you sort yourself out, but we
take care of that and I love that. And making
sure they have the right transportation, making sure every team
has you know, everything from massage therapists to physical therapists, nutrition,
(14:08):
all everything they need that they can take care of themselves.
What I'm still getting up to speed on and I
you know, again six weeks in really learning is okay?
So what happens in the off season? Right? Where are
they going? What is the curriculum the program that they're
taking with them, what are they all doing? How do
we make sure that we are keeping our relationship with them?
(14:32):
Three sixty five? Right, So those are the things I
still need to dive into. Is like what does the
off season look like? But in season, you know, every
team is a little bit different, but they're all about
surrounding the athlete and giving them, you know, what they
need to yeah, you know, to be professional athletes.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
All the ownership will run their team in a specific way.
But is there a salary cap? Is there a minimum
and maximum salary? Like what's the range of salaries? And
do you hold each of those ownership groups accountable for
state in that range across the league?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Yeah? So we have our total team cap is one
point two million, and the individual player we recently, in
the first forty eight hours of my tenure, we increased
it from two hundred to three hundred thousand per player.
(15:22):
And that's that's to remain competitive right now, So got
that done a lot to look at in the in
the off season, and you know, we want to revisit
I'm revisiting all the rules with the competition Committee and
the Governance committee. It's really important just for three years
in right now's the time.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
You got to figure out all that stuff. It's a
huge part of starting something new.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Exactly, and you can't just say, well, this, this is
the rules, so this is what we're sicking we are.
This landscape is changing. Just even watch what went down
with the WNBA. You know in this off season. It's
they've been around right now for twenty seven, thirty years
or something, thirtieth season, thirtieth season, and you know, the
(16:08):
world is just it continues to change so fast, right,
so we need to make sure that, like I said
at the top, like we have the ability to be nimble,
and so let's make sure we are constantly monitoring to
be better. Right.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
And it's hard because the world is changing rapidly. But
you're only three years old. So a thirty year league
kind of just maybe they're bigger, they're not as nimble,
but they can adjust because of the foundation that they've
set to some of the expectations that folks have for
levels of salary and things like that. For you, it's
a matter of how do we grow in the amount
(16:43):
of time that makes sense for us financially with the
investments that we have while keeping up with expectations for
the current time. So that's salaries, right, Do you have
a salary minimum that you have for each player?
Speaker 2 (16:54):
I honestly don't know. Again, I'm going to lean into
my been here for six years six months, Excuse me,
I don't know if that's published actually public information. And
again I'm still like just getting up to speed on everything.
But I think there are guardrails around, or thresholds, if
you will, of what we're looking at for certain positions
(17:19):
and certain players that what we bring on.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I was just say the other thing that in nascent
leagues that can sometimes get dropped when you're working toward
prioritizing a lot of dollars toward awareness marketing things like
that are healthcare, HR, anti harassment policies, trainers and safety
on site for games, like how have you made sure
that you have some of those safeguards in place even
(17:42):
as you're trying to grow?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
So well said, because what I didn't want to come
in and just say, oh, we've got to win the
marketing game. Let's just start throwing at I've actually spent
more time on the volleyball side understanding where we might
be open to risk, where we are solid, what we
need to look at again coming off this third season
(18:07):
and shore up that you know we can we can
be in a better position going into next year because
you said it, those things. If you're not clear across
those certain areas and have sound uh you know, guardrails, governance,
(18:28):
whatever you want to call it, that can that can
take you down quickly. So I want to make sure
that everything is with our players at the center of
everything we do, and then look at the fans at
the center of everything we do, right, so the volleyball,
fortifying the volleyball with the players at the center, and
then making sure on the marketing side, you know, it's
(18:50):
fans at the center of our thinking as we go
out into the four, into our fourth.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Season, and it'll be nice for you to have an
off season to really do a deep dive into things
are not up to the standard that you'd hope or
where you want them to be. Just yet, you know
you mentioned the ownership structure it's not a single entity ownership.
They're owners in each market. I've got friends who are
actually minority owners of the Indian Night always trying to
get me out to a game. I haven't made it yet,
but I need to get out there. And you know,
(19:16):
I haven't really talked to them about the size of
their ownership or just the ownership structure in general. So
I'm wondering, are most teams owned by one major majority
owner with then minority group attached. Are most group owned?
Like what does it look like across the space right now?
Speaker 2 (19:30):
It's a little different across the board, but we don't
have several owners are surrounding single single teams. It's it
is more group. So if you look at our three
expansion teams coming, You've got Minnesota. Our Minnesota team is
(19:50):
which is coming in by the Minnesota Wild Leopold Leopold family,
so they're coming in as an ownership group. In Washington,
d C Jason Levian and the DC United MLS team,
and then up in NorCal, we have a partnership between
Teresa gal from private private equity Tech World. He's partnered
(20:13):
with the vech Remis Fight and he is the owner
of the Sacramento Kings, So you're getting that. You know,
it's it's a little bit smaller than maybe some of
our competitor out there, but what we are doing is
making sure they're clicking in with the right infrastructure. So
coming with pro sports teams behind them, whether it is NFL, NHL, soccer, MBA,
(20:40):
they're coming already with the infrastructure right. We've got ticketing,
we've got community outreach, we have marketing, sales sponsorship. So
you're clicking in an infrastructure that is almost turn key
for these new owners coming in.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Yeah, knowing the markets and having a beat on sale
and fan and information and things like that is huge.
You know, you mentioned your main competitor with the MLVPVF merger,
the pro vollayball landscape is less crowded than it would
have been, but it's still got Aupro Volleyball, which is
a sort of short season supplemental league, and then the
major competing league, which is Love League One pro Volleyball.
(21:18):
So in what ways do you see MLV differing from
LOVE if you think there are significant ways?
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Yeah, and I just I want to be really cautious,
you know, in publicly, you know, doing the compare and contrast,
because the first thing I want to say is, hallelujah.
We are all celebrating pro women volleyball and creating for
the first time, you know, that landscape for these women
(21:47):
to play in the United States, whereas I think the
general population didn't even know that there was provollball over
you know, in internationally. So just hooray for us all,
And I want to make sure that you know everything
we do is focused on that. Why I came to
Major League volleyball is for a few differences. So that
(22:11):
is why we're different. And I certainly don't want to
compare and contrast. It's just what I what I see
and believe in Major League volleyball, and you know it's
first and foremost. We are a pro league focused only
on the pro league. We're not in youth, We're not
in you know, other spaces of the category of volleyball.
(22:32):
We are pro women's volleyball, pro volleyball. The second thing
you and I already talked about, we we sell our
franchises in a traditional pro sports manner that United States
US fans are used to. Right, You have franchisee owners
and they control the team, they manage the team, and
(22:54):
they make the decisions obviously in concert with the league,
based on our priorities and every and where we're going.
But they have that luxury. And again why I think
that is so important is they know their market best,
they know their fans best, They know the culture what's
driving you know, the families, the communities. They know how
(23:18):
to have those relationships and nurture those relationships. You know,
the one thing I used to always say at the NFL,
even an established league over one hundred years, now, you know,
there's it's one thing to sell season tickets or single
game tickets, and I always say, just butts and seeds,
right that that is a proposition. Separate from that is
(23:41):
nurturing that sports fandom. Right, So for us, it's getting
in the community. You need to be in the community.
You need to be you know, with families, schools, grassroots.
You have to really plant the seeds, fertilize it, and
grow it in order to grow a generation generations of fandom.
(24:03):
It doesn't happen overnight. So that's really why I lean
into this model of localized ownership and management. And then
the third which I am a huge believer in, is
the college to pro model. We have a draft. It
is a moment. It's something that is important for us
(24:25):
to make sure that the college players know that they
are they have that pathway. We want them right away
and we want to take them from here, put them
in our pipeline and give them that chance to play.
They don't have to go to Europe and you know,
get better, get more mature. We want them right away.
So what I love about that is, you know that
(24:48):
fandom in college is so strong right now. In fact,
that is driving you know, the fandom that leads into
our league. So that's an important, you know, part of
our fan strategy, making sure that the fans that are
fall if you're playing at Wisco and then you go
play at Indy, we want those Wisconsin fans to you know,
(25:09):
follow those players. That's really important for me.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah, we do see like that college pipeline being there
for MLV. Obviously, there are some big name players like
Madison Skinner who go to Love and a lot of
the Love players are coming off the Olympic team. They
have played abroad or in Europe before coming back. Right now,
most of the top players in the country are affiliated
with Love. How does that division of talent impact your league,
And do you think some of that is just a
(25:34):
matter of continuing to establish through the draft the kind
of talent you do want to bring into your league.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, and a couple things. It's I appreciate pointing that out.
For one, we now allow four international players per roster,
so and the fact that we've got them, those players
now reaching out and saying I want to come, I
want to play in Major League Volleyball, and I want
to come to the US. They're recognizing and they've said it.
(26:02):
We see that the level of play is increasing significantly,
and I'd say, you know, look into next year, next season.
You know there's I think players are going back and
forth now between the league, So for every one that
might be heading that way, we're getting another one heading back.
So I think that what you're starting to see with
(26:25):
us coming out of our third year and our competitor
out of their second, I think it just it's going
to start evening out a little bit well.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
And I wonder if long term, do you think there's
room for both, Like, do you think eventually they'll need
to just be one women's pro volleyball league in the States.
If we think the market can't bear multiple teams in
the same cities. That's going to start happening more, or
just in general a focus that's lost when you've got
two different pro competing spaces.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Yeah, you've had a long career in sports and you
could probably speak to I can speak the NFL merger
that happened before I was.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Born, WNBA right, and competing league when they started out.
It's hard to keep two running.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
There's right now with the USL that I'm learning more
and more about NWS. You know, there are history. If
you go back in history, it seems to be a
consistent story, and that consistent story plays out and says
there's there's that room for two. Right, So you know,
if I was a betting woman, which I'm not, at
(27:31):
some point, at some point it needs to come together.
And I could say that inside the in the organization,
and anyone you speak to on the outside, they're saying
that you can't. It's not going to sustain.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
We're going to take a break more with Jamie right
after this, it feels like it would be great if
all of the powers came together in a way that
makes the opportunity for as many players as possible and
makes it as strong and sturdy and standing on a
(28:03):
great foundation. It's going to probably get sticky at some point,
but the hope would be eventually that it would result
in something that really has lasting power. You know, I
think you mentioned this earlier, but part of the exciting
thing about both leagues and just in general is that
women's professional volleyball gets to create a standard in this country.
It doesn't follow in the footsteps of pro men's leagues.
Like you said, there are patterns certainly to watch across
(28:24):
the pro sports space, but unlike most other leagues, you
get to really decide what it looks like in the US.
And how do you view that as both maybe an
opportunity and a challenge.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
I love that you brought that up. You know. When
I was at USA Volleyball and we were studying it
more and again, one of the reasons why I saw
this opportunity and came into it was you're right pro,
it's pro volleyball in America. There's not a W. There's
no W in front of it. Right. Our sport is
(29:00):
women led, women defined, and that's at the youth all
on up. So we can create this with partners that
come in with brands technology, broadcast partners. We don't have
to say, well, this is how it's been done, this
(29:20):
is how it's been done, so let's create and cut
out our formula. I think the point there is we're
just we're open and what clay to If we want
to do things a little differently, we can do it.
I don't have all those answers yet of what that
means in my short tenure year, but it's freeing to
(29:41):
say we don't have to follow what the Pro Men's
Volleyball League did. We're here creating that blueprint, if you will.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Yeah, and you can't rely on nostalgia or history to
connect with fans. You sort of have to start. You
have to create organic traditions and touch points in the moment, so,
you know, going back to the previous point, of course,
the investment in player experience and safety needs to be there,
but also there does need to be a real investment
in creating an awareness and an understanding and a affiliation
(30:14):
with the league, like why do you know these teams
and care about them? And I do think y'all have
done a good job with team names and mascots and
the kind of things that draw people in outside of
just the game itself. Where else do you see that
needing to go so that there's more folks who know
the names of teams and know the rivalries and things
like that.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yeah, so it goes back to a little bit we
were talking about earlier of cultivating fandom. If you look
at the Omaha Supernovas, we had to sell out, broke
the US record sixteen thousand, eight hundred and thirty eight
if I'm remembering it correctly, and why it's different there,
(30:54):
I would say again, they've had call it from John
Cook's beginning twenty thirty years to cultivate fandom volleyball fandom
in that town, in that region, And that is different
from right now in our newer teams, emerging cities of
I'll sample that, right, I'm gonna come in and buy
(31:16):
a ticket. I'm gonna sample it. It's two different jobs. Yeah,
so we need people to sample it. But what we
need to do to cultivate fandom a volleyball fandom, volleyball knowledge,
volleyball interests, that's a different strategy because that to me
is you know, you look at a game day is
(31:40):
like what is that door to door From the minute
you know they leave their house to going in a match,
the experience and going back into their driveway. Then what
happens after that is so important, and that's to me
me is like really where that where that work starts.
It's after game day that we have to work on well.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
And I think it's also like getting to know what
it is so that it's not just I like volleyball,
but I like this thing that's serving me volleyball. Right
when you were at the NFL, your job involved sort
of working with the league and licensees and sponsors and
broadcast partners and all these different people to figure out
what the league's brand image and message was. So you've
got a whole off season that you're going to really
(32:25):
probably dig down into this. But right now, what do
you consider or how do you consider MLB's brand image
and message.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
I would say it's there isn't one, right, it's low,
a low image and low awareness. And that's part of
the reason why I'm here. The teams have I think,
done an incredible job in their local regions, as you mentioned,
they've built it. That's one of the things that has
been lacking at Major League Volleyball that's been absent, absent
(32:58):
due to a number of reasons, but they haven't had
the infrastructure. We now are building that infrastructure, and that
is a key priority for me to start building that awareness.
And you're right at the NFL, it's what is what
are we building up here? Right? They can then flow
down to the teams and what can the teams do
(33:20):
to flow up into the league. We need to have
that same model and we haven't had that yet. So
that's a big, big point for me. The other point
there is you can't be on for six months and
then go away. This is a twelve month three sixty five,
(33:42):
twenty four to seven. We will lose everyone will lose it.
You just no longer in this day can you do that?
This is it. It is the culture, It is the experience.
When you know what I see. There's so many little
pockets of social media folks, reporters talking and writing about
(34:07):
volleyball twelve months a year, but it hasn't yet been captured,
aggregated and serve back to larger audiences. That's my job,
That's what we need to do.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Yeah, it's the storytelling. It's using the off season to
deep dive on players and team storylines so that people
are drawn to it. It's building off of events. There's
a couple events coming up to North America based twenty
twenty seven Women's World Championships the LA twenty twenty Olympics.
You can both build excitement for those and benefit from
them in the future. And a lot of what we're
(34:42):
now learning about sports is that so many people are
getting invested in caring based on what they're scrolling past
and then stopping on. And so how do you make
sure that you're branding, your marketing, your storytelling, your brand
voice is something that they connect with and want to
seek out and also stop on when they come across it.
And with so many things competing for that, it becomes
all the more important to be recognizable every time you
(35:05):
pop up in front of their faces. A last question
for you, because I know we have to let you go.
A couple top storylines you're watching as we get near
the championships. May seven through May ninth are the championships.
Most lucrative prize in American volleyball, million dollars is going
to be split a months the winning roster. So is
there a player or team or something that fans that
want to dive in or maybe are watching already can
(35:26):
get into before the championships.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
So right now we know Indian Knights have clinched and
Dallas has clinched, so we're waiting on who are the
next two teams right that are going to come in?
So right now Neck and Neck, it's San Diego Mojo,
the Supernovas of course are in there, and Grand Rapids
out of Michigan. They are San Diego to Omaha. Neck
(35:51):
and Neck. I think they're going in maybe eleven and
thirteen on their season, and then Grand Rapids is right
behind Orlando. They won it last year the Valkyries, So
I have to go back and look at the Monday
standings and see if they still have a chance. But
this is going to be tight. We won't need to
(36:13):
know maybe until the Monday before our semi finals on
that Thursday, May seventh, who those last two teams are sore.
There's a lot on the line, and to your point,
it's a million dollar match, so you know these these
women are in it to win it for sure, and
we're going to be in Frisco.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Yeah, tune in now to watch the playoff push and
get excited for who you're going to see in the Championship.
Well I learned a ton, Thank you so much. Congrats
on the new gig. We're really excited to see how
things continue to evolve in the space, so thanks for
the time.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
Thank you, Sarah, so great to see you.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Thanks again to Jamie for taking the time to chat
with us, and don't forget you can now watch our
full length good Game interviews on the Iheartwomen's Sports YouTube channel,
so head on over there and subscribe.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Vibe.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
We have to take another break when we return. One
player still on the outside looking in welcome back slices.
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good gameplay at the day. Watch one of this week's
MLV matches. The Atlanta Vibe and Grand Rapids Rise play
(37:23):
tonight at seven pm Eastern on Scripts Sports Network, while
The Indian Night and Orlando Valkyries play tomorrow at seven Eastern,
with that game airing on Roku channel. We'll link to
the full MLV schedule in the show notes. We always
love to hear from you, so hit us up on email.
Good Game at wondermedianetwork dot com, or you can leave
us a voicemail at eight seven two two o four
(37:43):
fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review.
It's easy watch Natasha Cloud's heartfelt social media post, rating
five out of five stars for honesty review. One of
the WNBA's most popular and beloved players, Natasha Cloud, is
surprisingly still looking for a team as the w season nears.
(38:05):
The three time All defensive player who helped the New
York Liberty to a title in twenty twenty four and
average more than ten points and five assists a game
in New York last season, has yet to sign with
the squad. On Sunday, the thirty four year old posted
a note to social that read quote, I've given my
heart to every team and community I've been part of,
never fully knowing if the impact I hoped for was
truly felt In this moment, though, receiving so much love,
(38:28):
support and advocacy means everything. It's a powerful reminder that
the impact I've wanted to make beyond the court is
real and aligned with what I believe God has called
me to do through this game. I'm okay just taking
things in even if they weren't what I expected, and
trusting I'll be all right. End quote. Now, I'm glad
Tosh knows what she's already given. The game, her teammates
(38:49):
and the fans is worth so much. I'm glad she's
feeling the love and support in this moment.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
Now, if this is a.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Salary cap issue or a case where things moved fast
and teams that were a fit someone else before she
could decide, or maybe teams are looking to be dudo
for Juju Watkins and wrong for Sarah Strong and they
still want to pay talent like her.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
If they're looking to.
Speaker 1 (39:08):
Lose, well that's the case, I'll be sad, but I'll
live with it. But if this is about Cloud's activism,
in particular her bravery in speaking out about the genocide
in Gaza, then shame on every front office too cowardly
to support a woman who puts herself out there for
what's right. Cloud told Ndscape all the way back in
June of twenty twenty four that she was disappointed that
(39:30):
very few WNBN NBA players were speaking out, and she said, quote,
we need collective voices to stand up and say what's right.
We know right and wrong. If your morals and values
are not at the top of your list, your top priority. Then, man,
I don't know what I can do for you. I
know I'm going to continue to lead with my morals
and values. First, I won't be bought. My heart won't
(39:51):
be bought. End quote. Now it's your turnial rate and review.
Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow. Good game, Jamie, Good game,
Women's leagues writing a new script without the w you
how much the volleyball hurt your forearms when you did
controlled pepper bump set spike in school gym class. Good
(40:12):
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 Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier. Our executive producers
are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rudder, Lucy Jones, Britney Martinez and
(40:34):
Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery Loftus and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're talking
valkyries who dig instead of dribble. It's Wednesday, April twenty second,
and on today's show, we're skipping the need to know
and getting straight to my conversation with the Commissioner of
Major League Volleyball, Jamie Weston. I caught up with her
on Monday to discuss her main priorities as commission what
her years at the NFL taught her about establishing brand
(00:20):
image and message, the differences between MLV and their top competitor, love,
and why history shows that two leagues won't work forever.
Plus growing up a few floors above the Place to
Be in NYC. That conversation's coming up right after this.
(00:43):
Joining US now, she's the newly named commissioner of Major
League Volleyball, the league's first ever commission She boasts more
than twenty years of executive leadership experience across professional sports
and global entertainment, including stops at Universal Music Group and
the NFL, and most recently as Chief Commercial Officer at
USA Volleyball. A former collegiate vollyb A player at Georgia Tech,
she grew up going to her father's famous restaurant and
(01:03):
jazz club, Jimmy Weston's in New York, where he hosted
the likes of Frank Sinatra, Muhammad al Lei, Tony Bennett,
and former NFL Commish Pete Rosel. We'll ask her if
she got any leadership tips from old Pete. It's Jamie Weston.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Hi, Jamie, Hello, Sarah, it's so great to be on.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
So you not only went to your dad's restaurant, you
lived above it, which means that at any moment, any
number of famous, big time people were just down below
chatting it up with your pops.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
That's correct. We lived on the eighth floor in the
apartment building in Midtown Manhattan, and so at any time
my father would would ring up the intercom and if
for my mom, if Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett came by,
he'd say, get on your look good and come on downstairs.
And then for us, it was a myriad of folks
(01:54):
we would see coming in and out throughout the years.
It was it was quite a way to to grow up,
I have to say, to just experience, you know, life
in New York City in the in the eighties, like that.
It was a different time, for sure.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Do you remember one or two of your favorites that
like if they were over, like, your dad better be
calling up and letting you know.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So growing up, I was a big w w E
fan at the time, it was still WWF World Wrestling,
And one night my father called and he said, Jamie
Andre the Giant is downstairs, come down, Come down if
you want to meet him. And he truly was a giant.
(02:38):
And there was a photo that my father and I
took with him. So he basically we both sat on
he outstretched his leg and then we both sat on
his leg. It was almost like a bench, and we
took a photo with him the same Yeah, the same
life that. That was definitely one of one of my
(02:59):
favorite times. You know. There was a few other times,
you know, and any time you'd see politicians there, you'd
see basketball coaches. You know. There's some great stories that.
Actually this was before I was born. Pete Rizzelle, the
commissioner at the time of the NFL. He came back
(03:22):
to my father's restaurant because the NFL was a block away,
so they'd always end up in there. They came back
after Vince Lombardi's funeral, which was in Brooklyn. They all
a few of them went back to my father's for
a drink after and that is where they decided to
rename the Super Bowl Trophy after and it became the
(03:43):
Vince Lombardi Trophy. Yeah, so lots of different stories like that. Also,
you know Monday Night Football, when they originally came up
with a concept, they you know, did it at my
father's restaurant. Phone calls were made. Back then there was
no emails or you know, even blackberries blueberries iPhones. So
a lot of cool things went down in the sports world.
(04:07):
Lots of lore, yes for sure. For sure.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
See I wasn't as into wrestling, but I'm still obsessed
with the Princess Bride, so I would have also been
wanting the call for Andre the Giant and the stories
if people haven't seen any of the docs or listen
to any of the podcasts with the stories from the
filming of that movie were just in general about Andre
the Giant and the amount.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
He could drink and a NK too much.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
No one could move him, so they would have to
just leave him wherever he was. And I remember there
was a story once where he passed out in a
hotel lobby and they had to throw some blankets over
him and pretend he was furniture because nobody could move him.
But he also was too drunk to go anywhere. Gosh,
what an interesting and fascinating way to grow up. And
it kind of does explain some of the NFL work
(04:49):
that you did. We're going to get to that, but
I want to just start with this MLV job, because
you've been on the job for less than two months
so far. What has been maybe the most surprising thing
to discover, either about the role or the league.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
The biggest surprise for me. First of all, I'm just thrilled.
I'm so thrilled to be here and taking on this
very important role for the sport right now in our country.
For me, it is seeing the play that the women,
the strength, the speed, you know, I refer to them
(05:22):
as gladiators out there, because if you've never watched pro
volleyball up close and personal, you can't grasp at how
in awe you can be watching watching them play. It's
other level, and that, to me is has been the
biggest surprise. I started catching it more when I was
(05:44):
at USA Volleyball, seeing the national team play. But wow,
it's it's incredible to watch.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Yeah, what appealed to you most about the gig because
of course you played in college and you were with
USA Volleyball, but you spent a lot of time time
on the men's pro side. So as you made your
way toward USA Volleyball and now to this gig, what
was drawing you back toward women's sport?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Well, you know a couple things. Well, One, when I
graduated college, I knew I wanted to work in sports,
but working in women's sports wasn't really Maybe in college, right,
it would be okay, I could work in college on
the women's side, but there was there was no offering
really for pro women's sports, like you just naturally would go.
And you, I know, you were at ESPN for a
(06:29):
long time. It's like for so long we just covered
men's You were in men's men's pro sports. And I
kept playing after college. I played on the beach and
then my daughter, she's when she was of age, she
started playing club volleyball indoor and then she transitioned to beach.
She's subsequently playing in college. Now she's playing beach volleyball
(06:53):
for Santa Clara. So you know, when you end up
having kids, you start coming back into the sports. You
know that you could. Tay actually grew up in right
and she did want to go down the volleyball route,
so you come back into it. And for me, my
first taste back with Major League volleyball was a year
ago when I was with USA Volleyball. I went to
(07:15):
the All Star match in Indy and Sarah. The most
incredible thing for me was, you know, you're watching the match.
First of all, I'm like, this is incredible, and you're
and you go, Okay, that's like zero point five percent, right,
whatever the percentage is of these women that will ever
get a chance to play on the court. But then
I stepped back and I looked around and I saw
(07:38):
all the people working in the sport. And that's when
I got chills, because it you know, yeah, it's a
small finite number of people that will ever actually be
able to grace the court. But now when you look
at how many people can actually work in pro volleyball
and other women's sports right now, tow of that opportunity
(08:01):
is you know, I just think there's so many more
opportunities now for men and women to get in. So
for me to it was just really full circle. I
love the sport and for me to have the opportunity
to represent it at the highest level is just an
honor for me to be here.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
You mentioned the number of jobs and the number of people.
There were even more women's professional volleyball leagues up until
this merger, So just before the season began, MLV and PVF,
the Pro Volleyball Federation merged, so they kept the pvf's
history of a couple of seasons, but they took on
the MLV name. I know you weren't get employed by
the league, but can you just tell us a little
bit about that merger and how we ended up getting
(08:41):
here with the MLB.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Honestly, I can't. I don't know everything that went down,
except for you know, there was a brief parting of
the ways with one team, and then I think there
was a conversation at the table to say, listen, we're
trying to shrink down right, not fragments even more. And
I think that's when, you know, sounder minds come together
(09:04):
and just say let's let's do it. Let's right for
the athletes, Let's do it's right for the sport so
we can succeed at the highest level. And you know,
everybody came back to the table and made it happen.
And I've enjoyed working with everyone, you know at the
all the eight teams so far in the league. It's
it's it's been great. So you know, it's that moving
(09:25):
forward at this point.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yeah, it's Omaha Supernova's wanted to spin off with that
ownership starting this new Major League Volleyball League. They had
one hundred million dollars in funding and investors. And then
eventually instead of that spin off to a new league,
the two leagues sort of merged but took on this
new Major League Volleyball name.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
So you've got the.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Two seasons of the PVF in the books, the league
technically now and it's third season, eight teams. You mentioned
several new franchises set to join in the future. So
what are the top priorities for the MLV and for
US commissioner as you're nearing the end of this season
three and looking ahead.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Sure, well, first coming in, we were going right into
All Star weekend, so that was a priority. That was
our you know, second time a year later on CBS broadcast,
so we had a great number. We increased viewership by
thirty five percent, I believe year over year over four
hundred I think for average, four hundred and sixty seven
(10:20):
thousand tuned in, which is just it's a great number
for people like leaning forward, putting it on and staying
along for the two hour show. We're going into championships
Championship week, as you mentioned, so we want to keep
that momentum up and you know the audiences that we've
grown year over year. We think we hit our million
(10:45):
fan this season coming into the Arenas, So just you
know the growth. We want to continue on that growth.
And for me, Sarah's I keep saying it's this, you know,
you don't want to confuse moment and some with maturity.
We have the momentum, but there's there's nothing to rest
(11:06):
on yet. Yeah, you want to say young and scrappy
with your decision making. You know that that is what's
great about being here. Of course I love my time
at the NFL, but sometimes you know, it's such a
traditional league and it's been around. You know, there's there's
so many rules and viral laws. Sometimes you lose that
(11:28):
freedom to uh take some risks, take some innovations because
of you know, different things that are in place, so
we still have that ability to be quick and nimble
and and try different things. So you know, really when
you start getting into what are those those priorities, it's
making sure we have a great broadcast package that is
(11:49):
accessible to all fans to find. We really want to
get that rigor of day, date time, people know when
to tune in. That's important behavior UH to start UH sponsorship,
we want to make sure we have a really strong
portfolio of brands that you want to be a part
of Major League Volleyball. And you know that is we
(12:09):
are the major leagues, right that is the standard we're setting.
So our other priorities are making sure that's the bar
when we talk internally, we are the major leagues. We're
in with all of these other men and women pro leagues.
It's up here. So how do we make sure across
(12:30):
volleyball operations, governance, marketing, sponsorship, business development, you name it,
that everybody understands like what that means and what we
need to reach and setting all all of our priorities.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
There are a lot more women's professional sports leagues popping up,
and all of them have different financial support, varying frameworks.
You know, when it comes to n LV, what are
some of the player benefits and resources beyond just salary?
How what are the ways that you're trying to establish
that you are major league professional women's league, even if
it's just a couple of years in.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
So worth noting for Major League Volleyball, And one of
the reasons why I'm here is it's not essentially managed league.
So like traditional pro leagues, the owners that come in,
they they're from the community and they run their team locally.
(13:24):
They understand the community, they understand the fan base there
and the culture there, so they have the opportunity to
then build the team culture in the way they want to. Right.
So what is that when you say those benefits right?
Making sure right now we put everyone up to live
(13:44):
throughout the season. That was new for me to understand.
You know, coming from the NFL, it's like you get
your paycheck, you know, you sort yourself out, but we
take care of that and I love that. And making
sure they have the right transportation, making sure every team
has you know, everything from massage therapists to physical therapists, nutrition,
(14:08):
all everything they need that they can take care of themselves.
What I'm still getting up to speed on and I
you know, again six weeks in really learning is okay?
So what happens in the off season? Right? Where are
they going? What is the curriculum the program that they're
taking with them, what are they all doing? How do
we make sure that we are keeping our relationship with them?
(14:32):
Three sixty five? Right, So those are the things I
still need to dive into. Is like what does the
off season look like? But in season, you know, every
team is a little bit different, but they're all about
surrounding the athlete and giving them, you know, what they
need to yeah, you know, to be professional athletes.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
All the ownership will run their team in a specific way.
But is there a salary cap? Is there a minimum
and maximum salary? Like what's the range of salaries? And
do you hold each of those ownership groups accountable for
state in that range across the league?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Yeah? So we have our total team cap is one
point two million, and the individual player we recently, in
the first forty eight hours of my tenure, we increased
it from two hundred to three hundred thousand per player.
(15:22):
And that's that's to remain competitive right now, So got
that done a lot to look at in the in
the off season, and you know, we want to revisit
I'm revisiting all the rules with the competition Committee and
the Governance committee. It's really important just for three years
in right now's the time.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
You got to figure out all that stuff. It's a
huge part of starting something new.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Exactly, and you can't just say, well, this, this is
the rules, so this is what we're sicking we are.
This landscape is changing. Just even watch what went down
with the WNBA. You know in this off season. It's
they've been around right now for twenty seven, thirty years
or something, thirtieth season, thirtieth season, and you know, the
(16:08):
world is just it continues to change so fast, right,
so we need to make sure that, like I said
at the top, like we have the ability to be nimble,
and so let's make sure we are constantly monitoring to
be better. Right.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
And it's hard because the world is changing rapidly. But
you're only three years old. So a thirty year league
kind of just maybe they're bigger, they're not as nimble,
but they can adjust because of the foundation that they've
set to some of the expectations that folks have for
levels of salary and things like that. For you, it's
a matter of how do we grow in the amount
(16:43):
of time that makes sense for us financially with the
investments that we have while keeping up with expectations for
the current time. So that's salaries, right, Do you have
a salary minimum that you have for each player?
Speaker 2 (16:54):
I honestly don't know. Again, I'm going to lean into
my been here for six years six months, Excuse me,
I don't know if that's published actually public information. And
again I'm still like just getting up to speed on everything.
But I think there are guardrails around, or thresholds, if
you will, of what we're looking at for certain positions
(17:19):
and certain players that what we bring on.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I was just say the other thing that in nascent
leagues that can sometimes get dropped when you're working toward
prioritizing a lot of dollars toward awareness marketing things like
that are healthcare, HR, anti harassment policies, trainers and safety
on site for games, like how have you made sure
that you have some of those safeguards in place even
(17:42):
as you're trying to grow?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
So well said, because what I didn't want to come
in and just say, oh, we've got to win the
marketing game. Let's just start throwing at I've actually spent
more time on the volleyball side understanding where we might
be open to risk, where we are solid, what we
need to look at again coming off this third season
(18:07):
and shore up that you know we can we can
be in a better position going into next year because
you said it, those things. If you're not clear across
those certain areas and have sound uh you know, guardrails, governance,
(18:28):
whatever you want to call it, that can that can
take you down quickly. So I want to make sure
that everything is with our players at the center of
everything we do, and then look at the fans at
the center of everything we do, right, so the volleyball,
fortifying the volleyball with the players at the center, and
then making sure on the marketing side, you know, it's
(18:50):
fans at the center of our thinking as we go
out into the four, into our fourth.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Season, and it'll be nice for you to have an
off season to really do a deep dive into things
are not up to the standard that you'd hope or
where you want them to be. Just yet, you know
you mentioned the ownership structure it's not a single entity ownership.
They're owners in each market. I've got friends who are
actually minority owners of the Indian Night always trying to
get me out to a game. I haven't made it yet,
but I need to get out there. And you know,
(19:16):
I haven't really talked to them about the size of
their ownership or just the ownership structure in general. So
I'm wondering, are most teams owned by one major majority
owner with then minority group attached. Are most group owned?
Like what does it look like across the space right now?
Speaker 2 (19:30):
It's a little different across the board, but we don't
have several owners are surrounding single single teams. It's it
is more group. So if you look at our three
expansion teams coming, You've got Minnesota. Our Minnesota team is
(19:50):
which is coming in by the Minnesota Wild Leopold Leopold family,
so they're coming in as an ownership group. In Washington,
d C Jason Levian and the DC United MLS team,
and then up in NorCal, we have a partnership between
Teresa gal from private private equity Tech World. He's partnered
(20:13):
with the vech Remis Fight and he is the owner
of the Sacramento Kings, So you're getting that. You know,
it's it's a little bit smaller than maybe some of
our competitor out there, but what we are doing is
making sure they're clicking in with the right infrastructure. So
coming with pro sports teams behind them, whether it is NFL, NHL, soccer, MBA,
(20:40):
they're coming already with the infrastructure right. We've got ticketing,
we've got community outreach, we have marketing, sales sponsorship. So
you're clicking in an infrastructure that is almost turn key
for these new owners coming in.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Yeah, knowing the markets and having a beat on sale
and fan and information and things like that is huge.
You know, you mentioned your main competitor with the MLVPVF merger,
the pro vollayball landscape is less crowded than it would
have been, but it's still got Aupro Volleyball, which is
a sort of short season supplemental league, and then the
major competing league, which is Love League One pro Volleyball.
(21:18):
So in what ways do you see MLV differing from
LOVE if you think there are significant ways?
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Yeah, and I just I want to be really cautious,
you know, in publicly, you know, doing the compare and contrast,
because the first thing I want to say is, hallelujah.
We are all celebrating pro women volleyball and creating for
the first time, you know, that landscape for these women
(21:47):
to play in the United States, whereas I think the
general population didn't even know that there was provollball over
you know, in internationally. So just hooray for us all,
And I want to make sure that you know everything
we do is focused on that. Why I came to
Major League volleyball is for a few differences. So that
(22:11):
is why we're different. And I certainly don't want to
compare and contrast. It's just what I what I see
and believe in Major League volleyball, and you know it's
first and foremost. We are a pro league focused only
on the pro league. We're not in youth, We're not
in you know, other spaces of the category of volleyball.
(22:32):
We are pro women's volleyball, pro volleyball. The second thing
you and I already talked about, we we sell our
franchises in a traditional pro sports manner that United States
US fans are used to. Right, You have franchisee owners
and they control the team, they manage the team, and
(22:54):
they make the decisions obviously in concert with the league,
based on our priorities and every and where we're going.
But they have that luxury. And again why I think
that is so important is they know their market best,
they know their fans best, They know the culture what's
driving you know, the families, the communities. They know how
(23:18):
to have those relationships and nurture those relationships. You know,
the one thing I used to always say at the NFL,
even an established league over one hundred years, now, you know,
there's it's one thing to sell season tickets or single
game tickets, and I always say, just butts and seeds,
right that that is a proposition. Separate from that is
(23:41):
nurturing that sports fandom. Right, So for us, it's getting
in the community. You need to be in the community.
You need to be you know, with families, schools, grassroots.
You have to really plant the seeds, fertilize it, and
grow it in order to grow a generation generations of fandom.
(24:03):
It doesn't happen overnight. So that's really why I lean
into this model of localized ownership and management. And then
the third which I am a huge believer in, is
the college to pro model. We have a draft. It
is a moment. It's something that is important for us
(24:25):
to make sure that the college players know that they
are they have that pathway. We want them right away
and we want to take them from here, put them
in our pipeline and give them that chance to play.
They don't have to go to Europe and you know,
get better, get more mature. We want them right away.
So what I love about that is, you know that
(24:48):
fandom in college is so strong right now. In fact,
that is driving you know, the fandom that leads into
our league. So that's an important, you know, part of
our fan strategy, making sure that the fans that are
fall if you're playing at Wisco and then you go
play at Indy, we want those Wisconsin fans to you know,
(25:09):
follow those players. That's really important for me.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah, we do see like that college pipeline being there
for MLV. Obviously, there are some big name players like
Madison Skinner who go to Love and a lot of
the Love players are coming off the Olympic team. They
have played abroad or in Europe before coming back. Right now,
most of the top players in the country are affiliated
with Love. How does that division of talent impact your league,
And do you think some of that is just a
(25:34):
matter of continuing to establish through the draft the kind
of talent you do want to bring into your league.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, and a couple things. It's I appreciate pointing that out.
For one, we now allow four international players per roster,
so and the fact that we've got them, those players
now reaching out and saying I want to come, I
want to play in Major League Volleyball, and I want
to come to the US. They're recognizing and they've said it.
(26:02):
We see that the level of play is increasing significantly,
and I'd say, you know, look into next year, next season.
You know there's I think players are going back and
forth now between the league, So for every one that
might be heading that way, we're getting another one heading back.
So I think that what you're starting to see with
(26:25):
us coming out of our third year and our competitor
out of their second, I think it just it's going
to start evening out a little bit well.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
And I wonder if long term, do you think there's
room for both, Like, do you think eventually they'll need
to just be one women's pro volleyball league in the States.
If we think the market can't bear multiple teams in
the same cities. That's going to start happening more, or
just in general a focus that's lost when you've got
two different pro competing spaces.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Yeah, you've had a long career in sports and you
could probably speak to I can speak the NFL merger
that happened before I was.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Born, WNBA right, and competing league when they started out.
It's hard to keep two running.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
There's right now with the USL that I'm learning more
and more about NWS. You know, there are history. If
you go back in history, it seems to be a
consistent story, and that consistent story plays out and says
there's there's that room for two. Right, So you know,
if I was a betting woman, which I'm not, at
(27:31):
some point, at some point it needs to come together.
And I could say that inside the in the organization,
and anyone you speak to on the outside, they're saying
that you can't. It's not going to sustain.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
We're going to take a break more with Jamie right
after this, it feels like it would be great if
all of the powers came together in a way that
makes the opportunity for as many players as possible and
makes it as strong and sturdy and standing on a
(28:03):
great foundation. It's going to probably get sticky at some point,
but the hope would be eventually that it would result
in something that really has lasting power. You know, I
think you mentioned this earlier, but part of the exciting
thing about both leagues and just in general is that
women's professional volleyball gets to create a standard in this country.
It doesn't follow in the footsteps of pro men's leagues.
Like you said, there are patterns certainly to watch across
(28:24):
the pro sports space, but unlike most other leagues, you
get to really decide what it looks like in the US.
And how do you view that as both maybe an
opportunity and a challenge.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
I love that you brought that up. You know. When
I was at USA Volleyball and we were studying it
more and again, one of the reasons why I saw
this opportunity and came into it was you're right pro,
it's pro volleyball in America. There's not a W. There's
no W in front of it. Right. Our sport is
(29:00):
women led, women defined, and that's at the youth all
on up. So we can create this with partners that
come in with brands technology, broadcast partners. We don't have
to say, well, this is how it's been done, this
(29:20):
is how it's been done, so let's create and cut
out our formula. I think the point there is we're
just we're open and what clay to If we want
to do things a little differently, we can do it.
I don't have all those answers yet of what that
means in my short tenure year, but it's freeing to
(29:41):
say we don't have to follow what the Pro Men's
Volleyball League did. We're here creating that blueprint, if you will.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Yeah, and you can't rely on nostalgia or history to
connect with fans. You sort of have to start. You
have to create organic traditions and touch points in the moment, so,
you know, going back to the previous point, of course,
the investment in player experience and safety needs to be there,
but also there does need to be a real investment
in creating an awareness and an understanding and a affiliation
(30:14):
with the league, like why do you know these teams
and care about them? And I do think y'all have
done a good job with team names and mascots and
the kind of things that draw people in outside of
just the game itself. Where else do you see that
needing to go so that there's more folks who know
the names of teams and know the rivalries and things
like that.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yeah, so it goes back to a little bit we
were talking about earlier of cultivating fandom. If you look
at the Omaha Supernovas, we had to sell out, broke
the US record sixteen thousand, eight hundred and thirty eight
if I'm remembering it correctly, and why it's different there,
(30:54):
I would say again, they've had call it from John
Cook's beginning twenty thirty years to cultivate fandom volleyball fandom
in that town, in that region, And that is different
from right now in our newer teams, emerging cities of
I'll sample that, right, I'm gonna come in and buy
(31:16):
a ticket. I'm gonna sample it. It's two different jobs. Yeah,
so we need people to sample it. But what we
need to do to cultivate fandom a volleyball fandom, volleyball knowledge,
volleyball interests, that's a different strategy because that to me
is you know, you look at a game day is
(31:40):
like what is that door to door From the minute
you know they leave their house to going in a match,
the experience and going back into their driveway. Then what
happens after that is so important, and that's to me
me is like really where that where that work starts.
It's after game day that we have to work on well.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
And I think it's also like getting to know what
it is so that it's not just I like volleyball,
but I like this thing that's serving me volleyball. Right
when you were at the NFL, your job involved sort
of working with the league and licensees and sponsors and
broadcast partners and all these different people to figure out
what the league's brand image and message was. So you've
got a whole off season that you're going to really
(32:25):
probably dig down into this. But right now, what do
you consider or how do you consider MLB's brand image
and message.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
I would say it's there isn't one, right, it's low,
a low image and low awareness. And that's part of
the reason why I'm here. The teams have I think,
done an incredible job in their local regions, as you mentioned,
they've built it. That's one of the things that has
been lacking at Major League Volleyball that's been absent, absent
(32:58):
due to a number of reasons, but they haven't had
the infrastructure. We now are building that infrastructure, and that
is a key priority for me to start building that awareness.
And you're right at the NFL, it's what is what
are we building up here? Right? They can then flow
down to the teams and what can the teams do
(33:20):
to flow up into the league. We need to have
that same model and we haven't had that yet. So
that's a big, big point for me. The other point
there is you can't be on for six months and
then go away. This is a twelve month three sixty five,
(33:42):
twenty four to seven. We will lose everyone will lose it.
You just no longer in this day can you do that?
This is it. It is the culture, It is the experience.
When you know what I see. There's so many little
pockets of social media folks, reporters talking and writing about
(34:07):
volleyball twelve months a year, but it hasn't yet been captured,
aggregated and serve back to larger audiences. That's my job,
That's what we need to do.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Yeah, it's the storytelling. It's using the off season to
deep dive on players and team storylines so that people
are drawn to it. It's building off of events. There's
a couple events coming up to North America based twenty
twenty seven Women's World Championships the LA twenty twenty Olympics.
You can both build excitement for those and benefit from
them in the future. And a lot of what we're
(34:42):
now learning about sports is that so many people are
getting invested in caring based on what they're scrolling past
and then stopping on. And so how do you make
sure that you're branding, your marketing, your storytelling, your brand
voice is something that they connect with and want to
seek out and also stop on when they come across it.
And with so many things competing for that, it becomes
all the more important to be recognizable every time you
(35:05):
pop up in front of their faces. A last question
for you, because I know we have to let you go.
A couple top storylines you're watching as we get near
the championships. May seven through May ninth are the championships.
Most lucrative prize in American volleyball, million dollars is going
to be split a months the winning roster. So is
there a player or team or something that fans that
want to dive in or maybe are watching already can
(35:26):
get into before the championships.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
So right now we know Indian Knights have clinched and
Dallas has clinched, so we're waiting on who are the
next two teams right that are going to come in?
So right now Neck and Neck, it's San Diego Mojo,
the Supernovas of course are in there, and Grand Rapids
out of Michigan. They are San Diego to Omaha. Neck
(35:51):
and Neck. I think they're going in maybe eleven and
thirteen on their season, and then Grand Rapids is right
behind Orlando. They won it last year the Valkyries, So
I have to go back and look at the Monday
standings and see if they still have a chance. But
this is going to be tight. We won't need to
(36:13):
know maybe until the Monday before our semi finals on
that Thursday, May seventh, who those last two teams are sore.
There's a lot on the line, and to your point,
it's a million dollar match, so you know these these
women are in it to win it for sure, and
we're going to be in Frisco.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Yeah, tune in now to watch the playoff push and
get excited for who you're going to see in the Championship.
Well I learned a ton, Thank you so much. Congrats
on the new gig. We're really excited to see how
things continue to evolve in the space, so thanks for
the time.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
Thank you, Sarah, so great to see you.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Thanks again to Jamie for taking the time to chat
with us, and don't forget you can now watch our
full length good Game interviews on the Iheartwomen's Sports YouTube channel,
so head on over there and subscribe.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Vibe.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
We have to take another break when we return. One
player still on the outside looking in welcome back slices.
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good gameplay at the day. Watch one of this week's
MLV matches. The Atlanta Vibe and Grand Rapids Rise play
(37:23):
tonight at seven pm Eastern on Scripts Sports Network, while
The Indian Night and Orlando Valkyries play tomorrow at seven Eastern,
with that game airing on Roku channel. We'll link to
the full MLV schedule in the show notes. We always
love to hear from you, so hit us up on email.
Good Game at wondermedianetwork dot com, or you can leave
us a voicemail at eight seven two two o four
(37:43):
fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review.
It's easy watch Natasha Cloud's heartfelt social media post, rating
five out of five stars for honesty review. One of
the WNBA's most popular and beloved players, Natasha Cloud, is
surprisingly still looking for a team as the w season nears.
(38:05):
The three time All defensive player who helped the New
York Liberty to a title in twenty twenty four and
average more than ten points and five assists a game
in New York last season, has yet to sign with
the squad. On Sunday, the thirty four year old posted
a note to social that read quote, I've given my
heart to every team and community I've been part of,
never fully knowing if the impact I hoped for was
truly felt In this moment, though, receiving so much love,
(38:28):
support and advocacy means everything. It's a powerful reminder that
the impact I've wanted to make beyond the court is
real and aligned with what I believe God has called
me to do through this game. I'm okay just taking
things in even if they weren't what I expected, and
trusting I'll be all right. End quote. Now, I'm glad
Tosh knows what she's already given. The game, her teammates
(38:49):
and the fans is worth so much. I'm glad she's
feeling the love and support in this moment.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
Now, if this is a.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Salary cap issue or a case where things moved fast
and teams that were a fit someone else before she
could decide, or maybe teams are looking to be dudo
for Juju Watkins and wrong for Sarah Strong and they
still want to pay talent like her.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
If they're looking to.
Speaker 1 (39:08):
Lose, well that's the case, I'll be sad, but I'll
live with it. But if this is about Cloud's activism,
in particular her bravery in speaking out about the genocide
in Gaza, then shame on every front office too cowardly
to support a woman who puts herself out there for
what's right. Cloud told Ndscape all the way back in
June of twenty twenty four that she was disappointed that
(39:30):
very few WNBN NBA players were speaking out, and she said, quote,
we need collective voices to stand up and say what's right.
We know right and wrong. If your morals and values
are not at the top of your list, your top priority. Then, man,
I don't know what I can do for you. I
know I'm going to continue to lead with my morals
and values. First, I won't be bought. My heart won't
(39:51):
be bought. End quote. Now it's your turnial rate and review.
Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow. Good game, Jamie, Good game,
Women's leagues writing a new script without the w you
how much the volleyball hurt your forearms when you did
controlled pepper bump set spike in school gym class. Good
(40:12):
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 Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier. Our executive producers
are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rudder, Lucy Jones, Britney Martinez and
(40:34):
Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery Loftus and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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