November 17, 2025 • 42 mins
WNBA legend and Project B co-founder and Chief Basketball Officer Alana Beard joins Sarah to discuss the origins of the Project B women's basketball league, how Alana’s international experience as a player informs her new gig, the league’s much-talked-about partnership with a company owned by the Saudi-owned Public Investment Fund, and when we can expect to get more player announcements. Plus, DC vs. NYC, the Rise of Vancouver, and will the real SC please stand up?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're still
toweling ourselves off after the final minutes of that insane
Gotham Pride game. It's Monday, November seventeenth, and on today's show,
we'll be talking to WNBA legend and Project B co
founder and chief basketball officer Elaina Beard about the origins
of Project B, how her international experience as a player
(00:21):
has informed her new gig, the leagues, much talked about
partnership with a company owned by the Saudi owned Public
Investment Fund, and when we can expect more player announcements,
plus DC versus NYC, the rise of Vancouver and will
the real sc please stand up? It's all coming up
right after this Welcome back slices. Happy Monday. Here's what
(00:48):
you need to know today. Let's start with the NWSL
and a thrilling weekend of semi final action. On Saturday,
the Washington Spirit best at the Portland Thorns two nil
in front of a sellout crowd of nineteen thousand, three
hundred and sixty five at rowdy Audi Field, sending Washington
to their second straight NWSL championship game and fourth in
(01:10):
franchise history. The Spirit struck first in the twenty seventh
minute as Rosamond Quassi made a spectacular sideline play then
carried the ball all the way into the Thorns box,
where she set up Gift Monday for the easy goal.
Croy Bethune doubled the lead in the eighty third minute
as she intercepted an attempted pass back to Thorn's goalkeeper
Mackenzie Arnold, made a move around her and finished on
the open net. It was a starfield gallery for the
(01:33):
Spirit win, including Trinity Rodman's bow, Ben Shelton, fellow tennis
pro Frances Tiafo, and Spirit investor and gymnastics great Dominique Dawes.
On Sunday, the eighth seed got them FC continued their
run as Spoilers, defeating the defending champion Orlando Pride one
week after taking out the top seeded Kansas City Current.
It was a Jaden Shaw stoppage time tally that decided
(01:56):
this one, as she curved in a beauty of a
free kick to put her team up one and friend
of the show and Katrin Berger came up huge again
in the ninety ninth minute as a header in the
box cruised toward the top corner of her net in
the final seconds before she punched it up over the
goal and out of danger. Heading into the ninetieth minute
of this game, Gotam had not managed a single shot
(02:19):
on goal, but the only stat that matters when the
clock runs out is the score one nothing. Batties. They
advanced to the title game for the second time in
three seasons. So it'll be the Spirit versus Gotham at
PayPal Park in San Jose, California on Saturday. That'll be
an eight pm Eastern kickoff on CBS. And don't forget
producer Alex and I will be out in norcl later
(02:40):
this week to bring all the excitement from Championship weekend.
More NWSL news. Spirit fans got a bit of ominous
news just before the start of Saturday semi final, as
The Athletic reported that Trinity Rodbin's reps are in negotiations
with the league about her future. The twenty three year
old is drawing a lot of interest from leagues across
the Pond, and she'll be a free agent this offseason.
(03:01):
Under the current salary cap, teams outside of the NWSL
can offer far more than any team in the NWSL can.
Per the story from Friend of the Show Meg Linahan
and Tom Bogert. Quote. The NWSL operates under a salary
cap currently set at three point three million at each club.
That maximum will rise every season until it hits five
point one million in twenty thirty, in accordance with the
(03:23):
most recent collective bargaining agreement between the NWSL Players Association
and the league. While the minimum player salary for this
season is forty eight thy five hundred and will rise
to eighty two thousand, five hundred by twenty thirty, there
is no maximum salary for an individual player. Still, the
Spirit currently has twenty seven players' salaries to cover with
three players on loan, whereas teams in Europe do not
(03:46):
have to abide by such caps. End quote. Rodman received
a gigantic ovation from the rowdy Audi crowd when she
subbed in very late in Saturday semi final win, and
you did have to wonder if that was her final
home game in Spirit Yellow. Still more NWSL news, and
it's a surprising shakeup for the Kansas City current Vlatko
(04:07):
and Danovsky, who's been the team's head coach and sporting
director since October of twenty twenty three. Will transition into
a new role as the club's global sporting Director. In
his two years as head coach, Antonovsky took the team
from second to last in the league with twenty six
points in twenty three, to fourth place and fifty five
points in twenty four and this season first place and
(04:28):
sixty five points. A team press release explains the change.
Quote as Sporting Director, Adonovsky will work with the head
coach and newly formed Head of Player Development role to
implement the long term vision for the club's technical and
athletics success, as well as be responsible for player recruitment,
roster strategy and scouting end quote. Andonovsky will continue to
(04:48):
operate as head coach until the team hires his replacement.
The Current have also promoted head of soccer ops Ryan
Dell to general manager. More soccer up in Canada, the
Vancouver Rise lifted the Diana B Matthis Trophy as the
inaugural winners of the Northern Super League Professional women's soccer league.
A lightning warning forced a forty minute delay thirty eight
minutes into the match with AFC Toronto up one nil,
(05:10):
but the Rise struck twice in the second half for
the two to one comeback victory in front of nearly
twelve thousand, five hundred bands at Bemofield in Toronto. Rise
keeper Morgan mclasen was named Player of the match, surviving
an onslaught of shots from Toronto, which outshot Vancouver sixteen
to eight on the day. Friend of the Show and
Vancouver native Christine Sinclair is part owner of the Rise,
(05:33):
and frankly it feels fitting that her club would take
home the first ever women's title in Canadian pro soccer history.
To College Hoops, a big weekend of action that started
with a wild one Friday night at the Greenbrier Resort
as unranked West Virginia overcame the ejection of six players
due to a fracas just before halftime, going on to
upset fifteenth ranked Duke fifty seven forty nine with just
(05:55):
five players available. Sydney Shaw put up sixteen points to
lead the Mountaineers five remaining players to the win. Kro
Lawson and Duke, who lost to Baylor in their season opener,
now dropped to two and two on the season. Saturday
saw the quote unquote battle for the real SC and
Don Staley's South Carolina game. Cox earned the honors with
a sixty nine to fifty two victory over USC at
(06:17):
Crypto Arena. Joyce Edwards led four game Cocks in double
digits with seventeen points and ten rebounds in the win.
Also Saturday, Hanna Hidalgo followed up an epic forty four
point sixteen steel performance against unranked Akron with a twelve
point seven turnover dud against number fourteen Michigan. Olivia Olsen
(06:38):
led a balanced effort for the Wolverines, putting up twenty
points in their ninety three to fifty four drubbing of
the Irish. The thirty nine point defeat the worst loss
for Notre Dame in more than two decades. On Sunday,
we saw twenty nine point thirteen rebound double double for
Sarah Strong as number one Yukon defeated Ohio State one
hundred to sixty eight and number seventeen TCU upset now
(07:00):
number ten NC State sixty nine fifty nine behind twenty
six points from Marcho Suarez and a fifteen point fourteen
rebound double double from Olivia Miles. That win just the
second road win over a top ten team in Horned
Frog's program history, and their first road win over a
ranked non conference opponent since January of twenty eleven. Let's
(07:20):
talk college attorneys. Starting with soccer. Two upsets in the
opening round of the NCAA Tournament as Ohio State upset
Number eight Georgia and Lipscomb bested number six Mississippi State.
Second round games kickoff on Thursday to college field hockey,
where the NCAA Tournament Final four is set after a
weekend of opening and second round games. It'll be defending
(07:41):
champions Northwestern taking on number one seed UNC on one
side of the bracket, and number two Princeton facing number
three Harvard on the other side of the bracket. Both
those games are Friday title game on Sunday. Some vibes news.
Love Pro Volleyball has announced a new Minnesota franchise set
to debut in twenty twenty seven, joining previous announced expansion
team Love Los Angeles. Season two of Love gets go
(08:04):
on January seventh with the original six teams Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Madison,
Salt Lake, and newly named Nebraska formerly known as Love Omaha.
To softball. Some AUSL news from last week, as four
of the league's best players were honored at the MLB
Awards at the Chelsea Theater in Las Vegas on Thursday night.
Friend of the Show Aaron Koffel was honored for MVP
(08:25):
and Hitter of the Year, Georgina Cork Pitcher of the
Year on a Gold, Rookie of the Year, and Hannah
Flippin Defensive Player of the Year, said Flippant of the evening, quote,
being here with some of the best athletes in the world,
it's such an honor. MLB supporting the AUSL has been
a turning point in women's sports, I truly believe, especially
for softball. Just being able to inspire young girls to
(08:45):
be able to have softball as a career one day,
that's our goal. End quote. Finally, some shouts to Asia
Wilson as the WNBA champion in four time. MVP continues
her talk show tour, boppin from The Jennifer Hudson Show
on Monday to a Good Morning America slash Tonight Show
at Jimmy Fallon Double on Thursday, looking every bit the
star on Fallon and a Thierry Mugler, a vintage sheer
(09:07):
Maxi dress, and of course she had the Candy Corn
Queen a one's prominently on display on Jimmy's desk. Where
do we think she'll pop up next? Maybe here on
good game? Call us back, Asia, We're ready for you girl.
All right, slices, We got to take a quick break
when we come back. All things Project B with Eleayna
Beard joining us now. She's the co founder and chief
(09:34):
basketball officer of Project B Basketball. A twenty twenty five
inductee into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, she set
the school scoring record in her four years at Duke,
was the first NCAA basketball player with over twenty six
hundred points, five hundred assists, and four hundred steals, and
was a Wade Trophy and Wooden Award winner, a WNBA champion,
four time WNBA All Star, nine time WNBA All Defensive selection,
(09:54):
two time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, and a
champion in leagues in Israel, Poland, and s the founder
of the three eighteen Foundation, which supports underserved girls in
her native Shreveport, Louisiana area. She was the first women's
hoops player to have her jersey retired by Duke publicly
legendary and legendarily private. It's Elena Beard, Hi, Elena Hi.
(10:15):
Sarah Thanks for coming on early. You've done your work.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Yeah goodness.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Well, I'm so excited to talk all things Project B.
But before we get there, I kind of want to
get to how you got to this new venture. You
retired from the WNBA in twenty twenty after a fifteen
year career. What did you see yourself doing after hoops
my deadness?
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Gosh, I was I was always the player who was
adamant about preparing for the life after the game, but
it was twenty ten that kind of put that into
hyper focus for me. I had a potential career inning injury.
The doctor said I had a two percent chance for
returning to an elite level, and I just took that
as an opportunity to just focus on me, focus on
my growth as an individual, and prepare for life after
(10:55):
the game. In fact, one of my first fellowships actually
was with the CEO of John Baja, and it's because
I had this vision of building exactly what Magic Johnson built, right.
He was the model that every athlete wanted to emulate
because he did such a great job of just transitioning
from court to life outdoors, and that eventually led me
(11:15):
to kind of owning my own franchise, but I quickly
realized that you got to have hundreds of franchise to
turn a significant revenue. But with that, I also just
took a deep dive into things that I was interested
in and things that scared me. And one of those
things was venture capital. And that just all stemmed for
me just having kind of this innate curiosity around startups
(11:35):
and innovation, but also reading the headlines and seeing that
our male counterparts got access to cap tables with ease, right,
they got in early on Airbnb, on Uber, all of
these innovative platforms. Yet women athletes didn't even have the
opportunity to say yes or no to that because people
just automatically assumed we don't have liquidity, and that eventually
(11:59):
became mission right. So when I retired officially in January
of twenty twenty, I made the immediate jump to the
venture capital space as a senior associate with a prominent
venture capital fund, and it was my mission to create
access and opportunity for female athletes to get their feet
into the door around venture capital because I knew the
(12:21):
potential of what that could mean, and so all of
that just kind of led me to one serving as
an independent board member on a publicly traded company, building
up my own nonprofit which is highly sustainable today, and
I oversee a team of eight, but just also keeping
at the forefront of wanting to create access and opportunity
(12:43):
for girls and women within sports.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
That's incredible. It's funny you mentioned Magic because there was
a time when he sort of stood alone as an
example of someone who thought outside the box post athletic career,
in part because in men's sports, if you get a
big enough name, you have so much money, you can
just coast sort of maybe dabble here and there. And
Magic had done something so demonstratively bigger than that, and
(13:07):
it inspired a lot of people. But to your point,
for a long time and still in a lot of cases,
female athletes don't have the kind of money that's sometimes
required to get into that space and then start to
make things happen. And so I love that you dove
right in. Okay, so you were also part of a
bid to bring a WNBA expansion team to Oakland? Is
that still something you're working toward.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Absolutely not not the answer I was expecting. Yeah, No,
it was something that I just really took a deep
dive into while I was out in sort of the
Bay Area. I spent about two and a half years
out there, and during that time, I just met some
really great people who had a vision of kind of
(13:49):
acquiring those expansion rights to a WNBA team. And it
had always been my desire to own right and I
was always in the mindset of not being a face
and a name. I am so against that. I've always
wanted to attach my name and my work to anything
that I decide to engage with to see an outcome,
(14:11):
and that's just always how I've been kind of just
set up. And so the opportunity came around for me
to join this group that was pursuing kind of the rights,
and I jumped in and I led it with the
understanding that the moment that Joe Lacam and his team
put their name in a hat, my dreams would be crushed.
But what I couldn't allow to happen was that to
(14:31):
influence my learning journey. So I decided to move forward
with it. And I'll take credit for it, and I'll
take it it was my push that pushed Joe Lacam
to put their names in a hat to acquire the
expansion rights to the Valkyries, right, and to see that
organization flourish the way that Hit has within their first
(14:52):
year of existence, it's not surprising.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, little less little assist from Molena.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
You know, I'll take it, right. They may not say it,
but I'll t But it's just been beautiful to just
watch them kind of move with sort of the intent
and focus and precision that they move with on a
daily basis.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah, it's been a really beautiful rollout, really incredibly impressive
first season. You're not interested in bringing a w team
to any other city, then that that part of your
desire to expand the league is no longer there.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
My desire is to grow the global footprint of women's basketball.
That has always been my desire. I took that opportunity
sort of in the Bay Area, but I also approached
two other teams. Right had a legitimate proposal in place,
and it was either a no or went ghosts, And
that's that's fine, right, But what that taught me is
that they're a different ask to ownership. And when something
(15:43):
is meant to be successful, there are a few things
that have to work. One is good people, two is
the actual idea, and then three is the timing of everything,
and so Project B came into the picture at the
right time, and then those other two things just lined
up and it just made sense for me to jump
(16:05):
into this because I am a huge believer and players
having equity and ownership in the things that they create. Yeah,
and that's what we're building.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, I want to get to that part of it,
because it's a really different model. Project Be's been in
the works for a couple of years now, So tell
us exactly what it is. What this women's league that
you're going to roll out in November of twenty twenty
six will be.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, No, I think I want to correct you there,
because it's not just a women's league. We're starting with
the women first because it's about time we put the
focus on women first.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Right.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
But this has been something that we've just been head
down kind of in the trenches for two years. This
is not something that just happened overnight. Right. We have
a legitimate team in place that have been working underneath
the radar to build out something that is sustainable and global.
It all stems from Jeff Prentiss, who is the co
founder of Skype, and then Grady Burnett, who serves as
(16:57):
the CEO of global sales for Meta for like I
think eleven or twelve years. In fact, he came in
when revenue was at one hundred million. He scaled that
to a ten billion revenue within the twelve or thirteen
year period. So I only say that to say that
I get to be a part of an ownership group
that understands disruption and who understands scale on a global level.
(17:19):
And so this was an idea that the two of
them came up with over dinner and then they just
started digging in for six months straight. It's just literally
analyzing the entire market and what they came to understand
that there are three billion plus basketball fans around the
world and within the United States, within kind of the
two main leads, the w and the NBA, they're only
(17:42):
tapping into ten to eleven percent of that global fan base.
And so there's so much untapped market outside of North
America that we believe as an opportunity to come in
and build something that is extremely sustainable, global and competitive
and just really unique. And so Project B is a
platform and that is f one style, right.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
It is our.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Intent to host two weeks tournaments in seven different cities
throughout a season. When you think about F one, you
think about how they go from city to city to city,
and they aggregate these points depending on their positioning, but
also kind of like who's the champion at the end
of that season, they eventually crown a champion of the world, right,
And that's exactly how we're thinking about this thing. So
(18:24):
to your point about us starting, you know, or there
being a women's basketball league, no, we're starting with men
with women, with every intent to launch with both men
and women. In Q four twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Six, Okay, yeah, we'll get to the men's sid because
I know that that's where the first sort of public rumors
about Project B came out was about the men. But
I know that that's not on hold. But the women
are the ones taking shape quicker and are more publicly
being spoken about now. So when you talk about those
seven two week tournaments in the major cities Asia, Europe,
the Americas, is the champion at the end, a team, yes,
(18:57):
one of those eleven player teams or an individual.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Exactly the team will will be the winner. Yeah, thanks
for that clarification.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Yeah cool, I mean you played basketball, and I think
you said twenty seven countries. Yeah, when we chatted. So
that's a lot of international experience. How did that influence
your decision to be a part of Project B and
how is it influencing your leadership on the project?
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Oh my god, it's extremely influential.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
You know.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
When I think about kind of my time internationally, there
is nothing that I valued more than experiences right in
those cities, immersing myself into the cultures, in building the relationships.
And so when Grady approached me about Project B, when
you started talking about the global nature of this thing,
I was like, yep, nope, I'm in right. That's all
I needed to hear. Of course I needed to hear
(19:42):
a few more things.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
But what's my title?
Speaker 2 (19:48):
You know? The title was never like of interest to me.
It was something that I I just Sarah, I do
to work right and everything else will fall into place.
I I've always been in that mindset as even a player,
I hated the title of captain right because it's not
one person that determines or dictates sorry of the success
(20:09):
or the outcome of a team our season. But to
your point, in terms of how it has influenced me,
what my international experience has shown me is that talent
is global, right. Obviously the pinnacle of basketball is NBA WNBA.
But because of those twenty seven countries that I've played in,
I am well aware that not all the best talent
(20:30):
exists within those leagues. And when we're thinking about the
composition of like our teams through our Project B, it
is with every intent to build out a global team
and a global pool of players that reflect exactly what
we're trying to do, and that's elite competition on a
global scale, hands down, no questions asked. It's not a gimmick,
(20:51):
it's five on five. It is our intent to build
out a platform that is hosting the best basketball in
the world.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
You know, for a long time players here in the
States wanted off and options in the US because women
had to go abroad sometimes to places like Russia that
they didn't always feel necessarily safe or really even understand
what the financial backing of their ownership was or otherwise. Now,
with athletes unlimited and unrivaled, there are great options in
(21:18):
the States. Are you hearing from players that they are,
again some of them looking to find a way for
basketball to take them abroad.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
What I would always say to that is that I
absolutely love what Unrival and Athletes Unlimited are doing too.
We're all different kind of models in terms of how
we think about this thing. What we want to focus
on as sort of that global nature of what we're building.
What I wholehearted will believe is that we're only going
to amplify what the WNBA is doing domestically and sort
(21:46):
of build out that global footprint to in turn create
global superstars. So if there's anything that I can share
here is that we're not competing with anyone, right, We're
in exclusively. We got sixteen sixties players. There's so much
more talent across the board here. It is our intent
to ensure that we're only amplifying what these women are
(22:08):
doing on the court and compensating them accordingly. We are
treating them like partners, right, they're owners in this one
of our largest stakeholder groups, and so they're going to
reap the benefit of the value that they're creating not
only on the court but off the court because they're brands.
They are individual brands that deserve to be paid for
whatever they bring onto the court, and that's how we're
focusing on it.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Yeah, it's interesting because you know, with individual sports, there's
a lot of fandom based on patriotism, right, players that
play for your country and you watch them play across
the globe and represent your country, and you might like
them for that. You might like style of play, you
might like vibes, you might like what they stand for.
Like there's a lot of ways to attach to individual
athletes on a global scale and have fans from all
over the world root for them. With teams, we again
(22:51):
often usually starts with patriotism for global events, we all
root for our own country. Sometimes it edges into jingoism
more than just patriotism. But then there might be teams
like the Chicago Bulls, that La Lakers, the Golden State Warriors,
teams that go global in terms of fandom for them,
but they're still rooted in a place. How do you
(23:12):
drive fandom for teams that are made up of players
presumably from around the globe, representing something artificial like an
invented name or brand or logo, and then moving so
they're never of a place, of a country, of an
established franchise.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Yeah no, I hear you. And it's our thesis and
belief that it's about the name on the back of
a jersey, right, and I can point to many many
examples of this. You have Luka don KU's I mean,
and I'm only naming this because this is probably this
was probably the most shocking story of last year in
terms of he getting traded to LA. The amount of
(23:53):
ticket sales and revenue that drop because Luka don KU's
left the Dallas Mavericks is an indication that it is
about the name on the back of the jersey versus
the actual team. And also when you think about kind
of the way fans are now engaging today, right, this
is a younger audience, is gin z. Yeah. They're all
about highlights, they're all about streaming, and they're all about
the individual. So I don't think that that is a
(24:16):
hindrance by any means. We are kind of operating outside
of the established model of what it says today around
team and culture. We're all about the player.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Yeah, I mean, that's a great point about young people.
It's kind of like wild to the old heads like
us that they're just bouncing around team to team based
on the players that they like. But I mean it
makes sense because it also is really stupid to just
keep rooting for a team that lets you down and
doesn't have any players you like, just because that's the
one you were assigned when you grew up. He chose
when you were young. Taken from me a fan of
(24:48):
teams that are currently letting me down repeatedly.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
I know, not to take you off, but I think
I was watching like a social media like clip and
it was a Jets fan like yes, being like extremely
upset that Ye, it's just.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Like I hate this team. I hate them, yeah, which rightfully, so's.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
I hate this team. I was born into this and
I'm not gonna ever I'm always a Jets fan, but like,
I just I hate this tame.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
How do you decide which city is to play in?
Speaker 2 (25:19):
You know what, I'm not sure that I am the
best to kind of answer that, but what I can
say we focus really on kind of the culture and
what they were capable of offering from just an experience standpoint, right,
there are more nuances and details as to why we
choose a city, but I can say that we have
kind of this matrix of how we think about what
(25:39):
city is the right city from what we're bringing, and
we let that lead all decisions.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Do you anticipate the cities will be the same for
the men's league as the women's.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Oh, we're not going to China to watch men and
Tokyo to watch women. It's exactly how you think about
start of the WTA. People go to the US Open
to watch both men and women tennants on the same platform,
and we believe that is the value. Having both men
and women on the same platform is what really drives
the value in the uniqueness of what we're building.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Yeah, of course the WTA does operate separately from the
men's tour and have lots of events that are separate,
but yeah, US Open is a great opportunity for both
in the same place. So if you're looking at whatever
matrix and I know you said you aren't the one
deciding these things, but how do you know the women's
basketball fandom in a place, because that might vary quite
differently from how much that place is aware of and
(26:28):
interested in the stars of the men's game.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
So back to your point when you asked me, how
much has my overseated experience influenced my ability to have
an impact on start of the decision making here? That
is one of them, right, I've played in twenty seven
countries and I'm well aware of the fandom that exists
outside of North America, and I can tell you that
it is live and it is thriving, and.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
I imagine you've got some marketing plans in place to
make sure that folks ahead of the role out of
these games are excited to see the players, know the
players that are coming their way, because you know, obviously
they're are hotbeds where leagues have existed for your several
of what you've played in, but there are also probably
some places that are a great opportunity in the men's
(27:09):
game that need some growth on the women's game, so
you have an opportunity to bring stars there and help
open up a space as well.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
One hundred percent, Sara, and I love that you brought
that up, because at the end of the day, it's
about creating that access and opportunity for fans on a
global scale, in particular women and girls in sports. One
thing that we're adamant about is not just going into
a city for two weeks and leading. Our goal is
to build sustainable hear on programming in each city that
we partner with. So it's been such a phenomenal journey
(27:36):
to date because we have the right balance of understanding business,
understanding people, understanding partnerships, and understanding the good that we're
capable of doing in this world. And so it's been
a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
One of the keys to this model is you have
to get names people are excited to see, right, because
it isn't about attaching to a team or league with
any sort of nostalgia. So I know you mentioned co
founder Jeff Prentiss and co founder Grady Burnett. Grady told
Front Office Sports the league is paying multiples higher than
what's available right now in the world of women's sports,
(28:10):
highest salaries and equity packages in women's team sports. So
what's the salary range you're working with?
Speaker 2 (28:16):
That is a great question, and it's not details I'm
willing to.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Share, Okay, but ok just a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Right. It's a lot of money, and we're intentional about it, right,
We're not just throwing money out there.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Right.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
We have a legitimate model in place, business strategy in
place that dalidates what we're doing. But there is nothing
more rewarding than being at the forefront of shifting this
landscape of women's basketball that exists today and paying these
women what they absolutely deserve and it's a beautiful thing
to watch. We're literally creating generational wealth in a weak time.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Well, I'm saying this, you are not, and I do
not expect a response. Reports are starting around two million
dollar per player. Can you speak to the equity package,
because I know that's something important to you, is that
it's not just we're giving your generational wealth, but you
have an ownership piece and caring about the success of
this thing.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Yeah. I think the only thing that I can say
that they are Again, I won't touch on like numbers
because I just don't think that that's beneficial in this moment.
It's about the core of what we're doing, and we're
creating that partnership and ownership model that should exist in
sports today. From an equity standpoint, I would say, if
I had to like give an example, just think about
it as tech. I have two tech guys kind of
(29:31):
at the forefront of this thing, and when they think
about sort of that compensation package and what it could
potentially look like, tech is the best model.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Got it? Okay? You also have some big name investors
that are going to help you pay these players. Candice Parker,
Steve Young, Novak, Djokovic, Loan Stevens among them. You've also
got a partner in Silo, which is an entertainment company
owned by the Saudi owned Public Investment Fund PIF. Lots
of talk about Saudi involvement in initial reporting about Project
be and on social media, but again, Burnett told Front
(30:02):
Office Sports that Project wants a global diversified cap table,
but quote that doesn't include any dollars from Saudi Arabia. Absolutely,
So what's the partnership with Celia and why has that
been something that's maybe either incorrectly reported or not fully
fleshed out in reporting so far.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Yeah, I love that you asked that question because I
think people are going to focus on what they focus on,
because it's very hard for people to process something as
ambitious as what we're building, and the fact that we
have to sort of engage a partner with certain entities
to get it done. At the beginning of this call,
I named Jeff Prentiss, I named Grady Burnett. I don't
(30:37):
think you need anyone else to drive sort of access
to capital other than these two individuals, right, And so
to Grady's point, we are a global basketball league, and
it is our job and it is our intent to
build out a cap table that mimics just that Sella
is a global operating partner that is owned by PIF.
We're paying them as a service logistically produce our events,
(31:02):
and they have. I mean, I think the latest kind
of partnership that they have engaged on is the highly
anticipated ala Veraz and Crawford Pike on Netflix. They were
partners in that right, and so they have produced global
events consistently, and so we can speak about Sella, but
(31:24):
the real story here is that we're a global basketball
league and it is our intent to partner with partners
across the world. And so I just I really hate
that that is the narrative because I just think people
are just picking and choosing what the focus on, and
it's important to do responsible reporting. So I really respect
you for asking that question.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Well, And it feels like I think when we hear
about PIF or the Saudi's as a whole, we are
usually hearing about them investing into a space for access.
But in this case, you're saying there's no funding from
them funding. You're paying a partner that happens to have
an affiliation with them, because that partner is an event partner.
That you want to work with to put on events.
(32:05):
So where is the funding then coming from outside of
those investors? Do you have the kind of tech connections
that you're referring to or alluding to exactly?
Speaker 2 (32:15):
I won't necessarily go into detail about who those individuals are,
but as I noted Grady Burnett, Jeck Prentiss, I mean
Jeck Princes started Atamaco, which is the largest venture capital
farm in Europe. And so if that doesn't speak to
access to dollars, I don't know what will. But we
have we have institutional investors from Quiet Capital to Mangrove
Capital to Sequence Capital, and then we have individual investors
(32:37):
who understand and want tech type returns, right, and so
it's a different playing field for us. We're talking about sports,
but we're also merging that with tech, and I think
that that's the concept that's extremely hard for people to
really understand, right.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Well, so help us understand it, because I am not
a Silicon Valley tech person. So when you say tech
like returns, how does the product of basketball and presumably
money coming from sponsorships, attendants viewing all the typical sports things,
how does that spin into a tech product or a
(33:14):
tech like return. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
No, I think that's a better question for Grady Burnett
because they are the tech guys. My focus is purely
on sort of the basketball side of things. But with that,
it is every intent for us to engage a billion
users on one platform and then we navigate it from there. Right,
It's about getting the eyeballs on the sport and then
driving that engagement from there.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Got it. Okay, what's the media arm of the league?
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Yeah? Oh, I mean obviously we have partners in HBS
and other individuals who Grady and Jeff are working on
the background to kind of finalize kind of whatever planning
that there needs to be finalized. But that's that's a
question for both Grady and Jeff.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Okay, so you're kind of saying that the fans that
will watch from Afar when not you know, when it's
not in their city, will be on a proprietary website
and that's where everybody goes and watches or is it
a partnership with TV stations and other things. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
I prefer not to sort of jump into the partnership
side of things, but it is every intent for us
to create a frictionless engagement on a then standpoint right, Like,
if I'm my wife is from Israel, I'm in Israel.
I want to watch NBA games, they're paywalls. There's timing
difference in things of that nature. Our goal is to
create a streaming platform that allows fans to sort of
(34:28):
connect and interact accordingly.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Okay, well, you got a year before you got to
tell me where I'm watching and how I'm watching and
who I'm wanting to.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Details to come, more details to come, I promise.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
The timing, as I mentioned, You've got a year starting November.
Plan is to end in April. So the timing of
the season makes this a competitor to unrivaled and AU
basketball and a lot of overseas opportunities, but not the
WNBA as of now. Is it the intention to keep
it a complementary option for w players or is there
planned to potentially expand in the future.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
No, you know what I've always said, and this is
just a belief of mine. I've spent fifteen years building
out the WNBAD. It is not my intent to dismantle
anything that has been established. What I wholeheard I would
believe is that we're capable of building what we're building
because of the WNBA, and it is every intent to
sort of partner alongside with them. This is only another
opportunity for women to access and continue to play the
(35:19):
sport that they love and get paid for doing what
they're doing. We are not competitive to the WNBA by
any means. It's just another option and.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
It sounds like there's a lot of opportunity for players
who maybe aren't in the w to get a chance
to be seen alongside the best talent from the W.
We already heard about neko Oguomkay, which was the first
big name to hit. Now Alyssa Thomas announced as joining
the league. Should we anticipate more big announcements soon?
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Yeah, wait and see again. It's really funny because my
friends get on me a lot because I am like
a vault. I don't share very much. I'm a very
private person as well. But you should absolutely anticipate more
announcements so private.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
I put it in the bile budget early private. But
we should anticipate international players from other pro leagues being
a part of it. Right now.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
What I can say is that we have multiple All
w NBA Team honors kind of signed on. We have
international players signed on, We have young players signed on
that consists of players from four or five different continents
at the moment.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Okay, so let's talk about how the league's considering the
rollout of the names and it's launch, because the information
about Project B has kind of been fits and spurts.
Right there was the gossip about Lebron James and mav
Carter a yacht and all that stuff, and the rumored
men's league. That was the first sort of thing to
come out. But now the pivot to focus on the
women's league right now with players and actual info coming
(36:41):
out about the plans for November of next year. You
mentioned earlier that there's still a plan for a men's league.
Is the desire to launch that at the same time next.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Year, Yeah, to your point, Like I said, you're gonna
get more information as it comes, and it has been.
We've been extremely strategic in terms of how we've released information.
I think the biggest shift for me is, uh, going
from operating underneath the radar for two years and now
talking about exactly what we're.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
Doing and remembering which things are public and which exactly say.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
You should have seen me before this interview. I was
like going through and reading articles and make sure I
can say if you have a.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Big board in front of you that's like yes, no,
don't say it, ud say yes, this is this is.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
It's been nerve wrecking actually, but it's been a lot
of fun. But it is with every intent to launch
with both men'sum women.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Okay, so Men's League will be coming out around the
same time, so we'll have to presumably start getting some
rollouts of names of players and people involved with that
one as well. What about things like telling people timing
of when you're playing in which city, is, what the
teams will look like, coaches, GMS, branding, all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Sarah, do you want to just join us right because
you clearly have it all planned out? But no that
that that will all come in due time, Sarah, I
promise you.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
Gosh, I'm so impatient that uh, stay tuned. It's just
there's so much mystery around this lead. It's so exciting
to consider the possibilities and the opportunity. And I think
some of the names you know, we know Nekka and
Alyssa two of the best names in the w and
the opportunity to see them on a global stage is
really cool. But also, you know, diving into how that
(38:15):
works the headquarters in Singapore, games all over the globe, like,
how how does that work? If there's so much to answer,
which I'm sure your head is swirling trying to figure
all that out. But we appreciate you coming on and
telling us what you are allowed to tell us, and
maybe some things you weren't. We'll find out later. If
you get in I know you're gotta get me in trouble.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
I'm gonna get a call from legal right now. But
no what I and I said this yesterday and our
pre prep calls there, I just really appreciate you reaching
out and choosing to do responsible reporting. And I always say,
if you if you have ants, if you have questions,
just ask and so.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
I might answer them and you might say answer them.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
But what I will tell you is that I'll never
cross a lot of integrity. I'll always be transparent, and
I always lead with purpose. And so that's that's the
beauty and all of this, and I'm having a ton
of fun doing it. And I can't thank you enough
for having me on.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
Well, I can't thank you if for coming on. We're
really excited to have more information and wait for the
rest of the information so we can get even more excited.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
I promise you it's coming.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
Thanks so much for the time, take care. Thanks again
to Elena for taking the time. We got to take
another break when we come back. They fell in love
in an oval place. 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 game play
of the day. Follow Elena and Project B on social media.
(39:37):
We'll link to those accounts in our show notes. And
Thanksgiving is fast approaching. We want to know your family traditions,
the weirdest, quirkiest, silliest, or most meaningful and heartfelt moments
that you look forward to come Turkey Day every year. Also,
start thinking about your holiday hot takes. I don't know
you put your Christmas tree up in August. Sweet potato
(39:59):
should only be served as a savory dish. Whatever you got,
Send him our way good game at Wondermedia network dot com,
or you can leave us a voicemail at eight seven
two two o four fifty seventy, and don't forget to subscribe,
rate and review slaces. It's easy watch Love Marriage and
the Baby and the Baby carriage rating two of two
(40:21):
major life moments review. Two of our show faves got
to celebrate massive milestones this weekend. First, best wishes and
congratulations to friend of the show, Anna Hall, who has
had quite a year. First the world championship win in
the heptathlon in September, and now a proposal. Longtime bo
NFL receiver Darius Slayton of the New York Giants popped
(40:42):
the question on the track where they first met, and
famous friends like Gabby Thomas, Cameron Brink, and Sunny Lee
rushed to congratulate the duo in the comments of their
shared Instagram post. Also, Giants rookie quarterback Jackson Dart wrote
mom and dad heart emoji. Also congratulations to Chicago sports
power couple Chicago Stars and US Women's national team stand
out mel Swanson and Chicago Cub star Dansby Swanson, as
(41:06):
the duo welcome their first baby daughter, Josie James Swanson.
See you on the US women's national call ups list
in twenty forty three, kiddo, no pressure, Now it's your turn.
Y'all Rate and review, Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow.
Good game, Molena, good game spirit and Gotham. You just
one game left in the NWSL season. We're not ready
(41:27):
for it to end. 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 alex Azzie Grace Lynch,
Taylor Williamson, and Lucy Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett,
(41:48):
Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are
Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from
Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain DA
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're still
toweling ourselves off after the final minutes of that insane
Gotham Pride game. It's Monday, November seventeenth, and on today's show,
we'll be talking to WNBA legend and Project B co
founder and chief basketball officer Elaina Beard about the origins
of Project B, how her international experience as a player
(00:21):
has informed her new gig, the leagues, much talked about
partnership with a company owned by the Saudi owned Public
Investment Fund, and when we can expect more player announcements,
plus DC versus NYC, the rise of Vancouver and will
the real sc please stand up? It's all coming up
right after this Welcome back slices. Happy Monday. Here's what
(00:48):
you need to know today. Let's start with the NWSL
and a thrilling weekend of semi final action. On Saturday,
the Washington Spirit best at the Portland Thorns two nil
in front of a sellout crowd of nineteen thousand, three
hundred and sixty five at rowdy Audi Field, sending Washington
to their second straight NWSL championship game and fourth in
(01:10):
franchise history. The Spirit struck first in the twenty seventh
minute as Rosamond Quassi made a spectacular sideline play then
carried the ball all the way into the Thorns box,
where she set up Gift Monday for the easy goal.
Croy Bethune doubled the lead in the eighty third minute
as she intercepted an attempted pass back to Thorn's goalkeeper
Mackenzie Arnold, made a move around her and finished on
the open net. It was a starfield gallery for the
(01:33):
Spirit win, including Trinity Rodman's bow, Ben Shelton, fellow tennis
pro Frances Tiafo, and Spirit investor and gymnastics great Dominique Dawes.
On Sunday, the eighth seed got them FC continued their
run as Spoilers, defeating the defending champion Orlando Pride one
week after taking out the top seeded Kansas City Current.
It was a Jaden Shaw stoppage time tally that decided
(01:56):
this one, as she curved in a beauty of a
free kick to put her team up one and friend
of the show and Katrin Berger came up huge again
in the ninety ninth minute as a header in the
box cruised toward the top corner of her net in
the final seconds before she punched it up over the
goal and out of danger. Heading into the ninetieth minute
of this game, Gotam had not managed a single shot
(02:19):
on goal, but the only stat that matters when the
clock runs out is the score one nothing. Batties. They
advanced to the title game for the second time in
three seasons. So it'll be the Spirit versus Gotham at
PayPal Park in San Jose, California on Saturday. That'll be
an eight pm Eastern kickoff on CBS. And don't forget
producer Alex and I will be out in norcl later
(02:40):
this week to bring all the excitement from Championship weekend.
More NWSL news. Spirit fans got a bit of ominous
news just before the start of Saturday semi final, as
The Athletic reported that Trinity Rodbin's reps are in negotiations
with the league about her future. The twenty three year
old is drawing a lot of interest from leagues across
the Pond, and she'll be a free agent this offseason.
(03:01):
Under the current salary cap, teams outside of the NWSL
can offer far more than any team in the NWSL can.
Per the story from Friend of the Show Meg Linahan
and Tom Bogert. Quote. The NWSL operates under a salary
cap currently set at three point three million at each club.
That maximum will rise every season until it hits five
point one million in twenty thirty, in accordance with the
(03:23):
most recent collective bargaining agreement between the NWSL Players Association
and the league. While the minimum player salary for this
season is forty eight thy five hundred and will rise
to eighty two thousand, five hundred by twenty thirty, there
is no maximum salary for an individual player. Still, the
Spirit currently has twenty seven players' salaries to cover with
three players on loan, whereas teams in Europe do not
(03:46):
have to abide by such caps. End quote. Rodman received
a gigantic ovation from the rowdy Audi crowd when she
subbed in very late in Saturday semi final win, and
you did have to wonder if that was her final
home game in Spirit Yellow. Still more NWSL news, and
it's a surprising shakeup for the Kansas City current Vlatko
(04:07):
and Danovsky, who's been the team's head coach and sporting
director since October of twenty twenty three. Will transition into
a new role as the club's global sporting Director. In
his two years as head coach, Antonovsky took the team
from second to last in the league with twenty six
points in twenty three, to fourth place and fifty five
points in twenty four and this season first place and
(04:28):
sixty five points. A team press release explains the change.
Quote as Sporting Director, Adonovsky will work with the head
coach and newly formed Head of Player Development role to
implement the long term vision for the club's technical and
athletics success, as well as be responsible for player recruitment,
roster strategy and scouting end quote. Andonovsky will continue to
(04:48):
operate as head coach until the team hires his replacement.
The Current have also promoted head of soccer ops Ryan
Dell to general manager. More soccer up in Canada, the
Vancouver Rise lifted the Diana B Matthis Trophy as the
inaugural winners of the Northern Super League Professional women's soccer league.
A lightning warning forced a forty minute delay thirty eight
minutes into the match with AFC Toronto up one nil,
(05:10):
but the Rise struck twice in the second half for
the two to one comeback victory in front of nearly
twelve thousand, five hundred bands at Bemofield in Toronto. Rise
keeper Morgan mclasen was named Player of the match, surviving
an onslaught of shots from Toronto, which outshot Vancouver sixteen
to eight on the day. Friend of the Show and
Vancouver native Christine Sinclair is part owner of the Rise,
(05:33):
and frankly it feels fitting that her club would take
home the first ever women's title in Canadian pro soccer history.
To College Hoops, a big weekend of action that started
with a wild one Friday night at the Greenbrier Resort
as unranked West Virginia overcame the ejection of six players
due to a fracas just before halftime, going on to
upset fifteenth ranked Duke fifty seven forty nine with just
(05:55):
five players available. Sydney Shaw put up sixteen points to
lead the Mountaineers five remaining players to the win. Kro
Lawson and Duke, who lost to Baylor in their season opener,
now dropped to two and two on the season. Saturday
saw the quote unquote battle for the real SC and
Don Staley's South Carolina game. Cox earned the honors with
a sixty nine to fifty two victory over USC at
(06:17):
Crypto Arena. Joyce Edwards led four game Cocks in double
digits with seventeen points and ten rebounds in the win.
Also Saturday, Hanna Hidalgo followed up an epic forty four
point sixteen steel performance against unranked Akron with a twelve
point seven turnover dud against number fourteen Michigan. Olivia Olsen
(06:38):
led a balanced effort for the Wolverines, putting up twenty
points in their ninety three to fifty four drubbing of
the Irish. The thirty nine point defeat the worst loss
for Notre Dame in more than two decades. On Sunday,
we saw twenty nine point thirteen rebound double double for
Sarah Strong as number one Yukon defeated Ohio State one
hundred to sixty eight and number seventeen TCU upset now
(07:00):
number ten NC State sixty nine fifty nine behind twenty
six points from Marcho Suarez and a fifteen point fourteen
rebound double double from Olivia Miles. That win just the
second road win over a top ten team in Horned
Frog's program history, and their first road win over a
ranked non conference opponent since January of twenty eleven. Let's
(07:20):
talk college attorneys. Starting with soccer. Two upsets in the
opening round of the NCAA Tournament as Ohio State upset
Number eight Georgia and Lipscomb bested number six Mississippi State.
Second round games kickoff on Thursday to college field hockey,
where the NCAA Tournament Final four is set after a
weekend of opening and second round games. It'll be defending
(07:41):
champions Northwestern taking on number one seed UNC on one
side of the bracket, and number two Princeton facing number
three Harvard on the other side of the bracket. Both
those games are Friday title game on Sunday. Some vibes news.
Love Pro Volleyball has announced a new Minnesota franchise set
to debut in twenty twenty seven, joining previous announced expansion
team Love Los Angeles. Season two of Love gets go
(08:04):
on January seventh with the original six teams Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Madison,
Salt Lake, and newly named Nebraska formerly known as Love Omaha.
To softball. Some AUSL news from last week, as four
of the league's best players were honored at the MLB
Awards at the Chelsea Theater in Las Vegas on Thursday night.
Friend of the Show Aaron Koffel was honored for MVP
(08:25):
and Hitter of the Year, Georgina Cork Pitcher of the
Year on a Gold, Rookie of the Year, and Hannah
Flippin Defensive Player of the Year, said Flippant of the evening, quote,
being here with some of the best athletes in the world,
it's such an honor. MLB supporting the AUSL has been
a turning point in women's sports, I truly believe, especially
for softball. Just being able to inspire young girls to
(08:45):
be able to have softball as a career one day,
that's our goal. End quote. Finally, some shouts to Asia
Wilson as the WNBA champion in four time. MVP continues
her talk show tour, boppin from The Jennifer Hudson Show
on Monday to a Good Morning America slash Tonight Show
at Jimmy Fallon Double on Thursday, looking every bit the
star on Fallon and a Thierry Mugler, a vintage sheer
(09:07):
Maxi dress, and of course she had the Candy Corn
Queen a one's prominently on display on Jimmy's desk. Where
do we think she'll pop up next? Maybe here on
good game? Call us back, Asia, We're ready for you girl.
All right, slices, We got to take a quick break
when we come back. All things Project B with Eleayna
Beard joining us now. She's the co founder and chief
(09:34):
basketball officer of Project B Basketball. A twenty twenty five
inductee into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, she set
the school scoring record in her four years at Duke,
was the first NCAA basketball player with over twenty six
hundred points, five hundred assists, and four hundred steals, and
was a Wade Trophy and Wooden Award winner, a WNBA champion,
four time WNBA All Star, nine time WNBA All Defensive selection,
(09:54):
two time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, and a
champion in leagues in Israel, Poland, and s the founder
of the three eighteen Foundation, which supports underserved girls in
her native Shreveport, Louisiana area. She was the first women's
hoops player to have her jersey retired by Duke publicly
legendary and legendarily private. It's Elena Beard, Hi, Elena Hi.
(10:15):
Sarah Thanks for coming on early. You've done your work.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Yeah goodness.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Well, I'm so excited to talk all things Project B.
But before we get there, I kind of want to
get to how you got to this new venture. You
retired from the WNBA in twenty twenty after a fifteen
year career. What did you see yourself doing after hoops
my deadness?
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Gosh, I was I was always the player who was
adamant about preparing for the life after the game, but
it was twenty ten that kind of put that into
hyper focus for me. I had a potential career inning injury.
The doctor said I had a two percent chance for
returning to an elite level, and I just took that
as an opportunity to just focus on me, focus on
my growth as an individual, and prepare for life after
(10:55):
the game. In fact, one of my first fellowships actually
was with the CEO of John Baja, and it's because
I had this vision of building exactly what Magic Johnson built, right.
He was the model that every athlete wanted to emulate
because he did such a great job of just transitioning
from court to life outdoors, and that eventually led me
(11:15):
to kind of owning my own franchise, but I quickly
realized that you got to have hundreds of franchise to
turn a significant revenue. But with that, I also just
took a deep dive into things that I was interested
in and things that scared me. And one of those
things was venture capital. And that just all stemmed for
me just having kind of this innate curiosity around startups
(11:35):
and innovation, but also reading the headlines and seeing that
our male counterparts got access to cap tables with ease, right,
they got in early on Airbnb, on Uber, all of
these innovative platforms. Yet women athletes didn't even have the
opportunity to say yes or no to that because people
just automatically assumed we don't have liquidity, and that eventually
(11:59):
became mission right. So when I retired officially in January
of twenty twenty, I made the immediate jump to the
venture capital space as a senior associate with a prominent
venture capital fund, and it was my mission to create
access and opportunity for female athletes to get their feet
into the door around venture capital because I knew the
(12:21):
potential of what that could mean, and so all of
that just kind of led me to one serving as
an independent board member on a publicly traded company, building
up my own nonprofit which is highly sustainable today, and
I oversee a team of eight, but just also keeping
at the forefront of wanting to create access and opportunity
(12:43):
for girls and women within sports.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
That's incredible. It's funny you mentioned Magic because there was
a time when he sort of stood alone as an
example of someone who thought outside the box post athletic career,
in part because in men's sports, if you get a
big enough name, you have so much money, you can
just coast sort of maybe dabble here and there. And
Magic had done something so demonstratively bigger than that, and
(13:07):
it inspired a lot of people. But to your point,
for a long time and still in a lot of cases,
female athletes don't have the kind of money that's sometimes
required to get into that space and then start to
make things happen. And so I love that you dove
right in. Okay, so you were also part of a
bid to bring a WNBA expansion team to Oakland? Is
that still something you're working toward.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Absolutely not not the answer I was expecting. Yeah, No,
it was something that I just really took a deep
dive into while I was out in sort of the
Bay Area. I spent about two and a half years
out there, and during that time, I just met some
really great people who had a vision of kind of
(13:49):
acquiring those expansion rights to a WNBA team. And it
had always been my desire to own right and I
was always in the mindset of not being a face
and a name. I am so against that. I've always
wanted to attach my name and my work to anything
that I decide to engage with to see an outcome,
(14:11):
and that's just always how I've been kind of just
set up. And so the opportunity came around for me
to join this group that was pursuing kind of the rights,
and I jumped in and I led it with the
understanding that the moment that Joe Lacam and his team
put their name in a hat, my dreams would be crushed.
But what I couldn't allow to happen was that to
(14:31):
influence my learning journey. So I decided to move forward
with it. And I'll take credit for it, and I'll
take it it was my push that pushed Joe Lacam
to put their names in a hat to acquire the
expansion rights to the Valkyries, right, and to see that
organization flourish the way that Hit has within their first
(14:52):
year of existence, it's not surprising.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, little less little assist from Molena.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
You know, I'll take it, right. They may not say it,
but I'll t But it's just been beautiful to just
watch them kind of move with sort of the intent
and focus and precision that they move with on a
daily basis.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah, it's been a really beautiful rollout, really incredibly impressive
first season. You're not interested in bringing a w team
to any other city, then that that part of your
desire to expand the league is no longer there.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
My desire is to grow the global footprint of women's basketball.
That has always been my desire. I took that opportunity
sort of in the Bay Area, but I also approached
two other teams. Right had a legitimate proposal in place,
and it was either a no or went ghosts, And
that's that's fine, right, But what that taught me is
that they're a different ask to ownership. And when something
(15:43):
is meant to be successful, there are a few things
that have to work. One is good people, two is
the actual idea, and then three is the timing of everything,
and so Project B came into the picture at the
right time, and then those other two things just lined
up and it just made sense for me to jump
(16:05):
into this because I am a huge believer and players
having equity and ownership in the things that they create. Yeah,
and that's what we're building.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, I want to get to that part of it,
because it's a really different model. Project Be's been in
the works for a couple of years now, So tell
us exactly what it is. What this women's league that
you're going to roll out in November of twenty twenty
six will be.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, No, I think I want to correct you there,
because it's not just a women's league. We're starting with
the women first because it's about time we put the
focus on women first.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Right.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
But this has been something that we've just been head
down kind of in the trenches for two years. This
is not something that just happened overnight. Right. We have
a legitimate team in place that have been working underneath
the radar to build out something that is sustainable and global.
It all stems from Jeff Prentiss, who is the co
founder of Skype, and then Grady Burnett, who serves as
(16:57):
the CEO of global sales for Meta for like I
think eleven or twelve years. In fact, he came in
when revenue was at one hundred million. He scaled that
to a ten billion revenue within the twelve or thirteen
year period. So I only say that to say that
I get to be a part of an ownership group
that understands disruption and who understands scale on a global level.
(17:19):
And so this was an idea that the two of
them came up with over dinner and then they just
started digging in for six months straight. It's just literally
analyzing the entire market and what they came to understand
that there are three billion plus basketball fans around the
world and within the United States, within kind of the
two main leads, the w and the NBA, they're only
(17:42):
tapping into ten to eleven percent of that global fan base.
And so there's so much untapped market outside of North
America that we believe as an opportunity to come in
and build something that is extremely sustainable, global and competitive
and just really unique. And so Project B is a
platform and that is f one style, right.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
It is our.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Intent to host two weeks tournaments in seven different cities
throughout a season. When you think about F one, you
think about how they go from city to city to city,
and they aggregate these points depending on their positioning, but
also kind of like who's the champion at the end
of that season, they eventually crown a champion of the world, right,
And that's exactly how we're thinking about this thing. So
(18:24):
to your point about us starting, you know, or there
being a women's basketball league, no, we're starting with men
with women, with every intent to launch with both men
and women. In Q four twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Six, Okay, yeah, we'll get to the men's sid because
I know that that's where the first sort of public rumors
about Project B came out was about the men. But
I know that that's not on hold. But the women
are the ones taking shape quicker and are more publicly
being spoken about now. So when you talk about those
seven two week tournaments in the major cities Asia, Europe,
the Americas, is the champion at the end, a team, yes,
(18:57):
one of those eleven player teams or an individual.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Exactly the team will will be the winner. Yeah, thanks
for that clarification.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Yeah cool, I mean you played basketball, and I think
you said twenty seven countries. Yeah, when we chatted. So
that's a lot of international experience. How did that influence
your decision to be a part of Project B and
how is it influencing your leadership on the project?
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Oh my god, it's extremely influential.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
You know.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
When I think about kind of my time internationally, there
is nothing that I valued more than experiences right in
those cities, immersing myself into the cultures, in building the relationships.
And so when Grady approached me about Project B, when
you started talking about the global nature of this thing,
I was like, yep, nope, I'm in right. That's all
I needed to hear. Of course I needed to hear
(19:42):
a few more things.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
But what's my title?
Speaker 2 (19:48):
You know? The title was never like of interest to me.
It was something that I I just Sarah, I do
to work right and everything else will fall into place.
I I've always been in that mindset as even a player,
I hated the title of captain right because it's not
one person that determines or dictates sorry of the success
(20:09):
or the outcome of a team our season. But to
your point, in terms of how it has influenced me,
what my international experience has shown me is that talent
is global, right. Obviously the pinnacle of basketball is NBA WNBA.
But because of those twenty seven countries that I've played in,
I am well aware that not all the best talent
(20:30):
exists within those leagues. And when we're thinking about the
composition of like our teams through our Project B, it
is with every intent to build out a global team
and a global pool of players that reflect exactly what
we're trying to do, and that's elite competition on a
global scale, hands down, no questions asked. It's not a gimmick,
(20:51):
it's five on five. It is our intent to build
out a platform that is hosting the best basketball in
the world.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
You know, for a long time players here in the
States wanted off and options in the US because women
had to go abroad sometimes to places like Russia that
they didn't always feel necessarily safe or really even understand
what the financial backing of their ownership was or otherwise. Now,
with athletes unlimited and unrivaled, there are great options in
(21:18):
the States. Are you hearing from players that they are,
again some of them looking to find a way for
basketball to take them abroad.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
What I would always say to that is that I
absolutely love what Unrival and Athletes Unlimited are doing too.
We're all different kind of models in terms of how
we think about this thing. What we want to focus
on as sort of that global nature of what we're building.
What I wholehearted will believe is that we're only going
to amplify what the WNBA is doing domestically and sort
(21:46):
of build out that global footprint to in turn create
global superstars. So if there's anything that I can share
here is that we're not competing with anyone, right, We're
in exclusively. We got sixteen sixties players. There's so much
more talent across the board here. It is our intent
to ensure that we're only amplifying what these women are
(22:08):
doing on the court and compensating them accordingly. We are
treating them like partners, right, they're owners in this one
of our largest stakeholder groups, and so they're going to
reap the benefit of the value that they're creating not
only on the court but off the court because they're brands.
They are individual brands that deserve to be paid for
whatever they bring onto the court, and that's how we're
focusing on it.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Yeah, it's interesting because you know, with individual sports, there's
a lot of fandom based on patriotism, right, players that
play for your country and you watch them play across
the globe and represent your country, and you might like
them for that. You might like style of play, you
might like vibes, you might like what they stand for.
Like there's a lot of ways to attach to individual
athletes on a global scale and have fans from all
over the world root for them. With teams, we again
(22:51):
often usually starts with patriotism for global events, we all
root for our own country. Sometimes it edges into jingoism
more than just patriotism. But then there might be teams
like the Chicago Bulls, that La Lakers, the Golden State Warriors,
teams that go global in terms of fandom for them,
but they're still rooted in a place. How do you
(23:12):
drive fandom for teams that are made up of players
presumably from around the globe, representing something artificial like an
invented name or brand or logo, and then moving so
they're never of a place, of a country, of an
established franchise.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Yeah no, I hear you. And it's our thesis and
belief that it's about the name on the back of
a jersey, right, and I can point to many many
examples of this. You have Luka don KU's I mean,
and I'm only naming this because this is probably this
was probably the most shocking story of last year in
terms of he getting traded to LA. The amount of
(23:53):
ticket sales and revenue that drop because Luka don KU's
left the Dallas Mavericks is an indication that it is
about the name on the back of the jersey versus
the actual team. And also when you think about kind
of the way fans are now engaging today, right, this
is a younger audience, is gin z. Yeah. They're all
about highlights, they're all about streaming, and they're all about
the individual. So I don't think that that is a
(24:16):
hindrance by any means. We are kind of operating outside
of the established model of what it says today around
team and culture. We're all about the player.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Yeah, I mean, that's a great point about young people.
It's kind of like wild to the old heads like
us that they're just bouncing around team to team based
on the players that they like. But I mean it
makes sense because it also is really stupid to just
keep rooting for a team that lets you down and
doesn't have any players you like, just because that's the
one you were assigned when you grew up. He chose
when you were young. Taken from me a fan of
(24:48):
teams that are currently letting me down repeatedly.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
I know, not to take you off, but I think
I was watching like a social media like clip and
it was a Jets fan like yes, being like extremely
upset that Ye, it's just.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Like I hate this team. I hate them, yeah, which rightfully, so's.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
I hate this team. I was born into this and
I'm not gonna ever I'm always a Jets fan, but like,
I just I hate this tame.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
How do you decide which city is to play in?
Speaker 2 (25:19):
You know what, I'm not sure that I am the
best to kind of answer that, but what I can
say we focus really on kind of the culture and
what they were capable of offering from just an experience standpoint, right,
there are more nuances and details as to why we
choose a city, but I can say that we have
kind of this matrix of how we think about what
(25:39):
city is the right city from what we're bringing, and
we let that lead all decisions.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Do you anticipate the cities will be the same for
the men's league as the women's.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Oh, we're not going to China to watch men and
Tokyo to watch women. It's exactly how you think about
start of the WTA. People go to the US Open
to watch both men and women tennants on the same platform,
and we believe that is the value. Having both men
and women on the same platform is what really drives
the value in the uniqueness of what we're building.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Yeah, of course the WTA does operate separately from the
men's tour and have lots of events that are separate,
but yeah, US Open is a great opportunity for both
in the same place. So if you're looking at whatever
matrix and I know you said you aren't the one
deciding these things, but how do you know the women's
basketball fandom in a place, because that might vary quite
differently from how much that place is aware of and
(26:28):
interested in the stars of the men's game.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
So back to your point when you asked me, how
much has my overseated experience influenced my ability to have
an impact on start of the decision making here? That
is one of them, right, I've played in twenty seven
countries and I'm well aware of the fandom that exists
outside of North America, and I can tell you that
it is live and it is thriving, and.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
I imagine you've got some marketing plans in place to
make sure that folks ahead of the role out of
these games are excited to see the players, know the
players that are coming their way, because you know, obviously
they're are hotbeds where leagues have existed for your several
of what you've played in, but there are also probably
some places that are a great opportunity in the men's
(27:09):
game that need some growth on the women's game, so
you have an opportunity to bring stars there and help
open up a space as well.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
One hundred percent, Sara, and I love that you brought
that up, because at the end of the day, it's
about creating that access and opportunity for fans on a
global scale, in particular women and girls in sports. One
thing that we're adamant about is not just going into
a city for two weeks and leading. Our goal is
to build sustainable hear on programming in each city that
we partner with. So it's been such a phenomenal journey
(27:36):
to date because we have the right balance of understanding business,
understanding people, understanding partnerships, and understanding the good that we're
capable of doing in this world. And so it's been
a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
One of the keys to this model is you have
to get names people are excited to see, right, because
it isn't about attaching to a team or league with
any sort of nostalgia. So I know you mentioned co
founder Jeff Prentiss and co founder Grady Burnett. Grady told
Front Office Sports the league is paying multiples higher than
what's available right now in the world of women's sports,
(28:10):
highest salaries and equity packages in women's team sports. So
what's the salary range you're working with?
Speaker 2 (28:16):
That is a great question, and it's not details I'm
willing to.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Share, Okay, but ok just a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Right. It's a lot of money, and we're intentional about it, right,
We're not just throwing money out there.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Right.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
We have a legitimate model in place, business strategy in
place that dalidates what we're doing. But there is nothing
more rewarding than being at the forefront of shifting this
landscape of women's basketball that exists today and paying these
women what they absolutely deserve and it's a beautiful thing
to watch. We're literally creating generational wealth in a weak time.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Well, I'm saying this, you are not, and I do
not expect a response. Reports are starting around two million
dollar per player. Can you speak to the equity package,
because I know that's something important to you, is that
it's not just we're giving your generational wealth, but you
have an ownership piece and caring about the success of
this thing.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Yeah. I think the only thing that I can say
that they are Again, I won't touch on like numbers
because I just don't think that that's beneficial in this moment.
It's about the core of what we're doing, and we're
creating that partnership and ownership model that should exist in
sports today. From an equity standpoint, I would say, if
I had to like give an example, just think about
it as tech. I have two tech guys kind of
(29:31):
at the forefront of this thing, and when they think
about sort of that compensation package and what it could
potentially look like, tech is the best model.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Got it? Okay? You also have some big name investors
that are going to help you pay these players. Candice Parker,
Steve Young, Novak, Djokovic, Loan Stevens among them. You've also
got a partner in Silo, which is an entertainment company
owned by the Saudi owned Public Investment Fund PIF. Lots
of talk about Saudi involvement in initial reporting about Project
be and on social media, but again, Burnett told Front
(30:02):
Office Sports that Project wants a global diversified cap table,
but quote that doesn't include any dollars from Saudi Arabia. Absolutely,
So what's the partnership with Celia and why has that
been something that's maybe either incorrectly reported or not fully
fleshed out in reporting so far.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Yeah, I love that you asked that question because I
think people are going to focus on what they focus on,
because it's very hard for people to process something as
ambitious as what we're building, and the fact that we
have to sort of engage a partner with certain entities
to get it done. At the beginning of this call,
I named Jeff Prentiss, I named Grady Burnett. I don't
(30:37):
think you need anyone else to drive sort of access
to capital other than these two individuals, right, And so
to Grady's point, we are a global basketball league, and
it is our job and it is our intent to
build out a cap table that mimics just that Sella
is a global operating partner that is owned by PIF.
We're paying them as a service logistically produce our events,
(31:02):
and they have. I mean, I think the latest kind
of partnership that they have engaged on is the highly
anticipated ala Veraz and Crawford Pike on Netflix. They were
partners in that right, and so they have produced global
events consistently, and so we can speak about Sella, but
(31:24):
the real story here is that we're a global basketball
league and it is our intent to partner with partners
across the world. And so I just I really hate
that that is the narrative because I just think people
are just picking and choosing what the focus on, and
it's important to do responsible reporting. So I really respect
you for asking that question.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Well, And it feels like I think when we hear
about PIF or the Saudi's as a whole, we are
usually hearing about them investing into a space for access.
But in this case, you're saying there's no funding from
them funding. You're paying a partner that happens to have
an affiliation with them, because that partner is an event partner.
That you want to work with to put on events.
(32:05):
So where is the funding then coming from outside of
those investors? Do you have the kind of tech connections
that you're referring to or alluding to exactly?
Speaker 2 (32:15):
I won't necessarily go into detail about who those individuals are,
but as I noted Grady Burnett, Jeck Prentiss, I mean
Jeck Princes started Atamaco, which is the largest venture capital
farm in Europe. And so if that doesn't speak to
access to dollars, I don't know what will. But we
have we have institutional investors from Quiet Capital to Mangrove
Capital to Sequence Capital, and then we have individual investors
(32:37):
who understand and want tech type returns, right, and so
it's a different playing field for us. We're talking about sports,
but we're also merging that with tech, and I think
that that's the concept that's extremely hard for people to
really understand, right.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Well, so help us understand it, because I am not
a Silicon Valley tech person. So when you say tech
like returns, how does the product of basketball and presumably
money coming from sponsorships, attendants viewing all the typical sports things,
how does that spin into a tech product or a
(33:14):
tech like return. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
No, I think that's a better question for Grady Burnett
because they are the tech guys. My focus is purely
on sort of the basketball side of things. But with that,
it is every intent for us to engage a billion
users on one platform and then we navigate it from there. Right,
It's about getting the eyeballs on the sport and then
driving that engagement from there.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Got it. Okay, what's the media arm of the league?
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Yeah? Oh, I mean obviously we have partners in HBS
and other individuals who Grady and Jeff are working on
the background to kind of finalize kind of whatever planning
that there needs to be finalized. But that's that's a
question for both Grady and Jeff.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Okay, so you're kind of saying that the fans that
will watch from Afar when not you know, when it's
not in their city, will be on a proprietary website
and that's where everybody goes and watches or is it
a partnership with TV stations and other things. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
I prefer not to sort of jump into the partnership
side of things, but it is every intent for us
to create a frictionless engagement on a then standpoint right, Like,
if I'm my wife is from Israel, I'm in Israel.
I want to watch NBA games, they're paywalls. There's timing
difference in things of that nature. Our goal is to
create a streaming platform that allows fans to sort of
(34:28):
connect and interact accordingly.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Okay, well, you got a year before you got to
tell me where I'm watching and how I'm watching and
who I'm wanting to.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Details to come, more details to come, I promise.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
The timing, as I mentioned, You've got a year starting November.
Plan is to end in April. So the timing of
the season makes this a competitor to unrivaled and AU
basketball and a lot of overseas opportunities, but not the
WNBA as of now. Is it the intention to keep
it a complementary option for w players or is there
planned to potentially expand in the future.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
No, you know what I've always said, and this is
just a belief of mine. I've spent fifteen years building
out the WNBAD. It is not my intent to dismantle
anything that has been established. What I wholeheard I would
believe is that we're capable of building what we're building
because of the WNBA, and it is every intent to
sort of partner alongside with them. This is only another
opportunity for women to access and continue to play the
(35:19):
sport that they love and get paid for doing what
they're doing. We are not competitive to the WNBA by
any means. It's just another option and.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
It sounds like there's a lot of opportunity for players
who maybe aren't in the w to get a chance
to be seen alongside the best talent from the W.
We already heard about neko Oguomkay, which was the first
big name to hit. Now Alyssa Thomas announced as joining
the league. Should we anticipate more big announcements soon?
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Yeah, wait and see again. It's really funny because my
friends get on me a lot because I am like
a vault. I don't share very much. I'm a very
private person as well. But you should absolutely anticipate more
announcements so private.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
I put it in the bile budget early private. But
we should anticipate international players from other pro leagues being
a part of it. Right now.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
What I can say is that we have multiple All
w NBA Team honors kind of signed on. We have
international players signed on, We have young players signed on
that consists of players from four or five different continents
at the moment.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Okay, so let's talk about how the league's considering the
rollout of the names and it's launch, because the information
about Project B has kind of been fits and spurts.
Right there was the gossip about Lebron James and mav
Carter a yacht and all that stuff, and the rumored
men's league. That was the first sort of thing to
come out. But now the pivot to focus on the
women's league right now with players and actual info coming
(36:41):
out about the plans for November of next year. You
mentioned earlier that there's still a plan for a men's league.
Is the desire to launch that at the same time next.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Year, Yeah, to your point, Like I said, you're gonna
get more information as it comes, and it has been.
We've been extremely strategic in terms of how we've released information.
I think the biggest shift for me is, uh, going
from operating underneath the radar for two years and now
talking about exactly what we're.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
Doing and remembering which things are public and which exactly say.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
You should have seen me before this interview. I was
like going through and reading articles and make sure I
can say if you have a.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Big board in front of you that's like yes, no,
don't say it, ud say yes, this is this is.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
It's been nerve wrecking actually, but it's been a lot
of fun. But it is with every intent to launch
with both men'sum women.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Okay, so Men's League will be coming out around the
same time, so we'll have to presumably start getting some
rollouts of names of players and people involved with that
one as well. What about things like telling people timing
of when you're playing in which city, is, what the
teams will look like, coaches, GMS, branding, all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Sarah, do you want to just join us right because
you clearly have it all planned out? But no that
that that will all come in due time, Sarah, I
promise you.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
Gosh, I'm so impatient that uh, stay tuned. It's just
there's so much mystery around this lead. It's so exciting
to consider the possibilities and the opportunity. And I think
some of the names you know, we know Nekka and
Alyssa two of the best names in the w and
the opportunity to see them on a global stage is
really cool. But also, you know, diving into how that
(38:15):
works the headquarters in Singapore, games all over the globe, like,
how how does that work? If there's so much to answer,
which I'm sure your head is swirling trying to figure
all that out. But we appreciate you coming on and
telling us what you are allowed to tell us, and
maybe some things you weren't. We'll find out later. If
you get in I know you're gotta get me in trouble.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
I'm gonna get a call from legal right now. But
no what I and I said this yesterday and our
pre prep calls there, I just really appreciate you reaching
out and choosing to do responsible reporting. And I always say,
if you if you have ants, if you have questions,
just ask and so.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
I might answer them and you might say answer them.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
But what I will tell you is that I'll never
cross a lot of integrity. I'll always be transparent, and
I always lead with purpose. And so that's that's the
beauty and all of this, and I'm having a ton
of fun doing it. And I can't thank you enough
for having me on.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
Well, I can't thank you if for coming on. We're
really excited to have more information and wait for the
rest of the information so we can get even more excited.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
I promise you it's coming.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
Thanks so much for the time, take care. Thanks again
to Elena for taking the time. We got to take
another break when we come back. They fell in love
in an oval place. 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 game play
of the day. Follow Elena and Project B on social media.
(39:37):
We'll link to those accounts in our show notes. And
Thanksgiving is fast approaching. We want to know your family traditions,
the weirdest, quirkiest, silliest, or most meaningful and heartfelt moments
that you look forward to come Turkey Day every year. Also,
start thinking about your holiday hot takes. I don't know
you put your Christmas tree up in August. Sweet potato
(39:59):
should only be served as a savory dish. Whatever you got,
Send him our way good game at Wondermedia network dot com,
or you can leave us a voicemail at eight seven
two two o four fifty seventy, and don't forget to subscribe,
rate and review slaces. It's easy watch Love Marriage and
the Baby and the Baby carriage rating two of two
(40:21):
major life moments review. Two of our show faves got
to celebrate massive milestones this weekend. First, best wishes and
congratulations to friend of the show, Anna Hall, who has
had quite a year. First the world championship win in
the heptathlon in September, and now a proposal. Longtime bo
NFL receiver Darius Slayton of the New York Giants popped
(40:42):
the question on the track where they first met, and
famous friends like Gabby Thomas, Cameron Brink, and Sunny Lee
rushed to congratulate the duo in the comments of their
shared Instagram post. Also, Giants rookie quarterback Jackson Dart wrote
mom and dad heart emoji. Also congratulations to Chicago sports
power couple Chicago Stars and US Women's national team stand
out mel Swanson and Chicago Cub star Dansby Swanson, as
(41:06):
the duo welcome their first baby daughter, Josie James Swanson.
See you on the US women's national call ups list
in twenty forty three, kiddo, no pressure, Now it's your turn.
Y'all Rate and review, Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow.
Good game, Molena, good game spirit and Gotham. You just
one game left in the NWSL season. We're not ready
(41:27):
for it to end. 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 alex Azzie Grace Lynch,
Taylor Williamson, and Lucy Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett,
(41:48):
Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are
Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from
Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain DA
Host
Sarah Spain
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