May 13, 2026 • 41 mins
Sarah sits down with Gotham COO Kari Fleischauer, Portland Cascade GM Jami Lobpries, and Seattle Torrent GM Meghan Turner at the 2026 espnW Summit NYC. The group discusses being major decision-makers for their respective NWSL, AUSL and PWHL teams, establishing a new franchise vs. taking over a legacy brand, managing the demands of growth and expansion, turning casual fans into diehards, and their enthusiasm – and concern – about the exploding women’s sports space. Plus, how does your state rate in the RepresentWomen Gender Parity Index?
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Follow Portland Cascade GM Jami Lobpries here
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're fuming
after learning our superstar Niee was forced to stop scoring
touchdowns in a flag football game due to a rule
limiting the amount of individual badassory allowed. But our nephew's
fla football it doesn't have the same rules for boys.
I'm about to.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Be all up in someone's face.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Not sure who yet, but someone. It's Wednesday, May thirteenth,
and on today's show, we're skipping the need to know
and getting straight to my Women at the Helm panel
conversation with Gotham FC COO Kerry Fleishauer, Portland Cascade GM
Jamie low Price and Seattle Torrent GM Megan Turner. I
sat down with the three of them last week at
the espnW summit to discuss being major decision makers for
(00:41):
their respective nwsl AUSL and PWHL teams, establishing a new
franchise versus taking over a legacy brand, managing the demands
of growth and expansion turning casual fans into diehards, and
their enthusiasm and concern about the exploding women's sports space.
It's all coming up right after this. Please help me
(01:08):
welcome the women at the Helm first Chief Operating officer
of Gotham FC, former Head of Strategy and Chief of
Staff at Angels City Football Club. Previous stops at SpaceX,
Crooked Media and Goldman Sex. She's fascinating all It's Kerry
Flea Shower joining us. Next. She's the GM for the
Portland Cascade and New Athletes Unlimited Softball League expansion team
(01:30):
beginning play this summer. She's a former pro player herself.
She's also the current CEO of Alliance Fast Pitch, which
is a national youth softball organization connecting club softball and
overseeing national championships. It's Jamie low Price. Finally, the GM
of the Seattle torrent In the Professional Women's Hockey League
and expansion team that started play this season. Former collegiate
(01:50):
and pro player, she previously served as assistant GM for
the Boston Fleet. It's Megan Turner.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Woo.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
So much to talk about. Love the fact that we
have representation from some leagues that are just in the
first couple of years of existence, and there's so much
to learn from.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
What it is to start something.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
New in the whim's sports space, and in Carrie's case,
what it is to take on something that's been around
for a while and hopefully add and build and innovate.
So Car, I want to start with your resume that
I mentioned because I find it fascinating to leave college
at Northwestern Okay, okay, okay, just check in the room
and end up first at gold min Sex but then
Crooked Media, so Pod Save American, all those pods we
(02:30):
love and SpaceX. What did you actually take from those
experiences into the sports.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
World A lot?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I think I'm no, we make the joke. My parents
think that I hate making money, and I kind of
went the reverse route most people would have guessed I'm
but I think it taught me, if anything, starting at
a bigger institution like Goldman I'm, which I had an
amazing experience, met a lot of really smart people that
I really wanted to find something well, not even instily
(02:57):
more of a filling, but something that filled my cut more.
And so I feel like I've slowly made the journey
to what that has meant for me as kind of
the through line, but also being able to take the
skills that I learned and actually utilize them in a
space that maybe doesn't have a ton of people. To
have a finance background or have worked in a startup mentality,
and so I think being able to take a lot
of the things I learned both from a corporate level
(03:19):
and like a meritocracy level and be able to say, hey,
these are the things that I loved about it, these
are the things I didn't love, and the things that
I didn't love generally at some of the bigger organizations
was the lack of autonomy and the lack of being
able to be flexible and just doing stuff because no
one had done it before, rather than just saying, hey,
we did this here, so we're going to continue to
do it this way.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
And I was like, that doesn't make sense.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
And so I've been so lucky at angel City and
now it got them to work with people and to
work with incredible owners who have said, hey, like we're
still building this, like let's figure it out, like let's
try out what works, let's try out what doesn't, and
really being dynamic and learning from that. And I think
that that's something that you see across women's sports is yes,
quote unquote, there's like a playbook and in some ways,
(04:02):
and you mentioned jes Just Smith, like we talked about
this all the time, but at the same time.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
I mean, these two are building teams have never existed.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
That's what we did in Angel City, and we're in
leagues that are still really young.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Space to innovate, and like, as much as they're getting bigger,
there's still not a ton of bandwidth, so you're able
to make a decision to do it instead of like,
let me run it through thirty people and then see
what we get. You helped build Angel City into the
biggest brand in women's sports. You set the standard for
future franchises across different leagues. How did Gotham pull you
away from the Sun from the postgame orange slices with
(04:34):
Jennifer Garner and Natalie Portman and everything that Angel City
had to offer.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
I think it was a really it was a really
tough thing to grapple with. I'm I loved my time
at Angel City and it was a really magical special
place with a lot of really, really incredible people. I'm
when the chance at Gotham came up and I got
a chance to talk to our incredible owner, Carolyn Tish,
I toquadget and I heard Chief Opper after of the
(05:00):
Fine Blurn Bomb.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
I think I was just really curious.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
I'm they had something that Angel City did not ever have,
which was a winning record.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
I'm like that.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I was like, Wow, that must be nice, and so
I think for me, I'm the Carolyn's family had just
bought the team not that long ago, a couple two
enough years ago, and I really felt like a reverse there,
and so in a lot of ways, there were some
parallels with building an expansion team. I also think that
my goal at Angel City was to build it to
a place where I wasn't necessarily needed, and after five
(05:31):
years there, I think that it there was enough incredible
people around and we'd built enough of a foundation that
it was kind of like, Hey, how can we, for
the sake of women's sports go and replicate that elsewhere?
And I'm to do it in a place that has
I think probably the best best market for sports in
the world, and with the team that is exceptional, with
really incredible staff, really smart people, and the unbelievable ownership group,
(05:55):
it was it was hard to turn down, and so
I've been I feel very very great. It's definitely hard,
but I have really phenomenal people along the side for
the journey, and so it's been really inspired and motivated.
I'm to take a lot of the stuff that we
did really well.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
At Angel City. I'm in to try a lot of new.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Stuff because it's not the way here to do it here,
you know, Jamie, Speaking of markets, Portland is such a
fantastic one for women's sports. How have you approached building
fandom for a new team in that space that already
has such beloved women's teams?
Speaker 6 (06:28):
And that's everything you heard too about Portland was just
how much they love women's sports, and we showed up
in our announcement. We were first like forty eight hours
after this was announcer in market and it was packed
and you could just feel it. Every time I go there.
You just feel the love that they have in the community.
Last year AUSL did more of a tour model and
Portland was not one of the cities. But I think
(06:49):
just looking around at the landscape of women's sports, it's
been amazing of what's happened and already embracing the just
the team and.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
You've got your rose for the rose.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
Do you have MirOS justn brand already?
Speaker 1 (07:03):
You know, softball historically resonates with Middle America, with a
lot of conservative regions. Portland is notably very progressive, right,
So how do you marry those audiences and those expectations
with what you know will serve the city you're in.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
It's a great question and it is.
Speaker 6 (07:18):
I mean, softball traditionally is kind of a blue collar sport,
I would say too, but we've seen it continuously grow
and I just think that what's been fun about Portland
from my observation initially, is it was the community first
that bought in and then the softball fans come. So
a lot of times in softball we were doing the
tour model around youth tournaments and that's really what our
(07:38):
fan base was was the participants and ones that have played.
So I'm just excited to see this whole new fan
base that's embracing. And I think in all of our
markets too, that there's a really good mix of traditional
softball markets with also established as sports fan bases, and
then women's sports fan bases too.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
I think as we see so many expansion teams across
different leagues arrive, what we're learning is that looking at
the existing sports market and thinking you can find the
women's sports market in it is not always the case.
It is a whole different audience waiting for you to
show up and then they arrive, which has been really
cool to see. Megan, you were very recently in Jamie's shoes,
looking to try to create tradition and loyalty from basically
(08:16):
nothing right, starting fresh. So how did you approach connecting
with Seattle fans from day one and finding their hockey lovers?
Speaker 7 (08:23):
Yeah, well, I think I have to give Seattle fans
a lot of credit. First, before we even announced the
Seattle team, they were mobilized, energized, activated. I know, we
have some Seattle people in this room today, So they
show up right, like they show up in every location,
and they've been doing that from day one. For me,
it was not lost on me that we're creating a team,
(08:44):
but we're also creating a brand in the market. And
so you know, we talked about culture first in our
locker room, and I think that we wanted that to
extend to the broader fan base in the city and
how we showed up every day to our games. And
I have a ton of people that support me and
support this organization and that show up and put on
(09:05):
a great show and make our game's joyous, right, And
so we really looked to match the energy and enthusiasm
that we felt from Seattle and try to give that back.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Hockey fans are wild, man.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
I mean, it is so fun across the country to
see how bought in day one they are, how much
they're creating the culture of the sport they love. You
got to start in an Olympic year. You got to
start with a superstar, the superstar in Hillary Knight at
the center of this new team, and that created a
ton of momentum. But with an Olympic year, you also
have disrupted play, disrupted flow. Right, You're taking a bunch
(09:41):
of time off and getting back to it and injuries.
Hillary had to sit out a bunch after coming back
from Milan, Courtina, So can you talk about how the
Olympics were sort of a double edged sword and gave
you a lot of eyeballs, but maybe also made it
hard to feel like you had a real regular season.
Speaker 7 (09:55):
Yeah, to hit on the positives first, Like, there's so
much exposure that came out of the Olympics, obviously for
for our team, but just for the league in general. Uh,
you know, when we came back, we put on the
scoreboard all of the Olympians across the league.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
I don't I should have the number, but I don't.
Speaker 7 (10:10):
But it's it was an immense portion of our league.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Our entire Canadian team was in the p w H yes, yes,
every crazy right, some staff included, right.
Speaker 7 (10:20):
So there's there's big overlap and just the exposure that
it gave us in you know, coming coming out of that,
people who didn't know hockey, didn't know our players, you know.
I think just it was a great experience and uh
for the players and and for people coming to our
games to be able to connect with something that's that's
on the international stage as well. And then certainly from
(10:43):
uh the season perspective.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
It's hard.
Speaker 7 (10:45):
I give the players a lot of credit right there.
The Olympics and winning a gold medal in the prospect
of that is is still a pinnacle of women's hockey,
I think for you know, for maybe maybe a little
boys are looking at the Stanley Cup, but little girls
you know now are looking at the Wallter Cup, I'm
sure too. But the Olympic gold around their neck I
think is still kind of the pinnacle. So there's a
(11:07):
lot of pressure on the players to obviously perform at
the highest level, and a lot of these players have
been looking to be at the Olympics and to win
gold or win a medal for their whole lives. So
they're really bought in and dealing with two different systems,
two different organizations, two different pressure sets is a lot
and I think it just give them a lot of credit.
(11:28):
So it certainly was I think difficult to manage, you know,
heading into the Olympics for the players and staff alike,
and then coming out. Obviously we had some injuries in
a book that was sidelined for the year two, so
we have to kind of adjust our roster and and
and be creative that way.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yeah, so much excitement around that win though I got
to be there at the gold medal game. It was unbelievable.
And then coming back the Olympic bump is huge. You
just you're seeing them on Saturday Night Live and the
late night shows and the magazines and everywhere else. You know, Carrie,
you arrive at Gotham and this is a franchise that
dates back all the way to sky Blue. Do we
have any folks who went to sky Blue games? Okay,
(12:09):
all right, I know we got one. Where did you
feel the most difference between working at an expansion team
and starting fresh between a legacy franchise and trying to
figure out what you want to embrace them, maybe what
you want to change.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Yeah, no, it's a great question.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
I think there were a lot of things I'm coming
into Gotham that were already established. As you mentioned, I'm
it was I think the biggest difference coming from an
expansion team was that not only were we trying to
build something new, and I think again, as I mentioned
once that Carolyn and her family came in and Next
Three bought the team, they were it was essentially this
(12:46):
kind of like rebirth of what felt almost like an
expansion team. And I think you're seeing that in a
lot of the investment that they've continued to make and
how they've really approached the rebuilding, both the sporting side,
but also the front office, the brand, et cetera. I'm
but then you think about angel City, for example, and
the first I mean the first year was just me
and Juli ormin our house essentially, and so a lot
(13:09):
of our wins were not public, but also kind of
our losses. And so when you're coming into a team
that has already existed, Yes, you can work on this rebuilding,
this next chapter, all these things are really excited about
this massive investment, but you're also running a team, and
so you're doing that at the same time as I
think that that was the biggest difference. It was like, Hey,
we're going to basically build an expansion team and a
(13:31):
new brand, and there's still a huge amount of opportunity
of people that still get to learn about Gotham. But
also we're standing on the shoulders of some of the
things that have already been done. And I got really
lucky that my counterparts Yell and Ryan had done a
ton of work, especially coming in. I mean, they won
a championship before.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
I got there. They want a championship the year I got.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
There, And so getting to have a team that has
that visibility in that way is something to really build
a momentum on and capitalize on. And it also I
think brought to light just what was what we still
need to do. And so again everyone here is now
(14:12):
officially invited to the game we're playing at City Field
that serrementioned earlier July fifteenth, so the week of the
World Cup final. But I think that one thing we're
trying to do is to continue to we have this
amazing product, how do we make sure that we're showing
it and getting it the attention to it deserves. And
I'm we're lucky that our ownership's willing to put forward
that investment, and that's not always the case, so I
don't take that for granted. And I think that's another
(14:34):
kind of big difference between coming from an expansion team
and having a team.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
That has this history.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
You have history for both good and bad, so there's
things to learn and things to change, but there's also
things that have worked and that you want to continue
to do, and so you're still kind of trying to
dynamically figure out what that mission is. And we like
internally always say that our motto is always building, never finished,
and I think that that just rings true in every
part of the business and also just across women's sports,
(14:59):
because no matter how far we come, it's maybe still
not what everyone deserves. And so when we're measuring, we're
not necessarily measuring against an expansion team, a prior team,
or even our league.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
It's what it's actually deserved.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
I mean, So always being that forward facing saying, hey,
what is kind of that next step, while also maintaining
and being thankful for the fans that we have in
bringing them along for this journey.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Yeah, it's like, here are the traditions we need to
keep so that people feel the through line in the
history of the team. And also we don't have to
hang on to things that no longer serve us or
don't fit with the current model. Women's sports has changed
so exponentially in recent years that the fans expect and
demand change. And actually had the commissioner of the MLV
who just came on on my show Good Game with
Sarah Spain recently and she said, we can't confuse momentum
(15:47):
for maturity, and that's one thing in women's sports that
I think is so key. Yes, demand better, expect the best.
And also, so many of these leagues and teams are
so new that they won't be caught up to men's
leagues that have one hundred years of histories. So that's
really important to know. And Jamie, I'm wondering for you,
with this brand new thing in Portland, can you find
traditions in the city when it comes to softball and
(16:09):
say we want to link up to things that have
happened here decades, the century ago in this sport and
bring them back to people's consciousness.
Speaker 6 (16:17):
There is a little bit the Little League World Series,
I think traditionally was there with softball, and when you
think of softball, at least I think the general public
thinks southern California, you think Texas, you think Florida. But
it is there and there's a lot of top players
that have come out of that area. But when we
did a call recently just talking what is the identity
going to be? What's the culture with the fans? And
I would love to take from the Thorns, right what
(16:39):
are they doing?
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Really well?
Speaker 4 (16:40):
What are the Fire being the new team, what are
they doing?
Speaker 6 (16:43):
So I'm kind of hoping that even the community brings
it themselves and creates it organically within. I think there's
a lot to learn from what's already been established there.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Yeah, you put those players at the Thorns game.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Which have people been to Portland Thorn's game.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
It's amazing. It's right in the middle of everything. The
fans are insane. It's packed every time. So you drop
in there and say, hey, come on over and check us.
We're right down the street.
Speaker 7 (17:07):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
One of the things that has drawn attention to the
AUSL is the Golden ticket.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
We had it on stage.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Last year, al Duncan belatedly got a golden ticket for
her softball prowess years earlier. I haven't seen her in
a game yet though, so she.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
Did give a golden ticket, Okay, actually gave. She handed
out a golden ticket to Megan Grant.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Okay, lazy, So she's passing it on before she ever
takes it a bat open invite. Yeah, it's a great
social media moment, but beyond that, it really connects the
college and progame. How are you trying to make sure
the AUSL is building off an incredible interest in the
Women's College World Series and the college softball world.
Speaker 6 (17:43):
I definitely shout out to the women behind AUSO who
actually put that together. I had nothing to do with that,
but I'm a fan.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
It was.
Speaker 6 (17:50):
It was really special for me this year of knowing like,
oh my goodness, I gave like I drafted her.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
I hoped in that process.
Speaker 6 (17:56):
But the college softball has traditionally been such a huge
it's great for TV. We've done really well in the
Women's College World Series, so I think it was brilliant
from a USL to tap into that fan base and
just the emotions, the raw emotional feelings, you.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Have the families involved.
Speaker 6 (18:11):
I mean, this year there was a big crossover into
mainstream not only L Sabrina and Nescue was help with
Oregon Patrick Mahomes led off with ja J Jenny Finch.
But it was just really cool to see that crossover
of getting even other sports involved too, which has to
increase our eyeballs overall.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Yeah, and the Golden ticket in case anyone doesn't know,
lets a player know that they've been drafted, and someone
will show up in the middle of their game when
they're surrounded by their teammates and friends and family and
coaches and let them know you're headed to the pros.
And then just on Monday on ESPN two was the
AUSL Draft results. So that's when the players and fans
got to find out where the players.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Were actually headed.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Carlin Pickens out of Tennessee number one, Nigerie Kennedy number two,
and getting to actually find out like, okay, they say,
have two moments of excitement, the draft and then where
they're headed.
Speaker 6 (18:56):
And ours is tougher because they're in season and so
that's not like you know when the when basketball season
ends or when football ends, you get so ours are
actually in season, So capitalizing on those moments where you
have these fan bases that are at.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
Home was huge.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
But yeah, the excitement there, and then they still have
no idea, they don't know when they picked. There were
seventeen draft picks this year. They didn't know what order,
they didn't know what team and it was and there's
some great talent.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (19:19):
Sure I got to shut out Megan Grant too because
I was draft pick. Yeah, but just to see, like
the emotions, the excitement, it's it's really powerful and we
hope that'll continue right into our season, Megan.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
The PWHL is building tradition very organically stacking seasons, and
they added a pretty big new one this year, which
was the sold out game at Madison Square Garden. Y'all
played there. You played against the home team, the New
York Sirens. What stood out too from that night? What
was the most memorable part? Oh my gosh. So my
vantage point is from.
Speaker 7 (19:51):
The rafters usually, so I am lucky enough to get
the bird's eye view, but my eyeballs don't feel so good.
But I think just looking at the fan base, knowing
a lot of my family members who who came into
the city and just seeing a bunch of new faces
was really cool. And then obviously you get the moment
(20:13):
you sell out Madison Square Garden like it's.
Speaker 5 (20:16):
It's it's it right.
Speaker 7 (20:17):
So for me it was I think I just I
had a moment up top there where I was like
and candidly, I have these moments all the time because
of the momentum of this league. I've had a climate
pledge many times this year. But it was just seeing
all the new faces and even when you see him
on the jumbo tron and and the scoreboard and people
(20:39):
are just loving it and they feel like it's a
safe space for them and and they can be themselves
in the arena and show up in a way that
they feel as authentic. I think that was, you know,
just the experience of the game. Obviously we lost that
game in a shootout, which is bad for me, probably
good for the league yea. But yeah, so it was
just a great experience overall, and I know the players
(21:01):
felt that too, And you know.
Speaker 5 (21:03):
Hill after was like that was an amazing experience.
Speaker 7 (21:05):
Like the PWHBA played at MSG in a very different
environment and so it's kind of juxtaposed to what where
we've been and where we are today.
Speaker 5 (21:15):
It was a great moment.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Yeah, and you mentioned the safe space and we've seen
that across PWHL games. It's become a really popular place
for engagements. Yes, particularly for like queer couples, And it
does feel like this wonderful community space. And one of
the things that stands out to what you mentioned climate Pledge,
your home arena stands alone in the league already within
one year.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Can you speak to that for a sec.
Speaker 7 (21:38):
Yeah, we led the league and average attendance, we were
just shy of thirteen thousand fans, which first year team like,
that's amazing, So big shout out to the Seattle fans
who show up.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
It's it's a very eclectic group.
Speaker 7 (21:54):
There's like anyone and everyone can come to our games
and they always have fun and they always want to
come back and they always bring, you know, bring their friends.
Speaker 5 (22:02):
So the building is fantastic.
Speaker 7 (22:05):
Its state of the art, are obviously very sustainable in
that way, and so there's just the players love playing there.
I love managing a team there. It's just been an
awesome experience.
Speaker 5 (22:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
I mean, you have your own place and that feels
really special, and you've made it your own within the
first year. But one of the powerful things about going
to places like MSG or there was an NBSL game
at Wrigley Field, and what stood out to me is
I've been going here my whole life to watch men,
and I'm here watching women on this field with all
the history and tradition and everything that people associate with
(22:36):
this space, but now it's packed to the gills thirty
thousand plus for women, and seeing that at MSG, it
does feel different. It's not more special than your home arena,
but it's like we're in this place that people only
associate with their history and their memories. And as women's
sports are getting longer tails, we have more years to
add on those incredible memories, which is really cool. But
(22:57):
somebody's first experience at MSG might have been a women's game.
Speaker 7 (23:00):
Yeah, and I'm sure it's it's a different it's a
very community driven feeling.
Speaker 5 (23:05):
Like I I this is just.
Speaker 7 (23:07):
My impression, but when I go to games in our league,
like even as someone who's on staff, I feel the community.
It's really palpable in the arena no matter what market
you go to, and so people are learning the game
of hockey, like we put icing and off sides and
some of the rules up in the score board because
people are trying to google it on their phones in
real time.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Yeah, so it's it's really it's it's been amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
And if you're not familiar, the PWHL also has some
of their own rules which are so brilliant and so fun.
So if you go to their games, you'll learn about
the jail break, which is, you know, if you manage
to score while you're shorthanded, your person in the penalty
box comes out early. They don't have to serve their
whole penalty. And they've got this incredible way to combat tanking.
At the end of the season, like, you're really thinking
about the ways you can be agilant and innovative because
(23:53):
you're so fresh, which is great. Carry Gotham's gonna have
its own history making moment. You mentioned the city Field
game coming up, so tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Yeah, no, we are so excited. It's called the Queen's Classic.
I'm obviously in Queens.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
Again.
Speaker 5 (24:07):
It's just a historic event for us.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
It's the first time that anyone has done a women's
event at City Field. We're hoping to help the Mets
out with their record and have a win there and
shout out to the Mets for being great partners. But additionally,
it's the biggest game in women's history in New York.
It's also the first game that we will have ever
played in actual New York, New.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
York City, so we're super excited.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
There's also a ton of momentum around it because it's
the week of the World Cup Final, which we were
talking a little bit about it backstage. But it's a
bit of a double edged sword though, because we again
I credit like our marketing team is brilliant. I credit
our content team. They've figured out a way essentially to
take this lemon, which was we're getting kicked out of
our stadium because there is FIFA here and we were
(24:51):
going to have to go play somewhere else.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
And so we were like, hey, like, how do we
use this as.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
A moment when soccer is such a big highlight right now,
as an opportunity to show, hey, we actually have World
Cup winners on this team. Also, from an accessibility standpoint,
that's something I think inherently is related to women's sports,
that is such an intention as being able to be
accessible and for us, I'm this game really represents that.
I mean, it's forty two thousand seats, so room for everyone,
(25:18):
so everyone here should get a ticket. But not even
just that, we're thinking about the fact that while we're
again kind of getting not in our home, how do
we start to make a home somewhere else and really
kind of branch out to fans that maybe we never
would have had otherwise, but at the same time also
branch out to fans that maybe are here to watch
the Men's World Cup and can't afford a ticket because
(25:41):
the train tickets are more expensive than tickets to our game.
So how are you thinking about that and trying to
capture that. I'm that kind of new fan base because
I think, and we've talked about it a lot, but
if you had the historic infrastructure that men's sports had,
I think all more people would know about all of
our teams. And so getting to kind of piggyback a
little bit on that and work within that, whether that's
(26:03):
through doing stuff with the FIFA committee, doing stuff with
the Mayor's office, which is some stuff we've been working on.
But I'm really getting to lean into this event that
will be a huge celebration of Gotham, of women's soccer
and it's a game against against the Washington Spirit, which
is our rival, and a remake of the championship game
from last year. I'm so I think for us it's
(26:24):
something that we are we couldn't be more thrilled about.
It's a ton of work, but I'm there's a ton
of cool entertainment stuff happening behind the scenes. There'll be
an incredible fan fest. I don't know if we've announced
this yet the word I don't know. There will be
stuff around the world to have a semi final that
is also happening that day, but they we're making it
into a full day of soccer and really trying to
(26:44):
make it so that we can bring everyone in and say, hey,
you want to watch roose level like who has won
multiple World Cups, and or you want to watch you know,
Estair who was on Spain and his won the World
Cup last time. I'm especially when maybe you can't get
to the final, and especially if you're a US fan.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
Uh, no offense.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
I want to see winners.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
I would say, no offense to men.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
I'm but the men's national team the best they've ever done.
They got third place in nineteen thirty I'm guys, that's objective.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
That's just facts.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
I'm the women have won five gold medals in four
World Cups and thirty five years, so like, it's just
it's not the same product.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
It's not the same product. And also, you did partner
with Mayor Z'mdani to make this incredible opportunity this weekend
of five dollars tickets, and it was not just to
say come check out Gotham for the first time, but
it was to with intention pushback on FIFA's decision not
to have dynamic pricing, not to make it accessible to
other people. And it's just the latest of it trillion
examples of women's sports leaning in to the issues and
(27:44):
inclusivity and serving fans and serving communities in a way
that oftentimes men's sports doesn't do. And you really you
made vod colimonade out of Lemons by making sure that
you did something really cool. Instead of just saying we're
getting kicked out and we're gonna be bummed about it,
you took advantage of it, which is great, Jamie. Speaking
of the men's Women's Dynamic, one of the really important
(28:06):
parts of the aus L launched last year was that
the MLB provided him the MLB does anyone ever said
the Major League Baseball MLB provided this massive investment and
really allowed you to piggyback off of century plus of
their success in a way that felt really meaningful and
really changed the stakes for this iteration of a women's
(28:29):
PROSOPA league.
Speaker 6 (28:30):
And it's something that we've talked about for a long time,
right of watching the WNBA and NBA, like when is
Major League Baseball going to get involved? And I agree,
I think it's just been much more of an organic
I think it starts at the top with Kim Ang
two and our commissioner, but even last night, right at
the Yankees game, I think we've had twelve I got
my fact twelve first pitches this year that we've thrown
just the social media coverage during the announcement, the TV coverage,
(28:53):
I know. I think we're going to have MLB network
that's covering, So it's huge.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
It's something we've waited for.
Speaker 6 (28:57):
I think the timing was right, and clearly our leadership
was right to embrace that too.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, you can get recaps of the games on MLB
dot Com. You've got reporters that are doing some double
duty and again, it's that little leg up of tons
of years of history and fan development and engagement that
they get to offer up to you as you're starting
something brand new.
Speaker 6 (29:18):
And I'm biased, but our game is so much more
fun no offense baseball. I know it's gotten faster, but
it is so much it's fitting for TV, the two
hour time slot.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
You're right there. The accessibility with our players.
Speaker 6 (29:30):
I mean you also have hot dogs. We do have
hot dogs and beer. Yeah, get the tradition right.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
We got to take a quick break more with Kerrie,
Jamie and Meghan right after.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
This Megan the Takeover Tour.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
For those who don't know, these are neutral site games
and cities that don't yet have a PWHL team. This
is so brilliant. You are bringing the teams two folks
so that they can fall in love with the game
even if they don't have their own team yet. There
were some interesting insights and data points that the PWHL
got from sending women's teams into NHL stadiums.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Can you share that?
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (30:08):
I think the biggest one that pops out to me
is that I think it was eighty percent of people
who come to our Takeover Tour game so neutral site games. Example,
as we went to Dallas this year, we hadn't been
to Dallas as a league. I think it's eighty percent
of the people haven't stepped foot in an NHL building.
So that just gives you the data point to show
that these are new fans, these are different people. There's
(30:31):
obviously overlap too, but it's it is a different community,
and it's really cool to see the people, you know,
dads bringing their daughters, families coming. It's it's certainly a
different dynamic, and I think that just plays into what
we had talked about before, but certainly it's a it's
cool to see the way that this league is truly
(30:53):
growing the game in real time, not just with the youth,
but with adult leagues and things of that nature. So
we we really lean into, you know, when we do
these takeover tour games. You know, Detroit announced a new
team yesterday at number nine, so and you see Little Caesars.
Speaker 5 (31:09):
You know, the organization's there.
Speaker 7 (31:11):
So it's it's not just you know, bringing our players
and saying, okay, we did a game here.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
You know that's cool.
Speaker 7 (31:17):
It's like, okay, we are we organizing with the Dallastar's
elite youth programs.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
Right, it's a whole mobilization.
Speaker 7 (31:23):
And so I think the league has done a fantastic
job of really growing the game throughout throughout the continent
really at this point.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
And I think Little Caesars Arena has had four takeover games, yes, yeah,
so they have established themselves as a place They've set
a bunch of records and attendance at each time.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
So that also helps.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
You know, when we launched this franchise in this city,
we know there's a fan base that's waiting and ready
and wants to show up, which is great. And then
you just have to turn that curiosity of the first
time into long term fandom, which is something across all
women's sports spaces.
Speaker 5 (31:53):
Right.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
You might get someone who's like, what's this new thing?
Then you have to grab them and say, we want
you to hear every single game. Carrie winning brings in
a lot of that helps a lot. Get all the
new new eyeballs, getting on the bandwagon for another Gotham championship,
for the parade, all the other good stuff. I was
talking about the last one, but we can. I was like,
what for that other one? How did this franchise build
(32:14):
the kind of winning culture that can come twice now
in the last three years from a low playoff seed
to win it all.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
Yeah, I can't give enough credit to our GM, to
Yell for really putting together a team in her staff
or honestly for our ownership group in the amount of investment.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
I think you've seen.
Speaker 5 (32:32):
What that looks like.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
And to be totally honest, if you buy a team.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
I think your expectation is Okay, great, We're gonna run
in like a business, which is true, but also you
want to win. I'm in winning cous money, and so
you have to be willing to invest in to get
the best players, to get the best resources, to adhere
to whatever schedule that looks like additional games, whatever, and
saying with the front office, you have to hire the
right people and be willing to spend there. And so
(32:58):
I think that from my point of view, coming in
and having been in the league for six years now,
we've seen some of the teams that have been really
successful because they've had the backing of really smart, really
committed people, and we got really lucky there with Carolyn,
and so I think her and her team have been
not only a resource financially but also from an operation
(33:20):
standpoint and across the board, and so that I can't
explain how much that has helped.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
And also having really great partners.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
I'm having really great sponsors, having brands, many of whom
I'm sure are here that have been willing to say, hey,
we're going to take a bet on this. We think
that like winning is worthwhile because also at the end
of the day, particularly in places like New York or
big markets, people want to watch winners, they want to
watch excellence, and so you're getting new fans at that
point from like this inflection point of a winning championship.
Speaker 5 (33:48):
But then how do you maintain it? How do you
get people coming back?
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Then there's an expectation correct of winning which you have
to keep up with. We're kind of nearing the end here,
and I do want to ask a kind of broader
big picture question because you each have a different perspective
coming in from the leagues you're in, from Alliance fast Pitch,
from the things you've done before you got to the
leagues you're currently with. So you get to pick your
(34:11):
final question. You can either answer what you think people
get wrong about women's sports that you'd want to push
back on or your biggest concern when it comes to
the future of women's sports and the current exponential growth.
Speaker 5 (34:23):
Megan, Oh goddle putting me first. I mean.
Speaker 7 (34:31):
The exponential growth I think speaks to where we are today.
You know, we just announced the ninth team and we're
going into year four, So I think it's maybe not
I think it's a challenge.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Right.
Speaker 7 (34:47):
We're going to expand, and we're expanding quickly, and so
it's how do we make sure that the infrastructure keeps
up with that? And I know that we have, you know,
a great ownership group and people behind the scenes supporting that,
and you know, something that is top of mind for
everyone is making sure that this is always a professional
experience for the athletes and that that never is sacrificed,
(35:09):
regardless of the momentum that we're that we're seeing. So
just just a challenge for us as we're expanding, but
I think it's going to be a great opportunity to
continue to grow the game, for sure, Jamie.
Speaker 6 (35:21):
I'll build on the second question because you mentioned Alliance
Fast Bitch. A big reason why we built that in
the U space is we're very fragmented and I think
that has been a problem in our sport too of
just where resources and eyeballs, and so I think that
was an initiative that we wanted to do as work together.
But you're also seeing it now right there's there's two leagues.
But I just think our sport's staying together and supporting
(35:43):
each other at the core is very important as all
the outside eyeballs and everything else is happening. So what
are we doing as a sport to support our women
as we grow? This in our second year of AUSL
So I would just say stand together through this and
keeping our softball community strong.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
Love that, Carrie, I'll take you the first one.
Speaker 3 (36:01):
I think that you've obviously seen tremendous growth in the
past decade. Even I mean when we started Angel City,
we paid a two and a half million dollars spansion fee.
I'm for the new Columbus team, they are paying a
two hundred and five million dollar expansion fee one hundred
x I'm in five years, which is psychotic and in
a pretty amazing way.
Speaker 5 (36:21):
And so I think when people what people.
Speaker 3 (36:24):
Get wrong is that a we're it's kind of like
the boom is over, We're done. Like, yes, it's grown,
but like we're in the middle of it right now,
and I think we're really just at the start. I
think that there's still so much more to do and
so much more upside. And I think the other b
section of that is that with that money okay, great now,
everything is as it should be. Players are getting what
they need, the salary cap is the correct thing, everything
(36:47):
is up to an elite level. And I think that
while we have gone are really long ways, we still
have a lot more to do. And again we were
talking about it earlier that what has kind of served
us to this point maybe isn't us the standard we
should be measuring it against.
Speaker 5 (37:01):
It's what is again, what is good enough?
Speaker 3 (37:03):
What is actually expected for these athletes that are elite
and the best of the best of the best. And
so while we're continuing to build infrastructure, and I think
you're seeing it, then Towsell has completely changed their standards
across the board from training Philly, so stadiums, all that,
but there still is more to do to have it
be even a fraction of what the men are getting
(37:25):
infraction of what I think are our players deserve across
any of these leagues. And so even with that continued investment.
We need to make sure that it continues to kind
of trickle down to the teams, trickle down to the
players to have it be actually impactful and so still
needing brands and other types of sponsors, obviously media partners
to continue to keep investing.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
I'm what you're just saying, keep growing, never stopping, never
still stopping.
Speaker 4 (37:51):
Always building, never finished.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
That's that was it, always building, never finished.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
I nailed it.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Thank you all so much, so insightful, round of apluster,
these amazing ladies. Yeah, thanks again to those three rock
stars for the fascinating conversation, and thanks to my fabulous
espnW team for letting us share it with you slices.
That was my eighth time hosting the espnW NYC Summit
and my twenty fifth espnW summit. Overall, when you count Canada, Chicago, NYC, California,
(38:23):
kind of hard to believe, don't forget. If you want
to watch that interview instead of just listening, you can
now watch all the full length Good Game interviews on
the Iheartwomen's Sports YouTube channel, So go on and subscribe.
We have to take a break when we return, Big Gritch.
(38:44):
Welcome Max 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
Kerrie and Jamie on social media. We'll link to their
Instagram profiles in the show notes. We're sure Megan is
also a good follow, but she keeps her account private.
Just have to follow the Seattle Torrent instead. We always
love to hear from you, so hit us up on
email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave us
(39:07):
voicemail at eight seven two two oh four fifty seventy
and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. It's easy
watch Michigan women leading the way in local politics, rating
fifth best state in the country and gender parity for
women in elected office per the represent Women Gender Parity
Index Review. Now, you heard from a few women at
(39:29):
the Helmet Sports in today's episode, but women leaders are
just as important in politics, and the fantastic show Flagrant
and Funny right here on the Iheartwomen's Sports Network featuring
friends Carrie Champion and Jamel Hill, recently featured one of them,
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Take a listen to a bit
of their conversation here. They're talking about the upcoming Detroit
expansion team in the WNBA.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
Is it going to be the shock?
Speaker 1 (39:51):
Do you know?
Speaker 5 (39:52):
Can you.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
Order? They've not complained the name yet, so and I'm
going to say my Lena on that, I'm out of
that one. Yeah. It'll be good though, because I think,
I mean, the WNBA is amazing right now.
Speaker 5 (40:05):
It's at an all time high.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Do you watch any of the games are you Are
you a fan of any particular player? My daughter like
loves pagebacks. Oh yeah, so like, Okay, it's really.
Speaker 4 (40:14):
Awesome to see these strong female leaders and it's fun.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
You can check out the full podcast via the link
in our show notes, and you can check out the
aforementioned represent Women Gender Parity Index to see how your
state is doing when it comes to women at the Helm.
Spoiler alert for my Missouri slices Dead Last Wolf. Now
it's your turny'all, rate and review. Thanks for listening, See
you tomorrow. Good game, carry Jamie and Meghan. Good game, Carrie,
(40:43):
Jamel and Gretchen. You the half of all US states
receiving a D grade in the Gender Parity Index. 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
(41:05):
producers are Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier. Our executive producers
are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Lucy Jones, Britney Martinez and
Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery Loftus and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're fuming
after learning our superstar Niee was forced to stop scoring
touchdowns in a flag football game due to a rule
limiting the amount of individual badassory allowed. But our nephew's
fla football it doesn't have the same rules for boys.
I'm about to.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Be all up in someone's face.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Not sure who yet, but someone. It's Wednesday, May thirteenth,
and on today's show, we're skipping the need to know
and getting straight to my Women at the Helm panel
conversation with Gotham FC COO Kerry Fleishauer, Portland Cascade GM
Jamie low Price and Seattle Torrent GM Megan Turner. I
sat down with the three of them last week at
the espnW summit to discuss being major decision makers for
(00:41):
their respective nwsl AUSL and PWHL teams, establishing a new
franchise versus taking over a legacy brand, managing the demands
of growth and expansion turning casual fans into diehards, and
their enthusiasm and concern about the exploding women's sports space.
It's all coming up right after this. Please help me
(01:08):
welcome the women at the Helm first Chief Operating officer
of Gotham FC, former Head of Strategy and Chief of
Staff at Angels City Football Club. Previous stops at SpaceX,
Crooked Media and Goldman Sex. She's fascinating all It's Kerry
Flea Shower joining us. Next. She's the GM for the
Portland Cascade and New Athletes Unlimited Softball League expansion team
(01:30):
beginning play this summer. She's a former pro player herself.
She's also the current CEO of Alliance Fast Pitch, which
is a national youth softball organization connecting club softball and
overseeing national championships. It's Jamie low Price. Finally, the GM
of the Seattle torrent In the Professional Women's Hockey League
and expansion team that started play this season. Former collegiate
(01:50):
and pro player, she previously served as assistant GM for
the Boston Fleet. It's Megan Turner.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Woo.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
So much to talk about. Love the fact that we
have representation from some leagues that are just in the
first couple of years of existence, and there's so much
to learn from.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
What it is to start something.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
New in the whim's sports space, and in Carrie's case,
what it is to take on something that's been around
for a while and hopefully add and build and innovate.
So Car, I want to start with your resume that
I mentioned because I find it fascinating to leave college
at Northwestern Okay, okay, okay, just check in the room
and end up first at gold min Sex but then
Crooked Media, so Pod Save American, all those pods we
(02:30):
love and SpaceX. What did you actually take from those
experiences into the sports.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
World A lot?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I think I'm no, we make the joke. My parents
think that I hate making money, and I kind of
went the reverse route most people would have guessed I'm
but I think it taught me, if anything, starting at
a bigger institution like Goldman I'm, which I had an
amazing experience, met a lot of really smart people that
I really wanted to find something well, not even instily
(02:57):
more of a filling, but something that filled my cut more.
And so I feel like I've slowly made the journey
to what that has meant for me as kind of
the through line, but also being able to take the
skills that I learned and actually utilize them in a
space that maybe doesn't have a ton of people. To
have a finance background or have worked in a startup mentality,
and so I think being able to take a lot
of the things I learned both from a corporate level
(03:19):
and like a meritocracy level and be able to say, hey,
these are the things that I loved about it, these
are the things I didn't love, and the things that
I didn't love generally at some of the bigger organizations
was the lack of autonomy and the lack of being
able to be flexible and just doing stuff because no
one had done it before, rather than just saying, hey,
we did this here, so we're going to continue to
do it this way.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
And I was like, that doesn't make sense.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
And so I've been so lucky at angel City and
now it got them to work with people and to
work with incredible owners who have said, hey, like we're
still building this, like let's figure it out, like let's
try out what works, let's try out what doesn't, and
really being dynamic and learning from that. And I think
that that's something that you see across women's sports is yes,
quote unquote, there's like a playbook and in some ways,
(04:02):
and you mentioned jes Just Smith, like we talked about
this all the time, but at the same time.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
I mean, these two are building teams have never existed.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
That's what we did in Angel City, and we're in
leagues that are still really young.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Space to innovate, and like, as much as they're getting bigger,
there's still not a ton of bandwidth, so you're able
to make a decision to do it instead of like,
let me run it through thirty people and then see
what we get. You helped build Angel City into the
biggest brand in women's sports. You set the standard for
future franchises across different leagues. How did Gotham pull you
away from the Sun from the postgame orange slices with
(04:34):
Jennifer Garner and Natalie Portman and everything that Angel City
had to offer.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
I think it was a really it was a really
tough thing to grapple with. I'm I loved my time
at Angel City and it was a really magical special
place with a lot of really, really incredible people. I'm
when the chance at Gotham came up and I got
a chance to talk to our incredible owner, Carolyn Tish,
I toquadget and I heard Chief Opper after of the
(05:00):
Fine Blurn Bomb.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
I think I was just really curious.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
I'm they had something that Angel City did not ever have,
which was a winning record.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
I'm like that.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I was like, Wow, that must be nice, and so
I think for me, I'm the Carolyn's family had just
bought the team not that long ago, a couple two
enough years ago, and I really felt like a reverse there,
and so in a lot of ways, there were some
parallels with building an expansion team. I also think that
my goal at Angel City was to build it to
a place where I wasn't necessarily needed, and after five
(05:31):
years there, I think that it there was enough incredible
people around and we'd built enough of a foundation that
it was kind of like, Hey, how can we, for
the sake of women's sports go and replicate that elsewhere?
And I'm to do it in a place that has
I think probably the best best market for sports in
the world, and with the team that is exceptional, with
really incredible staff, really smart people, and the unbelievable ownership group,
(05:55):
it was it was hard to turn down, and so
I've been I feel very very great. It's definitely hard,
but I have really phenomenal people along the side for
the journey, and so it's been really inspired and motivated.
I'm to take a lot of the stuff that we
did really well.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
At Angel City. I'm in to try a lot of new.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Stuff because it's not the way here to do it here,
you know, Jamie, Speaking of markets, Portland is such a
fantastic one for women's sports. How have you approached building
fandom for a new team in that space that already
has such beloved women's teams?
Speaker 6 (06:28):
And that's everything you heard too about Portland was just
how much they love women's sports, and we showed up
in our announcement. We were first like forty eight hours
after this was announcer in market and it was packed
and you could just feel it. Every time I go there.
You just feel the love that they have in the community.
Last year AUSL did more of a tour model and
Portland was not one of the cities. But I think
(06:49):
just looking around at the landscape of women's sports, it's
been amazing of what's happened and already embracing the just
the team and.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
You've got your rose for the rose.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
Do you have MirOS justn brand already?
Speaker 1 (07:03):
You know, softball historically resonates with Middle America, with a
lot of conservative regions. Portland is notably very progressive, right,
So how do you marry those audiences and those expectations
with what you know will serve the city you're in.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
It's a great question and it is.
Speaker 6 (07:18):
I mean, softball traditionally is kind of a blue collar sport,
I would say too, but we've seen it continuously grow
and I just think that what's been fun about Portland
from my observation initially, is it was the community first
that bought in and then the softball fans come. So
a lot of times in softball we were doing the
tour model around youth tournaments and that's really what our
(07:38):
fan base was was the participants and ones that have played.
So I'm just excited to see this whole new fan
base that's embracing. And I think in all of our
markets too, that there's a really good mix of traditional
softball markets with also established as sports fan bases, and
then women's sports fan bases too.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
I think as we see so many expansion teams across
different leagues arrive, what we're learning is that looking at
the existing sports market and thinking you can find the
women's sports market in it is not always the case.
It is a whole different audience waiting for you to
show up and then they arrive, which has been really
cool to see. Megan, you were very recently in Jamie's shoes,
looking to try to create tradition and loyalty from basically
(08:16):
nothing right, starting fresh. So how did you approach connecting
with Seattle fans from day one and finding their hockey lovers?
Speaker 7 (08:23):
Yeah, well, I think I have to give Seattle fans
a lot of credit. First, before we even announced the
Seattle team, they were mobilized, energized, activated. I know, we
have some Seattle people in this room today, So they
show up right, like they show up in every location,
and they've been doing that from day one. For me,
it was not lost on me that we're creating a team,
(08:44):
but we're also creating a brand in the market. And
so you know, we talked about culture first in our
locker room, and I think that we wanted that to
extend to the broader fan base in the city and
how we showed up every day to our games. And
I have a ton of people that support me and
support this organization and that show up and put on
(09:05):
a great show and make our game's joyous, right, And
so we really looked to match the energy and enthusiasm
that we felt from Seattle and try to give that back.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Hockey fans are wild, man.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
I mean, it is so fun across the country to
see how bought in day one they are, how much
they're creating the culture of the sport they love. You
got to start in an Olympic year. You got to
start with a superstar, the superstar in Hillary Knight at
the center of this new team, and that created a
ton of momentum. But with an Olympic year, you also
have disrupted play, disrupted flow. Right, You're taking a bunch
(09:41):
of time off and getting back to it and injuries.
Hillary had to sit out a bunch after coming back
from Milan, Courtina, So can you talk about how the
Olympics were sort of a double edged sword and gave
you a lot of eyeballs, but maybe also made it
hard to feel like you had a real regular season.
Speaker 7 (09:55):
Yeah, to hit on the positives first, Like, there's so
much exposure that came out of the Olympics, obviously for
for our team, but just for the league in general. Uh,
you know, when we came back, we put on the
scoreboard all of the Olympians across the league.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
I don't I should have the number, but I don't.
Speaker 7 (10:10):
But it's it was an immense portion of our league.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Our entire Canadian team was in the p w H yes, yes,
every crazy right, some staff included, right.
Speaker 7 (10:20):
So there's there's big overlap and just the exposure that
it gave us in you know, coming coming out of that,
people who didn't know hockey, didn't know our players, you know.
I think just it was a great experience and uh
for the players and and for people coming to our
games to be able to connect with something that's that's
on the international stage as well. And then certainly from
(10:43):
uh the season perspective.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
It's hard.
Speaker 7 (10:45):
I give the players a lot of credit right there.
The Olympics and winning a gold medal in the prospect
of that is is still a pinnacle of women's hockey,
I think for you know, for maybe maybe a little
boys are looking at the Stanley Cup, but little girls
you know now are looking at the Wallter Cup, I'm
sure too. But the Olympic gold around their neck I
think is still kind of the pinnacle. So there's a
(11:07):
lot of pressure on the players to obviously perform at
the highest level, and a lot of these players have
been looking to be at the Olympics and to win
gold or win a medal for their whole lives. So
they're really bought in and dealing with two different systems,
two different organizations, two different pressure sets is a lot
and I think it just give them a lot of credit.
(11:28):
So it certainly was I think difficult to manage, you know,
heading into the Olympics for the players and staff alike,
and then coming out. Obviously we had some injuries in
a book that was sidelined for the year two, so
we have to kind of adjust our roster and and
and be creative that way.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yeah, so much excitement around that win though I got
to be there at the gold medal game. It was unbelievable.
And then coming back the Olympic bump is huge. You
just you're seeing them on Saturday Night Live and the
late night shows and the magazines and everywhere else. You know, Carrie,
you arrive at Gotham and this is a franchise that
dates back all the way to sky Blue. Do we
have any folks who went to sky Blue games? Okay,
(12:09):
all right, I know we got one. Where did you
feel the most difference between working at an expansion team
and starting fresh between a legacy franchise and trying to
figure out what you want to embrace them, maybe what
you want to change.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Yeah, no, it's a great question.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
I think there were a lot of things I'm coming
into Gotham that were already established. As you mentioned, I'm
it was I think the biggest difference coming from an
expansion team was that not only were we trying to
build something new, and I think again, as I mentioned
once that Carolyn and her family came in and Next
Three bought the team, they were it was essentially this
(12:46):
kind of like rebirth of what felt almost like an
expansion team. And I think you're seeing that in a
lot of the investment that they've continued to make and
how they've really approached the rebuilding, both the sporting side,
but also the front office, the brand, et cetera. I'm
but then you think about angel City, for example, and
the first I mean the first year was just me
and Juli ormin our house essentially, and so a lot
(13:09):
of our wins were not public, but also kind of
our losses. And so when you're coming into a team
that has already existed, Yes, you can work on this rebuilding,
this next chapter, all these things are really excited about
this massive investment, but you're also running a team, and
so you're doing that at the same time as I
think that that was the biggest difference. It was like, Hey,
we're going to basically build an expansion team and a
(13:31):
new brand, and there's still a huge amount of opportunity
of people that still get to learn about Gotham. But
also we're standing on the shoulders of some of the
things that have already been done. And I got really
lucky that my counterparts Yell and Ryan had done a
ton of work, especially coming in. I mean, they won
a championship before.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
I got there. They want a championship the year I got.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
There, And so getting to have a team that has
that visibility in that way is something to really build
a momentum on and capitalize on. And it also I
think brought to light just what was what we still
need to do. And so again everyone here is now
(14:12):
officially invited to the game we're playing at City Field
that serrementioned earlier July fifteenth, so the week of the
World Cup final. But I think that one thing we're
trying to do is to continue to we have this
amazing product, how do we make sure that we're showing
it and getting it the attention to it deserves. And
I'm we're lucky that our ownership's willing to put forward
that investment, and that's not always the case, so I
don't take that for granted. And I think that's another
(14:34):
kind of big difference between coming from an expansion team
and having a team.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
That has this history.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
You have history for both good and bad, so there's
things to learn and things to change, but there's also
things that have worked and that you want to continue
to do, and so you're still kind of trying to
dynamically figure out what that mission is. And we like
internally always say that our motto is always building, never finished,
and I think that that just rings true in every
part of the business and also just across women's sports,
(14:59):
because no matter how far we come, it's maybe still
not what everyone deserves. And so when we're measuring, we're
not necessarily measuring against an expansion team, a prior team,
or even our league.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
It's what it's actually deserved.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
I mean, So always being that forward facing saying, hey,
what is kind of that next step, while also maintaining
and being thankful for the fans that we have in
bringing them along for this journey.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Yeah, it's like, here are the traditions we need to
keep so that people feel the through line in the
history of the team. And also we don't have to
hang on to things that no longer serve us or
don't fit with the current model. Women's sports has changed
so exponentially in recent years that the fans expect and
demand change. And actually had the commissioner of the MLV
who just came on on my show Good Game with
Sarah Spain recently and she said, we can't confuse momentum
(15:47):
for maturity, and that's one thing in women's sports that
I think is so key. Yes, demand better, expect the best.
And also, so many of these leagues and teams are
so new that they won't be caught up to men's
leagues that have one hundred years of histories. So that's
really important to know. And Jamie, I'm wondering for you,
with this brand new thing in Portland, can you find
traditions in the city when it comes to softball and
(16:09):
say we want to link up to things that have
happened here decades, the century ago in this sport and
bring them back to people's consciousness.
Speaker 6 (16:17):
There is a little bit the Little League World Series,
I think traditionally was there with softball, and when you
think of softball, at least I think the general public
thinks southern California, you think Texas, you think Florida. But
it is there and there's a lot of top players
that have come out of that area. But when we
did a call recently just talking what is the identity
going to be? What's the culture with the fans? And
I would love to take from the Thorns, right what
(16:39):
are they doing?
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Really well?
Speaker 4 (16:40):
What are the Fire being the new team, what are
they doing?
Speaker 6 (16:43):
So I'm kind of hoping that even the community brings
it themselves and creates it organically within. I think there's
a lot to learn from what's already been established there.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Yeah, you put those players at the Thorns game.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Which have people been to Portland Thorn's game.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
It's amazing. It's right in the middle of everything. The
fans are insane. It's packed every time. So you drop
in there and say, hey, come on over and check us.
We're right down the street.
Speaker 7 (17:07):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
One of the things that has drawn attention to the
AUSL is the Golden ticket.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
We had it on stage.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Last year, al Duncan belatedly got a golden ticket for
her softball prowess years earlier. I haven't seen her in
a game yet though, so she.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
Did give a golden ticket, Okay, actually gave. She handed
out a golden ticket to Megan Grant.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Okay, lazy, So she's passing it on before she ever
takes it a bat open invite. Yeah, it's a great
social media moment, but beyond that, it really connects the
college and progame. How are you trying to make sure
the AUSL is building off an incredible interest in the
Women's College World Series and the college softball world.
Speaker 6 (17:43):
I definitely shout out to the women behind AUSO who
actually put that together. I had nothing to do with that,
but I'm a fan.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
It was.
Speaker 6 (17:50):
It was really special for me this year of knowing like,
oh my goodness, I gave like I drafted her.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
I hoped in that process.
Speaker 6 (17:56):
But the college softball has traditionally been such a huge
it's great for TV. We've done really well in the
Women's College World Series, so I think it was brilliant
from a USL to tap into that fan base and
just the emotions, the raw emotional feelings, you.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Have the families involved.
Speaker 6 (18:11):
I mean, this year there was a big crossover into
mainstream not only L Sabrina and Nescue was help with
Oregon Patrick Mahomes led off with ja J Jenny Finch.
But it was just really cool to see that crossover
of getting even other sports involved too, which has to
increase our eyeballs overall.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Yeah, and the Golden ticket in case anyone doesn't know,
lets a player know that they've been drafted, and someone
will show up in the middle of their game when
they're surrounded by their teammates and friends and family and
coaches and let them know you're headed to the pros.
And then just on Monday on ESPN two was the
AUSL Draft results. So that's when the players and fans
got to find out where the players.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Were actually headed.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Carlin Pickens out of Tennessee number one, Nigerie Kennedy number two,
and getting to actually find out like, okay, they say,
have two moments of excitement, the draft and then where
they're headed.
Speaker 6 (18:56):
And ours is tougher because they're in season and so
that's not like you know when the when basketball season
ends or when football ends, you get so ours are
actually in season, So capitalizing on those moments where you
have these fan bases that are at.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
Home was huge.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
But yeah, the excitement there, and then they still have
no idea, they don't know when they picked. There were
seventeen draft picks this year. They didn't know what order,
they didn't know what team and it was and there's
some great talent.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (19:19):
Sure I got to shut out Megan Grant too because
I was draft pick. Yeah, but just to see, like
the emotions, the excitement, it's it's really powerful and we
hope that'll continue right into our season, Megan.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
The PWHL is building tradition very organically stacking seasons, and
they added a pretty big new one this year, which
was the sold out game at Madison Square Garden. Y'all
played there. You played against the home team, the New
York Sirens. What stood out too from that night? What
was the most memorable part? Oh my gosh. So my
vantage point is from.
Speaker 7 (19:51):
The rafters usually, so I am lucky enough to get
the bird's eye view, but my eyeballs don't feel so good.
But I think just looking at the fan base, knowing
a lot of my family members who who came into
the city and just seeing a bunch of new faces
was really cool. And then obviously you get the moment
(20:13):
you sell out Madison Square Garden like it's.
Speaker 5 (20:16):
It's it's it right.
Speaker 7 (20:17):
So for me it was I think I just I
had a moment up top there where I was like
and candidly, I have these moments all the time because
of the momentum of this league. I've had a climate
pledge many times this year. But it was just seeing
all the new faces and even when you see him
on the jumbo tron and and the scoreboard and people
(20:39):
are just loving it and they feel like it's a
safe space for them and and they can be themselves
in the arena and show up in a way that
they feel as authentic. I think that was, you know,
just the experience of the game. Obviously we lost that
game in a shootout, which is bad for me, probably
good for the league yea. But yeah, so it was
just a great experience overall, and I know the players
(21:01):
felt that too, And you know.
Speaker 5 (21:03):
Hill after was like that was an amazing experience.
Speaker 7 (21:05):
Like the PWHBA played at MSG in a very different
environment and so it's kind of juxtaposed to what where
we've been and where we are today.
Speaker 5 (21:15):
It was a great moment.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Yeah, and you mentioned the safe space and we've seen
that across PWHL games. It's become a really popular place
for engagements. Yes, particularly for like queer couples, And it
does feel like this wonderful community space. And one of
the things that stands out to what you mentioned climate Pledge,
your home arena stands alone in the league already within
one year.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Can you speak to that for a sec.
Speaker 7 (21:38):
Yeah, we led the league and average attendance, we were
just shy of thirteen thousand fans, which first year team like,
that's amazing, So big shout out to the Seattle fans
who show up.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
It's it's a very eclectic group.
Speaker 7 (21:54):
There's like anyone and everyone can come to our games
and they always have fun and they always want to
come back and they always bring, you know, bring their friends.
Speaker 5 (22:02):
So the building is fantastic.
Speaker 7 (22:05):
Its state of the art, are obviously very sustainable in
that way, and so there's just the players love playing there.
I love managing a team there. It's just been an
awesome experience.
Speaker 5 (22:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
I mean, you have your own place and that feels
really special, and you've made it your own within the
first year. But one of the powerful things about going
to places like MSG or there was an NBSL game
at Wrigley Field, and what stood out to me is
I've been going here my whole life to watch men,
and I'm here watching women on this field with all
the history and tradition and everything that people associate with
(22:36):
this space, but now it's packed to the gills thirty
thousand plus for women, and seeing that at MSG, it
does feel different. It's not more special than your home arena,
but it's like we're in this place that people only
associate with their history and their memories. And as women's
sports are getting longer tails, we have more years to
add on those incredible memories, which is really cool. But
(22:57):
somebody's first experience at MSG might have been a women's game.
Speaker 7 (23:00):
Yeah, and I'm sure it's it's a different it's a
very community driven feeling.
Speaker 5 (23:05):
Like I I this is just.
Speaker 7 (23:07):
My impression, but when I go to games in our league,
like even as someone who's on staff, I feel the community.
It's really palpable in the arena no matter what market
you go to, and so people are learning the game
of hockey, like we put icing and off sides and
some of the rules up in the score board because
people are trying to google it on their phones in
real time.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Yeah, so it's it's really it's it's been amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
And if you're not familiar, the PWHL also has some
of their own rules which are so brilliant and so fun.
So if you go to their games, you'll learn about
the jail break, which is, you know, if you manage
to score while you're shorthanded, your person in the penalty
box comes out early. They don't have to serve their
whole penalty. And they've got this incredible way to combat tanking.
At the end of the season, like, you're really thinking
about the ways you can be agilant and innovative because
(23:53):
you're so fresh, which is great. Carry Gotham's gonna have
its own history making moment. You mentioned the city Field
game coming up, so tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Yeah, no, we are so excited. It's called the Queen's Classic.
I'm obviously in Queens.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
Again.
Speaker 5 (24:07):
It's just a historic event for us.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
It's the first time that anyone has done a women's
event at City Field. We're hoping to help the Mets
out with their record and have a win there and
shout out to the Mets for being great partners. But additionally,
it's the biggest game in women's history in New York.
It's also the first game that we will have ever
played in actual New York, New.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
York City, so we're super excited.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
There's also a ton of momentum around it because it's
the week of the World Cup Final, which we were
talking a little bit about it backstage. But it's a
bit of a double edged sword though, because we again
I credit like our marketing team is brilliant. I credit
our content team. They've figured out a way essentially to
take this lemon, which was we're getting kicked out of
our stadium because there is FIFA here and we were
(24:51):
going to have to go play somewhere else.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
And so we were like, hey, like, how do we
use this as.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
A moment when soccer is such a big highlight right now,
as an opportunity to show, hey, we actually have World
Cup winners on this team. Also, from an accessibility standpoint,
that's something I think inherently is related to women's sports,
that is such an intention as being able to be
accessible and for us, I'm this game really represents that.
I mean, it's forty two thousand seats, so room for everyone,
(25:18):
so everyone here should get a ticket. But not even
just that, we're thinking about the fact that while we're
again kind of getting not in our home, how do
we start to make a home somewhere else and really
kind of branch out to fans that maybe we never
would have had otherwise, but at the same time also
branch out to fans that maybe are here to watch
the Men's World Cup and can't afford a ticket because
(25:41):
the train tickets are more expensive than tickets to our game.
So how are you thinking about that and trying to
capture that. I'm that kind of new fan base because
I think, and we've talked about it a lot, but
if you had the historic infrastructure that men's sports had,
I think all more people would know about all of
our teams. And so getting to kind of piggyback a
little bit on that and work within that, whether that's
(26:03):
through doing stuff with the FIFA committee, doing stuff with
the Mayor's office, which is some stuff we've been working on.
But I'm really getting to lean into this event that
will be a huge celebration of Gotham, of women's soccer
and it's a game against against the Washington Spirit, which
is our rival, and a remake of the championship game
from last year. I'm so I think for us it's
(26:24):
something that we are we couldn't be more thrilled about.
It's a ton of work, but I'm there's a ton
of cool entertainment stuff happening behind the scenes. There'll be
an incredible fan fest. I don't know if we've announced
this yet the word I don't know. There will be
stuff around the world to have a semi final that
is also happening that day, but they we're making it
into a full day of soccer and really trying to
(26:44):
make it so that we can bring everyone in and say, hey,
you want to watch roose level like who has won
multiple World Cups, and or you want to watch you know,
Estair who was on Spain and his won the World
Cup last time. I'm especially when maybe you can't get
to the final, and especially if you're a US fan.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
Uh, no offense.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
I want to see winners.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
I would say, no offense to men.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
I'm but the men's national team the best they've ever done.
They got third place in nineteen thirty I'm guys, that's objective.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
That's just facts.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
I'm the women have won five gold medals in four
World Cups and thirty five years, so like, it's just
it's not the same product.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
It's not the same product. And also, you did partner
with Mayor Z'mdani to make this incredible opportunity this weekend
of five dollars tickets, and it was not just to
say come check out Gotham for the first time, but
it was to with intention pushback on FIFA's decision not
to have dynamic pricing, not to make it accessible to
other people. And it's just the latest of it trillion
examples of women's sports leaning in to the issues and
(27:44):
inclusivity and serving fans and serving communities in a way
that oftentimes men's sports doesn't do. And you really you
made vod colimonade out of Lemons by making sure that
you did something really cool. Instead of just saying we're
getting kicked out and we're gonna be bummed about it,
you took advantage of it, which is great, Jamie. Speaking
of the men's Women's Dynamic, one of the really important
(28:06):
parts of the aus L launched last year was that
the MLB provided him the MLB does anyone ever said
the Major League Baseball MLB provided this massive investment and
really allowed you to piggyback off of century plus of
their success in a way that felt really meaningful and
really changed the stakes for this iteration of a women's
(28:29):
PROSOPA league.
Speaker 6 (28:30):
And it's something that we've talked about for a long time,
right of watching the WNBA and NBA, like when is
Major League Baseball going to get involved? And I agree,
I think it's just been much more of an organic
I think it starts at the top with Kim Ang
two and our commissioner, but even last night, right at
the Yankees game, I think we've had twelve I got
my fact twelve first pitches this year that we've thrown
just the social media coverage during the announcement, the TV coverage,
(28:53):
I know. I think we're going to have MLB network
that's covering, So it's huge.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
It's something we've waited for.
Speaker 6 (28:57):
I think the timing was right, and clearly our leadership
was right to embrace that too.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, you can get recaps of the games on MLB
dot Com. You've got reporters that are doing some double
duty and again, it's that little leg up of tons
of years of history and fan development and engagement that
they get to offer up to you as you're starting
something brand new.
Speaker 6 (29:18):
And I'm biased, but our game is so much more
fun no offense baseball. I know it's gotten faster, but
it is so much it's fitting for TV, the two
hour time slot.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
You're right there. The accessibility with our players.
Speaker 6 (29:30):
I mean you also have hot dogs. We do have
hot dogs and beer. Yeah, get the tradition right.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
We got to take a quick break more with Kerrie,
Jamie and Meghan right after.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
This Megan the Takeover Tour.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
For those who don't know, these are neutral site games
and cities that don't yet have a PWHL team. This
is so brilliant. You are bringing the teams two folks
so that they can fall in love with the game
even if they don't have their own team yet. There
were some interesting insights and data points that the PWHL
got from sending women's teams into NHL stadiums.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Can you share that?
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (30:08):
I think the biggest one that pops out to me
is that I think it was eighty percent of people
who come to our Takeover Tour game so neutral site games. Example,
as we went to Dallas this year, we hadn't been
to Dallas as a league. I think it's eighty percent
of the people haven't stepped foot in an NHL building.
So that just gives you the data point to show
that these are new fans, these are different people. There's
(30:31):
obviously overlap too, but it's it is a different community,
and it's really cool to see the people, you know,
dads bringing their daughters, families coming. It's it's certainly a
different dynamic, and I think that just plays into what
we had talked about before, but certainly it's a it's
cool to see the way that this league is truly
(30:53):
growing the game in real time, not just with the youth,
but with adult leagues and things of that nature. So
we we really lean into, you know, when we do
these takeover tour games. You know, Detroit announced a new
team yesterday at number nine, so and you see Little Caesars.
Speaker 5 (31:09):
You know, the organization's there.
Speaker 7 (31:11):
So it's it's not just you know, bringing our players
and saying, okay, we did a game here.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
You know that's cool.
Speaker 7 (31:17):
It's like, okay, we are we organizing with the Dallastar's
elite youth programs.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
Right, it's a whole mobilization.
Speaker 7 (31:23):
And so I think the league has done a fantastic
job of really growing the game throughout throughout the continent
really at this point.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
And I think Little Caesars Arena has had four takeover games, yes, yeah,
so they have established themselves as a place They've set
a bunch of records and attendance at each time.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
So that also helps.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
You know, when we launched this franchise in this city,
we know there's a fan base that's waiting and ready
and wants to show up, which is great. And then
you just have to turn that curiosity of the first
time into long term fandom, which is something across all
women's sports spaces.
Speaker 5 (31:53):
Right.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
You might get someone who's like, what's this new thing?
Then you have to grab them and say, we want
you to hear every single game. Carrie winning brings in
a lot of that helps a lot. Get all the
new new eyeballs, getting on the bandwagon for another Gotham championship,
for the parade, all the other good stuff. I was
talking about the last one, but we can. I was like,
what for that other one? How did this franchise build
(32:14):
the kind of winning culture that can come twice now
in the last three years from a low playoff seed
to win it all.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
Yeah, I can't give enough credit to our GM, to
Yell for really putting together a team in her staff
or honestly for our ownership group in the amount of investment.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
I think you've seen.
Speaker 5 (32:32):
What that looks like.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
And to be totally honest, if you buy a team.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
I think your expectation is Okay, great, We're gonna run
in like a business, which is true, but also you
want to win. I'm in winning cous money, and so
you have to be willing to invest in to get
the best players, to get the best resources, to adhere
to whatever schedule that looks like additional games, whatever, and
saying with the front office, you have to hire the
right people and be willing to spend there. And so
(32:58):
I think that from my point of view, coming in
and having been in the league for six years now,
we've seen some of the teams that have been really
successful because they've had the backing of really smart, really
committed people, and we got really lucky there with Carolyn,
and so I think her and her team have been
not only a resource financially but also from an operation
(33:20):
standpoint and across the board, and so that I can't
explain how much that has helped.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
And also having really great partners.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
I'm having really great sponsors, having brands, many of whom
I'm sure are here that have been willing to say, hey,
we're going to take a bet on this. We think
that like winning is worthwhile because also at the end
of the day, particularly in places like New York or
big markets, people want to watch winners, they want to
watch excellence, and so you're getting new fans at that
point from like this inflection point of a winning championship.
Speaker 5 (33:48):
But then how do you maintain it? How do you
get people coming back?
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Then there's an expectation correct of winning which you have
to keep up with. We're kind of nearing the end here,
and I do want to ask a kind of broader
big picture question because you each have a different perspective
coming in from the leagues you're in, from Alliance fast Pitch,
from the things you've done before you got to the
leagues you're currently with. So you get to pick your
(34:11):
final question. You can either answer what you think people
get wrong about women's sports that you'd want to push
back on or your biggest concern when it comes to
the future of women's sports and the current exponential growth.
Speaker 5 (34:23):
Megan, Oh goddle putting me first. I mean.
Speaker 7 (34:31):
The exponential growth I think speaks to where we are today.
You know, we just announced the ninth team and we're
going into year four, So I think it's maybe not
I think it's a challenge.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Right.
Speaker 7 (34:47):
We're going to expand, and we're expanding quickly, and so
it's how do we make sure that the infrastructure keeps
up with that? And I know that we have, you know,
a great ownership group and people behind the scenes supporting that,
and you know, something that is top of mind for
everyone is making sure that this is always a professional
experience for the athletes and that that never is sacrificed,
(35:09):
regardless of the momentum that we're that we're seeing. So
just just a challenge for us as we're expanding, but
I think it's going to be a great opportunity to
continue to grow the game, for sure, Jamie.
Speaker 6 (35:21):
I'll build on the second question because you mentioned Alliance
Fast Bitch. A big reason why we built that in
the U space is we're very fragmented and I think
that has been a problem in our sport too of
just where resources and eyeballs, and so I think that
was an initiative that we wanted to do as work together.
But you're also seeing it now right there's there's two leagues.
But I just think our sport's staying together and supporting
(35:43):
each other at the core is very important as all
the outside eyeballs and everything else is happening. So what
are we doing as a sport to support our women
as we grow? This in our second year of AUSL
So I would just say stand together through this and
keeping our softball community strong.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
Love that, Carrie, I'll take you the first one.
Speaker 3 (36:01):
I think that you've obviously seen tremendous growth in the
past decade. Even I mean when we started Angel City,
we paid a two and a half million dollars spansion fee.
I'm for the new Columbus team, they are paying a
two hundred and five million dollar expansion fee one hundred
x I'm in five years, which is psychotic and in
a pretty amazing way.
Speaker 5 (36:21):
And so I think when people what people.
Speaker 3 (36:24):
Get wrong is that a we're it's kind of like
the boom is over, We're done. Like, yes, it's grown,
but like we're in the middle of it right now,
and I think we're really just at the start. I
think that there's still so much more to do and
so much more upside. And I think the other b
section of that is that with that money okay, great now,
everything is as it should be. Players are getting what
they need, the salary cap is the correct thing, everything
(36:47):
is up to an elite level. And I think that
while we have gone are really long ways, we still
have a lot more to do. And again we were
talking about it earlier that what has kind of served
us to this point maybe isn't us the standard we
should be measuring it against.
Speaker 5 (37:01):
It's what is again, what is good enough?
Speaker 3 (37:03):
What is actually expected for these athletes that are elite
and the best of the best of the best. And
so while we're continuing to build infrastructure, and I think
you're seeing it, then Towsell has completely changed their standards
across the board from training Philly, so stadiums, all that,
but there still is more to do to have it
be even a fraction of what the men are getting
(37:25):
infraction of what I think are our players deserve across
any of these leagues. And so even with that continued investment.
We need to make sure that it continues to kind
of trickle down to the teams, trickle down to the
players to have it be actually impactful and so still
needing brands and other types of sponsors, obviously media partners
to continue to keep investing.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
I'm what you're just saying, keep growing, never stopping, never
still stopping.
Speaker 4 (37:51):
Always building, never finished.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
That's that was it, always building, never finished.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
I nailed it.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Thank you all so much, so insightful, round of apluster,
these amazing ladies. Yeah, thanks again to those three rock
stars for the fascinating conversation, and thanks to my fabulous
espnW team for letting us share it with you slices.
That was my eighth time hosting the espnW NYC Summit
and my twenty fifth espnW summit. Overall, when you count Canada, Chicago, NYC, California,
(38:23):
kind of hard to believe, don't forget. If you want
to watch that interview instead of just listening, you can
now watch all the full length Good Game interviews on
the Iheartwomen's Sports YouTube channel, So go on and subscribe.
We have to take a break when we return, Big Gritch.
(38:44):
Welcome Max 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
Kerrie and Jamie on social media. We'll link to their
Instagram profiles in the show notes. We're sure Megan is
also a good follow, but she keeps her account private.
Just have to follow the Seattle Torrent instead. We always
love to hear from you, so hit us up on
email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave us
(39:07):
voicemail at eight seven two two oh four fifty seventy
and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. It's easy
watch Michigan women leading the way in local politics, rating
fifth best state in the country and gender parity for
women in elected office per the represent Women Gender Parity
Index Review. Now, you heard from a few women at
(39:29):
the Helmet Sports in today's episode, but women leaders are
just as important in politics, and the fantastic show Flagrant
and Funny right here on the Iheartwomen's Sports Network featuring
friends Carrie Champion and Jamel Hill, recently featured one of them,
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Take a listen to a bit
of their conversation here. They're talking about the upcoming Detroit
expansion team in the WNBA.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
Is it going to be the shock?
Speaker 1 (39:51):
Do you know?
Speaker 5 (39:52):
Can you.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
Order? They've not complained the name yet, so and I'm
going to say my Lena on that, I'm out of
that one. Yeah. It'll be good though, because I think,
I mean, the WNBA is amazing right now.
Speaker 5 (40:05):
It's at an all time high.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Do you watch any of the games are you Are
you a fan of any particular player? My daughter like
loves pagebacks. Oh yeah, so like, Okay, it's really.
Speaker 4 (40:14):
Awesome to see these strong female leaders and it's fun.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
You can check out the full podcast via the link
in our show notes, and you can check out the
aforementioned represent Women Gender Parity Index to see how your
state is doing when it comes to women at the Helm.
Spoiler alert for my Missouri slices Dead Last Wolf. Now
it's your turny'all, rate and review. Thanks for listening, See
you tomorrow. Good game, carry Jamie and Meghan. Good game, Carrie,
(40:43):
Jamel and Gretchen. You the half of all US states
receiving a D grade in the Gender Parity Index. 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
(41:05):
producers are Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier. Our executive producers
are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Lucy Jones, Britney Martinez and
Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery Loftus and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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