September 23, 2025 • 33 mins
Crown her.
Las Vegas Aces icon A’ja Wilson won a historic fourth career WNBA MVP on Sunday, the most of any player in league history. Wilson’s more than just the WNBA’s best player; she is the moment in women’s sports…but when it comes to marketing, she’s simply not getting her due. In this episode of The GIST of It, co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz dig into Wilson’s unprecedented season before diving into the disparities in WNBA athlete marketing, namely, how Wilson sees fewer sponsorship opportunities than her relatively unproven fellow hooper, the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark.
This episode was brought to you by Amazon Business, the ultimate partner for smart business buying. Amazon Business offers a one-stop shop for all of your business needs, helping companies of all shapes and sizes simplify their purchasing process. Learn more by checking out business.amazon.com today.
Show notes:
Episode #493: Nostalgia-core: How pop culture is winning over the casual sports fan
More on The GIST:
☎️ Leave us a voicemail! Call us at 1-437-564-5579 or hold down on this link
🎧 Subscribe: thegistsports.com/subscribepod
✉️ Email: pod@thegistsports.com
📷 Instagram: @thegistca @thegistusa
🐦 X: @thegistpod
Las Vegas Aces icon A’ja Wilson won a historic fourth career WNBA MVP on Sunday, the most of any player in league history. Wilson’s more than just the WNBA’s best player; she is the moment in women’s sports…but when it comes to marketing, she’s simply not getting her due. In this episode of The GIST of It, co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz dig into Wilson’s unprecedented season before diving into the disparities in WNBA athlete marketing, namely, how Wilson sees fewer sponsorship opportunities than her relatively unproven fellow hooper, the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark.
This episode was brought to you by Amazon Business, the ultimate partner for smart business buying. Amazon Business offers a one-stop shop for all of your business needs, helping companies of all shapes and sizes simplify their purchasing process. Learn more by checking out business.amazon.com today.
Show notes:
Episode #493: Nostalgia-core: How pop culture is winning over the casual sports fan
More on The GIST:
☎️ Leave us a voicemail! Call us at 1-437-564-5579 or hold down on this link
🎧 Subscribe: thegistsports.com/subscribepod
✉️ Email: pod@thegistsports.com
📷 Instagram: @thegistca @thegistusa
🐦 X: @thegistpod
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello, everyone, Welcome and welcome back to another episode of
the Gist of It. Today's Tuesday, September twenty third. Happy
birthday to my mom, Mary. What a day we had
my dad's birthday or what in a podcast? We have
my dad's birthday a few weeks ago, a month ago,
and now it's my mom's birthday. Happy Libra season. Also,
we're your co hosts. I'm Ellen Hisislap and I'm Seph Rotts.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
We are both libras, so truly happy happy birthday, Mary,
but also happy Libra season to me and Ellen and.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
To all of our fellow libras out there. Also, just
I feel like Libra season is a nice time of
the year for everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Everyone loves it, right right.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
You posted such a funny Instagram post your story today.
Just everything being in capslock with exclamation points, justice, aesthetic.
That's the vibe for Libra season this year.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
This Libra season, I'm gonna make think sure things are fair.
That's my goal this season, man, that's.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Your goal in life. I think too. What isn't fair?
What I will say right now, what is not fair
is how busted my WNBA bracket is. We hosted our
pro women's basketball bracket and the way that the WNBA
playoffs have shake shaked out, shook it out, shaked out,
check out, checkout have been shaking out is take it off,
(01:29):
shake it off is truly unfair. I did not expect
these semifinal matchups that we have right now, and so
it's hard again. We're in that like weird phase stuff
where we can't necessarily talk about the semis because they're
happening as we are recording. But in case you missed it,
(01:50):
the Phoenix Mercury are playing the Minnesota Links and the
Las Vegas Aces are playing the Indiana Fever, and I
for one thought that this would be an Ace's dream matchup,
and I thought that this was going to be a
Links New York Liberty matchup. So I'm my bract is
so busted, along with my heart actually too. And the
(02:13):
Fever won that first game. I know, Cam, It's everything shocking,
and that's why we love sportslow too. You literally never
know what's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
I love women's sports.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
We love women's sports. The only thing that's a sure
thing though is Ajia Wilson, and that too, we need
to talk about today because Las Vegas Asis superstar Ajia Wilson,
also front of this podcast, won an unprecedented fourth MVP
Award over the weekend. It is history making and that
is why, yes it's Tuesday and we're still talking about it.
(02:47):
We want to get into her incredible career, which includes
just four MVP awards across eight seasons in the league.
Nobody else has a percentage like that. We talked about
this in our Sports Business newsletter though, and a big
reason why we wanted to talk about is that Asia
Wilson has seen so much on court success, and yes,
she's seen off court success too, but the way in
(03:10):
which she's seeing the dollars and the endorsement deals translate
to her is really different than what we see in
the Dallas Wings rookie Pagebeckers or in the Indiana Fever's
Kaitlyn Clark. And there's a lot of nuance and rationale
potentially to it all. So that's what we're getting into today.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And before we get into that nitty gritty of marketing
in the WNBA and all of the ven diagrams that
coexist with that conversation, we do need to start off
the podcast by calling an audible.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yes and I'm so excited to call an audible. So
today during our team meeting, we were talking about with
our production team what should we be chatting about? And
Asia Wilson seemed like the very clear thing that everyone
wanted to chat about. And alexis on our team lovingly
known as brought up Don Staley. Don Staley used to
(04:02):
coach Asia Wilson in college and so there's just like
a lot of legacy and friendship there. And Lex goes,
did you guys know that Don Staley is basically pro
at cornhole? And I said, sorry, what now? Ay, what
do you mean Don Staley is pro cornhole? And also,
b what do you mean there's pro cornhole? So obviously
(04:27):
that sent me down a rabbit hole, and I was like,
we need to share this with everybody.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Okay, I have not gone down that rabbit hole, so
I'm going to rely on you to get me up
to speed with this pro cornhole situation.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah, so from digging on the internet, Don Staley has
actually been a cornhole prodigy since twenty twenty two, stuff
which I can't believe that cornhole and prodigy are in
the same sentence as Don Staley, let alone twenty twenty two.
This is going on for years, and this was laware
(05:01):
that I was not familiar with. I also didn't know
that there was an American Cornhole League and that they
have things like super Hole where they're inviting celebrities and
Don Staley is coming out to these events and achieving
feats that only the best pro cornhallers in the world experience.
(05:25):
So in I think it was twenty twenty two, is
that she achieved a four bagger, which includes sinking four
bags in a single round, and she's going up against
other celebrities like Doug Flutie. You might remember Doug Flutie
from back in the day in the NFL, in the CFL,
and so they're getting all of these athletes who clearly
(05:47):
are so good with hand eye coordination, basketball, football, and
the like, and they're playing cornhole literally professionally, or they're
showing up to these professional cornhole tournaments or these celebrity
cornhole tournaments and they're obsessed with it.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
It's giving when you go to an arcade with your
coworkers and one person is randomly good at one of
the games and you go, where did this come from?
Speaker 1 (06:14):
And why? You know why? Yeah, yea yeah, yeah, why
and what are we doing? And so she has. She's
been called the Queen of Cornhole and the Courts, which
I think is hilarious because that's something that we've never
heard before. Queen of the Courts, for sure, but the
Cornhole Association literally calls her the Queen of Cornhole and
(06:36):
the courts every time that she shows up. And obviously
hopefully we see her potentially coaching in the WNBA or
coaching in the NBA one day. Maybe she'll stay in college.
Who knows. She has obviously an amazing career with South
Carolina and the game Cocks. But maybe one day, when
Don Staley finally slows down, will potentially see her committing
(06:59):
to professional corn hole.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
That would be a fun charity tournament two that she
could host. It would get a bunch of famous people
in on it, she could win, she.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Could watch that en a rus and maybe it all
goes to charity. Maybe that's what happens right now. So
that was That was the deep dive that I did today.
Thank you Lex for sharing this lore with us. I
love random shit like this. I was on TikTok over
the weekend stuff as one does, and all of a
sudden I found myself watching like window application competition, and
(07:30):
I said, what am I doing? I was watching like
the computer currently, No, like the physical window. There were
just a bunch of men everywhere, and there was a
play by bike commentator and this man was taking this
plastic sheet onto a window and squeeging it down and
cutting it down, and he was under a timer, and
(07:53):
there was a commentator as if it was the super Bowl,
and my it was. My attention span was fine. I
watched the entire three minutes and I said, Oh, my goodness,
there's so many niche communities that we don't even think about,
and we go we can't even believe it. But it's
so nice that there's something out there for everyone.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
You know what I saw on the weekend on TikTok
a lumberjack competition.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Now those have been on those have been on ESPN
and TSM for years. Also had my attention Yeah it
also those those are wild when you see those those
fire firefighter competitions too. Have you ever seen one of those?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
No, I've just saw the log chopping, the log water
thing where they have to roll on it, good time.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
So entertaining. Also, last thing before we move on to
the one big thing. Congratulations Steff on getting back out
onto the ice. Steff is wearing a bandana today, and
that's when you know she is channeling her hockey girl energy.
She's also wearing a hockey T shirt.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
What does it say? Five guys in garters and stalkings
looking to score, And then on the back it says,
we call it hockey.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
I love to purchase it at a vintage.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Shop because I thought if I was wearing it would
be subversive.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
No, I'm obsessed.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
I'm like, like totally. Guys are obviously, perhaps in the past,
poking at it in a misogynistic, homophobic way, but I'm
doing it in, you know, like a celebratory way.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
I'm so happy for you getting back on the ice.
I'm so happy for your noga, and I'm so happy
for your mental health. It's also good.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
It's just like, all of a sudden, I was just
less angry, more happy. My soul felt like it returned
to my body, like I could see it physically come
back inside me, like in a video game or something
like that. Just so happy to be back.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
I think thank you to Amazon Business for sponsoring this
episode as a startup founder. I have a lot on
my mind, from brainstorming new ideas to captivate gisters to
communicating with folks who want to collaborate with the awesome
Just community. Something I'm not thinking about reordering toilet paper.
And that's where Amazon Business comes in. Amazon Business takes
(10:07):
the guesswork out of business buying. Their in depth business
buying insights actually let me know when we need to
stock up on office essentials. Check out business dot Amazon
dot com to learn how you could clean up your
to do list with Amazon Business. Time to talk about
(10:30):
Ajia Wilson, and I'm so excited to talk about her,
and I think that a lot of people right now
are saying that she is the Michael Jordan of the NBA.
And we don't always love these male to female comparisons
or these female to male comparisons, because they feel like
two separate games. However, when you talk about Michael Jordan,
(10:54):
I think that he is an athlete that transcends culture
peer and Asia Wilson is on track to being very
similar to him in terms of her on court accolades.
But the way in which culture hasn't caught up to
accept and celebrate Asia Wilson in the same way that
(11:15):
they accepted and celebrated Michael Jordan is kind of what's
bugging us in this situation, and so that's that's part
of the reason why we wanted to bring that up
in that conversation up.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Yeah, we want to use it to help illustrate what
it is we need to talk about today. And that's
why we make that comparison, because of course also women's
sports stand on their own. We don't need to loop
in men. But I think because we're talking culture and marketing,
it is worth kind of bringing it into this conversation
so that we can think about it holistically. We want
(11:45):
to just paint a picture on how dominant she's been
since entering the WNBA in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Yeah, and so today we're going to chat through her
career and buy the numbers to your point stuff to
paint that picture. But then get into, okay, her sponsorships.
We're her dollars, because that's the that's the story, and
that's the picture that we want to paint.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Thank you so much for teeing that up. And of
course before the WNBA we already mentioned it in the beginning.
She was coached by Don Staley uh.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Court hole in the courts.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
In that college, Wilson was a three time All American,
leading South Carolina to their first women's waspball championship in
twenty seventeen. You think about that team now and it's
a given dynasty. Ajia Wilson.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Aja Wilson, I think kicked off everything to your point, Steph,
and I think the program that her and on Staley
were able to create together then I think really helped
Don Staley be able to recruit so many other amazing
kids out of high school to work with her. And
then see all of the amazing folks who have come
(12:57):
out of Don Staley and into the WNBA, like in
Aliah Boston who is playing lights out for the Indiana
Fever these playoffs. It's really cool and it's so interesting
to see it go back to someone like Asia Wilson,
who has a statue in South Carolina because of everything
that she's done for the game.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Cox School, two absolute legends in the game of women's basketball.
And then, of course, post WNBA, post college, she goes
to the WNBA. That doesn't need saying, but Wilson made
an immediate impact entering the league after college, which you
(13:36):
can't always say joining Las Vegas Aces, and she has
played for the Las Vegas Aces for her entire career,
which I think is quite exceptional.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
She's been an All Star every single year except twenty twenty,
and the only reason why she wasn't an All Star
in twenty twenty is that there wasn't an All Star
game due to the pandemic. They were playing in the bubble,
So literally every opportunity that she had, she was an
All Star. We talk about MVPs and that's really I
think part of the reason why she is being talked
(14:05):
about right now. She's just won her fourth She won
her first in twenty twenty, followed it up in twenty
twenty two, won unanimously in twenty twenty four, and then
now one in twenty twenty five. There was some kind
of controversy between everything, and I think this year's stuff
(14:25):
there was a lot of conversation of is it going
to be an Fisa Collier of the Minnesota Link, someone
who I am truly obsessed with Collier's game. She is
so talk about someone who's not in the spotlight, who
needs to be in the spotlight. It's her, But there's
a lot of debate as too, is it going to
be Asia Wilson or is it going to Benfista.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Collier and Wilson earned fifty one votes and Collier earned eighteen.
So Wilson did lead the Aces on a sixteen game
win streak in the second half of the season. This
talking about in twenty twenty five, which is an incredible
turnaround for a team that seriously struggled in the.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Being so nice stuff. The Las Vegas Aces were shit
at the beginning of the year. They were so bad,
and then Asia Wilson's turned it around. I literally am
like she put the team on her back, she hyped
them up, she turned them around, she called them out,
She worked with Becky Hammond and she said, okay, everyone,
(15:23):
let's get on this train together and let's chug to
the effing finals. And I think it's because of that
turnaround Steph and that leadership that she showed both on
and off the court that had so many pundits go, no,
this is the MVP. Only special people can do that.
And Collier did get injured as well, so I just
want to call it out, but that second half was
(15:45):
truly incredible from the Aces.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Yeah, it is important to note that Collier was missing
I think twenty five percent of the games with an
ankle injury. But the show that Wilson gave is undeniable.
So I don't like we need to say that for
journalistic purposes, but I don't think it's necessarily a fair
thing to bring up, because Wilson led the WNBA in
points and blocks this season, she averaged a double double,
she won co Defensive Player of the Year, and like,
(16:10):
she did what Ellen said she did. But those are
some things to statistically back it up.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, I mean, we don't have time to get into
it today, but I would encourage you to look at
some of the uh back and forth about the co
Defensive Flayer of the Year because that was really interesting
and so zooming out on all of this. This is
a record fourth MVP title, so this puts her ahead
of legendary WNBA company and like Cheryl Swoops, Lisa Leslie,
(16:39):
and Lauren Jackson, all three of those women have won
three MVP awards, but no one has ever won four before.
And Seph, she is doing this at only twenty nine
years olds. That's incredible. Yeah, she hasn't even peaked. You
know what, I mean no, I think that you could
argue that she hasn't, especially when you're seeing someone like
(17:00):
Diana Tarassi play until their mid forties. I think that
we have at least six seven more years of Asia
and her prime.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
She truly stands alone in the WNBA, and I think
we'll continue to stand alone in the WNBA. And to
bring it back to that Michael Jordan comparison, Jordan has
he won five MVP Awards and his fifteen year tenure
in the NBA and tied with Bill Russell for the
most of all time, whereas Wilson setting her own records, and.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
She's done it so much faster than Michael Jordan. She's
done it in literally half of the time quick math
care the one half of the time. So it's to me,
it's not an if of or it's a when she
gets her fifth and when she gets her sixth, when
she is going to beat Michael Jordan.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
So should we talk about her sponsorships now?
Speaker 1 (17:48):
I would love to, and I would like to shout
out our sports business newsletter. If you're not subscribed, we
cover the business side of women's sports. Go check it
out at the Just sports dot com under our Sports
Business Tab and Arianna, our writer over there, pitched this
story and I was like, this is so timely coming
off of this forth WNBA MVP win. And just to
(18:10):
preface on all of this too, Steph or for our listeners,
just talking to me for everybody, Like, we don't know, obviously,
the inner workings of Asia Wilson and her team as
she is discussing endorsement deals and sponsorship opportunities. We don't
know what comes across her desk and what she says
(18:31):
no to, because I'm sure there's a lot that she
says no to because she is exceptionally intentional. So that
part and what we're about to get into, I do
just want to preface at the beginning is I'm sure
she's saying no to things, but when we compare her
to other WNBA folks and her colleagues, her winning for
MVPs and being en route to being at that same
(18:54):
level as I'm Michael Jordan is not in line with
the money or the sponsor ships that she should that
she could be coming home with.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
So we're going to talk about how she fits into
that larger WNBA athlete landscape and sponsorship landscape and talk
about some maybe generational things with that. So Wilson has
major deals with Nike, Gatorade, and Chase. But Wilson is
not among the top ten most endorsed women athletes from
twenty twenty four to twenty twenty five according to Sponsor
(19:28):
United's WNBA Partnerships Report.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yes, she was also not among the top five most
endorsed WNBA athletes in the twenty twenty four to twenty
five period at all. So we're looking at women athletes
in that top ten that you were mentioning, Steff, She's
not in the top five for WNBA athletes in twenty
four and twenty five, which feels off to me considering
(19:53):
that she is arguably the top player, has been one
of the top players for the last seven years.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
And for that time period that those reports are looking
at too. It's coming off of that unanimous MVP season
that she had in twenty twenty four. So for some
additional context too, and.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
You're probably wondering at this point, Okay, so who were
the five that beat out Asia Wilson. That was Chicago's
Guy's Angel Reese, New York Liberties, Breanna Stewart, La Sparks,
Cameron Brink, Chicago's Camilla cardos So, and Dallas Wing's Pagebeckers.
The report is based off of the number of endorsements,
(20:30):
not the size of the deal. So again that's what
we don't have context of.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
So that's additional context that could potentially sway the things
and maybe that could affect Wilson. And that's also why
someone like Caitlin Clark lesson in the top five as well.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Yes, because she, Kaitlin Clark, and Asia Wilson are probably
getting big money from places like Nike and State Farm
and what have you.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
But what do all of these athletes have in common
those five It's that is that they're either no longer
in or did not even qualify for the WNBA playoffs
this year. Yes, so there is perhaps what we could
look into and talk about is the discrepancy between performance
on the court for their team and their where they
(21:12):
end up in the season and apparent marketability.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
And that is with the exception of Stewie, right like,
Stewie is a two time MVP herself, she's won multiple
league championships. But outside of Stewie, when we zoom in
on Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, Camillocardoso, and Page Beckers. They're
all college girlies, you know what I mean. They were
building their brand in college. They came up in the
(21:38):
NIL era, which is not an era that Asia Wilson
or Brianna Stewart or Sue Bird or whoever else came
up in. And with that name, image and likeness era,
they were able to profit off of who they were
and their name, image and likeness, and as a result,
they were able to start marketing themselves in a completely
(21:58):
different way and start earning money when they were in
their junior or their senior years and landing brands so
that they could bring them into the WNBA stef Also too,
when you look at when Asia entered in twenty eighteen,
the social media landscape with TikTok and Instagram and the
brand deals and everything completely different. The world looks completely
(22:20):
different for a women's sports but also be social media
and how so many athletes period, whether male or female,
make their money.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
So there's the question too, like we have this continuation
or evolving from NIL and the benefit that that has
for the younger players, but also we have the flip
side of on court product, on court experience, on court
accolades and we're wondering, is her marketing potential untapped?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, and I think too the conversation of race has
to come into this. Asia Wilson herself has really talked
about how herself included and other Black women, queer black
women in the WNBA are not getting the same endorsement
opportunities as white women and other women within the WNBA.
(23:09):
And so when you're looking at a Stewie or Brink
or Becker's or Caitlin Clark, and then you're comparing them
to someone like an Asia Wilson or an a Fisa
Collier or even the stud Buds, if we want to
wrap them up together, you do see them being treated differently.
And that's something where Asia seph when she launched her
(23:30):
signature shoe, and I think we can all think about
that commercial. She was so intentional about only featuring black
women and young Black girls, and she's so intentional, intentional
about being a mentor for the Junior WNBA and doing
all of these things that this is a broader conversation.
I think outside of Asia Wilson that the WNBA, but
(23:54):
also athletes, Black athletes across all leagues are still unfortunately
having to do with mm hmmm.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yeah, pagebackers at least acknowledge that, I would say in
some of her speeches in the past too, So it
is nice to see that this younger generation is at
least a little more aware, aware of the landscape that
they're stepping into, and does acknowledge that they are going
into a league built by black women. So that is
that is definitely progress. But progress would would mean that
(24:22):
a league built by black women would see black women
profiting from it the most.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Yeah, and I don't think we're taking anything away from
those other women right by saying all, yeah, yeah, it's
just the reality at the same time, and we want
her reality to mimic someone like Michael Jordan's reality of
what he was able to make outside of his playing
career thanks to everything he was able to do on
the court, and hopefully that changes over the next few years.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah, And obviously we're not saying Asua Wilson is struggling
by any meanings, but we are just comparing it into
the overall landscape and talking about how all of those
different things age, race intersect with their marketability or their
quote unquote marketability. Three cheers for Amazon business and their
continued support of this podcast. As the WNBA playoffs roll
(25:10):
on in new leagues prepare to begin. Teamwork is top
of mind for me. If your business needs a purchasing
plant upgrade. Amazon Business is the best team made around.
Amazon Business provides support for your company's needs, including tools
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to learn more about their game changing technology. It's sign
(25:39):
for our Personal Training Sash. This is the last segment
of the podcast, and this is where we would absolutely
love to hear from you in any capacity, whether that's
a question that you have for us, a hot take
you on us to share on the podcast. We would
love to have your voice inserted here in this segment
of the podcast.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yes, and so in today's Personal Training Sash, we are
taking a hot take from the one and only Danielle E. Danielle,
thank you for sliding into our DMS on Instagram. We
did a was this Thursday. It must have been Thursday's podcast.
The time is so hard?
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Which is time?
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Oh Holly? Yeah? So yes, So we interviewed Holly Row
and by we we me and Lauren interviewed Holly Row
and had an amazing conversation with her. And when we
were talking about Holly Row, because again we're a cross
border company, we talked to people around the world. We
wanted to compare her to someone in Canada that was
potentially at the same level as Holly Row, and we
(26:35):
basically determined nobody else. And Danielle said, hmmm, I don't
think you guys are right. So she said, first, absolutely
love the pod. Thank you for all that you do
for women's sports. Listening to today's episode, and I have
to say, what about Andy Petrillo and even Kenzie Lalande
and Claire Hannah love the pod. Keep up the good work.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
What are your thoughts and feedback on that?
Speaker 1 (27:00):
So Danielle, thank you again. Nothing nothing more that we
like than being clocked and being challenged and having your
own hot take. What I would say is that the
level of the level of nationwide and the level of
(27:20):
nationwide impact and the impact of longevity that Holly Row
has had on both men's and women's sports, I don't
think has been replicated still by a Canadian across the
biggest networks in sports, where a lot of people would
(27:41):
see them on the street and go I know who
you are. I don't know if, for example, maybe more
so Andy Petrillou, but with Kenzie Lalande or Claire Hannah,
they're amazing. I think they're fantastic. They're every single person
is fantastic. But I don't know if they have the
same level of like resume or like awareness that people
(28:07):
have about Holly Row in the States.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
I would say that Canada is also at a disadvantage
when we're talking about this conversation or having this conversation
because these leagues are largely American. Of course, we do
have Canadian locations in MLB, in the NBA, in the NHL,
et cetera, et cetera. But I would say largely, especially
from a basketball perspective, America has the advantage in terms
(28:32):
of brand negnition and the broadcasters and the hold on
the market that it is a bit easier to become
so synonymous with the game there because also some games
aren't picked up by Canadian broadcasters, so we're watching American feeds.
Like I do think Canada's at a disadvantage when we're
talking about comparing someone to a Holly Row because of
(28:52):
that as well.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
And I would say that's across media too, right, Like
just at period with the US, it's just bigger market,
more money, more opportunity, more people watching all the time.
And I think that's media in general. And then you
look at sports as a culture in the US and
the way that there's the high school to college to
(29:15):
pro pipeline and people are literally showing out in droves
and media showing out in droves to high school women's
basketball games, high school football games. We would never see
that in Canada. We barely get any coverage of U sports,
which is university sports in Canada. And so I think
that just the culture is so different that as a result,
(29:37):
the celebrity is so different as well, or the fandom
around certain people is so different as well.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
So it's a result of the whole ecosystem around sports
and not at all the responsibility of these women or
a result of their talent.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Yeah, because there we have such incredible talented journalists and
reporters actually across North America we have like the talent
is incredible and remarkable, and we need more women involves.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
And so that's where we were coming at. I know
we said please clock us, but to defend ourselves, that's
where we're coming out when we're talking about Brad recognition,
so sorry. Appreciate you, Danielle E for checking us and
for reminding us about the wonderful talent that we do
have in Canada because of course it is there and.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Shouting out those names. If you would like to be
featured on a future episode of The Gist of It
or in our personal training session, please leave us a
voicemail at one four three seven five six four five
five seven nine that's linked in the show notes. You
can email us at pod at thedisports dot com or
message me and stuff on Instagram. I'm Ellen at the Jist,
Steph is at Stephanie Rotts and again we'd love it
(30:47):
like talk to us about anything please.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
You would love to hear from you please. And with that,
that marks the end of today's episode. Thank you so
much for tuning in. We'll be back in your feed
with the new podcast on Thursday. Of course, we would
love and appreciate if you could rate, review, subscribe and
smin a personal training sash Yes.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
This episode was edited by Savannah Howel and produced by
Lisa Mantillo, Alexandra Puccio and Lauren Tuscala again I'm Allan
HSLA and.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
I'm Steph Rotts, returning to the ice post concussion, and
I hope everyone is going into their Wii with as
much gusto as I am.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
So love you all. Talk soon.
Hello, everyone, Welcome and welcome back to another episode of
the Gist of It. Today's Tuesday, September twenty third. Happy
birthday to my mom, Mary. What a day we had
my dad's birthday or what in a podcast? We have
my dad's birthday a few weeks ago, a month ago,
and now it's my mom's birthday. Happy Libra season. Also,
we're your co hosts. I'm Ellen Hisislap and I'm Seph Rotts.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
We are both libras, so truly happy happy birthday, Mary,
but also happy Libra season to me and Ellen and.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
To all of our fellow libras out there. Also, just
I feel like Libra season is a nice time of
the year for everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Everyone loves it, right right.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
You posted such a funny Instagram post your story today.
Just everything being in capslock with exclamation points, justice, aesthetic.
That's the vibe for Libra season this year.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
This Libra season, I'm gonna make think sure things are fair.
That's my goal this season, man, that's.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Your goal in life. I think too. What isn't fair?
What I will say right now, what is not fair
is how busted my WNBA bracket is. We hosted our
pro women's basketball bracket and the way that the WNBA
playoffs have shake shaked out, shook it out, shaked out,
check out, checkout have been shaking out is take it off,
(01:29):
shake it off is truly unfair. I did not expect
these semifinal matchups that we have right now, and so
it's hard again. We're in that like weird phase stuff
where we can't necessarily talk about the semis because they're
happening as we are recording. But in case you missed it,
(01:50):
the Phoenix Mercury are playing the Minnesota Links and the
Las Vegas Aces are playing the Indiana Fever, and I
for one thought that this would be an Ace's dream matchup,
and I thought that this was going to be a
Links New York Liberty matchup. So I'm my bract is
so busted, along with my heart actually too. And the
(02:13):
Fever won that first game. I know, Cam, It's everything shocking,
and that's why we love sportslow too. You literally never
know what's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
I love women's sports.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
We love women's sports. The only thing that's a sure
thing though is Ajia Wilson, and that too, we need
to talk about today because Las Vegas Asis superstar Ajia Wilson,
also front of this podcast, won an unprecedented fourth MVP
Award over the weekend. It is history making and that
is why, yes it's Tuesday and we're still talking about it.
(02:47):
We want to get into her incredible career, which includes
just four MVP awards across eight seasons in the league.
Nobody else has a percentage like that. We talked about
this in our Sports Business newsletter though, and a big
reason why we wanted to talk about is that Asia
Wilson has seen so much on court success, and yes,
she's seen off court success too, but the way in
(03:10):
which she's seeing the dollars and the endorsement deals translate
to her is really different than what we see in
the Dallas Wings rookie Pagebeckers or in the Indiana Fever's
Kaitlyn Clark. And there's a lot of nuance and rationale
potentially to it all. So that's what we're getting into today.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And before we get into that nitty gritty of marketing
in the WNBA and all of the ven diagrams that
coexist with that conversation, we do need to start off
the podcast by calling an audible.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yes and I'm so excited to call an audible. So
today during our team meeting, we were talking about with
our production team what should we be chatting about? And
Asia Wilson seemed like the very clear thing that everyone
wanted to chat about. And alexis on our team lovingly
known as brought up Don Staley. Don Staley used to
(04:02):
coach Asia Wilson in college and so there's just like
a lot of legacy and friendship there. And Lex goes,
did you guys know that Don Staley is basically pro
at cornhole? And I said, sorry, what now? Ay, what
do you mean Don Staley is pro cornhole? And also,
b what do you mean there's pro cornhole? So obviously
(04:27):
that sent me down a rabbit hole, and I was like,
we need to share this with everybody.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Okay, I have not gone down that rabbit hole, so
I'm going to rely on you to get me up
to speed with this pro cornhole situation.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah, so from digging on the internet, Don Staley has
actually been a cornhole prodigy since twenty twenty two, stuff
which I can't believe that cornhole and prodigy are in
the same sentence as Don Staley, let alone twenty twenty two.
This is going on for years, and this was laware
(05:01):
that I was not familiar with. I also didn't know
that there was an American Cornhole League and that they
have things like super Hole where they're inviting celebrities and
Don Staley is coming out to these events and achieving
feats that only the best pro cornhallers in the world experience.
(05:25):
So in I think it was twenty twenty two, is
that she achieved a four bagger, which includes sinking four
bags in a single round, and she's going up against
other celebrities like Doug Flutie. You might remember Doug Flutie
from back in the day in the NFL, in the CFL,
and so they're getting all of these athletes who clearly
(05:47):
are so good with hand eye coordination, basketball, football, and
the like, and they're playing cornhole literally professionally, or they're
showing up to these professional cornhole tournaments or these celebrity
cornhole tournaments and they're obsessed with it.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
It's giving when you go to an arcade with your
coworkers and one person is randomly good at one of
the games and you go, where did this come from?
Speaker 1 (06:14):
And why? You know why? Yeah, yea yeah, yeah, why
and what are we doing? And so she has. She's
been called the Queen of Cornhole and the Courts, which
I think is hilarious because that's something that we've never
heard before. Queen of the Courts, for sure, but the
Cornhole Association literally calls her the Queen of Cornhole and
(06:36):
the courts every time that she shows up. And obviously
hopefully we see her potentially coaching in the WNBA or
coaching in the NBA one day. Maybe she'll stay in college.
Who knows. She has obviously an amazing career with South
Carolina and the game Cocks. But maybe one day, when
Don Staley finally slows down, will potentially see her committing
(06:59):
to professional corn hole.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
That would be a fun charity tournament two that she
could host. It would get a bunch of famous people
in on it, she could win, she.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Could watch that en a rus and maybe it all
goes to charity. Maybe that's what happens right now. So
that was That was the deep dive that I did today.
Thank you Lex for sharing this lore with us. I
love random shit like this. I was on TikTok over
the weekend stuff as one does, and all of a
sudden I found myself watching like window application competition, and
(07:30):
I said, what am I doing? I was watching like
the computer currently, No, like the physical window. There were
just a bunch of men everywhere, and there was a
play by bike commentator and this man was taking this
plastic sheet onto a window and squeeging it down and
cutting it down, and he was under a timer, and
(07:53):
there was a commentator as if it was the super Bowl,
and my it was. My attention span was fine. I
watched the entire three minutes and I said, Oh, my goodness,
there's so many niche communities that we don't even think about,
and we go we can't even believe it. But it's
so nice that there's something out there for everyone.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
You know what I saw on the weekend on TikTok
a lumberjack competition.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Now those have been on those have been on ESPN
and TSM for years. Also had my attention Yeah it
also those those are wild when you see those those
fire firefighter competitions too. Have you ever seen one of those?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
No, I've just saw the log chopping, the log water
thing where they have to roll on it, good time.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
So entertaining. Also, last thing before we move on to
the one big thing. Congratulations Steff on getting back out
onto the ice. Steff is wearing a bandana today, and
that's when you know she is channeling her hockey girl energy.
She's also wearing a hockey T shirt.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
What does it say? Five guys in garters and stalkings
looking to score, And then on the back it says,
we call it hockey.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
I love to purchase it at a vintage.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Shop because I thought if I was wearing it would
be subversive.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
No, I'm obsessed.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
I'm like, like totally. Guys are obviously, perhaps in the past,
poking at it in a misogynistic, homophobic way, but I'm
doing it in, you know, like a celebratory way.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
I'm so happy for you getting back on the ice.
I'm so happy for your noga, and I'm so happy
for your mental health. It's also good.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
It's just like, all of a sudden, I was just
less angry, more happy. My soul felt like it returned
to my body, like I could see it physically come
back inside me, like in a video game or something
like that. Just so happy to be back.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
I think thank you to Amazon Business for sponsoring this
episode as a startup founder. I have a lot on
my mind, from brainstorming new ideas to captivate gisters to
communicating with folks who want to collaborate with the awesome
Just community. Something I'm not thinking about reordering toilet paper.
And that's where Amazon Business comes in. Amazon Business takes
(10:07):
the guesswork out of business buying. Their in depth business
buying insights actually let me know when we need to
stock up on office essentials. Check out business dot Amazon
dot com to learn how you could clean up your
to do list with Amazon Business. Time to talk about
(10:30):
Ajia Wilson, and I'm so excited to talk about her,
and I think that a lot of people right now
are saying that she is the Michael Jordan of the NBA.
And we don't always love these male to female comparisons
or these female to male comparisons, because they feel like
two separate games. However, when you talk about Michael Jordan,
(10:54):
I think that he is an athlete that transcends culture
peer and Asia Wilson is on track to being very
similar to him in terms of her on court accolades.
But the way in which culture hasn't caught up to
accept and celebrate Asia Wilson in the same way that
(11:15):
they accepted and celebrated Michael Jordan is kind of what's
bugging us in this situation, and so that's that's part
of the reason why we wanted to bring that up
in that conversation up.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Yeah, we want to use it to help illustrate what
it is we need to talk about today. And that's
why we make that comparison, because of course also women's
sports stand on their own. We don't need to loop
in men. But I think because we're talking culture and marketing,
it is worth kind of bringing it into this conversation
so that we can think about it holistically. We want
(11:45):
to just paint a picture on how dominant she's been
since entering the WNBA in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Yeah, and so today we're going to chat through her
career and buy the numbers to your point stuff to
paint that picture. But then get into, okay, her sponsorships.
We're her dollars, because that's the that's the story, and
that's the picture that we want to paint.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Thank you so much for teeing that up. And of
course before the WNBA we already mentioned it in the beginning.
She was coached by Don Staley uh.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Court hole in the courts.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
In that college, Wilson was a three time All American,
leading South Carolina to their first women's waspball championship in
twenty seventeen. You think about that team now and it's
a given dynasty. Ajia Wilson.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Aja Wilson, I think kicked off everything to your point, Steph,
and I think the program that her and on Staley
were able to create together then I think really helped
Don Staley be able to recruit so many other amazing
kids out of high school to work with her. And
then see all of the amazing folks who have come
(12:57):
out of Don Staley and into the WNBA, like in
Aliah Boston who is playing lights out for the Indiana
Fever these playoffs. It's really cool and it's so interesting
to see it go back to someone like Asia Wilson,
who has a statue in South Carolina because of everything
that she's done for the game.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Cox School, two absolute legends in the game of women's basketball.
And then, of course, post WNBA, post college, she goes
to the WNBA. That doesn't need saying, but Wilson made
an immediate impact entering the league after college, which you
(13:36):
can't always say joining Las Vegas Aces, and she has
played for the Las Vegas Aces for her entire career,
which I think is quite exceptional.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
She's been an All Star every single year except twenty twenty,
and the only reason why she wasn't an All Star
in twenty twenty is that there wasn't an All Star
game due to the pandemic. They were playing in the bubble,
So literally every opportunity that she had, she was an
All Star. We talk about MVPs and that's really I
think part of the reason why she is being talked
(14:05):
about right now. She's just won her fourth She won
her first in twenty twenty, followed it up in twenty
twenty two, won unanimously in twenty twenty four, and then
now one in twenty twenty five. There was some kind
of controversy between everything, and I think this year's stuff
(14:25):
there was a lot of conversation of is it going
to be an Fisa Collier of the Minnesota Link, someone
who I am truly obsessed with Collier's game. She is
so talk about someone who's not in the spotlight, who
needs to be in the spotlight. It's her, But there's
a lot of debate as too, is it going to
be Asia Wilson or is it going to Benfista.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Collier and Wilson earned fifty one votes and Collier earned eighteen.
So Wilson did lead the Aces on a sixteen game
win streak in the second half of the season. This
talking about in twenty twenty five, which is an incredible
turnaround for a team that seriously struggled in the.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Being so nice stuff. The Las Vegas Aces were shit
at the beginning of the year. They were so bad,
and then Asia Wilson's turned it around. I literally am
like she put the team on her back, she hyped
them up, she turned them around, she called them out,
She worked with Becky Hammond and she said, okay, everyone,
(15:23):
let's get on this train together and let's chug to
the effing finals. And I think it's because of that
turnaround Steph and that leadership that she showed both on
and off the court that had so many pundits go, no,
this is the MVP. Only special people can do that.
And Collier did get injured as well, so I just
want to call it out, but that second half was
(15:45):
truly incredible from the Aces.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Yeah, it is important to note that Collier was missing
I think twenty five percent of the games with an
ankle injury. But the show that Wilson gave is undeniable.
So I don't like we need to say that for
journalistic purposes, but I don't think it's necessarily a fair
thing to bring up, because Wilson led the WNBA in
points and blocks this season, she averaged a double double,
she won co Defensive Player of the Year, and like,
(16:10):
she did what Ellen said she did. But those are
some things to statistically back it up.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, I mean, we don't have time to get into
it today, but I would encourage you to look at
some of the uh back and forth about the co
Defensive Flayer of the Year because that was really interesting
and so zooming out on all of this. This is
a record fourth MVP title, so this puts her ahead
of legendary WNBA company and like Cheryl Swoops, Lisa Leslie,
(16:39):
and Lauren Jackson, all three of those women have won
three MVP awards, but no one has ever won four before.
And Seph, she is doing this at only twenty nine
years olds. That's incredible. Yeah, she hasn't even peaked. You
know what, I mean no, I think that you could
argue that she hasn't, especially when you're seeing someone like
(17:00):
Diana Tarassi play until their mid forties. I think that
we have at least six seven more years of Asia
and her prime.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
She truly stands alone in the WNBA, and I think
we'll continue to stand alone in the WNBA. And to
bring it back to that Michael Jordan comparison, Jordan has
he won five MVP Awards and his fifteen year tenure
in the NBA and tied with Bill Russell for the
most of all time, whereas Wilson setting her own records, and.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
She's done it so much faster than Michael Jordan. She's
done it in literally half of the time quick math
care the one half of the time. So it's to me,
it's not an if of or it's a when she
gets her fifth and when she gets her sixth, when
she is going to beat Michael Jordan.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
So should we talk about her sponsorships now?
Speaker 1 (17:48):
I would love to, and I would like to shout
out our sports business newsletter. If you're not subscribed, we
cover the business side of women's sports. Go check it
out at the Just sports dot com under our Sports
Business Tab and Arianna, our writer over there, pitched this
story and I was like, this is so timely coming
off of this forth WNBA MVP win. And just to
(18:10):
preface on all of this too, Steph or for our listeners,
just talking to me for everybody, Like, we don't know, obviously,
the inner workings of Asia Wilson and her team as
she is discussing endorsement deals and sponsorship opportunities. We don't
know what comes across her desk and what she says
(18:31):
no to, because I'm sure there's a lot that she
says no to because she is exceptionally intentional. So that
part and what we're about to get into, I do
just want to preface at the beginning is I'm sure
she's saying no to things, but when we compare her
to other WNBA folks and her colleagues, her winning for
MVPs and being en route to being at that same
(18:54):
level as I'm Michael Jordan is not in line with
the money or the sponsor ships that she should that
she could be coming home with.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
So we're going to talk about how she fits into
that larger WNBA athlete landscape and sponsorship landscape and talk
about some maybe generational things with that. So Wilson has
major deals with Nike, Gatorade, and Chase. But Wilson is
not among the top ten most endorsed women athletes from
twenty twenty four to twenty twenty five according to Sponsor
(19:28):
United's WNBA Partnerships Report.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yes, she was also not among the top five most
endorsed WNBA athletes in the twenty twenty four to twenty
five period at all. So we're looking at women athletes
in that top ten that you were mentioning, Steff, She's
not in the top five for WNBA athletes in twenty
four and twenty five, which feels off to me considering
(19:53):
that she is arguably the top player, has been one
of the top players for the last seven years.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
And for that time period that those reports are looking
at too. It's coming off of that unanimous MVP season
that she had in twenty twenty four. So for some
additional context too, and.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
You're probably wondering at this point, Okay, so who were
the five that beat out Asia Wilson. That was Chicago's
Guy's Angel Reese, New York Liberties, Breanna Stewart, La Sparks,
Cameron Brink, Chicago's Camilla cardos So, and Dallas Wing's Pagebeckers.
The report is based off of the number of endorsements,
(20:30):
not the size of the deal. So again that's what
we don't have context of.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
So that's additional context that could potentially sway the things
and maybe that could affect Wilson. And that's also why
someone like Caitlin Clark lesson in the top five as well.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Yes, because she, Kaitlin Clark, and Asia Wilson are probably
getting big money from places like Nike and State Farm
and what have you.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
But what do all of these athletes have in common
those five It's that is that they're either no longer
in or did not even qualify for the WNBA playoffs
this year. Yes, so there is perhaps what we could
look into and talk about is the discrepancy between performance
on the court for their team and their where they
(21:12):
end up in the season and apparent marketability.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
And that is with the exception of Stewie, right like,
Stewie is a two time MVP herself, she's won multiple
league championships. But outside of Stewie, when we zoom in
on Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, Camillocardoso, and Page Beckers. They're
all college girlies, you know what I mean. They were
building their brand in college. They came up in the
(21:38):
NIL era, which is not an era that Asia Wilson
or Brianna Stewart or Sue Bird or whoever else came
up in. And with that name, image and likeness era,
they were able to profit off of who they were
and their name, image and likeness, and as a result,
they were able to start marketing themselves in a completely
(21:58):
different way and start earning money when they were in
their junior or their senior years and landing brands so
that they could bring them into the WNBA stef Also too,
when you look at when Asia entered in twenty eighteen,
the social media landscape with TikTok and Instagram and the
brand deals and everything completely different. The world looks completely
(22:20):
different for a women's sports but also be social media
and how so many athletes period, whether male or female,
make their money.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
So there's the question too, like we have this continuation
or evolving from NIL and the benefit that that has
for the younger players, but also we have the flip
side of on court product, on court experience, on court
accolades and we're wondering, is her marketing potential untapped?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, and I think too the conversation of race has
to come into this. Asia Wilson herself has really talked
about how herself included and other Black women, queer black
women in the WNBA are not getting the same endorsement
opportunities as white women and other women within the WNBA.
(23:09):
And so when you're looking at a Stewie or Brink
or Becker's or Caitlin Clark, and then you're comparing them
to someone like an Asia Wilson or an a Fisa
Collier or even the stud Buds, if we want to
wrap them up together, you do see them being treated differently.
And that's something where Asia seph when she launched her
(23:30):
signature shoe, and I think we can all think about
that commercial. She was so intentional about only featuring black
women and young Black girls, and she's so intentional, intentional
about being a mentor for the Junior WNBA and doing
all of these things that this is a broader conversation.
I think outside of Asia Wilson that the WNBA, but
(23:54):
also athletes, Black athletes across all leagues are still unfortunately
having to do with mm hmmm.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yeah, pagebackers at least acknowledge that, I would say in
some of her speeches in the past too, So it
is nice to see that this younger generation is at
least a little more aware, aware of the landscape that
they're stepping into, and does acknowledge that they are going
into a league built by black women. So that is
that is definitely progress. But progress would would mean that
(24:22):
a league built by black women would see black women
profiting from it the most.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Yeah, and I don't think we're taking anything away from
those other women right by saying all, yeah, yeah, it's
just the reality at the same time, and we want
her reality to mimic someone like Michael Jordan's reality of
what he was able to make outside of his playing
career thanks to everything he was able to do on
the court, and hopefully that changes over the next few years.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah, And obviously we're not saying Asua Wilson is struggling
by any meanings, but we are just comparing it into
the overall landscape and talking about how all of those
different things age, race intersect with their marketability or their
quote unquote marketability. Three cheers for Amazon business and their
continued support of this podcast. As the WNBA playoffs roll
(25:10):
on in new leagues prepare to begin. Teamwork is top
of mind for me. If your business needs a purchasing
plant upgrade. Amazon Business is the best team made around.
Amazon Business provides support for your company's needs, including tools
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(25:39):
for our Personal Training Sash. This is the last segment
of the podcast, and this is where we would absolutely
love to hear from you in any capacity, whether that's
a question that you have for us, a hot take
you on us to share on the podcast. We would
love to have your voice inserted here in this segment
of the podcast.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yes, and so in today's Personal Training Sash, we are
taking a hot take from the one and only Danielle E. Danielle,
thank you for sliding into our DMS on Instagram. We
did a was this Thursday. It must have been Thursday's podcast.
The time is so hard?
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Which is time?
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Oh Holly? Yeah? So yes, So we interviewed Holly Row
and by we we me and Lauren interviewed Holly Row
and had an amazing conversation with her. And when we
were talking about Holly Row, because again we're a cross
border company, we talked to people around the world. We
wanted to compare her to someone in Canada that was
potentially at the same level as Holly Row, and we
(26:35):
basically determined nobody else. And Danielle said, hmmm, I don't
think you guys are right. So she said, first, absolutely
love the pod. Thank you for all that you do
for women's sports. Listening to today's episode, and I have
to say, what about Andy Petrillo and even Kenzie Lalande
and Claire Hannah love the pod. Keep up the good work.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
What are your thoughts and feedback on that?
Speaker 1 (27:00):
So Danielle, thank you again. Nothing nothing more that we
like than being clocked and being challenged and having your
own hot take. What I would say is that the
level of the level of nationwide and the level of
(27:20):
nationwide impact and the impact of longevity that Holly Row
has had on both men's and women's sports, I don't
think has been replicated still by a Canadian across the
biggest networks in sports, where a lot of people would
(27:41):
see them on the street and go I know who
you are. I don't know if, for example, maybe more
so Andy Petrillou, but with Kenzie Lalande or Claire Hannah,
they're amazing. I think they're fantastic. They're every single person
is fantastic. But I don't know if they have the
same level of like resume or like awareness that people
(28:07):
have about Holly Row in the States.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
I would say that Canada is also at a disadvantage
when we're talking about this conversation or having this conversation
because these leagues are largely American. Of course, we do
have Canadian locations in MLB, in the NBA, in the NHL,
et cetera, et cetera. But I would say largely, especially
from a basketball perspective, America has the advantage in terms
(28:32):
of brand negnition and the broadcasters and the hold on
the market that it is a bit easier to become
so synonymous with the game there because also some games
aren't picked up by Canadian broadcasters, so we're watching American feeds.
Like I do think Canada's at a disadvantage when we're
talking about comparing someone to a Holly Row because of
(28:52):
that as well.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
And I would say that's across media too, right, Like
just at period with the US, it's just bigger market,
more money, more opportunity, more people watching all the time.
And I think that's media in general. And then you
look at sports as a culture in the US and
the way that there's the high school to college to
(29:15):
pro pipeline and people are literally showing out in droves
and media showing out in droves to high school women's
basketball games, high school football games. We would never see
that in Canada. We barely get any coverage of U sports,
which is university sports in Canada. And so I think
that just the culture is so different that as a result,
(29:37):
the celebrity is so different as well, or the fandom
around certain people is so different as well.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
So it's a result of the whole ecosystem around sports
and not at all the responsibility of these women or
a result of their talent.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Yeah, because there we have such incredible talented journalists and
reporters actually across North America we have like the talent
is incredible and remarkable, and we need more women involves.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
And so that's where we were coming at. I know
we said please clock us, but to defend ourselves, that's
where we're coming out when we're talking about Brad recognition,
so sorry. Appreciate you, Danielle E for checking us and
for reminding us about the wonderful talent that we do
have in Canada because of course it is there and.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Shouting out those names. If you would like to be
featured on a future episode of The Gist of It
or in our personal training session, please leave us a
voicemail at one four three seven five six four five
five seven nine that's linked in the show notes. You
can email us at pod at thedisports dot com or
message me and stuff on Instagram. I'm Ellen at the Jist,
Steph is at Stephanie Rotts and again we'd love it
(30:47):
like talk to us about anything please.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
You would love to hear from you please. And with that,
that marks the end of today's episode. Thank you so
much for tuning in. We'll be back in your feed
with the new podcast on Thursday. Of course, we would
love and appreciate if you could rate, review, subscribe and
smin a personal training sash Yes.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
This episode was edited by Savannah Howel and produced by
Lisa Mantillo, Alexandra Puccio and Lauren Tuscala again I'm Allan
HSLA and.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
I'm Steph Rotts, returning to the ice post concussion, and
I hope everyone is going into their Wii with as
much gusto as I am.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
So love you all. Talk soon.
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