Women’s Sports Rising Roundtable | Variety Sports and Entertainment Summit
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00:00And folks here, we've got a great panel
00:02to talk about this incredible rise
00:04that we've seen this year in women's sports,
00:07although we know there are no overnight sensations in sports.
00:10And we're going to talk about that.
00:11So first, let me just go right down the panel here.
00:13We're going to introduce folks and dive right into it.
00:17Right here, we have Michelle Haynes,
00:19Vice President of Marketing for the National Women's Soccer
00:22League.
00:22Thank you, Michelle, for joining us.
00:24Next to Michelle is Ashlyn Watkins,
00:27member of the NCAA Women's Championship South Carolina
00:33Gamecocks.
00:33And all I want to say is undefeated.
00:37Undefeated.
00:40It was a thrilling ride.
00:42It was a thrilling ride, this tournament.
00:44Thank you, thank you, and congratulations.
00:46I have the pleasure, the honor of saying hello
00:49and congratulations to Coach Staley.
00:51And I'm still tingling from it last night.
00:55Welcome.
00:55Thank you for joining us.
00:57Next to Ashlyn is Diana Flores, quarterback
01:00for Women's Flag Football of Mexico
01:03and a sports analyst yourself.
01:05Thank you for joining us.
01:06I love that we're reflecting that.
01:10Thank you so much.
01:12Next to Diana is Constance Swarch Marini.
01:18Forgive me, I don't know why my mouth is not working.
01:20Somebody that I have known for a few years,
01:23fantastic co-founder and CEO of SMAC Entertainment,
01:28her partnership with Michael Strahan,
01:30a player you might have heard of.
01:31And this is one of the busiest.
01:33Michael was one of the first players into really diving
01:36into doing media.
01:37And he's been one of the most successful.
01:39We'll talk about that.
01:40And Constance has been a big part of that.
01:42So thank you and forgive me for mangling your name.
01:45Last but definitely not least, thank you
01:48for joining us, five-time Olympic gold medalist
01:51in gymnastics, Nastia Lukin.
01:54Thank you so much for joining us.
01:56I appreciate it.
02:00So what I love about this panel is
02:01we have a cross-section of everything from media
02:03to entrepreneurs to players.
02:06And although this is a horribly, horribly broad question,
02:10I would love for people to share.
02:14Ashlyn, obviously, you probably have some very specifics.
02:17But people, could you share moments in the last,
02:20whether it's year, three years, month,
02:22moments that stood out to you as like, wow,
02:26this is a milestone for women's sports?
02:29I will throw out an obvious that I watched the tournament.
02:33Incredible.
02:34We saw the ratings.
02:35But the next morning, when I saw the ratings
02:37for that championship game closing in on 19 million people,
02:41a record, that, to me, that was facts and figures, numerical.
02:45That really stood out to me.
02:47And I was never so happy to write that story.
02:49But I'd love to throw it out to anybody.
02:51Anything anecdotally and recently
02:53that stands out to you as a major milestone that
02:56should be observed?
02:58Sure.
02:58I'll go, I guess.
02:59With the Olympics, obviously, right around the corner,
03:02I would have to say everything that Simone did in Tokyo
03:05a few years ago was a pretty big milestone,
03:10I would say, in all of sports, but especially
03:13in women's sports.
03:14Just being able to actually, for once, I feel like,
03:18take care of herself and her mental health and not,
03:22gymnastics is any sport, but gymnastics is obviously
03:25a very challenging and difficult sport
03:27and can be even more so difficult and challenging
03:31if you are not mentally where you should be.
03:35And so I think just really saying, first of all,
03:38it's OK to not be OK.
03:39And second of all, to actually take care of yourself.
03:44And on the biggest stage, and she had, obviously,
03:48the eyes that were on her and the pressure
03:51and the expectations that she had.
03:54And to be able to do that was, I think,
03:55really setting the bar for so many generations to come
04:00and for them to be able to see that, that even when you are
04:03the best in the world and that you're, quote unquote,
04:06undefeated and unbeatable and all those things
04:09that we all labeled her as, basically,
04:13I think she did just an incredible job,
04:15maybe without even knowing in that moment.
04:17But yeah, I think that.
04:18And now, obviously, going back and doing it for herself,
04:22I think is, I'm very excited for her.
04:25Cannot wait to cheer her on.
04:27Well, I'm going to jump on that question.
04:30I think an amazing milestone that I
04:33have seen in the past few years that we have worked better,
04:40I think, is telling the stories.
04:42The fact that now we're telling the stories
04:44of amazing female athletes.
04:46We have, now, the Serena Williams documentary
04:49just aired, the Sue Bird and Angel just, again,
04:54launched a documentary.
04:57Last year, the Super Bowl commercial.
04:59The fact that we are giving platforms
05:01for all these female athletes, different sports,
05:04just telling their stories, I feel
05:06that it is a very big milestone now,
05:09because that's just the beginning of opening
05:13new doors and just inspiring the new generations
05:16and reminding them that they deserve, that they belong,
05:20and helping them to believe that they can achieve whatever
05:24they want on and off the fields.
05:25So I think, for me, that has been
05:29one of the biggest improvements.
05:31And I think I love to see more and more every year.
05:36Yeah, I think I'd like to build upon that,
05:38because storytelling is certainly at the heart of this.
05:41And I believe there's a million stories out there for us
05:45to tell, but really the power of getting it out there
05:48is how you create platforms for it.
05:50For the league, I think the biggest milestone
05:54that we've seen immediate impact from
05:57is our broadcast deal over the past year.
06:00It was a landmark deal, four years, $240 million.
06:04But I think what was significant about it
06:07was how we approached it.
06:09And Commissioner Berman really took a direction
06:14in terms of being creative and innovative with our partners.
06:17So they are collectively working together
06:19to help build awareness in terms of how we're collectively
06:23promoting that.
06:24And I think that's significant in terms
06:26of how quickly we're growing and how we need to.
06:29The audience is there.
06:30We need them to understand how they can access it.
06:34Previously to that, we had many fans
06:37out there who would find it very digitally savvy, very nimble,
06:42very fluid in how they found our games.
06:45So having an opportunity to bring it
06:48to this greater platform with our four partners,
06:52CBS, Amazon Prime, ION, we are really
06:59helping to expand where our audience can find our games
07:02and where we can find new audiences.
07:04That immediate impact has been felt
07:08as we look back at the first half of our season.
07:11We already have attendance up over a million
07:14at this point in the season.
07:15It's the fastest it's grown.
07:16It's a 42% increase.
07:19And then on the other side of it in terms of viewership,
07:22we're up 95% year over year.
07:24So the audience is there.
07:26It's always been there.
07:28And it's just creating equity, access, and investment
07:31in order for them to find it.
07:33It was so amazing to see last night,
07:35to see Jennifer Garner up there talking about, yes,
07:37I am part owner of the Angel City Women's Football Club.
07:40Like, that was really, that felt significant.
07:44Yeah, and I think, again, to Deanna's point,
07:46it's like now we have these spaces
07:48to tell stories between our broadcast partners
07:51and our corporate partners.
07:53There's plenty of opportunity to help expand this,
07:55because that's what will really engage.
07:57And I think the one thing you can say is that our league is
08:00player-centered.
08:01Our players have been telling their stories for a long time,
08:04and the fans have been following them.
08:06So it's a real opportunity for us working in partnership
08:11to find other means that their stories can be told
08:13and expand that fan base.
08:18A major milestone for me throughout the years
08:21definitely has to be the adversity
08:24that South Carolina women's basketball has faced,
08:27when we lost the first five.
08:30We lost all starting five.
08:33And we basically had a whole new team,
08:35and we won a national championship
08:36with a whole new team.
08:37And people were like, yeah.
08:41I'm just going to say it again, undefeated.
08:43I just like saying it, undefeated.
08:45Yeah, people were doubting us.
08:47They didn't think that we were going to be good this past year.
08:49They was like, they're not going to be
08:51as good as the Frenchies.
08:53They're going to just be like a regular basketball team.
08:57I'm so proud of the girls.
08:58I'm so proud of Coach and all the hard work that we put in.
09:02It just means a lot to us.
09:04Can I ask you something I've always wanted to ask?
09:07At what point, when you're undefeated
09:10and you know you're in that zone and you're going for it,
09:13I can't imagine what the pressure is like each game.
09:17Are there strategies for dealing with that kind of pressure?
09:21Honestly, after you start winning,
09:24you don't even think about it.
09:27Because some teams will be hard to play,
09:29and some teams will be easier to play.
09:32So for the harder teams, of course,
09:34you're like, oh, we've got to win this game
09:36or we won't be undefeated.
09:37And that's where the pressure comes in.
09:39But we're just like, we just got to play how we always play.
09:42This is just another basketball game.
09:44We can't let it get to our heads.
09:45And that's what we did.
09:47Clearly.
09:49Constance, you have been in this a long time
09:51before you partnered with Strahan.
09:52You were with the NFL Network.
09:53So you know this world well.
09:55I do know it well.
09:57I have a couple of different thoughts on this
09:59because of the multiple businesses we're in.
10:01So first, Aaron Andrews and I started a female fashion
10:04forward line called Wear by Aaron Andrews
10:07for the female sports fan that didn't want to be bedazzled
10:10or have big logos.
10:12And we always said we're by women for women.
10:15And we now finally, for the first time,
10:17have a partnership with the NWSL because there wasn't enough
10:21demand yet to have a license for a female sports league.
10:26So I think that's very indicative of the change
10:29in the industry and with the fans.
10:32So that was exciting.
10:33And then Deanna is also a client.
10:36And she's our first female athlete.
10:37We have female clients, but excuse me, current athlete.
10:40The Bella Twins now, the Garcia Twins, the wrestlers
10:43are clients.
10:44But someone who's a current athlete.
10:46And everyone's been asking, what's it like?
10:49And I'm like, well, she gets pretty banged up.
10:51Every other athlete I know, she had a camp this week.
10:53So I mean, yeah.
10:56So no joke.
10:58That's for flag football.
10:59That's flag football.
11:00She had a camp last week.
11:03And then the fact that these kind of panels
11:06used to be far and few between are now the standard.
11:09And I thank you for that and for showcasing everybody here
11:12because I think that's really important.
11:14But one challenge we still face, going back to the storytelling,
11:18the buyers still aren't committing.
11:20As much as I think they could.
11:22And so I think that's important, not just
11:24from a brand perspective because the brands are the ones that
11:28buy the advertising based on ratings and all the things.
11:31So we need more people to tune in to the women's sports
11:35and all that so we can tell more of these great stories
11:37about these athletes I'm sitting next to.
11:39That's a perfect question.
11:40Nastia, you are now in the world of you are an entrepreneur,
11:46you are an influencer.
11:47As you're out there in the marketplace trying
11:49to look for opportunity, where are you
11:52finding the most pockets of interest
11:55and are you finding that resistance
11:56that Constance is referring to?
11:58Yeah, I mean, I think it's always evolving
12:00and it's always changing.
12:01And I think that's the part that for me,
12:04not to outdate myself, but I didn't have social media
12:06when I competed at the Olympics.
12:09But in 2008, I had a Facebook and I
12:11had to basically lie and say that I went to a public school
12:16because you had to have an email address
12:19to get a Facebook.
12:20So anyways, I had a Facebook.
12:23And it wasn't until right after that,
12:26it was Twitter and then Instagram.
12:27And so just to see now how much everything grows
12:33for these athletes is incredible.
12:35I think you look at the numbers from Olympic trials,
12:38maybe of their social, and then at the end of the Olympics.
12:41And so it is creating opportunity for them.
12:43But in the sense of, I guess, maybe the gaps,
12:47I think the most important part is
12:49to try to figure out what it is that you like.
12:52And every athlete is obviously so different,
12:54but outside of the Olympics.
12:56And I think for me, I had to go professional
13:00or choose to go to professional when I was 12 years old.
13:04So with the NIL now, it's incredible
13:06because you're able to have the best of both worlds.
13:09And you're able to start.
13:10We don't have a professional league in gymnastics.
13:13And I guess, well, I mean, it's getting different.
13:17But you used to peak when you were 16.
13:19Like I was 18 when I won the Olympics
13:21and I was quote unquote over the hill.
13:23So it's like you don't even know who you are at that age,
13:27let alone like we're all,
13:28or I'm not gonna speak on behalf of all of us,
13:30but I feel like a lot of us
13:31are still trying to figure it out daily.
13:33And I think it's for to have the opportunities now
13:35with the NIL, that's huge.
13:38To not have to make that decision at 12 years old
13:41to go professional, like, I don't know.
13:44I wasn't making any decisions at 12 years old.
13:46I can't even imagine what that conversation would be like.
13:47I mean, I think I didn't even know
13:49what it meant, to be honest.
13:50I was actually approached by Nadia Comaneci
13:53to be in an Adidas commercial with her at 12.
13:56So it's like, you kind of don't say no to her in that.
14:00And I also kind of knew that my dad was my coach.
14:04And so I didn't really wanna be coached by anybody else.
14:07And so I didn't wanna do college gymnastics
14:09strictly for that reason.
14:11But I would have loved to have had the best of both worlds.
14:15So yeah, so I think it's the opportunity
14:17that these college athletes now get is so incredible
14:20to be able to start growing, essentially, their business
14:24while they're still competing in college.
14:27I mean, there's a lot of issues that have come up with NIL,
14:30but I think this is a very succinct,
14:32super succinct example of why it was needed,
14:35why that reform on some level was necessary.
14:39Thank you for sharing that.
14:41Michelle, I'd like to ask you, I'm curious,
14:43as folks have talked about sponsorship,
14:45obviously sponsorship parody, the road to that is,
14:49the roadmap is clear, the hill may still be a little steep.
14:53Are you finding that for advertising and marketing dollars
14:57in this area that they're very much a women's sports bucket
15:02or are women's sports getting into the larger sports bucket,
15:05which I've heard many say is the goal
15:07or a goal to either expand the women's sports bucket
15:10for advertising dollars or bring it,
15:13just bring it all into this pool of sports,
15:15which I thought there was a funny little bit
15:17in the ESPYs last night with Quinta Brunson
15:19and some others talking about explaining to people
15:22how to be a women's sports fan.
15:23I hope, I really hope that, the jokes landed,
15:26I hope the message was received.
15:28But are you, do you find that?
15:30No, it's a great question and yeah,
15:32I think last night at the ESPYs,
15:34that was the theme of the night.
15:35It's just the growth of what's happening right now
15:38and that there's still an education happening with it.
15:41So with regards to sponsors specifically,
15:46I think the biggest, the biggest thought I have on that
15:50is there is an assumption that the blueprint
15:53has already been established with men's sports
15:56and to some degree there is, there are some traditional,
15:59whether you're thinking in terms of categories
16:02or just partners that can just really help
16:05build a greater platform for you, of course.
16:08And so looking at those, where that aligns
16:11and where it just creates the, if you will,
16:15perception of, oh, okay, they've made it.
16:18But I think the thing that's missed there is number one,
16:21even if you're going into the room
16:23and you can reinforce through the data
16:26and just through the performance
16:27and continued success and growth that we're all seeing,
16:30that that equates to not only a great opportunity
16:35but a greater share of voice
16:36with a new emerging business entity, if you will.
16:42But that there is a opportunity to help look at it
16:46from a different point of view or different partners
16:48that we have access to and can tell,
16:51partner with, tell stories through,
16:54create activations around for both our fans
16:57and that serve our players
16:58that would not make sense for men's sports.
17:01So for me, I think there's an exciting new moment.
17:04You're kind of seeing it happen in real time.
17:07This has been a part of women's sports for a long time
17:09in terms of culturally, whether that's our pre-game fits
17:14or just some of the different ways
17:17that our players are just emerging
17:20in terms of the things they care about.
17:23It is a very different line of business
17:26than what men have traditionally done.
17:28So what I would offer up is don't be afraid
17:31to rewrite how you approach that.
17:34Be innovative, be creative, be authentic.
17:37And kind of going back to some of what Nastia was saying
17:40is that our league, what makes it a little bit different
17:43is it's player-centered.
17:44Like these players have powerful platforms
17:47or come into the league with a million followers already
17:50and are very savvy about the brands they're building.
17:54So instead of the team having the legacy
17:56and this long history that you're really buying into,
18:00you're a part of, whether it's through the league,
18:02through a club, or directly with the player,
18:05you're a part of something where our fans
18:08are following those players
18:09and then they're getting invested in the clubs.
18:12And then the league's job is to create
18:14just greater opportunity to get those stories out there
18:17and to get that investment and to get that equity.
18:20So I think it's a tremendously exciting time
18:22to come to the table and throw the blueprint away
18:25and let's start anew because I think we're on,
18:29we're making history in real time
18:31and corporate partners could be a part of that.
18:35Ashlyn and Deanna, I'd love you to share your experience
18:38about just the platform that you have in your pocket
18:41every day and building a fan base,
18:44building a brand, if that is in fact a focus for you
18:49at this point.
18:50I know a lot of athletes say,
18:51especially when they're playing,
18:53they just gotta focus on the court, can't look at the phone.
18:55I'm curious how you all manage that in your careers.
18:58Ashlyn?
19:00For me, I think it's just knowing how to balance it all
19:06and you gotta make sure that you stay true to yourself,
19:09you gotta make sure you get deals that represent you,
19:12represent your values and make sure that your fans see
19:16that this is what you like so maybe they can start
19:22using those products or NIL deals that anybody gives us.
19:27But it's also hard to navigate school, basketball,
19:31NIL, social media, it's hard,
19:33but that's just time management.
19:36You just gotta make sure you make time for it.
19:38That's something you gotta make time for,
19:40especially if you wanna get your name out there.
19:43I agree, I totally agree with that.
19:45Sometimes it can be really, really hard
19:47to manage everything at the same time,
19:49especially when you're trying to get ready
19:51for a competition, but at the same time,
19:55again, during college, I'm doing my master's
19:58and everything that comes with it.
20:00But what I've learned during this past year,
20:03especially after the Super Bowl commercial aired
20:06and Pro Football Hall of Fame and everything,
20:10just my sport has started growing really, really fast.
20:14Just in the past three years, we have got
20:17around 20 million players around the globe
20:20in more than 100 countries.
20:22So that's a massive growth.
20:25And what I've learned through this journey
20:27is that how important it is to help people
20:34feel related with you and with your story,
20:38because in that way, that's how they can engage with you,
20:44engage with their sport, engage also with their dreams.
20:47And that's, to be honest, that's what has been
20:51keeping me motivated and inspired at the same time
20:55to know that we as athletes, we do more than sports.
21:01We inspire, we motivate, and sports are more than a game.
21:06They are like a catalyst, is that correct?
21:09Like a catalyst.
21:11Catalyst, yeah.
21:12Yeah, they are like a catalyst
21:15for life-changing moments for people.
21:20So to me, my social media and everything I get to do,
21:25just being here in front of you
21:27and get to connect with people with the same vision
21:32and the same mindset, it is worth it.
21:35And I feel that's the true power of sports.
21:38I can only imagine, though, the number of times
21:40that when you introduce yourself
21:42or you talk about people, that people look at you and say,
21:45but women don't play football.
21:47I mean, you are truly a pioneer into a sport,
21:51probably sort of the last bastion
21:53that is still very male-centric.
21:56Is that, was that by design?
21:59Was that something that you, or was flag football
22:02something that you fell into that you loved
22:04and found that you were good at it?
22:06Well, I started playing flag when I was eight years old.
22:09I started in Mexico City, I'm born and raised there,
22:12and I started because of my dad.
22:14Back then when I started,
22:15flag football was not a big thing.
22:19So I had to start playing with girls
22:21that were older than me.
22:21I was eight, but playing with girls
22:23that were 16 or 17 years old.
22:26Back then, the sport was so underestimated
22:29that I remember my team and I,
22:31we couldn't step on the football field.
22:33We literally were not allowed to step there.
22:35So we used to practice at the backfield,
22:39a dirt field, literally.
22:40Our coach used to ask us to bring trash bags
22:44to clean up the space so we could play the sport we loved.
22:48So to see how things have changed slowly,
22:52but we are getting to the point where women in football,
22:57women in flag football are being recognized.
22:59It is not that we haven't been here for a long, long time.
23:02Even women before me were loving the sport,
23:05were passionate about the sport, and were good at this.
23:08But it is until now that we are getting the recognition
23:13and the platforms to grow the game,
23:15and at the same time, grow opportunities.
23:17Because again, I don't know if I could be able
23:21to get a degree at the college I graduated from
23:27if it wasn't because of flag football.
23:29I was one of the first athletes in Mexico
23:32who got a scholarship because of this sport.
23:34And that's the final goal, I think.
23:39This is just like a platform game, again,
23:43and the instrument to do something else
23:47and help people out there achieve their dreams
23:49on and off the field.
23:50And I'm just super proud to see where we are today.
23:54But still, there's a lot we have to work on.
23:58I just wanna say the most fun I've had
24:01have been flag football games between parents and kids.
24:07When my son was in AYSO, it was a tradition.
24:09We would do that at the end of the season.
24:11Some of the most fun that you've ever had.
24:14And it can get intense, people get intense over it.
24:19Constance, one of the topics on our last panel
24:21was the importance of shoulder programming
24:23and non-game but sports-related content.
24:27Now you mentioned, again, buyers are a hurdle.
24:29Are you finding it harder to sell a three-part documentary
24:33about a fabulous female athlete in this environment?
24:37It's not even about the three-part documentary.
24:40We're very flexible as producers
24:42on whatever the buyers are looking for.
24:44If they want a 90-minute, we'll make it work.
24:46If they want the six-part, we can make it work.
24:48But what I'm finding is it's really the brands
24:52are now playing an integral part in a lot of this
24:54because we've had some streamers or some buyers
24:57are like, if you can help subsidize it with a brand,
24:59like we're in, it's just the budgets.
25:01I guess maybe because they're budgeting
25:03so far out in advance, no one saw this.
25:06All of a sudden, oh wow, women play sports, woo!
25:09But they don't have the money ready to buy the programming.
25:12So I always remind people, soap operas
25:15are because the soap companies paid for the soap operas.
25:18And we forget that, so what's old is new.
25:21So we're going back to that.
25:22We've done it before with Gillette and Costa Winning,
25:25and we're now reaching out to our great database of brands
25:27and saying, okay, here's a show, here's the budget,
25:30what do you think?
25:31And it'll happen, it's just taking time,
25:35but it'll happen, I know it will.
25:36I can't miss this opportunity to point out
25:38that variety created the term.
25:41We invented the term soap opera.
25:43It was a cheeky variety term to describe daytime serials,
25:47but I couldn't let that go by.
25:49But it is truly significant, and as you say, storytelling.
25:53I mean, I can imagine, once again, Nastia,
25:56I can imagine even USA Gymnastics is the platform,
26:01not only is there more attention on it,
26:02I think because of social media,
26:04and because athletes are building their own brands,
26:08but there is just more sports media out there.
26:11I can imagine the opportunities that you might have had
26:16had you been able to, had NIL been in place,
26:20and you might have been able to go to college,
26:22be a, compete in college.
26:24Yeah, I mean, I think it's obviously hard
26:27to go back in time and think what if,
26:30or what would it have been like,
26:31but I am also grateful that I didn't have social media,
26:34because I'm very, I have to focus, and it's hard.
26:38It's hard, like you guys mentioned,
26:39it's so hard to navigate and balance,
26:42and what you put out there and what you don't,
26:45and I think that's, for me,
26:48I always just like to be in the gym and train,
26:50and in last Olympic trials, I remember I was there,
26:54and Simone is literally sending me an Instagram DM
26:57on the competition floor telling me she liked my outfit,
27:00and I'm like, get off your phone.
27:03And so I think it's maybe a different way of life now.
27:06We didn't grow up with having Instagram on your phone,
27:10especially, I can't imagine just pulling out my phone
27:12at a competition, and now they're doing TikToks,
27:15and it's great, it's obviously,
27:17the personalities come out so much more
27:19than being so stoic and serious and whatnot,
27:23but I think it's completely different,
27:26but they are able to almost take control
27:30of the story that they wanna tell,
27:31and I think that was the biggest struggle for me,
27:33was my teammate Sean and I
27:36could not have been any more different,
27:38and we joke about that all the time,
27:40but when she was nervous,
27:42she was smiley and bubbly and laughing,
27:44and I was the complete opposite,
27:46like stoic and serious and just stone cold,
27:48and so there were two different narratives,
27:51and the narratives that were told
27:54were not necessarily always true,
27:56and I think that was what I struggled with
27:58when I was a teenager of, no, but I'm nice,
28:01like I really am, I'm just focusing,
28:04so I think with social, that definitely helps,
28:07to be able to put out what you want your story to be,
28:10and the same goes for working with the brands
28:12that you wanna work with,
28:13and to your point, too, being authentic,
28:16it's such an overused word,
28:17inorganic is such an overused word,
28:19but it is so important to,
28:22especially as you transition
28:24through different phases of your career,
28:25whether it's going from being an Olympic athlete
28:29to then college, or even especially after that,
28:31to stay true to who you are at the core
28:35is extremely important,
28:36that, to me, is what longevity is.
28:39It's easy to do quick one-off deals
28:42that might be great in the moment,
28:44but if they don't really represent who you are as a person,
28:48in my opinion, there's not really a point in doing that.
28:52It's not worth it for the check,
28:53and you have a line of very specific,
28:55you have a line of specific products for gymnasts
28:57and things like that.
28:59Have you found those to be very lucrative,
29:02even on a smaller level,
29:04if you have a very specific product
29:07targeted at a very specific audience?
29:09Yeah, I think lucrative or not,
29:11I think it's important to stay within your sport
29:16as much as possible.
29:17Gymnastics is obviously super specific
29:20in the category of there's not many things
29:22that you can create or do
29:24that would be for people that don't do gymnastics,
29:28like grips and leotards and gymnastics.
29:30I mean, I guess body suits are in now, so.
29:33But I think-
29:34Athleisure is in.
29:34Athleisure is in, yes, of course,
29:36but I think gymnastics specific, it's tough,
29:38but it is important to stay,
29:41to not remove yourself from, in my opinion,
29:44removing yourself from what created you
29:47is never a good path to go down.
29:51I think, for me, it was something that was super
29:54just second nature with both my parents
29:56being Olympic and world champion gymnast,
29:59and that was always a part of my life,
30:02and it still is, as their youngest athlete
30:05just made the Olympic team for Paris,
30:07so extremely exciting,
30:09and I could barely watch, I was so nervous,
30:11and I get why my mom could never watch now,
30:13but I think it has always been part of my life,
30:16so it's a little bit maybe easier for me to stay involved
30:19because I also love the sport,
30:20but the deals within the sport,
30:24I would say it's definitely, they're growing,
30:26but I think it's more so what's outside the sport
30:30that kind of helps supplement those.
30:32Good transition there.
30:34Constance, I wanted to ask you,
30:35obviously, you've been partnered with Michael,
30:37who is just one of the best in terms of transitioning,
30:41going from his pro days to going media,
30:44of course, has been a time-honored second act
30:48or third act for many athletes.
30:50What, in your experience, is,
30:52what are the keys to making that transition
30:54if an athlete does want to go and be on air?
30:58Start while you're still playing,
30:59and I don't mean during the season, per se.
31:01That's good advice, folks.
31:02To take anything away from them.
31:04Coach Prime says, keep the main thing the main thing,
31:06so I'm not saying to put that second,
31:09but for Michael, for example, Tuesdays was their day off,
31:13he'd drive into the city,
31:14he was set up with, just did a satellite studio,
31:17and he would zoom in right to the,
31:20I think it was the best damn sports show on Fox,
31:22and that's how he started getting reps.
31:24So that's a good example.
31:26I know it's an overused word,
31:27but there's nothing better than authenticity.
31:30You have to stay true to yourself.
31:32Don't put yourself in a situation
31:34that you're not comfortable in,
31:35because whether it's a brand,
31:36or whether it's on camera or in a room,
31:38everyone will know, and they're gonna,
31:40the fans will know, the audience knows,
31:41and it's just, it's not worth it.
31:43It's never worth the check,
31:44because it's gonna move you back five steps.
31:46And the biggest thing that really clicked for him is,
31:49how does this decision,
31:51whether it was a commercial or a show,
31:54how will this impact you five moves from now?
31:57And that's, I think it's worked out for him pretty good.
32:00We have a joke that when he got the Regis job,
32:04one of the producers there told us,
32:05if you do this right,
32:06you're gonna take off like a rocket ship.
32:08And I said, I think you did pretty good,
32:10because you actually went to space in Blue Origin rockets.
32:13So it really, and have a good team around you.
32:16I mean, there's a reason we're together 15 years,
32:18and we've got this great team with us,
32:20but you can't do it alone.
32:22It takes a village,
32:23and you've just got to build a really good team.
32:26Ashlyn, as you're at this kind of
32:28crossroads stage of your career,
32:30what are you thinking?
32:31Are you thinking, as Constance said,
32:35the art is thinking five steps ahead.
32:37That's athletics.
32:38That's what athletes do in the moment.
32:40How are you thinking about the next five,
32:4310 years of your life?
32:46I think, well, I want to go be a professional.
32:50I want to be in the WNBA.
32:51The W is calling.
32:53Yes, and I know that the WNBA is very hard to stay in.
32:57It's very hard to just be on a team with,
33:01because it's not a lot of teams.
33:03It's like 12 teams, 144 players,
33:05and that just shows that you just got to be,
33:07you just got to make a name for yourself.
33:10That, you know, yeah, that can probably help you as well,
33:13but also, just on a court,
33:14you got to do what you got to do,
33:16and be authentic, and it's just,
33:20that's just what you got to do, really.
33:22I commend you for being here today.
33:24Yeah.
33:25I mean, at your age, like, this is huge.
33:26Yeah, yeah.
33:27You're already thinking five steps ahead.
33:29Yeah, absolutely, yeah.
33:30This is definitely out of my comfort zone,
33:32but I'm happy to be here with all these
33:34amazing women up here, and it's a great opportunity.
33:38Thank you for joining us.
33:39Michelle, do you, on the,
33:41sort of from the league perspective of that conversation,
33:44are you dying for the Megan Rapinos,
33:46and the big stars of soccer to go,
33:48to have more prominent, like, ongoing media presences?
33:54Do you think that would that overall help the sport,
33:56help you bring fans to the sport?
33:58Absolutely.
33:59I think there's a big moment happening right now.
34:02I mean, just this week,
34:03we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the 99ers,
34:07which was just such a significant moment in women's history.
34:10That generation inspired the Megan Rapinos,
34:13the Alex Morgans, Abby Wambachs.
34:16So now we're seeing the next kind of,
34:17we're getting into the generational part of our sport,
34:21which is really exciting.
34:23So you're seeing, whether it's the Thompson sisters,
34:27Angel City, or Sophia Smith,
34:30you're starting to see the next generation,
34:33and that's going to represent the US national team.
34:37Beyond that, though, the whole world has caught up.
34:40We saw that just recently with the World Cup.
34:43We have incredible international talent,
34:46and our league has drawn a lot of that talent
34:49because we're the most competitive league in the world.
34:52So we have 55 players going to the Olympics this year.
34:55We're on 11 of 12 teams.
34:57So it's not just about the players who have just retired
35:01and what they bring to it,
35:02although I was at Seattle Reign FC
35:05for the last couple of years,
35:06so worked closely with Megan,
35:08oversaw the retirement campaign,
35:11her legacy, her story, the theme.
35:14You're going to keep hearing it,
35:15but it is core to anything with,
35:17especially women's sports, authenticity.
35:20Didn't make sense to even celebrate Megan
35:22unless we are authentic to who she is, what she's done.
35:25We know the accolades, and we know the impact she's had,
35:29but who is she as a human being,
35:31and how did she make that impact in Seattle that she loves?
35:35But now you're seeing the next generation,
35:37and I think what's really interesting about our games
35:39is the next generation is already waiting.
35:42If you've been to any of our games, it's different,
35:45it's inclusive, it's welcoming, it's competitive,
35:49but you have the next generation watching.
35:52And so after the game, you have all the fans
35:55and the young girls and boys lining up to get autographs,
35:59and the players taking the time
36:01to do all the selfies and autographs.
36:02But that's the direct connection,
36:05that's the direct access that these players have,
36:08and that's going to inspire the next generation.
36:10So yes, Sue Bird, Megan, continuing that
36:14and creating greater platforms
36:15for us to tell our stories, incredible.
36:18But there are more out there,
36:20and they're just waiting to get hundreds of stories
36:23that we wanna tell.
36:25Another welcome trend is the incredible growth
36:28in the number of women owners.
36:30You know, women calling the shots in the front office,
36:33women owners behind the scenes.
36:35For those of you that have been in women's sports
36:37for a while, can you feel a tangible impact
36:40from the growth of, I think, across all sports,
36:44but particularly, of course, in soccer and basketball?
36:47I mean, I can speak to that really quickly.
36:49I mean, obviously, across our league, you're seeing that,
36:51and within the league itself, just led by women.
36:55And I personally have felt that shift
36:58in terms of like the rooms and spaces you occupy.
37:00There is not the need to have to justify,
37:08the need to explain, the need to provide evidence,
37:10the need for more data.
37:13We have the experience, we have the ability,
37:17we have the teams to do it.
37:19And I think once you start to get in those spaces
37:21where you start to see yourself and experience that,
37:24and we already have proof of concept,
37:26we can move much more quickly.
37:28And just the way we do it, it's very different.
37:31It's collaborative, it's collective.
37:33And something that I don't think there's ever
37:38should be a shortage of, I think kindness can go a long way.
37:43And these are spaces where I experience that
37:46on a daily basis, and that doesn't take away
37:49from how ambitious we are.
37:52So well said, and I think I'll just wrap it up
37:54on that note where you're right.
37:56I'll just wrap it up on that note where you need
37:59to be able to see yourself in spaces.
38:01I'm glad that WNBA players are seeing themselves
38:05on private flights for the first time.
38:08It's about time.
38:10So one of the many milestones this year.
38:15Thank you all so much.
38:16Again, we do appreciate this cross section.
38:18And just because I like saying it,
38:19I'm gonna say it one more time for Ashlyn.
38:21Undefeated, thank you all.