Kim Stone - Washington Spirit CEO

Speaker A: This is Sports Business radio with Brian

Speaker B: Berger,

Speaker C: 22 years with the biggest names in sports business and entertainment.

Speaker A: Emma Hayes. So what are some of those skills for today's modern global women's soccer player?

Speaker B: The first is growth mindset. You know, the, and the importance of recognizing whatever got you to this point won't necessarily get you to the next one. You've got to have a constant growth mindset, mindset in and around performance. And the second is resilience and developing your resiliency, uh, in no matter what it looks like.

Speaker C: Peter Sarsgaard.

Speaker A: I'm always attracted to playing storytellers. You know, I would even say, like I was doing Presumed Innocent before and

Speaker C: after I did this, we sandwiched this

Speaker A: in the middle of that shoot. Both of them are storytellers on some level. One's a prosecuting attorney, which is what they do. And one of them made the Olympics something that my Aunt Mary would want

Speaker C: to watch, who never watched any sports

Speaker A: in her life but the Olympics because

Speaker C: of that story storytelling element that he put in there.

Speaker A: Troy Aikman, what I think a leader, whether it's a sports team or in business running a company, urgency's vital. There has to be someone in the building that when employees walk in that they feel urgency as soon as they walk through those doors, that today matters. And we have some urgency in what we're trying to do now with Sports

Speaker C: Business Radio, powered by Yahoo. Sports and Yahoo. Finance.

Speaker A: Here's your host, Brian Berger. Well, thanks for joining us on this edition of Sports Business Radio. A fantastic guest lined up for you this week. Kim Stone, the CEO of the Washington Spirit of the nwsl. Stone discusses her career as a sports business executive that spans nearly 30 years and includes roles with the Miami Heat and the Golden State Warriors. She takes us inside the business of the Washington Spirit. Stone works closely with owner Michelle Kang, overseeing Kang's pro soccer team portfolio, which includes the Spirit as well as women's soccer teams in France and the uk. Stone was part of the effort to sign soccer star Trinity Rodman to a record setting women's soccer contract. The Washington Spirit are one of the top teams in nwsl. They advanced all the way to the championship game last season. And Audi Field is going to play host to the 2026 NWSL Championship match later this year in November. So Kim Stone, really one of the sharpest executives in sports, is going to join us today and we're excited about that conversation. I'm joined as always by executive producer Brian Griggs. Griggs, how are you Doing great.

Speaker C: Yeah. And it was great to meet and hear from Kim at our event in Washington D.C. at the PR summit. Uh, just a knowledgeable woman that is such a great leader and doing great things in Washington. You mentioned 30 years. I mean, she has been in the business and, and knows people and knows how to run companies. And I love her discussion about Trinity Robin too. That's very interesting that we talk about today.

Speaker A: Yeah, look, she, uh, is one of the sharpest executives out there. It was great to meet her in person. As you said, in Washington D.C. um, anytime a billionaire like Michelle Kang hand picks you to run.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: Her organization. And again, it's not just the spirit, it's the whole soccer portfolio. That's a high honor. You know, you're well respected and you know, Kim is so well respected amongst her peers. So, uh, I think our listeners will learn a lot from this conversation today. Before we get to that, lots of sports business headlines of the week. Let's start with headline number one. Griggs, what an exciting World Cup. We're recording this on Tuesday, June 30, yesterday, the 29th is one of the most exciting World cup days I've ever watched. I mean, everything went down to the end. A couple of the matches went to pks. It was high drama. And if you look at the tournament, overall TV ratings in the US as high as they've ever been. I mean, we're looking at 17 million viewers or so for these games. And then attendance, they've already broken the attendance record as of a week ago. And we're just entering the round of, you know, the knockout round. So it's going to shatter the attendance record for a World cup all time. And this has been going on for a long time. So if you look at TV ratings and attendance, it couldn't be much better than it is right now. You add in the drama of compelling games where we've seen some Cinderella's knock off Germany, knock off the Netherlands, and I'll tell you, other than sitting over like a 10 foot putt to win the Masters or a free throw in game seven of the NBA Finals or uh, field goal kick with the super bowl On the line, PK's is about as much pressure to see some of these guys who have been playing soccer their whole life, they get up there for the PK and they either saw it over the goal or they hit the post like they are so nervous for this moment. And I'm not even playing in the match. I have no dog in the fight and I'm nervous. So, Griggs, I know you're a soccer guy, too. Uh, this has been very enjoyable.

Speaker C: It's just like. It's so compelling. It's like March Madness on double steroids. Like, how much. How am I supposed to work when there's a game on at 10am on a Monday? Like, I'm watching the game in the background. I've got it on somewhere because it's just so compelling. The fans have been amazing. Fox is killing it. I mean, how about those stadiums in Mexico? They're beautiful. And what the soar over and the filming the cameras are using, it's just a fun event to watch. And like you said, it doesn't matter who's playing. I don't care if a World cup match is on. I'm watching it. And, uh, you talk about pressure with the pk. Think of those goalies. It's amazing when they make a save, that huge goal, they've got to defend and make one choice, hope it's right, and then they get to save. Or like we saw in last night's game, he kicked it in after he saved it, the goalie. I'm m like, oh, what a terrible spot for him to be in. But, yeah, it's been. It's been great.

Speaker A: When I watched these, I remember our interview. I think it was probably seven years ago at this point, with Tim Howard.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: Ah. I mean, just an amazing goalie all time. Right. And I asked him about, how do you prepare for PKs? And, you know, they watch film, they try and pick up tendencies, but a lot of it is reading body language in the moment. And I have listened to that advice from him as I'm watching these PKs. If you get a chance, go back and find that interview and listen to it, because it really does give you an insight from someone who's been involved in PKS at the highest level, talking about what's going on in that moment and, you know, just the drama even leading up to those, uh, PKs. I mean, these teams are trying to score goals late to avoid going into a PK situation. So all the way around, if you look at the World cup from a sports, uh, business standpoint, thus far, it's been one of the most successful events that's ever taken place on US Soil. I know there was so much, uh, skepticism coming into it and how it was going to work and tickets and security and venue operations and how is it going to translate on TV and all of these things. Every single thing thus far has been a dream. Come True for FIFA, it's been at the highest levels, the games have been competitive. There have been some glitches that I've seen with, you know, I bought tickets, I showed up, my tickets didn't work. When I tried to scan them, I couldn't get in. I traveled all this way, like, yes, there have been some of those unfortunate situations, but that's going to happen with any mega event. It's going to happen with the super bowl, it's going to happen with the NBA Finals. Like it's going to happen m on occasion. But for the most part, people seem to be really pleased with how this is all unfolding.

Speaker C: Yeah, I think you're right. I think the fans obviously seem to be enjoying it. I mean, we see that in the crowd shots and people crying when there's goals and flags everywhere. I just, I love the support for, for football, soccer in the nations. Like these nations live and breathe their team. And it's just the passion is incredible. I love seeing those small countries especially too, that just have this following and it's like this is. Their whole life is wrapped up in this game right now. And it's fun to see.

Speaker A: I mean, those Moroccan fans went unbelievable. Not only at the venue, but, you know, they showed him in streets in Morocco. And I mean, everyone's stopping what they're doing. Yeah. To celebrate this victory. The only thing I would change, and I think I said this last week, I would have the finals at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Much better state of the art, innovative venue than MetLife Stadium in New York. Sorry, MetLife Stadium, but SoFi Stadium, much better. Yeah, like it's not even close. And I think LA has shown several times here now, whether it's super bowl or World cup, they're able to host these events. And not that MetLife Stadium camp, but it's kind of on the outskirts. It's not in the heart of New York or New Jersey. And if they could take a mulligan, it would be interesting to see would they have it at SoFi instead of new York? And I know New York is the media capital of America and you know, there's a lot of benefits with having the event in New York, but just venue to venue, I don't even think it's close. I would take SoFi over MetLife Stadium any day.

Speaker C: Definitely agree with that. I think SoFi set up for it too. You know, it's. It's all digital, it's all new, it's all. You got, the area around it. La, obviously you mentioned that too. But yeah, I'm down with that. I agree with that take.

Speaker A: All right, our next headline, the NBA draft took place and AJ DeBonta was the number one pick by the Washington Wizards. Griggs. When we were in dc, I was on stage with Ted Leonzis, the owner of the Wizards, at the Sports PR Summit. You know, we were all wondering who they going to take number one. And I'm so happy they took AJ Devonta. I'll eat my words if he turns out to be, uh, a bust. I just don't think he will. I think he has a great personality. John Wall was at our event. I love to see AJ DeBonsa in his first days in DC. He's out in the community with John Wall. He's at the John Wall Court dedication. That's a basketball court that the community uses. He's getting to know dc. I love a lot of the. Caleb Wilson is all over Chicago. Uh, you know, it's cool to see these players go in and insert their personality into the market that drafted them and discover the city that they're going to call home for the next several years. Um, I just think this draft, there are some real game changers at the top of the board and it's been exciting to watch them integrate into their new city. But I was happy for Ted Leonis, Zach Leontis and the Wizards. I think AJ is going to be a real difference maker for them.

Speaker C: Yeah, I agree. And I think we learned from John Wall and the Leon, uh, guys at the PR summit that D.C. being a big city, it's still a small community. Right. And we saw John Wall's involvement in the community and what he does. And I love that AJ's jumping right in because I think it feels big city, but it also, after being there, it has that community feel.

Speaker B: Right?

Speaker C: Like that team and the teams around Washington have a tight knit community. So I think AJ is already doing the right thing. Looks good.

Speaker A: All right. Before we started recording this, I was on live with Yahoo Sports Daily as part of our new partnership with Yahoo. Sports and Yahoo Finance. And we talked a lot about the Portland Trailblazers. Griggs, you and I are here in Portland. There's a number of different storylines going on. Number one, the team yesterday traded for John Moran, and a lot of people look at John Morant as a problem child. I think his upside is pretty good. I think you got rid of a bad contract in Jeremy Grant and you're picking up another maybe bad contract in John Morant. But John Morant's 26. And he has upside. I think the key factor here is that he's stepping into a locker room led by Damian Lillard. And I think players around the league respect Dame and I think he's going to think twice about making trouble on or off the court because of that respect for Dame. I also think he knows, look, you're getting $87 million over the next two years. If you want to see anything remotely like that money going forward, you better be on your best behavior in the final two years of your deal or you're going to be a minimum player or maybe even out of the league going forward. I would expect John Morant has a top 10 selling jersey. You know, every time you change teams and people are realizing John Morant has a little bit of Allen Iverson vibe going on. Kind of the gangster, kind of the, you know, he's got a certain audience that really loves him. His Nike shoes are very popular and high selling Nike here is in the backyard. I think this is a good upside deal. I think it's hilarious that the Grizzlies threw in a million dollars. Which I said on Yahoo. Sports daily reminded me of the scene in Moneyball when Billy Bean played by Brad Pitt is like, hey, uh, we need you to throw in soda for the rest of the year because our players don't want to pay for soda. Like also, by the way, the million dollars probably covers Mike and Norrie's contract for his being the head coach of the Blazers. Which is another storyline where the Blazers had made news is Mike annorie one year deal with the Blazers, uh, didn't have an agent present for the negotiation was probably done in saying to him, look, you're going to be the lowest paid coach in the league, but you're finally going to be a head coach. Take it or leave it. And he took it. It angered the other coaches and the coaches association because that hurts future negotiations for other coaches because what if other owners go, you know, I think I'm going to offer my guy a one year deal or incentive laced deal. Um, that's going to be interesting to see going forward. I don't think that's going to be the norm, but it certainly doesn't help future leverage. And then the last thing I'll say on this is I have lots of intel on the Blazers and their negotiations with the city of Portland. I've said, as I said this morning on Yahoo Sports, um, I really think Tom Dundon's going to do everything in his power to move this team and the negotiations with the city of Portland not going well. So Dundon is basically withdrawn from those negotiations. He appeared at a city function and said, I'm not contributing to the 600 million dollar renovation of the Modus Center. That's on you guys. I'm the tenant. Um, and now there's people at City hall that are divided on do we even unlock the $600 million for that deal since he's not contributing any money. And let's say you get past that hurdle now, you've got to negotiate a new lease with Tom Dundon. And most teams negotiate a 20 to 30 year lease and it's rock solid. You're not getting out of that lease. You can't move the team. He's not willing to do that. Also, um, I think he's slow playing this because the arena lease that currently exists doesn't expire till 2030. So he can see. Do you know what happens with Seattle and Las Vegas? Is Seattle going to get the $8 billion required for them to have a team? Is Las Vegas going to get the $10 billion required for them to have a team? They probably will, but if they don't, for some reason now, those become his number one options. I'm going to go to Las Vegas, I'm going to go to Seattle. Whoever doesn't get expansion, that becomes the number one option. I also think he's exploring other avenues. He's done nothing so far to show that he wants to be in Portland. Hasn't even said, I hope we can get a deal done. I'd like to be in Portland. Nothing, Griggs. So you know when someone shows you who they are, believe them when you have tea leaves to read. Look at him. He's withdrawn from negotiations. He has no interest in signing a long term lease agreement. He doesn't want to pay anything for the renovation of the Modus Center. All the signs are there. And now say what you want about John Morant, but John Morant is a polarizing player. He's another big name to hang on the marquee next to Damian Lillard and whoever else the Blazers may go out and get. That only gives Dundon more leverage with the city of Portland and with any other city that he may want to move the team M to. Hey, look, we've got Damian Lillard, we've got John Morant. We've got some exciting players on our team. Don't you want our team to come to your city, make a deal with us? I think that's going to be what he's doing going forward. Some people may say, well, John Morant has no market value. He did, but he doesn't anymore. I would disagree. I think there's a segment of the population that thinks he's an exciting player. Um, they like his shoes, they'll buy his jersey. And if he can turn things around, he's only 26 years old and kind of follow the lead of Damian Lillard, I think he could be a good turnaround story. So lots going on here in Portland, where we are Blazer fans excited about John Morant coming. But temper your excitement because the Blazers may not be here in a few years and that would be heartbreaking to rip City. And I think one of the things the NBA could do to stop this at the end, let's say Dundon is like, hey, I'm out of here. Much like the Sonics did. The league could say, look, we don't want you to leave Portland. The city of Portland is coming to the table with $600 million. That's not nothing. And either you need to figure out a deal with them, or you need to sell the team to someone who will keep them in Portland. And there are buyers who would do that, who would buy the team from Dundon. But I'm told Dundon, you know, it's like selling a house, flipping a house. All right, if I'm going to sell it, I need $200 million more than what I bought it for. For a quick flip, will someone pay the $200 million? Will someone else, Phil Knight, step in and say, in order to keep the Blazers in Portland, I'll write the $200 million check in order to get the team in the hands of an owner who will keep them here in Portland. There's a lot of things in play. I'm told, uh, by, you know, people at very senior levels that there are companies here in Oregon. Think of the sports companies that work here, headquartered here in Oregon, where their senior leadership is getting involved and they're saying, we can't lose our only major league sports team here. Yes, we have the Timbers. Yes, we have the Fire. Yes, we have the Thorns, but we don't have the NFL. We don't have Major League Baseball. You can't lose the NBA team that's been here for over five decades. So those people are starting to quietly, behind the scenes, get involved to try and keep the Blazers here. But if someone put it to me recently, this is a five alarm fire. This is not positioning. This is not, hey, this might happen. This is someone who owns the team, Tom Dundon, who doesn't want them to be in Portland and is doing what he can to move them. So now people are starting to go, what can we do to stop that? And some of the options are the ones that I just laid out.

Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, you summed that up in a nice, nice take there, because I agree, I think, I don't want to agree with you that Dundon's going to keep the team here, but I think you're right. I think he's. The signs are all pointing that he doesn't want to hear, as you mentioned, and, um, you know, a lot of blazer news, I think John Moran, I'm excited about that. I think getting out of Memphis, getting a fresh start could be good for him. I think, um, you know, Portland's a fun team to play with and Dame is respected, like you said. I think that could be a really fun dynamic. We'll see if they pick anybody else up. And then, uh, the new coach too, what does that bring? You know, we got a lot to, to look at here in Portland to see what's going to, what's it going to look like this year on the court and then beyond this year and the season, what do we do? So lots, uh, lots to follow in Portland for the Blazers, by the way,

Speaker A: for all the people who have been, you know, sending me notes on social media. What about Dame? Does this mean Dame's going to leave? Can Dame and Jaw play together? Dame has a no trade clause in his contract. So the only way Dame is getting traded from the Blazers and not finishing his career here is if he says I want to be traded, which he doesn't because he wanted to be back here with his family. He has a nice house here. He has friends here like he wanted to be back here. So that's not happening. Um, here's another NBA story and Griggs, you and I have literally done shows on this. So, uh, nine year NBA veteran Malik Beasley has been indicted on federal charges for gambling related to a sports betting scheme such as point shaving and prop bets. The government is coordinating a voluntary surrender of Beasley this week. Griggs, we've done whole shows on the downside of sports gambling and gambling in general. The prop bets I look at as the biggest problem, right? You've got prop bets where you can bet on the seventh or eighth or ninth guy on the bench and you can bet the under. It's harder to say I'm going to go out and score 20 points or I'm going to go out and score 10 points. It's harder to guarantee. It's much easier to say, oh, my hamstring hurts, I'm leaving the game, I'm going to hit the under. Or I'm just not going to give maximum effort tonight. I'm going to hit the under. You can come up with a lot of excuses for why you hit the under. And what Beasley was doing here was exactly that. And Terry Rozier has done this and John, John to porte, uh, has done that. Um, they've got to do away with the player props. And to me, the fact that Major League Baseball Players association came out last week and said, let's do away with player prop bets. All the players associations need to follow suit. The NFL, the NBA, women's basketball, college, everyone needs to say, do away with the player prop bets if you're not going to do away with it completely. As I've said previously. Okay, Steph Curry, Jokic, Giannis, like, pick out one or two of the best players on the team that you know are going to give maximum effort and they get to be the player props for the night. When you're going past the starting lineup and you're betting on the under on the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, guy on the bench, what are we doing? Yeah, what are we doing? But that's where, you know, I read a stat this week. 45 billion, not million billion dollars is bet every year on player props. Not the over under, not the spread, not win loss totals. Player props, $45 billion a year. So the gambling companies have zero incentive to do away with player props. Right. They're cleaning up. It's probably one of their best forms of, uh, you know, making money. Companies like Underdog exist almost solely on player prop bets is bad news. This is going to happen more and more unless they either get rid of the player props or you limit it to the star players on the team. This is something to watch, especially, like I said, since the Major League Baseball Players association has said, let's do away with the prop bets. You already saw the Cleveland Guardian pitchers last year, you know, oh, my arm hurts. Take me out. I'm going to hit the under on pitch count. Like, there's so many ways you can manipulate things. Um, point shaving. Oh, I'm going to miss this shot. I'm going to miss this free throw. Like, it's easy to do. It's harder to hit the overs because that requires effort. That requires you scoring against the other team. Are you hitting a home run against the other team, you striking out the other team, the Unders, Pretty easy to hit if you really want to. So do away with the player. Props. I'm not down on sports gambling at all. After doing our show last year and hearing about all the people who have become addicted to it and, oh, by the way, all the money that the states thought they were going to generate by legalizing sports gambling, they haven't hit those numbers. So the roads aren't getting better, the education isn't better, all the things that the money was going to be used for, they're not hitting those goals. So what are we doing? People are getting addicted. Athletes are getting busted. You've got, you know, scandals like this, and it's only going to continue unless they make some changes. But I'm not an idiot. This is a sports business show. There's too many leagues, there's too many stakeholders making too much money from sports gambling for them to go, you know, let's put the toothpaste back in the tube and unwind this and let's all make less money and let's curb this. It's going to be tough, but I think you're going to see more and more things like Malik Beasley happen in sports if they don't make changes.

Speaker C: Yeah. And the other wrench is that These big companies, DraftKings and such, are involved in bed with the media companies, and they're in with the arenas and they're in with the sports teams. So then you've got that mess, too, because it's all a big, huge. Money drives the needle.

Speaker A: Right, Right.

Speaker C: It's like you can't get around everywhere. Yeah. So I think that's also what makes this messy.

Speaker A: Yeah. Um, all right, let's talk about the wnba. We've talked about this before. We've had Christine Brennan on this show. She was at Sports PR Summit. She had a lot of very accurate things to say about the wnba. But what are we doing? Wnba, if you're any business, the number one thing you do is you protect your best asset. And the WNBA's best asset is Caitlin Clark, Period. End of story. You can argue Asia Wilson's a better player, Paige Beckers is a better player. Okay? Caitlin Clark is the goose that lays the golden egg. She is the reason they have higher salaries. She is the reason the media numbers have gone up and they have media partnerships. She is the reason they're traveling on private jets and not commercial. She's the reason for so many good things happening in the wnba. But over and over again, we see her choked out or elbowed or, you know, just things that are so puzzling. Why would you hurt your number one asset? And I'm not saying treat her like she's in bubble wrap and anytime someone gets in the vicinity, you call a foul. But this is egregious, what is happening. And from the sports business angle, the fact that no one from the WNBA responds to interview requests or even puts out a statement. The wnba pa, as Christine Brennan tweeted out this week, we have no comment. So no one's commenting on any of this. And then what happens is the vacuum is filled by shows like this and everyone weighs in with their opinion because no one weighs in from the wnba. So, Kathy Engelbert, what are you doing? Where are you? Anyone from the wnba, where are you? You're asleep at the wheel. I've had Kathy Engelbert on this show. Griggs, you're with me when we sat down with her in Chicago. She's a nice woman, she's a smart woman, but what the heck is she doing here and where is she? I'm going to say this, and I said it on Yahoo. Sports Daily. This has been going on for a while now. This is at least a couple years of mishandling Caitlin Clark and mishandling numerous situations. Maybe it's time to replace Kathy Engelberg. Maybe it's time to get someone in there who has leadership, who can really take control of the direction of this league. You've got a new cba, you've got media deals, everything you always wanted that you strive for. You've got those things in place. But you continue to mismanage Caitlin Clark. I don't get it. First it was. We can't even figure out a way to retweet when, uh, Caitlin Clark is sitting next to Taylor Swift at the Kansas City Chiefs game. Like, let's just hit repost on that and get a lot of exposure for Caitlyn in our league now, it's, we're literally hurting, physically hurting, the number one asset in our league to the point where she has to miss games and people are buying tickets to see her. Every arena she goes to sold out. They've had to move to bigger arenas because so many people want to come see her play and they're not protecting that asset. A, uh, one game suspension for Alyssa Thomas of the Mercury for what she did to Caitlin Clark. You think that's going to send a message? The Mercury are posting on their social media channels sketch, uh, of the player, you know, basically Getting Caitlin down on the court in a chokehold, like they're mocking it.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: There's no fear of any of these players, of, if I do this to Caitlin Clark or any other player, Paige, backers, Asia, anyone, this is the consequence. Wake up, wnba. Protect your best asset. And I'll say this, and I said it, you know, when we were wondering if they were going to work a CBA out. Caitlin Clark has all the access to the money in the world that she needs. VC money. Um, you could probably sign with Unrivaled tomorrow and say, you know what, let's start a five on five league. Let's go do something that has a better structure and better leadership than the wnba. And then what happens to the wnba and do the players that are also upset by what's happening to Caitlin Clark and just the league in general, do they migrate with Caitlin to a new league? She is a generational player. She has an enormous following. Everything she touches turns to gold. People would follow her. So be careful how you handle this, wnba. And at some point, and I like Adam Silver, had him on this show, have tons of respect for him. But at some point, does Adam Silver need to step in and say, look, something's got to change. Either Kathy Engelberg get your act together and we need to do X, Y and Z and the, the NBA will help you do those things, or change leadership and get someone in there, Sue Bird. Get someone in there who understands how the players operate today, understands the business. And if you had someone like Sue Bird in there, you could have good business people beneath her that would help her with the business aspects. But you need someone in there who's respected and who's going to protect the best assets in the league if, uh, people are beating up Caitlin Clark and Paige Beckers and Asia Wilson and you know, when juju comes, it's not good for the league. So you're in the prime time now, wnba. Act like it, Figure it out. Because what you're doing right now is a mess.

Speaker C: Yeah. And I think you said what I was going to say about, uh, you know, Caitlin and the other players starting their own league. Like, hey, we can start our own league, make our own money and not get killed on the court by our own players. So I think that's a great take too. And then, you know, it's just the whole PR nightmare too. Like they just released their 30 year poster. No Caitlin Clark. What?

Speaker A: Well, I mean, look, there's different versions of that story. I'm not sure which to believe. I do Respect Darren Ravel. And Darren tweeted out that they didn't have permission to use Caitlyn Clark's likeness, much like Michael Jordan had his own deal. The NBA couldn't use Michael Jordan in anything unless they had his permission.

Speaker C: Gotcha.

Speaker A: Supposedly they didn't have her permission or they weren't going to go through all the hoops to include her on the poster. That still doesn't excuse. Where's Diana Taurasi? Yeah. Where's Candace Parker? Where's Cheryl Swoops? Where are some of the greatest players in WNBA history? From that poster. If you're celebrating the 30 years, not just this year, 30 years, we're the icons of the league. Like, who approved the poster without those players on the poster? And unless they all were like, well, no, we don't give approval beyond the poster, which I highly doubt. Caitlyn, I can understand. Yeah, the other ones. But if what Darren said isn't true and they could have put Caitlyn on the poster, it's indefensible. Like, there's, there's literally no reason where you would have that kind of an oversight. And I've worked for teams, I've been in organizations. There's an approval process. Like more than one person has to look at that poster and go, yes, I approve that. So if you're getting through 10 people and no one caught those mistakes, what are we doing, wnba? Like, what are we doing? So I don't know. I, I'm, I'm disappointed in the wnba. I hope they get their act together. They've got some amazing opportunities here with the players that are in the league. You better figure it out. And, uh, rule number one is you better figure out how to protect your best asset. And that's Caitlin Clark. So we'll see what happens. Griggs. Our next headline. Wimbledon is underway. I love Wimbledon.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker A: 44 year old Serena Williams is back. I think she's playing right now as we're recording this, so we'll see how she does. Um, she's won 23 Grand Slams, so she is a goat. There's no Carlos Alcaraz at this tournament. Sinner almost lost in the first round. The number one seed on the men's side, he came through, but without Alcarez, not as much star power. And Serena being back, there's a lot of curiosity about how she does, how far can she advance? Is this just like, hey, I just wanted to be back on the courts and show my family that I used to play at Wimbledon? Or is this she can actually get herself in good enough shape where she makes a run at this thing. That would be an amazing story for sure. I like Serena. I'm rooting for. I think when you're coming back at 44 and you're competing against 20 somethings and you've been out of the game for a while, it's an uphill uh, battle. But I love to see Nike and her other partners embracing her as she returns to tennis in this spotlight. And I'm rooting for.

Speaker C: Yeah. And she actually uh, plays here in another hour, nine o' clock our time on this day. But uh, yeah, it'll be interesting to see what she does. I think like all sports, they get faster, right? And as you get older, we get older, you just can't go who play right. You get slower. How, how can you be in that shape to compete with a 20 year old on the, on the court? It's going to be fun to watch. But I agree Wimbledon is a great tournament. Fun seeing the grass courts and uh, already a great day one yesterday. So bring on the action. It's fun to watch.

Speaker A: By the way, uh, I've had Chris ever on this show, one of the all time tennis greats. She's battling cancer again. Uh, my heart goes out to her and her family and I'm sending her strength and positivity. But Griggs, I watched the uh, final set, the Chris Everett and Martina Navratilova documentary on Netflix. Highly recommend it. Fantastic. It just shows that you can be bitter rivals. And for people of a certain age, there was no better, better rivalry, period, men or women, than Chris Everett and Martina Navratilova for probably a 10 year span in the 80s, um, even the late 70s. And they were competing, I mean it was Magic Bird, it was Federer, Nadal, it was whatever rivalry you want to have, that's what they were doing. And for them to be such bitter rivals but then morph into friends and then both of them got cancer. And they've supported each other and it's a very human documentary and it shows. You can be bitter, fierce rivals, but you also have your human side. And I love what their relationship has turned into. I love how they support each other. They clearly understand each other's world of being number one in the world and the pressure that comes with that. And all the people that are around you as a world class athlete whispering in your ear for them to be able to confide in each other that and what life is like, they can relate to each other better than just about anyone. But it's a fantastic documentary. I would highly recommend it. And again, I'm really pulling for Chris ever.

Speaker C: You know, when they played in the 80s, every tournament you were waiting for that match, right? You knew they were going to end up playing each other and it was always the best one. So you're just like tuning in, waiting for that day to come. And, and uh, I think it's, it's kind of cool in a way how, you know, tennis is what started their relationship as rivals and then cancer ended up bringing the human side to be off the court friends, right, to get through their struggles in life. So I think it's, uh, it speaks to their personalities and the character they both have.

Speaker A: A reminder, Griggs, we've had some great guests on Sports Business Radio recently. Terry Bradshaw, Cody Campbell, David Wright, obviously we've got Kim Stone coming up. People who are living and breathing the sports world. They're on the front lines. They offer a very unique perspective. I, um, would invite you to go and, you know, find our interviews on yahoo sports on YouTube or you can obviously listen on Apple and Spotify. We're on social media too, ever since our deal with Yahoo. Kicked in. A lot more clips. You, um, can see those on our channels. Instagram, we're at Sports Business Radio. Twitter, were at SB Radio. So, uh, lots of activity. We're going to have some big guests coming up. I don't want to spoil anything, but stay tuned because we'll have some big guests coming up and then Griggs. I'm just excited about the last couple weeks of World cup as well. That's going to be really exciting to watch, to see how that unfolds.

Speaker C: Yeah, you got World cup, we got Wimbledon going on, we got uh, the opening golf coming up in a couple of weeks. It's a good time to be doing some good sports and uh, you know, some majors and always something going on. But yeah, World Cup, I am glued to every game I can see. I'm, I'm trying to watch it.

Speaker A: All right, coming up next, Kim Stone, the CEO of the Washington Spirit of the nwsl. You're listening to Sports Business Radio. We'll be right back. New Air Club is a private aviation brokerage with access to over 22,000 aircraft worldwide. But what really sets them apart is that they're a, ah, full service concierge. They don't just book the jet, they handle everything around the trip so the client doesn't have to. Aircraft, luxury ground transportation, hotels, dining, even security if needed. One call, one team, total Discretion. The company is marine owned, so their foundation is precision, accountability and trust. That mindset carries through every detail of how they operate. They're also backed by professional sports figures who live this lifestyle. They know luxury, they know time sensitivity, and they've seen firsthand where this industry falls short. For years, high end brokerage has been transactional and fragmented. Clients are paying premium prices but still managing logistics themselves. That's not luxury. New airclub saw a clear gap in support and service and an opportunity to fix it. Their goal is simple. Remove friction, protect privacy and let clients focus on why they're traveling, not how. When someone hands New airclub their travel, they're handing them their time and trust. And New Airclub takes that personally. NewAir Club is the official VIP air travel partner of Sports Business Radio. Business leaders, athletes and entertainers, families and private individuals are all use New Air Club for their VIP travel. For more information or to book your travel, email infoewairclub.com that's info@newairclub.com you can also visit newairclub.com that's newair club.com follow newair club on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. I know the owners of New Air Club and I can personally vouch that they are the very best.

Speaker C: Now back to Sports Business Radio with Brian Berger.

Speaker A: My guest is Kim Stone. She's the CEO of the Washington Spirit of the NWSL. Stone brings nearly 30 years of leadership in professional sports and arena and management. She joined the Spirit in January 2024 as the first CEO in the club's history, overseen all business operations and working alongside owner Michelle Kang. Stone has worked previously for the Miami Heat, Golden State warriors and UBS Arena. Kim, how are you? Thanks for joining me on Sports Business Radio.

Speaker B: Thank you. It's a real pleasure to be here today and doing great. We've come off a 21 win on Saturday to a sold out crowd. So let's dig in.

Speaker A: Yeah, let's dig in. How have your experience at the past stops that I just mentioned? How did that help you with this role as CEO of the Spirit in

Speaker B: all of those, uh, locations? I was really fortunate to work for some amazing leaders, uh, with Eric Woolworth, the president of the Heat. Rick Welts was the president of the Golden State warriors and those two gentlemen. Rick is in the hall of Fame, the Basketball hall of Fame, because of his acumen as a business executive. So learning under them, watching how they lead, what they focus on, how they set strategy, uh, was, has been instrumental, um, to my career and then, you know, it didn't hurt to be around LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, you know, Chris, um, Chris Bosh, Steph Curry, um, Steve Kerr. It doesn't hurt to be around them either.

Speaker A: What are some of those leadership lessons that you learned from them that you picked up, that you apply now to your own team?

Speaker B: Um, it's about how you set high standards and hold people accountable, um, for those so that you have a winning culture, both whether it's on the pitch or the court, you know, both on and off the court. And that really matters because that's your daily standards, the habits that you form, the way you show up at work, the way you think about being the best really, and how you, uh, bring that into your culture every day can be a fine balance because sometimes people think. Could think you're pushing too hard. But when you're setting a high standard for yourself, um, that's how. What I learned at those organizations and what's interesting is those two organizations, both, the end of the day, their goal is to win a championship, but they go about it in very different ways. And it shows, showed me that there are different ways to achieve the same end goal. Um, and so I am so fortunate to have been in those organizations.

Speaker A: Yeah, two great organizations. Rick Weltz has been on this show. Brandon Schneider has been on this show. I know you know both of them well. And they've been doing it at the highest levels for so many years. So it's great that you worked under them and learned all that you did. Someone else who does it at the highest levels is Michelle Kang, the owner of the Washington Spirit. How did you guys connect? Because the story I heard is that she handpicked you to be the first CEO of the Walking In Spirit.

Speaker B: That, that's um, that's kind of you. It was through a referral from a friend that I've worked with, um, that's in the business and that. And she was. She had a national search going on and that was the.

Speaker A: The.

Speaker B: The. My friend gave my name to that recruiter and then that's. And so Michelle is the first person I met, um, in that process. And she was so impressive. Her vision, her dedication, and then her, her intelligence. Like Michelle is the smartest owner I have ever worked for. And that is no shade on anybody else. It's just that Michelle comes from a consulting background. She then applied that and became a self made woman billionaire. And that was the B for. For your audience.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And now she didn't even know soccer. And Came into soccer and is arguably in the five, four or five years she's been in it, has made, you know, dramatic, uh, investments that have really paid off both for the players and for the sport itself. So I. It's been such. It's been so enjoyable working for Michelle. Um, and it's been. I'm so happy that I have this opportunity.

Speaker A: Let's talk about that for a minute, because I think a lot of our audience thinks, well, Michelle just owns the Washington Spirit. No, she owns a club in France. She owns a club in the UK that makes up her portfolio. So three soccer teams, women's soccer teams, under the Michelle Kang umbrella.

Speaker B: Absolutely. So the first you mentioned it in France, Olympic, Lyonnaise, um, the sheet. They. That is a team she has owned, uh, since 23, I believe, or 24. Anyway. Uh, they are one of the most, uh. How do you say it? They've won the most championships. Let me just say it directly. Um, or they're eight or nine UEFA championships. So they are quite heralded and well known in the women's soccer world, uh, in Europe. And not only does she own it, Brian, in Europe, a lot of the women's soccer teams are owned by men's teams. So Michelle bought this team from the. The men's team. And so it is. It is a standalone, women, independent organization which is very unique in Europe. So that's. That's, um. Oh, well. And then in London, she bought the London City Lionesses, again, another independent, standalone women's pro soccer organization, uh, based in London. And her first year after she bought them, uh, she got them promoted. Because in Europe, another thing that is unique is they have relegation and promotion.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And so we don't have that in the. In the States. Um, so she took the London City Linuses up to the wsl, and they competed this year, finished middle of the pack. It was their first year in the wsl. So by all means, every team that Michelle, uh, is an owner in has achieved beyond what most people thought their expectations would be for achieving. So that all comes down to just Michelle's approach. She's a savvy, um, investor. She lets us run our teams locally. She doesn't force, like a, you know, a unilateral approach across all of the teams. Um, and then she just shares best practices. Kind of like when I was in the NBA, the NBA league office would help teams, uh, share best practices and lessons learned. And that's what we're doing with, um, Michelle's corporate organization, which is now called Kaniska So we all sit under the umbrella of Kaniska, which is, uh, based in London.

Speaker A: How often do the leaders of Kaniska get together and discuss? Hey, here are some of the synergies. Here are some things. Like you said, best practices. I'm familiar with Teembo, the NBA best practices. I think it's great because it's a great idea exchanged between the teams. You kind of have a little mini team bow going on here with these three teams.

Speaker B: We do. So we physically get together in person probably two times a year. And then monthly we do business reviews together. Um, again, for the purposes of seeing how each other's business is doing. Um, and we're, you know, it's a great. My two peers at those organizations have a lot of experience as well. And it's also good to get their point of view from a European perspective. You know, the business models between, you know, pro sports in the US versus, um, Europe is very, very different. In soccer at least. Um, and so it's been really good. There are good things that we can learn from each other. So we get together pretty frequently.

Speaker A: What about things like sponsorships? Could you go to a sponsor and say, look, instead of just being the sponsor of one club, you could be the sponsor of three clubs. Or is it usually pretty siloed with things like that?

Speaker B: You know, there are synergies. So Kaniska has been, uh, in existence for two years. Um, so it's just sort of getting its feet under, under it. Um, but, you know, absolutely, the purpose of having them, you know, some multiple clubs under one organization is for the ability to do things like that. So, you know, it takes it, it. Whether it's that I've had fans of the Spirit ask me to help them get, you know, tickets for London City. So there's, you know, it's not a lot, but it does happen. Right. So it's. There is a lot of things that we can do collaboratively, um, across our clubs in addition to the. The sharing of the best practices.

Speaker A: I've been to Europe. I've kind of enmeshed myself in the European, uh, soccer culture. Um, I went to AFC Richmond where Ted Lasso is recorded, and, and I know they're doing something with a, uh, women's team. Ted Lasso is going to be coaching a women's team. I saw how that grew the popularity of the men's game. And actually when I interviewed owners of European clubs, premier league clubs, they said Ted Lasso helped increased interest in soccer over in Europe. I would imagine on the women's end with Ted Lasso coaching a women's team, it's probably going to attract some casual fans that might not have been there before.

Speaker B: Oh, I. Absolutely, Brian. I mean that. The, the popularity and notoriety of, of that show will certainly continue. Everybody wanted, you know, another, another round of Ted Lasso, right? And you see it, you know, that sort of exposure to an audience that might have been a casual audience, it gets them more interested, it reaches new fans and it gets, you know, just spreads the interest. And I'm thrilled that. Plus, if you think about the next five years, we've got the Men's World cup in the US this year, just in a few days, we've got the LA 28 Olympics, you know, where last year, uh, sorry, in 24 and Paris Games, the US Women's National Team won the, uh, the soccer, the women's soccer gold. To have that in 28 and then in 2031, you know, hopefully the Women's World cup ends up, you know, being in the United States. It's, it's supposed to, but we have to see how everything, um, lands. But you've got, so you've got Ted Lasso, so you got exposure, then you've got this on, on U.S. soil. You have all of these events happening, uh, around soccer. And soccer is so well positioned to really grow and it's one of the most popular youth sports. So it's just going to really be sort of the proverbial gas on the fire, I hope.

Speaker A: Let's really focus in on Washington D.C. as a sports market and even a, uh, women's sports market. You've got the Commanders, the Nationals, the Capitals, the Wizards, the Mystics, obviously the Spirit lot going on there. Where do you guys fit in? I know that you sell out your games at Audi Field. Um, it seems like it's a very popular attraction there in the D.C. area.

Speaker B: Yeah, we've tried. We've um, done a really good job. This fan base, first and foremost, this market is really exceptional. And especially their knowledge of soccer is really at a high level. And so coming in, I didn't have to teach anybody soccer. I wasn't sure how knowledgeable the market was. They taught, they've taught me as a matter of fact, so, uh, very knowledgeable for soccer. And then they love the type of soccer that we play. You know, the who, what our identity is and how. We're very. We uh, have. We have a European coach, he brings a European style of play, a lot of possession based, um, and so it's been really well received from the soccer ops perspective. And then we've got, you know, a superstar in Trinity Rodman, who is, you know, us born and, and has been just a, uh, phenomenal ambassador for the sport. So we've got her on our team. So we've got, we've got a great market. We've got a venue that we call Rowdy Audi, because the electric, it's just so electric, so much fun. And then you've got superstars on the field. You know, even Esme Morgan, who plays for us, she won the uefas, uh, last year with England. So, like, she's that. We've got a great roster, a great product on the, on the field and then off the field, our fans are fantastic. They're, they're unique. Dc. You mentioned dc. So DC itself is an amazing, um, sports market. Like, when I've been in Miami and San Francisco, those are good sports markets. But you're, you're usually a fan of a team. All right? A specific team here in dc, they call themselves, like, I'm a DC Sports fan. Like, so they are fans of all the teams you listed. And, you know, we're, we're part of that group now, and we're really happy about that.

Speaker A: I want to go back to Trinity Rodman for a minute because she is so marketable, she's such an outstanding player. But Michelle Kang and your organization really stepped up and has made her one of the highest paid players in women's sports. And I really took notice of that. That was quite a commitment. I saw the press conference. Obviously, Trinity thrilled to be there in D.C. but that was a groundbreaking contract. Can you explain why that was so important, not just to the spirit, but to women's sports?

Speaker B: Yeah, it's a good question, Brian. So there had been, probably the biggest impact was there had been a narrative that, uh, top U.S. talent and top talent in women's soccer was not coming to the NWSL because of the salary cap. So, quote, unquote, we can't pay as much as European teams can pay. So that had been a, uh, narrative, and it was speaking to the quality of the product. Right. Because if you're not getting the best players, then in theory, you aren't the best league. Right, Right. So Trinity's contract came up at the end of last year, and then there was just a lot of talk about, could we keep her? Was a European team going to come in? They don't have salary caps. They can pay whatever they want, um, for a talent like Trinity. And certainly there was a lot of talk about this. Well, as part of that process again. And I think this speaks to Michelle and her willingness to. And her ability to see that Trinity was so important not just to the Spirit but to the league and to in keeping her was going to be important. But so Michelle and I give credit to Jessica Berman, who's the commissioner of the NWSL and the owners for coming up with what was called a high impact player rule. And that high impact player rule allows teams right now to exceed the salary cap by a million dollars to pay players who meet certain marketing criteria and performance criteria. And Trinity fit that um, criteria. And so that is how we made her. So her base salary is as high as it can be. Uh, and then her uh, she gets the h, the hip money on top of that, a million dollars now that that high impact player rule is being um, arbitrated between the NWSL and the Players Association. But even if it changes, I, um, don't. It's not going to go away. But if it changes, then Trinity still has a contract with us. We still have to pay her. Right? So she's not going anywhere. So, so we're really, really happy about all of that. So it was a, ah, so keeping Trinity, a lot of pieces had to come into play and Michelle was behind a lot of that along with commissioner, um, Berman and the owners. And they, we were able to keep Trinity. And so what has happened since then is Lindsay Heaps, who was the captain of the U.S. women's National Team, had played for ol Michelle's team in London. Sorry, in Leon. Lindsay Heaps is joining Denver Summit right. Uh, at next month. So she'll, she's come back to the league and you've had Kat Macario who I think was playing for Chelsea. She's coming and joining the San Diego wave. So you've had this influx of international players now because we do have this extra ability. And Lindsay Heaps two years ago famously made a statement that the NWSL was going to lose players because they couldn't pay them as much as Europe. So it's really neat to see Lindsay coming back. And I think Trinity and the high impact player rule M are the gateway for making all of that happen. So sorry for that long explanation, but I think it requires that level of detail, um, for your fans to understand. This was not an easy thing to pull together. It was not easy to make. But see, these are the things where Michelle shines and her, her intellect and her just savviness comes into play. And it's not savviness, um, to, uh, she's not opportunistic. She's really understood that trend needed to stay in the US because she. We need her for all the reasons I just mentioned.

Speaker A: Well, look, first of all, I've had Lindsay on this show. Second of all, I'm in Portland, Oregon, so I watched the Thorns, and shortly after Trinity signed her deal, Sophia Wilson signed a deal with the Portland Thornes in similar fashion, Right? They use that same kind of, uh, bonus structure to be able to give Sophia a max contract as well. We had Alex Morgan here at the beginning of the existence of the Portland Thorns. I used to joke with my friends they could probably pay her salary just based on Alex Morgan jerseys. I saw across Portland on, uh, little girls. I would imagine it's the same thing with Trinity. It probably, you know, she's very popular, and I would imagine she leads your team in jersey sales and she's. I've seen her in your commercials, and she's a good community partner. So that all really helps when you're giving a player, uh, money not just to be what they do on the field, but to be the face of your franchise.

Speaker B: Trinity's impact on the business side, for both the spirit and the broader end of yourself, is undisputable. Like she is. Trinity does three things exceptionally well. One, she plays with joy and she's got a flair and she's fun. She's entertaining her celebrations. People wait for her to score and they want to see what she's going to do, right? So she's very entertaining. Um, she is a talent, right? She is just very talented as a player. She was one of the reasons the U.S. women's National Team won the gold in Paris. She's one of the reasons we've been back to back, um, nwsl, uh, finalists playing in the championship the last two years. So she's just incredibly talented. And then the third thing, though, and I think I tell her, her, this, this is her secret, her superpower, is how much she really genuinely and authentically loves interacting with fans. Trinity after every home match. Well, actually, after every match, players sign autographs, right? Something very unique in the nwl. So they're very accessible and they, they go around and sign. Trinity is always the last player off the pitch, right? Uh, she is. So if so the media can get frustrated because sometimes it'll be an hour after the game before she even comes into the media room, because she's spent all that time signing autographs for fans, taking pictures, doing TikToks. She's great on social with Fans. So that for Trinity, she's, she's incredibly talented. She, she has a flair and a celebration and a joy that people love and, and she loves the fans.

Speaker A: I want to talk about the NWSL for a minute. So, uh, MLS changed their schedule or they're going to be changing it? I saw a statement recently. NWSL said, we're sticking with our spring to fall schedule. Why is that important? You know, obviously, consistency. Fans are used to that schedule. But why is that important for the nwsl, your CEO of a team? I would imagine you were probably part of those conversations when deciding, do we want to stick with the same schedule or do we want to shift our schedule as well?

Speaker B: You know, it's always good to see if there are ways to drive growth in the business. Right? Like, that's what we're all looking for. So the schedule flip, um, was an opportunity to say, will this, will this grow our business? Right. Bottom line is what that was. So we, you know, we all dug in deep and looked at it, and at the end of the day, the conditions just aren't right at this moment for us to consider that. To your point, fans are used to the summertime. Um, most of us are tenants in venues we don't own and control them. So therefore, scheduling becomes a challenge. So, you know, that's a, that's a huge component of it. And playing in the winter, about half of the NWSL teams play in cold or, you know, ultra cold markets. And so those facilities and those, whether it's the practice facility or the stadium, you know, they're not winterized yet. You're not ready to handle that. Um, so there's a lot of factors to. The players association said, we don't think this is right at this time. So, you know, it's, it's, it's not changing for the next several years. But, you know, the nwsl, as any good league does, you should look at how do we grow. And that was one consideration. But now we've, we've vetted that. We got in the room and had our good conversations, and we decided collectively that for right now, we're going to stick with where we are.

Speaker A: One of the other factors, I would imagine, is TV partners. Yes, NWSL has really exploded in growth and popularity on tv. The ratings improve every year. And I just wonder, you know, obviously they have certain windows. From their standpoint, it seems like they're able to program your games in the current time slot. Maybe not if you put them up against the NFL or college football or NHL or NBA so um, I'm just wondering, like, from where you sit in general, where are the biggest areas of growth for the nwsl?

Speaker B: Certainly the media rights. You just laid that out perfectly. That's a huge area of growth. Corporate partnerships, um, continue to be, uh, for us it's our main focus because again to your point, we're selling out our stadiums. So, um, or our stadium, I say, I should say rowdy Audi. Um, but corporate partnerships is still an area of growth. I mean it is for any sports team because you're only limited by the um, innovation and creativity and your ability to convince brands to partner with you. So that's a real focus for us. So I would say, you know, those are really the big area. You know, the other area, Brian, that is really interesting, um, is merchandise. Fans of women's sports absolutely devour merchandise. And so that's been a unique thing, um, for me to see, you know, going from a traditional men's sport, um, in the NBA to the, the nwsl. So we really tried to feed into that by, you know, doing some unique collections and, and we're willing to take our brand and um, maybe be a little more creative in the design than we might. When, when you have a, you know, very established like Golden State brand, it's always going to look like this. We're willing to have some fun with it. Um, and so, so merchandise is another area of opportunity, um, as well. And I, you know, the other thing I think too, Brian, is, you know, women's sports still doesn't get enough coverage now, you know, thank, thanks to you and others like you, there are, you know, now dedicated podcasts and such, but there still isn't. The amount of coverage of women's sports still far, still lags far behind men's. So I think the ability to monetize our IP and content is sort of untapped, uh, at the level that we could. We, you know, we still sort of rely on these, these broadcast partners, which is important. But you know, there are things we're considering here for next year where we really look to create. You know, m. We take all this content, all these hours of practice and interviews and photos and create, um, become our own like, media production company where we can create, uh, stories and information that our fans want to see and hear because it's not being delivered by more traditional mainstream media outlets.

Speaker A: That is such a good point. And I'm glad you brought it up because two things. One, you were with the Miami Heat and the Golden State warriors who produce media and use their access Better than anyone. Right. So the fact that you're doing that now with the spirit and oh, by the way, the Washington Post gutted their sports department earlier this year. So you're right, mainstream media is declining and teams are having to produce their own storytelling more so than ever before.

Speaker B: Mhm. Absolutely. We have the access, we have the content. We, we just need to, it's a, it's pivoting from letting others tell our story to us taking control of and telling our own stories. And we've got, you know, thank heavens for social media, YouTube. Those channels allow a direct, you know, direct to our fans. We don't have to go through any, any gatekeepers to do that. So yeah, it's something we're excited to do.

Speaker A: Well, and then the other thing that I'm always amazed by with women's soccer, so I've had Emma Hayes on too. US Women's national team, you have these huge brands, Trinity Rodman, Sophia Wilson Malpew, um, and they have millions of social media followers. So if the teams are just able to tap into some of those social media followers of their star players, that's going to help grow your following.

Speaker B: Absolutely. And you want to be able to do content that appeals to a wide range of people.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: We, we know our, we do a fan segmentation study. We know our five types of fans and what the. We could do five different types of, um, media that would appeal, be very different pieces of media and would appeal to each of those five segments. So you know, it's, it's really about with today, with everything that technology enables us to do, we can really be more personalized in what we're creating and how we're delivering it and, and who we're targeting. Um, it's really. Technology has been, I think one, Technology and social media have been probably two of the main drivers of the increase in popularity in women's sports. Because there's access now and you don't have to hope that it shows up on ESPN highlights. Like, I don't even watch SportsCenter anymore, right. I go and I go and find the information I need.

Speaker A: Well, not to mention kids now young people are consuming clips. So they're watching on TikTok Instagram Reels. They're not watching SportsCenter. They might not even watch the full game. They just want to watch a minute clip.

Speaker B: 100%. That's very, very true. And that is something, that's a good point, uh, that you raise. And I think all of us in sports have to be really aware of that and make sure that we're feeding, you know, feeding that need and that, that behavior, but also finding other ways to make sure that the rest of our, what we're doing still continues to be consumed by them. Right. You can, you can consume a clip, but then we can also show you something that is about, you know, one of our players that just became a mom or you know, something that's not, that's not going to appeal to everybody. So there's this real opportunity, um, to, to customize and I think that's a real, uh, burgeoning area for us.

Speaker A: Last question for you. Um, we've talked about a lot of the things on your plate already as you look ahead for the rest of the season. Are there some initiatives or things on your to do list that you're like, these are really things that I would like to try or make sure we, we do the rest of the season.

Speaker B: Yes. We're going to be very active in the D.C. market throughout the Men's World cup because interest in soccer is. Interest in soccer. Right, Right. We want to make sure that the spirit shows up and creates and participates in um, events that are happening in activations around the D.C. area that allow people to just come and enjoy soccer. Right. So that, that's number one, that's really important to us. Got a good plan that'll kick off just, I think next week. Um, so that's number one. Number two, we are looking at and uh, developing our own app. What does that look like? What's going to be in it? What I know is it can't be the same sort of app that most teams have because we don't own, we don't own our venue. So it needs to be one that is more community based. This gets to uh, a channel where we could put all of that content that we want to create. Um, so that's a really big piece to us and then, you know, it's really about coming out of the second half of it. We're starting the second half of the season strong on the pitch as well. You know, we've got a great roster. We've got um, brilliant um, roster construction. And James, um, that does a lot of our work. He's our sporting director. Haley Carter is our president of soccer operations. So we're just excited to come out and um, make sure our fans come to Rowdy Audi, see, continue to see a great product and make that push to a. We're trying to get, you know, to a third time to the NWSL championship. We like to say around here that third time to charm.

Speaker A: Well, and a lot of people don't know there's a break this season, right, because of World Cup. So when does it stop and when does it restart?

Speaker B: So our game on Saturday was the last game, uh, before the break, and then we restart July 3rd. So we literally have about a month where we're dark. Um, but that's why it's important for us to be out in the community and being part of these community events that are celebrating, you know, World cup soccer so that we stay a little bit top of mind. You know, clearly it's men's World cup, but we think that there's just going to be this natural interest in soccer and we want to make sure we're riding that wave as we come out of this.

Speaker A: Kim Stone, CEO of the Washington Spirit of the nwsl. I'm going to have the pleasure of meeting you in person person on June 17th in D.C. at the Sports PR Summit. You will be on stage. It's been great talking to you. Continued success to you.

Speaker B: Thank you so much, Brian. I'll see you in a few weeks.

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