Shownotes
Canada may not always dominate global sports headlines—but this week, it’s all about The Great White North.
- First, we kick off with Canada's plucky performance against England in the Rugby World Cup finals. While the trophy slipped through their fingers, the tournament was a triumph—smashing every record in ticket sales and viewership.
- Then, from the pitch to the pedals: Magdeleine Vallieres won Canada's first ever world title at the cycling World Championships (man or woman). And in true Canadian style, her teammate Alison Jackson might’ve been even more thrilled than she was!
- We also check in on more world championship action, from the World Trail and Mountain Running Championships to the muddy madness of the XTERRA World Championships.
But the real spotlight this week? The future of the WNBA in Canada. We sit down with the Toronto Tempo President Teresa Resch to talk about the WNBA’s newest expansion team, launching in Toronto in the spring. She shares what it takes to build a WNBA team from scratch—crafting identity, recruiting players, creating culture—and how fans can help build lasting momentum in pivotal moment in women's basketball.
Next week? We're on the ground in Kona for the final Women's-only IRONMAN World Championship on the Big Island. Stay tuned for interviews, predictions, and takeaways from this historic event.
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Episode resources:
- Sign up for daily updates from our coverage of the women's Ironman World Championship in Kona: https://feistymedia.ac-page.com/kona
- The muddy chaos at XTERRA World Champs: https://www.instagram.com/p/DPGnCDzDOYh/?img_index=1
- Video of Alison Jackson after the historic Canadian world championship medal: https://www.instagram.com/p/DPHLcT2gZ9H/
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02:15 - Canada vs. England in the Rugby World Cup finals
03:14 - What's next for for women's rugby?
09:33 - The Cycling World Championship highlights
16:07 - An update on the UCI's new rules
19:27 - Next week's all-women's Ironman World Championships
21:03 - The World Trail and Mountain Running Championships
25:58 - Mud Madness at the XTERRA World Championships
29:41 - Interview with Toronto Tempo President, Teresa Resch
34:47 - Building the Toronto Tempo: From Bid to Team
35:31 - Creating an identity for "Canada's team"
40:38 - How fans get get involved with the newest WNBA team
1:06:09 - An update on the WNBA Playoffs and ongoing CBA negotiations
1:10:25 - Our Feisty Picks of the Week
Transcripts
Welcome to the Feist.
Speaker B:Everything you want to know about your favorite women's sports in one feisty hour.
Speaker A:With your feistiest friends, Kelly o' Mara and Sarah Gross.
Speaker B:And today we are going to learn all about what it takes to launch a new WNBA team from the soon to launch Toronto Tempo's president.
Speaker C:Yay.
Speaker B:I feel like this is just a Canadian episode, Sarah, because first it was a big weekend for K. It was a.
Speaker A:It's been a Canadian week in sports for sure.
Speaker A:You got.
Speaker A:You've got to.
Speaker A:At least.
Speaker A:We don't get very many, so you've got to give us one.
Speaker B:We don't get very many.
Speaker B:So you guys hosted a watch party for the Canada vs England Rugby World cup final?
Speaker B:I also hosted a watch party, but mine had three people.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, we had.
Speaker A:I think we had over a hundred people, Kelly.
Speaker A:Yeah, it was amazing.
Speaker A:So on Tuesday, I think we started planning like a friend of mine texted me like, let's host a watch party.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:And we didn't start sending invites out until Thursday for like a Saturday morning 7:30am event.
Speaker A:So I was a little bit like, are people gonna come?
Speaker A:Whatever.
Speaker A:Anyway, we managed to recruit a hundred women's sports and rugby fans.
Speaker B:I gotta tell you though, we had that big watch party in Seattle for the Olympic marathon trials and we got like a hundred people there at like 7:00am, 6:30.
Speaker A:Yeah, same.
Speaker A:Although it didn't surprise people.
Speaker A:Sorry, go ahead.
Speaker B:People wanna go to a watch party.
Speaker B:I'm just saying I think there's an appetite.
Speaker A:Watch parties are a thing.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:So let me tell you, like, not to.
Speaker A:I don't wanna like say anything that won't happen.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker A:But based on the success of this watch party, I feel like there might be more watch parties here in Victoria anyway with like our crew and with our partner at Withlandia.
Speaker A:So there's like a little bit of.
Speaker A:There's some, there's some things in the works, if you will.
Speaker A:But yeah, we had like, we had like pancakes and coffee and this watch party.
Speaker A:What was I going to say about it?
Speaker B:He had donuts.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:Which basically means I picked up donuts and went to my parents and we all watched it.
Speaker B:So I don't.
Speaker B:I mentioned this before.
Speaker B:My dad played rugby growing up.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like when I was a kid, he played rugby.
Speaker B:Him and his brothers played rugby.
Speaker B:I like went out for the rugby team and I was like, nope.
Speaker A:Oh yeah, I remember that for me.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Amazing.
Speaker B:So he was very excited about this.
Speaker B:So we watched it and actually he, he was like I'm actually impressed.
Speaker B:Canada gave England a run for their money.
Speaker B:Like, because I think England was so.
Speaker B:Considered so dominant.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:That it actually was pretty close for a little bit.
Speaker A:Was it at the beginning?
Speaker B:I mean.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And then it looked, and then it looked like you guys.
Speaker B:Okay, so at the beginning it was like, Canada's doing good.
Speaker B:And then England pull away.
Speaker B:And then it looked when they threw in some subs, like live went in.
Speaker B:It looked like you guys were going to come back a little because you.
Speaker A:Weren'T come back a little.
Speaker B:You just couldn't.
Speaker B:You just couldn't close.
Speaker A:We just couldn't get that close enough to have that feeling of like we might do it or we might get back over the line.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker A:But like when they made that first try, like, and we were up like 5 0, it was like, it was like, oh, amazing.
Speaker A:Like within the first.
Speaker A:It was like very fast.
Speaker A:At the beginning of the game it was very fast.
Speaker A:But then very quickly on its heels, England got to and converted them both.
Speaker A:So then it was like 14:5 for a while.
Speaker A:And I feel like that just like we got our five minutes, you know, and it was hard after that.
Speaker B:Well, one of the.
Speaker B:I think there's a point.
Speaker B:And you mentioned this, obviously we were talking about this last week, like Canada crowdfunded to get there, whereas England and the BBC, you know, it's, it's getting mainstream BBC coverage, Guardian coverage in the uk so I've been reading a lot of it and watching some of it and they keep saying that, oh, well, England professionalized like six or seven years ago and I don't know what professionalized means.
Speaker B:And then you realize, like, oh, they're on salary.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Like it means that they're full and they have athletes.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker B:They're full time athletes, they're on salary, they have full time staff and injury.
Speaker B:And I think as a game, and this tends to be true in all sports as things go on, that's when those differences start to add up.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because you have all the medical support and you have like fresh legs because you could like sub people in.
Speaker B:In the previous games.
Speaker B:And like.
Speaker B:And so I do think that's where you start to see that really come through.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think it's like, I think I told you last week about how I got in like a debate at the pub about where, where the guy, basically the guy who started, he was trying to goad me, you know, trying to get me going, which was like very easy talking to me about women's sports.
Speaker A:But his qu.
Speaker A:He was going around the table going, women's rugby, yes or no?
Speaker A:Women's rugby, yes or no?
Speaker A:And so he just sent my partner Jamie a text on Saturday that just said, women's rugby, yes, yes, yes.
Speaker A:So I feel like, I feel like rugby is also like changing hearts and minds of the fans too, around, like what, you know, because there's people who say, like, we've all heard these things, like we, nobody wants to watch women especially, we don't want to watch them in tackle, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, all this dumb crap, right?
Speaker A:But then you watch them and you're like, oh, hells yeah, I needed that.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:So it's.
Speaker A:I think I, I feel like the women's rugby is like changing the culture too.
Speaker B:It did also break.
Speaker B:Like I was looking.
Speaker B:I knew it had broken some viewership records and attendance records and so I went to look it up and the press release is like, it broke all the records, all of them.
Speaker B:Like, it broke.
Speaker B:It sold three times as many tickets as the World Cup.
Speaker B:That was usually there four years, but because of pandemic three years ago, it broke attendance records, it broke viewership records.
Speaker B:So the final had 81,000 people at it in Twickenham, which is the most ever for a women's.
Speaker B:A single, like women's world rugby game.
Speaker B:And then the final had like 5 point something million watching it in England, like life.
Speaker B:So it.
Speaker B:Which was the most watched rugby game this year in England.
Speaker B:And obviously that's actually like kind of a big deal because rugby is kind of a big deal there.
Speaker A:I was thinking like now that I hosted a watch party, right?
Speaker A:I was thinking about like the viewership numbers and how it's affected by watch parties.
Speaker A:So like the more watch parties there are, like, that's what we had.
Speaker A:We had one stream coming in for a hundred people.
Speaker A:Sure, right.
Speaker A:So when you have.
Speaker A:With the more watch parties popping up, like that number gets multiplied out really quickly.
Speaker B:Here's my other question for you though.
Speaker B:In Canada, was it just on cbc?
Speaker A:It was on tsn.
Speaker B:So that's like a regular channel though, right?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't have cable.
Speaker B:I don't have cable.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:But when I logged into my tscribe.
Speaker B:You didn't have to subscribe to like an obscure streaming service, right?
Speaker A:No, no, it was if, if you consider TSN obscure, then, yes, but no, it, it was a, it was on.
Speaker B:TSN 1 and 4 because in, in the UK it was on BBC.
Speaker B:In Canada, it was on TSN here.
Speaker B:My dad signed up for a trial of Paramount plus because it like wasn't on regular TV.
Speaker B:And well, that's, that's not how you grow the sport.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I do think though that like on the men's side too, that rugby's a hard sell for the US Audience because of the dominance of football.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker B:And that's one of the things that now people are talking about like, okay, well where to from here?
Speaker B:Right, because you like, clearly women's rugby, I mean we were at the Olympics last year and there was something like 60 or 70,000 fans there for that final.
Speaker B:And we were like, this is blowing up, this is blowing up.
Speaker B:And, and then you had women's elite rugby, which is the like semi pro league here in the US Start.
Speaker B:So everybody, obviously there's a lot of momentum for like women's rugby.
Speaker B:Women's rugby.
Speaker B:There is a little bit of like, okay, what now?
Speaker B:Because women's elite rugby had to end their broadcast deal.
Speaker B:And I think it's, I'm pretty sure it's because they simply couldn't afford to produce the broadcast.
Speaker B:Oh, interesting.
Speaker B:Like I, I went to a game and I couldn't imagine how they could afford camp.
Speaker B:Like it wasn't at that, like they just didn't have that infrastructure.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And so you're like, okay, well where do we like.
Speaker B:And this is a thing that women's sports, I think, has struggled with the past.
Speaker B:Like you look at soccer historically, women's soccer was really, really, really popular in the US On a four year cycle, Olympics, World cup.
Speaker B:And then they like couldn't sustain a pro league for 20 years.
Speaker B:And now obviously they can, and there's an appetite and there was probably an appetite before and it just wasn't being served.
Speaker B:But I think rugby might be at that point where, okay, clearly there's an audience and they've had marketed to them the Olympics, the World Cup.
Speaker B:But how do you then get them invested in the season year after year?
Speaker A:Yeah, it might, I mean it might just be one of those sports that takes a little longer in the U.S. like soccer, like you just said, because that's.
Speaker A:But like where globally, it's because already rugby, soccer, those are huge, huge global sports.
Speaker A:Or like cricket, like getting cricket to be popular in the U.S. not gonna happen.
Speaker B:But it's not gonna.
Speaker A:One of the most popular sports in the world.
Speaker A:So sometimes, sorry, but the US is just not on the page.
Speaker B:You know, we do, you know, unfortunately for everyone right now, we do influence global culture a lot.
Speaker B:Yes, but yeah, so Canada did surprisingly well.
Speaker B:England, I did, I Mean, I was rooting for Canada, but I did feel good for England.
Speaker B:Like, winning on their home turf.
Speaker B:That's a big deal.
Speaker B:You could see all the people, like, crying in the stands, like.
Speaker B:And rugby's so big there.
Speaker B:You feel like these people are going to be huge celebrities now.
Speaker A:One thing I thought about, too, after was how, like, both the countries are red and white, which, yeah, I couldn't.
Speaker B:Tell when I turned it on.
Speaker B:I was like, who is?
Speaker B:Who is who?
Speaker A:Well, you can't tell who's in the stands, the fans.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So that was also.
Speaker A:I was like, oh, it makes.
Speaker A:It makes this unified feeling.
Speaker B:It's very women's sportsy.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:I'm so Canadian right now.
Speaker A:Like, we're all in this together.
Speaker A:We're growing.
Speaker A:Women's rugby, English women's, just happened to win.
Speaker A:But that's the vibe that I got from having everyone in.
Speaker A:Like, everyone's red away.
Speaker A:We're all here for the rugby, you know.
Speaker B:Oh, that's.
Speaker B:So maybe I think you.
Speaker B:You just described why it's not catching on in America.
Speaker A:Because you can't have that togetherness.
Speaker A:I don't feel like that's necessarily just rugby.
Speaker A:I think it's, like, women's sports, you know, lifting each other up.
Speaker B:Did you feel that about.
Speaker B:Okay, so Canada also.
Speaker B:Big, big weekend in Cycling World Championships.
Speaker B:Canada won its cycling gold in, like, the road World Championships, not track or mountain bike.
Speaker B:First ever, men or women, won the women's road race.
Speaker B:And I have to get.
Speaker B:I want to.
Speaker B:Because I feel like it needs a French accent.
Speaker B:Magdalene Valliere.
Speaker B:Did I say that right?
Speaker A:Sir Valier.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:You were.
Speaker A:You were actually way closer than the usual Kelly's French pronunciation.
Speaker B:So I'll.
Speaker A:I'll pick that.
Speaker B:You'll take it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's interesting, though, because.
Speaker B:So everybody was like, she.
Speaker B:Nobody thought she could win.
Speaker B:She wasn't expected.
Speaker B:All the big names were like, they got outmaneuvered, they got out strategized.
Speaker B:They got, like, left behind in the group.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:But the other people in the cycling were like, no, she's actually.
Speaker B:She's been there all along.
Speaker B:She's just been, like, a domestique for other writers or she's been doing other things.
Speaker A:Yeah, I find that it's often like that.
Speaker A:Like, people who are overnight successes actually have been there.
Speaker A:Anyone who knows them is like, yes, overnight success plus 10 years, you know.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, but it was a. I saw.
Speaker B:So Alison Jackson is maybe the most famous Canadian cyclist, and she won Paris Roubaix a couple years Ago.
Speaker B:And she.
Speaker B:She had worked really hard for Magdalene early and then DNF'd in the race because it was Louvre.
Speaker B:So she was at the finish to greet her and was just, like, screaming and crying, and it was like.
Speaker B:It was amazing.
Speaker B:And then she was talking about.
Speaker B:There was this feeling before that Canadians never won big races.
Speaker B:And then after she won Paris Roubaix, it was like, oh, like, we can win these too.
Speaker A:That's what happens.
Speaker A:It's like success begets success, you know, it's that whole thing in sports, like, if you come from.
Speaker A:And it's true for, like, on the national level.
Speaker A:It's also true at individual training squads, too.
Speaker A:Like, once your training buddy or someone that you know wins something, you're like, oh, I can do it too.
Speaker A:I train with them every day.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:I'm just gonna say we're good.
Speaker A:It's just a matter of time now.
Speaker C:It's just a matter of time.
Speaker B:It sounds.
Speaker B:So the.
Speaker B:Like, we talked a little bit last week, the World Championships were in Rwanda, first time ever in Africa.
Speaker B:Uh, but it was apparently a very, very hard road race course.
Speaker B:Like, it was just.
Speaker B:It was one of the hardest, like, World Championship road race courses we've seen.
Speaker B:Um, and people were just getting shelled.
Speaker B:Like, I think, like, everyone's like, well, how did this happen?
Speaker B:How did we get.
Speaker B:The top three were kind of, like, unexpected because in third was Mavi Garcia, who's also at 41, like, one of the older World Championship medals ever, and, like, Spain's first medal in 23 years.
Speaker B:Um, so there's a lot.
Speaker B:A lot of post race questions to, you know, Demi and Pauline and, like, all the big names being like, why did you lose?
Speaker B:What happen?
Speaker A:Amazing.
Speaker A:And what did they say?
Speaker A:How do you answer that question?
Speaker B:I think they got out, strategized a little, like, you know, like, outmaneuvered.
Speaker B:They thought, oh, those people will come back.
Speaker B:And then it ended up being such a hard course that they.
Speaker B:It was harder on them than I think they thought.
Speaker B:So they didn't have the legs.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Well, it's like other sports, too.
Speaker A:People, different people have strengths and weaknesses.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And then if it's a hillier course, it'll suit some riders more.
Speaker A:It's a flatter course, it'll suit other riders.
Speaker A:If there's a lot of descending, sometimes you have people who are way more skilled.
Speaker B:Way more skilled.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But did you know.
Speaker B:So the other big thing, Canadian weekend.
Speaker B:Did you know the World Cycling Championships are in Montreal next year?
Speaker A:I did.
Speaker A:Now that you said it.
Speaker B:You're like, it's one of those things.
Speaker A:Like, you know, there's a lot of things in this category in my brain right now, but that I have heard before but could not bring it to mind until someone else says it.
Speaker B:So, yeah, so everybody's.
Speaker B:And by everybody, I mean CBC and Canadian press, very excited.
Speaker B:They're like, this is going to explode the sport in Canada.
Speaker A:I feel like there's a lot of French Canadian cyclists.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, like, it must be big there.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't have any stats or anything on that.
Speaker A:I just, I did not look this up beforehand.
Speaker A:I'm just saying it now off the top of my head.
Speaker A:But like, I just feel like I meet, I meet a cyclist out in training.
Speaker A:Like when I used to train in Tucson and would be.
Speaker A:And they'd have this Quebecois accent, you know, it's a thing.
Speaker B:The only thing I think about meeting French Canadians other places is when I went to Cancun, Mexico, for like Christmas, like over the winter for a vacation.
Speaker B:All Canadians, all escaping the snow, half of them only spoke French and the other half, like, didn't know what they were saying.
Speaker B:And it was, I mean, it was literally all Canada because they did this like, you know, dinner time show type thing.
Speaker B:And they were like, clap if you're from the US and it was like, clap if you're from Canada.
Speaker B:And it was everybody.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So that's what I think of when.
Speaker B:I don't think any of them rode their bikes, Sarah.
Speaker A:That I, I don't know if that would hold.
Speaker A:Like, I wasn't saying the majority of French Canadians ride bikes.
Speaker A:That's different to.
Speaker A:There's.
Speaker A:I do.
Speaker A:I just think cycling's popular in Montreal.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So apparently it's there next year because one of the.
Speaker B:I mean, like, look, like we talked last week about sports washing and Rwanda has some very real issues that like, you know, they are, they are, they are using good PR out in the world to like mask issues.
Speaker B:Not that like the US isn't doing that too.
Speaker B:And everyone knows my opinions about the U.S. and the Olympics, but it did show that there is an appetite for like, everybody actually came away from that being like, there's an appetite for not just having the cycling world Championships in Europe all the time.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Like, there is an appetite to have for cycling in Africa, for cycling in other places.
Speaker B:We don't need to have the World championships in Europe seven of the last 11 years.
Speaker B:Like, we can have them other places.
Speaker B:So moving forward, it's in Montreal next year.
Speaker B:And then it's in Europe, then it's in France.
Speaker B:It is in the uae.
Speaker A:It's in the Emirates.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Which.
Speaker A:Yeah, for those who don't know, I went to high school there, and I know exactly there's only one climb in the Emirates.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:So it's either going to go into Oman, right, Where the hills are, like, to do hilly rides.
Speaker A:I used to go into.
Speaker A:Just cycle into Oman and.
Speaker A:Or there's one mountain, it's called Jebel Hafit, and you.
Speaker A:It's like a 10k climb.
Speaker A:They have all kinds of cycling races, but when you go up, you're up.
Speaker A:Like there's nowhere else to go, you know?
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I'm keen to see where the course is because it's not a huge country and I know where you ride there, so.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, it's interesting because obviously UAE has spent a lot of money in cycling, but they haven't actually hosted, you know, one of these level.
Speaker B:I mean, not like, of course they have pro cycling races, but having the world championships is a big deal.
Speaker B:And then it's back to Europe for, like, another three years.
Speaker B:So it's like, okay, guys, we're getting so close to expanding beyond Europe, and then we're not.
Speaker B:And then they tried anyway.
Speaker B:They tried.
Speaker A:Good thing.
Speaker B:The other thing out of cycling this week was UCI released their new rules for next year.
Speaker A:Are women allowed to have handlebars that fit them now?
Speaker A:Almost.
Speaker B:Almost.
Speaker A:Almost fit them almost with them.
Speaker B:So for people who will know, the UCI announced.
Speaker A:For.
Speaker B:The UCI is always making up rules.
Speaker B:Like, God, they make up so many rules.
Speaker B:And they announced rules earlier this year that regulated handlebar width, and they were banning handlebars from being too narrow.
Speaker B:Like, they had to be a certain amount wide.
Speaker B:And it was like an amount that, for a lot of smaller writers and female writers was too wide for them.
Speaker B:So there was a lot of outrage because it was like, UCI isn't paying attention to female writers.
Speaker B:So they have upped it by 4 centimeters.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Downed it.
Speaker A:So you can go.
Speaker B:Downed it.
Speaker A:You can go.
Speaker B:Downed it.
Speaker C:More narrow.
Speaker B:Narrow.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:To be fair, if I'm going to play devil's advocate here, for UCI continuing to change the rules with a bike, there's a lot of updates and things to make it more aerodynamic.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Like, there's a lot of, like, tech that goes on, like, changes that happen for.
Speaker A:So then the UCI constantly has to decide, is this more aerodynamic bike function that someone invented this year, which every year we know because we Know the people who are inventing this shit and like, and like, is this going to be allowed?
Speaker A:Is that going to be allowed?
Speaker A:And then sometimes things like, for us, what would happen is like, something wouldn't be allowed necessarily by the UCI, but they allow it in triathlon.
Speaker A:So then you have this tech that like trickles in too.
Speaker B:There's been a whole controversy in triathlon lately because technically, if there is no rule triathlon.
Speaker B:What's the word?
Speaker B:Like defaults to running rules or swimming rules or cycling rules.
Speaker A:Oh, interesting.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But there are triathlon rules.
Speaker B:But if there isn't.
Speaker B:So anyway, there's been a whole thing about illegal shoes.
Speaker B:But the reality is, right, like, triathlon has a long history of making shit up.
Speaker B:So who fucking Jesus shit.
Speaker B:But there are technically illegal shoes.
Speaker B:Technically.
Speaker B:And so it becomes this whole, like, well, is he wearing illegal shoes?
Speaker B:And then, and then, and then I started trying to explain this to my husband and literally within like 10 seconds he was like, this is.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, that's right.
Speaker B:I'm bored.
Speaker A:I'm asleep now.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And now we're regaling the same exciting stories to our audience.
Speaker B:But that's why has a lot of new rules.
Speaker B:So they update a lot of rules.
Speaker B:And I mean, they also.
Speaker B:Yeah, they update a lot of rules.
Speaker B:There's like a cap on how much you're allowed to spend on track bikes, which I also think is like hilarious.
Speaker A:How much you're allowed to spend.
Speaker B:Yeah, there's a money cat.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, interesting.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:So yes, they have to a lot of rules, but the one that a lot of people were upset about was this handlebar with which, yes, they updated it because people were doing in the men's peloton, particularly some crazy things with like really narrow handlebars that flared out and was like kind of dangerous.
Speaker B:So they.
Speaker B:That is what that was spawned from.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:But it felt like it didn't really consider female writers in its.
Speaker C:In its.
Speaker A:Yes, we've seen that from the UCI before, just not necessarily taking female riders into account.
Speaker A:Kelly, I have to tell you though, just as we were talking about the aerodynamics, this I'm like in my office recording right now, this guy walks by with like literally the opposite of an aerodynamic bike.
Speaker A:Like, you know those fold up bikes.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And he was carrying it like it was a suitcase.
Speaker A:And it was just like, if it's like, oh, that's funny.
Speaker B:We are going.
Speaker B:We're skipping ahead a little bit here, but coming up, we will be in Kona for the women's Ironman World Championships next week.
Speaker B:So we will have an episode for everybody from the island.
Speaker B:I feel like I need to say, if you want deep dives, we will be doing daily episodes on the Feisty Tri feed with race directors and medical directors and world champions and all the pro athletes.
Speaker B:So we will have daily episodes on Feisty Tri feedback.
Speaker B:But here we will do.
Speaker B:We will kind of like, recap why we're there, why it's important.
Speaker B:We will not recap the bike rules.
Speaker B:Probably.
Speaker A:Probably not.
Speaker A:We can.
Speaker A:Hopefully we'll have other things to talk about.
Speaker B:We won't be like, is this wheel legal?
Speaker B:Yes or no?
Speaker A:Unless you want to hear that.
Speaker A:Then let us know if you want to hear about the specific aerodynamics of race wheels.
Speaker B:Of race wheels.
Speaker B:But I do know a lot of people, kind of our general audience here who may not be in the.
Speaker B:We've done triathlon, are curious why and how we kind of got to this last all women's Ironman World Championship before.
Speaker B:It's kind of going back, like, smushing back together, men and women.
Speaker B:So we will be covering all of that.
Speaker A:Most of the smushing is the women, to be fair.
Speaker B:The smushing, yeah.
Speaker B:We're trying to, like, jam the women back into the men's race.
Speaker B:I like, keep picturing like a Pringles can, you know?
Speaker A:Yeah, just go back in there.
Speaker B:Yeah, just go back in there.
Speaker B:Women, stop talking.
Speaker A:That describes the vibes, honestly.
Speaker B:It does, it does.
Speaker B:But before we get to what's coming up, there were two other world Championships this past weekend.
Speaker B:I know my themes, like, too many world Championships all the time.
Speaker A:But, but, but what else do we have?
Speaker A:Trail.
Speaker B:We had the World Trail and Mountain Running championship.
Speaker B:And I know you were like, what is the deal with that?
Speaker B:And again, so is my husband, as he's a Katie Shied fan, and Katie Shied won the long race and he was like, that's cool.
Speaker B:What is this?
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Like, what did she just win?
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:So I went a little bit deep.
Speaker B:It is run by World Athletics.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Like, we're just like, World Athletics is the governing body for track and field.
Speaker B:And so they wanted, like, a foothold in the.
Speaker B:This, like, booming ultra trail mountain.
Speaker A:Well, of course they did.
Speaker A:Because it's booming.
Speaker A:Yeah, because it's booming.
Speaker B:And so they kind of.
Speaker B:Because there's been different governing bodies over or different attempts at governing bodies over the year.
Speaker B:And it's always sort of as with any new sport, right, like ski, mountaineering, whatever, there's always like, which one's going to Stick.
Speaker B:So this seems to actually be sticking because they did get big names.
Speaker B:Katie Scheid won the, like, 82 long.
Speaker B:82 kilometer long race.
Speaker B:Jim Walmsley on the men's side.
Speaker B:But it is still like, actually a wide variety, if that makes sense.
Speaker B:Like, in second behind Katie was a woman from Nepal.
Speaker B:I want to get her name right.
Speaker B:Sinbaya Buddha.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it is still like, you still.
Speaker B:It's not the same names you always get.
Speaker B:It's still like.
Speaker B:Because people are representing their country, which is still like a big deal to a lot of people.
Speaker A:Like, you qualify through a federation and a country system.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So you still get a pretty wide mix.
Speaker B:So I think that's.
Speaker B:I kind of like.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:I think a lot of people actually really like that is what I'm trying to say.
Speaker A:Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker A:I think it's interesting and I think it helps develop the sport too, to have countries be able to send a representative.
Speaker B:They also.
Speaker B:They do do.
Speaker B:It's not a vertical.
Speaker B:They used to call it a VK, a vertical kilometer.
Speaker B:Now it's 6km, but it is straight uphill.
Speaker B:And then they do kind of this, like classic 14k race, which is like an hour and a half or two.
Speaker B:Then they could have what they call a short.
Speaker B:Short.
Speaker B:I'm putting this quote, short 45k.
Speaker B:And then they have like the long race, the uphill one is super interesting to me.
Speaker B:Have you ever done a verdict A VK?
Speaker A:No, no, I have run, though.
Speaker A:I've probably run 6k upper straight up.
Speaker B:But have you seen the VKs where they haven't, like.
Speaker A:Yeah, straight up?
Speaker A:No, I have not, like, tried to race that.
Speaker A:That's craziness.
Speaker A:It's actually a whole different thing.
Speaker A:Like, imagine the straight on your Achilles and like your forefoot, like your heel probably doesn't touch the ground the whole way.
Speaker B:Oh, I have.
Speaker B:Because they do broken arrow, which is a popular style of the race.
Speaker B:They do a vk.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:In here in the mountains.
Speaker B:And they just go straight up the ski run.
Speaker B:Yeah, I've not done it.
Speaker B:I wanted to do it this year, but, you know, I wasn't running still.
Speaker B:But they just go straight up the ski run.
Speaker B:And I have watched it and stuff and it is.
Speaker B:And I was watching the video from this one this past weekend.
Speaker B:It is like these pro athletes and this, like, hands on knees.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Hiking.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Quick hike.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker A:And do they.
Speaker A:Right, so it's more quick hiking.
Speaker A:That's what that was gonna be.
Speaker A:My question, like, are there sections where it's more hike than like more fast moving, uphill kind of situation.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's very steep.
Speaker B:But the German girl, Nina Engelhardt won that and the 14K.
Speaker B:And there is a team competition for each of these.
Speaker B:So it is like, oh, Team Sweden won the 45K, Team Italy.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So like you top like the people who get the three over the line, like in the cumulative fastest time or something like that.
Speaker A:All of those categories have teams.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And then there's an overall team.
Speaker B:Yeah, I don't think Canada did that well.
Speaker A:They have to.
Speaker A:Do they have to cross the line together?
Speaker B:No, it's just, it's like cross country school.
Speaker A:Because I feel like that would be fun.
Speaker A:Like if you had one where you were just like you and your friends had to be tethered together and run.
Speaker B:It's our new, our new thing we just invented.
Speaker A:Just tether three people together and run straight up a hill.
Speaker B:See how that goes?
Speaker A:Seems pretty good to me.
Speaker B:People would tether.
Speaker B:Have you ever seen the Centipede races where they tether people together?
Speaker A:What a word.
Speaker B:Okay, so beta breakers here in San Francisco.
Speaker A:Wait, I'm not the first person to think of this weirdly.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:And beta breakers is known for, well, people being drunk, but they also do Centipede races and it's very.
Speaker B:It's like national records and Centipede races and you're tied together.
Speaker A:You have to have 10 people though.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's not if there's some minimum number and, and you have.
Speaker B:You're counted from the last.
Speaker B:Anyway, I have seen like, they are very serious here about these and I've seen the last person basically being like dragged.
Speaker A:Amazing.
Speaker B:What if you fell?
Speaker B:It makes me very nervous.
Speaker A:That would scare me with.
Speaker A:Your teammates are faster and you're just like trying to keep your feet under you at the back.
Speaker B:Just like it's a real thing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So, okay.
Speaker B:The other world championship this past weekend that I also think looked crazy and hilarious was the Xterra World Championships last year in Italy.
Speaker B:And we had Feisty, had kind of like a producer, somebody who works for us who is racing it.
Speaker B:And she was making some videos and she told me, oh, it's just solid mud.
Speaker B:It's just like ankle deep thick mud all over the courses and ring.
Speaker B:And I was like, sure, sure.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And then I saw the video and people were just falling, sliding.
Speaker A:Well, I think you.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think you sent a video or somebody did in this in our Slack channel and I clicked on it and it's like some people were just like head to toe mud monsters.
Speaker A:Like, if you fell like those.
Speaker A:The thing that you imagine, like, someone's like, it's just like mud and then someone's like eyes peering through.
Speaker A:Like, it was a bit like that.
Speaker A:Like, people were just like, lay mud.
Speaker A:That's nuts.
Speaker B:Well, I think the thing was, if you were biking and you started to go downhill and it's just like five inches of mud.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You just started to slide and then your bike went down and then you were just sliding.
Speaker A:You're just like gathering it into your shorts.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker B:I was like, fantastic.
Speaker A:Oh, man, that's funny.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:It will be back in the race.
Speaker B:Will be back in the US Next year.
Speaker B:Is in New Mexico.
Speaker B:I don't know if they'll have the same conditions.
Speaker A:I think probably not New Mexico.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I suspect.
Speaker A:I suspect.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:We might have altitude to deal with, but we.
Speaker A:I'm including myself somehow.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:You're gonna.
Speaker B:You're gonna raise the exterior world championships next year if you decide to turn.
Speaker A:Around.
Speaker B:Your amazing mountain bike skill.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:I'm just waiting to be recruited.
Speaker A:Kelly.
Speaker B:I know before we're making fun of our.
Speaker B:Well, partially of Sarah's interview that is coming up and partially of our ongoing desire to be recruited.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Before we get to our interview today, are there any other big Canadian moments for the weekend?
Speaker A:Rugby, Cycling?
Speaker B:You're like, just, just, just.
Speaker B:You're like.
Speaker B:There's just so much sports.
Speaker A:There's so much sports.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Do you guys call it sport or sports?
Speaker A:Sports.
Speaker A:Sport is British.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which we do.
Speaker B:Sounds stupid.
Speaker A:We do tend to know.
Speaker A:It does not.
Speaker A:We do tend to have, like, a little bit of British in our language sometimes.
Speaker A:But I would call the entire, like, in institution sport and I don't know, like, sometimes worth my language because I spent so long in the UK and so long abroad.
Speaker A:I don't know where, like, the seeds of my language come from.
Speaker A:So it's hard for me to know.
Speaker A:But I would call the entire institution, like, sport.
Speaker A:Like, I like.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Sometimes you say that to me and I'm like, oh, that sounds.
Speaker A:But that sounds ridiculous.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Is like.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:It has, like, a slightly different meaning.
Speaker A:Like, if you like sports, you individually like basketball, volleyball.
Speaker A:I like sports.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I like.
Speaker A:Whereas, like, sport, you would say, like, sport is the.
Speaker A:What's the phrase people always say?
Speaker A:Like, oh, man, I'm not gonna.
Speaker B:I literally don't know.
Speaker A:I'm not gonna remember.
Speaker B:I don't know that.
Speaker B:That's a phrase.
Speaker B:This might be one of those you just made up.
Speaker A:No, like, sport is like something for society or.
Speaker B:Oh, a mirror or a flicker.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like any phrase like that, like, sport as an institution is something.
Speaker A:Sport is good for children.
Speaker A:You know, you could also say sports are, but it has a slightly different meaning.
Speaker B:Sport is a mirror for society.
Speaker B:That is.
Speaker B:That is accurate.
Speaker B:That's why it's a lot of.
Speaker B:What's the word?
Speaker B:Cultural warfare happening right now.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So you're.
Speaker B:So we are going to talk to WNBA Tempo president.
Speaker B: mention that when she started: Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And party, when I heard her say that was like, oh.
Speaker B:Oh, no.
Speaker A:Oh, you thought, oh, no.
Speaker B:Well, because I like.
Speaker B:Because.
Speaker B:Because as she said, that feels like a lifetime ago.
Speaker B:And I. I mean, she didn't say this, but my implicit implication is that, oh, that cultural moment has changed.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Which does not mean that when sport is not.
Speaker B:And it's also.
Speaker B:Does not mean that one sport is not continuing to grow, but it does mean that the cultural.
Speaker B:Like if sports is a bureau of society.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, there is.
Speaker B:But it's also the whole, like, part of the reason Title IX changed women fundamentally is because you can't tell people that they're equal only sometimes.
Speaker B:Like, it doesn't work.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So this is the whole, like, I'm not sure we can go back, but.
Speaker B:But we're trying to shove that peel back in that Pringle can.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:We're trying.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:It doesn't work.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Oh, I see what you mean now.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I don't think that's what she meant.
Speaker A:Maybe.
Speaker B:No, but she was talking about how when she started on this journey, that it was kind of coming right out.
Speaker A:Of that, like, wave.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I talked to Teresa Rache.
Speaker A:Resch.
Speaker A:Resh.
Speaker A:I think.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:Say it with the right accent.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's just my accent.
Speaker A:That's why.
Speaker A:Anyway, she is the president of the Tempo, as Kelly said, and I really enjoyed talking to her.
Speaker A:So here it is.
Speaker A:Hi, Theresa.
Speaker A:Great to see you this morning.
Speaker C:Great to be here.
Speaker C:I love your bright colors.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:I do like my colorful backgrounds.
Speaker A:So diving in.
Speaker A:You were the VP of Operations for the Raptors for 10 years, which is a long time in basketball.
Speaker A:When did you first become aware that Toronto was going to have a WNBA team?
Speaker C:So it's a little chicken and egg, right?
Speaker C:So I was working for the Raptors, and we were in Tampa for the bubble, for not even the bubble for the pandemic because of the border, we needed to move operations to the US So we were avoiding quarantine and was down there for the season.
Speaker C:It was the season after we had won the championship and was definitely thinking about, like, what's next?
Speaker C:And for me, what's next was not necessarily a step forward in the Raptors organization.
Speaker C:You know, the next step would have been, like, a general manager, and that wasn't necessarily the place I wanted to be.
Speaker C:So I started spending a lot of time thinking about, well, what could be next?
Speaker C:And women's sports or elevating women within sports was something that I felt really passionate about and something that I wanted to make a little bit more a part of my role, and whether it was at MLSE or somewhere else.
Speaker C:So just started having conversations with outside groups as well as within MLSE of, like, what that may look like, and ultimately did a ton of research.
Speaker C:The W obviously had its own bubble and was in an interesting space where they had just done a new cba.
Speaker C:All that to say we.
Speaker C:We knew that they were interested in Toronto as a marketplace.
Speaker C:They talked publicly about expansion, and it was something that Larry Tenenbaum was very passionate about.
Speaker C:So I talked to him about it, and ultimately he came to me and said, I'm going to get a team, and I want you to be team president.
Speaker C:But he didn't actually have a team yet, so he was very confident.
Speaker C:And I think that, you know, and.
Speaker A:By a team, does he mean a team of investors?
Speaker C:A team of a WNBA team?
Speaker A:Like he.
Speaker A:Like a team of people?
Speaker C:No, like a WNBA team.
Speaker C:Like, he was going.
Speaker A:He's going to do a team, work.
Speaker C:With the league to, like, get a team.
Speaker C:So it hadn't been awarded.
Speaker C:So I said, larry, I want to be part of this.
Speaker C:So I resigned from MLSE and worked with him on the bid, knowing that if we were successful, I would be leading it.
Speaker C:So, like I said, chicken Nick.
Speaker C:Like, it's.
Speaker C:It wasn't.
Speaker C:Nothing's ever black and white, but I knew I had done enough thinking that I knew I wanted my next career step to be within women's sports, whether leading a team, working in the industry, or really supporting people like myself in the Raptors.
Speaker C:Like, women making an impact in professional sports could have been the college level, too.
Speaker C:Like, there was just, like, a really interesting time.
Speaker C:If you think back to right after the pandemic, women's sports really kind of took on like they're still kind of carrying the momentum from like me too.
Speaker C:And just like the place that women had in society.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:It was a really interesting time and it seems like not that long ago, but in other ways it seems like a long, long time ago.
Speaker C:2021.
Speaker C: Yeah,: Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:But I was ready to make my move and, and it was incredible to have an opportunity and an investor and owner like Larry to be able to be part of his team and what he was building.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, congratulations on being part of that.
Speaker A:Successful.
Speaker C:So I mean the timeline is basically I resigned from the Raptors in January, like kind of transition time.
Speaker C:Started working full time on the bid in March and we were awarded the team the end of May.
Speaker C:And then at that point it was gung ho two years to tip off and let's, let's get going.
Speaker C:Let's make it happen.
Speaker C:And a little.
Speaker C:Well, well over halfway now.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C: t around the corner in May of: Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think we're all so excited over here at Feisty.
Speaker A:But okay.
Speaker A:What actually makes for a successful bid?
Speaker A:Like what are the pieces of that that make.
Speaker A:That make the WNBA say okay, yes.
Speaker C:You don't have to ask the WNBA honestly to be real, like I don't know exactly how they make final decisions, but what we knew, well we had in Toronto was we weren't just going to be Toronto's team.
Speaker C:It was very important for Larry and something that the league also saw a huge opportunity that this is Canada's team.
Speaker C:We actually, you know, would have been, it would have been great to be named Canada's team.
Speaker C:You know, like our name would be not attached to a city, but our, our mission is to grow the game across this country and you know, someday, hopefully there'll be another WNBA team here.
Speaker C:So we couldn't necessarily take over all of Canada because we want to make, make sure that there's space for, for another team at some other point in the future.
Speaker C:So we gladly have it in Toronto tempo.
Speaker C:But we are positioned and, and our mandate priority, what we're building this team around is really the entire country of Canada.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And at least in the short term that feels like, I mean I certainly in Victoria B.C.
Speaker A:feel a strong connection to the Canadian team in Toronto.
Speaker A:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker A: multiple trips to Toronto in: Speaker C:Well, we have announced that we're coming to Vancouver, so it's not quite as.
Speaker A:Long, but we'll don't have to Travel as well.
Speaker A:Amazing.
Speaker A:And you know, when we chatted last time, you kind of mentioned that running a franchise team is a bit or a new franchise team.
Speaker A:I should say it's a bit like running a startup, which I obviously relate to very strongly.
Speaker A:But, like, from that first moment, you know, when Larry comes to you and you're working together on this bid, like, what are the steps from deciding, okay, we'd like to have a WNBA team to making it happen?
Speaker A:I mean, I know that's a huge question, but I think a lot of people, like, don't really understand what goes on.
Speaker A:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker C:What I'll say is kind of the steps and experience I've had.
Speaker C:So we are awarded a team.
Speaker C:The first question everybody asks, what's the name?
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker C:You get a name.
Speaker C:The next question they ask is, who's going to be your gm?
Speaker C:You get a gm and then it's going to be, are you going to have Canadian players?
Speaker C:And then from there it's like, okay, we're gonna hire a head coach.
Speaker C:And I'll tell you what, the head coach get fast once we hire one.
Speaker C:So, you know, some of those things are also like all that to say, I think the general public, the questions that you have is also some of the orders that we build in.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:So when we awarded the team, I knew that there was a couple things that were of high priority.
Speaker C:So number one was name and logo.
Speaker C:Like, we needed to have an identity and we needed to understand what did we want the story of that creation process to be.
Speaker C:And we wanted to be one of transparency and to be one that was of all of Canada.
Speaker C:So we did a name your team and logo or sorry, nameyourteam ca and took a bunch of submissions.
Speaker C:And it was incredible to have a lot of people part of it.
Speaker C:And we also were really transparent, right.
Speaker C:We did cutting room floor where we shared all the names that didn't work and why and ultimately landed on the tempo.
Speaker C:Another priority was building a leadership team.
Speaker C:So spending time on organizational structure and what the leadership team was going to be looked like responsibilities.
Speaker C:So ended up hiring, I should say first employee of atempo was actually our chief financial officer.
Speaker C:So he worked very closely with Larry of the bid.
Speaker C:A lot of the planning, the Performa, everything that ultimately went, you know, the numbers, the business, how is this going to run?
Speaker C:I was number two.
Speaker C:So I came on board about a month after him and the plan and more of the.
Speaker C:The strategy and the overall vision of the team.
Speaker C:So our CFO was already on board.
Speaker C:That's not always the place.
Speaker C:Sometimes the people in the bid, you know, walk away and go work on something else.
Speaker C:But he was part of it from the beginning.
Speaker C:Patrick Lee.
Speaker C:And then we rounded our team with a chief marketing officer and a chief revenue officer.
Speaker C:So once we had that group of four, then it was the basketball.
Speaker C:So I had to hire an incredible GM to lead this team.
Speaker C:And we hired Monica in February.
Speaker C:So it was kind of like get the leadership team so they can start growing the business, and then I could focus on hiring the right person to lead the basketball side of the team.
Speaker C:So she joined us in February.
Speaker C:And then from there, the next.
Speaker C:The next step is, you know, optimizing all these different areas.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:So sponsorships.
Speaker C:Okay, what does that look like?
Speaker C:What is our asset valuations?
Speaker C:Who are we talking to?
Speaker C:What are we prioritizing?
Speaker C:What is our value proposition?
Speaker C:Cmo, that was, you know, name and logo is a big launch of that.
Speaker C:And then who are we going to.
Speaker C:What are we going to stand for and who are we going to be?
Speaker C:For us, it was definitely Canada's team.
Speaker C:So how are we going to make sure before we have any players, before we play it in a single game, how are we going to show up in the community?
Speaker C:How are we going to make sure that people know what the tempo is about?
Speaker C:You know, launching merchandise and things like that also helps with the brand recognition.
Speaker C:So those were some of the other big pieces.
Speaker C:And then Monica has been really focused on building out her team.
Speaker C:So everybody has, I guess, is like, building out the teams that then support those different pillars of operations that we need to exist as a team.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Amazing.
Speaker C:What's the.
Speaker A:What's been the reaction to.
Speaker A:From Toronto specifically, Like, from people, you know, to finding out that there's a team.
Speaker A:Like, has.
Speaker A:Has Toronto generally been wildly supportive as imagine?
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:I mean, I can just share with you kind of like anecdotally, like.
Speaker C:Yeah, you know, running into people.
Speaker C:First time we saw Tempo merchandise, kind of like in the Wild, and it wasn't somebody like I knew or was attached to the Tempo.
Speaker C:It was pretty cool, you know, being able to announce some of our owners that were joining, you know, Serena and Lily, we just announced Quebec ownership.
Speaker C:Jeff Molson and Franz from group CH from Habs.
Speaker C:Incredible leaders in the space that we can't wait to partner with and truly be Canada's team.
Speaker C:With a Quebec presence.
Speaker C:It's been great.
Speaker C:Really well received within Toronto.
Speaker C:Obviously, we carry the nomenclature of Toronto Tempo, so we're playing our home games here, but great support.
Speaker C:It's Been fun to show up in the community in different ways and be received and see fans.
Speaker C:We're converting ticket holders now, so I have not, I haven't jumped on the phones yet, but I, I will at some point.
Speaker C: o put out a deposit in May of: Speaker C:I shouldn't say finally.
Speaker C:We're reaching out to them now to say, hey, where do you want to sit?
Speaker C:Can't wait for you to be part of it.
Speaker C:So those have been love that.
Speaker C:I know our, our sales team.
Speaker C:Some really fun conversations, for sure.
Speaker A:The super fans get them in early.
Speaker A:That's great.
Speaker A: games coming to Vancouver in: Speaker A:That's kind of one of my favorite things.
Speaker A:But one of them turned to me and said, well, how, Sarah, how does the draft work with a new team?
Speaker A:And I'm like, I actually don't know.
Speaker A:So how does that work?
Speaker A:Like, where do your players come from and how does it, you know, how.
Speaker C:Do you get, you know, please the.
Speaker A:People, for example, who want the Canadian players and then make sure you're also building the best team as well.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we're going to build our team through three different channels for the first season.
Speaker C:So number one is expansion draft.
Speaker C:So that's where we'll be able to pick players that exist on current rosters within the wnba.
Speaker C:And then the next way is through free agency.
Speaker C:So any player that is currently not under contract will have the ability to try to recruit and get to sign with our team.
Speaker C:And then third way is through the college draft.
Speaker C:So that's when you think of a traditional draft.
Speaker C:That's really what a lot of people think about.
Speaker C:So after the college season is done in April, we'll have a chance.
Speaker C:We'll have a pick which is to be determined, but we'll have picks in each of the three rounds to select players to try to make our roster.
Speaker C:And then we'll kick off training camp, you know, the following week.
Speaker C:So those are the three ways we'll be able to get players on our team for the first season.
Speaker C:And ultimately, some of the, some of the specifics around it are not decided.
Speaker C:Like the expansion draft, we don't have a date.
Speaker C:We don't have rules around it.
Speaker C:Both us and Portland will be part of it.
Speaker C:So will expect after the season's done here.
Speaker C:So we're in deep in the W playoffs right now.
Speaker C:So expect after the season's done that we'll get some more insight from the league on how that will run.
Speaker C:And then same with free agency and then college draft.
Speaker C:That data actually might be set.
Speaker C:It's usually the Monday following the final Four and.
Speaker C:And we'll just.
Speaker C:We just don't know what pick will be yet.
Speaker C:So we'll wait to see, you know, where.
Speaker A:Where we.
Speaker C:Where we're slotted for that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And that means what order you get to pick in.
Speaker A:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Interesting.
Speaker A:And so you said, I think one of the categories was that you can actually recruit anyone who's not.
Speaker A:Like I could.
Speaker A:Like someone could talent ID me and.
Speaker A:And be recruited.
Speaker A:Or is that.
Speaker A:Is that just a dream that that's not real?
Speaker C:Well, you'd have to be like a free agent.
Speaker C:So I guess.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:I guess if you wanted to say that, you know, everybody could be a free agent in the wmba.
Speaker C:I'm not sure.
Speaker C:Sarah, do we need.
Speaker C:Do you get some tape out on you?
Speaker C:Like do we need to consider.
Speaker C:I have eligible for the league right now.
Speaker A:I have a.
Speaker A:A joke with my co host because she always says that.
Speaker A:That she's about to be recruited for something.
Speaker A:Any sport that we're talking about, which like, just makes me laugh.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:But like.
Speaker A:So do you have actual recruiters that help talent ID folks for that for selection or is that.
Speaker C:We have scouts.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker C:Our gm assistant GM scouts that are looking at players around the world, college kids, free agents who currently aren't in the wnba, they're playing overseas, playing other places.
Speaker C:So yeah, I would call them recruiters, I would say.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Sorry, I just.
Speaker A:My terminology.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Talent ID folks.
Speaker A:Well, that's great.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:And then this year, this.
Speaker A:Well, the last two years really, we've seen the WNBA just like.
Speaker A:I don't know what you call it.
Speaker A:Hit a huge inflection point.
Speaker A:You know, it's been growing massively.
Speaker A:What are some of the things that you want to emulate from some of the things you're seeing on other teams?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:So the Valkyrie has had an incredible inaugural season this year.
Speaker C:So we'll definitely take some ideas from them.
Speaker C:What's great is they are very open and great partners.
Speaker C:They understand.
Speaker C:I shouldn't say they.
Speaker C:The entire league.
Speaker C:I have a great dialogue with the other 14 team presidents and very supportive.
Speaker C:Everybody understands that we are much stronger together than individual.
Speaker C:Now that doesn't relate to on the court.
Speaker C:Everybody's going to try to win the game.
Speaker C:But I think as we're talking about the business and growing the league and the business, each individual team, there's a lot of synergies and a lot of shared information and shared best practices which really has helped the league become what it is today and will only help it in the future.
Speaker C:So looking at the Valkyries, they did a great job of integrating the community, optimizing monetization opportunities that existed within Chase center and within the community, delivering incredible value to their partners and to their fans.
Speaker C:So different things that we look forward to delivering on as well in our own way.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:And then this is a question I wanted to ask you.
Speaker A:What have been some of the challenges along the way over the last.
Speaker A:You've been almost a year and a half in your role.
Speaker A:What are the biggest challenges for you?
Speaker C:I mean, it's a slew of things.
Speaker C:You mentioned it before.
Speaker C:This is a startup.
Speaker C:I personally had never worked in a startup before, so I'm learning a lot just from that perspective.
Speaker C:You probably could help me out on some of those challenges.
Speaker C:I fill in the gap.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker C:Startup Challenge 1.
Speaker C:Everybody has the same product.
Speaker C:But I, I think what has been incredible is like some of the greatest challenges are some of the biggest opportunities.
Speaker C:Or you could probably say that opp opposite to some of the biggest opportunities are some of the biggest challenges.
Speaker C:So when we talk about being candid team.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's a.
Speaker C:You know, there's nearly 10 million francophone Canadians.
Speaker C:They've never been talked to directly before.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:So there's no WNBA signage, promotions, anything in French.
Speaker C:And that's a huge opportunity for us.
Speaker C:But like that means that everything we make has to also have a French version.
Speaker C:And so we're doing everything twice that, you know, every other team only does once.
Speaker C:But it's a huge opportunity because we want all of Canada B fans and feel like they're part of this team.
Speaker C:It's a startup.
Speaker C:So we have an incredible opportunity to build a tech stack that fits our needs.
Speaker C:We've learned a lot from different organizations that we've worked with, so we have clear ideas of what we want that to look like.
Speaker C:But that also means you have to build it from scratch and there's implementation and there's, you know, you have to trial all these things where a lot of companies, you just start and they have an ERP system and A CRM system set up and all the kinks are worked out.
Speaker C:So it's a huge opportunity because you get to build it the way you want, but that also means you have to actually build it.
Speaker C:So I mean those are just two examples.
Speaker C:But I can go on and on forever.
Speaker C:Every day we find a new barrier, a new challenge, a new hurdle.
Speaker C:I like to think they're all opportunities, but let's be honest, some of them aren't.
Speaker C:Some of them are just headaches.
Speaker C:But I think just the overall kind of thought around startup of everything that's an opportunity is also a challenge, is just kind of like how it's approached.
Speaker A:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker A:It's interesting that you mentioned tech stack because I think that's been all startups.
Speaker A:The thing right now with AI coming in and how we use it and how.
Speaker A:And how we use it in a way that's positive for everyone and yeah, it's, that's a lot.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:And honestly just the hiring, you know, the hiring of people, it takes a lot of time and resources to hire people.
Speaker C:And when you're coming into a startup and you have a.
Speaker C:Not only a game but an entire season to play, you need resources, you need people and that takes time.
Speaker C:So to hire, you know, 55 people in a 12 month span, maybe 16 month span, it's a lot.
Speaker A:It's a lot, yeah.
Speaker A:And to create, to be creating the culture at the same time and getting good communication.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:A startup is flying the plane while you're building it and that's exactly what we're doing.
Speaker A:Great.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:Okay, so for next year tell us, just give us the steps of like when the first game happens, how we can get tickets, stuff like that for our Canadian listeners.
Speaker A:How do we support?
Speaker C:Sure, yeah.
Speaker C:So how do you support?
Speaker C:Number one, follow us on social media.
Speaker C:So Toronto Temple basketball.
Speaker C:Follow the website social channels Sign up for our newsletter so you can sign up on our website.
Speaker C:You'll get updated on all the things that are happening in Temple world including ticket ticket updates.
Speaker C:You can put down a deposit for season seats.
Speaker C:We are converting those right now.
Speaker C:And I'm not gonna lie, like if you sign up today, you might not make the cut.
Speaker C:We'll probably sell out before we get there.
Speaker C:But still put your name on the list because that's also who we're going to go to first for tickets in auto market games.
Speaker C:So Vancouver and Montreal.
Speaker C:So I guess maybe that's.
Speaker C:We have a couple of different lists.
Speaker C:We have the overall deposit list for season seat holders and then we Also have one list for Vancouver and one list for Montreal.
Speaker C:So they'll be the first to know details of opponents and dates for those games and buy a shirt, buy a hat.
Speaker A:And there's some pretty cool ones.
Speaker A:Like, you've got some cool partnerships with some interesting brands.
Speaker C:Yeah, we have great licensees.
Speaker C:Everybody who is making Tempo gear is a league license.
Speaker C:So we had.
Speaker C:We launched with 17.
Speaker C:We'll be coming out with some more.
Speaker C:So when you say like a partner, they're not necessarily partner.
Speaker C:They're not like, you know, Sephora, CIBC are actual brand supporters, sponsors.
Speaker C:Anybody who makes gear for us is a licensee, so they pay the league a certain percentage in order to use our marks.
Speaker C:And we're so happy that so many people want to make our merchandise.
Speaker C:So ultimately we don't even get to see all of it.
Speaker C:Like, we're not designing all of them.
Speaker C:A lot of those, those licensees go and use our marks in the way that they want to, you know, grow and create something really cool.
Speaker C:So we're excited to see it launch just as.
Speaker C:Just as much as our fans.
Speaker C:And it's fun to see so many different great companies, including Canadian companies.
Speaker C:You know, you have roots.
Speaker C:Potaloo just came out with a new, new line.
Speaker C:Really looks cool.
Speaker C:Give and grow.
Speaker C:There's a candle maker based out of Toronto that has some things.
Speaker C:So it's really fun to see the different types of merchandise that are out there.
Speaker C:And it's only going to grow bigger.
Speaker C:So, yeah, buy a piece of merch and sign up for information and ultimately come see tickets.
Speaker C:Tune into the WNBA finals.
Speaker C:Right now, when we're talking to partners, they're wondering how big is the WNBA fan base in Canada?
Speaker C:And the way to look at the way that they measure it is by these, you know, a couple preseason games, but then also who's watching by league pass.
Speaker A:Right, Right.
Speaker C:It's kind of late now in the season, but signed up for next year.
Speaker C:Tune into all the games and your eyeballs and how you spend your money.
Speaker C:Well, I shouldn't say your eyeballs, but how you spend your time and energy and money speaks volumes.
Speaker C:So spend it on women's basketball and the sponsors that support us.
Speaker C:So go open a CIBC bank account and buy all you.
Speaker C:All your beauty needs at Sephora.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:I. I definitely am in the right algorithm for getting all of the cool merch on Instagram.
Speaker A:Like, once you, you know, once you like one thing, it's.
Speaker A:It shows up.
Speaker A:So that's my shopping tip for anyone who wants to see it linger a little longer.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker C:On.
Speaker C:On those things.
Speaker C:And it keeps coming back.
Speaker C:Ironic.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker C:What a coincidence.
Speaker A: you'd like to add going into: Speaker C:I mean, just be.
Speaker C:Be a microphone for us.
Speaker C:You know, we're going to tell our story loud and clear, but we need all of our fans to also tell it for us to truly optimize this incredible opportunity we have.
Speaker C:We.
Speaker C:We love that we can be Canada's team and we have that opportunity.
Speaker C:So tell your friends, tell your family.
Speaker C:Just because you might not be able to come to a game doesn't mean that your fandom isn't impactful and the team can't feel it.
Speaker C:So like I said, it's your time, energy, and money.
Speaker C:And we feel it every, Every time that you.
Speaker C:You tune in, every time that you spend your hard earned dollars on a T shirt or a hat.
Speaker C:And more than anything, we feel it when you talk about us.
Speaker C:So water cooler talk.
Speaker C:Talk about the playoffs, talk about our new head coach that we'll have coming up about our GM and the incredible players that we'll have and, and tell their stories to all your friends and family.
Speaker A:Amazing.
Speaker A:Well, Teresa, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker A:And I can't wait until.
Speaker A:Until the season launches.
Speaker C:Oh, I can't wait either.
Speaker C:Thanks for having me.
Speaker B:Okay, Sarah, it cracked me up that you were, like, trying to explain to her, like, but do you have recruiters?
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker B:And she's literally like, what do you.
Speaker B:And then finally she's like, we have scouts.
Speaker B:Of course we have scouts.
Speaker B:Professional sports have scouts.
Speaker B:Sarah, the fuck are you talking about?
Speaker A:We laughed about that after because I was like, yeah, I was like, sorry, I was using the wrong language.
Speaker A:I feel like for our podcast listeners, we have, like, we.
Speaker A:We could talk about, like, the, I don't know, the nitty gritty about the aerodynamics of a cycling wheel.
Speaker A:And like, totally, like, like, we talked about, like, bore the crap out of people with that.
Speaker A:And then on the flip side, like, I don't even know the word scouts when it comes to recruiters.
Speaker A:Recruiters.
Speaker A:And she was like, what?
Speaker A:You should have seen her face.
Speaker A:If you're not.
Speaker A:If you're not watching on YouTube, you don't get to see her.
Speaker A:Her, like, genuine, like, pause.
Speaker A:Confusion.
Speaker A:Like, what is this woman talking about?
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, but she figured.
Speaker A:She eventually figured out what I was trying to say.
Speaker B:No, they have had quite.
Speaker B:I was about to say an accelerated timeline, but I don't know if that's totally true, but it is, it is moving quickly here from.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:There's some talk about getting a team to.
Speaker B:You have the team to.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Be ready to go.
Speaker A:Because I was looking at some of the timelines and like, you know, because next year it's a.
Speaker A:Like the tempo is launching and it's only been.
Speaker A:It'll be like a two and a half year timeline from when they.
Speaker A: e of them's launching in like: Speaker A:Like that's a.
Speaker A:That's just like a different timeline than she's working with.
Speaker A:But like.
Speaker A:Well, go ahead.
Speaker B:Well, I was gonna say, I mean the Valkyries were also two year timeline.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Which is why they got preempted by a tennis tournament scheduled at their stadium.
Speaker B:And I think this is part of like, oh shit.
Speaker B:It's a moment like we need to capture like capitalize on this.
Speaker B:Let's.
Speaker B:How quickly can we get teams out the door, Sarah?
Speaker A:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:Now.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Hire people.
Speaker A:Go for it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I have to say, like, I was very impressed.
Speaker A:I've talked to Teresa once before, but I was like very impressed by her.
Speaker A:She's obviously like an opera comes from operations and with the Raptors.
Speaker A:So I feel like she's like just the right person to like get everything organized at the shit down and get this team out there.
Speaker B:You should have asked her, did you watch the Netflix show with Kate Hudson about running?
Speaker B:Did she learn.
Speaker A:And what did she learn from Kate Hudson?
Speaker A:I feel like already after the recruiters stumble, I just, I feel like another, like another strange out of left field question was maybe.
Speaker A:Maybe just keep that one for the next interview.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Do you feel obviously, I mean, obviously women's sports in general, they're very into.
Speaker B:And we talked about this with the Valkyries because they were the newest.
Speaker B:Very into this whole like identity thing and like branding and how we are going to market ourselves.
Speaker B:So do you feel like this is Canada's team?
Speaker B:Yeah, that is the identity.
Speaker B:They're.
Speaker B:They're.
Speaker A:I think they did a really good job when they came.
Speaker A:I started to feel it in Vancouver because they came to Vancouver to announce that they were doing two games in Vancouver next year during regular season play.
Speaker A:And they're doing.
Speaker A:And she said also they're doing a game or two.
Speaker A:I forget in.
Speaker A:In Montreal.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So I feel like by doing those.
Speaker C:Things they're doing a good Job of.
Speaker A:Like, that's what I felt it when we're in Vancouver and we have this team coming to Canada and it's the first WNBA team out of the outside of the US and you know, then we, and then I was like, oh, yeah, great, I'm behind this.
Speaker A:I'm.
Speaker A:I'm going to be flying to Toronto for this.
Speaker A:Or I don't even have to now because they're bringing me to game.
Speaker A:Me personally.
Speaker A:Two games.
Speaker B:Is it what I mean?
Speaker B:I guess.
Speaker B:And I don't know the answer to this.
Speaker B:Maybe we should find out is what is the broadcast deal in Canada for TV for W. Absolutely no idea.
Speaker A:I should have asked her.
Speaker B:Yeah, but they should because obviously that's a big deal.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because as we talked about, like the whole.
Speaker B:And I don't believe the saying that you can't be what you can't see because if that was true, nothing new would ever happen.
Speaker B:But it is much harder.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's much harder.
Speaker A:And there's a limited number of people who are able to do that.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:But that is how you build fans.
Speaker B:And that is why it's always like a really big deal when it's on, like actual tv, not on some streaming service that you have to like look.
Speaker A:Up and, and like decide if you're going to pay for.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:If you're paying for it for the duration of the season or if you're just trying it out.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:All of that.
Speaker B:So I will be curious what they do because again, like, yeah, you said there's never been a team there.
Speaker B:So I don't know even if like the WNBA media deal covers that.
Speaker B:Obviously one of the big things right now with like, what happens next WNBA is the CBA negotiations right now.
Speaker B:There's so many expansion teams in the next five years.
Speaker B:The cba, sorry, collective bargaining agreement is up for negotiations right now.
Speaker B:The players opted out and are negotiating it.
Speaker B:And I feel like the vibe has been that they are not making progress.
Speaker A:I just heard anything.
Speaker B:I heard they are not making progress.
Speaker A:Oh, okay.
Speaker B:On reaching an agreement because what the.
Speaker B:As we talked about before, what the players want is a bigger share of revenue.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like all most other professional sports get somewhere around 50.
Speaker B:Players get somewhere around 50%.
Speaker A:Well, and notably the NBA players get 50%.
Speaker B:But it's not like NBA's.
Speaker B:It's not like, oh, that's much more than NFL or NHL or like, that is standard.
Speaker B:And WNBA gets like slightly less than 10% of revenues.
Speaker B:So what they want isn't.
Speaker B:So people always like, oh, well, they don't earn as much yet or make as much as the men, which is sort of like a red herring argument, because what they're arguing for is a share of revenue.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Especially as revenue is increasing.
Speaker B:What I think is really interesting is that the players association has also talked a lot about wanting a deal that has some kind of equity stake.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, they want.
Speaker B:And they want to be involved in those media broadcast negotiations.
Speaker B:Like, more so I think, than male players.
Speaker B:Traditionally, the female players are like, we have ideas.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And we want to say in how this is shaped.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I like.
Speaker A:I mean, scale them into the growth.
Speaker A:Like, great.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think that sounds great.
Speaker B:I also think.
Speaker B:And I mean, again, like, you and I have talked about this a lot, but there is also this amount where, like, women's female athletes come generally from a place of, like, they've had to fight a long time for what they.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So they have ideas about how they would like to see it grow and what they want to see, what they.
Speaker A:Want their league to look like.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So I think they also want a say.
Speaker B:And you're seeing that now with like.
Speaker B:Like Nafisa Kali, who is the players association rep, and she also went and is one of the founders of Unrivaled.
Speaker B:So they basically were like, hey, look, I think I can do this.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think we can make our own thing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And they've proven that.
Speaker B:Like, they can.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Like, what.
Speaker A:What's it.
Speaker C:What.
Speaker A:My unanswered question.
Speaker A:Ongoing unanswered question about this is, like, what was different?
Speaker A:Like, when the NBA first negotiated, when they were at the stage of growth that the WNBA is at right now, and they negotiated their 50% like.
Speaker A:Or the other leagues, like you said, like, what is different about the men's leagues?
Speaker A:How are they spending money differently that they were able to have 50 going to the players?
Speaker A:Or how did that.
Speaker A:You know, how did that all work versus, like, why it wouldn't work now?
Speaker A:Or is it just that the.
Speaker A:Like, there's the.
Speaker A:A lot of the money's already accounted for, so they're just.
Speaker A:So the WNBA is like, okay, but then how are we going to pay our bills?
Speaker A:You know, like, how.
Speaker A:I don't really know what's different about what's different, or it's, like, more expensive now, which is kind of true across the board for everything.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:I mean, I think.
Speaker B:I think there's two things there.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:One is like, absolutely.
Speaker B:Like, you and I are always, like, history.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:When the men were at this point, it was A completely different point in history.
Speaker B:And one by a.
Speaker B:What's the word?
Speaker B:In today's dollars, we were talking about different amounts of money and sports worlds of view.
Speaker B:Different.
Speaker B:Like, it was just.
Speaker B:Like, it was just a different.
Speaker B:Like, they weren't as big yet, and then it was like, sure.
Speaker B:And there were a few huge names when the ABA merged with the NBA.
Speaker B:And so you wanted to keep those huge names and win them over, like Kareem.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And so you're willing to pay them.
Speaker B:What at that time seemed crazy, but now doesn't seem crazy, because in today's dollars, that would not be great.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker B:And then that got kind of grandfathered in.
Speaker B:And then it's grandfathered in, and then you have this whole built in, like, well, that's just how we do it.
Speaker B:That's just how we do it.
Speaker B:People underestimate that.
Speaker B:That's just how we do it.
Speaker A:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker A:I do not.
Speaker B:And then there's.
Speaker B:And then to the accounting question, I was reading because I went deep.
Speaker B:I went like, a little deep on the whole CBA negotiations a while ago, and people who know way more than me have said there's like, 10 different ways you could do accounting for a professional basketball team.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And all would be legal.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, sure.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:That'd be the.
Speaker B:So you could say.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker B:But my point is, like, a lot of these teams, they're technically, like, could you say, like, oh, they're renting the space because the team also owns the stadium, but then they're renting it back, and so that's a cost.
Speaker B:Or you could say it's not.
Speaker B:Like, it just depends on how you view it.
Speaker A:Totally.
Speaker B:And so I think when they want to.
Speaker B:Oh, the WNBA doesn't make money.
Speaker B:They're losing money.
Speaker B:We have to subsidize them.
Speaker B:That's why we can't afford to pay the players more.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, yeah, I kind of get that.
Speaker A:I just like the details of.
Speaker A:Of, you know, how that, like, what has to be given up by the WNBA to pay the players the 50% or, like, do they need to have.
Speaker A:What growth factor do they need in order to be able to afford that?
Speaker A:Still do what they're doing.
Speaker B:Here's the question to me, Right.
Speaker B:This is my question.
Speaker B:My question is, as they make more money and players make more.
Speaker B:And we, like, upscale.
Speaker B:And ticket prices go up.
Speaker B:Do you keep the fan base?
Speaker B:Because so much.
Speaker B:And I think you and I have also seen this in, like, our small universes.
Speaker B:So much of women's sports fans Are also like, kind of like tend to be quite progressive.
Speaker B:My mom is like anti capitalist everything.
Speaker B:Like, she wanted to buy WNBA merch, but she didn't want to support like the capitalist system, which is like, mom, I feel like you're missing the.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But I feel like that is a thing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I heard.
Speaker B:And then the Liberty and New York Liberties, their take, their season ticket prices like tripled or something next year because they're very, very popular.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And then you had all these fans being like, why are you pricing us out?
Speaker B:We've been here all along.
Speaker B:And so.
Speaker B:And a lot of fan base for these fans is built on the like, they seem very genuine.
Speaker B:They're real people.
Speaker B:They fly commercial.
Speaker B:Like me.
Speaker B:Like there's.
Speaker B:I mean, college sports is going to go through.
Speaker B:Is going through this exact same kind of.
Speaker B:So if you lose that whole, like a huge part of your audience feels connected because of your progressive values, because of this.
Speaker B:Because of this.
Speaker B:How do you keep that?
Speaker A:It's at that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean you ultimately do.
Speaker A:I mean, this is the exact same thing the entire Olympic movement went through when they lost amateurism.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Or like every sport goes through this, that kind of.
Speaker A:What do you call it?
Speaker A:Like that progression.
Speaker A:So I mean, they'll make it through.
Speaker A:People will buy the tickets.
Speaker B:Oh, for the.
Speaker B:Yeah, they will.
Speaker B:For college sports.
Speaker B:No, I think college sports are going to implode, but that's a different topic.
Speaker A:For a different day.
Speaker A:Will college sports implode because you don't.
Speaker B:Want to pay to watch semi professional football?
Speaker B:Like what is that?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Any.
Speaker B:Anything else at the wnb?
Speaker B:Oh, the playoffs are happening right now.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh my God, Sarah.
Speaker B:There's actually been so many upsets now.
Speaker B:I mean, not so many, but the links who were number one going in got outed and it was wild.
Speaker B:The like the coach got ejected, got banned from the like last game.
Speaker A:Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Forgot about that for a second.
Speaker A:There's so much going on.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And well, okay, so the coach, Cheryl Reeves, she was ejected for like just going at the ref.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, this is terrible.
Speaker B:Like it.
Speaker B:And then she was suspended for like a whole tirade post game, like in front of a mic about these things.
Speaker A:That's what I saw on Social.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So like in review the play that she was really upset about, like actually may have been called just fine.
Speaker B:But there is an overall concern about officiating in wnba.
Speaker B:Like at first, I will say at first, when people.
Speaker B:I was hearing complaints about officiating like a year ago or you know, earlier this season I was like, guys, like, everybody always complains about the officials, whatever, but it sounds like from former players, too, who.
Speaker B:So they're not invested.
Speaker B:Like, they're not literally in the.
Speaker B:You know, because players in the league are always going to think they're getting shafted.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But even former players are like, no.
Speaker B:1.
Speaker B:It has gotten, like, they are allowing way more physical play now.
Speaker B:Like, they're just.
Speaker B:The refs are just, like, looking the other way.
Speaker B:And the officiating, it's not that it's bad.
Speaker B:It's that it's inconsistent, so they're not, like, sure what it's going to be enforced.
Speaker B:And then when you look into sounds, it seems that there's a lot of turnover.
Speaker B:Like, a lot of the best WNBA refs leave for the NBA, but it doesn't go the other direction.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because they're making more money in the NBA or it's like, more prestigious or, you know, whatever.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:That is a problem.
Speaker B:It is a problem.
Speaker B:And so it's not even.
Speaker B:It's like, if we're all going to agree, you know, X thing is a legal play, and we're just going to accept it's more physical, like, one thing.
Speaker B:But I think what's, like, really, like, frustrating people is the not knowing.
Speaker A:Right, Right.
Speaker A:Oh, gray zone.
Speaker A:It's no good.
Speaker A:Can't have gray zone in sports.
Speaker B:I will also say, I think.
Speaker B:And this is probably, again, women.
Speaker B:Women's sports has, like, a weird space here.
Speaker B:I think the players and the coaches should be able to say whatever they want to say about the refs.
Speaker B:Like, you should not get fined for your post on Twitter about how the referee, like, the officiating sucked.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:That's not under the purview of, like, your employer can't tell you what to say.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yes, I think that's right.
Speaker B:But they are getting fined.
Speaker A:But they're, like, tiny, right?
Speaker B:Yeah, they're like 400.
Speaker B:But I still think it's.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think it's too.
Speaker A:I agree.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:I agree.
Speaker B:Noted.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Kelly.
Speaker A:I went.
Speaker A:I was, like, searching for, like, fun facts from WNBA history, which, like, if anybody out there wants to make a net, I think there's probably some really amazing stories about the, like, the growth and the development of the wnba.
Speaker A:I think it's time to start telling those stories.
Speaker A:So, you know, filmmakers, writers, let's do it.
Speaker A:I'm sure they're in the works, too.
Speaker A: rson to think of this, but in: Speaker A:The entire league was valued at 450 million three years ago.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:And now you have the Valkyries, a brand new team that are valued at 500.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:That if you think about that growth.
Speaker A:That's wild.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker B:And also, I actually immediately am like, oh, man, I don't know that the league and the president were prepared.
Speaker B:Like, that is a different job.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:To suddenly have that kind of growth.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:I mean, valuation and revenue are two different things, of course, but that's.
Speaker A:That's just insane.
Speaker A:450 million, the entire league.
Speaker A:Like, imagine you got in then.
Speaker B:Is that what you're really.
Speaker B:You're like, oh, man, if we just invested.
Speaker A:If only I'd invested my.
Speaker A:Not.
Speaker B:Except that it's actually owned by the NBA owners, so they're just.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:They're making bank, so.
Speaker B:All right, Sarah, to wrap up our Canadian.
Speaker B:Our Canadian episode.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:What are your feisty picks of the week?
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I'm picking Magdalene Valliere as our first Canadian champion.
Speaker A:We already talked about her, so to.
Speaker A:You know.
Speaker A:But our first Canadian road cycling champion.
Speaker A:She's my pick for this week.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Just.
Speaker B:Just because we got to go all Canada.
Speaker A:We do.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:There's.
Speaker A:This is a.
Speaker A:It has to be bookended at least Canada.
Speaker A:Start with rugby and recycling.
Speaker A:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:I pick.
Speaker B:I was picking Aana Bonmati, the Spanish soccer player, because she just won her third.
Speaker B:Third Ballon d', or, which is the big award in soccer, and she's the first woman to win three of them.
Speaker B:There's only two guys who have, like, Messi, and I can't remember the other guy's name.
Speaker B:So that's a really big deal.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:She is not just.
Speaker B:I feel like most people know her as the woman who, like, brought the suit against the Spanish federation president for the unwanted kissing.
Speaker B:She is actually so much more than that.
Speaker A:Oh, she.
Speaker A:But that's the same person.
Speaker B:Same person.
Speaker A:Oh, wow.
Speaker C:And she.
Speaker A:Oh, and she won the.
Speaker A:Okay, if.
Speaker A:If we didn't.
Speaker A:If I didn't have the run list right in front of me and you had just said Ballon d', or, I would have had no idea what you said.
Speaker A:But it's actually French for the golden ball, which makes sense.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:But I can say it like that because a lot of English people pronounce it just like that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And it is a famous award.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:In soccer.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:She's won a lot.
Speaker B:She actually has a huge long list.
Speaker B:Like, she's won a ton of champions leagues and World cup.
Speaker B:Like.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But yeah, so she's the first woman to win three Ballon d'.
Speaker B:Ors.
Speaker C:Amazing.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:All right, next week, we will have an episode from the Big island at the Ironman World Championships.
Speaker B:Week after that, well, it's also the Red Bull Rampage, so we may hear from one of those writers, too.
Speaker B:And if you like what you hear, I'm, like, pointing.
Speaker B:I'm like, read it.
Speaker B:Subscribe.
Speaker A:Listen at Feisty at Feisty Co.
Speaker B:Yes, our new website.
Speaker B:Perfect.
