00:00 Speaker A

And it’s not just those local communities really tuning in. I mean, there are so many more eyes on women’s sports, especially the soccer league, and you have a big media deal on the table for 2027. Over the past four years, you had this $240 million deal. Now the WNBA kind of giving you a run for your money, quite literally. Over the next 11 years, they signed a deal for $2.2 billion. What has that meant for you for the negotiating table?

00:43 Speaker B

I think my favorite thing about women’s sports is that we’re all rooting for each other. When the WNBA wins, we’re like, great. That is actually proof of concept that there is demand for women’s sports. And I’m sure you’ve all seen the shirt that says, everyone watches women’s sports.

01:07 Speaker A

Yes.

01:07 Speaker B

It is a thing. People are buying tickets, people are buying merch, and there is a market there for advertisers and there’s a market there for media. and as a result, when any of the women’s sports leagues win, we we all feel like we’re all winning and we’re not really fighting over like our little slice of the pie as defined by women’s sports. We’re thinking of ourselves as like a live sports entertainment property that really intends to hold our own in the marketplace more broadly. And so we were so excited to see how the WNBA did and we have shared ownership with them. So we’re we’re in it together to win.

01:52 Speaker A

Yeah, I’m excited to see those negotiations come to our life. Really quickly, LA 2028 World Cup coming up. What does that mean for the league? What does this moment mean?

02:04 Speaker B

The next five years, as I alluded to earlier, they’re unmissable and unmistakably going to change the world forever. I always say that if in 1999, when Brandi Chastain scored that goal and the US Women’s National Team won the World Cup, if the NWSL existed in its current form, my life would be different. And I get the chills every time I say that.

02:30 Speaker A

I get the chills too, Jessica.

02:31 Speaker B

It’s true because what we have been building and what we’re going to build over the next five years is going to ensure that we’re ready to meet that moment in 2031 when the women’s World Cup is actually here.