- 6 minutes ago
Willard and Dibs continue to react to the Valkyries parade and discuss how historic the season was for the Valks.
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00:00You get to this day and you're like, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute,
00:04wait a minute, that actually, that actually happened.
00:07Year two, Golden State Valkyries, champions, all kinds of, and I've seen this, and I think, you know, this is
00:16an open arms situation.
00:19All kinds of new sports fans, new...
00:23Sports talk callers.
00:24Sure, sure, new listeners to the station, new, you know, new people to Chase Center.
00:31There's a whole kind of movement that took place here, and I think sometimes people are a little uncomfortable talking
00:38about it because it's like we're not supposed to, you know, we're not supposed to acknowledge each other's differences.
00:44I sort of lean the other way on that.
00:47Like, it is just, like I said, it's an open arms situation.
00:50I think it's the coolest thing.
00:52We don't need to hide from the idea that this was inspirational to, I'm going to say young ladies, but
01:01I think ladies of all ages.
01:02Right.
01:03And then the gender lines don't need to stop there, and it's just, it's a different, it's why we've talked
01:10so much about being a different sound and a different feel and a different look over at Chase Center.
01:16That doesn't need to be a comparison and contrast thing.
01:19I think that needs to be a celebration thing, if you ask me.
01:23Yeah, and I think that, you know, certain populations feel disenfranchised based on society and judgments and all the rest
01:29of it.
01:29And sports probably has not always done the best job to include people.
01:34And the Giants have been phenomenal going back to the, until there's a cure day, the first team to have
01:40an AIDS benefit day at the ballpark.
01:42So we here in the Bay Area are more inclusive than most any other part of this great country.
01:48But until you get a WNBA team, you don't have that same sort of association that many people in our
01:55population do have now.
01:56Erica in the city at 888-957-9570.
02:01Hi, Erica.
02:02Welcome to the show.
02:04Hi.
02:04Thanks for bringing me in.
02:06Shout out Rob Beck.
02:07Rest in peace for the AIDS Day at the Giants.
02:10Amen to that.
02:11Shooter.
02:12Yeah.
02:13Lifelong sports fan.
02:15And the Valkyries hit different for me.
02:18It just became very personal.
02:20It became very inclusive.
02:21And what I hope today was, besides the perfect weather that we got for a parade, was for the women
02:29of this team to know how much they are loved.
02:32Because that's what they give us, and that's what I want us to give them.
02:37You know, Erica, this is an awesome point.
02:40I'm really glad you called, and don't hang up yet.
02:42I'd love your response to this, because maybe you, especially as a woman, could speak to this better than Dibs
02:48or I could.
02:50But, obviously, the WNBA, with a machete for years now, has been hacking through, whether it's sexism or just the
03:01old boy sort of network of sports,
03:03and trying to arrive at, whether it's equal pay, and I know we're not at equal pay, but better pay,
03:10and more eyeballs, more ears, more attention, all of these things.
03:14They're really starting to, obviously, win the battle, with a long way still to go.
03:20But there's a relationship there that sometimes I feel like is a little bit fractured still, to where, you know,
03:30the WNBA, like you said, you want the ladies to know how loved they are.
03:34I still feel like sometimes everybody with the Valks and the W have their guard up, for obvious reasons.
03:41I would love to see that relationship start to warm, I guess for lack of a better way to say
03:49it.
03:49What say you?
03:52I couldn't agree more.
03:53I work in a male-dominated environment, and so I guess for me it was a bit of a relief,
03:59and it kind of feels very similar.
04:01I see the comments online, like, oh, there was a championship, and, you know, all that negativity,
04:06and I just hope that we cut through it in that way.
04:10I love the band of women who did this as one.
04:15I think that should be a lesson to the whole NBA.
04:19I love having the confidence to have this sport in an arena that sells out for men's games, the MNBA,
04:27if you will,
04:27that they chose this arena and just took a chance on selling it out, and that it did.
04:33I was there for night one, and it was like a fire that got lit, and as people slowly got
04:41exposed to the fire,
04:43they just couldn't help it.
04:44And shout out to the girl dads, because they are bringing their daughters into the game,
04:52and I think it's catching fire for them in a way that maybe they didn't quite realize.
04:56Talking to a couple of them right here.
04:58Yep, yep.
04:58And you're talking to one who has brought his daughter to a Valkyries game and now has Valkyries gear,
05:04and she's all in.
05:06Erica, thank you very much.
05:07I guess the quicker way for me to sort of give a synopsis of what I was just trying to
05:13say to Erica,
05:13Erica, I hope that the Valkyries as an organization feel like the mainstream sports media and the mainstream sports fan
05:26is a safe space.
05:28And I don't know the answer to that.
05:31There's no way for me to know the answer to that.
05:34But there's no doubt in what I'm talking about in that this has been such a long road that there
05:41is not sort of that inherent trust,
05:43I think, between the W and its players and then what's going on outside in the world of fandom and
05:51media.
05:52Well, and it takes time, and we've gotten to a spot now 30 years in where the ratings are as
05:57high as ever.
05:58I think that was the fourth highest rated game ever in the WNBA, Game 7.
06:02And I can't help but think about the best comp in my mind for what's going on,
06:08and it's the 1999 Women's World Cup final when it was the U.S. taking on China.
06:14China.
06:15Only two more years of that.
06:16Down at the Rose Bowl, 90,000 fans, biggest crowd for a women's sporting event ever.
06:23Tickets were being scalped for $4,000.
06:26And that game, beyond the Brandi Chastain celebration moment,
06:30that game became a phenomenon that has carried forward today where when the Women's World Cup comes back around,
06:37a lot more people watch it because you realize it's high-level soccer, it's entertaining, it's good, it's competitive, and
06:43all the rest of it.
06:43And I think the WNBA is not on the precipice of that because Caitlin Clark, I think, kind of broke
06:49the mold in terms of popularity.
06:51But this championship here certainly did it for the local audience.
06:54Yeah, no, it's, I mean, my God, around here, it is, it has hit the right spot, obviously.
07:01But even in Atlanta where all year they're playing in a 4,000-seat, you know, shoebox, and then you
07:06make the finals,
07:07it's like, we need to move this.
07:08In the matinee game, that thing sold out in like an hour and a half.
07:11It's great that it sold out, but it's still, it's still completely unfortunate that it happened.
07:16Right, well, next year they're moving to the big building and they had planned that anyway.
07:20I understand that, but there was plenty of time for it to not go the way that it did.
07:26And so that's the way I look at it.
07:29Sure, is there a long way still to go for fans and mainstream media, you know,
07:34to sort of accept the WNBA as an equal professional sports league?
07:41Yes, is there also a long way to go with the WNBA helping itself?
07:47My opinion, yes.
07:49Better leadership, better officiating.
07:52Well, and hopefully then the new commissioner will be better leadership.
07:56Yes, like, good Lord, like, do yourselves a favor.
07:59Start there.
08:00And then you can worry about the sexism out in the world that obviously isn't a bear to tackle.
08:06But anyway.
08:08The problem is getting more buttoned up, I think.
08:10But there's still strides yet to go.
08:12No doubt.
08:13Paul in Valhalla.
08:15What up, Paul?
08:18Hey, Valkyrie!
08:20I want to hear you scream!
08:23I'm dripping sweat right now.
08:25I just got back to work, even though I'm obviously done working for the day, from the parade.
08:31They had the fun float with Tip and Kyla and KT on it.
08:37They did extra laps, so they said, no, we're not ready to be done.
08:40They started spinning around extra laps.
08:43Kyla was shaking it.
08:45Tip let me throw her a buzz ball.
08:46I choked the throw.
08:50I missed it.
08:52Good sport.
08:53She was a good sport.
08:54She said, come on, man, in that accent with the southern drawl.
08:57She let me try again.
08:58I got it to her.
08:59She took one sip and she threw it off the float.
09:02She said, that's nasty.
09:04I've been going season tickets since the first game.
09:08I called off for Stiney and Goo tickets earlier in the year.
09:10They said, what section?
09:12No way.
09:13But it's special in there.
09:15It's goosebumps.
09:16I'm sorry I'm stealing the mic, but it's like a circle of acceptance.
09:20Like you guys were saying, it's more than just, oh, we got to prop up women's sports.
09:24It's really special in there.
09:26I've been a delusional Warriors fan my whole life, and this is just different.
09:32This is a new situation.
09:34We didn't get the playoff package, so we were dotting around,
09:37going around different areas during the playoffs.
09:39Every single person we talk to is so welcoming.
09:43I work in schools all over the city.
09:45Kids are in purple.
09:46Kids are asking me what the score is during the game last week.
09:50I got chills thinking about this.
09:51I love you guys.
09:53It's been so much fun, and I'm happy to hear them get in the coverage they deserve.
09:57Go Vats, baby.
09:58Paul Holla!
10:01That's Paul Holla.
10:03That's a four.
10:04Yeah, I would like to call him.
10:06with the energy still turned all the way up,
10:09even though the brain's been over for 45 minutes.
10:11My wife's a middle school PE teacher, and the game six matinee,
10:16there was no doubt that that was going to be the PE for the day.
10:20So they rolled out the screen, and all three classes, two of the teachers,
10:24shout out Jerry and Sakai, and probably not quite listed on the way home yet,
10:27but it's like, this is what we're doing.
10:29And even though it wasn't that fun of a watch,
10:32that's kind of where the vibes are in terms of this team
10:34and the product of the moment.
10:36Yeah, it's different, and I think in some really kind of cool ways.
10:41This text just came in, 650, we see you, appreciate your engagement.
10:46It's kind of a fun thought.
10:48On the WNBA level, this texter says,
10:51the Golden State Valkyries need to be like the Yankees
10:54or the Dodgers of the WNBA.
10:56This market can carry the WNBA until the whole league really takes off.
11:03Now, everybody's going to have a different definition as to what that means,
11:07really takes off.
11:08I think some people think it already has really taken off.
11:11Obviously, if you had had this conversation three years ago,
11:14what has happened constitutes really taking off.
11:18There will always be more mountains to climb.
11:21That never ends.
11:22That's a never-ending story.
11:23The NFL is still trying to conquer every country in the globe.
11:27So there's always growth to be had, but salaries are up, ratings are up,
11:34attention is up, and can the Golden State Valkyries,
11:37and what a conversation to have in year two,
11:41not just be a successful franchise,
11:43can they be the flagship franchise for all of the WNBA?
11:47Are they all ready?
11:49In this moment, yes, but you can look at, you know,
11:51the Las Vegas Aces, who I think have now won three of the last five,
11:55and the LA Sparks and the New York Liberty, they're the OG franchises.
11:59But right now, when you win the chip and you lead the league in attendance,
12:03you certainly can lay claim to that.
12:05More expansion is coming, so you hope that,
12:08not that the product will get watered down,
12:09but you hope that these fan bases will support, not at this level,
12:13but I'm just looking at attendance, Mark,
12:15and New York averaged 16,500, the Valks were at 18, the Fever 16, Portland 14,
12:22the Sparks 13, the Lynx 12, a lot of supported markets,
12:26but Washington was at 4,400, Atlanta was at 6,900,
12:30but that will go up with the new building,
12:32and so I just hope that as the league continues to expand,
12:36they also help some of these other teams just get to their fan base
12:39and help them grow.
12:40Well, and I wonder, you know, the way that it's packaged,
12:43the way that it's marketed,
12:45Stiney was talking about this earlier today,
12:47where the WNBA is doing exactly what David Stern did
12:50when he sort of adjusted the marketing ideas behind the NBA
12:54to market individuals rather than teams.
12:56It's an interesting way of going about it,
12:58because, you know, even as recently as earlier this week,
13:03you had the person who is the face of the WNBA,
13:07the biggest name in the WNBA, Caitlin Clark,
13:12is openly sort of like Google-eyeing the Valkyries,
13:17where he's like, you know, she said,
13:20she goes, when Joe Lacob first did that,
13:22like, we're going to win in the first five years,
13:24I thought to myself, man, that's awesome.
13:27Love seeing that kind of thing.
13:29And then they did it, and that's awesome.
13:31And then it occurred to me, but I'm not on that team,
13:34so that's not awesome.
13:35Like, they just showed up two years ago,
13:38right when Caitlin Clark showed up in the league,
13:41and they're already out here achieving that,
13:43and I'm not, and my team is not.
13:46So, I don't know.
13:48Do you want to market more the Caitlin Clarks
13:51and the Angel Reeses,
13:52or do you want to market the Valkyries?
13:55I think I know the answer to that question
13:57and to what's more recognizable,
13:58but how does that evolve in the years to come,
14:01and can you marry those things?
14:03Yeah, you have to, and I just was thinking
14:05when Stiney said it and the way you just laid it out,
14:07it feels to me like it's much more
14:09of a male-directed marketing plan
14:11where it's the stars.
14:13Don't miss Asia Wilson, take on Caitlin Clark.
14:16If you're a male or even a female casual,
14:19you hear that and you go, I know those two names,
14:20maybe I'll check it out.
14:22As opposed to, you know,
14:23when you've got Portland taking on Atlanta
14:26and you don't know anybody on those teams,
14:28it's a little bit harder, I think,
14:29to get that same traction.
14:30So you probably have to find a way to do both.
14:33You market the teams, the brands in this case,
14:36but also the individuals.