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let's bring in our friends of pivot
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Megan rapino and Sue B are legendary
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athletes Olympic Champions and have been
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dubbed by GQ the most beloved power
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couple in sports how many of them there
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are but anyway they're also hosts of the
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new VOX media podcast a touch more
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welcome to the family Megan and Sue hi
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thanks for having us how's it going
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how's the podcasting going we are just
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learning on the Fly it's fun though
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we're like figuring it out yeah all
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right so let me it's let's start with
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that the show was originally launched on
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Instagram during Co explain explain what
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you are doing here with the podcast
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first well yeah it started you know I
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guess one addition of it which was just
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we were in the pandemic stuck in our
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apartment what something we could do
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together that would be fun so we decided
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to go on IG live like every Saturday at
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whatever time 7 o'clock we were drinking
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we were having fun we were talking about
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current events all the things um and
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then fast forward a couple years
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somebody was like hey would you guys
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want to do live shows so they're like
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all right let's try to do that and then
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it kind of morphed into what it is now
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as a podcast which is definitely more
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women's sports spent you know we culture
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politics fashion all the things meet
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women's sports and we're just kind of
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figuring out from there yeah shooting
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from the hip on a lot it's kind of fun
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yeah did you feel like everyone has a
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podcast you have to kind honestly that's
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probably what kept us out of it for so
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long was that everybody has podcast like
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oh we don't want to be that I can't tell
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you how many people will just randomly
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say like oh man does everyone have to
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have a podcast now and now I'm like we
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do too but listen to Ari soe uh you are
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of course a WNBA Legend having played
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with the Seattle Storm for 19 Seasons
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that's an astonishing uh thing but
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though wmba is having a remarkable
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season with record viewership and
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attendance thanks in large part to
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Rookies like Caitlyn Clark and Angel ree
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who's now out um uh for this uh for the
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season after an injury I just love your
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assessment of of what they should be
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doing to build the enthusiasm in mind
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and Megan I'd love you to jump in uh
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because it's Sports how to get people to
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do more Sports the New York Liberty has
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seen 130% year-over-year increase in
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season ticket membership they've raised
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their prices as as have a number of WNBA
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teams um and I also want to mention Sue
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joined the ownership group for the
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Seattle Storm earlier this year why
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don't you start Sue sure um I mean my
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answer to this question is that we
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already did it we already did it the the
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product on the floor has never been
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better it has continued to be kind of
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like the rock of the league throughout
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the the course of my career and then now
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so that part you know check that box I
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think the businesses obviously we get a
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lot of help from the MBA but now each
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individual team's business is being run
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with the future in mind right not just
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how we're going to get by this year so
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things have been the foundation has been
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built for for many many years and now
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what you're seeing is we finally through
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all the work we've done yes in the last
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28 years which is the league existence
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but also more so in the last like four
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or five years now we're at this point
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where the way I like to look at it we
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have crossed this imaginary line of
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celebrity that usually male athletes
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automatically cross the minute they're
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drafted the minute they play for some
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reason the WNBA was held back we know
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those reasons a lot of them end with an
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ism and so now that we've crossed that
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line you're
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seeing that people are looking at us
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differently they're looking at the
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league differently when they get offered
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WNBA tickets you know not just
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celebrities general you know people in
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general but when they get offered now
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it's like oh yeah let me check that out
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where it used to be like eh is it worth
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it so somehow we have crossed that line
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and now that we're on the other side I
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just imagine business is going to
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continue to Boom the only thing that we
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talk about a lot is wanting people
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whether it's corporate partnership um
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networks um you name it they we want
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them to look at our potential we've
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gotten to that point like we've proven
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it we're here we've done the thing we've
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done the thing without your support now
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imagine what it would look like if we
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had your support so people can see our
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potential that's where the business is
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going to take off in another Direction
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so Megan if you could come because I
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think probably the same thing that's
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happening with soccer and other things
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but talk about that invisible line of
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celebrity and what it does like what
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what do you think has happened is it
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because say you your your team did so
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well or people were looking at women's
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sports in general though they don't
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separ they separate out men's sports
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pretty easily I mean I think it's a a
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combination of a lot of things but I
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think just in general the sort of
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changing tied in the the country even I
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mean even through the pandemic obviously
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the wnba's work and getting Reverend
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waro and Senator warno um elected but
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it's also like I honestly feel like the
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people with the money and we normally
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know who those people are ran out of
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excuses or things that they could sort
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of blame on not investing in in women's
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sports and now all of them are like
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flocking you know like it's like Bob
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Iger bought into um you know the team in
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Angel City FC so I feel like it's like
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we can't say that it's not fun anymore
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we can't say that like everyone's gay
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and we don't like that anymore like
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being overtly racist isn't really that
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cool anymore and so I feel like in a lot
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of ways it just kind of like crossed
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this threshold I think social media was
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a big part of that players could get
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their own stories out different ways to
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disseminate media I think that increased
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TV viewership increased you know um
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investment from not only existing
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ownership groups but new ownership
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groups coming in and it's actually like
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okay fine we'll stop discriminating like
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we'll just see how the business goes to
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your point about the you know the sort
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of potential men get invested on
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potential and what they might do
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eventually all the time that's sort of
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the Baseline for women it's like you
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have to do the thing catch lightning in
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the bottle Scott this is more a question
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made for both of you and bring Sue in I
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think it's different leagues or
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different sports as asset classes some
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are increasing in value some are
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decreasing in value outside of the WNBA
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or football where you both are going to
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have a bias what sports as you look
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across the landscape or What leagues do
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you think are increasing the most in
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value and also decreasing the most in
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value I've heard the NFL has an aging
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problem for example or its viewers are
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aging any thoughts on which assets are
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increasing or decreasing I think it's I
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mean I I feel like in male Sports
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honestly the the screw has been turned
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and is being turned to milk every little
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last thing and they're thinking okay can
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we get augmented reality obviously the
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betting has been huge but yeah I mean I
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I think all women's sports is is on the
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up because it's been so underinvested in
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and there's such a um an investment Gap
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there's there's so much room to grow
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across media platforms live platform
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like all of it um I mean the NFL just
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seems to rake in money but I I just have
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to believe at some point like that's
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just going to run out I mean at some
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points like we're it's not going to be
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okay that you know however many
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percentage of the players have brain Dam
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that's just feels like unsustainable
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yeah often times when I think of this
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question not not worded the way you
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worded it I'm I'll look at the NFL the
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NBA whatever it is and I'll be like
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what's going to take this down or what's
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going to decrease this value or what's
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going to change player salary we keep
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waiting and it doesn't happen it do I
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don't think it I actually don't think it
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will I think just to Megan's Point other
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assets are going to grow and reach those
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levels hopefully yeah okay let me change
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the topic we talk a lot on show about
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the negative impact of social media on
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kids and teens but it's an issue for
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athletes as well um you recently talked
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in the podcast about the trolls that
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athletes face Megan said the negativity
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shouldn't be the default but it is um do
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you think the you're you guys are very
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active on social media do you think the
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pros outweigh the cons when it comes to
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athletes on social media and talk a
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little bit about how you use it yourself
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I feel like I use it as a way to express
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myself I'm not really looking to get
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anything like back from it necessarily
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whether it's comments or whatever but
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but you're Megan's unique in that yeah I
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am very unique in that and I was also
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like I came to it a little bit older I
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feel like my brain wasn't like formed
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around it like kids are now I really
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like feel for them it's so like woven
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into the fabric of their upbringing and
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their like social understanding of of
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how to be and it's really difficult um I
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always just suggest athletes like don't
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get in your comments like be in the real
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world like you have people around you
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friends family advisers all the things
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like stay in that world but also I
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understand that sometimes that's like
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impossible to do but it's kind of a
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hellscape in there yeah it's a it's a
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fake place with real consequence and so
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I think you always have to have some
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sort of balance in that and and when you
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whenever you feel as an individual the
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way Megan was wording it whenever you
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feel like that balance is out of whack
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you got to find a way to reenter it um
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because I do think again coming from the
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lens of a of a of a woman's athlete in
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this country um especially a basketball
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player especially with the WNBA it has
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100% helped us grow it has helped
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individuals have Brands it has helped us
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get messages out is it it has helped us
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bring awareness to certain things
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without it I don't know if the league is
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where it is right now so it's hard for
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me to say that it's a bad thing but then
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also it's a cesspool so you have to find
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that balance and that is the the tricky
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part I feel like that's where I'm
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hopeful that every I don't know
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eight-year-old right now is taking they
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have like a it's like Social Studies
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English social media but it's also like
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I find it really frustrating like
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there's and you guys talk about this all
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the time this is well known like the the
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media companies and the internet
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companies have done almost nothing to
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stop what they know is happening and now
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it's like yeah I mean cat's kind of out
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of the back like how do you roll back
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whether it's Bots or trolls or just like
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the the sort of devolving of
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conversation or decorum or Norm or like
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kindness that is now just the norm on
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the internet like the norm is just to
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like whatever kind of Quip you can get
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back whatever kind of like little
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negative thing that someone can type
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whether it's a fan or someone on social
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media whatever it is like that seems the
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default but it's like where's their
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responsibility just so always fascinated
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or I should say I don't understand and
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think it's a bad idea when couples go
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into business together I feel as if it's
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putting all your eggs in one basket
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thanks yeah the eggs were already
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there I guess the question is a lot of
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people do it and it works out really
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well for a lot of people do you have any
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best practices or rules to try and
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maintain the health of the business and
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your personal relationship given that
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you're obviously just so involved with
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each other you know during work hours
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and nonwork hours well we fig yeah we're
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figuring out on the Fly um we talk about
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a lot of our business stuff with our
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couples therapists and uh I'm sure in
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our individual therapy as well I know I
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do it comes up um we have really great
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people that work with us and we're we're
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trying it like who it could go up in
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flames and if it does we're going to
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pull this clip and be like Scott was
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right and it could all just like come
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shattering down but I feel like I don't
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know we're also enjoying it and it's fun
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and we get to talk about something that
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we really love in women's sports which
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is something obviously we both played
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and you know it's such a big part of our
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relationship and we're just we're just
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out here giving it a away yeah I think
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the time management of it all is is
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maybe the most difficult um like when
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are we working when are we not cuz a lot
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of Our Lives is what you're seeing on
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this podcast like this is what we talk
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about in our day-to-day lives so it's at
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times it's like okay when do we shut
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this off when are we just chilling when
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are we because that's the only time for
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me personally I'm just telling you this
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for the first time that's the only time
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me personally where it gets blurry or
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kind of like oh I don't want to talk
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about this right now we just talked
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about it for the last 12 hours yeah but
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then
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simultaneously this is you're what you
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see right now is like this is it this is
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our lives we just happen to have a
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camera and a microphone in front of our
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faves and in front of our faces but then
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at the same time as athletes our whole
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lives have been that so this isn't like
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a new Dynamic anyway uh thank you so
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much Megan rapino and suburb uh if you
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want to hear more expert analysis of the
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business of sports from Megan and Sue
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check out a touch more
