Power Plays

This edition of Power Plays is sponsored by the Working Families Party, a progressive political party in the United States that bills itself as “the party of the multiracial working class, fighting for our freedoms and to build a nation that cares for all of us.” WFP has teamed up with Women’s Sports Rally to launch a fan petition urging the WNBA to pay players what they are owed. “Now, it’s time for the WNBA to meet this moment,” the petition reads.

There have been so many huge news stories in women’s sports over the past few days, and I promise I will get to them all.

The biggest compliment I can give the WNBA Finals between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty, which ended nine days ago in overtime of Game 5 with the Liberty winning its first championship in franchise history, is that while watching the series, I became so enamored by the on-court drama that I temporarily forgot the stakes.

Hi, friends. First off, I’m sorry things have been a bit slow on my end. I’ll fill you in on why very soon. It’s all good things! This week we’ll be playing catch-up — expect daily newsletters, at least for paid subscribers, through the weekend! Today’s we take a look back through the archives, after a couple of announcements! This Friday night, October 4, I have the great honor of hosting an event with Melissa Ludtke at Scuppernong Books in downtown Greensboro.

Hi, friends. Women’s sports are, as you know, booming. The product is ready. The players are ready. The passion is growing by the minute. The leaders? Well, time and time again, they come up short by enabling a culture where the abuse of athletes is tolerated, even celebrated, and diehard fans are mistreated and left behind. This toxicity, exploitation, and incompetence is often justified by pointing to similar environments and norms men’s sports.

Happy Paralympics day, Power Plays readers! The Games are officially underway in Paris. Over the next 10 days, 4,400 athletes will compete in 549 events across 22 sports for the sporting immortality of gold, silver, and bronze. Of those 4,400 athletes, 1,983 are women, meaning women account for 45% of Paralympians this summer.

Hi, friends.Welcome to Power Plays! First off, a plug: Next Tuesday, August 27, I’m going to be hosting a talk at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with the great Julie Kliegman about their book, “Mind Game: An Inside Look at the Mental Health Playbook of Elite Athletes.” I interviewed Julie about this book for Power Plays earlier this year, but to get to talk to them in person in my home state about such an important book???

Hi, friends. How are we all doing??? The Olympics has been incredible, but it’s also turned my brain into mush! Truly the only thing that’s kept me sane is the Power Plays Slack. Have you heard about it? I’m afraid I do not hype it enough. It is a Slack channel just for paid subscribers of Power Plays, where we all congregate to talk watch women’s sports and talk about women’s sports without the toxicity and terribleness that other social media platforms provide.

Before International Women’s Day in March, the IOC sent out a press release about a “monumental achievement” in Paris 2024. “The IOC has distributed quota places equally to female and male athletes – 50:50,” it said. “For the first time in Olympic history, there will be full gender parity on the field of play.” Power Plays is a reader-supported publication. Get 25% off during the Paris Olympics! This was, rightly, touted as a big deal.

Hi! Well, the NWSL has broken for the Olympics, the WNBA is wrapping up its game before All-Star break tonight, information is oozing out about record-setting media rights deals and franchise valuations in women’s sports, and the USWNT plays its first Olympic game in eight days!! We’re going to be pretty Paris-focused here at Power Plays over the next month, and then will really be gearing up for the end of the WNBA and NWSL seasons this fall. Power Plays is a reader-supported publication.