First Episode Features In-Depth Interview with Basketball Legend Lisa Leslie

January 10, 2022 — WNBA icon, Olympian and South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley has joined the podcast lineup for Just Women’s Sports (JWS), the leading multimedia platform exclusively dedicated to women’s sports, with the launch of NETLIFE, presented by Flame Bearers. The 12-episode audio offering is available every Wednesday through the NCAA basketball season, and will feature discussion on hoops, leadership, politics, and pop culture in addition to in-depth interviews with sports luminaries and trailblazers. WNBA legend Lisa Leslie joins Staley for the debut episode.

“We’re really excited to kick off 2022 with the launch of Dawn Staley’s NETLIFE podcast,” said Haley Rosen, Founder and CEO of Just Women’s Sports. “Dawn is an icon in and outside of sports, and we’re excited to work with her to share her voice and perspective.”

“I’m thrilled to be launching NETLIFE with Just Women’s Sports,” said Staley. “This team is incredibly talented and I’m looking forward to working with them to deliver meaningful interviews with individuals who have influenced my life, in hopes of inspiring listeners.”

In NETLIFE’s first episode, Staley and Leslie recount their early days playing basketball together for Team USA. They also discuss Leslie’s experience playing in the inaugural WNBA season, having children as a professional athlete, and how she’s used her platform to impact change

Alexys Feaster serves as Executive Producer of NETLIFE and Ambre Moton is Technical Producer.

JWS Audio Network Expansion

NETLIFE is the fourth offering in a JWS audio lineup focused on discussion and opinion on topics in and around the game. In 2021, JWS posted a +106% increase in composite downloads of its four podcasts dedicated to women’s sports. The industry-leading audio network includes the Just Women’s Sports podcast hosted by USWNT star Kelley O’Hara, which launched at #1 in Sports on Apple podcasts, Snacks, a podcast co-hosted by USWNT stars Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams, which debuted at #5 in Sports on Apple, and is home to Tea with A & Phee, the popular podcast hosted by 2020 WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson and 2019 WNBA Rookie of the Year Napheesa Collier.

MEDIA CONTACT

Rachel Zuckerman, 610-724-5078, [email protected]

About Just Women’s Sports Inc.

Established in 2020, Just Women’s Sports Inc. is the leading multimedia platform exclusively dedicated to women’s sports. Through daily content including podcasts, newsletters, online content and social media, Just Women’s Sports brings you everything you need to see and know in the world of women’s sports. Find Just Women’s Sports online, subscribe to the newsletter, and follow on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.

About Dawn Staley

As a player, Staley brought home three Olympic gold medals and returned from Tokyo this past summer with her fourth as she coached Team USA to its seventh consecutive win. Staley’s storied career began in North Philadelphia, where she grew up, before playing collegiately at the University of Virginia and then professionally in both the ABL and the WNBA. In the WNBA, Staley played for the Charlotte Sting and Houston Comets, making five All Star appearances. In 2015, she was recognized by the WNBA in their ‘Top 15’ list of most influential players in the league’s history.

Her coaching career began at Temple in 2000, while she was still playing in the WNBA. In 2008, she was named the head coach at South Carolina, and in 2017, she led the Gamecocks to the program’s first-ever national championship. Staley’s many accolades include being the first player to earn both the Naismith Player of the Year award and the Naismith Coach of the Year award. As a coach, she has twice been named the National Coach of the Year, in 2014 and 2020. Staley was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.

About Flame Bearers

Flame Bearers celebrates the journeys of unsung female Olympians & Paralympians on their paths to the Games. Flame Bearers spotlights the people, sharing athletes’ often unheard stories and provides a microphone for women who are true masters of resiliency. Through storytelling, Flame Bearers uses sport as a vehicle to discuss issues such as racial justice, disability bias, and pay equity. This podcast addresses hope and the belief that we are not alone by sharing inspiring stories of athletes who have overcome countless obstacles to reach their goals. Listen to Flame Bearers wherever you get your podcasts.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.

For the first time in history, three different WNBA teams have completely sold out of season ticket plans well before the league's May 14th kick-off.

Call it the Caitlin Clark effect, attribute it to this year’s tenacious rookie class, or look to the skyrocketing visibility of veteran players across the board. But no matter the cause, facts are facts: Tickets to the 2024 WNBA season are selling like never before. 

On Monday, the Dallas Wings became the third team to sell out of season ticket memberships in the league’s 27-year history. The announcement from Arlington came shortly after the Atlanta Dream issued their own season ticket sell-out statement, also on Monday, and almost seven weeks after the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces made headlines by becoming the first-ever WNBA team to sell out their season ticket allotment.   

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by espnW (@espnw)

According to the Wings, season ticket memberships will fill nearly 40% of the 6,251 seats inside their home arena, College Park Center. The club also said that their overall ticket revenue has ballooned to the tune of 220% this year, spanning not just season tickets but also a 1,200% increase in single ticket sales. There’s currently a waitlist to become a Dallas season ticket holder, a status that comes with extra incentives like playoff presale access and discounts on additional single-game tickets. 

In Atlanta, season tickets aren't the only thing flying off the shelves. The Dream also announced that they broke their own record for single-game ticket sales during a recent limited presale campaign. Sunday was reportedly their most lucrative day, with five different games totally selling out Gateway Center Arena. Individual tickets for all upcoming matchups will hit the market this Thursday at 8 a.m., while a waitlist for season ticket memberships will open up next Tuesday at 10 a.m.

"Excitement around women's sports, particularly basketball, is at an all-time high and nowhere is that felt more than here in Atlanta," Dream president and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in the team’s statement. "We’ve continued a record-setting growth trajectory over the past three years under new ownership — both on and off the court — and 2024 is shaping up to be our best season yet."

As of Tuesday, season ticket sales revenue for Caitlin Clark’s hotly anticipated Indiana Fever debut haven’t yet been announced by the club. But if these numbers are any indication — not to mention the explosive demand for Fever away games felt by teams around the country — it won’t be long before we see some scale-tipping figures coming out of Indianapolis.

25-year-old American pro golfer Nelly Korda secured her spot in LPGA history on Sunday, notching her fifth-straight title at this weekend's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ranked No. 1 in the world by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2005) as just the third LPGA player to rack up five consecutive tour wins. She is also the third No. 1-ranked player to capture The Chevron Championship victory since the rankings debuted in 2006, accompanied by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by LPGA Tour (@lpga_tour)

The Florida native shot three-under 69 in Sunday's final, besting Sweden's Maja Stark despite Stark's valiant come-from-behind attempt in the 18th. Korda finished with a four-day total of 13-under 275, celebrating her two-stroke win by cannonballing into Poppie's Pond, much to the crowd's delight. She left The Club at Carlton Woods with $1.2 million from an overall purse of $7.9 million.

It wasn't long ago that the two-time major champion's current winning streak seemed unimaginable. After maintaining her No. 1 position for 29 weeks, Korda underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm in 2022. She returned to the course not long after, but failed to win a single tournament in 2023 before seeing a surge in form during the first four months of 2024. As of today, she hasn't lost a tournament since January.

Korda will attempt a record sixth-straight win at next week's JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, where she'll vie for a cut of the $3.75 million purse.