#1830 Power Play: The Women's Sports Boom Is About Power, Not Ratings

Air Date: 10/23/2026 Today we look at the women's sports boom as a power story and explain how women's sports were held back on purpose, from England banning women's soccer for fifty years to colleges spending next to nothing on their women's teams, primarily because the men feared the competition. Full Show Notes Transcript Leave a Voice Message BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Support and Get No Ads!) Link in Bio - Everything in one place! (Support, contact, socials, books + merch) TOP TAKES KP 1: The Boom in Women's Sports: WNBA, NWSL & Brands Following the Money - Women's Sports Now - Air Date 8-17-26 KP 2: Why the WNBA Became a Battleground in America's Culture Wars - Political Breakdown - Air Date 8-21-26 KP 3: Why Trans Women Have a Place in the WNBA - Everyone Watches Women's Sports Pod and Togethxr - Air Date 8-16-26 KP 4: Equal Pay in the WNBA Ft. Aliyah Boston, Alysha Clark, and Terri Carmichael Jackson - Hearsay - Air Date 8-28-24 KP 5: Why Ashlyn Harris REALLY Walked Away From Soccer - Women's Sports Now - Air Date 6-17-26 KP 6: Title IX Trailblazers Part 1 - Torched with Molly Bloom - Air Date 9-6-22 KP 7: Celebrating the New WNBA CBA and Examining Its Leaguewide Cultural Ramifications - The Ringer WNBA Show - Air Date 3-18-26 (00:54:05) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR My commentaries on YouTube - Share them! DEEPER DIVES (01:15:37) SECTION A: FOLLOW THE MONEY, FOLLOW THE BOOM A1: WNBA Valuations EXPLODE 💰 Up 59%… "This Isn't Charity, It's BUSINESS" - Chiney Today - Air Date 5-1-26 A2: How NIL Deals and Sponsorships Are Transforming Women's Sports - Women's Sports Now - Air Date 5-29-25 A3: Sarah Spain On the Evolution of Women's Sports Coverage - Front Office Sports - Air Date 5-16-25 A4: Everyone Watches Women's Sports - The Varsity - Air Date 4-16-25 A5: Gimme, Gimme, Gimme The Basketball with Betsy Riley - Good Game with Sarah Spain - Air Date 10-13-26 (01:53:40) SECTION B: THE CULTURE WAR, THE BACKLASH, AND WHO GETS CALLED A THREAT B1: The WNBA, Past and Present and Irish Sport for Palestine - Edge of Sports - Air Date 10-7-26 B2: The Caitlin Clark Effect with Sarah Spain - Here We Go Again With Kal Penn - Air Date 2-3-26 (02:14:40) SECTION C: THE CBA FIGHT - LABOR, PAY, AND POWER INSIDE THE W C1: The WNBA's Business Revolution: Lexie Brown and Mariah Rose on What Comes Next - Adspeak - Air Date 10-15-26 C2: WNBA CBA Deadline Drama: Emma Baccellieri and Lindsay Break Down the Labor Fight - Burn It All Down - Air Date 3-1-26 (02:30:50) SECTION D: HOW WE GOT HERE - TITLE IX, BARRIERS, AND BUILDING NEW LEAGUES D1: Title IX Trailblazers Part 2 - Torched with Molly Bloom - Air Date 9-6-22 D2: Title IX Discrimination and Women's Sports - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 10-1-26 D3: Why Women's Sports Are Reaching New Heights in Popularity and Revenue - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 4-7-24 D4: Closing the Coaching Gap: Pam Baker's Mission to Empower Young Women - Women's Sports Now - Air Date 8-25-26 D5: Megan Rapinoe & Emma Hayes on Why Women's Soccer Isn't Just the Men's Game - A Touch More: The Podcast - Air Date 6-18-26 D6: Inside the WPBL's First Season and How We Got Here - Just Women's Sports - Air Date 8-26-26 Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at [email protected]