Advertise on podcast: Raising the Game: Covering WNBA, NWSL, PWHL & More

Ep. 42: Angel Reese went for 30 points and 16 rebounds on 60%+ shooting to even the WNBA Finals, and Golden State has no obvious answer for her. The Dream and Valkyries are playing the best-defense-against-second-best-defense series everyone expected, which means the winner isn't whoever shoots better, it's whoever gets more possessions. Golden State took game one 68-64 behind Gabby Williams' 26 points. Atlanta answered 79-65 by turning steals into 24 points off turnovers, 19 of them on the fast break. Games three and four are in a fully open State Farm Arena, where 42,000 people queued for tickets. This week we dig into: WNBA Finals games one and two: Reese's historic double-double, Jordan Canada's fourth playoff double-double, Ryan Howard leading the league in steals, and the Natalie Nakase vs. Karl Smesko coaching duel that's shaping the whole seriesThe six-player 2026 WNBA All-Rookie Team: Olivia Miles, Azzi Fudd, Flau'jae Johnson, Pauline Astier, Kiki Rice, and undrafted Sydney Taylor, plus the All-Defensive teams and why no Minnesota Lynx player made either oneUSWNT's 2-2 comeback draw with Spain: Ashley Sanchez's cheeky finish, Mal Swanson's half volley, Alexia Putellas' 150th cap, and the chemistry-versus-depth question with four windows left before the World Cup. Emma Hayes has used 46 players this calendar year, a program record, and still may not have a starting elevenNWSL's final two weeks: Gotham chasing the Shield at 55 points, San Diego a point back, and the Portland, Seattle, North Carolina, and Denver scramble for the last playoff spots heading into Decision Day on November 1Expansion versus player safety: Jessica Berman targeting two more NWSL teams, the new Arthur M. Blank Crest Cup with USL Super League clubs, and the uncomfortable math on adding games when roughly 6% of sports science research is done on women We also get into Nneka Ogwumike's record fifth Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award, Michele Kang and Lise Klaveness being floated as UEFA's FIFA presidential candidates, Corinne Schroeder's off-ice injury before San Jose's first PWHL season, the women's flag football tournament coming to Super Bowl week, three Zambian internationals stuck in Uganda on an Ebola travel restriction, and a record 13 NWSL players in double-digit scoring. Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage.Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_podWebsite: rtgpod.comEmail: [email protected]

The Atlanta Dream are headed to the WNBA Finals and might have to play them in Gateway Center, their 3,500 capacity home arena, and not the State Farm Arena that holds 17,000+. NOTE: We are leaving our original description, but before publishing our episode, the scheduling conflicts have been resolved and both games 3 and 4 will be played at State Farm Arena. Golden State and Atlanta both swept their semifinal series, setting up a WNBA Finals matchup between the league's highest-revenue franchise and its lowest-attended one. Meanwhile, scheduling conflicts at State Farm Arena could push the Dream back into 3,500-seat Gateway Center for the biggest games in franchise history since 2013. We get into why that happened, who could have fixed it, and why "step aside, Hawks" is a reasonable position. This week we dig into: - The WNBA Finals picture: Golden State's absurd depth under Natalie Nakase, Atlanta's hounding defense, points off turnovers as the deciding stat, and why the Aces' field goal percentage fell roughly 10 points from their regular season mark without NaLyssa Smith - A'ja Wilson's record fifth WNBA MVP, her third straight, plus the full voting breakdown including Olivia Miles' second-place finish and the Caitlin Clark first-place-vote discourse - The reset timeout disaster in Dream-Liberty game two: what Brianna Stewart was told, what the referees said afterward, and why WNBA officiating and national commentary both need fixing - USWNT's 2-0 loss to a shorthanded Spain: the new back line, the double pivot that didn't defend, why the team needs a true six, Lily Yohannes' penalty, and Emma Hayes on closing the gap in the final third - NWSL playoff math with three matches left, goal differential as the first tiebreaker, and the early regular season MVP conversation We also cover the league's record 3.79 million fans in 2026, the Golden State Valkyries becoming the first women's pro team past $100 million in revenue, Cheryl Reeve adding Executive of the Year, PWHL expansion jerseys, and Serena Williams joining the Barbie Role Model series. Plus what to watch: Finals games one and two, a loaded NWSL weekend, LPGA Shanghai, and ranked NCAA volleyball and hockey. Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage. Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_pod Website: rtgpod.com Email: [email protected]

The Protect College Sports Act just cleared the Senate, and the fine print may hand universities a way around Title IX. The bill calls revenue sharing "compensation" rather than athletic benefits, and that one word swap could let schools sidestep the equal-opportunity obligations Title IX was written to enforce. The programs that get cut first are the ones that don't generate revenue, which means women's sports. Meanwhile the WNBA playoffs delivered the best basketball of the year, Angel Reese picked up Defensive Player of the Year, and the USWNT named a forward group nobody saw coming. This week we dig into: - The Protect College Sports Act: the Title IX language that got left out, NWSL Players Association director Meghan Burke's warning that the bill undermines the law it claims to protect, and why the collective bargaining restrictions look like union busting before a union exists. The House hasn't voted yet. - WNBA awards season: Angel Reese takes Defensive Player of the Year with 46 of 74 votes, the first in Atlanta Dream history, after a season that set the league's single-season rebounding record. Jessica Shepard wins Most Improved for Dallas, and Golden State's Janelle Salaün goes unanimous for Sixth Player of the Year. - WNBA playoffs: the Liberty become the first eight seed to knock off a one seed, Arike Ogunbowale drops a playoff-record 45 points, and the semifinals open with Atlanta beating New York 92-82 and the Valkyries holding the defending champion Aces to 60 points. - The fan problem at Gainbridge: the A'ja Wilson incident, Fever GM Amber Cox defending the fan base in her exit interview, Kelsey Mitchell saying the quiet part out loud, and why the league's player protection keeps falling short. - The Women's Sports Foundation's inaugural report on the youth pipeline: girls want to keep playing, access and belonging are what stop them, and under half of young girls surveyed could name a professional athlete. We also cover Unrivaled's $650 million valuation and Issa Rae joining as an investor, Project B's January launch in China, the PWHL's new conference alignment and playoff format, equal prize money coming to all combined WTA 1000 events in 2027, the Denver Summit stadium groundbreaking, the NWSL playoff race with four games to go, and Emma Hayes' roster for the USWNT's two-match set against Spain. Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage. Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_pod Website: rtgpod.com Email: [email protected]

WNBA playoffs are here, and game one already told us something uncomfortable about the Minnesota Lynx. The one seed dropped its opener to the New York Liberty 91-75, and Breanna Stewart looked unguardable doing it. Meanwhile the PWHL announced the first women's professional hockey all-star game in history, the NWSL playoff picture came down to a tiebreak system almost nobody has read, and the WPBL crowned its first champion behind one of the best pitching performances of the year. This week we dig into: WNBA playoff round one: the Lynx's second-half collapse against the Liberty (34.4% shooting, eight rebounds, eight turnovers), Golden State's record-low four-turnover game against Dallas, Las Vegas running past Indiana 102-85, and Atlanta turning 22 Washington turnovers into 27 pointsWNBA awards: Olivia Miles wins Rookie of the Year unanimously after leading the league's best team in scoring, and Cheryl Reeve picks up a record fifth Coach of the Year. Our picks for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved, and Sixth PlayerPWHL news dump: the December 5th opening weekend schedule, the first-ever PWHL All-Star Game at Scotiabank Arena in a 3v3 four-team format (USA, Canada, Rookies, International), and Hockey Night in Canada picking up a weekly PWHL broadcastNWSL playoff mechanics: why goal differential beats head-to-head as the first tiebreaker, who can clinch this weekend, and the Denver problem heading into the international breakWPBL's first championship: the LA Queens beat the San Francisco Firebelles 2-0 in game five, with Ayami Sato throwing the league's first complete game in playoff history and taking Championship MVP We also get into Atlanta City FC's underwhelming NWSL expansion name, Unrivaled adding San Francisco as a tour stop and switching to Adidas, a Vancouver ownership group eyeing a 2031 WNBA bid, Kori Cheverie taking over as Team Canada's head coach, and Jess Fishlock breaking Megan Rapinoe's Seattle Reign scoring record in what looks like a perfect final season. Plus why a three-game first round is bad for players and bad for the league's bottom line. Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage.Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_podWebsite: rtgpod.comEmail: [email protected]

The WNBA regular season ends Thursday and the playoff bracket from the four seed down is still completely unsettled, with six teams able to finish almost anywhere. Minnesota, Golden State and Las Vegas have the top three locked, but Atlanta, Indiana, New York, Washington and Dallas are all bunched together with two games left, and four of those teams are playing each other to close the season. We walk through the tiebreakers and the realistic seeding scenarios, including a few brackets where three of the four first-round matchups feature a lower seed that owns the season series against the higher seed. This week we dig into: WNBA playoff seeding scenarios: how Minnesota vs. Indiana and Atlanta vs. New York decide spots four through eight, what the WNBA tiebreakers actually are, and which first-round matchups are on the tableA good and bad breakdown for all eight WNBA playoff teams: the Lynx's shooting slump and their trouble with physical defense on Olivia Miles, Golden State's three-point reliance, A'ja Wilson's extra rest, Atlanta's record against playoff teams, Indiana's defensive problem, Dallas' injury pileup, New York's reliance on Breanna Stewart, and Washington's fearless young rosterRecords falling across the W: A'ja Wilson becomes the first player in league history with multiple 1,000-point seasons, Olivia Miles passes Caitlin Clark's rookie scoring record, Angel Reese keeps adding double-doubles, and the league is on pace for its most-attended season everThe NWSL misconduct report from Defector Media: eight complaints across at least four clubs in six months, how the post-Yates reporting requirements are actually being met, and why the redactions matterThe NWSL playoff race: Gotham clinched, Chicago is out, and fourth through tenth is separated by seven points with the schedule doing most of the decidingWe also get into Adam Silver's comments on more independence for the next WNBA commissioner and the names being floated for the job, Lisa Leslie's statue in Los Angeles, ESPN's Toronto Tempo docuseries, the WPBL championship series going to a winner-take-all game five, a monumental PWHL announcement coming Thursday, Unrivaled adding Minneapolis and Houston tour stops, and the NWSL golden boot race with 11 players already in double digits. Plus our What to Watch slate: the final day of the WNBA regular season, playoff openers on ABC and Prime, five NWSL matches, the LPGA in Northwest Arkansas, Oregon at Wisconsin volleyball, and the start of NCAA hockey. Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage. Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_podWebsite: rtgpod.comEmail: [email protected]

Team USA won its fifth straight FIBA Women's World Cup gold in Berlin, and the whole thing turned on one quarter of basketball. France led 45-43 at halftime, shot the lights out from three, and looked like the more consistent team for most of the tournament. Then the U.S. won the third quarter 30-12 and closed it out 97-79. Breanna Stewart took home her second World Cup MVP, the first player ever to win two. We break down the Kara Lawson substitutions that swung the end of the first half, the role players who made it work, and why the loudest media narratives around this team were nonsense. This week we dig into: - FIBA World Cup final: the 30-12 third quarter, Stewart's double-double and MVP, Angel Reese leading the team in field goal percentage and blocks, Caitlin Clark playing freer off the bench, and Jackie Young becoming the first player ever to win a high school title, an NCAA championship, a WNBA championship, 3x3 Olympic gold, 5x5 Olympic gold, and a World Cup gold - WNBA playoff seeding: the Lynx sitting at a 96% chance to lock the one seed, the Valkyries, Aces, Fever, Dream, Liberty, Mystics, and Wings all fighting for position, and how the FIBA break changes who's rested and who's rusty heading into the September 27 playoff start - USWNT roster prediction for the October friendlies against world number one Spain, including the injury list (Emily Sonnett, Olivia Moultrie, Catarina Macario), Rose Lavelle's return from concussion protocol, and the case for Ashley Sanchez that we think Emma Hayes can't ignore - NWSL parity check: two million fans through the gate for the second time in league history, eight players already in double digits for goals to break the league record, Ashley Sanchez one goal off the single-season record, and Portland giving away two points in stoppage time to Chicago - PWHL finally landing a U.S. national broadcast deal with Scripps Sports, including a Saturday Game of the Week on ION and a reported first-ever All-Star Game in Toronto We also cover ESPN adding 11 more weeks of Women's Sports Sundays, Elena Rybakina's U.S. Open title and rise to world number one, Taylor Townsend completing her doubles career Grand Slam, new Unrivaled tour stops in Boston, Detroit, and Philadelphia, the WPBL championship series, and a setback segment about the media speculation neither of us has patience for. Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage. Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_pod Website: rtgpod.com Email: [email protected]

This bonus episode is our full conversation with Jeff Goldberg, the Hartford Courant writer who covered UConn women's basketball from 2001 to 2006 and whose books became source material for Apple TV's The Dynasty: UConn Huskies. If you already caught this week's regular episode, this is the same conversation pulled out on its own so you can share it or revisit it without the rest of the show. If you're new here, welcome: this one stands alone. Goldberg wrote Bird at the Buzzer, about the 2001 UConn-Notre Dame classic, and Unrivaled, about the UConn-Tennessee rivalry and the Geno Auriemma-Pat Summitt relationship it wrecked along the way. He was in the chair for seven hours of interviews for the Apple TV docuseries, and he brought stories we'd never heard even as longtime fans of the sport. In this conversation: - The blizzard game that introduced a freshman Diana Taurasi to the UConn-Tennessee rivalry, with the Connecticut governor sitting courtside after telling everyone else to stay home - The inside joke about baseball's "evil empire" that Pat Summitt took completely the wrong way, and how it soured her relationship with Geno for good - The 1998 Nykesha Sales scoring-record controversy, the Sports Center commentary it drew, and the death threat that followed - Muffet McGraw's account of the flight she was booked on out of Boston on September 11, 2001, and the phone call that kept her off it - Why Goldberg thinks the WNBA at 30 years old looks a lot like the NBA did in the late 1970s, and what that means for where the league goes from here Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage. Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_pod Website: rtgpod.com Email: [email protected]

Women's basketball has been so busy fighting for its future that it never learned to look after its past. That's Jeff Goldberg's line, and it anchors our first-ever RTG interview. Interview starts at 49 minutes. Goldberg covered UConn women's basketball for the Hartford Courant from 2001 to 2006, wrote Bird at the Buzzer and Unrivaled, and is featured as one of the main interviewees in "The Dynasty: UConn Huskies" on Apple TV (not to mention his books were also a lot of the source material). He walks us through the blizzard games, Diana Taurasi, the UConn-Tennessee rivalry, the Red Sox joke that accidentally blew up Geno Auriemma's relationship with Pat Summitt, the Nykesha Sales free basket that generated more mail than any story in his paper's history, and why he thinks the WNBA at 30 looks a lot like the NBA in 1977. Before that, a full slate of headlines from a loaded week in women's sports. Check out "The Dynasty: UConn Huskies" out now on Apple TV: Click HERE This week we dig into: - Cathy Engelbert announcing her retirement as WNBA commissioner, why the reaction split between celebration and dread, and our worry about who the NBA installs next - FIBA Women's World Cup in Berlin: Team USA smoking China 94-61, then surviving an ugly, physical grind against Italy, plus Kara Lawson calling out her veterans and Caitlin Clark's 14-point, 11-assist, zero-turnover night - A record 3.65 million girls competed in high school sports in 2025-26, the fifth straight year of growth, with girls flag football exploding past 100,000 participants and Nebraska offering 16 flag football scholarships - A wild NWSL weekend: three of the top five lost, Denver Summit swept Gotham, Washington won at Providence Park for the first time ever, and Ashley Sanchez's hat trick made her the highest-scoring American in a single NWSL season - Olivia Miles taking Rookie of the Month again, A'ja Wilson's MVP case, and Unrivaled fumbling the rollout of a bus tour announcing a tour We also get into the WSL kicking off in England with more than half its clubs led by women, Alexia Putellas buying the Spanish broadcast rights to WSL games, WPBL playoffs, Jordan Chiles aiming for LA 2028, and the US Open quarterfinals. Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage. Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_pod Website: rtgpod.com Email: [email protected]

Angel Reese just set the WNBA's single-game and single-season rebounding records, and the comment section already has its rebuttal loaded: they're all "me-bounds." So we ran the numbers. Alex pulled every rebound Reese has this season, stripped out the putbacks off her own miss, and the answer is not what the discourse wants it to be. We walk through the math, the league-average baseline, and what's actually left of the argument. From there it's the last week of WNBA basketball before the FIBA World Cup break, with all eight playoff teams locked in and the seeding still a real fight, plus an NWSL playoff race where five teams are scrapping over one spot. This week we dig into: - The Angel Reese "me-bounds" math: 26 rebounds in a game to break Chamique Holdsclaw's 23-year-old record, past A'ja Wilson's single-season mark, 29 double-doubles to pass Alyssa Thomas, and what her rebounding numbers look like with every putback off her own miss removed - WNBA playoff picture heading into the FIBA break: four games left for everybody, the odds each team holds the seed it's sitting in, and why the actual movement is all in the five-through-eight range - Kelsey Mitchell becoming the second player in WNBA history to score 1,000 points in a season, and Caitlin Clark's back-to-back 30-point, 10-assist games, a first in league history - Golden State's 10-2 August: a defense holding opponents under 45% from the floor, one of the deepest benches in the league, and why nobody wants to draw the Valkyries in a playoff series - NWSL playoff race with six match weeks left: Gotham's refusal to lose, the North Carolina Courage leading the league in goals from sixth place, and Seattle, Denver, LA, Houston, Orlando and Angel City fighting over the last spot We also get to Unrivaled's $650 million valuation after an oversubscribed Series C raise, A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum out of the FIBA World Cup with Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen called in, the Williams sisters' US Open doubles wild card, the 2027 National Soccer Hall of Fame ballot, the Global Alliance for Female Athletes expanding from four countries to nine, Boston Legacy FC's 2028 move into White Stadium, Masai Russell's 12.09 world record in Zurich, and the first Upshot League championship. Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage. Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_pod Website: rtgpod.com Email: [email protected]

The Portland Thorns and Portland Fire just opened a $150 million training facility built for two professional women's teams, and it might be the clearest answer yet to the "nobody watches women's sports" crowd. The Kaiser Permanente Performance Center in Hillsboro, Oregon is 100,000 square feet on a 12-acre campus, and it's the first facility in the world designed to house two pro women's teams from two different sports under one roof. We use it as a jumping-off point to walk through what NWSL clubs are actually spending on training facilities right now, and the total is not small. Then we get into the WNBA playoff picture, our full bracket predictions, and the harassment that keeps hijacking games the league should be celebrating. This week we dig into: - Women's sports facility investment: inside the Thorns and Fire's new home, from two full-size pitches and a 17,000-square-foot practice gym to family lounges and full-service dining, plus a rundown of what Denver, Chicago, Gotham, Atlanta, Columbus and Manchester City are building. Alex's quick math on the NWSL projects alone lands somewhere north of $240 million. - WNBA playoff predictions: all but one spot is claimed, the seeding fight is really a home-court fight, and we give you our full bracket. Lynx over the Liberty in five, and we explain why NaLyssa Smith's knee injury may have flipped the Aces-Liberty series before it starts. - The harassment problem in the W: objects thrown onto courts, a man who walked onto the baseline to make himself the story, racist messages sent to Dearica Hamby, and our case for lifetime bans and actual leadership from the league office. - Standout performances: Angel Reese's 31 and 14 against the Mercury, Kelsey Mitchell's 20-point streak now at 23 straight games after passing A'ja Wilson's record, Natasha Cloud's career night against the Liberty, Awak Kuier's seven blocks, and Sydney Taylor's second game-winner of the month. - NWSL playoff race: eighth through eleventh separated by two points, Gotham's nine-game unbeaten run, Washington's winless August, and a game-by-game look at whose remaining schedule is actually survivable. We also get to Nneka Ogwumike's retirement after 15 seasons, Tobin Heath's jersey retirement in Portland, Georgia drawing an NCAA-record 25,433 for women's soccer, San Francisco landing the 2027 WNBA All-Star Game, Team USA's FIBA World Cup roster, Coco Gauff's Cincinnati title, Miyu Yamashita's record-tying nine-shot win in Canada, and 12-year-old Kinley Rasmus tying Mo'ne Davis' Little League World Series strikeout record. Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage. Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_pod Website: rtgpod.com Substack: substack.com/@raisingthegamepodcast Email: [email protected]

The WNBA is in its 30th season, records are falling almost nightly, and the conversation around the league keeps getting uglier. We spend a chunk of this episode on why that is and what could actually fix it. We're back from vacation with two weeks of catching up to do. Caitlin lays out the pattern: the Stephanie White press conference walkout, the Sophie Cunningham and DiJonai Carrington flagrant, a Dallas reporter and his family threatened online over Azzi Fudd coverage, fans removed from Gainbridge. Then she names three causes and four possible fixes, and we argue about a couple of them. We also got to our first live NWSL game in Denver, and we left the stadium at exactly the wrong moment. This week we dig into: - The WNBA discourse problem: why criticism of play keeps turning into name-calling, the correlation between the new-fan influx and online vitriol, the case for new league leadership before Cathy Engelbert's contract is up in December, an NWSL-style digital code of conduct the WNBA could copy, and Caitlin's argument that active players shouldn't be running podcasts about their own league in season - WAFCON: Cameroon beat debutants Malawi 3-0 in the final for their first ever title, 22-year-old goalkeeper Michaely Bihina's absurd tournament including nine saves against Nigeria and four penalty saves against Morocco, Nigeria missing a World Cup for the first time in ten tries, and Malawi qualifying for 2027 ranked 153rd in the world - Standout WNBA performances: Kayla McBride's WNBA-record 10 three-pointers and 43 points at 34 years old while leading the league's toughest defensive assignments, Rae Burrell's 20 points in a 40-point Sparks fourth quarter, Kelsey Mitchell's 18 straight 20-point games, Shakira Austin's post-All-Star run in Washington, and the case for Nia Coffey as Sixth Woman of the Year - NWSL playoff race: Gotham pulling away on 43 points, Denver trending up at the right time with home games left, Chicago firing Martin Sjögren with nine goals all season, Olivia Moultrie's season-ending ACL as the 18th knee injury in the league this year, and three players chasing 10 goals and 10 assists - Our first live NWSL game: Denver Summit vs Utah Royals, kickoff moved to 8 p.m. for wildfire smoke and 98-degree heat, a genuinely temporary stadium, two kids under eight, and walking to the car in the 90th minute right before Janine Sonis' free kick winner in stoppage time We also get to Diana Taurasi's jersey retirement in Phoenix, Alyssa Thomas making the second three-pointer of her career, Iga Świątek's first title of 2026 in Toronto, the Williams sisters back in doubles at the Cincinnati Open, Mark Walter selling the Lakers and what it might mean for the PWHL, Kaleigh Kurtz's 132-match ironwoman streak, and the weekend What to Watch. Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage. Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_pod Website: rtgpod.com Email: [email protected]

Women's professional baseball is back after more than 70 years, and the new WPBL is playing its entire first season in Springfield, Illinois. We wanted to know how we got here. This is a history episode with a purpose. Caitlin walks through 160 years of women trying to get on a baseball field, from college teams in the 1860s to a league that finally stuck in 2026, and then we get into how the Women's Pro Baseball League is actually built, funded, and staffed. After that, playoff math: who grabs the last two spots in the NWSL and the WNBA. This week we dig into: - The long history: Vassar's Resolutes fielding a team in 1866, the first known paid women's game in Springfield in 1875, the barnstorming era of the Bloomer Girls and the Dolly Vardens, and Jackie Mitchell striking out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in a 1931 exhibition before commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis voided her contract for being "too strenuous" for women - The AAGPBL and everything "A League of Their Own" skipped: the charm school and skirts, 910,000 fans at the 1948 peak, the Negro Leagues players like Toni Stone, Mamie "Peanut" Johnson and Connie Morgan who were shut out of it, and Maria Pepe's Little League fight that opened youth baseball to girls in 1974 - Inside the WPBL: co-founders Justine Siegal and Keith Stein, four teams named for women pioneers (Boston Hunters, New York Heights, Los Angeles Queens, San Francisco Firebells), a 30-game season at Robin Roberts Stadium, seven innings and aluminum bats, draft names like Kelsie Whitmore, Ayami Sato and Mo'ne Davis, and why MLB's total silence is getting noticed by fans - NWSL playoff race: North Carolina's brutal closing slate, Angel City's streakiness, why Seattle Reign are suddenly live with Jess Fishlock back and Lumen Field theirs again, and Orlando's Barbra Banda dependency problem - WNBA playoff picture: New York hanging on by Breanna Stewart's health, a surging Washington Mystics team leaning on very young players, Chicago's inability to close one-score games, Kelsey Plum's move to Phoenix, and why Indiana is the top-six team we think is most likely to slide We also get into the 17-day FIBA World Cup break and what it does to momentum, the WAFCON semifinals and World Cup qualifying stakes, and the weekend What to Watch, including the first WPBL games we've put on the list. Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage. Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_pod Website: rtgpod.com Substack: substack.com/@raisingthegamepodcast Email: [email protected]

FIFA tried to sell a piece of the World Cup and world football said no. Gianni Infantino's $20 billion plan died in about three days, and the women's game was squarely in the blast radius. Episode 31 walks through the whole timeline: the FIFA Forward Enterprises pitch, UEFA's 55 member associations voting unanimously to boycott, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation following, and the resignations inside FIFA that made it look less like strategy and more like one person's project. We also get into what almost got canceled, including the U-20 Women's World Cup in Poland and 2027 Women's World Cup qualifying. Then it's WAFCON, a tightening NWSL playoff race, the WNBA trade deadline, and a Lynx-Fever game we watched from the Target Center stands. This week we dig into: - FIFA's $20 billion collapse: the FIFA Forward Enterprises proposal, UEFA's unanimous boycott vote, 143 of 211 member nations lined up against it, and the two women, UEFA vice president Laura McAllister and Norway's Lise Klaveness, who moved fastest - WAFCON in Morocco and the coverage problem: Malawi's Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga taking down record champions Nigeria, Barbra Banda's four-goal game in Zambia's 6-0 win over Egypt, and a tournament almost nobody in the U.S. can legally watch or even get live scores for - WNBA trade deadline and playoff math: Kelsey Plum from the Sparks to the Mercury, Aneesah Morrow to the Toronto Tempo, a five-game gap between the top eight and bottom seven, and why Minnesota has the toughest remaining strength of schedule - Lynx 108-100 over the Fever at Target Center: Kelsey Mitchell's 37 points, Olivia Miles' "welcome to the W" moment, Napheesa Collier at 4-0 since returning, and Cheryl Reeve handling the off-court noise the way you'd want a coach to - NWSL playoff race: seventh through tenth separated by a single point, Jess Fishlock scoring seconds into her return for the Reign, Sam Kerr on the board for Gotham, and Utah putting five past Portland Also in this one: the Women's Pro Baseball League's sold-out opening weekend, the Los Angeles Queens beating the New York Heights 10-8 and the San Francisco Firebells beating the Boston Hunters 11-3, the WNBA hitting 73 million unique viewers with a third of the season still to play, Netflix paying a reported $200 million for 2027 Women's World Cup rights, the NWSL terminating its Victory+ streaming deal, Athletes Unlimited pausing pro basketball and volleyball for 2027, Marina Mabrey's three-point contest raising $6,500 for the Black Women's Institute for Health, girls high school flag football drawing 1.12 million viewers, and Alex Eala becoming the first Filipina to win a WTA Tour title by beating Jessica Pegula at the DC Open. Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage. Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_pod Website: rtgpod.com Substack: substack.com/@raisingthegamepodcast Email: [email protected]

The WNBA All-Star Game just made history: 19,783 fans at Chicago's United Center, the biggest All-Star crowd ever and the first to outdraw the NBA's All-Star Game. Episode 30 covers a packed week in women's sports. All-Star weekend delivered record attendance, a rookie shooting star, and some genuinely messy moments, from invite confusion to a game where nobody wanted to play defense. We also take a hard look at the coordinated attacks on Title IX and trans athletes, and reboot your guide to 2027 Women's World Cup qualifying. Content note: our Title IX segment includes discussion of anti-trans legislation, abuse in sports, and youth suicide statistics. If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988, or reach The Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386. This week we dig into: - WNBA All-Star weekend: the record crowd, Azzi Fudd becoming the first rookie to win the 3-point contest, Jonquel Jones completing her MVP collection (regular season, Finals, Commissioner's Cup, and now All-Star), plus the invite miscommunication with Sabrina Ionescu and Kayla McBride - Title IX under attack: inside the Heritage Foundation report, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, and what the actual numbers say about trans athletes in high school and college sports. Our question: protect young girls from who? - WAFCON is underway in Morocco: Nigeria defending their title, World Cup spots on the line, and the NWSL stars playing for their nations, including Temwa Chawinga, Barbra Banda, and Rosemonde Kouassi - 2027 Women's World Cup qualifying explained: who's already in, England and Sweden still waiting on UEFA playoffs, and how the 10-team inter-confederation playoff works - NWSL check-in: a brutal week of ACL injuries (Jordyn Huitema, Trinity Armstrong), Denver Summit's stadium delay, and a playoff race where the top five sit within five points Plus: Napheesa Collier returns for the Lynx with 24 points and 10 rebounds, the WNBA announces a centralized replay center for 2027, NWSL viewership jumps 41.7% on YouTube, Gotham FC coach Juan Carlos Amorós takes paternity leave, Brazil announces discounted World Cup tickets, and the Minnesota Vixen bring home a football championship. Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage. Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_pod Website: rtgpod.com Substack: substack.com/@raisingthegamepodcast Email: [email protected]

The WNBA is having a leadership crisis, and All-Star Weekend is about to put it under a spotlight. This week we dig into whether Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is the right person to lead the league through its current moment. The reporting is not flattering: Sports Business Journal says Engelbert wasn't going to suspend Alyssa Thomas until NBA commissioner Adam Silver stepped in and pushed her to act. Meanwhile players are fielding online harassment and death threats, and the players association had to request the meeting with the commissioner rather than the league leading from the front. We lay out why a business-first commissioner may not be built for a player-safety moment. Then we flip to the fun stuff: the 30th-anniversary All-Star draft, a stacked three-point contest field, and some of the best individual runs we've seen all season. This week we get into: The WNBA commissioner question: the Alyssa Thomas suspension and Adam Silver's involvement, online harassment and player safety, and why Engelbert's consulting-era, revenue-first approach may not fit the league's new fan baseWNBA All-Star Weekend preview: Cynthia Cooper's Team Coop vs. Teresa Weatherspoon's Team Spoon, Becky Hammon and Cheryl Reeve on the benches, and our full three-point contest and skills contest breakdownKelsey Mitchell's historic tear: 25-plus points in six straight games (never done by a guard), plus Kayla McBride's climb up the Lynx record books and a Jordan Canada appreciation segmentThe Queen's Classic: Gotham FC and the Washington Spirit drawing 42,175 to Citi Field, the largest women's sports crowd in New York City history, and what Gotham's 2028 move to Queens could unlockNWSL parity watch: the top five separated by three points, Trinity Rodman's four-goals-in-four-games run, and the returns of Sam Kerr and Lindsey HeapsWe also cover the NBA/WNBA TikTok partnership, the 2027 NCAA tournament expanding to 76 teams and ditching conference protection, the European Broadcasting Union's new guidance to stop filming female athletes through an objectifying lens, Michele Kang's plan to own a women's soccer club on every continent, and the women's sports merchandising gap. Plenty to chew on before the All-Star break. Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage. Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_podWebsite: rtgpod.comSubstack: substack.com/@raisingthegamepodcastEmail: [email protected]