B (2:47)

I think it's on Paramount plus.

C (2:49)

Great.

B (2:49)

Maybe. Maybe the final will run on cbs. We have to look at that. But we watching it. Oh, we be watching. For sure.

C (2:58)

We'd be watching. And you know, honestly, I, I remember watching The Paris Olympics. I don't know if you watched the game where one of our rugby players in the final seconds and I was screaming at the top of my lungs, I was going, run. I mean, run.

B (3:17)

Forest.

C (3:18)

Alana Maharaj. Like, how do you say her last name, Alana?

B (3:21)

Mar. Yes, Mar.

C (3:23)

She just. Is just a queen in everything she does. We're going to definitely have a rugby player on here to talk about everything. Women's rugby. Really proud of our girls. Silver linings all the way through, even though they don't make it through the group stage.

B (3:40)

Absolutely.

C (3:41)

All we really want, truly, all we dream about and think about is comfortable clothes. Right, Julie? I don't think people understand that. And at the end of the day, that's kind of priority number one for me.

B (3:55)

It's kind of the only priority priority number one through 1000.

C (3:59)

Looking cute too, but, like, it's great, but it's not really the, like, the comfy clothes that I have for me is. It's the most important thing in my day to day rotation.

B (4:10)

Okay. Do you have there Vuori's dream knit performance jogger?

C (4:16)

Yes. Okay.

B (4:16)

Because I have it in like seven different colors. Where do I even begin? Because one, it's lightweight, one you can wear to yoga. You could wear it running. You could wear it to beach volleyball. Yes. I play a lot of that. Right. The fabric. I know. You're a fabric gal.

C (4:32)

Yes.

B (4:33)

Abs feels like butter. Ah. And so, I mean. And then I end up what I just end up doing because I think showering is overrated. You just stay in it all day. You stay in it all day and you. It could even be your pajamas. It's that soft.

C (4:49)

I think that that's hilarious. I usually shower and then get into another pair of Yuri sweats. So that's like.

B (4:55)

That's my. I don't. I don't.

C (4:56)

All right. But Vuori is an investment in your happiness for sure. And for our listeners, they are offering 20% off your first purchase. Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet@vuori.com welcome to the party. That's V-U-O-R-I.com welcome to the party. Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions.

B (5:22)

Not only will you receive 20% off your first purchase, but you get free shipping on any US orders over 75. And I like this because maybe it doesn't work out in the first go. You get free returns. So go to vuori.com welcome to the party. And discover the versatility of Vuori clothing exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. Okay, party people, to the party. Is part of our party a hot topic in women's sports that everyone is talking about, of course, is what's going on with the WNBA CBA negotiations. Now, that's the collective bargaining agreement between the players union and the WNBA itself. And if you saw the WNBA All Star Game, players wore T shirts that said, pay us what you owe us during warmups. And we do want to do a dive into this topic. And so we sent an invite to our friend in New York, Liberty superstar Brianna Stewart. And Stewie, as she is known to most, is an absolute force in women's basketball. And get ready, party people, because this bio is very long.

C (6:34)

Hold on a second. Before you keep going, Jules, I have to. I have to interrupt you because I did a quick Wikipedia search on Brianna Stewart on Stewie and never have the these eyes has seen a Wikipedia page as long and organized.

B (6:51)

You're still scrolling.

C (6:52)

I'm still going. I'm still going. I'm still going. Oh, and now we're at the metal part.

B (6:58)

Oh, it's going to be long.

C (7:00)

That was wild. Okay, keep going, Jules. Sorry, I just had to interrupt.

B (7:03)

So maybe this is actually a condensed version, right? Stewie has won three WNBA championships. Two with the Seattle Storm, another last year, as we know, with the Newark Liberty. She has been named WNBA MVP, Most Valuable player twice, and is a seven time all star. Stewie also, oh, FYI, has three Olympic gold medals and four national championships at the University of Connecticut. And yes, you are doing the math, right? That is every single damn year she won a national championship at UConn.

A (7:38)

And.

B (7:38)

And as we know, beyond all she's done on the court, Stewie is setting out to rewrite women's professional basketball as well. She co founded the 3 on 3 league, unrivaled with her former UConn teammate and Minnesota link star Nafisa Collier. And Stewie is also now at the forefront of the WNBA collective bargaining agreement negotiations as vice president of the players union. And even though Abby and I know that is not always a party, guess what is. This is a party. Stewie, welcome.

C (8:15)

Welcome to the party. Stewie. Thanks for coming. And we're just. We're ridiculous. So thank you for bearing with us. And it sounds like. And it feels like you actually do need a little bit of a party. How are you?

A (8:35)

I. I do need a party. I'm good. I'm a little bit tired, but we're. We're hanging in there.

B (8:43)

Yeah. And you're back. You're back, baby. How's. How's the team? I know it's been a slog. By your own account, like, there's been a lot of injuries, some inconsistencies. You backed yourself into the playoffs. What's it gonna take for the liberty to repeat? That's what we need to know.

A (9:00)

Well, honestly, we just had our first, like, full practice with all 12 players today, so really excited for what that's going to mean going forward. And, you know, now it's like there's nothing we could do. We can't. We couldn't have done anything with the injuries, the adversity that happened throughout the season. But now we're in the playoffs, and it's go time.

C (9:20)

That's exactly what I like to hear. We really want to dive in to the CBA negotiations and the WNBA players and y' all are right now in CBA negotiations with the league, which is basically a contract between the players and the league. So might I begin with a small metaphor for what the players are trying to negotiate right now? Some of our party people, our listeners, may not be as adept in the know of what it all means. And here goes my metaphor. Correct me if it's a good one or not, Brianna. The WNBA is a house the players built and live in. But for years, the league has held the only keys and decided what rooms the players get to use. Now the players are demanding not just a room, but co ownership so that they can help design and get the blueprints going, share in the profits when the house grows in value, and make sure that it's livable. So, Stewie, is this an appropriate metaphor? Can you give some context for our listeners about explaining what you all are seeking right now this time around in the negotiations?

A (10:24)

Definitely. Appropriate, I feel like, is the fact that you're, like. What makes the most sense is the fact that you're like, we. We just want our fair share. You know, we want to be able to have keys to the house as well. And that's. That's really the. The biggest pain point that we're fighting is working on revenue share and getting our fair percentage and being able to. To both acknowledge from both sides how marketable and equitable the league is becoming and that it takes all of us to. To continue to make it better.

B (11:00)

Okay, before we. We jump into the revenue share side of it, because I do want to break that down a little bit as well, and I don't mean to get dramatic here, but, like, I know people Are thinking, okay, is this gonna get done? The deadline is October 31st, correct for y'. All. So on a scale of like 1 to 10, one being like, yes, we're going to get this done, or 10 being the 2026 season could be canceled. Where are we right now, Stewie?

A (11:32)

Oh, I think we're like, like a six.

B (11:39)

Okay, so we're. We're north of five, which is the halfway.

A (11:44)

We're not in a good place right now, but you could say that maybe we're holding out until the very end. And like October 30th, we'll agree to turn. But what probably will happen is there'll be like an extension and we'll have more time to talk about it, but it's going to push back everything else.

C (12:02)

Okay, so what is like the biggest sticking point? Or you're talking a little bit about rev share earlier. What is the target rev share that you guys are seeking? How does it compare to the NBA? Can you explain kind of what rev share is to our party people?

A (12:17)

Yeah, so revenue share is the. Basically the amount that comes in it. It all goes into this one pot. And having that be able to play a part in our salary caps and our. Just the money that's coming in as a whole. Because for how the WBA goes right now, it's not working on that salary. There's the money that comes in is in its own separate bucket. And then we have. And that's the amount that you can pay players. And you can only have 11 players or maybe 12, depending on the team. But it's, it's a non negotiable number and we want to make it a little bit more negotiable. So in the NBA, I think it's 51.49. 51 for the players. And we're not, we're not even there. We're not even like anywhere close to that.

B (13:15)

Wait, aren't you guys like single digits? Like nine? Are you like 9%?

A (13:21)

Yeah, like currently it's like 9%.

B (13:25)

Yeah, you're cutting out a little bit, but I still heard you. I think you said you're. You're trying to get closer to, of course, what the NBA is at.51%. And mind you for context, again, like, this is a percentage. So if the league makes more money, then the players should make more money because they're making more money. If they make less money, obviously that percentage is going to reflect that. Why is that such a sticking point? Because to Abby's metaphor, you have helped build this house, right so you would think as they are with the NBA players, they would want to reward the players for that.

A (14:04)

Yeah. I mean, honestly, I'm not sure what. Why there's so much pushback. It seems like it's. It's something that both sides should understand, especially as, you know, the valuations of teams are going up. As you know, you're seeing TV deals coming in, the expansion fees, like, all these things. But for whatever reason, we can't. We can't move our 9% up right now.

B (14:30)

Just to add some context to that as well, when Stewie talks about the expansion teams coming in, right, we know the attendance numbers have gone up. We know the revenue has gone up, viewership numbers. But for example, Golden State Valkyries, they paid 50 million for the team in 2023. And the three newest expansion teams, as Stewie just pointed out, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, they each paid 250 million earlier this year. And a new media deal that's coming in. Media rights deal is 2.2 billion is what she's talking about in the new media rights deal.

A (15:04)

All of that is correct. And that's why. That's why we have a frustration of where is the lacking from both, like, the W side. Yeah.

B (15:14)

Yeah. What's needed?

C (15:16)

Yeah. What do you. What do you. What. What is needed?

B (15:18)

Are you meeting? Are you meeting?

A (15:22)

Yeah, there's. There's meetings that are happening. I feel like, from a player perspective, like, it's really frustrating to me that we haven't been able to even come to an agreement as far as revenue share, because then we haven't talked about anything else important. And there's, like, family planning and player housing and, like, pension and the idea of, like, paying back former players for. For what they've done. So we really haven't been able to get into the nitty gritty on anything. And what's the hardest part is now it's you. We're going into playoffs when. When we go into playoffs, like, I'm not doing extra stuff like brand partnerships, anything like that, because I want to be locked in for my team. So now it's like, well, the WNBA can't be mad at us for being locked in where our team is and focus on winning a championship and not able to be in as many meetings.

C (16:21)

Yep. Yeah. I mean, that makes sense. It doesn't. It's not fair for them to be putting you guys in this position in the latter parts of September and October when the playoffs are happening, because you're hoping to go all the way to the final, which would Give you guys no time to negotiate and actually meet as a, as a player association. So what do you hope? Like, do you think that you'll just do some sort of extension and get the deal done in the off season?

A (16:51)

That's what I'm thinking. I think we'll probably do some sort of extension. Even still, if we do an extension, it's going to potentially make everything delayed because you have the expansion draft for Toronto and Portland coming in. You have the lottery for the teams and their lottery picks. You have the draft, you have free agency. So, like, if all of, if the CBA is not done, then none of the free agency happens and the entire league is a free agent because everybody wants to be making sure they're capitalizing on what is potentially going to be higher salaries. So it's a little bit concerning. And I feel like just even in my locker room as of late, everybody's like, wow, this is like, this might actually create a lockout. Like, we're really, like, not going to come to terms right now, but who knows, Maybe there'll be like a last second thing happening.

B (17:50)

There's never been a stoppage of play, right? With WNBA and the league, with the players in the league?

A (17:56)

No, I don't think so. Now the only thing was the bubble.

C (18:01)

That's interesting. Well, and it, and it leads me to a couple of other endeavors that you're involved with that I find so interesting. You, you and the success of Unrivaled, the new league that you started, the three on three basketball league. You co founded it with Nafisa Collier. And you know, there's a big part of me that wonders if you guys came up with this idea as a way to build leverage with the wnba. Right. This is, this is something to compete with the WNBA on. And as Ava DuVernay has said, you know, when we're not knocking on old doors anymore because we're going to build our own house. Is this something that you all felt as you were building out unrivaled, the new 3 on 3 basketball league? And how is that going?

A (18:50)

Yeah, I think that when the idea came up about Unrivaled, it was like, we want to have an opportunity to pay the players what they deserve, keep the players home, keep the players in a marketable, marketable environment where we can build our brands. And like, you guys both have the Ally things behind you. Shout out to Ally for being the founding partner of Unrivaled. Without them, we wouldn't be here. But news just came out this week that our valuation has gone up to 340 million.

B (19:22)

Wow.

A (19:22)

As a league in year two. So I'm kicking my son for what we're gonna do.

C (19:27)

I should have got in Lindsay. Lindsay was like, abby, do you want to get in on this unrivaled? And I'm like, what is this? And of course, I don't have tons of money just sitting around doing nothing. So I'm pissed.

B (19:38)

We can still get an abs.

C (19:41)

Yeah.

B (19:44)

It's so smart.

A (19:45)

Unrivaled. His grade.

B (19:47)

Yeah. And it's so smart because I love that you and Fee were like, we're tired of traveling overseas. You've been to, you know how many countries? Turkey, China, Russia. Do I have that right? Playing overseas? Right. And can we create something that's player led, player developed, give players equity? And it had to have helped. What have you seen in terms of the lessons learned? It had to have helped the WNBA as well. Right. Because it's more exposure here in the United States. I was watching tons of it. It's so fun to watch them in a totally different y', all in a totally different setting, playing that three on three with a faster game. What were the lessons you learned from it?

C (20:32)

Yeah.

A (20:34)

Well, I think the. The lessons we learned is, like, when you are constantly putting out content of players on and off the court in practice, people love that. People felt like they were the most engaged they probably have ever felt, knowing what was happening in practice or in the, like, spare time and. And that type of thing. So the content team at Unrivaled really, really crushed it. And what was cool for me was we were able to. To connect with brands that we don't normally get to connect with in the WBA because of, like, the NBA's red tape and stuff like that. So, you know, having Samsung and Sephora and all these other big names come in and just help create the best experience possible for all the players and even the fans. You had fans coming from all types of WNBA markets to show up and support.

B (21:24)

I think my favorite part was, didn't you have, like, a spa area? I was like, oh, my God, I would have cared for that as a player. Right.

A (21:32)

I know. We have to. We have to check back in. So once. Once year two starts, there's going to be some upgrades. I think even better spa areas coming.

C (21:43)

We can't wait. We're gonna definitely. You're gonna be a recurring guest on. On this. On this podcast. And, Stu, I also know that you started your own shop, the Stewie's World. Can you tell us a little bit about that and why the hell everything's sold out. Julie and I went to go buy I Heart Stewie York shirts, and they were sold out.

B (22:03)

Can you send us Dreams are made up. It's just further confirmation that Stewie does run the world. It's Stewie's World, and we're just l for sure.

C (22:12)

So true.

A (22:13)

So Stewie's world is basically my, like, place that's going to capture all of my ideas. And I had this idea for this Stew your cat that I had my friend create, which was only supposed to be for me, and then everybody else wanted one, so we. We decided to make a. A little store. A little drop. I'm very proud to say that the hat sold out in six minutes.

C (22:40)

But.

A (22:40)

I will send you guys hats. Okay.

C (22:42)

Yes.

A (22:43)

Because I have wi fi problems. So I owe you. I owe you stuff.

B (22:47)

You owe us some swag, sister. I want some Stu Swag. Stu. Your swag.

A (22:50)

I owe you some swag.

B (22:52)

Nah.

A (22:53)

But I think it's just a really cool way for me to be able to just build a relationship with the fans.

B (23:01)

Yeah. I love it. Last question, Stewie, who would be the one person you would want to invite to a party? Deep thoughts.

A (23:15)

The one person that I want to invite to a party?

C (23:18)

Yeah. Yeah.

A (23:20)

Oh.

B (23:23)

Who'S your party person?

A (23:27)

Like, Sue's my party person. Oh.

B (23:29)

Yeah.

C (23:31)

All right, and then so we're probably gonna have. We're gonna have Birdie on, and if we'll have her on the show, what question should we ask Sue Bird?

A (23:40)

Oh, ask her about her statue.

C (23:43)

I know.

B (23:43)

That's so sweet.

A (23:44)

I saw it. I saw it live, and her muscles are, like, popping out.

C (23:52)

That's so good. All right, so here's the thing. We're closing up shop right now, folks. If you want to get more of Stewie, watch the WNBA playoffs. It's going to be an incredible run. I know the Liberty are going to make it very far, as they did last year, obviously. Watch unrivaled in the off season. Go to Stewie Shop Stewie's World. It's exciting. And I also just want to say, you know, this has been such an important conversation, and just because the WNBA and the players are going through this negotiation, this is not just specific to you. All this is happening to every woman in every city in every state, in every single industry. So I want you, the party people, to ask yourselves, how can I. What questions do I need to be asking to get more of what I think I deserve? Right? Where. Where am I? Where, where, where Am I not seeing or. Or how am I not participating in my life in the ways that in which you all are showing us to show up for ourselves? Okay, this isn't just about basketball or soccer. It's about all of us waking up, asking questions, and then bravely demanding what we all deserve. Stewie, thank you for coming on. Welcome to the party, Stewie.

B (25:13)

Stewie.

A (25:13)

Mic drop.

B (25:15)

Yeah, mic drop. Go get it with the gals. We're with you. The party people are going to be behind you.

C (25:23)

Yes.

B (25:23)

Oh, heck, yes. We're gonna get there. We're gonna. We're gonna come. We're gonna be the hooligans in the front row. Okay, Party pose on three. Stewie, you gotta give your craziest party pose. I think I'm gonna add some glasses to mine this year. All right, Party pose on three is the last thing we do. Okay? Are you ready, Stewie? 3, 2, 1.

C (25:44)

Here's my question for you party people. Who's your coach? Who's your strategy support person who's always looking out for your best interest? And I was so lucky along the way to have the coaches I did, the mentors that I had, and now, you might not be an athlete, but you still deserve a coach who can help you set your goals and navigate your journey and reflect on wins. That can also help you pivot when you need to. Fortunately, our sponsor, Strawberry Me, has made high quality career coaching accessible for everyone. And when you sign up for Strawberry Me, they'll match you with a certified career coach who helps you go from where you are to where you truly want to be. Your coach will help you get clear on your goals and uncover what's holding you back and build lasting confidence. That means actually making a plan. It means no longer feeling like your future is something that just happens to you. It's time to shape it on your terms. If you're ready to get unstuck, visit Strawberry Me. Welcome to the party to claim a special offer and get started today. That's Strawberry Me. Welcome to the party. Stop settling. Start building the career and the life you actually want.

B (27:06)

Well, we. We fought through that WI Fi issue, but we were very. We persevered Abby through the WI Fi issue. Poor Stewie was like, oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry.

C (27:20)

She's so great, isn't she? The greatest.

B (27:22)

Yeah. She had. She had to. Full disclosure, she had to call back in, like, three, four different times. She's got kids in the background hollering. She had her own party going on, so that was A lot. I mean, two quick reacts to that abs. One, when she's talking about all the things that go into a cpa, right? Beyond, obviously, the rev share being such a big piece of it, but the fact that you haven't even started negotiating, and now you're in playoffs. And as a player, as we know, having lived through these, like, the last thing you want to do is having to be dealing with this as you're trying to win a title at the same time, which adds to the frustration. You could hear it in her voice.

C (28:01)

Yeah, I know. And, like, I think. I think when I'm putting myself in her shoes as a player, it is. It is unconscionable that the league is like, hey, let's do this, and here's your deadline. P.S. it's all the way during playoffs. Like, come on, WNBA number one. And number two, the fact that, like, people don't understand how much more time negotiating these kinds of things takes so much work. Right. And so it's like getting the information as like, an executive committee for the players union, getting the. The talking points figured out, then communicating that to all the players in the league, then getting the. The players to really understand and agree upon what. But the. It feels like the conversations. Exactly.

B (28:49)

You have to get everyone on the same page. It's a lot. Yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot of the lawyers in the same room. I mean, it's. Yeah.

C (28:56)

And it costs money to pay for the lawyer. There's just so much that that goes into it that I just feel for the frustrations that they are all probably having.

B (29:05)

Yeah, you could hear it, too, in, like, even after they all sat down with the WNBA personnel and at the All Star Game in July, and Stewie was asked, you know, how the meetings go. And she goes, not well. We took 45 minutes to do introductions. So anyways, the other second piece of that that I found really interesting is that again, you're seeing with this younger generation how when there is a gap that needs to be filled or a way to do things better back in. And I'm speaking for myself because I'm still 10 years beyond you in age, that, you know, we would be like, okay, who can help us? You know, who do we have to go to for this? Not thinking, like, well, we can solve this problem. And so for them to say, like, we're tired of traveling overseas, and that's where all our money. Their money was coming from, because it wasn't coming for WNBA salaries. So all their money was when they were playing overseas, but we're tired of doing that every off season, which is long and it's a slog. Why not? Nafisa and Stewie said, create our own league. It's so brilliant. And then it crushed. It makes me so happy to see.

C (30:19)

Yeah, it's so great. And I think, yeah, it's so great to think to yourself, how can we solve this big problem that we're having? Because you're right, they were making all their big money when they were going to play overseas. And these big. These teams that could pay them a lot of money, and they were just like, you know what? We're just going to do this on our own. And that was a huge risk. Right? Like, not only the time and the money that they spent putting that putting into building up unrivaled, but the hopefully they're able to actually really pay the players what they deserve and also reap some reward of building something that they themselves truly own.

B (30:58)

And the US Viewers get to see them. You weren't seeing them play in Russia. You weren't seeing them play in China. You get to see them on TNT all the time. I was watching it all the time. It was so much fun. So yay. Yay for fee and Stewie for that.

C (31:13)

Stewie's great.

B (31:14)

Yeah. Okay, party people, don't forget to subscribe, if you would, to the welcome to the Party YouTube channel. Fun. We are on video. So if you were listening to this on audio, Bravo. But you can also. Brava. You can also see us on video. Yes, you can see my fun hats.

C (31:34)

The episodes are live.

B (31:36)

Yeah, Abby, sweet blonde hair, all of it.

C (31:40)

And while you're at it, I think that while you're at it, I think you should rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And be sure to follow us on TikTok, Tock and Instagram at. Welcome to the party show. And that's where Julie, Billy and I will bring the party straight to your feed.

B (31:58)

Right to your feed. So wherever you are, listening, watching, stop what you're doing. Put a paw in right. Stop what you're doing. Gather round. Gather. Pretend you're in the middle of this huddle with all your people. Your nest is around you, your awesome team. This is from the Soul on three. One, two, three.

C (32:26)

What is that one? I gotta go get me some better noisemakers. Welcome to the Party is an independent production brought to you by Treat Media. Treat Media makes art for humans who want to stay human forever. Dog is our production partner and you can watch our full conversations on the welcome to the party YouTube channel and follow us at welcome to the Party show on Instagram and TikTok.