R.S. Locke / Royal Suitor

Ahhh…thanks for correcting my terminology. Maybe I misunderstood what you meant by business ops when you listed it as a fixed-adjacent cost in your earlier posts. I assumed you meant back office staff.

For shared staff, I was specific to the front office e.g. ticket sales, marketing, etc. not trainers. AFAIK those are team specific & the WNBA sets limits on things like bench coaches.

Re: arenas, economics depends on whether team owns facility & can bank on tkt sales (see Valkyries 22 sellouts).

Fair enough. That explains why so many WNBA teams are getting dedicated practice facilities.

My point is that there are a lot of blended costs and franchise-wide negotiations for contracts that create room for a very liberal expense allocation.

Much of the front office staff is shared. The old Warriors Oakland practice facility was sitting empty AFAIK before it was refurbished for the Valkyries. If you’re telling me that the Washington Wizards facilities were fully utilized by the NBA team in June despite their season ending in April fine.

Only if you calculate those expenses as being solely attributed to the WNBA franchise. But NBA-owned WNBA franchises largely share staff & facilities that would be underutilized or dormant during the NBA offseason. The WNBA charter costs would be negotiated as part of an annual franchise contract.

Also a revenue share that only kicks in after operating costs are covered, as the article states, is not a revenue share. Too little transparency on the expenses side of the books.

Thanks for this. Nneka’s podcast interview with Sue Bird was the 1st time I understood that the 9% of revenue share that has been quoted for the current CBA is really a fixed salary cap with % of revenue calculated after the fact. The question of expense allocation for NBA-owned WNBA teams is huge.

YouTube video by The Telegraph 'They didn't think he would leave': Ex-Counter Terrorism Head on Prince Harry | Neil Basu

An amazingly candid conversation with former UK Head of Counter Terrorism Neil Basu, who was on the RAVEC committee when the decision was made to remove Prince Harry’s police protection & believes it was done because they didn’t think Harry would leave.

Appreciate your continued coverage. Enjoyed your reporting this season.

“The Golden State Valkyries’ Ohemaa Nyanin (10 ballots) finished in second place”

Not sure why the OP left this out. The Mercury GM came in third.

Was glad to see it. Guess that answers my earlier question.

Was hoping VB might get an Unrivaled nod. Does this mean that’s out?

Enjoyed the article. Fun team with the kind of heart and hustle that makes them easy to root for. Hope much of the squad returns.

You keep writing “MVP-to-be” and it feels like a record scratch. Post All-Star Break it’s a wide open race with many putting A’ja Wilson in the lead.

Replace any x link with xcancel.com and it gets you the text without feeding the X advertising, algorithm, tracking, etc. A great way to share X links when you can’t avoid it. (You might have to cut off the url at “?”)

xcancel.com/about

You got your upset. 🤞🏾 your probabilities hold. If they can get 2 wins in these next 3 home games, I think LAS will help them get the rest of the way.

The Circuit with Emily Chang - YouTube Hosted by high-profile journalist Emily Chang, The Circuit is a fast-paced, dynamic series that lives at the intersection of culture, tech, entertainment, an...

Big day tomorrow folks. Set your alarms…

🍽️ With Love, Meghan season 2 on Netflix (12am PT / 8am GMT)
🎙️The Circuit with Emily Chang interview on YouTube (1am PT / 9am GMT)
🍯 As Ever product drop (9am PT / 5pm GMT)

Happens to the best of us. 👊🏾

Great story. Enjoyed the article but Natalie Nakase’s name was misspelled a few times which was distracting. Wanted to give you the heads up.

Regulator concludes case into Sentebale The Charity Commission has concluded its compliance case into Sentebale, a charity which works with children and young people in Southern Africa.

“The Charity Commission has concluded its compliance case into Sentebale, a charity which works with children and young people in Southern Africa.” #PrinceHarry

The incomparable Jonathan Capehart (@jonathancapehart.bsky.social) has left the Washington Post.

From his substack announcement and essay, Goodbye, Washington Post
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Prince Harry Follows in Diana’s Footsteps as Specter of Land Mines Returns

On Wednesday, Princess Diana’s son, Prince Harry, made the same journey through a partially cleared minefield, at a time when countries are beginning to break away from the international anti-land mine treaty drawn up in the months after Diana’s visit.

Article says Lacob paid franchise fee in 2013. Should be 2023.

Yesterday I joined a Women In Travel CIC panel on Climate, Conservation & Gender Equity. | Sally Davey Yesterday I joined a Women In Travel CIC panel on Climate, Conservation & Gender Equity. It was the first panel I've sat on where we actually talked about the systems level interconnectedness...

“If it wasn't for Prince Harry, I would have talked myself out of this job and never had the chance to lead Travalyst, the organisation that has come to mean more to me than almost anything.”

It’s gonna sellout in 15 minutes. I’m not sure there’s enough training for that.

Exclusive: Meghan Markle’s Brand As Ever Sells Out Inventory Again: “Truly Overwhelming” Despite drastically increasing inventory for its June 20 product drop, Meghan Markle's lifestyle brand As Ever still sold out its second offering in just four hours, the brand confirmed to 'InStyle' e...

As ever increased its inventory nearly 10 times that of the 1st collection. The June 20 drop saw a two-time increase in site traffic compared to the first collection, and all of the products released on Friday sold out within four hours. #MeghanSussex

Instagram Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.

🚨Set your alarms. Next As ever product drop is Jun 20 8am PT. The west coast thanks you Meghan. We don’t mind a 5am email but a 6am product launch just ain’t cool. www.instagram.com/p/DK-eCDgSS_...

Good point. Still think that’s more likely to benefit the Mystics than the Valks. But Eurobasket and more tape on their zone D could bring GSV back down to earth. Will they use winning percentage for draft odds this year since GSV only has 1 season in the books?

Should’ve said makes SF an even more attractive destination. Being competitive this year should have them vying with the Sparks & Mystics for the last playoff spot. More than that would truly be overachieving but less than that would require outright tanking with how bad the bottom of the league is.

Surprised that @kpelton.bsky.social thinks the Valks are worried about a playoff run ruining their draft lottery odds when the best lottery this offseason will be free agency. With so many stars expected to be on the move, a playoff run in year 1 could make SF an attractive destination.