The sports girlies I am watching on TV
And something is off about Offseason
The newsletter is gonna be a little different this week.
I would usually be writing the newsletter on the weekend, curating the best business and culture stories for The Best Of The Rest section.
This weekend I won’t be anywhere near the keyboard. When this gets published, I will be in the middle of an indulgent long weekend, lounging in a spa and getting ready for an evening of good food and numerous cocktails.
So I am going to skip The Best Of The Rest section this week and write about something less time sensitive: the sports girlies on my TV.
The Offseason
I love reality TV.
Selling Sunset, The Real Housewives Franchises, Love Is Blind, Million Dollar Listing, Masterchef, Celebrity Masterchef.
Inject them all into my veins. I love the drama. And I love that I don’t really have to think. I can just vibe when watching reality TV.
I also really like sports documentaries. Reality TV and sports documentaries are my comfort blankets. If I am having a rough day and I don’t really want to think then I am likely picking one of those two options to watch.
(Also Gilmore Girls is a default comfort blanket, but we don’t have time to get into that and the mess that was A Year in the Life.)
Basically I am the perfect demographic for new reality TV show the Offseason, which is a reality show following 11 NWSL players who spent the 2024 offseason training together in Miami.
We only have two episodes of the Offseason, so it’s early days. But here are my quick fire thoughts so far.
What I didn’t like:
It’s on X (Twitter).
Seven Seven Six founder and Offseason backer Alexis Ohanian explained that the show landed on X because the players wanted to retain editorial control and most streaming platforms balked at the choice (I totally get why the players wanted this, especially cause reality shows can turn trashy fast, but it also tends to dilute the product — it’s the too many cooks in the kitchen effect).
I can’t get onboard with a women’s sports show being hosted on a platform owned by Elon Musk, who is actively advocating for Donald Trump to be US President. A Trump presidency is basically an anti-women presidency considering how many women’s rights the Republicans are trying to roll back. Elon Musk is almost the polar opposite of everything NWSL players stand for. I feel icky logging on to the platform to watch it.
It’s not intuitive. Because the show is on X it is not easy to watch. I deliberately no longer have X on my phone because it kept trying to get me to interact with pro-eating disorder content ?! To watch the Offseason, I need to log on to X on my laptop then screenshare it to my TV. There’s a lot barriers to entry for a show that is released once a week and only 30 mins long.
The setting feels false. I’ve just finished Starting 5 on Netflix, which I adored. I loved following the NBA players through the season and into the high stakes playoffs. Something doesn’t quite work about having these NWSL players all come together in one house to train for the Offseason. It just feels low stakes and random. I would love to see them in a more natural and competitive environment similar to shows such as Drive to Survive, Full Swing, and Starting 5.
What I liked:
Getting to know more NWSL players. As someone who follows the WSL and the USWNT, it’s been fun to watch the show and get to know some new faces. Similar to how Drive to Survive helped me understand the dynamics in Formula 1, Offseason is helping me understand the dynamics in the NWSL and I think I will feel more invested in NWSL games in the future.
Tackling bigger issues. Without giving away any spoilers, I love the storylines forming around agents and salaries. At times, it makes for uncomfortable viewing, but I imagine it’s even more uncomfortable to deal with on the field when there’s huge disparities between players and teams. Seeing this on screen helps you better understand how that all feeds into the competitive elements of the game.
Women’s sports are finally getting a spotlight. Barring Sprint, all my favorite sports documentaries have featured men’s sports teams. It’s good that Ohanian pushed for this series because shows there is a spot for more behind-the-scenes coverage of women’s sports and women athletes. I’d love to see the LPGA get its own series next.
Despite the faff of screensharing my laptop to my TV, I will continue watching Offseason and keep you posted if my views on the show change as it progresses.
Simone Biles Rising
Speaking of women’s sport documentaries finally getting a spotlight on TV, I loved every minute of Simone Biles Rising. The final two episodes of the documentary series dropped on Netflix last weekend and I devoured them. The new episodes cover her experiences at the Paris Olympics.
One of the biggest takeaways from the show was how great a support system her husband is. I don’t follow Simone Biles on social media, but I remember a few years ago she went viral for having “wife” written first in her Instagram bio and I must admit I judged her so hard. I couldn’t believe this amazing, empowering, 11-time Olympic medalist would list being a wife on her bio ahead of so many other amazing achievements.
But after watching the episodes, I kinda get. He really is her rock. He’s all in for Simone. Alongside her family, he is an amazing support system for someone who is under so much scrutiny. I have yet to meet a man who could cheer on any of my minor achievements the way he cheers on Simone’s major achievements. He doesn’t appear to try to dim her shine or feel threatened by her achievements. So after observing him in the documentary, I get why he deserves a top spot in her bio and I will try not to be so quick to judge in the future.
Now an argument could be made that with many of these documentaries the athletes retain some form of editorial control, so we may not be seeing the full picture of the relationship. But from the glimpses on the show, it seems fairly solid.
The Simone Biles documentary succeeds because it has a clear narrative structure and an interesting character at the heart of that structure. This is where Offseason struggles. It’s still finding its feet when it comes to narrative structure.