How Ilona Maher Captured the World's Attention | Hi-Quality Quickie
•Scarlett Creative
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Curious about how social media and storytelling are transforming women's sports? This episode promises to enlighten you with the incredible narrative of Ilona Marr, who not only led the US Women's Rugby Sevens team to their first-ever bronze medal victory but also captivated fans with her behind-the-scenes TikTok content. Discover how Ilona’s journey has ignited a movement towards positive body image and awareness in women's sports, backed by the unparalleled $4 million donation from Michelle Kang. We dive deep into how these efforts are reshaping perceptions and creating new opportunities for female athletes.
We also spotlight Michelle Kang's groundbreaking $4 million investment in the women's sports ecosystem, focusing on the establishment of the KANISKA Innovation Hub, a pioneering initiative aimed at enhancing female athletic performance. Learn about the successes and future potential of women's sports leagues like the NWSL and WNBA, and the vital role of media and storytelling in sustaining their growth. From the creation of the first women’s soccer-specific stadium to the record-breaking achievements of Angel City FC, this episode provides an optimistic view of the financial viability and expansive future of women's sports.
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Created and Produced by Scarlett Creative. scarlettcreative.co
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hey, I gotta keep it real, that might be the deepest tiktok rabbit hole I've ever gone down. This is a high quality quickie, like these car tv TV. And we're back with another high quality quickie and it is Olympic season. All the best athletes gathered on one stage in the pool, on the track, on the beach volleyball courts, on the equestrian track, on a personal favorite of mine, the handball court on the equestrian track, on a personal favorite of mine, the handball court on the rugby pitch. What an incredible 2024 olympics it has been. You got the best athletes in the world gathered on one stage in paris, of all cities just an ultimate vibe, and as a competitor myself, I've loved to just witness the greatness. You got noah lyles winning the gold in the 100 meter dash, crowning himself as the fastest man in the world. You got simone biles solidifying her comeback with four medals this olympics. You got portland oregon's very own own, ryan Krauser, winning a gold medal to become a three-time gold medalist at the Olympic Games, portland Oregon. We raise champions, we breed champions over here. But there's one story in particular. It's going viral in my mind. It's going viral in my mind Ilona Marr. So if you haven't heard, ilona Marr is the captain of the US Women's Rugby Sevens team. The US Women's Rugby team took home the bronze medal this Olympics. That makes them the first in program history to ever bring home a medal. Not only did Ilona Marr help lead the team to one of the best Olympics ever, she also led the way with her content.
Speaker 1:
Oh my God, when you talk about some high quality content, I gotta say like I'm not much of a TikTok guy, but the way that I just spiraled down the rabbit hole of her TikTok, it was impressive. I dream to be an Olympic athlete one day. I just turned 31. I feel like my story's not over. I'm looking towards the 2028 Olympics. I think I got a shot at the flag football, especially the center position, but until then I'm living through. Ilona Marr and her content gave me a behind the scenes look at what it's like to be an Olympian. And it's not just that. The content gave me a behind the scenes look at what it's like to be an Olympian. And it's not just that the content gave that behind the scenes look. She's focusing on positive body image. She's trying to raise awareness around women's sports. She's doing an incredible job high quality content in an absolute incredible way to take advantage of the moment, and an absolute incredible way to take advantage of the moment.
Speaker 1:
Alona Mar taking the opportunity to tell her story and truly seizing this Olympics moment has not just been prosperous for her or her social following. It has been that, but it's also been prosperous for the US women's rugby team. In addition to the team bringing home USA's first medal in women's rugby, they also secured the largest single donation from an individual in USA rugby history. Michelle Kang invested $4 million into the program following their big win An incredible story. Michelle and the rest of us, with our eyes right and our views and our engagement, are invested not just in the sport of women's rugby, but we're also invested in the people, in the personalities, in the stories, in the voices of the players on the team and largely in part thanks to Ilona Mar and her content. Obviously, our investment into the team with our views and our engagement and our watching the matches, and Michelle Kang's investment with $4 million, is led by an absolutely incredible performance on the field Alex Cedric at the end of the game, trucking that girl to go. I want to call it go get the touchdown, but to go get the goal or the score at the end to win the game. I mean, the performance is obviously leading the way, but what's important to note is it's the storytelling Alona Mar Taking the time to thoughtfully express who she is off the field, to tell the stories of her teammates and what they're going through on a day to day and what it's like to be an Olympian, what it's like to be a US women's rugby player, what it's like to be a bigger girl at the Olympics. You know she's like she's telling these super personal stories and now we're engaged in that too, and it's so powerful.
Speaker 1:
Michelle Kang's four million dollar investment into the USA women's rugby sevens comes off the back of a huge announcement that she made earlier this Olympics. Michelle Kang owns soccer clubs all around the world. She owns the Washington Spirit here in the USA, she owns the London City Lioness over in London and she owns Lyon in France. She's a huge investor in women's sports and specifically in women's soccer. She's one of the biggest investors in women's sports globally and especially in women's soccer. Kang announced the creation of the KANISKA Innovation Hub K-I-H the creation of the Kniska Innovation Hub, kih. It's a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing female athletic performance. Kih is set to raise $100 million and it's already been seed funded by Kang $50 million and she's willing to match donations. She's balling and she's putting her money where her mouth is.
Speaker 1:
She was quoted saying with so little investment in sports science focused on women, we've only begun to unlock the potential of female athletes on the pitch. Kineska Innovation Hub will become a pioneer of female performance research so we can stop training women as if they are simply small men and unlock their true potential. Hats off to Michelle Kang for really digging deep and investing in women's sports and not just putting the money towards the teams and owning the teams, but also thinking about performance, thinking about player health and safety and the sports science aspect, because there's so much room to grow and I think that is ultimately what the investment in women's sports is amplifying is that there's room to grow From a viewership standpoint. There's more eyes that are going to continue to see the games, to see the matches, whether it's women's rugby, it's women's basketball, whether it's women's rugby, it's women's basketball, whether it's women's college basketball, the women's soccer game. There's a lot of growth and a lot of successes that we've seen over the past few years that are pointing to the trend continuing. One could say that women's sports are having a moment, but one could probably more accurately say that women's sports are a movement.
Speaker 1:
I was doing a little bit of research just with these Olympics and seeing, you know, the US men doing their thing, but the US women also really doing their thing. Like, how do the medals compare? As of August 6th, in the 2024 Olympics, the US has won 75 medals total. The women accounted for 41 of those, while the men accounted for 28. The women have won 54% of the medals that the US has accumulated up to this point. The 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games the US women won 66 out of the country's 113 medals. The US women accounted for 58% of the total medals that the USA was able to accumulate in the 2021 game. This could be indicative of how the US invests and has invested in women's sports and been an international leader in that realm in that regard. But it also points to the returns, and it's not just returns on the field and on the pitch and on the court as it is. It clearly is with the metal count, but it's also pointing to returns off the field with the finances.
Speaker 1:
We're talking about increased viewership, bigger tv distribution, deals, more engaged fans following the women, like Ilona Mar in USA Rugby, which maybe it hasn't been the most engaging sport in the past, or at least not the most viewed sport. It's always been engaging but not the most viewed. But now you have personalities stepping in and telling their stories and that's changing that narrative. You could just think about some of the headlines over the past couple of years with women's sports and pointing to the trend of growth continuing. Number one women's March Madness, absolutely captivated the country and broke all type of viewership records and actually was more viewed than the men's game. The first ever women's soccer specific stadium in kansas city, the cpkc for the kansas city current, was built because their team was selling out the stadium every game. They needed their own. The nwsl club, angel city FC, has changed hands a few times, but every time it does it breaks the record, and the last being sold for $150 million. Now you have Bob Iger stepping into the ring, a longtime executive at Disney, which owns ESPN.
Speaker 1:
We're talking synergies. You got charter flights, you got TV deals, viewership records all across the WNBA. You got some of those storylines from angel reese and caitlin clark that are carrying now into the professional game. The list goes on, man, and for me it all boils down to storytelling and really digging into the personalities and the relationships and who the athletes truly are on and off the court or field or pitch the field of play. Because then, as an audience, we can engage in the stories, we can engage in the people. The people then bring us to the game. Because now, if we're invested in the people, we're invested in the game. For me, that TikTok rabbit hole that I just went down with Alona Mar, investing in the game For me, that TikTok rabbit hole that I just went down with Alona Mar, I feel invested, man.
Speaker 1:
Usa Women's Rugby y'all need another supporter. You got one. If there was ever a time to invest in women's sports, now was that time. It's not just because it's the right thing to do. It's looking like a damn good investment For women's sports to continue to build and grow into a sustainable and successful business year after year. There has to be the development of an ecosystem and we're starting to see the signs right and people like Michelle Kang willing to front up four million dollars for the US women's rugby team or create an organization whose goal is to raise one hundred million dollars for female player performance and safety.
Speaker 1:
But there also has to be the support of distribution. Right, there's a distribution piece in the ecosystem. You have to have platforms like Amazon, your local TV channels and syndicates willing to pay the money to broadcast and stream the sports. That creates exposure. Right, when Bob Iger becomes an owner of the Angel City FC and he leverages his contacts to have ESPN buy the rights to stream the WNBA or the NWSL or the US women's rugby games. Now we have exposure. Distribution has just caused exposure.
Speaker 1:
And then from exposure, the last piece, the most important piece viewership and engagement. Now, people like us, we get to sit back and get engaged in the games and the players and the teams and the leagues. And that engagement gets even deeper when you have strong storytelling stories like the us women's rugby team solidifying their first medal in program history. Stories like angel reese and c Reese and Caitlin Clark becoming rivals and going at it. And so now we want to watch Iowa and LSU duke it out. Simone Biles with one of the most incredible comeback stories after dropping out of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and now, in the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning four medals.
Speaker 1:
Once we become engaged on a human level now, it's easy to get invested in their performance. It's easy to root you as a fan and hope your team now wins and hope your favorite player or athlete balls out. And when you have somebody like Ilona Mar giving us access and giving us a peek behind the curtain whether it's her in Olympic Village eating a giant croissant or practicing her pregame run out, or if it's her encouraging us to be confident and comfortable in our own bodies these things make us invested just a little bit more. I'm a fan. You know. I'm rooting for women's sports. The stories are there. They've always been there. I'm a fan and I hope that the women's sports and the women's game all throughout the different sports continue to grow. That's it for now. That's all I got.
Speaker 1:
It's been another high quality quickie. It's your boy, bernie scarlet, aka b scar, with another one. Till next time, y'all peace. This episode of b scar tv has been brought to you by Scarlet Creative. For the full length video episode and more content, find us on Instagram, youtube and TikTok at Beast Guard TV and please leave us a review. Drop a comment. What do you want to see? What do you want to hear? Who do you want to hear from? Do you want to hear? Who do you want to hear from. We would love to hear from you. This is your host, with the most Vernon Scarlin signing off Peace.
