On Tuesday’s episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, host Howard Megdal is joined by Sascha Malas to discuss Overtime’s official entry into the world of high-level girls’ basketball. Malas is the director of Overtime Select, a four-week summer basketball program kicking off in summer 2024 that will feature eight teams of the country’s top high school players competing in a regular season, playoffs and finals.
“For the past year, we’ve spent countless hours just listening and learning,” Malas said. “Similar to what we did on the men’s side to create [Overtime Elite], we did a very similar function on the women’s side to create Overtime Select … We spent hours on the phone with agents, athletes, WNBA players, legends, high school athletes, grassroots families, [and] NCAA athletes to really learn what is necessary, what is missing in the system, and how can Overtime be additive?”
Malas and Megdal then spoke about how the high school and college basketball experience can be uniquely important for girls’ players as they consider their basketball careers. Particularly as name, image and likeness (NIL) deals and sponsorships continue to gain traction, this may also be a key financial moment for many young women in the sport.
“How can Overtime elevate the competition level and bring all the top athletes to one place? How can Overtime help build these women’s brands? That was the number one priority when we spoke to everybody,” Malas continued. “Yes, basketball matters, competition matters. But how can we, as a company, help elevate these high school [players] so that they can be the next Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers, and Flau’jae Johnson. And that’s what Overtime is great at: building brands and building personalities of youth athletes.”
The two also discussed the process of developing Overtime Select, including the many members of the women’s basketball community who contributed to its progress. Malas also spoke about her own experiences growing up playing sports and how she ended up in sports business, and Megdal discussed how businesses around women’s sports have grown in the past five years.
“We’re seeing explosions in what people understand [women’s] sports properties [to be] worth, not just people like us saying, hey, it has a chance to be this,” Megdal said. “Now, you can’t argue with the numbers that are being put up. You can’t argue with 10 million people watching the national championship game, you can’t argue with the valuation numbers that come out of Sportico on National Women’s Soccer League franchises.”
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