Tobin Heath + Christen Press
World Cup Champions
-
You Asked We Answered
She shoots, she scores! ⚽️ ️The Women’s World Cup is currently ongoing (until August 20th), renewing excitement about the sport and shining a spotlight on the inequities between the women and men playing the game.
So we chatted with Tobin Heath (she/her) and Christen Press (she/her), 2x World Cup Champions and co-founders of RE-INC/hosts of The RE-CAP Show, to get you the info you need to know on women’s sports and their lifestyle brand.
We’d love to hear about your lifestyle brand RE-INC, as well as your new podcast and what listeners can expect from it.
Christen: RE-INC is a brand at the intersection of sports, progress, and equity that we founded with our USWNT teammates to reimagine the status quo.
In The RE-CAP Show: World Cup Edition, we’re breaking down the games from the 2023 World Cup and we’re also talking about everything that makes up the culture of women’s sports. It’s talking about equal pay, women’s health, queer culture, diversity, and inclusion.
We’re establishing what we like to call “gal culture.” Gal culture is inclusive, progressive, and thoughtful. You can be unashamed by your greatness, you can be forward-thinking, and the gals are welcoming everyone in. In many ways, it’s quite the opposite of the “bro culture” that you know that has permeated sports for so long.
How are your above projects the antithesis of traditional, male-dominated sports commentary?
Tobin: We all know what bro culture is in sports, and we’ve all seen the same tired approach to sports commentary on TV and elsewhere. But, that never sounded like us—like real women who play the sport and have dedicated our lives to it. The RE-CAP Show brings that into the fold. The biggest compliment we’ve received from the show is that our teammates are reaching out and saying that they love the show and that “it sounds like us.” We just weren’t really seeing or hearing that through typical women’s sports coverage.
As we all know, there’s still a huge pay gap between men and women in sports today. How does it affect the winners of the World Cup?
Christen: For the first time in history, at this year’s World Cup, the U.S. Women’s Soccer team will be paid equally to the men’s team. But, that’s only true for the U.S. team. Plus, the FIFA prize money for women is $110M versus $440M for the men. In general, women athletes still receive 44% less prize money than men, and women’s sports only gets 4% of sports media coverage.
What can (and should) be done to make change of pay gaps in sports?
Tobin: Invest in women’s sports. It’s good business.
What brands are supporting women in sports right now aside from RE-INC?
Christen: We’re lucky to work with values-aligned partners like Ally Financial and UKG who are committed to bringing financial equality into soccer and in women’s sports. And our friends at OOFOS recovery footwear (check out our RE-INC collab) have worked with us for a few years and have been super supportive of the launch of The RE-CAP Show.