Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A = KELLY WALKER: Welcome to this episode of Hustle and Pro. I'm Kelly Walker and today we're talking to Grady Raskin, who is the president and CEO of Dallas Pulse, the newest team in Frisco, professional women's volleyball. They're intentionally built to reflect the energy momentum in heart of North Texas. Because DFW is one of the strongest volleyball markets in the country. They're creating a winning culture with elite talent and a professional staff and delivering on an elevated electric game day experience for fans.
I love this because Dallas Pulse is part of a larger shift in how women's sports are valued and supported. Let's get into it with Grady Raskin.
Thanks for joining us, Grady. All right, you are the president and CEO of the Dallas Pulse. So first off, kudos for bringing professional women's sports to Frisco.
[00:00:47] Speaker B = Grady Raskin: Thank you very much.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: I love it. I want to hear from you in your own words, like, what's your goal with this team and how long have you been working towards it?
[00:00:55] Speaker B: Well, we've, I've been working on this for over two years now.
Prior to jumping on board here, I was in a consulting business for emerging sports and emerging emerging technologies and ran into Pro Volleyball Federation at the time, which were now Major League Volleyball and, and try to jump in and help them and, and help them find the Dallas franchise group.
As I was helping them, did a lot of research on volleyball and recognized that from a global perspective, volleyball is massive. 100 to 200 million people play, just everyday people play.
It's top girls team sport in the, in the world, in the US and so I started doing a little more research and recognized that, that women's volleyball is massive. It's huge. And so when you look at all the emerging sports that are occurring and all the professional sports that already happen, women's sports and a huge sporting culture combined could make something that be really special. So once I started learning that, I really thought there was something there. And then when I started watching the two years of previous play that the Major league volleyball has already gone through, realized that this, this could be something special. Adding that to North Texas and the following that we have here for, for women's girls volleyball just got super excited about that. So.
[00:02:19] Speaker A: Right. So that, that leads me to, okay, you're, you're here in Frisco. You all are going to play your home games at Comerica center in Frisco. I have seen that culture of, of girls volleyball or volleyball here and I know it's strong. So is that why you're, you're up here in the North Texas area. Area.
[00:02:36] Speaker B: Well, certain. So my roots are North Texas. I've been here my entire life. Born and bred, worked for the Texas Rangers, worked for the Dallas Stars, started the XFL Dallas Renegades back in 2019. So my relationships, whether it's from sports organizations or brands or fans or whatever is here. So it's natural that I would want to be here. I can tell you that the following of girls volleyball is in this, this, this city is, is second to none. It is the top Texas itself. They have top five, five of their top universities are, are in the top 20.
And so just, it's just massive. And so we knew that there's 140 something club teams in North Texas. There's 14,000 registered girls. I may be making some of these numbers up, but it's, it's, it's quite close. So. But then also this building owned and operated by the Dallas Stars, who I work for, for, for plus or minus.
[00:03:30] Speaker A: 18 years, that connection came back around.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: Absolutely. They, they love volleyball themselves. They own two volleyball clubs, so they get it. And the fact that the, the facility, the city of Frisco upgraded this many, many millions of dollars for new seats that I'm sitting in.
[00:03:45] Speaker A: Seats you're sitting in. They used to be the green, now we got the nice black and the new screens.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: Beautiful four new screens, St of the art, a sound system. And, and we just know that when we need something, they're going to help us. And so we're a tenant, but we feel like we're in it together. So between the city of Frisco and the Dallas Stars and the size of this building, it just made a lot of sense.
[00:04:06] Speaker A: So you mentioned your time obviously with the Stars and with the Rangers and in the football world too. So I think we're pushing. 30 years you've been in sports. I don't know. That's what LinkedIn told me. So that's what we're going with. Yeah, that's a lot to take in. But taking in some of those, those experiences, what are you bringing to this team that's gonna help make you guys successful?
[00:04:30] Speaker B: Listen, I've worked for large sports franchises like the Rangers and Stars. I've worked at them at their, their pinnacle. Texas Rangers in 2010, 2011 came in second place in the World Series twice. Unfortunately Dallas Star has been part of a Stanley cup final victories and I've been part of, of the lows.
And so, you know, I've seen what you need to do when times are tough and, and when it gets a little bit easier, I think that I bring just the, the, the. The energy and the desire to want to create a fan experience that people are going to enjoy the event regardless if they're a volleyball savant or if they're a newbie and just looking for a challenging sport. So I've seen, I've seen a lot.
I don't take it for granted. I'm blessed that I've been able to do what I've been able to do, and I think that I do bring a lot of knowledge of it.
Starting up the Dallas Renegades back in 2019 gave me an entree into creating something from nothing. This is my second time to be employee number one.
And so I get it. I understand that everything matters. Every ticket sold matters, every sponsorship matters, every person that comes in and volunteers their time, it matters.
And I think that combined puts us at a great start to know that we want to be fan first, we want to be family friendly, and we want people to enjoy their time. We're not going to be perfect, but we're going to what we are. Game one is not what we're going to be on game 14 or year two or year three. But I think I bring that experience and that foresight and the sensitivity of how important every aspect of this is.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: Since you have started the team before, do you feel a sense of having to educate? Right. Like you said, not everybody that walks in these doors, this, this first inaugural season is going to know what they're watching.
[00:06:23] Speaker B: Absolutely. I find. So emerging sports. If you look at the history of emerging sports, it's like a hockey stick, right? Because they, they started to come in and then pickleball comes in, and then you've got. You've got sports like cricket and rugby and table tennis, and they're all, they're all starting to make it happen.
The difference here is most people have played volleyball, so they get. They generally understand what it is. But the hard part is just awareness of your brand, of your team. Just like any startup, any company, you got to get out there and let.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: Them know you're here.
[00:06:57] Speaker B: And so let them know here. I just went to another club two weeks ago with one of our players, and there was 300 young girls that played volleyball. And this is what they do. This is their extracurricular. And I asked them how many people were aware that professional women's volleyball was coming to Dallas. And I bet you I got maybe 15% of them raising their hands. So if that core group, who is our four people, don't know about it. How are people just down the street.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: Can only go up from there?
[00:07:27] Speaker B: That's right. So we're, we're out there every single day is a new fan and we're happy to talk and to go see anybody. And I challenge our team every single day. What are we doing today? Who are we going to see? What am I going to do? Who can I shake hands? Who can I teach?
But yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's just like any other startup. We gotta get the name out there. We just know that there's a lot of people out there that will be interested in us.
[00:07:49] Speaker A: Love it. Okay, talk to me. Educate me a little bit. I mean I know the basics of volleyball, but educate me on this structure of this league.
[00:07:56] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:07:56] Speaker A: Like, like it's the, it's the major league. Volleyball is. And it's in the third season like you said earlier, you've seen them have two seasons already.
Like how many teams are we looking at? How many players are on your roster? How many games are we looking at?
[00:08:10] Speaker B: Yeah, so we have 28 total matches, 14 at home, 14 away. We play every team twice on the road and twice away there. There's a semifinal and a final. So four of the eight make it to the championship weekend and we, we have eight total teams.
And, and we are the expansion team this year. We actually already have three or four signed up to be an expansion for 2027. So we're going to go up to 12, 12 teams, potentially grow.
[00:08:38] Speaker A: Even more.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: Growth is, is, is certainly there.
So, you know, we're a traditional sports league where we play in a facility, a home match and we go to away matches. And so it's pretty traditional is what you would expect.
[00:08:52] Speaker A: And well, some of the opponents looks like, okay, some of the markets that these teams are in, San Diego, Orlando, Omaha, Indy. The Indy ignite. Grand Rapids Rise, Columbus and Atlanta.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: That's correct.
[00:09:06] Speaker A: Those are some great markets to go in and, you know, keep growing that fan base.
[00:09:10] Speaker B: Yeah, really, really good. And you know, Nebraska is, is a, is a really strong market for volleyball.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:17] Speaker B: Two years ago the University of Nebraska did an indoor volleyball game, but they did it on their football field. I remember that 94,000 people out there.
[00:09:25] Speaker A: They broke some records. Right, right.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: And any Florida or California team, that's where volleyball is played all year round because it's, it's, you can weather wise.
So yeah, super, super exciting. Great ownerships there too as well. So they understand a lot of them have sports background so they, they get it?
[00:09:43] Speaker A: You're all rising with the tide together.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: Correct? We're, we're all in it together. In fact, we have weekly meetings with other presidents, other owners get together and, and if, if each team isn't successful, the whole league can't be successful.
[00:09:56] Speaker A: Exactly. I love that you already have some expansion teams on the horizon already for another season away.
All right, let's talk about what's coming up. January 10th is your home opener here at Comerica and Frisco. So you said there's 14 home matches or we call it matches.
[00:10:14] Speaker B: Games, yes, they're matches. People call them games.
I try to act like I talk the, the right vernacular. So it's, it's actually a match, not a game.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: But when somebody comes here for a match, what do you. I know it hadn't happened yet, but what are you envisioning, planning, hoping for?
[00:10:30] Speaker B: Well, one, we're hoping for a full house.
So we're out there, as I mentioned, trying to get people, they can go to DallasPulseVB.com and, and find some tickets. But we're hoping that people come, people tell their friends, we can't do it without, without the word of mouth. We just don't have enough time. We don't have enough people on our staff.
But when people walk in here, I'm expecting them to feel the energy, feel the excitement. That's what we're about. We want to be progressive, we want to be new, we want to be fun. We want to have access to our players, access to understanding what this professional franchise is all about. So we want to push the envelope as far as excitement and entertainment and pre game, pre match opportunities and meeting the players and, and really getting an understanding of it. We're going to do a lot of things where we're going to highlight the community and highlight people in it. We still haven't defined all that, but we want to highlight people that, that are in and around North Texas and, and, and if they can perform and entertain people, we want to use them. And, and, and certainly that would help them attract a group of people that want to come buy a ticket and.
[00:11:38] Speaker A: Connect them to you guys.
[00:11:40] Speaker B: Right, Exactly.
[00:11:41] Speaker A: Absolutely. It looks like there's a variety of nighttime games, weekend, weekday, some daytime, maybe, I can't remember, maybe Sunday afternoon games.
Right. So a variety of times where people can make it make sense with their schedule. Okay, you mentioned what's on the court. Let's talk about that.
[00:11:56] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:11:57] Speaker A: You guys just had your draft. Like what are the standouts or what are the most exciting Things on the, on the court that, that you guys are amped up about and that the fans should be.
[00:12:06] Speaker B: Well, the, the draft was first off an amazing experience.
You don't really know until you're a part of something like that. And again, I'm just a conduit of. Our coaches are picking the players. I'm just helping. But we, we, we targeted two players. We had the first pick and we targeted a gal from Wisconsin, Mimi Collier and another one from smu local and opposite from Malaya Jones. And we'll be honest, we didn't really. We liked them both and, and so we ended up going with Mimi Collier.
[00:12:39] Speaker A: She.
[00:12:39] Speaker B: She is still playing. They're in the final Four. That's not what they call it, but there's four teams left in the NCAAs.
She's having an amazing season. She's up for player of the year and in my opinion should win it.
So we, we drafted her first and she, she's coming and so we're super excited because she represents kind of the future of volleyball. A lot of the players that are on our team and on other teams have been playing professionally overseas before us. You had to go overseas.
That's the only way you could play professional women's volleyball. We were able to, to start a league where people could stay here.
[00:13:12] Speaker A: So which is so great.
[00:13:14] Speaker B: Which is amazing.
[00:13:14] Speaker A: So opportunity for these women to not have to completely uproot their life for their family and their personal world just to keep playing the sport and for.
[00:13:24] Speaker B: And for young girls to be able to watch women play a professional sport. And not just that, but being able to work for a sport that they love. We have several former volleyball players that are actually working in our front office and they're super excited and they're more motivated. That's great because it's their sport and they never got to do it before. But to answer your question, we were, we had the first pick in the 10th pick and as we were following the draft, we are our other first pick. Yeah, was, was still there and so we ended up trading to make sure that we got her. So in our opinion we got Malaya Jones who plays at smu who they unfortunately just lost in the, in the, in the round of 16.
But she's super excited to stay here. And so we actually do have a couple, a couple players from smu. We have an assistant coach from smu. So it is something that we believe that having some local ties, we have a gal from Texas A and M.
We, we have, we have Texas born people here. So we really do love the Texas ties. That's cool.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: It also helps your fan base. Right. Get those regional polls, but it's also just a nice community feel when you know those players on the court representing, you know, we're in the Dallas polls, name and logo. Know. Know where you are.
[00:14:44] Speaker B: That's right. Yep. Two of our players played together at Flower Mound High School, and. And we know we're gonna have a big following there, and that's very cool. And so there's. There's. There's a lot of it. It's not everything, but obviously, if you have that Texas pride built. Built into you, you're. You're gonna just. You're gonna be more excited to be here and want to perform for your people.
[00:15:01] Speaker A: Okay, so Mimi Collier was that first pick, and Malaya Jones. Okay, we'll watch out for those.
One last thing. I. I've heard a lot about coach Shannon Windsor, so this was a big get. Right?
[00:15:15] Speaker B: Listen, Shannon's a badass. I don't know if I'm allowed to. To comment. She is. She. She was a former Team Canada head coach. She took them the. The team Canada has. Has not always been in the top rankings in. In world volleyball, and as I mentioned, world volleyball is massive in her tenure. She took them from, I think, the 18th or 19th rig team in the world, got them down to about seven or eight. And she does not like talking about this, but her last match for Team Canada, they lost in the fifth set.
And if they would have won, they would have gone to the Olympics, So she probably wouldn't have been our coach because she'd be preparing.
[00:15:52] Speaker A: Good for you.
[00:15:53] Speaker B: For the Olympics. But she's a. She's an absolute pro. She understands the international game, which is different than the collegiate game, which is. Which is a big deal because our rules are kind of in between the international rules and the NCAA rules. And also, she's a woman, and there are not a lot of female coaches in the volleyball community, and that was important to us to be able to represent that and kind of take a stereotype and try to break that mold. Now, fortunately for our league, I think we actually have four or five other head coaches that are female.
[00:16:28] Speaker A: Nice. But.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: But Shannon. Shannon's the lead. She is. She's my partner.
She's. She's picking these players and. But she's tough. I told these players before they came here, they better be ready because she doesn't play around.
[00:16:41] Speaker A: I would expect nothing less. Right?
[00:16:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:43] Speaker A: Yeah, you got it. You got to be tough to build a team. Lead the team, start something like this.
[00:16:48] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:16:49] Speaker A: Build a culture out there and get it started. Well, I'm excited. I will be here January 10th and many more and I can't wait to see them out there. I love watching women's volleyball. I've never seen it at this level. I've only seen our, our Frisco high school teams compete for state, which was really great.
I've never even been to a college volleyball game, so this is going to be big time for me.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: So. Pretty exciting.
[00:17:15] Speaker A: Yeah. So I'm thrilled to have you guys around just in my, in my backyard so I can come watch.
[00:17:19] Speaker B: That's funny you mentioned that. On Monday we had my family over and my parents and my brother in law and sister and it happened to be a Cowboys game was on, but also was University of Texas and Wisconsin Badgers playing in I guess the final round of eight.
[00:17:36] Speaker A: Big yeah.
[00:17:37] Speaker B: So we have two players. We drafted another player, Carter Booth, who's also on Wisconsin, and Mimi Collier, as I mentioned before. And my father in law came in expecting to see the Cowboys game on, but my family and my brother in law and I, we were watching the, the Texas against Wisconsin and it was, people couldn't believe, not just the power of these women, the grace of these women, but the fans. You couldn't. It was packed. It was completely sold out. The fans were crazy. They were, they were amazing. And watching everything, it's just in June, everything is, is just, it's just impressive. It really is.
[00:18:10] Speaker A: They're so locked in. The fans are so locked in. Right. Every move, every, you know, the rally and just the excitement, the buildup, it's, it's, it's gonna be, it's gonna be great.
[00:18:20] Speaker B: 100%.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Very excited. Well, thank you for your time. I know you're, you're busy building this team, so I appreciate you stopping what you're doing.
I'm excited for media day coming up and we'll get this out the door soon so everybody can make sure they're get their tickets and are here on January 10th.
[00:18:35] Speaker B: I appreciate it. Thank you.
[00:18:38] Speaker A: Thanks for joining us for this episode of Hustle and Pro. Subscribe on YouTube and check us out on Instagram and we'll see you next episode.
