September 8th 2023.
Less than a year ago, Brandon Phillips and Jade Cargill began an exciting journey as co-owners and decision-makers for the Austin-based professional softball franchise, Texas Smoke. The team achieved an incredible feat by securing the Women’s Professional Fastpitch softball championship in its very first season.
Now, Phillips and Cargill are reflecting on what it means to be one of the few Black owners of sports franchises in history, and to do it together. Phillips expressed, “How many people can really say that I was co-owner with my queen? And we won a championship.” According to NBCDFW, their passion to change the landscape of ownership across leagues is credited to their own storied careers in sports. Phillips was a World Series champion, All-Star, and Gold Glove winner during his 17-year MLB career, while Cargill played Division I college basketball for Jacksonville and is now a premiere performer for All Elite Wrestling, where she’s already notched a championship.
Prior to August of 2023, basketball icon, Michael Jordan, was the only majority owner across major league sports. However, the decision-makers and power players are not representative of a diverse landscape. By and large, sports ownership is white and male. Though minority stakes in sports teams by former athletes and Black entertainers have risen over the last decade, Phillips and Cargill have turned over a new and exciting leaf by venturing outside the more popular sports leagues.
Richard Lapchick, director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, commented on the significance of this achievement. He said, “That’s a statement by itself and can be a signal to other potential Black owners — that they don’t have to have an ownership in an NBA team or an NFL team. They can get ownership in a different sport where the buy-in is going to be something I can afford, yet I can still have an impact.”
For Phillips and Cargill, it’s all about representation and showing the next generation what’s possible. Phillips added, “In the new generation, just people that look like us in general, they’ll be like, 'Oh my God, it’s been done before.' I mean, Obama — nobody thought there’d be a Black president. But guess what? It happens.”
Phillips and Cargill have created a new precedent in the realm of sports ownership. Their success is a testament to the power of representation and the ability to make a difference.
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