I need your help.

*Deep breaths*

Hi, friends. I’m just going to dive right in before I lose the nerve.

Power Plays needs your help.

Or, I suppose the more accurate way to say it is: I, Lindsay Gibbs, need your help to keep Power Plays going.

(To skip my ramblings and go straight to the “how to help” section, click here. There’s something for everyone there.)

Power Plays is three years old, which is almost impossible for me to grasp. It’s been a phenomenal ride. You all have allowed me to live my dream, and do something few thought possible: Support myself by covering women’s sports full time, with no trust fund or spouse’s paycheck or giant savings account or corporate sponsor in sight. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. 

But it would be disingenuous not to add that it’s been an excruciating couple of years, too. The pandemic and my sudden move back to North Carolina were extremely destabilizing, and it's taken me a while to rediscover a sense of equilibrium. When you’re a solo entrepreneur, there’s nowhere to hide when you’re struggling. It’s extremely humbling. (And at times downright embarrassing.)

I’m finally back on track; this December has been one of the most successful months in Power Plays history by every measure. But I still need to make up for lost ground.

A few weeks ago, I set a goal of getting at least 110 new paid subscribers to Power Plays before the end of the year.  The response has been incredible, and I’m already halfway to the target (!!!). There’s still a long way to go, though.

This is where I’m supposed to list all the phenomenal work I’ve done this year as a way to motivate you to subscribe. However, one of the reasons I find it so physically painful to go into Saleswoman Mode is because when I look back at this last year, I quickly become consumed with thoughts of what I *didn’t* publish.¹  And then I enter the shame spiral.

Do you know what’s not helpful? That.

So, instead, I’m going to say, “Fuck it!”² and stick to the script. Here are a few newsletters from the last year that I'm really proud of -- newsletters that show how Power Plays is driving the coverage of women's sports forward.³

• #CoveringtheCoverage: Meet the Wojs of the WNBA

• Lia Thomas and the trepidation of trans excellence

• Meet the No. 16 seed keeping the NCAA’s systemic sexism in the spotlight

• #CoveringtheCoverage: How ESPN’s softball coverage is paving new paths for women’s sports⁴

And while we’re at it, I’d be remiss not to add that just this month, we made it onto CNN!

We’re doing exciting things! But I need your help to continue. Below I’ve got a long list of ways you can help, including multiple asks that will cost you nothing.

Thanks in advance for helping Power Plays — and, by extension, me — enter 2023 with a full tank, as opposed to sputtering on fumes.

(Though, I promise, we’ll be at the starting line either way.)⁵

Here are ways to help Power Plays that cost money

Become a paid subscriber. (Duh.)

Right now I’m running the Sylvia Fowles Holiday Special — it gives you 34% off for a full year, bringing the annual subscription price to $47.52, which breaks down to $3.96 a month. I have extended this sale through the end of the year, so take advantage! This is the biggest sale in Power Plays history.

(Note: If you’re already a paid subscriber but are on a monthly plan, this is a great time to upgrade to an annual plan, it will save you money!)

Give a gift subscription to a friend!

Have someone in your life that loves women’s sports? Give the gift of Power Plays! Gift subscriptions are also eligible for the Sylvia Fowles Holiday Special!

Donate a subscription to a stranger.

If you want to give the gift of Power Plays, but don’t have a specific reader in mind, you can donate a subscription by clicking the button below. For every donated subscription, I give a paid subscription to Power Plays to *two* readers that can’t afford to purchase one for themselves.

Also, here’s my PayPal.

Lately, a few people have asked how they can help Power Plays if they can’t afford to donate a full subscription at this time. Well, if you click the button below, you can send money to the Power Plays PayPal account.

Every bit helps.

Here are FREE ways to help Power Plays

Look, I get that money is tight. I’m currently in a place where I can’t support all the work I want to because bills are the priority, and I hate it. But I promise there are multiple ways you can help without spending a dime.

Make sure you’re on the free email list.

If you haven’t already signed up to be a free subscriber of Power Plays, please do that right now! You will still get at least one newsletter a week, and help me grow my overall reach, which helps me tell more important stories.

Tell people about Power Plays!

Tweet about it. Put it on Facebook. Make a TikTok, if that’s your thing. Simply forward an email. Or even use your voice! In conversations!

Finally, I’d love your testimonial.

Tell me what you like about Power Plays!!

I’m serious. If you enjoy Power Plays, and would be comfortable giving me a quote about WHY you enjoy Power Plays that I can use in promotional material, either leave it in the comments below or send me an email (lindsay@powerplays.news).

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

This is not a goodbye for 2022, friends. I’ve got two big newsletters to come: One on the latest report on abuse in the NWSL, and a takedown of Don Lemon that has turned into somewhat of a Power Plays manifesto. But, because I know some people are shutting their computers off for the year, I want to say: Thank you for being here. Have a wonderful holiday/end-of-year season. Take care of yourself. Treat yourself. Forgive yourself.

xoxo

1. LMAO I’m so bad at this.

2. Please join me and embrace this “fuck it” energy as you reflect on the past year. It doesn’t mean we ignore our past mistakes. It doesn’t mean we evade consequences. It does mean that yesterday’s “what ifs” don’t define us, nor can we let them hold us back from today’s promise. (Can you tell I’ve been doing some therapy and coaching????)

3. Here are even more pieces I’m proud of!! I’m on a roll!!!

• Owning a WNBA team does not excuse your bigotry, Robert Sarver

• The myth that women’s sports are in peril set the stage for rampant abuse in the NWSL

• #CoveringtheCoverage: At the women's Final Four, the biggest sign of progress was in the press room

• #FromtheArchives: ‘Sport Is Unfair to Women’ (Sports Illustrated, 1973)

• INTERVIEW: Layshia Clarendon and the toll of trailblazing

4. I recently put all Power Plays newsletters that are older than eight months behind a paywall. So now, the full Power Plays archive is only available to paying subscribers. I have removed the paywall from all of the newsletters linked in this post, though.

5. I don’t know where to put this, so I’ll continue to abuse footnotes: Twitter is my main platform for promoting and selling Power Plays. As you might expect, that’s led to a lot of sleepless nights lately!!! Every paid subscription helps untether this newsletter’s future from the whims of El*n Musk. The times, they are desperate.