Page 134 of Hard to Get

“And you know I want to grow our business, too.”

“Yeah.”

“So what if I came up with another plan? Another way we could expand.”

He eyes me neutrally. “Sure. I’d look at it.”

“Okay, here it is. Women’s hockey.”

His eyes flicker. “Okay?”

I smile. “I’ve got a ton of data to share with you. I’ll send it so you can take your time. I’ve also had some preliminary meetings with the league. They do have access to stats, but not like we’re providing the NHL. There are a lot of women players who don’t have a full picture of their play. And they should, like the men do.”

He nods slowly.

“Right now, the women players who get all the attention are the ones who score goals. But that’s not the only part of the game.”

He cocks his head and regards me thoughtfully. “Yeah. That’s true.”

“Women’s sports have a lot of momentum right now, and sponsorship is growing 50 percent faster than men’s league. The growing marketplace for women’s sports, along with scalable tech like AI, is making it a lot more accessible.”

“Right.”

“Obviously, women’s sports are important to me…” I press my hand to my heart. “And in doing this, we can help grow women’s hockey. They’ll have the data to tell their stories. Show how the players and the teams perform. Fans love it. Broadcasters can use it to make the game more inviting. Players can use social media to post their stats. Then there’s fantasy leagues and drafts.”

Troy’s eyes are now glinting with interest although he’s not jumping up and down with excitement.

“I’ve talked to them about it. They know what we’re providing the NHL. And they agree that women’s hockey should have that, too.”

“That’s promising.”

“Yes.” I lean forward. “I think we can become an industry leader in analytics for the women’s game.”

Now he smiles. “Okay, you got me with that.”

“Yay.” I grin. “There’s more to do and you’ll want to have a look at the data I put together. But… I also have another idea.”

“Jesus.”

“I know. Someone lit a fire under me.” I pause. “Uh. You should probably know that I’m seeing someone.”

He does a “mind blown” motion. “Okay.”

“It’s Jayden Wood. From the Orcas.”

Troy’s got a good poker face, I’ll give him that. I have no idea what he’s thinking. “So… seeing him as in, having some fun dates? Or… is this serious?”

“It’s pretty serious.” I wrinkle my nose. “You have no idea how hard I tried to keep it light. But he’s a pretty amazing man.”

“Wow. Okay.” He shakes his head. “Wow.” He narrows his eyes at me. “You’re happy?”

I nod, my chest full of fizzy carbonation. “Yeah. I’m very happy.”

“Okay. That’s what matters.”

“Thank you.” I take a breath. “Anyway, back to my other idea. If we want to add new products and services to our current mix and expand market reach, what if we looked at companies like DDS. Data and Display Systems.”

His forehead creases. “In Anaheim?”