Big accomplishment for Jade Cargill and Brandon Phillips.
Texas Smoke won the Women’s Professional Fastpitch League championship in their first season. The team is owned by AEW star Jade Cargill and former MLB player Brandon Phillips.
The Smoke had a league-best 22-14 record in the regular season, then defeated the Smash It Sports Vipers in the semifinals and the USSSA Pride in the finals to win the title
“How many people can really say that I was co-owner with my queen?” Phillips told the Houston Chronicle. “And we won a championship.”
Richard Lapchick, director of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport TIDES, said Phillips and Cargill have achieved something noteworthy.
“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," he said.
Along with Phillips and Cargill being Black owners, the Smoke top front office members are all Black. General manager Eric Mays and all the coaches are Black and coach at historically Black colleges and universities (Howard, Hampton and North Carolina A&T).
Cargill is currently on hiatus from AEW. Tony Khan said he hopes she'll be back soon.
