Picture a red carpet.
The fresh fits, the chatty interviews, microphones everywhere. And often, a celebrity’s partner, standing just out of sight. Once the cameras stop flashing, the plus-one tiptoes away to wait.
For Maddy Sells, it was an opening.
“I saw people on red carpets just standing to the side while their husbands get interviewed, and they would be just some of the most amazing women ever, and I would be so surprised that no one would want to talk to them,” Sells tells Awful Announcing.
The result was WAG Talk, a social media video series with nearly 200,000 subscribers across Instagram and TikTok. In the videos, Sells interviews the wives and girlfriends (WAGs) of star athletes, quizzing them on their partners’ careers while also shining a light on the women’s lives as well.
“I’ve talked to doctors who are married to professional athletes, professional athletes married to professional athletes, artists, fashion designers, just some really, really cool people,” she says. “They are considered a ‘WAG,’ but that doesn’t define them.”
Sells hopes to capitalize on the success of the show with the launch of Enjoy Her Game, a new women’s sports vertical within the popular Enjoy Basketball brand. The social-first vertical debuted last week, expanding with new interviews modeled after WAG Talk‘s signature trivia games, as well as news and on-the-ground coverage of the WNBA and other top women’s sports leagues.
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Enjoy Basketball, founded by veteran NBA content creator Kenny Beecham in 2022, has grown to include several content verticals and podcasts. Last season, the company partnered with NBC Sports and the NBA on digital content. Beecham’s brand, as the name indicates, was built as an intentional counter to the often exhaustingly critical commentary around the drama and storylines of the NBA.
The WNBA can sometimes repel newcomers, given its tendency to get stuck in culture wars and the disagreements that have plagued the league as it has grown this decade. It could be ripe for Enjoy’s celebratory tone and commitment to sharing under-the-radar stories.
“We want to make the coverage very fun, very easy to follow. We’ve noticed that a lot of Enjoy Basketball fans really want to get into the WNBA but just don’t really know how to start,” Sells, a former social media lead at Overtime, says.
“To separate ourselves, we are making our coverage extremely positive. We are not engaging in any negativity. No hot takes, just positive coverage that brings awareness to the game and builds fandom across people who maybe weren’t as able to pay attention as much or maybe didn’t know how.”
Recently, Sells found one of her most-watched interviews at the center of a knotty WNBA news cycle. Last year at WNBA All-Star weekend, she interviewed Dallas star Paige Bueckers for WAG Talk in a video that is widely credited for hard-launching Bueckers’ romance with former UConn teammate Azzi Fudd. Then this spring, when Dallas drafted Fudd first overall, reuniting her and Bueckers, reporters were challenged for inquiring about the pair’s relationship status.
Bueckers ultimately put the story to rest at a press conference during training camp, stating that she and Fudd would not address the dynamic any further. The controversy showed a difficult side to Sells’ feel-good interviews, which is why she says she is always clear with her guests before shooting any content.
“Relationships are such a touchy subject already. And it’s tough when the relationship could possibly be between teammates,” she says.
“Relationships need to be approached in a very strategic manner and very cautious manner, because with my interviews, I make sure people are comfortable beforehand. And (I) point out my mic, tell them what I do, and make sure that they’re okay with it.”
“I’ve never dropped something that someone doesn’t want me to.”
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Still, the WAG Talk interview allowed Bueckers to unveil the relationship on her own terms. Though Bueckers is herself a superstar athlete, the moment is emblematic of what Sells has achieved with WAG Talk and hopes to carry forward with ENjoy Her Game.
“I feel like a lot of them have reclaimed (the phrase ‘WAG’), and I maybe have helped a bit too,” she says. “And I’m really glad that I was able to make a platform that shows they’re not just these people you can post about negatively online and say whatever comes to your head without knowing them personally.”
Sells feels she and other content creators are able to both score interviews that stars would not give to corporate media platforms, and generate interest in stories that otherwise wouldn’t get attention. With Enjoy Her Game, Sells will draw on that “formula” and guide fans through women’s sports leagues as they grow.
Enjoy Her Game will function independently of WAG Talk, Sells said, with women’s sports-focused interviews cross-posted to both platforms.
The brand is officially live, with content across Instagram, TikTok, and X.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.