Overtime's Sascha Malas on Thinking Bigger About Women's Sports

Providing athletes with opportunities on and off the court

Such is Sascha Malas‘ passion for women’s basketball that she helped create Overtime Select, an amateur high-school league to help support young athletes.

“For our current players, OT Select creates an environment for top competition, media training, content and ample opportunities to build your personal brand,” she tells Muse. What’s more, “Overtime continues to work with and develop players throughout their NCAA careers and beyond, whether that be through university partnerships, NIL deals or mentorship and advisor programs.”

“We aren’t just in the business of basketball. We are in the business of providing athletes with opportunities both on and off the court that are imperative for their growth and their future,” she says. “Our greatest achievement is the impact we make every day on the lives of these athletes, fans and families.”

Sascha serves as VP of women’s sports and media strategy at Overtime, a sports and entertainment company. Under that banner, Malas oversaw OT Select’s launch in 2024, building it into a platform that attracts top recruits while leveraging Overtime’s social reach to provide exposure, storytelling opportunities and brand-building support.

In the past year, Malas led Overtime through the creation of a partnership with UConn Women’s Basketball and the launch of a team owned by WNBA star Flau’jae Johnson. All told, the enterprise claims 1 billion views across its various channels. 

We spent a few minutes with Sascha to learn about her background, inspirations and her desire to impact the next gen of athletes and fans through storytelling.

What inspired you to help create the league?

When I joined Overtime, I looked forward to being a part of something bigger than high school basketball. I wanted to impact the next generation of athletes and fans through storytelling, exposure and opportunity. I wanted to make a difference in the way people consume women’s sports while creating a product that is both disruptive and additive to the current basketball landscape. In addition to creating an environment for elite and competitive basketball, we wanted to build an environment that created business women and future leaders. 

Can you name a newsletter, creator or account everyone should follow?

The Women’s Sports Foundation Newsletter

What’s the last great book, article or video you consumed?

Some recent favorites books: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, My Friends by Fredrik Backman and James by Percival Everett. I am looking forward to reading Partita, Barbara Kingsolver‘s new book.

What’s a non-advertising industry you learn from?

Technology and AI.

What was a “peak” sports moment you experienced as a kid or an adult?

My peak sports moment was in my college years when the University of Wisconsin beat the University of Kentucky in the Men’s Final Four. State Street in Madison, Wis., fully erupted. As an adult, it has to be the Knicks winning the championship. Now I can only hope for something similar to happen with the N.Y. Jets.

What have you learned from your favorite athletes that you bring into your work?

How important it is to be yourself. Our players embrace their personalities and unique identities at OT Select, and this inspires me to always go with my gut and lean into who I am. It is so essential to creating a productive and competitive environment.  Additionally, what we are building at Overtime/OT Select is similar to a team sport. Having resilience, fighting for a bigger mission and goal, remaining competitive, working as a team—there are such parallels between the two.

What can sports do that nothing else can?

Bring people together. 

You’ve got 2 minutes with the industry. What’s your hot take?

Women’s sports are great for business—we all know that. BUT, we need to get to a place where instead of just investing in “women’s sports” as a whole, brands are investing in multiple verticals of women’s sports. When there is investment in one sector, that does not get even close to the amount of opportunity and personalities there are to unlock in the space. As an industry, we need to think bigger.