Air ball

The GIST: NBC has been enjoying the perks of the Caitlin Clark Effect, but when it came to airing her historic NCAA moment, the network didn’t put the game on linear television — a decision that not only cost them a larger audience, but also likely impeded the momentum of Clark’s popularity.

The game: The game aired exclusively behind a paywall on NBC’s streamer Peacock, and while viewership numbers aren’t available yet, it was inevitably limited to the platform’s 30M subscribers. And what was NBC airing instead? Law and Order reruns in an attempt to revive the network’s entertainment offerings following the writers’ strike. Dun dun.

The reasoning: This particular game happened to be one of NBC’s seven designated Iowa matches set to air exclusively on Peacock, per a 2022 agreement. The streamer’s strategy is to leverage desirable matchups to entice new subscriptions, like January’s NFL playoff game between Kansas City and Miami that drew a record 23M viewers and recruited 2.8M new subscribers before kickoff.

• While that may work for the NFL, women’s college basketball is still cultivating its fandom, meaning the more eyeballs, the better. Plus, local markets were still able to broadcast that NFL game, a luxury Iowa fans didn’t have.

The missed opportunity: Iowa played in four of the six most-watched WBB games this season, all of which drew over 1M viewers. But this was no ordinary game — it was a milestone that may never happen again. While promoting Peacock makes sense as a long-term strategy, sharing this moment with fans would have given NBC more short and long-term value.

Zooming out: While networks are gradually migrating toward DTC streaming platforms, there’s still more value in promoting a growing sport on linear television. Women’s college basketball is finally getting its shine, but it could benefit from having an NFL–sized fanbase before asking viewers to join Peacock.

• Networks say they’re interested in amplifying women’s sports, but as soon as there was an opportunity to net quick gains for shareholders, it was easy to shield Clark’s historic moment behind a paywall. Play the long game.

The GIST: Last Saturday’s Stephen vs. Sabrina 3-point challenge was the first formal competition between an NBA and WNBA player during All-Star Weekend. Seeing the athletes on equal footing proves we’re beyond the “Battle of the Sexes” dichotomy — fans simply want to see legends of the game compete, something that will help both leagues. Here’s the competition, by the numbers.

📺 10M: The number of unique viewers in the U.S. who watched the State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on TNT, truTV, and B/R Sports on Max. Viewership was up 54% YoY, making it the most-watched NBA All-Star Saturday Night in four years. Notably, the audience peaked at 5.4M viewers around 10:15 p.m. ET while Curry and Ionescu were facing off.

📱 60K: How many Instagram followers the NY Liberty star gained in the three weeks after Curry challenged her in January, with 20K hitting the follow button the day after the event was officially announced. As for Curry, his Instagram post about the competition was his second most-liked this month so far.

👟 1.3M: The number of views on Nike Basketball’s post supporting its signature athlete at Curry’s expense before the competition. UnderArmour, which has a shoe deal with Curry, sent a reply that got plenty of engagement, offering an example of brands organically interacting with signature athletes to promote their products.

📈 30%: The increased ad effectiveness YoY during the 2023 WNBA Finals, while ads from the 2023 NBA Finals were 29% less effective YoY. After boosting YoY viewership for the WNBA All-Star Game last summer, loyal W viewership seems to have amplified the 2024 NBA All-Star festivities. Who run the world?