She’s not next, she’s now
From The GIST Sports Biz (hi@thegistsports.com)
Puck yeah!
The PWHL Finals officially began last night, meaning women’s hockey fans are only a few games away from the season’s end. But there is a way to keep the hockey vibes going all summer long with our exclusive jersey created with Bauer, the PWHL’s official jersey supplier. Going with the flow.
Women’s sports
🚀 She’s not next, she’s now
The GIST: This week, The GIST debuted a new report in partnership with NYC agency Barbarian that explores the proven interest and investment potential in women’s sports. The report delineates the paradigm shift in how the category is considered, the intense audience engagement among women’s sports fans, and identifies trends to keep an eye on.
- The GIST and Barbarian also conducted a survey on women’s sports fans, offering fresh new insights into how fans of varying demographics engage with women’s sports. Let’s dive in.
The shift: Despite longstanding myths, women’s sports are interesting and entertaining for fans and profitable for investors and brands. The women’s game has seen a 275% increase in media coverage over the past five years, while revenue has increased 300% since 2022. And this year alone, women’s sports are expected to generate over $2.35B.
The survey: Women’s sports fans — especially younger ones — want content that goes beyond live games and highlights, and they love catching games with friends. More than half of Gen Z participants (68%) prioritize funny and trendy content, while nearly 50% say creative storytelling is a must. Plus, 79% of women surveyed consider game highlights and personal stories to be equal in value.
- For Gen Z and millennial women’s sports fans, behind-the-scenes content sees slightly more engagement than personal stories about athletes, while body positivity and mental health advocacy are just as important as win-loss records.
The audience: Compared to men’s sports fans, women’s fans are 30% more likely to engage with a brand and 4x more likely to follow athletes on social media. They’re also 3.5x more likely to buy a product endorsed by a woman athlete than any other type of influencer.
- And brands really should consider what women’s sports fans think, because 67% are earning more than $100K. Moolah la.
WNBA
🏀 Hardwood hype
The GIST: This weekend, the WNBA season tipped off on several networks, and the results are in: Interest in the league is widespread across teams and platforms, illustrating how everyone should harness the WNBA’s popularity however they can. Believe the hype.
On ESPN: This weekend was the most-watched WNBA opening weekend ever on the network, with the Chicago Sky–Indiana Fever matchup pulling 2.7M average viewers and peaking at 3.1M in the network’s most-watched W game ever. Additionally, the NY Liberty’s game vs. the Las Vegas Aces averaged 1.3M and peaked at 1.9M viewers.
On Ion: This year’s opening weekend doubleheader saw a 121% YoY jump in viewership as both games featured high profile debuts. Paige Bueckers' first W game was the second most-viewed WNBA on ION matchup that didn’t involve the Fever, while the Golden State Valkyries’ debut was the network’s third most-viewed W game without the Fever.
The brands: The Fever-Sky game was hosted at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with the company’s logo displayed prominently throughout the game. Viewership matters: Gainbridge generated $3.3M in sponsor media value (SMV) last season — the most of any financial brand — despite having fewer total logo exposures than the next closest naming rights partner in the category.
- Chase’s branding was featured throughout the Valkyries’ sellout home opener, and they’re one of several brands to dip into WNBA sponsorships specifically through teaming up with Golden State.
Zooming out: Caitlin Clark driving viewership is nothing new, and brands should consider how to activate around Fever games for easy points on the board. But these numbers also show that the W has pockets of devout fandom across the league’s teams and players.
- Aces star A’ja Wilson cemented her own Chase partnership, while NYC’s Liberty is securing deals thanks to its 10M fans across the U.S. And let’s not forget Bon Iver’s groundbreaking partnership with the Minnesota Lynx in the first deal to connect a recording artist with a women’s sports team. Holding all the tickets.
🎾 USTA invests $800M into renovating the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
The tennis center in Flushing, NY, hosts the US Open and houses Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Open’s main court and the largest tennis facility globally. The move marks the single largest investment in the Open’s 145-year history, with $250M allocated toward building a player performance center on the premises, a growing trend in women’s sports.
- That may be a large chunk of change, but it’s worth it to glamorize USTA’s biggest moneymaker. Last year, the Open generated over $500M in revenue thanks to ticket sales, sponsorships, and broadcast deals.
👀 Fanatics launches Fanatics Games as company follows Gen Z trends
Yesterday, expanding sports merch brand Fanatics announced the inaugural Fanatics Games, which will debut at NYC’s Fanatics Fest in June as it looks to expand its brand beyond merch. The contest features 50 celebrities and athletes vs. 50 fans in non-contact athletic competitions.
- Similarly, Sports Illustrated — which is also expanding its live experiences brand — announced the SI Women’s Games last month, which will field competition from pro athletes across several women’s sports. Game on.
🏆 The Ballon d’Or is adding three new categories for women’s soccer and will alter its dates to accommodate FIFA’s women’s calendar.
🇫🇷 Women’s soccer titan Michele Kang announced that Olympique Lyonnais Feminin is rebranding as OL Lyonnes and will build a new training center. Magnifique.
🛍️ ESPN appointed IMG Licensing as its exclusive global licensing agency as the brand considers consumer products and experiences ahead of its upcoming DTC launch.
📺 Longtime ESPN analyst Julie Foudy will be leaving the network after the parties failed to reach a new contract agreement.
🥒 Carvana extended its multiyear title sponsorship with the Professional Pickleball Association, which helped the pickleball tour offer $30M in prize money last year. Cookin’ in the kitchen.
🤖 Fan analytics platform Tradable Bits inked a deal with Canada’s Northern Super League to acquire and analyze first-party data to inform the league’s cross-platform marketing.
Together With Lazarus Naturals
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- Our fave? The Sleep Gummies, perfect for taking the edge off so you can fall asleep and stay asleep. Best of all, you can take 20% off with code GIST20. Unwind with a little help from Lazarus Naturals.
Peep our squad’s MVPs (Most Valuable Picks):
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*P.S. This is a sponsored post. Woof woof.Today's email was brought to you by Aryanna Prasad and Briana Ekanem. Fact checking by Bonnie Lee. Operations by Elisha Gunaratnam and Marga Sison. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster, Alessandra Puccio, and Lisa Minutillo. Managing edits by Molly Potter and Ellen Hyslop. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.