Primed for success

The GIST: After days of speculation, the PWHL has officially confirmed that Seattle will be the site of the league’s second expansion franchise. The move not only levels out the split between Canadian and American franchises, but it showcases the PWHL’s interest in bringing the league westward over plenty of East Coast options. West Coast best coast.

The details: There’ll be a press conference today at 2 p.m. ET, but you heard it here first: Seattle will begin play as the PWHL’s eighth franchise next season. Both Seattle and PWHL Vancouver still need to assemble their rosters, so information about an expansion draft will be shared soon.

• And just like the league’s seven other squads, they’ll operate under The Walter Group as per the PWHL’s single-entity ownership structure. All for one and one for all, indeed.

The rationale: There are three major reasons the league picked Seattle over other popular U.S. options like Denver and Detroit, which successively broke U.S. attendance records for women’s hockey during the Takeover Tour. Per the PWHL, it comes down to Emerald City fans, facilities, and a built-in foe.

• 📣 Nearly 13K fans showed up for Seattle’s Takeover Tour tilt in January, a testament to the city’s already electric women’s sports culture.

• ✨ The state-of-the-art facilities are second to none. Climate Pledge Arena, an 18K-seat, recently renovated, environmentally conscious venue, is already home to the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm.

• 🌶️ A West Coast rivalry is already built in as the league extends its reach to the Pacific Northwest: Just 142 miles (229 kilometers) separate PWHL Seattle from the league’s other recent expansion team in Vancouver. Expect this budding feud to be icy and spicy.

Zooming out: There’s a thriving culture celebrating women’s sports in Seattle, from the Storm’s solid attendance and top-tier WNBA valuation to Reign FC’s focus on fan engagement and its value to sponsors. A PWHL team will fit nicely into this ecosystem and provide another opportunity for Pacific Northwest brands to activate. Why not run with it?

The GIST: Yesterday, the WNBA made history (again) by announcing that all games in its expanded preseason slate will be broadcast or streamed this year. The move comes as the W continues to monetize its product, and with this whole new chunk of games, brands can reach WNBA superfans like never before. Count it.

The details: Fans will be able to stream 14 of 15 preseason games with a free WNBA League Pass preview on the WNBA App — a perfect way to hook viewers for regular-season play. The 15th game (Indiana Fever vs. Brazil’s women’s national team) will only be available on ESPN platforms and four preseason matchups will also be broadcast nationally across ESPN, ION, and NBA TV.

• ION will tip off its Friday Night Spotlight on May 2nd with a preseason doubleheader featuring Paige Bueckers’ first W game and Chicago Sky hoopers Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith returning to LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center to face Brazil’s national team.

• Two days later, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever will also take on Brazil at the University of Iowa in the league’s first-ever nationally televised exhibition game.

The precedent: Last year, there were only 10 preseason games, but the W saw an opportunity to capitalize on the hype of Caitlin Clark’s debut. While the league aired Clark’s games nationally, teams like the Chicago Sky were initially out of network, causing outrage online and prompting some IRL fans to livestream games from their phones.

• The W responded swiftly by adding the Sky to WNBA League Pass and created a conscious plan for 2025 that compares favorably to the NBA. In 2024, most NBA preseason games either aired on NBA TV and local networks or on NBA League Pass, with certain games airing nationally on ESPN and TNT.

Zooming out: The new-look preseason shows that the WNBA is ready for its close-up, signaling to brands that this is a complete package — one that hasn’t yet been scooped up by sponsors. Google is the presenting sponsor for the WNBA’s playoffs, YouTube TV sponsors the Finals, and soon enough, the preseason will be presented by someone.

• And with basketball becoming more popular globally, the world is wide open in terms of landing sponsorship deals. Emirates Airline presents the NBA Cup tournament, which led to NBA preseason games in Abu Dhabi. Similarly, these W games should energize fans in Brazil and Japan — both surging markets for the women’s game. Around the world.

The GIST: A new data report from Sky Sports — the UK’s largest investor in media rights across women’s sports properties — proves women’s sports are very mainstream, with 80% of UK fans expressing interest in at least one women’s sport. Let’s dive into the numbers.

💪 Once again, dynamic (and often fluid) women’s sports fans prove why marketers should pay attention to them. People that watch women’s and men’s sports (like many of our GISTers) view five more hours of sports content per month, are 10% more likely to pay for sports subscriptions, and like twice the number of sports compared to fans of only men’s sports.

👶 While everyone watches women’s sports, young people watch them more. The aforementioned 80% figure rises to 85% among those aged 35 or younger, proving younger millennials and Gen Zers have their eye on the ball. But there’s an accessibility gap: While 37% of this age segment likes player personalities and stories, over 40% find this content tough to find.

🎾 The UK isn’t just obsessed with footy — tennis is causing a racket. The sport sees the most fan crossover between the women’s and men’s side, with 77% of tennis fans enjoying matches across gender. Tennis fans also had the largest portion of fans (61%) who were energized by live games compared to other popular UK sports like soccer, cricket, and golf.

Zooming out: These insights highlight UK sports marketing opportunities, but also underscore key lapses. Only 59% of women’s sports fans are committed to (i.e. dedicating at least one hour weekly) at least one women’s sport compared to 93% of men’s sports fans, and only half of women’s sports fans find info on player skills easy to find, compared to over 66% of men’s fans.

• This data illustrates why it’s better to engage with sports fans who love women’s and men’s sports, because they tend to be highly engaged and energized by a general love of the game regardless of gender. That’s pretty much the gist of it.

Ready for a victory lap? Women in sports aren’t next, they’re now — and we’re marking how far we’ve come with a special “She’s Not Next, She’s Now” merch drop celebrating this unmatched moment.

• We teamed up with Bauer and designer Rookie Made to create a design that screams “The GIST.” Show your support for your favorite women-owned and -operated business, find other GISTers in the wild, and look cool AF while you’re doing it.

• This one-of-a-kind design was made just for you. It celebrates women athletes and fans of all stripes, because our community is truly unparalleled. But don’t wait to claim it — this is a limited-edition run, and our GISTers always show up big for merch drops.

Even better? Ten percent of every purchase goes to Black Girl Hockey Club, the nonprofit making hockey more inclusive. As if you needed another reason to add to cart.