Everything’s bigger

The GIST: Project B, a new women’s basketball league set to launch in November 2026, announced its first player signing on Wednesday: Seattle Storm superstar and 10-time WNBA All-Star Nneka Ogwumike. Let’s unpack this.

The details: The global league will feature traditional 5-on-5 basketball and run from November to April — notably not conflicting with the WNBA schedule. Six 11-player teams will compete in two-week tournaments across Europe, Asia, and Latin America on a traveling circuit.

• Project B’s investment group is stacked with legendary starpower, from WNBA icon Candace Parker to tennis’ Novak Djokovic, while former WNBA All-Star Alana Beard will be the league’s chief basketball officer. Salaries will reportedly dwarf what’s offered by both the WNBA and Unrivaled and players will be offered equity stake in the league.

The context: Inking a respected name proves Project B’s game plan speaks to the league’s biggest power players: Ogwumike’s the WNBPA president, adding another wrinkle to the WNBA’s CBA negotiations that largely center on salary and revenue sharing.

• Notably, this new, lucrative sports venture is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) through its entertainment company Sela. And while the PIF claims to stand on a pillar of inclusivity, Saudi Arabia is known for its human rights abuses — aka textbook sportswashing.

• Alongside its infamous men’s sports involvement, the PIF has deepened its impact on the women’s sports space in recent years, from the WTA to the Women’s World Cup — and now women’s basketball.

Lingering thoughts: This week, PIF also announced its new Aramco Championship at Shadow Creek Golf Club, its first-ever co-sanctioned event with the LPGA. PIF involvement across all sports, both women’s and men’s, is making the sports world a bit smaller and more polarized, with Saudi Arabia becoming one of its most powerful epicenters.

• Despite its imperfections, there’s no direct competition with the WNBA — yet Project B could be an improved, global, F1–style offering, one that has endless marketing opportunities around the world, especially in surging basketball markets like China, Europe, and the MENA region. It’s called traveling.

The GIST: Yesterday, League One Volleyball (LOVB) shared a flurry of announcements about new ownership and sponsors getting more involved with its current team in Austin and its forthcoming franchise in Houston.

• While several major men’s teams dot the U.S.’s second most-populous state, there’s still a dearth of women’s sports teams in its major cities — and the interest from LOVB (pronounced LOVE) owners and sponsors proves that women’s sports opportunities exist in Texas. Can’t say nothin’ about Texas.

The news: The NFL’s Houston Texans’ owners Cal and Hannah McNair — who have expressed interest in championing girls’ and women’s sports via flag football — are the newest owners of LOVB Houston, the volleyball league’s expansion franchise. Pro volleyball has seen significant investment from star athletes, but interest from NFL owners is new in women’s volleyball.

• Additionally, LOVB inked six new jersey partnerships for its upcoming season, which includes a league-wide partnership with DryWater and another with Yeti. The latter has doubled down in the Austin market, with a front-of-jersey logo partnership with LOVB Austin and the Yeti Yard, a luxe fan seating experience at the team’s home stadium.

Houston: Houston has major men’s sports teams and an NWSL team, yet residents have expressed more interest in getting a WNBA team than an NHL one. And being one of the few women’s sports teams in the U.S. energy capital is already benefitting LOVB Houston, as local company Octopus Energy became a partner just last week.

Austin: Austin is a mid-size city that only has an MLS team, but one that has sold out 87 consecutive home games. LOVB noticed the unique opportunity for women’s volleyball in Austin, which is home to the University of Texas’ nationally-acclaimed team and has inspired a thriving youth and collegiate ecosystem around the game.

• There’s another benefit to hosting a franchise in Austin: The mini-tech capital is home to headquarters for many major companies, allowing significant opportunity for corporate sponsors — something that’s been a boon for the WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries in San Francisco.

Zooming out: Omaha and Madison have become hotbeds for volleyball, with Omaha banking millions on hosting collegiate tournaments. There’s clearly white space in both Austin and Houston to do the same, and these cities have much larger populations to entice into fandom.

• That also means that these cities and fans have a broader consumer reach, not to mention that both cities are centers of industry. There’s plenty of opportunity to activate in Texas’ underleveraged women’s sports market, something LOVB owners and sponsors are clearly keyed into. Counting dimes.